Of course, as with any self-respecting RPG game, Diablo II offers a large amount of enemies, and makes great use of model reusing. So at one point in the game the same demons you met and slaughtered with ease early on might show up in blue or in green as more powerful versions of themselves as your characters themselves scale up. And then sometimes the models are upscaled to be used as a named boss. Since most of the difference lies in colouration and in-game levels, I'll just talk about the monsters based roughly on the 'Act' that they show up in. If you want to really look at every single variation of the enemy, click here for the Diablo Wiki's bestiary.
I attempted to do all fo this in a single sitting, but I had enough to say that I decided to split things up. We'll cover Act 1 and Act 2 here, and then the rest of the base game and the Lord of Destruction DLC in a second part. I'm going to do a small wave of 'reviewing monsters' articles in these couple of weeks.
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Act 1: The Sightless Eye
The first Act in Diablo II takes place in the Rogue Encampment of the Western Kingdoms, and it's basically a general forested/grasslands/marshlands area with a bunch of ruins and caves and graveyards, all dark and gloomy to fit the theme of the whole 'demons walking the earth' theme. I won't really go in-depth about all the story elements, but just keep the setting in mind to get a sense of the theme of the monsters here.
Fallen & Fallen Shaman
Perhaps the most iconic of the enemies in this game are the Fallen and Fallen Shaman, a race of humanoid imp-like demons with horns and loincloth that run around and... well, they're generally very basic enemies, yeah? One of them beats you up with a spiky club (or a sword, in other models -- they're not always mere repaints) while the 'Shaman' one uses their staff to shoot out fireballs and stuff. The Fallen are described in the manuals as being cowardly little shits... and that's absolutely right, some of them will actively run the fuck away as you start cutting down their numbers. And as you meet your first Fallen Shaman, you realize that, hey, these enemies sometimes have tricks to them, because the Fallen Shaman can actually bring back to life any dead Fallen that you might have killed in the area. That's pretty cool. Again, I'm not going to talk about every single enemy variation, but as you go on through the game, the Fallen model is used for five differently-coloured enemies: Fallen, Carver, Devilkin, Dark One and Warped One.
Design-wise they are pretty simple, meant more to be starter enemies, and I always kind of feel that if Diablo wasn't a setting that's so demon-and-undead focused, these might be probably changed to goblins or something. They have a very hilarious and memorable 'WAK' sound, and while I'm not going to mention the many, many different bosses in the game, one of the early bosses you meet is the Fallen tribal leader Rakanishu... mostly memorable for his hilarious name and the fact that many random Fallen enemies will yelp out "Rakanishu!" randomly.
Design-wise they are pretty simple, meant more to be starter enemies, and I always kind of feel that if Diablo wasn't a setting that's so demon-and-undead focused, these might be probably changed to goblins or something. They have a very hilarious and memorable 'WAK' sound, and while I'm not going to mention the many, many different bosses in the game, one of the early bosses you meet is the Fallen tribal leader Rakanishu... mostly memorable for his hilarious name and the fact that many random Fallen enemies will yelp out "Rakanishu!" randomly.
Zombie
One of the earliest enemies you meet, of course, is the Zombie. Nothing much to say here, Diablo II is a fantasy setting that has a lot of undead and demons and dark spooky stuff, so of course one of the weakest version of the undead, being described in game manuals as being dumb, only shambling towards the enemy and wanting their brains (no, really, they do say 'brains'). Not a whole ton to say here, it's a zombie.
One of the earliest enemies you meet, of course, is the Zombie. Nothing much to say here, Diablo II is a fantasy setting that has a lot of undead and demons and dark spooky stuff, so of course one of the weakest version of the undead, being described in game manuals as being dumb, only shambling towards the enemy and wanting their brains (no, really, they do say 'brains'). Not a whole ton to say here, it's a zombie.
Skeleton
It's the Skeleton that I'm going to use as a neat little display of how the Diablo II team really attempted to make the different 'repaints' of the monsters look and feel different. And, sure, it's obvious that most of these share the same general model, but the weakest type, the Skeleton, is just a skeleton with an axe and a shield, looking genuinely a lot more weak compared to his more armoured counterparts. The next one in line, the Returned, actually has bits and pieces of armour around his chest and legs, and has little horns that I think are meant to be helmets. And then the third one, the Bone Warrior, is bleached-white, but simply swapping the arrow-ridden shield for a clean one and swapping the hatchet with a scythe makes a lot of difference in making him feel a bit more 'elite' than the previous two. The Burning Dead is a fire-themed one, and finally, the most powerful one, the Horror, has shades of gold and, again, a fancier-looking shield that makes it look less like a skeleton and more like an elite warrior or knight or something. Not every single monster variant makes these neat subtle changes, but I definitely appreciate the effort that goes into some of these.
As monsters? They're basically your go-to undead. They're skeleton warriors, and this is a fantasy game.
Skeleton Archer & Skeleton Mage
As monsters? They're basically your go-to undead. They're skeleton warriors, and this is a fantasy game.
Skeleton Archer & Skeleton Mage
Not a whole ton to say here, the Skeletons also have ranged members in their echelon, with the archers just basically being identical to the regular skeletons but they shoot arrows at you instead of hacking you up with a sword, while the Skeleton Mages show up near the tail-end of Act I and start to give you a bit more trouble -- each Skeleton Mage variant comes in four additional variants, casting either fire, cold, lightning or poison spells. I've always thought that it's kind of cool, that most of the risen-from-the-dead skeleton mages apparently are locked into a singular type of magic. Otherwise, not much to say, they're pretty neat skeletons.
Spike Fiend
The first version you find is called a 'Quill Rat', but according to the manuals, the species is referred to by the name of the second variation, the 'Spike Fiend'. These are the first Animal-type enemies, so I've always assumed like they were some sort of... lizard-porcupines or something, launching their quills at the enemy from afar while scrambling around with that lizard-like gait. I wouldn't have commented too much about them other than the fact that they're a neat showcase of weird animals in a fantasy setting... until I took a look at the fact that apparently Spike Fiends have official artwork which makes them a lot creepier than I thought the would be. Gangly, ghoulish limbs, hooves on hind legs and fingers on the front legs, and no face other than a blank, triangular mask of flesh? Yeah, that's a lot cooler and creepier than I gave the design credit for.
