My naked HC team

[:1]Hi there,

I'm pretty new to hardcore but me and my friend decided we were up to a challenge. So we agreed to make anaked HC team. Here i will tell our story about our adventures and how far we get because I honestly don't think we can make Guardian with naked chars.

Rules:

No items except for starter items. We do allow a sash for one extra row of pots. We do allow mercenaries with basic items. All points in vit. If we feel at some point it has become impossible to progress we can bend the rules to see if we can make Guardian

Here are our characters:

My friend made a summon necro named SkellieWag and I made a enchantress named Qwink with backup lightning. You already guess the strategy: raise skeletons and put enchant on all the little buggers. Lightning just for backup and a way to spend my mana after enchant. We always play in passworded games and always together.

The story so far:

So far we've made it to act 5 normal without too much difficulties. Normal mobs really don't pose a threat to the combined force of skellies and enchant. Not only do they do way more damage but also get an attack rating bonus which makes them hit more often. The only thing that wasn't a cakewalk was big D himself. His lightning could wipe out half our army. Without my static and lightning he would be very hard to kill. Now we are on our way in act 5. I do expect to hit nightmare very soon. In nm things could get interesting but i think it will still be doable. I expect to get stuck somewhere in hell where the lack of resistance could get you killed in blow.

Feel free to comment/give advice. I will do my best to keep you updated on our progress.|||You killed Diablo naked?|||You are doing this in a party of two? Nice. I wish you luck.

For tips, you may want to dig up the thread/youtube video of the naked, 8-player HC team that did Uber Tristram.|||Quote:








For tips, you may want to dig up the thread/youtube video of the naked, 8-player HC team that did Uber Tristram.




I saw that video on youtube and that's how I got the idea to make naked characters. It just shows if you really work together and build an efficient team the D2 is way too easy.|||Quote:








I saw that video on youtube and that's how I got the idea to make naked characters. It just shows if you really work together and build an efficient team the D2 is way too easy.




I disagree - in my opinion Dii has become easy because all aspects of character building and creature-types, map-types, drop-types etc. have been explored. When Dii was first released, you were fumbling around with various charater builds that didn't stand a chance in hell - and furthermore you didn't know what was coming around the corner. Nowadays you just read a guide, and it tells you exactly which items to use, where to level and how to play. In some cases it will also tell you in which areas of the game the character-type excells and which areas and creatures to avoid. Arreat Summit has a complete list of all unique items, and with Atma you know the odds of any particular monster has of dropping said item. Dii is only easy because other people have explored the game before you |||Well we realize people will analyze the game and "explore" all aspects of a game, so then we can account for it. Couldnt we then "fix" such problems. We see something of it in the randomization of boards and how the god dam black marsh doesnt even go to flayer jungle sometimes, but can we transfer that over to the character itself and not just based in outward influences? I dont know.

*cough* D3, though to be honest, i bet 97% they come back with another skill tree type setting|||how did you get around diablo's aoe and spells. not to mention baals, i remember even with gear i could get 2 shotted. Im wondering with no resist or negative resists you should get 1 shotted :/|||Quote:








how did you get around diablo's aoe and spells. not to mention baals, i remember even with gear i could get 2 shotted. Im wondering with no resist or negative resists you should get 1 shotted :/




Remember we are still in normal so we don't have negative resists. Also all points go in vit. At lvl 26 when we defeated diablo I had 345 hp. I gave all skellies and mercs enchant. First I had to get close to diablo to use static. When that lost effectiveness the skellies and my lightning finished him. We haven't gotten to baal yet but I hope he wont be mush more difficult.

I do fear negative resists in nm and especially hell, if we ever make it that far...|||I didn't think that enchant was all that useful without a bunch of plus skills...

What is your sorc's skill distribution going to be? How much are you going to rely on enchant - how much will you invest in lightning? Balancing this equation correctly I think will make or break your team.

Having said that, skellimancers are inherently powerful for everything but bosses so perhaps you'll guardian on his strength alone? You've certainly got crowd control in all conceivable forms sorted.|||Well we got through normal. Baal minions were pretty difficult but baal was really a pushover. Decrip + golem = verrrry slooooow. I used static to tear him down and 9 skellies + 2 mercs finished him. I really can believe how fast he went down after we had so much trouble with diablo. Seriously he went down in 10 seconds.

Nightmare was a bit more difficult. We were still doing enough damage but monsters did way more damage also. We had some trouble with the countess because a aura enchanted monster spawned next to her. We got to the inner cloyster and that is were Bone ash got me. He was lightning and cold enchanted. I did not even get that close to him but some of his lightning bolts got to me before I could react. That was were I died.

I had a really great time playing the game this way. It really put a lot more difficulty in it. If I didn't die when I had I'm sure we could have defeated Andy and Duriel. We probably would not have made it to hell because the lack of resists is so very dangerous. A lightningbolt from a skeleton mage could take one fourth of my health. We did not have any problems in the damage department though. The skeletons with enchant could 2 shot almost all normal monsters we met.

Well, I had fun playing this char. Not rushing and really have a feeling of accomplishment. I died a little sooner then expected, but I would have died sooner or later.