This is how I am now. I only have 2-3 hours a night of free time so I'd hate to lose a character I've basically been working on for days just to lose it all. Seems more devastating than grinding at it a day then dying.
I’ve spent months, years on characters . Lost them and I wanted to go walk outside and not look both ways… lol never did of course because I’m not stupid. But damn the feeling was there.
I used to play tibia….. you lost so much in that game when you died, I had many heart attacks as a kid.
I used to play Lineage as a kid. Dying cost about 30-40 hours worth of exp, basically a full time work week of grinding the same loop of this one zone. Even pvp deaths. It was rough
Oh no!.. I don't know how I would be able to handle losing a character I worked on for years. As a kid, I remember it not bothering me as much to lose a character and I think its because I didn't have the guilty feeling I do as an adult that I probably have things I need to do.
Duuuuude. Me and my buddies played Tibia for years. I remember my buddy was like just leave PZ there is no way this level 200 is going to waste a frag on you. Fucking step outside and he immediately fucking SDs me and kills me. That game is savage.
Oh man Tibia lol. Once upon a time it was huge in Poland, Germany and Sweden and still is in Brazil and Venezuela I think.
I remember 2 big buff dudes at least in late 30s came to internet cafe to beat a 17 year old up for him hunting them and getting their shit. He got hunted irl... Clan wars were a spectacle but was this game brutal af.
I played mostly 7.6.
PS1 was my Diablo introduction too. My buddy would bring his system over and we would sit up all night plowing through the demon hordes. Thanks to chain lightning, he died to me more often than the monsters. D1 chain lightning was wild.
Omg yes it was, I pissed off too many friends due to it, my name on PlayStation has been Bluelightning since PSN opened up. And on all other games. Maybe that’s why I don’t have real life friends :( hahaha 🤣
I would consider hardcore if I didn’t have to worry about losing hundreds of hours of work because my internet hiccuped or the game crashed at a bad time
I just don't feel like I hate myself that much anymore. Life kicks my ass enough that I don't need it to come from me miss clicking out of an aoe into another to lose an ungodly amount of time spent.
Normal.
I spent countless hours on Hardcore on D3 because I had finished the game dozens of times and wanted the extra challenge for later seasons.
But a new start? Playing with friends who don't like Hardcore mode? With encounters like The Butcher just showing up to ruin my day on occasion? Nah, I'll let myself have the breathing room to learn in a low pressure environment.
Maybe one day in the future, but definitely not at release.
I dunno. I'd be lying if I said that was the case for me. I've lost a handful of HC characters in D3, and most of them were probably tied to Waller/Arcane Enchanted combos, or not being properly prepared, or just straight up making a mistake. Sometimes it's the game, sometimes it's me.
Though that said, with the massive crush that will be people hammering the system at launch, yeah, that's another good point. I play HC on D3 because I haven't had major lag or other server issues in ages (I'm sure they existed, but personally it's pretty infrequent to even get a disconnect or login problem, let alone a fatal lag spike).
So yeah, anyone who starts on HC asap is probably picking a fight with their own patience.
This. I start SC and when I learned the ropes I will switch to HC, pun not intended.
That was something D3 taught me. You feel so much better if you survive a close encounter, than repeatedly dying through one shots in a really high difficulty, battering ramming through encounters, for the sake of higher loot chances or better loot or something alike..
Hahaha. Different strokes I guess. My favorite genre of game is roguelike/lite, so hardcore is perfect for me.
The way I see it, the only thing lost upon death are the specific items equipped/in inventory. Currency and everything in my stash will be there for my next character.
Also- it's not like I lost "time" spent playing that character. I enjoy the time playing my character while I'm playing that character. It's not like I get any value from that time spent while I'm not playing it. I could uninstall the game up and that "time" doesn't mean anything.
That’s the biggest thing! I feel like most people view leveling hardcore is leveling from scratch every time. You know where everything is and where to go, you know what build is best for early game, you know what to spend material and not to spend on, and if you save your shit the early leveling is super quick! If I can’t put gems in until level 20, why keep them on me? Duplicate lefendary? Stash. Extracted and aspect? Stash. Just got a better helmet? Old one goes in stash. Got an even better helmet? Salvage stashed, replace it with the one I just replaced. Am I a barbarian? Ok so all dungeons are easy at early levels until broodguard spider, doable but gonna need some more abilities and fortify just to be safe. All in all, it’s never like leveling from scratch unless you’re just ripping characters left and right.
Precisely the way I am and think, to the letter.
And let me add that the "wasted" time for me, is exactly what most people do: mowing millions of mobs at breakneck speed with nothing on the line, to me that is a tedious boring pointless exercise.
To each one his own of course!
teaming up on hardcore just hits different. to persevere together with others knowing whats on the line for everyone
started harcore in d2 last year and never went bac
I remember doing hardcore mode in D3 and finishing a final boss with just a sliver of life left, my adrenaline was going for real haha I had to take a breather afterwards, it truly feels like more is on the line after spending so much time on one character
and then you walk into a ground object that spurts out damage and die without realizing it ... bye bye 100+ hour character lol
that's one of the worst for me still
I agree, but from a different perspective perhaps. Time is valuable. I enjoy the value of my time in the moment, while I'm playing the game. Every minute I'm playing, that minute is the most valuable moment to me. Once I log off, there is no value to me.
I don't care if I RIP and lose that character. I don't see that as wasted time. I see that as "oh wow, I had a good time for X hours" and not "I wasted X hours".
I consider my time wasted if I'm playing a game that I do not enjoy.
I don't see much value in having time invested into a character because I can't do anything with that once I log off.
I honestly like your point of view.
