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DIABLO II Necromancer FAQ ver. 1.0
by: Fiefo! (fiefo@hotmail.com)
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
A. Legal Stuff and Where to Find This FAQ
B. Revision History
C. What is This FAQ For?
D. Necromancy 101
1. Curses
2. Poison and Bone Spells
3. Summoning Spells
E. Training Your Necromancer
F. Necromancer Walkthru
1. Act I
2. Act II
3. Act III
4. Act IV
G. Boss Guide
1. Act I Bosses
2. Act II Bosses
3. Act III Bosses
4. Act IV Bosses
H. Tips and Hints
I. Help Me!
J. Credits
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A. Legal Stuff:
All the information here is for public viewing and should not be
used for profit and the expressed permission of the author. Please do
not use the information in here for any personal gain. This FAQ, being
published in the Internet is automatically is protected by international
copyright laws.
In other words, this is mine! Don't remove my name and say, "This
is my FAQ and I'm taking all of the credit for it!" Got it?
This FAQ can only be found in these places for now...
1) www.gamefaqs.com (Lots of faqs here. Duh! The first update
will ALWAYS be here!)
2) DLH.net (European site! Pretty cool design here!)
3) neoseeker.com (More like a host page, but it does got a few
good FAQs as well!)
4) gameadvice.com (Actually has TWO sites within it!)
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B. Revision History
1.0 October 1, 2000
First draft. More to come?
1.1 October 3, 2000
Boss Guide Update. Thanks to Werebear and DragonSlayer2500.
More websites where this FAQ can be found!
1.2 October 8, 2000
MAJOR REFORMAT of borders and spaces. Thanks to Thomas Schuering.
UPDATE on almost everything! Thanks to Ja Mes Kor and Jason
Lane (and the "Lurkers")for the big amount of info.
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C. What is This FAQ For?
First things first, although this FAQ gives hints on how to play
the game as a Necro, you can use a lot of the information, like the
walkthru and the boss guide. But, it shows on how to use a Necromancer
efficiently, because... HE'S TOUGH TO USE!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy my work!
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D. Necromancy 101
This is a general runthrough on the Skill Tree of the Necromancer.
As you know, there are some skills that are useful and some, well,
plain suck. This goes for all of the Classes. But more so for the
Necromancer! A lot of his skills are not useful, but he sure has some
powerful stuff. This is just to make sure you don't get a lemon-like
skill (which he's got a lot of!).
1. CURSES
The weakest part of a Necromancer's Skill Tree. A lot of the stuff
here is plain useless... but there are a few gems here... not much, but
the few that are actually good you'll probably use until the end of the
game.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Curses: You've underestimated the power of this entire tree. You're
not the only one. Various people have played curse-specialized
Necromancers. The curses are so powerful that it does in fact
work - all the way through the higher difficulty levels. This
tree is fully as powerful as the other two, if employed
properly. ]
-Jason Lane
The great thing about curses is that they don't use up a lot of
Mana points.
Skill Name : Amplify Damage
Required : None
Skill Effect : Double damage to a group of enemies in a set radius.
Pros : Makes killing bad guys much, much easier!
Cons : Radius range and time of effect is limited.
Comments : One of the better skills a Necromancer has to him.
You'll probably use this in almost all instances when
fighting.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Amplify Damage: Actually reduces the 'resist physical' attribute.
This is largely irrelevant, but it does mean that
melee attacks against the Insects will do 11 times as
much damage as normal (they have 90% physical
resistance), and similar effects will be seen against
anything with the 'resist physical' attribute -
Wraiths would be an example. Not as powerful as you
think it is, in comparison to other curses. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Dim Vision
Required : Level SIX (6)
Skill Effect : Cursed monster's light radius is greatly reduced.
Affects a certain area or group of monsters.
Pros : Opponents can't see far ahead, making it easier to do
sneak attacks or just sneak past opponents.
Cons : Once you get close to the bad guys, it becomes pretty
useless.
Comments : Not really that good. It's pretty useful against
monsters with projectile attacks, tho.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Dim Vision: This can completely freeze many monsters in their tracks -
melee attackers as well as ranged. The major trick is
that if it's already targeting something, it will continue
to chase and target it.
If it has to pick another action - ranged attackers do
this for each attack - it'll realize it's blind and stop.
I've noted earlier in this email that BONE WALL and FIRE
GOLEM cause their victims to pick a new action. :) Of
course, if it's attacked melee, it'll just
counterattack... but this can still be used to effectively
immobilize many opponents in many circumstances. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Weaken
Required : Level SIX (6)
Skill Effect : Casts a curse in a set radius that makes that group of
monsters strike with less strength, thereby reducing the
damage inflicted.
Pros : Hey, damage done to you is reduced! Makes you like
longer, right?
Cons : A whole group of monsters, even while WEAKENed, can
still take you out!
Damage reduced isn't that much, unless you really put
Skill Points here.
Comments : Better off putting the Skill Point into AMPLIFY DAMAGE.
That way, you can kill the monsters before they can even
get a chance to cause damage!
Skill Name : Iron Maiden
Required : Amplify Damage, Level TWELVE (12)
Skill Effect : Casts on a group of monsters, this will cause them to
receive some damage that the cursed ones dish out.
Pros : Opponents can actually kill themselves!
Cons : You can still get killed!
Doesn't seem to work on Elemental attacks.
Comments : Good for fighting against those "Extra Strong" monsters.
Cast it on them and then let your minions take the
damage. Or just cast BONE ARMOR on yourself and let
yourself get attacked and recast BONE ARMOR again and
again until the monster dies!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Iron Maiden: In and of itself, is vastly powerful in combination with
any minions - more so than the minions attacking in and of
themselves. This is the single most commonly cast
Necromancer curse on higher difficulties. It's worth it.]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Terror
Required : Weaken, Level TWELVE (12)
Skill Effect : Causes monsters to flee!
Pros : Good when surrounded!
Cons : You'll have to chase your opponent!
Comments : Not that useful. Just try not to get surrounded and you
won't need this skill at all. Besides, CORPSE EXPLOSION
works better in clearing out a room if you are
surrounded!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Terror: A wonderful curse. As I said in the BONE WALL entry, this can
be used to end fights instantly. But wait, there's more!
TERROR sets a bit of information on the monster, called its
'flee flag'. This means that REGARDLESS of whether TERROR is
actually on it, the monster will continue to flee. Yes, this
means that you can effectively stack another curse on TERROR.
Why would you want to? Wait. :) ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Confuse
Required : Dim Vision, Level EIGHTEEN (18)
Skill Effect : Cursed monsters attacks anyone in range, friend or foe!
Pros : Can make the opponent fight one of his partners.
Cons : They still can attack you!
You have to have learned DIM VISION!
Comments : Kinda fun to use... but is it worth getting this skill?
Not really.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Confuse: A beautiful, beautiful curse. Its basic effect is to cause
CONFUSED monsters to attack any non-CONFUSED monster they see.
The first note regarding this is that this only becomes
effective when they decide what to do - ie, a FIRE GOLEM's
aura affects them. So, I just said that TERROR was so useful.
Why?
Because you can stack CONFUSE the fleeing monsters.. and they
will run off at warp speed to find non-CONFUSED monsters to
kill!
Another huge application of this skill comes from the fact
that Uniques, Champions, and Bosses are basically immune to
most curses - including this one. So if you cast a CONFUSE
over the Unique and his army of Minions, all of the Minions
will become CONFUSED... and the Unique won't. CONFUSE makes
CONFUSED monsters attack non-CONFUSED monsters. Poor, poor
Unique. :) ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Life Tap
Required : Iron Maiden, Level EIGHTEEN (18)
Skill Effect : When any of your party hits a monster inflicted with
this, they will get back 50% on what they inflict.
Pros : You can get your life back without using a potion!
Cons : You have to hit to get life back!
Comments : Use this on one-on-one battles only! You won't get
enough life back if you try to fight back against a
horde of baddies to survive.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Life Tap: You should never be meleeing anything as a Necromancer. If
you play the game single-player, this curse is basically
useless. If you ever play the game multiplayer, and use LIFE
TAP with the right people around, they will follow you around
like lost puppies. (Much as Barbarians do regarding my
Paladin's high-level Concentration aura. Something about
doing more than four times their usual damage, I think.)
Why?
Because LIFE TAP basically makes a melee Paladin or a
Barbarian completely invincible. They do so much damage that
having half of it return to them means it looks like they
drank a Rejuvenation potion anytime they hit. LIFE TAP will
make you lots and lots of friends. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Attract
Required : Confuse, Level TWENTY-FOUR (24)
Skill Effect : Cursed monsters attack each other!
Pros : Hey! Any damage not done to you is great!
Cons : You have to have learned DIM VISION!
Comments : Watch the monsters fight each other! They kill each
other and you and your minions can finish off the
leftovers. Problem is, you've gotta learn DIM
VISION, and that sort of sucks!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Attract: Like CONFUSE, worship this curse. The applications should be
fairly common-sense - ATTRACT and CONFUSE basically make
living monsters into your minions. Why bother with corpses?
Note that like CONFUSE and DIM VISION, the effects of ATTRACT
depend on having the monsters "decide what to do next". If
they're already targeting something, you have to shake them
off of it to make ATTRACT work. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Decrepify
Required : Weaken, Level TWENTY-FOUR (24)
Skill Effect : Cursed Monsters move sloooooooooowly.
Pros : Makes opponents use slowly so's you can chase them down!
Also does AMPLIFY DAMAGE and WEAKEN at the same time!
Cons : Nothing really... but it's such a pretty stupid skill
for a Level 24 curse.
Comments : You and your minions will have an easier time smashing
up baddies and avoiding the blows of the baddies!
Still... at this point, you won't really need this
skill!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Decrepify: An evil, evil curse. Its main application is in player-vs-
player curse. This curse massively slows its victim, has
an effect similar to a weaker AMPLIFY DAMAGE, AND WEAKENs
things more than WEAKEN does. A high-level DECREPIFY and a
high-level BONE SPIRIT are a very lethal combination in
[player-vs-player] indeed. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Lower Resist
Required : Decrepify, Life Tap, Level THIRTY (30)
Skill Effect : Affected monster takes extra damage from elemental
attacks.
Pros : When used in conjunction with your poison attacks, FIRE
GOLEM and SKELETAL MAGES, you can pump up the damage
pretty fierce.
Cons : AMPLIFY DAMAGE is better, and you can get that at
Level 1, right from the start!
Comments : For one thing, AMPLIFY DAMAGE is much more powerful when
you've got a FIRE GOLEM and a good weapon.
Another thing, it may increase the elemental damage
caused, but you've got to have SKELETAL MAGES that live
long lives to make this useful.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Lower Resist: Not all that useful. It's noteworthy that if you
associate with a character whose primary attack forms do
elemental damage and cast this Curse, they will worship
you, follow you around, try to become your friend, etc..
Sorceresses would be the major example. I've had a
Necromancer cast this spell for my Sorceress. Things
die. Immediately. So a single, lonely point might be
worth it. ]
-Jason Lane
2. POISON AND BONE SPELLS
A much better set of spells compared to Curses! Has some pretty
powerful damaging spells and quite a few weak ones as well.
Skill Name : Teeth
Required : None
Skill Effect : Throws a spread of magical bone projectiles.
Pros : Your first magical projectile.
Has spread damage.
TEETH can pass thru opponents, harming the one behind
the creature!
The next spell after this is POWERFUL!
Cons : Extremely SUCKY damage.
Comments : Lot of pros, but pretty weak! Teeth becomes useless very
quickly!
Put one point into it, so you can learn the spell after
this, which it pretty powerful!
Skill Name : Bone Armor
Required : None
Skill Effect : A revolving shield of bones protect the Necromancer from
melee and non-magical projectile attacks.
Pros : If this is active, you take no damage from melee and
non-projectile attacks from baddies.
Cons : Doesn't protect against elemental and magical attacks.
It can get destroyed.
Comments : Great spell! Just watch the BONE ARMOR closely. If it
gets damage, recast it again! Upgrade this a lot early
in the game!
Skill Name : Poison Dagger
Required : Level SIX (6)
Skill Effect : You can cause poison damage when using a dagger.
Also amplifies attack rating when used.
Pros : Poison damage with this spell is pretty good.
You pump up the attack rating with this move, almost
getting a sure hit.
Cons : You need a dagger!
Comments : When the hell are you gonna use a dagger?
Skill Name : Corpse Explosion
Required : Teeth, Level SIX (6)
Skill Effect : Cast on a dead monster. The surrounding monsters will
take 60-100% of the corpse's hit points!
Pros : Does a heck of a lot of damage!
Cons : You need a dead body to use this.
Comments : Bound to be one of your favorite spells! Kill a monster.
Lead baddies to the dead monster and let loose with
this! If the group of baddies don't die, they should be
easy pickings! If some of them die, use this again...
Use in conjunction with AMPLIFY DAMAGE for lotsa mayhem!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Corpse Explosion: The first spell I've found you overestimating the
effectiveness of. While this is a wonderful
offensive spell, as of version 1.03 the damage does
not scale with monster hp.
Say you use this against a monster that has 1000 hp.
In a single-player game, this will do 600-1000 damage
and, of course, be wonderful. In an eight-player
game (common in Realm play), however, it will STILL
do 600-1000 damage.. while the monster will now have
huge numbers of additional hp. REVIVED and other
methods become more effective methods of doing damage
at ths point. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Bone Wall
Required : Bone Shield, Level TWELVE (12)
Skill Effect : Creates a wall of bone to block your opponent's path.
Pros : You can either use this to escape or prevent monsters
from escaping!
Cons : Pretty useless in almost all situations!
Hard to aim properly!
The SKELETONS that you re-animate will actually try to
destroy it!
Comments : Don't waste your time here. By this time, running should
be easy with AMPLIFY DAMAGE-CORPSE EXPLOSION combo.
Besides, you've got minions to sacrifice when you want
to escape!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Bone Prison : These two spells are widely agreed, by those who use
Bone Wall them, to be the most widely underestimated Necromancers
spells in the game. BONE WALL is up there with TERROR,
in general, as one of the best spells for ending a fight
that's not going your way IMMEDIATELY. Very, very unfair
kills are possible against the Smith and Hephasto with
BONE WALL. One of these spells' major advantages, and
one that's very hard to find out about, is the fact that
their HP scale with difficulty level. In Hell
difficulty, BONE WALL has a base of 400+ hp.
Furthermore, EACH SECTION has that many hp - meaning that
attacks on unrelated sections of the wall don't
effectively combine. The destruction of one section, of
course, results in the destruction of the whole wall.
It's worth noting here, because it'll become relevant
when I get to Curses, that BONE WALL causes monsters to
stop and think about what to do next. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Poison Explosion
Required : Poison Dagger, Corpse Explosion, Level TWELVE (18)
Skill Effect : Poison explodes from a corpse.
Pros : Works well against monsters with good defense.
Cons : Not as powerful as CORPSE EXPLOSION.
You have to get POISON DAGGER... which is very useless!
Comments : Stick with CORPSE EXPLOSION. This is only useful against
opponents who have high defense ratings... but you've
got AMPLIFY DAMAGE so there's no need to worry against
high defense monsters, correct?
Skill Name : Bone Spear
Required : Corpse Explosion, Level EIGHTEEN (18)
Skill Effect : Throw a magical bone projectile at opponents.
Pros : Very powerful, very fast.
The projectile will pierce thru monsters, hitting
baddies who are behind them.
Good for creating long distance CORPSE EXPLOSIONS.
Cons : Lots of mana needed.
Comments : I love this one! Useful in tight places when you can
just line up the baddies and let loose with this
multiple times to kill all of them quickly!
Use against multiple baddies.
Skill Name : Bone Prison
Required : Bone Wall, Level TWENTY-FOUR (24)
Skill Effect : Surrounds monsters with Bone Walls.
Pros : Makes monsters stop running so you can pelt them with
projectiles.
Cons : Useless in most cases.
The SKELETONS that you re-animate will actually try to
destroy it!
Comments : Like BONE WALL, don't waste your time here... but then
again, you wouldn't be able to learn this in the first
place unless you wasted your time with BONE WALL, right?
[FROM: Jason Lane
Bone Prison : These two spells are widely agreed, by those who use
Bone Wall them, to be the most widely underestimated Necromancers
spells in the game. BONE WALL is up there with TERROR,
in general, as one of the best spells for ending a fight
that's not going your way IMMEDIATELY. Very, very unfair
kills are possible against the Smith and Hephasto with
BONE WALL. One of these spells' major advantages, and
one that's very hard to find out about, is the fact that
their HP scale with difficulty level. In Hell
difficulty, BONE WALL has a base of 400+ hp.
Furthermore, EACH SECTION has that many hp - meaning that
attacks on unrelated sections of the wall don't
effectively combine. The destruction of one section, of
course, results in the destruction of the whole wall.
It's worth noting here, because it'll become relevant
when I get to Curses, that BONE WALL causes monsters to
stop and think about what to do next. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Poison Nova
Required : Poison Explosion, Level THIRTY (30)
Skill Effect : Necromancer produces foul-smelling Body Odor (hehe).
Pros : All monsters surrounding the Necro takes a big, powerful
whiff of poisonous, and deadly body odor, or something
like that.
You don't need a corpse or a whimpy dagger!
Cons : You need to learn POISON DAGGER!
Comments : In the first place, you shouldn't get surrounded! Also,
it takes time to kill with poison, so you can still die
while waiting for the monsters to die!
Skill Name : Bone Spirit
Required : Bone Spear, Level THIRTY (30)
Skill Effect : Aim at a baddie and cast this. The projectile will hunt
down the target!
Pros : Follows the baddie wherever it may go!
Extremly Powerful!
Cons : Dissipate with time.
Doesn't hit multiple monsters like BONE SPEAR and TEETH.
You have to aim it to make sure it hits the desired
baddie.
Comments : Extremly useful, especially against fast moving monster
who are hard to aim with the BONE SPEAR.
Use this against single opponents.
[FROM: Jason Lane
All of the Poison spells: Poison, for numerous reasons, is horribly
buggy in Diablo 2. It fails to work in a
whole multitude of nasty ways. No one who's
not deliberately playing a difficult
character should consider these spells at
all. ]
-Jason Lane
3. SUMMONING SPELLS
Although you only use these spells from time to time (re-casting
your Golem, trying to get a better Skeletal Mage, etc.), these are
probably your most useful spells in the game for the Necromancer!
Skill Name : Raise Skeleton
Required : None
Skill Effect : Raises a Skeleton Warrion from a dead monster to fight
for you.
Pros : Have an extra ally when you need it!
Cons : Pretty dumb (can get in your way in tight corridors)
Very low HP.
Pretty much useless by the end of Act I.
Comments : Putting Skill points into this will increase the number
of SKELETON WARRIORS you can create at a time. By the
end of Act I, these guys pretty much die with a few
hits, so I suggest you don't put too much reliance on
these guys.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Raise Skeleton: It would be a good idea to make the entry for Raise
Skeleton read more like: "This skill is completely
useless after Act I Normal, and in the higher
difficulties becomes a complete joke. Do not even
think about putting a second point into this skill.
Ever." ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Skeleton Mastery
Required : Raise Skeleton
Skill Effect : Raises the damage and health of all types of SKELETONS
and REVIVED creatures.
Pros : Makes your SKELETONS stronger and tougher to kill!
Being a PASSIVE Skill, this requires no Mana.
Cons : The boost in life and damage really isn't sufficient to
put a lot of points into this skill.
Comments : You may want to put a few points here, but in the long
run, it would be better to put the points into GOLEM
skills.
Skill Name : Clay Golem
Required : Level SIX (6)
Skill Effect : Creates a creature from the ground to fight for you.
Pros : Stronger and tougher that your Skeleton creatures in
every way.
Cons : You can have only one Golem, of any type, at a time.
Pretty dumb (can get in your way in tight corridors)
Comments : Putting points here will give the CLAY GOLEM more life
and strength, NOT the ability to make more GOLEMS.
This is better than the SKELETON WARRIORS in every way.
But they do become useless by the middle of Act II.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Clay Golem: I'm told that various odd strategies involving them are
possible, mainly revolving around Iron Maiden and the fact
that they cost very, very little to cast. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Golem Mastery
Required : Clay Golem, Level SIX (6)
Skill Effect : Increases the life and speed of your Golems.
Pros : Your Golems will live longer and move faster.
Being a PASSIVE Skill, this required no Mana.
Cons : Doesn't increase the attacking power of your GOLEMS.
Comments : Put some points into it. You're gonna use GOLEMS a lot,
even in the end part of the game.
Skill Name : Raise Skeletal Mage
Required : Raise Skeleton, Level TWELVE (12)
Skill Effect : Summons from a dead baddie a SKELETON that can throw
elemetal projectiles.
Pros : Projectile throwing SKELETONS makes it easy to find
baddies.
They do elemental damage, which is always useful.
Cons : Pretty dumb (can get in your way in tight corridors)
They die easily in higher stages of the game.
Comments : Putting points here increases the amount of SKELETAL
MAGES you can have at a time, So, if you want, put a lot
of points here to have a powerful elemental army!
Skill Name : Blood Golem
Required : Clay Golem, Level EIGHTEEN (18)
Skill Effect : Summons a Golem that is linked to your health.
Pros : Very tough to kill!
When the BLOOD GOLEM hits a monster, you get back a
small percentage of life.
Cons : When the BLOOD GOLEM is hit, you lose a small percentage
of life.
You can have only one Golem, of any type, at a time.
Pretty dumb (can get in your way in tight corridors)
Comments : Good for getting life back. Just sit back and watch it
give you life by letting it kill baddies for you.
Unfortunately, if your BLOOD GOLEM gets overwhelmed,
you lose some life as well.
Putting Skill Points here will increase the damage
and the percentage of life/damage returned to you.
[FROM: Ja Mes Kor
Blood Golem: BLOOD GOLEM is your blood of survival till ACT 4. ]
-Ja Mes Kor
[FROM: Jason Lane
Blood Golem: You underestimate the current (v1.03) power of BLOOD GOLEM
and IRON MAIDEN. While BLOOD GOLEM is nothing special in
and of itself, damage inflicted by IRON MAIDEN is counted
as damage inflicted by the GOLEM. Meaning that the GOLEM
will heal itself, and you, thus making the two of you
practically immortal. Note that this is widely agreed to
be a bug, and will probably get nerfed (weakened).
Eventually.
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Summon Resist
Required : Golem Mastery, Level TWENTY-FOUR (24)
Skill Effect : All your minions gets resistances to elemental attacks.
Pros : Your minions don't die that easily from elemental magic.
Being a PASSIVE Skill, this required no Mana.
Cons : Your minions still will die from elemental attacks!
This skill DOES NOT increase YOUR resistance to
elemental attacks.
Comments : Not really that useful in my opinion since it doesn't
help you defend against the elements. Better off putting
that point in the MASTERY skills if you want them to get
tougher.
Skill Name : Iron Golem
Required : Blood Golem, Level TWENTY-FOUR (24)
Skill Effect : Creates a Golem from any weapon or armor made of metal.
Pros : The IRON GOLEM takes on the properties of the object
it's created from!
At level 2, the IRON GOLEM has a THORNS Aura, which
returns damage that it takes from close melee attacks.
Cons : You NEED a metal weapon for this to work!
You can have only one Golem, of any type, at a time.
Pretty dumb (can get in your way in tight corridors)
Comments : Buy a magical weapon made of metal then cast this spell
the instant you leave town. Now you don't have to worry
about finding a metal weapon with good magical
properties. Can be expensive, tho.
With the THORNS Aura, baddies can actually kill
themselves... and with the AMPLIFY DAMAGE curse working
in your favor...
Skill Name : Fire Golem
Required : Iron Golem, Level THIRTY (30)
Skill Effect : Creates a Fire Golem... 'nuff said.
Pros : FIRE GOLEMS actually ABSORB Fire elemental damage to
it's life!
Has a Fire Aura that hits for small damage when a baddie
is visible.
Creating a new or Unsummoning a FIRE GOLEM, or if it
dies, willl cause it to explode for extremely powerful
fire damage.
Cons : Very consuming on the Mana!
You can have only one Golem, of any type, at a time.
Pretty dumb (can get in your way in tight corridors)
Comments : You'll love this guy! This is the reason why I leveled
up until Level 30!
Send this guy into the fray. If he gets surrounded and
you've got Mana to spare, blow him up! Big time damage,
setting up for the CORPSE EXPLOSION chain attack for the
leftovers!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Fire Golem: One note. This GOLEM's fire aura, while nearly useless in
higher difficulties in terms of damage dealt, is
significant in that it's counted as an attack against
anything it targets - causing the monster to stop and
think about what to do next (more about this later, under
Curses), and under most circumstances causing them to then
turn and attack the GOLEM. This makes this GOLEM VERY
good at attracting monsters. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Revive
Required : Raise Skeletal Mage, Level THIRTY (30)
Skill Effect : Revived a dead monster to fight for you!
Pros : Works on all dead baddies!
They get a life boost!
Cons : Time limit sucks.
Comments : If it weren't for the time limit, this would be the
Necro's best spell.
Raise a baddie that you had a tough time killing so that
the rest of the remaining monsters can feel the
hardships that you endured!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Revive: You underestimate the power of Revived. Revive is unbelievably
useful - any conventional Necromancer in NightMare+ difficulty
will have a bunch floating around. Ten at a time isn't at all
unusual. You cannot revive Bosses, Uniques, or Champions,
unfortunately. Mephisto will not get up and follow you around.
Pity. :) ]
-Jason Lane
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E. Training Your Necromancer
Okay, let me get this out first. The Necromancer is very, VERY hard
to make effective, seeing that his Skill Tree has a lot of useless
stuff in it. But, the useful spells that he can learn are, without a
doubt, the most powerful spells in the World of Sanctuary.
Below are the strengths and weaknesses of a Necromancer. They are
not really 100% correct for your character because you'll be
distributing your stat and skill points the way you think. I'm just
basing this on my experience in the game.
WEAKNESSES:
1) He doesn't go to the gym that often.
The Necromancer's starting strength is pretty low. He is on par
with the Sorceress strength-wise. Not exactly a young Hercules, is he?
Which brings us to his defense. Seeing that he cannot carry heavy
stuff, heavy armor will be a problem!
This is easily remedied by pumping up his strength stats early on
in the game, rather than his other abilities. It's easier to get useful
items that increase you Attack and Defense Ratings, the amount of Mana
and Health you have, rather that equipment that boosts your strength ratings.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Your stat advice fails to take in one major factor. In higher
difficulty levels, defense is basically completely meaningless, unless
you're a Barbarian with Shout and Iron Skin so as to achieve 3000+
defense. The 1k defense my paladin has is just a nice addition to
shield blocking. The basic reason for this is that monster Attack
Rating is a multiple of what it should actually be, and the bug causing
it isn't likely to be fixed for game balance reasons. In Hell
difficulty, it's 16 times what it should be. Defense is useless,
especially for spellcasters. Go for modifiers instead. Even for melee
classes, non-defense equipment is now desirable - check out what
Iceblink, a unique splint mail with low defense, is trading for these
days.
This means that Strength, in your strategy, is... kinda useless.
Don't ask me what to go for instead. I'm still thinking about it. :) ]
-Jason Lane
2) For a Spell-Caster, he doesn't have a lot of Mana.
His Mana is really limited, unlike the Sorceress, who has a
Passive skill that will increase the rate of her Mana recovery.
Thankfully, his Summoning spells are pretty low, and the Curses
practically use no Mana. The only problem is his Poison and Bone
spells,
which are pretty Mana-expensive.
It's a good thing that Mana potions give him a lot of Mana when
compared to other classes like the Barbarian.
3) Health Potions are not too effective on him.
Health Potions, when compared to, say, a Barbarian class warrior,
doesn't give him much health. Pumping up on his energy is out of the
question, because you should be concentrating on putting those Stat
Points to Strength.
To offset this (sorta), the Necromancer has the BLOOD GOLEM, which
gives life back to you with each successful attack it does, and the
LIFE TAP Curse. Still, your better off bringing a whole herd of Health
and Rejuvenation potions instead.
STRENGTHS:
1) Necromancers got good eyesight!
The initial dexterity is really high for a Necromancer! This means
that he has good initial Attack and Defense Ratings. Sadly, this won't
be much use for a Necromancer. The reason is...
2) You're almost never gonna fight alone!
With the ability to create minions, you don't have to buy friends
like the other classes. You can MAKE friends! They will do most of the
fighting for you, while you just concentrate on the baddies that cause
the most trouble for you (monsters that heal and ressurect other monsters,
enchanted creatures, etc.), or you can just hang back and watch the
action!
Still, you shouldn't over-rely on your minions, especially against
Uniques and Bosses. They are generally throw pillows to them. You
definitely need to help out in these cases.
3) Dead bodies is the ammunition of your Necromancer.
CORPSE EXPLOSION is super damaging... and it can kill a whole mess
of creautes in a hurry... creating more corpses for your CORPSE
EXPLOSION! Also, you need corpses to create your Undead army!
4) The few Curses that are useful are REALLY useful!
AMPLIFY DAMAGE makes baddies easy pickings for your minions and
CORPSE EXPLOSION. IRON MAIDEN is great against bosses because they
actually whack the crap out of him or herself! They smash up your
minions? Just make some more! They kill them again? Make more! They'll
eventually kill themselves! Sneaky, huh?
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F. Necromancer Walkthru:
Although this is for Necromancers, other classes can get ideas for
their own battles.
A SPECIAL NOTE! This Section has some spoilers on the storyline.
So, read with caution.
A note before I start with the walkthru. You will eventually find
gemstones while defeating the monsters and such and you will find Gem
Shrines, which will give you a gemstone if you don't have one or
upgrade a gemstone in your inventory.
I suggest the instant you find a Gem Shrine, try to make sure that
you upgrade the Diamond, the Skull and Emerald Gemstones to Perfect if
you can. You'll need them when you are in the final Act.
Another note: These are notes for casual players of Diablo II.
That means, no heavy levelling up. Just enough leveling up. No extra
levels (like the Moo Moo Farm, Nightmare or Hell levels). Just for the
ones who are having a devil of a time with the game.
--------
1. Act I
--------
Town/City: Rouge Encampment
People : Akara - Heals you for free when you talk to her.
Sells specific class weapons (wands for example),
potions and scrolls.
Kasha - Lets you hire Amazon archer warriors.
Charsi - Repairs your equipment.
Sells weapons and armor.
Gheed - Sells weapons and armor.
Sells unidentified equipment (Gamble option).
Cain - Identifies items for free (only after Quest III)
Warriv - Brings you to Lut Gholein (only after Quest VI).
QUEST I: Den of Evil
Available when : after talking to Akara.
Goal of Quest : Kill all monsters in the Den of Evil.
Reward given : Free Skill Point.
Recommended Level : 1 - 6
After talking to Warriv (the first person you see), he directs you
to talk to the leader of the camp, Akara. Go speak to her (she is
located in the east part of the encampment). She tells you that there
is a cave that is filled with the minions of evil. If you are truely
their friend, you will help them. So, off to the Blood Moor, which is
just outside the camp.
I suggest you train a bit so that you can get at least one more
SKELETON WARRIOR or a CLAY GOLEM in the Blood Moor. Oh, and get AMPLIFY
DAMAGE while you're at it. If you can, get TEETH now. It's probably the
only time it will be useful in th game.
Anyway, eventually, you'll come across a cave (the Den of Evil) in
the Blood Moor. Enter and the quest box will change and say that you
must kill all the baddies in here. Well, at least it's not one-on-100.
