Toughest Prime Evil

[Ebon]

I really wished this was a poll, but something keeps me from starting it...

So, who do you think is the deadliest, strongest, most imposing Prime Evil? Diablo, Baal or Mephisto?
I'd vote for Diablo - he looks cool, his inferno-like litening attack kills whatever resists you have, he even traps you(r portal); even more: he's deadly fast.

Mephisto also's dangerous, yet, for some reason, he felt more like an impediment than a good final showdown. Don't know why.
As for Baal, that was anticlimactic in my opinion. My high-level character in SP was nailing him literally... :blink:

So, what's your choice (bold-italic it if you want :) )?

[Little Faith]

Diablo has a lot going for him.

Firstly Location!
Chaos Sanctuary is probably one of the most awe-inspiring locations. Like some gargantuan desecrated gothic church. Populated with some positively nasty monsters.

Also the method of calling him forth (running around popping seals) is a bit more adrenaline-accumulating than the somewhat lame Minion of Destruction shooting gallery Baal has.

Secondly Looks!
Diablo is arguably the sexiest act boss. Sure Andy makes a great deal out of shoving her knockers up your face, but besides that she is just gangly and awkward (and she ought to do something about her hair). Meph is pretty unremarkable. Duriel is just a fat bug (though he does have an interesting death sequence) and finally Baal is rather unassuming. He doesn't radiate might in a way I would expect for a Lord of Destruction. Diablo, however is his own bad self. Big, thorny and red.

Thirdly Power!
Diablo is one of the few act bosses I am still afraid of. Andy is far too fragile. Duriel has too few abilities. Sure Holy Freeze is annoying, but that is pretty much just it. In Durance of Hate 3 I fear Bremm Sparkfist more than I fear Mephisto. Sure he has his iceball (he only uses once in a blue moon). But that is pretty much it. Baal's Hoarfrost is annoying and you need to watch out for the tentacles, but he is really not that much of a damage dealer. In comparison Diablo kills! His Pink Lightning is outright deadly. His Firestorm tends to make short work out of your minions and even his flamewawes should keep you constantly on your toes. He even has some melee prowess (onlike Mephisto).

[SetBuilder]

Diablo, no question.

He's mean, he packs a punch, and his magical prowess is second to none. Also, he's more durable than anyone, and he's got a really pissed off attitude. Makes me wonder if he's my twin.

[Minionman]

In normal, I'd say Duriel, in the other parts, I'd say Baal.


Duriel:All the other areas are gib enough that you can run away if need be, Duriel's chamber is really small, so your timing has to be good to run away from him if your merc/minions get killed. In normal Duriel kills mercs fast, moves pretty quickly with holy freeze slowing you down, and the small space makes it tough for ranged characters to kill him. He does high damage to any character, and combined with the holy freeze slowing your attacks, and possible hit recovery keeping you from gettign away, make it tough for close combat characters I play as well. In nightmare and hell, mercs do much better, and Duriel does a lot less damage compared to normal. Normal Duriel has probably killed more characters than anyone else, fortunately, I play softcore.

Baal: in nightmare and hell his special abilities become a real pain in the butt. Normal he isn't that bad for an act boss, although some characters do have trouble, but in nightmare and hell, however, his attacks are more annoying. The tentacles keep you from running away to recover as you could with other bosses. The mana burn inferno keeps you from using good skills a lot. The cold wedge's knockback gives Baal free shots, since you can't attack during it, and if you need to be closer in to aim, you can't do that. It gives Baal that extra time to summon the clone and/or tentacles that might get you after being puched far away. The clone itself makes a really good distraction. With Baal, you have ot get to him rigth away (at least when Iplay), or the tentacles and/or clone will get you.

I used to get really adrenalized against Diablo, to the point of jumping backwards when an attack I wasn't expecting came, but now he doesn't scare me muc hat all.


About polls: no, you can't atart polls. I don't remember why, but it was mentioned in some thread awhile ago. Interestingly, the person had wanted to start a poll about act bosses as well.

[Ebon]

Though Duriel is not a prime evil, I'll say that how hard a boss is depends heavily on class. For my necromancer's blood golem, Duriel's strength was null - while in iron maiden he was also taking damage, which was being stolen by the golem. ;) Andariel is also easier...way easier against assassins.

