A friend of mine and me want to play hardcore for the first time. Any first time advice / tips? I usually play a frenzy baba but I imagine it to be very hard, since even with my endgear in softcore I die from time to time. I could try to play him more in a defensive way. Ir maybe rather go ww? What barb builds do you play on hardcore?

My buddy is thinking about playing a summon necro.

No one?

Do not die :-)

If you're dying with endgame gear, then you apparently do not understand the limits of your char. Fix that first.

You blame it on lacking a shield. But is that really the problem? Consider the fact that the probability of missing 3 consective blocks is ~1.5% ... an archer pack w/ stacked auras and amp could concievably take you down within that window. Its these kinds of things that kill even good players on HC (ignoring lag).

Just be ready to die a couple (or more) times. There is really no other way to learn.

learn game mechanics

Focus on gear that helps you survive instead of fully decked damage. Mdr and pdr is a really good source of protection that is widely negated on softcore.

Another thing is to play less aggressive until you understand your characters limit like someome else mentioned.

besides being mind full of your gear, and DOLLS, and such...
i would say be make some friends here on jsp and try to play private games with them.
make a post "walking NM tonight" rather then joining pub games and getting pk'ed

and another pro tip.

when you switch char, make sure you back up a bit and get back into the grove before you start pushing again.
we've all killed a sorc because we hit F3 and tele'ed into a pack, because we had previously played a necro with CE on F3

also... take it easy. play your best class, that you know well.

dont go trying to be a hotshot kicksin as your first hardcore char.

Everyone has super good advice here but I learned how to kill ubers on hardcore with my first char. kicksin, never tryed it on softcore.but I did die at 94 my 4th attempt(forgot fade).
Anyone can get to hell and steal xp like people do in softcore, I think the key to hardcore is respecting the resists and damage reduction caps. Souls will kill you with no absorb or high lightning res. And most melee hits will take you out without damage reduction. After u get resists and damage reduction build however you want. But if u can't take a hit then don't try to be a hero. I won't go into hell difficulty without building up my resistances and gear first. I tend to nightmare cow for a long time so I have enough life and resistance charms to make it in hell. Mule lots so dieing hurts less. Be careful so u die less. Make things easier on yourself and mf nightmare until u can't find better upgrades then move on to hell.

can't get stuck with ww so that's a plus, but play what u think is most fun and see how far u get. more defensive play than usual, run back a little to thin out the mobs if it's difficult...try to always have a rejuvenation potion or 3 in the belt...drink healing pots a bit earlier....etc, you'll be fine.