Act 3: The Infernal Gate
Act 3 takes place in the deep, dark Kehjistan rainforest of Kurast, filled with many, many different tropical beasts and demons, but most of all the armies of tiny, humanoid tribal Fetishes that have taken up residence in a large portion of the rainforest. I really do like this part of the game, too, it's pretty dang atmospheric.
Fetish, Fetish Shaman & Bone Fetish
The 'Fetish' type of monster (this is 'fetish' in the meaning of the word that means 'idol') shows up in Act I very briefly under the name 'Ratman', but they're so synonymous with the rainforest of Kehjistan with those ratty, noisy sounds they make as they bum-rush you entire tribes at a time, that I've included them here. I'm not sure if this is now considered a racist trope or not, but they're apparently just tribal demons instead of, like, indigenous people or whatever. This is what they look like in Diablo III. Regardless, the Fetishes/Flayers are pretty fun enemies, running around and making a huge scene with their blow-darts, and they're honestly easily the most irritatingly numerous amount of enemy in the area, and basically requires you to really have some AoE skills/spells ready.
The Fetish Shaman, of course, are the most memorable part of them, being two Fetishes stacked on each other, holding a spear that's twice their height and the actual shaman having a fancy little headdress. The Fetish Shaman are the spellcasters of the group, and being demon sorcerers, they are able to raise the dead. Unlike, say, the Fallen, who just revive their dead immediately, the Fetish Shaman can only revive them as Bone Fetishes, which are unstable and will explode when destroyed. That's kinda neat.
The 'Fetish' type of monster (this is 'fetish' in the meaning of the word that means 'idol') shows up in Act I very briefly under the name 'Ratman', but they're so synonymous with the rainforest of Kehjistan with those ratty, noisy sounds they make as they bum-rush you entire tribes at a time, that I've included them here. I'm not sure if this is now considered a racist trope or not, but they're apparently just tribal demons instead of, like, indigenous people or whatever. This is what they look like in Diablo III. Regardless, the Fetishes/Flayers are pretty fun enemies, running around and making a huge scene with their blow-darts, and they're honestly easily the most irritatingly numerous amount of enemy in the area, and basically requires you to really have some AoE skills/spells ready.
The Fetish Shaman, of course, are the most memorable part of them, being two Fetishes stacked on each other, holding a spear that's twice their height and the actual shaman having a fancy little headdress. The Fetish Shaman are the spellcasters of the group, and being demon sorcerers, they are able to raise the dead. Unlike, say, the Fallen, who just revive their dead immediately, the Fetish Shaman can only revive them as Bone Fetishes, which are unstable and will explode when destroyed. That's kinda neat.
Frog Demon
As usual, the 'Frog Demon'... isn't actually a demon, but considered an animal. Oh well. The Frog Demons are pretty neat, I've always loved poison arrow frogs in real life with all their fancy colouration, and the red-and-black default colour for the Frog Demon is a pretty neat, striking one. They fit the theme of a tropical rainforest, in any case, being huge, mutated frog-men that hock poisonous loogie balls at you. They're noted to be regular frogs that have been mutated, edxplaining the clearly non-froggy claws they have. Not much to say here, it's a frog.
Giant Mosquito
Speaking of just traditionally tropical animals is the giant mosquito. Which is... just a giant mosquito, with some of the normal exaggeration of features that these old-school Blizzard games all have. In the giant mosquito's case, it's a big abdomen that glows red. In an ability inspired by their real-life counterparts, the giant mosquitoes will cause your hero to have a loss of stamina, and act more of an annoyance, making it hard for you to stay alive while other more dangerous creatures move in. Pretty standard enemy, but in addition with the frogs and the return of the giant spiders, does help to give the rainforest a pretty neat theme.
Thorned Hulk
You got to have your Ent expies in any self-respecting jungle RPG setting, and it's always interesting to see just what sort of plant-based monstrosities these RPG games can come up with. The Thorned Hulk is meant to be extremely hostile and not at all grandfatherly like Ents and Treants, and they're just this broad-shouldered, massive hulking beasts made entirely out of wood. I love the little beady eyes, and I love that its main attacking arm is just a huge log with spikes, while the other arm seems to be a regular hand. The manual notes that these Thorned Hulks are originally nature-based protectors of the land before they are twisted into servitors of the demons.
Tentacle Beast
A lot of the map layout in Act III involves you navigating the ways around the massive rivers that dot the rainforest, and out of these rivers can pop out these Tentacle Beasts! Which are less tentacles and more like weird Loch Ness serpents, but you only ever see the heads of these creatures. The manual also backs this up, noting that they are poisonous reptiles. Apparently they are pack hunters, and the manual notes that one will use their poisonous spit-balls to knock their prey into the maw of its brethren. They've got a neat model, but they don't really show up a whole ton in the actual game, so they're nowhere as memorable as any of the other enemies in Act III. I think they're invulnerable if they submerge their heads? I don't really remember these guys.
A lot of the map layout in Act III involves you navigating the ways around the massive rivers that dot the rainforest, and out of these rivers can pop out these Tentacle Beasts! Which are less tentacles and more like weird Loch Ness serpents, but you only ever see the heads of these creatures. The manual also backs this up, noting that they are poisonous reptiles. Apparently they are pack hunters, and the manual notes that one will use their poisonous spit-balls to knock their prey into the maw of its brethren. They've got a neat model, but they don't really show up a whole ton in the actual game, so they're nowhere as memorable as any of the other enemies in Act III. I think they're invulnerable if they submerge their heads? I don't really remember these guys.
Willowisp
This is hands-down one of the cooler models in Diablo II, as far as non-boss enemies go. The wyvern-esque Wraiths are pretty cool, but the Willowisp shows that the Diablo team can make a pretty cool humanoid ghost. The fact that the Willowisp is so featureless, just a mass of foggy smoke that sort of takes form outside the outline of a stringy-haired ghost? With said foggy tendrils lashing out like tendrils or wings or something? They're noted to be undead created from the jungle swamp vapors, seeking out the energy in living beings... and are noted to not be evil, just hungry. Another pretty cool thing about them is that they're almost invisible until they appear, and then they just launch lightning bolts at you while they drain your life and mana. One of the cooler enemies.