The first version you find is called a 'Quill Rat', but according to the manuals, the species is referred to by the name of the second variation, the 'Spike Fiend'. These are the first Animal-type enemies, so I've always assumed like they were some sort of... lizard-porcupines or something, launching their quills at the enemy from afar while scrambling around with that lizard-like gait. I wouldn't have commented too much about them other than the fact that they're a neat showcase of weird animals in a fantasy setting... until I took a look at the fact that apparently Spike Fiends have official artwork which makes them a lot creepier than I thought the would be. Gangly, ghoulish limbs, hooves on hind legs and fingers on the front legs, and no face other than a blank, triangular mask of flesh? Yeah, that's a lot cooler and creepier than I gave the design credit for.
Giant Spider
You got to have giant spiders in any self-respecting fantasy RPG. So yeah, giant spiders! Diablo's Giant Spiders have this bizarre abdomen location that acts more like this massive sack being carried underneath a leaner body, and this look is pretty neat in making these feel like actual creepy, spider-y monsters instead of just 'a tarantula, but big'. The fact that the two front-most legs that they use to attack you are shaped like blades are also a pretty cool little detail. As you go on your journey through sanctuary, you get to meet particularly terrifying variants called 'Spider Magus'. They are spiders, but they are also mages!
None of these guys are actually called "Corrupt Rogue" or the like in the actual game, but the manuals and Battle.net website identifies these as the proper term for these lost souls. The first human-aligned group that you meet are the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye, a group of rogues who was decimated by the demons... and a significant amount of their kin are corrupted and transformed into demons. They're just, well, armoured warrior-women, and I did kind of wonder why they were classified as demons until I progressed through the game and saw their more powerful versions, where their skin starts to change into unnatural colours and they grow horns and stuff. They're not the most interesting enemies visually, but I really do like the animation that you see the trapped souls of these once-heroes rising into the sky once you kill them. There's just something that's tragic and triumphant simultaneously at the sight of that.
Corrupt Rogue, Corrupt Rogue Archer, Corrupt Rogue Spearwoman
Goatman
Another one classified as a 'demon', no actual enemy in the game is actually ever called a 'Goatman', with them going by 'Moon Clan' and 'Blood Clan' and the like. Blizzard Entertainment in general really love turning the Satyr/Faun archetype from traditional mythology into demons, with both Warcraft and Diablo having their satyr equivalents be counted as demons. There's also a bit of minotaur mixed into Diablo's Goatmen, too, with the manual describing them as once being confined in labyrinths. Like the Fallen, the Goatmen tended to show up in-game dancing around like tribal encampments and stuff, which adds a lot more personality to them when they would otherwise just be generic enemies that come to the slaughter.
Another one classified as a 'demon', no actual enemy in the game is actually ever called a 'Goatman', with them going by 'Moon Clan' and 'Blood Clan' and the like. Blizzard Entertainment in general really love turning the Satyr/Faun archetype from traditional mythology into demons, with both Warcraft and Diablo having their satyr equivalents be counted as demons. There's also a bit of minotaur mixed into Diablo's Goatmen, too, with the manual describing them as once being confined in labyrinths. Like the Fallen, the Goatmen tended to show up in-game dancing around like tribal encampments and stuff, which adds a lot more personality to them when they would otherwise just be generic enemies that come to the slaughter.
Wendigo
Another one classified as an animal is the huge, lumbering Wendigos. (Speaking of another mythological creature that Blizzard really likes...) I've always loved the proportions of these huge ape-like creatures. Their shoulders are so wide and jut out so much from the hunched-over back, and that almost mask-like owl-esque face gives these Wendigo so much personality, I feel, making me go 'what the shit!' the first time I met one of these. Considering all of the other enemies you've encountered so far being relatively mundane, I feel like from the Wendigo onwards, the Diablo creative team ends up being a fair bit more inventive. The Wendigo are noted to once be a peaceful, nature-loving species that once co-existed with humanity (probably with those dang druids) but the chaos bleeding out of hell has corrupted them, just as they have corrupted many other creatures around them. Poor Wendigos!
Another one classified as an animal is the huge, lumbering Wendigos. (Speaking of another mythological creature that Blizzard really likes...) I've always loved the proportions of these huge ape-like creatures. Their shoulders are so wide and jut out so much from the hunched-over back, and that almost mask-like owl-esque face gives these Wendigo so much personality, I feel, making me go 'what the shit!' the first time I met one of these. Considering all of the other enemies you've encountered so far being relatively mundane, I feel like from the Wendigo onwards, the Diablo creative team ends up being a fair bit more inventive. The Wendigo are noted to once be a peaceful, nature-loving species that once co-existed with humanity (probably with those dang druids) but the chaos bleeding out of hell has corrupted them, just as they have corrupted many other creatures around them. Poor Wendigos!
Blood Hawk & Blood Hawk Nes
The Blood Hawks are... well, tiny, little annoying flying bird enemies. I'm not entirely sure of their anatomy, but I guess they're somewhat dinosaurian, with that tail and what looks like horns? Diablo III's version looks pretty cool and tropical, with two sets of wings, but does lack the grimy, creepy vibe of the Diablo II Blood Hawk.
Most notable, of course, is that Blood Hawks spawn endlessly from these giant, pulsating growths on top of trees with, uh... what is that thing that keeps squelching out of a hole on its side? I get a very Starcraft Zerg base vibe from the Blood Hawk Nest, which is always a good thing. The manuals note that the Blood Hawks create these nests out of the regurgitated fur and flesh of their victims, but shit, no fancy fur-and-flesh nest is going to have a phallic fleshy dart-shooting appendage. As you could easily guess, the Blood Hawk Nests are basically priority numero uno when you're fighting them.
