Defeating Baal . . .

[TDurden]

Defeating Baal . . .

Greetings - I'm about to meet Baal in Act 5 (not the first time but it is a chore to beat him to death with my Barbarian) and among the tips for fighting Baal it was mentioned that Baal "folds" fast in the presence of a static field.

So we are talking about what . . . a Nova from armour, lightning strikes, bolts of electricity like from rings when they are struck? Anyone familiar with that?

I'd be nice to have some of that if it works good against Baal.

Thanks, TDurden

PS The exact words from the Quests Act Five page are " . . . [Baal] . . dies very quickly if there is any Static Field in the area."

Thanks, that clears it up I think. So since my character is a Barbarian I'll have to look for a weapon that is Imbued I'd guess ya'd say with that ability.

 

[Dii Legend]

Re: Defeating Baal . . .

Static is a sorceress skill that reduces his life rather quickly, allowing for the rest of the group to finish him off more easily. Static should take him down to about 1/4 health, then the sorceress will use any one of her normal attracks on him.

 

[Noodle]

Re: Defeating Baal . . .

Static Field as in the sorceress skill, or that found as a chance to cast skill on Stormlash, for example. In Hell, a few casts will nearly instantly take Baal's life down to half. In previous versions, such as 1.07, it can be used to kill an opponent but in the current version it will only take away half the critter's life in Hell.

 

[snickersnack]

Re: Defeating Baal . . .

Thanks, that clears it up I think. So since my character is a Barbarian I'll have to look for a weapon that is Imbued I'd guess ya'd say with that ability.

Not many items have that. Stormlash and Crescentmoon (runeword) are the only weapons I can think of right now. Hwanin's Refuge (set item) casts level 3 static when struck, so that might work for you.

 

[jhtvman]

Re: Defeating Baal . . .

The melee equivalent to static field is crushing blow. It reduces enemy health by a certain percentage (don't remember the specifics per difficulty/enemy type) every time you land it. The best way to give Baal a whooping with a melee character is to stack up your crushing blow by finding items with a % chance of it, and to get your attack rating as high as you can to improve your chance to hit.

 

[Noodle]

Re: Defeating Baal . . .

Yeah, any combination of Crushflange (mace), Goblin Toes (boots), and Guillaume's Face (hat, spelled correctly) will give ample crushing blow, and drop far more frequently than Storm Lash.

 

[snickersnack]

Re: Defeating Baal . . .

:doh:

Yeah, it's easy to make Strength (amn-tir in a melee weapon) and whack him with that a dozen or so times before finishing him with your normal weapon.

 

[krischan]

Re: Defeating Baal . . .

Not many items have that. Stormlash and Crescentmoon (runeword) are the only weapons I can think of right now. Hwanin's Refuge (set item) casts level 3 static when struck, so that might work for you.

Schaefer's Hammer casts static as well, but that's a pretty rare weapon. I found more Stormlashes which is quite rare as well and it's the better weapon anyway.

 

[TDurden]

Re: Defeating Baal . . .

Thank you all very much . . . really appreciate the suggestions.

You all humble me with the knowledge you have. Although I've been playing D2X/LOD for a number of years, its only been the last few weeks that I've become a member of DWiki and the amount of information is considerable to say the least.

Making the Steel (AmnTir) runeword sounds appealing. I think I already have the Tir part. I could go back and smoke The Countess a few times and see what turns up. Always nice to visit old neighbourhoods, lol. Then find a two socket mace since the mace is my weapon of choice this build.

I had a staff with lightning bolt or charge or something attribute but tossed it 'cause it cost so much to charge. Would that have worked? Or does it have to specifically state static?

Truly, TDurden

 

[Noodle]

Re: Defeating Baal . . .

It would have to specifically state Static Field. I don't believe I've ever seen charges of it on an item, but neither do I believe I've actually looked for it. Are you playing on the realms? Single Player?

 

[cralz]

Re: Defeating Baal . . .

It would have to specifically state Static Field. I don't believe I've ever seen charges of it on an item, but neither do I believe I've actually looked for it. Are you playing on the realms? Single Player?

To clarify: Static Field charges can't appear on an item.

 

[Are]

Re: Defeating Baal . . .

You definitely do not need Static Field to kill Baal. The only character I've ever used Static Field with is a Sorceress (since she actually has the skill). I'd wager most people do not go out of their way to find any source of Static Field for non-Sorceress characters.

Baal can take a long time to kill for untwinked characters, since you'll be frozen most of the time. It's still very much possible to do so with only the items you find during play

 

[zarniwoop]

Re: Defeating Baal . . .

As a barbarian, all you need is crushing blow and you will make fast work of baal.

 

[TDurden]

Re: Defeating Baal . . .

Well . . . I ended up killing Baal rather easily and my merc didn't even die. Had lots of Rev potions and bailed back to town when things got too tough I think it was twice.

I looked for Amn and Tir for Strength but no luck . . . so I just went toe to toe with Baal and used Concentrate and Frenzy on'em. Frenzy seemed to work best oddly . . . and I'd beefed up my resistances enough so that Fire and Electric were maxed at 75, and I had half freeze too.

Baal dropped the BoneSnap Maul when he crumpled . . . we were talking about crushing blows . . . and BoneSnapper has a 40% chance. So I have something for Baal at the end of Hell lvl . . . pretty coincidental . . . ha ha ha.

Thanks everyone. It worked out well and everyone's input helped a lot.

BTW, I'm playing on the Realms.