Zakarum Zealot, Zakarum Priest
The order of the Zakarum is, I believe, the same order that the Paladin player character in Diablo II belongs to, and it is another huge organization against evil that has fallen when the Prime Evils arrived onto Sanctuary. As you travel through the rainforest and kill the many beasts and monsters, you start coming into these abandoned temple monasteries, inhabited with these poor Zakarum Zealots and Priests, which are just regular priests and paladins that have been twisted and corrupted by the demons' influence.
The manual emphasizes the backstory of the Zakarum order, too, noting how they were founded by an Archangel, how they are all taught to resist evil and embrace the holy Light, and how the religion is all nice and good and accepted by many of the people in the land, and how the zealots were an order created specifically to hunt down demons and stuff. Sometimes, though, some of the more fanatical and zealous members end up being susceptible to corruption. And then come Diablo II, and the order itself was corrupted in one fell swoop. By the time your character meets them they are all either corrupted, or are so fanatical in their zeal to root out anyone that has demonic corruption that they'll be out for your blood -- because, hey, you've spent the past couple of weeks murdering demons, right? I don't really care for them as enemies, finding them kind of boring, but the backstory and the implication that you're just killing a bunch of poor souls who think they're protecting their temple when, in fact, they're protecting the demons, is pretty neat even if the game doesn't dwell on it at all.
The order of the Zakarum is, I believe, the same order that the Paladin player character in Diablo II belongs to, and it is another huge organization against evil that has fallen when the Prime Evils arrived onto Sanctuary. As you travel through the rainforest and kill the many beasts and monsters, you start coming into these abandoned temple monasteries, inhabited with these poor Zakarum Zealots and Priests, which are just regular priests and paladins that have been twisted and corrupted by the demons' influence.
The manual emphasizes the backstory of the Zakarum order, too, noting how they were founded by an Archangel, how they are all taught to resist evil and embrace the holy Light, and how the religion is all nice and good and accepted by many of the people in the land, and how the zealots were an order created specifically to hunt down demons and stuff. Sometimes, though, some of the more fanatical and zealous members end up being susceptible to corruption. And then come Diablo II, and the order itself was corrupted in one fell swoop. By the time your character meets them they are all either corrupted, or are so fanatical in their zeal to root out anyone that has demonic corruption that they'll be out for your blood -- because, hey, you've spent the past couple of weeks murdering demons, right? I don't really care for them as enemies, finding them kind of boring, but the backstory and the implication that you're just killing a bunch of poor souls who think they're protecting their temple when, in fact, they're protecting the demons, is pretty neat even if the game doesn't dwell on it at all.
Council Member (and Act III bosses)
Whether they were brainwashed or just zealots, the Zakarum order are protecting a central temple that is guarded by a group of Council Members, which, in turn, guard a portal to Mephisto's lair. These 'Council Members' essentially serve as the Act's huge miniboss, and unlike the Zakarumites, they are clearly corrupted, with the left half of their body twisted with demonic features, having this huge Devimon-style arm. The asymmetry is a bit hard to see since you'll be running for your life when you first meet the six Council Members, all of which have different skills, but as you meet more and more of the Council Members, it's clear that they have been truly twisted by Mephisto's influence, and it's their corruption that causes the Order of the Zakarum to be twisted into a mockery of what it once was.
Again, they're just kind of there design-wise, but the buildup to them and the fact that you're facing a whole council with different spells taken from the various playable heroes' list of spells is always pretty cool. And having a unique model for this 'miniboss' enemy is actually a neat feature that I wished they had done more in the other acts. You fight three council members at the end of the city of Travincal -- Ismail Vilehand, Galeb Flamefinger and Toorc Icefist. As you can guess, Flamefinger and Icefist can cast fire and ice spells respectively, and I'm pretty sure Flamefinger can cast Fire Hydra. Vilehand can heal his compatriots, and I've seen a lot of people note that this fight is actually harder than Mephisto himself. Three Council Members act as adds to Mephisto: Wyand Voidbringer, Maffer Dragonhand and Bremm Sparkfist, but these three don't seem to have unique skills like the Travincal trio.
I guess we'll talk about the Act III bosses, too. We've got Witch Doctor Endungu (a Fetish Shaman, the boss of the Flayer Dungeon and guarding Khalim's Brain); Stormtree (a Thorned Hulk that guards the entrance to Lower Kurast); Sszark the Burning (a unique fire-breathing spider in Spider Cavern); Battlemaid Sarina (a Corrupt Rogue that guards a plot device) and Icehawk Riftwing (a bat demon guarding Khalim's Heart). Nothing noteworthy about any of these.
Again, they're just kind of there design-wise, but the buildup to them and the fact that you're facing a whole council with different spells taken from the various playable heroes' list of spells is always pretty cool. And having a unique model for this 'miniboss' enemy is actually a neat feature that I wished they had done more in the other acts. You fight three council members at the end of the city of Travincal -- Ismail Vilehand, Galeb Flamefinger and Toorc Icefist. As you can guess, Flamefinger and Icefist can cast fire and ice spells respectively, and I'm pretty sure Flamefinger can cast Fire Hydra. Vilehand can heal his compatriots, and I've seen a lot of people note that this fight is actually harder than Mephisto himself. Three Council Members act as adds to Mephisto: Wyand Voidbringer, Maffer Dragonhand and Bremm Sparkfist, but these three don't seem to have unique skills like the Travincal trio.
I guess we'll talk about the Act III bosses, too. We've got Witch Doctor Endungu (a Fetish Shaman, the boss of the Flayer Dungeon and guarding Khalim's Brain); Stormtree (a Thorned Hulk that guards the entrance to Lower Kurast); Sszark the Burning (a unique fire-breathing spider in Spider Cavern); Battlemaid Sarina (a Corrupt Rogue that guards a plot device) and Icehawk Riftwing (a bat demon guarding Khalim's Heart). Nothing noteworthy about any of these.
Mephisto, Lord of Hatred
You've heard me talking about the "Prime Evil" all throughout the Diablo II review, and they're basically a trio of demon lord brothers, but I'm not going to go too in-depth about their backstory, but basically Mephisto's Soulstone was kept by the priests of Zakarum for safekeeping, but, of course, he broke free. You fight the first of them, Mephisto, at the end of Act III after fighting through the corrupted Zakarumite temple and find Mephisto with three of the Council Members hanging out with him.