The Blood Hawks are... well, tiny, little annoying flying bird enemies. I'm not entirely sure of their anatomy, but I guess they're somewhat dinosaurian, with that tail and what looks like horns? Diablo III's version looks pretty cool and tropical, with two sets of wings, but does lack the grimy, creepy vibe of the Diablo II Blood Hawk.
Most notable, of course, is that Blood Hawks spawn endlessly from these giant, pulsating growths on top of trees with, uh... what is that thing that keeps squelching out of a hole on its side? I get a very Starcraft Zerg base vibe from the Blood Hawk Nest, which is always a good thing. The manuals note that the Blood Hawks create these nests out of the regurgitated fur and flesh of their victims, but shit, no fancy fur-and-flesh nest is going to have a phallic fleshy dart-shooting appendage. As you could easily guess, the Blood Hawk Nests are basically priority numero uno when you're fighting them.
Tainted
And we get to more demons! The 'Tainted' is actually the third variation of these creatures you meet, with the first ones you meet being called the 'Misshapen' and 'Disfigured', which, I feel, are a fair bit more unsettling. These guys are hulking gorilla-like brutes with inhuman skin, giant horns, and a giant lizard-like face, and genuinely do feel like a bunch of random animal features are put into a blender without going too over-the-top... and while it's simple, the first time I met one of these Tainted demons in one of the early 'clear this small dungeon of enemies' mini-dungeons in Act I amidst the now-familiar Fallen and Skeletons is definitely pretty cool. Surprisingly, the Tainted are exclusively associated with lightning, shooting orbs of lightning at you. These guys don't show up in Diablo III, but we've also got some artwork from what I can only assume is a D&D tie-in book. It sure is a creepy looking crocodile-beast, but I feel like the more wide-set model in the game is a far more impressive and threatening-looking demon.
Wraith
It's kind of obvious that any game with a focus on undead and demons to have ghosts, right? Wraiths, specters, ghosts, poltergeists, revenants... it's a classic form of horror next to the skeletons and zombies, forming the trifecta of what our mind collectively goes to when you say 'the dead has risen'. And Diablo II's wraiths are... they're not human at all, but rather resemble skeletal birds or wyverns or something with massive skeletal wings and an aura of glowing energy around them. I've always found it really, really cool that this is what the risen souls of the dead turn into in the Diablo-verse.
Wraiths are noted to be tortured souls from the hell-planes, drawn into the mortal world in search of suffering and having endless hatred for the living. Unique to the wraiths is their ability to pass through the walls of the dungeon you're running around in, and, to my Sorceress's dismay, these fuckers are able to eat your mana. A very unexpected variation of a common fantasy enemy trope, and I, for one, approve. These are very cool.
It's kind of obvious that any game with a focus on undead and demons to have ghosts, right? Wraiths, specters, ghosts, poltergeists, revenants... it's a classic form of horror next to the skeletons and zombies, forming the trifecta of what our mind collectively goes to when you say 'the dead has risen'. And Diablo II's wraiths are... they're not human at all, but rather resemble skeletal birds or wyverns or something with massive skeletal wings and an aura of glowing energy around them. I've always found it really, really cool that this is what the risen souls of the dead turn into in the Diablo-verse.
Wraiths are noted to be tortured souls from the hell-planes, drawn into the mortal world in search of suffering and having endless hatred for the living. Unique to the wraiths is their ability to pass through the walls of the dungeon you're running around in, and, to my Sorceress's dismay, these fuckers are able to eat your mana. A very unexpected variation of a common fantasy enemy trope, and I, for one, approve. These are very cool.
Flying Scimitar
They're flying swords! I think they only show up at one or two points in the more elaborate dungeon areas in the first two acts, jumping out of treasure chests. They sure are neat flying swords! The manuals give them a bit more context, noting that they're basically bound to the restless spirit of someone who died while doing battle.
Gargoyle Trap
Less of an enemy and more of a stationary annoyance is the Gargoyle Trap, which really doesn't look must like a gargoyle and more like a generic statue. It's neat, they shoot fireballs at you, but ultimately there's not a whole ton to them.
And that's it for the enemies in Act I. Vampires and Fetishes technically show up, but I genuinely don't remember them and they're associated more to future acts anyway, so we'll cover those there.
And that's it for the enemies in Act I. Vampires and Fetishes technically show up, but I genuinely don't remember them and they're associated more to future acts anyway, so we'll cover those there.
Bishibosh & Rakanishu [boss]
Other bosses: Corpsefire [zombie], Coldcrow [archer], Bonebreaker [skeleton], Treehead Woodfist [wendigo], Pitspawn Furbolg [stalker], Bone Ash [skelemage]
Act I bosses
As with any self-respecting RPG game, you need bosses! Bosses in Diablo II comes in three variations -- 'Unique Monsters' or 'Elites', which are just any regular monster that the game picks a random name and a random buff from a table and toss at you at different points of the game. There are the 'super-uniques', which are set and always there in the parts of the game. Going onwards, I'll be only talking about the super-uniques with some sort of plot significance or unique model. Here we'll be talking about a handful of them. Blood Raven is technically a Corrupt Rogue Archer, but she's got a unique set of armour and helmet, and is the final target of the 'Sisters' Burial Ground' storyline where the Sisterhood asks you to wipe out the corrupted members of their kin. It's also all but explicitly said that Blood Raven is your Rogue player from the first Diablo game, which adds a sense of 'zomg'-ness to her presence, in that the three primary heroes of the original Diablo are corrupted enemies now. As the leader of basically a significant portion of Act I's enemy presence, she's pretty cool, being different without being a bit too over-the-top.
The Countess is the boss of the Forgotten Tower side-quest, standing at the top of a massive multi-floor dungeon, once a hideous, brutal leader of her castle that bathed in the blood of a thousand virgins. She's represented by the 'Corrupt Rogue' model, but I feel like her backstory is cool enough that I'll include her here. She's one of the handful of non-demon bosses to make an appearance in another game, looking far more badass in the mobile game Diablo Immortal when she got resurrected by a cult.
