-Diablo 2 Chaos Tristram Guide
-V4.01 (6/02/07)
-By KIRBIX

DISCLAIMER:
This is property of KIRBIX (Sean D'Hoostelaere). This may be not be
reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not
be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance
written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any
public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.
In plain English, this means that it is against the law for you to copy this
guide. If you want to print it out, that's fine, but I do not permit its use 
anywhere on the web or for it to be used for anything profitable.
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|Table of Contents|
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I.      Version History
II.     Purpose of This Guide
III.    Overview
IV.     How to Begin the Quest
V.      The Three Keys
      va. Terror
      vb. Hate
      vc. Destruction
VI.     Baal's Eye
VII.    Mephisto's Brain
VIII.   Diablo's Horn
IX.     Putting it all Together
X.      THE FINAL FIGHT!
      xa. enemies
      xb. strategy
      xc. reward
      xd. stats for the three brothers
XI.     Contact Me (I need help!)
XII.    Credits

I. VERSION HISTORY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1.0- the original, but sure to change a lot- this was released on opening day
     of the 1.11 patch- we're still in the dark quite a bit.
2.0- More strategies and more information added. We've still got a long way to
     go, though.
3.0- Stats for the bosses! Don't know that they're accurate, but it's a good
     place to start, I suppose.
4.0- Updated my strategies to include a way to make Mephisto a little kitten
     compard to his former glory.
4.01(6/07)- Housekeeping
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II. PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I write this, the 1.11 patch was only just released. Reports are flooding in
about the incredible difficulty of this new challenge. Naturally, we need a FAQ
to explain how to handle this.

This guide is designed to show you how to get to the final battle, and how to
finish the final battle and show your worth as one of the top PvM Diablo 
players.
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III. BACKGROUND
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1.10 had the Diablo Clone, a very powerful version of Diablo that was designed
to test the abilities of players. However, there was a small problem- Diablo 
Clone was too easy. Groups of hammerdins would hunt down Diablo like it was 
nothing and kill them off. While Dclone solved Blizzard's problem of SoJ duping,
they still weren't providing much of a challenge for the battle hardened 
veterans. They needed something even more powerful than before.

That's where the 1.11 patch came in. Blizzard has come through with a challenge
so difficult that even the best will find that it takes some serious work to
beat. The goal of this new challenge was to give PvM players something more to
do, and at the same time, it encourages players to fight enemies that they 
normally wouldn't fight.
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IV. HOW TO BEGIN THE QUEST
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The quest can only be done on the official battle.net (closed) realms. All 
people can do it- ladder and non, hardcore and soft. It can only be done on the
hell difficulty.

This is an incredibly difficult quest that should not be attempted by yourself. 
The minimum level recommendation right now is 90, and higher is always better. 
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V. THE THREE KEYS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This quest is quite long, but it begins quite simply. You must begin your quest
under normal circumstances- you must find three keys. These keys are the keys of
Hate, Destruction, and Terror. Each key is dropped by a specific Super Unique,
which has a 1/34 chance of dropping the key.


Va. TERROR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The key of terror is found right near home- the forgotten tower in Act One. The
uniqe that drops it- the countess of the forgotten tower. 
The forgotten tower is found in the Black Marsh. The countess is in the 
basement of the forgotten tower. She's surrounded by minion archers and is 
fire enchanted. Anyone who is battle hardened and capable can take her out with
little trouble.

(no stats for her. Sorry!)


Vb. HATE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The second key is earned in the second act by killing the summoner. The summoner
is at the end of a long and annoying path- he's in the arcane sanctuary. 
Surrounded by the undead, the summoner should not be taken lightly. He is extra
strong, extra fast, and resists the elements. However, he's got no resistance
to poison or non-elemental magic. Take him down accordingly.

Stats for the Summoner:
LEVEL: 80
HP: 4265-7849
Defense: 1328
%block: 18
Fire/Lit/Ice resist: 75
Drain effectiveness: 50
Chill effectiveness: 33


Vc. DESTRUCTION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The final key is found in Act Five. Nihlathak drops this third key. His path is 
easily as annoying as the arcane sanctuary. He's a very tough nut to crack, as
he is surrounded by minions. However, it's made worse by his use of corpse 
explosion- kill his minions quickly and use an ability to prevent his monsters
from being used for corpse explosion; otherwise, you'll die in quite a hurry. 
Nihlathak can also summon Baal's minions and use Arctic Blast.

