Vanilla HC Classic group - To the end!

[skiffcz]

Ok, Im posting this as a separate project topic not to pollute thee main MP thread.

The idea:

Lets do something absolutely wicked! Build a company of three to five classic HC characters of classes different from each other. I will host and will not shut down the game during each difficulty. We can have a break in between of each difficulty as its nothing against nothing anyways. We will do full clears on players 8, and once we move to next difficulty we cannot go back, ever.

The rules summary:

1.12a Vanilla Hardcore Classic
team of 3-5 different characters
no atma
single session (I can host and I am willing to let the game run for ~5 days in a row)
start sometime next week?

The team:

skiffcz
Fast Eddie
Tanksaabas

Discussion? Signups? Class and build choices to build a balanced company?

For me three shots sin order of preference:

Amazon (Bow)
Necromancer (poison/golem)
Barbar (WW/conc? sword/axe/shield)

[Tanksaabas]

This will be gg , but I know next to nothing about classic and what build to pick. Paladin something? I think I'll search around the forum for a bit to see if I get any info regarding builds...

[skiffcz]

I think its the part of the fun .. to actually find something new in this game ::) I miss those days when I was building screwed builds but had fun anyways :)

[Fast Eddie]

Hmmm... well I can't host as I have disconnect problems. Also, the length of time may be difficult for me. Perhaps we could set a weekly time when we are all free?

[SilvioDante]

This looks like an interesting idea. A little while back I got bored with the usual diet of MFing/building tired old characters, so I made a HC Classic Blizzy (currently parked at Act IV Hell, waiting to get the courage for another shot at the CS). Gotta say, it is a lot of fun to play classic but I think your idea of doing it as a group is a good one, life without a merc can be a real pain in the ***.

Some advice: My limited knowledge of classic tells me one thing, you will need at least one tank (Barb/uber-Valk/uber-Golem) and one character who can deal heavy damage. I know you are wanting to do something new but if you can stomach the idea of making a Hammerdin/Blizz Sorc/LF Zon, I think one of those three would certainly help your cause. Also, finding a high damage 1H weapon for melee chars can be annoying (I've been running Memph looking for a gg axe/hammer for a while now and still no luck), so I would choose a mastery that lets you use weapons which already have good natural damage and can go 2H (Axe or Mace).

Good luck and I hope you guys make it all the way to the end :D

[skiffcz]

well, the idea is that ill host and I can let the game up from say 20:00 UTC Sunday to say 13:00 UTC Friday. If we plan this, we can easily play through one difficulty in around three sessions, which is doable (for me) in this interval.

Or, we can just make it act by act, or abandon the pure single pass idea at all. Its subject to discussion I guess ...

Also, Id advocate against hdin or such overpowered build to make the party cooperate more and to more evenly distribute the "play" among all players .. thats why I wnat to discuss the builds in advance ;)

[Smips]

This would be fun, provided that I'm on when everyone else can play :). I call Meteorb ;) (at least they were rather powerful back in the day...)

Is there a reason for not stopping the game? I see no harm stopping at the end of Acts if you wanted to. Plus, RL would probably interfere at some point...

Another suggestion is if we all have headsets we can talk on skype or something too :) I'll have to buy one however :P

[Tanksaabas]

I'd never do a lamerdin :p I was thinking more like a tesla/frostadin or sth. The more players we have the more is the chance RL gets in the way. Plus the different timezones and all.

I concur the idea of making a small pit stop after each act.

[Frenzyone]

I´m in with pure strafe or multishot zon if you decide to go for the idea of several sessions when every1 can.

[sorcererbob]

I'm unsure about this, but I have LOD - would this require a reinstall of D2 for me to participate?

I reckon you should take it act by act. I'm keen to participate, and I'd like to try an enchantress with fireballs.

Edit: also, I noticed that the first post in this thread was around 0400 my time (Australia Eastern). So its possible that i won't be able to participate.

