Tactics #3
Hell
Act 5
So now life gets interesting, you'll meet mob parties with changing guest lists. Nihlathak's Temple with Pindleskin and his cronies is the only area inhabited only by native mobs. Besides the local Super Unique boss groups almost every area has three different kinds of guest mobs to offer. Hereby I count Doom Knights and Oblivion Knights, who always appear together, as one kind of guest group. Further such groups are Blood Bosses with Fire Boars and Consumed Fire Boars; Dark Ones with Dark Shamans or Carvers with Carver Shamans.
In most areas there are only two PoisI mob groups on the list of possible guests. The vast majority of those are Undeads, which generally harbour a high percentage of PoisI among them. Most often you run across some kinds of Skeletons. Compared to Skeleton Archers the Skeleton Mages and Skeletons aren't difficult to handle. In contrast to the guests you'll find the native Super Unique bosses with their attendance fairly harmless.
| Area | Skeletons | other Undeads | Demons | Animals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloody Foothills | Burning Dead Archer | Carrion Bird | ||
| Frigid Highlands | Burning Dead Archer | |||
| Abaddon | Horror Archer | Undead Stygian Doll | ||
| Arreat Plateau | Returned Mage | Slinger | ||
| Pit of Acheron | Burning Dead Mage | Maw Fiend | ||
| Crystalline Passage | Bone Mage | Ghost | ||
| Frozen River | Bone Mage | Ghost, Gloam | ||
| Glacial Trail | Bone Mage, Bone Warrior | Wraith | Pit Viper | |
| Drifter Cavern | Bone Mage | Ghost | ||
| Nihlatak's Temple | Defiled Warrior | |||
| Halls of Anguish | Returned | |||
| Halls of Pain | Blood Maggot, Blood Maggot Young | |||
| Halls of Vaught | Returned Archer | Ghost | Wretched Defiler, Menace Worm | Night Marauder, Tomb Viper |
| Frozen Tundra | Bone Archer, Returned Mage | Blood Temptress | Carrion Bird | |
| Infernal Pit | Unholy Corpse | |||
| Ancients' Way | Bone Mage | |||
| Icy Cellar | Ghost, Gloam, Undead Stygian Doll | Pit Viper | ||
| Arreat Summit | ||||
| Worldstone Keep Level 1 | Unholy Corpse | Fetid Defiler, Menace Worm | ||
| Worldstone Keep Level 2 | Cadaver, Black Soul | Serpent Magus | ||
| Worldstone Keep Level 3 | Horror Mage | Specter | Rancid Defiler | |
| Throne of Destruction | Undead Soul Killer, Burning Soul | Ventar the Unholy and his Venom Lords | Serpent Magus | |
| Worldstone Chamber | ||||
Bloody Foothills' natives, Dac Farren and Shenk, are no issue. Shenk is poisoned and than ignored, the Zon tends to everyone else first. Eventually the noise and fireworks start.
Oops, was that really me?
The guests might be a problem. With ranged fighters there are a few spots where the Zon can't avoid to get into the range of several groups while Decoy holds of fire from only one group. Although liberal use of SLM the Fairy gets hit often enough and drinks accordingly. If combinations of Carrion Birds and Burning Dead Archers are encountered it's time for the second attack. Assisting the minions with just Jab is another possibility, if a very slow one. With boss groups it's important to clear everything in their vicinity first. Then the Zon may even win the day against three clustered boss groups with Might and AD.
Upon reaching the Frigid Highlands you may relax. Only watch out for ranged fighters and extra fast mobs. Vile Archers are easy to disperse with Decoy. Here it is better to poison first and then cast Decoy a bit sideways, so the groups stay together, respectively still stay there where you have just thrown the Javelin. The Gremlins and Imps are too fast, you either get them with poison or not. They are not worth the trouble, especially since the Valk or hireling will get them eventually. Besides the PoisI Dead Archers and most stationary objects the rest has only low poison resistance. Eldritch, Sharptooth and Eyeback all don't tolerate poison. The Evil Demon Huts are extinguished with one, two Plague Javelins. While poison takes its time you may already take care of something else.
Luckily it's not possible to encounter all those appearing on the guest list in Abaddon at the same time. This would be really difficult. So I can say: It is doable. Keep some distance from the most favoured Undead Stygian Dolls, listening to the gossip between Dolls, Decoy and Valk, and wait until they are finished. Most other guests at the party don't stay in memory. Otherwise than expected even the Horror Archers turn out to be uncomplicated.
