Diablo 2 - Lord of Destruction

Diablo 2 Lord Of Destruction FAQ

Why the #$*!!! Do I keep on dying in Hell Difficulty? V.1.04
By: SupaTallgeese
E-Mail: nm486@hotmail.com
Created in October 5 2001

This FAQ is copyrighted by SupaTallgeese and cannot be copied by ANYBODY
without my permission…I cant write those legal jargon companies do so well
;)

BEGINNER’S NOTE: This is my first FAQ, so bear with me, ill try to be as
clear as possible and provide as much info as possible.

Ok, so as you all would know, this FAQ is designed to help you solve your
Hell Difficulty woes in Diablo: Lord of Destruction. I will try to keep
this FAQ somewhat general but I will go into character specifics for certain
situations. I will also assume that you know the very basics of Diablo 2.
I am not going to post specific skill information, if you want info on that
go check the other 50 faqs on Gamefaqs.com.

VERSION CHANGES
1.01(October 31 2001)- Numbered the different sections.
-Added extra info(-resistance and global physical) to Section 1.

1.02(November 6 2001)- Added new Caster Druid report. (section 5)
-Added more monsters in Section 6.
-Added more Info in the Amazon Section re: Immolation Arrow vs. Freezing
Arrow
-Added new Section called Difficult Quests. Replaces Final Statements for
Section 7 spot.

1.03(November 14 2001)-Added the MSLE Boss in Section 8.
-Small addition to Amazon Section in How to survive better in Hell
-Small addition to Sorceress Section in How to become popular…
-Small addition to Difficult Monsters and Quests: Act 4 Quest 3/Diablo

1.04(November 21 2001)-Added a new, and early version of Character Equips in
Section 9(unfinished). Final Statements is now Section 10.
-A little bit more info on Baal (beating him, that is) in Section 7.
-Minor changes (mostly spelling and grammatical) here and there.

1.05(June 24 2002)-Whew! It’s been ages since I’ve updated this! Anyway I
thought I’d put this FAQ away a few months ago, but then I did get a few
emails about a few things so I’ll set it straight.
-Updated Necromancer section
-NEW character equip section (incomplete, and might stay that way if I don’t
have time)
-Miscellaneous changes that I forgot where they were


Ok, lets start, with some basic things:

1. THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR WHEN YOU ENTER HELL DIFFICULTY


-Monsters now have an immunity to at least one or more elements, including
poison.
-Monster Levels are base level+66
-Unique Bosses and Super Uniques have 2 more modifications on them.
-Any special abilities they may have (i.e. charged bolts from lightning
enchanted, Red Lightning, Fireball) are boosted by 7, so they do more damage
and have more range, etc.
-You lose more exp(10%) and gold when you die in hell.
-Life Stealing and Mana Stealing are cut by half in Hell.
-Cold and Curse durations are reduced by 3/4 in Hell
-All resistances are –100%
-All monsters receive a global 50% physical resistance
-Life and Mana Steal are effectively reduced to 25% of your current
percentage (lets say you steal 4% Life. The 4% will be reduced by 25% in
hell.)
-The super bugged, super powerful/impossibly powerful MSLE
(Multishot-Lightning Enchanted). More into this later.
These are the most significant changes.


2. OK I KNOW THIS STUFF, CAN YOU TELL ME SOMETHING USEFUL?

Common Reasons why people die A LOT in hell:

1. You are too low of a level (by this I mean anywhere from lvl 40-50) if
you are good, this means actual SKILL, good does not mean having 2 SOJ’s and
a Leaf rune word J. level 50ish is OK to enter hell. Level 40’s will not
survive long in Hell, especially the melee characters such as the barbarian
and paladin. Sorceresses may do decent in Hell but since they are so cheap
and powerful im not surprised:)
2. Your resistances are REALLY bad. By this I mean the negatives(-) if you
got really bad negatives then it’s a good bet when you run into a Carver
Shaman or a Lightning Enchanted boss you’re screwed. Low negatives up to
–10 are not necessarily lethal, but as always try to get as high resistances
as possible without sacrificing other areas.
3. Skill Points are put in all the wrong places. This usually applies to
first-timers. If you have improper skill and stat placement then you are in
trouble. You may have a slim chance, but it’s a REALLY slim chance.
4. You don’t play smart. Playing smart is key, even if you have a
less-than-average character build but you play smart, you could get by Hell
with some difficulty. I will go deeper into this later.
5. If you absolutely must insist on going into Hell low-level then please
join an 8-player party

3. Uh-huh.

Another important factor in surviving Hell is your hireling. While the
hireling can’t win the war for you, it can sure cut some weight off your
shoulder. Let’s analyze the 4 different hirelings in depth, and how they
will play into your game.

