Alright so yesterday I decided to knock out Act 5 in Diablo 2, finally. Figured I’d share the messy process since those main quests? Gotta do ’em all to finish the act, obviously. Just four key things, but boy do they pack a punch sometimes.
First Thing: Siege on Harrogath
Logged in, ported straight to Harrogath. Talked to Larzuk, the blacksmith dude. He gives you this quest right away to defend the friggin’ gates. Sounds simple: kill the siege beasts attacking the walls. Ran out the front gate like an idiot – BAM! Got swarmed instantly by a pack of those nasty Yetis and goatmen archers. Screen flooded red with damage numbers. Panic-drank like three health pots. Backtracked real quick to let the barbarian guards take some hits. Basically spent 10 minutes running back and forth along the wall, nuking monsters with my Frozen Orb, feeling more like a janitor cleaning up trash mobs than a hero. Cleared the waves, gates held. Larzuk grunts, impressed. Done.
Second Thing: Rescue the Barbarians
Went up to Qual-Kehk next, the barbarian war chief fella. His people are captured, held in these ice caves. Needed to hit three prisons. Easy enough to find the caves marked on the map. Big mistake: I rushed in. Those Arreat Plateau caves? Pure mayhem. Dark, cramped corridors filled with those little demon imps spitting fire and those giant armored guys with huge axes – Death Maulers? Yeah, nasty. Died once trying to facetank a boss pack near the first prison gate. Lost some gold. Respawned, played smarter: pulled enemies back, let my merc tank. Found a prison gate, smashed it, barbarians busted out cheering. Rinse and repeat for the other two prisons. Took maybe 30 minutes of finger-cramping clicks and potion gulps. Third prison had some nasty lightning enchanted boss I barely nuked down. Felt good seeing the barbs free.
Third Thing: The Relic of the Ancients
Cain told me to find this relic piece. Headed into the frigid highlands. Found Nihlathak’s little hut – creepy guy. Skipped his side quest drama for now. Trekked through the crystaline passage next. Bright but deadly. More goatmen, those annoying vultures, and then… the Frozen River. Huge, wide-open space crawling with skeleton archers, mages, and those godawful Gloams zapping lightning from miles away. Died TWICE here. Screen filled with so much chaos it looked like visual noise. Finally found the damned Arreat Summit WP. Took breaths. Then climbed up to the summit itself. Ah, the Ancients. Three big barb guys you gotta kill. Prep time! Towned back, filled belt with full rejuvs, repaired gear. This fight’s brutal solo. Spawned them – Korlic, Talic, Madawc. Immediately got whirlwinded into oblivion. Second try: kited them like mad, focused fire one at a time, chugged pots like my life depended on it (it did). Finally killed the last one. Grabbed the big, glowy Arreat Relic. Achievement unlocked? Felt like it.
Fourth Thing: Baal. Just… Baal.
Final hurdle. Relic opened the Worldstone Keep. Started descending. Five chaotic floors. The Keep Levels are no joke – cramped, dark rooms flooded with souls, venom lords, oblivion knights casting curses, those annoying snakes. Slow going, clearing room by room, hunting stairs. Merc died constantly, cost me 50k gold rezzing him. Finally hit Level 3. Throne Room. Waved after wave of minions Baal sends. Had to fight:
- Lister’s wave – tanky oblivion knights.
- Those skeleton mages flooding the floor with fire.
- Achmel the Cursed’s pack – pure chaos.
By the final wave, potions were low, mana almost gone, finger aching. Cleared it… doors opened. Went down the red portal. Baal’s Lair. Straight tunnel to the big man himself. Nerves kicked in. Charged in. He teleports, casts clones, summons tentacles. Screen flooded with effects. Kept getting frozen. Merc died early. Was just panic-spamming Frozen Orb, Teleporting frantically, drinking the last of my pots. Died ONCE near the end – had to run back naked for my corpse. Second time? Played super careful, dodged like mad. Took ages, chipping away at his huge health bar. Final hit landed… he exploded. Quest log updated – Act 5 complete. Phew. Town portal, saved and quit. Hands shaking slightly.
Whole thing took… maybe 2 hours? Felt longer. Messy, frustrating, chaotic at times. But hey, those four things? Done. Onwards to Nightmare!