Griswold is another boss with a unique model... and your hero encounters him when you arrive at the town of Tristram, the town that original Diablo takes place in. Griswold was your blacksmith there, but now? He's a risen undead dude. That's honestly a pretty cool concept that's a huge 'oh no!' moment, even if I don't have any actual attachment to Griswold, not having played the original Diablo. The Smith is a massive, fat horned demon-man with what's at this point a pretty unique-looking model, serving as the sub-boss of the monastery and guarding an artifact called the Horadric Malus. He's... he's a somewhat boring demon-man, just a big dude with bull horns. I do like that he's apparently someone who provides all those endless legions of demons and undead goons with swords and maces, though. I think the Smith's model gets reused for a bunch of other bosses later in the game.
Other super-unique sub-bosses in Act I, in rough order of your encountering them: Corpsefire (a zombie that's the boss of the Den of Evil sub-quest), Bishibosh (a Fallen Shaman), Bonebreaker (a red skeleton with a flail), Coldcrow (a Corrupt Rogue Archer), Rakanishu, Lord of the Fallen (RAKANISHU!), Treehead Woodfist (a very speedy Wendigo), Flamespike the Crawler (a Spike Fiend; removed for no real reason in the expansion), Pitspawn Fouldog (a Tainted), and Bone Ash (a Skeleton Mage).
As with any self-respecting RPG game, you need bosses! Bosses in Diablo II comes in three variations -- 'Unique Monsters' or 'Elites', which are just any regular monster that the game picks a random name and a random buff from a table and toss at you at different points of the game. There are the 'super-uniques', which are set and always there in the parts of the game. Going onwards, I'll be only talking about the super-uniques with some sort of plot significance or unique model. Here we'll be talking about a handful of them. Blood Raven is technically a Corrupt Rogue Archer, but she's got a unique set of armour and helmet, and is the final target of the 'Sisters' Burial Ground' storyline where the Sisterhood asks you to wipe out the corrupted members of their kin. It's also all but explicitly said that Blood Raven is your Rogue player from the first Diablo game, which adds a sense of 'zomg'-ness to her presence, in that the three primary heroes of the original Diablo are corrupted enemies now. As the leader of basically a significant portion of Act I's enemy presence, she's pretty cool, being different without being a bit too over-the-top.
The Countess is the boss of the Forgotten Tower side-quest, standing at the top of a massive multi-floor dungeon, once a hideous, brutal leader of her castle that bathed in the blood of a thousand virgins. She's represented by the 'Corrupt Rogue' model, but I feel like her backstory is cool enough that I'll include her here. She's one of the handful of non-demon bosses to make an appearance in another game, looking far more badass in the mobile game Diablo Immortal when she got resurrected by a cult.
Griswold is another boss with a unique model... and your hero encounters him when you arrive at the town of Tristram, the town that original Diablo takes place in. Griswold was your blacksmith there, but now? He's a risen undead dude. That's honestly a pretty cool concept that's a huge 'oh no!' moment, even if I don't have any actual attachment to Griswold, not having played the original Diablo. The Smith is a massive, fat horned demon-man with what's at this point a pretty unique-looking model, serving as the sub-boss of the monastery and guarding an artifact called the Horadric Malus. He's... he's a somewhat boring demon-man, just a big dude with bull horns. I do like that he's apparently someone who provides all those endless legions of demons and undead goons with swords and maces, though. I think the Smith's model gets reused for a bunch of other bosses later in the game.
Other super-unique sub-bosses in Act I, in rough order of your encountering them: Corpsefire (a zombie that's the boss of the Den of Evil sub-quest), Bishibosh (a Fallen Shaman), Bonebreaker (a red skeleton with a flail), Coldcrow (a Corrupt Rogue Archer), Rakanishu, Lord of the Fallen (RAKANISHU!), Treehead Woodfist (a very speedy Wendigo), Flamespike the Crawler (a Spike Fiend; removed for no real reason in the expansion), Pitspawn Fouldog (a Tainted), and Bone Ash (a Skeleton Mage).
Andariel
The source of all the corruption in the first act is the mighty Andariel, Maiden of Anguish, one of the Lesser Evils. There's a whole lore about the Prime Evils and Lesser Evils and their fight over dominion in hell that I'll not get into, but suffice to say that as a couple of the Lesser Evils aligned themselves with resurrecting Diablo and his two brothers. Andariel was personally responsible for corrupting and decimating the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye and holed up in the final dungeon of the area. The boss fights in Diablo II in general are just super-duper tough, dealing massive damage and attacking fast and having a butt-ton of HP, so there's really not a whole ton for me to talk about any sort of tactics.
Andariel's design is pretty neat, although there's an obvious bit of "hey, she's the token female boss, let's give her visible ta-tas"... but the rest of her looks terrifying enough so at least she's not just a complete fanservice demon lady. Between her constantly-floating hair and those four gigantic insectoid legs jutting out of her back, though, plus the cloven feet, she still looks pretty impressive. Her sheer size and in-game power also adds to just how terrifying she is. She's still ultimately one of the more boring bosses in Diablo II, although that's not any sort of real complaint... she's still a pretty cool demon lord.
The source of all the corruption in the first act is the mighty Andariel, Maiden of Anguish, one of the Lesser Evils. There's a whole lore about the Prime Evils and Lesser Evils and their fight over dominion in hell that I'll not get into, but suffice to say that as a couple of the Lesser Evils aligned themselves with resurrecting Diablo and his two brothers. Andariel was personally responsible for corrupting and decimating the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye and holed up in the final dungeon of the area. The boss fights in Diablo II in general are just super-duper tough, dealing massive damage and attacking fast and having a butt-ton of HP, so there's really not a whole ton for me to talk about any sort of tactics.
