Baby's First Hardcore Character

[mistressmorgan]

What do y'all think is the most forgiving class/spec for trying out hardcore (mostly solo for now) for the first time. I was running with Strimtom's Wisdom Tempest Ranger, but I have struggled to make it off Korthos Island. Admittedly, I could turn down the difficulty, but anything under hard might as well just lay down and die, becoming boring really fast. Thanks for being cool y'all.

[rabidfox]

Barbs & warlocks with their temp health are very forgiving and just soak up the damage on hardcore.

[Zezahk]

Warlock: Lots of temporary hp tools
Barbarian: Blood tribute is strong stuff
Wizard: Undead resistances and immunities are absurdly good in hardcore.

[donblas]

What do y'all think is the most forgiving class/spec for trying out hardcore (mostly solo for now) for the first time. I was running with Strimtom's Wisdom Tempest Ranger, but I have struggled to make it off Korthos Island. Admittedly, I could turn down the difficulty, but anything under hard might as well just lay down and die, becoming boring really fast. Thanks for being cool y'all.

Really almost anything should be able to run Korthos on elite - and any of Strimton's builds should do it easily - just be very careful ( for example run away if necessary) . One note - avoid opening chests that might spawn mimics (at least at lower levels before you get any resists) - they WILL kill you. Join a guild.

Although the protecting the crystal quest is sometimes a tough one on elite solo because the mobs can run past you and smash it with a couple of hits.

Soloing with a hireling is really easy (although I usually play with my wife - each of us with a hireling). We are not very good players alas but we don't find Korthos to be an obstacle.

This is not written to put down or belittle you - so could you let us know some of the problems you have run into so people can advise on getting around the problems?

[mistressmorgan]

Really almost anything should be able to run Korthos on elite - and any of Strimton's builds should do it easily - just be very careful ( for example run away if necessary) . One note - avoid opening chests that might spawn mimics (at least at lower levels before you get any resists) - they WILL kill you. Join a guild.

Although the protecting the crystal quest is sometimes a tough one on elite solo because the mobs can run past you and smash it with a couple of hits.

Soloing with a hireling is really easy (although I usually play with my wife - each of us with a hireling). We are not very good players alas but we don't find Korthos to be an obstacle.

This is not written to put down or belittle you - so could you let us know some of the problems you have run into so people can advise on getting around the problems?

I normally don't have trouble either. I've gone through Korthos multiple times on a normal server, on elite difficulty, with hirelings, and have had runs where i didn't die at all. Now, suddenly, I am getting swarmed and/or one shotted by things that normally don't cause a problem.

[Saekee]

like people are saying—temp hp are where it is at! They fully work in reaper and take the stress away! If you have warlock then splash 1 warlock for feigned health (4 AP sink) for temp hp equal to charisma on self-cast (or AoE) buff/heal. Not huge but nice and helps everyone around you, including hires and summons. Even better is splashing 2 barb and sinking 8 AP into Frenzied Berzerker for a shocking 150temp hp at the cost of 1 Con. That 1 Con cost is not noticeable (in low levels you can drop 8 Con and it is nothing) in most of heroics whereas 150 HP is just amazing. I have parked level 4 characters that use it and they are nigh-invulnerable.

[mistressmorgan]

Made it all the way to Misery peak, forgot about the mimics, and got got. Barbarian with that broken blood tribute.

[C-Dog]

I was running with Strimtom's Wisdom Tempest Ranger, but I have struggled to make it off Korthos Island.

Wow, that's a pretty low bar. Did you try grabbing either Byron Scoutsword (solid DPS boost) or a healer hire? (If you're in a small party, there is an equivalent L1 Barbarian (dwarf?) available in The Harbor.)

As a rule of thumb, if you grab Byron, you "should" be able to run the 3 K. Village quests on Elite without too much trouble*, and then take Level 2 before you run The Collaborator. Be sure to spend your AP before that, and again before you go out to K. Island.

(* In Cannith Crystal, on Elite the bad guys can one-shot the crystal and cause a quest fail. It's critical that you defend the crystal and engage any mobs before they get to it - do NOT get drawn out to fight mobs. Let Byron go kill them while you play defense. Much easier w/ a full party.)

