A newbie's hardcore experience

A newbie's hardcore experience

Well, tired of playing softcore, I wanted to try out hardcore. I decided to make a shapeshifting druid and leveled in act 1 for a little while and then I eventually got past Andy because a higher level sorc rushed us. However, at the beginning of Act 2, I noticed several "sewer run" games. Well to make a long story short, I did sewer runs because it was good experience, and I had a fun time playing with different people. However, on some occasions, a rude "pker" would join the game, act like we were his friends, and then he'd hostile us. Some would just enter the game, and hostile everyone. On one occasion, I think I was in a four player game, and then a lvl 32 pally joins. A lvl 32 Pally doing sewer runs? Sounded like PK to me, and guess what? He did try to pk us. But the most shocking part of this, was a lvl 12 necro in our group was his friend and it turned out that he was helping the pally find us . It really showed the dishonest nature of hardcore playing, I also had someone tell me about how another player filled the TP entrance with monsters and told him to go inside. Of course he died right away, the other player, who was a sorc, just wanted the loot. So basically "loot" = pk me now. And the funny thing I saw, based on my experience, and those of others I've recently read in these forums, is that pkers are mostly cowards. They kill others yet they don't want to die. They generally pick on unfair fights. Well the lvl 32 Pallyu I mentioned earlier tried to hunt us down and we all just TP into town. A player in the game got angry at the Pally, and bought his lvl 80 sorc. The lvl 80 sorc hostiled the pally and the pally just typed "lol", "you noob, you need a lvl 80 to kill a lvl 32" then I responded with "well you need a lvl 32 to kill lvl 18s" He replied "stfu". And also, how people screw with newbs. Some "free items" games are actually real, some people drop decent low lvl stuff for newbs to have. I could use some of the free stuff considering I use Arcannas staff as my primary weapon. But then there are some people who like to screw with newbs. They make fake games and some of the also have a "free items here" sign over his head. Then all of us mindlessly chase him around until he finally says "lol" or "noobs" and then he leaves the games. This made me feel pretty stupid lol. Or people who say "items in blood moor" and then they really intend to pk you. So my point is that hardcore really isn't better than softcore. I know people who say "hardcore is so much better than softcore", and that's what got me into it, but so far the aspect of hardcore has not been too promising.

 

Yep. Hardcore has its bad points - main thing to realize is that players >> monsters when it comes to hazards to your character's health.

If everyone would stop being gullible and stop dying to these chickenhacking pkers then it would soon stop.

When I keep seeing at least 1 person dying in a sewer run, it makes me mad that the pker will come back for more easy kills next game.

e.g. Lvl 32 pally enters sewerrun game. Hostiles. Everyone immediately goes to town, says nothing and waits.
Answer: Pker will leave. If you don't feed it, it won't grow; but if you do feed it, it will get greedier and greedier.

As for trapping tp's, again, when will ppl learn not to go down a tp they don't know, unless they're ready for a pounding.
I remember a while ago, when I was a lvl 2, entering a Dark Wood tp surrounded by 20 monsters. The lvl 39 barb actually congratulated me for surviving his trapped tp (He didn't do a good job).

 

i have to hear this... how did u survive???? fast connection??? escaping skills?? mindless pot mashing?? how??

 

Killing em all with a leet twinked char Hehe, that would astonish some tp-trappers

BC

 

Escaping skills, plus Rixot's Keen, Breastplate, Mask with 3 +20 poison jewels, plus a few rejuvs.
The tp wasn't fully surrounded, so I didn't die instantly - pressed a rejuv as I heard the familiar mass-monster-pounding sounds. They swarmed me, but there was a slight gap. I even got to find the waypoint, lol.
The 39 barb seemed quite shocked that his trap failed.

 

what realm are u on cookies? If its useast I'll hook you up with some stuff. always glad to help out a new hc player.