THE ROGUES OF SIGHTLESS EYE (a.k.a. the Archer) Found in Act 1
These pretty little girls use bows, not crossbows. Keep that in mind when
choosing a weapon for her. The most important thing for her is Damage.
Find the strongest weapon you can find. Ignore attack rating and other mods
on the weapon for more damage. As for other items, find weapons that
contribute to Attack Rating, and for armour, find the highest defense armour
you can find. Other mods are a bonus. How heavy an armour is (light,
medium, heavy) does not affect her. If possible, try to find items that add
to strength and dexterity so that she can equip the best bows as soon as
possible. Keep her out of melee range, if that means you have to
re-position yourself to do so, do it. She does not have much life at all.
Another feature she has is Inner Sight, which highlights all enemies in a
certain radius and decreases the monsters’ defense. She uses this often,
even though she occasionally casts it twice in a row. All in all, a good
long-range fighter. Barbarians, Paladins, Druids, Assassins and
Necromancers can use her help well.

DESERT MERCENARIES (a.k.a. the Aura-fighter) Found in Act 2
These men use Spear and Polearm-type weapons. Choose the Spear weapons,
because weapon speed does not affect the hireling’s rate of attack. You can
achieve MASSIVE damage (well over 1000) with these guys, when equipped with
Pikes/Lances/War Pikes. Another feature of these guys are the built-in
auras. Depending on which difficulty you hire them from, they can have
Prayer, Blessed Aim, Might, Thorns, Defiance, and Holy Freeze. Be careful
though, they do not have as much life as you think, and these guys can go
down pretty fast sometimes. Depending on what aura the merc you hired has,
you can use him well. For Barbarians, they can make good comrades just for
the aura alone, might is good. The auras make them usable by all classes.

IRONWOLVES (a.k.a. the Mage) Found in Act 3
These hirelings are useful because of their magic powers. They come in
three varieties, fire, cold, and ice. They can only have one element.
While you equip them with one-handed swords and a shield, they rarely swing
their sword if never so damage is no concern. Find a “caster” sword for
best effect, and prismatic shield with good caster mods is preferred as
well. They are generally weak with little life and defense, so try to avoid
having them in a melee situation as much as possible. Otherwise they are
useful. Melee characters will find the Ice mage very useful. Necromancers
should avoid Ice Mages because dead frozen monsters leave no corpses.

BARBARIANS (a.k.a the Warrior) Found in Act 5
These hirelings are the most versatile hireling warriors you can hire. They
use Swords, one handed or two handed makes no difference. While they may
not be able to beat the Mercenaries in final damage (Spears typically do
more damage than swords), Barbarians have better attack skills, much more
life, more defense, and barbarians have the most Strength and Dexterity
averaged out, out of all hireling classes. They last long and can hold
their own well. These warriors are optimal for Sorceresses, Necromancers,
and Amazons, but any class can use a versatile melee fighter at their side.

4. Yawn, is this another boring, useless FAQ?

No it isn’t. I guess I will get to the chase, go into some character
specifics…

***BARBARIAN***
All right, you think you’re tough and all that, you got a meaty 150+ weapon
backed up by weapon mastery, with some Battle Orders…ya, life was easy in
Nightmare. Well its not the same anymore, buddy. It’s called PHYSICAL
IMMUNE. Physical immune screws over your leap attack, whirlwind, frenzy…Oh
no! What shall our hero do?? Don’t worry, blizzard is one step ahead of
you: BESERK. Know it well. It will become one of your best friends in
hell. Why, you might ask? Well it DOESN’T count as a physical attack, it
counts as magical. Beserk greatly adds to your attack rating, damage and
speed, but at the cost of losing your defence for a very short period of
time. Beserk and War Cry are the only Barbarian remedies to physical
immunes. A few other worries for the Barbarian: Mana Burn. This will
totally screw over Whirlwind Barbs so bad it isn’t funny. What can you do?
Well, switch to normal attack, and if you score a hit, you will gain some
mana. What do you do next? Well, unless you got high mana steal and really
high dmg, you probably won’t get enough for whirlwind. Maybe not even Leap
Attack. Try using bash. Costs only 2 mana, does decent damage. Its not
going to be pretty, so have some super healing pots to back you up. Or, if
you’re really messed, if you’re in a party, get someone to help you out.