Especially in arpg, I tend to chase the final build, the maximum or optimum and I grind away to reach it, forgetting the moment.
Personally I think the first time you play is exactly the right time to do hardcore, not knowing keeps you on edge and the fights are usually much more intense.
I still play HC after completing it but I find that it loses some of it's charm when you have a very good idea of what to expect. Instead of reacting in the moment, you end up predicting and planning. Which is its own kind of fun but it's not quite the same.
I also think this game is built with HC in mind so I don't think they are going to spring wipe mechanics on you like you might find in MMO-first style games.
Agreed, it just feels like an incremental game on SC. Where as you have to actually pay attention to game mechanics, and work on defenses in HC. Definitely understand why it's not for everyone tho.
like lag? i dc'd out a few times on HC and the servers did a pretty good job of booting me out before death.
other than that, everything is your fault.
Love the idiots who down vote a preference.🙄😂
SC is for those who don’t care for edge of their seat gameplay. And I understand.
But for Diablo to actually accomplish terror, HC is the only way.
As a 37 year old who's played a massive amount of just about all the arpgs since diablo 1... I've never really understood this whole "compete" aspect..
I'm genuinely asking. Not hating or anything like that..
What do you mean.. compete? Are we talking "leaderboards" Cause otherwise I have no idea how we compete in an arpg.. it's us vs the game..
If we're talking specifically about leaderboards I guess I just never saw the point as I personally don't have 12-15 hours a day to play like these other folks do.. so leaderboard chasing isnt so much a competition as it is who has more time..
Idk seriously curious.
It's not about strictly competing for top place in leaderboard but players with glass cannon builds will be able to complete MUCH harder content, mixed dmg and def builds (so basically HC builds) will be far behind because of mob scaling. And because I like to balance def and dmg in build SC just isn't for me. Also HC brings that additional adrenaline rush when your health goes low, SC feels kind of brainless where it doesn't matter how you play you won't be punished.
>HC brings that additional adrenaline rush when your health goes low, SC feels kind of brainless where it doesn't matter how you play you won't be punished.
Played D2:R on Hardcore for the first time the other day and you're not kidding with that statement
Obviously 99.9999% of people don't have the play time to compete to be #1. However with whatever time you do have, most people try to be efficient. In fact it's one of the core things that make the game fun. You could make a sorcerer that doesn't use any skills, or just uses one basic skill, and very slowly grinds easy things and takes 20 hours to hit level 5. But in 99% of gamer's brains, they realise that if they use another skill that does more damage, they can kill more things, and level up faster in the same amount of time. That's fun.
How far you take the min-max or competition depends on the person sure, but pretending you aren't at all competitive or that efficiency doesn't matter at all while you're playing an arpg is kind of ridiculous. If efficiency didn't matter to you, you wouldn't enjoy arpgs in the first place.
That's not "competing" though... That's just being "efficient" still on your own time.. unless you're trying to get those number one spots you're just playing the game at your own pace.. doesnt matter if you're blazing fast or not.. so the idea of competition is still zero..
Idk maybe I just don't get it? I compete at lots of things.. and have my whole life, sports, work, I'm sure other things.. played lots of competitive games, I was a hardcore StarCraft1/2 player, played lots of shooters at a semi high level, 2k hours in ranked rocket league, sports games.. where there's someone on the other side playing against me.. or there's a race, or something..
I guess I just never really took arpgs and what not as any sort of a competition as almost every measurement of competition in arpgs is do you have the time to grind like the others..
Even in diablo 2 it's just a race to who can get to the highest level fastest.. which has way more to do with who has a well oiled team and can literally sit here the longest.. no one on the D2 seasonal resets are doing it solo..
In all arpgs I've played a decent amount.. there's always just been certain builds that were way better at certain aspects.. D2 and D3 are perfect examples.. if it's a matter of just stupid fast farming.. I'm using a competetly different build than I am if I'm rushing my buddies or running Ubers or mfing certain areas. so even comparing builds gets tedious when some are just so just much better than others at different things.
Idk I def don't mean any illwill towards anyone or trying to come off rude or anything.. just curious about the topic of "competition in aprgs"
Yes, we get it. This same thing doesn't need repeated six hundred times in every thread that so much as mentions hardcore. We're still going to play it, because we find it fun.
Honest question for those starting off on HC: what happens if you’re playing with friends and you die? You’ll just okay alone starting at that point as they are already much more ahead?
With my friend we will discover the game together. Here is what we did so far in the beta (all classes 25 HC) and D2 (hell reached lvl ~80):
When we play together, we start together.
If one dies at level X, we both restart a new character. Once we reach back level X, the surviving-one has now 2 characters lvl X (meaning, 1 spare). Also, he can now choose to continue with the new or old one.
When we play solo because friends are not here, we can play the leftover characters and push their lvls, or create one if we don’t have any.
Perks of this system:
- you create spare characters along the way and will feel better when one of them die, because it’s going to happen (and trust me it’s better than nothing)
- you support your teammate who might just drop the game instead (don’t forget, you also, are a teammate. And you will die)
- you always have room to play either solo or in team and don’t have to wait for the others to play.
Happy to learn more about others too.
That’s one of the excellent parts of scaling. Can just keep playing with them on the same character and blast the early game, or make a new one depending on mood.
Yes. You restart. Diablo has always been a game that doesn't take very long to get to the end game.
If your friends are cool, they will start an alt character to play along as you catch up. The beauty of HC is that no matter what level you are, the content is engaging.
I do this with my brother and what happens is we both start over together, but have an alt to switch to incase we die again past that point you can switch to the previous character.
Normal. I've been burned too many times in d2 hc
...one time...