[nobbie]

Bill Roper, no doubt ;)

[Occhidiangela]

I really wished this was a poll, but something keeps me from starting it...

So, who do you think is the deadliest, strongest, most imposing Prime Evil? Diablo, Baal or Mephisto?
I'd vote for Diablo - he looks cool, his inferno-like litening attack kills whatever resists you have, he even traps you(r portal); even more: he's deadly fast.

Mephisto also's dangerous, yet, for some reason, he felt more like an impediment than a good final showdown. Don't know why.
As for Baal, that was anticlimactic in my opinion. My high-level character in SP was nailing him literally... :blink:

So, what's your choice (bold-italic it if you want :) )?
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They each have their own charm, for sure, and each have a chink in their armor.

Versus Andariel: If you put enough black pots in your pack before you face her she is pretty easy in any difficulty. Fire attacks just make it go faster.

Duriel: For low hit point folk/sorceresses/some variants, he is a royal pain in the arse. The Load time issue and his CHARGE contribute to his ability to empty a red ball rather quickly. FHR, blocking, and pot drinking really help against him. No minions, so at least you can concentrate on him . . . I have not found Melee chars to have that much trouble with him, particularly since one can de equip any and all resistance gear and pile on Life, DR, Blocking, FHR, Hit Slows Target gear . . . what have you.

Mephisto: His AI is so exploitable that, as others comment, the Minions before him are a greater pain in the neck. His only fearful attack, IMO, is the Critical hit when he throws the Ice Ball of "Up Yours, punk!" and you did not have enough cold res, or you failed to drink a Cold Res potion every so often to keep the Cold Res up.

Diablo: His LBOD, if not planned for and avoided, can kill you fast. They fixed the -DR and -MDR oops from Classic, which used to make one nearly immune to LBOD, so he is now best approached with some caution. Likewise his flame river, you can empty that red ball fast.

I always have 75% or more Fire res and Lgt res, items permitting. IMO, he is the biggest pain to Druid and Necro summoners, due to his ability to shred minions. My fave Necro tool against him is an Iron Golem made from a high resistance and -DR item, usually a rare. That keeps him busy while I try to whittle down his life.

Diablo's weakness is the room you have to move, and his minionlessness during the boss fight. He has a few vulnerabilities: They still seem to have left that one "sweet spot" up by the corner of the cross where he can be trapped and shot at with impunity.

In Hell, I had a Charged Strike Zon waste him, in the star, in well under a minute, and she was not twinked. She owned him in a way I did not realize was possible.

Baal, IMO, is a complete pain in the neck for any spell caster, due to the somewhat limited room to move, obstructions to aiming, his own ability to move and teleport, and his helpers: tentacles and Mr Duplicate Baal.

His cold wedge does not bother me when I have "cannot be frozen" stuff equipped. His Orange Crush "instant death ball" is a pain in the neck, not sure if it is resistable. IIRC, it is magic damage, not fire.

The mana drain is no big deal, just tedium. Drink a purple or a blue, and bring lots of them to the fight. I find myself shift clicking a lot to ensure the Merc stays alive, my mercs tend to get a facial from Baal most times.

His susceptibility to "hit slows target" gear is a huge help against him.

Who do I sweat most? Hell Duriel in Hard Core with a non melee character who has modest or low Hip Points. One little mistake and his charge/multiple hits, empty the red ball.

After that, the Hell Baal tedium of drinking blue pots all the time.

Hell Diablo is most often for me a study in patience, and learning to move in an arcing path. You move around him in circles, he rarely hits you. A quick TP can get you out of the Bone traps. Return by Waypoint and resume the fight. Melee chars have to deal with his blocking, but usually if you stack up enough resistance, you can toe to toe it with him while you drink pot after pot of red or purple.

Occhi

[Wyrm]

The toughest prime evil, imo, would have to be Diablo. Mephisto is pretty much a joke no matter when you fight him. Baal is incredibly easy if you've got Decrepify (on charge for the non-necros), the only snag is when he summons a clone of himself, and then all you need to do is go to town for a few seconds, go to another area, then go back and it usually disappears. If not, just repeat the process.

