Diablo II Hardcore - Episode 1

**Diablo II HC! - Part 1 (Ft. RubberRoss, Paul, and TheCompletionist!)** is an episode of Diablo II Hardcore. In the episode, the group clears out the Den of Evil, and begin grinding to be able to safely enter the Cold Plains.

## Summary

PBG welcomes everyone to the next season of Hardcore, where they're playing Diablo 2. PBG introduces himself as the black paladin. PBG has everyone else introduce themselves: The Completionist is Ze Amazon; Barry is a Barbarian; McJones is a Sorceress; RubberRoss is RubberRoss the Assassin; and Paul is a Druid. Also, Dean is a Necromancer, but he doesn't introduce himself.

McJones activates the first quest, and they need to look for the Den of Evil in the wilderness so that they can clear it out. The group heads south, where they immediately get into a fight with some enemies. McJones realizes that the skeleton he's fighting is on their side, and was spawned by Dean. The group continues fighting everything, and they find a chest, which Paul loots, much to the annoyance of PBG and Dean. The group then finds a building, which is on fire, so they avoid entering it.

The group finds the Den of Evil, which they enter, and continue to kill everything as they explore it. PBG tells the group to kill the magic users first, because they summon people. Dean's skeletons continue to confuse McJones. PBG takes a Gargantuan Beast on all by himself, and loots some damaged leather gloves off of it. Jirard tells the group that pressing alt will show them all the items on the floor.

The group gets into a fight with a hoard of enemies. PBG starts to take damage, scaring him, and McJones is currently useless because he has no mana, so he stays back. Dean's only ability is to summon, so he feels like a baby. The group encounters some Corpsefire, and Ross starts to take a lot of damage. The group then clears the Den of Evil, and PBG uses his Scroll of Town Portal to open up a portal back to the Rogue Encampment.

PBG identifies a Bronze Large Charm of Life, which grants him a +6 to Attack Rating, and +7 to Life, but requires level 9 to utilize. Jirard takes the next quest, and they need to look for Blood Raven in the Burial Grounds next to the Cold Plains. McJones tells the group to wait for him, because he's still in town. The group heads out to search for the Cold Plains.

The group quickly finds the entrance to the Cold Plains, but they're too weak to enter. Dean claims an Experience Shrine for himself, and the group gets into a fight with a group of Gargantuan Beasts. PBG starts to take a lot of damage, and retreats. The group finishes off the group of enemies, and Dean suggests they keep grinding, because he wants his experience thing to get its full effect.

PBG gets into a fight with some Dark Hunters, and asks for backup, despite not taking any damage. McJones comes in to help him, and the two are able to fell the foes, and McJones is unsure if he actually helped. The group finds a cave, but fight off enemies surrounding it before entering it. Dean expresses that he's glad that we aren't watching from his Point of View, as he is just picking things off the ground and summoning things. The group then enters the cave, where PBG immediately gets into a fight, and calls for help.

PBG and McJones get separated from the group, and Ross begins to take a lot of damage while fighting a group of enemies in a tight area. Ross escapes, then Barry starts to take damage. PBG tells everyone to just bail. PBG then starts to pick off the enemies one by one, but finds that they're too strong, so he joins back up with everyone else. After Ross starts taking damage again, PBG thinks they need to retreat, but everyone else wants to keep fighting.

## Quotes

**McJones:** I was hoping that we'd get at least two minutes in before that joke.