Diablo 3 Hardcore Survival Guide

[Knuckles 904]

I know several people have asked for playing tips so I thought I would mention a few that are important to me based on what I have seen so far with the game.

 

This thread will be a work in progress. While it will be geared towards those playing Hardcore, most if not all the tips will benefit Softcore players too

 

At some point I'll try and break these down into categories to make it an easier read.

 

---------GUI/Controls------------

 

1) It's a good idea to use the Spacebar key for drinking potions. During the middle of a fight you don't want to be hunting for which key to use.

2) Turn on Elective Mode....Sign into game, press Esc key and then click on Gameplay. It will allow you full control of which skill goes where on GUI (last selection on right side)

3) Turn on 'Show enemy health bars'. It makes it far easier to target enemies when multiple Area of Effect's and/or party members are filling up the screen.

4) You can disable the Quest pop-up windows. They can be a pain when you're in the middle of a fight. (in Options > Sound)

5) Many people use the Tilde key (~) instead of the Shift key to force your character to stand still.

 

6) To show an item to a party member in-game; Open inventory, then open chat. Shift+left click on item then hit enter. The item should be visible in chat. Just simply click on item description to see stats.

 

--------------Exploration----------------

 

1) If you're going after achievements, take the time to visit Tristam (or other towns) and talk to everyone after each quest. Some conversations will disappear if you complete another part of the main quest. This includes journals. (if you miss one, simply restart game and change quest to an earlier one til that journal/log is available)

2) Do not blindly chase the Treasure Goblin. It is far too easy to get mobbed that way. If possible try and get in front of it and try to have it run back towards sections you have already cleared

3) Try clearing new areas by walking along the perimeter first. Then continuing towards the middle. This will limit the chances of running into a big mob(s).

4) There are many random events in D3. And some random dungeons also have random events. It can take dozens of tries before finding that particular event or NPC.

 

-------------General Combat------------------

 

1) Have a skill that stuns/slows/confuses all enemies near you...this can literally mean the difference between life and death

2) Have a skill that heals you. health potions have a 30 sec cooldown...an eternity in a fight

3) Also having a skill or item mod that increases the chance of enemies dropping health globes is very useful.

4) Watch where you're standing...several enemies will throw traps/spells that have area effect damage. Just try to lure them to a clear area or run away til the effect is gone

5) Having resistance to elemental damages will become very important as you progress thru difficulties. It might be even more important than your armor rating.

 

6) If you get mobbed by enemies too strong for you... run back to areas you have already cleared. Running into undiscovered areas will only increase your chances of aggro'ing more enemies.

7) Towns are not safe havens...enemies will follow you into them (though not if you travel via portal)

8) Do not drink health orbs unless you need them. Leave them be even if it means bypassing a little gold. Especially in dungeons. If you run up against a particularly tough mob, you can run back the way you came grabbing orbs on the way. It saved my hide a few times. Plus once the dungeon is clear you can always backtrack and collect everything instead of using portal to leave. One nice thing about D3 is the items will not disappear unless you leave game. (Later in game the health potions will not fully heal you !)

9) Do not exit game if your last checkpoint is in a cave or another area where enemies frequent. Upon entering game there is an excellent chance a mob is waiting for you. Any type of lag will probably kill you. Teleporting back to town before leaving game will not change checkpoint!

-----------------Followers--------------

 

1) Listen to your follower (if you have one). They'll usually hint if a big fight is coming or if you're walking into a major trap

2) Don't forget to equip your followers with the best equip you can find or afford

3) Followers/Pets/Summoned allies have a good chance to aggro mobs you didn't want to fight yet. At this point there is no way to change the behavior.

 

--------------------Jeweler/Blacksmith--------------------

 

1) Don't sink too much gold into Blacksmith or Storage upgrades. You'll meet several random merchants in the world. They usually have much better gear than what's available in Tristam. Not having any gold to buy something stinks

2)Blacksmith/Jeweler Pages are available in Nightmare difficulty

3)Blacksmith/Jeweler Tomes are available in Hell difficulty

 

---------------------Merchants/Auction House---------------------------

 

1) Don't waste time collecting anything lower than 'blue' quality to sell. The return is only a few gold. Not worth the effort.