Andariel's design is pretty neat, although there's an obvious bit of "hey, she's the token female boss, let's give her visible ta-tas"... but the rest of her looks terrifying enough so at least she's not just a complete fanservice demon lady. Between her constantly-floating hair and those four gigantic insectoid legs jutting out of her back, though, plus the cloven feet, she still looks pretty impressive. Her sheer size and in-game power also adds to just how terrifying she is. She's still ultimately one of the more boring bosses in Diablo II, although that's not any sort of real complaint... she's still a pretty cool demon lord.
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Act 2: The Secret of the Vizjerei
My favourite part of the available Diablo II stages is unquestionably Act 2. Your hero arrive, fresh after killing Andariel, in this Middle East inspired port town, and I think it's the town of Lut-Gholein itself that really caught my attention -- it actually feels like a town, unlike the ramshackle bases that serve as the bases in the other acts. The Aranoch desert itself has multiple running plotlines going at the same time instead of just 'kill the demon lord!', and between the various Egyptian-style temples and the sheer variance of the enemies running around in the desert, I genuinely found this one to be the most fun. I think the best part is that you're assembling this Horadric Staff, a plot device required to defeat the Prime Evil demons, and there are so many tombs in the desert that not even you and your allies are quite sure which one is the real one, requiring some trial and error investigations.
Leaper
The desert environment allows a lot of wacky-looking desert-themed monsters, and we'll start with what's in my opinion the most boring one first. The Sand Leapers are these... gangly, spindly ghoulish monkey-lizard monsters, classified as 'animals', and... they're pretty simple enemies, really, just clawing and attacking at you, with the additional bonus ability of the eponymous ability to leap really far to jump at you. The manual talks about how the Leapers have a slow metabolism to adapt to the desert. They're kind of forgettable, honestly, but at least they look relatively unique compared to Diablo II's other enemies.
Sabre Cat & Slinger
A bunch of animal enemies (Act II has a lot of Animal enemies) are the Sabre Cat and the Slinger, a race of cat-men. I think what makes Act II so much more fun is that these guys actually do feel like they have their own society and are their whole unique type of enemy instead of 'hey, this is just another undead or demon monster'. The Sabre Cat are noted in the manuals as once living in the jungles of Kehjistan (the setting of Act III), once living a secular lifestyle until they migrated into the deserts and end up becoming a group of caravan-destroying marauding bands. The Slingers are particularly memorable because they lob exploding potions (and drop them) which can cause surprising amounts of damage. I mostly remember these for being actually pretty dang fragile. Diablo III would give them a bit more lore, giving their race the name 'Lacuni'.
A bunch of animal enemies (Act II has a lot of Animal enemies) are the Sabre Cat and the Slinger, a race of cat-men. I think what makes Act II so much more fun is that these guys actually do feel like they have their own society and are their whole unique type of enemy instead of 'hey, this is just another undead or demon monster'. The Sabre Cat are noted in the manuals as once living in the jungles of Kehjistan (the setting of Act III), once living a secular lifestyle until they migrated into the deserts and end up becoming a group of caravan-destroying marauding bands. The Slingers are particularly memorable because they lob exploding potions (and drop them) which can cause surprising amounts of damage. I mostly remember these for being actually pretty dang fragile. Diablo III would give them a bit more lore, giving their race the name 'Lacuni'.
Swarm
It's a bit hard to tell, perhaps, in a separate gif outside of the game, but the Swarm enemies are a mass of little dots that's meant to represent a gigantic angry swarm of desert bugs, specifically locusts in one of the variations of the enemy. They're noted to be an army of insects that are driven to madness by the heat and the demonic influence. In practice they basically function similarly to most other enemies, although they drain stamina -- but are ultimately just a massive giant swarm of bugs you beat up with your sword or fireballs and then they all fall dead. A neat little concept that's easily one of the most memorable enemies in the game, though. I find the first, weakest version of the Swarm has the most delightful name in all of Diablo II -- "Itchies".
Vulture Demon
The best part of Act II is the sheer amount of various enemies that will appear in the desert wastes, and unlike Act I and Act III, I feel like the Act II enemies are less segregated by areas, so at any one time a band of cat-men and a bunch of insect swarms and one or two vulture demons might all attack your hero at the same time. The Vulture Demon is also one of the more unique enemies in that the differing variations of the model reuse are all counted as different creatures -- the Carrion Bird and Winged Nightmare are counted as 'animals', the Hell Buzzard is a demon, and the skeletal-coloured Undead Scavenger is an undead. Game-wise, the Vulture Demons actually fly around the screen, out of your reach, and are only vulnerable to most classes when they land and fold their wings.
The Vulture Demons are basically just, well, vultures, but with an extra pair of long, creepy human-like hands. I suppose that's actually a neat thing to do, making these guys just different enough from a regular animal to make this design look just natural enough that it might be mutated offsprings of the native vultures that the manuals describe this monster as.
The Vulture Demons are basically just, well, vultures, but with an extra pair of long, creepy human-like hands. I suppose that's actually a neat thing to do, making these guys just different enough from a regular animal to make this design look just natural enough that it might be mutated offsprings of the native vultures that the manuals describe this monster as.
Scarab Demon
One of my favourite enemies, the Scarab Demons! Bipedal beetles with giant scythe-arms, two spindly legs, a hunch-back and a creepy set of glowing red eyes, the Scarab Demons are pretty dang cool desert bug-monsters! Interestingly, despite the 'demon' moniker of their species name, and the backstory in the manual noting that 'only hell could produce something so vile', the Scarab Demons are just classified as animals, as mutated regular desert scarabs. For whatever reason, they shoot out electric blasts at your hero, which is such a bizarre ability to give a bug monster.
Bat Demon
Seen almost exclusively in tombs in Act II before appearing in later areas, the Bat Demons are yet another monster with the moniker 'demon' that's classified exclusively as animals in the game. They're basically like bats, but with two giant fangs jutting out like hands from their body. They're not super threatening, but are mostly annoying because like the Keese in Zelda games they wrap around and hide in cave ceilings and ambush you when you get near. The manuals describe them as bats mutated by the demonic influence around them, giving a taste of human flesh (and, er, more lightning abilities). While in-game they look like just monstrous bats, supplementary artwork depict them as humanoids with bat-wings.
