
In addition to champion monsters, the unique monsters, including act and quest bosses, are a great place to go when it comes to the best items in the game. Socketing “white” items through Larzuk is worthwhile if you want to prepare a high quality item for a certain rune word, for example an archon plate for the 4-socket rune word “Chains of Honor”.
The number of sockets depends on the difficulty level in which the item was found.
The maximum possible socket number for “white” normal items is given in the official weapon and armor overview. A mercenary to distract them provides valuable services here. Retreat as soon as it gets dicey or you need supplies – an already open city portal is mandatory. Baal and his pre-bosses in the throne room, especially Lister the Tormentor, are very strong bosses. When a city portal is placed, the barbarians petrify, but can be reactivated at any time by touching the altar. Bring enough healing/mana potions, stay on the move and be prepared to retreat at any time by casting a city portal – especially in hardcore game mode. The three barbarian ancestors are also very strong quest opponents. Quest boss Nihlathak will send you to the afterlife with explosions of the bodies of monsters you’ve killed if you’re not careful. They not only grant individual bonuses, but in certain combinations, additional rune-word bonuses. New items, the runes, can be inserted into socketed items. There’s a lot of gold treasure chests in Act Five with good loot.
Throughout Act 5 a high fire resistance is very helpful. So don’t overestimate yourself when you attack! Goblins, for example, can teleport and cast strong fire spells, Death Thrashers can shoot thorns from the ground, catapults can shoot strong poisons, and so on. The monsters and enemy fortifications of Act 5 are much more tricky than those of the basic game. Your task is to prevent Baal and his hosts from doing their bidding. If he succeeds in controlling the stone, the gates of hell will be opened and the heavens as well as the earth will be doomed. He is in search of the mythical Worldstone, which created and balances the heavenly, demonic and human kingdoms.
Mephisto and Diablo are destroyed, but the last great evil, Baal, has escaped to the barbaric lands in the north. The city’s most important NPCs are the alchemist Malah, the blacksmith Larzuk, the barbarian warlord Qual-Kehk, the wise man Nihlathak, the orphan Anya, who also offers gambling among other things, and the ever-present Deckard Cain. Like the camp of the hunters in the first act, Harrogath serves as a base for action and quests throughout the rest of the game. First talk to Deckard Cain and Tyrael, who then opens a portal to Harrogath in the Lord of Destruction expansion. At the beginning of the 5th act of Diablo 2 you start in the Fortress of Madness in the 4th act of the main game.