The differences between Arreat Plateau and Frigid Highlands are minimalistic. Thresh Socket is just someone else without poison resist :-) Depending on his moods you should keep your distance.
There is nothing new about the Pit of Acheron.
Encountering Crystalline Passage you finally come up to the first ice cave, and Anya awaits her rescue. Among all PoisI Ghosts turn out to be more unpleasant than Bone Mages.
As an exception the Frozen River lists three kinds of possible PoisI. You can only hope not to get Bone Mages, Ghosts and Gloams at the same time. While the Zon still comes to grips with Mages and Ghosts, at a push using LiB, the Gloams are really troublesome. They are very hard to separate and their lightning has such a long range. Advancing slowly and Divide&Conquer is the only opportunity left. Cast Decoy where she gets hit and where Valk is supposed to go. Then retreat a bit to lure some Gloams, so the minions can engage them in melee. Valk and hireling have no problem taking on two, three or even four Gloams, but it shouldn't be any more. For the Zon herself another ranged attack outmatches Jab clearly in this situation. Necro curses also ease the situation. The probably most annoying guest combination are Gloams and Claw Vipers mixed with Succubi or Sirens. This can really turn nasty. But well, this combination is problematic with any char.
Frozenstein on the other hand is defeated rather easy.
The Glacial Trail awaits with four different PoisI guests. All of those we know already. They may get tenacious, but that's about it. Bonesaw Breaker and his Reanimated Horde also fall into this category of tenacious and boring mobs.
The Drifter Cavern is about as easy as the Crystalline Passage.
Now let's take a look at Nihlathak's Temple. For Pindle runs the Toxic Fairy isn't suited at all. In conclusion Pindle and his serfs are PoisI. The Prowling Dead in the Temples garden have a high poison resist too. But if you are willing to take your time, the minions manage one Undead after the other.
Even with Returned Halls of Anguish are still easy.
Despite the Blood Maggots and their Young, the Halls of Pain are actually less trouble than Anguish's.
In the Halls of Vaught it's more difficult, not at least due to the number of PoisI. With the Returned Archers and the high resistant Prowling Dead you have to take care. The Tomb Vipers are more than just nasty because of the Tomb Viper bug. The Vipers spit poison and use charge. They are extremely dangerous. The Zon herself should tackle them only while they surely and safely engage Decoy. If needed I'd let the minions do the job. As protection against Vipers' high damage you need besides Poison Resist and Poison Length Reduced mainly DR and physical resist.
With Nihlathak it seems best to first lure all mobs except Slayers out of his awareness, so you can finish them one after the other in a safe distance. The other folks are no big job then. Nihlathak and Slayers tint green readily. The Zon herself keeps her distance, if at all possible she keeps to places without corpses. Decoy is casted next to corpses, so that Nihle explodes those. Even without corpses you should be a bit careful around Nille. He yet conjures Frenzied Ice Spawns whose remnants he uses for CEs.
Frozen Tundra is similar to Frigid Highlands and Arreat Plateau.
Even if the Infernal Pit belongs to Level 83 areas, it's not worth it. There are just not enough mobs and boss packs.
In Ancients' Way boss packs are far more dangerous than the PoisI Bone Mages.
The Icy Cellar on the other hand may be as troublesome as the Frozen River. Gloams and Pit Vipers contribute to this fact. What's more Undead Stygian Dolls may come along. The obligatory Frozen Creeper pack of Snapchip Shatter is no problem compared to the PoisI.
On top of the Arreat Summit it might become rather hard, depending on the Ancients' boss modifications. The combination AD and PoisI is really troublesome. Be careful with fire, lightning or cold enchanted mods, those death explosions are very powerful. Get a safe distance shortly before the enchanted boss dies. The old trick with storing some purples and reds on the ground is still worth it. Luckily the ancients accept Decoy although the Leaper Korlic is not as easily tricked as Madawc and Talic. The tactic basically is casting Decoy next to one, poisoning, casting SLM and running. Best is putting Decoy next to the Whirlwinding Talic. The Zon has to watch out not getting cornered and being forced into an infight. She just doesn't have enough drinks with her to do that. Normally it's just her Poison Skills that force the Zon into the Ancient's sensing range.
