Tonight we have a very nice blend of Island Sweet Skunk and Blue Dream. I get them separately but I really like them blended together. Smooth and easy, you have to be a bit careful because it really does not hit you right away... It continues to build for a good twenty minutes after you stop, then evens out for a good while before you fire up another bowl. Also very nice because it does not make you tired.
OK... What is Hardcore? Hardcore is a one life game, you die, you are done and get to start over. You will die... You will die a lot and you will cry yourself to sleep because you had some awesome item on that character that will never be seen again. Accept these as a given, learn to let it go and you end up with the true reason these types of games are so freakin awesome. I understand, I've been through it... The first time you give it a try, you are cruising through with no worries and get about 3/4 to the Skeleton King and bang... Some random pack kills you... WTF... Wait... I was a hair from the potion key... Fuckin lag killed me.... FUCK!
Yeah... Thats the problem... Believe me, it hurts even worse to have a high level character die.
If you manage to get past this very unpleasant stage in learning to love doing this, in the true spirit of the genre being merciless, you find yourself worse off. You have learned the basics... Slow pacing with a scorched earth approach... After normal, you have to really add in a short 'rest period' (a few seconds) after each battle to recast any timed spells (never want to be caught without them active)... Frequent trips to town to put anything worth while in the stash (like regular, stash is for all Hardcore characters, so even after death you keep the stash.. As long as you have another character).. And lots more on how to stay alive and go far in the game. But... You will still come to places that can kill you in a second if you make a single mistake... or have bad luck... And it's all gone... Poof.
The problem is that not everyone can get past the 'stuff' they found being lost... Or they can't get past the 'work' they put into the character they lost... With the Real Money Auction House coming (I believe it will remain 'Gold' for Hardcore and only Soft-core getting RM) it makes it even harder... But if you can get past those... Well... Welcome to that area of gaming where people say... "What the fuck is wrong with you?" heh, but don't worry about that 
Onward... I select as my first character, a Monk. This will be my 'Anchor', alive for the sole purpose of keeping my stash going, I don't really play this character. Then, the one I really want to start with, a Witch Doctor. One of the things you do differently is that you take everything that drops and be sure to equip whatever is best and sell the rest. In addition, do not forget the scorched earth policy... Explore every last bit of every map, every dungeon and the whole dungeon, kill everything and search every search-able item (chest, body, whatever), take everything. I know, it seems like a lot of overkill, there is little that come close to challenging you and you are getting peanuts for all the stuff you do but... You are doing for the exp points as well as to potentially find something decent (for your level) to be better prepared for the boss fights. Check vendors for items as well, they are a good way to get decently outfitted as quick as you can. Stash anything you might find for your next character in case you die (I tend to only play one Hardcore character at a time).
The going is pretty easy and at the time I stopped to write this, I am level 7, using Poison Dart as primary and Grasp of the Dead as secondary... The only other thing I have is the Zombie Dogs. I'm just about to start looking for the alter thats in one of the crypts in the cemetery (I'll do all of them completely regardless of when I find it). I'm looking for items that give +to attack speed (that speeds up Poison Dart fire rate) or Dexterity (same) or intelligence (adds damage to Poison Dart). +to exp is great, as well as +to pick-up radius. I am extremely interested in getting items that give +life per hit but I forget how soon they start showing up... But I want em very much, as much as I can get, it will go awesome with a high rate of fire Poison Dart. Later, I will also want a shit load of +to vitality.
I've even found a nice Hand Crossbow for my next character, a Demon Hunter. I'll update more on the WD when it's made some more progress.
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