Why are u guys playin SC or HC? Immersion of Permadeath!

[Maltatai]

I don't quite remember how it came to this but Diablo II is the only game I have never had an interest in modding and a big part of the reason is that it's already freaking scary and challenging as it is. Which is also a compelling reason for me to like it. Hardcore playing makes you more attached to characters I would say and the danger is real and concrete in an entire different way. I have yet to read the book or see the movie that can make you shiver more than when listening for Fangskin in the darkness, summoning the ancients or going down the last stair without knowing if it's a trap.

From a more objective point of view I can of course conclude that I'm overdoing it a bit on playing cautiously. On the one hand I've never lost a hardcore character in hell but on the other I've put off playing dozens for a long time due to being too nervous about doing just that. It would be a reasonable conclusion that I should switch to softcore playing for a change but it just feels so much less, like you can only play half-heartedly witht he knowledge that you can reload if something happens.

 

[Pyrotechnician]

I mostly play SC now, given that Pyrotechnician got Capellini, my first HC sorc, killed while MPing Baal runs a few years ago.

This doesn't sound like something I would do at all. I vaguely remember you saying you could handle teleporting to the throne room and disaster struck. But my memory isn't so good these days. I think you should try again.

I just have slain Mephisto which gave me lvl 26.

View attachment 60044

Should I shop a lightning res helmet before facing diablo?

I could lvl to 30 and unlock NR, if necessary.

Higher lightning resistance wouldn't hurt. Although you don't seem to be doing too bad. Couple things, one which you probably already know, but you can't avoid the lightning hose by standing directly under him in normal mode like you can in NM and Hell (probably why you are asking about the res).

Second, you should make it a habit to pick up all purple potions you see and keep at minimum one row in your belt for dire situations. All of my HC chars actually have 2 rows of big purples because sometimes the over time heal of red pots isn't enough to save you.

 

[Yann]

Case in point I once deeded a level 99 nova sorc in the Moo Moo Farm in 1.09 because I was arrogant and thought I did not need to drink a rejuv

 

[IQuitWoWForThis]

Since D2 release and the many years i played online, i played SC only. I had maybe two HC twinks once during one ladder season.

After a longer break, "Untwinked P8 HC Walkthroughs" suddenly were a thing. So that was a totally new aspect and experience for me....although i played this game already to the max (i thought).

So basically, after completing some walkthroughs, I sticked to it and started to build my "SP empire" around it

It became normal for me and SC now feels, like there is missing an important aspect of the game. I love, that you have to be focussed all the time. I love the heartattacks that you can get, if you dont. I love to look over my massive character base and think, oh wow, and its even HC.

In addition, i have an excuse for when i see someone like @Gripphon posting insane run times and i can be like, yeah, but i cant telestomp like this in HC

Eventually i like the safety aspect in terms of gear-optimization. For example, i play my Pitzerker with maxblock and a Rhyme Shield.

Btw a few weeks ago, i ripped my first char ever that wasnt a rushee. It was a LvL 50 Barb in 1.00. So i cant tell, what would happen to my HC attitude if i ripped a 1.13 with "godly" gear

 

[teddeeboy]

While I have dabbled with some HC characters and when I like to focus, I usually play D2 with the TV on, talking with people or with a bunch of distractions so I do not have enough attention to play HC during those sessions . Also if a deeded a well geared character I would be upset that many of hours of item hunting is down the drain.and that would turn me off the game for a while . I still have the 2019 guardian goal outstanding so I need to finish this sometime

So Kudos to the HC players.

 

[Gripphon]

I tried both, but gave up from HC quickly once I started farming on hell with barb and sorc.
I prefer fast playing style and HC is definitely not for fast playing. It is about slow and steady. We don't want to get out characters killed. I feel SC is about testing the limits of the game while HC is more about journey and the fact "my character was never killed".
Bigger reason I dislike HC is risky time investment. In HC I invest time into building character just to potentially get it killed to lose everything I invested time into. And then what, going back to hitting zombies with wooden stick pretending I enjoy questing through boring quests for hours? A bit too big time sacrifice in my opinion for the game
Or, alternatively, playing like a turtle, slow and steady and avoid the danger which is way too slow playing style for my taste.

 

[Maltatai]

Do you think untwinked playing and hardcore go hand in hand? I have a very vague idea of how many seem to prefer one or the other.

