Hard core questions

[Lawrencearm]

Hi, I am getting bored of soft core and thought I might try hard core. I have some questions though.
I sometimes get lag killed on soft core, even when I exit the game sometimes I have to pick my body up when I enter the new game. What happens on hard core? Are there many lag kills?

Second, are their still alot of a**holes on hard core? Scince you dont pk much, I thought the crowd might be a little more mature.

Third, is it like soft core where you do trist runs, tomb runs and all at first, or is it just teaming up with ppl and lvling.

Fourth, do people still use duped items and all that stuff on hard core?

Last question. In soft core, I usually would save all my points till im lvl 80 so I wouldnt have to waste any points and could put most into vita. That seems kind of impossible on hard core, so I need some suggestions on builds that could do ok with not very good gear, and that would do ok on hard core.
I am thinking about a leap barb that stunns the enemies, and then leap attacks them. Would that work? Any other good builds?

Thanks, I know its a lot of questions but I would really appriciate any answers.

[GodObelisk]

Welcome to hc... remember 1st rule = stay alive.

1. Lag occurs everywhere. There is no way to avoid it, just live with it. If u feel laggy, dun fly ur sorc in hell. Cos if u do tat and fly into a deadly pack.. its deeds for u.

2. U will be surprised tat the number of a**holes in hc is more than sc. In sc when u pok others, no exp loss, nothing at all. But in hc, u lose ALL on tat char.

3. U start new char, join enchant games, level till 20, then join cow games till 25, then join baal runs (all in NORMAL difficulty). Dun equip ur char with leet items u prepare for him. Normal baal runs till lv50 before u enter NM, cos from now onwards u are on ur own. Join public bus/baal runs at ur own risk. Due to presence of tppk.

4. Dupes exists in all realms both sc and hc. Accept this.

5. In hc u actually learn more abt playing the game than rushing thru it. U appreciate things. For me if u start from scratch, go summon necro or light trapper. Tats my favourite.

Lastly enjoy ... and stay alive

[Drystan]

Ok. I'm not a bnetter, so I can't answer 100% from experience, but I've never truly been into softcore.

1. To lag kills: it still happens, but if it were to happen to me, I'd quit as soon as some lag came on suddenly. There may be different types of lag (sudden spike as opposed to constant minilag) or something like that. I can't answer more than that.

2. HC a**holes: sure. Pk'ers actually can ruin someone in HC and make them lose more. TPPK Teleport PK is a script that makes the person teleport to you and can kill almost immediately apparently. (I only know from what I've read here.) Best to try to find a group who play like you do, and don't go into publics if poss.
Then there's people who lay a blizz or timed spell, goto town and hostile, killing anyone under it.
Don't follow people down a townportal; don't take someone elses TP; don't use WP's too often. People lay monster traps.
I believe some people here may help you or level up with you. Might be safer if you get to know some nice people here.

3. Running: ??? Guess there's more levelling than pointless and endless rushes, but some may exist. It's better to learn and level as you go anyway. Learn more that way, and you know what your char is capable of.
EDIT: pwned, still some runs but it's more levelling and helping in the run.

4. Dupes: why not? there are still a**holes, as you put it. Just because HC is meant to make it more challenging doesn't mean people won't ruin it.

5. Builds: Some of the SP community (some others who are like me) play HC exclusively. One has a holy grail in HC, one's beaten hell with a weaponless amazon, and one is currently going with a HC impalezon.

Sorc: blizz/blizzballer/meteorber (or something like that are all good builds)
Necro: skelliemancer
Barb: conc barb, frenzy, WW is a bit more risky but possible
Pally: 1-pt uber tristram smitadin/zmealer (w/e it's called) can be done with mid level items.
Assas: Trapsin
There's less "saving points til you've been rushed over and over." You'll probably have to play more, so it's all good, and up your skills as you go. :thumbsup:

Hope some of this helps, and GL with HC!
And stay alive, that's the most important thing! Don't take risks. GL and HF!

[Nilaripper]

Hi, I am getting bored of soft core and thought I might try hard core.

1. Are there many lag kills?Yes,if game laggs,S&E asap,maxbock,%dr,highresis help to stay alive in this situation.

2.This forum is full of pks,but pks are no prob and easy to avoid.TPPK is a problem.If you open a public game and wait for help from a high lvl char you will 95% be killed in the next few minutes.LVL restricting public games helps in norm+nm games(+/-15 lvls).In hell HC public is unplayable for a solo beginner char.

3.You can trist/sewer/ench/baal or lvl in groups,both playing styles exist,but end as soon as you reach Hell difficulty(see above).Again DON'T forget LVL restrictions.

4. Most duped items are the high runes,so no big deal for a hc beginner.

5.Good beginner chars are summoner-nec or trapsin, as soon as you made spirit-sword/insight you can make a sorc,farm pgs and trade almost every unique item you want for pgs.

[Lawrencearm]

Im thinking of making one of these [urlhttp://www.froglicker.net/d2/leap.html[/url]

Its a leap barb. The items it needs are pretty cheap and it looks fun. Any advice on using one of these builds?


And why do people try to kill you? And I dont understant the tppk thing. They open a tp and hostle you and tele to you?

Thanks for the tips guys! Anymore advice on what to do to lvl up and all?

And last question, what do people do on hard core?

[winmar]

I would suggest a Trapper with LS/DS/FB as your first char. But if you think that a leap barb will be fun to play then you should try that.