Diablo, on the other hand, is a complete pain. If you get caught in his lightning hose you're pretty much a gonner. If you get caught in his firestorm, you're a gonner and then some. Only his physical attacks are something that can be taken somewhat lightly, and even then his cold touch is a pain if you don't have cannot be frozen somewhere on your equipment.

In Hell, I had a Charged Strike Zon waste him, in the star, in well under a minute, and she was not twinked. She owned him in a way I did not realize was possible.

Heh, smiters w/CB and Life Tap charges slaughter bosses even faster. Even when I'm only using a Crushflange as my only source of CB, boss fights rarely last longer than 1-2 castings of Life Tap.

[Munkay]

Diablo hands down. He's the only of the three not wearing some sort of skirt!

Mephisto has that cloudy surrounding his feet, and baal has a skirt of worms (or something equally as odd). Diablo is ready and confident wearing nothing but his birthday suit. Now that's something to be scared of. :P

Cheers,

Munk

[Ebon]

Bill Roper, no doubt ;)
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If that's the case, then I choose Mephisto, cuz his voice sounded like kicking ass in Diablo 1, while reading the books which began with stuff like "All praises to Diablo!" :P

[Occhidiangela]

Diablo hands down.  He's the only of the three not wearing some sort of skirt!

Mephisto has that cloudy surrounding his feet, and baal has a skirt of worms (or something equally as odd).  Diablo is ready and confident wearing nothing but his birthday suit.  Now that's something to be scared of. :P

Cheers,

Munk
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Andariel is naked as well, except for those nipple rings, right? Or does she wear a thong? All I ever really see when I look at here is that hair and the Kerrigan looking appendages.

Not mad about her shoes, I must admit. The girl has no fashion sense.

Occhi

[Munkay]

Andariel is naked as well, except for those nipple rings, right?  Or does she wear a thong?  All I ever really see when I look at here is that hair and the Kerrigan looking appendages.

Not mad about her shoes, I must admit.  The girl has no fashion sense.

Occhi

I think she spends too much time hanging out with all those carvers and zombies. Too much association with naked demons, me thinks. :lol:

Cheers

Munk

[Minionman]

Diablo hands down.  He's the only of the three not wearing some sort of skirt!

Mephisto has that cloudy surrounding his feet, and baal has a skirt of worms (or something equally as odd).  Diablo is ready and confident wearing nothing but his birthday suit.  Now that's something to be scared of. :P

Cheers,

Munk
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Maybe that's a red leotard.

[Zingydex]

Maybe that's a red leotard.
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As if a demon in a leotard is any LESS of a scary concept.

[Lady Vashj]

Andariel is naked as well, except for those nipple rings, right?  Or does she wear a thong?  All I ever really see when I look at here is that hair and the Kerrigan looking appendages.

Not mad about her shoes, I must admit.  The girl has no fashion sense.

Occhi
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Yeh, she's wearing a thong.

As to the original question being discussed: Not Mephisto. I've never spent days agonizing about how best to fight him or whether or not my char is high enough level to try it. I would probably say Diablo, since I kill him once and have done, never coming back for item or exp runs.

[Soupoftheday]

I find Mephisto to be the scariest of all of the classical bosses, mainly because everyone once in a blue her lightning does it's maximum damage and in hell, with not amazing resists, it is devestating!

Also when using a sorc to MF Hell Meph she occassionaly uses Blizzard on me as I use it on her so I have no idea whos blizzard is whos, so the blizzard freezes me for a second, I can't move and am defenceless.

Eeks.

Diablo seems to be fun to me because with a barbarian I can go so close to him that his energy fire blast that he shoots out of his hands passes right over my head without a pinch of damage.

HOWEVER I still fear his attack where he raises a long river of flames in front of him.

[Lady Vashj]

I find Mephisto to be the scariest of all of the classical bosses, mainly because everyone once in a blue her lightning does it's maximum damage and in hell, with not amazing resists, it is devestating!

Her? HER?! The Three Prime Evils are brothers!

[Ebon]

Her? HER?!  The Three Prime Evils are brothers!
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Maybe he's making fun of h..im.