================
Revision History
================
SEP 09 2000 Version 1.2
- Updated 'Question and Answer'
- Updated 'Wish List'
SEP 02 2000 Version 1.1
- Added a new column - 'Question and Answer'
- Added a new column - 'Wish List'
AUG 28 2000 Version 1.0
- I finished writing 90% of this FAQ about a month ago. It
is not until now that I decided to launch it. Just
finished Threads of Fate and Icewind Dale. I will now
have more time to concentrate on DiabloII. By the way,
if you're wondering, this FAQ was accurate for v1.02
patch. I will try to insert the v1.03 patch changes in
the next update.
=================
TABLE OF CONTENTS
=================
Disclaimer
Objective
For the Sorceress Only
General Instructions * please read
General Tips/Strategies
Walkthrough :
ACT I - Rogue Encampment
- Blood Moor
- Cold Plains \waypoint/
- Burial Grounds
- Stony Field \waypoint/
- Underground Passage
- Dark Wood \waypoint/
- Tristram
- Black Marsh \waypoint/
- Forgotten Tower
- Tamoe Highland
- Monastery Gate
- Outer Cloister \waypoint/
- The Barracks
- Jail \waypoint/
- Inner Cloister \waypoint/
- The Cathedral
- The Catacombs \waypoint/
ACT II - Lut Gholein
- Sewer \waypoint/
- Rocky Waste
- Dry Hills \waypoint/
- Halls of the Dead \waypoint/
- Far Oasis \waypoint/
- Maggot Lair
- The Lost City \waypoint/
- Valley of Snakes
- Claw Viper Temple
- Harem
- Palace Cellar \waypoint/
- Arcane Sanctuary \waypoint/
- Canyon of the Magi \waypoint/
- Tal Rasha's Tomb
ACT IV - Pandemonium Fortress
- Outer Steppes
- Plains of Despair
- City of the Damned \waypoint/
- River of Flame \waypoint/
- Chaos Sanctuary
Bonus Stage! - Moo-Moo Farm
Boss Strategies - Blood Raven
- The Countess
- The Smith
- Andariel
- Radament
- Fangskin
- The Summoner
- Duriel
- High Councils
- Mephisto
- Izual
- Hephasto the Armorer
- Diablo
This FAQ cannot be reproduced and can only be used in its original
form. Do not use it to gain profits of any sort because it was not
meant to be used like that. This FAQ is by gamer for gamers. It is
also my way of expressing appreciation towards the game and I will not
tolerate any misuse of this guide.
Permission for any commercial use will definitely be denied but
other reasons may be considered. You may get my permission by
sending an e-mail to -samminh@hotmail.com- and receive a reply,
stating permission is granted.
P.S. Despite the copyright warning, I wonder why my works still get
ripped off. They would, of course, shamelessly deny it. Anyway,
it has proven one thing though - that the tips and strategies are
truly great :)
=========
Objective
=========
This FAQ is intended to help out those who have problems/questions
regarding the sorceress in DiabloII. I may not be the best person to
ask, but I will try to help out with what my limited knowledge and
wisdom can provide, so that it can be combined with the others to make
out a perfect strategy guide.
This FAQ is not written to satisfy all needs. it is aimed the help
the beginners especially. They are the ones who needed an FAQ or
walkthrough to get them started. If my FAQ was able to help ONE new
gamer to like the game as much as I do, I already consider myself being
very successful.
======================
For the Sorceress Only
======================
This FAQ is dedicated to the sorceresses in DiabloII. So, if you are
playing other than the sorceress, go somewhere else! Some tips and
strategies may not work for other character classes anyway.
Also this is an in-depth FAQ, so don't expect to see some kind of
literature craps here. If you are looking for other informations like
the list of items/rares/uniques/HCRecipes or strategies for other
classes, you won't find it here.
====================
General Instructions
====================
This FAQ is best viewed in Microsoft Wordpad with Courier New(Western)
fonts size 10. If you notice some crappy spacing, change the fonts.
Read the tutorial in other websites such as DiabloII.net. They have
done a great job with it. My knowledge was solely based on what is
written and this FAQ will not repeat what's already in there. So, I
would assume that you have read it and possess some basic knowledge
about EVERYTHING.
I did this FAQ all by myself, no copying from any other source
without giving relevant credits. Maybe I shouldn't be saying this but
if you really going to rip off my work, make sure you do a nice job.
Don't let me, or anyone notice the similarities. If I get emails like
'hey, did you copy from %#$@$'s FAQ?' or anything that indicates I'm the
copycat. Well, who knows what I'm gonna do. I'd be too furious to know!
(Of course, you can always try the good ol' way : ask permission)
I think I should mention this. This WHOLE FAQ is based on my gaming
experience and observations. Basically, it's all MY OPINION. Nothing
official from Blizzard. So, read at your own risk and don't send me
e-mails saying that I lied or something.
This FAQ can only be found in www.gamefaqs.com. If you have read
this FAQ elsewhere, please e-mail me about this as soon as possible.
All information is much appreciated.
My final instruction is that this FAQ IS and WILL NOT be a COMPLETE
guide to the game. The way to use this FAQ/Walkthrough or whatever you
call it, is to complement it with other wonderful FAQs on the internet,
which will cover all other subjects in much greater depth.
=======================
General Tips/Strategies
=======================
1) Check out the wares in the blacksmith on each Act. Take note of
the Strength requirements, so that you will know how many points
to put into Strength.
2) Do NOT miss out on chests, barrels, urns etc. These are the most
common places to find rares. Characters now kick to destroy
urns/barrels. So don't worry about losing weapon's durability.
3) You can guess some of the monsters resistances by checking their
names. You don't think monsters with names like 'Burning Dead'
will be scared of fire, do you?
4) Try to keep the rejuvenation potions. Although it only recovers a
relatively small portions of life and mana, the healing is instant
and is based on percentage. Besides, you don't get much for selling
it anyway.
5) For the sorceress, it's advisable to run always. Learn to dodge
attacks in this mode too, whether it's missiles or melee. When
you're low in stamina, pause for a while and then press 'R' to walk.
If you're forced to walk when there's monsters nearby, either take
a stamina potion, or you can try this. When you see the monster is
going to make a strike, press 'Ctrl' to make a boost. I would
expect you to have a little bit stamina left to make a boost. This
way, the monster will still continue his attack BUT miss. By then,
you're already at a distance and can continue walking. Remember,
one of the sorceress' main strength lies in her mobility.
6) You may ask, running makes the sorceress have almost zero defense
against attacks. I would say : the best way to dodge missile
attacks is to run away from it. As for melee, yeah, you are
vulnerable to melee attacks when running. But, not if you cast
-Frost Nova- or -Glacial Spike- beforehand, or have some speed
boots. You WILL manage to escape before they hit you. Frankly,
I've been doing this all the time, and I've been receiving far
less hits this way. Moreover, I don't seem to entrust the life of
the sorceress to her defense anymore; especially after suffering
from that '8% a level ? will hit you' incident. More about this
later.
7) If you find it hard to decide on how to put in skill points, you
can always try buying staves from merchants. Choose the staff with
the skills that you want, and then try it out to see how you like
it. Don't worry, the sorceress is probably the richest character
in the game. In fact, she's so rich, I don't know how to spend the
money. I rarely use the money to repair her equipments because
the sorceress seldom get hits. So I spend it all on buying staves
and gambling.
8) If you think you can fight the monsters without much of a struggle,
reserve the skill points. Learn to live with the annoying presence
of the skill tab. Quit complaining about it because it's already
something that cannot be changed.
9) An observation about cold : It seems that having resistances
against cold will not only reduces the damage taken, but it will
also shorten the duration time as well. This applies to both
normal cold and freezing attacks. Furthermore, it will even
affects the slowness one would get when hit with cold attacks. If
a monster with high cold resistance is hit with cold attack, it
will receive less cold damage, shortened chilling/freezing length
and less penalty in terms of speed. I think the same applies to
human players too.
10) A note about items of Regeneration. If you don't have an item that
replenishes life, your life will NOT be healed by time AT ALL. It
acts much like the Paladin's -Prayer- aura, but without the mana
consumption. In fact, I have the Amulet and the Armor that gives
me like 'replenish life +6' in total. Now, I can always enter a
battle with my life at full.
11) Almost everything that's 'fast' will benefit the sorceress. I'm
talking about equipments like 'fastest hit recovery', 'fastest
walk/run' and 'fastest cast rate'. So give priority to these
attributes when you have to make a choice between two equally good
items.
12) I've read about chances of getting unique/rare items from Jarulf's
Diablo Guide. If I remember correctly, it says something like :
"Chances of finding rares/uniques will be increased if you
clear up the whole level and killed all monsters"
And this is what I think :
When a game is generated, the locations of rare/unique items is
set on the map at the same time. The rare/unique for the map may
be in one of the chest or on one of the monsters itself. So, if
you open that loaded chest or kill that particular monster, you
will get the rare/unique items for the level. Which leads back to
what I've read. If you clear up the whole level, open all the
chests and kill all the monsters, it will almost ensures that you
wlll get the rare/unique item for that level.
But it will only work if:
a) It implies to DiabloII as well as its predecessor.
b) rare/unique items are NOT generated in real time in DiabloII.
c) the levels have rare/unique items. If the level does not
have it, you won't find it no matter what.
This tip is definitely not confirmed, but I see no serious harm for
applying it either. So, the next time you want to move on to
another level, make sure you search the current level thoroughly.
You may miss out some good stuffs.
13) " It's always good to go back and check places you've already
visited. You might find rare items and stuff you missed
earlier. " - Threads of Fate
It's a norm for me to play a few games at the same time, and I'm
playing both DiabloII and Threads of Fate(Playstation) right now.
I come across this quote when playing Threads of Fate and I can't
help to notice that this principle seems to apply to DiabloII as
well. Although this tip can never be verified (by me at least),
but I think it's worth sharing it to the DiabloII gamers. You can
try this. When you have reached ACT IV, go back to Lower Kurast
in ACT III. For some reasons, you will find a lot of rares this
time round. I'm not sure if there are other contributing factors,
but it's working. Another method you can try is when you have
finished the game once. Let's say you have just finished Normal
and started Nightmare. Play a few rounds in ACT I Nightmare and
then go back to ACT IV Normal. It seems like you'll be playing
a brand new map, so it's not surprising if you find rares. Then
switch back to ACT I Nightmare and then back to ACT IV Normal
again. Repeat until you're sick of it.
14) When choosing a battleground, look for features like :
a) an exit
b) refilling shrine/well nearby
c) wide and spacious
d) platforms with different heights
e) obstacles that block melee attackers from charging towards.
15) A note about mapping skills to left mouse click. There will be
times when you want to cast spells on the left button, but ended up
charging to enemies instead. To avoid this from happening, press
'Shift' + left button.
16) You gotta love shrines - wells, mana shrine, mana recovery shrine.
If you happen to find one, try this. Lure a bunch of enemies near
the shrine. Then cast as many spells as you can. When you're
empty, go hit the shrine and start killing again. The best spell
to do this is of course -Frozen Orb-!
=============
WALKTHROUGH
=============
I've included some information on the most common monsters in each
area. It seems that the amount of experience changes as you level up.
It depends on your character level. I don't know the exact formula
for it, so I would suggest that you visit other websites for more
information. Anyway, I still make notes of the experience gained, so
that you can figure out the best place to level up. Try to look at it
as percentages and you'll get the rough idea. Bear in mind that some
monsters in some areas DO NOT give you experience when defeated. So,
it's better not to waste your time and resources in those areas. I
hope you will find it as useful as I did.
Also, there are some information on the uniques that I've encountered.
I'm not sure how it may help you, but it's still nice to know whether
it's worth the effort to kill it. I myself have more problems dealing
with unique monsters than with major bosses (damn those lightning-
enchanted bastards!)
The level indicated is the level at the time I reach the place.
Experience is accumulated WITHOUT doing optional areas or activating
experience shrine, but killing ALL other enemies. This bit of
information is useful when you want to make a character plan. For
example, you know that you're going to deal with Andariel at level 13,
so make sure that you already have an effective 'boss strategy' planned
out at level 13.
=======
Act I
=======
----------------
I) Rogue Encampment
----------------
NPC : Akara - healer
- Den Of Evil (free 1 skill point)
- The Search for Cain (magical ring, free item
identification from Cain)
Kashya - Sister's Burial Grounds (mercenary ally)
Charsi - Tools of the Trade (imbue)
Warriv - takes you to Lut Gholein (Act II)
[ Note ] : 1) Talk to Akara for a personalised conversation.
-------------------------
II) Blood Moor - evil beware!
-------------------------
Level : 1
Waypoint : none
Quest Area : Den Of Evil - this place is trouble
- this cave has been purged of evil
Optional Area : none
Enemy : Fallen Exp 18 (1st time)
Fallen Shaman Exp 32
Gargantuan Beast Exp 48
Quill Rat Exp 21
Zombie Exp 33
Unique : Corpsefire Exp 165
- Zombie
- Spectral Hit
Spells Recommended : -Firebolt-, -Charged Bolt-
[ Note ] : 1) Fallen will net you experience only when slain for
the first time. If they're raised, you get 0 exp
for killing it again.
Stone Break the Jagged Exp 180
- Dark Spearwoman
- mana burn
Spells Recommended : -Firebolt-, -Charged Bolt-
[ Note ] : 1) -Charged Bolt- is quite useful in this area. The
bolts that missed may hit the monsters at the back.
2) There are actually two types of Fallen Shaman here,
one will raise Fallen and the other is a mere minion.
But they give the same amount of experience.
-------------------------------------------------
IV) Burial Grounds - there is dark magic in work here
-------------------------------------------------
Level : 5
Waypoint : None
Quest Area : None
Optional Area : Crypt, Mausoleum
Enemy : Hungry Dead Exp 44 (pre-existent)
Skeleton Exp 34
Unique : Dark Raven Exp 181
(Refer to 'Boss Strategies : Blood Raven' for more
details.)
Spells Recommended : -Firebolt-, -Charged Bolt-
[ Note ] : 1) Hungry Dead summoned by Blood Raven will NOT net you
any experience. Only those pre-existent ones will.
-----------
V) Stony Field
-----------
Level : 5
Waypoint : Stony Field
Quest Area : Cairn Stone
The Moldy Tome (initiate 'The Forgotten Tower' Quest)
Underground Passage
Optional Area : None
Enemy : Carver Exp 42
Dark Ranger Exp 54
Foul Crow Exp 22 (pre-existent)
Foul Crow Nest Exp 88
Hungry Dead Exp 44
Moon Clan Champion Exp 162
[ Note ] : 1) The Foul Crows that come out from the nest give no
experience.
2) This 'Rakanishu', is he some kind of a hero to the
Carvers? I often heard them calling out his name.
(Frankly not only them, I also often called out his
name)
-------------------
VI) Underground Passage
-------------------
Level : 6
Waypoint : none
Quest Area : to Dark Wood
Optional Area : Underground Passage level 2
Enemy : Fallen Exp 18 (1st time)
Fallen Shaman Exp 32
Misshapen Exp 56
Skeleton Archer Exp 62
Vile Hunter Exp 54
[ Note ] : 1) This is where things can get a bit hard. I would
assume that you have reached level 6 by now and should
have one of the spells mentioned above.
2) The location of unique monsters varies for every game.
If you are unlucky like me, you will encounter the
unique (in my case it's 'Gray Claw') straight on. As
you should realize it by now, the sorceress needs a
wide battleground. So, at first, you may think you
can find a decent place to fight it if you venture
deeper. DON'T! You will end up meeting more monsters;
and getting surrounded by those creepy crawlies is the
last thing you want for the sorceress. (at least for
now)
3) What should you do? One of the biggest improvement
DII over its prequel is that, travelling between two
areas involves no significant loading time. So, take
advantage of it! Stay near the entrance. Avoid the
urge to move too far. Take down as many regular
monsters as you can, especially those near the
entrance. When you are near death, forget about
healing. Go up the entrance first, then heal. You can
take some time off for -Warmth- to take effect too
while you're there.
4) You may think I'm wasting my time here since this is a
fairly easy area. Well, don't say it too soon. You'll
be thanking me for this tip when you're playing on
Nightmare/Hell difficulty or in other similar areas.
---------
VII) Dark Wood
---------
Level : 7
Waypoint : Dark Wood
Quest Area : Tree of Ignifuss - this ancient tree has a magic
aura about it
Optional Area : None
Enemy : Brute Exp 84
Carver Exp 42 (1st time)
Carver Shaman Exp 64
Skeleton Archer Exp 62
Spike Fiend Exp 49
Vile Hunter Exp 54
[ Note ] : 1) Here's a tip : this is a wide area. Move along the
sideway when exploring. Don't rush into the middle.
Conquer the sideways first and then proceed slowly
into the middle. That way, you won't have to deal
with a large pack of monsters.
--------------------------------------------------
VIII) Tristram - Tristram was no match for Diablo's fury
--------------------------------------------------
Level : 8
Waypoint : Dark Wood
Quest Area : Cain Gibbet - Deckard Cain, get to the Rogue Camp!
Wirt's Corpse
Enemy : Carver Exp 42 (1st time)
Carver Shaman Exp 64
Carver Shaman Champion Exp 192
Night Clan Exp 72
Returned Champion Exp 204
Skeleton Archer Exp 62
The Returned Exp 68
[ Note ] : 1) Explore the area SLOWLY. Secure a battleground and
lure a small pack of enemies into it. Defeat the
regular ones first, then proceed with the champion/
unique.
2) If you're wondering about Griswold's 'cursed', here's
what it'll do: if he successfully land a hit on you,
you'll be inflicted with the 'Amplify Damage' curse
at the same time. 'Amplify Damage' will cause the
next non-magical attack to hit for double damage
until the curse expires. (I learned this from
playing the necro).
3) Many will tell you to pick up Wirt's Leg. I'd say
DON'T! Not yet. If you pick it up now, you have no
where to put it but in the stash. It would be
stupid to let it occupy the inventory space for the
rest of the game. So, only pick it up when you want
to play the cow level. Oh, but pick up Wirt's gold
though.
4) As you might have noticed it by now, the champion
edition of monsters gives triple the normal
experience. The unique gives 5x the experience.
-----------
IX) Black Marsh
-----------
Level : 8
Waypoint : Black Marsh
Quest Area : Forgotten Tower
Optional Area : Hole
Enemy : Blood Hawk Exp 29 (pre-existent)
Blood Hawk Nest Exp 177
Brute Exp 84
Carver Exp 42 (1st time)
Carver Shaman Exp 64
Night Clan Exp 72
Night Clan Champion Exp 216
The Returned Exp 68
Vile Archer Exp 63
[ Note ] : 1) This is probably the first time you meet with the
Ghost-like creatures. They often come in packs and
attack in packs. Although, they move slowly, they
are very dangerous to go melee with them. The fact
that they have excellent defense and life, plus their
insanely high attack rating makes them nothing easier
to fight with than a unique monster. I once fought
them with a barbarian with defense that goes like '8%
a level ? monster will hit you'. At first I thought,
'Wow, 8%, that's low'. So, I charged in confidently
without any strategy in mind; and boy, I got beaten up
so badly, I couldn't even take one of them down with
me! To make things worse, they can manage to stack
themselves up into like one entity and perform
continuous streams of attacks, which is needless to
say, fatal.
So, thank goodness you're playing a sorceress.
-Frost Nova- them and they'll go REALLY slow. Later
on, when you have -Chain Lightning-, these guys are
the no.1 target for gaining easy experience.
--------------
XI) Tamoe Highland
--------------
Level : 9
Waypoint : none
Quest Area : none
Optional Area : Pit
Enemy : Carver Exp 42 (1st time)
Carver Shaman Exp 64
Dark Lancer Exp 90
Dark Stalker Exp 78
Devilkin Exp 53
Razor Spine Exp 77
Returned Mage Exp 55
Returned Mage Champion Exp 165
[ Note ] : 1) At this point of the game, I already treat myself a
nice staff that grants me +3 to -Inferno- and +1 to
-Ice Bolt-. So, this place seems like a breeze to
me. As I've already said, the sorceress is rich, or
going to be VERY rich. Start trying out on those
fancy spells and see which one you like best.
2) There's a room in level 1 that SEEMS to have no
entrance. At first you may thought it's the way it
is because you can grab the gold WITHOUT getting into
the room anyway. But the truth is the room IS
accessible, that is by touching one of the walls
nearby. This is supposed to be a BIG secret, but no
one's making a big fuss about it.
