So after the expansion I decided to create a new character to try one of the new masteries, and I told myself “well why not make it veteran/hardcore as well” since it’s been always something I wanted to try anyways.
All was going pretty well, I had never been under any real danger aside from the boss of the sanctuary in act 1 where I was heavily under-leveled.
I found my unexpected demise at the boss (plus rare spawns that spawned at the right time i guess) on the level 3 of the underdark. It was a bit sad since I pretty much died of dots while my potion was in cooldown.
Regardless, with the context out of the way, I invested quite a few hours on that toon, and to go through the same exact content again so soon doesn’t appeal me
But there’s no other way to use the new masteries.
How do you motivate yourself to start again from scratch? (aside from not dying in the first place )
I’m not a HC player (i’m a pussy) but i guess it’s the thrill of beating the entire game without dying. One character dying means another try with another character and maybe this one will reach the end.
Start a completely different build every time, it’s important. Also have some kind of roadmap for your build but don’t think too much about end game, always think about how you could improve your build at your current level.
But HC isn’t so much about dying as it is about having a well built character at every point in the game.
My rule of thumb is to focus only on HP and on normal and only start thinking about resists and damage when I’m about halfway through elite.
The necromancer doesn’t inspire me, so I’ll still go with the inquisitor, but this time instead of the demolitionist I’ll go with something else, I’ll have to think it over, not even sure if going ranged again or not.
Even if to be honest the purifier was working quite well until then, so more than efficiency of the build I guess I overdid with cunning/gearing for damage.
A new build will hopefully make things fresh again though.
If you play HC you should be willing to accept losing chars or you’ll probably burn out quickly.
I usually end up playing HC when I fulfilled all my current goals in the game and don’t have another way to keep me interested besides taking a break from it.
Another thing I do sometimes is play with death rules on SC. For example, after 3, 5 or 10 deaths I will consider the character dead and delete it.
Due to lack of punishments for dying at max level in GD, I find that to be a good compromise between having a challenge and HC mode.
You could give that a try.
I reasoned that the best defense is a strong offense and thought I should just aim to kill before being killed, but I guess I should take a different approach for HC…
Well it didn’t last long but I guess I’ll learn from the experience for my second attempt.
Thanks.
@Weyu: thanks for the tip but I am not really good at sticking with self imposed rules, that’s why I can’t get into games like Skyrim for example.
The “open inventory & quaff 100 potions at once” is borderline exploit in my opinion, but at the same time I don’t feel like i should be the one to limit myself when playing, it sort of feels unnatural, but I digress.
How did it go? Did you reach Ultimate?
I’m thinking of some hc char some time in the future, but it will surely have a soldier in it for tankiness. I am too scared not to use it ;/
Your first character’s role is just to max out rep with most factions and stock on faction mandates. If you did it you had already succeeded. With maxed Malmouth rep you can stock with potions of clarity for quick levelling, which is quite crucial if you play HC - you don’t want to spend much time getting back on your feet after RIPs.
And contrary to common belief you don’t have to play soldier. While soldier indeed provides good defensive benefits, the primary method of remaining alife on HC if your gear is lacking is just keeping distance.
How did it go? Did you reach Ultimate?
I’m thinking of some hc char some time in the future, but it will surely have a soldier in it for tankiness. I am too scared not to use it ;/
Nah, any char can finish Ultimate with self found gear. Use green jewelry to cap resistances, use mutated scales for pants and shoulders. Buy faction mandates once you reach enough reputation.
Anyway 3 tips:
1)Always put aether cluster on hotbar, it save life =)
2)Cap resistance ASAP.
3)Be carefull around rippy places. If things go wrong pause and ALT+F4.
Since I have switched to 100% Hardcore, I must admit I am sometimes quick to press Escape when things look grim.
Like when all my heals are on cooldown, I like to get a moment to assess the situation - and see whether I should try to recover or save/quit.
I am still dying regularly so it doesn’ t solve all problems obviously.
Last one was my lvl97 Poison/Acid Cabalist - died stupidly to Alkamos.
But overall, I always try new builds concepts with new toons after dying. Be careful to go for new builds that use completely different sets as well, so that you don’ t feel bad later on about loosing your only pieces of a particular set when you die.
I sometimes like to start off some builds in advance as well. So that not all toons will restart at lvl1.
For instance, while I am advancing the campain on my ‘main’ character, I might take a small break at one point and do Act1 of my next build idea, so that if things go wrong, I already have a starting point.
Otherwise, as it’ s been pointed out:
Aether Clusters are your friends (mostly for strong dots that you can’t shrug off easily in my case, or when playing in aetherfire areas)
Having at least one tanky/reliable character to get full rep and be able to farm a bit, is useful (I went for a Lightning Totem Vindicator that I still use sometimes if I am looking for specific materials, augments and such).
Once you get some toons rolling, you will feel more confident going through new characters - as you know it will be easier to lvl up and you will get MIs/Legendaries that will give you new ideas on the way.
)