LIVIN' ON THE EDGE: Diablo 2 Hardcore Challenge

[Baler]

My act 2 nightmare went really smoothly. spent some time farming rocky tomb and halls of the dead for exp. Still no Dol or Io runes. No luck finding a +3 Bone Spear 2 socket wand either.

Bone Wall makes the beetles out in the desert easy.
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I'm such a hoarder. I hate having to choose between gems, runes and items.
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Duriel inside my Bone Prison! Muahaha
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Having lots of fun with this challenge. Diablo 2 is such a classic that still is better then a lot of modern games.

[Baler]

Found a 4 socket Scythe if anyone doing this challenge needs it to make Insight for their merc. PM me, first person gets it free.

[Shrubwise]

Originally Posted by Liegezen [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

There's talk of it. Tho i say "when" as a way of giving myself hope. It's not set in stone, but D2 has been getting renewed love over the past few months for no real apparent reason, and i like to believe it's a prelude to something big happening in the future. There was an article about blizzard hiring people for some sort of special project, and i personally think it's something for D2. Can't hurt to hope.

I always thought Diablo 2 revamped would make a magnificent modern game, if they just gave it a few minor tweaks:

• Don't change anything about the game play, except that gold picks up automatically like in D3.
• Make necessary visual changes to play in modern gaming resolutions without changing gameplay (I Know there is a mod you can D/L to play in full resolution but it gives an unfair advantage, you can see half the freaking map before the mobs can see you)
• maybe sharpen/improve the graphics (I'm on the fence about this because it may ruin the original charm)
• Of course, integrate it into new B.Net with the modern, easy friend adding/messaging/etc. system
• I have to admit, I think an auction house, much like the one from D3, would be the tits.

Baler -- love that post! Keep it coming!!

[Baler]

Nightmare was interesting nothing too special to report. So here are some Nightmare boss kills.

Mephisto Bone Wall For the win! There is Stygian Dolls; undead Fetishes on route to mephisto that were tearing through my bone armour and into my health. When they die the basically corpse explode. Tiny mob, runs fast, terribly hard to see in the dark.
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Diablo, He was a bit tricky with Bone Wall because of his breath attack but it helped lock him in place so I could bone spear him off screen.
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Baal bows before me.
You can see all my dead clay golems here. They acted as a distraction so he would melee it and not summon tenticles, clones, fire or push back cold.
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On to Hell for me, Level 60.
No idea what level other people are but I think I'm in the lead. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[pickled_heretic]

iron maiden isn't so great in nm/hell. mob health scales a lot faster than damage.

[Baler]

Ugh I said Bone Wall in my last post, I meant Bone Prison. Bone Prison doesn't work on Baal because he can teleport.

Originally Posted by pickled_heretic [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

iron maiden isn't so great in nm/hell. mob health scales a lot faster than damage.

Yes I agree. Just want to re-mention that I said normal bosses for iron maiden. Bonemancer can't afford to spend the extra 3 points in the curse tree to get decrepify. Though I do have it (+2) on a preserved head. But I don't use it.

A classic summoner needs those extra curses to help keep his army alive on bosses.

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Side topic for trash mobs...
so Corpse Explosion is 50% fire & 50% physical. Being one of the best go to spells for necromancers. It is worth debating on which curse combines best with it.

Amplify Damage - Lowers the Physical Resist of the enemy monsters by 100%
||
Decrepify - Lowers movement, attack speed, damage and physical resistance by 50%.

The only bonus I see from Decrepify is lowering attack speed(Like how slowing mobs is good in EQ). Mobs movement speed is pretty null for both summoners(summons slow down mobs) and boners (bone wall || bone prison). At which point Amp Damage is the better choice for damage, even by skeletons.

In my opinion there is only 2 worth while curses. Amp Damage & Lower Resist.

[pickled_heretic]

decrep is absolutely mandatory for summoners killing bosses in hell, because bosses at the higher difficulties have a huge damage bonus multiplier on minions and mercs. the attack and movement speed malus are vital. as i already said, you still use amp damage for 90% of your fighting, but you use decrep on bosses to make your army last longer before they all die. you'll literally run out of mobs in the world to turn into revives/skeletons without it.

[Baler]

Originally Posted by Baler [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

A classic summoner needs those extra curses to help keep his army alive on bosses.

I know,. I agree'd with you and stated that.

[pickled_heretic]

this seems fun...not sure what i would play though. i played lots of necro, barb, and paladin. maybe a javazon? never actually played one.

i really will miss being able to set the number of players to 8 in singleplayer. i understand a competition is pointless in singleplayer since it's easy to cheat but i wish they kept that feature in the realms.

[Sirban]

I started on US West softcore. Names Sirban.

Im a bonermancer

Where do you guys recommend farming?

I usually do countess and mephisto