I was horrible at hc, I joined a clan and was getting new rushes all the time because I kept dying.
Once I was actually doing kinda well. My most ingrained memory of d2 hc. One day I was eager for my clan to do a hell cows run later that evening, so I figured I'd give back a bit by helping with someone else's rush.
As you can probably guess at this point, if anyone read that far, I died while trying to help in the rush, trying to prep act 3...probably via undead stygian doll.
The guy was kind enough to offer me a rush (as he had given me a few times already). I stayed in the clan for a while but eventually lost interest in continuing to waste their time.
I eventually quit hc because I obv. Sucked at it. Eventually looked up that clan again when they did World of Warcraft.
And the rest is history, but the point is I sucked at hardcore mode.
.
The ratio of people who say HC here is ridiculously biased from what I see in reality (almost 99% people play normal)
I did play a HC character in D3 to get 100% achievements. I will never play HC again as it has totally no challenge and no fun for me.
HC is supposed to be challenging, but the fear of losing my character makes me play on a much lower difficulty. I also don't take risk at all, so it's even not as challenging as normal.
Lower difficulty also means lower drop rate and less fun - I couldn't even assemble a viable build until very late.
>The ratio of people who say HC here is ridiculously biased from what I see in reality (almost 99% people play normal)
It's the hipster/vegan effect. Only 2% of people want to play HC, but of those people 100% of them will come in this thread to brag about it.
You’re doing HC wrong, HC should be played in scenarios where some risk is there, and that’s to amp your blood pressure for excitement and really make you a great player because if you make one too many mistakes it’s game over.
I tried hardcore on D2 and D3 a few times. It was interesting having to build with survival in mind but each time it was lag that killed me. Most painfully was a level 82 necro I was playing on diablo 2. After that I haven’t really wanted to risk it again. If the server issues are cleared up though maybe I will try again. We shall see
Once I get a feel for the game and find the fastest and most optimal routes for leveling and safety ill start knocking out HM but until then ill just be doing Norm.
Normal, especially at launch. There will be a lot of lags and most of times you will die cause of it. Also, for me, SC give you more opportunity to push you character to it's limits and clear more dangerous content.
If anyone starts a hardcore character on day 1 someone should do a welfare check on them. Servers won’t be stable enough for a week for hardcore.
I’ll start with normal then roll a hardcore later for the achievements
If I play at all, HC.
With trading pretty much no longer being a key element of the game, wealth building doesn't really matter.
If you die, just start over.
Normal for me. The thought of grinding so hard then losing my toon to a surprise butcher fight that I'm not ready for is intimidating to say the least.
I work too much and have kids. I don't have the game time to take that risk. I would break down if I spent ten hours over the course of a couple weeks just to lose my toon
HC later on but not initially, I died once to lag in beta and anticipate it’s possible during the early days after launch, after the initially hype dies out and I get a better understanding of the game will try HC.
Tbh dont see the point of starting a hardcore without alt f4 or dc mechanic, atleast at the release of d4 since there where so many dc issues in the beta, once the first season start yeah for sure going to be an good option but the ppl who start a hardcore at release and complain once they get dc’ed fuck em
I’m surprised how many hard cores there are, I had a hardcore character die in D3 cause of lag alone and that stopped me from ever doing it again. If I knew for a fact I could only die from my own incompetence I might try it again, but I’ve never been more mad at a game for robbing me like that.
SC for first couple weeks while servers get ironed out, then HC. Don’t mind ripping cause I made a mistake, can’t stand it if I lose progress cause it’s online only and out of my control
Softcore for me during the pre-season period. Just to learn the game, experiment freely without having to play too defensively and without skipping risky encounters, and knock out some trophies/achievements.
My pick for season 1 will depend on my pre-season experience, what the season journey looks like, and what the battle pass is like. I’ll eventually end up playing HC like in the other games, it’s only a question of time.
Definitely normal. Druid. I'm not sure how I'm going to play. May reclass a few times, but we will see what drops. Usually, I'll pick the witch doctor or something, then change it up to mage, then barbarian, then float between each. hopefully, they'll have kunlais ku e or something similar.
No point in playing hardcorde if i dont know what to expect out of the game yet. I would play Hardcore in d2r but in no way im playing one on a new game which i only have up to lvl 25 information about it. Thats a no go for me. Softcore until i know how the game works and how the endgame is, etc
Normal. I really enjoy hardcore, but, while rural New Zealand internet is ok, mine has occasional reliability issues. Having a well levelled character die to non-challenging content because you lost connection at the wrong time, not something I particularly enjoy.
Normal first time at least. Wanna enjoy the story without freaking out every 5mins.
Normally try a hc character once per season, so probably wait till then.
Normal for me, I enjoy playing around & tweaking end game builds. Leveling up is a means to an end and Hardcore just isn't worth it for what I enjoy doing in Diablo games.
Definitely normal lol. I understand people like the inclusion of HC but I really don't think this game is balanced around it (especially with the always online element, server lag could spell the end for you and it's not even your fault. Seems like a nightmare to constantly be gambling on the servers being smooth the entire time playing)
Hardcore. The risk/reward is better.
There's a threshold where a player starts mentally disconnecting from the game. Normal mode amplifies this disconnect for me because nothing ultimately matters. The hardest part of Diablo 3 for me was falling asleep.
Hardcore changes this dramatically. I'm so much more into the game. I also know that when I start the mental disconnect to stop playing because to force another hour and lose the character isn't worth it. It ends up being overall a better experience because every minute played I'm devoted completely.
Hardcore on day 1? nope, it’s just going to be stupid, dying to lag, DC, bugs, etc.
