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11-The Tomb of Tal Rasha
It's time to take stock of our party as they enter the final region of Act II. Ever since getting Withersting and using a bunch of Exploding Arrow Arty has had zero difficulty with this act, and I don't expect much issue in the end either. The end of the act is going to be difficult, but so long as we have a couple tricks and the right resistance it should be fine, especially if we play an archer who loves not being in melee.
You may be wondering why I haven't talked to anyone about the final quest. That's because it was started the moment Jerhyn spoiled who Diablo was. It's been active ever since.
We haven't seen much of Zoul. All of the nastiness of Act II is sent to his minions and not him and he can always just make more. He has picked up a new skill called Desecrate. Basegame, going skeletons with Necromancer is great, effective, falls apart completely against bosses and anyone who's good at chumping your minions. It needn't come as a surprise that many mods hate this and have fixed this, and PD2 does it by making Desecrate be part Poison Cloud, part free corpses to raise more skeletons. Never go boneless again! Just 3 easy payments of 1 skill point, or buy our special Necromancer products to receive it for free!
And meanwhile we have a new golem type to summon, which I'll be using. Blood Golem in PD2 doesn't slow on hit, but he instead gives you life when he hits something and also inflicts Open Wounds on targets he hits. Open Wounds will be covered in a mechanics talk, but for now, just remember it's fairly ineffective health degen that's usually just used to combat monster regen, which isn't really a thing early game.
Also look at this pile of gloop. I love his gloop noises.
Vanir has no new tricks. Look, dumping points into Zeal and Sacrifice just works. Vanir has really just been someone who is making every use out of melee splash and prove that just using Sacrifice is good enough. Zeal is used instead when we don't need to do wumbo damage. That and just using Might to get as much damage as we can has proven to be very effective when everyone else dies when we thonk someone.
Our Eastern Sun boys is still riding the power wave of their gear, so I don't think they'll have much issue.
Shoutouts to ES's Arcane Sanctuary though for adding these jello men in it. I dunno what it is about the Flesh Golems down below but they are incredibly tanky. In fact, every golem ES adds as a monster tends to be very hard to take down.
Chloe's kit is still proving effective, but we are starting to run into issues where anything that can run around to avoid the Wychwinds and tank Chloe's other skills are proving problematic. The lightning ghosts are the prime suspect here, but I imagine they're very difficult for everybody.
Music-Canyon of the Magi
Least of all Jane, who had to melee them. Jane I also don't expect massive difficulties. Melee does make everything harder, but, surprisingly, not the boss. You'll see what I mean soon.
So let's begin our dive into the Canyon of the Magi.
First, open your quest page and pull up the last quest. It'll show you the symbol to look for. You may think you have to commit the other 6 symbols to memory and then find the one that isn't those symbols, but really, you don't have to do that. Please don't do that. Look, several mods will just highlight where the real tomb is this is not something you have to do.
As for Jane, she's high enough level to get these Ice Elementals. As someone who exclusively melees we're gonna want cannon fodder to both take hits and slow down enemies. This Coven will do just fine. We can only pick two skills out of this tree (and the skills leading to them, so four skills) and we just picked our second doing this, so hopefully this will pan out. It cares mainly about the Cold spell tree but I'm stll on the fence on whether or not I'll put anything in it, probably not anytime soon.
But hoo boy this place in Median XL. These Ancient Wights will spawn near the Vizjerei Elders you see here, who are immune to everything until we kill their wight buddies. This makes them very dangerous because they're good spellcasters and we can't touch them until we kill their adds.
Each tomb will have a symbol next to the entrance, find the right one, and head on inside.
Music-Tombs
Course, the actual tomb can take a while. We need to find one room, in an absolutely massive tomb dungeon, that will have high-tier Greater Mummies and, uhh, everything else. Blunderbores, Scarab Demons, Vampires, Wraiths, Mummy clown cars, other traps, it's excessive. The Tomb is technically 7 levels but we only ever go into 1 of them. The other 6 are shorter and have nothing of value. They have the same monsters and that's it.
In fact the chance of having the destination spawn waaaaaaay out of the way is fairly high, and there's also a high chance to have plenty of long deadends for paths to take. If there was ever a time to hate tomb dungeons in Act II, it's here and now without any map reveal. It takes me a while to find it here because the symbol is unfamiliar to me.
MXL adds a (nother) boss to the game with Zoltun Kulle! Here he's just a normal person who just shoots lightning like the lightning spirits, so no wonder I had a hard time trying to figure out what he does. I had to find this out in post, not dunking him. What can I say? I see a name like Zoltun Kulle and I just wanna put that name in the trash can.
