[xcman22]

Blizzard's announcement of a 1.13 content patch for Diablo II re-energized my once-a-year addiction to Diablo II. However, I'm going to attempt a new challenge, something I've always wanted to try but never successfully completed. I am going to try and beat the game on Single Player, on Hardcore difficulty, with ONLY the items I find during the game.

Frankly, I think this may be a suicide challenge, but we'll see. I have tried this once before, with a Necromancer, and got all the way to Act III in Hell difficulty before dying. The latest patches have made Hell difficulty pretty frickin' difficult, and I'm savoring the added challenge of having no second chance. I'm thinking of trying an Amazon or a Barb, with my preference being the Amazon because she can kill things from far away.

Anyone have any suggestions/tips they might want to give me before I try it?

[badger2d]

I would be inclined to go with a high-armor, high-HP melee character for this. I think the biggest obstacle is Duriel, who is almost stupid hard in single player. It just isn't possible to stay away from him with a fragile shooter.

'Course, if you did that, you'd face the almost equally unfair danger of the iron maiden curse in act 4.

Hmm...I don't think there's an easy answer. I feel a flicker of temptation to fire up D2 and join in this challenge.

edit: Yoiks, just re-read your post and saw that you'd made it most of the way through Hell difficulty before. I've never done that with any character. I don't think I have any useful advice to offer.

edit 2: What the hell. I started up a hardcore Druid. I'm at level 6 and just knocked over Blood Raven with a cracked scepter, which is the best weapon I've found so far.

Back in Diablo 1 days, btw, people called this the Ironman challenge.

[morback]

Javelin amazon is the best.

I don't remember the exact skill names (it's been a real long time!), but boost charged bolt and lightning fury (or the melee skill that create 1-8 bolts and the throwing skill that splits one javelin into lightnings).

The best of both worlds, with superb block, great ranged damage, excellent melee damage (big bosses eat all bolts! Can get insane damage!).
And maybe with that shiny amazon skill too to help you survive?

That was my most successful and fun build ever.

[xcman22]

badger2d, on March 9th 2009, 11:49 AM, said:

I would be inclined to go with a high-armor, high-HP melee character for this. I think the biggest obstacle is Duriel, who is almost stupid hard in single player. It just isn't possible to stay away from him with a fragile shooter.

'Course, if you did that, you'd face the almost equally unfair danger of the iron maiden curse in act 4.

Hmm...I don't think there's an easy answer. I feel a flicker of temptation to fire up D2 and join in this challenge.

edit: Yoiks, just re-read your post and saw that you'd made it most of the way through Hell difficulty before. I've never done that with any character. I don't think I have any useful advice to offer.

edit 2: What the hell. I started up a hardcore Druid. I'm at level 6 and just knocked over Blood Raven with a cracked scepter, which is the best weapon I've found so far.

Back in Diablo 1 days, btw, people called this the Ironman challenge.

Started a Bowazon, just got to Act 2 at lvl 20. Good luck with the Druid - that should be quite a challenge!

[Spike]

badger2d, on March 9th 2009, 06:49 PM, said:

Back in Diablo 1 days, btw, people called this the Ironman challenge.

A few years ago, some people I had contact with did an Ironman session. It was a little different thou, as in no one could do anything in town but get and turn in quests. This meant no buying, repairing, or Merc.

I formed a session and we started with 5 people and got to Act 3 with 1 or 2 people not making it. Unfortunately, no one got around to organizing continuing on, as I thought is was the best. I did this solo once with an elemental druid and got to Nightmare Act 3 before moving on to something else.

[badger2d]

Spike, on March 15th 2009, 07:50 PM, said:

A few years ago, some people I had contact with did an Ironman session. It was a little different thou, as in no one could do anything in town but get and turn in quests. This meant no buying, repairing, or Merc.

I formed a session and we started with 5 people and got to Act 3 with 1 or 2 people not making it. Unfortunately, no one got around to organizing continuing on, as I thought is was the best. I did this solo once with an elemental druid and got to Nightmare Act 3 before moving on to something else.

Oh yeah, that sounds right. I dithered a bit with my character over the question of whether to play it with no-repair no-merc rules, since this thread's OP didn't specify, but decided not to, although I haven't used a merc yet.