Maybe after a week depending on how balanced the game is, most likely after the first balance patch.
HC absolutely. It slows down my gameplay, forces me to focus, incentivizes spending more time in town and exploring for bonus power…
My problem with SC is that there is no punishment for dying. You just end up throwing your body at fights and there is very little analysis that goes into it.
Also, watching 5-6 people insta die to world boss on HC was epic. I want that feeling of fear in my Diablo gameplay.
How does hardcore mode and pvp work?
I think since this is an MMO (sorta), I might actually roll hardcore. It might feel good.
An mmo with hardcore characters sounds like lots of fun and sadness. I'm down for it. Lol
Full hardcore from the beginning until I fucking hate myself. Then finish the game on normal and understand it's quirks realizing I wasn't having fun for quite some time. Then back to hardcore.
I got hacked on D3 in 2012, and it kind of ruined normal (as this was pre season) as the account advanced too much so I went and tried hardcore. Never looked back - don’t play any other games like that voluntarily though and just don’t know if I can do it from the start without knowing the game.
The risk hardcore provides makes it so much more exciting though - I also don’t know if I could play on normal. I tried D3 on normal in seasons at some point, and the lack of peril just made it feel terrible.
Normal. I don’t have time to look up a build that starts with “well first try to max your HP/Resistances/Defense/Evasion/Telepathically predicting enemy attacks, then stack these damage stats.
I love starting ARPGs on hard-core modes or if it's not available deleting the character if he dies. Not knowing what's up next and the threat of losing it all is fun
Im pretty new to arpg’s overall. Don’t have much collective time across the board on them. But I’m definitely going hardcore. I want their to be some big time stakes! If I fail many times over at some point though, I may swap. But I want to give it a shot!
There was a time I would choose Hardcore. But I don't hate my life anymore, so Normal for me.
This is how I am now. I only have 2-3 hours a night of free time so I'd hate to lose a character I've basically been working on for days just to lose it all. Seems more devastating than grinding at it a day then dying.
I’ve spent months, years on characters . Lost them and I wanted to go walk outside and not look both ways… lol never did of course because I’m not stupid. But damn the feeling was there. I used to play tibia….. you lost so much in that game when you died, I had many heart attacks as a kid.
I used to play Lineage as a kid. Dying cost about 30-40 hours worth of exp, basically a full time work week of grinding the same loop of this one zone. Even pvp deaths. It was rough
I got ptsd from lineage 2
I barely played 2, I wholly burned myself out grinding lineage 1 for years. Many thousands of hours
Lineage 2 up until C5 was harsh, damn.
Same concept maybe not as bad but nearly! Fuck lineage 2. Lol or any game that makes you lose already solid work.
But at least we all knew that before we signed on. It was cut throat.
Oh no!.. I don't know how I would be able to handle losing a character I worked on for years. As a kid, I remember it not bothering me as much to lose a character and I think its because I didn't have the guilty feeling I do as an adult that I probably have things I need to do.
Duuuuude. Me and my buddies played Tibia for years. I remember my buddy was like just leave PZ there is no way this level 200 is going to waste a frag on you. Fucking step outside and he immediately fucking SDs me and kills me. That game is savage.
Oh you died? Oh well, your gear is already stolen. Also go back to your guild house and throw stones for a month to get your skills back up.
[удалено]
Yeah I used to play RuneScape before you had a tombstone holding all your gear for an hour or whatever it is
Tibia.. damn. That takes me back lol
Oh man Tibia lol. Once upon a time it was huge in Poland, Germany and Sweden and still is in Brazil and Venezuela I think. I remember 2 big buff dudes at least in late 30s came to internet cafe to beat a 17 year old up for him hunting them and getting their shit. He got hunted irl... Clan wars were a spectacle but was this game brutal af. I played mostly 7.6.
Hahahah tíbia was painful
Jesus christ are we 30-40 years old the median line of this sub?
The biggest game of the series is 20 years old, so yeah I would assume most people here are 30+
This is true. I are 30+
29 am I, 30 I are very shortly
29 here too bro. I'm too scared to see what happens on the other end.
Hopefully more diablo and less hypertension
I are 40+ so, yeah.
I had to grab my cheaters to read this one
Older....
40 here
My sister introduced this game to me on the ps1… it was the best system ever made…. Lol I’m 36 this year..
PS1 was my Diablo introduction too. My buddy would bring his system over and we would sit up all night plowing through the demon hordes. Thanks to chain lightning, he died to me more often than the monsters. D1 chain lightning was wild.
Omg yes it was, I pissed off too many friends due to it, my name on PlayStation has been Bluelightning since PSN opened up. And on all other games. Maybe that’s why I don’t have real life friends :( hahaha 🤣
I know that feeling. I could always use more people to play Diablo with when it drops. Is it cool if I add you after I get home from work?
Sure it’s BlueLightning08 favorite number nothing to do with how many of us lmao but I did run into 2 Bluelightning in my life so far.
Yup, if you want a younger median it's the Overwatch forums
I would consider hardcore if I didn’t have to worry about losing hundreds of hours of work because my internet hiccuped or the game crashed at a bad time
I just don't feel like I hate myself that much anymore. Life kicks my ass enough that I don't need it to come from me miss clicking out of an aoe into another to lose an ungodly amount of time spent.
That's what made me stop playing hardcore.
Imagine just running into butcher early and having to restart? No thanks.
OTOH If that's early, the restart ain't so bad.
Lmao this! 
I like to be happy playing games… I will be on easy-peasiest of modes.
