If you aren't really worried about dying, or if you already have a good idea where you like to level up safely, then this isn't going to be much help for you. All of my runs are based on knowing exactly what types of enemies and exactly where they will be, rather than speed of leveling or quality of loot.

I have seen a lot of reports of people dying in hell before they reach 60, so I figured I'd share some the areas that worked for me. I wanted there to be as small of a chance of death as possible, and while it did take some time, I actually hit 60 in A1 before ever going to Wortham (the berserkers there can hit VERY hard: my friend died in 4-5 shots b/c he wasn't careful/geared enough with his lvl 53 barb).
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To Level 51:
The first thing to know is that a lot of new armor is available at level 51. If you feel like it isn't even safe to progress right from the start, either go level in NM or just keep running the first quest (zombies outside the gate, then in the inn, then back outside the gate). Obviously choose your build to optimize both killing and running around. As a barb, WotB and leap were pretty good. Once you hit 51, gear up in the AH. Gear isn't as common in the low 50's, so you might want to keep an eye on the AH for deals before you even reach hell. Getting all resist is nice, but usually priced high. For non-WZ-WDs, gear with good INT should give you some significant survivability since AR isn't too common yet. Don't worry about upgrading everything if you don't see any reasonable prices (especially rings/ammy).

To Level 54:
There aren't any really dangerous areas until after Haedrig's wife. If you don't think you can handle the risk of running into 2 packs at once, you can do runs of Haedrig's wife quest (move speed is important for these since you have to talk to cain then run to the cellar each time). This isn't very efficient, but extremely safe, and at least you get a few blues or yellow for each run. If you feel ok with just increasing your DPS, you can get a new weapon at 52 or 53 and progress, but if you really want to overgear, 54 will be another good point to look for armor upgrades. At 54 you should be walking all over any elites in the next areas.

To Level 57+:
My next leveling point was in the festering woods. Warrior's Rest runs are fast and easy to run back from bad affixes. Crypt of the Ancients will give more exp (especially if you can get a 70-90 kill streak going with all the summoned skeletons), but it takes longer. I did both of these to keep from getting bored. If I was in WR, I would keep doing runs there until I hit an exp shrine. I'd then travel to the CotA, doing quests/packs along the way. When you enter CotA, the checkpoint will reset, so you can then do runs there until you get another exp shrine, and go back to WR. Using WotB and earthquake with the 0 fury rune made all of these quick runs take under 30 seconds. I had fun putting on music and doing these runs 1-2 hours a night, so it didn't take too long to hit 60. If you can at least get to 57 or over, you can gear up to breeze through A1 with little worry.

Haven't died in HC yet, but then again I'm only level 43 or so since I've been taking my time. Thanks for the tips, will keep in mind for when I reach Hell.

@LSOLive As long as you stay cautious, Hell isn't too bad. Leveling/gearing as early as I did made it so I'd probably be safe even if I lagged out. Even against elites I could sit there for a while and let the enchantress kill them.

I think part of the issue is that some people don't slow down their pace. With the lack of item availability on the AH, it may not be as easy to gear up. If that's the case, you just need to slow down your progression to compensate.

honestly i wouldnt stay in a1 hell for HC, you can easily do at minimum a2 or just do leoric manor runs

I actually hit 60 in A1 before ever going to Wortham (the berserkers there can hit VERY hard: my friend died in 4-5 shots b/c he wasn't careful/geared enough with his lvl 53 barb)

Were those 4-5 hits the weak attacks or the strong slam attacks they had? If your friend took the slam attacks more than once then he wasn't playing safe enough...

@razer22 http://www.diabloprogress.com/

@boudoara I agree in general. I was thinking more along the lines of someone who loses their connection easily. If you lose control on an elite pack late in the act, a lvl 51-52 char is going to be at risk even with good gear (not counting level reduced stuff). One could argue that if you're that afraid of dying, you shouldn't play HC, but I figured I'd mention what I found to be the "safest" areas.

@razer22 Yeah, he admitted that he was playing way too lazy, had no escape skills available, and got some kind of crowd control. I only brought it up because they can hit a lot harder than anything up to that point (even if it's easy to avoid). Like any HC guide says, always have an escape plan...

Just Get some reduce Lv gear (up to 18!), if u are really cautions like me :)
always start with weapon 1st (a simple 300-500dps can do the job, unless u are really rich to pay for high DPS)

check out my lv 42 HC Wiz if u dun know what i meant ^^

Thanks Sabin.

These are great advices. I will put them to good use later when I manage to step my foot at Hell.

Any advices on how to fight Belial using WD and the appropriate skills? I am new to WD and I am asking this with HC Normal (MP10) in mind.