| Purpose: The purpose of the Hall is to encourage you to have some fun with Diablo 2. I also want to encourage players to try something different. This does not necessarily mean that you should dream up the most handicapped "Variant" character you can imagine. Do that if you like, but that's not necessary or even desirable for inclusion in this listing. |
| Difficulty: The game has been played for long enough for the community of players to discover what are the optimal skill paths, best items, and most effective character builds. The discovery phase is long since over, for the most part. Those who read the various guides, news pages and advice posted around the net, or are immersed into the general atmosphere of the Realms, can follow the recipes for success, but all of that has already been done hundreds if not thousands of times over. By contrast, only a few players have forsaken the most optimal paths in favor of something different. That's what I want you to do for the Hall. Avoid the cliches, the cookie-cutter builds that rely on the optimal skills and best of everything, the characters that are so strong, they can easily solo in Hell Act 4 in eight player games. You don't need that much power in single player, you really don't. |
| Your Character: All you have to do to qualify for the Hall of Heroes is to make at least a few non-optimal selections for your character build. If you do that, the game can be fairly tough to survive through all three difficulties. The less power you choose to play with, the harder it gets. Some examples of characters with non-optimal choices include Amazons focused on the javelin tree or who avoid the Valkyrie skill, Paladins who rely on melee instead of Charge or Blessed Hammer, Barbarians who skip Whirlwind or minimize weapon masteries, One-Tree sorcies, and Necros who avoid Revives or Iron Maiden. One could instead go for nonoptimal gear, such as an Axe barbarian, a staff-using sorcie, a Bowazon with a gemmed bow, or a Necromancer with a scythe. Give your character some style of his or her own, with something distinctive that isn't necessarily the most effective, and you're good to go. The more such choices you make, the higher you could rise in the listing when achieving the same things that those of lesser restriction have achieved, but you don't have to tie up all your limbs and lock yourself in a tank of water like Houdini just to get in. Play something fun, survive, follow the rules listed below, and your character will be recognized. |
| The Rules: The Rules below are intended to standardize the game being played, so that characters and their achievements can be meaningfully measured and compared, not only against one another, but against the game itself. Please make sure you understand the rules if you intend to participate. |
| 1) Your hero must be a Hardcore character. |
| 2) Your hero must be an Open character, played exclusively in Single Player. Sorry, no mods and no Realms. Only standard Diablo 2, version 1.06 or the latest available version, your choice. |
| 3) You must complete Normal Difficulty, or farther, earning at least a Count/Countess title. |
| 4) Your hero must not exceed character level 60. For recognition of unending survival skills, seek a ranking on the Realm Hardcore ladders. Here at Ember's, honor accrues to those who undertake challenges, not avoid them for survival's sake. Ember values the accomplishments of players, not the power of items, skills, and characters. The lower your level when succeeding at a particular challenge, the more difficult the task, the more recognition to be earned. If your character should reach level 61, your quest ends at that point, and no further exploits will be recorded. |
| 5) No trades, no gifts. Play the standard single player game the way it's designed. Completion of some quests, and of many areas of the game, is optional and left to your judgement. There is honor available for full-clearing the game, but also for completing tasks at lower levels, and these can be mutually exclusive. Neither is required. Replaying areas as many times as you like is permitted, as is forcing a map change by switching difficulties or momentarily hosting a TCP game, then restarting. Likewise, there are no limitations placed on Saving and Exiting if you get into trouble, although there is higher honor accrued for not having to do so. |
| 6) The less powerful your character skills, items, and statistics, the more honor accrued for your achievements. However, completing Normal with a hogtied variant is not likely to compare with completing Hell with a mildly underpowered character. Normal Difficulty just isn't that dangerous. Also, do not feel a need to compete for rankings here. The Hall of Heroes is not intended to be a competition for bragging rights, but rather an opportunity for you to challenge yourself to whatever degree may entertain you, yet do so in a way that participates in a community of like-minded players who all share Ember's ideals of what constitutes a worthy endeavor in Diablo II. You needn't match Ember's quest to earn recognition. Choose your own quests, at your own pace, with character builds you enjoy, and above all, have some fun! |
| 7) Don't cheat! Just don't. I will be taking steps to weed out obvious lamers, but there's no way I can possibly regulate players determined to break the rules and get away with it. This Hall relies on your honesty and good word. If you deceive and swindle your way to a listing here, you will be breaking my trust, dishonoring Ember and her Quest, betraying all your fellow players, and most of all, cheating yourself of the pride you would feel in a legitimate accomplishment. Don't do that! You are worth far more than that as an individual. Respect yourself and this Hall. Better to legitimately earn a listing here even at the bottom, with a modest accomplishment, than to cheat your way to a false glory. Ember believes in you! Believe in yourself. Don't cheat. |