Seen almost exclusively in tombs in Act II before appearing in later areas, the Bat Demons are yet another monster with the moniker 'demon' that's classified exclusively as animals in the game. They're basically like bats, but with two giant fangs jutting out like hands from their body. They're not super threatening, but are mostly annoying because like the Keese in Zelda games they wrap around and hide in cave ceilings and ambush you when you get near. The manuals describe them as bats mutated by the demonic influence around them, giving a taste of human flesh (and, er, more lightning abilities). While in-game they look like just monstrous bats, supplementary artwork depict them as humanoids with bat-wings.
Mummy & Mummy Sarcophagus
Can't have a desert level without mummies, right? Shambling around in the ruins of dead cities in the desert or within catacombs, the mummies essentially behave similarly to zombies, except that in tombs, they are spawned endlessly from these giant, elaborate Mummy Sarcophagi that act similarly to Blood Hawk Nests. As with how mummies are often depicted in fantasy media, it's noted that these mummies were ritually-preserved dead of the local Aranoch inhabitants that are twisted and brought to foul unlife by the demon lords. I do like the little detail that the chemicals used in preserving these mummies are poisonous, causing them to explode in a poisonous cloud when they die.
Greater Mummy
The manual calls these guys 'Greater Mummies', but the in-game names are so much cooler. Hollow One, Guardian, Unraveler, Horadrim Ancient... The Greater Mummies are tall beings that hide their heads behind these Egyptian-style Anubis-esque masks, and have a giant scythe-blade for one arm. These Greater Mummies essentially serve as the later-game bosses in a lot of these tombs, and are noted to have souls of demons bound to them by Mephisto to make them extra-brutal and deadly. Most annoyingly are their their ability to bring any fallen undead enemy back to life. Er, unlife. I like the visual look that these guys seem to have most of their skin rot away and seem to have their bodies be mostly muscle and sinew. Pretty cool undead monster!
Vampire
These guys are called 'Vampires', and technically appear in very small (and unmemorable) numbers in Act I, but it's in the second act that these floating undead sorcerers really show up a lot. The term 'vampire' is never actually used in-game, with the variants being called Banished, Ghoul Lord, Night Lord, Dark Lord and Blood Lord, and I'm honestly surprised to see them being called 'vampires' by the manuals. They're noted to be explicitly summoned from hell (but they're undead?) by the sorcerer Horazon and they have a large selection of Sorceress fire spells to lob at you. I guess the 'vampire' moniker comes from the fact that they have a life-stealing blast spell? They sort of resemble like, D&D liches or something, being floating, skeletal spellcasters. The way they float around does look pretty dang cool, and they're a neat, if not particularly spectacular-looking enemy.
The Claw Vipers (or Snake-men) are a race of snake people! Classified as 'animals' (which is basically anything that's not undead or demon, I feel), this is another one that have a whole culture of their own. They have the upper bodies of a man, but the head and tail of a snake, and also giant fingernails. These guys sort of have their own little sub-plot going on in the desert, where they do a plot to blacken out the sun with a fragment of a plot device you are looking to find, and are technically not as involved with the whole demon invasion plotline going on. Neat! They're basically a desert-themed version of D&D's Yuan-ti, living in ziggurats and sacrificing men to their dark gods. For some reason, they have cold attacks? Sure. The manual notes that the origins of the Claw Vipers are ambiguous, and no one's sure if they are humans that were victims of a curse, or yet another one that's mutated by demonic auras. The whole 'blot out the sun' sidequest was always one I found to be pretty neat, and snake-men are always cool.
Claw Viper
Sand Raider
One that sort of shows up as like minibosses in early Act II dungeons before just becoming regular enemies, the Sand Raiders are also classified as 'animals' despite being clearly humanoids. They're giant, tall four-armed humanoids that stalk the desert, being able to use their four arms to fight with multiple elements. The manual gives a bit more context to their origins, noting that they are a race of brutal warriors whose bodies were transformed by a pact with unseen powers (probably demons, it's always demons in this setting) but are eventually sealed in tombs by the Vizjerei Clan or something, but with all the demonic chaos and invasion going on they're unleashed. Pretty neat.
One that sort of shows up as like minibosses in early Act II dungeons before just becoming regular enemies, the Sand Raiders are also classified as 'animals' despite being clearly humanoids. They're giant, tall four-armed humanoids that stalk the desert, being able to use their four arms to fight with multiple elements. The manual gives a bit more context to their origins, noting that they are a race of brutal warriors whose bodies were transformed by a pact with unseen powers (probably demons, it's always demons in this setting) but are eventually sealed in tombs by the Vizjerei Clan or something, but with all the demonic chaos and invasion going on they're unleashed. Pretty neat.
Sand Maggot, Sand Maggot Young & Sand Maggot Egg
And, hey, this is another one of my favourite enemies! They show up at somewhere around the halfway mark of Act II, with the Claw Viper temple and the Maggot Nest both being like this middle-point battles before you finally assemble everything and take the fight to the Arcane Sanctuary and the true Tomb of Tal Rasha. The Sand Maggots behave similarly to most bug-themed enemies in video games, laying eggs and spawning even more bug enemies. Also, despite their moniker, the Sand Maggots are actually very clearly visually inspired by one of the coolest sand-dwelling insects, the antlion larva. The game calls them various different animals, though, calling them 'worms', 'maggots' and 'lampreys' at different points of the game... none of them being appropriate names to give to what's clearly a giant arthropod of some sort.