Stats for Nihlathak:
LEVEL: 92
HP: 13345
Defense: 1951
%block: 50
Magic resist: 25
Fire resist: 33
Cold resist: 70
Lit resist: 33
Poison resist: 70
Drain effectiveness: 100
Chill effectiveness: 33

:NOTE: don't forget that by killing Nihlathak that you finish quest number 4 in
that act. This means that the portal to Pindleskin will close. 
However, if you don't get the waypoint, the portal will remain open in order for
you to get the waypoint. This means you can either get to Nihlathak faster and 
easier and give up PindleSkin, or you can keep your access to pindle and have a
truly painful trip to Nihlathak every time.
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VI. BAAL'S EYE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, you've done it! You've gotten your three keys! Congratulations, you've 
successfully passed initiation; now it's time to get to work. Transmute the 
three keys to get a portal. One of these portals is known as the Forgotten
Sands. Upon entering this portal, you will face an incredibly powerful version
of Duriel. Treat him like you do all Duriels that you have fought in the past.
He's got holy freeze and a stunning attack; he's not a force to take lightly.
Upon killing Duriel, you will get Baal's Eye.

Duriel is susceptible to life drain, which means any melee character can 
kill him off quite efficiently. He doesn't have a very high attack rating,
either; a good paladin or barbarian can use shout or defiance and easily keep
Duriel's chance to hit at 5%. He's got lots of resistance to everything, so 
there isn't any best way to tackle him- try different things and see what works
best. 

<<Strategy sent in by lamount>>
This guy isn't hard at all; you just use your typical caster/melee combo.
We had a level 84 zealer paladin and a lvl 89 hammerdin. The zealot took the 
damage and the hammerdin spammed hammers. Duriel was down in about 2 minutes
flat.

Über Duriel
Level: 110
Experience: 2,648,000
Hit Points: 650,000-660,000
Attack rating: 7185 & 9798
Defense rating: 2520
%block: 50
Damage resist: 50
Magic resist: 75
Fire resist: 75
Cold resist: 75
Lightning resist: 75
Poison resist: 75
Drain effectiveness: 100
Chill effectiveness: 20

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VII. MEPHISTO'S BRAIN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In order to get his brain, you need to collect another three keys. Make yourself
another portal, and this portal will lead to the Furnace of Pain. Inside of this
portal is a scene very much like the random portals in Act 4. 
You'll find An incredibly powerful version of Izual. He's cold powered, like
the regular Izual, and so you should treat him the same way. He's got lots of 
HP and is considered by most to be the hardest enemy of the three. The best
method to use is physical attacks, as he's got high resistance to everything
else.
Killing Izual yields the brain of Mephisto. 

<<Strategy sent in by doom_maker:
First you have to deal with the minions- any good PvM player can handle that. 
From there, use a fire sorceress and a zealot. Static Field will reduce 
Izual's HP quickly, and then you simply spam zeal and meteor. He should
fall with relative ease. Be warned: His frost nova is vicious.>>

With his comment, I suppose there's a good general strategy for this guy- use
crushing blow or static field to bring his HP down quickly, and then use any
powerful PvP character (someone designed to do massive damage to one person) to
take him down quickly.

DON'T FORGET:
<<whopper_man66 sent the following:
Under no circumstances should you use cold on Izual. Not only is he immune,
but he absorbs cold as well, meaning you could easily undo several minutes of
damage in one attack.>>

Über Izual
Level: 110
Experience: 3,179,200
Hit Points: 650,000-660,000
Attack rating: 13064
Defense rating: 2520
%block: 50
Damage resist: 30
Magic resist: 75
Fire resist: 75
Cold resist: 110
Lightning resist: 75
Poison resist: 75
Drain effectiveness: 50
Chill effectiveness: 25

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VIII. DIABLO'S HORN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the third and final piece, you ned three keys again. This portal is known as
the Matron's den. Inside is a new monster named Lilith. However, Lilith is 
really just a more powerful version of Andariel. Treat her the same way you 
would a fight with Andy; lots of poison resist. This time she's not weak to 
fire, and the best way to kil her is normal physical attacks. 
Defeat her to get the Horn of Diablo.

Lilith:
Level: 110
Experience: 2,387,200
Hit Points: 650,000-660,000
Attack Rating: 30700
Defense Rating: 2310
%Block: 40
Damage resist: 30
Magic resist: 75
Fire resist: 75
Cold resist: 75
Lightning resist: 75
Poison resist: 110
Drain effectiveness: 33
Chill effectiveness: 0
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IX. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once you have all three body parts, transmute them together to open the final 
portal. This final portal will lead you to Tristram, where all of this hell 
began. I warn you once again- this is an EXTREMLY tough  battle, and should 
only be attempted with a well built team that uses all of the elements, as 
well as lots of melee users.
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X. THE FINAL FIGHT!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now that you've entered Tristram, the final fight begins! All three brothers of
hell have been brought together for this momentous occasion!

