The Search for Cain

Diablo II Notation Basic Class Skill Item Ally Quest Area Monster Tale The Sightless Eye Secret of the Vizjerei The Infernal Gate The Harrowing Lord of Destruction Special Den of Evil Sisters' Burial The Search for Cain The Forgotten Tower Tools of the Trade Sisters to Slaughter Type Recommended Initiation Talk to Akara after Kashya after killing Blood Raven or Take Scroll of Inifuss from Tree of Inifuss Objective(s) Find and rescue Deckard Cain Area(s) Dark Wood, Cold Plains and Tristram Item(s) Scroll of Inifuss Reward Ring from Akara Deckard Cain identifies items for free, for remainder of difficulty level It is clear that we are facing an Evil difficult to comprehend, let alone combat. There is only one Horadrim sage, schooled in the most arcane history and lore, who could advise us... His name is Deckard Cain. You must go to Tristram and find him, my friend. I pray that he still lives. - Akara Navigation Tristram is too far to journey by foot... Cain would likely be dead, when you arrived. However, there is a magical portal that will take you there instantly. To open it, one must stand within the circle of Cairn Stones and touch them in a certain order. The proper order can be found in the runes written on the bark of the Tree of Inifuss. You must find the sacred Tree of Inifuss and bring back its bark. I will translate the runes to unlock the Stones' mystic pattern. - Akara Path by waypoint in Cold Plains leads to three destinations: Burial Grounds Cave Level 1 Stony Field Follow path to Stony Field, turning back if followed to either of the other destinations first: entrance will be on one of sides opposite to entrance from Blood Moor. Follow path through Stony Field to entrance to Underground Passage Level 1: if waypoint is not found and activated along way, it is advisable to search Stony Field for it and activate it before venturing underground. Underground Passage Level 1 has exits to Underground Passage Level 2 and Dark Wood: exit to Dark Wood is normally found most quickly by going to right. Path from underground leads through Dark Wood to exit to Black Marsh. However, before doing so search Dark Wood for waypoint and Tree of Inifuss. Treehead Woodfist is an Extra Strong Extra Fast Super Unique Brute guarding Tree of Inifuss. Accompanied by two minions in Normal, three in Nightmare and four in Hell, they are all Immune to Cold (120%) in Hell. They do not need to be killed, but due to their strength and speed it may be advisable to do so anyway. Click on Tree of Inifuss and Scroll of Inifuss drops on ground. 2x2 square of inventory space is required to pick up, at which point return and talk to Akara. Objective Ah, very good. I have translated the runes on this scroll. You must find the Cairn Stones and touch them in the order that I have written. - Akara Return to Stony Field via its waypoint. If Cairn Stones were not found while crossing to Underground Passage Level 1 or searching for waypoint earlier, search for them now. Rakanishu is a Lightning Enchanted Extra Fast Super Unique Carver guarding Cairn Stones. Accompanied by eight minions in Normal, nine in Nightmare and ten in Hell, they are all Immune to Fire (110%) in Hell. They do not need to be killed, but due to their speed it may be advisable to do so. Lightning Enchanted is quite dangerous that early in Normal, so care should be taken. Upon finding and clearing area around Cairn Stones, right-click on Scroll of Inifuss to determine order in which they need to be touched to activate portal (or simply touch them in random order until portal activates). Scroll will disappear from inventory once portal is activated. Portal leads to east corner of Tristram. Deckard Cain is held prisoner in gibbet in town center: click on it to release him, at which point he will cast Town Portal and return to Rogue Encampment. Return as well, or retrieve Wirt's Leg from his corpse in west corner of Tristram to be able to access Secret Cow Level upon completion of difficulty level. Reward You have risked your life to rescue Cain. For that we thank you. We must seek his counsel immediately. - Akara Akara gives a ring whose quality and item level depend upon difficulty level: Property Normal Nightmare Hell Quality Magic Rare Rare Item level 7 30 60 ...I thank you, friend, for coming to my aid. As a token of my gratitude, I will identify items for you at no charge. Regrettably, I could do nothing to prevent the disaster which devastated Tristram. It would appear that our greatest fears have come to pass. Diablo, the Lord of Terror, has once again been set loose upon the world! As you know, some time ago Diablo was slain beneath Tristram. And when our hero emerged triumphant from the labyrinth beneath town, we held a grand celebration that lasted several days. Yet, as the weeks passed, our hero became increasingly aloof. He kept his distance from the rest of the townsfolk and seemed to lapse into a dark, brooding depression. I thought that perhaps his ordeal had been so disturbing that he simply could not put it out of his mind. The hero seemed more tormented every passing day. I remember he awoke many times -- screaming in the night -- always something about 'the East'. One day, he simply left. And shortly thereafter Tristram was attacked by legions of foul demons. Many were slain, and the demons left me to die in that cursed cage. I believe now that Tristram's hero was that Dark Wanderer who passed this way before the Monastery fell. I fear even worse, my friend... I fear that Diablo has taken possession of the hero who sought to slay him. If true, Diablo will become more powerful than ever before. You must stop him or all will be lost. - Deckard Cain Deckard Cain will accompany character from town to town, identifying items for free. However, if he is not rescued before character completes and leaves Act 1, he will say the following upon talking to him in later towns: Oh... Blessings on the Rogues! They finally rescued me from that cursed place! - Deckard Cain He will still accompany character from town to town (except for Rogue Encampment), although identifying items now costs 100 gold per item. Since Scrolls of Identify cost 72 gold each, from a cost perspective Deckard Cain should either be rescued or not used at all to identify items (although convenience of identifying multiple items at once, rather than individually, may be worth 28 gold premium). Although inconsistent, character can still return to Act 1 to rescue him, even after finding and talking to him in another town.