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Hell's Forge:
Recommended Level: 24-28
Quest Given By: Cain
Location: River of Flame
Difficulty: Hard
Reward: Gems
Main Objectives: Destroy Mephisto's Soulstone
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Introduction:
The second quest of Act IV is where danger starts to escalate, where you’ll be faced with monsters more deadly than any you’ve faced before. The greatest danger here is the abyss knights, who can attack with fire, poison, cold or lightning. All resistances will be highly helpful.
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| The Flesh Spawner class is a deadly aspect of hell as it is able to overwhelm you in an instant. |
Again there will not be a second waypoint till you end the quest, and the areas are expansive. A good supply of town portal scrolls is recommended. Due to the reward for this quest, you may want to keep an eye out socketed items.
City of the Damned:
After you killed Izual, you should of located an exit from the Plain of Despair into the City of the Damned and found a waypoint near the entrance of this area. The City (or what remains of it) is another huge area. Next the waypoint will be the entrance to the River of Fire. If you beat Izual without any trouble, then proceed through. If not, you’ll want to scour the City for experience.
The City of the Damned hosts a horde of monsters similar to that of the previous areas. New monsters in the area include the Damned (Toughest Misshapen) and Doom Knights (Fighter Mage). Both of these monsters can shoot at range as well as attack at close quarters combat, making them both equally deadly. The Doom Knights come in four variations and can hurl either poison, ice, fire, or lightning. The trick is to dodge their missiles and squirm into a good position in which you can dispose of them with ease. With each able to do around 50 damage, you don’t want to be hit too much. Even though all Doom Knights attack with poison in melee, your better off engaging them in hand to hand combat.
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| The River of Flame is full of monsters. In such instances, Iron Maiden is always a good spell to use. |
Once you feel that you have all experience you need, return to the waypoint; the entrance to the River of Fire will be in close vicinity. Cast any defensive enchantments you have before stepping into the hellhole. Better prepared then dead.
River of Flame:
The River of Flame is one of toughest areas in the game, rivaling that of the Arcane Sanctuary. It consists of several series of plateaus situated a fraction above a sea of magma. The lava itself shoots periodic fireballs, which can set the ground on fire. Why it can do this is completely unknown...
The monsters you’ll face here include the Abyss Knights (Tougher Doom Knights with magical powers), Stranglers (Tougher Doom Casters), Grotesque (Tougher Flesh Spawners), possibly Urdas (Tougher BlunderBores), possibly Pit Lords (Slightly Tougher Venom Lords), and Corpse Spitters (Tougher Copulants).
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| All area of effect spells are ideal here. Here a Sorceress unleashes a winter storm, cooling hell down somewhat. |
The Abyss Knights are your worst nightmare come true as they are able to deal incredible damage with their elemental attacks. Often they will launch missiles from the other side of the magma or from behind their brethren. If possible, run up and kill these guys first. If you see their fire, keep moving. The minute you stop, you’ll be a pincushion for magical needles.
Navigate the river of flame slowly, and explore every fork one at a time. Don’t hesitate to retreat if things get tough. Chances are you’ll probably have to do so a few dozen times. Kill the Abyss Knights first followed by the Grotesque (More is explained for each character later in the character tips). The area itself is extremely large, and it will take you a significant amount of time to find the Hellforge.
If you come across an angel who commands you to wait then you have taken the wrong road and completely missed the Hellforge. Backtrack and explore all the side-forks. Caution will not be needed, but a hasty retreats will be required. Overall it is fairly easy to find the hellforge, given time. If you don't know if it is the right place you soon will if a monster looking much like the Smith of Act I comes charging at you with his knife at the ready. Consider yourself lucky that he didn't bring his fork to help him with his snack.
Defeating the Armorer | Destroying the Soulstone:
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| Hephasto is a deadly hero minion of Diablos Hellish army, and he looks meaner than the last smith you fought. |
The Hellforge is guarded by a swarm of monsters and Hephasto the Armorer (Extra Strong, Cursed, Magic Resistant). As with all bosses, he is much easier to defeat without his minions. Try to lead out and kill as many of the minions as you can first before you engage Hephasto. As soon as you enter the area and spot the Armorer and his minions lead a hasty retreat and kill whatever follows you. Slowly move back into the area and kill whatever spots you after it runs into the range of your weapon. If you do not dispose of everything before you reach the Armorer, then repeat the process or draw the armorer out himself and kill him.