I honestly don't remember a whole ton about the Mephisto fight other than he's a lot easier than Duriel was. Maybe it's because I played a Necromancer in my main playthrough of Diablo II and the bosses' difficulties are different depending on your class' playstyle, it could be because Mephisto is fought in an area with a series of room where you can run around and sort of lead him away from his buddies, or maybe it's just because of good ol' game difficulty scaling, but Mephistso was never that hard to me. I've always liked just how interesting the demon bosses in Diablo are. I've always liked it a bit better when the design for 'ultimate evils' aren't just basic humanoid dudes, but at some point if you go too abstarct you fall into the audience going "well, that's more Cthulhu than Satan, huh." And among most of Diablo's primary demon characters, most of them tend to fall under a lot of similar tropes of being horned humanoids, maybe with cloven hooves, bat/skeletal wings, tails and whatnot.
Mephisto, though, is a very interesting take on the humanoid demon design. Sure, he's still got a mostly humanoid torso and a pair of tattered skeletal wings, and sure, those two devil-horns are huge. And, hell, having a mostly skeletal body isn't even anything groundbreaking as far as demon bosses go, particularly in this franchise... but the simple fact that Mephisto's body just trails off into just a spine underneath that ribcage just gives him a very fun and unique silhouette. Some art even depict those things as less wings and more whip-tentacles. Throw in the fact that they made him as gangly as possible to contrast to the beefier Diablo, from the arms to the fingers to the wings to the horns. Mephisto's pretty cool, and I think among the Prime Evils he might be my favourite from a visual perspective? I dunno.
I honestly don't remember a whole ton about the Mephisto fight other than he's a lot easier than Duriel was. Maybe it's because I played a Necromancer in my main playthrough of Diablo II and the bosses' difficulties are different depending on your class' playstyle, it could be because Mephisto is fought in an area with a series of room where you can run around and sort of lead him away from his buddies, or maybe it's just because of good ol' game difficulty scaling, but Mephistso was never that hard to me. I've always liked just how interesting the demon bosses in Diablo are. I've always liked it a bit better when the design for 'ultimate evils' aren't just basic humanoid dudes, but at some point if you go too abstarct you fall into the audience going "well, that's more Cthulhu than Satan, huh." And among most of Diablo's primary demon characters, most of them tend to fall under a lot of similar tropes of being horned humanoids, maybe with cloven hooves, bat/skeletal wings, tails and whatnot.
Mephisto, though, is a very interesting take on the humanoid demon design. Sure, he's still got a mostly humanoid torso and a pair of tattered skeletal wings, and sure, those two devil-horns are huge. And, hell, having a mostly skeletal body isn't even anything groundbreaking as far as demon bosses go, particularly in this franchise... but the simple fact that Mephisto's body just trails off into just a spine underneath that ribcage just gives him a very fun and unique silhouette. Some art even depict those things as less wings and more whip-tentacles. Throw in the fact that they made him as gangly as possible to contrast to the beefier Diablo, from the arms to the fingers to the wings to the horns. Mephisto's pretty cool, and I think among the Prime Evils he might be my favourite from a visual perspective? I dunno.
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Act 4: The Harrowing
The final act of the base Diablo II game has you descend to hell to hunt down Diablo, having freed your angelic ally Tyrael and getting a bunch of artifacts over the past couple of acts that would prove instrumental in slaying Diablo once and for all (until the next couple of games, that is). Being set in, y'know, hell, we're leaving behind a lot of the more mundane, nature-inspired enemies in the previous acts and instead have demons all the time, full time.
Unlike previous acts, Act IV is basically a long, gruelling fight of you just fighting through hordes without too many side-quests or flavourful bits like, say, the Flayer ziggurats in Act III or the many pyramids in Act II or the Countess' castle in Act I. There's only like, two side-quests, too, I believe, compared to the half-dozen that litter the previous acts. And there's a sense of tension there where it's just your hero and a select few allies that has set up a frontline camp in Pandemonium Fortress, Diablo's own home plane, to take the fight to him and kill the dude forever (or at least until Diablo III). And being the original final level of the game, obviously it's going to have a lot of brand-new enemies.
Oblivion Knight
The Oblivion Knights are basically similar to Warcraft's original Deah Knights, just a bunch of corpses in full knight armour that fight for a dark power. Diablo II takes place partially in hell itself, though, so instead of corpses that are transformed into undead warriors, Oblivion Knights are the souls of the most ruthless mortal warriors that have died, conscripted into hell's warriors. They basically take the place of the Skeletons and other lesser undead in previous acts, there are sword-swinging and spell-slinging variants, and... they're cooler, for sure, and it fits the whole theme of hell, but at the same time I really don't have a whole ton to say here. I think the mage variants are able to use necromancer skills.
The Oblivion Knights are basically similar to Warcraft's original Deah Knights, just a bunch of corpses in full knight armour that fight for a dark power. Diablo II takes place partially in hell itself, though, so instead of corpses that are transformed into undead warriors, Oblivion Knights are the souls of the most ruthless mortal warriors that have died, conscripted into hell's warriors. They basically take the place of the Skeletons and other lesser undead in previous acts, there are sword-swinging and spell-slinging variants, and... they're cooler, for sure, and it fits the whole theme of hell, but at the same time I really don't have a whole ton to say here. I think the mage variants are able to use necromancer skills.
Finger Mage
Thankfully, the rest of the enemies in hell aren't so mundane. Look at this thing. "Finger Mage"? That's what the species is called? The actual names of the beings you meet in the game are "Doom Caster", "Storm Caster" and "Strangler", none of which is as creepy-sounding as Finger Mage. It sure is a design, and the first time I saw this I wasn't really sure what to make of it. Is it like, a floating spider-like demon? A dude whose ribcage is splayed out? Turns out that it's a creature based on a skeletal hand, based on the moniker 'finger mage', and hoo boy this is probably one of the cooler designs to come out of this game. I dunno. I'm just such a big fan of this thing, from the multi-horned face to the six creepy finger-arm things that move independently and shoot out magic missiles. The lore given to them in the manual isn't quite as cool as them just being regular demons that just look like that, though, but apparently Finger Mages are the fantasy RPG equivalent of a sentient weapon, created during the "Mage Clan Wars" as weaponized creatures that seek out and consume other mages' mana. Somehow, after killing their creators, they found their way to hell. Okay.