This is pretty easy. Let your minions do most of the work for you
and assist them if they start to get overwhelmed or you encounter
Fallen Shamans which ressurect dead Fallens. You don't get experience
from killing raised Fallens again so it's better to kill them off
quickly. None of the mosters should give you a terrible time.
After cleaning you the entire cave of monsters, light will shine
in, proclaiming that the cave is now pure from evil. Go back to Akara
to get your reward or walk around a bit outside to get more experience.
When you return back to the Rouge Encampment, talk to Akara and
you will get a free Skill point. Learn anything you like, but remember
the recommendations I gave you in Necromancy 101. I recommend getting
BONE ARMOR if you haven't yet or CORPSE EXPLOSION if you are at
Level 6 by now.
Quest II: Sisters Burial Grounds
Available when : talk to Kasha after Quest I.
Goal of Quest : Kill Blood Raven.
Reward given : Free Amazon Warrior.
Recommended Level : 3 - 8
Now, talk to Kasha. She tells you that one of her best warriors,
Blood Raven has been corrupted by the evil and is now fighting against
them. She asks for your help.
Go past the Blood Moor and into the Cold Plains. You'll know that
you are near the Cold Plains because you'll encounter Flaivie, the
Rouge guarding the entrance to the Blood Moor from the Cold Plains.
This is where it gets tougher because you're not exactly fighting
the undead anymore. You're fighting humans that have been converted to
the side of evil! They can be tough, even if you have a lot of minions
by your side. My advice is to find the Waypoint in the area here as
soon as possible and retreat back to the Rouge Encampment via Waypoint
if you get in trouble.
Also, there is a cave in this area. While it doesn't really have
anything to do with your quest, this would be a good place to get some
extra experience points if you want to level up some more.
From the Cold Plains, there will be two paths that you can take.
One will lead to the Burial Grounds and the other will lead to the
Stony Field. Since Blood Raven is at the Burial Grounds, head there if
you want to fight her immediately, or go the the Stony Field if you
want to level up a bit before you fight her. It's up to you.
This is a small area and the place is just overflowing with the
undead. Run around the outer boundary of the area, killing up monsters.
This is just in case you have to make a hasty retreat later if you get
overwhelmed in the middle with Blood Raven and her army of Undead
Zombies. Retreat to town if you need to get health up. Don't use the
potions in your belt just yet. Save them for Blood Raven.
For my recommendations on how to beat Blood Raven, look at
Section G, Boss Guide.
After beating her, and getting the stuff she drops, explore the
area a bit and find the Crypt and Mausoleum. They don't pose much of a
challenge and they contain Golden Treasure Boxes, which are just full
of valuable treaure and filled with cash.
Return to the Rouge Encampment and receive your reward from Kasha,
a free Rouge.
Quest III: The Search for Cain
Available when : talk to Akara after finishing Quest II.
Goal of Quest : Rescue Deckard Cain in Tristram.
Reward given : Cain is rescued, and will identify your magical
items for free!
Random Ring.
Recommended Level : 6 - 10
This is one of the hardest quest because the monsters are pretty
tough, so I advise you to level up like mad before undertaking this
quest, especially the ending part of the quest (when you go to the town
of Tristram).
Akara realises that you and the Sisterhood needs a good advisor.
And that person is Deckard Cain. But he has been imprisioned in the
town of Tristram. You must first get the Scroll of Inifuss which is
found on the Tree of Inifuss in the Dark Wood. So, off you go once
again...
Go to the Stony Field. If you search around here, you can find a
Waypoint, a cave (the Underground Passage you need to go to the Dark
Wood), the Carin Stones (which will be needed later in your present
quest), and a Moldy Tome. Reading the Tome will activate The Forgotten
Tower Quest now.
Enter the Underground Passage. There are two levels to this
dungeon. Although you only need to stay at Level 1, Level 2 is really,
really small, but jam-packed with monsters and goodies to take, so
explore that area as well.
Passing through the Underground Passage, it would be helpful if
you've got CORPSE EXPLOSION by now, seeing that there are a huge amount
of monsters here! BONE ARMOR also helps greatly if you get surrounded
before you can make a corpse for the CORPSE EXPLOSION.
After reaching the other side of the Underground Passage, you
emerge at the Dark Wood. Search for the Tree of Inifuss (I still don't
understand why a tree has a scroll. Oh, well). After you search it and
get the Scroll of Inifuss, look for the Waypoint and go back to Akara
for advice (namely, how to use the damn scroll in the first place). Or,
stay awhile and fight baddies before returning. The monsters here are
kinda strong but they do give good experience.
Back at the Rouge Encampment, Akara reads the Scroll and gives it
back to you. She tells you to find the Carin Stones found in the Stony
Field (remember them?) and touch them in the order she marked in the
Scroll of Inifuss to create a Portal to the Town of Tristram. So, use
the Waypoint to the Stony Field.
At the Stony Field, find you way back to the Carin Stones and
right-click on the Scroll. A pattern will show the order you need to
touch the Stones to activate the Portal. Do so and a red Portal with
accompanying flashes of light will appear. Now, get ready to face a
whole lot of monsters and uniques in Tristram...
If you played Diablo 1, you may find that the town of Tristram
sure has changed a lot. The monsters here are sure tough! Your minions
may die a lot so be ready with Mana potions or a quick escape back to
the Rouge Encampment via Town Portal. You'll probably meet Griswald
(remember him?) and a Unique off the bat the instant you walk a few
steps. They are tough so you will really need to help out your minions
against them, using melee attacks, casting AMPLIFY DAMAGE and CORPSE
EXPLOSION often just to thin things out. Having a SKELETAL MAGE
at this point with a Cold attack really helps out tremendously since
they freeze the target for a limited time.
After you defeat them, reorganize and create a few minions again.
There are still some Uniques to fight, althought they aren't as tough
as Griswald. Walk around the edge of town first to find Wirt's body
(remember him? He's the kid with the super expensive stuff in Diablo
1). Loot his corpse and get a fountain of gold coins and... his leg?
(actually, his leg has a purpose but as of now, it's not needed so you
don't have to get it. You can get it at the end of the game if you feel
like playing an extra stage.)
Go to the middle of the town. Here you'll find a whole lot of gold
and Deckard Cain hanging in a cage. Free him and he'll thank you but
he's not greatful enough to allow you to go with him by the Town Portal
he uses to get to the Rouge Encampment :).
With that over, return to the Rouge Encampment. But, save the game
first before talking to Akara. Copy the save file to a separate folder.
Load the game again then talk to Akara. She'll give you a ring. If you
think that the ring is just crap. Copy the save file from your separate
folder back to the save directory in Diablo and load that game. Repeat
until you get a good ring... or if it feels like too much work, never
mind. Just talk to Akara.
Finally, talk to Deckard Cain, he says he's greatful for saving
him and as a reward, he'll follow you wherever you go and identify the
magical items you get along your way! Yahoo! No need to waste money on
Identify Scrolls ever again!
Quest IV: The Forgotten Tower
Available when : read the Moldy Tome in the Stony Field
Goal of Quest : Kill the Countess found in the Forgotten Tower.
Reward given : nothing really. But you do get a whole lot of
cash for your effort!
Recommended Level : 8 - 13
Remember the Tome you read back at the Stony Field? Well, it tells
you about the Countess and the riches that she had hidden. So, off you
go to find if she's still wealthy although she's been corrupted by
evil.
Off you go past the Dark Wood and into the Black Marsh. Here
you'll find a cave which leads to a Hole. You'll want to go here for
the experience and the treasure that it has. The monsters in the Hole
are not that tough, but in the second level of this dungeon, there's a
whole horde of several hordes (in other word: much more than a mess of
monsters to fight), and a few Unique monsters so lots of magical
equipment and experience to get, but also becomes easy to get killed,
too.
Also in the Dark Wood is the passage to The Forgotten Tower. It's
easily identified 'coz the entrance looks like a trapdoor. The first
level doesn't have any monsters so no problem there...
Along the way, to the depths of the Celler (I thought it was a
Tower? Never mind.), you will probably have your first battles with the
Ghost-like creatures. They drain Mana as well as hurt you, so it would
be wise to back-off and let your minions doing most of the work, while
you lay back and CORPSE EXPLOSION the ones that die to help out.
Hopefully, by this time, you've got a good SKELETAL WARRIOR and MAGE
troop to go along with your sidekick CLAY GOLEM. That way, the SKELETAL
MAGES can attack while the Ghosts approach and the rest of your minions
close in for the kill, attracting their attention from you.
Eventually, you'll reach the bottom of the Cellar and find lots
and lots (and I do mean LOTS) of gold just lying around! And with all
that gold, you should conclude that the Countess should be close by.
Beef up your Minions to full then face her and her court.
Refer to the Boss Section to find my recommended method of beating
the Countess.
After the battle, (I'll tell you ahead of time. She's a cakewalk)
return to town so that you can store your piles of gold in your stash
immediately. You wouldn't want to die with all that gold, now would you?
Quest V: Tools of the Trade
Available when : talking to Charsi after activating Quest IV.
Goal of Quest : Return the Horadric Malus to Charsi.
Reward given : Charsi will imbue one piece of equipment with
magical abilities.
Recommened Level : 10 - 16
Now, talk to Charsi. She says that she lost her Horadic Malus in
the Barracks. So now, she wants to get it back because, with it, she
will imbue one (Why only one? How about all?) piece of your ordinary
equipment with magic abilities (basically, she'll take that item and make
it into a Rare item. Pretty good, huh?) to help you on your quest.
This quest will allow you to level up pretty fast, seeing that all
the monsters you're gonna fight are tough and plenty of them to go
around. Also, it's a long way to the next Waypoint, so I suggest
finally getting a Tome of Town Portal so you can keep a lot of those
Scrolls of Town Portal easily in your limited inventory.
Anyway, use the Waypoint back to the Black Marsh and find the
Tamoe Highland. Here, even the weak Quill Rat versions (the Razor
Spine) can really rack up the damage because they not only fire at a
rapid pace, they also fire in a spread fashion, making it hard to
dodge... and they usually come in groups of three or more!
You'll probably face the Returned Mage, which are Evil's version
of your SKELETAL MAGE. Since, you should know by now, they attack with
elemental projectiles, it would be wise to take these guys out quickly
if you're really weak at your resistances to the elements.
Now, your next destination will most probably be at the entire
upper right of the place, which is the Monestary Gates. This area is
very small, so you should breeze thru this place and quickly enter the
Outer Cloister.
The Outer Cloister is where you'll find the next Waypoint, and,
boy, are you gonna need it! The baddies here are overwhelming, easily
killing your SKELETAL WARRIORS with a few strikes, and your SKELETAL
MAGES will probably your main attack force, keeping the monsters at
bay. Hopefully, the MAGES you've summoned attack with Ice spells,
slowing your opponents down so you and your CLAY GOLEM can rush in and
break them into little pieces before they can attack.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of Razor Spines here, too. So, your
SKELETAL MAGES will get wiped out pretty quickly also, but at least not
as quickly as your SKELETON WARRIORS. Once again, AMPLIFY DAMAGE and
CORPSE EXPLOSION work their magic...
Next, you should eventually enter the Barracks where the Horadic
Malus is contained. Hopefully, a Well will be easily found. You may
find yourself running back to the well more often than not with all the
baddies here. Be careful! One of the doors you open will open up to the
Smith Boss, who guards the Horadic Malus with his life!
Refer to the Boss section with my way of killing the Smith.
After the Smith is defeated and you've got the Malus, go back to
the Rouge Encampment and return it to Charsi. She says you can now give
her a piece of ordinary equipment for her to enchant it.
DON'T USE THE IMBUE YET! (Note that I even used a separate
paragraph to tell you not to Imbue any of your equipment yet.) Save it
until Act IV, when the equipment you'll get are already powerful by
themselves when compared to the magic equipment you can get now! Trust
me! You can come back here anyway via Waypoint easily, even all the way
in Act IV!
By the way, DON'T USE THE IMBUE NOW!
Quest VI: Sisters to the Slaughter
Available when : talking to Cain after Quest V.
Goal of Quest : Kill Andariel in the Catacombs.
Reward given : passage to Lut Gholein (Act II). Also, you get
to see a new movie!
Recommended Level : 14 - 18
Cain tells you that the evil here is probably cause by Andariel,
the one who is responsible for banishing Diablo, Mephisto and Baal into
the realm of the living in the first place. Killing her will probably
stop the evil from propagating in the Rouge Monestary. So, off you
go...
After the Barracks, the next area will be the Jail. Now, the Jail
has three levels to it and all of them are large and brimming with
evil. It would be a good idea to have a full accompanyment of your own
minions, especially the Skeletal Mages. This is because of the bars.
You cannot run thru the bars but projectile attacks, like the ones that
your SKELETAL MAGES use. Thankfully, there's a Waypoint here.
After the hellish trip thru the Jail, you'll finally find yourself
in the Inner Cloister. There will be a lot of those Razor Spines again
hurling their quills at you, but since this in an open area, they
should be easily dealt with when compared to the Jail levels. You will
also find a Waypoint, which is good. After walking in the Jail for a
long time, it's good to see progress (and now you can go back easily if
you haven't sold or identified your magical items since your descent
into the Jail).
After clearing out the Inner Cloister (you have been cleaning out
the areas for the experience, right?), enter the Cathedral. This area
isn't so tough if you've gotten used to killing the Shamans early on
when you encounter them. If you've reached Level 18 at this point, it
would be good to have learned BONE SPEAR now because now you have an
effective long range weapon against the Wraiths who suck up your Mana.
With the Cathedral cleared, enter the last area of the entire act,
the Catacombs Being the last area, you can bet that this area will be
chock-ful of evil's minions. And you'd win that bet hands down! Not
only that, you and your minions will be facing a lot of Uniques, too!
That's okay, tho, because the Waypoint will be at the 2nd level of the
Catacombs for you to return to sell your unnecessary magical equipment
you get from them and to heal after those battles!
Level 4 is where Andariel is located so don't say I didn't warn
you. She will be tough, no matter how prepared you are (unless you've
managed to really get super-unheard of levels). She should be behind
the big double doors, so clear out the minions on your side. Check your
equipment and open the doors and face her.
To see my suggestions on how to fight Andariel, check out the Boss
Section.
After the battle (hopefully she's the one dead), a red portal will
open close to her body. You may want to get the stuff she drops and
clear out the rooms for any extra baddies you may have missed before
using the red portal back to town.
With Andariel dead, the Rouges thank you for cleansing their
Monestary of the evil and now Warriv can pass to the desert city of Lut
Gholein. Talk to all the Rouges and bid them goodbye. Tell Warriv
you're ready to leave and off you go to Act II!
---------
2. Act II
---------
Town/City: Lut Gholein
People : Jerhyn - Leader of the City. Not really a useful NPC. He'll
give you a quest.
Cain - Identifies items for free.
Warriv - Brings you back to the Rouge Encampment.
Kaelan - Guards the palace. He really has nothing to say but
guard the palace.
Elzix - Has the Gamble feature that Gheed had, but with
better equipment.
Griez - Has warriors that you can hire.
Drognan - sells you the specific class equipment like wands
and staves.
Also the one selling attacking potions and scrolls.
Atma - Gives you a quest. After that, she's useless.
Geglash - Totally useless.
Lysander - Sells you various potions.
Fara - The weaponsmith. She'll repair your equipment when
damaged.
She's also the healer!
Meshif - Takes you to Kurast, the location of Act III after
you finish off the quests of Act II.
QUEST I: Radament's Lair
Available when : After talking to Atma
Goal of Quest : Kill Randament found in the Sewers of Lut
Gholein
Reward given : all vendors will give you a discount.
Recommended Level : 16 - 20
Jerhyn will greet you first in the city. He tells that he is the
leader of Lut Gholein but evil has been creeping in slowly in the lands
that he controls. In fact, something has already befallen one of the
townspeople and directs you to Atma.
When you talk to Atma, she tells you that her husband and child
were killed by monsters that climbed up from the sewers. Although the
sewers are closed up, she wants revenge. She implores you to kill the
monster that killed her husband and son in cold blood. No problem,
right?
There are two ways into the Sewers. One is close to Griez, the
other one is next to the docks. Either way is fine. Most of the
monsters (if not all of them) are undead. One of them (the Dried
Corpse) releases a cloud of poison smoke after you re-kill them. In
other words, don't get close to them after you kill them. In fact, let
your minions kill them and CORPSE EXPLOSION on them.
This place is pretty easy with a full accompanyment of undead
evils to face. But, this place is a cakewalk. The Waypoint is on the
second level. Going a level below that and you'll find Randament, the
monster who killed the husband and son of Atma (I'm assuming). He's the
Boss of the area.
Look at the Boss Strategy on advice to beat Randament.
After killing him (again?), the Quest is over! Go back to town
and talk with Atma. She'll tell you that she has talked to the vendors
and they have agreed to give you discounts on the wares they show you.
QUEST II: The Horadic Staff
Available when : you show the Horadic Scroll (found in the
Sewers) to Deckard Cain.
Goal of Quest : Find the Horadric Cube, Horadric Shaft and Viper
Amulet. Combine the Horadric Shaft and Viper
Amulet with the use of the Horadric Cube.
Reward given : The Horadic Cube and Horadic Shaft (also the
Viper Amulet)
Recommended Level : 18 - 22
This is a super massive quest. In fact, it encompasses another
Quest! So, when you finish this quest, you also finish another one! Two
for the price of one! Cool! Also, the reward, the Horadic Cube, is one
of the most useful items in the game! I'll just list the things you
have to do that doesn't belong with the other quests.
With the Horadic Scroll in your inventory, talk to Deckard Cain.
He will explain that you need to find the Horadic Staff which was
broken up into two parts. You'll need to repair the Staff with the
Horadic Cube. The Horadic Staff is the key to enter the prison of
Baal, one of the Three Prime Evils.
First thing to do, exit the Town and enter the Rocky Waste. You'll
find the Stony Tome here. There is a Gold Chest in the Stony Tome and a
whole lot of monsters to battle, but, they upside is you can get a
whole lot of experience here... but they are tough if you are at a low
level. Even a Level 18 Necromancer can have a hard time!
Afterwards, from the Rocky Waste, find the passage to the Dry
Hills. Here, you'll find a Waypoint and two paths to different areas.
Also, you'll see the entrance to the Halls of the Undead. This will
lead to the Horadric Cube, the first item of your quest.
In the Halls of the Undead, there are a lot of monsters, most of
them undead. There is also a creature (the Hollow One) that will
ressurect your killed undead monsters, so as much as possible, take him
out first or all your hard earned killing with be for nothing. There is
a Waypoint here on the second level, and it's a good thing, too! You'll
probably lose a lot of health fighting those monsters.
Finally, a the bottom of the Halls of the Undead, you can find a
Gold Chest. It contains the Horadric Cube which you need. It'll
probably be surrounded by monsters. A lot of them! It would be wise to
lead them out or BONE SPEAR them from a distance and use CORPSE
EXPLOSION to take them out en masse! Take the Horadric Cube to Cain and
he'll congratulate you and explain how it works. You can also use the
Horadric Cube to combine the same type of gems that you've gotten and
combine three of them to upgrade them. You can also use the Horadric
Cube to hold items!
Next, by the Dry Hills is the entrance to the Far Oasis. There is
a Waypoint here and the entrance to the Maggot Lair. You'll face a lot
of Death Beetles here, which can be a pain because of their Lightning
counterattack, so let your minions do the work in taking them out.
You'll also have your first encounter with the Swarms (they're called
Itchies here) and they can drain your Stamina with their attacks. More
of a hassle rather than a problem, they can be taken out with relative
ease.
Anyway, enter the Maggot Lair. Hopefully, you've got BONE SPEAR
because this is the most useful areas to use this spell! The hallways
are so narrow that the monsters will have no choice but to line up!
You'll face the Rock Worm and Sand Maggots. These monsters have the
ability to lay eggs that hatch out their young version. But, with the
BONE SPEAR and the small hallways, you can take them out with ease.
In the third level of the Maggot Lair, you'll find Coldworm the
Burrower, surrounded by a ton of Sand Maggots! And where there are Sand
Maggots, you'll find their Young! This could, and will get ugly pretty
quickly.
Read the Boss Guide to find out how easily Coldward the Burrower
is defeated!
After the battle, you'll find the Gold Chest which contains the
Horadric Shaft. Take it and make your way back to Lut Gholein (or use a
Town Portal, but it's not necessary if you've cleared out all levels of
the Maggot Lair). Show the Horadric Shaft to Cain and he will tell you
that you now need the Viper Amulet and the combine that item with the
Horadric Staff with the Horadric Cube to finally get the Horadric
Staff, which you will need to open The Tomb of Tal Rasha, the reason
why you're here in the first place.
This will be accomplished in a later quest, specifically, the
Tainted Sun quest.
QUEST III: The Tainted Sun
Available when : The sun goes dark. This happens when you enter
the Lost City area.
Goal of Quest : Find the cause of the Solar Eclipe over Lut
Gholein and fix it.
Reward given : Viper Amulet (Top part of the Horadric Staff)
Recommended Level : 18 - 22
Find your way to the Lost City. When you enter the area, all of
the sudden, it will become night. You may want to find the Waypoint
and kill a few monsters to gain experience since you're here anyway.
Once you go back to town, talk to Drognan. He'll explain that the
darkness is caused by something blocking the sun (Duh!). He wants you
to find the source of the problem, which is probably close to the Lost
City. So, off you go!
Back at the Lost City, you'll have to find the path to the Valley
of the Snakes. But, take a side trip to the trap door in the area that
leads to the Ancient Tunnels. It's only one level and the monsters are
pretty easy if you have a full compliment of minions with you. There's
a Gold Chest here, so you know there's a lot of goodies to be had in
the Ancient Tunnels.
Anyway, when enter the Valley of the Snakes, there's only one
place to go. That place is the Claw Viper Temple. That's where you'll
find the Viper Amulet and what's blocking the sunlight. You'll fight
the Claw Viper, who can charge at you that can cause Cold damage, and a
Salamander who can do the same. Use the AMPLIFY DAMAGE and CORPSE
EXPLOSION combo. Also, BONE SPEAR is great here if you happen to face a
lot of them at once. It won't happen too much, but it's good to help
your minions with this once in a while.
On the second level, you'll face a swarm of Salamanders and a
Unique. The Unique here is Extra Fast, so it would be in your best
interest to help out your minions in taking out the monsters in the
area quickly. Either take out the Unique first or the normal Salamander
creatures (which I recommend so you have ammo for your CORPSE
EXPLOSION).
In the center of the second level of the Claw Viper Temple, you'll
find the altar that contains the Viper Amulet. Apparently, the snake
beings managed to use the Amulet to block out the sun (Why?). So, once
you get the Viper Amulet from the Altar, the sun will shine in Lut
Gholein again.
Back at Lut Gholein, Cain will tell you that the Viper Amulet is
actually the top part of the Horadric Staff. Place the Horadric Shaft
with the Viper Amulet inside the Horadric Cube and Transmute the two
item to create the Horadric Staff, the key into the Tomb of Tal Rasha.
QUEST IV: Arcane Sanctuary
Available when : Talking to Drognan after completing Quest III.
Goal of Quest : Find the Portal to the Arcane Sanctuary
underneath the Palace.
Reward given : Entrance to the Arcane Sanctuary and a path to
the Canyon of the Magi
Recommended Level : 19 - 24
After restoring the Horadric Staff, talk to Drognan. He will tell
you that the entrance to the Tomb of Tal Rasha should be around the
area. But, it was lost. There is a person who witnessed the
imprisonment of Baal and Mephisto. He was the Summoner Horazon, who can
control the forces and wills of different creatures. Drognan tells you
to talk to Jerhym, who has requested to see you, and to tell you more
about this.
Go to the palace and talk to Jerhym. He tells you that the palace
has been overrun by foul demons, which is why he hired Greiz's warrior
mercenaries to guard the city. The palace guards are too busy
protecting the palace from the demons. He also tells you that the
bowels of the Palace must be where the entrance to the Arcane Sanctuary
of The Summoner must be. The Arcane Sanctuary will also lead you to the
Canyon of the Magi, where the Tomb of Tal Rasha is located.
In the palace, you and your minions will face a lot of long-range
projectile slinging undead creatures, like the Horror Archers and
Horror Mages. They are plain annoying since the walls are grates which
they can shoot thru while you are busy finding a door to get to them.
If you are too lazy to do so, let your SKELETAL MAGES take them out
from a distance with you casting BONE SPEAR and CORPSE EXPLOSION to
quicken the process. The other baddies are no problem. Even the hulking
Blunderbore, who will Stun you and your minions if his attack connects,
are pretty easy to kill by now.
Eventually, you'll find a portal that leads into the Arcane
Sanctuary. Fortunately, the Waypoint is very close to the portal exit
in the Arcane Sanctuary. So, return back to Lut Gholein for healing.
This is gonna be a tough area!
The Arcane Sanctuary has four paths to take. Three of them will
lead to goodies and the fourth will have you battling the Summoner
(hehe). The monsters here are tough! Suitable defense against Fire is
great here.
Specters have good attack ratings, can fly so they don't have to
follow the paths and bridges that you are limited to, and a whole pack
of them can occupy the same place! Not only that, they suck your Mana!
It's best to let your minions face them and you BONE SPEARing them from
a distance so your Magic won't get sucked away.
Hell Clan members are easy to deal with, even without your
minions! So, no problem here. Just take them out in melee combat or let
your minions do them in. No sense in wasting Mana on them. In fact,
it's fun to let your SKELETAL MAGES kill them when you're in a
different bridge than the Hell Clans are!
Now, the toughest monsters in my opinion the the Arcane Sanctuary
would have to be the Ghoul Lords. They can cast Fire Wall with deadly
accuracy, throw Fire Balls with tremendous accuracy and, when they hit
you with their melee attacks, they'll absorb some of your Health to
theirs! As much as possible, get close to them quickly and kill them as
fast as you can! They can be a tremendous bother in large packs of
monsters because they can assault you with their Fire spells and the
other monsters block your avenues of escape.
The next quest, the Summoner, will finish off the Arcane Sanctuary
quest as well.
QUEST V : The Summoner
Available when : you get close to the location of the Summoner in
the Arcane Sanctuary
Goal of Quest : Kill the Summoner of the Arcane Sanctuary.
Reward given : Learning the true symbol of Tal Rasha
Recommended Level : 19 - 24
When you get to a certain place, you'll see a new quest pop up.
This means you are close to the Summoner and completing Quest IV as
well. You'll also have to face a lot of monsters getting to him. Lead
them away from the Summoner and take them out one by one.
To find out how wussy the Summoner is, read my Boss Guide.
After you take out the Summoner, or while in battle with the
Summoner (Yes! He IS that easy to kill!), read the Horazon's Journal. A
portal will open, gaining you access to the Canyon of the Magi.
QUEST VI: The Seven Tombs
Available when : talk to Jerhym after Quest I
Goal of Quest : Kill Duriel.
Reward given : passage to Kurast Docks (Act III). Also, you
get to see a new movie!
Recommeneded Level : 19 - 24
You can get this quest very early if you talk to Jerhym after
killing Randament. But, this is the only time you can do something
about it. Anyway, when you talk to Jerhym after Quest I, he will tell
you about the Seven Tombs and one of them is the Tomb of Tal Rasha.
Going thru the portal from the Arcane Sanctuary, you will end up
in the Canyon of the Magi. Activate the Waypoint here since it's so
close. Head back to town and heal up and repair equipment and stuff.
Return via Waypoint and search the surrounding area. You will find
seven Tombs of Tal Rasha. Six of them are fake, and only one of them is
the one you are looking for. In front of each tomb is a symbol. Look at
your Quest Log and you will see the symbol for the True Tomb of Tal
Rasha. When you see it in front of a Tomb, that's the one that will
lead you to the final battle of Act II.
But, like before, enter each of the fake Tombs first to build up
experience. The bad guys here give a hefty amount of experience, and
believe me, you're gonna need it for the Boss of Act II. Besides, the
monsters here aren't so tough and each of the fake tombs has a Gold
Chest. In fact, you may want to save and load the game a few times just
so you can level up a few times.
When you do decide to enter the True Tomb of Tal Rasha, you'll
eventually find an Orifice, where you should place the Horadric Staff
in order to unlock the entrance to the burial place / prison of Tal
Rasha and Baal. Once you do so, a passageway will open that leads to
the Boss of Act II.
Sadly, you are too late! The Dark Wanderer has already been here
and released Tal Rasha / Baal from his prison. In his place, the
Wanderer has left Duriel, I assume is one of the Lesser Evils.
To read why Diablo II players are calling him the toughest Boss in
the entire game of Diablo II, refer to my Boss Guide. (PS. I agree with
them!)
After the toughest battle yet, and Duriel is down, the cave will
start crumbling, revealing a pathway leading to where Baal was
imprisioned. You will find the Archangel Tyrael. He tells you that
Diablo / The Dark Wanderer and Baal / Tal Rasha have left for the town
of Kurast. They seek to revive the last imprisioned Prime Evil,
Mephisto. Tyrael gives you the holy mission to follow them and stop
them before its too late. At this point, a portal leading back to Lut
Gholein will open. Step in.
Say your goodbyes to the townspeople of Lut Gholein and then talk
to Meshif. Now that he is able to leave the docks, he tells you that he
will gladly bring you to the port town of Kurast.
----------
3. Act III
----------
Town/City: Kurast Docks
People : Hralti - Weaponsmith. Repairs your weapons.
Cain - Identifies items for free.
Natalya - Useless NPC.
Ormus - Heals you for free when you talk to him.
Sells specific class weapons (wands for example),
potions and scrolls.
Asheara - Has warriors for you to hire.
She also sells weapons!
Alkor - Sells potions.
He's also the one with the GAMBLE feature.
Meshif - Takes you back to Lut Gholein if you want.
QUEST I: The Golden Bird
Available when : You find the Jade Figurine
Goal of Quest : Trade specific items to the townspeople to make
them happy?
Reward given : Added 20 points to Life
Recommended Level : 22 - 25
Once you talk to all the townspeople and go for the exit, you'll
SEE THE DARK WANDERER just taking a stroll. When you get close, he
dissapears and small demons appear. Kill them off easily, but it does
tell you that you are close to the ending, huh?
Enter the Spider Forest. Here, you'll encounter the Fetishes and
the Fetish Shamans. The Fetishes with daggers aren't much of a problem
because they have to get close to you to attack, but they can wreck
havok on your minions, especially the SKELETAL MAGES, since they rely
on long-ranged attacks. The Fetishes with blowdarts are worse, 'coz
they can pelt you from long-range, across rivers and offscreen. Not
only that, they run pretty fast when you get close.
Now, the worse of the Fetishes, the Fetish Shaman. He has a Flame
Breath attack that can wipe out your Life quickly for the unprotected.
Better use the BONE SPEAR rather than get close and risk getting hit by
it. By the way, once you kill the top part (actually, the top part
isn't real! It's just a doll that the lower Fetish is using to fool the
other Fetishes to follow him! So, you cannot ressurect the Fetish
Shaman corpse), there will be another Fetish that you have to kill!
While in the Spider Forest, you'll eventuall kill a Special
Monster (Unique or Champion) which will drop a Jade Figurine. Well, you
have no use for it, right? But, maybe Deckard Cain can identify it's
use.
Once back in Kurast, talk to Cain. He'll identify it as... a
statue. That's it? What the hell am I gonna... oh, wait... Cain then
tells you that on your way to Kurast from Lut Gholein, Meshif mentioned
to Cain that he (Meshif, that is) collects statues like the one you've
got. So, go have a chat with Meshif.
Showing the Jade Figurine to Meshif, he's happy 'coz now he
finally completed his collection of Jade Figurines. In return for the
Jade Figurine, Meshif trades it for a Golden Bird statue. Now, you
still have no use for this, so go show it to Cain.