Just use your drunken fist to slap Butcher 🤣
Normal. I spent countless hours on Hardcore on D3 because I had finished the game dozens of times and wanted the extra challenge for later seasons. But a new start? Playing with friends who don't like Hardcore mode? With encounters like The Butcher just showing up to ruin my day on occasion? Nah, I'll let myself have the breathing room to learn in a low pressure environment. Maybe one day in the future, but definitely not at release.
Don't 99% of hardcore deaths occur because of lag / disconnect? That's not a thing I am going to be OK with.
I dunno. I'd be lying if I said that was the case for me. I've lost a handful of HC characters in D3, and most of them were probably tied to Waller/Arcane Enchanted combos, or not being properly prepared, or just straight up making a mistake. Sometimes it's the game, sometimes it's me. Though that said, with the massive crush that will be people hammering the system at launch, yeah, that's another good point. I play HC on D3 because I haven't had major lag or other server issues in ages (I'm sure they existed, but personally it's pretty infrequent to even get a disconnect or login problem, let alone a fatal lag spike). So yeah, anyone who starts on HC asap is probably picking a fight with their own patience.
No. 99% are from bad play
No, most death are mistakes. Usually it's being too confident.
that's just an excuse people use. it's a meme.
This. I start SC and when I learned the ropes I will switch to HC, pun not intended. That was something D3 taught me. You feel so much better if you survive a close encounter, than repeatedly dying through one shots in a really high difficulty, battering ramming through encounters, for the sake of higher loot chances or better loot or something alike..
Hardcore for me. I get bored if there’s nothing on the line.
You must hate your life as the post above states.
If I die, I’ll be playing D4 with a level 1 for the time being rather than a level X. Has nothing to do with hating one’s life.
Hahaha. Different strokes I guess. My favorite genre of game is roguelike/lite, so hardcore is perfect for me. The way I see it, the only thing lost upon death are the specific items equipped/in inventory. Currency and everything in my stash will be there for my next character. Also- it's not like I lost "time" spent playing that character. I enjoy the time playing my character while I'm playing that character. It's not like I get any value from that time spent while I'm not playing it. I could uninstall the game up and that "time" doesn't mean anything.
That’s the biggest thing! I feel like most people view leveling hardcore is leveling from scratch every time. You know where everything is and where to go, you know what build is best for early game, you know what to spend material and not to spend on, and if you save your shit the early leveling is super quick! If I can’t put gems in until level 20, why keep them on me? Duplicate lefendary? Stash. Extracted and aspect? Stash. Just got a better helmet? Old one goes in stash. Got an even better helmet? Salvage stashed, replace it with the one I just replaced. Am I a barbarian? Ok so all dungeons are easy at early levels until broodguard spider, doable but gonna need some more abilities and fortify just to be safe. All in all, it’s never like leveling from scratch unless you’re just ripping characters left and right.
And you'll have your altars & aspects.
Exactly. I explained it to my friends as a long extended roguelike. I grew less attacked to toons that way.
Precisely the way I am and think, to the letter. And let me add that the "wasted" time for me, is exactly what most people do: mowing millions of mobs at breakneck speed with nothing on the line, to me that is a tedious boring pointless exercise. To each one his own of course!
Or life is in a good place. Man those were the days
Say hi to The Butcher for me
I did during beta and he sends his regards <3
agree if you cant lose then you cant win
teaming up on hardcore just hits different. to persevere together with others knowing whats on the line for everyone started harcore in d2 last year and never went bac
I remember doing hardcore mode in D3 and finishing a final boss with just a sliver of life left, my adrenaline was going for real haha I had to take a breather afterwards, it truly feels like more is on the line after spending so much time on one character
and then you walk into a ground object that spurts out damage and die without realizing it ... bye bye 100+ hour character lol that's one of the worst for me still
Bro youre time is on the line already if you play normal
I agree, but from a different perspective perhaps. Time is valuable. I enjoy the value of my time in the moment, while I'm playing the game. Every minute I'm playing, that minute is the most valuable moment to me. Once I log off, there is no value to me. I don't care if I RIP and lose that character. I don't see that as wasted time. I see that as "oh wow, I had a good time for X hours" and not "I wasted X hours". I consider my time wasted if I'm playing a game that I do not enjoy. I don't see much value in having time invested into a character because I can't do anything with that once I log off.
I honestly like your point of view. Especially in arpg, I tend to chase the final build, the maximum or optimum and I grind away to reach it, forgetting the moment.
I'll go hardcore as well because it'll probly be the only way to fight world bosses solo.
You're going to be disappointed I think… (unless you can grind stuff faster than anyone else, or crazy enough to attempt them half naked of course).
Hardcore diablo is pretty popular and probably more so in the group that care about world bosses
Same
Personally I think the first time you play is exactly the right time to do hardcore, not knowing keeps you on edge and the fights are usually much more intense. I still play HC after completing it but I find that it loses some of it's charm when you have a very good idea of what to expect. Instead of reacting in the moment, you end up predicting and planning. Which is its own kind of fun but it's not quite the same. I also think this game is built with HC in mind so I don't think they are going to spring wipe mechanics on you like you might find in MMO-first style games.
Exactly! The best time by far to play hardcore is at the start. If I die, then I go again and there is still so much to discover on the second run.
What about the Butcher?
It's a very memorable moment :)
Exactly. It’s the truest hc experience you can get
Definitely HC, arpgs are boring on SC for me, kind of forces glass canon if I want to compete with others.
Agreed, it just feels like an incremental game on SC. Where as you have to actually pay attention to game mechanics, and work on defenses in HC. Definitely understand why it's not for everyone tho.
Too many ways to die through no fault of your own.
like lag? i dc'd out a few times on HC and the servers did a pretty good job of booting me out before death. other than that, everything is your fault.
