Melee Characters include the Barbarian, Shapeshifting Druid, Paladin, Assassin, and Spear Amazon.

There are many options for Melee Characters. Although this page has suggestions about popular items, there is no perfect guide to the best items to wear. Generally, it is best to rate items against each other and select the one that best help your character. This page mostly lists the Ultimate Items rather than listing all options available. Check out the Item Section for a more complete list of what is available.

Basic Magic Ability List

Damage
The higher your damage then the faster monsters will die. Find weapons that do the most damage possible. Runes or jewels that are "Enhanced Damage" can also improve equipment and socketed items.

% Mana Steal, % Life Steal and Cold Damage
Melee Characters typically do not raise their energy. Instead, Melee Characters usually rely on % Mana Steal items to refill their Mana. Items that add to Mana will be sufficient to raise Mana reserves to a high enough level to support skills. % Life Steal keeps characters at full health and allows them to quickly recover from damage and use few potions. Cold Damage is also very useful because it not only chills monsters, but it also causes some of them to shatter leaving no corpse for the monsters to raise their fallen friends. One point of Cold Damage is all it takes to chill monsters. Popular items for Cold Damage are the Eye of Etlich and Frostburns. You can also use a Charm, which might be even easier.

Sockets
Use the Socket Quest and Horadric Cube Formula to socket items (even Rare, Crafted, Set, Unique) and enhance them with good jewels and runes.

Resistances
It is best to try to maximize Resistances, especially Lightning, Fire and Cold.

Hit Recovery
Items with Hit Recovery allow you to quickly recover after you being hit. Without Hit Recovery items, a character is hit, it will be stunned and will stand in place until able to move again. If multiple monsters are attacking at once, the character may be continually stunned until it dies. But, with Hit Recovery items, characters can quickly return to battle after being hit. Hit Recovery items stack so they can be used on several different pieces of equipment (belts, armor, boots or, shields) to significantly reduce the length of time a character is stunned.

Increased Attack Speed
Items that "Increase Attack Speed" enable your characters to swing weapons more rapidly or shoot faster. Here are some examples:

*Magic Jewels with 15% Increased Attack Speed Socketed in body armor, helms, shields or weapons
*Shael Rune with 20% Increased Attack Speed Socketed in weapons
*Weapons with Increased Attack Speed
*Rare Gloves that spawn with Alacrity, which can potientially give 3/3 Life/Mana Steal, and Resistances *6/3 Dual Mana/Life Steal if they are Crafted Blood Gloves.
*4 Socket Armor with 15% Increased Attack Speed Jewels
*Set Bramble Mitts: Laying of Hands (20%) (Very Powerful and Popular)
*Set Sharkskin Gloves: Magnus' Skin (20%)
*Set Heavy Gloves: Sander's Taboo (20%)
*Set Diadem: M'avina's True Sight (30%)
*Unique Battle Gauntlets: Lava Gout (20%)
*Unique Studded Leather: Twitchthroe (20%)
*Unique Heavy Belt: Goldwrap (10%)
*Unique Tigulated Mail: Crow Caw (15%)
*Unique Amulet: The Cat's Eye (20%)
*Unique Amulet: Highlord's Wrath (20%)

Damage Reduced by X%
These items significantly reduce damage. There are seven Unique pieces of armor and the Ber Rune, which reduces damage by 8% in armor, helms and shields. There is a 50% Cap on these items. The following is not a complete list of all Damage Reducing items.

*Unique Monarch: Stormshield (35%)
*Unique Grim Helm: Vampire Gaze (15-20%) (Incredible Helm!)
*Unique Mesh Armor: Shaftstop (30%)
*Unique Demonhide Sash: String of Ears (10-15%) (Great Melee Belt)
*Unique Field Plate: Rockfleece (10%)
*Unique Shako: Harlequin Crest (10%)
*Unique Sallet: Rockstopper (10%)
*Unique Corona: Crown of Ages (10-15%)
*Rune: Ber (8%)

Prevent Monster Heal
At higher difficulty levels, monsters regenerate. Find a Prevent Monster Heal item to stop them from healing.

Magic Find
Magic Find generally comes at a price. For more tips on Magic Find Equipment go here.

Charms
Good Charms to have are + Life, + Skills, + Maximum Damage, + Elemental Damage and, + Resistances.