Thankfully, the rest of the enemies in hell aren't so mundane. Look at this thing. "Finger Mage"? That's what the species is called? The actual names of the beings you meet in the game are "Doom Caster", "Storm Caster" and "Strangler", none of which is as creepy-sounding as Finger Mage. It sure is a design, and the first time I saw this I wasn't really sure what to make of it. Is it like, a floating spider-like demon? A dude whose ribcage is splayed out? Turns out that it's a creature based on a skeletal hand, based on the moniker 'finger mage', and hoo boy this is probably one of the cooler designs to come out of this game. I dunno. I'm just such a big fan of this thing, from the multi-horned face to the six creepy finger-arm things that move independently and shoot out magic missiles. The lore given to them in the manual isn't quite as cool as them just being regular demons that just look like that, though, but apparently Finger Mages are the fantasy RPG equivalent of a sentient weapon, created during the "Mage Clan Wars" as weaponized creatures that seek out and consume other mages' mana. Somehow, after killing their creators, they found their way to hell. Okay.
Regurgitator
Act IV keeps giving! What is this thing? It sure is the horrid-looking thing you'd expect from a more classical depiction of hell instead of the 'ooh, what kind of cool-looking demon monster I could think up of today' in many RPG's nowadays. And sure, cool looking demon monsters are neat, but hell's supposed to be this wretched place and the Regurgitator looks pretty dang wretched. Gangly arms, toady posture, a neck that's way too long and that face. The tentacle-mustache thing surrounding its real mouth, and two Muppet eyes... yeah, this sure is a demon that's called a 'regurgitator' all right, you can definitely see this dude eating like poop or corpses and just vomit it out and eat it back again. Of course they're created from the 'bile and corpses of the tortured damned', and of course they eat up corpses on the ground and launch the corpses like cannon missiles at you. Pretty disgusting, but very appropriate.
Vile Mother & Vile Child
More creepy-looking demons, and man that proportion in the Vile Mother just looks terribly off. Maybe it's the fact that the rear feet are oriented the wrong way for a frog-like body layout? Again, sometimes you really don't have to go over-the-top to make a pretty disturbing design, just do something like this, take a frog-like body structure, give human features to it and then twist things around just a bit. It wouldn't quite be as effective if the rear legs are just pointing forwards, and it'd just be like, a weird frog-lizard centaur creature, but this way it does look like something that would inhabit the pits of hell. I really don't have a whole ton to say here, they're still cool but not as cool as the Finger Mages and Regurgitators.
As you can probably tell by their names, Vile Mothers are one of those 'spawn babies' sort of enemies, creating Vile Childs, which are basically just fleshy Slimers. The Vile Children aren't as creepy, but I remembered the noises that these things make are pretty nasty.
As you can probably tell by their names, Vile Mothers are one of those 'spawn babies' sort of enemies, creating Vile Childs, which are basically just fleshy Slimers. The Vile Children aren't as creepy, but I remembered the noises that these things make are pretty nasty.
Megademon
Of course any self-respecting fantasy setting needs to have one of these guys as the head honchos of the demons. Huge, muscular dudes with red skin, giant bat-wings and horns. Call them what you want -- Balrogs, Balors, Pit Fiends, Doom Guards... and I really don't have much to say here. Just because it's overused doesn't make the Megademon any less cool or any less imposing when you meet them, and sure, they're kind of the expected 'spawned from the depths of the hottest flames of hell itself' stuff and how they're the mightiest and more pure (impure?) of the demons. They're still pretty cool and I do like that they have Balrogs (no, really, some of them are called Balrogs) in hell.
Act IV Bosses
So Act IV is short, and so there isn't a whole ton of sub-bosses, only two that serve as the end-points of the two side-quests. The first is Izual, who has a unique model where it's basically a Megademon that doesn't run around in the nude by have this pretty cool set of golden armour and, if you look closely, a couple extra sets of horns. He's a fallen angel ended up trapped in Hell during the war between heaven and hell, and due to the corruption, betrayed the other angels and told the Prime Evils how to corrupt Soulstones and stuff. He's not quite a demon, though, and the game classifies him as an 'animal', which is the game's short-hand for the 'other' category. He's not an angel-turned-demon, he's just a crazy angel. It's pretty neat, and I always found it cool that someone with a relatively large amount of backstory had a unique model.
Hephasto the Armorer, meanwhile, uses the same model as The Smith from Act I, and he basically serves the same job, being the Hephaestus equivalent for hell. There's not a whole ton to him, but I did like that this model is reserved for unique smithing demons. You beat him up to steal his hellforge hammer that will allow you to smash Mephisto's Sousltone.
The other three bosses are part of a little mini-boss rush before you reach Diablo's chamber, serving as his royal guard or whatever, spawning with a large army of minions. We've got the Infected of Souls (a Megademon); the Grand Vizier of Chaos (a Finger Mage) and Lord De Seis (an Oblivion Knight). I loved the vibe of a little round of boss fights before the final ultimate boss, but they don't leave me a whole ton to talk about. Lord De Seis was infamous in the original Diablo II for its ability to straight up steal your equipment, but this asshole ability was eventually removed in a patch.
So Act IV is short, and so there isn't a whole ton of sub-bosses, only two that serve as the end-points of the two side-quests. The first is Izual, who has a unique model where it's basically a Megademon that doesn't run around in the nude by have this pretty cool set of golden armour and, if you look closely, a couple extra sets of horns. He's a fallen angel ended up trapped in Hell during the war between heaven and hell, and due to the corruption, betrayed the other angels and told the Prime Evils how to corrupt Soulstones and stuff. He's not quite a demon, though, and the game classifies him as an 'animal', which is the game's short-hand for the 'other' category. He's not an angel-turned-demon, he's just a crazy angel. It's pretty neat, and I always found it cool that someone with a relatively large amount of backstory had a unique model.
Hephasto the Armorer, meanwhile, uses the same model as The Smith from Act I, and he basically serves the same job, being the Hephaestus equivalent for hell. There's not a whole ton to him, but I did like that this model is reserved for unique smithing demons. You beat him up to steal his hellforge hammer that will allow you to smash Mephisto's Sousltone.
The other three bosses are part of a little mini-boss rush before you reach Diablo's chamber, serving as his royal guard or whatever, spawning with a large army of minions. We've got the Infected of Souls (a Megademon); the Grand Vizier of Chaos (a Finger Mage) and Lord De Seis (an Oblivion Knight). I loved the vibe of a little round of boss fights before the final ultimate boss, but they don't leave me a whole ton to talk about. Lord De Seis was infamous in the original Diablo II for its ability to straight up steal your equipment, but this asshole ability was eventually removed in a patch.