But the time has come at least! As prophecized by the ancient Horadrim, I will use my shaft, complete with head, on the orifice to gain access to Tal Rasha and stop the evil corruption that has taken root!
(Click here for the full animation.)
And by inserting my shaft into the orifice, it shoots out white lightning in a nondescript direction! Uncontrolled, undisciplined, but guided true to my desire, my destination! By using my shaft wisely, I will save the world by following the lingering light!
...You may hate me for the imagery I'm invoking, but guess what?
Maggot butt.
Looking for Baal?
Duriel | CR: *****
==Act boss
==Cold resistant
==Uses Smite, Jab Combo, Charge
==Has a Holy Freeze Aura
==Regenerates Life faster
I'm pretty sure this is the hardest fight in basegame.
Duriel is, effectively, a really good Holy Freeze Paladin. As one final dunk to melee builds, this boss, which can be very insurmountable to new players, is at his most deadly when he's in your face.
That Holy Freeze, in case you don't know what it does, does two things: regularly damages enemies in its range which chills them because cold damage, and also adds cold damage, to every single attack Duriel does. Duriel's doing around 40 damage per attack, and while Charge damage is nerfed at this point, it's still a whopping 66 or so damage...oh no wait cold, 78 damage if Duriel's away from you and decides to close that distance. He's not great at using Charge, but he can definitely use it as a surprise opener to blow up a large chunk of your health before going in with high accuracy, high damage attacks.
The Jab Combo specifically is Duriel doing three basic attacks in quick succession. It's not quite Zeal but it might as well be called Zeal. Also, unlike Andariel, Duriel has a hefty amount of levels so he'll be very likely to hit you, all the meanwhile you're getting slowed and stunned and chipped away slowly by the Holy Freeze. The damage aura itself does minimal damage, but will keep plinking you ensuring you can't rely on life regen to survive.
But, as before, there's a trick to make this fight easier.
Thawing potions are antidotes but for cold. They aren't as effective, but they'll remove chill and reduce cold damage, making this fight easier.
You may have done the math in your head, and realize, I said the fight is easier.
Not, trivial, like Andariel was. With only 25 free Cold Resist, and the fact that most of Duriel's damage is actually physical, Duriel is still extremely dangerous.
Even better, Holy Freeze has a fun quirk, which makes it really great for Paladins, but really awful against you: The pings don't actually chill, and I think this is the only instance where cold damage doesn't chill. What it does instead is lower attack and movement speed; a slow effect. This may sound extremely powerful, but chill effectiveness specifically reduces the effectiveness of the slow. That doesn't matter much here though, because the damage ping slows, not chills, and the aura also adds cold damage, which chills, and the slow and chill stacks with eachother. That means being in Holy Freeze and getting hit by something cold means you move very slowly. Casters don't have to deal with most of this because something I forgot to mention is chill does not slow cast speed at all, but I imagine they do not want to be in melee range with Duriel.
Speaking of, here's how this fight goes for Vanir. Try to get in, get chilled, get like one hit off before he gets one hit off and blows up a sixth of our life. Pray he doesn't combo. Run. Heal. Get back in.
And make sure Duriel does not touch our Hireling. This is why:
Thanks to lucky set drops between Vanir and Zoul, we have a mostly complete Arctic set for use. ...Neither of them are Amazons, but, most of the mods granted by the arctic set can be used by a Rogue just fine. As a result, she's been Vanir's very effective and competent backup whenever he slams his face into adversaries. ...She's actually been using this for a while but it's only now that I bring this up because it'll become very relevant.
Our Hireling is definitely going to help but it is vital Duriel does not target her because she will definitely crumple up if the Lord of Pain picks a better target. We don't have a good way to rescue Hirelings if they get in a jam...yet, and each time she dies we have to pay a gold fee to resurrect her, which is a cost I don't want to pay.
Luckily Duriel focuses on me for most of the fight. Which is a, uhh, mixed blessing. I'm chalking up my survival here to the Thawing Potion because if I wasn't taking a little bit less cold damage per attack I'd probably be dead. When in panic, rejuv. Full rejuvenation potions might be nerfed in PD2 but they're still lifesavers.
I go through quite a few potions though. I'm pretty sure Healing Potions cannot outheal Duriel's attacks, and since I have to get in his face and take damage to do much of anything,
I eventually run and teleport out.
There's no penalty for doing this. Something something when all else fails running works sun tzu. While most monsters do regenerate life as you faff around in town, Superuniques and Act Bosses do not, meaning you can take as much of a breather as you want and get restocked before resuming the fight.
