Alright guys, I finally did it. Hit level 99 with every single class in D2R. Took forever and I thought I’d lose my mind a few times, but it’s done. Figured I’d dump my brain here on how it actually went down, step by messy step.
Step One: The Grind Starts Slow
Look, everyone says “Baal runs!” like it’s magic. You can’t just jump into that. Started with my Sorceress because duh, Teleport. Got her leveled the usual way first:
- Whacked stuff in Normal Act 1 ’til level 10.
- Spammed Tristram runs like crazy. Found that cold spot near the portal, rained fireballs down.
- Got rushed through Normal once strong enough. No way was I doing full clears solo at that point.
Pushed straight to Nightmare, hit level 40ish doing Countess runs for runes. Spirit sword, Leaf staff, the basics. Teleport is king early. Saved so much time dodging mobs.
Step Two: The Real Meat – Terror Zones
Once Terror Zones unlocked (level 20+), that’s where things picked up. Forget just Baal. Game changer. Here’s the drill:
- Log in, see what zone is Terrorized. Only farm that zone. Period.
- Got lucky? Zone like Ancient Tunnels or Arachnid Lair? Jackpot. Easy mob density.
- Got unlucky? Places like Flayer Jungle? Ugh, hated it. Still forced myself. Exp is exp.
- Hammerdin cleared areas stupid fast. Blizzard Sorc too. Barb? Whirlwind felt slow until I got decent gear.
- Relied hard on Insight on my merc. No mana? Game over.
Switching between zones every hour kept it… less boring? Barely. Did this from like level 70 all the way up.
Step Three: Pushing Past 90 – The Slog
Hit level 90? Congrats, you’re halfway exp-wise to 99. Seriously, the exp curve is brutal. Here’s where things got real:
- Died at level 98? Almost cried. Lost hours of progress. Instantly logged out to cool off.
- Stacked as much +exp gear as I could find. Annihilus charm, Gheed’s Fortune for MF/gold, Hellfire Torch – absolutely mandatory.
- Merc became super squishy. Fed him pots constantly like a baby.
- Teleport charge staves became life-savers for non-Sorc classes. Found them, bought them, used them up.
Ran Baal runs only when friends were online and could clear waves fast. Solo Terror Zones still felt more reliable most days, honestly. Less downtime waiting.
Step Four: The Home Stretch & Closing Thoughts
Level 98 to 99 felt longer than 1 to 80. Here’s how I survived:
- Played ONLY one character at a time in that final push. Switching meant wasting playtime.
- Avoided stupid risks. See Souls? Noped out. Gloams? Hard pass. One lag spike = disaster.
- Finally hit 99 on my Necro last week. Did an Ancient Tunnels run. Saw the flash. Sat back, stunned. No fireworks or fanfare in-game. Just… done.
It’s work, plain and simple. No magic trick. Find the best Terror Zone you can clear fast without dying. Do it. Over. And over. Get lucky with safe zones. Die less than you gain. The faster you kill, the better. Proof is on my character screen now – all seven sitting pretty at 99. Took months. Would I do it again? Hell no. Hope this helps someone else!