When looking for weapons, damage is the main concern. For skills that do not ignore weapon speed, find a fast weapon. Using items that increase weapon speed is also very important. Other key weapon types include those that steal Life and/or Mana, give bonuses to skills, or have other useful statistics, especially Cold Damage.

Range might be a consideration when selecting which weapons to master. Consult the Items Section for a listing of weapons and weapon ranges. It is easy to notice the difference between a Pike with a Range of 5, and a Sword with only a range of 1. Pikes can hit monsters much further away and in many cases, kill the monster before it gets within melee range.

Try to find the ultimate weapon of each weapon class. When evaluating weapons, keep the weapon that does the most average damage [(Minimum + Maximum)/ 2] rather than the the most maximum damage.

"Cruel" Magical Weapons, which can offer +201-300% damage, are available from vendors. Keep exiting and re-entering town to "re roll" the vendors until they offer one of these items. You can then socket the items and add other runes or jewels to them.

Use Imbue Quest Reward and Cube Formulas to attempt to create a high damage Rare or Crafted Weapon.

In addition to the popular choices below, check out the Basic Magic Ability List for other armor types including Defense Rare or Crafted Armor as well as different Set or Unique Armor.

Some Powerful Armor

Unique Balrog Skin: Arkaine's Valor (Incredible bonuses such as +2 Skills, High Defense, Vitality, Life and more. Very Rare)

Tal Rasha's Guardianship (40% Cold/Lightning/Fire Resist, 88% Magic Find, High Defense, more)

Unique Tigulated Mail: Crow Caw (15% Increased Attack Speed).

Unique Mesh Armor: Shaftstop (30% Damage Reduction)

Other Mid Range Armor

Unique Ghost Armor: The Spirit Shroud (+1 To All Skills, Cannot Be Frozen). Can be Socketed with an Um Rune for an additional All Resistances +15, as can other armor listed here.

Unique Serpentskin Armor: Skin of the Vipermagi (+1 To All Skills, All Resistances +20-35).

Unique Quilted Armor: Greyform (5% Life Stolen, more). This is good early on.

Unique Studded Leather: Twitchthroe (20% Increased Attack Speed).

Unique Ancient Armor: Silks of the Victor (+1 To All Skills, 5% Mana Steal)

Unique Templar Coat: Guardian Angel (+15% To Maximum Resistances, +1 Paladin Skills, more) This armor allows up to 90% Resistances which is 5% less than the Resistance Cap.

Rune Word: Lionheart (+20% Enhanced Damage, All Resistances +30, more)

Below describes some of the more popular shields. The Basic Magic Ability List provides a more complete list. It includes high Defense Rare or Crafted Armor as well as different Set or Unique Shields. Generally, look for a higher % Blocking instead of Defense and add sockets and runes or jewels to shields for even more benefits.

Powerful Shields

Unique Monarch: Stormshield (35% Damage Reduction).

Unique Round Shield: Moser's Blessed Circle (All Resistances +25, 2 Sockets). The addition of Perfect Diamonds creates a high Resistance Shield.

Sigon's Guard (+1 to All Skills, 69% Blocking)
This Shield is useful for its +1 to Skills and its high Blocking.

Unique Dragon Shield: Tiamat's Rebuke (27-53 Cold Damage, 35-95 Fire Damage, 1-120 Lightning Damage, All Resistances +25-35)

Socketed Tower Shield/Pavise/Aegis/Monarch with 3-4 Perfect Diamonds or Um Runes
As characters move to Act IV and higher difficulty levels, Resistances become very important. A 3-4 Perfect Diamond Shield will offer about 57-76% Resistances, which can offset the -40 and -100 to Resistances on Nightmare and Hell difficulty. Um Runes can be used instead of Perfect Diamonds; however, they are very rare. Added Resistances are much more helpful than the +1 to skills on the Sigon's Guard.

Paladins should look for a good Paladin Shield, especially with high bonuses to All Resistances. The Unique Gilded Shield: Herald of Zakarum is also a good choice for the holy warrior.

Check out the Basic Magic Ability List for a more comprehensive look at available gloves. Generally, most Melee players look for gloves that Increase Attack Speed or add to Magic Find.

Ultimate Gloves?