Diablo, Lord of Terror
And so we fight the final enemy of the original version of the game, whose name is on the title, Diablo. Designed for the original Diablo, where he's just this huge demon-lord encountered at the end of the long dungeon crawl, Diablo's design is... basic? it's pretty imposing, sure, but as I mentioned in the Megademon entry, it's also sort of expected, y'know? It sure is iconic, and I do appreciate the game designers at least adding a bit of flourish to Diablo's design, giving him a row of giant black spikes instead of wings, and giving him a distinctive, memorable pair of curled horns.
Anyway, Diablo basically corrupted the 'Warrior' of the original Diablo game and used his body as a host as he went around corrupting the land and freeing his two sealed brothers before going to Hell itself to rally an army, and I do like the vibe of the game where you're always one step behind Diablo, working to try and destroy the swath of corruption he's left behind, until you reach him in his fortress in hell. Not really a whole ton to say about Diablo's design, he's got a bunch of fire and lightning spell and is one hell of a tough boss fight.
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Anyway, Diablo basically corrupted the 'Warrior' of the original Diablo game and used his body as a host as he went around corrupting the land and freeing his two sealed brothers before going to Hell itself to rally an army, and I do like the vibe of the game where you're always one step behind Diablo, working to try and destroy the swath of corruption he's left behind, until you reach him in his fortress in hell. Not really a whole ton to say about Diablo's design, he's got a bunch of fire and lightning spell and is one hell of a tough boss fight.
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Act 5: The Lord of Destruction
The expansion's storyline takes place in the icy mountains of Harrogath, where Baal leads his demonic legions to war against the fortress-cities there. Seeking to eliminate the last of the Prime Evils in the mortal plane, your hero goes there to finish them once and for all. Being an expansion pack, of course, Act V has a lot of new monster models, mostly demons. Act V is easily the longest part of the game, taking up I think around the same amount of play-time as two of the original Acts, and the storyline has the protagonist, fresh off killing Diablo in hell, discover that the third Prime Evil, Baal, is making a trail of devastation through the Northern Steppes.
Reanimated Horde
I think almost all of the enemies in Act V are new models, or at least ones with new animation. The Reanimated Horde is basically a bit of a combination of the Zombie and the Skeleton tropes, though. They still have flesh, but they have enough capabilities to lazily swing around swords. They have a couple of extra abilities, like charging and swinging that huge broadsword, and I think they can rise from the dead an extra time, but as a Necromancer I don't think this bothered me a lot since the moment they fall I turn them into my own reanimated horde.
I think almost all of the enemies in Act V are new models, or at least ones with new animation. The Reanimated Horde is basically a bit of a combination of the Zombie and the Skeleton tropes, though. They still have flesh, but they have enough capabilities to lazily swing around swords. They have a couple of extra abilities, like charging and swinging that huge broadsword, and I think they can rise from the dead an extra time, but as a Necromancer I don't think this bothered me a lot since the moment they fall I turn them into my own reanimated horde.
Demon Imp & Evil Demon Hut
Taking the place of the Fallen and the Fetish as the scrappy, tiny, skittish demon minions, the Demon Imp is... well, it's an imp with what appears to be the hairstyle of a Togruta from Star Wars. There's a bit more to the Imps than just being tiny enemies, though. They are spawned from Evil Demon Huts (which looks more like a chunk of Mordor instead of a 'hut') and they can manipulate towers or ride Siege Beasts (which we'll cover later), but most of all they can teleport around the area. All respect to the Demon Imps, they're fragile and die easily but they are one hell of an annoyance. The flavour text for them is surprisingly in-depth, noting that many wannabe demonologists end up summoning imps, thinking they are lesser demons that will serve them as familiars. But these aren't D&D or WoW imps, the imp would just play along, then subjugate his 'master', then proceed to vivisect the master, and use the flesh to create homunculi that would eventually transform into other imps.
Siege Beast
The idea of a giant ogre-like creature carrying a small palanquin where a goblin or a smaller imp-like creature rides on top has always appealed to me. I think the one that stuck in my head the most was the Goblin Alchemist hero from Warcraft III, but among Blizzard games, the Siege Beast was here first. They are huge, lumbering ogre-like creatures with spikes jutting out of their backs and out of their knuckles, X-23 style, and I always loved how it looked! The white bony growths contrasts so well with the gray skin-and-armour thing it's going on, and, as mentioned in the Demon Imp entry, the little Demon Imps can teleport up to the box it's carrying on its backpack and chuck fireballs from atop the Siege Beasts.
The flavour text notes that the Siege Beasts are just dumb animals that normally stampede across the planes of hell, and when the demons domesticated them and sicced them on humanity, well, it's just basically all in a day's work for them. Oh, speaking of which, the idea of weaponizing giant ogre-beasts is always something I've always found to be awesome in fantasy setting -- the first part of Act V does take place with you arriving in a fortress city while the demon hordes are laying siege to it, making this dude feel extra-flavourful.
The idea of a giant ogre-like creature carrying a small palanquin where a goblin or a smaller imp-like creature rides on top has always appealed to me. I think the one that stuck in my head the most was the Goblin Alchemist hero from Warcraft III, but among Blizzard games, the Siege Beast was here first. They are huge, lumbering ogre-like creatures with spikes jutting out of their backs and out of their knuckles, X-23 style, and I always loved how it looked! The white bony growths contrasts so well with the gray skin-and-armour thing it's going on, and, as mentioned in the Demon Imp entry, the little Demon Imps can teleport up to the box it's carrying on its backpack and chuck fireballs from atop the Siege Beasts.
The flavour text notes that the Siege Beasts are just dumb animals that normally stampede across the planes of hell, and when the demons domesticated them and sicced them on humanity, well, it's just basically all in a day's work for them. Oh, speaking of which, the idea of weaponizing giant ogre-beasts is always something I've always found to be awesome in fantasy setting -- the first part of Act V does take place with you arriving in a fortress city while the demon hordes are laying siege to it, making this dude feel extra-flavourful.