Cain takes a look at the Golden Bird statue and remembers a story
about a great man who died and was cremated. His ashes were put in a
statue just like the Golden Bird. So, what now? Alkor may have a use
for this, so go to his tent and show him the statue.
Alkor takes the statue from you and tells you to return in a
while. He's going to make a potion from the ashes inside the Golden
Bird. Talk to him again and he'll give you a Potion of Life. Drink it
down and you'll get 20 points to Life permanently.
That's it! Lame quest, wasn't it?
QUEST II: Blade of the Old Religion
Available when : After Quest I, talk to Hralti
Goal of Quest : Retrieve the Gidbinn.
Reward given : Random Ring and a free Mercenary
Recommended Level : 23 - 26
Hralti tells you that the barrier that is currently protecting the
Kurast Docks is getting weaker and weaker as time goes by. It isn't
going to last for long. The only thing that will strengthen it again is
the Gidbinn, a legendary weapon with mystical properties. Ormus will
use the Gidbinn's powers to reinforce the barrier.
Back in the Spider Forest, find the Spider Cavern. It's filled
with Spiders (Duh!) and has a Gold Chest. Clear out the Spider Cavern
for good experience. You can also try out getting a mercenary from
Asheara to be impressed with his skills in killing them. Watch out,
tho! If he gets poisoned, he's dead for sure!
Pass the Spider Forest, enter the Great Marsh. Explore the area
and you'll eventually find a Gold Chest in the area as well. Watch out
for Gloam, who has a Lightning Spell. Not only that, the Gloam is hard
to see. You can see him while invisible by looking at the light radius
surrounding him. Also, watch out for River Stalkers. They are hard to
hit with melee weapons, but projectile attacks work well on them!
After the Great Marsh, you'll go to the Flayer Jungle. You'll meet
the Flayers, brothers of the Fetish, but much tougher. Also, you'll
find the Swampy Pit. The Swampy Pit isn't needed to finish anything,
but that OK. You can get a whole lot of experience here.
The Flayer Dungeon is also located here, and you'll need to
remember the location 'coz you will need to go there for the next
quest.
Anyway, continue searching the the Flayer Jungle, and the Gidbinn
will be found in a village. But when you touch it, the Gidbinn burns up
and then Rat Men and a Unique will appear. Kill them off, especially
the Unique because he's the one carrying the real Gidbinn. Redeem the
Gidbinn and return to Kurast Docks.
Back in town, give Ormus the item and he will use the weapon to
reinforce the barrier. For a reward, Ormus will give you a ring (Random
abilites. Save the game and copy the file to a different folder. Replay
the game. If you don't like the ring, simply exit the game and then
copy the save game back to the save directory of Diablo II.) and you
can go talk to Asheara to get a free mercenary volunteer (or not if
you don't want to).
QUEST III: Khalim's Will
Available when : Talking to Cain after your encounter with the
Dark Wanderer
Goal of Quest : Find Khalim's Eye, Khalim's Brain, Khalim's
Heart and Khalim's Flail scattered all over
Kurast. Use the Horadric Cube to combine all
these items into Khalim's Will.
Reward given : Khalim's Will
Recommended Level : 24 - 30
You can get this quest after the first quest even though you
haven't gotten the second quest. I have to mention that this quest is
pretty similar to Quest II in Act II, the Horadic Staff. You have to
find four items this time and then use the Horadric Cube on the four
items to create Khalim's Will.
Cain will tell you that since your mission here is to find and
destroy Mephisto, he tells you about the Compelling Orb, which hides
the lair of Mephisto. The only way to detroy it is to find the body
parts of Khalim, the former Que-Hegen of the Zakarum Church. His body
part were scattered all over the land of Kurast. You need to combine
the said parts with Khalim's Flail to create Khalim's Will, the only
weapon that can smash the Compelling Orb.
First off, you have to go back to the Spider Forest. Find the
Spider Carvern, the other dungeon other than the Aracnid's Lair in the
area. Like the Aracnid's Lair, the Spider Cavern is filled with giant
spiders. There are also Giant Lampreys, which are like the Sand Maggots
back in Lut Gholein. Find the Gold Chest in the area to find Khalim's
Eye, the first item.
Next, go back to the Flayer Jungle and find the Flayer Dungeon.
The baddies here are previous monsters you have encountered while on
the surface, so at least you already know what you're up against. Go to
the third level of the dungeon and open the Gold Chest you find to
retrieve Khalim's Brain. Two down. Two to go!
For Khalim's Heart, go to Lower Kurast, the area just after the
Flayer Jungle. Lower Kurast has new monsters, namely the the Tree
Lurker, which are just tougher Cave Leapers, and Zakarumites, former
follwers of the Order of Zakarum. The monsters here are pretty easy to
kill, and there's very little chance to get overwhelmed, thanks to your
minions. Since this is a relatively safe place, Lower Kurast is a great
place to level up a bit.
Now, go past Lower Kurast into the next area, Kurast Bazaar. Here,
you will find the Sexton. Sure, she has a funny name but her abilites
are hard to laugh at! She can heal the Zakarumites and teleport around.
Because of this, you will usually see the Zakarum now run away when you
hurt them, so they can get healed by the Sextons. This area can get
tough if, all of a sudden, you get surrounded by Zakarumites and a
couple of Sextons.
Anyway, find the Sewer entrance. There should be a couple of them.
Enter either one. It doesn't matter. The Sewers is a very big place, so
it would be wise to check the map once in a while if you don't leave it
on. You could get lost. Khalim's Heart is located on the second level.
But you have to open the door to the second level with a lever. So,
find the lever, then find the entrance to the second level of the
Sewers. On the second level, find the Gold Chest and pick up Khalim's
Heart. You're almost there...
The last item you need, Khalim's Flail will be finished in another
Quest, specifically, Quest V, The Blackened Temple.
Quest IV, Lam Esen's Tome
Available when : talk to Alkor after entering Lower Kurast
Goal of Quest : Give Lam Esen's Tome to Alkor.
Reward given : added Five (5) stat points.
Recommended Level : 27 - 29
After entering Lower Kurast, return to Kurast Docks. Talk to
Alkor. Since you can go to Kurast and face the monsters there, Alkor
remembers Lam Esen, who has done studies on the effects of the Three
Prime Evil on the world. It will be of great help to you and the world
if it were to be found again. It was lost in one of the temples of
Kurast. So, back you go into Kurast!
There are six temples in Kurast which are accessable by stairs you
have to touch to open them. But, Kurast is split into three parts,
Kurast Bazaar, Upper Kurast and, finally, Kurast Causeway. Each of
these areas have 2 temples each. Lam Esen's Tome is located in one of
those temples and it seems that it is always placed in the Ruined
Temple, found in the Kurast Bazaar area. But explore all the temple
anyway for experience.
Once you find it, return to town and give Lam Esen's Tome to
Alkor. As a reward, Alkor will boost your character stats with five
points. Too bad it's not a level up, tho.
Quest V: The Blackened Temple
Available when : Talk to Ormus after you enter Travincal
Goal of Quest : Kill all Council Members of Travincal and
destroy the Compelling Orb.
Reward Given : Access to Durance of Hate
Recommended Level : 27 - 30
Once you enter Travincal, return to Kurast Docks. Have a chat with
Ormus. He'll tell you basically that the Zakarum Council Members have
already been corrupted by Mephisto's dark powers. Now, those former
holy people are now guarding the Compelling Orb, which appears to be
controlling the evil in the area. He hopes that you are able to destroy
the Compelling Orb and kill the Council Members guarding it. Since it
is one of your quests anyway (Remember Khalim's Will?), go ahead!
Now, enter Travincal and activate the Waypoint if you haven't yet!
This is a really tough area! Not only are the Zakarumites (now called
Zealots) and Sextons back in full force, they are now joined by the
Night Lords, which are tougher versions of the Ghoul Lords! Night Lords
have all the spells and properties of the Ghoul Lords, they also have
the spell Meteor! If you're standing on a piece of ground that has a
circle of red, GET OUT OF THAT SPOT IMMEDIATELY! That's where the
Meteor is gonna hit.
I suggest that you clear out the upper border levels first of
monsters and slowly work your way to the upper center of the area where
the High Council members are located. It's bad enough to face all the
baddies at once, but add a Council Member or two into the mix, you'll
soon find your way running all the way to the Waypoint to escape!
It's also in your best interest to take on once Council Member at
a time, so move to the upper center structure slowly and wait for a
Council Member to come out then run away and lead them (the Council
Member and his minions) to a safe place where you can move around and
take them out from a distance with BONE SPEARS, AMPLIFY DAMAGE and
CORPSE EXPLOSIONS. Your minions will take a beating but they will
distract the monsters chasing you from your Necro.
Anyway, one of the Council Members has Khalim's Flail. So, when
you find it, return to town and use the Horadric Cube to combine
Khalim's Eye, Brain, Heard and Flail together to obtain Khalim's Will.
Return to the upper center structure and enter the building to find
the Compelling Orb. Equip Khalim's Will as your weapon and smash the
Orb. The stairs in the center of the room will open up, leading you
into The Durance of Hate, where you will find Mephisto and the rest of
the High Council Members waiting to take you out.
Quest VI: The Guardian
Available when : talk to Ormus after returning the Tome of Lam
Esen to Alkor
Goal of Quest : Kill Mephisto.
Reward given : passage to the Pandamonium Fortress(Act IV).
Also, you get to see a new movie!
Recommended Level : 27 - 30
Now, to find Mephisto. The mosters in the Durance of Hate are real
tough. Not only that, it's harder to run away from them since it isn't
an open space like in Travincal. Take it slowly and keep your supply of
minions up. It's a good thing there is a Waypoint in the second level
of this dungeon. But you know what this means. Mephisto is on the third
level. Clear out all the baddies in the second level so you can run up
quickly if the battle gets too intense on the third level.
On the third level of the Durance of Hate, the instant you enter,
you'll probably encounter a few Blood Lords and a Council Member. They
are tough, but don't get any bright ideas of running away into any
unexplored area of the third level of the Durance of Hate! Mephisto
lies waiting and also two more Council Members and their minions. So,
if you get into trouble with the monsters you are facing now, run up
into the second level, heal up and return to town, if necessary.
Mephisto lies just opposite of the entrance of the third level, so
you may want to go to the other areas (the left and right areas if
north is where Mephisto is), before taking on the big guy right now.
This way, you take out the other High Council Members out before taking
on the eldest of the Prime Evils.
Once you've cleared the area of the Council Members and Uniques,
refer to Section G, Boss Guide to see how to take on Mephisto.
After your battle with Mephisto and he is broken, a Red Portal
will open up. But before you enter the portal to the Pandamonium
Fortress, collect the Soulstone from Mephisto's body. You'll need it
for later.
---------
4. Act IV
---------
Town/City: Pandemonium Fortress
People : Tyrael - Gives you a quest. But that's it.
Cain - Identifies items for free.
Halbu - Weaponsmith.
Jamella - Healer, sells potions and specific Class weaponry.
Not only that, she provides the Gamble option.
QUEST I: The Fallen Angel
Available when : Talk to Tyrael
Goal of Quest : Kill Izual
Reward given : Two free Skill Points
Recommended Level : 28 - 31
The Pandamonium Fortress is the last remaining outpost of Heaven
in the relm of Hell. With this in mind, it's painfully obvious that
there are no mercenaries available to you! Thank God for your minions!
But first, it's nice to outfit yourself with the best equipment you can
have. Remember the Imbue reward way back in Act I? Now, it's time to
use it!
Get the best armor you can buy. If you can get Superior Gothic
Armor with high Defense and Durability, get it. It'll be worth it! Save
the game and copy that file to a separate directory. Now, load the game
again and take that armor to Charsi and Imbue it to get a new piece of
Unique Armor! If you don't like what comes out, simply exit and copy
the old save game back to the Diablo II save directory.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Imbues. Don't even use them in Act IV. Wait til at least
level 40 or so to use them. Imbuing is entirely dependant on character
level, and I waited until level 50 to use mine. :) ]
-Jason Lane
Talk to Tyrael, and he will tell you about Izual, a former Angel
who has become corrupted by Diablo and his brothers. As punishment,
Izual's body has been twisted and reshaped to show what his soul looks
like... hideous and monstrous. Tyrael cannot take this anymore, so he
charges you to kill Izual and relieve him of his eternal torment.
When you leave the Pandamonium Fortress, you'll immediately know
that this is indeed Hell. New monsters abound and they are plentiful!
The first area, just outside the stairs of the Pandamonium Fortress, is
called the Outer Steppes. There are a lot of monsters here... so
getting surrounded here is pretty easy.
You'll face the Flesh Spawners, who can spit out Flesh Beasts,
which are just like the ones you've encountered when you got close to
the Dark Wanderer at the start of Act III. Take out the Flesh Spawners
quickly or you could get overwhelmed by a swarm of Flesh Beasts.
The Doom Knights, which are just like Paladin warriors are good at
swords attacks and pack a mean wallop. It's a good thing your minions,
especially your IRON or FIRE GOLEMS are tough enough to stand up to
them. Help out your minions with AMPLIFY DAMAGE and CORPSE EXPLOSIONS.
Finally, the Corpulents, who can eat dead bodies to replenish
life, aren't that tough, but they do possess a poison spit attack. They
are pretty easy to kill, but if they are surrounded by the others, this
could get ugly.
Make your way to the Plains of Despair. Izual is here, and a few
more monsters, like the Doom Casters, who are like the Gloams but with
auto-tracking projectiles and the Pit Lords, big hulking brutes whose
blows can stun you.
Before facing Izual, you may want to read a good way on defeating
him in the Boss Guide.
After Izual is dead and his soul released, Izual reveals that it
was he who told the Three Prime Evils how to corrupt the Soulstones,
so, in fact, he wasn't corrupted by them. He was corrupted already!
With your coversation with Izual is over, head back to Tyrael.
He'll say that he is dissapointed with his brother, but since you did
complete your mission, he allows you to develop your skills with two
Skill Points.
QUEST II: The Hellforge
Available when : Talk to Cain after completing Quest I
Goal of Quest : Collect the Hellforge Hammer and smash
Mephisto's Soulstone.
Reward given : Lots of gems.
Recommended Level : 28 - 31
Now, Cain will tell you that in order to destroy Mephisto's evil
forever, you must smash his Soulstone that contains his essence. In
order to do so, there is only one place and one item that can do so,
the Hellforge and the Hellforge Hammer. Both are located in the River
of Flame.
Return to the Plains of Despair and pass it to enter the City of
the Damned. More new baddies are located here and all of them are
tough. It's a good thing there's a Waypoint in the area for you to make
a quick escape back to the Pandamonium Fortress. But, they do give off
a healthy chunk of experience points!
Pass the City of the Damned and enter the next area, the River of
Flame. Here, you'll find new and improved monsters to kill. All of them
are just revisions of the monsters you have faced before. But, they are
plentiful and tough. Use your minions to take most of the heat away
from you while you pelt away with BONE SPEARS and CORPSE EXPLOSIONS.
Here, you will also face Hephasto the Armorer, and he holds the
Hellforge Hammer. So, you have to kill him to redeem the Hammer. He is
bound to be surrounded by a group of Blood Maggots (like Sand Maggots)
and the like, so be careful!
To see how to defeat Hephasto the Armorer, refer to Section G.
Boss Guide for info.
After Hephasto is dead, he will drop the Hellforge Hammer. Pick it
up and then take it to the Hellforge, which should be pretty close to
where you encountered Hephasto. Once again, the place will be swarming
with baddies. Clear them all out with AMPLIFY DAMAGE and CORPSE
EXPLOSIONS with your minions help, of course.
With the place clean of monsters, you can now work in peace. Place
Mephisto's Soulstone on top of the Hellforge. Equip the Hellforge
Hammer and use it to smash Mephisto's Soulstone into small fragments.
The fragments are various gems, so pick them up.
Move past the Hellforge a bit and find the Waypoint so you can
return to Tyrael and give a report. But first...
Since you've got all these Gems, and you have been saving and
upgrading Gems since the start of the game, it's time to finally use
them! It's near the end of the game anyway. Better make the best
Headgear and Shield you can now before the final battle!
Go back all the way to the Pandamonium Fortress and get a really
good Socketed Crown or Socketed Great Helm and stick in a Skull. This
will replenish some life and Mana while you run around avoiding
attacks. Also, stick in an Emerald in that piece of Head Gear. This
will increase your Dexterity value, so you can hit more accurately and
dodge attacks better.
Go get a Socketed Gothic Shield. Now, put in as many Diamonds (two
is good enough) so your resistance to all elemental attacks will
increase. You may want to stick in a Skull so that damage will be
returned to the monsters who do manage to strike you. But I prefer to
add an extra Amethyst instead of a Skull to increase your Defense
rating.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Your advice telling everyone to build 3d (triple diamond socketed)
shields is dead on. However, make them Tower Shields, not Gothic.
Higher blocking is the best attribute a shield can have, and
imperative.. If you have trouble locating a Tower Shield, wander Act 3
for a while. They show up there regularly.
Gems in equipment, other than a 3d shield, are basically garbage
compared to exceptional rares. Gems at higher difficulties are mainly
useful to brew up full rejuvenation potions - and you want your shield
to be three diamonds, not two diamonds and a sapphire, because of the
resistance reduction in the higher difficulties! ]
-Jason Lane
After getting the best mix of Gemmed Headgears and Shields, talk
to Tyrael. He will give you two more Stat points for you to better your
skills. You're gonna need it! Why? It's nearly the end of the game!
QUEST III: Terror's End
Available when : Talk to Tyrael after completing Quest II
Goal of Quest : Kill Diablo.
Reward given : The Epilogue cinema of Diablo II.
Recommended Level : 28 - 32
With Mephisto's Soulstone out of the way, Diablo is next. Diablo
is being protected in the Chaos Sanctuary. He is your target now.
Tyrael charges you to find Diablo and finally destroy his evil forever.
Easier said than done, pal!
Use the Waypoint and use it to go to the River of Flame. You will
meet Hadriel, the Angel guarding the path to the Chaos Sanctuary to
ensure that the forces of evil do not suddenly charge forth into Earth.
He lets you pass and informs you that Diablo is protected by 5 seals.
In order for Diablo to appear, you must break all 5 seals and the Lord
of Terror will appear in the center.
You will have to pass a series of floating bridge islands to reach
the Chaos Sanctuary, where Diablo resides. But, blocking your way are
Hell's full force of lower monsters. A whole herd of baddies are to be
fought on these island bridges. And you haven't even entered the Chaos
Sanctuary proper yet!
After wading thru the hordes of monsters, you will finally enter
the Chaos Sanctuary. Being the last line of defense of Hell, all the
monsters you will fight here are gonna be hard to defeat!
First and foremost, the Storm Casters can suck up Mana points,
become invisible and shoot tracking projectiles at you and your
minions. It would be wise to lead them away and let your minions take
most of the heat. BONE SPEAR works great here in taking them out en
masse while the baddies are busy trying to whack your minions.
The Venom Lords are just like the Pit Lords. But, by this time,
they just look imposing. Even in large groups, they aren't too hard to
defeat especially with a FIRE GOLEM and AMPLIFY DAMAGE.
The hardest monsters here would have to be the Doom Knights and
Oblivion Knights! You may have faced Doom Knights before, but when they
are this plenty and have an Oblivion Knight, who can cast Iron Maiden
and Decrepify Curses on you, with them, you can die in a blink of an
eye! Oblivion Knights are just like Undead Necromancers! They have
various curses that they can cast, and they also have the Bone Spirit
tracking spell with them! As much as possible, kill the Oblivion
Knights off first! They can be a bitch!
I prefer to have a lot of Town Portal Scrolls in a neat Tome just
in case. This is where the use of FIRE GOLEMS are greatly appreciated.
It loves to charge into the middle of a group of monsters. And, WHEN it
dies (you can be sure it will die after being overwhelmed), the
resulting explosion will kill of the baddies surrounding him! Create a
new FIRE GOLEM quickly and repeat. Help out the process with AMPLIFY
DAMAGE and CORPSE EXPLOSION to take out the baddies quickly.
After polishing all of the monsters in the Chaos Sanctuary, go
find the seals. But be careful, 3 of the seals will also release
monsters and very tough Uniques! This is when you should use those Gems
you've been collecting and the Imbue reward from Charsi from way back
in Act I!
Since the sealed Uniques are tough, read Section G, Boss Guide to
see ways on how to defeat them.
After all the seals have been broken and all the Uniques have been
killed, Diablo will emerge from the center of the Chaos Sanctuary for
the final face-off against Good and Evil! I hope you're ready!
The final battle with Diablo is described in Section G. Boss
Guide. Get ready!
After the aurodous battle with Diablo, collect the magic Items
that he drops because they are almost always good! If you still have
time, talk with Tyrael and Deckard Cain to hear their words of praise
for your work!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Above all, you need to keep in mind strategically that Act 4,
Normal difficulty, is not the end of the game. Heck, to anyone who's
actually been through the entire game ([Nightmare]/Hell), everything
through level 30 is the beginning, and one that only takes a day or two
to get through at that. ]
-Jason Lane
That's it! You have finished Diablo II! Now, all you've got to do
is wait for the add-on to find out what happened to Baal!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
G. Bosses Guide:
NOTE: It's always good to have BONE ARMOR active when battling the
Bosses to limit the physical damage done to you. Re-cast BONE ARMOR
when it gets destroyed, but be sure to run away from a Boss anytime you
feel your Necromancer is about to bite the dust. Heal up and then go
back to the Boss.
-------------
Act I Bosses:
-------------
1) BOSS : Blood Raven
ABILITIES : Bow and Arrow attack
Fire Arrows
Rapid Arrow
Summon Undead
STRATEGY : Blood Raven is pretty easy if you're totally ready for
her. As I said in the walkthru, it's smart if you clear out
the baddies around the border of the area. Afterwards, move
in to the center of the Cemetery to face her and her
minions.
It would be great if you had a long range attack, but
all you have now is TEETH, and that's pretty useless! And
I'm not suggesting to switch to bow and arrows for this
battle either. So, you'll have no choice but to go toe-to-
toe with her. But she won't like that, being an archer.
With your minions by your side, charge in quickly!
Almost surely, they will attack HER minions and not her, so
they won't be of much help for this battle. So, you're the
one who has to smash her without relying on your minions
for the first time.
Run towards her in a zig-zag fashion to avoid her
arrows. When you get close, wail at her with your weapon!
It's a difficult battle only because she runs extremely
fast for a tall girl (not that I'm saying all girls run
slowly! I mean, I admire the WNBA players!). You'll have to
chase her around a lot. If you've got a weapon that can
inflict COLD damage, the battle will be easier 'coz she
won't be able to run fast anymore when she's frozen.
What you need is against Blood Raven is actually good
Stamina! As long as you have got the Stamina to chase after
her, Blood Raven shouldn't be a problem.
2) BOSS : The Countess
ABILITIES : Fire Axe
Fire Wall
STRATEGY : Cakewalk. She doesn't really seem like a boss when you
face her! It may be a bit hard because she has assistants
with her. But you've got an army of undead monsters with
you, so no problem!
Once you enter the room where she's at, she'll cast Fire
Wall at the entrances of the area so you'll take an
enourmous amount of FIRE damage if you try to leave the
battle. But, you've got Town Portal Scrolls, so you can
actually escape at any time you want. The joke's on her!
Not that you'd want to leave, tho.
Anyway, lay back and let your minions smash up her
assistants, helping out with your AMPLIFY DAMAGE and CORSE
EXPLOSION spells. If some of your minions die, no problem!
Just make new ones during the battle. Eventually, The
Countess will be all alone against your entire army of
minions. AMPLIFY DAMAGE on her and let your minions have
fun smashing her to pieces.
In fact, the Countess doesn't really feel like a Boss.
The only thing that makes her tough is if you get trapped
between her minions and get stuck in her Fire Wall attack.
3) BOSS : The Smith (Extra Strong)
ABILITIES : Overhead Smash
STRATEGY : Hard to beat! It gets easier on the higher levels. But
as for now, let's say your Necromancer is around Level 12
to 16. Not high enough to have BONE SPEAR, where you can
just pelt at him from long range. So this isn't an option
yet. He's extra strong, which means one swipe from his
attack will cause that red globe at the lower left of your
screen become transparent pretty quickly! Your minions
don't fare well against him, especially the SKELETONS, who
pretty much crumble with one swing. So, what's a poor
Necromancer to do? There are two ways, actually, which I
found to be effective, and they all involve the WELL in the
area.
When you meet up with The Smith, chances are he's with a
bunch of Devilkin and Shamans, so take the battle away from
there! The Smith is hard enough by himself and with those
pesky ressurecting fiends there... it's gonna be triple
hard! So, run away and lead The Smith (and a few Devilkins)
away from their room. Run all the way to the WELL, but kill
of as many Devilkins that manage to follow you.
Now, when it's just you and The Smith with the well
close by, you've got two options. Both of them are Mana
extensive but work very well!
The first way is to cast AMPLIFY DAMAGE and create
minions constantly, using the dead Devilkins for SKELETON
WARRIORS and MAGES and CORPSE EXPLOSION if The Smith is
close by. Also, run close and hack away at him and quickly
run away to avoid his attack. Use the Well to replenish
your Mana and let it recharge by running around The Smith.
Another method is to use his Extra Strong ability
against him! Cast IRON MAIDEN on him and let him attack
your minions and yourself with the BONE ARMOR active on
you. Rush him and take the damage and let your minions die
but create new ones immediately. If your BONE ARMOR gets
destroyed, re-cast it again and let yourself get hit by The
Smith as long as you have IRON MAIDEN cast on him. Run to
the Well if you're getting pummeled or run out of Mana to
have the BONE ARMOR cast. This is a shorter method,
although more dangerous because you might die all of a
sudden if you're not careful.
Both methods are dangerous against him, because one big
blow from him and it means it's all over for you! Just be
alert on your Health Status and run to the Well when your
Health drops to about 1/3 of it's full level.
4) BOSS : Andariel
ABILITIES : Poison Slash
Poison Cloud
Poison Spray
STRATEGY : Now, she's the last Boss of Act I, so you can bet your
bottom dollar and your mother's freshly baked cookies that
Andariel will be ultra hard! And ultra hard is just putting
it mildly.
First and foremost, she'll be surrounded by a ton of
monsters in her room. Make sure you clear the room before
her when you're going to face her. She's tough enough
alone, but with her minions, it's going to be Hell! Her
attacks cause you to be Poisoned so it would be helpful if
you've got items that will increase your Poison Resistance
of reduce Poison Length. Andariel's Poison Cloud has her
spit out a fast moving cloud of Poison and her Poison Spray
has her fire a spray of Poison Clouds in a spread fashion.
Now, how to beat her. There are three methods, actually.
One of them is extremely dangerous, and the other two are
safer but still dangerous. There is no easy way to beat
her, other than leveling up really big, but that would
take too long.
Before I tell you the methods I used to beat her, I have
to tell you one important factor about Poison Damage. It
may kill your minions and your hired Warriors, BUT IT WON'T
KILL YOU! You'll be reduce to 1 point of Life only. But, of
course, that means you're and easy target. One slight tap
would kill you at that point, but this is important 'coz
you can run away if that occurs.
The first method is to use dead bodies for CORPSE
EXPLOSIONS. Why is this dangerous? You'll have to face a
ton of monsters in her lair and use them as ammo. This
means, you'll have to kill a ton of monsters while avoiding
Andariel's Poison attacks, and they can drain your health
pretty quickly. You can use this method but it's risky.
The second and third way is much like the methods used
to defeat The Smith. You can use IRON MAIDEN on her but
you'll need to get close to get hit, 'coz it seems that
Poison and other Elemental Damage done to you won't cause
the IRON MAIDEN Spell to return damage back to Andariel.
So, this is risky to do as well.
So, the third and safest method is also the most
brainless method. First, lead her out of her chamber and
goad her into following you close to the stair leading the
the upper level of the Catacombs. This way you can escape
anytime you want if you get inflicted with poison. Simply
go up the stairs, wait for the poison to subside (you won't
die, remember?) and heal (or use Town Portal if you want).
Now, you have a means to escape if you get too hurt to
fight. But how do you take out Andariel? AMPLIFY DAMAGE on
her and have you and your minions team up and surround her,
wailing away at her! You'll get hurt, so run back up the
stairs, heal and then go back to beat on her some more.
Repeat until Andariel bites the dust, finally.
--------------
Act II Bosses:
--------------
1) BOSS : Randament (Extra Fast)
ABILITIES : Cross Smash
Shadow Projectile
Poison Breath
Raise Dead Minions
Heal Minions
STRATEGY : He's tough when Randament is with his minions. Alone?
He's a wuss. So, take out his minions first... but, then
again, don't! Randament has the ability to raise his fallen
warriors when you kill them. There are two ways. One is the
long method, and the other is the short method.
The long method involves you leading Randament's minions
away from him then killing them. And I mean FAR, FAR, FAR
away! Randament can heal and ressurect them at quite a
distance, even if he can't see them! Anyway, afterwards,
when all the minions are just piles of bones, go back to
Randament and take care of him.
The short method may be quick, but you run a risk of
dying. Have your minions attack Randament's minions and
then lead Randament towards the pile of dead bodies. Then
CORPSE EXPLOSION as much as possible. This way, he cannot
ressurect the dead because they're all blown away! This is
Mana expensive but can be quick if you're lucky.
I suggest using the short method, because once you've
defeated Randament, any leftover minions are going to be
easy to mop up since they cannot be brought back to life.
2) BOSS : Coldworm the Burrower (Cold Enhanced, Magic Resistant)
ABILITIES : None
STRATEGY : As a Boss, it's a real creme-puff! In fact, it doesn't
do a single solitary attack! All it does is sit there! So,
the only time it will cause damage to you is when it dies
(it explodes with an ice ring and a poison fountain). So,
it's not him you're worried about. The Sand Maggots and the
Sand Maggot Young monsters are the one who dish out the
damage.
You'll probably face the Sand Maggot Young first. You'll
know you're near Coldworm the Burrower when the tunnel
becomes filled with Sand Maggot Young. Pretty easy when
you've got BONE SPEAR! You just fire at them and they'll
die the instant it connects in one fell swoop!
Next, clear out the Sand Maggots. Let your minions enter
the room with Coldworm the Burrower and the other Sand
Maggots and have them kill one of them. Then, here comes
the fun part! Just AMPLIFY DAMAGE on the ones close to the
dead Sand Maggot then start the CORPSE EXPLOSION chain
reaction! All the Sand Maggot will be dead in a few
seconds!
Coldworm the Burrower will be the only one left. Sit
back and let your minions kill it! Don't bother helping
out. It'll fall soon enough. Keep your distance because
when it does die, it will explode with an ice ring that
causes Cold damage. Also, it's death will have it spruting
a fountain of poison.
In fact, I killed it without any damage to me! He's that
easy!
3) BOSS : The Summoner
ABILITIES : Fire Wall
Fire Ball
Frost Nova
Glacial Spike
Amplify Damage Curse
STRATEGY : Think of him as a Coldworm the Burrower with attacks...
but easier! You don't have to worry about him. Worry about
his companions, because there's a lot of them, namely Ghoul
Lords and Hell Clans.
Lead the Ghoul Lords and Hell Clans away from the
Summoner and kill the baddies one by one. It would be best
to join in the fray with your minions 'coz they ARE tough.
Once they are taken care of, all you have is the
Summoner to worry about. Then again, you don't need to
worry about anything! Simply go up the stairs where the
Summoner is and have your GOLEM follow. Let the GOLEM swing
and connect WITH JUST ONE HIT AND IT'S ALL OVER! The
Summoner will get killed with that one hit! That's it! I
guess the Summoner has only 5 hit points.