Set Bramble Mitts: Laying of Hands (20% Increased Attack Speed, +350% Damage To Demons, Fire Resist +50%). These gloves are very powerful due to their Damage vs. Demons. Many monsters are Demons. This damage will not display on the character screen.

Other Gloves

Rare or Crafted Gloves with Increased Attack Speed

Set Sharkskin Gloves: Magnus' Skin (20% Increased Attack Speed)

Set Heavy Gloves: Sander's Taboo (20% Increased Attack Speed)

Set Gauntlets: Sigon's Gage (30% Increased Attack Speed, 10% Life Steal) With another Sigon's Item such as Sigon's Guard, characters receive a 30% Increased Attack Speed bonus on the Gloves as well as a 10% Life Steal Partial Set Bonus.

Unique Leather Gloves: The Hand of Broc (3% Life Stolen, 3% Mana Stolen, +20 to Mana) These gloves are great at early levels and when available Life or Mana Steal is low.

Unique Battle Gauntlets: Lava Gout (20% Increased Attack Speed, more)

Unique Sharkskin Gloves: Gravepalm (100-200% Damage vs. Undead)

Unique Heavy Bracers: Ghoulhide (up to 198% Damage vs. Undead)

Below are some examples of belts that are useful in melee. Check out the Basic Magic Ability List for additional belts.

Good Options

Unique Demonhide Sash: String of Ears (Damage Reduced By 15%) Great Melee Belt

Unique Mesh Belt: Gloom's Trap (5% Mana Steal, Increase Maximum Mana 15%)

Goldwrap (10% Increased Attack Speed, 30% Magic Find)
Increasing weapon speed can be very helpful if using a skill that depends on weapon speed. The downside of using this belt is the missed opportunity to gain other magical stats from a belt such as Life and Resistances.

Set Mithril Coil: Credendum

Set War Belt: Immortal King's Detail (Lightning Resist +31%, Fire Resist +28%, +25 To Strength)

Set Sharkskin Belt: M'avina's Tenet (5% Mana Stolen, 20% Faster Run/Walk)

Set Battle Belt: Wilhelm's Pride (5% Life/Mana Stolen)

Set Belt: Hwainin's Blessing (Prevent Monster Heal, 33 Lightning Damage, more)

Set Mesh Belt: Tal Rasha's Fine-Spun Cloth (15% Magic Find, +20 Dexterity, more)

Set Troll Belt: Trang-Oul's Girth (+66 To life, +25-50 Mana, Cannot Be Frozen, Replenish Life)

Unique War Belt: Thundergod's Vigor (adds 1-50 Lightning Damage, +20 Lightning Absorb, +20 Strength/Vitality)

Check out the Basic Magic Ability List for more boots available. Look for Boots that offer Defense and useful magical bonuses such as Faster Run/Walk, Fastest Hit Recovery, Resistances or additional Life/Mana (if needed). Boots that give a Faster Run/Walk Speed, and faster Stamina Regeneration can really help characters avoid danger and reach their destination much quicker.

Initially, look for boots that reduce Stamina drain or offer additional Stamina. Boots that Heal Stamina 50% will heal Stamina faster when characters stop. Vidala's Fetlock will give 150 additional Stamina. Treads of Cthon will take 50% less Stamina when characters run and walk which means in essence that it doubles Stamina. If Stamina doubled is greater than Stamina +150, then Treads of Cthon will allow a character to run longer than Vidala's.

As Characters accrue more vitality, they can eventually run as often as needed (within reason) and not run out of Stamina. At that point, Stamina reducing boots are no longer needed and should be replaced with "Faster Run/Walk." This will free up Magical Prefix/Suffixes on your boots.

Good Picks

Set Mesh Boots: Natalya's Soul (40% Faster Run/Walk, Cold/Lightning Resist +15%, more)

Set Battle Boots: Aldur's Advance (40% Faster Run/Walk, +180 Maximum Stamina, 10% Damage Taken Goes To Mana, more)

Set Light Plated Boots: Vidala's Fetlock (30% Faster Run/Walk, +150 to Maximum Stamina)
This combination means running is almost unlimited. The only draw back of Vidala's Fetlock is the lost opportunity to wear a Rare pair of boots with Resistances and other useful stats. Once you have enough Stamina, look for better Rare boots.

