Retreating by exiting.

[Brad]

I apologize if this topic has been done to death, but I was wondering what you guys thought of the strategy of quickly exiting out of a game when you know you're done for in a battle. It seems like a really cheap tactic to me, but then again, if Blizzard hadn't wanted players to do it, I imagine it would have been pretty easy to prevent a player from exiting the game if they were currently fighting monsters. Just put in a timer so that every time you hit an enemy or cast a spell, the ability to exit the game is disabled for five seconds or so.

So anyway, I'm new here and have never really been part of a Diablo community, so I was wondering if there was a general consensus if this tactic was considered fair play or not.

[Alamara]

I consider it unethical, and don't do so with any of my characters. All of my characters are at the point where they can lure away the monsters and die a second time, and then telekinesis everything back without a problem. If I die, it's not a big deal to me. That's probably why I never get past level 12 or so with my HCNM's =o

[Brad]

I consider it unethical, and don't do so with any of my characters. All of my characters are at the point where they can lure away the monsters and die a second time, and then telekinesis everything back without a problem. If I die, it's not a big deal to me. That's probably why I never get past level 12 or so with my HCNM's =o

Okay, sounds good. I agree that it shouldn't be done, though I can't say it's not a problem for me when I die, hehe. Newbie question real quick - what's HCNM? Perhaps Hardcore Nightmare? If so, how does Hardcore work, because I've never seen an option for a hardcore character (assuming hardcore is the same deal as in Diablo II). Is it just something you do yourself, and if you die, you go ahead and delete the character yourself?

[Alamara]

HCNM is Hardcore Naked Mage. You have the hardcore part down. There's no real point in cheating, because I play like this as a "variant" to make it more challenging. As you suggested, I simply restart my character when I die. The Naked Mage part just means that I don't wear any equipment whatsoever at any time. A friend of mine has gotten to level 25 or so, and beat normal. I'd like to try to beat Nightmare as well, but it's a very skill intensive variant.

[Brad]

HCNM is Hardcore Naked Mage. You have the hardcore part down. There's no real point in cheating, because I play like this as a "variant" to make it more challenging. As you suggested, I simply restart my character when I die. The Naked Mage part just means that I don't wear any equipment whatsoever at any time. A friend of mine has gotten to level 25 or so, and beat normal. I'd like to try to beat Nightmare as well, but it's a very skill intensive variant.

Yeah, that sounds incredibly hard. I think I'll worry about killing Diablo first, haha. The last time I killed Diablo was when I was 10, 11 years old and was... not exactly legit. Not even close. Luckily I quickly realized that cheating just wasn't the way to go, and Diablo was the first and only game I ever cheated in. And it's been great fun coming back to it legitimately now all these years later.

[Alamara]

Yeah, that sounds incredibly hard. I think I'll worry about killing Diablo first, haha. The last time I killed Diablo was when I was 10, 11 years old and was... not exactly legit. Not even close. Luckily I quickly realized that cheating just wasn't the way to go, and Diablo was the first and only game I ever cheated in. And it's been great fun coming back to it legitimately now all these years later.

Yeah, I had a similar experience. I had trouble ditching my godly equipment, but I'm glad I did. =)

If you have any trouble with gameplay be sure to ask, because I as well as dozens of others that come here know the game in and out. If you have any specific formula questions, be sure to check Jarulf's Guide; essentially the Diablo Bible:

http://www.bigd-online.com/JG/JGFrame.html

Have fun with that, haha =)

[Brad]

Yeah, I had a similar experience. I had trouble ditching my godly equipment, but I'm glad I did. =)

If you have any trouble with gameplay be sure to ask, because I as well as dozens of others that come here know the game in and out. If you have any specific formula questions, be sure to check Jarulf's Guide; essentially the Diablo Bible:

http://www.bigd-online.com/JG/JGFrame.html

Have fun with that, haha =)

WOW! The "Diablo Bible" is not an overstatement, huh? Holy crap this is thorough. Great stuff, thanks man.

[Jarulf]

WOW! The "Diablo Bible" is not an overstatement, huh? Holy crap this is thorough. Great stuff, thanks man.

As a bonus, you can get a downloadable and printable version at this site as well:

http://www.lurkerlounge.com/content/view/751/110/

[Merlinios]

As one who plays almost exclusively mages, equipment loss is not a big deal (in the rare event of death). If you're having problems, just learn better retreat tactics.

Regarding the issue of legitimacy, though, there is not exactly a consensus on any given issue (with the obviously exclusion of third-party-programs directly modifying the game). There have been a few proponents of various bugs over the years, including, but not limited to, the dupe bug (don't see too many behind this one), the mana shield bug (a few more here, but still a small minority) all the way up to nigh-unavoidable things like walking perpendicular to the dungeon axis. Whether various tactics are considered "legit" or "cheesy" is ultimately up to the user of said tactics. If you're looking for fun, do what ya want, but let other people know in advance so they can avoid you if they want. If you want respect, it's generally better to avoid as much cheese as possible (IE, don't exploit anything you suspect is exploitable). While there are many that would not consider game-exiting illegitimate, it's not exactly something they'll give you a medal for.

--me

[Nystul]

I consider it fair play, but it is not worth the risk. If you get killed just before you exit the game, your items are in the phantom zone, and it would not be fair play to restore them since you quit the game intentionally. With experience, you can retrieve items from virtually any situation. You just need to understand the situation. If it is really bad, you shouldn't even be thinking about killing monsters. Just 1)enter the level naked, 2)immediately cast a town portal away from the stairs (or reset the portal if you are going down a town portal), 3) get away from the stairs and away from your portal before you die. Once you have a portal and stairs that are split from each other and not completely hosed, you can start to focus on grabbing an item or two before you die.