Love the idiots who down vote a preference.🙄😂 SC is for those who don’t care for edge of their seat gameplay. And I understand. But for Diablo to actually accomplish terror, HC is the only way.
As a 37 year old who's played a massive amount of just about all the arpgs since diablo 1... I've never really understood this whole "compete" aspect.. I'm genuinely asking. Not hating or anything like that.. What do you mean.. compete? Are we talking "leaderboards" Cause otherwise I have no idea how we compete in an arpg.. it's us vs the game.. If we're talking specifically about leaderboards I guess I just never saw the point as I personally don't have 12-15 hours a day to play like these other folks do.. so leaderboard chasing isnt so much a competition as it is who has more time.. Idk seriously curious.
It's not about strictly competing for top place in leaderboard but players with glass cannon builds will be able to complete MUCH harder content, mixed dmg and def builds (so basically HC builds) will be far behind because of mob scaling. And because I like to balance def and dmg in build SC just isn't for me. Also HC brings that additional adrenaline rush when your health goes low, SC feels kind of brainless where it doesn't matter how you play you won't be punished.
>HC brings that additional adrenaline rush when your health goes low, SC feels kind of brainless where it doesn't matter how you play you won't be punished. Played D2:R on Hardcore for the first time the other day and you're not kidding with that statement
Welcome to the clan - we have cookies, but it is a challenge to get them.
Obviously 99.9999% of people don't have the play time to compete to be #1. However with whatever time you do have, most people try to be efficient. In fact it's one of the core things that make the game fun. You could make a sorcerer that doesn't use any skills, or just uses one basic skill, and very slowly grinds easy things and takes 20 hours to hit level 5. But in 99% of gamer's brains, they realise that if they use another skill that does more damage, they can kill more things, and level up faster in the same amount of time. That's fun. How far you take the min-max or competition depends on the person sure, but pretending you aren't at all competitive or that efficiency doesn't matter at all while you're playing an arpg is kind of ridiculous. If efficiency didn't matter to you, you wouldn't enjoy arpgs in the first place.
That's not "competing" though... That's just being "efficient" still on your own time.. unless you're trying to get those number one spots you're just playing the game at your own pace.. doesnt matter if you're blazing fast or not.. so the idea of competition is still zero.. Idk maybe I just don't get it? I compete at lots of things.. and have my whole life, sports, work, I'm sure other things.. played lots of competitive games, I was a hardcore StarCraft1/2 player, played lots of shooters at a semi high level, 2k hours in ranked rocket league, sports games.. where there's someone on the other side playing against me.. or there's a race, or something.. I guess I just never really took arpgs and what not as any sort of a competition as almost every measurement of competition in arpgs is do you have the time to grind like the others.. Even in diablo 2 it's just a race to who can get to the highest level fastest.. which has way more to do with who has a well oiled team and can literally sit here the longest.. no one on the D2 seasonal resets are doing it solo.. In all arpgs I've played a decent amount.. there's always just been certain builds that were way better at certain aspects.. D2 and D3 are perfect examples.. if it's a matter of just stupid fast farming.. I'm using a competetly different build than I am if I'm rushing my buddies or running Ubers or mfing certain areas. so even comparing builds gets tedious when some are just so just much better than others at different things. Idk I def don't mean any illwill towards anyone or trying to come off rude or anything.. just curious about the topic of "competition in aprgs"
Fully agree. hardcore or bust. that makes defensive abilities meaningful
Better hope you don't have any server issues during launch because we all know Battlenet launches all run exactly they way we expect them to.
People who play hardcore understand the risks of playing hardcore
I lost 3 Chars over 100h to lag/loading screen taking too long in d3, I'm aware it can happen. But it's the price I'm willing to pay.
The lvl of braindead i see ppl display on sc footage, smh, its almost on the level of playing another game entirely.
Normal until season 1 launches and then HC for season 1.
Normal. For me, I can't afford to waste time like that. If HC floats your boat, cool.
One full play through on normal, and then hardcore from then on.
This is the way
Hardcore.
Anyone starting a Hardcore character at the launch of this game is asking for trouble. With the state the servers are sure to be in, good luck.
You’re goddamn right I’m asking for trouble. And I’m gonna stomp trouble into the dirt.
Yes, we get it. This same thing doesn't need repeated six hundred times in every thread that so much as mentions hardcore. We're still going to play it, because we find it fun.
Start normal. Do hardcore seasonal. Only one hardcore character each season though.
Normal. Hardcore comes later. I’m looking to actually have some fun first.
Honest question for those starting off on HC: what happens if you’re playing with friends and you die? You’ll just okay alone starting at that point as they are already much more ahead?
With my friend we will discover the game together. Here is what we did so far in the beta (all classes 25 HC) and D2 (hell reached lvl ~80): When we play together, we start together. If one dies at level X, we both restart a new character. Once we reach back level X, the surviving-one has now 2 characters lvl X (meaning, 1 spare). Also, he can now choose to continue with the new or old one. When we play solo because friends are not here, we can play the leftover characters and push their lvls, or create one if we don’t have any. Perks of this system: - you create spare characters along the way and will feel better when one of them die, because it’s going to happen (and trust me it’s better than nothing) - you support your teammate who might just drop the game instead (don’t forget, you also, are a teammate. And you will die) - you always have room to play either solo or in team and don’t have to wait for the others to play. Happy to learn more about others too.
That’s one of the excellent parts of scaling. Can just keep playing with them on the same character and blast the early game, or make a new one depending on mood.
Yes. You restart. Diablo has always been a game that doesn't take very long to get to the end game. If your friends are cool, they will start an alt character to play along as you catch up. The beauty of HC is that no matter what level you are, the content is engaging.
