Previously I’ve posted the tales of Roede_Orm, warrior, and Taoni_the_Fell, rogue, on either the DSF, KOP’s Realms Beyond Diablo, or Darkman’s Diablo Forum. I’ve told the tale of our first Normal Ironman win, then later of our first Nightmare Ironman win. Now the saga continues, with the duo recording their first entry into the realm of Hell Difficulty. This one was over a year in the making, with both of us honing our skills and learning to function more as a team, a single fighting unit. Although luck had some small part to play in the game -- especially in regard to ambushes and drops -- the majority of battles were won with strategy and tactics and guts. Let’s face it, it takes iron balls to go up against the Lord of Terror in Nightmare difficulty wielding a King’s Dagger with reduced durability. But that’s what we had to do.

I met Roede.Orm (a German player) on the bnet via the website Realms Beyond Diablo and their forum in December of 2000. We began playing two-man Ironman in January of 2001. It took us until April to record our first Normal Ironman win. After accidentally deleting my rogue character, Roede informed me that there were rules governing the continuation of Ironman games to both Nightmare and Hell difficulties (again, on the Realms Beyond Diablo site). He also stated that, to his knowledge, no one had ever succeeded in clearing Normal, Nightmare, and Hell in Ironman. The gauntlet had been cast!

The following is the tale wherein Roede.Orm, accomplished warrior, and Taoni_the_Fell, determined rogue, nearly cleared all three of the difficulty settings of Classic Diablo using traditional Ironman rules as outlined on King of Pain’s Realms Beyond Diablo website. The entire “game”, from start (Normal difficulty setting) to finish (Level ?? in Hell difficulty setting) took nearly 3 months to complete.

Kick back; crack a brewski; it’s a long read. Hope you enjoy it.

Intro

You Call This Normal?

Things That Go Bump in the Nightmare

What, the Hell?

Ironman rules

Ironman Strategy Guide