Terror’s End is a quest in Act 4. You must defeat Diablo to finish the game or move on to Act 5.
| Given: | Given by Tyrael after destroying Mephisto’s Soulstone. |
|---|---|
| Triggered By: | Finishing Quest One, or entering the Chaos Sanctuary |
| Location: | The Chaos Sanctuary |
| Tips: | Enter the Chaos Sanctuary and break the Seals. |
| Description: | Tyrael tells you that the time has come to hunt down and destroy Diablo himself. But beware, the Lord of Terror is not to be underestimated. He single-handedly destroyed the town of Tristram and corrupted the last noble hero who tried to stop him. This time, you must defeat him for good. Only by destroying the Soulstone which he carries will his spirit be banished forever. Good luck. Though this be our darkest hour, it may yet be your greatest moment. |
| Rewards: | None, other than finishing the game and gaining you a new title in Diablo II. In the Expansion it allows you to progress to Act Five. |
If you already have the River of Flame Waypoint, use it to jump forward. Otherwise, head north through the River of Flame to eventually come across the Chaos Sanctuary. Diablo’s house is shaped like a cross, with three wings that you need to fight through to the north, east, and west. Each of these wings has one or two seals that you need to interact with. Be careful though as some of those seals will spawn a mini-boss and his minions. You need to click on all five seals and kill the three mini-bosses to spawn Diablo, so you might as well get started.
Each of the three mini-bosses presents its own problem, though the Grand Vizier of Chaos is generally thought to be the weakest. The Infector of Souls is often the toughest of the trio because reaching his seal puts you into something of a chokehold. Then, you’re attacked by extra fast demons who can cast Inferno. Without being able to use your mobility to your advantage, you can quickly die from their attacks. Lord de Seis is also pretty gnarly because he usually spawns with the Fanaticism aura, which increases the group’s damage and Seis’ attack speed and attack rating. Thankfully, they’re much slower than The Infector of Souls’ group, so you can run from them as needed.
All of them pale in comparison to Diablo himself. He has a host of abilities that can quickly take you out; however, on normal difficulty, you really want to watch out for the Red Lightning Hose. Some of this damage can be mitigated by fire and lightning resistance, so make sure to maximize those stats before taking him on. Thankfully, Diablo has a tell for this attack. Just before casting it, he’ll raise both hands into the air, giving you a split second to run past him and dodge out of the way.
One key piece of general advice is to drop a Town Portal in one of the three wings where you find seals. Diablo doesn’t really come to these locations, so you can use them with relative safety. Make heavy use of this as you’ll likely need to return to town a few times to refill potions. If you try to drop a TP in Diablo’s inner sanctum, he’ll use a bone prison on it and be able to attack you freely for a few seconds. Because you can’t heal during that time, you may die quickly. Just maximize your resistances, get as much blocking as possible, and pick your battles. Eventually, you’ll take him down.
With Diablo finished, grab your loot and head back to town. After speaking with Deckard Cain and Tyrael, you can walk through the portal to Harrogath and Act V.
The Seals that release the Seal Bosses are always the same, depending on the layout of the level. Lord de Seis always has one seal, so no wondering there. He used to appear right on top of it some times, but in the Expansion he’s always over far to the left, in the hallway coming towards his Seal. The Grand Vizier of Chaos is always to the left — if there is a single hallway with a corner there, the first Seal you reach will always release him. If there is a fork there, the Seal to the right will release him. For the Infector of Souls, if there is a single hallway with a Seal in the middle, and then a pair of right turns into a Cul de Sac, it’s always the Seal in the back corner. If there is a shorter straight hallway with Seals on both sides, it’s always the first Seal you reach. Knowing which Seal is going to release them is useful to get ready for their appearance.
All the seal bosses can spawn with MSLE on Hell, so be wary of them appearing close to you and spitting out lightning of death. They can’t have MSLE on Nightmare, so there is less to worry about there. Besides, in v1.10 and later MSLE is no longer especially dangerous.
Diablo is a difficult fight for many characters. He dies more quickly than Baal, but can deal far more damage while he remains alive. Diablo was much more dangerous prior to the expansion, since his Firestorm ground flame attack could hit nearby targets many, many times, potentially killing almost any character in a blink. His pink lighting was very hazardous too, dangerous enough that D2 players dubbed it the LBoD, for “Lightning Bolt of Death.” It too has been much nerfed in the Expansion (v1.07 and later) and is no longer lethal. It doesn’t even hit characters at melee range, but it can hurt ranged attackers quite a bit, and most players quickly learn to run circles around Diablo when he fires this inferno-like spell and tracks it after his target.
Diablo also has a very high blocking rate, which makes him last a lot longer than you expect, and makes him seem almost impossible to hit at times. This is especially noticeable for ranged attackers, as arrow after arrow hits him and vanishes, with no damage being done.
Using Minions on him is very hard also, unless you spam Fire Golems, as he does seven times damage to minions, and his Fire or Lightning spells will usually kill every minion on the screen in an instant. He has a melee freezing hit also, and a charging slap attack, but it’s the elemental attacks that most find so dangerous. He isn’t immune to anything though, so any type of attack can kill him, eventually.