How to be Popular with your party members:
Use all the beneficial warcries on your party. If you have all of them
(shout, battle orders and battle command) use them in the following order:
BC, BO, and Shout. Having more defense and more maximum mana and life makes
everybody else happy. Another thing to stay cool is don’t be a big coward.
You’re a Barbarian! Don’t be afraid to die once or twice. Show that you’re
willing to commit as a party member. This usually applies with everybody,
don’t be a leacher/slacker.

HOW TO SURVIVE BETTER WITH YOUR BARBARIAN IN HELL DIFFICULTY:
-If you’re surrounded, use Howl. Most newbs who think they are tough when
they do good damage always never use some of the essential early skills.
Some can save your life.
-If you think that using Whirlwind through a large crowd may be dangerous to
your health, drink a potion first, and then use whirlwind. If you get hit
during that time the potion will cover it for you.
-Don’t solo in Hell unless you KNOW for certain that you can take them on.
If you run into a pack of champions or a unique with physical immune, well,
you got no one to back you up. This may sound contradictory with my earlier
statement of not being a coward, but there’s a fine line between bravery and
stupidity.
-You are not invincible when you have a good damage weapon.


***PALADIN***

For the Paladin, things should be going ok so far. You’ve got a set plan
involving a certain aura and combat skill and you’re chewing up monsters.
That’s good, but things are going to change in Hell.

The Zealot Paladin

Zealot Paladins typically use Fanaticism and Zeal as their main left and
right buttons. They may have Fist of the Heavens too depending on how
flexible you want to be, although FOH is not a necessity for a Zealot,
considering that for a Zealot you do not raise energy at all because Zeal
costs only 2. Firstly a Zealot will notice he will do considerably less
damage even with Fanat. That’s ok, but keep in mind that Zealots will end
up doing less damage than a Barbarian considering that your only constant
source of damage boost comes from Fanat, which is limited, and whatever else
on your weapons and other items. Your main priority in Hell is to seek an
excellent one-handed weapon (i.e. ancient sword and above) or any elite one
handed, rare/unique/set are fine. Imbue one of these weapons too if you
don’t have any luck trading for one. Make sure the weapon does a lot of
damage and has a good damage modifier (100-200+%). Damage will be your main
concern when it comes to weapons. (duh!) If you’re using a two-handed
weapon damage is less of a concern but you may notice that your resistances
are suffering. If you find that elemental damage is killing you constantly,
consider switching to a Shield with sockets to boost your resistances. Try
to get the maximum number before socketing the shield with perfect Diamonds.

The Avenger Paladin

Avengers use Vengeance and Conviction. They also should have FOH to deal
with crowd control from a long distance and then mop everything up with
vengeance. Monsters in Hell have more resistances so you will notice your
damage reduced a bit. Increase vengeance/conviction as necessary. Your best
weapon EVER will probably be the Lightsabre, perfect for the Avenger. These
babies are worth a lot, though, so be prepared to cough up the good stuff
for it. Other good weapons are ok, but your ultimate goal is for
Lightsabre. Repeat after me. Anyway, physical immunes and elemental
immunes wont be too much of a problem because most of your damage comes from
elemental which screws over physical immune, and you deal 3 types of
elemental damage so losing one element wont completely kill you.

HOW TO SURVIVE BETTER WITH THE PALADIN IN HELL DIFFICULTY:
-Invest at least one point into Salvation. The initial resistances boost
will help you a lot when it comes to elemental-heavy monsters, especially
lightning enchanted monsters.
-Redemption is a good skill when you are low on potions.

HOW TO BE POPULAR WITH YOUR PARTY MEMBERS:

Fanaticism will make you popular with almost all the classes except for
sorceress and necromancer, who really don’t benefit much from it. Keep
Fanaticism online as much as possible. Conviction will help the others a
little bit, the sorceress the most, but not by much. Meditation makes you
popular with spellcasters.