Baal's Minion & Suicide Minion
There's a lot of these guys, and they range from being classified from animals to demons, and some have an ice theme to them, but all of Baal's Minions are relatively simple-looking malformed brutes, just muscular humanoids with a knobbled hide. They're very basic-looking, and I think they're just here to give Act V's forces a different footsoldier vibe? They're neat, although being tiny ogre-men isn't all that exciting. What's interesting is the mechanic, though -- if they have the fortune (or misfortune) to show up next to an Overseer-type enemy, the Overseer can transform the Baal's Minion into a Suicide Minion, where they end up having huge red chunks of flesh around them as they run towards you and erupt, dealing massive damage. A neat way, again, to differentiate these from just another generic minion you have to kill.
Overseer
And here's the aforementioned Overseer, who are obviously demons. They're fat bastards with surprisingly twig-like arms, and they're portrayed more like abusive task-masters and slave-drivers more than actual combatants like the Megademons or the Blood Lords. I do like how they look, and the little interaction with the Minions, using the whip to transform them into a raging kamikaze flesh-bomb is a pretty fun interaction that reflects the whole "demons are evil and don't care about their minions" thing.
And here's the aforementioned Overseer, who are obviously demons. They're fat bastards with surprisingly twig-like arms, and they're portrayed more like abusive task-masters and slave-drivers more than actual combatants like the Megademons or the Blood Lords. I do like how they look, and the little interaction with the Minions, using the whip to transform them into a raging kamikaze flesh-bomb is a pretty fun interaction that reflects the whole "demons are evil and don't care about their minions" thing.
Death Mauler
I really have given up on trying to figure out what counts as an 'animal' and what's a 'demon' in Diablo II's definition. The Death Mauler and all its variants are classified as an 'animal', but the manual tells us that it's an earth demon that dwells deep within the subterranean caverns of the Burning Hells. If you're a creature that lives in hell and is described as an 'earth demon', wouldn't you be classified as one? Anyway, the Death Mauler's a pretty neat monster, and would have been a neat-but-boring porcupine-ogre creature if not for the fact that the animation it's doing in that gif? It's stabbing a pair of tendrils from its arms into the ground, and the tendrils will erupt out of the ground a fair distance away to stab you. That's pretty cool, you're distracted by its thick log-like arms and the hide of spikes that you don't even stop to think that it's not even interested in getting close, it's just going to stab the ground and attack you from there.
Blood Lord
Oh, hey, a minotaur! We got a satyr enemy in the earlier acts, and we definitely have the hell cows, but the Blood Lord is a more serious version of the humanoid cow demon concept. There really isn't much for me to say, though, it sure is a cool-looking minotaur demon with armour. They're cool and distinctive from the rest of Baal's horde, which is neat.
Oh, hey, a minotaur! We got a satyr enemy in the earlier acts, and we definitely have the hell cows, but the Blood Lord is a more serious version of the humanoid cow demon concept. There really isn't much for me to say, though, it sure is a cool-looking minotaur demon with armour. They're cool and distinctive from the rest of Baal's horde, which is neat.
Catapult
I kind of love these things. I've always had a bit of a fascination with the siege engines in Warcraft III, and apparently the demons in Diablo II also has siege engines... and they're infernally-powered siege engines, too, with a rickety, glowing set of wood that looks pretty dang sinister. I also like the fact that there's a set of what appears to be rune-lines drawn on the ground around the hell catapult itself, and interestingly, when you destroy a catapult, it doesn't fall apart or anything, no. It gets sucked into the sigils on the ground like it's being un-summoned, and I've always thought that to be pretty surprising and cool! Also, they are self-firing and self-maintaining, but there's a reason for that. The Prime Evils bind the souls of disloyal demons to the iron used in constructing the hell-catapults, and that's their eternal punishment, to be consigned to be a wooden implement that sticks around in one place, gets summoned here and there and then ultimately get blown up and sent back to hell by a plucky adventurer.
Abominable
It's the Wendigo model from Act I, but with a cool snow-fur texture. I debated whether to even talk about this monster or just shove it into the Act I coverage, but since Battle.net considers this a different breed... sure. They basically have the same sort of lore, being once peaceful until demonic corruption settled in and transformed them. At one point in Act V you go through a frozen cave, and these guys are in it.
I kind of love these things. I've always had a bit of a fascination with the siege engines in Warcraft III, and apparently the demons in Diablo II also has siege engines... and they're infernally-powered siege engines, too, with a rickety, glowing set of wood that looks pretty dang sinister. I also like the fact that there's a set of what appears to be rune-lines drawn on the ground around the hell catapult itself, and interestingly, when you destroy a catapult, it doesn't fall apart or anything, no. It gets sucked into the sigils on the ground like it's being un-summoned, and I've always thought that to be pretty surprising and cool! Also, they are self-firing and self-maintaining, but there's a reason for that. The Prime Evils bind the souls of disloyal demons to the iron used in constructing the hell-catapults, and that's their eternal punishment, to be consigned to be a wooden implement that sticks around in one place, gets summoned here and there and then ultimately get blown up and sent back to hell by a plucky adventurer.
Abominable
It's the Wendigo model from Act I, but with a cool snow-fur texture. I debated whether to even talk about this monster or just shove it into the Act I coverage, but since Battle.net considers this a different breed... sure. They basically have the same sort of lore, being once peaceful until demonic corruption settled in and transformed them. At one point in Act V you go through a frozen cave, and these guys are in it.
Frozen Horror
Another icy monster in the ice caves, the Frozen Horror is a pretty standard-looking enemy as well, being a troll-like humanoid with like, ice-spikes on its back. Again, thematic for the ice cave but doesn't really leave me a whole ton to talk about... until we get to the flavour text! Apparently, these are demonic spirits who, because of some demonic biology we don't really understand, can't manifest in full form in the mortal plane, being intangible and utterly useless... until they realize they can use the ice of Mt. Arreat to turn into slapdash bodies to walk around in. It explains why they just shatter and melt and be completely unusable for my Necromancer to make skeleton buddies out of, for sure!
Another icy monster in the ice caves, the Frozen Horror is a pretty standard-looking enemy as well, being a troll-like humanoid with like, ice-spikes on its back. Again, thematic for the ice cave but doesn't really leave me a whole ton to talk about... until we get to the flavour text! Apparently, these are demonic spirits who, because of some demonic biology we don't really understand, can't manifest in full form in the mortal plane, being intangible and utterly useless... until they realize they can use the ice of Mt. Arreat to turn into slapdash bodies to walk around in. It explains why they just shatter and melt and be completely unusable for my Necromancer to make skeleton buddies out of, for sure!
