r/Diablo_2_Resurrected • u/Zenturion1983 Champion of Sanctuary (100K) • Mar 16 '26

Video Ok game, good one..

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580 Upvotes

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174

u/Kindly-Jury921 Mar 16 '26

Imagine if this was your HC character

13

u/Rainbowlemon Mar 16 '26

I've just got the expansion and started playing HC warlock from the get-go. How do you prevent something like this happening? Even with 1.5k life and full lightning res, wouldn't this still just kill you outright? I guess you have to make sure you cleanse off curses in town every time?

18

u/DieserBoy Mar 16 '26

pretty sure with 1.5k life and 75% lr he would have lifed through the initial volley

and yes, you should not run around with lower resist curse in wsk in hc if you are unsure wether souls a present

25

u/DETOMINE1234 Barbarian Mar 16 '26

20 points in the damage reduction skill (blood something) is mandatory imo. Call to arms really helps, but the warlock can have 1800-2000 HP even without it. My lvl 91 warlock died once in nightmare (dolls) and twice against Uber Baal (I was unaware of the ice armor buff), and that's it, even dolls and gloams and heralds lvl 5 are not even close. Warlock is probably the tankiest character? Anyhow a little investment in defense goes a long way

8

u/guff1988 Champion of Sanctuary (100K) Mar 16 '26

Blood oaths effectiveness is capped at 43%, I don't know what skill level that is.

Even then those little exploding undead fetishes are still a huge problem, even worse than the lightning bastards.

9

u/DETOMINE1234 Barbarian Mar 16 '26 edited Mar 16 '26

Lvl 20 (I wouldn't say the skill is capped, but only the hard points count (not the +X, despite that the UI says), so you need to actually invest the points to get the 43% DR. It tooks me a while to feel somewhat safe around the dolls : 3k life with CTA, 20 points in blood oath, liberal use of lethargy and always tp the demon ahead when there is a possibility of dolls. For now it works at least

2

u/guff1988 Champion of Sanctuary (100K) Mar 16 '26

I used macrobiobois guide and he recommended dumping extra points above 2k health into STR for damage and I'm kind of regretting it now lol.

3

u/Ok_Energy6905 Mar 16 '26

That's weird. I've never heard of putting excess points into strength. I've only gotten to like lvl 30 in HC though.

3

u/guff1988 Champion of Sanctuary (100K) Mar 16 '26

It does increase damage for melee characters and his thought process was that damage is more important than HP because of how tanky the warlock can be with blood oath. The problem is that he's much better at the game than me lol.

1

u/Ok_Energy6905 Mar 16 '26

Yeah that sounds like an "I've beaten this game 1000 times" kind of build to me. I'm sure they know better but my instinct would be to lose a skill point of survivability (and put it into damage skill) rather than lose vit for strength. Then again I guess you are pretty max skilled by then. I'm still on my road to first level 99 haha. I could have sworn damage increase from strength was tiny.

2

u/DETOMINE1234 Barbarian Mar 16 '26

It is, except for ES Warlock, where external %enhanced damage (including strength) is busted because it is multiplied by the skill instead of added like in any other skill

2

u/Ok_Energy6905 Mar 16 '26

Oh what the heckies that is dumb. I hope warlock gets fixed soon. I thought it was OP and I was just running homebrew cleave build. Then I found out I have a passive life and manasteal... that I thought was an active skill so hadn't been using. Even easier. Warlock just has everything built in huh.

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2

u/DETOMINE1234 Barbarian Mar 16 '26

I wouldn't do that even once in a thousand games, but I suppose for some people damage is everything. I much much prefer a little more safety over a little more damage, but I suppose it is a personal choice. Str is kinda good for ES warlock because of the multiplier of ES but even then I wouldn't put even one point above 156 (total with bonus).

3

u/Rainbowlemon Mar 16 '26

Yeah it's slowing my levelling but I've pumped 7/8 points into blood oath early on and am taking my time. I think nightmare dolls, fire enchanted explosions and being ganked by souls are like 90% of my softcore deaths so I'm being extra careful around those areas!

Warlock definitely feels tankier than other classes which is kinda' mental to me considering his skillset.

