Help with my HC Pally

[DaveW]

Kia Ora guys, I'm looking for some advice for my lvl96 HC Hammerdin. I have recently migrated him to D2R from 1.14d. He is twinked as best as I could do him (Enigma, CtA, etc) and is my attempt at a level 99er Guardian. He runs Chaos Sanctuary, 2 seal bosses, the Grand Vizier and Infector of Souls.
Now back in 1.14d the prevailing wisdom was CS runs til 98, then Hell Ancients for experience boost, then CS again til 99. (No Nilathak for me; his Corpse Explosion is too scary)

But D2R TZs opens a new oppurtunity for gaining experience. Should I complete the Hell Ancients and Guardian quests now to unlock the TZs, specifically Chaos? What other TZ areas are suitable for the Hammerdin? I'm guessing big open spaces (Plains of Despair, Outer Steppes, River of Flame. Any others?) I do have a SoJ. Is it worth sacrificing for an Anni for the exp gain? I dont have any torches but that is something I would consider aiming for if needed. Look forward to hearing from you guys.

 

[PhineasB]

I haven’t transitioned to D2R but have dabbled. From that experience and what I’ve seen from others’ updates, it’s definitely worth it to unlock TZs. The relative XP gain due to higher mlvl when you can run TZs more than offsets value of those 40M at level 98. And it also opens other areas when terrorized, and I think the open areas are the winners to be better XP than non-terrorized CS.

And, on the SoJ, even low roll XP will aid the progress, relative to the +1 skill if equipped. Put differently, even if loss of +1 skill slows runs by 5% (which seems unlikely) the charm will almost certainly offset and then some. If not equipped, I think it’s a clear decision to use.

Either way, good luck, and looking forward to your updates.

 

[LouB]

I don't play HC, but I've recently finished taking my Wolfbarb to 99 in SC. I don't think you can go wrong running TZs. Faster experience, better chance to find high level unique and set items (especially Andariel), and less boredom from being able to run multiple areas. You can even run at less than players 8 and still gather experience quickly.

All areas don't yield the same experience. I found WSK and running Baal to still be the best.

I also agree that you should get the Anni charm. Remember that you can move it between characters and get all the bonuses beginning at level 70.

 

[Kstil3227]

Having done 2 HC-UT 99ers, unlocking TZs is by far worth the 40M ancients...going from 97-98 with P7 Chaos was like 700+ runs and then Nihl/Chaos from 98-99 was gonna be like 1000+ runs easy. It took only 150 Terror Zone runs (97-98) from whatever zone was up at the time. That number dropped significantly when it was Chaos, WSK, Sewers, Pit, anything that my character excelled at clearing. 98-99 was blazing fast in comparison to 1.14. Here's the link to my post in the UT-99er thread about my TZ levels at the start

 

[DaveW]

Thx for all the replies everyone. Based on the advice received I have now Guardianed my Pally, opening up the TZs. I also sold that SoJ (something I've never done before, online or SP. I was a bit nervous in case it didn't work but I got the message that Diablo has invaded Sanctuary. I placed a Toothrow armour on the merc for the Open Wounds, which negates D Clones high health regeneration) and scored a Anni charm (+1 skills, +12 attributes, +19 all resists, +8% exp: resists are useful on some chars but not so much on a Pally who can max all resists prior to the Anni charm) So now it is about choosing areas to run. I think any area in Act 4 is good as is the WSK and perhaps Canyon. Any suggestions for others? When we run TZs are we best to do it at p7? p8? p3?

 

[Kstil3227]

If you are running TZs specifically for the Exp. then run them on the highest player setting you can that you feel safe and can run efficiently. So if you can run p5 with ease and clear a TZ in say 3, 4, or 5 minutes (depending on the zone) without a scare, up it to say P7. Assess how well that feels and if that's easy as well then go for P8. Some zones you can run at P8 while others may be better at P5 or even P3. All about how you feel and how safe you wanna be with a HC character. When WSK is a TZ, I had it on P1 to get to the throne as fast as possible, then adjusted the player settings each wave since that's where a ton of Exp is without much harm. Death Lords in the WSK can be scary depending on the mods they roll.

 

[DaveW]

Good points kstil. Thx!

 

[DaveW]

Just dinged 97 with my Hammerdin! My highest ever character. To top it off my Barb WWer found an SoJ running Trav so I got the ring back. Quite happy atm.

 

[Kstil3227]

Just dinged 97 with my Hammerdin! My highest ever character. To top it off my Barb WWer found an SoJ running Trav so I got the ring back. Quite happy atm.

Congrats!