3) You actually gain experience for destroying a trap.
Don't miss out on it.
------------------------------------------------
XVII) The Catacombs - this place chills me to the bone
------------------------------------------------
Level : 12
Waypoint : Catacombs level 2
Quest Area : none
Optional Area : none
Enemy : Afflicted Exp 112
Afflicted Champion Exp 336
Arach Exp 147
Dark One Exp 71 (1st time)
Dark Shaman Exp 104
Dark Shaman Champion Exp 312
Ghoul Exp 152
Ratman Exp 95
Tainted Exp 104
The Banished Exp 154
[ Note ] : 1) It's obvious that beating monsters in this place
will net you the best experience in Act I. So, if
you think a few more level ups would help to deal
with Andariel, do so.
========
Act II
========
-----------
I) Lut Gholein
-----------
NPC : Atma - Radament's Lair (10% discount on all items)
Cain - The Horadric Staff
Drognan - Tainted Sun
Fara - healer
Jerhyn - Arcane Sanctuary
Meshif - takes to the Kurast Docks (ACT III)
[ Note ] : 1) Talk to Drognan for a personalised conversation.
2) No discount for repairing items after the 'Radament's
Lair' quest.
-----
II) Sewer
-----
Level : 14
Waypoint : Sewer level 2
Quest Area : Horadric Scroll (chest)
Optional Area : none
Enemy : Burning Dead Exp 130 (1st time)
Burning Dead Archer Exp 137 (1st time)
Burning Dead Mage Exp 93 (1st time)
Dried Corpse Exp 132
Horror Exp 143 (1st time)
Huntress Exp 119
Sand Raider Exp 179
Unique : Rot Spawn the Slayer Exp 685
- Burning Dead Archer
- lightning enchanted
Moon Flame Exp 660
- Dried Corpse
- cold enchanted
Radament Exp 2230
- Extra Fast
(Refer to 'Boss Strategies: Radament' for more
details.)
[ Note ] : 1) The only place the enemy wlll get resurrected is in
level 3. So, stick around the first two levels if you
want to gain experience.
2) The Burning Dead (archer,mage) are fire-resistant.
I've tried using both -Ice Bolt- and -Fire Bolt-
against them. As expected, the -Ice Bolt- takes them
down with less hits. So, it's not really a mere guess.
[ Note ] : 1) Cave Leaper will heal if it manage to hit you.
Furthermore, it will be knocked back when being
attacked too. So the best spell to use against it for
now is -Ice Blast-, as it will freeze it in position.
Therefore, it cannot heal itself and experience no
further knockback.
-----------------
V) Halls of the Dead
-----------------
Level : 16
Waypoint : Halls of the Dead level 2
Quest Area : Horadric Cube (chest)
Optional Area : none
Enemy : Decayed Exp 160 (pre-existent)
Desert Wing Exp 151
Hollow One Exp 252
Hollow One Champion Exp 1260
Mummy Sarcophagus Exp 608
Returned Exp 3 (1st time)
Spear Cat Exp 113
[ Note ] : 1) This place is a real piss off : those skelies just keep
coming back! I remember getting most annoyed when
playing the Amazon(Bowazon) here as I wasted so many of
my arrows and -Town Portal- scrolls. What's worse, I
only get 3 exp for doing that!
2) Again, thank goodness that you're playing the sorceress.
It could never be easier for other characters. All you
used up is just mana. If played right, you won't need
to use mana recovery potions at all.
3) Here's a quick way to deal with them. Whenever you see
a pack of skelies charging towards you, just -Frost
Nova- them. Then, casually run past them to seek out
the Hollow One, which should be nearby. If you
encounter some more of skelies, cast -Frost Nova- again.
Remember, you don't have to deal with them yet. If you
find Spear Cats among the swarm, take them down first
if you want, because they can deal some serious damage.
4) When you finally found the Hollow One, cast -Ice Blast-
to freeze him. Then, use something damaging like
-Inferno- to kill him quickly. You may also want to
seek out more of the Hollow Ones nearby before finally
dealing with the swarm.
5) When it's just the skelies left, cast -Blaze- to
create some streams of fire. Then sit back and watch
them burn!
6) There is a more straightforward method to use when you
have -Chain Lightning-. More on this later.
7) You get experience for destroying a Mummy Sarcophagus.
But the Decayed that comes out of it will not. So try
this fun method : use -Inferno- right in front of the
Mummy Sarchophagus. It's like killing two birds with
one stone.
---------
VI) Far Oasis
---------
Level : 16
Waypoint : Far Oasis
Quest Area : Maggot Lair
Optional Area : none
Enemy : Death Beetle Exp 170
Itchies Exp 124
Undead Scavenger Exp 154
[ Note ] : 1) Take advantage of the narrowness of tunnels. When
encounter enemies like Scarab and Death Beetle,
cast -Blaze- and run through narrow tunnels. They
will chase after you, but not for long. Stop when
you think you have done enough and trace back to
where you started. Repeat if there's still some
left. Collect goodies along the way.
2) -Lightning- works wonders here. Line the enemies up
in a narrow tunnel and two shots of -Lightning- is
all it takes to take most of them out. The same
applies for high level -Inferno-.
-------------
VIII) The Lost City
-------------
Level : 17
Waypoint : Lost City
Quest Area : none
Optional Area : Ancient Tunnels
Enemy : Fire Tower (trap) Exp 14
Marauder Exp 261
Marauder Champion Exp 783
Night Slinger Exp 142
Plague Bearer Exp 245
Tome Creeper Exp 211
Unique : Dark Elder Exp 1225
- Plague Bearer
- extra fast, magic resistant
[ Note ] : 1) Claw Vipers and Salamanders are deadly. Their only
weakness is their low health. Avoid any chance of
getting surrounded by these creatures.
2) -Ice Blast- will be able to freeze them, but it's slow
and single targeted. Other cold spells seems to have
little or no effect on them. Their dashing cold
attack seems to defy the chilling effects. I still
find that the safest way is to use -Blaze-. Create
well-placed streams of fire for them to walk over it,
hoping they will not survive the flames due to their
low health.
3) But the main priority is to avoid their attacks by all
means. They have the tendency to deliver multiple
consecutive attacks, which leaves you not much of a
chance for recovery. For the sorceress, it would means
instant death.
[ Note ] : 1) There are many ranged attackers. So -Fire Wall- is
quite handy here. Cast it on them, and they will
just stand still and take damage. Obviously, those
skelies are resurrected without brains :)
2) The Horror Mages are a bit aggresive. They will seek
after you if detected. Take advantage of this and let
them come to you. Destroy them first, this way you
can avoid a heavy 'projectile fight'.
----------------------------------------------------------
XII) Arcane Sanctuary - this place actually distorts reality...
fascinating!
----------------------------------------------------------
Level : 18
Waypoint : Arcane Sanctuary
Quest Area : Horazon's Journal
Optional Area : none
Enemy : Ghoul Lord Exp 299
Hell Clan Exp 245
Lightning Spire (trap) Exp 14
Specter Exp 251
Unique : Gore Fang the Shade Exp 1495
- Ghoul Lord
- cursed
The Summoner Exp 305
(Refer to 'Boss Strategies : The Summoner' for more
details)
[ Note ] : 1) This is my most favorite place in DiabloII. Great
settings, tons of treasures, easy to kill monsters;
Man, this whole place is like a bonus stage to me!
Highly recommended if you want to gain a level or
two, or even three! It is certainly the best place
to gain experience in Act II.
2) The Specters and Ghoul Lords often drop rings,
amulets, staves, wands and scepters. Needless to say,
these are much sought after items, not only for the
sorceress but also for the necro and the paladin.
They would sell for a good price too. So, this is
when you should start considering about 'gambling'
and upgrading your equipments.
3) I have an incredibly fun time using -Chain Lightning-
here. This is what I did. When there's enemies,
doesn't matter if it's Specters, Ghoul Lords or Hell
Clans; first cast -Frost Nova- then -Chain Lightning-
them to death. It only takes about a few seconds.
4) There are actually four routes to take. One of them
will lead to The Summoner, but it is random. The
others will have treasure chests at the end of it.
5) I believe there would be one route suitably designed
for each character. For the sorceress, I prefer the
route with lots of platforms as to take advantage of
the different heights.
6) Here's what I did. I finish one of the route in
about 10 minutes, save and exit game, then start a
new game, and begin killing monsters in the same
route again. It nets me tons of magical items and
experience points this way. You should try it too,
as it's really effortless, with absolutely no risk
of dying. (This is exactly when I undoubtedly feel
that the sorceress rules!)
4) The Ghoul Lords can drain life, but it makes no
difference to me. They still die like the rest.
------------------
XIII) Canyon of the Magi
------------------
Level : 20
Waypoint : Canyon of the Magi
Quest Area : Tal Rasha's Tomb (true)
Optional Area : 6 Tal Rasha's Tomb (fake)
Enemy : Crusher Exp 328
Devourer Exp 317
Devourer Egg Exp 1
Devourer Young Exp 107
Hell Slinger Exp 182
[ Note ] : 1) A different set of spells is needed for the fight
with Duriel. If you have problems defeating him,
I'd suggest that you gain some levels, to 24 if you
must, in Arcane Sanctuary or Canyon of the Magi.
=========
ACT III
=========
-----------
I) Kurast Dock
-----------
NPC : Alkor - The Golden Bird (elixir +20 life)
- Lam Esen's Tome (free 5 char points)
Asheara - Blade of the Old Religion (free mercenary)
Cain - Khalim's Will
- Blackened Temple
Hratli - Blade of the Old Religion
Meshif - The Golden Bird (Golden Bird of Ku Y'leh)
Ormus - healer
- Blade of the Old Religion (magical ring)
[ Note ] : 1) Talk to Hratli for a personalised conversation.
2) Act III is all about annoyance. You may want to
consider hiring a mercenary to ease things up a bit.
Asheara is the one to talk to if you're interested.
By the way, listen to her gossips while you're there.
Really cool tips.
-------------
II) Spider Forest
-------------
Level : 20
Waypoint : Spider Forest
Quest Area : Spider Cavern
Jade Figurine - I don't sense any magic about this
item.. very strange.
Optional Area : Arachnid Lair
Enemy : Fetish Exp 260 (1st time)
Fetish (range) Exp 214 (1st time)
Fetish Shaman Exp 276
Flesh Beast Exp 330
Jungle Hunter Exp 317
Thorned Hulk Exp 403
Thorned Hulk Champion Exp 1209
Unique : Spirit Ripper the Tainted Exp 2015
- Thorned Hulk
- teleportation
[ Note ] : 1) You get 276 exp for blowing the Fetish Shaman's cover.
Killing the Fetish that comes out of it will net you
another 260 exp.
2) Flesh Beast are the critters that come out from the
Dark Wanderer that you meet at the entrance of the
Kurast Dock.
3) Jade Figurine may not necessarily dropped by the first
unique that you encounter. I remember finding the
Jade Figurine by defeating the unique in the Spider
Cavern when playing the necro. That is the third
unique. Sometimes it may not be carried by a unique
at all but a champion.
4) -Nova- made its first appearance in the list of
spells recommended. Although you may already get it
earlier on, it is around this time that you can
actually afford to use it on regular basis.
5) But THE spell to use here is the everyone's favorite
-Glacial Spike-. Cold attacks that only chill are
less effective against the ultra fast Fetish. But
freeze works wonders. Not only you can halt them
from attacking, you can reliably shatter them into
pieces as well. Needless to say, it's the best way
to prevent them from getting resurrected by the
Shaman.
6) Another spell worth mentioning is -Chilling Armor-.
With it activated, it will send out ice bolts when
being attacked by those ever-so accurate ranged
Fetish. Although the ice bolts does minor damage, at
least the Fetish will be slowed with it, thus attack
less often. Also, you can determine where those
pellets came from and throw some -Chain Lightning-
towards that direction. That would teach them not to
play with that toy anymore.
7) The Fetish would make you love and hate them at the
same time. While they are doing incredibly well in
making your life a living hell. But at the same time,
you will actually find them.. adorable. Personally,
I couldn't help but to imitate the sounds that they
make everytime I fight them - those 'ugh', 'eeyah',
'uuah' and their very own warcry - 'ablelelele'. I
like the fact that they try so hard to sound
'threatening'. Some of them even disguise themselves
as the self-proclaimed Shamans, as if putting on their
mothers' wigs and aprons and dunno-where-they-get-from
flamethrowers would scare off invaders. But the truth
is they're just a bunch of innocent small kids trying
their best to protect what's left of their territory.
Can't really blame them for it, can you?
[ Note ] : 1) It's -Blaze- time again! Get the spiders to follow
you into the blazing flame. Then pause, turn back
and cast either -Glacial Spike- or -Ice Blast- to
freeze them in place. Another fun area. So, you can
consider gaining some experience here if you want.
2) -Frost Nova-/-Chain Lightning- combo works well too.
But -Blaze-/-Glacial Spike- use up less mana.
-----------
III) Great Marsh
-----------
Level : 22
Waypoint : Great Marsh
Quest Area : none
Optional Area : none
Enemy : Bog Creature Exp 396
Bramble Hulk Exp 444
Drowned Carcass Exp 395
Fetish Exp 260 (1st time)
Fetish (range) Exp 214 (1st time)
Fetish Shaman Exp 276
Gloam Exp 241
River Stalker Exp 258
Unique : Shadow Maim the Hunter Exp 2220
- Bramble Hulk
- stoneskin
Steel Feast the Cold Exp 1975
- Drowned Carcass
- extra strong
[ Note ] : 1) River Stalker is the giant snake that spits poison
in the swamp. They can be annoying sometimes, you
get knocked back when hit with the poison. You have
to hit for the head to completely kill it.
2) Drowned Carcass is slow. Perfect target for -Chain
Lightning-.
3) Gloam has the ability to become invisible. But you
can guess where they are if you look closely. -Frost
Nova- and -Nova- will be able to track them down.
But they can be cheap sometimes. The Gloams are
large in numbers and can cast lightning from a great
distance. If they come from all direction, it will
be difficult to dodge those lightning. Can be quite
painful, let me remind you. To avoid this from
happening, hide behind a tree or something and let
THEM come to you. When they 'materialise', kill
them with ice or fire spells. I suspect they're
lightning-resistant.
4) Whoa, camouflage is in the game. I have to say it's
implemented VERY well. And the rumor has it that
the Assassin have a skill similar to it. Now this is
something that gets me excited all over again! I
certainly have high hopes for the Assassin, and
Blizzard better not screw it up. -'The Grandmaster of
PvP', I can't wait!
-------------
IV) Flayer Jungle
-------------
Level : 22
Waypoint : Flayer Jungle
Quest Area : Gidbinn - I must take this to Ormus
Flayer Dungeon
Optional Area : Swampy Pit
Enemy : Flayer Exp 286 (1st time)
Flayer (range) Exp 235 (1st time)
Flayer Shaman Exp 303
Rat Man Exp 4
River Stalker Exp 258
Slime Prince Exp 479
Winged Nightmare Exp 330
Winged Nightmare Champion Exp 1650
Unique : Death Drool the Hungry Exp 20
- Rat Man
- spectral hit
[ Note ] : 1) Death Drool comes out together with a few Rat Man
when you activate the Gidbinn altar. He will then
drop the quest item 'Gidbinn' upon defeat.
[ Note ] : 1) This place will be a lot easier if you have -Teleport-.
Besides having to avoid travelling through the
confusing tunnels, you can also gain some strategical
advantage. Lure the enemy to chase after you. Find a
fence and teleport over to the other side. Then you
can cast spells safely from there.
2) When encounter Endugu and friends, remember not to deal
with them ALL at one time. Lure a few of them out,
take them far and then kill them.
3) Sometimes, when you see some golds lying on the
ground, you know that you'll activate the traps once
you try to pick it up. Well, use you mind power,
-Telekinesis-! Be a Jean Grey wannabe!
[ Note ] : 1) My advice for this place : sell off everything,
leave yourself almost naked. It's because this is
the BEST place to level up in the whole ACT III. The
annoyance is over.. at least for now. You may even
consider this place as 'The Paradise' because it's
a straightforward area, the enemies are easy to
kill, no resurrecting creatures, no range attackers,
lots of goodies to pick up, and the list goes on and
on. So drop everything and start killing already!
2) -Glacial Spike- is still the best spell to use. The
Zakarumite can move very fast, so not even -Frost
Nova- will be able to slow them down enough.
3) You can forget about -Chilling Armor- for now and
switch to -Shiver Armor- or -Frozen Armor- if you
haven't do so.
4) About treasures in this place, it's quite common to
find rare items here. You'll find lots of rare
weapons especially, which will make you envious and
wish you could wield that weapon as other characters
would.
5) Now, if you have heard of the legendary 'Sigon's
Guard', spend some time here and maybe you're lucky
to find one. I found Sigon's Guard for both the
sorceress and the paladin right here. So, it's a
good idea to equip yourself some items that
increases your chance of finding magical items.
Remember, Sigon's Guard are sometimes DROPPED by
monsters.
[ Note ] : 1) * The quest item 'Lam Esen's Tome' may be in one of
these optional areas.
2) The Sexton has the ability to heal the Zakarumite,
and also teleport. So -Fire Wall- does not work very
well as they can easily teleport away.
3) When I first come across the Sexton, I thought 'Boy,
they are corrupted alright to be given a name like
that.' But later I found out that it's actually the
name of one of the developers of DiabloII. No pun
intended.
4) The Zakarumites have become smarter. Whenever they
are near dying, they will retreat in order to be
healed by the Sexton. So make sure that you kill
them before they come back to you with full life.
[ Note ] : 1) There are two exits leading to Upper Kurast. So,
the sewers must be a shortcut or something.
2) In order to get to the chest with Khalim's Heart,
you must first find a lever that will open the route
to second level. To do that, I would advise you to
have the automap activated at all time.
3) You would really wish for -Teleport- in this place.
The area is big and confusing, it's even worse than
Flayer Dungeon.
-------------
IX) Ruined Temple
-------------
Level : 23
Waypoint : none
Quest Area : Lam Esen's Tome - May the black book brings black
days to hell!
Optional Area : none
Enemy : Flesh Hunter Exp 311
Night Lord Exp 438
Spider Magus Exp 451
Wailing Beast Exp 479
[ Note ] : 1) This is where I found 'Lam Esen's Tome'. In fact, I
found the tome here almost everytime. I wonder why.
2) When you see monsters swarming at you the moment you
enter, you know you have come to the right place. It
is no joke, this can be one of the toughest battle in
the game. The combination of monsters here is deadly.
You face the powerful Wailing Beast, the fast-moving
Flesh Hunter, the poisonous Spider Magus and the most
dangerous of all, the life-stealing and meteor-casting
Night Lord.
3) NEVER venture deep into this place in the beginning.
All you'll get is deep shit. Stay near the entrance.
Never let any of those monsters blocking your way out.
4) I hope you have -Fire Wall-, -Blizzard- or -Meteor-
by now. The moment you step into this place, the
monsters are sure to give you a really 'warm' welcome.
Give them back something in return for their gesture.
Now, what could be better than a gift from heavens
perhaps? Cast as many -Meteor- as you can, if you
have it, and then leave immediately. If not, -Fire
Wall- or -Blizzard- works well too. Let them be for a
while and then head back to cast some more. Repeat
until the place is not that crowded anymore.
5) You can try using -Glacial Spike-, but it will only
freezes those at the front. So use it only when
there's no Night Lord around.
[ Note ] : 1) I don't know whether it is random or not, but the
quest item 'Khalim's Will' was dropped by Ismail
Vilehand.
2) The walkthrough for this area is too lengthy, so I
put it in Boss Strategies column. Be sure to check it
out if you have problems in this area.
---------------
XII) Durance of Hate
---------------
Level : 24
Waypoint : Durance of Hate level 2
Quest Area : Portal
Optional Area : none
Enemy : Cadaver Exp 415
Council Member Exp 696
Dark Lord Exp 482
Mauler Exp 550
Undead Stygian Doll Exp 346
Blood Lord Exp 530
Unique : Moon Shard the Sharp Exp 2750
- Mauler
- fire enchanted
[ Note ] : 1) The walkthrough for this area is too lengthy, so I
put it in Boss Strategies column. Be sure to check it
out if you have problems in this area.
[ Note ] : 1) Flesh Beasts that are spat out from Flesh Spawner give
0 exp for killing it. I for one hate killing monsters
that gives me no experience. What's worse that those
son of a b*tch are no easy kill either. No matter how
high your defense might be, they can still manage to
scratch you. What a nuisance!
