Man, let me tell you about this mess I jumped into last night trying to level up a new Paladin on D2. Woke up all excited thinking “Right, holy warrior, easy life!” Yeah, nope. Got slapped around by Fallen shamans before I even reached the Cold Plains. My basic gear? A joke. Rough start.
Trash Drops and Starting the Pain
Started fresh in Blood Moor. First thing I did? Beat up the zombies near Akara. Drops were garbage – chipped gems nobody wants and low-level junk. Couldn’t even upgrade my crappy shield. Had to use whatever fell on the ground: basic sash belt, some busted boots offering nothing useful.
- Weapon: Got a dull Rusty Sword, hit like a wet noodle.
- Shield: Worse than cardboard, tiny block chance.
- Armor: Literally ignored it completely early on.
Scrounging for Anything Decent
Kept grinding around Cold Plains. Stumbled upon this crappy Short Sword dropped off some random goatman. Not great, but slightly better than rust. Kept it. Found a Small Shield with like 12% block chance – still trash, but it was better than nothing. Needed something that made hitting monsters less painful.
Then, clearing the Mausoleum (dark, scary place!), found some decent loot:
- Steelclash Kite Shield: Finally! Some actual block and resist! Felt amazing after that junk starter shield.
- Biggin’s Bonnet Cap: Dropped off Blood Raven (she hates me). Basic, but +15 to attack? Yes please for early bashing!
- Angel’s Ring: Pure luck gambling with Ormus later. +1 to Paladin skills? HUGE help even that early.
Getting Smarter About Fighting
Used Sacrifice with Steelclash shield at first. Hurt myself constantly hitting monsters – felt dumb. Switched to Zeal as soon as I got it. Five rapid hits? Much better! Used the one point in Might aura for extra damage. Faster hitting means less dying. Saved those runes:
- Tir runes: Found two! Slammed them into a cheap 2-socket mask for +4 mana after each kill. Fixed my annoying mana potion addiction.
What Actually Matters Early On
Learned this the hard way:
- Any weapon with life steal or mana steal? GOLD. Lets you grind longer.
- A shield with better block chance and resist? Mandatory unless you love corpse running.
- Skills over stats early: Didn’t bothered much with gear +skills. Put points into Zeal and the aura.
- Runes are key: Tir runes for mana, Orts for cheap weapon damage – find them!
Forget wasting gold gambling this early. Scavenge everything. Found all that junk I used just grinding normally. Took the Steelclash shield and Biggin’s Bonnet cap straight into Act 2. Still not godly, but way less painful than starting naked. Lesson learned? Don’t skip the crappy gear steps – they matter!