Welcome to the world of Sanctuary, hero. Whether you march as an Amazon, Barbarian, Necromancer, Paladin, or Sorceress (or the Assassin and Druid brought by Lord of Destruction), every class carries three skill trees. You earn one skill point per level, plus a few more from quests such as clearing the Den of Evil and defeating Radament in each difficulty. Spend those points with care.

Once a point is placed, it stays placed. Neither the Battle.net realms nor an Open or TCP/IP game will let you unlearn a skill. A careless build can leave a high-level character too weak to survive Nightmare or Hell, so plan the whole tree before you ever click.

Since the latest patch, many skills gain synergy bonuses from related skills in the same tree. A Sorceress who wants a mighty Frozen Orb should also feed Ice Bolt, Ice Blast, and Glacial Spike. A Paladin's Blessed Hammer grows fierce with points in Blessed Aim and Vigor. Read each skill description for its listed synergies, then pour points into the whole family, not one skill alone.

• It is perfectly safe to bank points. If your next skill needs a higher character level or a prerequisite, hold rather than waste.
• Many higher skills require a point in their prerequisites. Chart your path to the top of the tree first.
• Only hard points (the ones you place yourself) count toward synergies. Plus skill bonuses from your items raise a skill's level but add no synergy.

1. One point per level, and the hero cap is level 99, so every point is precious.
2. Do not skip the skill point quests in Normal, Nightmare, and Hell.
3. Test a build in Normal before you commit to the harder difficulties.

A focused caster or a well-synergized melee hero will carry you from Andariel to Baal. Guess wildly and you may be rolling a fresh character instead. Plan your tree, and the Prime Evils will fall. See you in the realms.