I’ve got a D2 Resurrected feature request. I would have posted it in the D2 Resurrected forum, but apparently you can’t post there until you pre-order the game. This a real kick in the pants to loyal D2 players. I’ve been playing and supporting this game for 20 years and my input is valueless because I didn’t pledge to buy a game with zero reviews and no release date? Wow…
Anyway, here’s my request: fix the multiple PK hacks in hardcore mode. There is next to no dueling in hardcore, just griefers with hacked or bought gear trying to kill legit players. Most of the PK hacks I’ve seen (WP kills, hydra kills, guided arrow kills) involve hostiling your opponent and immediately attacking before the player can react to the hostile notification. These types of kills were expressly NOT supposed to be part of the game. That’s why the hostile system requires players to go to town before going hostile. That was supposed to be a mechanism to allow players to decline a duel. But in practice that mechanism isn’t working. Here are a few suggestions on how this can be fixed. Please keep in mind I propose these fixes only for Hardcore. I think these fixes are in line with the developers’ stated intent of keeping the game the same.
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Pressing the hostile button vs another player will send a global message saying the player will be hostile in one minute. After one minute’s time, dueling proceeds as normal. This would give legit players who don’t want to duel time to get to safety away from a griefer.
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Require both players to go hostile before a duel can take place.
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Have a game option at game instance creation that will allow the game maker to decide whether players in the game can hostile at all. If this option is allowed, you’d have to allow players to filter the “join game” list to only show games with this option.
12 Likes
I never pvp in hc but I did enjoy it sometimes when I used to play softcore.
As you said, the risk of fighting a cheater is too high when the stakes are so high. It would be cool if I could pvp in hc without risking my character permanently dying but as it is now I probably would typically avoid duels unless I was thought the stakes were low enough and that my odds were high enough, which typically never happens.
As for grief prevention by giving players more time to react to a hostile, I don’t think it’s necessary. Players will kill you with a dirty tp if they really want you dead and you will quickly learn not to walk outside of town with a high level near you if you didn’t think of it already. D2 teaches players some hard lessons, but they are learning moments and for now avoiding being player killed is very doable.
*Don’t go afk while leaching exp in a Baal run
*when someone hostiles you go to town immediately or leave game if you must
*Be very careful when deciding whose tp you can trust
*Be careful about going into that cow portal that’s been chilling there when you joined the game
*Be careful about running into the blood moor or sewers while others are in town
*Wait in town while still hostiled or leave the game
These are simple steps that if you follow you will likely never be player killed. It’s like avoiding a trade scam, got to be careful and vigilant of how much and who you trust.
4 Likes
I agree that 95% of PK situations can be avoided based on experience, but those 5% really stink.
I played a lot of D2 HC and I was very good at avoiding PKs. But being vigilante means you avoid a lot of multiplayer situations. For example, you can’t walk out of town with a player you don’t know. You can’t walk too close to a WP with players you don’t know. You can’t play with players who use specific skills (like hydra or GA). You get to the point where it’s easier to just avoid multiplayer altogether unless it’s with someone you know in RL. This is a real shame because Diablo2 multiplayer is a major part of the D2 experience, and now for HC it’s firewalled behind PKs. This is not how the game is supposed to be. The devs should fix it.
I get it, we don’t want major changes in D2R. I agree with this point of view. But how does a 1 min hostile timer change the game? It doesn’t. It just fixes something that’s broken. The existence of a requirement to go to town before hostile shows the original intent of the devs. Players are supposed to have a chance to turn down a duel. Let’s actually make it so it works that way.
Again, I’m just asking for this change in HC. In SC the penalty for death is low enough that it doesn’t matter.
2 Likes
Tppk was fixed long ago. Also, players can’t use a portal or waypoint for several seconds after hostiling you. That said, I wouldn’t linger near any wps if someone hostiles you. Leave asap or get to town if you don’t want to fight. D2 doesn’t need any more protections for players, having a sense of danger in the world can be exciting.
PKs really are super avoidable in hc right now. What is more likely to kill you is your new friend dropping you a tp that you errantly trust and take.
5 Likes
The #1 killer in pub CBaal runs. There are so many peeps sharing of how they were finally able to fully gear, yet a supa-hot tp by a “friend” was placed in a pack of amped souls/dolls/blood lords. If a player was not fully awake before taking this “safe” tp to throne, they will be. 
2 Likes
Hardcore low level toon: exists
Me: I’m about to end this man’s whole carreer.
Jk, I haven’t actually PKed in hardcore in years.
1 Like
No don’t make game super easy.
TPPK was fixed that was the only issue with PKing.
You forgot about the hack that blacks out the screen so you can’t see a thing.
Bots have no problem in black out.
This is a big fix needed.
PKing is the best thing Diablo II offered. TPPK was the best.
5 Likes
To a non PVP player, being pk’d in the learning process early on is enlightening.
Basically, if one is setup PVM and your Chaos-Baal run is hostiled you town quickly and leave game.
If it continues you make game private.
The troublemaker goes away.
i have wanted what you suggest here as option 3. for a very long time. option on game creation to allow or not allow pvp in your game.
4 Likes
Agreed.
Option 3 for the win. Non-consensual PvP is idiotic, and indefensible.
2 Likes
Can’t wait to go act1/2 and chase randoms with my paladin wearing bonesnap and charge spam haha
2 Likes
This would make me very happy.
1 Like
I private all my games because it’s incredibly dumb that some edgy illiterate 13 year old with a twinked LLPVP character enters your game and hostiles you and you have to leave the game because you don’t feel like dealing with their nonsense. For me, who only plays alone, it works fine but not everyone enjoys playing like that
And I am strongly convinced that either there are in fact 13 year olds playing this game, or people who never grew up from that mental age. Same type of people who drive lamborghinis in Forza Horizon and ram everyone in free roam for absolutely no reason other than annoy you and be edgy.
2 Likes
Like the chat gem, the hostility button is working as intended.
While this is a problem that I would love to see fixed, the proposed solutions are total garbage. Sounds like you just want a dueling lobby and no PKing at all. PKing (legitimately) is not as easy as people might think.
A better solution would be to attach an isHostile and isTown property condition to a character/skill that will negate the skill’s damage and/or the skill’s ability to target or damage another player. If a player is in town, they shouldn’t be able to damage players, plain and simple. How to prevent these conditions from being altered by a user’s client or third-party programs would be another story and that’s the underlying issue.
But NO, do not alter the PvP/PK environment fundamentally.