| 8) There are no prohibitions on skills or items, but I won't be honoring cookie-cutter ubercharacters. Use some common sense. Paladins combining Blessed Hammer with Concentration or Might, for example, will not be listed here, but either of those skills used alone is fine. WW Lance Barbs with full Spear Mastery need not apply, but WW or Lances in and of themselves won't disqualify you. Sorceresses using Static Field can expect their ranking on the list to measure in inverse proportion to their SF skill level: the more SF, the lower you'll find them. Multishot Amazons who turn up suspiciously good looking bows will probably be passed over. That sort of thing. If you opt for less than the strongest paths, adopting one or more restrictions or showing restraint on how much power you give the character, then you'll be assured of earning a place here if you survive Normal. If in doubt, email me your character development plan, in detail, and I'll let you know Yea or Nay as to whether it qualifies. |
| 9) Only one hero per player! You are allowed only one listing in the Hall of Heroes. If one of your characters is inducted, and later you play a different character, undertaking more difficult challenges, you may submit the new character and earn a higher position in the listing, but understand that your old hero will be removed. You are also allowed to update your listing if your character survives to undertake additional challenges. Slain characters remain eligible, so there is no risk to your hero's recognitions here in seeking additional challenge. If you have full-cleared all areas of Hell Difficulty at least once, there are no challenges remaining and your exploits will be complete. No additional honor will acrue for replaying already-completed battles. NOTE: there is a separate Hall for the Expansion Pack. Your listing there does not affect your listing for classic Diablo 2. |
| 10) Induction into the Hall of Heroes is a privilege, not a right, and will be granted or denied at my sole discretion. Understand that the order in which characters are listed is based solely on my subjective evaluation and is not open to debate. Do not place undue attention on the rankings, rather, enjoy the exploits of all the heroes listed here, for each represents a worthy achievement in the game of Diablo II. |
| 1) DO NOT send any screenshots until I have specifically requested them! Keep in mind that if you fail to follow directions, you will be ignored. |
| 2) When you have a character you believe is eligible for the Hall, write up a synopsis for me. Include your character's class, primary skills, a short description of primary items, any special rules or restrictions that you adhered to, and how far you've gone in the game. You needn't write perfectly nor cleanly, but be as clear and concise as you can. If I can't make any sense of your submission or you apparently didn't take any care with it, you might be ignored. |
| 3) While playing, it will be necessary for you to take screenshots. Some screenshots are required, others are optional. You press the PrintScrn key while playing to take a screenshot. DO NOT EDIT your shots! I will take care of that. NOTE FOR MAC PLAYERS: you will need to convert your screenshot files to .jpg format before sending them to me. Surf the web for image utilities if you don't have an editor already. |
| 4) Along with your synopsis, you should include a listing of all the screenshots you've taken, including a BRIEF description of what is depicted and what point in the game each shot was taken. |
| 5) I will evaluate your submission and inform you of my decision. If your character is accepted, I will provide you a list of which screenshots I want you to send me. You will then have to zip all the jpg files into one archive and attach the zipfile to an email, to send me. You MUST zip the shots, and label the zip file with your character's name and your own nickname so that I can sort out your shots from everyone else's. IMPORTANT: failure to provide all requested screenshots will result in the denial of your application for listing. In short, that means that you MUST HAVE the required screenshots even if I don't ask you for them and, further, any optional screenshots you claim to have must be delivered if I ask for them. So don't forget to take the required shots, and don't claim to have shots you can't produce; if that situation arises, there will be no appeal. |
| 5-A) You will want to send me your character report (containing what you want known of your exploits) along with the screenshots. IMPORTANT: please send your report in plain text format (Notepad or any ASCII editor will do). Write a detailed report if you like -- length is not a problem -- but do not rely on screenshots to tell your story. I can only host a few shots per hero. AT THE MINIMUM you need to list your skills, any important items, and report what parts of the game you cleared or skipped. Additional details are optional, at your discretion. |
If I pull up your report in Notepad and it looks like this: instead of this:  because of punctuation formatting, I will not accept it. |
| 6) Since you never know which screenshots I will ask for, that should make it (if only slightly) more difficult for any players to exagerate their claims, and will also let me pick and choose among potential screenshots to be included with your hero's exploits. |
| 7) To be credited with earning a title (Count, Duke, or King, or equivalent) you must have four distinct screenshots: One showing Diablo in middeath and your character on screen (or if you killed him offscreen, you can substitute showing the quest screen with Q3 swirling to gray while the timer is ticking down). Then I need three shots with your character screen on the left (showing stats, resistances, etc) and each of your skill trees on the right, all taken while the 80 second timer to game's end is ticking down (the more time left, the better). If you are unfamiliar with taking screenshots, a bit of practice to get the hang of it before crunch time arrives might be a good idea. I can't help you if your chance to take shots passes you by because you weren't adequately prepared, and this COULD disqualify you. Don't let that happen! |
