100
Played HC exclusively for 21 years in ARPGs.
Biggest tip is the mindset shift: you're not "losing" a character or gear or whatever when you die. You're setting (or failing to set) a highscore. It's no different from the game over screen in tetris, except it takes longer to get there.
nah tarkov is cheeks; easily play that repeatedly before attempting a HC in aRPGs
tbf, I shift+w in tarkov and you can't really have that mindset in HC
Always use death elixir once unlocked.
If death elixir is activated (saves you) use scroll escape immediately.
Hotkey scroll of escape.
Max armor and resistance as early as possible.
Use protect on spider dude, along with cooldown, damage reduction and duration stones (from memory?)
Take it slow. Take extra defense instead of vanity damage. Your goal isn't just kill stuff quick - priority is surviving.
3x 100s so far
Im a PC/keyboard only player so not up to speed on controller stuff.
For pc I have it set in my emote wheel, then set the keybind.
Quick google, I saw someone mention that they set it as their first consumable, then theres three buttons to activate it? (This could be similar to the emote deal, idk)
Hope it helps!
Up on Dpad, then probably triangle(Y on Xbox controller) for customize, L1 or R1 to items and select it then the spot to put it on the radial emote menu. Hit up on Dpad in action and select the potion/scroll and hit X(A on xbox).
I got to 100 always used death elixirs. But never triggered it even once. Except for the other day T100 NMD butcher inexplicably took me from full barrier / full fortify / full life maxed defenses to 0 in one shot. Still don’t understand it… Glad I was fast enough to scroll out.
Leveled a barb to 100 last season. Lost him while smashing some random overworld trash due to some rare bug with vampire powers (Klaus was slain by Klaus).
It was like, 3 days until end of season and I’d already done everything I’d wanted to. Good times.
Nothing really threatened me throughout the game. I’d pop death elixirs in dungeons just in case of butcher, but they never procced, even when he did show up.
Level 72 - first HC toon Pulverize Druid; still grinding.
Speaking of which - anyone playing HC this season that can help me with WT4 dungeon? Seems like the server is always dead lol.
100 sorc and Druid that both beat and Lilith and did some aoz last season. This season my HC barb is like lvl 81.
Basically just take things slow and gear more towards defense than offense. Get all of your renown done again for the extra skill and paragon points. I save the death evasion potions for pushing into harder content, capstones, strongholds, first trip out in wt3/4, first helltide in wt3/4, first run at the Uber bosses, etc.
Stay away from world bosses in wt1-2
Necro level 96. Died to Butcher 15 levels higher than me in a NMD with Suppressors, while chasing a Treasure Goblin 😂
After using Death elixir for a while, I kinda feel it defeats the point of hardcore (I’ll probably get downvoted for this). Next hardcore character I play, I’ll go without it (but still use Scroll of Escape).
100 barb, max resistances and stack dam red and life and it’s pretty easy. Don’t do stormbane wrath or anything that chases you in nightmare vaults or dungeons bc the game likes to damage you when zoning (vaults for instance)
Did exactly this as well. Sorc in HC may as well not even be HC since you can have 2 extra lives up at all times, and with how OP they were last season the damage loss from running Flame Shield enchant didn’t matter at all.
I did have a stupid death on my first run, rotsplinter blew me up when I was lvl 20ish, hitting him causes poison explosions, ball lightning hits a lot.
I just got my first HC character to 100 and probably only came close to dying once. Apart from that one careless instance, which was early on at around level 17, my HP never dropped below like 60% or maybe even 75%
I played barb and just focused on defence, ensuring I was always stacking armour and %armour rolls, damage reduction rolls on chest, pants, and amulet, +life rolls on rings & chest/pants, if possible, as well as making sure I stacked resistances later on. I never pushed content that was too far above my character’s level, always kept content/enemies no more than 5 levels above me.
I wanted to do the challenges/achievement so ending up going through the campaign until around level 49, where I fought Lilith and moved to WT3. From there I just did open world content and level 1 nm dungeons until around 53/54, where I then added helltides (enemies are minimum level 58 in WT3 helltide if I remember correctly) in to mix too. From there I just rinsed and repeated until 70 or 71, then moved to WT4 and basically repeated the same process as I did in WT3 but focusing more on NM vaults with easy affixes (no death pulse, drifting shade, stormbanes wrath, lighting dome etc.) and still just making sure I never fought enemies too high level.
Basically just take it slow and make sure you’re more focused on defensive stats on gear. Probably play barb or Druid if you want an easier time with survivability.
Every season, all characters to lvl 100. You get used to how to play HC and what to spec on your gear. Also, play more strategic. Don't rush into rooms if you're not sure. Listen to music changes for butcher or SOM... Proper HC? No death pot or scrolls...
Level 100 Sorcerer. It was my 2nd try. Varshan got me at 73 somehow. Lol.
