I've been very busy this week, so not a lot of gaming or steeming. However, above is my response to 
I tried to capture as dramatic a shot as possible.
I fell victim to the deadly saws of the Ascendancy Trials.
I didn't expect them to be so fatal...I'd always considered them the easiest traps of the Trials. It was over in a blink of an eye despite how careful I was with everything else. After hearing about supersoju's experience with her first death falling to the spike traps, I was super prepared for the first one. I thought I was going to do this one comfortably...This is what happens when you are over-confident in Hardcore. It was a mistake to treat them so lightly in hindsight.
:*-(
So this is where my first Hardcore character finished on.
She got to Level 22 and I was getting her Freezing pulse to a decent level too. I definitely noticed improvements in my play over my first Softcore run. I didn't get as lost and backtracked as much on the map. I used my flasks much more efficiently, especially the Quicksilver ones for speed . I paid more attention to what I was hitting, and unlike the previous run, I did more of the fighting since I had decent spell power rather than just experimenting with a bit of everything.
One thing I've not done in my other run was switch between weapons during a fight. I thought I'd use Freezing Pulse on one wand and have Fireball on a backup wand, just in case I hit on a monster that wasn't as easily affected by cold spells. I was surprised it made a huge difference on a boss in a corrupted area I was fighting. When I first fired heaps of freezing pulses, it did not much at all. Again, my zombies being so low level were all dead. So running low on life and flasks, I switched to fire in a moment of desperation. About 4-5 shots and it was dead! Other players are always reminding me to be mindful of the different vulnerability of bosses, but I've never paid much attention. I blame Softcore for me being so lazy, I could always restart. Hardcore is different. You need to figure it out or suffer the consequences.
The internet only got a little laggy at one point, but other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the hardcore experience. I'm much more attentive as a player.
Anyway, DoNotDieLinny was moved to standard league.
I am a little disappointed, but I will reflect on it and start again. She's being deleted as I have no interest in playing in the Standard League. It feels like the dumping ground of Path of Exile while everyone waits on the next league. I remain excited for that in early March, which means back to hardcore training...
Bye DoNotDieLinny!!
I made sure to click Solo Self Found for Hardcore Betrayal. So I'm starting a new character instance with nothing in her stash.
I accept that there will be bugs and internet instability, but hardcore is still more fun for the challenge.
So hello DoNotDieLinny again!! (Seems by deleting we free up the character name to be re-used.)
And déjà vu!!
Here is DoNotDieLinny back at square one with her humble Driftwood Wand....
Attempt#2 Hardcore Betrayal coming soon!