2) If you're shopping for Vit+ your main attribute and are not worried about any other mods, you can buy 'Magic' items (blue) much cheaper than Rares (yellow titles)

3) Typically you don't need to enter item level ranges. The game will search for level appropriate items based on which character you last played.

 

 

Sure I'll think of more...but time to play

[Ryanrocker 201]

1) Have a skill that stuns/slows/confuses all enemies near you...this can literally mean the difference between life and death

2) Have a skill that heals you. health potions have a 30 sec cooldown...an eternity in a fight

 

Great idea for the tips guide Knuckles! These two right here have saved my life time after time, so I think they are even more important if you are playing hardcore

[gogoblender 3,650]

Bravo on getting the tip topic goin Knuckles! I'm getting the client over from Schot's computer now, and will have it up and going hopefully soon. I think my favorite tip was the one about the goblin...love that guy

 

Dance goblin, dance!

 

 

gogo

[Knuckles 904]

1) Have a skill that stuns/slows/confuses all enemies near you...this can literally mean the difference between life and death

2) Have a skill that heals you. health potions have a 30 sec cooldown...an eternity in a fight

 

Great idea for the tips guide Knuckles! These two right here have saved my life time after time, so I think they are even more important if you are playing hardcore

 

Group stun is just sooooooo important, whether you're melee, ranged or magic based. Running a Barb and using my group stun at the very beginning of the fight makes it so much easier. It's great for allowing a tactical retreat if things get too crazy. Made it to level 20 so far in HC and just about every battle is group stun followed immediately by my group attack which causes bleeding. Rinse and repeat.

[cider_steve 26]

Heh, I must admit to falling fowl of chasing that treasure mob..............paid the price too !

 

Many thanks Knuckles for this. Idiots like me always need advice, lol !

[Flooxim 51]

This is a really good topic. Thanks for these tips!

 

 

Max

[cider_steve 26]

Can some-one list some chat tips please ? I can't find anything on chat and it would be handy for when I party as I've only soloed thus far. I've sent out a bit of chat and received it, but I only know the basics. I notice that a couple of people have whispered to me, so I would like to know how and why they do that.

 

Any chat tips would be great.

 

Cheers,

 

Steve.

[cider_steve 26]

How do you identify items please ?

 

I know that in earlier Diablo games you could buy scrolls, but I haven't seen them so far ingame.

 

I just found a couple of rares and it would be nice to know what they are.

[Flooxim 51]

How do you identify items please ?

 

Identify Scrolls have been removed from the game. You now just need to right-click on the item to identify it.

 

 

Max

[cider_steve 26]

How do you identify items please ?

 

Identify Scrolls have been removed from the game. You now just need to right-click on the item to identify it.

 

 

Max

 

Really ? That's amazing............I never would have thought. Hmmm, I know that if it is in your inventory that right clicking will equip it, and if it is in the merchant window that right click will sell, so I better be careful. I'm guessing from what you say, that as I right click and the item is equiped, that it will identify itself ?

 

Thankyou for your answer.

 

Steve.

 

PS :- I just noticed, how many times will you see 4 two letter words used consecutively in a sentence and they all begin with the same letter ?!

[Ryanrocker 201]

Identify Scrolls have been removed from the game. You now just need to right-click on the item to identify it.

 

Wow, I honestly had no idea about this and there was no tooltip explaining. Thank you for solving my rare item predicament

[stubbie 22]

I'm guessing from what you say, that as I right click and the item is equiped, that it will identify itself ?

 

Sort of a moot point.

You are unable to equip unidentified items, so right clicking an unidentified item will always identify it first.

[cider_steve 26]

I'm guessing from what you say, that as I right click and the item is equiped, that it will identify itself ?

 

Sort of a moot point.

