I popped back into Hellgate: London again today, but avoided the frustration of my main character’s dilemma by playing an alt instead. I took my hardcore elite Summoner from level 7 up to 13 in a fairly uneventful trip through the early zones.

I just have to be a lot more careful with him because of the hardcore flag (i.e., death is permanent). Entering a zone can be particularly dangerous, so I often found myself bouncing back and forth between zones, slowly wearing down the monsters at the entrance before they overwhelmed me.

I’ve been sticking with the Carnagor as my main pet, with a couple fire elementals assisting. With some points in its summon skill and some equipment that adds to minion armour, he makes a pretty good tank, drawing aggro away from me.