2) -Shiver Armor- and -Frozen Armor- can ease a bit of
the irritation. But it's much better to use -Glacial
Spike- when dealing with them. Personally, I enjoy
every moment seeing those pests explode into pieces.
That's what they get when they keep pestering the
sorceress!
[ Note ] : 1) Doom Casters seem to resist lightning spells. -Chain
Lightning- doesn't work so well against them.
2) Doom Knight has high defense especially against
missiles. Even the Amazon's always-hit cold arrow
will miss. I have also seen -Glacial Spike- missed
when trying to hit them with it. Use -Blizzard-
instead to avoid this from happening.
3) A different set of spells required when dealing with
Izual.
4) If you are wondering if I made a mistake with the
experience gained for defeating Izual, I didn't.
I have already double-checked it. Believe or not but
he is really THAT generous! So it's evident that
the best place to level up in ACT IV is here. Kill
Izual again and again for easy experience.
------------------
IV) City of the Damned
------------------
Level : 24
Waypoint : City of the Damned
Quest Area : none
Optional Area : none
Enemy : Damned Exp 470
Dark Familiar Exp 439
Maw Fiend Exp 891
Pit Lord Exp 584
Stygian Dog Exp 0
Stygian Hag Exp 690
Unique : Black Drinker the Unholy Exp 3450
- Stygian Hag
- cold enchanted
[ Note ] : 1) I remembered encountering Gloam-like monsters here.
Now, if you happen to meet them, be careful. Their
lightning attacks are not to be taken lightly, as it
is fast and hard to avoid. It's best that you seek
cover first and let them come to you.
2) The enemies here always attack in large. If you have
to, retreat all the way to Plains of Despair to thin
out the crowd.
--------------
V) River of Flame
--------------
Level : 24
Waypoint : River of Flame
Quest Area : none
Optional Area : none
Enemy : Blood Maggot Exp 627
Blood Maggot Egg Exp 1
Blood Maggot Young Exp 172
Grotesque Exp 918
Grotesque Wyrm Exp 0
Pit lord Exp 584
Strangler Exp 593
Urdar Exp 836
Unique : Plague Claw the Dead Exp 4180
- Urdar
- teleportation
Hephasto the Armorer Exp 7111
- extra strong, cursed, magic resistant
(Refer to 'Boss Strategies : Hephasto for more
details)s
[ Note ] : 1) Here's tips on how to use -Blizzard-. For the best
results, cast -Frost Nova- first. They will be chilled
for a longer time when they enter -Blizzard-. They will
take more damage when slowed. When enemies comes in
large but have to pass through a narrow path e.g a door,
cast -Glacial Spike- instead. It is to freeze those in
the front and block those at the back. Then quickly
follow up with -Blizzard- and keep freezing the front.
[ Note ] : 1) The walkthrough for this area is too lengthy, so I
put it in Boss Strategies column. Be sure to check it
out if you have problems in this area.
This marks the end of the walkthrough. If you have questions to
ask, you know what to do. By the way, what do you get for finishing the
Normal difficulty with a hardcore sorceress? Well, you get the title
'Countess'! At last, the sorceress can finally escape the fate from
being 'damned' for once! Also, if you're not too exhasted, try out the
bonus stage - Moo-Moo Farm. Not that it's a good place to level up, but
it's certainly a place for a good laugh!
[ Note ] : 1) To unlock this area, do the following :
a) finish the game at one difficulty;
b) go back to Act 1 Rogue Encampment of that
difficulty;
c) get Wirt's Leg from Tristram;
d) purchase a Tome of Town Portal, or if you happens
to have one with you, use that;
e) put Wirt's Leg and Tome of Town Portal into
Horadric Cube.
f) press the cube's 'transmute' button, and a portal
leading to the Moo Moo Farm will be accessible.
2) Just when I thought the Stygian Dogs are too much to
handle, the cows give me another shock of my life. If
you can see enemies in the automap, trust me, this place
will scare the shit out of you!
3) There are many ways to do this area. But having ice
apells will make things a lot easier. Try this. Use
-Frost Nova- to slow them down first. When all are
chilled, cast -Blizzard- in the midst and run in circles
around them. Then just count the cows as they fall.
(By the way, turn on the sound when attempt this.)
4) Although this is supposed to be a bonus area, you will
still die. It's totally optional whether to explore
this place or not. If you think you can't beat them with
the spells that you have, skip it for now.
5) Also, because it is optional, the Cow King does not
qualify to be in Boss Strategy column.
---------------
Boss Strategies
---------------
--------------
I. BLOOD RAVEN
--------------
Level : 5
Attack : Bow and Arrows
Special : Fire Arrow
Summon Hungry Dead
Exp : 181
Spell : -Charged Bolt-, -Firebolt-
[ Strategy ] : Early in the battle, she will constantly summon
Hungry Deads from the ground. That would be your
best opportunity to lay some shots. If you missed the
moment, she'll be so hyperactive, you can hardly ever
find her standing still. So, try to take down as many
Hungry Deads and Skeletons as you can, to prepare the
battleground. After the area has been cleared, it will
be just you and Blood Raven.
As she's always on the move, try to identify her
running patterns and make some good guess shots. By
shooting more bolts, it will increase the chance one of
them will hit. -Charged Bolts- seems to work quite
well.
Of course, when she starts attacking, you're the one
who would be running around instead. But at the same
time, the opportunity to make a clear hit will also
arise. It's kinda risky though, so make sure you
brought along a sizable amount of healing potions to
keep your life up.
Here's a tip for range attackers : When you see her
shoots an arrow AND run, chances are her next attack will
be *multiple shots. So, for the *multiple shots sessions:
when she shoots the first arrow, dodge it like normal but
quickly counter-attack with something fast like -Firebolt-.
If she's hit with it, she may run OR continue her shooting.
And if she continues, dodge some more and counter-attack.
You should be able to land 2-3 hits this way.
You can even use melee to defeat her, as you can
still score a hit with that Dexterity of yours. Make
sure you're using a 'Fast' or a 'Very Fast' weapon.
(Recommended only in Normal difficulty)
If all the above methods didn't work for you,
there's still one way you can try. Enter the Crypt or
Mausoleum and then back again. You will notice Blood
Raven will start summoning Hungry Deads again. Hit her
when she does it.
* When I mention multiple shots, it's not to be mistaken
with the Amazon's -Multi-Arrow- or -Strafe-. It's
just a few shots of arrows that's fired successively
in normal speed, nothing special. But you can expect
her standing still for quite some time when doing this.
That's exactly what I see as an opportunity.
" Rest now, Blood Raven. "
----------------
II. THE COUNTESS
----------------
Level : 9
Attack : Fire Axe
Special : Fire Wall
Exp : 390
Spell : Any offensive spell will do.
[ Strategy ] : If you have beaten the game once, chances are you
couldn't even remember a fight with someone by the name
of 'The Countess', as it was an easy and effortless
battle. But I will still make some notes in case
someone's stuck with it. Maybe not in Normal, but she
may pose more of a challenge in Nightmare/Hell difficulty.
You never know.
First off, she may move in formidable speed, but her
attacks are rather slow and weak. It's easily avoidable.
Even if you get hit, it's nothing to worry about either.
I've tried standing still to receive a few hits before.
It turns out that the damage is not too severe, even for
the sorceress.
As on how to finish her off, it may requires some
strategies though. Do not try to cast a spell when she's
chasing after you; you'll be interrupted. Try doing this
instead. Find a spacious spot and stand still. Wait for
her to come to you. When you see her trying to make a
strike, dash away quickly. In return, counter-attack
with anything of your choice. Repeat until she's dead.
-Static Field- comes highly recommended. -Firebolt-
works well too. If you have -Frost Nova-, -Ice Bolt- or
-Ice Blast-, it almost ensures that you will never get a
single hit from her Fire Axe attack.
Other things to take note of this battle is that she
may cast -Fire Wall- right at the doorways when she first
sense your presence. I think she does this to discourage
you from coming in and out as you wish. This, of course
does nothing to stop you from getting those precious
treasures. Also, I noticed that she doesn't like to go
out of her 'chamber' often. I have once lured her
outside of it. But she quickly turned back the moment
she stepped outside the door, sorta like she's shy or
something. It's funny watching her doing it.
" I hope to find other such treasures! "
--------------
III. THE SMITH
--------------
Level : 10
Attack : Hammer
Special : none, really.
Exp : 890
Spell : -Ice bolt-, -Ice Blast-, -Frost Nova-, -Fireball-,
-Static Field-, -Blaze-.
[ Strategy ] : He reminds me of 'The Butcher' in Diablo. He has the
same fast stunning attack, which makes him extremely
dangerous to go melee with. So keep your distance ALWAYS.
I remember fighting him with Storm in Nightmare
difficulty. Storm had kept her -Energy Shield- and
-Shiver Armor- activated. She also had her life near
full at all time. Then I was careless at one time, as
Storm could not dodge one of his attack. Guess what
happened? The computer lagged for about 5 seconds and
POW, she died in one bloody shot! This is just too
ridiculous! Be extra cautious when dealing with him.
As The Smith can move in relatively high speed, it's
recommended that you use spells like -Ice Bolt- and
-Frost Nova- to slow him down. Then alternate to use
something fast like -Fireball- or even -Static Field- to
do some real damage. Or better, use -Ice Blast- all the
way. It will slow him down AND deal great damage at the
same time. -Blaze- is also highly recommended. Make
streams of fire along the walls and let him chase right
behind.
The safest location to have this fight is at the Outer
Cloister waypoint, all the way back. As this battle may
take some time, you may want to take a break or something
by getting back to the Rogue Encampment through the
waypoint. You can also get the free healing from Akara
if you want. That will lower the risk of the sorceress
getting killed.
After a few rounds, The Smith will eventually fall.
But don't forget to head back to the Barracks to fetch
what you're looking for : the Horadric Malus.
[ Strategy ] : Our necro guy said that Andariel is NOT using -Poison
Nova-, so I made up names for her attacks. Nothing
official, let me remind you. Well, how am I supposed to
know their names! It's not like she screams out "Poison
Spray!" or "Spray of Death!" when she does it. Geez.
Back to the subject, let's discuss about her attacks
first. She has three known types of attack : melee that
does both physical and poison damage. The other two is
ranged attacks: one is a single fast-travelling
projectile; the other is a wide-area spray attack. The
projectile, though fast, is quite easy to avoid. The
sprays, however, requires more finesse to attempt an
escape. Both are equally damaging but they will
dissipate after travelling some distance. Take advantage
of this. If you can't avoid the sprays by running
diagonally, try to outrun it. Hope that it will
dissipates before it reaches you.
If you can't avoid her attacks, you will most probably
be inflicted with poison condition. For the sorceress,
life seems to drop at an incredibly alarming rate. So
whenever this happened, forget about healing first. You
will waste the healing potion anyway. Quickly find your
way back to the entrance and go up to level 3. While
you're there, wait for the poison effect to subside, THEN
only consume a healing potion or two. Don't worry, the
poison won't kill you. Life will stop dropping when it
reaches 1. Go back down when you're ready for the second
round. As for antidote potions and poison resistant
equipments; although it may helps, is not a necessity.
To take her down, you will need some good spells. As
you are expected to be at level 13, you should have a
handful of spells besides everything into -Warmth-. If
you have only -Firebolt-, you CAN defeat her. But the
problem is you will need more of healing potions and not
to mention, PATIENCE. It will be a lot easier if you have
cold spells like -Ice Bolt-, -Ice Blast- and -Frost Nova-.
They work wonders against Andariel. The slower Andariel
gets, the less often she attacks.
But it will REALLY be a piece of cake if you have
-Blaze-. The fastest way to defeat her is : cast -Blaze-
and make a stream of fire for her to walk over it. When
she's in the middle of it, you may cast -Ice Bolt- or
-Frost Nova- to slow her down. She will eat more flames
this way. If you can't get her into the fire, try to
make use of the doorway. Make a stream of fire as you
walk past a door and taunt her to chase after you. That
should burn her up a little. Repeat until she's dead.
Also, you can try using -Static Field- on her. It
works well too. But I would suggest that you slow her
down first, this way you get less retaliation.
Spell NOT to be used in this battle is -Inferno-.
This is what happened. I used a Slvl4 -Inferno- just to
try things out. It turned out that the damage is too
slow; it leaves the sorceress open for attack. Andariel
casts Poison Spray while I'm doing this and the sorceress
eats three sprays straight! Man, you should've seen the
instant drop in life. It will make almost anyone to
swear out his/her most frequently-used curses, which in
my case, WTF! So, AVOID using it here if you can.
" The evil queen has fallen. "
-----------
V. RADAMENT
-----------
Level : 15
Attack : Normal Physical
Special : Extra Fast
Poison Breath
Dark Projectile
Heal/Raise Minions
Exp : 2230
Spell : -Static Field-, -Ice Bolt-, -Ice Blast-, -Frost Nova-,
-Blaze-, -Fire Ball-, -Fire Bolt-.
[ Strategy ] : This can be difficult if you don't know the way. The
key to this battle is to prevent the minions from getting
the healing and resurrection from Radament. To do this,
you will first need to secure a place FAR away from
Radament. When I said far, I mean really, REALLY far.
Radament's 'influence' has a very long reach, it can be
about 2-3 screens away. Once you have found the ideal
location, start luring the minions in to get them
butchered. Do this until all minions are down. This may
be a tiring and time consuming task but it is by far the
safest way to deal with Radament.
Another method you can try is to use -Ice Blast- on
each and every of his minion. By doing this, they will
be shattered into pieces by the freezing attack. Thus,
it's impossible for them to get resurrected.
Without the minions, Radament is nothing to be feared
of. Both his Poison Breath and Dark Projectile only do
minor scratches. His most damaging attack is probably
his normal physical attack, but that is nothing either.
So, finish him off with anything you like. You can even
insult him by using the measly -Fire bolt- to kill him.
" What a misguided monster! "
------------
VI. FANGSKIN
------------
Level : 17 (18 Recommended)
Attack : Normal Physical
Special : Extra Fast, Lightning Enchanted
Dashing Cold Attack
Exp : 960
Spell : -Blaze-, -Fire Wall-.
[ Strategy ] : You may find it surprising to find a seemingly ordinary
unique to be placed under the Boss Strategies column. But
in my opinion, he's more than deserving to be considered
a major boss in the game, at least for the sorceress.
It's simply because Fangskin, a unique Salamander, has
everything it takes to be the PERFECT 'sorceress killing
machine'.
The extra-fast attribute for the already speedy
Salamander is a major hindrance for any kind of sorceress.
It leaves almost no opportunity for the sorceress to cast
a spell safely. Cold spells will only do like reducing the
speed from 'super ultra fast' to 'ultra fast', which is
not much of a help I'd say. So, conquering by speed
would be out of the question.
The REAL thing to be feared of is actually his
Dashing Cold Attack. Although his normal attack is as
damaging, but it is THIS surprise dashing attack that
causes instant death. One of the attack's main strength
is its long reach. At first, you may think that you could
cast a spell or two since you were able to keep a
distance. But you can bet that he would suddenly charge
towards you with his overwhelming cold attack. Now, if
the attack connects, the sorceress will be pushed back
and get chilled at the same time. Then he will be likely
to continue his attack.
If the sorceress are pushed against a wall; and she
doesn't have any 'fast recovery' and cold resistant
equipments on; in another word being cornered; then
undoubtedly, she will be stunlocked to DEATH. But this
seldom happens, especially when you already know that
you should avoid being cornered at all times.
As if he's not powerful enough, he's been granted
lightning enchantment. Now, what could be worse. Cast
something multi-hitting like -Inferno- and he'll be
sweating like hell! I can assure you, you wouldn't want
to try that. So multi-hitting spells are out. You will
need something that you can cast out fast and deals
great damage. -Static Field- fits the requirements,
doesn't it? But wait, he is lightning enchanted, that
means lightning resistant! -Static Field- will do as
much damage as other spells will but you have to get
close to score a hit. Not very wise, I would say. So
-Static Field- is also out.
It seems like I can talk about this forever but what
you're really interested in, I assume, is how to defeat
him.
After such long discussion, you should realised it by
now that many spells are rendered useless in this battle.
For that, you need specific spells, namely -Blaze- and
-Fire Wall-. I've never been so rigid when it comes to
which spell to use, but to ensure a battle with zero
casualty, I have to make an exception. This is exactly
how I defeated him. As I've mentioned before, the
position of the unique monster varies for every game.
In my case, Fangskin is to the sorceress' left. The
moment I stepped into Claw Viper's Temple level 2, I
quickly move the sorceress to the right, the opposite
direction of Fangskin. If done right, it should not
attract Fangskin's attention. Then deal with the
monsters that's already there. You SHOULD NOT be
having problems dealing with them, as I will be
wondering how you manage to get this far in the first
place. If you're really stuck, refer back to the
'Walkthrough : Claw Viper's Temple' for tips on how to
defeat them. Try to thin out as many enemies as
possible, so that you will only have to deal with
Fangskin.
I will now assume that it's just you and Fangskin.
Get his attention and start the fight. He will start
chasing after you. Cast -Blaze- when he does, and create
streams of fire by running away from him. Let him walk
over it and take damage. Repeat until he's dead. Sounds
easy, doesn't it? But practically, you should know that
you may run a chance of running out of stamina. You can
remedy the situation quickly with a stamina potion OR
you can retreat and head back to level 1. Wait until all
stamina is recovered and continue to second round.
Another situation may occur is that you encounter
Fangskin right in front of the level 2 entrance, together
with a bunch of other Claw Vipers. If you are really
that unlucky, then I would suggest that you spend some
time levelling up to level 18 to gain -Fire Wall-. Get
-Fire Wall- by either putting a skill point into it OR
head back to town and buy a staff with -Fire Wall-.
When you have -Fire Wall-, this is what you should do.
I would assume that Fangskin and friends are right in
front of the entrance, waiting to feast. Bravely, step
into level 2 and cast a -Fire Wall-, two if you can, in
front of the entrance. Then quickly get back to level 1.
The -Fire Wall- that you cast will continue to take
effect in level 2 even when you're at level 1. So wait
some time for it to burn. That would take a few of the
them down. It's normal to get hit when you're doing this.
So keep life at full with healing potions. Then repeat
this routine, but try to increase the number of -Fire
Wall- casted each time. More -Fire Wall- deal more
damage. Hopefully, Fangskin will die eventually this
way.
There is another method that I found out recently.
If you can manage to get past all the enemy and reach the
altar, you will have the advantage to cast spells without
the fear of retaliation. It's simply because you're
protected by the different height that the altar provides.
The best way to do this of course, is to use -Teleport-.
That would be the solution when you face him in
Nightmare/Hell difficulty.
" Who would've thought that such primitive beings could
cause so much trouble. "
-----------------
VII. THE SUMMONER
-----------------
Level : 19
Attack : staff
Special : Glacial Spike
Fire Wall
Fire Ball
Frost Nova
Dunno-what curse (doesn't matter anyway)
Exp : 305
Spell : -Fire Wall- and everything else
[ Strategy ] : The only thing to look out for is his Fire Wall.
Counterattack with a -Fire Wall- on him and he's dead.
That's it. I don't think he deserves further elaboration.
But you can try something though, use -Telekinesis- to
kill him. -Fire Bolt- would be too much for him.
" That couldn't have been Horazon. Poor wretch. "
------------
VIII. DURIEL
------------
Level : 20 (24 if you must)
Attack : Claw
Special : Freezing Aura
Stun
Exp : 6005
Spell : -Frost Nova-, -Static Field-, -Blaze-, -Nova-, -Fire Wall-
-Thunder Storm-, -Blizzard-.
[ Strategy ] : Duriel has been receiving a lot of attention in the
DiabloII forum and naturally being throned as the most
difficult boss to defeat in the game. It's not hard to
see why.
First off, there's one misconception to be cleared.
Duriel does NOT have a cold attack. In fact, he has an
attack that stuns, much like the Barbarian's -Stun-.
What's chilling or slowing you down is actually the
Freezing Aura. It looks and works like the Paladin's
-Holy Freeze- aura. But the difference is there's
nothing holy about it, just cheap. -Holy Freeze- does
no damage, it will only slows one down to a certain
percentage. I would assume that Duriel's Freezing Aura
works about the same. With it, the sorceress will
suffer a major slowdown in movement and spellcasting
rate.