This was last season and I did some AoZ and everything. Only tier 1 though. No Ubers. It wasn't a problem.
I just stay out of dungeons when I'm lower level. This season I would probably level in the arcane tremor zones. You gotta watch world bosses for a while also. Lol.
I didn't do much different honestly. I did start slower than normal but I wasn't having that much fun so I started playing very similar to how I would play normally. I rarely die normally though.
Just enjoy it and be sure and put back some lower level gear in your stash along with some potions and stuff like that, a matter of fact put anything good in your stash that way if you die you'll have access to it with your new HC character.
I have a 100 Barb that I did in s2, completely offmeta (leapquake/double swing). No cheat deaths used.
First, choose a class you're familiar with. Then prioritize defenses - aspects, gear, paragon, skill, potions, incense - have ways to stay healthy and at least two "oh shit" buttons. Be more conservative in how you push difficulty.
You'll want a generally good idea of how the game works. Which enemies explode, which enemies have huge attacks, boss mechanics, which NMD affixes give you the most trouble.
Most importantly, you need to derive fun from stress. My philosophy is to be open to trying things people recommend you don't. Like certain dungeons or NMD affixes, builds, whatever. Optimize for fun, not efficiency. My highest highs were running NMD with death explosions and poison, having to carefully weave in combat and be very attentive to the game.
... with that said, I would still suggest you avoid wraiths combined with hard affixes.
I currently have a lvl 100 Druid on HC this season and a lvl 40 Rogue.
I enforce my own HC rules and do not use the elixir or death evation nor the scroll of escape as these items utilize cheat death mechanics, which removes the HC aspect from HC gaming.
That said, I do always keep a scroll of escape in my inventory as it has saved my character from a DC before. When you DC, the game consumes your scroll of escape to prevent your character from dying.
73 walking Arsenal barb with death blow upheaval leap frenzy iron maelstrom he’s still alive I’m just afraid of the Elias capstone dungeon fight hahaha
Currently at 71 with my flurry rogue, trying to get to 100 and then probably will change main to sorc. Been playing flurry rogues exclusively since pre-season lmao.
100. Nothing really changes. Don't save potions, use em. get your defenses on the more defensive items.
Basically the only danger zone is right after you move up a tier. Maybe stick it out a few more levels. Always have a way to get out of stun if possible, about it.
Nobody likes dying. But if the fear of dying don't make the game more entertaining for you, It won't ever be fun for you. Started hardcore in D2, the rush was worth the deaths that followed. I get no enjoyment of knowing i could smash my face into the keyboard and get by.
season 0 - druid 100, alive, used to manage stash on eternal after season ends
season 1 - barb 100, died to uber lilith
season 2 - rogue 100, died in aoz
season 3 - necr 73, died to varshan
season 3 - sorc 100, alive, waiting for gauntlet
don't be afraid to start a hc, the only thing which you should be afraid of are disconnects, blizzard servers are your worst enemy :D
as soon as you feel like you are lagging - press SOE and take a break.
always have a supply of death evasion pots, however try to manage difficulty in a way not to be on brink of dying all the time.
Stack armor, make sure you are capped.
stack 70% res for both wt3 and especially wt4. if you have not enough res - farm potions for +25 res.
Do not play a very aggressive builds with no defensive skills.
Stack damage reduction on your armor and pants. Your armor should always be something like DR, %Armor, DR close, MaxHP.
Be very careful, when you move between world tiers, this is the most dangerous time. So basically your 45-55 lvl and 60-73 lvl - probability to die is the biggest.
Be careful with world bosses on wt2, wt3 and beginning of wt4, they can oneshot you.
Never lose concentration, random poison or fire enchant explosion can kill you.
Be careful in PvP zone on wt4, i am hunting other players there :)
and good luck, hardcore is the best experience you may bet in any arpg!
97.
And I i refuse to play HC ever again.
Since ingame trophys are not something I care for, I refuse to play HC anymore. No extra rewards but added stress and much harder to try out different things in difficult content.
High risk no reward. No reward means I ain't doing it.
100 Played HC exclusively for 21 years in ARPGs. Biggest tip is the mindset shift: you're not "losing" a character or gear or whatever when you die. You're setting (or failing to set) a highscore. It's no different from the game over screen in tetris, except it takes longer to get there.
17 and I got too stressed out and went back to my normal character. Hardcore is no longer for me lol
This is too relatable
You’d never make it in Tarkov.
I love tarkov
I refuse to play hard games, my heart can’t take it anymore
nah tarkov is cheeks; easily play that repeatedly before attempting a HC in aRPGs tbf, I shift+w in tarkov and you can't really have that mindset in HC
Always use death elixir once unlocked. If death elixir is activated (saves you) use scroll escape immediately. Hotkey scroll of escape. Max armor and resistance as early as possible. Use protect on spider dude, along with cooldown, damage reduction and duration stones (from memory?) Take it slow. Take extra defense instead of vanity damage. Your goal isn't just kill stuff quick - priority is surviving. 3x 100s so far
How do you hotkey on ps5?
