What do you remember as your first death or near-death experience in D2 which made you go: "ok, holy crap, I gotta be careful with these things from now on"?
My first major death was a 64 Zon doing Nightmare Baal runs. I remember thinking "OMG THIS IS SO COOL I'M LEVELING LIKE CRAZY IN HARDCORE MODE". Assassin traps went ZAPZAPZAP through a bunch of Stygian Dolls and that was the end of that. All of my best stuff. My awesome Normal Mode farmer. Dead. :| Stupid dolls...
Also, what is a general tactic you've learned in D2 HC which you believe will help you survive in D3 HC?
The big thing is paying attention to monsters with enhanced abilities (if it says Fire Enchanted, etc. that's D2 of course) and understanding the mechanics of said abilities. Before my venture into Hardcore mode, I played Softcore on a Barb and just pretty much facerolled the game. Once I got into HC, everything changed. My actual first death was at level 6 or so trying to kill a female boss in a cave (damn you Coldcrow!). That's when I realized that the text underneath the monster's life bar with things like Cold Enchanted are a REALLY good thing to pay attention to. Of course, there were a ton more such things that I learned with my face as I progressed. Stygian Dolls anyone?
I am going to really enjoy the thrill of trying to stay alive in HC and make it into Inferno to farm, but it's going to cost a few high level HC characters along the way. There's simply no avoiding it. It will happen at least a few times to everyone. I suppose the biggest tactic (aside from reading up on abilities etc., maintaining awareness of my surrounding foes, perhaps progressing through the game in Softcore mode through Inferno simultaneously with HC until all is known) is making sure I don't keep all my eggs in one basket. So, AS SOON as I get a good item, if I'm not using it on that character, XFER, XFER, XFER! lol Ohh man, so many uniques and high runes have I lost...
The one monster that you will never defeat is the lag monster. I'm sure Blizzard has gone as far as they can to compensate for possible lag mishaps, but there's still going to be connectivity issues that will ruin your day at some point or another. Never carry an item for absolutely any longer than you must!
My first major death was a 64 Zon doing Nightmare Baal runs. I remember thinking "OMG THIS IS SO COOL I'M LEVELING LIKE CRAZY IN HARDCORE MODE". Assassin traps went ZAPZAPZAP through a bunch of Stygian Dolls and that was the end of that. All of my best stuff. My awesome Normal Mode farmer. Dead. :| Stupid dolls...
The big thing is paying attention to monsters with enhanced abilities (if it says Fire Enchanted, etc. that's D2 of course) and understanding the mechanics of said abilities. Before my venture into Hardcore mode, I played Softcore on a Barb and just pretty much facerolled the game. Once I got into HC, everything changed. My actual first death was at level 6 or so trying to kill a female boss in a cave (damn you Coldcrow!). That's when I realized that the text underneath the monster's life bar with things like Cold Enchanted are a REALLY good thing to pay attention to. Of course, there were a ton more such things that I learned with my face as I progressed. Stygian Dolls anyone?
I am going to really enjoy the thrill of trying to stay alive in HC and make it into Inferno to farm, but it's going to cost a few high level HC characters along the way. There's simply no avoiding it. It will happen at least a few times to everyone. I suppose the biggest tactic (aside from reading up on abilities etc., maintaining awareness of my surrounding foes, perhaps progressing through the game in Softcore mode through Inferno simultaneously with HC until all is known) is making sure I don't keep all my eggs in one basket. So, AS SOON as I get a good item, if I'm not using it on that character, XFER, XFER, XFER! lol Ohh man, so many uniques and high runes have I lost...
The one monster that you will never defeat is the lag monster. I'm sure Blizzard has gone as far as they can to compensate for possible lag mishaps, but there's still going to be connectivity issues that will ruin your day at some point or another. Never carry an item for absolutely any longer than you must!
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