D2R Hardcore

[PC2]

How far have you gotten in hardcore? I'd like this to be a thread where we talk about ways of beating the game! Do veterans have any tips for relatively new players?

Personally, my two hardcore characters are now just over level 80 and I've collected enough good gear and charms to make sure I always have +175 to all resistances in hell mode and I finally feel like I'm in a safe place to work towards beating the game, which for me is to solo Baal. After that I heard there are harder versions called "ubers" which I may try to work up to those eventually.

Also if you think the game should be changed in any way in the hardcore version it would be interesting to hear about other people's gaming philosophies.

[Biomega]

My usual advice is "don't" The game still has weird issues every now and then, with disconnects and so on. The original had issues, too. Most kills in HC that aren't straight being dumb are due to connection issues. It's a very old game after all, and though D2R fixed some things, a lot of the old code is still causing problems.

That being said, aside from obvious stuff like max resists (as you mentioned), the most important thing to watch out for in HC are certain monster configurations. Stygian Dolls and Burning Souls are among the most notorious HC killers, and can catch you unawares. There's also some elite affixes that can be VERY dangerous together, such as Extra Strong + Extra Fast (+Might/Fanaticism even worse). It's also possible to maneuver in unfortunate ways and get yourself boxed in, cutting off your avenues of escape. Those are easily avoided with some awareness, and a liberal use of logout/remake to get different setups. Since there's no "cheat death" function like there is in D3, there's definitely some places where it's advisable to simply remake the game and hope for a better roll, than to try and fight through bad monsters/elites. A5 Throne Room for example can have both Dolls AND Souls, which is not something you want to engage in HC. Just leave.

Lastly, the classes also have very high variance in how tough they are. Many Sorc builds are squishy, and rely on quickly teleporting around to maximize efficiency; that can lead to trouble if you happen to teleport into an unfortunate pack you couldn't see. On the other side of the spectrum, e.g. Paladins have massive defenses with thicc resists and block, and can often survive against a lot of stuff others run away from; but they're far from immortal, and getting caught unawares can be deadly. Necromancers have lots of tools to stay out of danger - minons, walls and prisons, etc. But that slows down your pace, and D2 is a game of efficiency above all else - if you ever want to farm, you'll quickly learn the value of speed. If all you care about is beating Baal, though, you can probably do it very slowly and very safely with many classes. Just know what you can and cannot take on.

[PC2]

My usual advice is "don't"

That's what I've been hearing, that it's not very feasible to beat the game. But the thing is those pessimists have to be wrong because just a week ago I played with a level 96 barbarian who said he had BIS gear and showed me his Enigma and other stuff I had never seen. I asked him to help me with the Diablo quest and he killed Diablo in like 90 seconds after entering the game and using the River of Flame Waypoint. He told me to stand behind a pillar in the Chaos Sanctuary and then he soloed Diablo in just like 5 seconds. I only saw one ring of fire expand outwards from Diablo and then my boss quest was complete. Baal only took slightly longer, where waiting for the monster waves in Baal's Throne Room was the most waiting we did.

So that's why I'm not quite understanding why people are saying HC is too hard to beat even though I saw a veteran player dominate the game with my own eyes.

the most important thing to watch out for in HC are certain monster configurations. Stygian Dolls and Burning Souls are among the most notorious HC killers, and can catch you unawares. There's also some elite affixes that can be VERY dangerous together, such as Extra Strong + Extra Fast (+Might/Fanaticism even worse). It's also possible to maneuver in unfortunate ways and get yourself boxed in, cutting off your avenues of escape.

Ah okay thanks, that's what I need to memorize! Those combinations that are uncommon but deadly.

[hulkgor]

Only way i can play any aRPG (be it Diablo 2:R, Path of Exile, whichever) is on Hardcore.

That said, i play a lot of characters at the same time, and usually get tired of them once entering hell with all the immunities and all that entails (it really is a nuisance have certain builds not viable whatsoever), and chars not being strong enough to plow through it. Still have fun regardless.

Apart from the typical max out resistances, stack up vitality and the likes, don't really know much more to help. There are plenty of guides around with a lot of tips, runewords to use, bases to keep, that might be useful. https://d2.maxroll.gg/category/guides has a lot of cool info.

And yea, as already mentioned by another user, watch out for those damn stygian dolls!