The Worldstone Keep with its three Levels is no problem at all, especially the first Level. The Unholy Corpses are of the same kind as the group around Pindle. They are easily mitigated with Decoy. In the second Level there might be three different PoisI mobs. The Cadaver you've already met in Act 2. Even the Serpent Magi are old acquaintances; as long as you don't let them bump into you, they are no danger. So you just keep your distance. Only Black Souls need more patience. This is especially true, if there happen to be raisers along. Personally I find the Black Souls less a problem than their Gloam relatives in Icy Cellar and Frozen River. The PoisI in the third Level are handsome again. Rancid Defilers infect other mobs here with Anguish Worms, which aren't PoisI in contrast to Menace Worms. Actually Horror Mages and Specters are unproblematic. Then again you need to watch out, if there are knights around. You don't want to use any physical attack in their vicinity.
In the Throne of Destruction you have to be careful again, depending on the selected guests. Possible PoisIs are Burning Souls, the Serpent Magi form the Worldstone Keep and another kind of Bone Fetish, called Undead Soul Killer. We already know the Serpents well enough. The Undead can be troublesome, if Horadrim Ancients are with them. Hell Witches are also annoying, but they can be nicely dispersed with Decoy. With the Souls this is more difficult. They don't move enough to separate them. The Fetishes are clearly your minions' job. With Knights you have to take care again. And Death Lords shouldn't get close to you at all.
If I'm by myself, I always clear out all walks and sides of the Throne before asking Baal to conjure up his packs. Firstly I sometimes find good items with the normal population of the Throne. Further this gives me enough room to safely manoeuvre in if Baals minions spawn with extremely unfavourable moods. It would be unfitting to rip just because of one sneaky Bone Fetish or a lightning of a Soul in your back if you deal with an extrafast-Conviction Lister. Even with party I prefer to clear the conjuring room of any Undead corpses. So I lure Souls and Fetishs out of the room if there is no vacuum-cleaning Pala or other corpse disposing char with me.
In Party the waves conjured by Baal are a simple job for the party, which is supported by your blockers. If you face them alone, you won't find it that simple. This applies certainly to Achmel's, Ventar's and Lister's groups.
Colenzo the Annihilator doesn't like any green. He and his pack keel over always very fast.
The second wave with Achmel the Cursed brings the difficulty to separate Mages and Unravellers. Here you herd with Decoy. Achmel himself is easy. If he spawns PoisI, he needs a bit more time.
Bartuc the Bloody also tolerates no poison whatsoever. Just take care of the Hydras, so that the hireling doesn't rip. Best is to put Decoy in right front of Baal shortly before the group spawns. Then you recast her in the middle of the nearest hydra, so that they all target your punching bag. Of course you watch out for Bartucs death explosion, so don't stand next to him when he dies.
With Ventar the Unholy and Lister the Tormentor and their packs it's Divide&Conquere again. One or two mobs at the same time are still managed well, maybe even three, but certainly not four or more. The movement routines of this groups are too variable to bind them to your minions when you join melee fight.
Ventar and his Lords are always PoisI. 120% Resist is not pierceable. Without a good second attack you can't do anything here.
Lister and his serfs just have high resists. If you have time and a clear way to retreat you can defeat them with poison only. But 27k life and 95% poison resist will take ages. A LR-wand surely would be an improvement.
The grand finale happens in Worldstone Chamber versus Baal himself.
To say it first off, the Toxic Fairy isn't suited for Baal running. Baal has just too much life. And the Fairy is missing some basic damage. If you want to do him by yourself, you should wait for all others to leave the game before entering the Chamber. Now Baal spawns with players one and may be fought with poison only. In between you wait and leave the Chamber. It takes a very long time, but it is safe. The hireling certainly needs something with slow. So its time to conjure up a Riphook, Kelpie, Crainte Vormir or Coldsteel Eye from your stash. Some CBF and good cold resist for the Fairy and her companion also go down well. Of course you also can change your hireling for a cold wolf. If you manage to keep your distance, LiB is a good occupation until you poison again. If you deploy LR charges, you obviously use Poison Javelin. Else it depends on your preference whether you apply PlJ or PoisJ.
For questions, suggestions or criticism about this topic you may reach me anytime via E-Mail.
