I always find it interesting how our first character ends up shaping how we see the whole game. Some people never leave their first pick, others bounce around until something just clicks.
What drew you to that class back then — the look, the story, the skills, or just the vibe? And did you stay loyal to it, or did another class steal your heart later on?
(I made a post like this yesterday, but for some reason it was deleted?)
In 2003 a gf gave me DII, and while I was installing it a Starcraft friend told me I need LoD. So I ran down the road and picked it up.
I first played the barbarian, and it took me forever to figure out how to get past act 4. My younger cousin lived with me, when I wasn’t playing he would take his paladin onto open bnet. So one day I tried that and walked out into normal Blood Moor, and killed a few fallen, click a few chests, and over turned a few rocks and, BLAM, I had full IK, RF and DS rings, and HL amulet.
These awesome color green and gold items inspired me to level my barbarian using about 20 small charms that each gave me almost 500% experience per kill. I was able to use the full IK in no time at all. I was in love! Then one day I joined open bnet, played around, and then played single player, and found half my IK gear was gone.
I called Blizzard, and the person I spoke to told me I wasn’t hacked and that I should play on closed bnet, it’s a lot safer. The person on the phone also pointed me to the original Blizz D2 LoD forums, where I quickly learned that only the good players play hardcore ladder. I took that as religious and never played a softcore character again. Which had me missing out on years of PvP fun, though I did do a little hc pking on ladder.
And so I’ve only played HC barbarians, and on every ladder, even to this day. I currently have the second highest barb on DII ladder, and one of the highest non-bot barbs LoD ladder.
Haha, your story really hits home. I actually started with the Diablo II demo, which only had the Barbarian, and I used the same character file when the full game came out. By the time the expansion dropped, I was still rocking that same old character!
It’s wild how those early characters stick with you — they carry so many memories, and it feels almost like a little personal legacy every ladder.
I beat Diablo 2 for the first time with the leap-strike Barbarian, and at a time, I thought the build was the way to go. I roughly recall jumping at bosses for 15-30 minutes
I beat hell mode for the first time using paladin, but I was using 2 handed hammer because I didn’t know any better. I was about 12 years old.
Now I have some sentimental value for the BloodTree Stump hammer, because it’s the first viable unique item that I finished the hell with as a child. As a 2 handed paladin no less.
and u still v1rgin 
Hmm, i mean I played diablo 1 quite a bit before d2. D2 was such a huge upgrade. You can finally RUN lol..
I played the warrior and rogue in d1. In d2, i guess i started with the paladin. Idk, when i started playing d2, it was quite a stressful time in my life so I couldn’t get proper hooked. Only some 4-5 years later i could find the time to really get into it. So then the bowa was the go to, and javazon.
First time playing with pala was like ridiculous ^^ computer chopping as hell, barely making progress ^^ got to act 4 nightmare and i just gave up lol ^^ using zeal, and i think i found headstriker or ginther’s rift, one of the two.
But the combination of the community, trading, layout, realistic graphics, loot system, skill system. Everything about d2 is appealing. Or, was then, and still is, to me.
I started playing hardcore in about 2017 and never looked back. Made my mistakes and know all the traps now. Hc adds another dimension.
u the biggest noob on D2 !!! My mates PK you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx times … made you play solo like a bot
This is why drugs are illegal