I used to play Ladder Slasher quite a bit from 2010 to 2014.
It was fun and I accomplished quite a bit, in both softcore and hardcore.
And then in 2015 I was rarely playing because of my own health problems.

When my grandfather had passed away the day after Christmas (December 26, 2015), I wasn't able to have any fun and nothing really mattered to me for a long time after that. I had actually left D2jsp for some time as well. Playing any game, while a nice distraction, wasn't giving me any joy at all.

And I deleted all of my old ladder slasher characters. I didn't think I would ever play this game again to be honest.

So I decided to come back to Ladder Slasher. On regular softcore mode (original core), which allows me to play stress free.

To my surprise I was able to name my Fighter character "Madmartigan" which is the same as my D2jsp account name. It was never available to me in the past. Somebody must have had it already but I took it as a sign that I needed to give Ladder Slasher one more try.

Basically I'm only going to play by myself (soloing) and all of my gear will be only items I find in the game. And some days I may only be able to play for 10 or 15 minutes. I'm not going to exhaust myself playing for hours at a time. I will never use the Marketplace to buy or sell items. I don't even have any forum gold right now (0.00).

The only other game that I play a little bit every day is Marvel Heroes 2016.
So I'm excited to see what I can do in Ladder Slasher if I just have fun and play at my own pace.

So far I have reached level 5 on Madmartigan the Fighter.
My gear that I have found so far in the game is as followed.

Weapon: Mystical copper axe
Damage: 21 to 26
+37% Enhanced Effect
+1% Parry
+1% Glancing Blow

Armor: Rare rusted plate mail
Physical Defense: 2 to 8
Magical Defense: 0 to 1
+2 Strength
+2% Experience Gained

Charm: Rare focused heal I
Heals: 5 to 6
Mana Cost: 5
+1 to 7 Life per Kill
+2% Wind Mastery

Acc. Charm: Mythical ice I
Spell Damage: 5 to 6
Mana Cost: 5
+2 Strength
+1 to 2 Life per Attack
+1% Mind Numb
+1% Armor Pierce
+1% Physical Damage Reduction

Hopefully in time I'll be able to advance pretty far despite starting with nothing.
A little play every day will add up but I'm only doing this for fun on the side.

I kind of feel very blessed and lucky that I've found the start-up gear that I currently have equipped.
It's going to be interesting to see me level up with low level gear on. I look forward to the challenge.

Oh wow. I think I'm in a bit of tough luck at the moment.

The monsters are pummeling me with ease at level 12.
My life bar goes down super fast and I apply very little damage overall.
I went from level 1 to 5, and then level 5 to 12 (in two sessions).

I made it this far with only a couple of minor upgrades.
But unfortunately I have the same weapon and I'm not dishing out enough damage.

It's definitely hard right now. I may only level once or twice per day. I'm not strong enough.
I think my leveling will slow down from here but I'll keep doing my best a little bit every day.

My current items equipped on my level 12 Fighter named Madmartigan.

Weapon: Mystical copper axe
Damage: 21 to 26
+37% Enhanced Effect
+1% Parry
+1% Glancing Blow
(I have not found any upgrade yet)

Armor: Legendary steel leaf scale armor
Physical Defense: 3 to 12
Magical Defense: 2 to 6
+3 Intelligence
+54 Max Mana
+1% Experience Gained
+2% Life Steal
+1% Parry
+2% Mana Syphon
+1% Power Shot

Charm: Mythical earth I
Spell Damage: 4 to 7
Mana Cost: 5
+5 Strength
+2% Experience Gained
+1 Critical Strike
+2% Ice Mastery
+2% Earth Mastery

Acc. Charm: Mythical ice I
Spell Damage: 5 to 6
Mana Cost: 5
+2 Strength
+1 to 2 Life per Attack
+1% Mind Numb
+1% Armor Pierce
+1% Physical Damage Reduction
(I have not found any upgrade yet)

A couple of short-term goals I will set for myself: I want to reach 1000 monsters killed. I just hit 750.
And the other one is to find a weapon upgrade. I've been unable to have any luck with that yet.

I don't know how I did it but i reached level 20 with all low level gear (all found by me).
It's hard because I find myself going back to town every so often. I can die very easily.

But here is my current gear on my level 20 Fighter (updated).

Weapon: Mystical iron sword
Level Req: 5
Damage: 7 to 70
+1 to 1 Mana per Kill
+2% Magical Damage Reduction
+1% Glancing Blow

Armor: Rare iron chain mail
Level Req: 5
Physical Defense: 18 to 45
Magical Defense: 0 to 12
+53% Enhanced Effect
+2% Mana Skin

Charm: Angelic wild heal II
Heals: 2 to 21
Mana Cost: 13
+60 Max Life
+100 Max Mana
+2% Experience Gained
+1% Parry

Acc. Charm: Mythical earth I
Spell Damage: 4 to 7
Mana Cost: 5
+5 Strength
+2% Experience Gained
+1 Critical Strike
+2% Ice Mastery
+2% Earth Mastery

I switched up one of my charms and found a level 5 weapon and armor. The weapon isn't ideal and has no enhanced effect but it's all I have for right now. Nothing I use is any good. So you can see how proud I am for getting this far just soloing and starting from scratch.

I'll probably play for a couple of minutes a day. Because I can't grind for a long time being as bad as I am.
I feel less stress just doing a little here and there. I pat myself on the back for every monster that I defeat.

And plus I am busy playing Marvel Heroes 2016 when I have a lot of free time.

I'm not like those people who play in big groups and can easily level characters countless times in Ladder Slasher guilds. But I'm very proud of what I can accomplish with absolutely nothing. It's more rewarding to me. I don't need much of anything to have some fun in my own way.