Betrayal of Harrogath

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 Siege on Harrogath Rescue on Arreat Prison of Ice Betrayal of Harrogath Rite of Passage Eve of Destruction Type Optional Initiation Speak to Anya after rescuing her from Prison of Ice Objective(s) Kill Nihlathak Area(s) Halls of Vaught Item(s) None Reward Anya will personalize an item for you Nihlathak told me he struck a deal with Baal to protect Harrogath. In exchange for the demon's mercy, the misguided fool plans to give Baal the Relic of the Ancients, our most holy totem! Doing so will allow Baal to enter Mount Arreat unchallenged by the Ancients. I tried to stop Nihlathak, but he imprisoned me in that icy tomb. Nihlathak must be stopped before he dooms the whole world. As much as I would love to strangle the life out of him, I'm afraid I haven't the strength. You must go to his lair through this portal I've opened, kill him, and then bring back the Relic of the Ancients. Stop Nihlathak from destroying what we have striven for eons to protect. - Anya Navigation Enter Anya's portal to Nihlathak's Temple, then cross courtyard and walk into temple itself to find entrance to Halls of Anguish, guarded by Pindleskin and his Defiled Warrior minions. Courtyard itself is strewn with Prowling Dead corpses which will resurrect themselves, shortly after player enters through portal. Halls of Anguish Entrance point is in middle of Halls of Anguish. While halls may appear labyrinthine, there is little variation in layout and exit to Halls of Pain can only be in one of three locations, the path to which is indicated by visual clues. To find exit most quickly, begin by turning right, and then left until standing in first corner. If highlighted block is not shaped like a small L or a question mark, then exit can be found by following first path. Otherwise, turn corner to left and continue to second corner. If highlighted block is not shaped like a small L, then exit can be found by following second path. Otherwise, exit can be found by following third path. [1] [2] Halls of Pain Entrance point is in middle of Halls of Pain. As with previous level, exit to Halls of Vaught can only be in one of three locations, the path to which is indicated by visual clues. To find exit most quickly, begin by turning right, and then left until standing in first corner. If highlighted block is not shaped like a small L or a question mark, then exit can be found by following first path. Otherwise, turn corner to left and continue to second corner. If highlighted block is not shaped like a small L, then exit can be found by following second path. Otherwise, exit can be found by following third path. Waypoint can be found by following blue path. [3] [4] Activating waypoint will cause Anya's portal to close when quest is completed, which is undesirable if Pindleskin is to be run for items, or portal used to quickly exit and enter town to refresh Anya's inventory. However, if Nihlathak is to be run for Key of Destruction, activating waypoint can allow this to be done more quickly. When running Nihlathak from waypoint, position of exit(s) from waypoint indicates which of the three maps has been generated and thus where exit to Halls of Vaught can be found. Halls of Vaught Entrance to Halls of Vaught is in central hub at junction of four halls. Nihlathak can be found at end of one of them. Hall in which Nihlathak can be found is indicated by pair of red eyes on wall at entrance to hall. Although these eyes appear on walls throughout temple, they are only present on one of the normally blank walls indicated above when Nihlathak is present in that hall. Clockwise from top left, his presence is indicated by eyes on north wall at north hall entrance, east wall at east hall entrance, east wall of south hall entrance or north wall of west hall entrance. [5] Objective Nihlathak is a boss to whom Knockback does not apply, receiving one random Unique bonus in Nightmare and two in Hell. ~17% (1/6) chance of becoming Immune to Cold in Nightmare, when Magic Resistant (110%) or Cold Enchanted (145%). ~32% (7/22) chance of becoming Immune