Hardcore Ironman for Diablo 2

In Diablo, a core of dedicated gamers seeking extra challenge played a variation called "Ironman". A team of typically 3 players, one of each class, would enter the dungeon and never return to town (or at least use its services) until they or Dialbo were dead. Restart in town was not allowed, only resurrection. One game, done with each level in order, start to finish. Despite thousands of such game attempts, scant few, known as Ironman Champions, have succeeded...

Diablo 2 incorporates a feature that should delight the challenge seeker - "Hardcore". In this, death is final. A character slain is forever dead. They can of course go at their own pace, replay sections, buy what they like in town, etc. The question arises... is "Hardcore Ironman" a feasible option?! While there would be many options and differing thoughts on the details, the basic idea would be to successfully complete all quests and defeat the boss monster, without making any use of townsfolk (other than as absolutely required for the quests themselves), and WITHOUT redoing any sections.

There are several variations possible, and some details have to be worked out. It's (way) too early to tell the implications of some of the rules on the later Acts, but Act I seems surely possible. Some of the key issues: full clear of the entire dungeon world for that act, just the quests, or just the final boss? Would lack of repair be too brutal? Act I or the whole game? What about NPCs that you run across that are not original townies?

Let me spell out some of the Variations.

HC (Hardcore) - Death is final. Use of the "Hardcore" flag at character creation time enforces this. Otherwise, NO restrictions whatsoever.

OLO (One Life Only) - Each section/level/area of the game may be played once and only once. It's as if you played three games, one Normal, one NM, one Hell difficulty, without ever leaving. (In reality it can be over several days/games, but each area may be visited just once). OLO would normally be played with quests. Other than not being able to repeat sections of the dungeon to' build up your character, it's unrestricted.

LOL (Living Off the Land) - not necessarily a Hardcore option, but has features similar to that described below. LOL characters make no use of townsfolk whatsoever - they are rugged individualists who want no ones help. For this reason they will not use NPCs, Akara (free regen), Cain (ID), Charsi (Imbue), etc. Many quests will not show up as done (although visiting for the sake of finishing the quest but not using benefits would not harm the character). Unlike OLO, LOLs do tend to repeat areas to ensure they are not in over their heads. *n.b. The biggest downside to LOL in D2 is the lack of warrior repair ability, Religious shrines to repair, and unknown at present) the lack of indestructible items. For this reasons, LOLs tend to use whatever gear they happen to find and save lower durability 'good stuff' for tougher bosses. On the other hand, bows and javelins are essentialy indestructible in D2.

... Ironman - several options, which add restrictions to the above play styles and move them into the "ironman" realm. The basic idea of ironman is to enter the dungeon and don't return to town until you or the boss is dead. In D1 they make their own repairs, make tough decisions on what to ID, and manage resources very carefully. In Diablo 2, with no resurrection, once a player dies, he is eliminated from game. Hence a Hardcore character is recommended. (If you want option later to give away items you found, though, use a regular character. He may restart in town to mule or allow looting of his items, but he is eliminated from the game.) In general, corpses of dead party members can (and should) be looted. It is allowed to break a game into different playing sessions (as it an ironman game could take quite a while) - to continue later be sure not to revisit or kill anything in a previously cleared region. Note: When a player dies, he should permanently leave the game, since the monster difficulty in D2 is actually affected by the number of people sitting in game. Thus those in game should only be the ones actually playing.

VIM - Voyager Ironman - each Act is like a town which has been decimated of resources apart from the townsfolk and NPC's. The shops are laid bare and little assistance is available. A Posse of brave adventurers is chosen to send to the dungeon and save the town. Quests are allowed, as are NPCs and rewards which do not involve gold. (Free imbue, free ID, the free rogues are all ok, even Akara,
*BUT* you may only visit them to start and complete a quest. No hopping up and down for ID or mana dumping. The townies need your help and you go on these missions on your own.) Non-quest areas are optional - viewed as extraneous to the mission at hand, but allowed if you want the extra EXP/reward/risk. The roads and waypoints must be thoroughly cleared (again, for the sake of the town). At each new act/town you are greeted with a hero's welcome, and the townsfolk use up their remaining resources to help you with the next phase. ie Act II, III... you can repair/buy/sell at the very start, as their honored guests, but no further gold-based interaction. Use of town portals and waypoints are fine.

RIM - 'Regular' Ironman - a *first* cut at baseline rules for Ironman. All quests are done, and any benefit from NPCs or townsfolk must be taken immediately. You accept Cain's thanks by letting him ID what you have on you when you rescue him, but never use his services again. Akara is not visited for regeneration - it's just a side benefit from the few quests you must see her for. The Charsi imbue must take place immediately - no waiting for a better item or higher clvl. At a minimum, each waypoint must be found, every quest done, and every road cleared. Beyond that is not required, BUT the optional areas (pits, etc) are allowed if the players desire. Not only must the waypoints and road be cleared, but each area 'required' for a quest must be cleared (e.g. Stony Field, required for Tristram quest, must be cleared. Tamoe Highlands, not needed for any quest, need not be touched). It is recommended to kill all non-random bosses. Town portals and waypoints may be freely used to drop off items, but a t.p. escape should not be used to sit around
and wait for regeneration.

