Hard Core Help

[Gwydion 1]

I'd like to see a recommended Hard Core build for each class with maybe a recommended list of Legendaries for all classes. Running my first HC (WD Pet build) I have found The Star of Azkaranth to be invaluable for survival!

A 'No Set Item' HC build & a 'Recommended Set' build per class would be a boon!

Thanks Deadset for ALL you do!!!!!

[TipeaPeti 0]

I use wd helltooth+garg too in HC. The most important change in my build is the molten legendary gem. All of the other gears is same like my normal build. That build is safe in HC, just the ranged mobs make some trouble. I test wd LoN and arachyr+firebats too, but the most safe the helltooth+garg for me.

[Arkpit 101]

On 2018-01-23 at 4:29 PM, Gwydion said:

I'd like to see a recommended Hard Core build for each class with maybe a recommended list of Legendaries for all classes.

Hi there!

Glad to see you are taking the hardcore route of the game and since I've been playing mostly hardcore since season 6 here are some general guidelines to think about!

First part is the guides as you mention as to have HC versions to them. One of the reasons there isn't one is because HC is extremely volatile such as in higher GRs a single misclick can cost you your life. Therefor a general build is not easy to have on "paper" since it is a matter of experience vs. difficulty vs. monsters in rift.

Now on to the "Then how do I adjust?"
In general, you must choose life over damage at all costs while never sacrificing any major set or legendary effects so we can easily make a good example here since you want to play pet WD which is a great entry to the HC ladder!

"Gargantuan WD"
If you follow the build here on Icy, the first thing you should ever consider changing to get a good boost to survivability in my eyes is to remove the The Traveler's Pledge + The Compass Rose and replace with Hellfire Amulet of Intelligence + Unity (Assuming your follower is using the "no die" trinket and a Unity on their own).

This is a very safe swap, and a common one early on in HC, in that you do not sacrifice a ton of damage while gaining the benefit of a constant 50% reduction in damage even when being idle and in addition you could pick Jungle Fortitude as an extra passive.

Then perhaps if you are still uncertain in the midlevel GRs (70-90) then you can (and should) swap the Bane of the Stricken for Bane of the Powerful as it will provide additional safety at a minimum loss of damage before gems starting to hit 90+.

"Cool I got to GR 90, now how do I progress?"

Once you get high enough it is up to you and your experience what you find is ok to drop and how to progress.
I made the "WD Gargantuan" as an example above but it really applies to all builds. You skip what isn't a set/legendary important boost for the build and opt for survivability at all cost and slowly change things into damage as you go on.

Hope this helps m8 and hardcore is definitly the way to keep the game alive :D

(Edit for mods: There should perhaps be a sticky somewhere about a generalization of how to approach Hardcore whilst using the Icy-Veins guides)

Edited February 3, 2018 by Arkpit

[Altreg01 0]

Ive taken up to playing HC again as the game is rather stale now, HC adds a bit of excitement to say the least.  I too would love to see some HC tips with some of these builds, not all changes are as obvious as mentioned above although its a good start.

 Since Season 13 is nearly identical to 12, maybe an in depth HC guide is something the writers can put together as there is little or no change to most class guides.

Edited February 23, 2018 by Altreg01
Tybo

[Knutsanity 15]

