At which lvls should people be at in a certain area?
I started a Paladin, both zeal and Blessed Hammer, I went into Nightmare at lvl 55…am I too low? Which lvls should we be in at a certain lvl?
I am no expert but I have entered Nightmare myself much closer to level 40 than 50 and I have been fine.
Rather than looking at the level I would look at
- resistances
- killing speed
- ability to stay alive
If your resistances are in negatives you are probably going to have a bad time so try to get those up. If you are struggling to progress because it takes too long to kill the enemies then spend some time leveling up your skills/trying to find better gear. If you keep dying then maybe level up a bit and put some more points to vitality and try to find better gear.
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there are a few places i found on google that show what level you should do what areas for best xps to your level. My sorc is currenly 54 and I just started act4 nightmare. I was struggling bad act 1 nightmare until i farmed up mats for an insight and it almost became super easy
What level should you be to gain maximum experience in a given area? Here’s the basic progression.
- Clvl 1-11: Act One
- Clvl 12-18: Act Two
- Clvl 19-23: Act Three
- Clvl 24-31: Act Four
- Clvl 32-36: Act Five
- Clvl 37-43: Act One, Nightmare
- Clvl 44-48: Act Two, Nightmare
- Clvl 49-52: Act Three, Nightmare
- Clvl 53-62: Act Four, Nightmare
- Clvl 63-73: Act One, Hell
- Clvl 74-80: Act Two, Hell
- Clvl 81-83: Act Three, Hell
- Clvl 83-94: Act Four, Hell
- Clvl 95-99: Act Five, Hell
(copied form one of those random google searches) also my sorc is a fire sorc (my first d2 character build and tossing snowballs might be cooler but I like it hot and I dont care that im not as powerful as a snowball machine)
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I just hit NM with a new Druid last night at lvl 23… I’m had no issues starting A1 at lvl 23…
Maybe you just suck at playing? sorry… lvl 60-70 is Hell starting lvls typically. Norm difficulty you should be able to finish with most builds solo or not at around lvl 30.
Anyways there is no one general answer for this. But if you’re lvl 55 or whatever and you’re having big issues, it is either your build, or the way you’re playing.
And if you mean Zeal and Hammers in same build? THAT is your problem. Can’t do both to be truly effective. Pick one. (hammers are best, but boring to play)
Yeah I did. So what? I still killed Baal at lvl 23 with a Druid. Just apart of me testing various lil things for laddder.
sounds like you spent wayy too much time in normal difficulty.
that’s about the same level that you should be just starting hell difficulty.
at least you should have an easier time boss running in nightmare
I think he’s having trouble in NM at lvl 55…
Not everyone has gear from Hell or runewords. Perhaps he hasn’t even put in a total of 30 hours into the game yet. That could explain why he has difficulty in NM.
I have zero gear from Hell. Haven’t played Hell much yet. Been making too many other characters. Plus it is non ladder so I don’t care. And I don’t have many runewords, none that are high lvl. Lets see… Running a Stealth with 96 Def (upgraded from my Stealth with 9 Def), and a mix of MF and FCR gear. Nothing high lvl (obviously as I’m only 23 with this char). Though I will admit, I have acquired full Sigons Set with different char before starting this character. Full Sigs makes any build strong in norm basically. But I opted for change in A5 to a MF/FCR mix. So all my gear is technically crap for the most part. But, I actually know how to play the game so… If you really want, I’ll go through the hassle to show you pics of my current gear on lvl 23 Druid. I sacrifice +skills, defense, and such for a balance of MF and FCR out of what gear I currently have.
BTW… you don’t need ANY gear for norm. Ive played through Norm naked with multiple builds multiple times in the past.
We were discussing NM, not normal you dunce. Who cares about normal? Anyone can do it. NM is when you actually need some decent gear. OP was talking about NM.
We get it. The way you’re writing back, it’s like your god’s gift to Earth. You’re just a godly player on D2 and nobody can match you.
No, there are way “better” players than me… Well I don’t like to play Sorc so, yeah… Anyways my bad. I guess I misunderstood what you were replying to. No need to be a clown, but whatever. juss another hater 
Anyways, again, you don’t need high lvl gear for NM, nor Hell to get through. High lvl gear proper for your char/build, it just makes things faster/easier. Not necessarily “viable” as most builds are viable still with lower gear.