[skiffcz]

sorcererbob: All you need to do is uncheck the "expansion character" checkbox on char creation screen.

Also, I dunno about others, but Im GMT+1. But I can play in really non-mainstream hours ;)
Lets stick for the Act by Act for a while, it seems to be the most popular format atm. One act can be done full clears like in 1-2 hours, depends on pace and act, which should be doable even for ppl scattered all over the globe.

@Smips: vote headsets +1 :)

[sorcererbob]

Yeah headsets make life fun.

Anyway I'm free for the next couple of weeks until uni goes back. But until then, I'm definitely keen - and probably afterwards too. Ok, if we're playing at 20:00 at +0 GMT, and I live at +10 GMT, then I go 20:00 + 10, right? So it will be 0600 for me that we start?

I'm cool with that. I need an excuse to get up early.

[Fast Eddie]

I use Skype for HC MP, so I'd be up for that. I'm mono-lingual though, like a lot of unfortunate Britons. I'm GMT+0 too.

No idea on builds.

[sorcererbob]

I've never used Skype for MP, but I find that Ventrilo, TeamSpeak, and the newer low latency and open source Mumble are decent.

[sorcererbob]

game up from say 20:00 UTC Sunday

So... its now 0600 at +10UTC. Were my calculations wrong? Should we not be starting six minutes ago?

Edit: I checked by setting my clock to +0 GMT (same thing as UTC). Turns out I'm right.

Edit 2: Well... guess I'll just go to work then. If skiffcz decides to get it together then let me know how far you went and what level you are and I'll catch up.

[Fast Eddie]

I originally misread the start time, then worked three ridiculous shifts in a row, and would have been far too tired. We should reschedule though.

[sorcererbob]

I vote for 20:00 GMT tonight. (aka roughly 12 hours from this post).

If I get no response in the next 4 or 5 hours then I'll let someone else plan a time and won't be online for 20:00.

Edit: looks like it will be some other time. I'll next be online around midnight GMT I'd say.

[skiffcz]

unfortunately, my diablo is out of order,and this baby (asus eee) has no cd-rom .. but i might be able to torrent the cds somewhere, but thats nothing sure :(

[Fast Eddie]

Homework, then Call of Duty clan night, followed by homework, followed by very early start for college.

Tomorrow night is D2 HC night. I *may* be free Wednesday night.


We could always take this time to talk about builds or strategies some more. I for one still have no idea what we're doing, or which char to play.

[sorcererbob]

I'm determined to build an enchantress. Unsure if I'll be in melee though. Thinking I might make a passion phase blade for the +1 zeal. Perhaps just use a harmony blade bow or something. If nothing else I'll be able to power up our mercs. I'd love for someone to have a fishymancer for me to spam enchant on.

Twinking... allowed later on?

I think someone said they want a pure bowazon. So I'll help that. I can't help any casters though.

I'll be backing it up with fireball. Why not? I've got fire mastery for enchant.

Edit:

Lets also talk about finding someone central geographically to host. Decrease average team ping that way. I think when Eddie hosts me pings are between 1500 and 4000 if memory serves.

I'm Australian East Coast. I very much doubt I'll be hosting.

[skiffcz]

I'm determined to build an enchantress. Unsure if I'll be in melee though. Thinking I might make a passion phase blade for the +1 zeal. Perhaps just use a harmony blade bow or something.

dont want to break your hearth, but in Classic, there are no runes :spy:

[Fast Eddie]

dont want to break your hearth, but in Classic, there are no runes :spy:

That's hilarious.

East Coast of Austrailia is one of the furthest places away from me, and skiffcz is mainland Europe, which is very close to me. I get understandable pings from *east* USA, not sure if that's because of higher-quality ISPs or anything, but the numbers you were talking about were astronomically high!

[sorcererbob]

Really? No runes? thats an annoyance. My heart isn't broken. I'll convert her to an expansion character when we're done.

In the meantime it looks like I'll probably just be spamming fireball.