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

[Archon_Wing]

In D2, a 3 diamond shield and smoke runeword alone would be able to overcome the resistance penalties in hell. Keep smacking nightmare countess if you really have to-- this isn't something that's very hard at all. Hell, the main concern was finding a nice shield and armor to socket them in, but you could use anything if you insisted. This isn't even accounting for charms, and is really all you need. Melee classes still need a weapon, but it was pretty trivial to vendor hunt or find an exceptional spear to build insight and let your merc carry you for a bit. It was however kinda silly to not allow that runeword in single player.