Character Recommendation for Newer Players (+ some tips)

[username1]

This is not a guide!
But if you're unsure where to start in HoH2, you can try following these recommendations.

Paladin:

Attributes: 90% in STR and rest in Vitality + Focus.
Before LVL10: Level everything equally, his kit allows you to become a tank, and for that, you need everything that Paladin provides, early on, try to focus on unlocking everything from his abilities (including passives)
Weapon choice: Sword (for 20% parry chance) + Shield.
Stats: Focus on Spell Power, Armor, Parry Chance, Cast Speed, -#% Mana Cost.
After LVL10: Spec into Radiance and level Inner Flames, you wont need it higher than lvl3-4. Leveling Immolation is up to you.
Upgrades: Focus on Fire Upgrade for Blessed Strike, +Regen from Lay on Hands, +Res, +Fire Res +Fire Pen for Inner Flames and on Block% Chance for Armored Knight.


Wizard:

Attributes: Early on i recommend you going 70%/30% into INT and Focus, since you will need alot of mana and mana regen accordingly, which isnt really easy to get early in your save. Later, i recommend you respecing into 90% INT and rest in Focus.
Before LVL10: Level everything equally, focus on acquring +jumps and +projectile perks in your walkthrough.
Weapon choice: Wand of your choice + Shield. We use shield instead of book, because later on you will be mostly using Magic Missiles, no time for Traps, also, Shields in this game are lifesavers.
Stats: Focus on Spell Power, Cast Speed, Cooldown Reduction (and maybe 1 item with -#% Mana cost). Getting some Spell Crit + Spell Crit Damage could be handy too.
After LVL10: Spec into Evocation, max Incanter's Cadence and Magic Missiles, everything else you level equally. IGNORE FIREBALL
Upgrades: Focus on +proj and +jump for Magic Missile, Cooldown Reduction for Arcane Intellect, Fire Upgrade for Meteor, Armor Upgrade for Shield, Spell Crit upgrade for Incanter's Cadence. If you'll have to choose between Cooldown Reduction and +% Damage for Arcane Skills, choose Cooldown Reduction.

When leveled, both of these characters grant you good Title upgrades (+60 Armour from Paladin and +40 Spell Power from Wizard) and allow you to grind a little bit more resources in NG+0 and NG+1 without good items or absurd luck.
Later on i recommend you leveling Warlock to 20 for All Resistances bonus and Sorcerer for Mana Regeneration bonus (you can use gear from Wizard to Level Sorc).

Tips section:
1. If you're using shield, use it to avoid Fire Gargoyle Trap and Poison Dart Trap damage by looking at them, this allows you to mitigate their damage with shield passive.
2. Rush Guild upgrades until lvl 3, this will allow you to evolve your character at LVL10.
3. After defeating certain bosses in the game, you will be able to skip stages to speed up your re-runs. If you want to know about all the shortcuts, here's a video. Be alert, video containts spoilers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f09LtB5EQGE
4. In later stages of the game, some mobs will start to use elemental magic, be very caucious about Lightning Spells, they will kill you if you'll be reckless.
5. Every stage (except Forest) contains a secret room, these rooms contain chests with trinkets/items/materials. If you want gain all the power you can, look for them. More about them here - https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3409086872
6. Pay attention to Trinket Set Bonuses, some of them are real game changers.