[Gravity2015]

I had a couple goals coming into D2R
1) - Obtain full Tal Rasha set for my wiz - my childhood dream has been accomplished
2) - beat baal in hell on HC - SSF - havent even made a hc char yet, but im going to!
3) - level one character to 99 - highest is 91

the crashes in game along with my lately unstable internet have me resisting all urges to try HC playthrough

[PC2]

My Druid died but I was finally able to go through hell mode (efficiently) with my javazon that is now level 90. Here's my notes:

-The number one most important thing to do at first is to schmooze with the elite veterans. If you find the right people they'll let you leech off their games for a while and shower you with uniques while showing you the game in safe manner.

-Focus on defense first and then incrementally transition to more offensive gear in hell mode once you feel comfortable with your skill level and experience.

-People say everything is about gear and levels don't matter but that's not quite true. When I went from level 75 to 90 it's true that those extra skills and primary stats aren't worth much, however, those extra levels did actually make a big difference for my desert mercenary. Every level gives him an extra point of resistance and higher stats that are needed to wear some gear pieces. Plus the skill level bonus every few levels. In my experience there is certain "breaking points" where small improvements eventually have a big effect on follower survivability.

-Bosses are not the hardest part of the game. I view some "entrances" and "corners" as the hardest part of the game because sometimes there are dangerous mobs right next to an entrance or corner where you don't really have much time to move or respond after your game loads. Where as with a boss you know exactly what to expect every time.

-They should change attack speed text to either "fast" or "never usable", because in reality those are the only options(lol). Slow weapons seem unbearable.

---

What are your next plans for D2R hardcore? I have the Immortal King set on my mule character so my next character I'm going to level might be a barbarian. Either that or I'm going to try out one of those electric trap assassins or level another javazon with a different build. My Diablo friends mostly play the best builds like with a Blessed Hammer paladin or a cold sorc, so I try to pick different classes that way we're not all looking for the same stuff.

[Nymfomania]

Resits, absorb, block, def, NOT BEING CARELESS is key.

I was running baal with a group, found some 2 burning souls and zap, zap i was dead. I hadn't switched to my pri weapon and my resists were maybe 20. Otherwise they are normally 50+ as i was working on getting a final couple items.

[PC2]

Resits, absorb, block, def, NOT BEING CARELESS is key.

I just recently got a "Spirit" runeshield which has magic absorb on it, it's a nice bonus.

I was running baal with a group, found some 2 burning souls and zap, zap i was dead. I hadn't switched to my pri weapon and my resists were maybe 20. Otherwise they are normally 50+ as i was working on getting a final couple items.

Oh I'd certainly be dead if I played with 20% resist. For me I have to play with 65-75% resistance to all elements because there's no way I can avoid everything. I got hit by 6 burning soul lightning bolts at once in the Plains of Despair in hell mode and it only hit me for 40-50% of my HP! (Without Battle Orders buff)

[Nymfomania]

I just recently got a "Spirit" runeshield which has magic absorb on it, it's a nice bonus.


Oh I'd certainly be dead if I played with 20% resist. For me I have to play with 75% resistance to all elements because there's no way I can avoid everything. I got hit by 6 burning soul lightning bolts at once in the Plains of Despair in hell mode and it only hit me for 40-50% of my HP! (Without Battle Orders buff)

I was using the 5% staff rather then my wiz, so yeah it dropped a lot. I try to keep it 75% or higher when i play. I should have gotten tgods to run with also.

[PC2]

Season 1 starts this month! I am stoked about it. I haven't played a necromancer yet so I'm going to try out that class in the hardcore season. What are you guys going to be playing?

Hopefully they offer some type of extra reward for completing a season, like in D3. But I read that there is some unique seasonal gear that you can keep after the season ends, which is cool.

[Necromantic]

That's what I've been hearing, that it's not very feasible to beat the game.

Hardcore is an awesome idea but Diablo 2 has been around for 2 decades and it still has rubber-banding, which is a huge bane to hardcore. The idea of hardcore is to play the game carefully and not go in guns-a-blazing. I'm fine dying because I was careless and will always accept it and move on. But when I die because of Blizzard's servers, that's not my fault. Sure, it's a risk you take but a risk that shouldn't even be there to begin with.

This is why I stick to hardcore on Diablo 3 where most of that stuff isn't a real issue. Lag spikes occasionally but that goes with any online game.