***SORCERESS***

Two Words: Too Easy. It’s a good bet you started Hell at mid-40’s. Well,
is it easy in Hell too? It’s not difficult for a Sorceress, but you will
have to play a wee bit tougher this time. Your main problems will be the
elemental immunities, but if you got more than one element as your attack,
you should be ok…unless under the uncommon situation where you face a unique
monster with 2 or more immunities…in that case, you’re out of luck…have a
party member handle it, or if your hireling is up to it, have him/her take
it on! BTW, you should be having a Barbarian hireling, they are the best
hirelings for a Sorceress…and those guys aint no pushovers. Another threat
is the fact that in Hell you are very likely of dying even from one lousy
hit, especially the lightning enchanted buggers…be careful, and play safe!

HOW TO SURVIVE BETTER WITH THE SORCERESS IN HELL
1. Don’t be too aggressive. You may feel that way when you’re doing a lot
of damage, but don’t get carried away. One wrong step and you could be
fried. Play it safe. As the saying goes, better to be safe than sorry…
2. Get at least 2 elements ASAP. If possible, find items that add to
another elemental attack, or charges…if you don’t you’ll have a hard time
getting through Hell…
3. Resistances are critical in Hell, especially for the Sorc who doesn’t
have much resistance to begin with anyway. I suggest getting a good shield
with maximum sockets and fill it with perfect diamonds.
4. Teleport is a good escape from Death. Hotkey it and be prepared to use
it. At this level, 25 mana is bearable so you don’t have to put more than a
few points if you cannot spare the points.

HOW TO BE POPULAR WITH YOUR PARTY MEMBERS:
Unfortunately, Sorceresses are generally not very popular as a party member
because people who play them are known to be rude and not very nice people.
You can correct that, however. Don’t just stand off screen casting Hydra or
Frozen Orb and then rush in at the last second to pick up all the drops…you
really didn’t deserve it, the guy who was there meleeing with the monster
deserved it…but if you thought that it was your outright contribution that
defeated the monster then by all means go ahead. BE PRODUCTIVE. PEOPLE
LIKE SORCERESSES THAT ARE GOOD MONSTER KILLERS BUT NOT JACKASSES. That’s
the bottom line.


***AMAZONS***

THE BOWAZON

Damage is extremely critical for bowazons, if you do not do enough damage
you will not get through Hell at all. The gap between act 5 nightmare and
Act 1 hell is enormous. If you barely got by Act 5 damage-wise, you will
suffer a living Hell in, well, Hell. Finding a good bow is your top
priority, but be prepared to shell out your best items for them. Windforce
or Buriza are examples of an ideal bow. If you really cannot remedy this,
hire an Act 2 hireling in Nightmare with Offensive Auras. He will have
Might, which will increase your damage somewhat. The more you level him up
the more powerful Might will be. Train him in Nightmare to your level or at
least level 60. Be prepared to recast your Valkyrie many times, even just
to reposition her. Decoy is good as well; one point is all you need.
Physical Immunes are your greatest trouble, so you will need at least one of
the following things: Immolation Arrow, Freezing Arrow, and a Party Member
that deals good elemental damage. Which is better, Freezing or Immolation?
Well, if everything goes well the Immolation arrow will do more. The
initial damage for Immolation arrow beats Freezing Arrow, not including the
Fire Duration of Immolation arrow. Also the patch of fire Immolation Arrow
gives you upon contact is stackable, so multiple stacks of Immolation Arrow
can add up to A LOT of damage. The drawback of Immo is that monsters
usually walk over your patch of fire with minimal damage. If you have a
cold charm to slow the monsters down then Immolation will work much better.
Use Multishot or Strafe to keep the monsters still and slow while Immolation
Arrow puts them down. Freezing Arrow isn’t bad however, it still does
decent damage although less than Immo. The significant advantage of
Freezing Arrow is that it works like Glacial Spike, which freezes all
monsters in a certain radius of the blast. That is nice, however, since
this is a Hell guide, I will say that in Hell Difficulty cold duration for
Freezing Arrow is reduced to a measly 0.5 seconds. That means you WILL have
to keep on firing Freezing Arrows constantly to keep them Frozen. This is
not practical because Freezing Arrow costs a lot of Mana and unless you have
massive Mana Steal and a lot of base damage with your bow, you cannot
continuously fire Freezing Arrows without running out of Mana first.

