Buckle up. For this, my friends, is an epic tale of D2R revenge.
TLDR: Gwyneth / Garfuuu was complicit in my death in S3. I learned how to PVP in S5 and took my revenge 8 months later. And I made a dumb video -
https://youtu.be/14XSv-CjgDQTale as old as TimeI picked up D2R at launch, and played through pre-ladder. It was a blast. I discovered JSP. I got to spend some quality time with friends that I grew up playing LOD with. And made some new friends in the game. I put the game down again before S1 kicked off. I thought I’d had my fun - and started playing WoW again.
Fast forward to the D4 Beta weekends. I reconnected with a few of the guys I’d played through D2R pre-ladder with, both my old school friends, and my new ones, and got the Diablo bug once again. I hung up my WoW boots, and jumped back into D2R.
A Hardcore Journey - April 21, 2023 -
https://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=100650382&f=148&o=0I decided to start a Hardcore run with my OG D2 buddy (my first time ever on HC), decided to run with my first ever Frenzy Barb (oh, I also only play barb, ever) and jumped straight in to my new adventure. I started to document the journey here:
Never Trust Anyone - April 25, 2023 -
https://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=100683988&f=148I got a lot of help from the Community along the way, which unfortunately gave me a very false sense of security in Hardcore. I jumped into my first Hell Chaos runs at level 70, and learned a valuable lesson, and one that started a great community discussion at the time….
https://i.imgur.com/sHJH7Sj.pngWhile Don was the player who set the dirty TP and called safe - there was something off about the run in general. It felt like most of the other players in the game were in on it. One of the players joked about checking JSP to see if I’d made a post about my death…
That same player decided they would post on my JSP thread, offer to give me a couple of starter items to get back on track, and pretended they were an innocent bystander. I called them out at the time, suggesting they should keep better company, and standing by scummy behaviour like that was pretty poor form. We parted ways.
I made a note of all of the player names and btags in the game for future reference…
Season 5: A Group Self-Found Hardcore Journey - September 28, 2023Our ladder reset group from S4 (my first ever ladder reset, which was a blast) - plus a few new team members, decided to run HCL on reset for the first time. And to keep the run strictly self found between the group. I decided to pick up where my first ever HC journey fell apart - and run Frenzy barb.
Honestly, this ladder reset has been one of the most enjoyable experiences playing games in my life. The self-found decision has meant that most of our reset team stayed engaged with the game. And all of a sudden, people started reaching level 99 in our group for the first time. It’s been an absolute blast.
Gwyneth - October 2023Garfuuu / Garf#6848At some point, early on Season 5, I ran into a player called Gwyneth during a random pub game. He asked me if I’d been PK’d a couple of seasons ago, and mentioned that he was in the game back in April when Don set the dirty TP.
I checked my list of names from the game, and realised this was the same player laughing about checking JSP after my death, the same player who immediately started posting on the JSP thread, and the same one that pretended to befriend me after my death.
After a quick YouTube search, I also realised that Gwyneth / Garfuuu was the one uploading Don’s PK Videos to his channel. I wasn’t sure if Gwyneth was Don, or just entirely complicit in his actions. Neither mattered:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCpDk68YT50From that point on - I had a new goal for Season 5. Seek Revenge.
Kill Gwyneth.
From here, I made the decision to play the long game. I befriended Gwyneth. I invited him to join our Private TZ runs. I joined his games to say hello. I joined him for random TZ farming and MF.
I started sharing my corpse with him through these runs. I wanted him to trust me. He started sharing his back, until we’d reached the point where any game we were both in, it was common practice. I said nothing of my plans for revenge. Or that I even suspected him to be involved in my death (despite the fact he made several comments about it during our time playing together). The game was well and truly afoot.
https://i.imgur.com/P1XRwpO.jpgKrimzonHC: The PVP Noob - November 2023The fundamental problem with my plan to kill Gwyneth was possibly the biggest one - D2 PVP is not something I’ve ever really taken part in - outside of Bloor Moor Duels with a pair of Oaths back in the early 2000’s. I love PVP in games, and have a pretty solid track record for not being totally garbage at PVP in other MMO/ARPG titles. But, I had a long way to go.
I also knew that I wanted the kill to be a clean one. I will never set a dirty TP after what was done to me. That felt low.
Alas, my first issue, I was Frenzy Barbarian. Rocking a Grief PB and a Death. And from my early reading on D2R PVP, I needed to swap to WW (a spec I hadn’t played since pre-ladder), and needed some new weapons. I told our group of my plan, and thus, continued my rune hogging run with my self found group. We managed to loot and funnel me the runes for a new Grief Zerker and Beast Zerker. I eventually got set up with an Enigma, and decked my inventory out with all of the Max/AR/Life charms we were able to find. Being the stubborn sort, I decided to play through until 99 as Frenzy
(and ended up on the #11 Barb Spot on the leaderboard - my first ever 99), then make the swap to WW.
My group laughed at my plan - ‘I knew nothing about PVP, and was just going to get killed.’ There was very little faith.