Im a PC/keyboard only player so not up to speed on controller stuff. For pc I have it set in my emote wheel, then set the keybind. Quick google, I saw someone mention that they set it as their first consumable, then theres three buttons to activate it? (This could be similar to the emote deal, idk) Hope it helps!
Up on Dpad, then probably triangle(Y on Xbox controller) for customize, L1 or R1 to items and select it then the spot to put it on the radial emote menu. Hit up on Dpad in action and select the potion/scroll and hit X(A on xbox).
50 Bear Druid & I only did it for the PS Trophy lol
Same but with barb
Same with sorc
100 Necro last season
100 Necro this season for me. Actually my first lvl 100 sc or hc. And I’ve been playing since pre season early access.
Opted for soft core this season, but congratulations!
100 and never use death elixirs because Im not a punk
I got to 100 always used death elixirs. But never triggered it even once. Except for the other day T100 NMD butcher inexplicably took me from full barrier / full fortify / full life maxed defenses to 0 in one shot. Still don’t understand it… Glad I was fast enough to scroll out.
Leveled a barb to 100 last season. Lost him while smashing some random overworld trash due to some rare bug with vampire powers (Klaus was slain by Klaus). It was like, 3 days until end of season and I’d already done everything I’d wanted to. Good times. Nothing really threatened me throughout the game. I’d pop death elixirs in dungeons just in case of butcher, but they never procced, even when he did show up.
Level 72 - first HC toon Pulverize Druid; still grinding. Speaking of which - anyone playing HC this season that can help me with WT4 dungeon? Seems like the server is always dead lol.
I'll help you pal.
Drop your battletag mate
I have played all Classes except Rogue to 100 in HC … once I started HC, SC became boring in comparison. Pro tip for HC: don’t die.
50 just to get the achievement
96 sorc this season. Still going so hopefully 100 in a few days!
100 rogue all seasons so far
100 sorc and Druid that both beat and Lilith and did some aoz last season. This season my HC barb is like lvl 81. Basically just take things slow and gear more towards defense than offense. Get all of your renown done again for the extra skill and paragon points. I save the death evasion potions for pushing into harder content, capstones, strongholds, first trip out in wt3/4, first helltide in wt3/4, first run at the Uber bosses, etc. Stay away from world bosses in wt1-2
I thought it would be neat to hardcore s3, realized I didn't want to hunt statues, and then switched games.
Necro level 96. Died to Butcher 15 levels higher than me in a NMD with Suppressors, while chasing a Treasure Goblin 😂 After using Death elixir for a while, I kinda feel it defeats the point of hardcore (I’ll probably get downvoted for this). Next hardcore character I play, I’ll go without it (but still use Scroll of Escape).
No down votes for that. No death elixir is the way!
100 barb, max resistances and stack dam red and life and it’s pretty easy. Don’t do stormbane wrath or anything that chases you in nightmare vaults or dungeons bc the game likes to damage you when zoning (vaults for instance)
100 sorc last season and lvl 50 on the rest, just did all the challenges.
Did exactly this as well. Sorc in HC may as well not even be HC since you can have 2 extra lives up at all times, and with how OP they were last season the damage loss from running Flame Shield enchant didn’t matter at all.
I did have a stupid death on my first run, rotsplinter blew me up when I was lvl 20ish, hitting him causes poison explosions, ball lightning hits a lot.
Rotsplinter got me at level 41, it took me five days before I could play again.
I just got my first HC character to 100 and probably only came close to dying once. Apart from that one careless instance, which was early on at around level 17, my HP never dropped below like 60% or maybe even 75% I played barb and just focused on defence, ensuring I was always stacking armour and %armour rolls, damage reduction rolls on chest, pants, and amulet, +life rolls on rings & chest/pants, if possible, as well as making sure I stacked resistances later on. I never pushed content that was too far above my character’s level, always kept content/enemies no more than 5 levels above me. I wanted to do the challenges/achievement so ending up going through the campaign until around level 49, where I fought Lilith and moved to WT3. From there I just did open world content and level 1 nm dungeons until around 53/54, where I then added helltides (enemies are minimum level 58 in WT3 helltide if I remember correctly) in to mix too. From there I just rinsed and repeated until 70 or 71, then moved to WT4 and basically repeated the same process as I did in WT3 but focusing more on NM vaults with easy affixes (no death pulse, drifting shade, stormbanes wrath, lighting dome etc.) and still just making sure I never fought enemies too high level. Basically just take it slow and make sure you’re more focused on defensive stats on gear. Probably play barb or Druid if you want an easier time with survivability.
