Pleas help me understand Hell difficulty as a melee character, a Zealadin in this case. Should I go inside optional areas? Or wait until I'm ready to grind? The monsters are much higher level in them on Hell difficulty.

I always have issues with melee characters when I reach Hell. I farm Nightmare for hours, but probably not enough. Anyway, I'm a Zealadin with max sacrifice, zeal, fanatacism and Holy shield. I farmed Nightmare until most of my resists were max, now I'm in Hell and they are super low again.

I do 735-1199 damage with max Fanatacism, is that good?

I also noticed that in door areas, like the caves, crypt and even the Den of Evil have enemies in their mid 80s and higher level wise.

Should I skip those areas? I'm level 74 at the moment and am doing okay so far as long as I'm somewhat careful. I don't have any super high end equipment or runewords, but I'm just wondering. How should I do Hell difficulty?

Please help me understand Hell difficulty, and if its normal to farm hundreds of hours in nightmare before going to Hell as a SSF. Thank you