Good class combinations?

[An Ning]

I found that you can't pick the same class twice to get the first upgrades 2x (though it WILL use up your choice so you won't be able to pick another class later)... and also found that warrior/defender is basically useless because... well.. defenders seem to suck in general (the defense and health you gain is nothing compared to the damage you take, the damage you deal is less than half of a warrior's damage, and your shield block is actually outdone by a warrior's ability to dodge or ignore damage).

So... rather than find out the rest the hard way (such as finding out that Pyromancer's golem cannot be healed by a nature-caster), I was wondering what some good class combinations are.

[Axercist]

I've read that Warfare/Dream is pretty awesome!

[Runic]

Warfare+Defense is actually the strongest and most reliable (but comparatively boring) build in the game.

Blocking with shield is the least interesting part of Defense. Note that your shield also does damage. With full shield charge, it hits up to 6 adjacent targets. And that's independent of the shield procs from the right-most Pulverize passives (which is essentially like dual-wielding).

There's also a great deal of synergy between Warfare+Defense. You can actively stack Colossus and Battle Standard. And passively, Battle Rage and Adrenaline also stack when they proc (on top of Onslaught).

There are also many gear options that boost +Defense in the game, so it's easy to maximize your skill point investment in Defense.

[Arckeiner]

Dream/anything makes for a really powerful attacker class. Anything/dream makes for a really powerful mage class. Warfare as a LOT a passives conserning dual melee. Runemaster is utter ♥♥♥♥. It is supposed to be a hybrid class (attack/magic) but it fail at both side of the builds.

[marLeo]

Originally posted by Runic:

Warfare+Defense is actually the strongest and most reliable (but comparatively boring) build in the game.

I disagree. The Conqueror is a good build but definitely not the strongest and most reliable imo. The Warden is much more reliable, because he has a much better defense, and can become a super sayian to crush bosses faster than any other build I've played so far. And thanks to Art of the Hunt and Study Prey he can kill monsters as fast as a Conqueror as well. My level 70 Conqueror, which was my first char overall, has real troubles to stay alive against mass archers or casters in late Legendary because it's hard to raise the defense to a level you don't have to worry about. He certainly dishes out a lot of damage, but overall I don't really like that build anymore. In contrast to the Conq., I've just finished Legendary Act 5 on a hardcore run with my new Warden with 0 deaths and with ease.

Given all this, I don't understand why the Conqueror is such a famous class and the Warden extremely unpopular.

Originally posted by An Ning:

... and also found that warrior/defender is basically useless because... well.. defenders seem to suck in general (the defense and health you gain is nothing compared to the damage you take, the damage you deal is less than half of a warrior's damage, and your shield block is actually outdone by a warrior's ability to dodge or ignore damage).

See above.

I assume, you haven't played the game much yet and thus haven't experienced Act 4 and higher difficulties. Good defence becomes an integral part there. That doesn't mean you have to take the Defensive mastery or even be a good defensive char, if you have something else to protect your char with (like spells). But the Defensive mastery is definitely worth trying out. Your statement that the shield block it outdone by dodge is completely wrong. You can raise your shieldblock to an extend where you're barely getting hit anymore. This can't be done with dodge or at least is very hard to do and would sacrifice a lot other stuff (like offensive capability) to accomplish. The part about the damage is also not true. What amount of damage a defender deals depends on his second class. And even if you go full defensive with a Warden (Def+Hunt) you can raise your damage to levels that rival any Conqueror while having much less trouble at staying alive.

[PaNacKe]

Originally posted by Vanguard:

I've read that Warfare/Dream is pretty awesome!

It is, one of my personal favorite :)