I've got my Druid at level 18 right now. I'm aiming to be an Armageddon Bear, which sounds like a blast, but since it won't really come into its own until after level 30 it's kind of a drag at this stage.

It has been an interesting perspective on the game, though. I find myself approaching monster encounters much differently with the double whammy of hardcore mode and of not being able to chug gallons of potions to push through a tough area.

[dxlr8r]

My Skele-mancer is doing quite alright almost bare naked for items. Never died with him, and now I'm lvl 45 and at soon finished with Act 1@Nightmare.

http://strategy.diab...news.php?id=509

[xcman22]

Well, sadly enough my Bowazon died a horrible death in Act IV in Normal, of all places. Putting the game at Players 8 when killing an extra fast lightning enchanted boss = death.

I started up a Meteorb sorceress, and I managed to get her into Act 1 Nightmare at lvl 57. Frankly, I think she'll die real quick in Hell, but once I got her leveled up she's been crazy good - I've never played this build before, and her fire damage is spectacular.

That being said, frankly I think the Skelemancer is really the only character that can pull off this kind of challenge. The Skelemancer only really needs resistance-boosting items, and as long as you play smart, it's pretty straight forward. Some areas in Act II are really hard because of the narrow spaces, and Iron Maiden isn't fun, but with the ability to remove physical immunes, having an army of tons of skeletons, and an Act 2 merc with the Might aura, as long as you don't rush ahead it's really not all that hard. Maybe the Ancients in Hell, but I've never gotten that far.

[badger2d]

xcman22, on March 16th 2009, 07:37 AM, said:

I started up a Meteorb sorceress, and I managed to get her into Act 1 Nightmare at lvl 57. Frankly, I think she'll die real quick in Hell, but once I got her leveled up she's been crazy good - I've never played this build before, and her fire damage is spectacular,

Act one, nightmare, at level fifty-seven? Surely that's a typo.

[xcman22]

badger2d, on March 16th 2009, 11:04 AM, said:

Act one, nightmare, at level fifty-seven? Surely that's a typo.

Er, yes, that was supposed to be 47 - my bad.

However, I'm sorry to say it doesn't matter anymore, as Duriel killed her before she could Town Portal away in Act II, Nightmare. Stupid Holy Freeze nonsense.

This is my last try - going back to a Skelemancer. Needs almost zero equipment, hopefully I'll do better then lvl 82, which is where my last one died.

[Spike]

xcman22, on March 16th 2009, 02:37 PM, said:

That being said, frankly I think the Skelemancer is really the only character that can pull off this kind of challenge. The Skelemancer only really needs resistance-boosting items, and as long as you play smart, it's pretty straight forward.

Only playing untweaked isnt that hard, and I have gotten to Hell difficulty with Sorc, Druid, and Barbarian untweaked.

Ironman, on the other hand, is what I am getting anxious again on seeing how far I can make it. Most classes I know I wouldnt make it far at all solo. I think Im gonna try and see how far I can get a Druid ironman. In addition to not doing anything in town besides quest turn in, ironman doesnt allow upping the players or re-running areas. .... fun stuff!

[DaveyJJ]

Must resist urge to fire up DII. How could I play Peggle and D2 at some time? Must resist.

[the Battle Cat]

DaveyJJ, on March 16th 2009, 01:32 PM, said:

Must resist urge to fire up DII. How could I play Peggle and D2 at some time? Must resist.

Shirley you can play Peggle with your feet by now. And yes, I was calling you Shirley.

[xcman22]

Spike, on March 16th 2009, 01:24 PM, said:

Only playing untweaked isnt that hard, and I have gotten to Hell difficulty with Sorc, Druid, and Barbarian untweaked.

Ironman, on the other hand, is what I am getting anxious again on seeing how far I can make it. Most classes I know I wouldnt make it far at all solo. I think Im gonna try and see how far I can get a Druid ironman. In addition to not doing anything in town besides quest turn in, ironman doesnt allow upping the players or re-running areas. .... fun stuff!

