Just care specific mobs and bosses with “shot-gun” potential. It is possible to die from aoe puddle stacking as well as random mobs that de-buff resistances and DA. As a cautious player this game can be pretty disheartening when something just one shots you and there’s nothing you could have done to stop it.
I didn’t play HC but in my first play through I did get over level 80 in normal/veteran without dying. Then I made mistakes in other difficulties.
Also be aware that some mobs (like -Arcane heroes i guess or Loxmere and some others) dispel all your buffs and auras in single attack so you need to recast them all. It’s often followed by resist reduction and almost instant death (especialy on Ultimate difficulty, where you can’t overlevel)
Yup, these are the usual suspects and the worst offenders.
When any of these come into play, damage taken is multiplicative. And what’s worse - random, defined by multiple conditional factors (unpredictable). The magnitude of damage scaling is insanely wide.
To add insult to the injury, these mechanics (shotgunning/RR) are widely overused by depelopers to achieve the feeling of “difficulty” and “danger”.
Also stun - which is the definition of a poor mechanic.
It’s about disabling the character for a duration, where player skills, abilities, and the build itself don’t matter. What matters is only if character is able to absorb the damage taken from a certain encounter while afk, under certain/random conditions for a defined period of time. It’s cheap and unfair.
So, successfully playing GD on HC at high difficulties, requires certain builds and great knowledge in the game. And no matter what, sooner or later you’ll fall into a trap by any of the mechanics listed above.
It doesn’t mean that HC gameplay is impossible, and also it’s the best way to stress your abilities and skills. Also challenging hence satisfactory.
But having your first playthrough in GD on hardcore for me is a recipe for disaster.
Well he already did complete normal on HC on his first playthrough, so thats quite a bit of an achievement. 