If you're still finding that the combats are too wearing, then before the Collaborator & Island, dump Byron and take a Healer. Put them on "Defend" and park them behind you*, and call them to heal you back to 100% after every fight. Take the fights one at a time - don't rush to the next unless you are (near) 100% healthy. This should get you to Level 3 before you hit The Harbor, but you could milk the Village and hit the 4 easy(!) Solo quests in The Harbor to get to Level 3 before doing the Collaborator/etc. if you really wanted to.

(* Note - in Stopping the Sahuagin, 2 mobs spawn behind the entry point as soon as anyone starts down that first waterslide. Take those first steps and then turn around and kill them, don't leave a healer to die there before the quest even starts!)

Made it all the way to Misery peak, forgot about the mimics, and got got. Barbarian with that broken blood tribute.

As another "rule of thumb", in this season's Hard Core you don't want to take L3 before you're off the Island - Mimics start once you're L3, and it's nice to not worry about that on the island. Also, you don't need to be L3 for any Korthos quest, and you (probably?) want to finish those and KotB before moving on to Level 4 (with all 16 AP) and The Harbor 2's.

GL!

[C-Dog]

Followup - test of Strim's Ranger build.

TLDR - The build did just fine in Korthos. I don't have Aasimar, but ran an intentionally-gimped equivalent - the original would only do better. It does help a LOT to use Byron as your tank.

I was running with Strimtom's Wisdom Tempest Ranger...

You're talking about this one, right?
o Tried and Tested Hardcore Viable Ranger For All Your Hardcore Needs

This build starts w/ only 10 Str, so no stat-to-damage for early levels. So I wanted to give it a try, to see how gimped it was in Korthos.

Don't have Aasimar, so I just built the closest equiv using Human. Obviously, the Aasimar's Lay-on-Hands is a huge boost that I don't enjoy. Also, I took no "helpful" feats - Favored Enemy = Undead (no 2nd "Human"), and 2nd Feat = Skill Focus: Haggle. Since I could take no boosts to LoH (the (obvious?) 1st choice), I went with no AP spent - the 'Scourge version could only be better.

Didn't watch the vids, so don't know what Strim' recommends to start, but with only 10 Str, I took the Ember Longsword and bought a generic shortsword for the off-hand (in anticipation of L2), plus a stack of Starter CLW pots. And so, with my big, bad 40 (forty) Hit Points, off I went...

My self-imposed rules:

o No Guild Buffs (since not everyone has that advantage)
o No AP Spent (since I don't want a "different" advantage)
o No droploot (?! - again, don't want a "lucky" advantage)
o Started w/ 50 plat from a rich uncle to spend - 2nd (generic) weapon + Starter CLW pots

Now, here, let me say that I do NOT have the leet in-game skillz. Don't have the combat twitch, my Mario skills suck, so if I can do it... pretty much anyone can. I do plan to let Byron pull the aggro first on most fights. Typing this as I go, so we'll see...

o Miller's Debt - boss dog was a little scary - had to run away onto some crates and heal up, then go back and finish it off. (2 AP, unspent)

Off to Korthos... want to save Cannith Crystal until I have L2 under my belt, so hired Byron, and...

o Storehouse Secret (Elite, then Hard) - no real problem on Elite, cakewalk on Hard. Byron dropped to 1/2 health on boss fight on Elite. (4 AP, unspent)

Now 45 HP.

o Heyton's Rest (Elite) - End fight was a little hairy, finished w/ half HP.

-> Level 2, now 55 HP! Garrrr!

o Cannith Crystal (Elite, Hard) - On Elite, despite L2, really felt the lack of DPS here, and Byron carried most of the combats. Felt lucky to not fail, used a half-dozen pots, and that was with no Boss spawning! On Hard, simply watched Byron solo it, with the boss. (Took Spear Bane, then Bracers of Aid for future tough fights)

Now, here, I was tempted to milk the quests again and take 3, but I went ahead, sold all my droploot and bought 2 dozen CLW pots, and tried Collaborator as a L2...

o Collaborator (Elite) - Used 6 pots (plus Aid bracers before fight) upstairs, but toughed it out during end fight with more than 50% HP left. (Again, very important to let Byron pull aggro, and then dogpile on whoever he's attacking!)

