February 2024 – Ms. Bella's World

4–6 minutes

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve taken you through the world of Sanctuary. From the rogue’s camp to the Sisters’ monastery in Act I, through the dry and hot lands surrounding Lut Gholein in Act II, and onward to the dense jungles of Kurast in Act III, we’ve seen sights both wondrous and horrifying.

Yet it was all eclipsed by the sheer strangeness of Act IV. Upon entering the Burning Hells, I found myself in the only safe area, known as the Pandemonium Fortress. The Archangel Tyrael was there, greeting me like an old friend and thanking me for my help in Act II before assigning me my first task – to track down and defeat his old lieutenant, the angel Izual.

So off I went to track down this fallen angel, only to find myself in a place twisted and full of torment and pain.

Through an area dotted with the remnants of ruined structures and fissures shooting fire, I headed, killing whatever stood in my way. Before long, I found myself within the Plains of Despair, the area where Izual had been imprisoned after a foolish attempt to assault the Hellforge. It wasn’t hard to locate the fallen angel, who had long since been shackled within a horrendous demonic form.

He was quite challenging to beat, as his cold attacks did quite a bit of damage and I had foolishly swapped out for items more suitable to fire resistance. I died. My hired companion died more than once. Yet, after digging through my inventory for something that would provide me with defenses against cold damage, I was finally able to withstand his assaults and defeat him.

Freed from the twisted body he’d been imprisoned in, surely he would have thanked us for our help? Instead, he tells us that it was he who’d told Diablo about the soulstones and how to corrupt them and that humanity was doomed. Well then, you’re welcome.

One task down, two to go.

Next up was to find the Hellforge and destroy Mephisto’s soulstone. This required a trip through one of the most disturbing areas of Hell – the City of the Damned. Once a city, the effects of hell are quite clearly on display: ruined buildings fallen to rubble, pavement smashed and uneven, leaving gaps in the ground where the River of Flame could be seen.

Yet it was the tormented souls that made the area so unsettling. Some were partially engulfed in the ground, some were chained, most were missing limbs or other body parts. All of them emitted despair as they were punished for all eternity for whatever sins they’d committed to earn their spot. Even the various mobs I fought were tame compared to those souls that would never again know peace.

After fighting my way through, finding the waypoint and the entrance to the next area, I was more than ready to leave the damned behind. I could do nothing for them, though I harbored a small hope that defeating Diablo might free them of their torment.

Still, I was now at the River of Flame and the Hellforge was surely close by. Mephisto’s end was close. There was the matter of defeating the guardian of the forge – a demon named Hephasto. This one was an interesting fight but, more so, an interesting character.

Having once been a weaponsmith to Inarius, Hephasto was corrupted by Mephisto. He rose through Mephisto’s ranks becoming his top armorer and manning the Hellforge. And while other Overlords were jealous of his place at the forge, none dared challenge him else they’d face his wrath and probably be used in whatever creations he was forging.

Once again he was a challenge to defeat, but defeat him I did and, claiming his forge hammer, I made quick work of destroying Mephisto’s soulstone. Perhaps, in some small way, I avenged Hephasto of Mephisto’s corruption in the process. Who knows? They were both gone.

One Prime Evil down, another to go. It was time to face Diablo.

The River of Flame seemed to go on forever before I finally reached my destination – the Chaos Sanctuary. With my waypoint lying back in the River, I forged ever forward … after making certain I had plenty of town portal scrolls, should I need them. Spoiler: I did.

Once within the Sanctuary, I faced numerous demons, strong and fast for they were Diablo’s elite force. Slowly I made my way through them to my goal – the inner sanctum and Diablo himself.

He was a fight! I had maxed out my fire resistance, yet my other resistances not so much. It would prove to make the battle much more challenging as the Lord of Terror came with an arsenal of attacks. Many were fire based but he also had lightning attacks and at least one cold attack. Good thing I’d had to fight Izual earlier for I was somewhat prepared for that! The lightning, however, would be my downfall multiple times before I found an item that boosted my resistance enough to withstand the battle.

I definitely made use of those town portal scrolls, but at last, Diablo was defeated. It was over.

And then the epilogue played. We were back with the old man, Marius, who believing he spoke with Tyrael, gave him the final soulstone, that of Baal. Only then do we discover that the hooded figure is indeed Baal himself, who proceeds to kill Marius. The sight of the Prime Evil leaving, trailing fire behind him was chilling, and rivaled the ending of the first game.

It is here we end our tale as, despite owning the expansion, I’ve never played it. An oversight I believe it’s time to address. After all, can I truly say I’ve beaten the game with Baal still out there? I think not.

However, having looked back on the game, I am reminded of why Diablo II was, and probably still is, my favorite aRPG of all time. The people working at Blizzard North were genuinely passionate about the game and it showed.

Until next time, bye for now!

2–4 minutes

Well, good morning!

Where did we leave off last week? Ahh, Act III of Diablo II.

Upon entering the jungle kingdom of Kehjistan. Finding myself amidst the ruins of what was once the city of Kurast, I knew I had to track down the final soulstone that kept Mephisto imprisoned. But where to start? The locals were helpful, so long as I helped them. Fair enough.

Among all the areas in the game, this was one of the most memorable. The city was being reclaimed by dense jungle, though hints of its past glory still dotted the landscape. From the stone docks where I arrived, I journeyed inward, discovering a world within the world of Sanctuary. Remnants of stone roads peeked through grass, mud, and roots, while ruins of tall, proud buildings stood testament to what was once a sprawling city.

And around every corner lurked danger. Whether from the vulture-like winged nightmares or the fanatical flayers, a pygmy race we encountered previously in the cathedral of the Sisters in Act I, I had to watch my surroundings carefully to avoid certain death.

Even worse perils lay hidden in underground lairs and the sewers snaking beneath the crumbling city. All of which I had to explore in order to fulfill the wishes of the people while advancing my own goal of reaching Mephisto. And to do that, I needed to recover more than mere relics. I had to track down the remains of a man named Khalim.

But why him?

It turned out that after Mephisto was imprisoned beneath the earth, he managed to corrupt the Zakarum priests. All but one – Khalim. Failing to corrupt him, Mephisto instead had the other priests kill him and tear him apart, scattering his remains across the kingdom.

A horrid way to die, indeed.

However, his will was not broken, and his spirit remained with his body parts. And it was his will I would need to break into the Temple of Light and enter Mephisto’s lair.

The search took me throughout the kingdom in search of the man’s eye, heart, brain, and his flail. A few times I found myself near death. Okay, more than a few times. However, through perseverance, I finally managed to assemble what remained of the priest. Each time, I returned to the docks to show Deckard Cain what I’d found, and he would explain what it symbolized. Each time he urged me to go faster, for we were running short on time.

Finally, I had them and, with the Horadric Cube, I combined them into a flail that could destroy the Compelling Orb blocking the way to Mephisto. Destroying it also had the effect of instilling fear into the Zakarum, as it was the orb that stoked their hatred.

Once inside, I headed to the chamber that housed Mephisto, whowas no small challenge to kill. In fact, I’m quite certain he killed me more than once before I was able to succeed, as he had a wide variety of elemental and ranged skills in his arsenal. Mephisto himself was a terror to behold, a skeletal form, partially clothed in muscles, with misshapen hands and sickly protrusions.

Yet, while he was difficult to destroy, and I celebrated my victory, he would be easy compared to the next battle I’d have to face – that of Diablo himself. And for that, I would have to step into Act IV and the Burning Hells.

But, we’ll save that for next week.

Until then, bye for now!