Course, this might be a bad idea, because I now get a brief moment where I have to re-orient myself while Duriel instantly starts swinging again. It was even worse in past versions of Diablo 2, which had the infinite wisdom of processing monsters and updating the game, as you load into the new area. This is extremely difficult to observe now, inbetween the patches fixing this and new computers not even blinking to load this 2000 game, but this lead to ever more infamy with Duriel and new players: you can try to teleport back in and you're already dead before you load in. Programming is hard.
When I get back in, however, Duriel decides to target the Rogue first. On the one hand I fear for her because while the arctic set gives yes cold resist Duriel does mostly physical damage and she doesn't have enough Defense and Level to reliably dodge.
On the other hand, he's not targeting me,
(Click here for the full animation.)
allowing me to get enough Zeals off to finish him.
There actually isn't any quip for killing Duriel. Strange.
For Zoul, who has many more meat shields than he does VIPs, Duriel easily gets caught up in the bones, and while he can break them, PD2's changes to their per-level power boosts make them pretty difficult to break down. It matters little anyway, because we have Desecrate and can just make more.
Normally the pain of this fight is, you lose all your bones and then have to scramble to get more. PD2 skips the "fleeing for more bones" step, so there isn't really much to see here.
It is not that Greg is much stronger than Duriel, it's that Greg really doesn't care about getting hit by Duriel. This takes a bit due to constantly getting knocked back and stunned, but with our life leeching and Thunder Striking, this is a war of attrition we cannot lose because we are leeching life off each hit and sporting massive life totals to basically sustain ourselves throughout the entire fight. This is entirely ES's fault: our gear is still much, much stronger than anything on Normal...for now.
Now, for Bob, we get to show off something new. You see, there's two things we can shapeshift into. One of them's a teenage werewolf.
The other's a giant rock monster.
You see, while Werewolf gives us yes speed and many swings, our other morph, Elemental Form, allows us to hit hard, and hit once. Iron Claws is a shapeshifting skill usable in either form that, in addition to multiplying the damage and attack rating of our swing, lowers monster defense on hit, and has a built-in chance to do Crushing Blow and Open Wounds. Both of those are really good, but I haven't reached the mechanics talk that covers them yet so I'll explain them later.
Then there's Maul, which is like Feral Rage, but instead of hitting things to build up more speed, we're hitting things to build up more damage. It also stuns whatever it hits.
The end result is a kaiju battle between two giants. We're also doing clown-to-clown communication because we're both chilling and stunning eachother. Bosses tend to be very chill resistant, and they only have a 10% chance to be stunned, but otherwise aren't immune to it. Bob also doesn't have the sort of sustainability Greg has, but you know, this is something a healing potion or two can fix. It's really about the same.
For Arty, the strategy of one of us running while the other bow lady shoots at Duriel still works. It's not as perfect and unbeatable as before, because we're both getting coldlocked the entire time, but so long as we don't stay in melee range with Duriel there's no fear.
By the way, the Holy Freeze aura does have a range on how far it can chill. This was something a patch added later. Before it would reach almost the whole room, but I'm still used to assuming I'm being chilled at all times. I think this is because the first time I fought Duriel it was before the patch that nerfed the aura, and the Charge...and probably many other middle fingers to the player.
By the way, how does Arty have like 75 more Life than Vanir? I haven't been, putting Vitality in her like wh-
That just leaves Median XL. So how did they make this boss even nastier than normal?
For starters, rocks will just fall while in his arena. He's still a bruiser, but he lost his Holy Freeze aura, instead opting to get us to look above and make sure we're not eating rocks in addition to his swings. The rocks can also explode in magic waves, to make sure they do yes damage to you.
...I say as Jane does her thing and yeets Duriel.
Actually, he may be easier because he's not chilling you constantly. He still has his Charge and his Jab Combo, but gone are the days where you can hardly move. No need to worry about cold either because he doesn't deal any cold damage. On the one hand, those rocks can hurt just as bad as Duriel hitting you. On the other, you can dodge out of the way now. So it's slightly easier than before, but still dangerous because the wrong time to have rocks fall on your head can be very bad.
With Duriel dead, the door into Tal Rasha's chamber opens.
Median XL adds...a lot more fire to this chamber. Also a Fire Tower or two because surprise.
We approach the chamber, and...
...are you Tal Rasha?
...No. I have concluded he is not.
I am the Archangel Tyrael. I came here to prevent Diablo from freeing his brother, Baal. But I have failed. Now, Terror and Destruction roam free throughout your world.
Even now, they head towards the Eastern capital of Kurast - to the very heart of the Zakarum Temple. There they hope to find their eldest brother, Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred who was imprisoned there ages ago.
If the three Prime Evils unite, they will be invincible. Though it is unclear as to what their aims are, it is certain that they must be stopped at all costs.
I am broken and the energies that tie me to this world are diminishing rapidly.