Took the "bodyfeeder" scimitar, tyvm.

o Collaborator (Hard) - Between the Bracers of Aid and that Scimitar, finished with 52 HP without hitting the shrine or drinking a pot. Nice.

Grabbed the Monstrous Humanoid longsword*. Good to have options. (If I were spending AP, I'd get a 2nd Scimitar, for the Tempest Core 3 "treat scimitars as light weapons" enhancement.) It also gives me +3 Jump, which I value** and Strimtom, apparently, does not as much.

(* Which was the wrong choice - see below. 2nd scimi would be the move for early heroics.)
(** Rather than Swim, I'd take up to about 8 Jump asap, possibly also delaying Heal until I have a spell to use it with. Having 8 ranks gives enough to jump over most lowbie enemies (not giants etc.), and with the Spell yields +40 without any gear by Level 9, and with gear (WW Ring of Acrobat?) near 40 well before that.)

(Level 2 +2 AP atm. Again, if I were worried I'd milk the Village quests + Harbor Solos for L3 and all 4 AP there first, letting the XP cap if it needs to. "Staying Alive" > XP optimization.)

Out to the Island. First stop, straight out to Sacrifices to get a pair of Expeditious Retreat boots asap. Then the quests will be faster overall, and we'll stop again for a 2nd pair later.

o Sacrifices (Elite) - With that scimitar*, easy going. (No risks, didn't try skelli mage.)

(* I changed to the longsword for the sahuagin groups, but altho' my DPS went way up, so did the damage I took. Swapped back and never dropped below 100% again - +15 HP about every 7th hit is money. Remember - in Hard Core, you can afford to let your DPS drop some so long as you are taking less damage too - here, that's a GOOD trade!)

~15 minutes left on Byron, so sticking with him for now.

o Stopping the Sahuagin (Elite) - Fight before puzzle was a little tough, but never a real threat. Shrined and finished np.

o Redemption (Elite) - Used Bracers on Heyton as a precaution. I was never in trouble, but altho' DPS was sorely noticeably in end fight, Heyton never got to the "Amalgram, protect me!" point.

o Necro's Doom (Elite) - Okay, endfight was tough on this one. Byron died twice, and I had to kite while quaffing pots both times. But finished with over 25 HP, so never really to the point where I considered running for the exit.

And that's Level 3! Ran Sacrifices again (Hard) for 2nd pair of boots. Could have taken 3 for MIsery, but didn't want to play with Mimics yet.

o Sacrifices (Hard) - easy peasy, evil cult leader sleezy.

More* than enough XP for 3, but holding off (mimics).

(* Close to 9 AP - a few more explorers, a few more slayers for 100, and I'd be there. To be safe, run Sacrifices again and the rest again on Hard to get a full 4 AP for max Level 3 power.)

Byron had expired, so I took the time to run back to The Harbor and get the L2 Fighter and another dozen CLW pots (back to 2 dozen). Could have picked up a healer instead as a safety net, but felt confident w/ this mix. (If I was spending APs, 6 points in Tempest would help this a LOT.)

If I was truly worried, I'd run Sacrifices a third time and pick up Protector's Gloves for -1/- DR. And I've found a couple useful droploot items that I'm not using - some chainmail that's better than the starter set, an "anarchic" dagger that would be some better than the generic short sword, etc etc. But... no "luck" involved here.

o Misery's Peak (Elite) - pretty straight forward. Had to run to heal up during one of the big mid-fights (w/ the levers on opposite sides), but then finished it off np.


Again, as long as I had that Bodyfeeder scimitar, I was usually(!) in great shape (and once you hit 3, 2 of those... yeah). Re combat in these early levels, I believe it was extremely helpful that I 1) always sent Byron to start the attack, 2) waited for him to connect to then dogpile on his target, 3) tried to always maneuver behind a target (both to avoid any glancing blows and confirm that B was holding aggro), and 4) if a target came at me, kite until Byron could engage.

And spending AP and equpping some droploot would only make it easier. Buy some acid resist pots once you take 3.