to Cold in Hell, when Magic Resistant (110%), Cold Enchanted (145%) or MR CE (185%). ~17% (1/6) chance of becoming Immune to Lightning in Hell, when Lightning Enchanted (108%) or MR LE (148%). ~17% (1/6) chance of becoming Immune to Fire in Hell, when Fire Enchanted (108%) or MR FE (148%). No chance of becoming Immune to Physical, Immune to Magic or Immune to Poison, but can become immune to any two of three remaining damage types in Hell: ~1.5% (1/66) chance of becoming Immune to Fire and Lightning when FE LE or LE FE (108% each) ~3% (1/33) chance of becoming Immune to Fire and Cold when FE MR (108% and 110% respectively) or MR FE (148% and 110% respectively), or FE CE or CE FE (108% and 145% respectively) ~3% (1/33) chance of becoming Immune to Lightning and Cold when LE MR (108% and 110% respectively) or MR LE (148% and 110% respectively), or LE CE or CE LE (108% and 145% respectively) Nihlathak spawns on a raised platform surrounded by 20 Ice Spawn, and has the ability to summon more. He can also whip them into bloodlust like an Overseer, and transform them into Frenzied Ice Spawn. Both Ice Spawn and Frenzied Ice Spawn are always Immune to Cold in Hell. There are a number of threats in the Halls of Vaught which can make it one of the most dangerous areas in the game. Corpse explosion Nihlathak's corpse explosion is very similar to Necromancer's Corpse Explosion: Explosions cannot be blocked, and Dodge, Avoid, Evade and Weapon Block do not apply: only way to escape damage is to stay out of radius. Unlike Fire Enchanted explosions, damage applies to mercenary and pets. 50% of damage is converted to Fire Damage, the remainder is physical. There is no chance of critical damage, and damage is not affected by number of players in game. There are also some differences: Damage is only (10-20)% of corpse's average base life in all difficulty levels. Damage is not modified due to level difference. [7] Physical damage is applied within 5 1/3 yard radius in Normal while fire damage is applied within 6 yard radius; both damage types are applies within 6 2/3 yard radius in Nightmare, and 8 yard radius in Hell. Total explosion damage approximates the following: Monster Normal Nightmare Hell Spawn Damage Spawn Damage Spawn Damage Ice Spawn Frenzied Ice Spawn 100% 45-92 10-21 100% 166-333 44-089 100% 682-1,365 181-0,364 Hell Temptress 100% 26-54 048% (13/27) 111-222 048% (13/27) 455-0,910 Wretched Defiler Menace Worm 100% 28-58 16-33 22% 0(2/9)0 148-297 074-148 22% 0(2/9)0 600-1,202 303-0,607 Slayer 'Skeleton' 22% 0(2/9)0 166-333 22% 0(2/9)0 682-1,365 Prowling Dead 22% 0(2/9)0 181-363 22% 0(2/9)0 743-1,486 Ghost 22% 0(2/9)0 114-230 22% 0(2/9)0 470-0,941 Arach 22% 0(2/9)0 251-504 22% 0(2/9)0 1,031-2,063 Returned Archer 048% (13/27) 125-252 048% (13/27) 515-1,031 Flayer Shaman Flayer Flayer (blow pipe) 22% 0(2/9)0 0 99-200 88-178 22% 0(2/9)0 0 409-0,819 364-0,728 Night Marauder 22% 0(2/9)0 151-304 22% 0(2/9)0 621-1,244 Tomb Viper 048% (13/27) 122-245 048% (13/27) 500-1,001 [8] Due to its magnitude, explosion damage should be avoided whenever possible: Avoid killing anything else before killing Nihlathak. Altering AI of monsters is advisable, preferably by blinding them or causing them to flee, as is applying stun length. Use or destroy corpses before they can be made to explode. Most universal option is to equip item supplying Slain Monsters Rest in Peace, although this won't apply to kills made by mercenary or pets (unless mercenary is also equipping such an item, or Iron Golem was summoned from such an item). Stay outside damage radius of corpses and cast pets repeatedly to cause him to explode those corpses. Draw monsters away and kill them outside Nihlathak's awareness range, although this is potentially risky since he can teleport into range again. 