You must take up this quest and prevent the Three Brothers from reuniting. You must cross the sea and search for Diablo and Baal in Kurast.
Now hurry, mortal... Time is running out for all of us!
Okay, so we're comically late to catching the Dark Wanderer. So late that there's an archangel here instead.
You may be wondering what the heck is an archangel doing here. I'm not saying anything.
...Because that's what the next cinematic is going to explain. Thanks Marius!
It is highly unusual for the forces of Heaven to so directly interfere with man's destiny, but Tyrael was said to act of his own volition. We have never been able to discern why.
Perhaps, he goes against the consensus of Heaven because he doubts our ability to defend ourselves, or perhaps, he sees more threat than his peers.
Where the actions of Hell often seem straightforwardly bent on destruction, the motives of Heaven are unfathomable.
Now make haste... Both Diablo and Baal must be stopped before they join with their brother, Mephisto. If the three Prime Evils unite once again, the world as we know it will be no more.
So, Tyrael. Good thing I can explain what Cain can't because I remember what I read. It has to do with Sanctuary.
They must be stopped, for I am sure they mean to free their elder brother Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred, who lies imprisoned under the corrupted city of Kurast.
I fear you are walking into a great evil, but your faith can save you. May you walk in the light always.
Remember when the mortals here bumped into Hell and the world that was suppose to be unknown to angels and demons became known to demons? Well one Sin War later now the angels know about it. I don't mean Inarius, who made Sanctuary because he was sick of the foreverwar, or Tyrael, who took a moment to realize Sanctuary's potential to end the foreverwar. I mean the entire High Heavens.
And Imperius, archangel of valor and generally the big cheese of the angel side of the foreverwar, saw Sanctuary, noticed it was made by a traitor angel working with a traitor demon lord, Lilith, and said, "Burn it. Burn it to the ground."
You must travel east by sea to Kurast and stop Diablo and Baal before they free their eldest brother, Mephisto.
Hahh... The lands of the eastern Empire are not the same as they used to be. There has been little word for some time.
Speed is of the essence. Go quickly, my friend. May the fates smile on you.
You see, the Anigiris Council is the governing body of the High Heavens, and after the Sin War, they discussed what to do with Sanctuary. Imperius, seeing Sanctuary as another battleground and ploy by the demons, wanted to nuke it.
Auriel, archangel of hope, and Ithereal, archangel of fate, were less triggerhappy, and wanted to wait and see how Sanctuary would unfold because, despite their demonic heritage, they are not immediately predisposed to sin, and could be turned to the angels' favor and help end their foreverwar. Not to mention Sanctuary was a proof of concept to something alien to them all: peace.
Malthael, archangel of wisdom, shrugged. That just left Tyrael to tie the vote and have Imperius be the tiebreaker in that regard, except the archangel of justice didn't do that.
Imperius would not be happy, and this would just be the beginning of Tyrael pissing off his brother. The Sin War is still something we're blissfully ignorant of, but after deciding to not nuke Sanctuary, they then had to decide how to get demons to stay the fuck out of it.
Luckily, they had just the thing: Inarius. There is much to discuss about Inarius and how he got put on the wheel of fire simply because he didn't understand what being a dad meant, but that's a bigger page than what we have now, so I'll explain what he did later. For now, I'll talk about his worth to Hell.
If you wish to travel East, I have authorized Meshif to give you passage by sea. I imagine he should be very anxious to leave by now.
Good luck on your quest, and thank you again for saving my beloved city. You will always be welcome in Lut Gholein, my friend.
Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred we'll be meeting soon, was interested in Inarius, who, ran off with his daughter, banished her to the shadow realm, twice, and directly defied his wishes to use humans in the foreverwar, nevermind the other Prime Evils. He was interested in agreeing to the Prime Evils staying out of Sanctuary and leaving it be, if, it meant he could cart off Inarius to the Burning Hells to torture forever.
And the Anigiris Council, only seeing a traitor and an asshole, agreed.
(There has never been a reason to talk to Meshif until now, which is why we're getting the intro message now.)
I'm Meshif, captain of this ship here. I make port runs around the Twin Seas and occasionally out to Kingsport in Westmarch.
I haven't sailed anywhere lately, though... Jerhyn has ordered me to stay docked here in case of emergency.
(Umm, about that.)
So this sounds like Inarius got utterly shafted by the Sin War, but I just shrug because Inarius is an asshole and a failure of a dad, which uhh.
Also Inarius as a concept didn't even exist before they bothered to write more lore for Diablo III. That's why I'm spoiling plenty about the angel Inarius and his demon wife Lilith now. There'll be more of this later.
Lilith's in this game in some form somewhere though.
Next time: We head east. ...Again.