Gearing and drop rates, AH use almost required to progress.

[Jaffa Tamarin]

Let me ask, Jaffa - do you think now that you've trained yourself on knowing boss attacks and all that, do you think that you could manage single pass full clear in HC? I understand that's an optional challenge mode, but Blizzard has claimed they do consider HC for balancing. Or even full clear with some minor farming if you had some bad drop luck? Not that I'm going to be playing HC with online only play unless I get a much more reliable ISP, but I feel OPFC HC play ought to be possible for skilled players.

Hardcore doesn't suit my play-style. I got one hardcore character into hell difficulty in Diablo 2, but never managed a guardian. I'm too impatient, and I preferred going for increasingly sub-optimal softcore builds instead. I'm not sure how that's going to work for Diablo 3, which doesn't really have character builds, but one character of each class will certainly keep me occupied for a while.

I would have died less if I'd picked a more defensive build (I was stubborn about sticking with my zombie dogs ). I think a skilled (and lucky) hardcore player could manage a one-pass full-clear through the end of hell, but it would be difficult. But the difficulty is very spiky, you could make it a lot easier with a bit of farming and being willing to park the most insane elite/champion packs.