Succubus & Stygian Fury
These two ladies are basically the exact same model, it's just that the Stygian Fury has extra horns on her head. It's kind of bizarre that the game bestiary considers them completely different monster-types, though, but have the exact same write-up for them. They're winged lady demons that attack you. The Succubi are noted to be the handmaidens of Andariel, which ends up being unintentionally hilarious since you fight these ladies at a point much later than Andariel, meaning they're likely to be much more powerful than poor Andariel. Apparently, the specific Succubi and Furies that you fight in Act V are Baal's personal harem, and they're out for human men blood. There's a neat little gimmick with the Succubi where they will cast a curse that causes your spells to consume life instead of mana, which I remembered to be pretty annoying.
These two ladies are basically the exact same model, it's just that the Stygian Fury has extra horns on her head. It's kind of bizarre that the game bestiary considers them completely different monster-types, though, but have the exact same write-up for them. They're winged lady demons that attack you. The Succubi are noted to be the handmaidens of Andariel, which ends up being unintentionally hilarious since you fight these ladies at a point much later than Andariel, meaning they're likely to be much more powerful than poor Andariel. Apparently, the specific Succubi and Furies that you fight in Act V are Baal's personal harem, and they're out for human men blood. There's a neat little gimmick with the Succubi where they will cast a curse that causes your spells to consume life instead of mana, which I remembered to be pretty annoying.
Putrid Defiler & Pain Worm
Taking the place of the Vile Mothers is the Putrid Defiler, which... I'm not even sure how to desribe. It's a demonic skull and a pair of arms that dangle down via it's... spine? From like a hovering orb? Is that its brain? Or some kind of bulbous Metroid-esque sac? And why does the whole thing kind of look like a mutant penis when it's glowing? The Putrid Defilers are noted to be terrifying even to Baal's own troops, and it's not because of the dong factor either, but because it reproduces Xenomorph-style, infecting any nearby demon with its young, the pain worms (which are identical-looking to the Vile Children, except they glow), which is described to travel to the brain of the host monster, eating their thoughts, and burst out of their heads when the host is killed. In-game, the Putrid Defiler basically puts a buff on any nearby monster that'll cause them to turn into Pain Worms when you kill them. It's pretty creepy, and the Putrid Defiler is a surprisingly bizarre-looking non-humanoid monster after a vast majority of Act V's new creatures have been pretty mundane-looking.
Minion of Destruction
Oh, these guys are an unexpected bit of "whaaaat the fuck", because after going through a huge chunk of Act V and fighting through a whole ton of enemies, you'd think that the game would have shown off all of its new models. Then like a half-dozen of these guys ambush you in a dark corridor in the Throne of Destruction! The Minion of Destruction is pretty neat, it's like this bizarre boar-faced dinosaur-demon with four arms. It looks so gross. The artwork for them makes them look a lot more like a flayed corpse with spiky, bony ridges and stuff, but the final model in the game looks so much fleshier and, well, just... unpleasant, y'know? I'm not sure why when monsters like the Regurgitator and Putrid Defilers exist in this game. I'm not sure if it's the colour, the combination of the features, or that clap-slap animation it has. They're also gigantic assholes, and a small swarm of them hang out in Baal's throne room, ready to dogpile you and slap you to death. The accompanying flavour text describes them as being more like pets and bloodhounds more than actual sentient demons.
Act V Bosses
Act V has a lot of uniquely-named bosses since it's a long act. The first with a somewhat unique model is Shenk the Overseer, a unique Overseer demon with a goat-skull for a head and spiky shoulder pauldrons. It's the boss of the Bloody Foothills segment of Act V and the leader of the Siege on Harrogath. it's always neat to see the extra bit of effort that is put into some of these 'repaint' bosses, they could've easily just slapped the green colour on a generic Overseer model, but they spent time giving it a goat head.
The next unique boss isn't met until relatively late in the game, and visually Nihlatak is just a dude... but he's a dude that has been harassing you throughout the entire chapter. One thing that's a bit different in Act V is that the leaders of Harrogath don't buy into your claim that you've traveled through hell and back and killed two of the Prime Evils, and as the only survivor of the Elders, he is a gigantic asshole that seems to be there just to be an obligatory obstructive bureaucrat... but turns out that one of the barbarians, Anya, discovered that Nihlatak isn't just an asshole, he's also a traitor that made a deal with Baal, allowing Baal passage to Mt. Arreat. You fight him and kill him, and turns out that despite being part of the barbarian tribe, he's got necromancer skills? You kill him and he literally gets dragged to hell, and it's pretty satisfying.
The deal that Nihlatak made allowed Baal to ascend Mt. Arreat without having to fight the three ghosts of the ancients, but you, the player, aren't so lucky, so you get to fight Talic, Korlic and Madawc. They all have unique models, and they each have a long backstory, but I genuinely don't remember their boss fight as being all that impressive (although, again, I'm a Necromancer, so instead of the 3-v-1 fight, it was more of a 9-v-3 in my favour). They're all ancient barbarians, and Korlic is noted to have druid blood considering how easily he tamed vicious beasts, and is also a peacemaker between tribes. Madawc is a warrior prophet, who apparently is able to see the future and will 'seek justice for crimes not yet committed', which sounds kind of hilarious. Talic's long story... is that he refuses the call to be a ghostly protector, but then sort of went along? They;re neat, I suppose, but I can't say they left much of an impression.
Other bosses that are just repainted models include Dac Farren (a Demon Imp); Eldritch the Rectifier (a Baal's Minion that drops a lot of items near a waypoint and is fun to farm); Eyeback the Unleashed (a Death Mauler); Tresh Socket (a Siege Beast guarding the ice cave's entrance); Sharptooth Slayer (an Overseer also guarding the ice cave's entrance); Frozenstein (an Abominable holding your ally Anya hostage in ice); Bonesaw Breaker (a Reanimated Horde); Snapchip Shatter (a hilarious name for a Frozen Horror); and Pindleskin (a Reanimated Horde).
A gauntlet of minibosses are summoned by Baal when you face him, too, and these are all enemy models from earlier acts, each representing one of the four previous acts. These are Colenzo the Annihilator (a Fallen Shaman); Achmed the Cursed (a Greater Mummy); Bartuc the Bloody (a Zakarum Council Member); Ventar the Unholy (a Megademon) and Lister the Tormentor (a Minion of Destruction).