HOW TO SURVIVE BETTER IN HELL WITH YOUR BOWAZON:
-Keep out of Range of melee monsters.
-Put more points into Valkyrie and recast her often as well as the decoy
skill.
-Slow Missiles help too.
-Don’t blame Strafe-lock because to be honest Blizzard did you a favour by
reducing it to only 10 arrows. That is definitely fine as long as you have
valkyries and Decoys there to distract the monsters. If you die from Strafe
lock, its usually due to poor strategic placement of your Amazon. I’m well
into Hell and I have never died from Strafe lock so far.
-Boost your resistances.

SPEARAZON

No data for her yet, haven’t built one yet lol ;)

HOW TO BE POPULAR WITH YOUR PARTY MEMEBERS:
A Bowazon does not have many party-friendly skills except Inner Sight and
Slow Missile. Neither one is especially useful, although Slow Missile helps
against those pesky Oblivion Mages.


***NECROMANCERS***

Note: Some people have gotten the impression that I either A: Suck with
Necro B: Think that it’s impossible to get to Hell with a Necro. Well, I do
use Necros a lot, in fact they were my favourite character before they got
nerfed. Its not impossible, just harder. Its not very difficult to get to
Hell or beat Hell with a Necro, sorry if you got that impression. However,
it does take considerably more skill and time (especially time) for a Necro
to accomplish Hell, which I am sure you’ll agree with me on. Anyone with
good Necromancer strategies for Hell is more than welcome to email to me.

If you can actually make it this far in patch 1.09, I must offer you my
deepest congratulations. Knowing how much the Necromancer has been toned
down with previous patches it is difficult to get into Hell alone (add: BUT
NOT IMPOSSIBLE.). And guess what: it doesn’t get any easier. In fact, its
much worse. There is a global –50% physical damage in Hell, which effects
your best source of damage, the Revived (or at least they used to be;)) and
Iron Maiden. Also Bone Spirit does not deal nearly enough damage in Hell,
even if it is maxed out or even beyond level 20. I suggest teaming up with
other people…

If you’ve got another type of Necromancer, you’re still going to have a very
tough time in Hell. Poison spells have limited use even with Lower Resist.

Curses are a must if you even want to barely SURVIVE in Hell. Good curses
for use are Amplify Damage and Lower Resistance. Iron Maiden has lost all
of its effectiveness in Hell, so don’t use it. To boost your weakened
damage, try getting a Might Merc from Act 2 Nightmare.

***HOW TO BE POPULAR WITH YOUR PARTY MEMBERS***
People appreciate Necromancers mostly for their Revived Monsters. Revived
are excellent damage absorbers and make life MUCH easier for melee
characters. Try not to have 20 skeletons, not only are they not effective
but they cause a lot of lag. Lag is a bad thing!

***HOW TO SURVIVE BETTER IN HELL***
Wait for patch 1.10 lol hehe…



5. DRUID AND ASSASSIN

The Druid and Assassin sections are not done yet…I have a level 44 Caster
Druid and a level 36 Assassin, neither one of them are good to make
decisions on…when I have time and information I need I will update the Druid
and Assassin.

NEW Caster Druid Report
He sucks. That’s about it. A Caster Druid just plain sucks, judging from
my level 61 Druid (yes I’ve played immensely with my recently-level 44 Druid
this past week) He is totally stuck in Act 1 Hell. Firestorm is useless (no
dmg) Fissure is also slow and useless, Volcano is so-so, but doesn’t cut it
in hell. Arctic Blast does nowhere near enough damage in Hell. Twister and
Tornado often miss their target and they deal physical damage. Armageddon
and Hurricane are good, but they are pretty much close-range so that defeats
the purpose of a Caster Druid ;) So in other words, stay away from him.
Anyone who wants to prove me wrong do so…lol.


