This week's Community Commentary focuses on the story of Protatoe, a Hardcore veteran who didn't let anything -- including death -- get in the way of reaching Paragon 100.
As part of his recurring "One Life to Live" series on Diablo IncGamers, fellow Hardcore enthuiast Xanth sits down with Protatoe to talk about his experiences while leveling a Barbarian to Paragon 100, and how he dealt with a potentially crippling set back when he was almost to his goal.
Here's a peek at that conversation.
Close Isn't Close EnoughQ. How long did the trek from 0-100 take you?
I dinged level 100 at about 280 hours played. Of course, not all of that time was spent grinding. I did ubers a few times, etc. The second trek from 0-100 was way faster than the first one. I was much more experienced with the whirlwind build and I was already used to maximizing my XP. I also have a Monk who is now level 88 and a Witch Doctor who I got to level 62. I'm going for level 100 on the monk next!
Q. What did you learn from your death that others could take away from?
One lesson that I learned is that if anything feels slightly off with your connection or your computer, just stop playing or play in a group. I had been getting very small lag spikes before I died but I didn’t think anything of it. Ever since then, I completely stop playing if I feel any lag at all. Death is one of the most inefficient things that can happen to you in hardcore, so it is worth being extra careful.
Q. What drew you to hardcore in the first place? Past D2 experience?
I had a couple years of hardcore experience in Diablo 2. I was back in middle school at that point,and I really don’t remember a whole lot about it. I do remember that I was in clan “PK” and I had a top barbarian named PK-Pwny. I played only hardcore in Diablo 2, so when I started Diablo 3 I left softcore at level 10. I think Softcore would just feel too boring for me and I would grow tired of the game way too fast.
Q. As an experienced player any advice you would give the masses in terms of succeeding in Hardcore?
I think my best advice would be to play carefully and efficiently. Try to build a nice balance on your character between EHP and DPS, and don’t lean too heavily toward either side. Only farm on monster powers that you can completely crush. It is easy to look at the monster power bonuses and think that you should be turning up the MP, but farming faster will yield better results in the end. Don’t get discouraged if you go a few days without finding anything valuable. That 1 billion gold drop could come at any time!
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Be sure to head over to Diablo Incgamers to read full the interview, and let us know what you think. What kind of challenges have you overcome in Hardcore? How did you bounce back? What sort of advice would you to give to other Hardcore players who are looking to achieve similar goals? Leave or a response below, or drop a line in the comments section of the article.