The battle is set in a small chamber with no apparent
exit nearby. By looking at the automap, there IS
actually a mark that indicates a door at the north but
it's not to be reached. This means that it's a closed
battle : a great disadvantage to the sorceress indeed.
You should know by now that the sorceress gains
advantage by speed and space. With this two being
seriously handicapped, it would really requires pure
skill, and not to mention some really good luck to win
this battle. The fastest way, which is also the best
way to defeat Duriel is to use -Static Field-. I find
that he's specially vulnerable against it.
This is how you should do it. The first thing you do
when you step into Duriel's chamber is cast a -Frost
Nova-. You don't have to wait until you see him. He'll
be charging at you in high speed definitely. If he
really missed the -Frost Nova-, cast it again. Make sure
he's chilled at ALL time. Having Duriel in his full
speed is too much of a risk to take. When he's chilled,
make a distance and cast -Static Field-. Hopefully, your
sorceress' -Static Field- is at a decent skill level to
score a hit. But you will only manage to lay one or two
hits before you have to cast another -Frost Nova-.
By right, at this time you will see Duriel's Freezing
Aura starting to take effect. The sorceress will be
chilled in an unavoidable situation. But you can reduce
the slowing effect by equipping some boots with 'fast
walk/run'.
This method requires no aiming, so it's quite easy to
pull. But you should check on Duriel's life from time
to time by moving the cursor over him. When you see that
his life is near critical, finish him off with -Blaze- if
you have it. If not, continue to use -Static Field- or
any other spells that you see appropriate to kill him.
-Nova- is one good example.
But this method will only apply if you have -Static
Field- that works, which I would say not many young
sorceresses can afford it. I'm talking about -Static
Field- of level 3 and above. I have Slvl3 -Static Field-
and still get a lot of misses. For those with low level
or no -Static Field- at all, either gain a few level up
to put more skill points into it OR you can try the
following methods.
You can use -Blaze- all the way. It sure works but it
would take quite some time to finish him off. So make
sure that you bring along loads of stamina potions if you
want to attempt this. Nothing's worse than to be forced
to walk in this battle.
Although there's no exit to this place, you can
actually get out from the scene using -Town Portal-.
Take advantage of this. You can try casting a few -Fire
Wall- and leave through the Town Portal, with Duriel
kept burning in the flame. Sure, it would take many
-Town Portal- scrolls to do this, but remember, life is
more precious than hundreds of -Town Portal- scrolls.
Sometimes you just can't afford to die, especially when
you're in Nightmare/Hell difficulty. What's more if
you're playing a hardcore character. Dying is certainly
no longer an option.
Here's another one. The first time I beat Duriel is
using sorceress Storm. At that time, I didn't realise
the power of -Static Field- yet. But Storm was already
at level 24 by the time she reached Duriel (too fond of
hanging around Arcane Sanctuary to collect goodies). So,
with the newly gained power, I used -Frost Nova-,
-Thunderstorm- and -Blizzard- to defeat him. It's quite
an easy battle I would say. I first casted -Frost Nova-
to chill him, then -Thunderstorm- and started running.
It wasn't long until he recovered from -Frost Nova-, so I
casted another one. But this time, I added -Blizzard- to
deal more damage. I kept doing this for some time and
Duriel fell not much later. So, you can try this method
if you found that none of the above methods applicable.
When it's Hell/Nightmare, Duriel seems to have high
resistance against cold. That means Duriel's on steroid.
Well hopefully by then, you already have a pair of
'Fastest Walk/Run' boots. It is the boots that determine
the outcome of this battle. You will have to try
something extremely risky, but it works. When he's
charging towards you, run diagonally from him. Example,
if he's charging from north, run to east or west. But
you cannot do it too soon. You have to time your dash-
away exactly when you see he is going to stop his charge
and start his attack stance. That's less than a second
to do it. It's tough but if you're used to 'timing'
games, it should be a piece of cake. If you're fast
enough, you'll be able to dodge his charge attack. When
you see him stopped to recover, that's when you cast
spells. This is why I said that this battle requires
pure skill and some good luck. If you have listened to
me and have been practising with dodging/avoiding by
running, you will be able to do it.
-----------------
IX. HIGH COUNCILS
-----------------
Level : 24
Attack : Normal Physical/Elemental (depends on enchantment)
Special : Lightning Zap
Heal
Hydra
Exp : 3480
Spell : -Frost Nova-, -Static Field-, -Blaze-, -Thunder Storm-,
-Blizzard-, -Meteor-.
[ Strategy ] : This battle can be easy, can be tough. It depends on
the preparations that you've done beforehand. Let's get
straight to the map. The map for Travincal is not random,
but the shrines are. The position of the Blackened Temple
is always North and the waypoint is always at the west.
'W' indicates water area. 'WP' means waypoint. Area (h)
is actually the Blackened Temple. The other alphabets
will be explained later on.
No matter what strategies you may want to employ, the
first thing to do is to secure the waypoint. Make sure
you know the way back when things get ugly later.
Once you have done that, you will have quite a bunch
of enemies to take care of. Use your best tactics
against them, be it -Glacial Spike-/-Chain Lightning- or
-Glacial Spike-/-Blaze-. It doesn't matter. As long as
you keep yourself on the move, then it's fine. Those
-Meteor- and -Blizzard- will have a hard time hitting
you this way.
The best sequence to traverse this place is of course,
in alphabetical order. It is to prevent from fighting a
large crowd at the same time. The center area is the
most dangerous to explore, so I suggest after securing
area (a) and (b), go fight the monsters in area (c). Area
(d) is very close to the Blackened Temple, so keep a low
profile when you're there. After finished (d), go all
the way back to (a) and start from there. Area (e) may
be a bit challenging, but you now have a wider area to
fight. You gain advantage by that. Lure a few of them
back to area (b) and kill them. Finish them off little
by little. Once cleared, sneak into area (f) through
the sideways. You don't want to attract the attention of
the high councils yet. Kill the rest of the monsters.
When you have done all of the above, by right, it will be
just you and the councils in this whole area.
Slowly, approach area (g) from (e). Kill the water
watchers if you want. Stand still in area (g) for a
while. If it doesn't attract anyone, move a step forward
to the Blackened Temple. Wait some more. If there's
still no one's coming out, repeat until someone does. If
done right, it should first attract a council member. It
is easy to kill him as he can be frozen. So start with
-Ice Blast- or -Glacial Spike-, then a -Fire Wall- and
quickly follow up with -Ice Blast-/-Glacial Spike- again.
Keep him frozen until he's dead. Repeat the luring
process to attract some more of the councils.
The next in line should be the High Council Ismail
Vilehand, and he may be followed by one or two council
members as well. If it is so, then I would suggest that
you lure them all the way back to the waypoint. It's the
safest location that I can think of. Once you get them
to the waypoint, it's time to make them regret for
following you. Use your most powerful spells against
them without the concern for mana. Cast like 10
-Blizzard- in a row or place -Meteor- like crazy and let
them eat all of it. When you're out of mana, do NOT
hesitate to go back to Ormus for refill.
I suppose the 'correct' way to deal with them is
actually using -Frost Nova-/-Static Field-. But heck,
a chance like this only comes once in a blue moon. Do
you really want to waste this opportunity by using the
ol' boring way? Go have fun with the mindless spell-
casting, because that's what playing the sorceress is all
about!
If you have successfully killed him, then you will
have no problem with the rest. Remember, you have to
kill all three High Councils in order to complete the
'Blackened Temple' quest.
[ Strategy ] : In my opinion, this is the most challenging battle in
the game. I will explain to you why very soon. But first
take a look at the map. 'L' indicates lava area.
Mephisto will always be at the North, while the rest of
the High Councils reside in area (a), (b) and (c)
separately. Area (d) is the panel that will activate the
route to the Portal. But you must defeat Mephisto first
before you can do that. The rest of the alphabets will
be explained later on.
(a) Bremm Sparkfist - aura enchanted, lightning enchanted
(b) Maffer Dragonhand - extra strong, extra fast
(c) Wyand Voidbringer - mana burn, teleportation
What's difficult is not having to deal with Mephisto,
but it's the magnificent trio that give the most trouble.
Fight all three of them together and you have no choice
but to restart the game. What makes them such a bad-ass
is none other than their healing factor. Have the three
united and they will heal among themselves. Then it will
take forever to finish this fight.
So the best strategy to employ is 'divide and
conquer'. Take them out one by one. The first High
Council you'll meet is Bremm Sparkfist, who is enchanted
with lightning and 'Blessed Aim' aura. He can be found
in area (a). It's not unusual that he's accompanied by a
few of the council members and sometimes a few Blood
Lords as well. Get to area (e) and start from there.
Move step by step towards (a), hopefully that will
attract the small ones first. Kill them all with Bremm
being the last to remain standing.
There is a general way to deal with all of the High
Councils. But it requires -Blaze- to do it. If you do
not have -Blaze-, be in for a tough fight because I'm not
sure how to do it either!
Before I forget, let's take a break and talk about
something else. In my previous FAQs, whenever I mention
a battle being difficult, there will always be someone
sending me emails like 'Nah, he was nothing. I beat the
shit out of him in seconds. You just don't know how the
game works. Ask me any question and I will answer you'.
Mails like this never cease to amuse me. What I really
meant was it is difficult to come up with a solution
that has the minimum requirements in order to complete.
Sure I can easily say 'Level up to 50 and you will have
no problem' or 'Fight the monsters in the final dungeon
so that they will drop the Excalibur'. But that is not
the solution what most are looking for, and definitely
not the way I'm gonna do it. I'm trying to see things
as what a normal kid who has little or no previous
gaming experience would see as difficult. It's also my
way of saying 'Hey kid, you're not the only one. I
think he's tough too!'. So don't think of me as a loser
or something. I certainly have no problem finishing the
game. But I do welcome any other solutions that will
help the readers to decide which strategy is the best to
employ. Please send it to this email address -
samminh@hotmail.com.
I think you already know how to use -Blaze- by now.
Stick to the walls when running and make him chase after
you. Simple as that. But if you do not have -Blaze-,
either buy a staff with -Blaze-, or you can try the
following methods.
[ Bremm Sparkfist ] : He is lightning enchanted so if you
want to use -Static Field-, make sure you put a lot of
points into it already. If not, you will fall faster
than he does. Multi-hitting spells like -Inferno- are
totally out. The best spell to use, in my opinion, is
-Blizzard-. Although it's not as good as -Blaze- but
it's okay. To do it, cast like 3 -Blizzard- in a row
along his path. Or better, since he'll be chasing after
you definitely, cast -Blizzard- right in front of you.
That will make him catch the cold from the beginning till
the end.
When Bremm is killed, you now have a choice to choose
your path. Choose either to fight Wyand Voidbringer
(mana burn, teleportation) which is on the RIGHT or
Maffer Dragonhand (extra strong, extra fast) which is on
the LEFT. Both choices are equally sucks but if I have
to make a choice, I would choose the latter. Of course
if you think you're strong enough, take them both out.
[ Maffer Dragonhand ] : It wasn't kidding when it says
that he is extra fast. My sorceress is already equipped
with the 'fast run/walk' boots and yet, that guy sticks
to her like a leech! I'm telling you, that lewd act can
be considered as sexual harassment already if it happens
in the real world. So the opportunity to cast a spell
safely is really rare. To do it, you have to keep
running at all time. When you see him stop to hit you,
or stop to cast -Hydra- or heal, that's when you also
stop and cast a spell or two. -Blizzard- is not that
effective anymore as he will only be hit once, or twice
the most.
-Static Field- would be the ideal spell to use.
When you have the opportunity to cast a spell, you're
normally not too far from him. Perfect setup for -Static
Field-. But using -Static Field- is not enough though.
You will need some other spells preferably to deliver the
final blow. So use your most powerful spell against him
when he's dying. -Glacial Spike- is a good choice.
[ Wyand Voidbringer ] : Mana burn should scares you off a
bit, but if you are already a master of.. running(?),
it's not really a problem. What should be the concern is
his 'teleportation' ability. At first, I didn't notice
the other 'feature' that the enemy's teleport can do.
They normally died before they could do it. But it's not
until this battle that I realised that when he teleports,
he regains health as well! I bet this is what really
happened : Teleport is actually a time-distortion process.
He freezes the time. Then casually, he would take a break
and grab a snack from the fridge; sit back and watch the
TV or something; and then continue to fight again. He
must have forgotten where he started so he figured
anywhere will do. We wouldn't know all this because the
time has stopped. So, that would explain how he regained
health and ended up in different places every time he did
it. (Damn, why can't the sorceress do the same, huh?)
To deal with him, you can use the same strategy as
with Maffer in the beginning. When you hurt him enough,
he will start teleporting. Try to get him to area (f) if
you can, as to take advantage of the small space there.
Now stand right in the middle, he will teleport back and
forth within the small area. Continue to cast -Static
Field-, he will be within range to take damage. As for
the finishing blow, the best spell that I can think of is
-Thunder Storm-. -Thunder Storm- will auto-track his
position and you can rely on the tempest to end all of
his misery.
Having a large mana pool really helps in this battle.
Time is a main factor as you will want to finish the
fight as soon as possible. The longer you take, the more
they will heal themselves. Mana potions and rejuvenation
potions will truly make a difference. But if you do not
have it, it's not a big deal either. When you're out of
mana, go back to level 2 and let -Warmth- do its job.
But you must expect that the enemy will also heal himself
down there. So plan to finish him off with one good
shot.
The best strategy to deal with them all is of course,
to combine all of the methods mentioned above. If you
have all the spells mentioned, then it should be a piece
of cake. Cast -Blaze- and -Thunder Storm- in the
beginning and starts running. When you see him paused,
cast either -Static Field- or -Blizzard-. Then continue
running. -Blaze- and -Thunder Storm- will severely do
damage on him. He will eventually fall before you know
it.
That's about it for the appetizers. It's time for
the main course - The Lord of Hatred. Of all the
attacks that he has, the one that you should look out for
is his Ice Sphere attack. (Again, I made up the names)
It travels in demonic speed and the damage usually leads
to an instant death. Even if you manage to survive it,
it will leave you chilled for a while. That will make it
hard for you to avoid his other forthcoming attacks. I
have come across a few solutions suggested in the forum.
They would advise that you take the advantage of the lava
pits as to keep a safe distance from Mephisto. I think
it's a GREAT idea, you should try it too. Try to make
Mephisto get to area (g) and you stay on the other side
of the pit - area (i) or (j). Launch anything that you
like since most of the sorceress spells are ranged.
There is even one guy who manage to get Mephisto trapped
between the stairs in area (g), so he's immobile for the
rest of the fight. What a great move! But personally, I
wasn't able to do it. But it's definitely worth trying.
I have a method of my own on how to deal with him.
This is exactly how I will do it. I first lure him into
area (b), then I will quickly move to area (i) and wait.
By right, he will be on the other side of the wall-area
(h). I will know when he's there because I can see the
spell effects from the other side. Now, I will quickly
charge to the doorway and cast a spell that stays on like
-Blizzard-, -Fire Wall- or -Meteor- on him. Soon after,
I will quickly turn back to area (i) again. The spell
will continue to take effect while I seek protection from
the other side of the wall. So I don't have to worry
about the deadly Ice Sphere attack. If at anytime he
realise my trick and decides to chase after me, I will
run past him and get to area (h), with him in area (i)
instead. Just when he wants to prove that he's not as
stupid as I think he is, I repeat the same ol' trick
again. Poor fella, I really pity him. No cure for
stupidity yet.
That's how I defeated the almighty Mephisto. As for
the best way to deal with him, it's really your choice.
My method would be a bit time consuming but safe, and the
suggestions from the forum is more straightforward and
fast. Up to you.
---------
XI. IZUAL
---------
Level : 24
Attack : Cold Sword
Special : Frost Nova
Exp : 22760
Spell : -Frost Nova-, -Static Field-, -Blaze-, -Thunder Storm-.
[ Strategy ] : For a fallen angel, I'm quite disappointed with him.
He is not much of a threat since he only has two kinds of
attack, both are cold-based. I already boosted the cold
resistance to MAX, so HE'S the one who has the trouble
killing me!
Although a strategy may not be needed, I will make
notes of it anyway. Imitate him by casting -Frost Nova-
to slow him down. Then cast -Static Field- to do damage
and continue to run. Repeat the same process and he will
eventually dies. You can also use -Blaze- to do it. As
usual, cast -Blaze-, get him into the fire and the flames
will soon consume what's left of him. Or if you're too
lazy to do anything, cast -Thunder Storm-. You can just
concentrate on running and refresh when -Thunder Storm-
runs out.
The hell thing must have gotten into him. I've tried
standing still just to test out how damaging his Cold
Sword is. But instead of hitting me with the sword, he
casted -Frost Nova-. Yet I continued to stay within
range, hoping for his sword attack. But what he
stupidly did was either stand still and do nothing, or
cast -Frost Nova- again. He never seems to learn that
he would kill me a lot faster if he uses his sword
instead. In addition, what's IRONIC is that he called
Tyrael a fool. Well frankly, I really don't think he's
qualified to call anyone's a fool except himself.
The lack of rationality and not to mention, the losing
of his sanity may be due to the fact that he lost his
most prized possession - the holy runeblade 'Azurewrath'.
If he gets his sword back, then maybe, he will be more of
a challenge.
" He was corrupted to the core. I pity him. "
-------------------------
XII. HEPHASTO THE ARMORER
-------------------------
Level : 24
Attack : Hammer
Special : Curse - Amplify Damage
Exp : 10714
Spell : -Frost Nova-, -Static Field-, -Blaze-, -Thunder Storm-.
[ Strategy ] : I'll get straight to the point. This guy is similar
to The Smith, but beefed-up in every single way. He is
magic resistant, extra strong and can sometimes inflict
the 'Amplify Damage' curse if he manage to land a hit.
As with what you use against The Smith, use -Blaze- to
kill him. It's the best spell to use.
If you don't have -Blaze-, try the following methods
instead. -Frost Nova-, -Static Field- and run. Repeat
that three simple steps to kill him. -Thunder Storm-
works well too. Cast it and concentrate on running.
Refresh when needed. If you're wondering about other
strategies, consider also the use of -Teleport- because
it can be of help too.
One thing to remember is to bring along some stamina
potions with you. There isn't a place nearby that you
can actually paused the battle and take a break. But of
course, you can always cast a -Town Portal- back if you
want.
Now, if you're inflicted with the curse, avoid any
chance that you may be hit again. Even if you manage to
get life to full, he can take you down in one shot. Do
not take the risk, especially when playing in Nightmare/
Hell difficulty, or when playing a hardcore character.
Either let the curse times itself out or go back to town
and get healing from Jamella.
------------
XIII. DIABLO
------------
Level : 26
Attack : Normal Physical
Special : Ice Fist
Lightning Inferno
Flame Nova
Fire Serpent
Fire Wall
Bone Cage (when you try to escape through -Town Portal-)
Exp : 10714
Spell : -Static Field-, -Thunder Storm-, -Blizzard-, -Fire Wall-,
-Meteor-, -Frost Nova-.
[ Strategy ] : Terms like Lightning Inferno, Flame Nova and Fire
Serpent was not originated by me. So does the info on
the Bone Cage, as I never had the chance to try it out
myself. It was all taken from the DiabloII forum.
However, the strategies provided here are figured out by
myself.
A map will drawn out to facilitate the explanation.
Note that the map may be slightly different for everyone.
But the main idea is still there, try to adjust a little
bit.
There are 5 seals in the Chaos Sanctuary and you will
need to break all 5 in order to release Diablo. But
that's not all. You will also need to defeat the 3
guardians which will appear in area (a), (b), (c) when
you activate the corresponding seal. Only then will the
Lord of Terror appear in the the center of the map.
a) Lord de Seis
- extra strong, aura enchanted, thief
b) Grand Vizier of Chaos
- extra strong, fire enchanted
No matter what you may want to do, don't activate
any of the seals yet. Concentrate on clearing the WHOLE
area first. As this is the final battle, it's not going
to be easy. The most fearsome enemy here is definitely
the Oblivion Knights. They can cast a variety of curses,
the homing Bone Spirit, and the deadly elemental
projectile. It is these guys that make it hard for
hardcore characters to survive until the next difficulty.
Two shots of projectile and you're gone. This is why
having high resistance in this place really helps.
With them so powerful, the only one that will truly
find them desirable would be the necromancer. Revive a
few of them and the necro is unstoppable. At this time
I feel like the game is trying to tell me something; that
the necro is far more superior when it comes to magic and
wizardry. Frankly, I don't have a lvl30 necro yet. But
the potential of Revive and Bone Spirit is so evident, I
begin to feel.. envious. I now consider the necro a
character worthy to explore. Who knows, maybe I will
come up with a necro guide next.