Xa. ENEMIES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...Basically, that means you now have to fight Über Diablo, Über Baal and Über
Mephisto at the same time. Oh yea, and there are hundred of enemies for you to
fight as well. there are six types of damage (physical, magic, poison, 
lightning,cold, fire), and many enemies are immune to five of those six! 
Therefore, you need fire, ice, poison, lightning, physical and magical 
characters just to take out everyone that's in there. The minions respawn at a 
constant rate. There is no known way to stop their spawning. Redemption, 
R.I.P., nothing works.

Xb. STRATEGY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As was said, you'll need a diverse elemental variety as well as melee 
characters. However, instead of trying to get a poison necro, lit sorc, ice 
sorc, fire sorc, hammerdin AND smiter together at once, you can use alternate 
means.

The enemies may be immune to the elements, but that has its limits. Paladins
all have the ability conviction, and it will remove elemental immunities. Necros
have amplify damage, which can remove the physical immunity. Using these two 
abilities, you can assemble any team you like to take these guys down. It's a 
long process, and you're likely to die many times, but it does work and doesn't
require an elite fighting force.

However... some of us are less patient than others. DV Morpheus, insistent on
beating these guys in record time, invented the following strategy:

<<Here's what you need:

Characters:

Hammerdin (With Concentration)
Hammerdin (With Salvation)
Summoner Necromancer (With Lifetap)

The Strategy:

* Send for the Necro to go make Skeletons and summon a Clay Golem.
* Send him into the portal to go out and pull a boss. I recommend Mephisto 
  because he has a nasty Conviction and has the lowest life.
* Let the Necro Teleport on top of him and cast Lifetap. Lifetap is to ensure 
  your Skeletons leech life to stay alive.
* Have one Paladin use Concentration and one use Salavation. Salvation will 
  cancel out the Conviction Mephisto has as you will take little damage. This  
  ensures the Skeletons stay alive also.
* Have the Paladins hammer him away. He should die pathetically in 30 seconds 
  to a minute.
* Once Mephisto is dead, move onto the next boss and use the same strategy.

Notes:

* Each boss will summon different monsters to aide him. Diablo, however, will  
  summon Venom Lords that are immune to ALL resistances besides Magical and 
  Physical.
* Don't piss around with the minions. Most do very little damage to even be 
  bothered with, but be careful to not be overwhelmed.

Using this strategy, you will never die, and rarely go below 50% life. 
Have fun!>>

With that, you can easily use a 3-man team to completely thrash these guys. MUCH
THANKS TO DV MORPHEUS FOR THIS!
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A one-man smiter can do this battle, but your equipment needs to be fairly
top-notch. Not dueling quality, mind you, but there ARE some necessities.

-You MUST have dracul's grasp or exile. The chance to cast lifetap is ESSENTIAL.
If you're using dracul's and not exile, you also MUST have a wand with lifetap
charges to cast lifetap before dracul's kicks in.
-More resists than God. Mephisto's conviction aura coupled with his elemental
attacks are a vicious combination- if you don't have maxed resists against him,
it will end very fast.
-Crushing blow is an ABSOLUTE MUST. The more CB you have, the better. It's the
primary source of damage against the ubers.
 
<<YellowAZNBoy sent in the following:

Everyone is probably hailing the Smiter as the only character build that can 
solo Chaos Tristram. I just recently soloed it twice with my Hammerdin.  Here's
my strategy if you decide to include it in your FAQ:

When you first enter Tristram, tele to the center and lure Mephisto to a 
corner.  Leave him there.  Tele back to the center and draw out Baal.  This 
should be easy because Baal will follow you with his Teleport. He should be 
easy to kill off with a decent Hammerdin.

After killing Baal, tele to the center and finish off Diablo.  Again, he 
shouldn't be a problem for a Hammerdin.