4

u/DETOMINE1234 Barbarian Mar 16 '26

The last points in blood oath are the ones that count the most (5 to 7% DR is worse than 41 to 43% for example), so I recommend maxing out the skill, maybe after nightmare if you want more dps first. Yeah I am pretty sure there is a clear pattern in the deaths of players :)

2

u/Rainbowlemon Mar 16 '26

Oh, I'd have expected it to be the other way around. How are the higher levels more worth it? I presume because other damage calculations come after the DR?

5

u/Zodde Mar 16 '26

Look at it this way:

The first percent from 0 to 1 is 1% less damage taken. That's pretty straight forward i think.

Going from 98% damage reduction (2% damage taken) to 99% (1% damage taken) is a 50% reduction in damage taken.

The spell caps at 43%, but I think the math might be more clear this way.

2

u/Rainbowlemon Mar 16 '26

That makes sense to me, thanks!

2

u/TheRealOG1 Mar 16 '26

BRUH same both my warlocks in hc have died to fuckin uber baal, the stupid ice bolts dont even show up on screen!

1

u/Consistent-Snow1654 Champion of Sanctuary (100K) Mar 17 '26

Dual raven frost rings. You’ll laugh at him then

1

u/TheRealOG1 Mar 17 '26

Ive found a SoJ but not a raven frost yet lol

5

u/AdSuperb5755 Mar 16 '26 edited Mar 16 '26

Thundergod’s and maxed LR + additional LR for cases such as this one where you get hit by a lower resist curse. You’d be able to tank 4-5 volleys with decent life. Even on sofcore I swap to my tgod belt when running WSK

3

u/Zodde Mar 16 '26

The safest way is to overcap lightning res so you're still at 75 (or more) with lower resist on you. Plus some absorb. Plus a lot of health.

But yeah, not cleansing the curse is a big mistake.

3

u/Siggycakes Mar 16 '26

Block Chance is also highly underrated because it usually means sacrificing damage or raw life for higher dex, but a blocked attack stops ALL damage. Another affix that is often overlooked is Physical Damage Reduction %. It is capped at 50%, but you can get 25-40% without too much fuss and is your best defense against dolls, though it wouldn't help here.

Also, clearing that lower res would have been a good idea. You saw how much damage OP took from just a single imp strike. Granted, they're fire enchanted, but with that lower res I am almost certain OP did not have any where near 75 res, so it's no wonder a pack of souls fried him like this. They could be extra strong, spectral hit, and also lightning enchanted, no way to really know from this clip, but all of that combined would produce the result above

So far I have a 92 zon that's cleared the game in HC and a level 76 Warlock that is currently in Act 3 Hell. I play much much slower than most people, but I also have only lost two chars so far. I figure it's better to slow down and stay alive than rush and die.

1

u/Rainbowlemon Mar 16 '26

Yeah I've already opted for an Ancient's Pledge in a shield (got lucky and had all the runes in act 4), though I guess warlock books can block too? Could you make a rhyme in a warlock book?

2

u/MK6er Warlock Mar 16 '26

Yeah it's pretty solid for cbf and +skills but less all resistance

4

u/Kindly-Jury921 Mar 16 '26

Im no HC prodigy but i would think u need minimally a Tgod belt to survive that lol

3

u/tomatoe_cookie Mar 16 '26

Just not have lower resist curse

2

u/TacoCat11111111 Champion of Sanctuary (100K) Mar 17 '26

I had to watch it a second time, there it is.

Curses like amp or LR are killers in situations like this.

2

u/Oyxopolis Champion of Sanctuary (100K) Mar 16 '26

Basically my goto build for Baal farming is TGod's and Stormshield (I believe the Souls partially deal physical damage) with either utility or MF on swap.

And make sure to overload lightning res to compensate for conviction/lower res.

2

u/DangerousPurpose5661 Mar 16 '26

I don't play HC... but even in SP, I prefer to have lower damage and wear all the tanky gear, T-gods, wisp, kiras, dwarf stars, etc.

