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There are some great advantages to taking a diversified group down into the dungeon. The Warrior, Rogue, and Sorcerer all complement each others' strengths.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when partaking in multiplayer games is the concept of split experience. As long as a character gets in at least one hit against a creature, that character will gain a portion of the experience when the other players finally kill that monster. So, when your character is too weak or too injured to fight hand-to-hand, try to hit each monster once with a bow or spell, and you'll share in the experience. This will help characters in a party advance at relatively the same rate, or will allow your inferior Rogues to rapidly advance if you can sneak them into high-level multiplayer games.
And while on the subject of sneaking, attend the tale of a young rogue, who foolishly tried to enter an advanced game on Battle.net. Bettina the Warrior Queen, a powerful regular, placed a highly coveted Bow of Piercing on the ground and told young rogue she could have it if she wanted. As the young rogue moved to pick up the bow, however, she felt three sharp stings in her back and then no more--Bettina had ambushed her! "Stop trying to poach off the droppings of your superiors, Novice!" Bettina thundered.
The Warrior should generally be used as the front man, charging the dungeon inhabitants and engaging in hand-to-hand combat. This provides a moving line of defence (or a great distraction) for the Rogue and Sorcerer to hide behind or manoeuvre around while they use their ranged attacks to inflict damage from a distance. The downside of this is that the Warrior ends up taking the brunt of the damage for the party, but that's OK--he gets off on it...at least Beefy did. As you guessed, he's not the smartest of heroes, but he's the toughest. (For more info on the Warrior, click the warrior button at the top of screen.)
The Rogue, on the other hand, is a bit tougher to control in multiplayer play. Being a skilled archer, she should use a bow to damage creatures from afar, but the problem is that her arrows can endanger any characters in the line of fire. Firing angles are crucial with the Rogue--make sure you are 45 to 135 degrees to either side of those big, frontline Warriors--they may like getting bashed on the brain with a club or scratched by claws, but they do not like getting shot in the rump.
The Sorcerer's most effective offensive spell, at least in the beginning of early levels of a multiplayer game, is Holy Bolt--a powerful spell that damages only the undead. This spell will harmlessly pass through your allies and wreak havoc on skeletons. A Sorcerer with a high-level Holy Bolt can stand protected behind other party members while unleashing a devastating stream of Holy Bolts--without endangering fellow adventurers. The Holy Bolt spell will even work against Diablo, although by that level Sorcerers will usually have learned more powerful spells. On the downside, be careful with the rest of your spells, especially Charged Bolt and other wide-area spells--your friends won't particularly like hanging out with you if you keep singeing their feet. Firebolts work pretty well, though, as do Bone Spirit and Stone Curse. With these spells your Sorcerer can weaken your foes, and the Warrior and Rogue can finish the job. Against unique monsters that have resistance to the offensive spells the Sorcerer would normally use, or when the only other spells the Sorcerer knows would injure the other players, use less-offensive spells like Heal Other to keep your party in the fray.
Two spells that all members of the party should carry in their inventory are Town Portal and Resurrect. Make sure that whoever casts the Town Portal is the last to enter it when returning to the dungeon; otherwise it will close up, stranding one adventurer, and another portal will need to be cast. Town Portal spells are always for sale from Adria, the witch.
Resurrect is another useful spell for reviving slain party members without their having to restart again in town. Just make sure everyone leaves their Resurrect spell on the ground in a common location (near the stairs is as good a place as any). If you die, your scrolls are inaccessible.