QIM - Quest-only Ironman - absolute minimal townsfolk interaction, no NPC benefits (Cain, regen). Imbue a junk item and toss it away, make no effort to heal or protect NPC rogues, etc. As before, all waypoint, road, and quest areas must be cleared, and all quests done. Town portals may NOT be used to escape. A waypoint must be used for passage to town (t.p. from Tower, end of Monastary or Tristram is ok though)

NIM - Non-Interactive Ironman - full clear of dungeon, no interaction with townsfolks at all. You leave town, and game ends when you or the Act boss dies. For NIM, no more than one each class (hence 5 max) may be in the game. No use of town portals or waypoints (except for admin purposes, ie if a player lagouts of game, or is forced afk)

*Preliminary* Tips/Thoughts

The caveat is that this is based on Act I, and just a few Hardcore and Ironman attempts. But here is what we've seen so far:

Each class has something VERY significant to bring to Ironman:
- BAR - Find Health Potions
- SOC - Warmth, and Freezing opponents
- NEC - Resource free, non-draining fighters for the party
- PAL - Prayer and protective auras
- AMA - Good death-from-a-distance, and versatile

Differences to Ironman in Diablo 1:
Minus:
- No res, just ONE life
- No self-repair options
- No glimmering or religious shrines
- Bows need arrows
- *MANY* more tough bosses, and Champions. Well over a dozen nasty boss mobs just in first Act
- FAR more than 16 levels to clear to win
- Cold and Lightning Enchanted bosses (you'll see what I mean later)
- Server side games make effects of lag worse. One can literally die before he ever sees what monster hit him
Plus:
- Regeneration of mana (and in some cases, hit points)
- Bows and javelins are indestructible
- Books need NOT be found to gain skills
- The only scrolls are TP and ID, so ID are more common
- Cain is free (avail in Act I and II, unsure on III)
- More useful 'rare' items
- Five very different characters may join a party

Initial games showed an interesting pattern of top-of-the-world and getting-whooped-on-like-daisies. At one point, shortly after we got the NPC rogues helping us, it was like a small army. They were mowing down everything on screen, and we began to wonder if it was way unfair. That was before... Rakanishu... He is 'Lightning Enchanted' which means that each time he is hit, his body automatically unleashes eight charged bolts (ow!). That battle was by far the most nerve-racking one our characters saw. Two party members can to within a few life points of permanent death, and each and every rogue was slain. The battle was... such fun :) Likewise, we would handle most normal monsters with little difficulty, but the boss packs and champions led by Treehead Woodfist and others left little doubt we were on the cutting edge of survivability and would need all the help we could get. When trouble and death-prone situations came, they came VERY fast. In fact, that fast pace and some lag led to our ultimate demise in the first D2 Ironman game. The Countess and her minions slew two lagged partners who timed out JUST after their death. Alas, one was the Paladin (with his Prayer) and the other the Sorceress (master blaster with Ice), and the rest of the party could not recover. Overall, a very fun game, and one which showed (Act I) Ironman is do-able, but certainly a challenge.

Note to those in the early games: We played something between RIM and VIM - using Cain freely but never Akara. We also forbade side-quests, but by popular demand, they are now optional - and a very wise option to take for those with time to do the extra quests. Note the RIM rules carefully, I think it's a good compromise to let Cain ID everything found at-the-time-of-rescue, but not allow unlimited ID for the duration of the game (choosing WHAT to ID is such a Major component of Ironman strategy in D1 it would be bad to throw that away completely.) Special thanks than to members of that game: Bolty(NEC), Locke(PAL), Llorac(SOR), Jarulf(BAR), Zed(BAR) who joined Charis(AMA).

Appendix: below is a list I'm working on of the specific Act I areas, which are 'required' and which are optional. It needs to be updated/fixed...

For Act I, areas required for quests are: (req'd for RIM, QIM, NIM)
1. Blood Moor
2* Den of Evil (DOE)
3. Cold Plains
4. Burial Ground (Blood Raven)
5. Stony Field
6. The Cave
7* Tristram
8. Underground Passage
9. Dark Wood
10. Black Marsh
11. Forgotten Tower - Level 1
12. Forgotten Tower - Level 2
13. Forgotten Tower - Level 3
14. Forgotten Tower - Level 4
15. Forgotten Tower - Level 5
16. Monastery Gate
17. Outer Cloister
18* Barracks
19. Jail Level 1
20. Jail Level 2
21. Jail Level 3
22. Inner Cloister
23. Cathedral
24. Catacombs - Level 1
25. Catacombs - Level 2
26. Catacombs - Level 3
27. Catacombs - Level 4 - Andariel :)

Similarly, SKIPPED areas are:
3B. The Cave
4A. Crypt
4B. Mausoleum
9B. The Cave
10B. The Hole
15B. Tamoa Highlands
15C. The Pit