If you have problems dealing with the enemies here,
you can follow the same strategies used to deal with the
guardians. After you have cleared the whole place, you
can open the seals in whichever sequence you desire. If
you ask me, I would do Lord de Seis first, followed by
Grand Visier of Chaos and finally Infector of Souls. This
way I won't be too exhausted when fighting Diablo later.
Seal 1 : Lord de Seis
Seal 2 : Grand Vizier of Chaos
Seal 3 : nothing
Seal 4 : nothing
seal 5 : Infector of Souls
Right after you open the seals, quickly make your
way back to the center area. You will have a wider place
to fight there.
[ Lord de Seis ] : The hardest among the three. One
thing to note is his Thief ability. I don't know whether
it has to do with the aura or not. But all I know is
that when you're influenced by the aura and if he manage
to hit you, a potion in the belt will drop to the ground.
Of course, the potion is not gone and you can still pick
it up. But what it's trying to do is to make it hard for
you to heal. You will have to access the potions in your
inventory instead. Hope that won't make it too
troublesome for you.
To kill him, it may be an extremely risky task. It
depends on what spells that you have. The ideal choice
would be -Fire Wall-. If not -Blizzard-, -Meteor- and
-Thunder Storm- will also do. Here's how to do it :
Stop at your spot and let him settle himself first. When
you see him launch his first attack, start running. When
the opportunity to cast a spell arise, cast the spells
mentioned above. -Fire Wall- will do the most damage, as
he will be standing still. But what's risky now is that
you must keep yourself within his sight. That is to make
him stay at his position. You can do it by running in
circle. If not, he will chase after you and leave the
-Fire Wall-. Then you will have to repeat the whole
process. So a pair of 'fast walk/run' boots is highly
desirable. The faster, the better as it makes it easier
to dodge the Bone Spirit.
[ Grand Vizier of Chaos ] : -Blizzard- is the spell to
use here. His weakness will be revealed when he cast
the homing missiles that drain mana. For the best
results, do this. As you will deal with him together
with his gang, get near them and cast a good -Frost
Nova-. With all of them chilled, cast a -Blizzard- or
two right in the midst of them. Then run in circles
around them. They will be confused with your ever-
changing position and will stay within the -Blizzard-
area to take damage. Piece of cake.
[ Infector of Souls ] : You can use the same strategy
used to deal with Grand Vizier.
If you want to witness Diablo's arrival, kill the
last guardian right in the center area. The earth will
starts shaking and the walls will start trembling. Soon
after, you will hear someone mumbling something and you
will know that the Lord of Terror has come. Someone in
the forum suggested to throw in some of the best spells
like -Fire Wall-, -Blizzard- and -Meteor- in where
Diablo will appear. Some even reported that he will be
half dead when he comes out if you apply this trick. But
I didn't try it. He's not that difficult in my opinion.
The key to win this battle is to have a good grasp
of his fighting patterns. If you keep your distance,
he will either cast Fire Wall/Flame Nova or he will
charge and attack you. When you're near him, he will
either cast Fire Serpent or Lightning Inferno. Sometimes,
he will use Ice Fist if you're close enough. As of how
damaging these attacks are, I'll leave it to your
discovery.
When you know how he fights, it's not difficult to
figure out the way to defeat him. This principle applies
to other characters as well. If you can, try to figure
out a way to defeat him on your own. You will feel more
satisfied since this is already the last battle. But as
always, I will still write down my way of defeating him.
Here it goes. Run around for a while in the beginning.
This is to reduce the initial lag. When you see things
are getting smoother, it's time to fight. Repeat the
following procedures : Stay out of sight, meaning the
only one you will see on the screen is the character that
you're playing. But have a good estimation of where he
is, and in what direction will he be charging at you.
When you see him charging at you, dash away diagonally.
You will find him paused and basically do nothing for a
second or so. This will be the best opportunity to cast
your most effective spells against him : -Static Field-,
-Fire Wall-, -Blizzard-, -Thunder Storm-, -Meteor-. But
don't be too greedy, though. Run when it's time and
remain out of sight again. Simple and easy.
I'm not sure if I underestimated him. But if you
have problems dealing with him, do NOT hesitate to send
me an email, got it?
==================
SORCERESS SKILLS
==================
I have absolutely no idea how to do the skills growth charts. But
luckily, Larry, who happens to be another DiabloII FAQ writer, was kind
enough to let me 'borrow' some of his works. What a great guy, huh!
There is no one way to develop a sorceress, as it really depends on
how you want to play. Quite a number of factors need to be considered
when taking up a skill. First, you must decide how you're going to use
the sorceress : Cooperative(CoOp), Single Player(SP), or Player vs
Player(PvP). If you're playing CoOp, match the skills according to your
fight buddies. In SP, you got to have spells that works for both the
enemies in groups as well as for boss fights. When it's PvP, bear in
mind that some spells may not work well against other human players.
But the ultimate test is, to develop a sorceress who can deal with ALL
types of monster AND other characters as well. Sounds impossible since
the amount of skill points is so limited but really, the ultimate
sorceress does exist. However, I'm still doing research on it, so
there's not going to be a level up guide yet.
Throughout the guide, I'm going to introduce concepts which you might
already know. Concepts that you're familiar with but no one comes up
with the 'official' terms yet. Well what the heck, I'll be the first to
do so. Laugh at it if you want, but what matters is that you get what
I'm trying to say.
Basically, sorceress spells can be categorised into 5 main types.
Active : Instant spells. Damage is usually done right after it was
casted. Often comes out as projectiles. Examples - -Ice Bolt-,
-Fire Ball-, -Lightning-, -Frozen Orb-.
Third Party : Better known as 'summon' spells. There are 4 spells that
have the word 'summon' in the spell description, namely -
-Blizzard-, -Thunder Storm-, -Meteor-, -Hydra-. Some may
refer it as 'cast and forget spells', 'hit and run spells'
or 'spells that stayed on'. But it's the same thing.
Defensive : Also known as protective spells. It serves to protect the
sorceress from possible harms. Example - -Frozen Armor-,
-Chilling Armor-, -Energy Shield-.
Utility : Usually not used for offensive purpose. But it helps by
offering strategical advantages in some tacky situations.
Example - -Telekinesis-, -Teleport-.
Passive : You already know what it is.
I hope you get the rough idea about this. Further explanation will
be provided as we go through the skills one by one.
[ Type ] : Active
[ Strength ] : Chills enemy
Low mana cost
[ Weakness ] : Low Damage
Hard to aim
Slow
Single hit
[ When to use ] : As it is hard to aim, it's advisable that you map -Ice
Bolt- onto the left mouse click when use. However,
it's not to be perceived as a useless spell at later
stage. The main usage of -Ice Bolt- is to chill, so
you have to make comparison with other cold spells to
decide which has the best cold length. If the cold
length for -Ice Bolt- is greater than -Frost Nova-,
then use it instead of -Frost Nova- when dealing with
bosses.
[ Comments ] : This is one of the skills that you get to choose from
when you get the first skill point. If you happen to
find a good staff early on but equipping it will make
you have no spell to use (like switching the initial
firebolt staff with other staff). Then you can't go
wrong by putting a point into this skill, as it is a
pre-requisite for -Glacial Spike-.
( Unless of course you have no intention of getting
-Glacial Spike-)
[ Recommended ] : 1 Skill Point
------------
Frozen Armor
------------
Increase your defense rating and freezes enemies that hit you.
[ Type ] : Defensive
[ Strength ] : Freezes enemy
Defense bonus
[ Weakness ] : Only works for melee
Deals no damage
Freeze doesn't work against bosses and human players
[ When to use ] : Have it activated when you want enemies to be frozen.
One of such occasion will happen when you encounter
enemies like 'Fallen' and 'Flayer'. These enemies,
you don't just want them killed. You want them
destroyed thoroughly so that they cannot be revived.
To do this, you need them to be frozen first, then
kill it. The -Frozen Armor- can take care of the
freezing, if you don't have -Ice Blast- or -Glacial
Spike-.
[ Comments ] : As the description says, -Frozen Armor- freezes
enemies that hit you. This is the main difference
between -Frozen Armor- and the other two in the series
of cold armors: -Shiver Armor- and -Chilling Armor-.
While it would serve adequately in the beginning, it
will quickly becomes limited in terms of functionality.
First of all, -Frozen Armor- will only freezes enemies;
they will not receive any damage from -Frozen Armor-.
Moreover, bosses and human players cannot be frozen. So
it's not much of use against them. The defense bonus
may yet function, but still it's relatively low
compared to the other two. If you consider to put
another point into it, I'd suugest that you reserve it
for -Shiver Armor-.
[ Recommended ] : 1 Skill Point
----------
Frost Nova
----------
Creates an expanding ring of ice that damages and slows all nearby
enemies.
[ Type ] : Active
[ Strength ] : Chills enemy
Excellent cold length
Fast
Wide radius
No aiming required
Great for PvP
[ Weakness ] : Low damage
High mana increase per skill point
[ When to use ] : Mainly used when dealing with bosses. -Frost Nova- has
the best cold length at Slvl 1. Coupled with its speed
and wide area of effect, it's indeed a highly favorable
spell to use. With it so effective, you may also want
to use it when dealing with a large horde of low magic-
resistance monsters. Sometimes, you don't need to
freeze the enemies, just chill them will be good enough.
Moreover, you will be able to chill more monsters with
-Frost Nova- than you can freeze with -Glacial Spike-.
[ Comments ] : Possibly the best supportive spell in the game. It set
the monsters up, making them stay closely to each other.
Not only the sorceress, but other characters will also
benefit from the chilling power of -Frost Nova-. One
possible strategy might be : the sorceress will first
'arrange' the monsters into one big pack with -Frost
Nova-. Kill one of them and the necromancer can cast
Corpse Explosion when the monsters move right within
the radius. Possibly replaced only by -Frozen Orb- in
terms of functionality. But other than that, I
strongly recommend -Frost Nova- for both single player
and multiplayer game.
( It's not like you have much of a choice either, it's
a pre-requisite for those damaging wide area effect
high level cold spells that you're dying to get)
[ Recommended ] : 1 Skill Point
---------
Ice Blast
---------
Creates a magical sphere of ice that damages and freezes your enemy.
[ Type ] : Active
[ Strength ] : Freezes enemy
Better freeze time
[ Weakness ] : Hard to aim
Slow
Single hit
[ When to use ] : Has a better freeze time compared to -Glacial Spike-
at Slvl1. That makes -Ice Blast- a prefered choice
when freezing a single enemy for supportive purpose.
One of the example is when coupled with -Fire Wall-.
You can cast -Ice Blast- to freeze enemy in place
while the real damage is done by -Fire Wall- casted
right beneath him. This way, you will enjoy a lower
mana cost and a longer freeze time.
[ Comments ] : You will most probably get it for it's a pre-
requisite for -Glacial Spike- and -Shiver Armor-. So
the question is not whether to get it or not. It's
more like whether to put more points into it or not.
Putting more than one point into this skill, I would
really think twice. This situation may occur when
you only want to get -Shiver Armor- and have no
intention to get -Glacial Spike-. The only freeze
spell that you're going to get is -Ice Blast-. If it
so, think about this for a second - enemies often
come in packs and attack in packs. If you want to
put another point into -Ice Blast-, it would be MUCH
better to reserve it for -Glacial Spike-. You will
get better damage per skill level and the bonus of
radius effect. It cost exactly the same - one skill
point.
[ Recommended ] : 1 Skill Point
------------
Shiver Armor
------------
Increases your defense rating, freezes and damages enemies that hit
you.
[ Type ] : Defensive
[ Strength ] : Chills enemy
Best defense bonus
Great for PvP
[ Weakness ] : Only works for melee
Low damage
[ When to use ] : You can only cast one ice armor at one time. So
choose your armors wisely. Cast it when there's more
melee enemies than ranged. Also, use it when dealing
with bosses and human players. I have heard someone
killed Duriel with -Shiver Armor-. When it's used
for PvP, -Shiver Armor- will chill enemy when melee
attacked. That will prevent stunlocks.
[ Comments ] : It's already working fine at Slvl1. If you want to
get more of it, I'd suggest that you use items to
boost the skill levels. Also wear equipments that
have 'thorns' ability as well. It would raise the
total damage dealt per hit. Just let the damage
accumulate and -Shiver Armor- may actually kill.
[ Recommended ] : 1 Skill Point
-------------
Glacial Spike
-------------
Creates a magical ice comet that freezes or kills nearby enemies.
[ Type ] : Active
[ Strength ] : Freezes enemy
Area attack
[ Weakness ] : Fixed radius
Low increase in freeze time per skill level
[ When to use ] : This is the highest level freezing spell for the
sorceress. Proven useful on many occasions when
enemies are too dangerous to let them do anything at
all. It's also used to 'vaporise' most enemies to
prevent them from leaving a corpse thus getting
resurrected. The perfect choice for left button
spell.
[ Comments ] : As useful as it might be, but I would choose NOT to
upgrade this skill with more than one point. The
reason is mainly because of the insignificant increase
in freeze time. Although the damage increase is okay,
but there are other spells that give more upgrades per
skill point. I use -Glacial Spike- mainly as
supportive spell in order for spells like -Fire Wall-
and -Blaze- to deal real damage. Besides, there is
one hidden attribute that -Glacial Spike- has. It
can sometimes cause instant death to a normal enemy.
Although it rarely happens, especially with high level
enemies, I still want to get the most out of -Glacial
Spike- as it has a chance to kill enemy regardless of
the life it has left. Imagine, 1 shot of Slvl 1
-Glacial Spike- that does 16-24 damage kills an enemy
that has 300 life. I'm getting a huge return here!
[ Recommended ] : 1-20 Skill Point
--------
Blizzard
--------
Summons massive shard of ice to destroy your enemies.
[ Type ] : Third Party
[ Strength ] : Chills enemy
Wide Area attack
Great against all enemies
[ Weakness ] : Sometimes miss
High mana cost
[ When to use ] : The only third party spell in the cold tree. But it's
all you ever needed as it's already sufficient to use
it against all types of monsters. To use it, you must
first learn the nature of this spell. When you cast
-Blizzard-, the spell will affect a wide area. But
within that area, there will be blind spots where
no damage will be dealt. If an enemy happens to be
on that spot, he will be safe from the damage. Also,
the ice shards that fall may need some time to hit
target. If the enemy is running too fast, he will be
able to run through -Blizzard- without taking any
damage at all. So from the two reasons mentioned, it
can be deduced that -Blizzard- is best used when
dealing with slow moving monsters. Now what could
have been better in keeping enemies in slow-mo if not
-Frost Nova-? Cast -Frost Nova- first and then
-Blizzard-, you will see enemies take more damage.
Another question you may ask : What about range
attackers? They don't have to move at all. There is
always a chance that they may stand right in the blind
spots. So does this means that -Blizzard- doesn't
work well against them? Well, when it comes to range
attackers, I always prefer to use either -Fire Wall-
or -Meteor-. But -Blizzard- is not totally hopeless
in this situation. One of the main strength of
-Blizzard- is that it can stack. So stack up a few
-Blizzard- in the same area to eliminate the blind
spots. That would make -Blizzard- just as effective
as -Fire Wall- or -Meteor-.
[ Comments ] : Fantastic spell! For every skill point put into it,
not only will you get increase in damage, but also
increase in spell duration and cold length as well.
The only concern is that the mana cost will also
increase. So make sure you do not neglect -Warmth-
when taking up this skill. A high level -Warmth- will
ensure that you won't be too exhasted after a few cast
of -Blizzard-. Above all, I would say that -Blizzard-
is a must for those who wish to specialise in cold.
( Let's face it, a spell that bears the same name with
the developer itself can't be sucks, can it?)
[ Recommended ] : 1-20 Skill Points
--------------
Chilling Armor
--------------
Increases defense and discharges an ice bolt in retaliation against
ranged attackers.
[ Type ] : Defensive
[ Strength ] : Chills enemy
Defense bonus
Great for PvP
[ Weakness ] : Only retaliates against range attacks
Low damage
[ When to use ] : When attacked with range attacks, be it magical or
non-magical, it will send out ice bolts to the
the enemy that does it. Useful when dealing with
Quill Rats and Fetish with range attacks. It's also
great to have -Chilling Armor- on when duelling with
with an Amazon or another sorceress. Both of them use
range attacks most of the time.
[ Comments ] : A way to counterattack against range attackers - it's
something that even the paladin's 'Thorns' aura could
not provide. While it does no serious damage, you
will at least know where the attacks came from. You
can cast -Chain Lightning- towards that direction or
summon -Hydra- to take care of it. In addition, the
ice bolts do help by slowing the enemies down. That
will reduce the frequency of the enemy's attack.
[ Recommended ] : 1 Skill Point
----------
Frozen Orb
----------
Creates a magical globe that sprays a torrent of ice bolts to lay
waste to your enemies.
[ Type ] : Active
[ Strength ] : Chills enemy
Great Damage
Covers almost the whole screen
Great for PvP
[ Weakness ] : Sometimes miss
High mana cost
[ When to use ] : It's best that you get -Frozen Orb- right at level 30.
With it, you can breeze through Nightmare difficulty
with ease. However, at later stage such as in Hell
difficulty, enemies will have higher HP. It's going
to take more than a few casts just to kill a SINGLE
enemy. The high mana cost will also hinders you from
keep on using this spell as main offense. For that,
you will need the help of -Static Field- in reducing
mana consumption. With -Static Field- as the main
offence and -Frozen Orb- as the starter(to initially
chills enemy) and the finisher, Hell will indeed be a
lot easier to conquer.
Casting Frozen Orb requires some aiming. I have
drawn out some diagrams so that you have a hint on
how to use effectively.
# enemy
# you
This is one of the most common situation you'll be
facing. If you cast -Frozen Orb- aimed at the enemy,
chances are the enemy will not take any damage at all.
It's simply because the orb itself deals no damage.
What damages is actually the ice bolt that's sprayed
out of it. So the correct way to do it is to place the
pointer right next to the enemy. The ideal location
to place the pointer is shown in the next diagram as
X. Note that it's better to also keep a small
distance when doing it. Then cast -Frozen Orb- with
it mapped onto right mouse button, or press together
with 'Shift' button if mapped onto left mouse button.
# enemy
X
# you
If done right, the enemy will take up to 5 ice bolts
from -Frozen Orb-. That make it around 160 damage at
Slvl 1. Not bad, huh? With it so damaging, you won't
even bother to switch to other spells when you're only
dealing with a single enemy. If they attack in groups,
try to 'rearrange' their formations into something like
this:
# E1
# E2 # E3
X
# E4 # E5 # E6
# you
# E7
This would be the PERFECT setup for -Frozen Orb-.
Enemy 4 and 5 will most probably take the most damage,
while E1, E2, E3 will manage to get 2-3 hits. E7 will
also eat ice but normally only 1 ice bolt will reach
it. As for E6, the ice bolts will be blocked by E5 and
therefore takes no damage. If you manage to set
enemies like this always, you will then get the biggest
return for every cast of -Frozen Orb-. You may even
end up using less mana that you would have if you opt
to use other spells like -Glacial Spike-. Here's
another formation which will also optimise the usage of
-Frozen Orb- :
# E3
# E2
# E1
X
# you
As you can see, it's a straight line. E1 will usually
takes 5 ice bolts while E2 and E3 will only take 2-3
separately. If you want E2 and E3 to take more ice
bolts, move closer to E1 when casting the orb.
The formations mentioned above are just a few examples.
Monsters are ever moving - that will leads to almost
unlimited possible setups. So I'll leave the rest to
your discovery.
[ Comments ] : " It was love at first sight. She looked simply
amazing in every way. But after a while, I found out
she's not what I expect her to be. So I ditched her.
But fortunately, it was not too late for me to realise
what a fool I've been. I should've appreciate the way
she is. Now we're back together and things have never
been the same again. I simply cannot live without her.
She's the greatest. "
Does this sound familiar to you? That's exactly
what happened to me and 'Frozen Orb'. The first look
at it, it really stunned me. It makes -Glacial Spike-
looks like some kind of a joke. Everything fell with
only one cast and I'm very impressed. Well, that's
everything, EXCEPT one. It's the one that I'm
SUPPOSED to kill! I keep casting -Frozen Orb- but he
just won't die! Like he's invincible or something. I
got so fed up, I switched back to the good ol'
-Glacial Spike- to finish him off. When I look at the
mana, it's already empty. Urggh, one real sucker that
is! So, after considering the high mana cost and the
absurd 'misses', I decided to put it aside for good.