6. LARGEST THREATS TO YOU IN EACH ACT

ACT 1:
Groups of Shamans (i.e. Bishibosh) especially with low fire resistances
Many Gargantuan Beasts, especially ones with Extra Strong and Cursed
modifications
Rakanishu
Lightning enchanted bosses
The Smith
Andariel

ACT 2:
Skeletons because you cannot leech mana or life off them
Radament and his horde
Scarab Demons
Blunderbores
Summoner because of his elemental attacks
Duriel

ACT 3:
Many, many, flayer-type monsters including Fetish Shamans
Flame Spiders
Council Members
Blood Lords that cast Meteor
Zakarum Priests that use Blizzard
Thorned Hulk
Mephisto

ACT 4:
Vile Mothers and their Childs
Gorebellies
Oblivion Mages and Warriors
Finger Mages
Willowisps
Hephasto
Diablo

ACT 5:
Frenzied Ice Spawns and variations of them
Moon Lords
Minions of Destruction including Council Members, Shamans, Skeleton Group
and Venom Lords
The Ancients
Frozenstein and his group
A lot of Demon Sprites

7. DIFFICULT QUESTS/LOCATIONS AND ACT BOSSES

ACT 1, QUEST 3 (Deckard Cain)- Tristram is a haven for hordes of difficult
monsters. You will invariably face Champion Monsters in the middile of
Tristram. Griswold can be found in the bottom right corner of Tristram with
other monsters. If you feel that you cannot handle all these monsters then
click on Cain’s prison and tp home ASAP.

ACT 1 QUEST 6: Andariel can be played easily with a little bit of
micromanagement. The main idea is to use the pool of blood in the second
chamber in Cata. 4 and hit her while she goes around the pool. If you are
melee, be prepared to suffer massive poison damage. Buy 4 antidote potions
and put them in one belt column. Use them as necessary, and then waste her
with powerful melee blows.

ACT 2 QUEST 5: The Arcane Sanctuary is a really big place, and it could take
quite some time before you find the Summoner. If you are in party, split up
into groups and go all four directions until someone finds the Summoner. The
Summoner specializes in Elemental Attacks, so be careful if your resistances
are low.

ACT 2 QUEST 6: Duriel is considered the toughest by Amazons and Sorceresses.
Well, Duriel is tough, no only because of his brute force, but because the
area you fight him in is small, so there is no running for the cowardly.
For Sorceresses and amazons, a hireling is a necessity, preferably a tank
such as the Act 2 merc or the Act 5 barbarians. While Duriel is feasting on
your hirelings, pump him with the best attacks you got. If you’re in a
party with barbarians and/or Paladins and/or Druids then Duriel is not as
big as a threat anymore.

ACT 3, TRANVINCAL: This area is loaded with Spellcasters. Expect many
Sextants and their minions, and a lot of Blood Lords. That means a hell lot
of meteors, lightning and blizzards. And when you get to the Council
Members, it isn’t any easier. Not only are they good fighters, they can
cast Hydra which can quickly deplete your life if you have a low fire
resistance.

ACT 3, QUEST 6: Mephisto is protected by a small group of blood lords and
two additional council members. You can take two routes to Mephisto, left
or right of the middle area. I can’t really recommend one over the other,
so choose which way you want. Once you encounter Mephisto, beware of his
lightning strikes particularly if your lightning resistance is low.
Otherwise, he is not a difficult boss, his life is rather low.

ACT 4, CHAOS SANCTUARY: This place is a hellhole. I suggest extreme caution
when you enter here, there are hordes and hordes of monsters waiting inside.
I even get shivers with my Level 87 barbarian when I enter a NIGHTMARE Act
4 game. And you know what, these guys can still kill you easily if you’re
not careful. Melee characters should be aware of Iron Maiden going around,
and the Oblivion Mages are annoying even at high levels.

ACT 4, QUEST 3: If you can dodge his Red Lightning, it’ll be much, much
easier. If you find that you are dying too fast from his attacks, you must
raise your lightning and fire resistance ASAP. Switch items if you have to.
Diablo is tough, so don’t expect easy victories. Diablo also has a Fire
Nova attack, a firestorm attack, a freezing attack, a charge attack, and
bone prison which he uses on your TP’s.

ACT 5, QUEST 5: The Ancients are difficult to kill if you’re not ready.
There are 3 of them each with their own unique skills and modifications.
One of them has Leap Attack, one has whirlwind (!) and one has double throw.
The Ancient with Double Throw deals poison damage, so be wary of that too.
Keep in mind that if you cast a tp during combat the Ancients will reset
and you will have to start all over again. Doh!