My best guess, until OP clarifies at least, he is having issues due to his build. He went with a Zeal/Hammer hybrid? No shat he is gonna have issues, and gear won’t fix his build mistake.
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I have one character for each class and all of them are still in Normal. The highest level is my Paladin at level 30, part way through Act 5 Normal. I doubt he will be higher than 35 when I reach Baal. Now, I do have to say that right before beating Diablo, I was able to make an Ancient’s Pledge shield and that had a huge difference.
Otherwise, I have just been having fun running around and taking my time, since the last time I played on PC over 5 years ago, and have found some useful low-level gear to swap around.
As for actual minimum level, I am trying to remember from my PC days what levels a character had to be to even enter the next difficulty, such as when being rushed. I think it is level 20 for NM and 40 for Hell?
There’s a lot of trash posts in this thread from trolls, please ignore those.
You don’t need to worry about your character level relative to the area level that you’re fighting in so much. Assuming you’re progressing through the game normally and aren’t rushing through it, your gear is going to matter a lot more than your character level. If you’re new to the game make sure that you become familiar with how runewords work, as they are an essential mechanic that you can only learn about from sources outside of the game.
Your particular build matters too, and if you have doubts about where you’re investing skill points you can find many great guides online that will help you.
just going to say, i found my characters, at any time, usually entering nighmare around level 30-ish, sometimes late 20’s (27 to 29)
i dont think you can enter hell before level 45, if i remember right, they were locked cause of rushing (thus why some might do nm chaos runs). i honestly don’t quite remember for hell difficulty.
It took a lot of searching to find it, but the key is the level required to do the Ancients quest in Act 5 and get access to Baal. A character has to be at least level 20 in Normal to complete this quest, and level 40 in Nightmare to complete it.
Also, the general recommendations are to be in Nightmare by level 36 or 37, because the Normal monsters give less than 100% XP at that character level, even in Act 5.
Well I’ve cleared 2 characters solo on hell and this is my take on it.
Don’t go by level at all.
The best way to judge if you’re on course is how easily can you kill without taking lots of damage.
Now if you want tips to get all the way through hell I have some.
First you need “gas” if you want to make it. That’s a good amount of gold to pay for potions and reviving mercs. So save it as you go. Also pick up every rejuvenation potion you find. You will need to combine 3 in your cube to make full heal ones. As many as you can get.
Second if your build is putting points into energy it’s wrong for hell. Zero points in energy. Increase mana with items, buy more potions. Also you only need enough strength or dexterity to equip items. No more. Rest goes in vitality.
Third, if your build is off or experimental you will suffer. So much suffering. Even good tested builds require determination to execute and win. Your items simply need to enhance the goal of the build. + to All skills is a must have for the skills to do enough damage.
Lastly. Have a gritty, bloodshot eye, FU I will win this attitude. Put on the heavy metal. Pound coffee. Every time I hit a waypoint I was saying in my head
“I’m on your property $$&#*!.”
“I’m in your back yard!”
“I’m eating all your food!”
“$&$# your couch!”
You get the idea. Till you’re lookin at Baal’s stupid face. Then crush him.
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Someone already posted the basic progression, but I’d just add to that that resistances are what matter the most and you can get those from common runewords like Ancient’s Pledge and Smoke. Act 5 normal gives you the runes for Ancient’s Pledge (you’ll probably have them by then anyway and can also farm off Countess). You can farm NM Countess to get a Lum for Smoke.
I don’t know where the impressions of having issues is coming from, I never said I was having issues I’m in hell now, only had issues with those dolls in Mephistos area or getting to level 2 and 3 if Mephisto’s. My gear is pretty good, resistantances at 75% except for posion which is currently at 15%, my hammers cut through most things easily and my zeal is even better, been farming Mephisto in Hell and got my hands on a mace that has 55 Frozen Orb charges and found another one with 3 sockets. I have a Paladin spirit shield. I’m doing fine in Hell. I was only asking which levels we should aim for in different areas of the game, I don’t know where the “Havung difficulties” came from. But I appreciate everyone who took the time to reply
The problem was the lack of all this information in your opening post. You gave so little detail that is was easy to see it as “I am level 55 in Nightmare. Am I too low a level (because I am having trouble).” That is what everyone saw from your post.