 

Cookies

Where do you play? I am on East Non-Ladder. I have quite a few low level items I could pass on to you. I also feel you pain. My sorc was the constant target of many PK'ers in the lower levels. But now at 68 she doesn't seem to attract the attention she used to.

 

Speaking of "trapped" tps and this one really suprised me. I was in a freaking private game with friends and eventually the y all left and the last one got dropped from relm. After taking Hell Nithlak (pit vpers hurt) I thought I would go hit Pindle and make a new game. Well evedently someone tried soloing pindles and his buds and it got to hot and had to back out. I dont recall anyone saying anything but her I go into the read and BAMN all those freaking guys are huddled around it liek it was a fire to keep them warm!

Thank God I was on Necro, had all my skelleis and Merc and Golem and some invested points in wall and prison for some decent armor and a good connection as I servived it very easily.

Anyway I have a few peeps to talk to tonight and find out WTF was up!!! If it had been a sorc or something with less minons and no bod they could or easily died.

This game is full of assholes both in SC and HC so expect it. Dont lable HC as bad due to these expierences. You will find more very nice people in HC thatn you will find totals wastes of oxygen, but when you are in Norm lvl running around in lvling areas that is where you will find the major assholes.

Low lvl pking has been a happening thing for a long time, but now it seems to be the main Pk scene as it is a lot more difficult to PK at high lvls now, and a lot more dangerous since so many PvP characters are synergized and can deliver damages that can kill PKs more easily. It is also a lot more risky to run around NM and Hell with a PK build as they could run into nasty stuff trying to get to thier prey. Those charges in Worldstone have a serious issue when Oblivs are around!! Wansnt like that before.

Learn to avoid and spot PKs and abnormal stuff and you will be fine. Greed kills, taking a tp to DW at lvl to is a form of greed/laziness and is a good way to die, so if you arent prepared to take what is down there then you beter walk your way to DW. If your in a game and you want to cathc up with people, ask for a new tp. If you have your curser on the TP u can se it change even if in the same area. A new TP can also be trapped, but it is more liekly not to be packed with guys like one that is up and giving them time to collect people to the TP.

I say a trap PK that huddled a few cows to red and she was lvl 30, told some 20's it was safe, they entered, one died and 2 escaped with low life. Then the lvl 30 decided to go in as evedently whe only lured enuff cows to kill low lvls but not her. Well I would of loved to see her face when she entered as more cows came than she thought and she died! i smiled for a good 10 mins after that one!

 

I am sorry to hear your initiation into hardcore hasn’t gone well. Admittedly it's a different game than softcore. I was also shocked at the number of PKs and the lengths people would go to in order to try and kill unsuspecting players. Unfortunately, your first rule of thumb should be to trust no one. Read the Hardcore FAQ, it has great information on how to avoid being PK-ed. The best way to avoid a PK is to try and spot them before they hostile. Try and recognize players that don’t belong in the game. As some else already stated, PK attempts decrease dramatically in NM and Hell difficulty games.

But in all honesty, hardcore is more fun than softcore. If only for the sheer fact that you have to play better and build better. You only have one chance to get through the game. When you beat the game (kill Baal) it will be much more satisfying to you knowing you did it without dieing.

Btw, if you are playing ladder on West I have some extra Druid gear on mules. I don’t play them so it’s going to waste on my mules.

TM

 

thanks

Hey terrymanning, I do play on west, so some starting gear would be appreciated. Just leave your account name and I'll message you sometime. Thanks

 

Words of hardcore wisdom, ignore them at your own peril. Any tp I take from a stranger I assume the tp is 2 (dangerous if not downright fatal). If I don't feel my character at that point is built to take a mobbed tp I won't take it most of the time or I simply acknowledge that I am gambling and doing so with the character's life. The risk may pay off more times than it kills the character but eventually its a bet you will lose. Also even players who are not normally malicious may leave a bad tp and not have time to warn players, or simply might be annoyed at someone in the run and not care. I recall a nm baal run where I had teleported down with my sorc and it was chaos when I reached the throne room. Some idiot wouldn't shutup during the run, I was too slow, should be using maphack, had noob-gear, and shouldn't dare tell him to be quiet if he was going to wait in town. Needless to say the tp I put up was dirty, it was like a Gloam convention , and the majority of characters in the run wouldn't have survived it, to my chagrin he didn't take it. 99% of the time I won't put up a dirty tp on purpose but some people are just asking for one.