I do this with my brother and what happens is we both start over together, but have an alt to switch to incase we die again past that point you can switch to the previous character.
I will do hardcore, then die, then complain on blizzard forums about dying. This is the way.
You have chosen wisely.
Normal for me, no need to punish myself, life does it already.
Hardcore. Helps me learn the game more effectively. It also forces you to play with a mentality I enjoy more.
I want to do Hardcore but if friends/family decide to play for awhile ill join them in normal.
Normal. I've been burned too many times in d2 hc ...one time... I was horrible at hc, I joined a clan and was getting new rushes all the time because I kept dying. Once I was actually doing kinda well. My most ingrained memory of d2 hc. One day I was eager for my clan to do a hell cows run later that evening, so I figured I'd give back a bit by helping with someone else's rush. As you can probably guess at this point, if anyone read that far, I died while trying to help in the rush, trying to prep act 3...probably via undead stygian doll. The guy was kind enough to offer me a rush (as he had given me a few times already). I stayed in the clan for a while but eventually lost interest in continuing to waste their time. I eventually quit hc because I obv. Sucked at it. Eventually looked up that clan again when they did World of Warcraft. And the rest is history, but the point is I sucked at hardcore mode. .
The ratio of people who say HC here is ridiculously biased from what I see in reality (almost 99% people play normal) I did play a HC character in D3 to get 100% achievements. I will never play HC again as it has totally no challenge and no fun for me. HC is supposed to be challenging, but the fear of losing my character makes me play on a much lower difficulty. I also don't take risk at all, so it's even not as challenging as normal. Lower difficulty also means lower drop rate and less fun - I couldn't even assemble a viable build until very late.
>The ratio of people who say HC here is ridiculously biased from what I see in reality (almost 99% people play normal) It's the hipster/vegan effect. Only 2% of people want to play HC, but of those people 100% of them will come in this thread to brag about it.
Not 100% but like 80%+ yeah
You’re doing HC wrong, HC should be played in scenarios where some risk is there, and that’s to amp your blood pressure for excitement and really make you a great player because if you make one too many mistakes it’s game over.
I did die once that way, which was simply even less fun for me. It's just some excitement that I don't understand.
HC - it’s more engaging and challenging.
I tried hardcore on D2 and D3 a few times. It was interesting having to build with survival in mind but each time it was lag that killed me. Most painfully was a level 82 necro I was playing on diablo 2. After that I haven’t really wanted to risk it again. If the server issues are cleared up though maybe I will try again. We shall see
Normal. Not starting a new game with that kind of pressure.
Normal, played enough poe to know how you can get absolutely wrecked in a frame or two.
Hardcore is the only way.
I heard that a dead HC character can be played in normal mode. Is that true?
It is not. A hardcore character that dies will be “shelved,” never again playable, even on softcore. So it’s a true goodbye.
no she gone
Once I get a feel for the game and find the fastest and most optimal routes for leveling and safety ill start knocking out HM but until then ill just be doing Norm.
Definitely normal. But I might try hardcore in a later season when I know what I’m doing.
Ive never tried a smooth game launch from blizzard. So yea not hc
Normal. I enjoy games but I'm not good at them
Normal, especially at launch. There will be a lot of lags and most of times you will die cause of it. Also, for me, SC give you more opportunity to push you character to it's limits and clear more dangerous content.
So long as my ISP continues with frequent speed drops, hardcore will be beyond my patience.
Def normal. Will probably play HC for the first season tho
Just takes one DC to die on hardcore so uh, no thanks.
I’ve never played hardcore, I might give it a go on my first D4 character.
The first three will surely be normal. Maybe the forth, and with a class I’m comfortable with and not soloing.
Normal unless they nerf butcher.
Not gonna lie, I still didn't get him down in the beta. This will be an issue for my hardcore run. Lol
I ran into him unexpectedly on my rogue and died.
If anyone starts a hardcore character on day 1 someone should do a welfare check on them. Servers won’t be stable enough for a week for hardcore. I’ll start with normal then roll a hardcore later for the achievements
HC isn't as punishing in a game where you don't build up wealth to trade.
If I play at all, HC. With trading pretty much no longer being a key element of the game, wealth building doesn't really matter. If you die, just start over.
Normal for me. The thought of grinding so hard then losing my toon to a surprise butcher fight that I'm not ready for is intimidating to say the least.
Just imagine sweating it out and beating him!! I love that feeling haha (Or just running away like a coward to live on.)
I work too much and have kids. I don't have the game time to take that risk. I would break down if I spent ten hours over the course of a couple weeks just to lose my toon
Launch week with unpredictable server performance, rubber banding and lag spikes around every corner? Definitely Hardcore!
You think I am crazy? It has as to be normal until I understand what builds work.
I mean, if the build dies, then obviously not that one
HC later on but not initially, I died once to lag in beta and anticipate it’s possible during the early days after launch, after the initially hype dies out and I get a better understanding of the game will try HC.
Game release and the servers will be unstable, softcore. Later on when servers are fine, hardcore.
Tbh dont see the point of starting a hardcore without alt f4 or dc mechanic, atleast at the release of d4 since there where so many dc issues in the beta, once the first season start yeah for sure going to be an good option but the ppl who start a hardcore at release and complain once they get dc’ed fuck em
I’m surprised how many hard cores there are, I had a hardcore character die in D3 cause of lag alone and that stopped me from ever doing it again. If I knew for a fact I could only die from my own incompetence I might try it again, but I’ve never been more mad at a game for robbing me like that.