Next step was to actually try to understand D2 PVP, and how to improve my game without actually being able to PVP. I could have made a SC toon, but really didn’t have the energy. I was going to go in blind. I read every single guide I could on BVB/BVC/BVA gameplay. I spent hours re-reading Lings BVC guides. I watched DFC videos while falling asleep. I subbed to Coooley, and watched every single Barbarian PVP video I could find. I started practicing my triangle WW’s during Trav runs. And tele-WW combos. Without ever engaging in PVP, I practiced all of the tips and tricks I could to be ready.
Fort Travincal - December, 2023After a few weeks of study and WW’ing practice, I felt ready to put my revenge plans in motion. The game was set. I knew how I wanted to do it - catch Gwyneth in a TZ beside town - from here it was just about waiting for the right moment to strike. I continued to play other TZ’s with Gwyneth to continue building his trust, in the hope that a suitable TZ would roll around. This took some time. I even made an alt barb to run in the games/for XP to keep suspicion as low as I could.
While Gwyneth wasn’t online. I kept up my practice. I used Travincal as my PVP Training Ground. Practicing my triangle Whirls. Hoping for the odd Lo rune to kit my merc out with a Forti.
Travincal became my Fortress. Over the course of my PVP practice, several random PK attempts were made on my life. Rather than hold out just for Gwyneth, I decided to stand my ground against these PKer’s.
The first, a cheating, botting, scumbag Hammerdin named Fugu fancied his luck, and tried to jump me while practicing at Trav. This was the first time in my HC career I didn’t run from a PKer. I held firm, and fast, and banished him to shadow realm. It was exhilarating. I was shaking. Hardcore PVP had me hooked.
Fugu - 86 Hammerdin -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWdnhX8ZFvMVery shortly afterwards, his friend LiverKing decided he wanted to try to hunt me down - to avenge his botting, scumbag friend. LiverKing and I had exchanged words earlier on the ladder. He was a notorious PK’er, who would often join and hostile during our public group games as we pushed up the ladder. We would always leave. This time was different. I’d warned him that I would kill him once I’d reached 99.
As his friend Fugu did before him, LiverKing attempted to get the jump on me in Travincal. This time, I was waiting. Understanding that any one of his blows could potentially be fatal, I stood my ground, until I was the last man standing.
LiverKing - 90 Berserk Barbarian -
https://medal.tv/games/diablo-2-resurrected/clips/1GUS9Iu2LVsM8C/fEX5nnn0mm1F?invite=cr-MSxHUzEsNDcxNzE3ODYsLiverKing kindly shared his video with me, and was a good sport after the fight. Fugu did not respond to my friend request at the time of writing, however the video was shared in a Discord and shared with me privately. I had to keep my profile low after both kills. No bragging about the ears. No claiming bounties (which had existed for both characters). I didn’t want Gwyneth to know that I was kitted out for PVP. I didn’t want to give the game away. We were getting close.
Revenge is a dish best served cold - 5 December, 20238 Months LaterI was working late. I checked Bnet and saw that Gwyneth was online. I checked the TZ - Glacial Trail was active, Outer Steppes was up next. I knew I might not get another chance. I knew that the time to strike upon us.
I joined Gwyneth’s game. I told him I would keep him company during the TZ. I asked if he’d stick around for the next one too. He would.
I opened my OBS recording software. I waited. I watched the clock tick down as we approached the Outer Steppes TZ. I was shaking. My heart was racing. I shared my corpse. Gwyneth shared his.
I knew I had to play the first couple of games cool. I knew I had to erode any doubt, any lack of trust before I made my move.
I pressed record on OBS. We ran through the Outer Steppes and Plains of Despair. I started to warm up my triangle whirlwind patterns on the packs. Then my PC crashed.
I panicked. I powered on/off. OBS had wigged out my GFX. I thought, at the final hurdle, I’d probably died. I’d been lucky.
I restarted OBS. I rejoined Gwyneth. We cleared the Outer Steppes. Gwyneth opened a new game. It was time.
I quickly sprinted to the Plains of Despair. I wanted to be ready. I wanted Gwyneth to see me BO’ing. I finished buffing myself before Gwyneth got in range.
He ran outside of the Pandamonium Fortess. I ran back inside. I took a second. I toiled. I nearly backed out. But I committed. I turned hostile.
Two steps. Two Whirlwinds.
Gwyneth (97 Assassin) was slain by KrimzonHCGlorious PurposeI feel conflicted. I killed a guy, who I’d lured into a false sense of security. He feels betrayed. And I understand that. Weeks, even months of his time invested in that character have been deleted in a second. And a big part of me is sorry.
But, there’s a valuable lesson here. Don’t be an arsehole. Don’t set innocent players on a path of vengeance. Don’t make a joke about how you’ve wasted their time. And pick better friends. He knew that what he was doing was wrong. He knew he was complicit in getting other players killed. And he did it anyway. I hope, if nothing else, that this experience stops that from happening again.
https://i.imgur.com/DyhwYIH.jpgI will never PK an innocent player on HC in this game. I’ve never PK’d anyone. But I now know how to defend myself, and seek vengeance against those that might try. And I will hold my ground for seasons to come.
There are still a few players on my list. A few new additions this season. All of whom have attempted to set dirty TP’s or PK me or my close friends this season.
And the rest of the players who sent me to my grave in that first Chaos game back in April.
I hope to see you soon.