 

In 1.10 PKs are much less deadly, unless they are cheating, which not many of them are doing because it involves 3rd party trigger software. The most important thing is to stay away from waypoints (the cheating method, although I won't go into it in detail, involves circumventing the 10-second hostile delay by taking a waypoint).

Stay away from waypoints, don't take TPs unless you know they're safe (e.g. someone else just went through and lived), and TP or flux the second you get hostiled. That will keep you pretty safe from malicious players.

You should have seen it in 1.09. GA triggerzons anyone?

 

[innappropriate crap deleted by ZappaFan]

 

yeah pks can be annoying and frustrating, but they are also part of what makes HC EXCITING!!

If you are outside of town, you have to be alert and aware at all times. To me the thinking and caution that is needed for survival makes the game a blast.

It's all about your mindset and how you react to these things. You can choose to enjoy it or hate it. There are going to be jerks in any community. The difference I see is that HC is more challenging than SC.

Do you want to be challenged?

 

Yah Hc is more challenging, but I just don't like it when people 10 levels higher than you, challenge you to an unfair fight. I know some pk are similar levels, which is a fair fight, despite the fact that they are probably massively twinked.

and lumdul2, by any chance, are you a pker?

 

as was mentioned earlier most HC people are nice but theres always the occasional person who wants nothing more than to piss you off shrug it off and you'll be OK, as a single player i can't give you too many realm tips, but weather its PvM or PvP USE JUVES! once you get that horadric cube keep a minimum of 2 belt slots loaded up on fulls/partials, you never know when the refill rate of a regular pot just won't be fast enough, i lost my first HC attempt to that problem.

 

If you don't want to die, don't play hc, simple.

In hardcore you have more too lose and more ways to lose it.

Hardcore isn't for everybody, others get hooked.

 

HC is for HC players, you have to set your mind.
And PK is a part of it, its all in the (thrilling) game.
From the moment I enter HC HELL, my HR (heart rate) goes up, and stays high.
I dont want to loose my lvl 78 pala, i played him for more than 20 hours till he became 78, but i know i will loose him sometime.
I all is part of a great game.

But i can't stand the cheaters, and i mean hacked items and 3 party programs (evt bug exploits).
The rest belongs to it, incl. trapped tp and wp's, lvl 38 PK'ed a lvl 18 etc.
If you dont like it, then play solo or private games, i think the pubbie games are an xtra challenge.

b.t.w. you get better the more "deeds" you see.

cu

 

NEVER, EVER, EVER think that your PvM character vs. a PvP character is a fair fight, even if you are 2 or 3 times higher than their level. This is what they want you to think. They will taunt you to come out and fight because you are a much higher level. DO NOT fall for this. A PvP character has only one purpose, to kill other players. All of their equipment, skill point distribution and stat point distribution are geared for killing other players.

I can’t stress this enough. NEVER, EVER, EVER think it is a fair fight. It will cost you your ear if you start thinking that it is.

TM

 

Yes, it is wise to ignore comments like, "let my merc hit you once, I just wanna test out his weapon". Or, "I'm only a lvl 12 assasin, you're lvl 50, let's duel". With appropriate gear (not to mention enchant), even a lvl 9 character can 1-hit kill players dozens of levels higher.

I've had lots of people trap tp's (in 1.09) for waypoints, but I never died to one of those traps. They would always be amazed.

The only time I loot is after I have played several games with the same person, and they prove themselves not to be grabbing, greedy, selfish type characters. I never loot to people I haven't played with at all. I figure its like an open invitation to get pk'd.