In fact, when I faced him for the first time, I read
Horazon's Journal accidentally while chasing after him,
then my Blood Golem came running in, slashed him once, and
that was it!
4) BOSS : Duriel
ABILITIES : Claw Swipe (can Stun)
Holy Freeze Aura
STRATEGY : Now, this guy's a BOSS! Ultra-tough Starship Troopers-
like creature. Not only is he fast, he's stronger than than
Extra Strong, Duriel has a Holy Freeze Aura that will
freeze you, but not cause COLD Damage. Did I mention that
he's tough?
First and foremost, Duriel can smash you up real quick
since Super Strong. Your minions will die faster than you
can say the word "DIE", so you can count them out of the
battle. Now, with Duriel's Holy Freeze Aura freezing you
and slowing you down, he can quickly catch up with you
easily with his six legged sprint that can chase you down
quickly.
CORPSE EXPLOSION, your most useful spell, can't be used
because, well, there aren't any corpses to explode! For
once, you'll be hoping for the Boss to have minions to help
you out.
Now, how to beat him. The instant you enter the area,
open up a Town Portal. You'll need it for a quick escape
back to town, and believe you me, you're gonna need it! A
few swipes with his claw can kill you! So, it's good to run
back into Town the instant you start to get beaten up to
regroup and replenish your minion supply.
He has a Holy Freeze Aura, so having items to help you
with COLD will be good right now. But, it won't be useful
'coz he'll just get close to you and you'll get frozen
again! So, never mind getting those equipments to help you
against the COLD.
Duriel, although he runs very fast, is still very easy
to avoid. Just run parallel (ie. across) to where he's
running. In other words, when he's charging at you, run to
the left or right. He won't be able to stop quickly and you
can get a few blows in.
But, wait a minute! By this time, you're bound to have
BONE SPEAR at this point in the game! So, run left and
right to avoid his attack. Then, fire BONE SPEARS at
Duriel. When your Mana level is low, replenish with a Mana
potion, run around a while so your Mana builds up or return
to town and get healed by Fara.
There is another way, but dangerous. I did this against
him a bit before I switched to the above strategy. This
method works good, but not as well as the BONE SPEAR way.
Simply cast IRON MAIDEN on Duriel and have your minions get
killed by him. Have BONE ARMOR cast on you and let him get
a few strikes in before running away and activating your
BONE ARMOR (It'll probably be blown away with one swing of
Duriel's Claw Swipe). If you're too beat up, use the Town
Portal to get back to Lut Gholein, heal, exit the town and
create a full compliment of minions and return and repeat
the process. This method is dangerous because Duriel can
get a good swipe in and, all of a sudden, you will be
scrambling for the Town Portal.
I recommend pelting Duriel with the AMPLIFY DAMAGE and
BONE SPEARS, rather than the IRON MAIDEN method.
Good luck! Did I mention that he's tough?
[FROM Werebear:
Fighting Duriel isn't as hard as what you think. I find
him easier though a bit more dangerous than Mephisto. Why?
Let's see..
BLOOD GOELMS and IRON MAIDEN works to very good effect.
IRON MAIDEN returns whatever damage back by a BIGGER
percentage and the damage done is by whoever it strikes.
When you consider a BLOOD GOLEM steals 33% of damage done
by itself...and it means even by IRON MAIDEN. Let's see,
Duriel got a BIG BAD attack as you said in your FAQ. So if
you boost your IRON MAIDEN enough, the damage return will
be much more BIGGER. :> Like what you said, Mephisto deals
lotsa elemental attacks and yeah, they don't hit back with
IRON MAIDEN, thus useless.
And I remembered killing Duriel with BLOOD GOLEMS and
BONE SPEAR in like 15 seconds. Though the COLD damage will
kill your golem if your mastery is too low...
-Werebear
PS : Oh yah, you can try gambling for Tarnhelm early on so
when you go for Duriel, you have easily a higher skill lvl
on BLOOD GOLEM(More blood stealing and damage), IRON
MAIDEN (More damage returned) and BONE SPEAR. ]
[FROM DragonSlayer2500:
Hello, nice faq. I would like to say that the necro has
a very cheap trick against Duriel, which makes him easy.
Just have a GOLEM spell, and as many SEKELETAL MAGES as
you can. What you do is simple... Duriel always goes for
the GOLEM as long as he is the closest. So keep making
CLAY GOLEMS as they die while you stay out of reach and
the SKELETAL MAGES shoot him down! This is EXTREMELY safe
but EXTREMELY Mana consuming though. ]
-DragonSlayer2500
[FROM: Ja Mes Kor
Firstly, I fought Duriel, Izual, Mephisto and some other
bosses in ACT 2 & later using the BLOOD GOLEM. Firstly, I
would have to invest a few more points in GOLEM MASTERY.
BLOOD GOLEM with IRON MAIDEN on the above bosses allow you
to attack the boss while he is busy entertaining himself
with your GOLEM and you do get the blood back from your
cute BLOOD GOLEM. I find it useful and so far but I have
not met Duriel in Nightmare yet...In normal, this is
feasible as one of my friend who did it, agreed with my
tactics so far. ]
-Ja Mes Kor
[FROM: Jason Lane:
Regarding Duriel, unless you wear the sash from the
Death's set (which prevents ALL freezing), no COLD item in
the game will do a single thing about his Holy Freeze aura.
They won't let you move one inch faster, and it won't end
until he dies anyway. You also fail to note that Duriel
gets a free attack while the game loads him into existance.
While this is a negligible problem for a Necromancer (since
the minions will happily eat the damage), it's a huge one
for members of any other class. ]
-Jason Lane
---------------
Act III Bosses:
---------------
1) BOSS : Mephisto
ABILITIES : Death Swipe
Charged Bolt
Lightning
Ice Ball
Poison Explosion
STRATEGY : Oddly enough, Duriel, a Lesser Evil, is a whole lot
tougher than Mephisto, in my opinion, anyway. Sure,
Mephisto may have a lot of abilities compared to Duriel,
but, he is still easier!
First thing you got to do is to make sure that all the
other mosters and Uniques are taken care of. In other
words, they should be dead. Now, it's just going to be you
and Mephisto in a one-on-one match... Nah! You've got
minions! Use them!
The best way is to face Mephisto head on! Mephisto will
only use Charged Bolt, Lightning and Ice Ball when you are
at a distance from him. Being that these are his more
damaging attacks, you can have him not use these spells by
simply getting close to him!
Now, the only spells Mephisto will use are Poison
Explosion and his physical attack, the Death Swipe. But, he
will have to contend with you, a GOLEM, a bunch of SKELETON
WARRIORS and SKELETAL MAGES. So, odds are he'll be kinda
busy striking all of you and distributing his time on his
attacks.
So, cast either AMPLIFY DAMAGE or IRON MAIDEN on
Mephisto. Either you and your minions kill him quickly, or
Mephisto kills himself!
But, he isn't a cakewalk. He CAN still kill you with his
powerful strikes. If you need to get away, go behind a wall
so that Mephisto cannot reach you. Use potions to heal you
or return to town and restock on health and repair your
equipment. Return to Mephisto and repeat. But, you won't
have to do this that often when you compare the battle to
the one you had with Duriel.
[FROM DragonSlayer2500:
Mephisto is really easy for a necro. Just stay away from
him, and everytime he shoots something, sidestep it and
shoot a couple of BONE SPEARS at him. Make sure you have
Mana and Stamina potions on your belt when you do this.
You can do the same for Diablo. ]
-DragonSlayer2500
[FROM: Ja Mes Kor
Firstly, I fought Duriel, Izual, Mephisto and some other
bosses in ACT 2 & later using the BLOOD GOLEM. Firstly, I
would have to invest a few more points in GOLEM MASTERY.
BLOOD GOLEM with IRON MAIDEN on the above bosses allow you
to attack the boss while he is busy entertaining himself
with your GOLEM and you do get the blood back from your
cute BLOOD GOLEM. ]
-Ja Mes Kor
[FROM: Jason Lane
Regarding Mephisto. On higher difficulty levels, the
High Council members stationed down there with him are far,
far, far more dangerous than Mephisto can dream of being. ]
-Jason Lane
--------------
Act IV Bosses:
--------------
1) BOSS : Izual
ABILITIES : Freeze Slash
Frost Nova
STRATEGY : Now, I actually found this fallen angel harder than
Mephisto! What's up with that, huh? He may be twisted to
match his soul, but I thought that Izual looked really
good! Really cool looking!
Izual is tough enough alone because of his freezing
attacks that will slow you and your minions down quickly.
This, when combined with an army of Doom Casters and other
baddies, will slow down you and your minions enough for
Izual and the rest of the monsters to surround you. So, one
of your goals in facing this Boss is to avoid this.
Having suitable resistances to Cold attacks is optional
but recommended for this battle. But, it's more important
to clear out an area free from the normal monsters,
preferribly close to the stairs that lead back to the Outer
Steppes or a corner of the area. This is where you should
battle Izual. Once you've got Izual in this area, you've
got two choices to go to beat him.
The first way is to go toe-to-toe with him, attacking
him face-to-face and have your minions join in. Cast
AMPLIFY DAMAGE or IRON MAIDEN on Izual to help out on the
damage delivering. This is very dangerous but the quickest
way to do so. Just heal up and cast BONE ARMOR when doing
this method.
The other way is safer, but as usual, Mana-expensive.
Simply keep a distance from Izual and pelt him from long
range with your BONE SPEAR or BONE SPIRIT. You may want to
cast AMPLIFY DAMAGE to double the damage. Usually, he will
go after your GOLEM while you run around pelting him with
your offensive spells. Obviously, your GOLEM will
eventually die. Run away and replenish your Mana then
return to him and resume the assaul with a new GOLEM in
tow.
Obviously, I would recommend the safer method. Sure,
it's longer, but any way you defeat Izual means you defeat
him! Also, when you kill Izual, you'll be amazed at the
amount of experience you get! The little white bar above
your Stamina Meter goes up a good notch or two!
[FROM Werebear:
There're lotsa other boss that die without much to do
like Izual. He dies fairly easily with a BLOOD GOLEM
standing there for him to hit and damage himself with IRON
MAIDEN casted on him. Even the ermm Venom Lord Uniques? The
Storm Caster Unique? All their damage doubles back to
themselves or even 4 times back. BOOM. I just leave my
BLOOD GOLEM there with IM and all of them dies. Cheap on
Mana, and by just watching.
[FROM: Ja Mes Kor
Firstly, I fought Duriel, Izual, Mephisto and some other
bosses in ACT 2 & later using the BLOOD GOLEM. Firstly, I
would have to invest a few more points in GOLEM MASTERY.
BLOOD GOLEM with IRON MAIDEN on the above bosses allow you
to attack the boss while he is busy entertaining himself
with your GOLEM and you do get the blood back from your
cute BLOOD GOLEM. ]
-Ja Mes Kor
2) BOSS : Hephasto the Armorer (Extra Strong, Cursed, Magic
Resistant)
ABILITIES : Hammer Smash
Amplify Damage Curse
STRATEGY : He's probably the Smith's (Remember him way back in
Act I?) older, tougher bully of a brother. He's really
scary to face! Not only is he Extra Strong, Hephasto has an
Amplify Damage Curse, ensuring pretty much instant death if
he connects, even with BONE ARMOR active! Also, since he is
Magic Resistant, using your offensive magic spells like
BONE SPEAR and BONE SPIRIT won't be as effective on him.
So, what's a poor Necromancer to do? Well, the first
thing to do is to take him away from the other monsters he
has surrounding him. An excellent place will be the stairs
leading back to the City of the Damned so you can quickly
climb up the stairs to safety and use the Waypoint to heal
up from the massive damage he dishes out. Once he's
isolated, there are two ways that work well against
Hephasto the Armorer.
One way to kill Hephasto the Armorer when you take him
on is to slow him down! So, have a SKELETAL MAGE with COLD
Magic is great. When he gets frozen, you can get close
enough to him to get in a few whacks with your own AMPLIFY
DAMAGE Curse cast on him. When you see him raise his mighty
hand to hit you, quickly run away from the blow! Have your
SKELETAL MAGE freeze him up again, and strike him a few
times once more.
But, obviously, this is really a long process. Not only
that, very risky! Another way is to use his Extra Strong
stat against him. Cast IRON MAIDEN on him and let your
minions do the fighting for you. When he strikes your
friends down, he is actually killing himself! Actually,
having an IRON GOLEM here with THORNS on him is better than
having a FIRE GOLEM! This is because the THORNS aura
combined with the IRON MAIDEN Curse on him will triple the
damage returned to him! And with him being Extra Strong, he
should be gone pretty quick!
The second method is easy and safe, but the first method
works pretty well! I used the first way on Hephasto and I
didn't get scratched! All it takes are real good reflexes
to avoid the blows of Hephasto.
[FROM Werebear:
Now, imagine [a] BLOOD GOLEM going to kill Hephasto with
IRON MAIDEN. Remember, Hephasto do[es] AMPLIFY DAMAGE on
the GOLEM and only do melee damage....
Hope you find this useful. ]
-Werebear
[FROM: Jason Lane
Regarding Hephasto the Armorer, use any sort of minion
whatsoever and cast Iron Maiden on him. I've seen this in
action, it makes for a very short fight, even on Hell
difficulty - since he deals so much damage. ]
-Jason Lane
3a) BOSS : Infector of Souls (Extra Fast, Spectral Hit)
ABILITIES : Power Strike
STRATEGY : Infector of Souls is a Venom Lord Unique. He is also the
easiest of the three sealed monsters of the Chaos
Sanctuary. Think of him as a beefed-up Venom Lord. Sure
he's strong and got a lot of hit points. But, without his
minions with him, he's pretty much nothing.
Simply cast AMPLIFY DAMAGE on his minions and BONE SPEAR
them. When one of them is down, use CORPSE EXPLOSION. And
again if there are any leftovers. Once all of the Infector
of Souls' minions are down, he should also be badly beated
with all of the CORPSE EXPLOSIONS done on him in the
process.
Now, all you got to do are a few more CORPSE EXPLOSIONS
on the pile of bodies you've done with AMPLIFY DAMAGE on
him and, poof!, no more Infector of Souls!
3b) BOSS : Grand Vizier of Chaos (Extra Strong, Fire Enchanted)
ABILITIES : Spark Melee Strike
Homing Mana Drain Missiles
STRATEGY : Grand Vizier of Chaos is a Storm Caster Unique. He has
those annoying Homing Mana Drain Missiles which make it
hard to keep a distance and attack with BONE SPEAR and BONE
SPIRIT because if you get hit with those missiles, your
Mana will empty out pretty quick.
This is an easy battle if you've got a FIRE GOLEM with
you. Run around the Grand Vizier of Chaos and his minions
so that they won't be able to get a bead on you. If they
can't aim at you, they won't be able to hit you with those
missiles. And running around them is a good distraction,
too! Your FIRE GOLEM will kill a few of the minions off
with a little help from your SKELETAL MAGES and a AMPLIFY
DAMAGE Curse. With a few of them down, you've got your ammo
for CORPSE EXPLOSION fun! Keep on running around and
casting CORPSE EXPLOSION on the dead carcasses of the
minion Storm Casters.
Another good thing about the FIRE GOLEM is if it does
die, there is a good chance that the resulting explosion
from its death will take some of those baddies along with
him! This still means that you're gonna get ammo for your
CORPSE EXPLOSIONS!
But, what if you haven't gotten a high enough level for
a FIRE GOLEM? Well, this will be a hard fight! What you
have got to do is pretty much the same thing, but you
really need to be a bit more active!
You still have to have your Necromancer run a circle
around all of the baddies while your minions are in the
fray. Once in a while, stop and cast BONE SPEAR in the
crowd of baddies. Hopefully, you've got some Mana or
Rejuvenation Potions with you to replenish your Mana. When
a few of them are dead, use your CORPSE EXPLOSION on the
dead Storm Casters and keep on doing so until all of them,
including the Grand Vizier of Chaos is dead.
3c) BOSS : Lord De Seis (Extra Strong, Aura Enchanted, Thief)
ABILITIES : Thief Swipe
Bone Spirit
Iron Maiden Curse
Decrepify Curse
STRATEGY : First of all, Lord De Seis is an Oblivion Knight Unique.
And you know what a pain ordinary Oblivion Knights are!
Now, he's a buffed-up Oblivion Knight surrounded by an army
of Doom Knights and Oblivion Knights! Now, THIS is gonna be
rough!
This battle will be extremely tough because, not only is
he a Oblivion Knight, Lord De Seis is surrounded by a horde
of Doom Knights and a few Oblivion Knights. He is also
Extra Strong, so his attacks, the Thief Swipe and Bone
Spirit, do a heck lots of damage to you and your minions!
He also has Iron Maiden and Decrepity Curses. When he
casts Iron Maiden on you, just run away quickly! You'll
know it's Iron Maiden when you see the same tiny fireworks
display over your head. His Decrepify Curse will make it
difficult for you to run and strike with your weapon. So,
run away as far as possible, too, when you get hit with
this curse.
His Thief ability means that each time he connects with
his Thief Swipe, one of your potions from your belt gets
knocked off. Get hit a few times and you're going to have
an empty belt! So, this will make it hard for you to heal
with your potions.
With this in mind, Lord De Seis is going to be extremly
difficult to kill. But, of course, it is possible. With
great skill on you, your Necromancer, the assistance of all
your minions, and a bit of luck, he will die.
This easiest way to kill Lord De Seis is to have a FIRE
GOLEM in your party. Cast AMPLIFY DAMAGE on the herd of
baddies that are coming after the FIRE GOLEM. Now, while
they're all busy beating on your FIRE GOLEM, quickly create
another one, preferribly close by Lord De Seis' position.
With your AMPLIFY DAMAGE over the herd of Doom and Oblivion
Knights that went for the old FIRE GOLEM, the resulting
explosion of creating a new one will kill almost all of
them! Clean up is then easy with a few CORPSE EXPLOSIONS.
Now, all you're left with is Lord De Seis. Run up to him
quickly and whack him. Staying close to him and hitting him
with your weapon will prevent him from casting Bone Spirit
on you. Sooner or later, Lord De Seis will bite the dust.
Without a FIRE GOLEM, you have to rely on your BONE
SPEAR to kill as many minions as possible. Just aim for
Lord De Seis with the BONE SPEAR and make sure that the
BONE SPEAR will strike the group of baddies heading toward
you. Make sure you've got AMPLIFY DAMAGE on him and his
minions while doing this. Afterwards, when a few of the
baddies are dead, CORPSE EXPLOSION on them to clear them
out, leaving Lord De Seis all by his lonesome. Get close to
him, and attack!
At any time, during any of the above methods, you feel
that you're gonna get killed, just run away! I mean it! If
you do die at this point, it is going to be tough returning
to your corpse and get back your equipment with all the
tough monsters still in the area surrounding your dead
body.
Personally, get the FIRE GOLEM and use the first method.
It's really easy with that method! As long as Lord De Seis
is alone, he's really not that hard to beat!
4) BOSS : Diablo
ABILITIES : Ice Claw
Fire Nova
Fire Wall
Fire Bolts
Lightning Wave
Bone Cage
STRATEGY : Here it is! The final battle to decide the fate of
humanity! The concluding match between the forces of good
vs. evil! More importantly, the last boss of Diablo II!
Kill Diablo and the game is over! Sure, you're gonna miss
the long, sleepless nights playing the game! You're going
to remember the good times you had with your faithful
GOLEMS and SKELETON WARRIORS. It's been one hell of a ride
(In fact, the ride took you right into Hell!), but now it's
time to end it! Once and for all!
Diablo has three ranges for his attacks. Get close to
him, he will either try to strike you with his Ice Claw
melee attack or unleash his Lightning Wave. The Ice Claw is
really nothing to fear by itself. But, get hit with it, and
you'll slow way down, making it easy to follow it up with
another Ice Claw or strike you with his Lightning Wave. The
Lightning Wave is a multi-hitting lightning attack, much
like the Fetish Shaman's Inferno. The Inferno does lots of
damage, but Diablo's Lightning Wave will do a colossal
amount of damage if you stay still, even with the best
LIGHTNING Defense on the entire planet! So, close range is
very risky.
At mid-range, Diablo will unleash his Fire Nova (imagine
a Poison Nova, only it's made of fire), Lightning Wave,
Fire Wall and Fire Bolts (much like a Charged Bolt of
fire). The Fire Nova will outright kill your SKELETON
WARRIORS and SKELETAL MAGES. And, with your SKELETAL MAGES
always keeping a distance from a baddie, Diablo will use
Fire Nova for sure to get them!
At long-range, Diablo's attacks are just limited to Fire
Bolts, Fire Nova and his Fire Wall (which he won't do too
much). This is where you should be! Keep a good distance
from Diablo! He can't do much damage with his Fire Wall if
you keep moving. The Fire Bolts are pretty easy to dodge as
well and the Fire Nova will spread out, so you can move in
between the fire balls with precise movement.
Now, while keeping a distance, run around Diablo, just
enough so you can still see him in the screen. Stop
occasionally to cast AMPLIFY DAMAGE on him and your long-
range offensive spell on him. I hope by this time, your
Necromancer has already learned BONE SPIRIT! Having this
spell will eliminate the need for you to accurately aim.
BONE SPEAR can work, but if Diablo's moving around as well,
so it is pretty easy to miss with BONE SPEAR.
Having a FIRE GOLEM is good, too! He will absorb any of
Diablo's Fire attacks into his health, but since his main
close range attacks are non-fire based, your FIRE GOLEM
will die pretty quickly. Which is, actually, a good thing!
The FIRE GOLEM will explode next to Diablo, giving off a
few extra points of damage (I'm guessing Diablo's got good
defense against Fire). Any extra damage is good! Just don't
bother creating a new one. It's better to do it solo (for
once).
If you need to run back to town via Town Portal, run
away from Diablo! I mean, FAR AWAY! Diablo will usually
cast Bone Prison around Town Portals! So, if you're going
to use a Town Portal, either go behind a wall so Diablo
can't see the Portal, or open it up far away from him.
In conclusion, in facing Diablo in the final battle,
pelt away with your BONE SPIRIT or BONE SPEAR spell with
AMPLIFY DAMAGE on him. It'll take a long, long time, but it
is the easiest method I found to kill Diablo!
[FROM: Ja Mes Kor
As for Diablo in Normal, my friend actually suggested to
use the BLOOD GOLEM instead of FIRE, and you need to re-
cast your BLOOD GOLEM numerous times (he was at level 31).
I tried and found that you may still need to run around a
bit like you suggested. My stand is: BLOOD GOLEM is your
blood of survival till ACT 4. ]
-Ja Mes Kor
[FROM: Jason Lane
Regarding Diablo tactics. The very best tactic for a
Necromancer against Diablo, from what I've seen, is to get
someone else to help you. This is easy enough, as many
characters, in higher difficulties, have major problems
with Hephasto.. and an IRON MAIDEN-wielding Necromancer
will, as I said, laugh at him. ]
-Jason Lane
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
H. Tips and Hints
1) PUT THOSE STAT POINTS IN YOUR STRENGTH
Although you won't be needing to get up close and personal with
the baddies most of the time, it's better to be safe and sure. In order
to increase your Defense Rating, you'll need good armor of have good
Dexterity. Unfortunately, increasing your Dexterity won't do much for
your Defense Rating when your Necromancer is at a very high level.
So, what you want is a good armor, shield, etc. In order to do
that, you need to be strong enough to carry the stuff. This is why
Strength increase should be the Character stat you should be putting
your points into. Getting items that can increase your Attack Ratings
is pretty easy to find!
2) SAVE AND UPGRADE THOSE GEMSTONES
In the last Act, where a lot of the baddies do huge Elemental
damage to you. That's why you need to get those Gemstones and upgrade
them. Diamonds, when attached to a Shield will increase all your
Elemental Resistances. Putting an Amethyst in your Shield will increase
it's Defense. Adding a Skull into your Helm will increase your Mana
recovery and will recover Life! Finally, the Emerald in your Headgear
will increase your Dexterity!
3) GET A FAST WEAPON BUT NOT A WIMPY FAST WEAPON
Since you won't be fighting that much, you'll want a weapon that
hits hard and fast for quick getaways. I know that you'll probably find
a weapon that does Enchanted Damage or get a Hammer that does more
damage than your very fast sword, but the fast hit-and-run style really
works well for a Necromancer.
But don't go overboard on the speed department! If you get
surrounded, and you've got a fast weapon but does little damage (for
example, a Dagger), you won't be able to clear out the bad guys around
you!
Also, two handed weapons aren't meant for the Necromancer. Since
you need two hands on a two handed weapon (Duh!), you won't be able to
carry a Shield! And your Shield is needed for added Defense, and if
you've added Gems into your Socketed Shield, it's needed to take most
of your Elemental Damage.
Swords work well. They have fast attacking speed while delivering
modest damage to the opponent. There are other weapons that have
Enhanced Attacking Speed so, even though those type of weapons are slow
weapons normally, the added speed will be welcome while doing the same
amount of damage.
[FROM: Ja Mes Kor
In another Necro FAQ, someone actually suggested to use a really
damaging 2-handed weapon in later ACTs...I think this may be true in
Nightmare...I found one Maul and went back to get it imbued and it does
nearly 90 dmg on average and it kills off enemy faster. A gemmed shield
is useful when you meet up with those irritating elemental attacks...
otherwise I keep the shield for later uses. ]
-Ja Mes Kor
4) LEARN THOSE USEFUL SPELLS AND USE THEM!
You've gotta love those spells the Necromancer has! Sure, a lot of
them suck big time and aren't worth getting, but the ones that really
work well, really work damn good!
AMPLIFY DAMAGE is bound to be one of your faves! It costs only a
few Mana points, yet it will double the damage you and your minions can
do!
CORPSE EXPLOSION does a huge amount of damage! Kill a baddie and
cast it on the body! BOOM! A few more baddies are bound to die, setting
up for more CORPSE EXPLOSION attacks! Also, exploding a corpse prevents
the dead body from being ressurected by creature that have the ability
to raise the dead.
BONE SPEAR and BONE SPIRIT also does a lot of damage! BONE SPEAR
is great for huge groups of monsters. The BONE SPEAR will eliminate a
few of them, setting them up for CORPSE EXPLOSION. The BONE SPIRIT, on
the other hand, will only hit one baddie, but will to massive damage,
and will chase the targeted monster!
5) SUMMONING MAKES SURE YOU'RE NEVER ALONE
Any SKELETON WARRIOR and MAGE are really good in times when you
need assistance quickly. They can provide distractions if you need to
run away. Not only that, using those spells will deny the body to be
ressurected ever again.
REVIVED creatures, although they are active for a limited time,
are really powerful if you use this spell on Champions and Uniques.
They also get a big boost on their life stats. It's great on Bosses,
like Mephisto (if you manage to get Level 30 at that time) and Diablo!
Finally, the jewel of your Summoning monsters, the GOLEMS! The
CLAY GOLEM is tough enough to last till the end of Act I, and BLOOD
GOLEMS work wondrous against huge amount of baddies. IRON GOLEMS are
real bad boys! They can take a beating and dish it out as well! It's
THORNS Aura also help it kill tough monsters, especially the Extra
Strong, by returning 150% of the damage back to the attacker.
And, last but not least, the FIRE GOLEM will absorb Fire Elemental
attacks to its health, has a Fire Aura as well and really hits hard!
Another ability that the FIRE GOLEM has that no one really exploits is
the fact that, when it dies, it explodes, delivering Fire Damage to the
surrounding baddies!
The Summoned Monsters are Mana expensive, but, then again, YOU
ONLY HAVE TO CAST IT ONCE! Unlike your other spells, like AMPLIFY
DAMAGE and BONE SPEAR, the effect of the spell and the damage it does
either has a time limit or is instantaneous. They can last for a long
time. And, when they do die, you can always make another one, and
return to the nerest town and recharge you Mana!
6) SAVE THAT IMBUE
In Act I, when you return the Horadric Malus to Charsi, she'll say
that she'll Imbue one of your ordinary Items with Magic properties. It
may be tempting to use it immediately, but don't! Save it until Act IV!
In Act IV, the ordinary Item you can buy are really good! So,
Imbuing an item that you get during Act IV, and Imbue that Item, you'll
get a really powerful item!
I suggest Imbuing the best armor you can get later in the game,
then go back all the way to the Rouge Encampment. Go to Charsi and give
her the armor and have her Imbue it. After that, she'll give you your
new, powerful Magic Armor!
7) CHEAT!
You heard me right! Cheat! For example, if you're gonna Gamble or
get a Ring as a reward, save the game first! Then, go back to Windows
(you don't have to exit the game) and copy all the save game data from
the save directory of Diablo II to another directory.
Now, load the game again and do whatever you want. If you get a
lousy item from Gambling or a crummy Ring for a reward, go back to the
Main Menu of Diablo II by saving the game. Since you didn't want what
you got, simply overwrite that save game with the one you copied to a
different directory! You're back again without the said Item and you can try
again!
Do this when you're about to use the Imbue! Imbue it and then, if
you think the new Imbued Item sucks, just do the above process!
8) IF YOU CAN PLAY MULTIPLAYER WITH YOUR FRIENDS, DO SO!
Why? Playing with friends is just darn fun! I played with my
friend. I was using my Necromancer while he used his Paladin character.
No matter how powerful the baddies were, the fights were pretty easy!
Imagine the combinations! Your Necromancer and his minions, with
the help of a Paladin with Prayer, Might or Thorns Aura. You, your
Undead army, a Golem with an Amazon pelting the baddies from long
range. Two Necromancers with a ton of minions! Your Necromancer casting
Amplify Damage while a Barbarian totally killing the forces of evil!
Letting your minions distract a horde of monsters while a Sorceress
friend cast Frozen Orb on the lot of them! Or, ALL CHARACTER CLASSES
against the army of the Evil Dead! The possibilites are endless!
Also, you can trade your items! With the help of your online
friends, it's pretty easy to complete the Set Items! Help your friends
by giving him items that you don't need anymore! Or they can help you
in the same way!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Help Me!
Send me some comments or suggestions to make this FAQ a better one.
They are always welcome! Contact me at fiefo@hotmail.com.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
J. Thanks!
www.gamefaqs.com (CJayC)- a great site for your faqs! Thanks for
putting this one up! You get credit now for
being the first one to do so!
DLH.net (Bernd Wolffgramm) - thanks for asking to put this up!
gameadvice.com (Al Amaloo) - thanks for asking to put this up!
neoseeker.com (Peter Judson) - thanks for asking to put this up!
Blizzard - for making Diablo II. I hope you guys can read this FAQ!
'Coz I wanna say thanks for the great game that Diablo II
is!
Werebear (Chris Chua) - Gave me a few pointers on how to defeat Duriel,
Izual, Hephasto the Armorer, and even Diablo
himself! That's quite a lot of help!
DragonSlayer2500 - Gave advice to beat Duriel and Mephisto, two major
Bosses! Thanks!
Ja Mes Kor - For some great advice to beat Duriel, Izual, and Mephisto.
Diablo, too!
Jason Lane - For tons of advice in the game! And I mean TONS! Go ahead!
weight it! It's about 2,000 lbs!
The "Lurkers" - Friends to Jason Lane. They gave Jason Lane a huge bulk
of the info he sent.
Thomas Schuering - For pointing out to me that my FAQ was a bit wonky
in it's former setting.
Norman Lee - for letting me play Diablo II for the first time at his
house! And for playing with me online! Thanks, pal!
