Nihlathak is the Judas of the Barbarian tribe, a traitor to his people and a collaborator with Baal who you must hunt down and destroy in the Halls of Vaught, the third level of the Halls, reached through the red portal beside Anya in Act Five.
Nihlathak is a summoner, and he presides over a vast mob of Fire Minions and uses them as his weapons. He has no melee strikes at all, and casts only a low-damage Arctic Blast for direct damage. The danger from Nihlathak is from his use of the Necromancer's Corpse Explosion skill, with which he can detonate the corpses of fallen monsters. These explosions hit characters for huge fire and physical damage, and prior to being nerfed a bit in v1.09, Nihlathak was about the single most dangerous monster in Act Five. Hardcore characters virtually never risked him, and only very high hit point builds, such as Druids teamed with Barbarians, felt safe risking his 1000+ damage Corpse Explosions.
Nihlathak remains somewhat dangerous in v1.11, but the damage and radius of his Corpse Explosion has been reduced to reasonable levels, and he's now killable by any character type, and ranged attackers, Bowazons especially, can put him down without ever entering the danger zone of his Corpse Explosion range.
Skills that destroy corpses are helpful to employ around him, especially if they can be used from some distance, such as some of the Druid's Vines, or the Paladin's Redemption. Necromancers can have the most fun, fighting fire with fire by using their own Corpse Explosion skill. Items that grant "Slain Monsters Rest in Peace" such as the Nature's Peace Unique Ring, are also useful.
Cold attacks can also help by shattering the corpses, but the Ice Spawn that surround Nihlathak are immune to cold in Hell, so can not be shattered on that difficulty level.
Nihlathak's skills:
- Summon Minion -- Nihlathak will summon up a new minion periodically, during a long battle. The second you kill it, he'll usually hit the body with Corpse Explosion.
- Minion Frenzy -- Nihlathak can drive his minions into a frenzy, causing them to charge and attack at an increased rate of speed.
- Corpse Explosion -- Blam. 60-100% of the monster's full hit points are released as 50/50 fire/physical damage.
- Arctic Blast -- A chilling column of frost; same as the Druid skill.
- Teleport -- Nihlathak moves short distances during the battle, usually when besieged by melee attackers. He does not heal when he teleports.
Vales listed below are sorted by difficulty level: Normal / Nightmare / Hell.
| Statistics | Defenses |
|---|---|
Nihlathak's damage comes from his |
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