→Quest Six: Eve of Destruction
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* '''Quest Priority:''' Mandatory to finish the Act and advance to the next difficulty level. | * '''Quest Priority:''' Mandatory to finish the Act and advance to the next difficulty level. | ||
This one is about as straight-forward as a quest can be; you just move down through the three levels of the Worldstone Keep, (there is a waypoint on level two) then through the Throne of Destruction level to a final room where you see Baal, but can't attack him yet. | [[Image:Quests-a5-q6-throne.jpg|frame]]This one is about as straight-forward as a quest can be; you just move down through the three levels of the Worldstone Keep, (there is a waypoint on level two) then through the Throne of Destruction level to a final room where you see Baal, but can't attack him yet. | ||
Baal is up on a throne (hence the level name) here, and laughs constantly. Once you have killed all the random monsters in the room, the fun begins. He laughs and laughs (yes, it makes you want to kill him) and after a few seconds emits a glowing ball of yellow lightning. It flies up into the air and crashes down somewhere in front of the steps, and there appears a SuperUnique boss with his pack of minions. | |||
Once you kill off that pack, their bodies vanish but leave a lot of blood, Baal laughs constantly, and then spawns another huge glowing orb which crashes down and releases a bunch of monsters. This happens five times, different and more powerful monsters each time, with the fifth bunch Baal's Minions, monsters that are seen nowhere else in the game. | Once you kill off that pack, their bodies vanish but leave a lot of blood, Baal laughs constantly, and then spawns another huge glowing orb which crashes down and releases a bunch of monsters. This happens five times, different and more powerful monsters each time, with the fifth bunch Baal's Minions, monsters that are seen nowhere else in the game. | ||
Baal's Guardians, in order of appearance. | Baal's Guardians, in order of appearance. Note that the packs appear in order of the acts of the game; Fallen are an Act One monster, Greater Mummies are from Act Two, and so on. | ||
* [[Image:Quests-a5-q6-boss-colenzo.jpg|Colenzo the Annihilator]] -- Fallen Shaman | |||
* [[Image:Quests-a5-q6-boss-achmel.jpg|Achmel the Cursed]] -- Greater Mummy | |||
* [[Image:Quests-a5-q6-boss-bartuc.jpg|Bartuc the Bloody]] -- High Council | |||
* [[Image:Quests-a5-q6-boss-ventar.jpg|Ventar the Unholy]] -- Balrog | |||
* [[Image:Quests-a5-q6-boss-lister.jpg|Lister the Tormenter]] -- Baal's Minions | |||
One major issue with these packs is the computer lag when they load. Early in the beta it was very bad, with several seconds of lag on your end as your computer loaded in the monster graphics. If you were right where they appeared, you could be killed before you were able to move at all. This was improved in v1.08, and the lag was backloaded, so it came up after each battle, when Baal was laughing and vanishing the corpses. After v1.09 the lag was largely removed, and these days, thanks to computers in 2008 being so much more powerful than they were in 2001 when the game was new, the lag in this area isn't an issue. | |||
One major issue with these packs is the computer lag when they load. Early in the beta it was very bad, with several seconds of lag on your end as your computer loaded in the monster graphics. If you were right where they appeared, you could be killed before you were able to move at all. This was improved in v1.08, and the lag was backloaded, so it came up after | |||
After you kill all the packs Baal laughs some more, then vanishes down the portal behind his throne. You follow him down and enter a small room with the enormous Worldstone looming in the middle of the area. It's very graphically impressive. Baal is less so, and dies very quickly if there is any Static Field in the area. He doesn't attack that quickly, but does have some interesting spell effects not seen anywhere else in the game, and can even duplicate himself. | After you kill all the packs Baal laughs some more, then vanishes down the portal behind his throne. You follow him down and enter a small room with the enormous Worldstone looming in the middle of the area. It's very graphically impressive. Baal is less so, and dies very quickly if there is any Static Field in the area. He doesn't attack that quickly, but does have some interesting spell effects not seen anywhere else in the game, and can even duplicate himself. | ||
Once Baal is down and his death animation, the orbiting spirits light show ends, Tyrael descends from overhead and hovers. And glows, and pontificates in his usual pompous fashion. | Once Baal is down and his death animation, the orbiting spirits light show ends, Tyrael descends from overhead and hovers. And glows, and pontificates in his usual pompous fashion. | ||
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''May the Eternal Light shine upon you and your descendants for what you've done this day. The continued survival of mankind if your legacy. Above all else, you have earned a rest from the endless battle."</blockquote> | ''May the Eternal Light shine upon you and your descendants for what you've done this day. The continued survival of mankind if your legacy. Above all else, you have earned a rest from the endless battle."</blockquote> | ||
Once Tyrael has delivered this rather unsettling message, he opens a red portal. The screen shakes and keeps shaking worse and worse, and chunks of crystal keep spinning by, moving up or down. When you click on the portal you pop to the new Congratulations screen, and after that view the final cinematic. In it Tyrael does indeed destroy the WorldStone, which is somewhat of a surprise. Many people suspected from the Act Five info during the beta (which did not include the new Cinematics) that it wasn't really Tyrael, and was instead a trick of Baal's, or by one of the other Lesser Evils, such as Belial, to get control of the Worldstone themselves. Apparently the game plot was much more straight-forward than some of us suspected. | [[Image:Quests-a5-q6-congrats.jpg|frame|thumb|250px|New Congratulations Render]]Once Tyrael has delivered this rather unsettling message, he opens a red portal. The screen shakes and keeps shaking worse and worse, and chunks of crystal keep spinning by, moving up or down. When you click on the portal you pop to the new Congratulations screen, and after that view the final cinematic. In it Tyrael does indeed destroy the WorldStone, which is somewhat of a surprise. Many people suspected from the Act Five info during the beta (which did not include the new Cinematics) that it wasn't really Tyrael, and was instead a trick of Baal's, or by one of the other Lesser Evils, such as Belial, to get control of the Worldstone themselves. Apparently the game plot was much more straight-forward than some of us suspected. | ||
If you've already killed Baal, Tyrael doesn't appear, and you don't get the red portal. | If you've already killed Baal, Tyrael doesn't appear, and you don't get the red portal. | ||
'''Titles:''' Characters gain new titles in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction for defeating Baal. Converted characters may already have the Normal or Nightmare title, based on how for they had gotten in Diablo II. | |||
Characters gain new titles in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction for defeating Baal. Converted characters may already have the Normal or Nightmare title, based on how for they had gotten in Diablo II. | |||
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