Interestingly, the manual even lampshades this, noting that the term 'Sand Maggot' is a misnomer that stuck, and, originally, they were a staple protein-rich diet for the desert dwellers... that is, until the demonic corruption settled in and they became poisonous. Whoops! Unlike Antlions, we never actually see the Sand Maggots metamorphose into a flying adult phase, and considering the names given to these guys, I suppose they just go from a small insect monster into a larger version. One of the dungeons that you need to go into is basically a massive subterranean network of tunnels filled with nothing but Sand Maggots and their young, up until you fight your way to the giant queen of the hive. It's a pretty great mixture of various desert insect tropes. Pretty dang cool.
Interestingly, the manual even lampshades this, noting that the term 'Sand Maggot' is a misnomer that stuck, and, originally, they were a staple protein-rich diet for the desert dwellers... that is, until the demonic corruption settled in and they became poisonous. Whoops! Unlike Antlions, we never actually see the Sand Maggots metamorphose into a flying adult phase, and considering the names given to these guys, I suppose they just go from a small insect monster into a larger version. One of the dungeons that you need to go into is basically a massive subterranean network of tunnels filled with nothing but Sand Maggots and their young, up until you fight your way to the giant queen of the hive. It's a pretty great mixture of various desert insect tropes. Pretty dang cool.
Baboon Demon
They're supposedly 'Baboon Demons', but visually they look more like some sort of combination of frog and a hideous deep-sea fish. Like Warcraft Murlocs if they had the proportions and musculature of a gorilla. They're first met in Act II as 'Dune Beast', but three different variants would appear in the jungle-themed Act III. Like the Scarab and Bat Demons, though, the Baboon Demon is... also not a demon. They're pretty cool, I do like their look a lot. They look pretty beastly. I probably could've included this one in Act III, but that Act has a lot of monsters, so here you go.
Blunderbore
You encounter these guys mostly in the final dungeon stretch, the sultan's castle, where many demons have been unleashed into the castle's massive complex. Blunderbores are giant, muscular-fat dudes with chains all over them, and carry around clubs that, upon closer look, are actually chained-up corpses. Not honestly the most demonic-looking enemies out there, I feel. They are a neat presence in the games, though, being a tough, burly dude that looks visually pretty neat.
Fire Tower & Lightning Spire
Not much to say for these two, they are... towers! Basically the same thing as the Gargoyle Trap, they're like parts of the environment that's able to attack you. Hey, it's a bunch of ancient tombs, they better have a bunch of traps, right? The Fire Towers show up almost exclusively in the pyramid-like tombs, while the Lightning Spires guard more magic-inclined areas. I do like that the manuals note that these were created by ancient humans that have no way of causing these traps to be triggered by demons, which is why the traps don't attack the demons when they take over these ruins and dungeons. That's a neat little detail.
Other enemies whose variants we've covered in previous acts also show up here, namely the goatmen, skeletons and their variants, bloodhawks and wraiths.
Not much to say for these two, they are... towers! Basically the same thing as the Gargoyle Trap, they're like parts of the environment that's able to attack you. Hey, it's a bunch of ancient tombs, they better have a bunch of traps, right? The Fire Towers show up almost exclusively in the pyramid-like tombs, while the Lightning Spires guard more magic-inclined areas. I do like that the manuals note that these were created by ancient humans that have no way of causing these traps to be triggered by demons, which is why the traps don't attack the demons when they take over these ruins and dungeons. That's a neat little detail.
Other enemies whose variants we've covered in previous acts also show up here, namely the goatmen, skeletons and their variants, bloodhawks and wraiths.
Act II Bosses
Act II has a bunch of super-uniques, and they are pretty memorable. Radament the Fallen is technically a Greater Mummy, but he's got two full hands and a different, less Anubis-like head. Radament is one of the first bosses you'll fight in a plotline that kicks off the story of Act II, in that he's an undead, renegade Horadrim monk that for has taken over the massive sewer system beneath Lut Gholein, using it as a base for his undead minions to kidnap people to turn into more undead mooks.
Coldworm the Burrower is, obviously, the gigantic boss of the Sand Maggot lair, and I really do like just how massive and pustulent he looks. The general vibe resembles, of course, a termite queen, whose abdomen is bloated with the sheer amount of eggs it has, famously used as the design model for the Alien Queen in Aliens, and the giant Coldworm follows suit. She's basically rooted in one spot so much that even roots of plants are starting to wrap around her abdomen. As any self-respecting giant insect enemy, Coldworm spawns a whole ton of Sand Maggots to fight for her. For obvious reasons, one of the most memorable bosses in the game, only beaten out by the actual demon lords themselves.
The Summoner is a dude who wouldn't be particularly notable if he doesn't have unique robes, a fancy golden staff and, uh, that... bizarre hat. But, like Blood Raven, the Summoner is actually the Mage player character from the original Diablo, a member of the Vizjirei order. Prior to Diablo II, the Summoner made his way to the castle of Jerhyn, the local sultan, and ended up opening the portal within the castle grounds and unleashing a massive swarm of demons that ended up wiping out the castle's guards and concubines. The Summoner himself is the final boss of the trippy, non-Euclidean dungeon of the Arcane Sanctuary that your hero accesses after clearing the sultan's castle of demons, and finally fighting the Summoner, who's been driven mad by the evils of the demons within the Sanctuary. The actual boss fight against the Summoner, I feel, was kind of underwhelming, but the dungeon reaching him was pretty fantastic and atmospheric.
Other non-unique model bosses in Act II are Bloodwitch the Wild (a Sabre Cat Huntress, guarding the Horadric Cube in the Halls of the Dead), Fangskin (a Claw-Viper that's the boss of the Claw Viper Temple), Beetleburst (a Scarab Demon), Fire Eye (a Sand Raider), Dark Elder (a mummy guarding the Lost City), Ancient Kaa the Soulless (a Greater Mummy guarding Tal Rasha's Tomb) and Creeping Feature (a mummy guarding the Stony Tomb).
