The hydra PKing of 1.10

[SwissMercenary]

Two new "strategies" have arisen amongst the forces of lamers, both permitting you to kill your character, regardless of what area you are in, with no risk to the killer.

The first is a paladin launching blessed hammers, town portaling, and hostiling - the hammers stay in the air, and a hit from them could quite easily kill you.

The second is a sorceress launching fireballs, town portaling, and hostiling - I believe that fireballs stay in the air, and a sorceress with +20 fire skills (Not too difficult for griefers to aqquire) could launch extremely deadly fireballs. Due to the nature of this spell, you have very little warning.

Gee, Blizzard gets rid of some of these griefing tactics (hydra), and forgets about the others, instead of making a 10 second hostility timer that does not permit you to cause any PvP damage until it expires.

Another reason that we need 1.10b...

[gekko]

I love blizzard some times. They obviously understand the need for anti-PK measures -- hence the "half-assed" timer. And yet they stubbornly refuse to admit they implement hostility in a stupid way and make a fix that would actually do something.

Congratulations, blizzard. You forced the PKers to make adjustments to their strategies.

gekko

[Nastie_Bowie]

I for one, would like to see a PvP button in the create game screen. As in NWN.

[Baajikiil]

I've heard of the same tactic using nearly any of the sorc's spells. It's also possible with many classes' ranged skills. Just a slightly harder trigger hack to pull off than it was with guided arrow.

I have often heard that the PK will often help someone(s) through an act, and then after killing an act boss will ask their target a question that will require a little typing. While their target is typing, they launch the attack, and trigger to town/hostile. It gives them a much better shot at succces if their target is distracted and unmoving.

I suspect that anywhere that players commonly stand still would be a high risk area(waiting for someone to bring in Horodric staff, minions of baal, ect). Be careful out there you pubbie hc players.

[MongoJerry]

This kind of thing is why I'm playing Amazon Basin games almost exclusively now. If you don't know about them, go to the Amazon Basin, read the AB FAQ linked on the front page to learn about the games, and then click on the Weaseltech link on the front page. I don't know how I ever played on bnet without AB games now.

[whyBish]

Ah Mongo,

I can't taunt you about killing the lounge anymore :P

[BellaStrega]

This kind of thing is why I'm playing Amazon Basin games almost exclusively now.  If you don't know about them, go to the Amazon Basin, read the AB FAQ linked on the front page to learn about the games, and then click on the Weaseltech link on the front page.  I don't know how I ever played on bnet without AB games now.

Thank you for the pointer. AB addresses and forbids everything I hate about multiplayer bnet gaming.

[Archon_Wing]

Gee, Blizzard gets rid of some of these griefing tactics (hydra), and forgets about the others, instead of making a 10 second hostility timer that does not permit you to cause any PvP damage until it expires

The answer is so simple. :( Leave it up to them to do it the Blizzard way.

[Assur]

Hi all

What has really become a favourite, at least on Europe, is "stairkilling". Unless you trust people in a public game, don't follow them down stairs!

Lost a promising BoneNecro to Fangskin that way!

Spent 45 minutes "looking" for the assa who tanked for me, but didn't find her "sigh"

good hunting

[Taem]

In USWEST hardcore, other than PK'ers in every sewer run game you enter, trapping town portals has become a favorite (at least a favorite of mine) as I've seen several players die to this (that wasn't attributed to me). I have also had this happen to me, but have yet to die from it. There seems to be much more comradely in 1.1 and certain unscrupulous people have taken advantage of this fact.

[Catflap]

Sorry guys, but D2 PvP with consent (aka no PK'ing, friendly duels only) isn't gonna happen.
PK'ing, like it or not is what keeps HC fresh.. with little people in 'uber 1337' gear, and little to no hacks out on Ladder HC, PvP hasn't been this good in ages.. lets enjoy it while it lasts. :lol:

Lamers will always find a way to be lame.Immunity timers aren't the awnser.

[Taem]

Sorry guys, but D2 PvP with consent (aka no PK'ing, friendly duels only) isn't gonna happen.

No argument there.

PK'ing, like it or not is what keeps HC fresh..

I disagree with you on this point. I think dying in general keeps hardcore fresh. Since I've started 1.1 ladder, I've lost over twelve 50+ leveled characters mostly due to Fire Enchanted creatures when they go "pop". Furthermore, but especially with the timer, I have never died to a pk'er, but have PK'd plenty myself. As a general rule of thumb, if your going to play public games, don't trust anyone except for yourself and you should be fine. So what am I implying? That PK'ers don't attribute to that many deaths overall in the Diablo Hardcore world.

with little people in 'uber 1337' gear,

What exactly are you saying by this, and what do you consider elite? Just because I found an Arkaines Valor +2 all skills in hell the other day, does that make me elite? If people find their items in ladder legitimately instead of eBay but their items are some of the best, are they 'elite', or just lucky? When you say "little people," it lead me to believe your putting down people who have good gear, when in reality any legit player could in fact have good gear if they've played this game long enough. I really don't know where your going with this!

and little to no hacks out on Ladder HC, PvP hasn't been this good in ages..

What do hacks have to do with PK'ing? Trigger (the fire guided arrow and take TP hack) is still out and used with fireball now. All trigger does is send the packet to take the tp and go hostile immediately after initiating 'x' skill. ALL of the "old" hacks are still there my friend. I've seen people go hostile and show up at a WP in half a second and you know what, its easy to do! Your client prevents you from taking the WP when hostile, so if you send the packet saying your taking the WP, you take it and avoid the hostile wait timer... I could go on and on. So no, your quite mistaken about hacks. And BTW, what DOES THIS HAVE TO DO with Pk'ing or how "good" PvP is? People are still using modified versions of trigger and farcast in games FYI, so I honestly don't see how PvP has changed at all. For the record, I abhor cheaters, but am aware of their tactics and methods.

