I feel the earth Moo under my feet

[dkass]

3) twinked: there are some pretty good clvl 1 twinks for life/mana/thorns/weapon. The cows are so studly, however, that thorns is probably not a good option. :blink:  A bunch of grand cold charms and massive ranged Envy setup is an obvious "solution", stumbling only over the to-hit & keep-away logistics. There are also rare/exotic items with charges of level 10 Firestorm or Teeth (usable by clvl 1 Druid/Necro respectively).

4) no assist, no twink: well it is technically possible to earn a Den of Evil skill point by yourself without leveling up first (I leave the details as an exercise for the reader) so we can assume a single clvl 1 req skill at slvl 3 (point invested plus 2 for the skill shrine--remember I'm asking what is *possible*, not what is necessarily easy or likely). You could also scavenge enough cash by cowardly tactics to buy +3 skill wands/scepters/staves from Akara (or have the patience, potentially, to get +3 skills from drop-only class items, but those might all have clvl 3 req at a minimum?). The cows regen is likely to be relevant (although once again MongoJerry surprised me in his adventures in this regard) so Poison Creeper is interesting (remember that I'm also willing to consider parties of lowbies confronting this challenge, so noting things like this are important, as one party member is potentially good at keeping a cow's regen off).

#4 is a pretty challenging case. Clearly, however, if you relax constraints to either clvl to 6 or twink just Hsarus boots to clvl 3s then #4 is dramatically transformed.

Given the way you've phrased #4, isn't it almost the same as #3? I think a level 1 character can find any twink gear they can use just running around opening chests and the like (don't forget gem shrines) [err, just thought of quest items, inc the viper amulet and flail as twink, or did Blizzard finally close that sleeze?]. Anything up through the Stony Fields is accessible and "safe." The Crypt and Mausoleum might be good places for softcore (get in, loot and don't worry about getting cornered). I suspect that even up through the Tamoe Highlands could be accessed (apart from Tristam, ? or can one get the scroll by just touching the tree, I don't recall). This may take many games to find what is needed, but it will be eventually found.

I suppose the difference is that the #4 case can't get out of act 1, so no merc or other quest rewards (life and stats in act 3, skills from Radiment and Izzy, resistance although not really needed).

Is fire arrow the auto-hit arrow skill? (its been too long since I seriously played a bowzon). If so for #4, I'd suggest getting it with the DoE point and then finding some socketable gear and loading up on the poison jewels and chipped emeralds, plus some no level cold charms (or use a chipped saphire in the bow) +2 strength gives access to the long bow (+3 dex gives the Hunter's Bow). I'd have to experiment to find out how much poison is needed. If 3 emeralds in a long bow are enough, it might only take a couple of hours to get the gear together (just re-roll the blood moor after a quick check through for gem shrines)--the bow is probably the hardest part here (I don't think Gheed will sell them yet...)