Coldworm the Burrower is, obviously, the gigantic boss of the Sand Maggot lair, and I really do like just how massive and pustulent he looks. The general vibe resembles, of course, a termite queen, whose abdomen is bloated with the sheer amount of eggs it has, famously used as the design model for the Alien Queen in Aliens, and the giant Coldworm follows suit. She's basically rooted in one spot so much that even roots of plants are starting to wrap around her abdomen. As any self-respecting giant insect enemy, Coldworm spawns a whole ton of Sand Maggots to fight for her. For obvious reasons, one of the most memorable bosses in the game, only beaten out by the actual demon lords themselves.
The Summoner is a dude who wouldn't be particularly notable if he doesn't have unique robes, a fancy golden staff and, uh, that... bizarre hat. But, like Blood Raven, the Summoner is actually the Mage player character from the original Diablo, a member of the Vizjirei order. Prior to Diablo II, the Summoner made his way to the castle of Jerhyn, the local sultan, and ended up opening the portal within the castle grounds and unleashing a massive swarm of demons that ended up wiping out the castle's guards and concubines. The Summoner himself is the final boss of the trippy, non-Euclidean dungeon of the Arcane Sanctuary that your hero accesses after clearing the sultan's castle of demons, and finally fighting the Summoner, who's been driven mad by the evils of the demons within the Sanctuary. The actual boss fight against the Summoner, I feel, was kind of underwhelming, but the dungeon reaching him was pretty fantastic and atmospheric.
Other non-unique model bosses in Act II are Bloodwitch the Wild (a Sabre Cat Huntress, guarding the Horadric Cube in the Halls of the Dead), Fangskin (a Claw-Viper that's the boss of the Claw Viper Temple), Beetleburst (a Scarab Demon), Fire Eye (a Sand Raider), Dark Elder (a mummy guarding the Lost City), Ancient Kaa the Soulless (a Greater Mummy guarding Tal Rasha's Tomb) and Creeping Feature (a mummy guarding the Stony Tomb).
Duriel
Ah, yes. Duriel, the Lord of Pain. More like the Lord of Pain in my ass. Without going too much into talking about Duriel... I spent way too long fighting this guy and doing the way of setting up a town portal, unloading everything and then pussying my way out. I'm pretty sure it's the funky way that I built my Necromancer, but... Duriel is a giant, consistent pain in my ass in all my run-throughs of Diablo II, even moreso than any other enemy or boss in the game. Duriel shows up at the end of the true Tomb of Tal Rasha, mocking your hero. Unlike Andariel in Act I, all of the signs in Act II's storyline points to the Prime Evil Baal being the final boss of the dungeon... and then Duriel, that fucker, shows up and mocks your hero. "Looking for Baal?" And he's... he's a fast, hard-hitting giant monster that you fight in a very close, enclosed room. Also, supplementary material would list Duriel and Andariel as being twin siblings. Okay!
Design-wise, Duriel is the coolest-looking boss in the fact that he's the least conventional looking of the five demon bosses in Diablo II. His other title is the "Maggot King" and I really do love that he's basically a giant creature that resembles a mutated Zerg or Xenomorph more than a demon lord... but demons tend to be associated with creepy bugs anyway. A combination of massive muscles and spikes, that creepy elongated mouth and gigantic scythe-claws make him look pretty dang impressive, and I love the centaur-esque giant maggot abdomen body with a bunch of little spidery bug legs. Duriel is pretty damn cool, a massive, pustulent bug demon monster that looks gross and disgusting, but you also buy that this is a speedy, powerful fighter.
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Hell Bovine
This is technically an Act I monster, but you can't access the Secret Cow Level (no, really) until you beat the game. The Hell Bovines are counted as demons, but instead of like being scary minotaur monsters or whatever, they're just... regular farm cows on two legs holding a polearm. It's an Easter Egg monster, it has to look silly! Hell Bovines basically are kinda tough since they're meant to be accessed after your hero has beaten the game, and they make very deadpan 'moo.' sounds. The flavour text is likewise funny, noting that they are given sentience by Diablo and are now exacting revenge against the incessant prodding they suffered at the hands of itchy-fingered heroes that moved through the town of Tristram. Apparently their entire existence is based on a random rumour on Diablo I, where there's a rumour talking about how clicking on one of the cows enough times (and there's your typical Blizzard Easter Egg responses with those cows) would allow you to access a Secret Cow Level. Well, they sure added one in Diablo II!
And with that... we're done for our first coverage of Diablo II monsters! This is fun. Acts III through V will follow soon!
Ah, yes. Duriel, the Lord of Pain. More like the Lord of Pain in my ass. Without going too much into talking about Duriel... I spent way too long fighting this guy and doing the way of setting up a town portal, unloading everything and then pussying my way out. I'm pretty sure it's the funky way that I built my Necromancer, but... Duriel is a giant, consistent pain in my ass in all my run-throughs of Diablo II, even moreso than any other enemy or boss in the game. Duriel shows up at the end of the true Tomb of Tal Rasha, mocking your hero. Unlike Andariel in Act I, all of the signs in Act II's storyline points to the Prime Evil Baal being the final boss of the dungeon... and then Duriel, that fucker, shows up and mocks your hero. "Looking for Baal?" And he's... he's a fast, hard-hitting giant monster that you fight in a very close, enclosed room. Also, supplementary material would list Duriel and Andariel as being twin siblings. Okay!
Design-wise, Duriel is the coolest-looking boss in the fact that he's the least conventional looking of the five demon bosses in Diablo II. His other title is the "Maggot King" and I really do love that he's basically a giant creature that resembles a mutated Zerg or Xenomorph more than a demon lord... but demons tend to be associated with creepy bugs anyway. A combination of massive muscles and spikes, that creepy elongated mouth and gigantic scythe-claws make him look pretty dang impressive, and I love the centaur-esque giant maggot abdomen body with a bunch of little spidery bug legs. Duriel is pretty damn cool, a massive, pustulent bug demon monster that looks gross and disgusting, but you also buy that this is a speedy, powerful fighter.
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Hell Bovine
And with that... we're done for our first coverage of Diablo II monsters! This is fun. Acts III through V will follow soon!
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