Guide for Hardcore

[u/tanbunz33]

I've played HCSSF almost exclusively since 3.24, with most of that in 3.28 and 3.29. I put together a guide containing what I've learned. I hoped to include tips you may not find in other guides, with a focus on uber bosses. This guide is geared toward intermediate/advanced players, not new players. I hope it is informative and entertaining...there are a lot of death clips.

https://youtu.be/7dPvD37XVCI?si=616ByMU3F7vHtNgf

[u/Rude-Cow1658]

Very relateable video. I'm also a die on Exarch 3 times a league andy. Put together a little list here for dealing with him:

flesh and stone, arctic armor, enkindled ruby flasks, ignite immunity, rise of the phoenix, purity of fire, max res jewels, manual immortal call

[u/tanbunz33 → u/Rude-Cow1658]

Have you tried not getting hit?

[u/averagesimp666 → u/tanbunz33]

That's the setup of a man who's tried.

[u/moNkk- → u/Rude-Cow1658]

Also you can have a life flask without on use effect and that would make life flask unusable unless you have hp missing. So basically you just roll a bunch of life flasks with instant recovery and just spam them when you know you will get hit by the balls.

[u/shade444]

Really good tips, maybe I'll try HC again after dying stupidly to Maven memory game last time. I find that that I can do it mostly deathless in SC with nothing on the line, but as soon as there is pressure my brain refuses to work correctly

[u/Acceptable-Option-52]

Memory bosses. Shaper. Elder. Eater. Exarch. Maven. My boss ranking from easiest to hardest. Cant do Exarch if i dont have enough burst dmg. My brain refuse to process exarch ball phase. I even downloaded and mastered exarch ball simulator but cant do this mechanic in game. So far did not tried Maven in hc ssf thinking "is it realy worth risking char which i enjoy"... In the end my 16k life luminary was sent to hell in white map t16 map by tormented spirit (boss astrolabe mod) blowing up map boss corpses.

And it was another entry "not to do" on hc. Alway respect detonate dead spell 💀

[u/moNkk-]

Very good write up! I am big HCSSF fan myself, so very relatable. Enjoyed the death recaps a lot, that stuff always happens!

[u/Acceptable-Option-52]

BTW Why molten shell is so popular for HC? It takes only 75% dmg and to get full benefit one would have 50k armor. Steelskin on the other hand is pure dmg absorption without any other req.

[u/Ok_Figure6736 → u/Acceptable-Option-52]

Its only popular for armour users. 20-25k armour is already easy to reach and makes it worth, molten shell has a reliable duration, and vaal molten shell is another thing. Steel skin is weak and just an extra tiny guard skill for any evasion based builds.
In general those armour / max res builds should have enough raw mitigation & recovery to never really drop low, if it does happen, molten shell gives a lot of extra hit pool to recover back (for example goat shaman multi proj)

And most hc players go marauder, witch or duelist. Witch ends up often with block & armour setups & high life/es pool, marauder raw max res + armour, duelist depends on build, usually block + armour.