Irene, the Infirm

[MongoJerry]

IRENE: ON THE WAY TO THE DARK WOOD

After clearing The Crypt, Irene and Aliza townportaled back to the Rogue Camp to get some much needed rest. When they returned to the Cold Plains the next day, however, they received a shock.

"All the monsters...," cried Aliza. "They're back!"

"There can be no doubt that Andariel is behind this," said Irene. "We'd better make some progress in our mission of saving Cain. He'll know what to do."

Irene and Aliza fought their way through the newly resurrected monsters of the Cold Plains to the entrance to the Stony Field. Along the way, Aliza finally turned level 6, and they paused momentarily to admire Aliza's new cold arrow (Woohoo!).



Irene and Aliza made their way counter-clockwise along the Stony Field perimeter and soon found the waypoint and the entrance to the Underground Passage. After some discussion, they decided to enter the Underground Passage immediately and leave the rest of the Stony Field monsters alone for the moment.

They were greeted by some skeleton archers, which were dispatched quickly. No problem. Then around a corner came this friendly welcoming committee.



Yikes! Luckily, by the time this boss pack arrived on the scene, Irene and Aliza had already found a loop in the cave paths. (You can see it at the bottom of the faint minimap in the screenshot above). They ran around and around this loop in an effort to break up the pack, but the tactic didn't work. At times, they were able to isolate a minion, but by the time they'd get the minion to about half its life, the rest of the pack would come barreling down on them, rescuing the minion, which would then heal. It was time to change tactics.

Irene started up a townportal near the loop and then lead the bulk of the pack up toward the Underground Passage entrance. Just when the pack was upon her, she exited the Passage, ran through the Stony Field to the waypoint, took it back to the Rogue Camp, and returned to the Passage via her townportal. The misshappen boss and most of its pack was safely parked by the entrance.

So was that it? Had our heroine finally met an opponent she could not defeat? As Vincent in the Princess Bride would say, "Not remotely!" Most of the pack had been lured up to the entrance, but two minions hadn't been. By running around the loop again, Irene and Aliza were able to separate them and dispatch them individually. Then, our heroines proceeded to clear out more of the Underground Passage to get room in which to maneuver and to make sure that they wouldn't be surprised by new monsters when they were dealing with the remaining members of the misshapen pack.



With more room to maneuver and with the pack reduced in size, Irene and Aliza were now able to more easily break up the pack. Irene had to quaff many healing potions to take down Seethe Burn the Dead, but in the end, he was taken down.

While creating room to maneuver in, Irene and Aliza had found the entrance to the Underground Passage Level 2, so they headed there next. Level 2 has a fixed design. The map is one medium-sized loop. Two fallen shamans with their fallen minions greet you at the entrance, and there's always a vile hunter boss pack of some sort to the left (in the clockwise direction).

Irene and Aliza quickly dispatched the fallen shaman and their minions while carefully avoiding the left side of the entranceway so as not to wake the vile hunter boss pack. They then proceeded in the counter-clockwise direction and killed all the regular monsters in the loop.



When they had nearly completed the loop, they found the boss pack, as expected, and the fight was on. Irene and Aliza ran around the loop in an effort to break up the pack. The loop has many corners and jagged edges, so it was easy to leave pack members behind. All Irene and Aliza had to do was run completely around the loop. The pack got completely strung out, and Irene and Aliza were able to pick members off one-by-one. A full clear of Level 2 was quickly achieved.