Mephisto is the hardest of the three.  In order to survive against Mephisto's 
Lightning Enchanted and Conviction Aura, you NEED to stack lightning 
resistance.  Mephisto has a level 20 Conviction Aura, which reduces your 
resistance by 125.  In Hell mode, there is a -100 Resistance penalty (-70 if 
you do the Anya quest).  Therefore, you need at least 195 lightning resistance 
to just break even.  With this in mind, I switched up equipment before taking 
on Mephisto:

HoZ PDiamond'd -> Griswold Shield PDiamond'd x3 (102 res)
HotO -> Wizardspike (75 res)
Shako PTopaz'd -> 'Um'd' Kiras (at least 70 res)

I also had in my inventory:
Pally Hellfire Torch (12 res)
Mara's Kleidascope (27 res)
Annihilus (18 res)

When near Meph's Conviction Aura, I had 75 lightning resistance.  At this 
point, he shouldn't pose much of a problem, even with the reduced damage from 
all of this equipment change.  Another option is to simply replace Engima with 
Chains of Honor (65 res) so you don't lose any damage.>>
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ONE INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT THING TO NOTE ABOUT MEPHISTO AND THE CONVICTION AURA:
Mephisto's conviction aura creates a massive penalty for you and all of your
teammates, but it can be overruled. By using a vengeance paladin or an auradin,
you will have a very high level of conviction to wield against the ubers. In
having a higher level of conviction, you will CANCEL OUT the one on Mephisto, so
not only will his resists plummet, but he'll also not affect yours, either!

Of course, I don't recommend fighting Mephisto with an Avenger (slow attack 
speed), but an auradin can absolutely use this trick to wipe them out.
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Xc. REWARD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Upon beating this hellhole, the third boss that you defeat will drop one (and 
only one) unique large charm. The charm is called Hellfire Torch, and it has
the following stats: 

Required level: 76
25% Chance of casting Lvl 10 Firestorm on striking
+3 to all _______ skills (______ being a character class, selected randomly 
upon identification, much like Arkaine's Valor)
+8 Light Radius
+10-20 All Resistances
+10-20 All Stats
Lvl 30 Hydra Charges (10/10)

(NOTE: The "Firestorm" that is proced while striking is actually Diablo's 
firestorm, not the Druid's. So this is a rather cool ability, and lets 
everyone know that you have one in your inventory.)

As with Gheed's fortune and Annihilus, you only can hold one of these charms at
a time.

You'll also recieve a "Standard of Heroes." One is dropped for each person in 
the game at that time. There is no known use for these, and the belief is that
this item is merely a mark of conquest. Note: You can hold more than one of 
these, so one person COULD take more than one, leaving another player without 
one. So be quick, or do this with friends who wont take extra.

DON'T LISTEN TO RUMORS- the standard does NOTHING.

(All stats of drops are thanks to Earth Day Birthday)
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Xd. STATS FOR THE THREE BROTHERS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pandemonium Diablo:
Level: 110
Experience: 5,539,200
Hit Points: 650,000-660,000
Attack rating: 14043
Defense rating: 2940
%block: 50
Damage resist: 50
Magic resist: 75
Fire resist: 110
Cold resist: 75
Lightning resist: 75
Poison resist: 75
Drain effectiveness: 15
Chill effectiveness: 10
##################################################
Über Baal:
Level: 110
Experience: 10,336,000
Hit Points: 650,000-660,000
Attack rating: 16330
Defense rating: 3150
%block: 55
Damage resist: 50
Magic resist: 75
Fire resist: 75
Cold resist: 110
Lightning resist: 75
Poison resist: 75
Drain effectiveness: 20
Chill effectiveness: 15
##################################################
Über Mephisto:
Level: 110
Experience: 3,409,600
Hit Points: 650,000-660,000
Attack rating: 13064
Defense rating: 3360
%block: 50
Damage resist: 20
Magic resist: 75
Fire resist: 75
Cold resist: 75
Lightning resist: 110
Poison resist: 110
Drain effectiveness: 0
Chill effectiveness: 10
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XI. CONTACT ME
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This guide has LOTS of holes- I'm woefully lacking in strategies and tidbit 
info. I'd also like the stats of these new unique bosses. While I suspect I 
won't get them until Arreat Summit posts them, if you happen to have ANY i
nformation that I'm missing, contact me at kirbix@gmail.com. Your name will
be added to the credits, and you'll have my personal thanks.

XII. CREDITS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YellowAZNBoy- A strategy to solo with a hammerdin.

doom_maker- How to kill Izual easily and quickly.

DV Morpheus- In the span of only 6 hours, he had these bosses nailed to an 
             exact science... THANK YOU

Earth Day Birthday- This man created the original FAQ for this, and I owe him 
                    credit for provding the statistics for the items that are 
                    dropped.

Arreat Summit- provided me with the Super Unique monster info (stats); they're
               still the best D2 site on the net.

GAMEFAQS- For being the most comprehensive site out there!

Copyright 2005 © Sean D'Hoostelaere