 

[Tears85]

Do you think untwinked playing and hardcore go hand in hand? I have a very vague idea of how many seem to prefer one or the other.

Doin just that atm! I feel as Sorque it would be really challanging...but Barb or Pala should just do fine enough! Also Java or Asn! I dunno how reliable OAK is in Vanilla so no idea bout Druid!

Also for me it is better to reach lvl 94 with a hardcore char than bored in SC till 99! SC FOR ME PERSSONALLY is just no achievment I would be proud to achiev. So ofc it depends on personal preferances....if one feels lvl99 SC means more to him than lvl94 Hardcore RIP he mb shouldn´t play Sorc UT!

 

[Pyrotechnician]

I tried both, but gave up from HC quickly once I started farming on hell with barb and sorc.
I prefer fast playing style and HC is definitely not for fast playing. It is about slow and steady. We don't want to get out characters killed. I feel SC is about testing the limits of the game while HC is more about journey and the fact "my character was never killed".
Bigger reason I dislike HC is risky time investment. In HC I invest time into building character just to potentially get it killed to lose everything I invested time into. And then what, going back to hitting zombies with wooden stick pretending I enjoy questing through boring quests for hours? A bit too big time sacrifice in my opinion for the game
Or, alternatively, playing like a turtle, slow and steady and avoid the danger which is way too slow playing style for my taste.

Griph confirmed likes to go fast.

(AKA Money printer go Brrrrrrrrr)

Do you still have those runes in 1.07 HC, if so you need to hand them over to me , all this forum discussion is giving me the itch to play real bad.

Do you think untwinked playing and hardcore go hand in hand? I have a very vague idea of how many seem to prefer one or the other.

I think they complement eachother well, but its not a necessity. On the other side I also think that untwinked SC doesn't go hand in hand because there is no real risk of failure even though its untwinked (i.e. you will get there eventually no matter if you die or not).

 

[IQuitWoWForThis]

@Gripphon Yeah, i get your point. It is true that HC does follow the "it's a marathon, not a sprint"-mentality. However, it does not mean, that you are forced into a slow-paced playstyle overall. If you established a certain state with a character, you can go for a faster and straight forward speed. I agree, that HC does not suit your preference of gameplay. But between your runtimes and the speed of a turtle there is still space for aggressive, fast, yet not Gripphon-fast, gameplay.

It depends ofc on the build though. I think we can easily reach consensus, that certain builds favor more aggressive gameplay while providing more safety. Like Hammz0rdin e.g.

 

[Gripphon]

@IQuitWoWForThis
Of course we can play faster and more aggressively, only question is risk vs benefit in doing so. I got my 3k+ life hammerdin killed in CS within a second from full to zero, didn't even have time to activate potion. So, monsters had critical hits going through defense and block. If we calculate the odds, it would be ridiculously low, yet it happened. Upon seeing it I realized there is no such thing as safety in diablo. 1 in a million circumstance is enough to kill all the hard work.

@Tears85
Speaking of achievements of SC, I believe someone coming to PvP with barb and beating good 5k life hammerdin in best of 5 could qualify as best achievement in diablo history

 

[Tears85]

@Gripphon Man I know u´r most likely the better player! But for me personally SC doesn´t provide achievments I would be proud of! Even PvP: If I wanted PvP I´d go another game! But than again: Since I´m too old/too less skilled to be Top20 as a goal (Top200k rofl in reality) there is no point for me in ESport...cause no matter how "good" I´ll become I´m always average. That´s ofc the perspective of some1 who almost became a professional poker player!

So the only thing that remains for me is playin games in Hardcore mode, as I don´t have to feel bad not being top20, but can enjoy the thrill it gives as one loses fun of gaming when dieing!

I really wonder if there´s a 2nd person on this planet playin exclusivly SP with self-imposed permadeath! xD (Ofc I´m playin some D2 mods online but that´s HC aswell!)

 

[Maltatai]

I really wonder if there´s a 2nd person on this planet playin exclusivly SP with self-imposed permadeath!

Yes.

I have actually gotten so used to hardcore Diablo II that in other roleplaying games where you can save and reload it kills the feeling for a character/campaign to have it die and then reload, unless maybe it's due to a bug or some technical problems. I'm sort of mentally locked to that way of RPG playing.

 

[Tears85]

Im not exclusivly playin RPG this way, but EVERY game including FPS....some games had been short experiences.... but yeah, glad to hear some1 has the same feelings about permadeath!