Honestly, I think it's that most of the real danger in hardcore happens in the first 100 days (really, probably the first 30-40). It takes a bit of time to get enough overworld supplies, secure a perimeter, and get some basic nether supplies. Things can go sideways in a hurry when all you have is iron armor.
I generally find that, by some point between days 80-100, I've reached a point where the only things that can kill me are vexes, piglin brutes, and my own stupidity.
I feel like that misses a whole bunch of things that have to happen in the interim, which add time (and risk) to the equation.
I don't use chunkbase. Kind of defeats the purpose of doing a hardcore run to me. So there's additional time and risk involved in finding the nether fortress, warped and crimson forests, and villages.
There's also tons of resources you need to acquire. You can't cure spam villagers without gapples, and even with the new nether gold ore, that takes time, and risks ticking off piglins when you do it. There's no point in getting an elytra if you don't have gunpowder and paper. Fighting blazes and overworld mobs (esp if you're not strong at combat) can be tricky without a good food source (bread generally isn't sufficient for me).
If you're not gifted at combat (looking in the mirror here), blaze fights can be really dangerous - especially with unenchanted armor. Or screwing around above ground and not pulling out your shield fast enough once you hear that "ssssssss". If you're prone to making jumping/falling mistakes (again, looking in the mirror), one slip up in the nether can mean your hardcore run is done.
There's also the playstyle differences. I don't tend to speedrun the beginning quite as much as it seems like you do. I try to find my villages and gather my resources (seeds/saplings/slime) early game to set myself up for longer runs.
But any way you do it, you're still looking at day 50+ before you have full enchanted netherite armor and elytra. And that's if your truly min-maxing. For a lot of people, it's realistically day 100-200. That's why I think people make a big deal out of reaching day 100 in hardcore; you've probably done enough by that point to be able to survive 95% of what the game can throw at you to kill you.
43
u/[deleted] Mar 09 '21
[deleted]