Everything went back to normal, I continue to use
-Glacial Spike-/-Chain Lightning- combo. Easy hack-
and-slash. Then when I reached Act II Nightmare,
things have changed somehow. Suddenly all the
skeletons refused to be freezed and went on hyper mode.
I wonder what the shaman's been feeding them when I'm
dealing with Diablo. -Chain Lightning- also suffered
a power loss and inflicted damage next to nothing.
There I found myself struggling when killing monsters.
Then I thought to myself - maybe it's time to change
strategy. Due to the increased magic resistance of
monsters, I considered combos with -Glacial Spike- and
-Frost Nova- were out at the moment. Those spells
were not able to slow or freeze them long enough. So,
I have to wait until I have more skill points to
allocate into -Cold Mastery-. Then will I be able to
use them again. That leaves me not much of a choice,
so I figured I'd give -Frozen Orb- a second try. I
always keep myself open to the possibility that maybe
it's not the spell that is flawed. Maybe it's just me
who do not know how to use it yet.
The second time I used it, man, it's like a totally
new experience. It's really strange, y'know. What
started out being perceived as a useless mana sucker
turns out to be the most powerful spell in my arsenal.
What a fool I am to complain about the lack of
powerful spells available, when I already had it all
along with me! It's like she's always there and I
was just too ignorant to even learn how to appreciate
the way she is. Luckily, it was not too late to mend
my ways.
Right now, -Frozen Orb- and I are inseparable. I
will NEVER start another sorceress without -Frozen
Orb- ever. She will always be in my special place,
for the place shall always be reserved just for her.
She's simply the best!
(In case you're wondering, the special place is
actually the 'F5' button)
[ Recommended ] : 1-20 Skill Points
------------
Cold Mastery
------------
Passive - increase the damage of your cold attack by piercing enemies
resistances to cold
[ Type ] : Passive
[ Strength ] : Reduce cold resistance
No mana consumption
[ Weakness ] : Diminishing value for every skill point added
[ When to use ] : Activated all the time.
[ Comments ] : Before the game comes out, I have prejudice about this
skill. I mean reduce resistance, what good is that?
-Fire Mastery- increases damage, now that is good.
-Lightning Mastery- reduces mana consumption, good for
conserving mana. But reduce resistance? I don't
think so. For this skill alone I thought of dropping
the whole Cold tree and concentrate on Fire and
Lightning. But THAT is before I realise what Cold
does in the game. To understand the usefulness of
this skill, you must first understand what cold
resistance does. If a monster with high cold
resistance is hit with cold attack, it will receive
less cold damage, shortened chilling/freezing length
and less penalty in terms of action speed. If you
manage to lower enemy's resistance, then you will get
the exact opposite effects - more damage, longer
chilling/freezing length and more slowdown in action.
Cold's main strength is to slow and to freeze, so
-Cold Mastery- is really appropriate. We should be
glad that -Cold Mastery- deals with resistance, and
not doubling the amount of damage alone.
[ Type ] : Active
[ Strength ] : Increase number of bolts
Great for large pack of enemies
Great for PvP too
[ Weakness ] : Not all bolts will hit
Low damage
[ When to use ] : When encounter enemies that comes in large pack. Also
useful in PvP where the bolts move in unpredictable
manner. Players will then find it hard to dodge.
[ Comments ] : Now if any spell gets upgraded more than just in
terms of the amount of damage it will deal, it's
definitely a good spell. Not only will -Charged Bolt-
increase in damage with every skill point added, it
will also increments the number of bolts by 1 as well.
At Slvl 20, it deals out 22 bolts - that is A LOT!
The mana consumption is negligible too, if you manage
to put a few points into -Lightning Mastery-. The
only weakness I can see is the low damage it dealt.
Apart from that, let's put it this way. If this skill
is given to the paladin, I will have no doubt to boost
it as the first skill to reach level 20. But for the
sorceress, there are many other choices that are way
much better than -Charged Bolt-.
[ Recommended ] : 1-20 Skill Point
------------
Static Field
------------
Creates an electrical field that reduces life of all nearby enemies
by one third
[ Type ] : Active
[ Strength ] : Damage dealt according to enemy's health
Constant mana cost
[ Weakness ] : Sometimes miss
Can be resisted, as with all lightning spells
Misleading radius of effect
[ When to use ] : It started out as a weak spell. Mainly used when
dealing with bosses. But its true power will be
revealed once reach Nightmare Difficulty. Then it
shall stay and never leaves its throne as the most
effective spell for the sorceress. To fully optimise
this skill, equip yourself with items that gives you
'fastest cast rate'.
[ Comments ] : If you ask a paladin about how they feel about Thorns,
or ask a necromancer about Corpse Explosion, you can
expect exactly the same reply if you ask a sorceress
about -Static Field-. This is the ONLY sorceress
spell that is enemy-dependent, meaning this spell
deals damage according to the monsters' health. If a
monster is high in life, it will receive more damage.
That makes it highly favorable when you wish to play
in harder difficulties. More health means more
damage. So plan to get a high level -Static Field-
before going for Nightmare. But there is one other
thing that I would like to mention as of what I have
experienced. -Static Field-, although it is a spell,
can actually miss. Here's why I said that. I think
I have a good estimate of how far a skill with 4.6
yards could reach, thanks to my experience with the
Barbarian's Leap. So I'm quite sure the enemy is
well within range when I cast a 4.6 yards -Static
Field-. It turns out that -Static Field- sometimes
hit, sometimes miss. Which leads me to think, does
-Static Field- has a hidden attribute that indicates
the chances to hit? Or maybe it misses because of
resistance - perhaps lightning resistance will not
only reduce the amount of damage, but will also
reduce the radius of effect as well? Maybe some of
you who are smarter could figure this out?
[ Recommended ] : 3-20 Skill Points
-----------
Telekinesis
-----------
Uses the power of your mind to pick up items, use objects and
knockback enemies.
[ Type ] : Utility
[ Strength ] : No distance constraint
Great for multiplayer
[ Weakness ] : Low damage
[ When to use ] : Used mainly to pick up items and open/kick chests,
urns, barrels etc. Excellent for multiplayer when
the sorceress will have a better chance to first lay
her hands upon the goodies dropped by monsters. Too
bad -Telekinesis- cannot be used to loot corpse.
[ Comments ] : Believe it or not, I have used -Telekinesis- to kill.
You may ask - why would I wanna do that? It's simply
because -Telekinesis- is the least damaging spell for
the sorceress. The perfect tool for show offs. I
used it mainly to ridicule, to taunt and to insult
some weak opponents like The Summoner. Then I can go
around saying 'Nah, he was nothing. I didn't even
raise a finger to kill him. My mind power is already
too much for him!'
[ Recommended ] : 1 Skill Point
----
Nova
----
Creates an expanding ring of lightning to shock nearby enemies.
[ Type ] : Active
[ Strength ] : Fast
Wide radius
No aiming required
Great for PvP
[ Weakness ] : High mana cost
[ When to use ] : Good for thinning out a crowd of enemies. The best
setup for this spell is having enemies surround you
from every direction. The more enemies it hit, the
more it's worth the mana consumption. Also useful
as a non-aiming spell when dealing with bosses and
human players.
[ Comments ] : High mana cost but only does average amount of damage.
The usefulness of -Nova- is completely overshadowed
by -Frost Nova-. Although -Frost Nova- does less
damage, it serves its purpose as the excellent
supportive spell. Whenever an opportunity to cast
a nova spell arise, I would always choose -Frost Nova-
over -Nova-, just for the extra chilling effects.
[ Recommended ] : 1-20 Skill Point
---------
Lightning
---------
Creates a powerful lightning to lay waste to your enemies.
[ Type ] : Active
[ Strength ] : Fast
Area attack
Great for PvP
[ Weakness ] : Slow recovery time
Low minimum damage
[ When to use ] : Don't be deceived by the look of it. Enemies do not
have to be run through by the lightning bolt in order
to take damage. Enemies being near enough will also
be afflicted. To help you understand how lightning
works, I've drawn out some diagrams to explain it.
# enemy ^ # enemy
X ------> ^
^
# you # you
This is a common situation. If you aim -Lightning- by
placing the pointer in X, the bolt will manage to deal
damage to the enemy, even though the bolt does not
directly passes through it. If you understand this,
then you would have no problem understanding the next
one.
# E1 # E1
^
^
# E2 ^ # E2
---------> ^
^
E3 # E3 # ^
X ^
^
# you # you
What would you do in a situation like this? If you
aim lightning at E2 or E3, it would be stupid. The
correct way is to aim for either X or E1. Then all
three of them will be hit by the lightning attack.
Think of it as a piercing attack, and you'll see
that -Lightning- is more favorable to use if against
enemies that run in a straight line. I hope you get
what I mean so far, as I will further use this basic
information to explain -Chain Lightning-.
[ Comments ] : My advice, don't stop at -Lightning-. You ain't see
nothing yet. Go for the next skill in line, -Chain
Lightning-. If you think -Lightning- is good, wait
till you see -Chain Lightning- in action. It rocks!
[ Recommended ] : 1 Skill Point
---------------
Chain Lightning
---------------
Creates a bolt of lightning that arcs through several targets.
[ Type ] : Active
[ Strength ] : Fast
Area attack
Great for PvP
[ Weakness ] : Slow recovery time
Low minimum damage
[ When to use ] : -Chain Lightning- works best when dealing with enemies
more than one. If you're only dealing with one, it
will work just like what normal -Lightning- would do.
I'll go straight to how you should aim when using
-Chain Lightning-.
# E1
# E2
# E3
# you
This is a simple one. No matter who you aim, -Chain
Lightning- will be able to make connection with the
three of them. The reason is that the enemies have
kept just the right distance for -Chain Lightning-;
not too near and not too far.
# E1
# E2
X
# E3
# you
This situation is more likely to occur compared to the
previous one. Now if you aim for E3, which I'm sure
most will, chances are the lightning will NOT arc to
those at the back. You will waste it as the distance
between E3 and his closest target may be too far. For
this, I suggest that you aim for E1. Use what you
have learned from -Lightning-. This way, all three of
them will be struck by the first stream of -Chain
Lightning-. From there, -Chain Lightning- will try to
connect with as many enemies as it can. If E1 is off
screen, aim for X instead.
[ Comments ] : One of my favorite spell in DiabloII. I will never get
tired seeing -Chain Lightning- in action. The way it
bounces back and forth hitting enemies is really a
sight to behold. But sadly, this spell will only be
upgraded by damage. Unlike the Amazon's Lightning
Strike, there is NO increase in number of hits. Too
bad, if not for that, I would surely recommend this
spell to everyone I know.
[ Recommended ] : 1-20 Skill Point
--------
Teleport
--------
Instantly moves to a destination within your line of sight.
[ Type ] : Utility
[ Strength ] : Come out instantly
[ Weakness ] : High mana cost
Limited by the small viewable range
[ When to use ] : Because of the small viewable range of the game, this
skill may not seem to be as useful as some may
thought. A fast enemy will easily catch up with you
when you try to escape. Therefore, it's recommended
that you don't do only one cast. Do a double or even
a triple consecutive -Teleport- to really gain some
distance. But be careful not -Teleport- yourself
into a bigger mess!
[ Comments ] : Like the Barbarian's Leap attacks, this skill is
limited by viewable range. To say that this spell
is a must for the sorceress may not necessarily be
true. You can live without it. But you will lose out
on some advantages it will provide if you do not have
-Teleport-. One example is like in Claw Viper's
Temple. With -Teleport-, you can gain advantage by
settling yourself on the altar. Therefore you will
suffer no harm. Conversely, not having -Teleport-
will confirm an unavoided confrontation with the
sorceress killing machine, FangSkin. A bad choice
indeed. But then, you can always opt to use staff to
grant you this skill. The need for -Teleport- is
strictly occasional in my opinion.
[ Recommended ] : 1 Skill Point
------------
Thunderstorm
------------
Summons a deadly thunderstorm that strikes your enemies with bolts of
lightning.
[ Type ] : Third Party
[ Strength ] : Great Damage
Auto aim
[ Weakness ] : Short duration
Sometimes miss
[ When to use ] : -Thunder Storm- may sometimes miss. To avoid this,
keep enemy as slow and stationery as possible. Think
of it like.. Ion Cannon. Target will be locked and
the coordinates will be taken. But it requires a few
miliseconds to send down the lightning attack. So
it's necessary at your end to keep enemy not too far
away from where the explosion may take place.
[ Comments ] : As I've said before, if a spell gets upgraded not just
in power but in other things as well, it's definitely
a good spell. So what does a skill point means to
-Thunder Storm-? With every point added, the spell
will get an increment of 10 damage to both minimum and
maximum damage(!), a longer duration time, an increase
in frequency of attack, while the mana consumption
stays the same. At Slvl 20, -Thunder Storm- deals
191-290 damage for about every second and lasts for
184 seconds. Now the question is : Is there any other
spell that will give you so many upgrades for one
skill point? You should know the answer by now. I
think I made it clear enough for you to make a
decision.
[ Recommended ] : 20 skill points!
-------------
Energy Shield
-------------
Creates a magical shield that consumes mana instead of health when you
take damage.
[ Type ] : Defensive
[ Strength ] : Share damage between health and mana
Low mana cost
[ Weakness ] : Damage absorbed may be too low
[ When to use ] : A note about -Energy Shield- based on my observation.
There are times when I will run past enemies to avoid
melee attacks. I'm already very good at it. So I
know when a melee attack will hit and when it will
miss. But when I have -Energy Shield- activated, it
seems like even though the attack missed, I still
suffer the mana loss from it. The reason I'm saying
this is that there's no drop in the the health bulb
and the sorceress didn't let out a groan or something.
What I noticed was a small lightning sparked from the
golden sphere and mana was then reduced. But why
would mana be deducted from a miss? It really had me
puzzled. Anyway, to avoid mana loss from the
expected-to-miss melee attacks, cast -Energy Shield-
only when there's range attackers around. (That's
what I've been doing right now)
[ Comments ] : Insignificant at Slvl 1. So if you're serious into
getting this skill, be sure to allocate at least 3
skill points into it in order for it to work
effectively. Otherwise, skip it totally. But be
sure not to neglect Vitality if you wish to drop
this skill. Low in life and no support from this
skill, you will not survive even a single blow from
hell creatures.
[ Recommended ] : 3-9 Skill Points
-----------------
Lightning Mastery
-----------------
Passive - reduces the mana required to cast your lightning spells.
[ Type ] : Passive
[ Strength ] : Reduce mana consumption of lightning spells
No mana consumption
[ Weakness ] : Diminishing value for every skill point added
[ When to use ] : Activated all the time.
[ Comments ] : I think the description is clear enough. If you have
invested into many lightning spells, be sure to put
at least a point into it. Then just let your
equipments raise the skill level. Remember, this
skill does NOT directly make your spells more
powerful. They just become more mana-friendly.
[ Recommended ] : 1-9 Skill Points
=======================================================================
FIRE SPELLS
=======================================================================
--------
Firebolt
--------
Creates a magical flaming missile.
[ Type ] : Active
[ Strength ] : Low mana cost
No mana increase
[ Weakness ] : Low Damage
Single hit
[ When to use ] : If you have both -Ice Bolt- and -Fire Bolt-, it's
advisable to alternate between the two. First use
-Ice Bolt- to slow enemy, and then switch to -Fire
Bolt- to do damage faster and with lower mana
consumption. It can be easily done by mapping -Ice
Bolt- to the left button and -Fire Bolt- to the right
or vice versa.
[ Comments ] : This is the first spell that you get to play with.
It comes with the staff. But is it worth a REAL
skill point into it? If it serves as a pre-requisites,
then I would advise that you put one but only one
skill point into it. There is really no purpose to
invest heavily into this spell. Skill points are
better invested elsewhere.
[ Recommended ] : 1 Skill Point
------
Warmth
------
Passive - increase the rate which you recover mana.
[ Type ] : Passive
[ Strength ] : Increase mana recovery rate
No mana consumption
[ Weakness ] : none
[ When to use ] : Activated all the time.
[ Comments ] : I'm sure you have heard a lot of comments about
-Warmth-. Most will say to boost it Slvl 20 as soon
as you can. You will never go wrong with it. But I
would like to remind you of something. -Warmth- does
not DIRECTLY make you more powerful. It will only
improve your overall gameplay. When you're stuck with
some major bosses, putting the reserved skill points
into -Warmth- won't help in getting you through. You
need points into some real spells. Knowing this, a
maximum 20 would seems to be too much. I would
suggest that you balanced out the skill points into
other spells as well. The number of points into
-Warmth- depends on the spells that you have. If your
main strategy revolves mostly with high level fire/ice
spells, then more points into -Warmth- seems
appropriate. But if you are using mostly spells with
low mana cost (lightning spells), you don't need a
high level -Warmth-. A low level -Warmth- means you
need to have more patience and wait for mana to
recover at a slower rate. That's all.
[ Recommended ] : 7-20 Skill Points
-------
Inferno
-------
Creates a continuous jet of flame to scorch your enemies.
[ Type ] : Active
[ Strength ] : Powerful upgrade per skill point
[ Weakness ] : Damage is slow
Immobile when casting
[ When to use ] : The biggest weakness of -Inferno- is that you have to
stand still to deal damage. So it's best that you
freeze, or at least chill enemy before continue with
-Inferno-.
[ Comments ] : Great looking spell. At high level, you can use this
spell to challenge Diablo in an Inferno fight. Cool
huh? If you are serious about -Inferno-, make sure
you reserve a lot of skill points for it. It sucks
at low level.
[ Recommended ] : 3-20 Skill Point
-----
Blaze
-----
Creates a wall of fire in your wake to scorch your enemies.
[ Type ] : Third Party
[ Strength ] : Great against melee attackers
Low mana consumption
[ Weakness ] : Easily run out of stamina
[ When to use ] : Best used against melee fighters because the way
-Blaze- deal damage is to have the enemy followed
exactly the sorceress' footsteps. So avoid running
in zigzag, keep it as straight as you can. You can
make use of the geography too. Look for features like
doors, walls, narrow tunnels etc to help you.
[ Comments ] : Well, I don't think I have to say anything more of
this spell. It's the most mentioned spell throughout
the whole guide. Frankly, I don't have -Blaze- the
first time I played the sorceress. I really
struggled especially when dealing with enemy that uses
fast melee attack like the Smith. Now if you ask me
to play again without -Blaze-, the answer would
definitely be NO!
[ Recommended ] : 1-20 Skill Point
---------
Fire Ball
---------
Creates an explosive sphere of fiery death to engulf your enemies.
[ Type ] : Active
[ Strength ] : Area attack
Fast recovery
[ Weakness ] : Small radius compared with -Glacial Spike-
[ When to use ] : It's best used when enemies are travelling closely to
each other like Ghosts. One of -Fire Ball- main
strength is its fast recovery. So if the strategy you
want to use is hit and run, -Fire Ball- is a much
prefered choice.
[ Comments ] : Smaller radius of effect makes -Fire Ball- inferior
to -Glacial Spike-. As the two are very much alike in
terms of the strategy they provide, you will see not
much of a use for -Fire Ball-. I personally do not
favor active spells. The less the better. Even if I
want to have a strong active spell, I would choose
-Glacial Spike- over -Fire Ball- as the damage
increase is about the same. So I will either skip it
or put only one point as pre-requisite.
[ Recommended ] : 1 Skill Point
---------
Fire Wall
---------
Creates a wall of flame that blocks or burns your enemies.
[ Type ] : Third Party
[ Strength ] : Wide Area attack
Great against range attackers
[ Weakness ] : Hard to aim
High mana cost
[ When to use ] : Especially useful when dealing with range attackers,
as they will normally stand still when launching
their attacks. Perfect setup for -Fire Wall-. Place
-Fire Wall- right beneath them, they'll be toasted
within seconds. -Fire Wall- is also great in PvP too.
Place a -Fire Wall- right in front of you, I'm sure
no one will be stupid enough to try using melee
attacks on you.
[ Comments ] : If you're looking for the spell that gives the most
damage per skill point, search no more. -Fire Wall-
is easily the most damaging spell in the game. Not
only will it deal insane damage, it will also get
upgraded in duration and distance with every skill
point. Too bad the mana cost will also increase as
well.
