Your hardcore experience
Hi all, reaching to other crazy people like me that plays poe1 on console in hard core. Want to have feedbacks on how you guys do, related to the level 90 achievement in hc. I did try this in normal league to see if I could do it and did it in about 1 month and a half after about 7 characters and I had a blast, having difficulty now playing not hc. So here is my experience. As an intermediate player, been playing for 2 to 3 years now, semi casualy i guess (about 15h a week), if I can do it, it means anyone can. I don't see a lot of info on the net on this so reaching here.
When I started this test project, I though after a while I could not do it but persevered and did it. Now my next project is to do it in the current league to get the achievement. The key for me was to use a very tanky build that did not need OP gear since I don't buy nor sell stuff, leaving the option open (not in ssf) just in case. I did it with the earthquake glad from zizaran (I used other builds first to get leveling gear and currency). Any people out there got the achievement? Is it easy for you? What builds got you there? Any tips? Here is a breakthrough on how I did it; - Do a couple of runs with other builds I enjoy to get leveling gear and a bit of currency so I can get OP as fast as possible - Go slow - Always try to be at least 4 level over in zones - Have a good understanding of defenses - Have multiple defense layers - Focus on everything related to defense, dps last, health and resistances first (my goal is 6k life in yellow maps) - Farm horticulture which is my main way of crafting other than the normal easy crafting from the bench - Farm a lot of labs to get as much level 20 gems as possible, which is huge, before going deeper in labs - In labs, be more like about 8 levels over - Over cap resistances, minimum cap chaos resist - Good flasks, use them a lot - Skip a lot of stuff if I am not 100% sure that it's safe (league stuff, frozen mobs, etc….) Since now we can pause the game, we now have a new escape route if you feel it goes bad. Eager to have thoughts from other hc console players. Regards Last bumped on Aug 22, 2025, 4:03:34 PM
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Play bleed glad, cap block and use eviscerate to kill tankier rares/bosses is the easiest breeze to 90 IMO , if you do this and overlevel its pretty hard to actually scuff enough to die.
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Yes actually a bleed glad was one of my maybe build to do but some have specific gear you need if I remember but not sure. Also from the little knowledge I have on bleed builds, often you start with one skill for a very long time until you have the transfigured version or something like this, that is why I did not go with any bleed builds but again, I did not search a lot on this.
I remember though doing the shield throw bleed last league I think and yes was very good, one of my tankiest to date at the time. I will definitely do more resarch on this, thanks for your input. Regards |
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Did bleed Glad in Settlers Gauntlet to lvl 90. Never switched from Sunder, used it all the way to 90. Might not be optimal after the campaign but certainly works out fine. I even did the endless Hunger boss for funsies and survived jsut so that i can say it wasn't just op block ;P
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" My take at probably easiest build for that is Guardian BAMA. Parts of Campaign easy with 'Sentinel of Radiance'. Rest easy with BAMA + Unwavering Crusade. Keep 'Sentinel of Radiance' active always. -- See here for defenses list: "If your goal is just 90 you may not need it all. But dont neglect the Evasion if you do play Guardian BAMA. Its worth it, use Grace etc. No wonder it's lost, it's in the middle of the jungle!
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Hi there
For starters, yes, HC is worth a shot. Not for everyone, but for those who want to experience more of the game. It actually teaches you to mind your business much more than SC does. You can spend 1000 hours in soft disregarding stuff like penetration or suppresion, yet you will learn it in 24 hours on HC. Or die, if not. My HC build was RF Chieftain by Pohx. It has this very HC-friendly thing that it scales DPS with life. You stack life and get more dmg - sweet! The dwonside is RF scales bad after lvl90, but up until normal T16s it's fine. I advice to target 300hp per act, e.g. by end of act5 you wanna have 1500hp, etc. In white maps attempt to scale ASAP from 3000hp at prolog to 4000hp before yellow maps, and 5000hp before red maps. Caps and movement like others said. I played in 3.26 league. I backed down from some mercs when I saw nasty skills and smelled trouble. No shame in staying alive one more day. Made lvl90 and uber lab in 1st char - 0 deaths, 0 repeats. But I actually devoted 1 full stash to "contingency gear" with hand-me-down gear and lvl1 copies of all skill+support gems, incl flasks Oh, use the escape macro. I key-bound F1. 1 key stroke away from safety. Used it once or twice when the boss fight wasn't to my liking, particularly the Unholy Trinity was scary. good luck |
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