This isn't really the case. Mercenaries can carry the entire game for you, and building with more than one damage type is not hard. There are some builds that work better than others when it come to solo play-throughs, but just about every build can do it. Diablo 2 is actually an incredibly easy game once the player recognizes certain item mod mechanics.

I'm a two-time winner of Baron Bazaars halloween HC contest, and in one of those I made guardian without using any skill points (IIRC it was on a barbarian). Winning in Diablo 2 comes down to playing the game so you don't need specific items to make the build viable.

I need to get the Diablo bundle someday.

Sadly, Diablo 1 has been completely discontinued and it is no longer possible to buy it in any form or bundle. Your only option is to look for a second hand copy (it'll be hard; Diablo 1 hasn't been sold stand-alone in over a decade).

That's right, the bundle I'm thinking of includes the expansion and a guide.

I figure this is as good a place as any to ask: Anyone have problems getting the Diablo 2 disc to work on windows 7?

I did a quick search and second copies are pretty cheap. I'll look into it myself later but ask here in case anyone knows already. What about DRM, is there any?

(Guessing not since it was in the 90s but tbh I'm not sure when PC games started getting DRM lol)

For Diablo 2, there is a CD-key and disc check. If you fully-patch the game, the disc check is removed. Last I checked you could register your CD-key with Blizzard and get an installer that contains the fully-patched game.

Diablo 1 has a disc check.