When I first read the rumors on these forums that there was no limit to the number of Hellfire Torches one could hold in their inventory (in all actuality you can only care 1), I first thought how quickly they’d be farmed and abused. Well, I now realize that they probably will be, but it’s going to take a devoted group of experienced players to do so.
This “quest” is best done by a diverse team, but you don’t need a massive party to do it.
Objective 1: Obtaining Keys
In order to do anything on the 1.11 “quest” you first need keys. Special keys. See the table below for key spawning:
- Key of Terror – The Countess (Act 1, Tower Cellar 5)
- Key of Hate – The Summoner (Act 2, Arcane Sanctuary)
- Key of Destruction – Nihlathalk (Act 5, Halls of Vaught)
Keys are much more common than any other individual item, but it can still take numerous runs to spawn one. Have one team member constantly do runs until you find one key of each (sorcs or nigma’d hammerdans are favorable for this, obviously). Once you have one of each key, put them all in the cube (while in act 5) and it’ll open a portal to one of three random levels. All three levels must be completed in order to move on in the “quest.”
Three Levels
The Matron’s Den
This is the large labyrinth were the sought after Lilith resides. It’s done the same style as the Tower Cellar, and features the same tight corridors and halls. You might get lucky and Lilith may spawn in an open area, but most likely she’ll be at a bad location. Because of the hallways Hammerdains have little effect. A crushing blow smiter is the best bet for a quick-ish sort of win over her. From what I could tell, she’s magic absorb and relies heavily on poison/physical damage. Good def and resists will make her a whole lot easier.
- Artifact: Diablo’s Horn
The Forgotten Dunes
A wide open desert where you’ll quickly be assaulted by an uber Duriel clone. Like the original, Duriel relies heavily on cold and physical attacks, so stacked cold resists and good def will make you nearly invulnerable to her. Not to mention, magic damage cuts right through him, so Hammerdains can just sit back and slam away with their hammers. Unlike The Matron’s Den, it’s fairly easily to avoid the other monsters in the level.
- Artifact: Baal’s Eye
Furnace of Pain
I don’t think I remember the correct name for this level, but it doesn’t matter much since as soon as you enter this level you’re brought to a vast landscape similar to the River of Flame, and chock full of Act 4 baddies. Mull around until you encounter the uber Izual and get your ass kicked by him a bit. He appeared to be magic absorb, so Hammerdans have no real use other than to protect the other party members from the various other minions in the level. Like with Lilith, it appears a Crushing Blow Smiter is the quickest win, but if you can lure him into a good position meteor sorcs and other elemental attackers can wear him down.
- Artifact: Mephisto’s Brain
Uber Tristram
Once you have all the brother’s artifacts it’s time to go to Act 5 and transmute them. You’re rewarded by a portal that opens to a hellish Tristram with enough firepower contained in it to make you cry. Things start out simple with just uber versions of the three brothers: Meph, Diablo and Baal. Diablo is just like the Uber D that drops anni’s and is linked to the world event, so I won’t get into him too much. In addition, Baal isn’t changed much from the version you see at the end of Act 5, with the exception of a bit more life. Both are easily taken care of by a Smiter or Zealot. Meph, however, has emerged as the biggest baddie of them all. He has a nasty Conviction Aura that brought my stacked hell resists down to -45 when they’re normally maxed. Not to mention he’s lightning enchanted and has an godly-powerful physical attack. If that’s not bad enough, he’s absorbs magic, so hammers are all but totally useless. To take him, you pretty much need life tap and a lot of crushing blow/deadly strike.
The kicker here is that all three summon minions that come out of the ground. This means that using something like Nature’s Peace that stops monsters from being resurrected will stop the minions, the brothers will just summon more. However, it is crucial that you do wear something with Prevent Monster Heal, so keeping a NP ring in your inventory for when you actually hit a boss is a good idea. Once you kill all three, the charm drops in addition to a bunch of “standards of heroes,” which doesn’t appear to have any real use other than to stop people from immeadily picking up the Torch or using pickit (once a 1.11 version is released) to get the Torch over their party-mates.
Party Suggestions
1. Smiter/Zealot – Either works. Pretty much, they just need to have a ton of Crushing Clow and Deadly Strike, with good resists and a lot of defense. It’s also crucial that they have a life tap wand otherwise they’ll be made short work of against the brothers.
2. “Medic” Paladain – A variation of the Smiter/Zealot, a Paladain who’s whole purpose is to stop your party from falling victim to the bosses enchantments and strengths. It’s vital to have a few points in Salvation to overcome Meph’s conviction, and points in other skills like Meditation are nice. From an offensive standpoint, they should have a lot of Crushing Blow and zeal but can sacrifice some damage for +skills to enhance their party defensive abilities.
3. Infinity Lightning Sorc – A lightning sorc with an infinity merc is without a doubt one of the stronger builds in the game and can prove to be a vital part of completing the quest. With teleport they can easily do runs to get keys and also have some nice skills to use against the bosses.
4. WW/BO Barb – A good BO is crucial! The bosses can deal out a lot more damage than most players are used to, so it’s important that you have a higher max life so you don’t die in one hit and let life tap do its thing. WW is a nice little trick to keep the summoned minions at bay while your team mates work on the bosses.
5. Hammerdian – I just had to include them because they pretty much run the game outside of this quest, but still have use when taking on this new endeavor. They’re outstanding against the summoned minions in Uber Trist, so if the red portal gets camped you can just send a few hammers in and clear it fast. Other than that most of the major bosses have magic absorb or magic resists.
The Hellfire’s Torch
Like the annihilus, it can’t be lifted into the trade window. However, at only twice the inventory space it has stats that make it much godlier than the anni.
Dropped by: Pandemonium Diablo.