TPPK is a hack. Lets say the TPPK'er is a cold sorc. She will start by firing orbs or bolts in your direction then she will push a button and the hack will open a tp, go to town and hostile you in 1 second. This means the orb/bolt she fired will be able to kill you.

The chars that do this are built like glass cannons and more often then not they will one-shot you.

This basicly means that you can't play with people you don't know since you could be dead in 1 second without any chance of protecting yourself.

[BlueOctoberFan]

With TPPK, they are with you in the game, fire an Ice Blast, or other ranged skill, in your direction. They then have a script that makes them open a TP and hostile you from town before the attack reaches you. You die, they're safe in town. It's probably the worst thing in existance in HC.

People try to kill you because they're being asses. They take pleasure in ruining the game for others.

[Hp_Sauce]

Welcome to HC!
its better here.

I think you're Leap barb is a bad idea for a first HC character. You need to sort of "learn the ropes" rathen then (literally) leaping into the fray. The first Fire Enchanted monster you encounter with your leap barb could be your last.

infact I think creating any Melee character in general is a bad choice for a first character. Why get up close with the enemies when you can kill them from afar?

The starting HC characters of choice are deffinetly a Summoner Necro, or a Lightning Trapper (as said above). Personly I would go with the trapper, but only because I find summoners to be one big slice of boredom pie!

You can find guides to these builds in their respective forums. Or, if you think you will enjoy playing the Leaper then by all means, play the leaper! Its a game so you should have fun first!

You can save some of your stat points, but you wont want to keep them all untill you hit level 80. Personly I try to put 3 points in Vitality for ever level up, and then either a) The last 2 in the stat I need more of or b) 1 str, 1 dex if I'm a low level and need to bring them both up or c) save the other 2 for later. It doesn't work all the time, but whatever.

And why do people try to kill you?

a) Some people try to kill you because its part of the game and they enjoy it.
b) Some people try to kill you becaues they are childish and immature and think that its fun to ruin something someone worked hard to create. These people are your basic school yard bullys (but on the internet.) They feel tough, and don't have any fear because they can't be seen.
c) Some of the people in b) are actually so bad at playing the game that they can't kill you, and so they have to use hacks and programs that someone else has written to make themselves feel godlike. These ones are the tppkers that will get you at least once.

Visit op xbananax if you play on East.

-hps

[Lawrencearm]

Thanks for all the help guys!
It seems like in hard core you dont just wait for ppl to tele to places and stand, but you actually play the game; killing monsters with your own power.

Did blizzard bann alot of the tppkers in that mass banning? Or are there still more?

And I think Ill go with the leap barb. I have been playing soft core for a pretty long time and if I die, Ill die and learn something.

Thanks.

[STINGER]

There are about 5-6 Warrior builds I would suggest playing before I would suggest a Leaper man.

Sure they can do alot of single target damage but they have to leap to do it and they miss a bunch in NM and Hell as the bad dudes dont just stand still and say "Hum what is that guy flying thru the air for maybe i will stay here and catch him so he doesnt hurt himself" they move.

In S2 a guy came from SC to HC and he asked to join my clan so I let him, he was on a Sorc at the time. Later we needed a Barb to do some Hell stuff so he said I got one......goes and gets Leaper. He didint kill a thing in a 4 player game. Mised oh say 50% of the time, and a good deal of the time things died before he even got to it.

Concentration
Zerk
Double Swing/Frenzy
WW
Hybrids of the 4 above
Then Leap.....

Hybrids.....
Zerk with small WW
Double Swing/Frnzy/Thrower for IM areas. Usually and Axer with just enuff points spent to throw.
WW/Zerker (basically this is just a plain ole WW barb with 1 point Zerk)

probably more hell i forget.


Blizz doesnt bann TPPKers, but they use MH and some may of gotten busted that way but i doubt it was for TPPK.

[Lawrencearm]

Why doesnt blizzard ban tppkers?

And about the leap barb, I think if i stun the enemies with leap, and then quickly attack with leap attack, i might beable to hit most of them.

[PhatTrumpet]

Why doesnt blizzard ban tppkers?
Why don't you ask Blizzard.
And about the leap barb, I think if i stun the enemies with leap, and then quickly attack with leap attack, i might beable to hit most of them.
The problem is there's really no such thing as a "quick leap attack". Leap Attack is sort of like Charge, only slower and less effective. You see very few PvM Charge Paladins; you see even fewer PvM Leap Attack Barbs.

[Samsung]

I would suggest a Trapper with LS/DS/FB as your first char. But if you think that a leap barb will be fun to play then you should try that.

I would suggest the trapper as well, either that or an untwinked wind druid(fun fun fun!).
Trapper you could run e/s/p run's in Nightmare and get some mediocre(sp?) gear. Good luck!

[STINGER]

I always have to add charge at least one point on my Zealots its just fashionable!

My first ever character in SC was a Charger......didint know WTF I was doing but it looked kool.....Wasnt very effective in cows LMFAO....charge...charge..charge....surrounded.... dead....always shocked me when i died I had like 225 strenght how the hell they kill somehting that strong? LMFAO!!!

I also will never forget thinking that those Barbs were always trying to kill my little sorc when we went into the cow level grunting and growning like they did made my life bulb loose life!!!


This is the kind of stuff you get by installing and playing and then reading a month later!!!