This is
The Sequel to The Greatest Hardcore Tale Of Vengeance Ever Toldhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2cdRbNHWKETDLRI wrote a blog post and made a YouTube video about my tale of Hardcore revenge. It blew up, and the entire player killing and hacking community started trying to hunt me.
I learned how to PVP. I made secret characters. And I killed them all.
Krimzon has returned to Sanctuary for Reign of the Warlock.
Part I - The Greatest Hardcore Tale Of Vengeance Ever ToldIn December 2023, I wrote a post on this forum titled
‘The Greatest Hardcore Tale Of Vengeance Ever Told’.
Original Forum Post: https://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=102667447&f=148YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14XSv-CjgDQMy tale of hardcore revenge was a simple one. I was killed on my first ever hardcore character by a group of players luring unsuspecting victims to their death. I came across one of the players - Gwyneth - and decided to gain his trust, and eventually kill his level 97 Assassin. After months of planning his downfall, it felt like justice had been served. At least, partly.
I had no idea who most of the people who featured in that story were. I had no idea that the story would end up as one of the most viewed posts on this forum ever. I had no idea that it would end up on the front page of Reddit/Gaming, or that it would end up being covered by PC Gamer and other massive gaming sites. I had no idea that the story would feature in videos by some of the world’s biggest Diablo II Resurrected creators, or that it would resurface just a few weeks ago in another YouTube video - getting millions of views all over again.
PC Gamer: https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-2-player-seethes-for-eight-months-after-hardcore-betrayal-befriends-one-of-the-gankers-before-obliterating-their-character-out-of-nowhere-now-were-even/60SecondQuest: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XbnGQoK5ylkI had no idea that writing that story - and creating that video - would put a target on my head for almost every player killer and hacker on the hardcore ladder. But it did.
Part II - The Spark That Lit The FireWhat I did not expect was how massively the story would take off. On the front page of Reddit. On PC Gamer. Importantly, on D2JSP. I didn’t realise two of the players I had killed as part of that story were notorious player killers. I didn’t realise the guy setting dirty Chaos Sanctuary TP’s had been at it for years. I had no idea that entire communities existed around trying to kill other players on Hardcore. But that became apparent very, very soon after my story went live.
From JSP hate mail, to being hunted and hostiled almost every time I tried to play the game. That post opened pandora’s box and opened my eyes to the dark corners (and strange characters) of Diablo II Resurrected, and completely changed my experience playing Diablo. It was relentless.
Over the two weeks following that post, I was hostiled over 100 times in random public games. My second character was killed and his ear posted for sale. My 99 Barbarian was almost killed at least 10 times. Almost.
But those two weeks woke something inside of me. My plan to take revenge against one player killer was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had playing games, ever. And now, new targets. A new goal. A calling. I was no longer going to take revenge against the players that killed me.
I was going to kill every single player killer on Diablo II Resurrected Hardcore.Part III - The ChallengeThe extent of my PVP experience in Diablo II - until this point - was either playing with friends with a pair of Oath’s in the Blood Moor in 2004, or practicing triangle Whirlwind patterns around the Travincal Council and health potions in the Blood Moor in 2023. I still didn’t actually really know how to PVP, never mind how to kill player killing hackers on Hardcore.
Thankfully, the messages I received weren’t all just strange hate mail. A few players reached out on this forum with genuine messages of support, and offers to help. It was really fucking cool, and I ended up making a few new friends. Friends who actually knew how to PVP.
And so, we trained. I levelled and geared a softcore Barbarian - KrimzonSC - and spent countless hours over the next few weeks and months practicing PVP. With my new friends, we’d map out the best counters to the most common player killing classes and threats on the Hardcore ladder. We’d discuss the best points to engage a fight in Hardcore, and the best ways to bait and set traps for the player killers. We’d duel for hours - focussing on matchups vs. Hammerdins, Druids and Barbarians. I learned about telestomping Hammerdin blindspots, and the best way to whirlwind out of hammer danger. I learned about the various sync issues that player killers would often take advantage of. I learned how to avoid Smiters with wide WW patterns. I started winning.
I’d join public duel games. I’d say very little. I’d practice. And often, if I saw a name or a Battletag that I recognised from my list (more on that later), I’d intentionally play like shit. I wanted every single hardcore player killer to see me as an easy kill.
I also got in touch with the two players I’d killed in my first video - Moose and ChickenDaddy. They got me up to speed on the hacks that players were using. Autoaim. Autotele. Map Hack. Chicken. They revealed names of players using them. It was wild. But, it helped me understand what was needed to put my hardcore cleansing plans in motion.
Part IV - The Krimzon LedgerWhen I wasn’t practicing PVP on Softcore, I was plotting revenge on Hardcore. The first step - smoke the bad guys out. I levelled in public games on my main account - and named all of my characters Krimzon (or a version of it) in the hope of baiting the PKers to join. Often they did. Sometimes I’d take the fights. Others, I would take note.
Note of the player names. Their Battletags. The friends they’d join with. The players that would act suspiciously when player killers join the games. And when the hostiled, what they did.
Over seasons 5, 6, 7, and 8. I levelled 5 different Barbarians to level 99 on Hardcore in public games - hoping to lure the player killers out. In season 8, I took the #1 Barbarian spot on the Hardcore Ladder, and the #8 Ladder spot for all classes.
And in the process. I built the Krimzon Ledger. A list of every player that tried to kill me, or any player in any game I’d been in. PKer’s who killed or hostiled friends. Players flagged for attempted PK’s in other Discords. I thought about maybe hunting down people for just being assholes too (though I never did follow through on those). And the suss people they seemed to hang around with. Their spotters. Over 100 unique battletags and reasons to kill them. My hit list.
I had no intention of being hunted on my main character though, or my main account. Instead, I secretly levelled and geared multiple secret characters, on unknown accounts. Barbarians geared to the teeth with one purpose - to hunt.
Part V - The Krimzon Guard.Reaper. KILLKNIGHT. NotThisDay. LittleOldMe. Protector. Nozmirk. IronKMZ. NineIron. GrailHorker. Stormbreaker.I created public farming games. I blended in. I posed as a BO Barb. Known player killers joined.
I searched for player names I recognised from the ledger in public games and stalked them.
They hostiled. And I was waiting.
Across Seasons 6, 7, and 8, the Krimzon Ledger ran red. The blood of the player killers flowed. I hunted in the Blood Moor, I baited them in the Chaos Sanctuary, I buried them Travincal and lured them to their death in the Worldstone Keep.
By the end of Season 8, the Krimzon Guard had crossed more than 35 names of known player killers off the Ledger and taken the ears of some of the deadliest player killers and hackers on the Hardcore Ladder:
ChickenDaddy (aka Once) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a3WxicTlLQMoose (aka TomToughKnuckle) -
https://medal.tv/games/diablo-2-resurrected/clips/ipPxYS1PTv9xJRkVu/d1337JA9dCkk?invite=cr-MSxBenIsNDcxNzE3ODYsPK_Lab -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itDZ4GfGcHQThe hunted had become the hunter. And the Hardcore ladder was finally a little bit safer. It was time to rest.
Part V - Krimzon ReignI took a break from Diablo after Season 8. I’d ticked all of the boxes I’d wanted to tick in the game. But seeing my story go viral a few weeks ago, and with the Reign of the Warlock release - it's time to return to Sanctuary.
I still have names on my list. Player killers and hackers still run free on the Hardcore ladder. Justice will be served.
I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.
Krimzon