I loved the switch to hardcore. Just introduced to Diablo3 about a year ago, on xbox 360. By a friend I play lots of games with. I always enjoyed these RPG/Button smash/ lots of variety type games. But I inevitably get sick of them in a few months. We started characters on normal mode first time around. Wasn't that fun, didn't enjoy the game that much, but it was ok. Eventually you come to appreciate this game's variety of course either way, using different characters on different difficulties. You come to find it isn't much of a button masher at all when you challenge yourself to do better. But the biggest part of this change was switching to hardcore. Been on hardcore since our first ever characters. Had great difficulty trying to get to 6 lvl 70's. Not sure but I don't think we got past torment trying, and only had about 50 paragon since getting all 6 to lvl 70 was our main goal. 
Then he got an xbox 1, and the updated game. Which is incredible. We find it easier as well. Still the same goal, 7 lvl 70's one of each class, on hardcore in as difficult a setting as we can handle. What's easier seems to be the legendary abilities got better. Got 1 each up on normal to start, Master once we could. Got 1 each up on torment. Got one up on torment 2, while one of us died at lvl 67, and then got the other one up on torment 3 while the others died at lvl 67. Fitting. Then we got our 4th each up through torment 4. We are currently at about paragon 120, and paragon 136 I think. But torment 4 characters were so hard to get all the way through, and we got lucky quite a few times so I think we'll use our lvl 70's to get paragon, and get each of our characters good enough for torment 5 before we start our 5th characters at torment 5. Which kind of goes hand in hand. Overall so much less of a struggle for us, just 1 death each. We have gotten this far just playing adventure mode co op and It doesn't get dull for me. 
Seems full sets and more ancient items are necessary to make the leap to T5 though, and levelling the next characters after lvl 60 without dying seems a monumental task. I was able to take the level off an ancient sword which helped on torment 4. and will help, but only so much, same with the hellfire ring and amulet. So wish us luck. I will say to the original poster, I don't like following the builds, I like reading them but would rather make my own path, and they don't sound like an end all be all to me anyway. I'm not even sure I like finding out all the possible items and what they do. Kinda ruins how vast and random the game seemed before I found out. 
But I also wanted to say that nothing can ruin the game on hardcore. It just makes every accomplishment or bit of luck and wild escape of death that much better. It makes every death ultimately important, which of course is the reason for the heightened enjoyment on the other side. I've found obviously the fatal damage perks to be important, and surprisingly movement speed is super helpful to me. I looked at it more as a skill to help go through the easy parts quickly. But It helps immeasurably in running to a safe space when need be as well. Nothing is more important than killing quickly though if you ask me. But I think that point made that there is no possible guideline for hardcore is correct. Honestly keeping the level challenging seems best to me. Odd as it sounds. But staying engaged and off auto pilot is most important. Me and my buddies deaths were pure absent mindedness. I died along side his most dominant character, possibly out of boredom and over confidence, and him along side my most dominant character. But that's just me. 

[Knutsanity 15]

I'm finding there is 2 ways to go about it. There is building tanks, who don't even have to worry about incoming dmg, and going for the more tankie kind of builds helps, like thorns crusader. And then there is going for crazy dmg, to the point you can afford the time to back off once you use your death perk, and be careful and slow for a minute, which also can kind of go well with high cooldown skills, or isn't a total waste.
I find you don't have to change the builds much, but you just don't want to be 1 shot, or running away might not work.  So some toughness over other rolls is necessary. Life % and Vitality are a great combo of course, the more vitality you have the more your life % matters.  Life gems in the helmet are always a plus if you ever find you need more life in your balance instead of the usual suggested cooldown reduction or resource cost reduction. I just go with life % in the helmet until I notice I'm healthy enough and could use one of the others more for the foreseeable future. After that balance with vitality and primary stats for your caldessan recipe's. Which are you lacking more to progress to the next lvl GR? One change is, I always keep an esoteric gem in place of the 1 of the 3 suggested leg gems I want the least. If practical, during times throughout your build when your defence needs to catch up, or forever, swap a skill or passive for a defensive one. 
More than anything, you can't screw up. It's not just a minor inconvenience. Playing your best, being engaged is the real issue. Died I think all of 5 times now. All but 1 were just absent mindedness. Don't go smoke a joint and come back and use your brand new build when you finally get your 6th set piece in the highest lvl GR yet. Forget to use shadow power, vault, waste all your resources randomly while panicking, and die against a pack of elites right inside the rift right off the hop. Elites you probably could've 1 or 2 shot. Then you don't even get to try your build you spent a while getting to. Don't do that. Don't bite off much more than you can chew either. Push highest possible levels only when you are pumped up, which is probably the funnest thing in the game, would trump anything on softcore, but you know moderation. Farm keystones, bounties for the cube recipe's, bovine bardiche and puzzle rings, clean out your stash, upgrade gems when you are on cruise control. 
However dying can mean you just lvl up quick to 70 and try a different set, and become better than you were in no time. Got 7 lvl 70's. 5 capable of lvl 70 GR's, 4 at least low-high 80's, last 2 capable of T13 or very close too. All can get quite a bit better. But I think one more thing should be mentioned. Don't think hardcore is meant for leaderboards, so also be at peace with that. 
Any clarity on how high the best can get on HC? Some of them, like the WoL Inna's build I'm about to try, with the 70-110% dodge chance could get up there I bet.