Unique Chain Boots: Treads of Cthon (30% Faster Run/Walk, 50% Stamina, +50 Defense vs Missile)
Requires 50% less Stamina to run or walk. Treads of Cthon are especially helpful until you can build up enough Stamina is increased to use just Faster Run/Walk boots without additional Stamina or Stamina reduction. Once a high enough level of Stamina is reached, look for better boots.

Unique Greaves: Tearhaunch (20% Faster Run/Walk, All Resistances +10)
While Tearhaunch is slower than Treads of Cthon and Vidala's Fetlock and does not offer any help to Stamina, the +10 to Resistances is pretty handy.

Unique Light Plated Boots: Goblin Toe (25% Chance of a Crushing Blow)
Those willing to give up Fast running boots can get some extra damage from Crushing Blow by using Goblin Toe.

Unique War Boots: Gore Rider (30% Faster Run/Walk, 15% Deadly Strike, 15% Crushing Blow, 10% Open Wounds)

Rare or Crafted Rings
Look for rings that Steal % Mana, and/or Steal % Life. Typically, look for rings that steal as much as possible, but any Life/Mana steal ring will do if the Life and Mana are returned. Other things to look for on the ring are: Resistances (Fire and Lightning especially) and Life. Before Patch 1.08 Dual Mana and Life Steal Rings spawned. Trading with other players is a good method for obtaining one of these rings.

Unique Ring: Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band (+1 To All Skills, 3-5% Life Stolen, more)

Set Ring: Cathan's Seal (6% Life Stolen, Required Level 11). This Ring is good for newbie characters and for players that do not have high-powered Life Steal rings that existed before Patch 1.08

Unique Ring: Manald Heal (4-7% Mana Stolen Per Hit, Regenerate Mana 20%, Replenish Life +5-8, more)

Rare, Crafted, Set, Unique Amulets
There are quite a few useful Amulets offered early in the game. Look for Amulets that Steal Mana and/or Life and that give Resistances. Most players look for +1 or +2 to All Skills. +1-3 to Skill Tabs are also something that can be useful.

When searching for a +1 to +2 All Skills Amulet, useful magical bonuses to have are % Mana Steal, % Life Steal, Magic Damage Reduced by 1-4, Life, Resistances or, Mana (if needed).

Good Amulets

Unique Amulet: The Eye of Etlich (+1 to Skills, 3-7% Life Steal, Cold Damage) This Amulet is popular for the additional skill point, Cold Damage and Life Steal.

Unique Amulet: Highlord's Wrath (+1 To All Skills, Deadly Strike, Lightning Resist +35%, 20% Increased Attack Speed, more)

Unique Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope (+2 To All Skills, All Resistances +20-30, more)

Unique Amulet: Atma's Scarab (2% Chance To Cast Level 4 Amplify Damage On Attack)

Unique Amulet: Saracen's Chance (10% Chance To Cast Level 2 Iron Maiden, All Resistances +15-25, +12 Vitality/Energy/Dexterity/Strength)

Unique Amulet: Crescent Moon (3-6% Life Steal, 11-15% Mana Steal)

Unique Amulet: The Cat's Eye (20% Increased Attack Speed, more).

Unique Amulet: The Mahim-Oak Curio (+10 All Stats, All Resistances +10, +10% Bonus to Attack Rating, more).

Set Amulet: Telling of Beads (+1 to Skills, Resistances)

Check out the Basic Magic Ability List for things to look for.

Ultimate Helms

Unique Grim Helm: Vampire Gaze (15-20% Damage Reduction, 6-8% Life/Mana Steal) Not only does this helm offer 15-20% Damage Reduction, it also has dual Mana/Life Steal, High Defense and other good bonuses.

Unique Shako: Harlequin Crest (+1.5-148.5 Life, 50% Magic Find, +2 All Skills, Damage Reduced By 10%) The main benefit is the 10% Damage Reduction.

Set Death Mask: Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest (10% Life/Mana Steal, All Resistances +15, more) A very nice helm for Melee Characters.

Other Helms

Druid, Barbarian Helms: look for Bonuses to important skills and other Basics.

Circlets: Find a Good Mana or Life Steal Circlet.

Set Winged Helm: Guillaume's Face (35% Chance Of Crushing Blow, 15% Deadly Strike, 30% Faster Hit Recovery)

Unique War Hat: Peasant Crown (+1 To All Skills, +20 To Energy/Vitality, 15% Faster Run/Walk)