Hello, its quite some time since I posted this in old D2R forum and since then I didnt have time to update my topic with D2R content/pictures. Until now I mean 
so this is kind of respost but with more content . I made some corrections and added few lines of text or tips here and there and of course new pictures from D2R instead of old D2. I hope this will help anyone wo would like to try hardcore. Other ACTS will follow eventualy.
ACT II NORMAL
General tips:
- Keep 1 antidote with you in case you are hit by strong poison.
- Lightning resistance is important for ACT II
- Hire Combat Mercenary with Prayer aura, he will be very usefull and if you level up properly and equip him with some decent stuff, he can practicaly solo whole normal difficulty with exception of boss encounters.
- Be vigilant, Player killers usualy starts to hunt players in ACT II Normal
- Learn more about recipes in Horadric cube, they might really help you when you will get Horadric cube in Halls of the dead 3
- You can buy 3 socket breast plates and 3 socket shields from Fara
- Lysander can sell better Healing and Mana potions than Akara
Common places and events which can get you killed
Player killers (PK):
Sewers is commonly known place where many player killers try to kill others. They will wait for you to go down to sewers and then declare hostility and immediatelly follow you to attack you with very little time to react. Same can be done with town exist to wilderness so be very carefull around suspicious players who have higher level. Its not a rule, but commonly used unique weapon by PK charger paladins “Bonesnap” require level 24 so if you see someone with so high level in ACT II, it is suspicious.
Player killer can also use trick to lure you to Town Portal they made just outside of town and as you go in, they can declare hostility from edge of safe zone and kill you. Do not try to fight people declaring hostility. Even much lower character can easily kill you because of very special equip.
Burning dead Archers:
These skeleton archers can be found in Sewers, they can be dangerous in big packs as they shoot Fire arrows which deal quite a lot of damage, so dont face too many of them at once or they will overwhelm you.
Radament:
Super unique Greater Mummy at the end of Sewers level 3. He has army of Skeletons and skeleton mages. Radament is Extra fast and is quite strong figher at close range. He can also poison you. Have some Antidotes with you and try to lure his skeletons away to kill them out of his range otherwise he will keep reviving them. Skills or efects which destroy bodies can help (Find Potion, slain monster rest in piece, raise skeleton, find item, Cold damage…) Radament can also super poison you so be carefull with that as it can drain your Life at extreme speed.
Poison/Super Poison:
ACT II has many monster who can deal poison damage to you. Sometimes can poison effect remain for a very long time slowly draining your Life. Monsters has also chance to deal super poison attack which you will notice by very strong poison effect which cannot be outhealed by Health potions. If you dont have antidote with you, quickly visit town to heal yourself. You will notice poison by green color like on screen below.
Lightning Scarabs:
Scarabs release charged bolts when they are hit. If you dont have resistance to Lightning and face more of them at once, they can do a lot of damage fast. You will see Scarabs in many ACT II maps and can see them right outside of town sometimes too. Charged bolt damage can be also buffed by special abilities of unique Scarabs or their minions, dealing bonus Fire/Lightning/Cold damage.
Creeping Feature:
Super unique Mummy in Stone tomb level 2. You dont have to go here, but if you do just be carefull as Creeping Feature is Extra strong so he can do quite a lot of dmg. He is always Cold enchanted too too so watch out for cold nova explosion.
Greater Mummies:
They have a lot of health and several dangerous abilities, unholy bolt dealing magic dmg, they can poison you and also they will keep reviving skeletons and mummies. Be carefull when you will see few of them in one big room or in champion pack as they can do a lot of dmg at long range and block you with revived undead. Try to eliminate them as first. Sometimes they are harder to spot in big dark rooms. They can also revive killed Gloams and Stygian dolls when they spawn in ACT V on higher difficulties.
Maggot Lair:
Generaly hated location because of narrow paths and lightning scarabs. Danger here is that you can be stuck between monster or other players. It can happen online or even when playing solo. If you are stuck, use Town portal to get out. Skills like teleport or leap are great here.
Coldworm the Burrower
Super unique Coldworm the Burrower is Cold enchanted so Cold nova is released upon death together with additional bonus poison damage. If your resistances are weaker, use mercenary to kill her while you are out of Cold Nova range. Coldworm can be found at the end of Maggot Lair. She can spawn Maggots who can also lay eggs to spawn maggot younglings so keep killing big maggots as fast as you can otherwise they will completely fill the room.
Fangskin:
Super Unique viper Fangskin is Extra fast and Lightning Enchanted and has few minions with him. He is quite dangerous enemy. As all vipers his pack can use Charge attack which always hits and they can keep knocking you around with it if you let them surround you. Try to use merc as bait and have way to get out back to first level if you are in danger. Fangskin is at second level of Claw Viper Temple.
Blunderbores:
Not dangerous alone but if they surround you, you will be in big trouble because they have pretty strong attack and chance to stun you and also apply crushing blow. Blunderbores can be found in Pallace and Tal Rasha´s Tombs and also in later ACTs.
Summoner:
Super Unique monster guarding entrance to Canyon of the Magi at end of Arcane Sanctuary. Try to lure out monsters who are close to him or kill them before you use the stairs to move to Summoner platform. If you dont clear monsters first, you can get easily stuck between them. And Summoner will kill you with his Fireball and Glacial Spike which do a lot of damage on normal.
Ancient Kaa the Soulless:
Super Unique Greater Mummy in one of the fake Tal Rasha´s Tomb. Same nasty enemy as normal Greater mummy but on top of it with bonus poison damage, mana burn, extra strong and Lightning enchanted. You dont have to fight him if you dont want to. He has pack of skeletons with him and is also quite agressive so he will go after you to melee range.
Duriel:
ACT II final boss and dangerous enemy to all who are not properly prepared to face him. I have seen a lot of players die to him on normal and he is often feared boss. Duriel is melee fighter who can attack pretty fast and he is using Holy freezy aura so he is nightmare for any melee character. Here are tips which will greatly help you against him:
- Prepare some Rejuvenation potions
- Thawing potions (drink few of them at once to resist his cold damage better)
- Breast Plate and Helm from Fara can be socketed with rubies to raise your Life or you can use Emeralds to increase your block chance.
- High block chance is the best way how you can coutner him because most of his dmg goes from melee attacks. He will not be able to do much to you with high block.
- Be properly leveled up, preferably to lvl 20-24
- Mercenary can really help against Duriel, he can tank him while you kill him or other way around if you have high cold resist and block chance.