Lamers will always find a way to be lame.

You must be referring to 'grief-players'. I view those as the annoying PK'ers whom, at level 75+, go into your game with all level 20's, hostile, walk around where you and your friends are making you wait 10 minutes before he leaves, the after leaving and flinging a massive amount of garbage out of his mouth, promptly returns to pester you some more. PK'ing in essence (what it stands for and what your doing to the other player) is really a crime of assault on their virtual character.

In theory, if I choose to PK now in 1.1, I would trap TP's, which would most certainly be considered grief-playing, yet somehow in 1.09 when I use to PK, I still respected others in game and would not mouth off to them, taunt them, or otherwise. If I choose to hostile and gave chase and they stood their ground and died, I'd congratulate them on their bravery. If they managed to kill me, I'd tell them I was the fool this evening. I use to always be polite in speech, and I don't think this would change. All in all, I found it to be a pleasant experience, and in one-way or another we (the victim and myself) both learned something. And believe it or not, if I have loot on my victim, I would always return their gear - every last piece. What I'm trying to say here is that if people choose to PK, at least they should be polite about the incident and toward their victim, excepting to get chewed out by the victim yet still being polite. This politeness, IMO, makes pk'ing un-'lame'.

Immunity timers aren't the awnser.

Hear hear! I really dislike the immunity timers for several reasons:

1.) If your going to go hostile and there is a 10-second time limit before you can take WP's, then what is the point of PK'ing? The only thing the PK'er can do is go hostile and ruin your game as you all wait in town for him to leave.

2.) Because if you enjoy pk'ing by surprise, its now impossible to get your target off guard unless you TP trap. The method use to be to party with a group and get a good idea where they were and when they were near a WP that you had, go hostile and take that wp as fast as possible. If you got lucky, some people panicked and didn't go to town or press escape fast enough so you could take them out. It was these surprise PK's that really made Pking fun. I think if I were to PK again (which I have no urge to), then I'd definatly Tp trap because I really enjoyed the surprise PK's and hate the timer.

[Baajikiil]

I've seen people go hostile and show up at a WP in half a second and you know what, its easy to do! Your client prevents you from taking the WP when hostile, so if you send the packet saying your taking the WP, you take it and avoid the hostile wait timer... I could go on and on.

I'll not get into the rest of this debate. But, I will say that yes, I have personally witnessed this bypassing of the wp timer. You still need to be just as careful in pubbie games. I haven't been PKed yet in 1.10, but the more pubbie games I play, the higher the chances.

[whyBish]

Your client prevents you from taking the WP when hostile, so if you send the packet saying your taking the WP, you take it and avoid the hostile wait timer...

Blizz never did figure out client server architecture.

Remember when you could tell exactly what items were in the gamble screen? :angry:

[SwissMercenary]

Oh, and to those thinking that the PKers do not have uber-gear: Think again.

Simple run-down of easily attainable damage on PK paladins. With good gear, you could quite well surpass that.

Lvl 12: 200 max PvP damage. Enough to 1-shot kill most characters up to lvl 18.

Lvl 18: 400 max PvP damage. These guys pick on the lvl 24-30 crowd.

Lvl 24: 600 max PvP damage. They pick on baal runners (Level 35-55). They win.

Lvl 32: 1000 max PvP damage. 800 life. 25% Damage reduction. It's quite sad to see a lvl 32 pick on baal runners, but that's bnet.

I, myself, within 2 weeks of playing, on USEast, Hardcore Ladder, built myself a lvl 24 bonesnap paladin.

Three days of dueling later, against people ranging from lvl 33-64, he got around 20 ears.

My advice is simple: If someone is hostiling you, just save and exit. Chances are, they are prepared. You are not.

[Guest]

MEAT: I think he meant it as in little amount of people. :unsure:

[Taem]

Ahh... the fun of interpreting what someone else wrote. I do believe you’re correct. I cordially retract whatever negative comments I may have made in that snippet.

[Brista]

PK'ing, like it or not is what keeps HC fresh..

This is such a self-centred view

Basically veteran non PK players, like me, just won't get caught. I won't take your portal, I won't stay in the game after you hostile or if I do I'll make very sure your chances of finding me are virtually nil

People who know what they're doing don't get PKed

All that people like you do is victimise new people or casual people who don't know what they're doing yet

What a great way to kill off the fun for other people

Reminds me of when I was a kid and you met kids who wouldn't tell you all the rules of a new game so they could later point to a rule you didn't know about just to win

[Occhidiangela]

2.) Because if you enjoy pk'ing by surprise, its now impossible to get your target off guard unless you TP trap. The method use to be to party with a group and get a good idea where they were and when they were near a WP that you had, go hostile and take that wp as fast as possible. If you got lucky, some people panicked and didn't go to town or press escape fast enough so you could take them out. It was these surprise PK's that really made Pking fun. I think if I were to PK again (which I have no urge to), then I'd definatly Tp trap because I really enjoyed the surprise PK's and hate the timer.

Having "fun" at another's expense, in HC. How nice. :P

[SwissMercenary]

I will say this.

PKing is still possible, even with the 10 second timer. Without bypassing it via the WP exploit.

If you disagree, perhaps you should see the ears quite a few legit HC PKers have collected.

I prefer dueling, myself.

The key to 1.10 PKing remains in lower level PKers picking on higher level characters, ala lvl 18s hunting in Act 4. You would seriously be surprised at how many people done one of the following (I still am):

1. Stay and fight

2. TP to town, look at the PKer's level, laugh at him, and tell the PKer to come to Act 1, blood moor.