After i gave myself a fairly easy challenge (even though i still died) for my first ever HC playthrough of Diablo 2, i decided to spice things up a little bit and came up with the following set of rules for this new WT:
1. Hardcore, P1 all the time, convenient changes for better XP and loot are not allowed
2. No boss and area re-runs. If i clear a certain area, i am not going back there untill the next difficulty. If i kill a boss, it stays dead untill the next difficulty. That includes all mini bosses, super uniques and all optional and non-optional areas in the game... as well as the Countess. So getting runes and gear will depend on pure luck and how generous the game decides to be.
3. Vendor farming, gambling and crafting are all allowed and will be an esential part of my survival plan (when i have one).
4. Gem shrine farming is allowed, as long as i don't kill any monsters or pick up any loot in these shrine runs. I will only be allowed to kill if i'm in danger or if a gem shrine is guarded by a foe.
5. I'll be using Plugy for the quality stash and runewords. The cheap Plugy stat and skill respecs are not allowed.
6. I must play with a non-caster character/build
To that i need to add the following:
* If i'm about to die and save/exit inside a quest related area, like, for example, the Jail, the Catacombs or in the overworld areas, then i have no choice but to go back through these areas again so i can continue with the game. Same goes for side quest dungeons, i just can't afford to miss on quests that grant skill or stat points.
But if i happen to save/exit early inside an optional non-quest related dungeon to save my life, then that dungeon will be off limits until the next difficulty. And that is bad for me, because i'll be relying on clearing most (not all this time) of the optional areas like the Mauselum, the Crypt, the fake Tal Rasha Tombs, so i can get the much needed XP, gold and crafting components... because remember, i am limited to the exp and drops on first kill, so clearing additional side areas will help to get some valuables and levels.
** I really hate gem shrine farming and i was very close from removing it from the wt, but i would really love to do some crafting in this one. There's just no other way, cubing is not a reliable source for perfect gems. So these two points will be the only exceptions to the rule of no return to previously explored areas, the gem farming i will only happen in Cold Plains (probably), if i can re-roll good maps of the place.
*** I originally intended this to be a throw barbarian, but because i never tried one before, i decided to do a test run and...
Yeah... it was bad... it was really bad. I was kinda reckless because it was only a test run, but still, i can't see myself going far with throwing weapons, even if i take the serious approach. It's a very handicapped style of play in my opinion, especially for this challenge. The aiming is not very good and you have no spread or AOE attacks, you can only attack one target at a time. Another thing i didn't like was the weapons... i wanted the throwing axes as my weapons of choice (it's a barbarian after all), but the throwing axes are awful compared to the javelins and the throwing spears - shorter range, slower attack speed, less damage and it's maybe just me, but my aiming was much better with javelins and spears than it was with axes. I also found complaints on the internet about the throw barb and how, if you want to make it work on hell, you need very specific, overpowered and hard to get gear, like Lacerator, Warshrike, Fortitute and more.
So i thought, let's not dive completely blind into this, maybe i should try a class/build that i have played many times before? And i did... with a zealot paladin, but this time on softcore, so i can continue with the test if i die. It went better and i reached act 2 nightmare without deaths, but it took a great effort to do so. I really underestimated how tough the game can be playing with no re-runs... at least for me and my newb-ish nature. Being dependent on blind luck is a bitch! Against nightmare Andariel i was still using 1-39 dmg rare flail and no runewords... it was an embarrassing fight. And i don't want to tell you how much time act 1 took to complete and how many times i had to save/exit (around 50)... that's right, even though it was only softcore, i still didn't want to give up and die. I was hoping to find some exceptional weapon bases for crafting at the start of nightmare (knouts or dimensional blades), but they were nowhere to be found. At least i could find some exceptional gloves and boots at the vendors in act 2, but weapons - nope! I tried to vendor farm or gamble them for hours and i failed, so i have no idea when the good stuff starts to spawn in trader inventories. Maybe i should have tried a few normal weapon crafts? I asked myself that, but i didn't believe they would be worth the materials.
If only i was lucky to drop that Ginther's Rift from Andariel as i did in my necro wt, things might have been completely different for a while. Now that i think of it, that's the whole beauty of these rules... now death is not the only thing that can ruin the wt, bad luck can do it too. It's completely unpredictable, especially for a melee class.
So long story short - i will try this with a bowazon, for little bit of a safer approach. If i'm successful and by that i mean, reaching the end of nightmare, then i may return to the idea of a zealot or even frenzy barb, but for that i need to do more tests and early nightmare crafts, so i can learn how to do this better.
And that's about it! My new dumb casual HC wt that i'm going to attempt. Maybe i should have tried something less restricting for my second attempt at a hardcore character, but i don't care, i hate farming anyway. And as always, i will listen to any suggestions and help you guys can give me, thank you!
This glorious journey will begin soon!