[ Recommended ] : 3-20 Skill Points
-------
Enchant
-------
Enchants equipped weapon of targetted character or minion
Adds fire damage to melee weapons
Adds one-third fire damage to ranged weapons
[ Type ] : Unique
[ Strength ] : Great for multiplayer Coop
[ Weakness ] : Doesn't benefit sorceress much
Low damage increase per skill point
High mana cost
[ When to use ] : In Coop, when there's not much you can do to help
your party members, you can always enchant their
weapons or their minions's. Every bit helps.
[ Comments ] : Practically the most useless spell for the sorceress.
A wise sorceress will not engage herself into a melee
battle. -Enchant- is one of the early spells
developed. There are actually some other skills that
will work together with -Enchant-. But they were
taken out as seen inappropriate. Why -Enchant- is
not taken out as well, I ask the same question too.
Perhaps there is something about this skill needs to
be discovered?
[ Recommended ] : 1 Skill Point
------
Meteor
------
Summons a meteor from the heavens to crush and incinerate your
enemies.
[ Type ] : Third Party
[ Strength ] : Wide Area attack
Great against range attackers
[ Weakness ] : Long delay time
Hard to aim
[ When to use ] : Especially useful when dealing with range attackers,
as they will normally stand still when launching
their attacks. Perfect setup for -Meteor-. But
when dealing with melee attackers, you can still use
-Meteor-. The trick is to place it IN FRONT of you.
Make some good guess on when it will land and try to
keep him near the spot by running around.
[ Comments ] : I love all third party spells. Although -Meteor- is
hard to aim due to the delay time, but I still find
it favorable. Have a good grasp of its timing and
it can be as powerful as -Fire Wall- when mastered.
[ Recommended ] : 1-20 Skill Points
-----
Hydra
-----
Summons a multi-headed beast of flame to reduce your enemies to ashes.
[ Type ] : True third party spell
[ Strength ] : Great as scouts
Excellent against range attackers
Great for PvP
[ Weakness ] : High mana cost
Low damage(?)
[ When to use ] : The only TRUE third party spell for the sorceress.
So -Hydra- is a spell that have the advantages that
no other spell could provide. Take a look at the
situations below :
The situation above is quite normal to happen. The
enemy is not seen, about 2 screens away. What can you
possibly do to hit the enemy without moving forward?
It's none other than by casting -Hydra- at X. That
way the sorceress will suffer NO possible retaliation.
An extremely useful strategy to use against the likes
of the Oblivion Knights. Here's another one.
.
X . # enemy
_._
| |
| w |
| a |
| l |
# you | l |
|___|
The dots indicate a barrier that acts like a fence
that will only allow missiles to pass through. How
do you take advantage of this situation? You can try
to move forward and expose yourself to the enemy.
Then cast other third party spells and quickly run
back to your original position. But this method may
still run a chance of getting hit. If you cast
-Hydra- in X, you won't have to worry about the risk.
This situation is common in places like Jail and
Flayer Dungeon. Also applicable when dealing with
Mephisto.
To get the most out of -Hydra-, it's advisable that
you cast at least 3. Here's how you should do it.
X
# enemy
X X
This is what I called 'The -Hydra-'s Deadly Triangle'.
If you look at it, no matter where the enemy may go,
at least one of the -Hydra-s will score a direct hit.
Of course if you can, try to keep the enemy right in
the middle. You can use spells like -Glacial Spike-/
-Frost Nova- to freeze/chill enemy. Or you can use
-Teleport- or run around in circles to confuse him.
If applied, you will find that none of it will not
be wasted.
That is for the idiotic monsters. What about human
players?
X
<----------- # enemy -------->
X X
The triangle can be easily broken by smart human
players. That is, by running in the directions
indicated by the arrows. Well, they only think they
are smart. Actually, they are heading exactly where
you would want them to be. When you know where
they'll be heading, you know what to do. So -Hydra-
is also an excellent manipulative spell to use when
it comes to PvP.
Hydra's Deadly Triangle
-----------------------
I will give you some tips on how to setup the triangle.
With the basics, use your creativity to outwit your
opponent.
# enemy
# you
This is a common situation. Now where would be the
first ideal location for hydra? If you cast it in
between you and him, he can easily avoid it by running
upwards. The smart way is to place it in X.
X
# enemy
# you
If you cast it in X, what will he do? If he continues
to charge at you, he will receive direct hit from
hydra. Then you can easily avoid his attack by a cast
of -Teleport- and set yourself up in the exact
positions but in the opposite directions. Then the
second and the third hydra can be casted in the same
line.
# you
X
X
# enemy
X
That is usually the situation when dealing with
monsters. Human players will probably choose another
direction. Let's say he breaks off by running to left
or right.
X X
----------->
# enemy # enemy X
# you # you
No matter where he goes, block him by placing a hydra
right in front of him. Right now, you should cast
something to protect yourself. Cast -Blizzard- right
at your spot to prevent him from running at you. If
he's smart and still wants to attempt an escape,
there's not much of a choice left but to run in
between the two hydras. I think you will now know
where to put the final hydra.
X
# enemy
X
X
# you
There it is. The triangle is set. Now he will be
so confused, he will not know the right way to escape
the attack anymore. No matter where he goes now, he
will be right in the middle of a triangle, one after
another. Just place a hydra in front of him and you
set yourself another triangle. There's absolutely no
way he could escape not being hit by one of the hydras.
While you can depend on the damage done by the hydras
to kill, it's advisable that you use other spells as
well to finish him off more quickly. Use lots of
third party spells if you can and also -Frozen Orb-.
They are all great for PvP.
This setup is tried and true. I have killed quite a
number of players with it. Whether you will be able
to do it or not, it's strictly individual-dependent.
What I've said may not reflect what truly happened
either. Everything happened so fast. I may have
inserted -Blizzard- and some other spells every now
and then. But what you must understand is the
concept of it. Be ever changing and unpredictable
when dealing with human players. It is not really
the same thing as when dealing with those empty-
headed skeletons, you know. After all, as what I've
told everyone, you are NOT COMPLETELY finished with
DiabloII unless you tried PvP. Really, dealing with
computer AI will bore you someday. But with human
players, trust me, they will surprise you everyday.
Even at this moment, this guide may already be cracked
by other players and becomes a thing of the past.
[ Comments ] : I have heard complaints about the low damage done by
-Hydra-. Frankly I don't really see their point.
The numbers indicated are supposed to be the damage
done PER BOLT. Without taking considerations of
resistance, let's do some calculations, shall we?
Let's start with Slvl 1. One bolt deals 6-12 damage.
So the average damage would be 9. There will be 3 fire
serpents taking care of the aiming. They spit bolts
for about every 1 second. So that makes it : 3 x 9 =
27 damage per second. The spell lasts for 12 seconds.
So, the total damage would be 27 x 12 = 324 damage.
That's for Slvl 1. Now let's do the same with Slvl 20.
-Hydra- does 44-50 damage per bolt for 31 second. So
it roughly does 47 x 3 = 141 damage per second and
141 x 31 = 4371 total damage. Now tell me, THAT is
low? It IS relatively low when compared with -Fire
Wall-. But what ISN'T? -Fire Wall- is the most
damaging spell in the game. No doubt about it. If
every spell is compared to it by the damage dealt, all
others will look like sh*t. It's not fair being
compared like that. -Hydra- has to be the most unique
spell on its own. There are situations where only
-Hydra- will be able to take advantage of. No other
spell will do. Compare the damage dealt with both
spells on different types of enemies. I bet -Hydra-
will have a better score in some situations. Try to
look at -Hydra- as for the strategy it provides, and
you will do this spell some justice.
Other questions you may ask :
1) Monsters have resistance for it, so the total
damage will be much lesser than expected.
- -Fire Mastery- should take care of it.
2) That's the damage if the monster is stupid enough
to stand still to take damage.
- this is why it's important that you don't cast
only ONE hydra at a time. Strategically place
three of them, you will get the effect as if
they're standing still. Besides, what are
spells like -Glacial Spike- and -Frost Nova- for?
3) The damage is too slow. I'd probably be dead
before -Hydra- finish the rest of their ammos.
- You DO know that you can move after casting
-Hydra-, don't you? Well, don't be lazy! Run
around and do something to support your buddies.
4) The serpents do not always spit fire at the same
direction. That prevents them from scoring maximum
damage.
- Would you rather have a big giant snake that does
triple damage instead of 3 separate small ones?
Maybe it's a matter of preference but I think 3
small ones is better. It raises the chances to
hit. It's better to deal damage little by little
than to have a big ball of fire that often misses.
That's all I can think of. Feel free to challenge me
for a debate on this. If you can convince me NOT to
take this spell, trust me, I won't be offended. In
fact I'd be grateful. (I'm contradicting what I've
said earlier, am I not?) It's because I love this
spell so much, it's hard for me to let go. The
limited number of skill points doesn't consent my love
for it.
[ Recommended ] : 1-20 Skill Points
------------
Fire Mastery
------------
Passive - Increase all damage caused by your fire spells.
[ Type ] : Passive
[ Strength ] : Increase damage of lightning spells
No mana consumption
[ Weakness ] : Diminishing value for every skill point added
[ When to use ] : Activated all the time.
[ Comments ] : I think the description is clear enough. If you have
invested into many fire spells, be sure to put
at least a point into it. Then just let your
equipments raise the skill level.
[ Recommended ] : 1-9 Skill Points
=========================
Something You Should Know
=========================
DiabloII gamers are complaining about the sorceress being too weak.
If I can, I would use all my wits to prove how wrong they are. However,
what they said is not entirely wrong.
I'm going to reveal some information that may not be known by most.
Hope you will have a slightest idea on why the sorceress becomes what
she is now. As a victim of favoritism myself, I really feel for her.
It's not really her fault. It's just some jerks who don't like magic
users, wanted her to be as weak as possible. So the next time you
wanna say something bad about the sorceress, think about what I'm about
say.
-Static Field-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What seems to be the most powerful spell for the sorceress is full
of limitations. It can be resisted and can actually miss. Not only
that, instead of reducing 1/3 of enemy's life, it becomes 1/4 as
opposed of what it's originally intended. The first Whoopee.
-Energy Shield-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was meant to absorb 100% of magic damage and 50% of physical
damage. That's for Slvl 1. By adding more skill points, it will be
absorbing more physical damage.
And what has it becomes now? It absorbs 15% of all damage. Is that
something to be happy about? You may say - you have to put in more
skill points into it! So, even if I succeeded in allocating all 20
points into it, what do I get? A maximum of 63%. Whoopee.
When the game first came out, -Energy Shield- is the FIRST spell I
checked. It's because I know how much it means to the sorceress. It is
this spell that will save her from NOT having the passive skills like
the Amazon's evade/avoid/dodge, the Barbarian's Natural Resistance, the
Necromancer's Bone Armor and the Paladin's all-powerful Salvation aura.
You can bet I have a tremendously high hope for this spell. And did it
fail me? You already know the answer.
If you tell me that the sorceress will be way too powerful if given
the original -Energy Shield-. Then let me ask you, will she NOT suffer
the mana deduction from it? Will she NOT die when both the mana and
life becomes empty?
If you want to raise the penalty, fine. Do like increasing the mana
consumptions to 100, that's the price I'm willing pay. Or reduce the
duration is okay too. But certainly not reduction in power, anything
but that.
-Frozen Orb-
~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's actually a freezing spell. Otherwise it wouldn't be called
'Frozen' Orb, would it? It is supposed to be the MOST damaging spell
for the sorceress, something for the sorceress to die for. Now it only
chills. Whoopee.
-Warmth- and -Enchant-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Warmth was intended to recover HEALTH. What does this means? It
means that in the original plan, a fighter mage prototype actually
existed. So, it's not ridiculous when someone was trying to create a
melee aorceress. To further proving this, take a look at -Enchant-.
-Enchant- was one of the early skills developed. It may seems like a
useless skill right now. It's not like other players is going to be
oh-so grateful when you enchant their weapons. Do you know why it's
like that? Because it was meant to cast on herself! With -Warmth-
that will keep her life at full and -Enchant- to inflict more melee
damage, that means she actually has the option to becomes a fighter! A
fighter mage to be more precise. Just imagine having to cast -Glacial
Spike- and then bong someone with her staff, I would say it's a deadly
combo!. If she has the option to be a fighter mage, early spells like
-Charged Bolt- and -Ice Blast- would last longer. Getting high level
spells may not be necessary anymore.
Why can't she do it now? She can, but she will struggle, and
struggle for nothing. To be a fighter, she needs to have high attack
ratings and also life. What she's lacking is the skill that resembles
something like 'Staff Mastery'. A skill that will increase both the
damage and the most important of all, the attack ratings.
Why the plan was taken out, I'm not sure. Maybe they couldn't
figure out where to fit the mastery into one of the trees, so they
dropped it totally, and made -Warmth- to recover mana instead. Whoopee.
-Ice Bolt-
~~~~~~~~~~
Even -Ice Bolt-, you may ask. I ask the same question too. What
makes the sorceress so fearful that people want to ensure the sorceress
stay as low as possible? -Ice Bolt- was intended to chill for 8 seconds
at Slvl 1, and gets another 8 seconds for every skill level. If it is as
good as the original, I may consider to put points into it. Imagine
having Slvl 5 -Ice Bolt- that chills for 40 seconds. You don't have to
worry about Duriel stay chilled! Duriel will be in slow-mo all the time.
But now, it starts out with 6 seconds and incremented by 1.4 seconds
for every skill point into it. Whoopee.
And some may say that would be too powerful. WTF is so powerful
about it?! The damage is still weak, it still comes out slow and hard
to aim, that's the price to pay! Geez, I don't think I will ever
understand what they're thinking. All they know about is making the
character weak, they forgot about making the character playable. There
goes the hint on why the sorceress the way she is now. It is because of
SOME f**king beta testers, that's why. When asked for feedbacks, they
only say the sorceress being too powerful, and NOTHING else. Only the
sorceress get mentioned as being too powerful?! I should be playing the
beta instead of them! Heck, you can bet when the next project's coming
up, I'm not going to sit back and let them screw my character again! I
will buy a plane ticket and fly all the way to Blizzard headquarter and
BEG Bill Roper to let me play the next beta.
(Or is there a simpler way?)
I've been a sorceress fanatic long before the game comes out.
Thankfully, DiabloII.net has been very faithful in feeding me with the
latest info. The notions of the necromancer is going to rock or the
paladin is going to rule, has long existed then. But I didn't care. My
eyes would only get widely open when there's an article on the sorceress.
I would read the same article a couple of times, over and over again.
Then I would fantasize about the adventure-would-be with the sorceress.
How she's going to toast monsters with the point of her finger, crush
them into pieces when she thinks they are too ugly for her style or zap
them just to see how funny they will look. It feels good to even think
about it. I have sworn to make the sorceress the best character there
is in DiabloII. But hmm, I guess Blizzard forgot that there's such a
person like me existed. So they figure they can screw up the sorceress
because nobody will notice it anyway. But to me, it's either the
sorceress or no DiabloII at all.
The necromancer gets all the power up he ever needed at level 30 -
Revive, Fire Golem and Bone Spirit. That is what he gets for being
labeled as the weakest character against Andariel in the beginning. The
end rewards make all the endurance worthwhile. Now, can I say the same
about the sorceress? You may think the sorceress is still a strong
character despite of the 'nerfing'. Maybe you're right. You may also
think I'm making a big fuss over a small matter. You're not wrong either.
But I'm not drawing a conclusion here. Only time will tell whether
Blizzard has done the right thing.
[ Patch 1.03 ] : Gosh, they really did it! They nerfed the necro and
the barbarian! But hey, it's not my fault, okay? This
FAQ was released AFTER the v1.03 patch. At first I
thought of removing the whole 'Something You Should
Know' column because it has become dated. But later
when I think back, it's because of that column this FAQ
exists. That's the first article I wrote. So I
decided to leave it unaltered, sorta give a background
history about the sorceress if anyone's interested. So
don't send me your curses as I'm not the real culprit
here. Even if the FAQ was released before the patch
comes out, what I said may not be taken seriously
anyway. If you wanna blame someone, it's not going to
be me.
If you ask me if I'm happy about it, well NOT to say
that I am happy but sort of.. 'enlightened'. Right now,
many things have become clear to me. The patch really
tells a lot. If you have followed the development of
DiabloII right from the beginning, you will know that
what Blizzard did was merely fulfilling what they have
said earlier. They are keeping their promises. If
there are some necro fans who are f*cked up by this
decision and try to take the sorceress down as well,
they can forget about it. The sorceress has already
been nerfed BEFORE the game was out. Of course the
sorceress struggled but she has learned to live with it.
Perhaps this is something everyone should learn.
=========
Wish List
=========
After seeing what they did to the sorceress, I have decided to come
up with a wish list for the upcoming Expansion for DiabloII. No, it's
NOT all about complaining. Rather, it's just a small reminder on what
Blizzard might have left out apart from their original intentions.
With it, I will make myself heard by sending the list to Blizzard
everyday via email. Maybe everyday is not frequent enough. Let's make
it every one hour. No, make it EVERY 10 MINUTES! My hope is that out
of every 10 things I wrote, ONE will make it into the final product.
( It is something I should've done when they were doing beta-testing. I
really regretted for not doing anything to stop the sorceress from
getting seriously nerfed. Luckily, it's not too late afterall! )
1) Set items are too underrated. I believe it is intended that there
will be arguments like 'Set Items vs Unique Items' or 'Set Items vs
Rare Items'. The bonuses for a complete set should be more rewarding,
more unique. Instead of the usual bonuses that can be found in other
single items, a complete set should give something that will make
players to really scratch their head over the choices. Bonuses like
'cannot be frozen', 'freezes target' and '+5 to mana after each kill'
are examples of some tasty bonuses which I'm sure, most would wish to
see more in complete set items.
Personally, I wish to see something that favors the sorceress
especially. Something like '10% of magic damage turns to physical
damage'. Meaning, if the sorceress is equipped with items that give
a bonus like that, her spells will deal 10% of physical damage, 90%
of magic damage. This will open up a whole new world for the
sorceress :
a) Sorceress will be less dependent on -Static Field-, which
allows other possible setups when building a sorceress;
b) It's an alternative way to deal with high resistant monsters as
well as other human players;
c) Like Bone Spear, Vampire/Bat or Leech/Locust items will work
for the sorceress through spells;
d) Combination with -Enchant- will raise the physical damage of it,
thus improve the usefulness of -Enchant- (not necessary to be
implemented);
Having it will not make the sorceress being too powerful. When
dealing with enemies that have low resistance, the amount of damage
dealt should be the same. What it does is just raising the minimum
damage the spells will do when dealing with high resistant enemies.
That's all. If you think that power must come with a price, then
what you can do is to make it.. harder to get. Make it as a
complete set bonus. Then players will have the argument on what
equipment setup will be the best for the sorceress - Set Items vs
Unique/Rare Items.
2) I don't know if I should say this, but I think gambling is one of
the biggest imbalance element in the game. Remember what Blizzard
said about a unique item being truly unique? It doesn't hold true
anymore. Almost everyone has the same standard equipments, mostly
consist of unique items. It's all thanks to gambling. So much for
coming up with a more user-friendly trading system. As you can see,
nobody trades anymore. Who wants to trade when money is so easy to
acquire and you can basically gamble for everything you ever need?
To balance things out, gambling should be taken away. That will
make other items as much desirable, if not more, as unique items.
Then the trading system will start rolling again. But to take away
gambling entirely will surely create havocs among the gamers. Also
NPCs like Gheed will have nothing else to do if not for gambling.
So what I suggest is that if can, make gambling conditional. Meaning
players can only gamble under certain conditions.
a) Make it only available in Hardcore game - not only will it
encourage more people to play Hardcore, but I seriously think
the idea of gambling is for Hardcore(HC). In HC, players
need to depend heavily on equipments in order to survive.
As HC character will die permanently, it's important that
players will be able to create the SAME character over and
over again. Gambling will be able to provide the solution.
Then they won't grief so much over a loss of a HC character,
thus will not be discouraged to try again. So gambling should
remain fully functional in Hardcore.
b) In Single Player and Multiplayer game, well it's a bit
complicated. First, implement a button that will refresh the
equipments available with one push. It will allow players to
not having to leave the trade menu. This is a very important
feature as what I'm suggesting is to make gambling limited in
terms of the number of times one can gamble. I suggest to make
gambling made available only ONCE every level up. That means
every time a player levels up, he/she will get a chance to
gamble with the money that he/she currently has. If the player
have decided to gamble, he/she should gamble it all in one try.