You are unable to equip unidentified items, so right clicking an unidentified item will always identify it first.

 

Yeah, got is sussed now.

 

It always amazes me when folk suss things like that, as it isn't written anywhere.............well, not that I've seen.

 

The manual has very little indeed, which is a shame. It's as if they want you to play blind, in a way.

[purringcat 7]

I know several people have asked for playing tips so I thought I would mention a few that are important to me based on what I have seen so far with the game.

 

1) Have a skill that stuns/slows/confuses all enemies near you...this can literally mean the difference between life and death

2) Have a skill that heals you. health potions have a 30 sec cooldown...an eternity in a fight

3) Also having a skill or itwm mod that increases the chance of enemies dropping health globes is very useful.

 

Sure I'll think of more...but time to play

 

Have a level 21 Demon Hunter and have yet to see a skill that includes 2 & 3 nor any items that increase health globe drops. Took the Templar along for a bit with his healing skill but he doesn't use it. Getting around the 30 sec cooldown would be great. Using Vault for now which is very useful.

[Knuckles 904]

Have really only played the Barb and Monk so far....The Monk does have a healing skill which the barb doesn't yet.....hoping a skill mod will change that soon as I could really use it. Shame the Dh doesn't have any skill like that yet.....makes life so much easier.

[Shadout 8]

Barb gets tons of lifesteal & regen

DH gets invulnerability in 2-3 seconds (and no cooldown, so it can be 10+ sec) which wins over any amount of lifesteal though That skill seems to be pretty much required later on.

Actually DH also gets a skill with 30% lifesteal in a few seconds, so they can get life back that way as well. Demon Hunter is all about avoiding taking the damage in the first place however.

Edited May 20, 2012 by Shadout

[Steerpike1 53]

If your character says something like "This looks like a trap*" pay attention, because it probably is. Not only your hirelings give you warnings.

 

* I thought it too, but by the time I reacted when the trap was sprung couldn't run out of the area, as I was enclosed.

 

Love the thread, should come in useful.

[Antitrust 33]

You can bind a "Move" function to one of your keys, and pressing the key will make the character run towards the mouse cursor without clicking to move.

 

This is an awesome feature that might not be obvious, and it should be done asap Looking back at D2, I can't believe we played without it

 

It is useful because it lets you run closer to enemies without clicking on them, or without trying to pick up items in the middle of a fight - very annoying and dangerous.

[cider_steve 26]

There's lots of stuff not in the manual, like pressing tab in-game will give you a fuller map.

[Knuckles 904]

Not so much of a tip but more of a warning for HC players especially.

 

There are timed dungeons in this game You will die if you do not find the exit before the timer expires. You cannot teleport out. Ran one last night and found the exit with maybe 10 seconds to go. And I was running all over (through monsters) to find it. Needless to say my heart was beating so fast I was entering heart attack zone I'm sure. Though once thru the exit it put me in a treasure room. Got 2 legendaries out of it

 

p.s. I forget exactly where it was but it was near the Khasim Outpost area in Act II

[Spunky 17]

Interesting, I've never come across one of those dungeons yet, nor have I found any legendaries either, which pieces was it you found?

[Knuckles 904]

Found Moonslayer and The Executioner

[Spunky 17]

Nice, looking good that axe there.

[Schot 444]

Very much needed topic Knuckles. Good stuff!

[Antitrust 33]

Not so much of a tip but more of a warning for HC players especially.

 

There are timed dungeons in this game You will die if you do not find the exit before the timer expires. You cannot teleport out. Ran one last night and found the exit with maybe 10 seconds to go. And I was running all over (through monsters) to find it. Needless to say my heart was beating so fast I was entering heart attack zone I'm sure. Though once thru the exit it put me in a treasure room. Got 2 legendaries out of it

 

p.s. I forget exactly where it was but it was near the Khasim Outpost area in Act II

People report that you don't die if the timer runs out, you just miss out on some treasure at the end of it. It's called Crumbling Cavern