'Skeleton' In Nightmare and Hell there is ~22% (2/9) chance that Slayers will be selected as one of three monster types that randomly populate Halls of Vaught. When Nihlathak attempts to transform them into Suicide Minions, they cannot do so because there is no corresponding Suicide Minion and so they appear to transform into Skeletons. However, this is purely graphical and they retain the stats of Slayers. These 'skeletons' still explode like Suicide Minions, although since a Slayer's AI parameters are used instead of those of a Suicide Minion, explosion damage is slightly less but radius is much larger than for a Frenzied Ice Spawn (whose explosion damage and radius would be identical to those of a Suicide Minion properly summoned from a Slayer): Monster Nightmare Damage Hell Damage Radius (yards) Physical Cold Total Physical Cold Total Frenzied Ice Spawn 52-78 52-78 104-156 94-141 94-141 188-282 02 2/3 'Skeleton' 39-52 39-52 78-104 70-094 70-094 140-188 10 0/0 [9] Although this appears to be a Skeleton and displays Immune to Lightning, it retains the stats of a Slayer and remains Immune to Cold. Thus Ice Blast applies neither Cold Damage nor freeze length. Explosion radius is also much larger than that of a Frenzied Ice Spawn as a result. [6] Number of explosions is square of number of attempts made by Nihlathak to transform Slayer and subsequent 'Skeleton' into Suicide Minion: Attempts Explosions Total base damage Nightmare Hell 1 1 (1^2) 78-0,104 140-0,188 2 4 (2^2) 312-0,416 560-0,752 3 9 (3^2) 702-0,936 1,260-1,692 4 16 (4^2) 1,248-1,664 2,240-3,008 5 25 (5^2) 1,950-2,600 3,500-4,700 [10] Consequently, if a Slayer is seen to transform into a 'Skeleton' then either it or Nihlathak should be killed as quickly as possible; if a 'Skeleton' is seen then, without knowing how many times Nihlathak has attempted to transform it, care should be taken to remain outside explosion radius when it is killed (although mercenary and pets do not take any damage). Damage of each explosion can be doubled by a critical hit, but damage is not affected by number of players in game. [11] Tomb Viper In Nightmare and Hell there is ~48% (13/27) chance that Tomb Vipers will be selected as one of three monster types that randomly populate Halls of Vaught. [12] Tomb Vipers fire a missile from their tail, similar to an Amazon Poison Javelin: aside from the 'javelin' itself, up to 14 static size 2 clouds are released in its wake. Up to 14 clouds are released in the wake of the Tomb Viper's 'javelin' when it expires before colliding with a target or obstacle. Each 'javelin' can travel up to ~11 1/3 yards in the 0.6 second of their existence. However, Tomb Viper's A1 attack damage is applied by its 'javelin' and its clouds also apply this damage, which means both apply physical damage as well as Poison Damage on each collision: Nightmare Damage Players 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Physical 23-31 24-32 25-34 27-36 28-38 30-40 31-42 33-44 Poison Per frame 130/256 130/256 140/256 150/256 160/256 170/256 170/256 180/256 Frames 66 70 74 78 82 86 90 94 Total 33 132/256 35 140/256 40 120/256 45 180/256 51 064/256 57 028/256 59 196/256 66 024/256 Seconds 2.64 2.8 2.96 3.12 3.28 3.44 3.6 3.76 Hell Damage Players 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Physical 42-56 44-59 47-63 49-66 52-70 55-73 57-77 60-80 Poison Per frame 230/256 240/256 250/256 1 014/256 1 024/256 1 044/256 1 054/256 1 074/256 Frames 100 106 112 118 124 130 136 142 Total 89 216/256 99 096/256 109 096/256 124 116/256 135 160/256 152 088/256 164 176/256 183 012/256 Seconds 4 4.24 4.48 4.72 4.96 5.2 5.44 5.68 [13] [14] [15] Damage and poison length only increase with each additional player in Nightmare and Hell Ladder and Single Player games. Charge also applies this A1 attack damage, although its physical damage is enhanced by its +% Damage (level 8 applies +275% in Nightmare, level 12 applies +375% in Hell). [16] Both javelin and clouds apply an additional frame of poison damage upon collision. However, it is the physical damage applied upon each collision which can be dangerous: Tomb Vipers spawn in groups of 2-3, so each salvo of 2-3 'javelins' generating up to 14 clouds each can result in up to 28-42, the cumulative collision damage of which can be significant. Altering AI of Tomb Vipers to prevent them firing missiles in the first place is advisable, otherwise players should avoid moving through clouds. Clouds