Mastering a character class

[the Langolier]

Completing all of the above makes one a pretty competent player, definately. However, it would not necessarily make them "good". There are many here that have done all of the above, and then some.

Very true. I can think of some amazing ironman victories, quadruple barbarian hell/hell game, etc. A lot of times, however, the word that comes to my mind with a lot of that is 'tedious'.

For warriors, I'd say it would be the speed at which they could clear H/H, preferably without dying and with decent, not perfect eq.

The phrase that comes to my mind in this case is 'power gaming'. If you need a lot of teleport and a lot of potions, you can go easy on the skill. For example, teleporting into D's chamber in hell. There's really no tactics involved. Just wear good equipment, hack 'n slash, and drink like hell.

There's this fine line, which is why I am looking for input! What is something that will require characters, even when fully equipped, to apply sound tactics on many levels (using dungeon layout, defensive+offensive spells) and not be TOO tedious, and not promote power-gaming?

Retribution quest - tedious
Timed dungeon clears - power gaming
Maxing spell levels - tedious
...

Really, out of my initial list, the only thing that I could come up with is Clear Hell/Hell with limited potions. Of course, my personal style is maximize effeciency, which is why I don't teleport around constantly, among other things.