| 8) Once you have passed Normal and moved on to Nightmare, you may want to take screenshots of any particularly difficult battles you encounter, notably Act End bosses, Quest bosses, or any nasty random bosses you decide to engage. This way you can establish partial progress through Nightmare or Hell even if your character should later be slain without completing the game. Feel free to take optional shots of anything else you find interesting, or at any point you wish to mark your progress, just in case. A variety of shots is good, including ones that show your character screen, inventory, interesting items, or what have you. Don't go overboard, but remember also that once the moment passes, the chance to record it passes with it. If possible, when taking a boss picture, point to him and get a shot of his special abilities and current health -- just don't get killed in the process! |
| 9) To be credited with a full clear, you will have to take a LOT of screenshots. Most won't see the light of day, but you never know which ones I'll ask for, and you will have to provide all the ones I request. MAKE SURE your automap is turned on when you take the shots, please. You don't have to do that in general, but you do for full-clear credit. Here's a complete list (write em down or print this out if you need a reminder): ACT ONE: Blood Raven, The Countess, Level Two of the Cave, UGP, Hole and Pit preferably while a boss is highlighted, and a shot showing all quests completed. ACT TWO: Radament, Ancient Kaa, Level Two of the Stony Tomb, Level Three of the Halls, the Ancient Tunnels, each of the seven tombs cleared (I may ask for all seven, you never know), and the Arcane Sanctuary from the waypoint showing the complete map. ACT THREE: both spider lairs, both gold chests in the Marsh, full map of level three of both jungle dungeons, all six temples, a complete map of sewers level one, a full map of Durance 3, and a picture showing all six quests completed. ACT FOUR: a shot of Izzy dead or nearly so, a full map of City of Damned, and a shot of the spirits flowing out of the Hell Forge after smashing the stone. I know that's a lot of shots, but take them anyway. I won't ask for them all. |
| 9-A) Full Clear means killing everything in all areas and fully exploring all maps. If you run into a particularly tough boss or tough random abilities on Super bosses like Fangskin, Sparkfist, and Hephasto, you are allowed to stop and try again in a new game. You may reroll the map if you like, but you must kill everything in each area at least once. There is one exception: opponents with unlimited healing ability (Teleport bosses, Council Members) can be parked if you are unable to kill them within twenty minutes of giving it your best effort -- and you will be credited with having cleared them anyway. Some chars with low offense are simply not capable of overcoming these unlimited regenerating bosses. However, all non-regenerating bosses must be slain, or else you must reclear that area in a new game session. Also, the order in which you do the clears is up to you. You may even backtrack to earlier acts, to clean up anything you missed. Full Clears are no big deal to Softcore chars, who see little benefit in dying in some unimportant hole in the ground, or who may be so strong, there's little challenge there for them anyway. Hardcore is a different matter, as there are some tough (and unnecessary) risks in the optional areas, or with tackling bosses that could otherwise be safely avoided, so that is why special credit accrues for Full Clears. |
| 10) I need a screenshot of your character from the main selection screen, where you choose which character to play, to make the pictures you see on the Hall's main page. Position your character in the bottom slot if you can, make sure the cursor and selection box are elsewhere, and take a screenshot. This one I will always ask for, so that your hero can be protrayed in the listing. |
| 11) If you already have a hardcore character you've been playing in single player that would otherwise be eligible but can no longer produce required screenshots for normal, make your case for why I should make an exception for your noble hero and I might do that, so long as you can provide screenshots as required from there onward. |
| 12) Please use some common sense when requesting updates to your listing. I won't have time to make continuous updates. At most, I can do one or two such updates per character, ever. So take your screenshots and hold on to them, but only request an update if you complete a whole difficulty, or reach the final goal you set for the character, or if the characer is killed in action. Thank you. |
| 13) I may decide to ask you for additional information about your hero and his or her adventures. If I am unsure of the legitimacy of your claims, for example, I might be able to determine if you are genuinely expert enough to pull them off, or instead obviously clueless and wasting my time, by having you explain your tactics, or detail to me the events that took place. At the same time, I might be asking for more information about your character to improve the quality of the listing itself, to provide more detail to readers, so please don't take offense to any requests I make. I'm just one guy doing the best he can. Thanks. :) |
| 14) Please preface all Email subject lines with HoH: to let me know that your particular correspondance applies to the Hall of Heroes (and allow me to sort all these messages into one location to save myself time). Failure to comply may result in your emails getting lost in the shuffle. Don't let that happen! |
| 15) I'm not earning money for this site. This is as much for my amusement as yours, so have some patience if I am slow getting back to you. I have to fit this endeavor into the rest of my life, you know. Thanks! And... good luck with your Hero! |
| - Sirian |
| The Hall of Heroes | Sirian's Diablo II Page | Email Sirian |