ACT 5, QUEST 6: Baal is easy. He is not nearly as tough as Diablo. Your
only main concern is his mana stealing attack, which wont even steal all of
your mana. That’s pretty sad. Baal does have an ability to make duplicates
of himself, but the duplicate is much weaker than the real version. Other
than those 2 skills Baal is an easy pushover. There are a few tricks you
can use to defeat Baal, for the Sorceress and Amazon. For both these
characters, stand on the south edge of the bridge where Baal is at, behind
that pillar which marks the ends of the bridge. For the Sorceress, stand
off-screen from Baal and cast Hydra on the bridge where Baal is. Don’t stop
until he is dead. For the Amazon cast Valkyrie and fire guided arrows until
he is dead. Recast Valkyrie as necessary.

8. YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE, IN HELL (sort of ironic, isn’t it?)


The super bugged, super killer MSLE (Multishot -
Lightning Enchanted) Even with maxed resistance (90)you still stand NOOO
chance PERIOD against these monsters. It is very likely to appear on any
creature in the game with MS. a good example would be the Council super
unique in Durance of Hate lvl3. It is most likely to spawn only in hell mode
where each creature gets an additional 2 mods. Why it being a killer, you
may ask?

As you know most players already have a headache with Lightning enchanted
monsters. This gets bad with Multishot but is bearable with high vitality
and good resistance, which is not always applicable to all. HOWEVER, if the
monster is LE+CE and or FE then you are in deep trouble. In v1.09 the game
is bugged such that the Cold and/or fire damage STACKS only the charged
bolts. With multishot AND the Conviction aura you don't even stand a chance.
The moment you see such a creature immediately hit Alt-F4 and quit the game
NOW!!!!!!! (Unless you want to die, of course.)

9. CHARACTER EQUIPS

Alright, since many people have asked me by email to have a character equip
section, I will. This is sort of rushed, and incomplete, this is a “beta”
version. Things may change and probably will.

Instead of writing an equip that only the richest player full of sojs can
have (knowing how even a basic unique will go for many sojs), I will put one
that is an affordable equip and not as difficult to get/trade…don’t expect
to see top-notch ultra-rare items in this section. I think more people will
appreciate a low-to-medium character equip section, as it serves a bridge
from decent->godly.

AMAZON (bowazon) EQUIP
Weapon: Obviously either a bow or crossbow. If you cannot trade for a good
one, its alright. There are luckily several alternatives for you that are
easy. First is the Imbue. I recommend finding a gothic bow or
matriarchical bow first. Your first Imbue can be at level 30 if you really
want, but I recommend 40 or higher for better results (although it is not
guaranteed.) Then Imbue at level 60 or above. Try your final imbue at 80
or above. Your second alternative is the reward from Anya’s quest (the one
where you save her from the Frozen River). She gives you an Amazon-only bow
or an Amazon-only Spear. Whats really lame is that its completely random,
so you might even get a spear if you’re a bowazon! Tough luck. Your third
alternative is gambling for one, although it is not as good and reliable as
a method as gambling is expensive (but if you have a good flow of money, by
all means, do so.) And if you do end up with a rare or unique bow
(finally!) it may have crap mods and you would have to sell it. Ideal Mods
are: enhanced damage(try to get somewhere from 100-250%, but realistically
you should expect a 70-100% especially at not-as-high levels.) Increased
attack speed(any % is great) +to attack rating(that can be a based on char.
Level mod or just basic +number to ar) +1-3 amazon skill levels or related,
and mana and/or life steal. Other mods are a bonus.
Armor: Defense is not as much of a concern as opposed to melee fighters,
since you are a long-range fighter. So don’t try to get an armor with
monstrous defense unless you find one. You main goal for an armor is
resistance modifications, and magic find. Other mods are a bonus. I know
that both of those mods are hard to find TOGETHER in a rare, but they do
occur on Uniques. Uniques are hard to trade, and if you cannot get one,
find the best one from a vendor. At higher levels godly armor is available,
but be prepared to shell out the big bucks (im talking 500k+)
Helm: Valkyrie Wing (unique winged helm) is a great helm for the Amazon, one
of the best. But Valkyrie Wing is difficult to find and trade for. A good
substitute is a rare exceptional Helm or a circlet-type helm of any kind.
Rare circlets usually have excellent modifications even at earlier levels.
Gamble for Circlets regularly, but keep in mind they are expensive. Don’t
Imbue a Helm! Good mods include resistances, +skill levels, magic find,
+def, and +stat points. Other mods are a bonus.
Gloves: Besides your weapon, gloves a great source of improving your
attack. Defence is not an issue when it comes to gloves, they are just a
bonus. Mods you should look for are IAS, mana and/or life steal, +dex, and
magic find. You can gamble for them easily or trade for them.
Belt: Belts are an excellent source of +strength and +dexterity. A good
example of a good belt for the Amazon that is not difficult to get is
Bladebuckle (unique plated belt). Adds to dex, and strength plus many other
desirable mods. Defence is not important here.
Shoes: Speed modifiers are what you want on boots. Other good mods are
faster hit recovery, resistances, more stamina. Defence is of no concern.
Your best bet is to gamble for a rare pair of boots. A great low-level pair
of boots is Treads of Cthon, before LOD they were my favourite boots even
for high-level characters.
Rings: Mana and/or life steal is one of the main mods you should look for
here. Resistances are also excellent.
Amulet: Mana and/or life steal is one of the main mods you should look for
here. Resistances are also excellent. +skills is a great plus but trading
prices for amulets with those mods increase astronomically.