The next unique boss isn't met until relatively late in the game, and visually Nihlatak is just a dude... but he's a dude that has been harassing you throughout the entire chapter. One thing that's a bit different in Act V is that the leaders of Harrogath don't buy into your claim that you've traveled through hell and back and killed two of the Prime Evils, and as the only survivor of the Elders, he is a gigantic asshole that seems to be there just to be an obligatory obstructive bureaucrat... but turns out that one of the barbarians, Anya, discovered that Nihlatak isn't just an asshole, he's also a traitor that made a deal with Baal, allowing Baal passage to Mt. Arreat. You fight him and kill him, and turns out that despite being part of the barbarian tribe, he's got necromancer skills? You kill him and he literally gets dragged to hell, and it's pretty satisfying.
The deal that Nihlatak made allowed Baal to ascend Mt. Arreat without having to fight the three ghosts of the ancients, but you, the player, aren't so lucky, so you get to fight Talic, Korlic and Madawc. They all have unique models, and they each have a long backstory, but I genuinely don't remember their boss fight as being all that impressive (although, again, I'm a Necromancer, so instead of the 3-v-1 fight, it was more of a 9-v-3 in my favour). They're all ancient barbarians, and Korlic is noted to have druid blood considering how easily he tamed vicious beasts, and is also a peacemaker between tribes. Madawc is a warrior prophet, who apparently is able to see the future and will 'seek justice for crimes not yet committed', which sounds kind of hilarious. Talic's long story... is that he refuses the call to be a ghostly protector, but then sort of went along? They;re neat, I suppose, but I can't say they left much of an impression.
Other bosses that are just repainted models include Dac Farren (a Demon Imp); Eldritch the Rectifier (a Baal's Minion that drops a lot of items near a waypoint and is fun to farm); Eyeback the Unleashed (a Death Mauler); Tresh Socket (a Siege Beast guarding the ice cave's entrance); Sharptooth Slayer (an Overseer also guarding the ice cave's entrance); Frozenstein (an Abominable holding your ally Anya hostage in ice); Bonesaw Breaker (a Reanimated Horde); Snapchip Shatter (a hilarious name for a Frozen Horror); and Pindleskin (a Reanimated Horde).
A gauntlet of minibosses are summoned by Baal when you face him, too, and these are all enemy models from earlier acts, each representing one of the four previous acts. These are Colenzo the Annihilator (a Fallen Shaman); Achmed the Cursed (a Greater Mummy); Bartuc the Bloody (a Zakarum Council Member); Ventar the Unholy (a Megademon) and Lister the Tormentor (a Minion of Destruction).
Baal, Lord of Destruction
He looks cool, even when he rides around in a palanquin. I think that cutscene alone made Baal like fifteen times cooler? That's a rule when you play one of these older games, the fact that there's a high-resolution cutscene makes any character or enemy you see in the game with lower-res models feel so much more impressive. Baal's design is also pretty cool, with those tendrils growing out of his shoulders and head like some sort of sinister crown, and more tendrils bursting out of his armpits when Baal attacks. Baal's lower body is also some sort of crab or spider-like design, which, again, is pretty cool while still preserving a bit of the archetypal demonic silhouette that Mephisto, Diablo and Andariel all had.
Despite being the star of the expansion, Baal is actually pretty prevalent in the Act II storyline in Diablo II, and as part of that story, Baal was trapped ages ago in the body of a human Tal Rasha, before freeing himself thanks to the machinations of Diablo throughout Act II. That's why parts of Diablo still looks so human, particularly the face and upper torso, because he's still technically inhabiting the human body, albeit grossly mutating other parts of it into this spider-legged tentacled monstrosity. As the final boss of the game, Baal was pretty powerful and memorable, starting off with the aforementioned minion gauntlet before using a combination of powerful spells, summoning a clone, as well as giant tentacles that serve as extra minions. Diablo's badass and Mephisto is pretty cool, but I do think that Baal's the winner out of the monster design category.
_________________
That's all the monsters in Diablo II! It's neat to wrap up a game in like a couple of articles this time around instead of making it a long-running series like Pokemon, Digimon, Magic or D&D. As far as these sort of 'reviewing monsters' articles go, I feel like once I wrap up Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes in D&D I'll go through a couple of other games. Maybe I'll cover some of the other Zelda games, or a Metroid game (I played through Metroid: Samus Returns) over the past month or maybe do a couple more M:TG expansions.
He looks cool, even when he rides around in a palanquin. I think that cutscene alone made Baal like fifteen times cooler? That's a rule when you play one of these older games, the fact that there's a high-resolution cutscene makes any character or enemy you see in the game with lower-res models feel so much more impressive. Baal's design is also pretty cool, with those tendrils growing out of his shoulders and head like some sort of sinister crown, and more tendrils bursting out of his armpits when Baal attacks. Baal's lower body is also some sort of crab or spider-like design, which, again, is pretty cool while still preserving a bit of the archetypal demonic silhouette that Mephisto, Diablo and Andariel all had.
Despite being the star of the expansion, Baal is actually pretty prevalent in the Act II storyline in Diablo II, and as part of that story, Baal was trapped ages ago in the body of a human Tal Rasha, before freeing himself thanks to the machinations of Diablo throughout Act II. That's why parts of Diablo still looks so human, particularly the face and upper torso, because he's still technically inhabiting the human body, albeit grossly mutating other parts of it into this spider-legged tentacled monstrosity. As the final boss of the game, Baal was pretty powerful and memorable, starting off with the aforementioned minion gauntlet before using a combination of powerful spells, summoning a clone, as well as giant tentacles that serve as extra minions. Diablo's badass and Mephisto is pretty cool, but I do think that Baal's the winner out of the monster design category.
_________________
That's all the monsters in Diablo II! It's neat to wrap up a game in like a couple of articles this time around instead of making it a long-running series like Pokemon, Digimon, Magic or D&D. As far as these sort of 'reviewing monsters' articles go, I feel like once I wrap up Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes in D&D I'll go through a couple of other games. Maybe I'll cover some of the other Zelda games, or a Metroid game (I played through Metroid: Samus Returns) over the past month or maybe do a couple more M:TG expansions.
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