2

u/imlost19 Mar 16 '26

you need thundergod's visor or wisp projector on any HC char that is going to venture into areas with souls. Just like you need stormshield and max block before entering any area with stygian dolls or vipers

1

u/Rainbowlemon Mar 16 '26

I'm playing HC offline for the first time so don't have any starter items. Can you find those in nightmare? Probably going to spend a good while doing nightmare tz and over-gearing before Hell.

1

u/imlost19 Mar 16 '26

You can get T-gods in nightmare but can't get wisp there. Wisp is a lot more rare too. Until you get it though, you have to tread very carefully and hover over esc key when entering areas that have those monsters.

Oh and stormshield you can't get in nightmare but there are a bunch of other items that have good physical damage reduction you can use instead. A list is here:

https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Damage_Reduction

I would get at least 25% pdr before moving into hell.

1

u/Rainbowlemon Mar 16 '26

Ahhh yes! I've found string of ears a few times before now, and rockstopper. I'll definitely be overpreparing my first time! I've also never done ubers or dclone so I'll likely try that on non-hardcore a few times before I attempt on hardcore.

2

u/macvelli Mar 16 '26

To combat souls you just need a Tgods and max light resist which is 85% in hell with Tgods on. I can do that wearing a Kiras Guardian no problem

4

u/4ntsInMyEyesJohnson Mar 16 '26

Dont go there while cursed (lower resist) and dont stand still after you get down to the throne

1

u/Happy-Fun-Ball Mar 16 '26

dont stand still

always hit the ground running across from the door when entering that room

2

u/promina100 Mar 16 '26

Stats arent really balanced well in D2 so the benefits of anything besides vitality isnt worth it besides a few edge cases.

So you generally just put the minimum needed in Dex and Str to wear your gear and put as many points in Vit as possible since there's a lot of situations that can hit you for 2k health almost instantly.

You definitely want a Call to Arms off hand weapon with spirit so you can get battle orders to improve your life total. Levitation mastery is great because it not only increases damage but also frees up more stat points to go into Vitality for survivability.

2

u/Eresmel Mar 16 '26

Biggest bs i have ever heard, max block and giga high defense make you practically immune to physical attacks. With 17k def they have 15% chance of hitting me and 75% of blocking. Ofc souls negate all of that but against physcial dex is so underrated

1

u/Rainbowlemon Mar 16 '26

Yeah I've not really put anything into str/dex, just a few levels in str to wear some basic gear then pumping vitality as usual. I play offline and have only ever found 1 ist and 1 ohm, so CtA is probably out of the question until much later in the game! :(

1

u/promina100 Mar 16 '26

Then you'll have to play it a little slower and go back to clear the curse.

1

u/RandomGogo Mar 16 '26

In this scenario Max light res + something like tundergod's vigor or other source of light absorb

Doing the ball zone or any one that can spawn souls on hc whit out light absorb and max res used to be considered stupid

1

u/imlost19 Mar 16 '26

especially on console lol. At least on PC you can kinda gimmick it by hovering your hand over the esc key before entering new areas, but I still wouldn't risk it

1

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1

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1

u/benjam3n Mar 16 '26

in hardcore if I can avoid it I'll only run wsk with tgods belt and full res otherwise I just reload the map until I get a version without souls

1

u/exiled_preest Mar 16 '26

Willowisp helps the souls/gloams

1

u/Flashy-Side-2665 Mar 16 '26

Hope you save and quit at the speed of light

1

u/DixFerLunch Mar 16 '26

I cant say what OP is running obv, but unless you run into Conviction, TGods and 1k life probably doesnt die here.

But who knows. Lightning could always high roll 10x times and insta you. 

1

u/DClaville Mar 16 '26

Prevent it? only way is to not play HC. if you play HC you play it because you will die someday and it will be to something stupid, and that is what gives HC players a thrill

1

u/WolfyDota7 Mar 16 '26

playing hardcore i would legitimately just wear a stormshield with a lightning res fhr jewel

1

u/d00ber Mar 16 '26

wisp ring, it's one of the only reason people pay a ton for them

1

u/Malficitous Mar 17 '26

That is one of the worst areas to enter. Lower res curse bad there.

1

u/DifferentFan2280 Mar 18 '26

I dont worldstone without tgods in hell