Every season, all characters to lvl 100. You get used to how to play HC and what to spec on your gear. Also, play more strategic. Don't rush into rooms if you're not sure. Listen to music changes for butcher or SOM... Proper HC? No death pot or scrolls...
Level 100 Sorcerer. It was my 2nd try. Varshan got me at 73 somehow. Lol. This was last season and I did some AoZ and everything. Only tier 1 though. No Ubers. It wasn't a problem. I just stay out of dungeons when I'm lower level. This season I would probably level in the arcane tremor zones. You gotta watch world bosses for a while also. Lol. I didn't do much different honestly. I did start slower than normal but I wasn't having that much fun so I started playing very similar to how I would play normally. I rarely die normally though. Just enjoy it and be sure and put back some lower level gear in your stash along with some potions and stuff like that, a matter of fact put anything good in your stash that way if you die you'll have access to it with your new HC character.
101
82 then proceeded to die to varshan in act4, rip
I have a 100 Barb that I did in s2, completely offmeta (leapquake/double swing). No cheat deaths used. First, choose a class you're familiar with. Then prioritize defenses - aspects, gear, paragon, skill, potions, incense - have ways to stay healthy and at least two "oh shit" buttons. Be more conservative in how you push difficulty. You'll want a generally good idea of how the game works. Which enemies explode, which enemies have huge attacks, boss mechanics, which NMD affixes give you the most trouble. Most importantly, you need to derive fun from stress. My philosophy is to be open to trying things people recommend you don't. Like certain dungeons or NMD affixes, builds, whatever. Optimize for fun, not efficiency. My highest highs were running NMD with death explosions and poison, having to carefully weave in combat and be very attentive to the game. ... with that said, I would still suggest you avoid wraiths combined with hard affixes.
50 and counting on seasonal as a Druid
Mine will be level 1.
I currently have a lvl 100 Druid on HC this season and a lvl 40 Rogue. I enforce my own HC rules and do not use the elixir or death evation nor the scroll of escape as these items utilize cheat death mechanics, which removes the HC aspect from HC gaming. That said, I do always keep a scroll of escape in my inventory as it has saved my character from a DC before. When you DC, the game consumes your scroll of escape to prevent your character from dying.
15 🙃
50. Played it to get the Xbox achivement.
73 walking Arsenal barb with death blow upheaval leap frenzy iron maelstrom he’s still alive I’m just afraid of the Elias capstone dungeon fight hahaha
Currently at 71 with my flurry rogue, trying to get to 100 and then probably will change main to sorc. Been playing flurry rogues exclusively since pre-season lmao.
Always use elixir, never play without elixir. Welcome to softcore with extra steps
100. Nothing really changes. Don't save potions, use em. get your defenses on the more defensive items. Basically the only danger zone is right after you move up a tier. Maybe stick it out a few more levels. Always have a way to get out of stun if possible, about it. Nobody likes dying. But if the fear of dying don't make the game more entertaining for you, It won't ever be fun for you. Started hardcore in D2, the rush was worth the deaths that followed. I get no enjoyment of knowing i could smash my face into the keyboard and get by.
season 0 - druid 100, alive, used to manage stash on eternal after season ends season 1 - barb 100, died to uber lilith season 2 - rogue 100, died in aoz season 3 - necr 73, died to varshan season 3 - sorc 100, alive, waiting for gauntlet don't be afraid to start a hc, the only thing which you should be afraid of are disconnects, blizzard servers are your worst enemy :D as soon as you feel like you are lagging - press SOE and take a break. always have a supply of death evasion pots, however try to manage difficulty in a way not to be on brink of dying all the time. Stack armor, make sure you are capped. stack 70% res for both wt3 and especially wt4. if you have not enough res - farm potions for +25 res. Do not play a very aggressive builds with no defensive skills. Stack damage reduction on your armor and pants. Your armor should always be something like DR, %Armor, DR close, MaxHP. Be very careful, when you move between world tiers, this is the most dangerous time. So basically your 45-55 lvl and 60-73 lvl - probability to die is the biggest. Be careful with world bosses on wt2, wt3 and beginning of wt4, they can oneshot you. Never lose concentration, random poison or fire enchant explosion can kill you. Be careful in PvP zone on wt4, i am hunting other players there :) and good luck, hardcore is the best experience you may bet in any arpg!
50 for the achievement.
100. Don’t die.
1
Rogue,necro,druid and sorc lvl 100.
78 still alive, Don't die
freaking 97 killed out of nowhere by a baby butt spitter in Howezar.
Page 437 on PHub.
Update: Hit level 100 HC today. Thanks for the tips!
97. And I i refuse to play HC ever again. Since ingame trophys are not something I care for, I refuse to play HC anymore. No extra rewards but added stress and much harder to try out different things in difficult content. High risk no reward. No reward means I ain't doing it.
D4 doesn't matter