Just another thought. If you have a town portal scroll on your belt, you can actually cast a town portal next to you and run into it as fast as you could quit the game (probably faster). Just hit the number key, right click, left click. So there is really no point in quitting the game to avoid death. I guess the exception here would be if you are playing one of those thousand mana arty mages and get into stunlock, where you cannot cast a portal or move into it. But if that is the case: slip on a ring of harmony, drink a blue potion, and the enemies will fall on their knees and beg for mercy.... "Pleeeease, no hurt. No Kill. Keep alive and next time good bring to you."

[Brad]

I consider it fair play, but it is not worth the risk. If you get killed just before you exit the game, your items are in the phantom zone, and it would not be fair play to restore them since you quit the game intentionally. With experience, you can retrieve items from virtually any situation. You just need to understand the situation. If it is really bad, you shouldn't even be thinking about killing monsters. Just 1)enter the level naked, 2)immediately cast a town portal away from the stairs (or reset the portal if you are going down a town portal), 3) get away from the stairs and away from your portal before you die. Once you have a portal and stairs that are split from each other and not completely hosed, you can start to focus on grabbing an item or two before you die.

Just another thought. If you have a town portal scroll on your belt, you can actually cast a town portal next to you and run into it as fast as you could quit the game (probably faster). Just hit the number key, right click, left click. So there is really no point in quitting the game to avoid death. I guess the exception here would be if you are playing one of those thousand mana arty mages and get into stunlock, where you cannot cast a portal or move into it. But if that is the case: slip on a ring of harmony, drink a blue potion, and the enemies will fall on their knees and beg for mercy.... "Pleeeease, no hurt. No Kill. Keep alive and next time good bring to you."

I have no idea what a Ring of Harmony does, but sounds pretty damn good to me. Yeah, you make a good point about just casting a town portal. Though a lot of times I "know I'm done for", it's because I'm completely surrounded by monsters, and can't really move or do anything.

[Alamara]

I have no idea what a Ring of Harmony does, but sounds pretty damn good to me. Yeah, you make a good point about just casting a town portal. Though a lot of times I "know I'm done for", it's because I'm completely surrounded by monsters, and can't really move or do anything.

A Ring of Harmony makes your hit recovery faster. That's the time after a monster hits you when you can't make any actions except drinking a potion. At higher levels, a few monsters can keep it so that you never exit this state by near-continuous attacks. A Ring of Harmony makes this less likely, although still very possible.

[LemmingofGlory]

Just another thought. If you have a town portal scroll on your belt, you can actually cast a town portal next to you and run into it as fast as you could quit the game (probably faster).

As a matter of hygiene, all of my characters keep a TP scroll in their 8th belt slot. It serves several purposes, not the least of which preventing long walks back to town in the event of overspending mana.

But other than that, I'm pretty much with Nyst when it comes using game exit as a "save my ass" tactic. It's not good strategy in that it's not game strategy at all. At worst, I feel it could be cheese, but it's never been a cheese that bothered me to a significant degree. Plus, item recoveries can be hella fun. They require tactics different from your character's norm (since the char is sans items), so deliberately avoiding death can result in missing out being a true bad ass.

-Lem

[Brad]

Plus, item recoveries can be hella fun. They require tactics different from your character's norm (since the char is sans items), so deliberately avoiding death can result in missing out being a true bad ass.

-Lem

Ha, yeah, definitely. My brother and I were playing in Catacombs a few days ago when we were still in the teen levels, and we got rocked by some Unique and his minions. We spent about twenty minutes trying to recover out items, and embarrassingly enough, gave up because it was getting late. Nevertheless, it was perhaps the most fun and memorable Diablo moment I've had since I returned.

[Alamara]

Ha, yeah, definitely. My brother and I were playing in Catacombs a few days ago when we were still in the teen levels, and we got rocked by some Unique and his minions. We spent about twenty minutes trying to recover out items, and embarrassingly enough, gave up because it was getting late. Nevertheless, it was perhaps the most fun and memorable Diablo moment I've had since I returned.

I'm going to take a guess here and say that it was a spitter boss and you didn't have any magic resistance. =D

He tends to stop parties in their tracks who don't have a skilled rogue or sorcerer.

[LemmingofGlory]

I'm going to take a guess here and say that it was a spitter boss and you didn't have any magic resistance. =D

He tends to stop parties in their tracks who don't have a skilled rogue or sorcerer.

Oh, there are several Cats bosses that give unsuspecting parties a good and hearty whomping. Foulwing, Blightfire, and (less frequently) Bloodgutter and Blighthorn can all be just as formidable as Deathspit. But to stop Deathspit or Blightfire, you don't need magic resistance, and neither must you be a rogue or a mage. All you need is to strategize: find a location where you can see them but they can't hit you. Make sure you've got a bow with you, and after that it's all about patience. As a caveat: Monks, Bards, and Barbs in Hellfire tend to have a much more miserable time with this strategy because their bow damage is, well, granny-fied.

-Lem

[Alamara]

True, I just never really bow with my warrior. It's more beneficial at that point to either hop to level 9 and keep going or just start a new game. The time spent dealing with the spitter boss and his minions (especially outside of normal) is not worth it to me.