NECROMANCER
Weapon: Well, with the new items in LoD, there are actually crossbows
designed for Necromancers! An example is Pus Spitter. These bows are good
because not only do you get +skills, but also you can attack with the bow as
well. Other than that, a good wand is your best bet paired up with a good
shield. You want +2 Necromancer skill level wands at a minimum after level
40. Those can be bought after that level. Other skill mods are a bonus, as
are +life and mana. Fighter mods (i.e. enhanced dmg) are useless on a wand
unless you plan on attacking with it.
Shield: Sigon’s Guard is a good shield for Necromancer because of the +skill
level and better blocking. If you want, you can socket it from Larzuk and
place a perf. Diamond or a resistance jewel of your choice.
But with LoD there are new Necromancer shields, and those offer +Necro skill
levels, so if you can find a good Necromancer Shield, stick with it and
socket it with a resistance jewel or perfect diamond.
Armor: A caster armour is preferable. You can get a Crafted Caster armor,
but caster armour from craft recipe is mediocre at best. A good Unique
caster armour that is not especially difficult to trade or find is Skin of
the Vipermagi, which offers resistance boosts, faster cast rate, enhanced
defence, and much more.
Shoes: See Amazon shoes for more info
Gloves: You’re definitely going to want caster-type gloves. By caster-type,
I mean modifications that benefit spell users. Caster Mods include: Faster
Cast Rate, +%more mana, +mana. Any other mods are a bonus.
Belts: Like Gloves, you will want caster mods on them, or a belt that adds
to strength so that you can handle better armour faster. A good belt is the
unique “belt” Nightsmoke. It’s full of caster mods and adds to all
resistances.
Helm: Some obvious Necromancer helms out there are Wormskull and Tarnhelm,
or Peasant Crown. Neither of them are difficult to get or trade for (well,
Peasant Crown trades for qyu. +skill levels are important here.
Rings and Amulets: You’ll definitely want resistances, caster mods (faster
cast, +mana, etc.) and whatever else you can find. If you have excess money
you can gamble for these.





10. FINAL STATEMENTS

I hope this guide helped you a bit to survive in Hell better. It is my
first FAQ, and I will improve my FAQ skills with experience and trial-and
error. If you have any questions or constructive criticism email me at the
address at the beginning of the FAQ.

Thanks to:
Me
The other FAQ’s I read at GameFaqs
Battle.net
Blizzard
Antonio Sistos, for my first update, thanks!
All the other people who contributed suggestions for my next updates

No thanks to:
My annoying brother
My parents
My Shift key which fails to work 50% of the time
GFrazier who keeps on banning me from the Battle.net Forums for no reason…do
your job right for once!

Thanks, and happy hunting in Hell!

SupaTallgeese

OCTOBER 2001

"How can I catch her when the trees conspired to stop me?"