Hephasto himself is much faster than the smith in Act I, barely slower than your run speed in fact. He has a incredible amount of hitpoints, and can deal up to 130 damage when you get cursed by amplify damage. It is a given that you will be cursed if fighting him at close range. Magical Resistance provides him with 75% resistance to all elements, rendering elemental attacks nearly useless. Again, tips on how to kill him are included in our character tips.
Once Hephasto is dead, take the hammer he drops and do your best not to drop it yourself on the way back to the hellforge, if your not already there. Eliminate all the other monsters near the Hellforge. If you dont have Mephisto's Soulstone with you then create a town portal and grab it from your stash before you hurry back to complete your quest.Cast a town portal and take Mephisto’s Soulstone from your stash. If you don't have an identity scroll on you then you also need to return to town in order to identify the hammer you picked up fromt he Armorer. Once you have the soulstone and the Identified hammer you will need to place the Soulstone on the Hellforge stand and hit it with the hammer. 3-5 Gems will be dropped onto the surrounding area as a reward. You’ll receive at least one Perfect Gem while the rest will range between normal to flawless in quality. Once you pick up the gems, the quest is complete. If you don't pick up the gems the quest will still be over.
Before exiting the game, you’ll want to keep exploring the River of Flame. You’ll find a waypoint somewhere in the area, make sure you activate it before leaving the game.
Character Tips:
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| Your health shouldn't be too much of a deal as long as you have a Blood Golem engaged in combat. |
A Blood Golem is essential here, as it will supply you with enough life to sustain a few hits from the Abyss Knights. Use Iron Maiden on all melee attacks and Amplify Damage on the Knights. Dim Vision and Attract are also possible curses used for disrupting the ranks of the Abyss Knights. Use Corpse Explosion as soon as an enemy dies.
When you face Hephasto, eliminate his minions with attract. Their corpses should aid you in killing Hephasto if they were killing in the correct location. When you are ready to face the Armorer, then curse him with Iron Maiden and let your minions engage in glorious combat. You may need to resummon your Golem several times, but eventually Hephasto will die.
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| Blaze is the safest, yet probably the longest, way for the Sorceress to kill Hephasto. |
Things here are tough for the Sorceress, and you’ll find that the Abyss Knights can kill you in 2-4 hits. The Grotesque also serves to drain large amounts of mana. Use Glacial Spike to Freeze and kill the Abyss Knights, and Blaze if overwhelmed with Grotesque young. Thunderstorm and Blizzard will also be of great help.
Hephasto can kill you in 1-2 hits once your cursed hence he is probably the most deadliest to you. The safest way to kill this guy is to Cast Thunderstorm and Blaze, then simply run around in circles till he dies. You might want to arm yourself with a few stamina potions first. If you don't thats ok, you can try to outwalk him and fail miserably.
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The Abyss Knights are your most likely your prime target here, and you’ll need to kill them as soon as you can. A high-level leap attack skill will ensure that you can leap enemies to land a blow on the Abyss Knights first. They won’t stand a chance in melee combat. Use Double Swing as your primary attack to take down enemies fast. If, however, you believe that killing whatever follows you when you retreat first then going back for seconds, then do so as that works equally well.
After your draw out all of Hephasto’s minions, you can kill Hephasto via good ol' melee combat. Have plenty of healing potions at the ready and kill him with Double Swing. Use Battle Orders to strengthen yourself (and your party).
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When you engage the Grotesque and Urda’s, use an Aura of Thorns. Switch to an resistance aura whenever you’re being attacked by large numbers of Abyss Knights. It is advised to keep Zeal as your primary attack. Conversion may also be a good secondary choice for your primary attack.
When you face Hephasto, arm yourself with the Aura of Thorns. Use Zeal to kill all of Hephasto’s minions and finish off Hephasto with Vengeance.
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Running around is a good idea here, and Decoy will also serve as a way to draw away enemy fire. The Abyss Knights are your worst rival here and are therefore your primary targets. Shoot them down immediately. If some sort of minion gets in the line of fire then so be it, let it die also. Two hell birds dead with one stone. The Lightning Bolt or Explosive Arrows can also insure than it won’t take too many hits.
While Hephasto’s topside is that he has a lot of hit points, his downside is, unbelieveable, that he has a rather poor defence. As long as you can pin him with Cold Arrows or Javelins, he cant hurt you to much and should die fairly easy with his defense being as low as it is. Use Decoys to distract him if he gets too close for your liking and then retreat to fire another salvo of missiles.
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