08-11-2003, 10:42 PM
GRIZABELLA: BAAL'S MINIONS
With the Throne of Destruction cleared (except for the one Death Lord boss parked in a corner), it was time for Grizabella to take on Baal's minions.
Colenzo the Annihilator (the Shaman) is Fire Immune but isn't dangerous. He raises his carver minions, so you have to kill him first, of course. This is a pain because of a 1.10 change, though. Under 1.10, the next minion pack gets triggered the moment you kill the boss, so now Achmel the Cursed (the Hollow One) often appears while you're still attacking carvers. It used to be that you had to kill everything in the pack before the next pack appears. Not anymore.
There is one useful thing about this that I noticed in nightmare difficulty. Lister's minions can't be Confused, but the Venom Lords that appear before Lister's pack can. So, if you kill Ventar the Unholy and leave a couple of his minions alive, then Lister's pack will appear and attack the Confused Venom Lords, making it easier for you to take on the pack one member at a time. I don't plan to use this strategy, but it's a useful piece of information to file away.
![[Image: Griz5_minions1.jpg]](http://www.idiom.com/~gmonsen/diablo/Griz5_minions1.jpg)
Colenzo died and Achmel's pack appeared. I got too cocky and teleported right in the middle of the pack to static and wail everything. My merc had died and I was down to 1/10th life by the time I teleported away and tp'd back to town. Doh! I healed myself, revived my merc, went back, started up Confuse on Achmel's pack, gave them a chance to spread out (they're all missle fire types, so they like to move away from their targets), and then picked the pack off one monster at a time.
Bartuc's pack appeared, but they were easier to kill than Achmel's pack. Confuse kept the minions busy and the pack was easy to pick off.
![[Image: Griz5_minions2.jpg]](http://www.idiom.com/~gmonsen/diablo/Griz5_minions2.jpg)
Then Ventar the Unholy appeared. I was nervous about him, because his pack gave me some trouble in 8-player nightmare games. I tried to break up the pack, but because it's extra fast, it's difficult to do that. A couple of his minions did get left behind, but four minions and Ventar himself were still chasing me when a thought occurred to me. These guys are poison immune, not fire immune. Maybe I can just take them out at the cost of a few potions. I switched to my 'Call to Arms' blade for it's Prevent Monster Heal, teleported to get my merc in position, and faced the pack down (see the pic above).
And the pack fell with hardly any trouble. I was worried for nothing.
![[Image: Griz5_minions3.jpg]](http://www.idiom.com/~gmonsen/diablo/Griz5_minions3.jpg)
Then Lister's pack appeared. The pack is Fire Immune and can't be confused. Is Grizabella up to the challenge?
With the Throne of Destruction cleared (except for the one Death Lord boss parked in a corner), it was time for Grizabella to take on Baal's minions.
Colenzo the Annihilator (the Shaman) is Fire Immune but isn't dangerous. He raises his carver minions, so you have to kill him first, of course. This is a pain because of a 1.10 change, though. Under 1.10, the next minion pack gets triggered the moment you kill the boss, so now Achmel the Cursed (the Hollow One) often appears while you're still attacking carvers. It used to be that you had to kill everything in the pack before the next pack appears. Not anymore.
There is one useful thing about this that I noticed in nightmare difficulty. Lister's minions can't be Confused, but the Venom Lords that appear before Lister's pack can. So, if you kill Ventar the Unholy and leave a couple of his minions alive, then Lister's pack will appear and attack the Confused Venom Lords, making it easier for you to take on the pack one member at a time. I don't plan to use this strategy, but it's a useful piece of information to file away.
Colenzo died and Achmel's pack appeared. I got too cocky and teleported right in the middle of the pack to static and wail everything. My merc had died and I was down to 1/10th life by the time I teleported away and tp'd back to town. Doh! I healed myself, revived my merc, went back, started up Confuse on Achmel's pack, gave them a chance to spread out (they're all missle fire types, so they like to move away from their targets), and then picked the pack off one monster at a time.
Bartuc's pack appeared, but they were easier to kill than Achmel's pack. Confuse kept the minions busy and the pack was easy to pick off.
Then Ventar the Unholy appeared. I was nervous about him, because his pack gave me some trouble in 8-player nightmare games. I tried to break up the pack, but because it's extra fast, it's difficult to do that. A couple of his minions did get left behind, but four minions and Ventar himself were still chasing me when a thought occurred to me. These guys are poison immune, not fire immune. Maybe I can just take them out at the cost of a few potions. I switched to my 'Call to Arms' blade for it's Prevent Monster Heal, teleported to get my merc in position, and faced the pack down (see the pic above).
And the pack fell with hardly any trouble. I was worried for nothing.
Then Lister's pack appeared. The pack is Fire Immune and can't be confused. Is Grizabella up to the challenge?