Any thoughts on how my Paladin can defeat Mephisto? I can't get near him without his lightning spell nearly killing me. I tried a bow and the same thing happened. I can't seem to be out of his range and still use the bow. Any hirelings die almost immediately and are no help.

I am maxed out on lightning resistance but sometimes he gets me with cold and I can't run.

You should probably stock up on thaw, restore, heal and mana potions. Make sure that you have your belt well stocked.

And good luck, Diablo 2 boss monsters are way tougher than the other opponents.

Wish I could help, but I never played a Paladin that far into the game. What I usually do, though, is do some damage, then run down the left side of that big room, he wont follow you all the way down. Heal up there and go back...you should also have your town portal down there ready to use. If he's freezing you, use the thaw potions from your quickslot, like Pib suggested.

It was a grueling battle, but I finally got him. I went after him with melee and a lot of potions. I found that he will go all the way to the stairs to the second level, which worked for me. I could just beat on him and run up the stairs to heal. It took quite a few potions and I made a mistake of using a portal back to town for more. He healed up while I was gone! I came back with nearly a whole inventory full of different potions, though he seemed to use mainly poison. I did a lot better the second round and didn't use many of the potions. Nice to be in Pandemonium Fortress and Act IV.

Hi all,

Hey Pib....do you mean the map that you press the letter M to get? It is faint enough to see through as you walk all over the place????

If this isn't the one then which one is it?

My map covers the whole screen so I don't think of it as a mini map.

Well played my Necromancer yesterday and he is ready to go into the Valley of the Magi so will now continue with the others to get them to that point.

Wow Pokey you are really moving right along.

Yes, if you are playing expansion, you can go to the options screen and set it as mini map. It's smaller and moves to the right corner. While the normal one is see through, I was finding it annoying. This one is much better for me.

Pokey isn't just poking along!

If Pokey left a tiny bit of Mephisto to regenerate, he is mine tomorrow. I found the last portal in Act 3 and will go in to meet my doom.

Mephisto is tough. Sparkfist is too. the others you don't need to worry about.

I'd like a minimap. I do toggle the brightness of the map so it doesn't interfere as much.

After ACT IV you'll have to install the expansion to go on. Then you can set the mini-map option.

Disaster! I just lost nearly all my good stuff. I died on the Plain of Disaster and figured I had a spare helmet and shield, so I would try a run in and grab my body. I thought I could only lose those two pieces, but I ended up losing my great plate armour. gaunlets, boots, belt and worst of all, my rings. I went from an attack rating of 550 to 163. My mistake was getting to my body and grabbing it only to die again. I can buy some replacement armor and equipment but I can't replace those great rings. I am hating this save system even more.

I also found that I can't use my shield since it has a requirement of 76 strength and I only have 70. I do have a helmet that has a -20% requirements. I don't understand why I shouldn't be able to use the shield.

Hi all,

Oh Thank You Pib. I will have to go see if I can set my map to mini because it is annoying with the other one.

The same thing happened with one of my chain mail chest pieces. I must have been wearing something that brought up the numbers so I could wear it but when I died and picked up the same armor again, I couldn't wear it until the numbers went up again. I may have changed my rings or weapon or something to change the numbers.

Sometimes this same type of thing happens when you are a certain level but you still can't use the skill even though it has your level number. Hmmm.

Well my Druid almost got the Summoner in the Sancuary area but died before he could so have to work our way back to try again. Sigh.

I found that if I equipped a sword that had a +9 strength, that let me use the shield. Then I unequip the sword and replace it with another, I can keep the shield even though I don't meet the requirememts. Sneaky.

What does -20% requirements mean?

Hoping to find some magic items to replace the ones I lost. I hadn't died in a long time--since the Great Marsh and forgot how it worked. If you go out to claim your body, make sure you have enough space in your inventory to hold all the equipment. It isn't equipped automatically.

Pokey, I'm not sure on this but I think the -% requirement allows you to equip other stuff at a lower requirement for strength/dexterity etc.

BTW, I don't really recommend ever going back for your corpse if you die, just remember to keep most of your cash in your stash and just "save and exit game" when you die to spawn back in town with all your stuff. Going back to your corpse is almost certain death.

Schwab, that's what I thought, but I am at 70 strength, have a helmet with -20% reqirements and am not allowed to use a shield with a requirement of 76.

I agree. I won't be going back for my body again. I assumed something which wasn't true and paid for it.

I defeated Izual. He chased me from the Plain of Despair to the fortress, so I fought him on the stairs, going up to heal when needed.

Whew, what a morning. Took out Mephisto in one go, then removed Izual as well. I seem to be much lower in restore potions. I had several full restores before Mephiso and none after.

As an assassin, my best strategy is a) use traps to clear the area of lesser but annoying enemies.

Then for the main dude the left and right clicks are for dragon claw and cobra strike. A couple of cobra strikes then a dragon claw to replenish life and mana.

Now where is the waypoint in the city of the damned? There are some tough opponents just inside the door.

That's the waypoint I am looking for. I heard it is close to the entrance.

In my game, it's right next to the entrance to the next level. Convenient, they killed me close to Hellforge but I hadn't found a waypoint on that level yet. So it's good I don't have to fight my way through the city to go back.

I think that there is a mob of 30-40 monsters waiting at the forge. Be ready for another epic battle when you get there.

I haven't found it yet and I have done half of this area. I keep running back to the stairs, but a couple big tough things chased me all the way down and I had to portal back to the fort for a breather. I don't think I dare try using that portal to go back. They are probably waiting for me.

Yeah, you can tell it's finale time. The opposition is getting bigger badder and meaner than ever.

Soul stone destroyed. They tell me it's time for Diablo himself.

I'm only level 26, I feel too puny to deal with the biggest demon of them all!

[add]I was right, I can't even get to the things I have to destroy to summon Diablo[/add]

Level 28 - I have summoned Diablo. I have died for my sins. Now I'll have to work my way back from the start of the area...hopefully the seals are still opened though.

I'm still at the entrance to the River of Flame, hanging around the waypoint gaining experience so I can use a gold label weapon that requires 76 strength. I just reached level 27. Did some gambling and got two good rings to help my resistance.

Let me put it this way. Everything up to the waypoint at River of Flame needs to be only mildly difficult (pay attention to those hit points!) before you're ready to move into Diablo's territory. They've really pumped up the action for that last assault. I've only died once from Diablo, but multiple times from just going to the Citadel and trying to go for Diablo. Then I go somewhere else for a bit for more training.

The monsters are frequently in large groups in this last bit. And you must open 5 seals to open Diablo's seal. Three of the 5 seals introduce large groups of demons with a pretty hefty demon in charge.

I destroyed the soulstone at the forge. Took me all day yesterday to go from the River of Flame waypoint to the forge. I died many times and had to redo all the areas I had already done. Very slow slogging and not much fun. Sounds like it only gets worse in the next section with no waypoint. Did you have to do the seals again? Of course I'm sure all the monsters reappeared to be killed again.

There is a waypoint just before you start the final assault. However, it is a long haul in with many monsters on the way. Yes, you have to open the seals ever time. I've only seen Diablo once, and died multiple times. It is getting to be no fun though. Fight fight - heal - fight fight - oops dead. Repeat. And expensive, the hirelings costs 16000 a shot to bring back now.