END!
by: Fiefo! (fiefo@hotmail.com)
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
A. Legal Stuff and Where to Find This FAQ
B. Revision History
C. What is This FAQ For?
D. Necromancy 101
1. Curses
2. Poison and Bone Spells
3. Summoning Spells
E. Training Your Necromancer
F. Necromancer Walkthru
1. Act I
2. Act II
3. Act III
4. Act IV
G. Boss Guide
1. Act I Bosses
2. Act II Bosses
3. Act III Bosses
4. Act IV Bosses
H. Tips and Hints
I. Help Me!
J. Credits
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Legal Stuff:
All the information here is for public viewing and should not be
used for profit and the expressed permission of the author. Please do
not use the information in here for any personal gain. This FAQ, being
published in the Internet is automatically is protected by international
copyright laws.
In other words, this is mine! Don't remove my name and say, "This
is my FAQ and I'm taking all of the credit for it!" Got it?
This FAQ can only be found in these places for now...
1) www.gamefaqs.com (Lots of faqs here. Duh! The first update
will ALWAYS be here!)
2) DLH.net (European site! Pretty cool design here!)
3) neoseeker.com (More like a host page, but it does got a few
good FAQs as well!)
4) gameadvice.com (Actually has TWO sites within it!)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Revision History
1.0 October 1, 2000
First draft. More to come?
1.1 October 3, 2000
Boss Guide Update. Thanks to Werebear and DragonSlayer2500.
More websites where this FAQ can be found!
1.2 October 8, 2000
MAJOR REFORMAT of borders and spaces. Thanks to Thomas Schuering.
UPDATE on almost everything! Thanks to Ja Mes Kor and Jason
Lane (and the "Lurkers")for the big amount of info.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
C. What is This FAQ For?
First things first, although this FAQ gives hints on how to play
the game as a Necro, you can use a lot of the information, like the
walkthru and the boss guide. But, it shows on how to use a Necromancer
efficiently, because... HE'S TOUGH TO USE!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy my work!
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D. Necromancy 101
This is a general runthrough on the Skill Tree of the Necromancer.
As you know, there are some skills that are useful and some, well,
plain suck. This goes for all of the Classes. But more so for the
Necromancer! A lot of his skills are not useful, but he sure has some
powerful stuff. This is just to make sure you don't get a lemon-like
skill (which he's got a lot of!).
1. CURSES
The weakest part of a Necromancer's Skill Tree. A lot of the stuff
here is plain useless... but there are a few gems here... not much, but
the few that are actually good you'll probably use until the end of the
game.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Curses: You've underestimated the power of this entire tree. You're
not the only one. Various people have played curse-specialized
Necromancers. The curses are so powerful that it does in fact
work - all the way through the higher difficulty levels. This
tree is fully as powerful as the other two, if employed
properly. ]
-Jason Lane
The great thing about curses is that they don't use up a lot of
Mana points.
Skill Name : Amplify Damage
Required : None
Skill Effect : Double damage to a group of enemies in a set radius.
Pros : Makes killing bad guys much, much easier!
Cons : Radius range and time of effect is limited.
Comments : One of the better skills a Necromancer has to him.
You'll probably use this in almost all instances when
fighting.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Amplify Damage: Actually reduces the 'resist physical' attribute.
This is largely irrelevant, but it does mean that
melee attacks against the Insects will do 11 times as
much damage as normal (they have 90% physical
resistance), and similar effects will be seen against
anything with the 'resist physical' attribute -
Wraiths would be an example. Not as powerful as you
think it is, in comparison to other curses. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Dim Vision
Required : Level SIX (6)
Skill Effect : Cursed monster's light radius is greatly reduced.
Affects a certain area or group of monsters.
Pros : Opponents can't see far ahead, making it easier to do
sneak attacks or just sneak past opponents.
Cons : Once you get close to the bad guys, it becomes pretty
useless.
Comments : Not really that good. It's pretty useful against
monsters with projectile attacks, tho.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Dim Vision: This can completely freeze many monsters in their tracks -
melee attackers as well as ranged. The major trick is
that if it's already targeting something, it will continue
to chase and target it.
If it has to pick another action - ranged attackers do
this for each attack - it'll realize it's blind and stop.
I've noted earlier in this email that BONE WALL and FIRE
GOLEM cause their victims to pick a new action. :) Of
course, if it's attacked melee, it'll just
counterattack... but this can still be used to effectively
immobilize many opponents in many circumstances. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Weaken
Required : Level SIX (6)
Skill Effect : Casts a curse in a set radius that makes that group of
monsters strike with less strength, thereby reducing the
damage inflicted.
Pros : Hey, damage done to you is reduced! Makes you like
longer, right?
Cons : A whole group of monsters, even while WEAKENed, can
still take you out!
Damage reduced isn't that much, unless you really put
Skill Points here.
Comments : Better off putting the Skill Point into AMPLIFY DAMAGE.
That way, you can kill the monsters before they can even
get a chance to cause damage!
Skill Name : Iron Maiden
Required : Amplify Damage, Level TWELVE (12)
Skill Effect : Casts on a group of monsters, this will cause them to
receive some damage that the cursed ones dish out.
Pros : Opponents can actually kill themselves!
Cons : You can still get killed!
Doesn't seem to work on Elemental attacks.
Comments : Good for fighting against those "Extra Strong" monsters.
Cast it on them and then let your minions take the
damage. Or just cast BONE ARMOR on yourself and let
yourself get attacked and recast BONE ARMOR again and
again until the monster dies!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Iron Maiden: In and of itself, is vastly powerful in combination with
any minions - more so than the minions attacking in and of
themselves. This is the single most commonly cast
Necromancer curse on higher difficulties. It's worth it.]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Terror
Required : Weaken, Level TWELVE (12)
Skill Effect : Causes monsters to flee!
Pros : Good when surrounded!
Cons : You'll have to chase your opponent!
Comments : Not that useful. Just try not to get surrounded and you
won't need this skill at all. Besides, CORPSE EXPLOSION
works better in clearing out a room if you are
surrounded!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Terror: A wonderful curse. As I said in the BONE WALL entry, this can
be used to end fights instantly. But wait, there's more!
TERROR sets a bit of information on the monster, called its
'flee flag'. This means that REGARDLESS of whether TERROR is
actually on it, the monster will continue to flee. Yes, this
means that you can effectively stack another curse on TERROR.
Why would you want to? Wait. :) ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Confuse
Required : Dim Vision, Level EIGHTEEN (18)
Skill Effect : Cursed monsters attacks anyone in range, friend or foe!
Pros : Can make the opponent fight one of his partners.
Cons : They still can attack you!
You have to have learned DIM VISION!
Comments : Kinda fun to use... but is it worth getting this skill?
Not really.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Confuse: A beautiful, beautiful curse. Its basic effect is to cause
CONFUSED monsters to attack any non-CONFUSED monster they see.
The first note regarding this is that this only becomes
effective when they decide what to do - ie, a FIRE GOLEM's
aura affects them. So, I just said that TERROR was so useful.
Why?
Because you can stack CONFUSE the fleeing monsters.. and they
will run off at warp speed to find non-CONFUSED monsters to
kill!
Another huge application of this skill comes from the fact
that Uniques, Champions, and Bosses are basically immune to
most curses - including this one. So if you cast a CONFUSE
over the Unique and his army of Minions, all of the Minions
will become CONFUSED... and the Unique won't. CONFUSE makes
CONFUSED monsters attack non-CONFUSED monsters. Poor, poor
Unique. :) ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Life Tap
Required : Iron Maiden, Level EIGHTEEN (18)
Skill Effect : When any of your party hits a monster inflicted with
this, they will get back 50% on what they inflict.
Pros : You can get your life back without using a potion!
Cons : You have to hit to get life back!
Comments : Use this on one-on-one battles only! You won't get
enough life back if you try to fight back against a
horde of baddies to survive.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Life Tap: You should never be meleeing anything as a Necromancer. If
you play the game single-player, this curse is basically
useless. If you ever play the game multiplayer, and use LIFE
TAP with the right people around, they will follow you around
like lost puppies. (Much as Barbarians do regarding my
Paladin's high-level Concentration aura. Something about
doing more than four times their usual damage, I think.)
Why?
Because LIFE TAP basically makes a melee Paladin or a
Barbarian completely invincible. They do so much damage that
having half of it return to them means it looks like they
drank a Rejuvenation potion anytime they hit. LIFE TAP will
make you lots and lots of friends. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Attract
Required : Confuse, Level TWENTY-FOUR (24)
Skill Effect : Cursed monsters attack each other!
Pros : Hey! Any damage not done to you is great!
Cons : You have to have learned DIM VISION!
Comments : Watch the monsters fight each other! They kill each
other and you and your minions can finish off the
leftovers. Problem is, you've gotta learn DIM
VISION, and that sort of sucks!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Attract: Like CONFUSE, worship this curse. The applications should be
fairly common-sense - ATTRACT and CONFUSE basically make
living monsters into your minions. Why bother with corpses?
Note that like CONFUSE and DIM VISION, the effects of ATTRACT
depend on having the monsters "decide what to do next". If
they're already targeting something, you have to shake them
off of it to make ATTRACT work. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Decrepify
Required : Weaken, Level TWENTY-FOUR (24)
Skill Effect : Cursed Monsters move sloooooooooowly.
Pros : Makes opponents use slowly so's you can chase them down!
Also does AMPLIFY DAMAGE and WEAKEN at the same time!
Cons : Nothing really... but it's such a pretty stupid skill
for a Level 24 curse.
Comments : You and your minions will have an easier time smashing
up baddies and avoiding the blows of the baddies!
Still... at this point, you won't really need this
skill!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Decrepify: An evil, evil curse. Its main application is in player-vs-
player curse. This curse massively slows its victim, has
an effect similar to a weaker AMPLIFY DAMAGE, AND WEAKENs
things more than WEAKEN does. A high-level DECREPIFY and a
high-level BONE SPIRIT are a very lethal combination in
[player-vs-player] indeed. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Lower Resist
Required : Decrepify, Life Tap, Level THIRTY (30)
Skill Effect : Affected monster takes extra damage from elemental
attacks.
Pros : When used in conjunction with your poison attacks, FIRE
GOLEM and SKELETAL MAGES, you can pump up the damage
pretty fierce.
Cons : AMPLIFY DAMAGE is better, and you can get that at
Level 1, right from the start!
Comments : For one thing, AMPLIFY DAMAGE is much more powerful when
you've got a FIRE GOLEM and a good weapon.
Another thing, it may increase the elemental damage
caused, but you've got to have SKELETAL MAGES that live
long lives to make this useful.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Lower Resist: Not all that useful. It's noteworthy that if you
associate with a character whose primary attack forms do
elemental damage and cast this Curse, they will worship
you, follow you around, try to become your friend, etc..
Sorceresses would be the major example. I've had a
Necromancer cast this spell for my Sorceress. Things
die. Immediately. So a single, lonely point might be
worth it. ]
-Jason Lane
2. POISON AND BONE SPELLS
A much better set of spells compared to Curses! Has some pretty
powerful damaging spells and quite a few weak ones as well.
Skill Name : Teeth
Required : None
Skill Effect : Throws a spread of magical bone projectiles.
Pros : Your first magical projectile.
Has spread damage.
TEETH can pass thru opponents, harming the one behind
the creature!
The next spell after this is POWERFUL!
Cons : Extremely SUCKY damage.
Comments : Lot of pros, but pretty weak! Teeth becomes useless very
quickly!
Put one point into it, so you can learn the spell after
this, which it pretty powerful!
Skill Name : Bone Armor
Required : None
Skill Effect : A revolving shield of bones protect the Necromancer from
melee and non-magical projectile attacks.
Pros : If this is active, you take no damage from melee and
non-projectile attacks from baddies.
Cons : Doesn't protect against elemental and magical attacks.
It can get destroyed.
Comments : Great spell! Just watch the BONE ARMOR closely. If it
gets damage, recast it again! Upgrade this a lot early
in the game!
Skill Name : Poison Dagger
Required : Level SIX (6)
Skill Effect : You can cause poison damage when using a dagger.
Also amplifies attack rating when used.
Pros : Poison damage with this spell is pretty good.
You pump up the attack rating with this move, almost
getting a sure hit.
Cons : You need a dagger!
Comments : When the hell are you gonna use a dagger?
Skill Name : Corpse Explosion
Required : Teeth, Level SIX (6)
Skill Effect : Cast on a dead monster. The surrounding monsters will
take 60-100% of the corpse's hit points!
Pros : Does a heck of a lot of damage!
Cons : You need a dead body to use this.
Comments : Bound to be one of your favorite spells! Kill a monster.
Lead baddies to the dead monster and let loose with
this! If the group of baddies don't die, they should be
easy pickings! If some of them die, use this again...
Use in conjunction with AMPLIFY DAMAGE for lotsa mayhem!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Corpse Explosion: The first spell I've found you overestimating the
effectiveness of. While this is a wonderful
offensive spell, as of version 1.03 the damage does
not scale with monster hp.
Say you use this against a monster that has 1000 hp.
In a single-player game, this will do 600-1000 damage
and, of course, be wonderful. In an eight-player
game (common in Realm play), however, it will STILL
do 600-1000 damage.. while the monster will now have
huge numbers of additional hp. REVIVED and other
methods become more effective methods of doing damage
at ths point. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Bone Wall
Required : Bone Shield, Level TWELVE (12)
Skill Effect : Creates a wall of bone to block your opponent's path.
Pros : You can either use this to escape or prevent monsters
from escaping!
Cons : Pretty useless in almost all situations!
Hard to aim properly!
The SKELETONS that you re-animate will actually try to
destroy it!
Comments : Don't waste your time here. By this time, running should
be easy with AMPLIFY DAMAGE-CORPSE EXPLOSION combo.
Besides, you've got minions to sacrifice when you want
to escape!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Bone Prison : These two spells are widely agreed, by those who use
Bone Wall them, to be the most widely underestimated Necromancers
spells in the game. BONE WALL is up there with TERROR,
in general, as one of the best spells for ending a fight
that's not going your way IMMEDIATELY. Very, very unfair
kills are possible against the Smith and Hephasto with
BONE WALL. One of these spells' major advantages, and
one that's very hard to find out about, is the fact that
their HP scale with difficulty level. In Hell
difficulty, BONE WALL has a base of 400+ hp.
Furthermore, EACH SECTION has that many hp - meaning that
attacks on unrelated sections of the wall don't
effectively combine. The destruction of one section, of
course, results in the destruction of the whole wall.
It's worth noting here, because it'll become relevant
when I get to Curses, that BONE WALL causes monsters to
stop and think about what to do next. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Poison Explosion
Required : Poison Dagger, Corpse Explosion, Level TWELVE (18)
Skill Effect : Poison explodes from a corpse.
Pros : Works well against monsters with good defense.
Cons : Not as powerful as CORPSE EXPLOSION.
You have to get POISON DAGGER... which is very useless!
Comments : Stick with CORPSE EXPLOSION. This is only useful against
opponents who have high defense ratings... but you've
got AMPLIFY DAMAGE so there's no need to worry against
high defense monsters, correct?
Skill Name : Bone Spear
Required : Corpse Explosion, Level EIGHTEEN (18)
Skill Effect : Throw a magical bone projectile at opponents.
Pros : Very powerful, very fast.
The projectile will pierce thru monsters, hitting
baddies who are behind them.
Good for creating long distance CORPSE EXPLOSIONS.
Cons : Lots of mana needed.
Comments : I love this one! Useful in tight places when you can
just line up the baddies and let loose with this
multiple times to kill all of them quickly!
Use against multiple baddies.
Skill Name : Bone Prison
Required : Bone Wall, Level TWENTY-FOUR (24)
Skill Effect : Surrounds monsters with Bone Walls.
Pros : Makes monsters stop running so you can pelt them with
projectiles.
Cons : Useless in most cases.
The SKELETONS that you re-animate will actually try to
destroy it!
Comments : Like BONE WALL, don't waste your time here... but then
again, you wouldn't be able to learn this in the first
place unless you wasted your time with BONE WALL, right?
[FROM: Jason Lane
Bone Prison : These two spells are widely agreed, by those who use
Bone Wall them, to be the most widely underestimated Necromancers
spells in the game. BONE WALL is up there with TERROR,
in general, as one of the best spells for ending a fight
that's not going your way IMMEDIATELY. Very, very unfair
kills are possible against the Smith and Hephasto with
BONE WALL. One of these spells' major advantages, and
one that's very hard to find out about, is the fact that
their HP scale with difficulty level. In Hell
difficulty, BONE WALL has a base of 400+ hp.
Furthermore, EACH SECTION has that many hp - meaning that
attacks on unrelated sections of the wall don't
effectively combine. The destruction of one section, of
course, results in the destruction of the whole wall.
It's worth noting here, because it'll become relevant
when I get to Curses, that BONE WALL causes monsters to
stop and think about what to do next. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Poison Nova
Required : Poison Explosion, Level THIRTY (30)
Skill Effect : Necromancer produces foul-smelling Body Odor (hehe).
Pros : All monsters surrounding the Necro takes a big, powerful
whiff of poisonous, and deadly body odor, or something
like that.
You don't need a corpse or a whimpy dagger!
Cons : You need to learn POISON DAGGER!
Comments : In the first place, you shouldn't get surrounded! Also,
it takes time to kill with poison, so you can still die
while waiting for the monsters to die!
Skill Name : Bone Spirit
Required : Bone Spear, Level THIRTY (30)
Skill Effect : Aim at a baddie and cast this. The projectile will hunt
down the target!
Pros : Follows the baddie wherever it may go!
Extremly Powerful!
Cons : Dissipate with time.
Doesn't hit multiple monsters like BONE SPEAR and TEETH.
You have to aim it to make sure it hits the desired
baddie.
Comments : Extremly useful, especially against fast moving monster
who are hard to aim with the BONE SPEAR.
Use this against single opponents.
[FROM: Jason Lane
All of the Poison spells: Poison, for numerous reasons, is horribly
buggy in Diablo 2. It fails to work in a
whole multitude of nasty ways. No one who's
not deliberately playing a difficult
character should consider these spells at
all. ]
-Jason Lane
3. SUMMONING SPELLS
Although you only use these spells from time to time (re-casting
your Golem, trying to get a better Skeletal Mage, etc.), these are
probably your most useful spells in the game for the Necromancer!
Skill Name : Raise Skeleton
Required : None
Skill Effect : Raises a Skeleton Warrion from a dead monster to fight
for you.
Pros : Have an extra ally when you need it!
Cons : Pretty dumb (can get in your way in tight corridors)
Very low HP.
Pretty much useless by the end of Act I.
Comments : Putting Skill points into this will increase the number
of SKELETON WARRIORS you can create at a time. By the
end of Act I, these guys pretty much die with a few
hits, so I suggest you don't put too much reliance on
these guys.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Raise Skeleton: It would be a good idea to make the entry for Raise
Skeleton read more like: "This skill is completely
useless after Act I Normal, and in the higher
difficulties becomes a complete joke. Do not even
think about putting a second point into this skill.
Ever." ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Skeleton Mastery
Required : Raise Skeleton
Skill Effect : Raises the damage and health of all types of SKELETONS
and REVIVED creatures.
Pros : Makes your SKELETONS stronger and tougher to kill!
Being a PASSIVE Skill, this requires no Mana.
Cons : The boost in life and damage really isn't sufficient to
put a lot of points into this skill.
Comments : You may want to put a few points here, but in the long
run, it would be better to put the points into GOLEM
skills.
Skill Name : Clay Golem
Required : Level SIX (6)
Skill Effect : Creates a creature from the ground to fight for you.
Pros : Stronger and tougher that your Skeleton creatures in
every way.
Cons : You can have only one Golem, of any type, at a time.
Pretty dumb (can get in your way in tight corridors)
Comments : Putting points here will give the CLAY GOLEM more life
and strength, NOT the ability to make more GOLEMS.
This is better than the SKELETON WARRIORS in every way.
But they do become useless by the middle of Act II.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Clay Golem: I'm told that various odd strategies involving them are
possible, mainly revolving around Iron Maiden and the fact
that they cost very, very little to cast. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Golem Mastery
Required : Clay Golem, Level SIX (6)
Skill Effect : Increases the life and speed of your Golems.
Pros : Your Golems will live longer and move faster.
Being a PASSIVE Skill, this required no Mana.
Cons : Doesn't increase the attacking power of your GOLEMS.
Comments : Put some points into it. You're gonna use GOLEMS a lot,
even in the end part of the game.
Skill Name : Raise Skeletal Mage
Required : Raise Skeleton, Level TWELVE (12)
Skill Effect : Summons from a dead baddie a SKELETON that can throw
elemetal projectiles.
Pros : Projectile throwing SKELETONS makes it easy to find
baddies.
They do elemental damage, which is always useful.
Cons : Pretty dumb (can get in your way in tight corridors)
They die easily in higher stages of the game.
Comments : Putting points here increases the amount of SKELETAL
MAGES you can have at a time, So, if you want, put a lot
of points here to have a powerful elemental army!
Skill Name : Blood Golem
Required : Clay Golem, Level EIGHTEEN (18)
Skill Effect : Summons a Golem that is linked to your health.
Pros : Very tough to kill!
When the BLOOD GOLEM hits a monster, you get back a
small percentage of life.
Cons : When the BLOOD GOLEM is hit, you lose a small percentage
of life.
You can have only one Golem, of any type, at a time.
Pretty dumb (can get in your way in tight corridors)
Comments : Good for getting life back. Just sit back and watch it
give you life by letting it kill baddies for you.
Unfortunately, if your BLOOD GOLEM gets overwhelmed,
you lose some life as well.
Putting Skill Points here will increase the damage
and the percentage of life/damage returned to you.
[FROM: Ja Mes Kor
Blood Golem: BLOOD GOLEM is your blood of survival till ACT 4. ]
-Ja Mes Kor
[FROM: Jason Lane
Blood Golem: You underestimate the current (v1.03) power of BLOOD GOLEM
and IRON MAIDEN. While BLOOD GOLEM is nothing special in
and of itself, damage inflicted by IRON MAIDEN is counted
as damage inflicted by the GOLEM. Meaning that the GOLEM
will heal itself, and you, thus making the two of you
practically immortal. Note that this is widely agreed to
be a bug, and will probably get nerfed (weakened).
Eventually.
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Summon Resist
Required : Golem Mastery, Level TWENTY-FOUR (24)
Skill Effect : All your minions gets resistances to elemental attacks.
Pros : Your minions don't die that easily from elemental magic.
Being a PASSIVE Skill, this required no Mana.
Cons : Your minions still will die from elemental attacks!
This skill DOES NOT increase YOUR resistance to
elemental attacks.
Comments : Not really that useful in my opinion since it doesn't
help you defend against the elements. Better off putting
that point in the MASTERY skills if you want them to get
tougher.
Skill Name : Iron Golem
Required : Blood Golem, Level TWENTY-FOUR (24)
Skill Effect : Creates a Golem from any weapon or armor made of metal.
Pros : The IRON GOLEM takes on the properties of the object
it's created from!
At level 2, the IRON GOLEM has a THORNS Aura, which
returns damage that it takes from close melee attacks.
Cons : You NEED a metal weapon for this to work!
You can have only one Golem, of any type, at a time.
Pretty dumb (can get in your way in tight corridors)
Comments : Buy a magical weapon made of metal then cast this spell
the instant you leave town. Now you don't have to worry
about finding a metal weapon with good magical
properties. Can be expensive, tho.
With the THORNS Aura, baddies can actually kill
themselves... and with the AMPLIFY DAMAGE curse working
in your favor...
Skill Name : Fire Golem
Required : Iron Golem, Level THIRTY (30)
Skill Effect : Creates a Fire Golem... 'nuff said.
Pros : FIRE GOLEMS actually ABSORB Fire elemental damage to
it's life!
Has a Fire Aura that hits for small damage when a baddie
is visible.
Creating a new or Unsummoning a FIRE GOLEM, or if it
dies, willl cause it to explode for extremely powerful
fire damage.
Cons : Very consuming on the Mana!
You can have only one Golem, of any type, at a time.
Pretty dumb (can get in your way in tight corridors)
Comments : You'll love this guy! This is the reason why I leveled
up until Level 30!
Send this guy into the fray. If he gets surrounded and
you've got Mana to spare, blow him up! Big time damage,
setting up for the CORPSE EXPLOSION chain attack for the
leftovers!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Fire Golem: One note. This GOLEM's fire aura, while nearly useless in
higher difficulties in terms of damage dealt, is
significant in that it's counted as an attack against
anything it targets - causing the monster to stop and
think about what to do next (more about this later, under
Curses), and under most circumstances causing them to then
turn and attack the GOLEM. This makes this GOLEM VERY
good at attracting monsters. ]
-Jason Lane
Skill Name : Revive
Required : Raise Skeletal Mage, Level THIRTY (30)
Skill Effect : Revived a dead monster to fight for you!
Pros : Works on all dead baddies!
They get a life boost!
Cons : Time limit sucks.
Comments : If it weren't for the time limit, this would be the
Necro's best spell.
Raise a baddie that you had a tough time killing so that
the rest of the remaining monsters can feel the
hardships that you endured!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Revive: You underestimate the power of Revived. Revive is unbelievably
useful - any conventional Necromancer in NightMare+ difficulty
will have a bunch floating around. Ten at a time isn't at all
unusual. You cannot revive Bosses, Uniques, or Champions,
unfortunately. Mephisto will not get up and follow you around.
Pity. :) ]
-Jason Lane
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E. Training Your Necromancer
Okay, let me get this out first. The Necromancer is very, VERY hard
to make effective, seeing that his Skill Tree has a lot of useless
stuff in it. But, the useful spells that he can learn are, without a
doubt, the most powerful spells in the World of Sanctuary.
Below are the strengths and weaknesses of a Necromancer. They are
not really 100% correct for your character because you'll be
distributing your stat and skill points the way you think. I'm just
basing this on my experience in the game.
WEAKNESSES:
1) He doesn't go to the gym that often.
The Necromancer's starting strength is pretty low. He is on par
with the Sorceress strength-wise. Not exactly a young Hercules, is he?
Which brings us to his defense. Seeing that he cannot carry heavy
stuff, heavy armor will be a problem!
This is easily remedied by pumping up his strength stats early on
in the game, rather than his other abilities. It's easier to get useful
items that increase you Attack and Defense Ratings, the amount of Mana
and Health you have, rather that equipment that boosts your strength ratings.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Your stat advice fails to take in one major factor. In higher
difficulty levels, defense is basically completely meaningless, unless
you're a Barbarian with Shout and Iron Skin so as to achieve 3000+
defense. The 1k defense my paladin has is just a nice addition to
shield blocking. The basic reason for this is that monster Attack
Rating is a multiple of what it should actually be, and the bug causing
it isn't likely to be fixed for game balance reasons. In Hell
difficulty, it's 16 times what it should be. Defense is useless,
especially for spellcasters. Go for modifiers instead. Even for melee
classes, non-defense equipment is now desirable - check out what
Iceblink, a unique splint mail with low defense, is trading for these
days.
This means that Strength, in your strategy, is... kinda useless.
Don't ask me what to go for instead. I'm still thinking about it. :) ]
-Jason Lane
2) For a Spell-Caster, he doesn't have a lot of Mana.
His Mana is really limited, unlike the Sorceress, who has a
Passive skill that will increase the rate of her Mana recovery.
Thankfully, his Summoning spells are pretty low, and the Curses
practically use no Mana. The only problem is his Poison and Bone
spells,
which are pretty Mana-expensive.
It's a good thing that Mana potions give him a lot of Mana when
compared to other classes like the Barbarian.
3) Health Potions are not too effective on him.
Health Potions, when compared to, say, a Barbarian class warrior,
doesn't give him much health. Pumping up on his energy is out of the
question, because you should be concentrating on putting those Stat
Points to Strength.
To offset this (sorta), the Necromancer has the BLOOD GOLEM, which
gives life back to you with each successful attack it does, and the
LIFE TAP Curse. Still, your better off bringing a whole herd of Health
and Rejuvenation potions instead.
STRENGTHS:
1) Necromancers got good eyesight!
The initial dexterity is really high for a Necromancer! This means
that he has good initial Attack and Defense Ratings. Sadly, this won't
be much use for a Necromancer. The reason is...
2) You're almost never gonna fight alone!
With the ability to create minions, you don't have to buy friends
like the other classes. You can MAKE friends! They will do most of the
fighting for you, while you just concentrate on the baddies that cause
the most trouble for you (monsters that heal and ressurect other monsters,
enchanted creatures, etc.), or you can just hang back and watch the
action!
Still, you shouldn't over-rely on your minions, especially against
Uniques and Bosses. They are generally throw pillows to them. You
definitely need to help out in these cases.
3) Dead bodies is the ammunition of your Necromancer.
CORPSE EXPLOSION is super damaging... and it can kill a whole mess
of creautes in a hurry... creating more corpses for your CORPSE
EXPLOSION! Also, you need corpses to create your Undead army!
4) The few Curses that are useful are REALLY useful!
AMPLIFY DAMAGE makes baddies easy pickings for your minions and
CORPSE EXPLOSION. IRON MAIDEN is great against bosses because they
actually whack the crap out of him or herself! They smash up your
minions? Just make some more! They kill them again? Make more! They'll
eventually kill themselves! Sneaky, huh?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
F. Necromancer Walkthru:
Although this is for Necromancers, other classes can get ideas for
their own battles.
A SPECIAL NOTE! This Section has some spoilers on the storyline.
So, read with caution.
A note before I start with the walkthru. You will eventually find
gemstones while defeating the monsters and such and you will find Gem
Shrines, which will give you a gemstone if you don't have one or
upgrade a gemstone in your inventory.
I suggest the instant you find a Gem Shrine, try to make sure that
you upgrade the Diamond, the Skull and Emerald Gemstones to Perfect if
you can. You'll need them when you are in the final Act.
Another note: These are notes for casual players of Diablo II.
That means, no heavy levelling up. Just enough leveling up. No extra
levels (like the Moo Moo Farm, Nightmare or Hell levels). Just for the
ones who are having a devil of a time with the game.
--------
1. Act I
--------
Town/City: Rouge Encampment
People : Akara - Heals you for free when you talk to her.
Sells specific class weapons (wands for example),
potions and scrolls.
Kasha - Lets you hire Amazon archer warriors.
Charsi - Repairs your equipment.
Sells weapons and armor.
Gheed - Sells weapons and armor.
Sells unidentified equipment (Gamble option).
Cain - Identifies items for free (only after Quest III)
Warriv - Brings you to Lut Gholein (only after Quest VI).
QUEST I: Den of Evil
Available when : after talking to Akara.
Goal of Quest : Kill all monsters in the Den of Evil.
Reward given : Free Skill Point.
Recommended Level : 1 - 6
After talking to Warriv (the first person you see), he directs you
to talk to the leader of the camp, Akara. Go speak to her (she is
located in the east part of the encampment). She tells you that there
is a cave that is filled with the minions of evil. If you are truely
their friend, you will help them. So, off to the Blood Moor, which is
just outside the camp.
I suggest you train a bit so that you can get at least one more
SKELETON WARRIOR or a CLAY GOLEM in the Blood Moor. Oh, and get AMPLIFY
DAMAGE while you're at it. If you can, get TEETH now. It's probably the
only time it will be useful in th game.
Anyway, eventually, you'll come across a cave (the Den of Evil) in
the Blood Moor. Enter and the quest box will change and say that you
must kill all the baddies in here. Well, at least it's not one-on-100.
This is pretty easy. Let your minions do most of the work for you
and assist them if they start to get overwhelmed or you encounter
Fallen Shamans which ressurect dead Fallens. You don't get experience
from killing raised Fallens again so it's better to kill them off
quickly. None of the mosters should give you a terrible time.