With all due respect, getting to Hell isn't the hard part - it's beating Hell that's insanely tough. With just the items that your character finds along the way, with no other support or cheats or traded items or whatever, it's pretty hard to not die at least once. Monsters have tons of immunes, Iron Maiden in Act IV will kill almost any Barb, Sorceresses need some nice gear to really survive, and Lord only knows about Druids. Even a Skelemancer, with like 10 minions protecting him, can get killed easily by a stray lightning bolt.

The Ironman challenge is too tough for me, I'm afraid. If you succeed, or even get to Hell difficulty, let us know - that would be pretty sweet.

[badger2d]

xcman22, on March 16th 2009, 12:52 PM, said:

Er, yes, that was supposed to be 47 - my bad.

However, I'm sorry to say it doesn't matter anymore, as Duriel killed her before she could Town Portal away in Act II, Nightmare. Stupid Holy Freeze nonsense.

This is my last try - going back to a Skelemancer. Needs almost zero equipment, hopefully I'll do better then lvl 82, which is where my last one died.

It still sounds like we're not even playing the same game. I'm used to reaching Nightmare around level 35.

[xcman22]

badger2d, on March 17th 2009, 08:50 PM, said:

It still sounds like we're not even playing the same game. I'm used to reaching Nightmare around level 35.

Are you doing Baal runs in Normal? After I beat Baal, I do it over again and again to gain levels. I also try to play at the Players 8 setting as much as possible to increase the exp and items I get. The downside is that monsters have tons more HP, making them harder to kill. I usually get past Act IV around level 28, then beat Baal the first time around level 35, then spend a good amount of time leveling from there.

Right now, for example, I have a lvl 46 Necromancer in Act I, Nightmare. Just finished my leveling late last night.He probably won't go up another level until the end of Act I or possibly even Act II, because I won't play at Players 8 again for awhile.

[Tesseract]

xcman22, on March 18th 2009, 11:15 PM, said:

Are you doing Baal runs in Normal? After I beat Baal, I do it over again and again to gain levels.

This is basically why I stopped playing D2.

[Thain Esh Kelch]

xcman22, on March 18th 2009, 01:15 PM, said:

Are you doing Baal runs in Normal? After I beat Baal, I do it over again and again to gain levels.

And thats why I never really liked Diablo until act 2-3, on nightmare. Gets boooring.

But maybe patch 1.13 can do something about it, since they've actually promised new content..!

[Spike]

Tesseract, on March 18th 2009, 11:28 PM, said:

This is basically why I stopped playing D2.

You stopped playing a game because of the way someone else plays?

D2 has the ONE thing I need in an RPG and that is Hardcore. I hate all these other RPGs where everyone just does a cookie cutter build and just goes thru without care of dieing at all since there is no penalty. Playing an RPG as it SHOULD be played where you cant die changes everything. However, I understand its not for everyone, or even most people as I think most people play D2 softcore. Im just really hoping D3 will have hardcore (anyone know?).

btw, my Ironman hardcore Druid has just passed the Arcane Sanctuary Act II Nightmare solo. It has been disappointingly easy as Blizzard has nerfed the dang hell out of D2 with the synergy bonuses, runewords, mob nerfs, etc..., and so it is not as fun as it used to be. For me, fun must have challenge or it becomes boring. (yes I realize Im playing such a high survivable class and some classes I could not get this far Ironman solo).

[xcman22]

Nice to hear you've done that well, Spike. I freely admit I've never played a Druid before, so I'm not familiar with how awesome it is. My Necro is level 76 in Act 1 Hell, but I stopped playing for a bit - moving from one area to another at that difficulty level is really annoying. The Countess, for example, is nothing short of unenjoyable torment. When I realized I wasn't having fun, I took a break. My Necro hasn't died yet, however, so I'll be able to try again soon.

Rune words and some lucky drops have really saved my bacon. The best was a Lum rune, which allowed me to make some nice armor with %50 resist all. I've been relentlessly gambling and looking for resist items, and now the only resist that isn't maxed out is Cold, and that's at 65. The other awesome item I got was the unique trident that slows enemies 75% - my merc loves that. Add my clay golem who slows enemies 51%, and my 10 skeletons, and I am surviving quite nicely.