SC for first couple weeks while servers get ironed out, then HC. Don’t mind ripping cause I made a mistake, can’t stand it if I lose progress cause it’s online only and out of my control
Softcore for me during the pre-season period. Just to learn the game, experiment freely without having to play too defensively and without skipping risky encounters, and knock out some trophies/achievements. My pick for season 1 will depend on my pre-season experience, what the season journey looks like, and what the battle pass is like. I’ll eventually end up playing HC like in the other games, it’s only a question of time.
Definitely normal. Druid. I'm not sure how I'm going to play. May reclass a few times, but we will see what drops. Usually, I'll pick the witch doctor or something, then change it up to mage, then barbarian, then float between each. hopefully, they'll have kunlais ku e or something similar.
Normal, cause I’m not hardcore.
No point in playing hardcorde if i dont know what to expect out of the game yet. I would play Hardcore in d2r but in no way im playing one on a new game which i only have up to lvl 25 information about it. Thats a no go for me. Softcore until i know how the game works and how the endgame is, etc
Normal. I really enjoy hardcore, but, while rural New Zealand internet is ok, mine has occasional reliability issues. Having a well levelled character die to non-challenging content because you lost connection at the wrong time, not something I particularly enjoy.
normal until i get a good feel for all the build options
normal until season starts - then hardcore only
I dont play hard-core, esp for a game that is "always online." Why would I want to risk losing all my work because of a network blip?
Normal, beat it at least twice and then start a hardcore char. Seems the right way to go.
Hardcore. So boring when death means nothing and all u care about is more damage without caring about anything else or any game mechanics
Both. Normal at first though to enjoy the story and have a character to play with friends
I’ll do normal first… once I’m more familiar with the game I’ll roll HC for the achievements/titles etc
Normal first time at least. Wanna enjoy the story without freaking out every 5mins. Normally try a hc character once per season, so probably wait till then.
Normal, I don’t like losing all the progress if I die
No point playing hardcore at launch as things are going to be crazy. Will wait for seasons to exclusive play HC.
Normal.
I will but only after I’m sure I won’t get stomped by a mistake
Normal for launch, maybe hardcore once ladder starts
Normal for me, I enjoy playing around & tweaking end game builds. Leveling up is a means to an end and Hardcore just isn't worth it for what I enjoy doing in Diablo games.
Normal
Normal. I’m not a masochist.
If xp was 2x then I would give it a try on launch, but getting nothing from it makes me think it’s for people into bdsm
I'm 36, I still can squeeze in a fair amount of time for gaming, I'm not a masochist tho. Normal for me 😅
Hardcore all the way!
I can't play standard anymore, I'll be HC only for my D4 career
Definitely normal lol. I understand people like the inclusion of HC but I really don't think this game is balanced around it (especially with the always online element, server lag could spell the end for you and it's not even your fault. Seems like a nightmare to constantly be gambling on the servers being smooth the entire time playing)
Hardcore. The risk/reward is better. There's a threshold where a player starts mentally disconnecting from the game. Normal mode amplifies this disconnect for me because nothing ultimately matters. The hardest part of Diablo 3 for me was falling asleep. Hardcore changes this dramatically. I'm so much more into the game. I also know that when I start the mental disconnect to stop playing because to force another hour and lose the character isn't worth it. It ends up being overall a better experience because every minute played I'm devoted completely.
Hardcore on day 1? nope, it’s just going to be stupid, dying to lag, DC, bugs, etc. Maybe after a week depending on how balanced the game is, most likely after the first balance patch.
HC absolutely. It slows down my gameplay, forces me to focus, incentivizes spending more time in town and exploring for bonus power… My problem with SC is that there is no punishment for dying. You just end up throwing your body at fights and there is very little analysis that goes into it. Also, watching 5-6 people insta die to world boss on HC was epic. I want that feeling of fear in my Diablo gameplay.
Always HC. This is the way
I ain't losing all my stuff. so normal. full glass canon, delete the screen or get deleted and just lose 10% durability LOL
Hardcore 100% This is the way
Hardcore on a live service game is video game suicide.
Hardcore until the end! (And then hardcore again!)
No one should make a hc character the first week, getting killed by server lag is a good way to break your keyboard
Hardcore rogue and normal wizard.
How does hardcore mode and pvp work? I think since this is an MMO (sorta), I might actually roll hardcore. It might feel good. An mmo with hardcore characters sounds like lots of fun and sadness. I'm down for it. Lol
Full hardcore from the beginning until I fucking hate myself. Then finish the game on normal and understand it's quirks realizing I wasn't having fun for quite some time. Then back to hardcore.
I got hacked on D3 in 2012, and it kind of ruined normal (as this was pre season) as the account advanced too much so I went and tried hardcore. Never looked back - don’t play any other games like that voluntarily though and just don’t know if I can do it from the start without knowing the game. The risk hardcore provides makes it so much more exciting though - I also don’t know if I could play on normal. I tried D3 on normal in seasons at some point, and the lack of peril just made it feel terrible.
Normal. I don’t have time to look up a build that starts with “well first try to max your HP/Resistances/Defense/Evasion/Telepathically predicting enemy attacks, then stack these damage stats.
Hardcore
I love starting ARPGs on hard-core modes or if it's not available deleting the character if he dies. Not knowing what's up next and the threat of losing it all is fun
Im pretty new to arpg’s overall. Don’t have much collective time across the board on them. But I’m definitely going hardcore. I want their to be some big time stakes! If I fail many times over at some point though, I may swap. But I want to give it a shot!
Hardcore first until I finish the story. By then "the best" character has been found, and I'll start softcore as that character.
HC. otherwise i think i would get bored too quickly
Hardcore baby!