After cleaning you the entire cave of monsters, light will shine
in, proclaiming that the cave is now pure from evil. Go back to Akara
to get your reward or walk around a bit outside to get more experience.
When you return back to the Rouge Encampment, talk to Akara and
you will get a free Skill point. Learn anything you like, but remember
the recommendations I gave you in Necromancy 101. I recommend getting
BONE ARMOR if you haven't yet or CORPSE EXPLOSION if you are at
Level 6 by now.
Quest II: Sisters Burial Grounds
Available when : talk to Kasha after Quest I.
Goal of Quest : Kill Blood Raven.
Reward given : Free Amazon Warrior.
Recommended Level : 3 - 8
Now, talk to Kasha. She tells you that one of her best warriors,
Blood Raven has been corrupted by the evil and is now fighting against
them. She asks for your help.
Go past the Blood Moor and into the Cold Plains. You'll know that
you are near the Cold Plains because you'll encounter Flaivie, the
Rouge guarding the entrance to the Blood Moor from the Cold Plains.
This is where it gets tougher because you're not exactly fighting
the undead anymore. You're fighting humans that have been converted to
the side of evil! They can be tough, even if you have a lot of minions
by your side. My advice is to find the Waypoint in the area here as
soon as possible and retreat back to the Rouge Encampment via Waypoint
if you get in trouble.
Also, there is a cave in this area. While it doesn't really have
anything to do with your quest, this would be a good place to get some
extra experience points if you want to level up some more.
From the Cold Plains, there will be two paths that you can take.
One will lead to the Burial Grounds and the other will lead to the
Stony Field. Since Blood Raven is at the Burial Grounds, head there if
you want to fight her immediately, or go the the Stony Field if you
want to level up a bit before you fight her. It's up to you.
This is a small area and the place is just overflowing with the
undead. Run around the outer boundary of the area, killing up monsters.
This is just in case you have to make a hasty retreat later if you get
overwhelmed in the middle with Blood Raven and her army of Undead
Zombies. Retreat to town if you need to get health up. Don't use the
potions in your belt just yet. Save them for Blood Raven.
For my recommendations on how to beat Blood Raven, look at
Section G, Boss Guide.
After beating her, and getting the stuff she drops, explore the
area a bit and find the Crypt and Mausoleum. They don't pose much of a
challenge and they contain Golden Treasure Boxes, which are just full
of valuable treaure and filled with cash.
Return to the Rouge Encampment and receive your reward from Kasha,
a free Rouge.
Quest III: The Search for Cain
Available when : talk to Akara after finishing Quest II.
Goal of Quest : Rescue Deckard Cain in Tristram.
Reward given : Cain is rescued, and will identify your magical
items for free!
Random Ring.
Recommended Level : 6 - 10
This is one of the hardest quest because the monsters are pretty
tough, so I advise you to level up like mad before undertaking this
quest, especially the ending part of the quest (when you go to the town
of Tristram).
Akara realises that you and the Sisterhood needs a good advisor.
And that person is Deckard Cain. But he has been imprisioned in the
town of Tristram. You must first get the Scroll of Inifuss which is
found on the Tree of Inifuss in the Dark Wood. So, off you go once
again...
Go to the Stony Field. If you search around here, you can find a
Waypoint, a cave (the Underground Passage you need to go to the Dark
Wood), the Carin Stones (which will be needed later in your present
quest), and a Moldy Tome. Reading the Tome will activate The Forgotten
Tower Quest now.
Enter the Underground Passage. There are two levels to this
dungeon. Although you only need to stay at Level 1, Level 2 is really,
really small, but jam-packed with monsters and goodies to take, so
explore that area as well.
Passing through the Underground Passage, it would be helpful if
you've got CORPSE EXPLOSION by now, seeing that there are a huge amount
of monsters here! BONE ARMOR also helps greatly if you get surrounded
before you can make a corpse for the CORPSE EXPLOSION.
After reaching the other side of the Underground Passage, you
emerge at the Dark Wood. Search for the Tree of Inifuss (I still don't
understand why a tree has a scroll. Oh, well). After you search it and
get the Scroll of Inifuss, look for the Waypoint and go back to Akara
for advice (namely, how to use the damn scroll in the first place). Or,
stay awhile and fight baddies before returning. The monsters here are
kinda strong but they do give good experience.
Back at the Rouge Encampment, Akara reads the Scroll and gives it
back to you. She tells you to find the Carin Stones found in the Stony
Field (remember them?) and touch them in the order she marked in the
Scroll of Inifuss to create a Portal to the Town of Tristram. So, use
the Waypoint to the Stony Field.
At the Stony Field, find you way back to the Carin Stones and
right-click on the Scroll. A pattern will show the order you need to
touch the Stones to activate the Portal. Do so and a red Portal with
accompanying flashes of light will appear. Now, get ready to face a
whole lot of monsters and uniques in Tristram...
If you played Diablo 1, you may find that the town of Tristram
sure has changed a lot. The monsters here are sure tough! Your minions
may die a lot so be ready with Mana potions or a quick escape back to
the Rouge Encampment via Town Portal. You'll probably meet Griswald
(remember him?) and a Unique off the bat the instant you walk a few
steps. They are tough so you will really need to help out your minions
against them, using melee attacks, casting AMPLIFY DAMAGE and CORPSE
EXPLOSION often just to thin things out. Having a SKELETAL MAGE
at this point with a Cold attack really helps out tremendously since
they freeze the target for a limited time.
After you defeat them, reorganize and create a few minions again.
There are still some Uniques to fight, althought they aren't as tough
as Griswald. Walk around the edge of town first to find Wirt's body
(remember him? He's the kid with the super expensive stuff in Diablo
1). Loot his corpse and get a fountain of gold coins and... his leg?
(actually, his leg has a purpose but as of now, it's not needed so you
don't have to get it. You can get it at the end of the game if you feel
like playing an extra stage.)
Go to the middle of the town. Here you'll find a whole lot of gold
and Deckard Cain hanging in a cage. Free him and he'll thank you but
he's not greatful enough to allow you to go with him by the Town Portal
he uses to get to the Rouge Encampment :).
With that over, return to the Rouge Encampment. But, save the game
first before talking to Akara. Copy the save file to a separate folder.
Load the game again then talk to Akara. She'll give you a ring. If you
think that the ring is just crap. Copy the save file from your separate
folder back to the save directory in Diablo and load that game. Repeat
until you get a good ring... or if it feels like too much work, never
mind. Just talk to Akara.
Finally, talk to Deckard Cain, he says he's greatful for saving
him and as a reward, he'll follow you wherever you go and identify the
magical items you get along your way! Yahoo! No need to waste money on
Identify Scrolls ever again!
Quest IV: The Forgotten Tower
Available when : read the Moldy Tome in the Stony Field
Goal of Quest : Kill the Countess found in the Forgotten Tower.
Reward given : nothing really. But you do get a whole lot of
cash for your effort!
Recommended Level : 8 - 13
Remember the Tome you read back at the Stony Field? Well, it tells
you about the Countess and the riches that she had hidden. So, off you
go to find if she's still wealthy although she's been corrupted by
evil.
Off you go past the Dark Wood and into the Black Marsh. Here
you'll find a cave which leads to a Hole. You'll want to go here for
the experience and the treasure that it has. The monsters in the Hole
are not that tough, but in the second level of this dungeon, there's a
whole horde of several hordes (in other word: much more than a mess of
monsters to fight), and a few Unique monsters so lots of magical
equipment and experience to get, but also becomes easy to get killed,
too.
Also in the Dark Wood is the passage to The Forgotten Tower. It's
easily identified 'coz the entrance looks like a trapdoor. The first
level doesn't have any monsters so no problem there...
Along the way, to the depths of the Celler (I thought it was a
Tower? Never mind.), you will probably have your first battles with the
Ghost-like creatures. They drain Mana as well as hurt you, so it would
be wise to back-off and let your minions doing most of the work, while
you lay back and CORPSE EXPLOSION the ones that die to help out.
Hopefully, by this time, you've got a good SKELETAL WARRIOR and MAGE
troop to go along with your sidekick CLAY GOLEM. That way, the SKELETAL
MAGES can attack while the Ghosts approach and the rest of your minions
close in for the kill, attracting their attention from you.
Eventually, you'll reach the bottom of the Cellar and find lots
and lots (and I do mean LOTS) of gold just lying around! And with all
that gold, you should conclude that the Countess should be close by.
Beef up your Minions to full then face her and her court.
Refer to the Boss Section to find my recommended method of beating
the Countess.
After the battle, (I'll tell you ahead of time. She's a cakewalk)
return to town so that you can store your piles of gold in your stash
immediately. You wouldn't want to die with all that gold, now would you?
Quest V: Tools of the Trade
Available when : talking to Charsi after activating Quest IV.
Goal of Quest : Return the Horadric Malus to Charsi.
Reward given : Charsi will imbue one piece of equipment with
magical abilities.
Recommened Level : 10 - 16
Now, talk to Charsi. She says that she lost her Horadic Malus in
the Barracks. So now, she wants to get it back because, with it, she
will imbue one (Why only one? How about all?) piece of your ordinary
equipment with magic abilities (basically, she'll take that item and make
it into a Rare item. Pretty good, huh?) to help you on your quest.
This quest will allow you to level up pretty fast, seeing that all
the monsters you're gonna fight are tough and plenty of them to go
around. Also, it's a long way to the next Waypoint, so I suggest
finally getting a Tome of Town Portal so you can keep a lot of those
Scrolls of Town Portal easily in your limited inventory.
Anyway, use the Waypoint back to the Black Marsh and find the
Tamoe Highland. Here, even the weak Quill Rat versions (the Razor
Spine) can really rack up the damage because they not only fire at a
rapid pace, they also fire in a spread fashion, making it hard to
dodge... and they usually come in groups of three or more!
You'll probably face the Returned Mage, which are Evil's version
of your SKELETAL MAGE. Since, you should know by now, they attack with
elemental projectiles, it would be wise to take these guys out quickly
if you're really weak at your resistances to the elements.
Now, your next destination will most probably be at the entire
upper right of the place, which is the Monestary Gates. This area is
very small, so you should breeze thru this place and quickly enter the
Outer Cloister.
The Outer Cloister is where you'll find the next Waypoint, and,
boy, are you gonna need it! The baddies here are overwhelming, easily
killing your SKELETAL WARRIORS with a few strikes, and your SKELETAL
MAGES will probably your main attack force, keeping the monsters at
bay. Hopefully, the MAGES you've summoned attack with Ice spells,
slowing your opponents down so you and your CLAY GOLEM can rush in and
break them into little pieces before they can attack.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of Razor Spines here, too. So, your
SKELETAL MAGES will get wiped out pretty quickly also, but at least not
as quickly as your SKELETON WARRIORS. Once again, AMPLIFY DAMAGE and
CORPSE EXPLOSION work their magic...
Next, you should eventually enter the Barracks where the Horadic
Malus is contained. Hopefully, a Well will be easily found. You may
find yourself running back to the well more often than not with all the
baddies here. Be careful! One of the doors you open will open up to the
Smith Boss, who guards the Horadic Malus with his life!
Refer to the Boss section with my way of killing the Smith.
After the Smith is defeated and you've got the Malus, go back to
the Rouge Encampment and return it to Charsi. She says you can now give
her a piece of ordinary equipment for her to enchant it.
DON'T USE THE IMBUE YET! (Note that I even used a separate
paragraph to tell you not to Imbue any of your equipment yet.) Save it
until Act IV, when the equipment you'll get are already powerful by
themselves when compared to the magic equipment you can get now! Trust
me! You can come back here anyway via Waypoint easily, even all the way
in Act IV!
By the way, DON'T USE THE IMBUE NOW!
Quest VI: Sisters to the Slaughter
Available when : talking to Cain after Quest V.
Goal of Quest : Kill Andariel in the Catacombs.
Reward given : passage to Lut Gholein (Act II). Also, you get
to see a new movie!
Recommended Level : 14 - 18
Cain tells you that the evil here is probably cause by Andariel,
the one who is responsible for banishing Diablo, Mephisto and Baal into
the realm of the living in the first place. Killing her will probably
stop the evil from propagating in the Rouge Monestary. So, off you
go...
After the Barracks, the next area will be the Jail. Now, the Jail
has three levels to it and all of them are large and brimming with
evil. It would be a good idea to have a full accompanyment of your own
minions, especially the Skeletal Mages. This is because of the bars.
You cannot run thru the bars but projectile attacks, like the ones that
your SKELETAL MAGES use. Thankfully, there's a Waypoint here.
After the hellish trip thru the Jail, you'll finally find yourself
in the Inner Cloister. There will be a lot of those Razor Spines again
hurling their quills at you, but since this in an open area, they
should be easily dealt with when compared to the Jail levels. You will
also find a Waypoint, which is good. After walking in the Jail for a
long time, it's good to see progress (and now you can go back easily if
you haven't sold or identified your magical items since your descent
into the Jail).
After clearing out the Inner Cloister (you have been cleaning out
the areas for the experience, right?), enter the Cathedral. This area
isn't so tough if you've gotten used to killing the Shamans early on
when you encounter them. If you've reached Level 18 at this point, it
would be good to have learned BONE SPEAR now because now you have an
effective long range weapon against the Wraiths who suck up your Mana.
With the Cathedral cleared, enter the last area of the entire act,
the Catacombs Being the last area, you can bet that this area will be
chock-ful of evil's minions. And you'd win that bet hands down! Not
only that, you and your minions will be facing a lot of Uniques, too!
That's okay, tho, because the Waypoint will be at the 2nd level of the
Catacombs for you to return to sell your unnecessary magical equipment
you get from them and to heal after those battles!
Level 4 is where Andariel is located so don't say I didn't warn
you. She will be tough, no matter how prepared you are (unless you've
managed to really get super-unheard of levels). She should be behind
the big double doors, so clear out the minions on your side. Check your
equipment and open the doors and face her.
To see my suggestions on how to fight Andariel, check out the Boss
Section.
After the battle (hopefully she's the one dead), a red portal will
open close to her body. You may want to get the stuff she drops and
clear out the rooms for any extra baddies you may have missed before
using the red portal back to town.
With Andariel dead, the Rouges thank you for cleansing their
Monestary of the evil and now Warriv can pass to the desert city of Lut
Gholein. Talk to all the Rouges and bid them goodbye. Tell Warriv
you're ready to leave and off you go to Act II!
---------
2. Act II
---------
Town/City: Lut Gholein
People : Jerhyn - Leader of the City. Not really a useful NPC. He'll
give you a quest.
Cain - Identifies items for free.
Warriv - Brings you back to the Rouge Encampment.
Kaelan - Guards the palace. He really has nothing to say but
guard the palace.
Elzix - Has the Gamble feature that Gheed had, but with
better equipment.
Griez - Has warriors that you can hire.
Drognan - sells you the specific class equipment like wands
and staves.
Also the one selling attacking potions and scrolls.
Atma - Gives you a quest. After that, she's useless.
Geglash - Totally useless.
Lysander - Sells you various potions.
Fara - The weaponsmith. She'll repair your equipment when
damaged.
She's also the healer!
Meshif - Takes you to Kurast, the location of Act III after
you finish off the quests of Act II.
QUEST I: Radament's Lair
Available when : After talking to Atma
Goal of Quest : Kill Randament found in the Sewers of Lut
Gholein
Reward given : all vendors will give you a discount.
Recommended Level : 16 - 20
Jerhyn will greet you first in the city. He tells that he is the
leader of Lut Gholein but evil has been creeping in slowly in the lands
that he controls. In fact, something has already befallen one of the
townspeople and directs you to Atma.
When you talk to Atma, she tells you that her husband and child
were killed by monsters that climbed up from the sewers. Although the
sewers are closed up, she wants revenge. She implores you to kill the
monster that killed her husband and son in cold blood. No problem,
right?
There are two ways into the Sewers. One is close to Griez, the
other one is next to the docks. Either way is fine. Most of the
monsters (if not all of them) are undead. One of them (the Dried
Corpse) releases a cloud of poison smoke after you re-kill them. In
other words, don't get close to them after you kill them. In fact, let
your minions kill them and CORPSE EXPLOSION on them.
This place is pretty easy with a full accompanyment of undead
evils to face. But, this place is a cakewalk. The Waypoint is on the
second level. Going a level below that and you'll find Randament, the
monster who killed the husband and son of Atma (I'm assuming). He's the
Boss of the area.
Look at the Boss Strategy on advice to beat Randament.
After killing him (again?), the Quest is over! Go back to town
and talk with Atma. She'll tell you that she has talked to the vendors
and they have agreed to give you discounts on the wares they show you.
QUEST II: The Horadic Staff
Available when : you show the Horadic Scroll (found in the
Sewers) to Deckard Cain.
Goal of Quest : Find the Horadric Cube, Horadric Shaft and Viper
Amulet. Combine the Horadric Shaft and Viper
Amulet with the use of the Horadric Cube.
Reward given : The Horadic Cube and Horadic Shaft (also the
Viper Amulet)
Recommended Level : 18 - 22
This is a super massive quest. In fact, it encompasses another
Quest! So, when you finish this quest, you also finish another one! Two
for the price of one! Cool! Also, the reward, the Horadic Cube, is one
of the most useful items in the game! I'll just list the things you
have to do that doesn't belong with the other quests.
With the Horadic Scroll in your inventory, talk to Deckard Cain.
He will explain that you need to find the Horadic Staff which was
broken up into two parts. You'll need to repair the Staff with the
Horadic Cube. The Horadic Staff is the key to enter the prison of
Baal, one of the Three Prime Evils.
First thing to do, exit the Town and enter the Rocky Waste. You'll
find the Stony Tome here. There is a Gold Chest in the Stony Tome and a
whole lot of monsters to battle, but, they upside is you can get a
whole lot of experience here... but they are tough if you are at a low
level. Even a Level 18 Necromancer can have a hard time!
Afterwards, from the Rocky Waste, find the passage to the Dry
Hills. Here, you'll find a Waypoint and two paths to different areas.
Also, you'll see the entrance to the Halls of the Undead. This will
lead to the Horadric Cube, the first item of your quest.
In the Halls of the Undead, there are a lot of monsters, most of
them undead. There is also a creature (the Hollow One) that will
ressurect your killed undead monsters, so as much as possible, take him
out first or all your hard earned killing with be for nothing. There is
a Waypoint here on the second level, and it's a good thing, too! You'll
probably lose a lot of health fighting those monsters.
Finally, a the bottom of the Halls of the Undead, you can find a
Gold Chest. It contains the Horadric Cube which you need. It'll
probably be surrounded by monsters. A lot of them! It would be wise to
lead them out or BONE SPEAR them from a distance and use CORPSE
EXPLOSION to take them out en masse! Take the Horadric Cube to Cain and
he'll congratulate you and explain how it works. You can also use the
Horadric Cube to combine the same type of gems that you've gotten and
combine three of them to upgrade them. You can also use the Horadric
Cube to hold items!
Next, by the Dry Hills is the entrance to the Far Oasis. There is
a Waypoint here and the entrance to the Maggot Lair. You'll face a lot
of Death Beetles here, which can be a pain because of their Lightning
counterattack, so let your minions do the work in taking them out.
You'll also have your first encounter with the Swarms (they're called
Itchies here) and they can drain your Stamina with their attacks. More
of a hassle rather than a problem, they can be taken out with relative
ease.
Anyway, enter the Maggot Lair. Hopefully, you've got BONE SPEAR
because this is the most useful areas to use this spell! The hallways
are so narrow that the monsters will have no choice but to line up!
You'll face the Rock Worm and Sand Maggots. These monsters have the
ability to lay eggs that hatch out their young version. But, with the
BONE SPEAR and the small hallways, you can take them out with ease.
In the third level of the Maggot Lair, you'll find Coldworm the
Burrower, surrounded by a ton of Sand Maggots! And where there are Sand
Maggots, you'll find their Young! This could, and will get ugly pretty
quickly.
Read the Boss Guide to find out how easily Coldward the Burrower
is defeated!
After the battle, you'll find the Gold Chest which contains the
Horadric Shaft. Take it and make your way back to Lut Gholein (or use a
Town Portal, but it's not necessary if you've cleared out all levels of
the Maggot Lair). Show the Horadric Shaft to Cain and he will tell you
that you now need the Viper Amulet and the combine that item with the
Horadric Staff with the Horadric Cube to finally get the Horadric
Staff, which you will need to open The Tomb of Tal Rasha, the reason
why you're here in the first place.
This will be accomplished in a later quest, specifically, the
Tainted Sun quest.
QUEST III: The Tainted Sun
Available when : The sun goes dark. This happens when you enter
the Lost City area.
Goal of Quest : Find the cause of the Solar Eclipe over Lut
Gholein and fix it.
Reward given : Viper Amulet (Top part of the Horadric Staff)
Recommended Level : 18 - 22
Find your way to the Lost City. When you enter the area, all of
the sudden, it will become night. You may want to find the Waypoint
and kill a few monsters to gain experience since you're here anyway.
Once you go back to town, talk to Drognan. He'll explain that the
darkness is caused by something blocking the sun (Duh!). He wants you
to find the source of the problem, which is probably close to the Lost
City. So, off you go!
Back at the Lost City, you'll have to find the path to the Valley
of the Snakes. But, take a side trip to the trap door in the area that
leads to the Ancient Tunnels. It's only one level and the monsters are
pretty easy if you have a full compliment of minions with you. There's
a Gold Chest here, so you know there's a lot of goodies to be had in
the Ancient Tunnels.
Anyway, when enter the Valley of the Snakes, there's only one
place to go. That place is the Claw Viper Temple. That's where you'll
find the Viper Amulet and what's blocking the sunlight. You'll fight
the Claw Viper, who can charge at you that can cause Cold damage, and a
Salamander who can do the same. Use the AMPLIFY DAMAGE and CORPSE
EXPLOSION combo. Also, BONE SPEAR is great here if you happen to face a
lot of them at once. It won't happen too much, but it's good to help
your minions with this once in a while.
On the second level, you'll face a swarm of Salamanders and a
Unique. The Unique here is Extra Fast, so it would be in your best
interest to help out your minions in taking out the monsters in the
area quickly. Either take out the Unique first or the normal Salamander
creatures (which I recommend so you have ammo for your CORPSE
EXPLOSION).
In the center of the second level of the Claw Viper Temple, you'll
find the altar that contains the Viper Amulet. Apparently, the snake
beings managed to use the Amulet to block out the sun (Why?). So, once
you get the Viper Amulet from the Altar, the sun will shine in Lut
Gholein again.
Back at Lut Gholein, Cain will tell you that the Viper Amulet is
actually the top part of the Horadric Staff. Place the Horadric Shaft
with the Viper Amulet inside the Horadric Cube and Transmute the two
item to create the Horadric Staff, the key into the Tomb of Tal Rasha.
QUEST IV: Arcane Sanctuary
Available when : Talking to Drognan after completing Quest III.
Goal of Quest : Find the Portal to the Arcane Sanctuary
underneath the Palace.
Reward given : Entrance to the Arcane Sanctuary and a path to
the Canyon of the Magi
Recommended Level : 19 - 24
After restoring the Horadric Staff, talk to Drognan. He will tell
you that the entrance to the Tomb of Tal Rasha should be around the
area. But, it was lost. There is a person who witnessed the
imprisonment of Baal and Mephisto. He was the Summoner Horazon, who can
control the forces and wills of different creatures. Drognan tells you
to talk to Jerhym, who has requested to see you, and to tell you more
about this.
Go to the palace and talk to Jerhym. He tells you that the palace
has been overrun by foul demons, which is why he hired Greiz's warrior
mercenaries to guard the city. The palace guards are too busy
protecting the palace from the demons. He also tells you that the
bowels of the Palace must be where the entrance to the Arcane Sanctuary
of The Summoner must be. The Arcane Sanctuary will also lead you to the
Canyon of the Magi, where the Tomb of Tal Rasha is located.
In the palace, you and your minions will face a lot of long-range
projectile slinging undead creatures, like the Horror Archers and
Horror Mages. They are plain annoying since the walls are grates which
they can shoot thru while you are busy finding a door to get to them.
If you are too lazy to do so, let your SKELETAL MAGES take them out
from a distance with you casting BONE SPEAR and CORPSE EXPLOSION to
quicken the process. The other baddies are no problem. Even the hulking
Blunderbore, who will Stun you and your minions if his attack connects,
are pretty easy to kill by now.
Eventually, you'll find a portal that leads into the Arcane
Sanctuary. Fortunately, the Waypoint is very close to the portal exit
in the Arcane Sanctuary. So, return back to Lut Gholein for healing.
This is gonna be a tough area!
The Arcane Sanctuary has four paths to take. Three of them will
lead to goodies and the fourth will have you battling the Summoner
(hehe). The monsters here are tough! Suitable defense against Fire is
great here.
Specters have good attack ratings, can fly so they don't have to
follow the paths and bridges that you are limited to, and a whole pack
of them can occupy the same place! Not only that, they suck your Mana!
It's best to let your minions face them and you BONE SPEARing them from
a distance so your Magic won't get sucked away.
Hell Clan members are easy to deal with, even without your
minions! So, no problem here. Just take them out in melee combat or let
your minions do them in. No sense in wasting Mana on them. In fact,
it's fun to let your SKELETAL MAGES kill them when you're in a
different bridge than the Hell Clans are!
Now, the toughest monsters in my opinion the the Arcane Sanctuary
would have to be the Ghoul Lords. They can cast Fire Wall with deadly
accuracy, throw Fire Balls with tremendous accuracy and, when they hit
you with their melee attacks, they'll absorb some of your Health to
theirs! As much as possible, get close to them quickly and kill them as
fast as you can! They can be a tremendous bother in large packs of
monsters because they can assault you with their Fire spells and the
other monsters block your avenues of escape.
The next quest, the Summoner, will finish off the Arcane Sanctuary
quest as well.
QUEST V : The Summoner
Available when : you get close to the location of the Summoner in
the Arcane Sanctuary
Goal of Quest : Kill the Summoner of the Arcane Sanctuary.
Reward given : Learning the true symbol of Tal Rasha
Recommended Level : 19 - 24
When you get to a certain place, you'll see a new quest pop up.
This means you are close to the Summoner and completing Quest IV as
well. You'll also have to face a lot of monsters getting to him. Lead
them away from the Summoner and take them out one by one.
To find out how wussy the Summoner is, read my Boss Guide.
After you take out the Summoner, or while in battle with the
Summoner (Yes! He IS that easy to kill!), read the Horazon's Journal. A
portal will open, gaining you access to the Canyon of the Magi.
QUEST VI: The Seven Tombs
Available when : talk to Jerhym after Quest I
Goal of Quest : Kill Duriel.
Reward given : passage to Kurast Docks (Act III). Also, you
get to see a new movie!
Recommeneded Level : 19 - 24
You can get this quest very early if you talk to Jerhym after
killing Randament. But, this is the only time you can do something
about it. Anyway, when you talk to Jerhym after Quest I, he will tell
you about the Seven Tombs and one of them is the Tomb of Tal Rasha.
Going thru the portal from the Arcane Sanctuary, you will end up
in the Canyon of the Magi. Activate the Waypoint here since it's so
close. Head back to town and heal up and repair equipment and stuff.
Return via Waypoint and search the surrounding area. You will find
seven Tombs of Tal Rasha. Six of them are fake, and only one of them is
the one you are looking for. In front of each tomb is a symbol. Look at
your Quest Log and you will see the symbol for the True Tomb of Tal
Rasha. When you see it in front of a Tomb, that's the one that will
lead you to the final battle of Act II.
But, like before, enter each of the fake Tombs first to build up
experience. The bad guys here give a hefty amount of experience, and
believe me, you're gonna need it for the Boss of Act II. Besides, the
monsters here aren't so tough and each of the fake tombs has a Gold
Chest. In fact, you may want to save and load the game a few times just
so you can level up a few times.
When you do decide to enter the True Tomb of Tal Rasha, you'll
eventually find an Orifice, where you should place the Horadric Staff
in order to unlock the entrance to the burial place / prison of Tal
Rasha and Baal. Once you do so, a passageway will open that leads to
the Boss of Act II.
Sadly, you are too late! The Dark Wanderer has already been here
and released Tal Rasha / Baal from his prison. In his place, the
Wanderer has left Duriel, I assume is one of the Lesser Evils.
To read why Diablo II players are calling him the toughest Boss in
the entire game of Diablo II, refer to my Boss Guide. (PS. I agree with
them!)
After the toughest battle yet, and Duriel is down, the cave will
start crumbling, revealing a pathway leading to where Baal was
imprisioned. You will find the Archangel Tyrael. He tells you that
Diablo / The Dark Wanderer and Baal / Tal Rasha have left for the town
of Kurast. They seek to revive the last imprisioned Prime Evil,
Mephisto. Tyrael gives you the holy mission to follow them and stop
them before its too late. At this point, a portal leading back to Lut
Gholein will open. Step in.
Say your goodbyes to the townspeople of Lut Gholein and then talk
to Meshif. Now that he is able to leave the docks, he tells you that he
will gladly bring you to the port town of Kurast.
----------
3. Act III
----------
Town/City: Kurast Docks
People : Hralti - Weaponsmith. Repairs your weapons.
Cain - Identifies items for free.
Natalya - Useless NPC.
Ormus - Heals you for free when you talk to him.
Sells specific class weapons (wands for example),
potions and scrolls.
Asheara - Has warriors for you to hire.
She also sells weapons!
Alkor - Sells potions.
He's also the one with the GAMBLE feature.
Meshif - Takes you back to Lut Gholein if you want.
QUEST I: The Golden Bird
Available when : You find the Jade Figurine
Goal of Quest : Trade specific items to the townspeople to make
them happy?
Reward given : Added 20 points to Life
Recommended Level : 22 - 25
Once you talk to all the townspeople and go for the exit, you'll
SEE THE DARK WANDERER just taking a stroll. When you get close, he
dissapears and small demons appear. Kill them off easily, but it does
tell you that you are close to the ending, huh?
Enter the Spider Forest. Here, you'll encounter the Fetishes and
the Fetish Shamans. The Fetishes with daggers aren't much of a problem
because they have to get close to you to attack, but they can wreck
havok on your minions, especially the SKELETAL MAGES, since they rely
on long-ranged attacks. The Fetishes with blowdarts are worse, 'coz
they can pelt you from long-range, across rivers and offscreen. Not
only that, they run pretty fast when you get close.
Now, the worse of the Fetishes, the Fetish Shaman. He has a Flame
Breath attack that can wipe out your Life quickly for the unprotected.
Better use the BONE SPEAR rather than get close and risk getting hit by
it. By the way, once you kill the top part (actually, the top part
isn't real! It's just a doll that the lower Fetish is using to fool the
other Fetishes to follow him! So, you cannot ressurect the Fetish
Shaman corpse), there will be another Fetish that you have to kill!
While in the Spider Forest, you'll eventuall kill a Special
Monster (Unique or Champion) which will drop a Jade Figurine. Well, you
have no use for it, right? But, maybe Deckard Cain can identify it's
use.
Once back in Kurast, talk to Cain. He'll identify it as... a
statue. That's it? What the hell am I gonna... oh, wait... Cain then
tells you that on your way to Kurast from Lut Gholein, Meshif mentioned
to Cain that he (Meshif, that is) collects statues like the one you've
got. So, go have a chat with Meshif.
Showing the Jade Figurine to Meshif, he's happy 'coz now he
finally completed his collection of Jade Figurines. In return for the
Jade Figurine, Meshif trades it for a Golden Bird statue. Now, you
still have no use for this, so go show it to Cain.
