The "general" part became so big that I could no longer keep it on only one page. For your enjoyment, here is part II:
Last modified: 2.3.1998
On Death and Dying Well - by Barngrille
on the menu at ogdens...... - by melara
G.P.O.W Verse - by Ruger
How to tell if you are a diablo addict - by Xesno
Retreating - by Xesnor
again, it's time for my list of unique monsters...
- by Aderrasi
Some information about spells - by Jarulf
Information about monsters - by Jarulf
Interesting facts about Hell Spawns - by Jarulf
Monster Data Fields (in diablo.exe) - by Jarulf
Balance, Stability and Harmony - explained?
- by Da O'Toth
On Intelligence Intercepts, non-strategic
- by Da O'Toth
I've noticed a few comments / discussions of what to do after dying (a.k.a. "takin' it in the shorts). So, here are two posts from a few weeks ago that may warrant re-hashing, from Graymane and Lorax. Perhaps, Varaya, you might add these to your page?
Also, since we're talkin' about dying, which of the three characters has the worst cringe-causing-gimme-the-willies death scream? Personally, for me it is the Rogue. Then again, when I'm playing my Warrior and I hear the Mage cry out, that is usually not the sound I was wanting to hear...
Here are the reposts, please address your comments to the authors (reprinted without permission). =8-)
On Wed Oct 29 6:57 AM, Graymane wrote:
While having a lot of fun reading strategy posts about how to play
the various classes most effectively or how to play co-op most effectively
or how to duel effectively, I have been thinking a lot about dying effectively
and don't remember many posts addressing this issue :) I remember
at lower levels (and sometimes at higher levels) being VERY concerned with
this problem :) Some of these thoughts are obvious and hopefully
some are not so obvious, so feel free to put in
your $0.02 worth!
Some general stuff:
I am assuming that death is imminent and unavoidable for whatever reason
including lag, stupidity, or just bad luck. Obviously you want to
apply strategies that keep you out of these situations in the first place,
but that is not always possible :) The very obvious pre-death preparations:
0. DONT FORGET YOUR MANA SHIELD if your character generally uses one! (This is my leading cause of death :)
1. Put up a portal as soon as you can, preferably away from the stairs.
2. Never run toward your portal or the stairs in case of trouble unless you can make it and you don't care about coming back down.
3. Before entering a large room lay down a potion trail. This can quickly give you the equivalent of two or three belts.
Where to die:
1. Generally SOUTH of where you will come back from because you can see more in that direction and equipment recovery with telekinesis will be easier.
2. Near a wall if you can. This will allow you to hide on the other side or around a corner and use telekinesis without activating anymore monsters.
3. DON'T die near any crossroads! This can definitely cause you a lot of problems. It is better, in my humble opinion, to do a blind teleport into an adjacent room and die near the wall. You will have the chance in that case of using telekinesis to get your stuff back.
4. If you are not quite swarmed and in stun-lock, but the possibility is imminent, try to prepare for death efficiently. This can include teleporting to a more appropriate location, setting up some firewalls or guardians (great way to kill monsters after you are dead), or attempting to disarm one or two of your items so they don't drop when you die. For spell-casters and rogues, be careful of area effect spells like fball and chain lightning. A lot of us on the point of death love to go out with a bang, the problem is that you will rarely kill all the monsters and stand the chance of activating even more.
I have returned:
Some of this will be very class-specific. Depending on the circumstances, it may be best to go down naked. Now, you will have some advantages. First, you are trying to recover your equipment, NOT kill all the monsters! Therefore, being a coward is the better part of valor. How you will recover your equipment depends on where you died and the location of the monsters. Moreover, use death effectively. In some cases you can stage your own death during a recovery to draw monsters away from critical locations. This is the case especially in co-op when you have the stairs and a portal, for example. Die as far away from both as possible to ensure that both are clear when you go back down.
1. If you died near a wall or other covered location. Use and get your stuff back. Don't worry about killing nearby monsters unless they attack you.
2. For open room deaths or other locations where you can't use telekinesis, be prepared to die a bunch. The general strategy is run to where you died and try to pick up as many items as you can before you die again. Be careful with swords and staves though as you will automatically arm them. Better is to buy a cheap sword at griz and lose that. Also, don't get greedy, it is better to pick up one item, run or teleport as far as possible and simply die and then repeat the procedure. If you die during recovery in the same location as your equipment, you will just have a harder time.
3. The running portal. Hotkey the portal spell and cast it a few spaces in front of you as you are moving. You can then either run through the portal or die near the portal, in either case the monsters will swarm there. Keep doing this until the monsters are a good bit of distance from your death location. Use this strategy when you die right by the stairs. