My Act 1 Grind From Start to Finish
Alright, just fired up Diablo 2 Resurrected fresh off my Amazon playthrough. Time to tackle Act 1 properly on Hell difficulty. My goal? Total completion, baby. Not a single quest left hanging. Grabbed my trusty Throwing Barbarian and landed outside the Rogue Monastery. Feels good to be back.
First up: Den of Evil. Always the starter quest. Ran straight down towards the Blood Moor. Easy peasy, just clearing trash mobs. Found the cave entrance tucked away near some trees. Went inside, button mashed my way through Fallen and Dark Hunters. Cleared the whole damn place out – last monster popped, got the quest completion notice. Tristram bound. Dropped by Akara, picked up my skill point reward. Felt like warming up the engine.
Next, Blood Raven. That pesky archer raising corpses. Made my way to the Burial Grounds. Kicked open crypts as I went – gotta check everywhere! Found her rotting away in the center. She started spawning Skeletons immediately. Pain in the neck. Focused her down with Double Throw while kiting the adds. Got overwhelmed once, died like an idiot. Second try? Chugged mana pots like crazy, kept the damage rolling. Boom! She dropped finally. Talked to Kashya, got my free Rogue hireling. Nice.
Then came the rescue Cain mission. The classic “Find Deckard Cain” quest. Jogged through the Cold Plains into Stony Field. That damn rain always makes it gloomy. Found the waypoint – crucial for later runs. Scoured the map for Tristram’s portal. Stumbled into the Dark Wood first (wrong turn!), slaughtered Treehead Woodfist. Found the portal tucked in a corner near the Cairn Stones. Charged into Tristram, saved the old dude from his cage. Griswold almost whacked me as a zombie! Got Cain back to town, identified all that junk I’d been hoarding. Instant relief.
Time to get serious. The Countess. Needed runes badly for crafting. Found the Black Marsh waypoint and hunted for the Tower entrance. Remembered her level layout! Went down, down, down… Level 5 is where she hid. Trashed the Champion packs guarding her. Burst into her room, peppered her with throwing axes before she could blink. Loot explosion! Score! Mostly low runes like Tir and Ral, but hey, it’s fuel. Filled my stash with them.
After that, Tools of the Trade. Charsi’s hammer quest. Ventured into the Barracks off the Outer Cloister. Searched every damn corner for the damned Malus. Cleared room after room of Fallen and Goatmen. Found the smithy room finally, killed Shenk the Overseer (he dropped junk), and grabbed the Horadric Malus off the floor. Zipped back to Charsi. Got my personalized rare Gloves. Sweet.
Last big hurdle: Andariel. The Act Boss lady. Prepped hard: maxed poison resist potions, stocked full rejuvenates. Cleared the Jail levels, found the Inner Cloister waypoint. Then, down into the Catacombs. Level 3 is a maze – got turned around twice! Finally found the entrance to Level 4. Healed up. Slammed open her door.
Straight up bum-rushed her. Spammed Battle Cry to lower her defense and damage, then unleashed Double Throw fury. Poison started ticking, hurt like hell. Chugged health pots non-stop. Saw my health dip low, panicked, used a Full Rejuv. Kept the axes flying. She went down after a frantic minute of kiting and throwing! Loot explosion! Scored a Nagelring! Perfect for Magic Find later.
Key Strategies That Saved Me:
- Waypoints First! Grabbed Cold Plains, Stony Field, Black Marsh, Outer Cloister, Inner Cloister IMMEDIATELY. Saved so much backtracking time.
- Clearing Den of Evil Fast: Lets you respec later if needed and unlocks Akara’s reward. No excuse not to do it first.
- Save Pots for Andariel: Hoarded antidotes and rejuvenates. Necessary! That poison aura is nasty.
- Magic Find Matters: Used my early Nagelring + any MF charms I found. Got better drops overall.
- Countess Runs Prep: Always did her after grabbing the Black Marsh WP. Runes are essential currency!
Act 1 wrapped up clean. Onward to Lut Gholein! Feels great ticking off every single quest like this.