Cain takes a look at the Golden Bird statue and remembers a story
about a great man who died and was cremated. His ashes were put in a
statue just like the Golden Bird. So, what now? Alkor may have a use
for this, so go to his tent and show him the statue.
Alkor takes the statue from you and tells you to return in a
while. He's going to make a potion from the ashes inside the Golden
Bird. Talk to him again and he'll give you a Potion of Life. Drink it
down and you'll get 20 points to Life permanently.
That's it! Lame quest, wasn't it?
QUEST II: Blade of the Old Religion
Available when : After Quest I, talk to Hralti
Goal of Quest : Retrieve the Gidbinn.
Reward given : Random Ring and a free Mercenary
Recommended Level : 23 - 26
Hralti tells you that the barrier that is currently protecting the
Kurast Docks is getting weaker and weaker as time goes by. It isn't
going to last for long. The only thing that will strengthen it again is
the Gidbinn, a legendary weapon with mystical properties. Ormus will
use the Gidbinn's powers to reinforce the barrier.
Back in the Spider Forest, find the Spider Cavern. It's filled
with Spiders (Duh!) and has a Gold Chest. Clear out the Spider Cavern
for good experience. You can also try out getting a mercenary from
Asheara to be impressed with his skills in killing them. Watch out,
tho! If he gets poisoned, he's dead for sure!
Pass the Spider Forest, enter the Great Marsh. Explore the area
and you'll eventually find a Gold Chest in the area as well. Watch out
for Gloam, who has a Lightning Spell. Not only that, the Gloam is hard
to see. You can see him while invisible by looking at the light radius
surrounding him. Also, watch out for River Stalkers. They are hard to
hit with melee weapons, but projectile attacks work well on them!
After the Great Marsh, you'll go to the Flayer Jungle. You'll meet
the Flayers, brothers of the Fetish, but much tougher. Also, you'll
find the Swampy Pit. The Swampy Pit isn't needed to finish anything,
but that OK. You can get a whole lot of experience here.
The Flayer Dungeon is also located here, and you'll need to
remember the location 'coz you will need to go there for the next
quest.
Anyway, continue searching the the Flayer Jungle, and the Gidbinn
will be found in a village. But when you touch it, the Gidbinn burns up
and then Rat Men and a Unique will appear. Kill them off, especially
the Unique because he's the one carrying the real Gidbinn. Redeem the
Gidbinn and return to Kurast Docks.
Back in town, give Ormus the item and he will use the weapon to
reinforce the barrier. For a reward, Ormus will give you a ring (Random
abilites. Save the game and copy the file to a different folder. Replay
the game. If you don't like the ring, simply exit the game and then
copy the save game back to the save directory of Diablo II.) and you
can go talk to Asheara to get a free mercenary volunteer (or not if
you don't want to).
QUEST III: Khalim's Will
Available when : Talking to Cain after your encounter with the
Dark Wanderer
Goal of Quest : Find Khalim's Eye, Khalim's Brain, Khalim's
Heart and Khalim's Flail scattered all over
Kurast. Use the Horadric Cube to combine all
these items into Khalim's Will.
Reward given : Khalim's Will
Recommended Level : 24 - 30
You can get this quest after the first quest even though you
haven't gotten the second quest. I have to mention that this quest is
pretty similar to Quest II in Act II, the Horadic Staff. You have to
find four items this time and then use the Horadric Cube on the four
items to create Khalim's Will.
Cain will tell you that since your mission here is to find and
destroy Mephisto, he tells you about the Compelling Orb, which hides
the lair of Mephisto. The only way to detroy it is to find the body
parts of Khalim, the former Que-Hegen of the Zakarum Church. His body
part were scattered all over the land of Kurast. You need to combine
the said parts with Khalim's Flail to create Khalim's Will, the only
weapon that can smash the Compelling Orb.
First off, you have to go back to the Spider Forest. Find the
Spider Carvern, the other dungeon other than the Aracnid's Lair in the
area. Like the Aracnid's Lair, the Spider Cavern is filled with giant
spiders. There are also Giant Lampreys, which are like the Sand Maggots
back in Lut Gholein. Find the Gold Chest in the area to find Khalim's
Eye, the first item.
Next, go back to the Flayer Jungle and find the Flayer Dungeon.
The baddies here are previous monsters you have encountered while on
the surface, so at least you already know what you're up against. Go to
the third level of the dungeon and open the Gold Chest you find to
retrieve Khalim's Brain. Two down. Two to go!
For Khalim's Heart, go to Lower Kurast, the area just after the
Flayer Jungle. Lower Kurast has new monsters, namely the the Tree
Lurker, which are just tougher Cave Leapers, and Zakarumites, former
follwers of the Order of Zakarum. The monsters here are pretty easy to
kill, and there's very little chance to get overwhelmed, thanks to your
minions. Since this is a relatively safe place, Lower Kurast is a great
place to level up a bit.
Now, go past Lower Kurast into the next area, Kurast Bazaar. Here,
you will find the Sexton. Sure, she has a funny name but her abilites
are hard to laugh at! She can heal the Zakarumites and teleport around.
Because of this, you will usually see the Zakarum now run away when you
hurt them, so they can get healed by the Sextons. This area can get
tough if, all of a sudden, you get surrounded by Zakarumites and a
couple of Sextons.
Anyway, find the Sewer entrance. There should be a couple of them.
Enter either one. It doesn't matter. The Sewers is a very big place, so
it would be wise to check the map once in a while if you don't leave it
on. You could get lost. Khalim's Heart is located on the second level.
But you have to open the door to the second level with a lever. So,
find the lever, then find the entrance to the second level of the
Sewers. On the second level, find the Gold Chest and pick up Khalim's
Heart. You're almost there...
The last item you need, Khalim's Flail will be finished in another
Quest, specifically, Quest V, The Blackened Temple.
Quest IV, Lam Esen's Tome
Available when : talk to Alkor after entering Lower Kurast
Goal of Quest : Give Lam Esen's Tome to Alkor.
Reward given : added Five (5) stat points.
Recommended Level : 27 - 29
After entering Lower Kurast, return to Kurast Docks. Talk to
Alkor. Since you can go to Kurast and face the monsters there, Alkor
remembers Lam Esen, who has done studies on the effects of the Three
Prime Evil on the world. It will be of great help to you and the world
if it were to be found again. It was lost in one of the temples of
Kurast. So, back you go into Kurast!
There are six temples in Kurast which are accessable by stairs you
have to touch to open them. But, Kurast is split into three parts,
Kurast Bazaar, Upper Kurast and, finally, Kurast Causeway. Each of
these areas have 2 temples each. Lam Esen's Tome is located in one of
those temples and it seems that it is always placed in the Ruined
Temple, found in the Kurast Bazaar area. But explore all the temple
anyway for experience.
Once you find it, return to town and give Lam Esen's Tome to
Alkor. As a reward, Alkor will boost your character stats with five
points. Too bad it's not a level up, tho.
Quest V: The Blackened Temple
Available when : Talk to Ormus after you enter Travincal
Goal of Quest : Kill all Council Members of Travincal and
destroy the Compelling Orb.
Reward Given : Access to Durance of Hate
Recommended Level : 27 - 30
Once you enter Travincal, return to Kurast Docks. Have a chat with
Ormus. He'll tell you basically that the Zakarum Council Members have
already been corrupted by Mephisto's dark powers. Now, those former
holy people are now guarding the Compelling Orb, which appears to be
controlling the evil in the area. He hopes that you are able to destroy
the Compelling Orb and kill the Council Members guarding it. Since it
is one of your quests anyway (Remember Khalim's Will?), go ahead!
Now, enter Travincal and activate the Waypoint if you haven't yet!
This is a really tough area! Not only are the Zakarumites (now called
Zealots) and Sextons back in full force, they are now joined by the
Night Lords, which are tougher versions of the Ghoul Lords! Night Lords
have all the spells and properties of the Ghoul Lords, they also have
the spell Meteor! If you're standing on a piece of ground that has a
circle of red, GET OUT OF THAT SPOT IMMEDIATELY! That's where the
Meteor is gonna hit.
I suggest that you clear out the upper border levels first of
monsters and slowly work your way to the upper center of the area where
the High Council members are located. It's bad enough to face all the
baddies at once, but add a Council Member or two into the mix, you'll
soon find your way running all the way to the Waypoint to escape!
It's also in your best interest to take on once Council Member at
a time, so move to the upper center structure slowly and wait for a
Council Member to come out then run away and lead them (the Council
Member and his minions) to a safe place where you can move around and
take them out from a distance with BONE SPEARS, AMPLIFY DAMAGE and
CORPSE EXPLOSIONS. Your minions will take a beating but they will
distract the monsters chasing you from your Necro.
Anyway, one of the Council Members has Khalim's Flail. So, when
you find it, return to town and use the Horadric Cube to combine
Khalim's Eye, Brain, Heard and Flail together to obtain Khalim's Will.
Return to the upper center structure and enter the building to find
the Compelling Orb. Equip Khalim's Will as your weapon and smash the
Orb. The stairs in the center of the room will open up, leading you
into The Durance of Hate, where you will find Mephisto and the rest of
the High Council Members waiting to take you out.
Quest VI: The Guardian
Available when : talk to Ormus after returning the Tome of Lam
Esen to Alkor
Goal of Quest : Kill Mephisto.
Reward given : passage to the Pandamonium Fortress(Act IV).
Also, you get to see a new movie!
Recommended Level : 27 - 30
Now, to find Mephisto. The mosters in the Durance of Hate are real
tough. Not only that, it's harder to run away from them since it isn't
an open space like in Travincal. Take it slowly and keep your supply of
minions up. It's a good thing there is a Waypoint in the second level
of this dungeon. But you know what this means. Mephisto is on the third
level. Clear out all the baddies in the second level so you can run up
quickly if the battle gets too intense on the third level.
On the third level of the Durance of Hate, the instant you enter,
you'll probably encounter a few Blood Lords and a Council Member. They
are tough, but don't get any bright ideas of running away into any
unexplored area of the third level of the Durance of Hate! Mephisto
lies waiting and also two more Council Members and their minions. So,
if you get into trouble with the monsters you are facing now, run up
into the second level, heal up and return to town, if necessary.
Mephisto lies just opposite of the entrance of the third level, so
you may want to go to the other areas (the left and right areas if
north is where Mephisto is), before taking on the big guy right now.
This way, you take out the other High Council Members out before taking
on the eldest of the Prime Evils.
Once you've cleared the area of the Council Members and Uniques,
refer to Section G, Boss Guide to see how to take on Mephisto.
After your battle with Mephisto and he is broken, a Red Portal
will open up. But before you enter the portal to the Pandamonium
Fortress, collect the Soulstone from Mephisto's body. You'll need it
for later.
---------
4. Act IV
---------
Town/City: Pandemonium Fortress
People : Tyrael - Gives you a quest. But that's it.
Cain - Identifies items for free.
Halbu - Weaponsmith.
Jamella - Healer, sells potions and specific Class weaponry.
Not only that, she provides the Gamble option.
QUEST I: The Fallen Angel
Available when : Talk to Tyrael
Goal of Quest : Kill Izual
Reward given : Two free Skill Points
Recommended Level : 28 - 31
The Pandamonium Fortress is the last remaining outpost of Heaven
in the relm of Hell. With this in mind, it's painfully obvious that
there are no mercenaries available to you! Thank God for your minions!
But first, it's nice to outfit yourself with the best equipment you can
have. Remember the Imbue reward way back in Act I? Now, it's time to
use it!
Get the best armor you can buy. If you can get Superior Gothic
Armor with high Defense and Durability, get it. It'll be worth it! Save
the game and copy that file to a separate directory. Now, load the game
again and take that armor to Charsi and Imbue it to get a new piece of
Unique Armor! If you don't like what comes out, simply exit and copy
the old save game back to the Diablo II save directory.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Imbues. Don't even use them in Act IV. Wait til at least
level 40 or so to use them. Imbuing is entirely dependant on character
level, and I waited until level 50 to use mine. :) ]
-Jason Lane
Talk to Tyrael, and he will tell you about Izual, a former Angel
who has become corrupted by Diablo and his brothers. As punishment,
Izual's body has been twisted and reshaped to show what his soul looks
like... hideous and monstrous. Tyrael cannot take this anymore, so he
charges you to kill Izual and relieve him of his eternal torment.
When you leave the Pandamonium Fortress, you'll immediately know
that this is indeed Hell. New monsters abound and they are plentiful!
The first area, just outside the stairs of the Pandamonium Fortress, is
called the Outer Steppes. There are a lot of monsters here... so
getting surrounded here is pretty easy.
You'll face the Flesh Spawners, who can spit out Flesh Beasts,
which are just like the ones you've encountered when you got close to
the Dark Wanderer at the start of Act III. Take out the Flesh Spawners
quickly or you could get overwhelmed by a swarm of Flesh Beasts.
The Doom Knights, which are just like Paladin warriors are good at
swords attacks and pack a mean wallop. It's a good thing your minions,
especially your IRON or FIRE GOLEMS are tough enough to stand up to
them. Help out your minions with AMPLIFY DAMAGE and CORPSE EXPLOSIONS.
Finally, the Corpulents, who can eat dead bodies to replenish
life, aren't that tough, but they do possess a poison spit attack. They
are pretty easy to kill, but if they are surrounded by the others, this
could get ugly.
Make your way to the Plains of Despair. Izual is here, and a few
more monsters, like the Doom Casters, who are like the Gloams but with
auto-tracking projectiles and the Pit Lords, big hulking brutes whose
blows can stun you.
Before facing Izual, you may want to read a good way on defeating
him in the Boss Guide.
After Izual is dead and his soul released, Izual reveals that it
was he who told the Three Prime Evils how to corrupt the Soulstones,
so, in fact, he wasn't corrupted by them. He was corrupted already!
With your coversation with Izual is over, head back to Tyrael.
He'll say that he is dissapointed with his brother, but since you did
complete your mission, he allows you to develop your skills with two
Skill Points.
QUEST II: The Hellforge
Available when : Talk to Cain after completing Quest I
Goal of Quest : Collect the Hellforge Hammer and smash
Mephisto's Soulstone.
Reward given : Lots of gems.
Recommended Level : 28 - 31
Now, Cain will tell you that in order to destroy Mephisto's evil
forever, you must smash his Soulstone that contains his essence. In
order to do so, there is only one place and one item that can do so,
the Hellforge and the Hellforge Hammer. Both are located in the River
of Flame.
Return to the Plains of Despair and pass it to enter the City of
the Damned. More new baddies are located here and all of them are
tough. It's a good thing there's a Waypoint in the area for you to make
a quick escape back to the Pandamonium Fortress. But, they do give off
a healthy chunk of experience points!
Pass the City of the Damned and enter the next area, the River of
Flame. Here, you'll find new and improved monsters to kill. All of them
are just revisions of the monsters you have faced before. But, they are
plentiful and tough. Use your minions to take most of the heat away
from you while you pelt away with BONE SPEARS and CORPSE EXPLOSIONS.
Here, you will also face Hephasto the Armorer, and he holds the
Hellforge Hammer. So, you have to kill him to redeem the Hammer. He is
bound to be surrounded by a group of Blood Maggots (like Sand Maggots)
and the like, so be careful!
To see how to defeat Hephasto the Armorer, refer to Section G.
Boss Guide for info.
After Hephasto is dead, he will drop the Hellforge Hammer. Pick it
up and then take it to the Hellforge, which should be pretty close to
where you encountered Hephasto. Once again, the place will be swarming
with baddies. Clear them all out with AMPLIFY DAMAGE and CORPSE
EXPLOSIONS with your minions help, of course.
With the place clean of monsters, you can now work in peace. Place
Mephisto's Soulstone on top of the Hellforge. Equip the Hellforge
Hammer and use it to smash Mephisto's Soulstone into small fragments.
The fragments are various gems, so pick them up.
Move past the Hellforge a bit and find the Waypoint so you can
return to Tyrael and give a report. But first...
Since you've got all these Gems, and you have been saving and
upgrading Gems since the start of the game, it's time to finally use
them! It's near the end of the game anyway. Better make the best
Headgear and Shield you can now before the final battle!
Go back all the way to the Pandamonium Fortress and get a really
good Socketed Crown or Socketed Great Helm and stick in a Skull. This
will replenish some life and Mana while you run around avoiding
attacks. Also, stick in an Emerald in that piece of Head Gear. This
will increase your Dexterity value, so you can hit more accurately and
dodge attacks better.
Go get a Socketed Gothic Shield. Now, put in as many Diamonds (two
is good enough) so your resistance to all elemental attacks will
increase. You may want to stick in a Skull so that damage will be
returned to the monsters who do manage to strike you. But I prefer to
add an extra Amethyst instead of a Skull to increase your Defense
rating.
[FROM: Jason Lane
Your advice telling everyone to build 3d (triple diamond socketed)
shields is dead on. However, make them Tower Shields, not Gothic.
Higher blocking is the best attribute a shield can have, and
imperative.. If you have trouble locating a Tower Shield, wander Act 3
for a while. They show up there regularly.
Gems in equipment, other than a 3d shield, are basically garbage
compared to exceptional rares. Gems at higher difficulties are mainly
useful to brew up full rejuvenation potions - and you want your shield
to be three diamonds, not two diamonds and a sapphire, because of the
resistance reduction in the higher difficulties! ]
-Jason Lane
After getting the best mix of Gemmed Headgears and Shields, talk
to Tyrael. He will give you two more Stat points for you to better your
skills. You're gonna need it! Why? It's nearly the end of the game!
QUEST III: Terror's End
Available when : Talk to Tyrael after completing Quest II
Goal of Quest : Kill Diablo.
Reward given : The Epilogue cinema of Diablo II.
Recommended Level : 28 - 32
With Mephisto's Soulstone out of the way, Diablo is next. Diablo
is being protected in the Chaos Sanctuary. He is your target now.
Tyrael charges you to find Diablo and finally destroy his evil forever.
Easier said than done, pal!
Use the Waypoint and use it to go to the River of Flame. You will
meet Hadriel, the Angel guarding the path to the Chaos Sanctuary to
ensure that the forces of evil do not suddenly charge forth into Earth.
He lets you pass and informs you that Diablo is protected by 5 seals.
In order for Diablo to appear, you must break all 5 seals and the Lord
of Terror will appear in the center.
You will have to pass a series of floating bridge islands to reach
the Chaos Sanctuary, where Diablo resides. But, blocking your way are
Hell's full force of lower monsters. A whole herd of baddies are to be
fought on these island bridges. And you haven't even entered the Chaos
Sanctuary proper yet!
After wading thru the hordes of monsters, you will finally enter
the Chaos Sanctuary. Being the last line of defense of Hell, all the
monsters you will fight here are gonna be hard to defeat!
First and foremost, the Storm Casters can suck up Mana points,
become invisible and shoot tracking projectiles at you and your
minions. It would be wise to lead them away and let your minions take
most of the heat. BONE SPEAR works great here in taking them out en
masse while the baddies are busy trying to whack your minions.
The Venom Lords are just like the Pit Lords. But, by this time,
they just look imposing. Even in large groups, they aren't too hard to
defeat especially with a FIRE GOLEM and AMPLIFY DAMAGE.
The hardest monsters here would have to be the Doom Knights and
Oblivion Knights! You may have faced Doom Knights before, but when they
are this plenty and have an Oblivion Knight, who can cast Iron Maiden
and Decrepify Curses on you, with them, you can die in a blink of an
eye! Oblivion Knights are just like Undead Necromancers! They have
various curses that they can cast, and they also have the Bone Spirit
tracking spell with them! As much as possible, kill the Oblivion
Knights off first! They can be a bitch!
I prefer to have a lot of Town Portal Scrolls in a neat Tome just
in case. This is where the use of FIRE GOLEMS are greatly appreciated.
It loves to charge into the middle of a group of monsters. And, WHEN it
dies (you can be sure it will die after being overwhelmed), the
resulting explosion will kill of the baddies surrounding him! Create a
new FIRE GOLEM quickly and repeat. Help out the process with AMPLIFY
DAMAGE and CORPSE EXPLOSION to take out the baddies quickly.
After polishing all of the monsters in the Chaos Sanctuary, go
find the seals. But be careful, 3 of the seals will also release
monsters and very tough Uniques! This is when you should use those Gems
you've been collecting and the Imbue reward from Charsi from way back
in Act I!
Since the sealed Uniques are tough, read Section G, Boss Guide to
see ways on how to defeat them.
After all the seals have been broken and all the Uniques have been
killed, Diablo will emerge from the center of the Chaos Sanctuary for
the final face-off against Good and Evil! I hope you're ready!
The final battle with Diablo is described in Section G. Boss
Guide. Get ready!
After the aurodous battle with Diablo, collect the magic Items
that he drops because they are almost always good! If you still have
time, talk with Tyrael and Deckard Cain to hear their words of praise
for your work!
[FROM: Jason Lane
Above all, you need to keep in mind strategically that Act 4,
Normal difficulty, is not the end of the game. Heck, to anyone who's
actually been through the entire game ([Nightmare]/Hell), everything
through level 30 is the beginning, and one that only takes a day or two
to get through at that. ]
-Jason Lane
That's it! You have finished Diablo II! Now, all you've got to do
is wait for the add-on to find out what happened to Baal!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
G. Bosses Guide:
NOTE: It's always good to have BONE ARMOR active when battling the
Bosses to limit the physical damage done to you. Re-cast BONE ARMOR
when it gets destroyed, but be sure to run away from a Boss anytime you
feel your Necromancer is about to bite the dust. Heal up and then go
back to the Boss.
-------------
Act I Bosses:
-------------
1) BOSS : Blood Raven
ABILITIES : Bow and Arrow attack
Fire Arrows
Rapid Arrow
Summon Undead
STRATEGY : Blood Raven is pretty easy if you're totally ready for
her. As I said in the walkthru, it's smart if you clear out
the baddies around the border of the area. Afterwards, move
in to the center of the Cemetery to face her and her
minions.
It would be great if you had a long range attack, but
all you have now is TEETH, and that's pretty useless! And
I'm not suggesting to switch to bow and arrows for this
battle either. So, you'll have no choice but to go toe-to-
toe with her. But she won't like that, being an archer.
With your minions by your side, charge in quickly!
Almost surely, they will attack HER minions and not her, so
they won't be of much help for this battle. So, you're the
one who has to smash her without relying on your minions
for the first time.
Run towards her in a zig-zag fashion to avoid her
arrows. When you get close, wail at her with your weapon!
It's a difficult battle only because she runs extremely
fast for a tall girl (not that I'm saying all girls run
slowly! I mean, I admire the WNBA players!). You'll have to
chase her around a lot. If you've got a weapon that can
inflict COLD damage, the battle will be easier 'coz she
won't be able to run fast anymore when she's frozen.
What you need is against Blood Raven is actually good
Stamina! As long as you have got the Stamina to chase after
her, Blood Raven shouldn't be a problem.
2) BOSS : The Countess
ABILITIES : Fire Axe
Fire Wall
STRATEGY : Cakewalk. She doesn't really seem like a boss when you
face her! It may be a bit hard because she has assistants
with her. But you've got an army of undead monsters with
you, so no problem!
Once you enter the room where she's at, she'll cast Fire
Wall at the entrances of the area so you'll take an
enourmous amount of FIRE damage if you try to leave the
battle. But, you've got Town Portal Scrolls, so you can
actually escape at any time you want. The joke's on her!
Not that you'd want to leave, tho.
Anyway, lay back and let your minions smash up her
assistants, helping out with your AMPLIFY DAMAGE and CORSE
EXPLOSION spells. If some of your minions die, no problem!
Just make new ones during the battle. Eventually, The
Countess will be all alone against your entire army of
minions. AMPLIFY DAMAGE on her and let your minions have
fun smashing her to pieces.
In fact, the Countess doesn't really feel like a Boss.
The only thing that makes her tough is if you get trapped
between her minions and get stuck in her Fire Wall attack.
3) BOSS : The Smith (Extra Strong)
ABILITIES : Overhead Smash
STRATEGY : Hard to beat! It gets easier on the higher levels. But
as for now, let's say your Necromancer is around Level 12
to 16. Not high enough to have BONE SPEAR, where you can
just pelt at him from long range. So this isn't an option
yet. He's extra strong, which means one swipe from his
attack will cause that red globe at the lower left of your
screen become transparent pretty quickly! Your minions
don't fare well against him, especially the SKELETONS, who
pretty much crumble with one swing. So, what's a poor
Necromancer to do? There are two ways, actually, which I
found to be effective, and they all involve the WELL in the
area.
When you meet up with The Smith, chances are he's with a
bunch of Devilkin and Shamans, so take the battle away from
there! The Smith is hard enough by himself and with those
pesky ressurecting fiends there... it's gonna be triple
hard! So, run away and lead The Smith (and a few Devilkins)
away from their room. Run all the way to the WELL, but kill
of as many Devilkins that manage to follow you.
Now, when it's just you and The Smith with the well
close by, you've got two options. Both of them are Mana
extensive but work very well!
The first way is to cast AMPLIFY DAMAGE and create
minions constantly, using the dead Devilkins for SKELETON
WARRIORS and MAGES and CORPSE EXPLOSION if The Smith is
close by. Also, run close and hack away at him and quickly
run away to avoid his attack. Use the Well to replenish
your Mana and let it recharge by running around The Smith.
Another method is to use his Extra Strong ability
against him! Cast IRON MAIDEN on him and let him attack
your minions and yourself with the BONE ARMOR active on
you. Rush him and take the damage and let your minions die
but create new ones immediately. If your BONE ARMOR gets
destroyed, re-cast it again and let yourself get hit by The
Smith as long as you have IRON MAIDEN cast on him. Run to
the Well if you're getting pummeled or run out of Mana to
have the BONE ARMOR cast. This is a shorter method,
although more dangerous because you might die all of a
sudden if you're not careful.
Both methods are dangerous against him, because one big
blow from him and it means it's all over for you! Just be
alert on your Health Status and run to the Well when your
Health drops to about 1/3 of it's full level.
4) BOSS : Andariel
ABILITIES : Poison Slash
Poison Cloud
Poison Spray
STRATEGY : Now, she's the last Boss of Act I, so you can bet your
bottom dollar and your mother's freshly baked cookies that
Andariel will be ultra hard! And ultra hard is just putting
it mildly.
First and foremost, she'll be surrounded by a ton of
monsters in her room. Make sure you clear the room before
her when you're going to face her. She's tough enough
alone, but with her minions, it's going to be Hell! Her
attacks cause you to be Poisoned so it would be helpful if
you've got items that will increase your Poison Resistance
of reduce Poison Length. Andariel's Poison Cloud has her
spit out a fast moving cloud of Poison and her Poison Spray
has her fire a spray of Poison Clouds in a spread fashion.
Now, how to beat her. There are three methods, actually.
One of them is extremely dangerous, and the other two are
safer but still dangerous. There is no easy way to beat
her, other than leveling up really big, but that would
take too long.
Before I tell you the methods I used to beat her, I have
to tell you one important factor about Poison Damage. It
may kill your minions and your hired Warriors, BUT IT WON'T
KILL YOU! You'll be reduce to 1 point of Life only. But, of
course, that means you're and easy target. One slight tap
would kill you at that point, but this is important 'coz
you can run away if that occurs.
The first method is to use dead bodies for CORPSE
EXPLOSIONS. Why is this dangerous? You'll have to face a
ton of monsters in her lair and use them as ammo. This
means, you'll have to kill a ton of monsters while avoiding
Andariel's Poison attacks, and they can drain your health
pretty quickly. You can use this method but it's risky.
The second and third way is much like the methods used
to defeat The Smith. You can use IRON MAIDEN on her but
you'll need to get close to get hit, 'coz it seems that
Poison and other Elemental Damage done to you won't cause
the IRON MAIDEN Spell to return damage back to Andariel.
So, this is risky to do as well.
So, the third and safest method is also the most
brainless method. First, lead her out of her chamber and
goad her into following you close to the stair leading the
the upper level of the Catacombs. This way you can escape
anytime you want if you get inflicted with poison. Simply
go up the stairs, wait for the poison to subside (you won't
die, remember?) and heal (or use Town Portal if you want).
Now, you have a means to escape if you get too hurt to
fight. But how do you take out Andariel? AMPLIFY DAMAGE on
her and have you and your minions team up and surround her,
wailing away at her! You'll get hurt, so run back up the
stairs, heal and then go back to beat on her some more.
Repeat until Andariel bites the dust, finally.
--------------
Act II Bosses:
--------------
1) BOSS : Randament (Extra Fast)
ABILITIES : Cross Smash
Shadow Projectile
Poison Breath
Raise Dead Minions
Heal Minions
STRATEGY : He's tough when Randament is with his minions. Alone?
He's a wuss. So, take out his minions first... but, then
again, don't! Randament has the ability to raise his fallen
warriors when you kill them. There are two ways. One is the
long method, and the other is the short method.
The long method involves you leading Randament's minions
away from him then killing them. And I mean FAR, FAR, FAR
away! Randament can heal and ressurect them at quite a
distance, even if he can't see them! Anyway, afterwards,
when all the minions are just piles of bones, go back to
Randament and take care of him.
The short method may be quick, but you run a risk of
dying. Have your minions attack Randament's minions and
then lead Randament towards the pile of dead bodies. Then
CORPSE EXPLOSION as much as possible. This way, he cannot
ressurect the dead because they're all blown away! This is
Mana expensive but can be quick if you're lucky.
I suggest using the short method, because once you've
defeated Randament, any leftover minions are going to be
easy to mop up since they cannot be brought back to life.
2) BOSS : Coldworm the Burrower (Cold Enhanced, Magic Resistant)
ABILITIES : None
STRATEGY : As a Boss, it's a real creme-puff! In fact, it doesn't
do a single solitary attack! All it does is sit there! So,
the only time it will cause damage to you is when it dies
(it explodes with an ice ring and a poison fountain). So,
it's not him you're worried about. The Sand Maggots and the
Sand Maggot Young monsters are the one who dish out the
damage.
You'll probably face the Sand Maggot Young first. You'll
know you're near Coldworm the Burrower when the tunnel
becomes filled with Sand Maggot Young. Pretty easy when
you've got BONE SPEAR! You just fire at them and they'll
die the instant it connects in one fell swoop!
Next, clear out the Sand Maggots. Let your minions enter
the room with Coldworm the Burrower and the other Sand
Maggots and have them kill one of them. Then, here comes
the fun part! Just AMPLIFY DAMAGE on the ones close to the
dead Sand Maggot then start the CORPSE EXPLOSION chain
reaction! All the Sand Maggot will be dead in a few
seconds!
Coldworm the Burrower will be the only one left. Sit
back and let your minions kill it! Don't bother helping
out. It'll fall soon enough. Keep your distance because
when it does die, it will explode with an ice ring that
causes Cold damage. Also, it's death will have it spruting
a fountain of poison.
In fact, I killed it without any damage to me! He's that
easy!
3) BOSS : The Summoner
ABILITIES : Fire Wall
Fire Ball
Frost Nova
Glacial Spike
Amplify Damage Curse
STRATEGY : Think of him as a Coldworm the Burrower with attacks...
but easier! You don't have to worry about him. Worry about
his companions, because there's a lot of them, namely Ghoul
Lords and Hell Clans.
Lead the Ghoul Lords and Hell Clans away from the
Summoner and kill the baddies one by one. It would be best
to join in the fray with your minions 'coz they ARE tough.