are only visible for the first 2.4 seconds of their existence: they are invisible for a further 4.8 seconds. [17] 'Javelins' are destroyed upon impact but clouds are not, although Last Collide normally prevents each from colliding with single target more than once. However, when two targets collide with the same cloud then that cloud collides with each in alternate frames (25/2 or 12.5 times per second on average). Once again the cumulative collision damage can be significant, so players should not stand or move adjacent to another player, mercenary or pet. [18] When a cloud collides with Necromancer and one Necromage, it collides with each in alternate frames as each takes turns being the last target with which it collided. When a cloud collides with Necromancer and two Necromages, it always collides with each of the Necromages in alternate frames and Necromancer is not damaged or poisoned. However, when one of Necromages moves away or dies then Necromancer becomes second target again. Clouds can be blocked and Avoid, Evade and Weapon Block apply. Damage Reduced can be applied in sufficient quantity to significantly reduce and even negate physical damage. [19] % Damage applies to both 'javelin' and cloud damage when created, so -% Damage from Weaken, Decrepify and Battle Cry can also reduce physical damage. However, +% Damage from Champion and Unique bonuses also applies, as does damage of other types added by those bonuses (Enchanted Revived Tomb Vipers can be extremely lethal while they last, since Fire Damage is added to all missiles). Fortunately no Champion or Unique monsters spawn randomly in Halls of Vaught, so they can be avoided once Nihlathak's location is known. Those looking for trouble will find a Champion pack in hall opposite Nihlathak, while there is always an Evil Urn in hall to left (anti-clockwise). However, Nihlathak himself can spawn Aura Enchanted with either Might or Fanaticism (~2.38% or 1/42 chance in Nightmare, ~4.76% or 1/21 chance in Hell), both of which will apply their +% Damage to Tomb Vipers within radius: Nightmare Aura Level Radius (yards) Damage Damage with players 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Fanaticism 09 12 2/3 0+93% 45-60 47-62 49-66 53-70 55-74 58-078 60-082 64-085 Might 12 25 1/3 +150% 58-78 60-80 63-85 68-90 70-95 75-100 78-105 83-110 Hell Aura Level Radius (yards) Damage Damage with players 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Fanaticism 11 14 0/3 +110% 89-118 93-124 99-133 103-139 110-147 116-154 120-162 126-168 Might 15 29 1/3 +180% 118-157 124-166 132-177 138-185 146-196 154-205 160-216 168-224 [20] Reward You have stopped Nihlathak, but he didn't have the Relic! He must have already given it to Baal. Now, Baal will not be tested when he reaches Arreat's summit. ...Damn Nihlathak! I do thank you for trying, though. Please, allow me to honor your courage by magically inscribing your name onto an item of your choosing. It's the least I can do. - Anya Anya can now add character's name to that of any quality and any type of armor or weapon, with the exception of the following: Throwing potion Fulminating Potion Exploding Potion Oil Potion Strangling Gas Potion Choking Gas Potion Rancid Gas Potion Quest item Horadric Malus Staff of Kings Horadric Staff The Gidbinn Khalim's Flail Khalim's Will Hell Forge Hammer Can only personalize one item, but does not have to be done immediately (or at all): remains an option when interacting with her until item has been personalized. Personalizing an item can cause confusion. Reference Charging monsters (Technical Discussion) Nihlathak's Skeletons: Potential for Insta-Death (Technical Discussion) Onderduiker, Poison Damage (Technical Discussion) Tomb Viper spawn chance (Technical Discussion) Tomb Vipers: insta-death poison (Technical Discussion) Tomb Vipers in Halls of Vaught - intended? (Battle.net Diablo II Gameplay Discussion) MadScientist, Finding Nihlathak (Technical Discussion) Mikeandroe, Finding and running Nihlathak (General Diablo II Discussion) Onderduiker, Monster Bonuses, Death Damage and Corpse Explosion (Technical Discussion)