Died at level 43, just over 30 hours of play time. Got stuck in a tight corridor with a Desecrator / Arcane Enchanted champion. Ran off to get to open space, but got caught by the beams as I did. Looks like my dream of a level 60 Hardcore character is now a long way off
But that doesn't make AH prices any less silly, alas. It would be nice if you could turn to the gem/blacksmiths as an alternative but that's a no go.
Yeah, I turned to bargain hunting on the AH quite often to get decent gear and gems. The problem is that they've balanced things for the end game (which is fair enough). Crafting things then is rather cheap as you've got so much gold. But early/mid game, things are ridiculously expensive.