Once they are taken care of, all you have is the
Summoner to worry about. Then again, you don't need to
worry about anything! Simply go up the stairs where the
Summoner is and have your GOLEM follow. Let the GOLEM swing
and connect WITH JUST ONE HIT AND IT'S ALL OVER! The
Summoner will get killed with that one hit! That's it! I
guess the Summoner has only 5 hit points.
In fact, when I faced him for the first time, I read
Horazon's Journal accidentally while chasing after him,
then my Blood Golem came running in, slashed him once, and
that was it!
4) BOSS : Duriel
ABILITIES : Claw Swipe (can Stun)
Holy Freeze Aura
STRATEGY : Now, this guy's a BOSS! Ultra-tough Starship Troopers-
like creature. Not only is he fast, he's stronger than than
Extra Strong, Duriel has a Holy Freeze Aura that will
freeze you, but not cause COLD Damage. Did I mention that
he's tough?
First and foremost, Duriel can smash you up real quick
since Super Strong. Your minions will die faster than you
can say the word "DIE", so you can count them out of the
battle. Now, with Duriel's Holy Freeze Aura freezing you
and slowing you down, he can quickly catch up with you
easily with his six legged sprint that can chase you down
quickly.
CORPSE EXPLOSION, your most useful spell, can't be used
because, well, there aren't any corpses to explode! For
once, you'll be hoping for the Boss to have minions to help
you out.
Now, how to beat him. The instant you enter the area,
open up a Town Portal. You'll need it for a quick escape
back to town, and believe you me, you're gonna need it! A
few swipes with his claw can kill you! So, it's good to run
back into Town the instant you start to get beaten up to
regroup and replenish your minion supply.
He has a Holy Freeze Aura, so having items to help you
with COLD will be good right now. But, it won't be useful
'coz he'll just get close to you and you'll get frozen
again! So, never mind getting those equipments to help you
against the COLD.
Duriel, although he runs very fast, is still very easy
to avoid. Just run parallel (ie. across) to where he's
running. In other words, when he's charging at you, run to
the left or right. He won't be able to stop quickly and you
can get a few blows in.
But, wait a minute! By this time, you're bound to have
BONE SPEAR at this point in the game! So, run left and
right to avoid his attack. Then, fire BONE SPEARS at
Duriel. When your Mana level is low, replenish with a Mana
potion, run around a while so your Mana builds up or return
to town and get healed by Fara.
There is another way, but dangerous. I did this against
him a bit before I switched to the above strategy. This
method works good, but not as well as the BONE SPEAR way.
Simply cast IRON MAIDEN on Duriel and have your minions get
killed by him. Have BONE ARMOR cast on you and let him get
a few strikes in before running away and activating your
BONE ARMOR (It'll probably be blown away with one swing of
Duriel's Claw Swipe). If you're too beat up, use the Town
Portal to get back to Lut Gholein, heal, exit the town and
create a full compliment of minions and return and repeat
the process. This method is dangerous because Duriel can
get a good swipe in and, all of a sudden, you will be
scrambling for the Town Portal.
I recommend pelting Duriel with the AMPLIFY DAMAGE and
BONE SPEARS, rather than the IRON MAIDEN method.
Good luck! Did I mention that he's tough?
[FROM Werebear:
Fighting Duriel isn't as hard as what you think. I find
him easier though a bit more dangerous than Mephisto. Why?
Let's see..
BLOOD GOELMS and IRON MAIDEN works to very good effect.
IRON MAIDEN returns whatever damage back by a BIGGER
percentage and the damage done is by whoever it strikes.
When you consider a BLOOD GOLEM steals 33% of damage done
by itself...and it means even by IRON MAIDEN. Let's see,
Duriel got a BIG BAD attack as you said in your FAQ. So if
you boost your IRON MAIDEN enough, the damage return will
be much more BIGGER. :> Like what you said, Mephisto deals
lotsa elemental attacks and yeah, they don't hit back with
IRON MAIDEN, thus useless.
And I remembered killing Duriel with BLOOD GOLEMS and
BONE SPEAR in like 15 seconds. Though the COLD damage will
kill your golem if your mastery is too low...
-Werebear
PS : Oh yah, you can try gambling for Tarnhelm early on so
when you go for Duriel, you have easily a higher skill lvl
on BLOOD GOLEM(More blood stealing and damage), IRON
MAIDEN (More damage returned) and BONE SPEAR. ]
[FROM DragonSlayer2500:
Hello, nice faq. I would like to say that the necro has
a very cheap trick against Duriel, which makes him easy.
Just have a GOLEM spell, and as many SEKELETAL MAGES as
you can. What you do is simple... Duriel always goes for
the GOLEM as long as he is the closest. So keep making
CLAY GOLEMS as they die while you stay out of reach and
the SKELETAL MAGES shoot him down! This is EXTREMELY safe
but EXTREMELY Mana consuming though. ]
-DragonSlayer2500
[FROM: Ja Mes Kor
Firstly, I fought Duriel, Izual, Mephisto and some other
bosses in ACT 2 & later using the BLOOD GOLEM. Firstly, I
would have to invest a few more points in GOLEM MASTERY.
BLOOD GOLEM with IRON MAIDEN on the above bosses allow you
to attack the boss while he is busy entertaining himself
with your GOLEM and you do get the blood back from your
cute BLOOD GOLEM. I find it useful and so far but I have
not met Duriel in Nightmare yet...In normal, this is
feasible as one of my friend who did it, agreed with my
tactics so far. ]
-Ja Mes Kor
[FROM: Jason Lane:
Regarding Duriel, unless you wear the sash from the
Death's set (which prevents ALL freezing), no COLD item in
the game will do a single thing about his Holy Freeze aura.
They won't let you move one inch faster, and it won't end
until he dies anyway. You also fail to note that Duriel
gets a free attack while the game loads him into existance.
While this is a negligible problem for a Necromancer (since
the minions will happily eat the damage), it's a huge one
for members of any other class. ]
-Jason Lane
---------------
Act III Bosses:
---------------
1) BOSS : Mephisto
ABILITIES : Death Swipe
Charged Bolt
Lightning
Ice Ball
Poison Explosion
STRATEGY : Oddly enough, Duriel, a Lesser Evil, is a whole lot
tougher than Mephisto, in my opinion, anyway. Sure,
Mephisto may have a lot of abilities compared to Duriel,
but, he is still easier!
First thing you got to do is to make sure that all the
other mosters and Uniques are taken care of. In other
words, they should be dead. Now, it's just going to be you
and Mephisto in a one-on-one match... Nah! You've got
minions! Use them!
The best way is to face Mephisto head on! Mephisto will
only use Charged Bolt, Lightning and Ice Ball when you are
at a distance from him. Being that these are his more
damaging attacks, you can have him not use these spells by
simply getting close to him!
Now, the only spells Mephisto will use are Poison
Explosion and his physical attack, the Death Swipe. But, he
will have to contend with you, a GOLEM, a bunch of SKELETON
WARRIORS and SKELETAL MAGES. So, odds are he'll be kinda
busy striking all of you and distributing his time on his
attacks.
So, cast either AMPLIFY DAMAGE or IRON MAIDEN on
Mephisto. Either you and your minions kill him quickly, or
Mephisto kills himself!
But, he isn't a cakewalk. He CAN still kill you with his
powerful strikes. If you need to get away, go behind a wall
so that Mephisto cannot reach you. Use potions to heal you
or return to town and restock on health and repair your
equipment. Return to Mephisto and repeat. But, you won't
have to do this that often when you compare the battle to
the one you had with Duriel.
[FROM DragonSlayer2500:
Mephisto is really easy for a necro. Just stay away from
him, and everytime he shoots something, sidestep it and
shoot a couple of BONE SPEARS at him. Make sure you have
Mana and Stamina potions on your belt when you do this.
You can do the same for Diablo. ]
-DragonSlayer2500
[FROM: Ja Mes Kor
Firstly, I fought Duriel, Izual, Mephisto and some other
bosses in ACT 2 & later using the BLOOD GOLEM. Firstly, I
would have to invest a few more points in GOLEM MASTERY.
BLOOD GOLEM with IRON MAIDEN on the above bosses allow you
to attack the boss while he is busy entertaining himself
with your GOLEM and you do get the blood back from your
cute BLOOD GOLEM. ]
-Ja Mes Kor
[FROM: Jason Lane
Regarding Mephisto. On higher difficulty levels, the
High Council members stationed down there with him are far,
far, far more dangerous than Mephisto can dream of being. ]
-Jason Lane
--------------
Act IV Bosses:
--------------
1) BOSS : Izual
ABILITIES : Freeze Slash
Frost Nova
STRATEGY : Now, I actually found this fallen angel harder than
Mephisto! What's up with that, huh? He may be twisted to
match his soul, but I thought that Izual looked really
good! Really cool looking!
Izual is tough enough alone because of his freezing
attacks that will slow you and your minions down quickly.
This, when combined with an army of Doom Casters and other
baddies, will slow down you and your minions enough for
Izual and the rest of the monsters to surround you. So, one
of your goals in facing this Boss is to avoid this.
Having suitable resistances to Cold attacks is optional
but recommended for this battle. But, it's more important
to clear out an area free from the normal monsters,
preferribly close to the stairs that lead back to the Outer
Steppes or a corner of the area. This is where you should
battle Izual. Once you've got Izual in this area, you've
got two choices to go to beat him.
The first way is to go toe-to-toe with him, attacking
him face-to-face and have your minions join in. Cast
AMPLIFY DAMAGE or IRON MAIDEN on Izual to help out on the
damage delivering. This is very dangerous but the quickest
way to do so. Just heal up and cast BONE ARMOR when doing
this method.
The other way is safer, but as usual, Mana-expensive.
Simply keep a distance from Izual and pelt him from long
range with your BONE SPEAR or BONE SPIRIT. You may want to
cast AMPLIFY DAMAGE to double the damage. Usually, he will
go after your GOLEM while you run around pelting him with
your offensive spells. Obviously, your GOLEM will
eventually die. Run away and replenish your Mana then
return to him and resume the assaul with a new GOLEM in
tow.
Obviously, I would recommend the safer method. Sure,
it's longer, but any way you defeat Izual means you defeat
him! Also, when you kill Izual, you'll be amazed at the
amount of experience you get! The little white bar above
your Stamina Meter goes up a good notch or two!
[FROM Werebear:
There're lotsa other boss that die without much to do
like Izual. He dies fairly easily with a BLOOD GOLEM
standing there for him to hit and damage himself with IRON
MAIDEN casted on him. Even the ermm Venom Lord Uniques? The
Storm Caster Unique? All their damage doubles back to
themselves or even 4 times back. BOOM. I just leave my
BLOOD GOLEM there with IM and all of them dies. Cheap on
Mana, and by just watching.
[FROM: Ja Mes Kor
Firstly, I fought Duriel, Izual, Mephisto and some other
bosses in ACT 2 & later using the BLOOD GOLEM. Firstly, I
would have to invest a few more points in GOLEM MASTERY.
BLOOD GOLEM with IRON MAIDEN on the above bosses allow you
to attack the boss while he is busy entertaining himself
with your GOLEM and you do get the blood back from your
cute BLOOD GOLEM. ]
-Ja Mes Kor
2) BOSS : Hephasto the Armorer (Extra Strong, Cursed, Magic
Resistant)
ABILITIES : Hammer Smash
Amplify Damage Curse
STRATEGY : He's probably the Smith's (Remember him way back in
Act I?) older, tougher bully of a brother. He's really
scary to face! Not only is he Extra Strong, Hephasto has an
Amplify Damage Curse, ensuring pretty much instant death if
he connects, even with BONE ARMOR active! Also, since he is
Magic Resistant, using your offensive magic spells like
BONE SPEAR and BONE SPIRIT won't be as effective on him.
So, what's a poor Necromancer to do? Well, the first
thing to do is to take him away from the other monsters he
has surrounding him. An excellent place will be the stairs
leading back to the City of the Damned so you can quickly
climb up the stairs to safety and use the Waypoint to heal
up from the massive damage he dishes out. Once he's
isolated, there are two ways that work well against
Hephasto the Armorer.
One way to kill Hephasto the Armorer when you take him
on is to slow him down! So, have a SKELETAL MAGE with COLD
Magic is great. When he gets frozen, you can get close
enough to him to get in a few whacks with your own AMPLIFY
DAMAGE Curse cast on him. When you see him raise his mighty
hand to hit you, quickly run away from the blow! Have your
SKELETAL MAGE freeze him up again, and strike him a few
times once more.
But, obviously, this is really a long process. Not only
that, very risky! Another way is to use his Extra Strong
stat against him. Cast IRON MAIDEN on him and let your
minions do the fighting for you. When he strikes your
friends down, he is actually killing himself! Actually,
having an IRON GOLEM here with THORNS on him is better than
having a FIRE GOLEM! This is because the THORNS aura
combined with the IRON MAIDEN Curse on him will triple the
damage returned to him! And with him being Extra Strong, he
should be gone pretty quick!
The second method is easy and safe, but the first method
works pretty well! I used the first way on Hephasto and I
didn't get scratched! All it takes are real good reflexes
to avoid the blows of Hephasto.
[FROM Werebear:
Now, imagine [a] BLOOD GOLEM going to kill Hephasto with
IRON MAIDEN. Remember, Hephasto do[es] AMPLIFY DAMAGE on
the GOLEM and only do melee damage....
Hope you find this useful. ]
-Werebear
[FROM: Jason Lane
Regarding Hephasto the Armorer, use any sort of minion
whatsoever and cast Iron Maiden on him. I've seen this in
action, it makes for a very short fight, even on Hell
difficulty - since he deals so much damage. ]
-Jason Lane
3a) BOSS : Infector of Souls (Extra Fast, Spectral Hit)
ABILITIES : Power Strike
STRATEGY : Infector of Souls is a Venom Lord Unique. He is also the
easiest of the three sealed monsters of the Chaos
Sanctuary. Think of him as a beefed-up Venom Lord. Sure
he's strong and got a lot of hit points. But, without his
minions with him, he's pretty much nothing.
Simply cast AMPLIFY DAMAGE on his minions and BONE SPEAR
them. When one of them is down, use CORPSE EXPLOSION. And
again if there are any leftovers. Once all of the Infector
of Souls' minions are down, he should also be badly beated
with all of the CORPSE EXPLOSIONS done on him in the
process.
Now, all you got to do are a few more CORPSE EXPLOSIONS
on the pile of bodies you've done with AMPLIFY DAMAGE on
him and, poof!, no more Infector of Souls!
3b) BOSS : Grand Vizier of Chaos (Extra Strong, Fire Enchanted)
ABILITIES : Spark Melee Strike
Homing Mana Drain Missiles
STRATEGY : Grand Vizier of Chaos is a Storm Caster Unique. He has
those annoying Homing Mana Drain Missiles which make it
hard to keep a distance and attack with BONE SPEAR and BONE
SPIRIT because if you get hit with those missiles, your
Mana will empty out pretty quick.
This is an easy battle if you've got a FIRE GOLEM with
you. Run around the Grand Vizier of Chaos and his minions
so that they won't be able to get a bead on you. If they
can't aim at you, they won't be able to hit you with those
missiles. And running around them is a good distraction,
too! Your FIRE GOLEM will kill a few of the minions off
with a little help from your SKELETAL MAGES and a AMPLIFY
DAMAGE Curse. With a few of them down, you've got your ammo
for CORPSE EXPLOSION fun! Keep on running around and
casting CORPSE EXPLOSION on the dead carcasses of the
minion Storm Casters.
Another good thing about the FIRE GOLEM is if it does
die, there is a good chance that the resulting explosion
from its death will take some of those baddies along with
him! This still means that you're gonna get ammo for your
CORPSE EXPLOSIONS!
But, what if you haven't gotten a high enough level for
a FIRE GOLEM? Well, this will be a hard fight! What you
have got to do is pretty much the same thing, but you
really need to be a bit more active!
You still have to have your Necromancer run a circle
around all of the baddies while your minions are in the
fray. Once in a while, stop and cast BONE SPEAR in the
crowd of baddies. Hopefully, you've got some Mana or
Rejuvenation Potions with you to replenish your Mana. When
a few of them are dead, use your CORPSE EXPLOSION on the
dead Storm Casters and keep on doing so until all of them,
including the Grand Vizier of Chaos is dead.
3c) BOSS : Lord De Seis (Extra Strong, Aura Enchanted, Thief)
ABILITIES : Thief Swipe
Bone Spirit
Iron Maiden Curse
Decrepify Curse
STRATEGY : First of all, Lord De Seis is an Oblivion Knight Unique.
And you know what a pain ordinary Oblivion Knights are!
Now, he's a buffed-up Oblivion Knight surrounded by an army
of Doom Knights and Oblivion Knights! Now, THIS is gonna be
rough!
This battle will be extremely tough because, not only is
he a Oblivion Knight, Lord De Seis is surrounded by a horde
of Doom Knights and a few Oblivion Knights. He is also
Extra Strong, so his attacks, the Thief Swipe and Bone
Spirit, do a heck lots of damage to you and your minions!
He also has Iron Maiden and Decrepity Curses. When he
casts Iron Maiden on you, just run away quickly! You'll
know it's Iron Maiden when you see the same tiny fireworks
display over your head. His Decrepify Curse will make it
difficult for you to run and strike with your weapon. So,
run away as far as possible, too, when you get hit with
this curse.
His Thief ability means that each time he connects with
his Thief Swipe, one of your potions from your belt gets
knocked off. Get hit a few times and you're going to have
an empty belt! So, this will make it hard for you to heal
with your potions.
With this in mind, Lord De Seis is going to be extremly
difficult to kill. But, of course, it is possible. With
great skill on you, your Necromancer, the assistance of all
your minions, and a bit of luck, he will die.
This easiest way to kill Lord De Seis is to have a FIRE
GOLEM in your party. Cast AMPLIFY DAMAGE on the herd of
baddies that are coming after the FIRE GOLEM. Now, while
they're all busy beating on your FIRE GOLEM, quickly create
another one, preferribly close by Lord De Seis' position.
With your AMPLIFY DAMAGE over the herd of Doom and Oblivion
Knights that went for the old FIRE GOLEM, the resulting
explosion of creating a new one will kill almost all of
them! Clean up is then easy with a few CORPSE EXPLOSIONS.
Now, all you're left with is Lord De Seis. Run up to him
quickly and whack him. Staying close to him and hitting him
with your weapon will prevent him from casting Bone Spirit
on you. Sooner or later, Lord De Seis will bite the dust.
Without a FIRE GOLEM, you have to rely on your BONE
SPEAR to kill as many minions as possible. Just aim for
Lord De Seis with the BONE SPEAR and make sure that the
BONE SPEAR will strike the group of baddies heading toward
you. Make sure you've got AMPLIFY DAMAGE on him and his
minions while doing this. Afterwards, when a few of the
baddies are dead, CORPSE EXPLOSION on them to clear them
out, leaving Lord De Seis all by his lonesome. Get close to
him, and attack!
At any time, during any of the above methods, you feel
that you're gonna get killed, just run away! I mean it! If
you do die at this point, it is going to be tough returning
to your corpse and get back your equipment with all the
tough monsters still in the area surrounding your dead
body.
Personally, get the FIRE GOLEM and use the first method.
It's really easy with that method! As long as Lord De Seis
is alone, he's really not that hard to beat!
4) BOSS : Diablo
ABILITIES : Ice Claw
Fire Nova
Fire Wall
Fire Bolts
Lightning Wave
Bone Cage
STRATEGY : Here it is! The final battle to decide the fate of
humanity! The concluding match between the forces of good
vs. evil! More importantly, the last boss of Diablo II!
Kill Diablo and the game is over! Sure, you're gonna miss
the long, sleepless nights playing the game! You're going
to remember the good times you had with your faithful
GOLEMS and SKELETON WARRIORS. It's been one hell of a ride
(In fact, the ride took you right into Hell!), but now it's
time to end it! Once and for all!
Diablo has three ranges for his attacks. Get close to
him, he will either try to strike you with his Ice Claw
melee attack or unleash his Lightning Wave. The Ice Claw is
really nothing to fear by itself. But, get hit with it, and
you'll slow way down, making it easy to follow it up with
another Ice Claw or strike you with his Lightning Wave. The
Lightning Wave is a multi-hitting lightning attack, much
like the Fetish Shaman's Inferno. The Inferno does lots of
damage, but Diablo's Lightning Wave will do a colossal
amount of damage if you stay still, even with the best
LIGHTNING Defense on the entire planet! So, close range is
very risky.
At mid-range, Diablo will unleash his Fire Nova (imagine
a Poison Nova, only it's made of fire), Lightning Wave,
Fire Wall and Fire Bolts (much like a Charged Bolt of
fire). The Fire Nova will outright kill your SKELETON
WARRIORS and SKELETAL MAGES. And, with your SKELETAL MAGES
always keeping a distance from a baddie, Diablo will use
Fire Nova for sure to get them!
At long-range, Diablo's attacks are just limited to Fire
Bolts, Fire Nova and his Fire Wall (which he won't do too
much). This is where you should be! Keep a good distance
from Diablo! He can't do much damage with his Fire Wall if
you keep moving. The Fire Bolts are pretty easy to dodge as
well and the Fire Nova will spread out, so you can move in
between the fire balls with precise movement.
Now, while keeping a distance, run around Diablo, just
enough so you can still see him in the screen. Stop
occasionally to cast AMPLIFY DAMAGE on him and your long-
range offensive spell on him. I hope by this time, your
Necromancer has already learned BONE SPIRIT! Having this
spell will eliminate the need for you to accurately aim.
BONE SPEAR can work, but if Diablo's moving around as well,
so it is pretty easy to miss with BONE SPEAR.
Having a FIRE GOLEM is good, too! He will absorb any of
Diablo's Fire attacks into his health, but since his main
close range attacks are non-fire based, your FIRE GOLEM
will die pretty quickly. Which is, actually, a good thing!
The FIRE GOLEM will explode next to Diablo, giving off a
few extra points of damage (I'm guessing Diablo's got good
defense against Fire). Any extra damage is good! Just don't
bother creating a new one. It's better to do it solo (for
once).
If you need to run back to town via Town Portal, run
away from Diablo! I mean, FAR AWAY! Diablo will usually
cast Bone Prison around Town Portals! So, if you're going
to use a Town Portal, either go behind a wall so Diablo
can't see the Portal, or open it up far away from him.
In conclusion, in facing Diablo in the final battle,
pelt away with your BONE SPIRIT or BONE SPEAR spell with
AMPLIFY DAMAGE on him. It'll take a long, long time, but it
is the easiest method I found to kill Diablo!
[FROM: Ja Mes Kor
As for Diablo in Normal, my friend actually suggested to
use the BLOOD GOLEM instead of FIRE, and you need to re-
cast your BLOOD GOLEM numerous times (he was at level 31).
I tried and found that you may still need to run around a
bit like you suggested. My stand is: BLOOD GOLEM is your
blood of survival till ACT 4. ]
-Ja Mes Kor
[FROM: Jason Lane
Regarding Diablo tactics. The very best tactic for a
Necromancer against Diablo, from what I've seen, is to get
someone else to help you. This is easy enough, as many
characters, in higher difficulties, have major problems
with Hephasto.. and an IRON MAIDEN-wielding Necromancer
will, as I said, laugh at him. ]
-Jason Lane
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
H. Tips and Hints
1) PUT THOSE STAT POINTS IN YOUR STRENGTH
Although you won't be needing to get up close and personal with
the baddies most of the time, it's better to be safe and sure. In order
to increase your Defense Rating, you'll need good armor of have good
Dexterity. Unfortunately, increasing your Dexterity won't do much for
your Defense Rating when your Necromancer is at a very high level.
So, what you want is a good armor, shield, etc. In order to do
that, you need to be strong enough to carry the stuff. This is why
Strength increase should be the Character stat you should be putting
your points into. Getting items that can increase your Attack Ratings
is pretty easy to find!
2) SAVE AND UPGRADE THOSE GEMSTONES
In the last Act, where a lot of the baddies do huge Elemental
damage to you. That's why you need to get those Gemstones and upgrade
them. Diamonds, when attached to a Shield will increase all your
Elemental Resistances. Putting an Amethyst in your Shield will increase
it's Defense. Adding a Skull into your Helm will increase your Mana
recovery and will recover Life! Finally, the Emerald in your Headgear
will increase your Dexterity!
3) GET A FAST WEAPON BUT NOT A WIMPY FAST WEAPON
Since you won't be fighting that much, you'll want a weapon that
hits hard and fast for quick getaways. I know that you'll probably find
a weapon that does Enchanted Damage or get a Hammer that does more
damage than your very fast sword, but the fast hit-and-run style really
works well for a Necromancer.
But don't go overboard on the speed department! If you get
surrounded, and you've got a fast weapon but does little damage (for
example, a Dagger), you won't be able to clear out the bad guys around
you!
Also, two handed weapons aren't meant for the Necromancer. Since
you need two hands on a two handed weapon (Duh!), you won't be able to
carry a Shield! And your Shield is needed for added Defense, and if
you've added Gems into your Socketed Shield, it's needed to take most
of your Elemental Damage.
Swords work well. They have fast attacking speed while delivering
modest damage to the opponent. There are other weapons that have
Enhanced Attacking Speed so, even though those type of weapons are slow
weapons normally, the added speed will be welcome while doing the same
amount of damage.
[FROM: Ja Mes Kor
In another Necro FAQ, someone actually suggested to use a really
damaging 2-handed weapon in later ACTs...I think this may be true in
Nightmare...I found one Maul and went back to get it imbued and it does
nearly 90 dmg on average and it kills off enemy faster. A gemmed shield
is useful when you meet up with those irritating elemental attacks...
otherwise I keep the shield for later uses. ]
-Ja Mes Kor
4) LEARN THOSE USEFUL SPELLS AND USE THEM!
You've gotta love those spells the Necromancer has! Sure, a lot of
them suck big time and aren't worth getting, but the ones that really
work well, really work damn good!
AMPLIFY DAMAGE is bound to be one of your faves! It costs only a
few Mana points, yet it will double the damage you and your minions can
do!
CORPSE EXPLOSION does a huge amount of damage! Kill a baddie and
cast it on the body! BOOM! A few more baddies are bound to die, setting
up for more CORPSE EXPLOSION attacks! Also, exploding a corpse prevents
the dead body from being ressurected by creature that have the ability
to raise the dead.
BONE SPEAR and BONE SPIRIT also does a lot of damage! BONE SPEAR
is great for huge groups of monsters. The BONE SPEAR will eliminate a
few of them, setting them up for CORPSE EXPLOSION. The BONE SPIRIT, on
the other hand, will only hit one baddie, but will to massive damage,
and will chase the targeted monster!
5) SUMMONING MAKES SURE YOU'RE NEVER ALONE
Any SKELETON WARRIOR and MAGE are really good in times when you
need assistance quickly. They can provide distractions if you need to
run away. Not only that, using those spells will deny the body to be
ressurected ever again.
REVIVED creatures, although they are active for a limited time,
are really powerful if you use this spell on Champions and Uniques.
They also get a big boost on their life stats. It's great on Bosses,
like Mephisto (if you manage to get Level 30 at that time) and Diablo!
Finally, the jewel of your Summoning monsters, the GOLEMS! The
CLAY GOLEM is tough enough to last till the end of Act I, and BLOOD
GOLEMS work wondrous against huge amount of baddies. IRON GOLEMS are
real bad boys! They can take a beating and dish it out as well! It's
THORNS Aura also help it kill tough monsters, especially the Extra
Strong, by returning 150% of the damage back to the attacker.
And, last but not least, the FIRE GOLEM will absorb Fire Elemental
attacks to its health, has a Fire Aura as well and really hits hard!
Another ability that the FIRE GOLEM has that no one really exploits is
the fact that, when it dies, it explodes, delivering Fire Damage to the
surrounding baddies!
The Summoned Monsters are Mana expensive, but, then again, YOU
ONLY HAVE TO CAST IT ONCE! Unlike your other spells, like AMPLIFY
DAMAGE and BONE SPEAR, the effect of the spell and the damage it does
either has a time limit or is instantaneous. They can last for a long
time. And, when they do die, you can always make another one, and
return to the nerest town and recharge you Mana!
6) SAVE THAT IMBUE
In Act I, when you return the Horadric Malus to Charsi, she'll say
that she'll Imbue one of your ordinary Items with Magic properties. It
may be tempting to use it immediately, but don't! Save it until Act IV!
In Act IV, the ordinary Item you can buy are really good! So,
Imbuing an item that you get during Act IV, and Imbue that Item, you'll
get a really powerful item!
I suggest Imbuing the best armor you can get later in the game,
then go back all the way to the Rouge Encampment. Go to Charsi and give
her the armor and have her Imbue it. After that, she'll give you your
new, powerful Magic Armor!
7) CHEAT!
You heard me right! Cheat! For example, if you're gonna Gamble or
get a Ring as a reward, save the game first! Then, go back to Windows
(you don't have to exit the game) and copy all the save game data from
the save directory of Diablo II to another directory.
Now, load the game again and do whatever you want. If you get a
lousy item from Gambling or a crummy Ring for a reward, go back to the
Main Menu of Diablo II by saving the game. Since you didn't want what
you got, simply overwrite that save game with the one you copied to a
different directory! You're back again without the said Item and you can try
again!
Do this when you're about to use the Imbue! Imbue it and then, if
you think the new Imbued Item sucks, just do the above process!
8) IF YOU CAN PLAY MULTIPLAYER WITH YOUR FRIENDS, DO SO!
Why? Playing with friends is just darn fun! I played with my
friend. I was using my Necromancer while he used his Paladin character.
No matter how powerful the baddies were, the fights were pretty easy!
Imagine the combinations! Your Necromancer and his minions, with
the help of a Paladin with Prayer, Might or Thorns Aura. You, your
Undead army, a Golem with an Amazon pelting the baddies from long
range. Two Necromancers with a ton of minions! Your Necromancer casting
Amplify Damage while a Barbarian totally killing the forces of evil!
Letting your minions distract a horde of monsters while a Sorceress
friend cast Frozen Orb on the lot of them! Or, ALL CHARACTER CLASSES
against the army of the Evil Dead! The possibilites are endless!
Also, you can trade your items! With the help of your online
friends, it's pretty easy to complete the Set Items! Help your friends
by giving him items that you don't need anymore! Or they can help you
in the same way!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Help Me!
Send me some comments or suggestions to make this FAQ a better one.
They are always welcome! Contact me at fiefo@hotmail.com.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
J. Thanks!
www.gamefaqs.com (CJayC)- a great site for your faqs! Thanks for
putting this one up! You get credit now for
being the first one to do so!
DLH.net (Bernd Wolffgramm) - thanks for asking to put this up!
gameadvice.com (Al Amaloo) - thanks for asking to put this up!
neoseeker.com (Peter Judson) - thanks for asking to put this up!
Blizzard - for making Diablo II. I hope you guys can read this FAQ!
'Coz I wanna say thanks for the great game that Diablo II
is!
Werebear (Chris Chua) - Gave me a few pointers on how to defeat Duriel,
Izual, Hephasto the Armorer, and even Diablo
himself! That's quite a lot of help!
DragonSlayer2500 - Gave advice to beat Duriel and Mephisto, two major
Bosses! Thanks!
Ja Mes Kor - For some great advice to beat Duriel, Izual, and Mephisto.
Diablo, too!
Jason Lane - For tons of advice in the game! And I mean TONS! Go ahead!
weight it! It's about 2,000 lbs!
The "Lurkers" - Friends to Jason Lane. They gave Jason Lane a huge bulk
of the info he sent.
Thomas Schuering - For pointing out to me that my FAQ was a bit wonky
in it's former setting.
Norman Lee - for letting me play Diablo II for the first time at his
house! And for playing with me online! Thanks, pal!
END!