After that, he/she will have to wait for another level up to
gamble again. Players will have another reason to look forward
to the next level up. Of course if players do not wish to
gamble for now, they can always reserve it for future use as it
can be accumulated.
It's not really the same thing with or without this feature
implemented. With it, players will try to get as much gold as they
can before gambling. But with the limited amount of gold that can be
deposited in the stash, it will force players to carry the gold with
them. When players are loaded with gold, they tend to be more
cautious with their surroundings and scout for any Player Killer in
the game. This calls for a different kind of strategies indeed.
Needless to say, the game will become more challenging.
3) At first I thought the idea of having a mercenary was to have a
companion that will travel with the player right from the beginning.
The mercenary levels up with the player, watches his back while
fighting hordes of monsters, casts a healing or protective spells
when either one of them is hurt. While human players are not
entirely reliable, players can count on their mercenary to keep their
precious findings. Sort of like he/she will grow up with the player.
Players will be thankful for their company as they will no longer
have to face the forces of evil alone anymore. That would create a
special bond between players and their mercenaries. Victory is
shared and becomes more meaningful.
When it comes to PvP, it will be more challenging too. Not only
will the players have to defend themselves, but protecting their
mercenary is just as important. Sometimes it's better for YOU to die
than to have the mercenary slaughtered. For if the mercenary dies, it
will really gets to the player. Players will mourn for their deaths
and blame themselves when they fail to protect. It's like losing a
brother/sister or a close friend. It may take another few months to
raise another mercenary with the same high level. So through this,
players will learn that sometimes it's better for them to block the
fatal blows rather than by their mercenaries. Then they will learn
the true meaning of 'sacrifice'. Something which I think not many
games out there will be able to let players experience this.
(Hint : good selling point, eh?)
( Imagine, just when you thought you are powerful enough to take out
any human player. In a duelling mishap, you failed to even protect
your own mercenary. Now, can you continue to claim yourself to be
the most powerful and unrivaled? What is the new meaning of 'true
power' to you? Which power do you think requires greater strength
and intelligence : the power to destroy, or the power to protect?
Think about it )
I believe this is what Blizzard was intended to do at first. I
know idea like this is nice to have but hard to implement. So I am
not terribly disappointed when the idea of mercenary didn't turn out
the way I expected. The reason I'm writing this down is just as a
reminder. Who knows, maybe I will get to see it in Diablo III or
Warcraft III?
4) One handed weapons for Sorceress and Bowazon
Let's talk about Bowazon first. Almost every character in the
game has the option to equip a shield without sacrificing much of
power. Barbarian can always opt to equip a shield when needed (if
he choose to master sword, mace or axe). Sorceress can equip a
shield too. You can hardly find a sorceress with a staff anymore.
They will either be equipped with a Sigon's Guard or a triple Diamond
shield. Necromancer is a natural user of shield. It's because
wands, the class-specific weapon for necro, can be wielded single-
handedly. As for paladin, well, shields are tailor-made for paladin.
Nuff said. That's about every character, except for a Bowazon. I
know, if an amazon wants to equip a shield, she should concentrate
more on Spear and Javelin skill tree. In another word - play a
Javazon that throws javelin. But what if players still prefer bow
to javelin/spear. There isn't a way for a bowazon to accommodate
both a shield and a bow. That would be one of the biggest
disadvantage when playing a bowazon. So it is my suggestion to make
crossbow a one-handed weapon. I know it's not going to be easy,
because there's got to be a way to indicate what arrows/bolts to use.
It is now being done by putting the arrows/bolts on the left and the
bow on the right. For this, I would like to suggest further that
arrows/bolts should be accessed directly from the inventory, not
from the left hand anymore. This way, the left hand can be used to
equip a shield instead. That would make a Bowazon possible of
equipping a shield. If a penalty should be imposed, then decrease
the damage like what's done with the barbarian for wielding a two-
handed weapon with one hand. If there is a problem about the
artwork for it, then maybe a new type of bow can be invented perhaps.
I would imagine something like a one-handed bowgun. Yeah, I think
that's it - a bowgun. I bet it's going to look extremely cool on the
Amazon!
5) As for the sorceress, maybe it's just me but I think she looks kinda
stupid wielding a war sword (Culwen's Point) but never uses it to
slash enemies. It's just not her style. For that, I would suggest
a new class of exceptional weapons be created just for the sorceress.
This time make it one-handed. But I don't have the idea what it
would be. Almost every type of weapons has been covered and can be
seen in DiabloII. Out of crazy ideas, maybe it can be a sling or
something. Then the sorceress will be like a gladiator and acts
like in 'David vs Goliath'. Or it can be a knuckle that fits into
her hand. With it, she can slap any b*tch she encounters and causes
a knockback. Or it can be a crystal ball that has a homing ability,
much like a boomerang. But no matter what kind of weapons it might
be, what's important is that there will be a one-handed weapon that
can give +2 to all skill levels (Arch-angel modifier) exclusively
for the sorceress.
That's not the end of it. But it's all I can think of for now. I will
try to get as many ideas as I can until the expansion is out. Hopefully,
3-5 ideas will manage to get into it. So, wish me luck!
=====================
Questions and Answers
=====================
This part may contain some offensive materials that may upset
certain groups of people. It mostly does not have to do with the guide,
just some rantings, self-justifications, comments and stuffs. If you
find it too.. disturbing, please discontinue reading.
You can send e-mails to me, and I hope to post the answers here. You
don't really have to ask a question. Just drop a mail saying things
like 'I know how you feel, bro. Damn those lightning bastards!' or
'Asheara's cool but I like Charsi better. Do you know she has a
'thing' for the Barbarian? Love it when she flirts!'.
I have also received comments on my 'unconventional' way of writing
FAQ. Some like it, some don't. Judging by the way I'm writing, I may
not stand the chance to be the best FAQ writer around. But it doesn't
matter to me. As I've said earlier, I don't write FAQ to impress
ANYONE, and certainly not trying to win an award or something. It is
just my way of showing how much I love the game. If I like a game or a
certain aspect of it, I will write an FAQ for it. Simple as that. I
don't seek fame nor recognition. If I do, there are many other ways
besides literally spending days writing an FAQ with basically NO PAY at
all. What can I possibly get from all this? Basically nothing. Hoping
to even get appreciated seems to be too much to ask for nowadays. But
does that stop me from writing FAQs? Hell NO! I have already had my
schedule all lined up for the next generation of games. It takes more
than 'your FAQ sucks!' or 'you make me sick!' to stop me from writing!
( Having the time to write and the money to buy the upcoming PS2 and its
games are my biggest obstacles yet. )
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Who's your favorite NPC in the game?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay, I know. No one would ask a question like that. But I want to
answer it anyway (this is my FAQ, remember?).
It's none other than 'Asheara' (Act III). I like her attitude. One of
her most memorable lines would be 'Why play fair, when you can hire some
of us.' Sounds cool, isn't it? In my opinion, maybe the Amazon should
sound more like her.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
2. This FAQ's great. So are you going to come up with an Amazon or a
Paladin guide?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm afraid the answer is no, for the time being. I mean I do like
other characters, but I'd rather stay focused on the sorceress.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Who's your favorite character in DiabloII?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Isn't it obvious enough? I dedicated the whole FAQ for her!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
4. My computer is lagging. Do you know how to fix it?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm no techie, so I can't really answer technical questions. For
any technical problems, please report it to support@blizzard.com.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Why don't you give out the details of your sorceress level up, and
we'll decide for ourselves?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Are you sure you need that? I'm sorry to say that I didn't keep a
record of it. But even if I do, don't you think it's better NOT
revealed? Being secretive can be advantageous sometimes. Here is what
happened when I played a multiplayer game with some friends. At first,
they thought I put a lot of points into -Meteor- since they see me
casting it so frequently. So they started gathering those fire
resistant armors. But the fact is, I don't even have a single point in
-Meteor-! You can actually FAKE the skill points with the sorceress.
Isn't it cool?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
6. I can't beat Duriel. Help!!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Please try not to send emails like this. It's hard for me to give
the right advice. Give more details like what skills you have, which
part of the guide didn't work for you, and so on. Then I'd be gladly
to help, if I can.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
7. How to beat a Barbarian in PvP? He used Whirlwind and Leap
Attack all the time!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I have received lots of emails about duelling. But most of it
lacked some crucial information like what skills your opponent used,
the skills that you're using(specify what you have AND what you used),
what tactics did he used that killed you and so on. I can't always
list out every possible strategy as it is indeed a tiring task. So
please help me out by providing more details, okay?
Duelling in DiabloII is not much different from playing fighting
games like Street Fighter or King of Fighters. The key in defeating
a Barbarian is PATIENCE. If what he used is Whirlwind and Leap Attack,
it will not be that hard. Personally, I fear a Frenzy Barbarian more
but that's a different story. To know how to beat him, first know the
weakness of his attack. Let's start with Whirlwind. Whirlwind's
weakness is obvious - slow. Sorceress gains advantage by speed and
space. If the barbarian volunteered to slow himself down, why not make
the best out of it? When he uses Whirlwind, run diagonally to escape it.
As it is so slow, you will manage to escape it if you keep in mind that
you should ALWAYS keep a distance. Then you can cast ANY spell to kill
him. If it is Leap Attack, do the same but keep a longer distance.
Leap Attack is deadly when close. If you manage to escape it, cast
anything you like.
That is if he attacks first. If he waits for you to cast a spell
first and THEN attack you, then I would suggest that you try to keep a
distance and cast -Hydra- instead. -Hydra- will manage to piss him off
a bit. Hopefully that will make him lose his patience and attack you.
If he attacks you with Whirlwind or Leap Attack, you know what to do.
Do you get the concept right now? Just remember, he who attacks first
loses the battle.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Aren't you taking the sorceress thing a bit too personal? I like
the necromancer but doesn't mean I don't like other characters as
well. I've played with all of them. I think all characters have
their own strengths and weaknesses. I don't think the sorceress
has been treated unfairly like what you have said. The sorceress
is a very powerful character. She can go solo in Hell/Hell in an
8 player game. I think the sorceress is fine the way she is.
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Well, I don't know how to answer an email like this. I don't always
have the answer for everything. What I will do is either to agree or
disagree with it. For this one, I will have to agree with most of it.
Maybe the sorceress had just gone through a normal balance routine which
happened in other games as well. So it shouldn't be a big fuss. But
whether she is still a powerful character or not, I would say it's too
early to tell. Until now, I still think playing the sorceress is not
easy. The main reason is her weak -Energy Shield-. It makes it
impossible to make one careless mistake. And we all know careless
mistakes are hard to avoid in spite of the lag. If they fix -Energy
Shield- or come up with a solution that will make the sorceress not die
in one shot, I will keep my mouth tightly shut. I promise :)
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9. Why do you emphasize on changing the items? If you want to
improvise the sorceress, why not change the sorceress' skills
instead? That is more effective.
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Yes, changing the skills directly is more effective. I agree.
But, I think we have to be more realistic of what we want to change.
Modifying the skills will have greater impact than just adding a few
lines into the source codes. There are still the balance factors need
to be considered also. With all the planning and restructuring, it
may not be feasible in terms of time and money. But requesting to see
more varieties of items in the expansion is not too much to ask for in
my opinion. So I'd rather see the characters being improved in terms
of the items can be equipped than to have the skills being upgraded
or downgraded for that matter.
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10. What would be a good strategy for an Amazon to defeat Duriel?
I tried several times but in that small place, with me being
frozen most of the time seems rather impossible! I tried to use
cold and freezing arrows, fire and explosive but nothing!!
I'm at level 22 and it's boring trying to make anoter level!!
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First of all, you do know I'm writing a sorceress FAQ, don't you?
It surprises me to find someone asking an Amazon question. But anyway,
if I know how to do it, I'd be gladly to help. I suppose the best way
to deal with Duriel with an Amazon is to use Jab. If you can, put one
point into it and find yourself a nice pike. Then Duriel wil be piece
of cake. If you insist on NOT putting a point into Jab, well be in for
a tough fight. I hope you have AT LEAST a 'fast walk/run boot' equipped.
The faster the better. As you may already know, there's not going to be
much of an opportunity to launch a strike safely because of the
freezing aura and stuffs. What I would suggest you to do is this :
1) First cast -Town Portal- INSIDE the tomb when you get in. This
way you can find a way out when things get ugly later;
2) Keep yourself running at all time. So bring along some stamina
potions with you if you can.
3) While running, avoid Duriel's deadly attacks by running diagonally.
Run to the side. Then you will find Duriel stopped for a brief
moment to catch his breath. It's less than a whole second but that
is exactly when you should launch your attack. I would suggest
that you use Ice Arrow. That's the best attack to be used against
him for now. Since the damage done by Ice Arrow is minor compared
to the life that Duriel has, do expect the battle to take some
time. Leave through the -Town Portal- to refresh yourself when
needed. Don't be stingy about the -Town Portal- scrolls.
Remember, your life is more precious than hundreds of them.
As you can see, it's a tough act to pull. But it's certainly NOT
impossible. I have used the same strategy with the sorceress. The
only difference is to replace Ice Arrow with -Static Field-, that's all.
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11. My sorc has 10 in vitality and only 85 HP. She is Clvl 22.
Since I'm planning to play her up to lvl 50 or more, I'd like to
know how to avoid getting killed by even the smallest of monsters.
What in earth should I do? Monsters have 11% chance of hitting
me and that's with -Shiver Armor-. Should I allocate more points
into Vitality or should I just try to completely avoid all
attacks, (physical and magical)?
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I've read the debate on this issue before in DiabloII forum. You
can expect many will answer your question with a no, and a few will beg
to differ. As for me, I would say THAT is not a simple question to be
answered with a vague yes or no. Although your email can be considered
as lengthy, it still lacked some crucial information I need in order to
help. It's because putting points into Vitality depends heavily on
which skills you take. It would take a long time to go through all
possible options. To make things short, I will only discuss one small
aspect of it - -Energy Shield-. Consider the following :
Less/No Energy Shield = More Vitality
More Energy Shield = Less Vitality
If you think concentrating on certain skills will help you beat monsters
with little life, then it's not going to be -Shiver Armor-. Don't
believe entirely on what's said about '11% a level 22 monsters will hit
you'. These are the reasons :
a) Monsters are usually of higher level than you. Those in hell are
of level 70+. So defense doesn't reflect exactly the chances enemy
will hit you.
b) That's 11% monsters will hit you with a NORMAL attack. Many
monsters have special attacks like Charge and Leap that will boost
their attack ratings.
c) Defense will only work when standing still. I would say that's
the stupidest thing for a sorceress to do.
d) Defense is useless when it comes to magic attacks. They always
hit.
That's all I can think of. But I'm sure there's going to be more
reasons on why you shouldn't rely on defense so much. So I think the
best way to avoid attacks is still to run away from it or avoid the
possibility enemy will hit you. Therefore, the skills you should be
considering instead are -Teleport-, -Hydra-, -Glacial Spike- and
-Thunder Storm-. These skills will greatly lower the risks of getting
even a single hit. When you can avoid from getting hit at all, then
defense and the amount of life you have doesn't really matter anymore,
does it? If you think you need a clearer answer than this, then I
would suggest that you send in your
a) skill allocation plan - state which skills you're planning to use
against the monsters in hell.
b) dream equipments - what's important is to state which items that
help avoid attacks e.g. Sigon's Guard, or
items that reduce damage e.g. triple Diamond
shield and life boosting equipments.
Then I would be able to provide a more specific answer to your question.
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12. One thing I completely disagree with you is on -Warmth-. I
think this is the most important skill in the game in the game!
I mean you still need attack spells, but I put 10 points into
-Warmth- by the time I was level 20! Because it's a set time
that your mana comes back, regardless on how much you have when
you level up. You put more points into Energy which gives you
more mana and it also regenerates quicker! Now at Slvl 12, my
-Warmth- helps me bring back the man from a level 9 -Frozen Orb-
in 3-4 seconds!!! So I really never run out of mana especially
cause -Glacial Spike- is SO low (which you also looked down upon,
which is my favorite spell out of all the classes!) so I think
you should rethink the importance of -Warmth-, and maybe put
something in your FAQ about how it worked wonders for me.
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The original post is actually much longer than this, so I think of
writing a summary would be more appropriate. From what I can make out
of it, I think your skills allocation should be something like this.
Clvl 42;
Few points into -Chain Lightning-,
Slvl 12 -Warmth-;
Slvl 20 -Glacial Spike-;
Lots into -Static Field-;
Building up -Frozen Orb-;
First of all, I would like say something about emails. Yeah, I
enjoyed reading the comments and the praises that you have for my FAQ.
I really REALLY do, so don't stop and keep 'em coming! But I would
really appreciate it if you separate your real question from the other
stuffs. That would definitely save me a lot of time figuring out what
you truly wanted to know. Therefore, you can get your reply sooner!
Let's start with -Warmth-, shall we? No, I didn't say -Warmth- is a
bad skill to invest into. I mean who wouldn't enjoy a Slvl20 -Warmth-?
With mana recovered to full in just a blink, -Warmth- is definitely a
skill not to be neglected. But sadly, the number of skill points
available is very limited. Like it or not, some choices, and not to
mention sacrifices have to be made. Let's do a comparison with -Warmth-
and -Fire Wall-/-Thunder Storm-.
With every one skill point invested, you'll get :
-Warmth- : an increase of 12% in mana recovery.
-Fire Wall- : an increase in damage (19/18 MIN, 18/19 MAX),
a wider radius,
a longer duration.
-Thunder Storm- : an increase in damage (10 MIN, 10 MAX),
a longer duration,
an increase in frequency of attack.
Of course, it's not fair to be compared like that. But what I want you
to understand is the preciousness of ONE SKILL POINT. Isn't it clear
that a skill point is better spent into spells like -Fire Wall- and
-Thunder Storm- than in -Warmth-? Just imagine you're duelling with a
necromancer. What would you rather have : a Slvl 20 -Warmth- or a Slvl
20 -Fire Wall-? Is mana recovery more important to you or killing your
opponent more quickly your main priority? Moreover I can always remedy
the loss in mana recovery rate with mana/rejuvenation potions or with
equipments. But for the power in spells, I never seem to get more than
enough of it. I hope I made it clear enough for you to see things from
my point of view. Now you understand what I said about -Warmth- earlier
is not without base.
As for -Glacial Spike-, hey, it's MY favorite too! I always have it
mapped on the left click and it never leaves. But whether it's worth
more points into it, I would say it depends on your playing style. I
have seen people using only -Glacial Spike- for ALL types of enemies.
Surprisingly, they are doing quite well, even up to hell difficulty. I
bet you must be one of them. But this is what I thought. Which combo
will make enemy fall faster? Glacial Spike(GS)/GS or GS/Fire Wall(FW)?
Imagine this.
a) GS/GS : GS, GS, GS, GS, GS, GS...
b) GS/FW : GS, FW, GS, GS, FW, GS...
I think you should know the answer by now. As for my playing style,
killing enemy fast is my main priority. It's a harsh world out there
on the battle.net, you know. If I put all the skill points into
-Glacial Spike-, I wouldn't have survived the constant challenges from
PKer around the world. Using -Glacial Spike- against NORMAL monsters
is excellent. But if I were to use only -Glacial Spike- against PKer,
I'll be laughed at so badly, it will be a disgrace to the sorceress.
So I will always use -Glacial Spike- or -Frost Nova- for supportive
role, not for main attack. I still think that -Glacial Spike- is only
worth one true skill point.
I'm writing all this down is by no mean to say or prove how wrong you
are. I always encourage everyone to figure out their own character.
Make it and love it. So it's not my style to say that you're wrong and
I'm right. And I'm NOT always right either. But you are always
welcomed to challenge me for a debate, and I wlll try my best to let
you know what I think otherwise.
=========
CREDITS
=========
I did this FAQ all by myself, so there are not many people that I can
give credits to. Just want to express my special thanks to :
a) God for everything,
b) My family for being so tolerant of my anti-social behavior,
c) CJayC for posting this FAQ in www.gamefaqs.com,
d) DiabloII.net for writing such nice things on the sorceress,
e) Larry for helping me up with the Sorceress Skill section,
Gamehack table: All Attributes (Dexterity, Energy, Strength, Vitality), Character Level, Experience (Next, Now), Gold (in your stash, on hand), Life (Max, Now), Mana (Max, Now), Skill Choices Remaining, Stamina (Max, Now), Stat Points Remaining (for v.1.0
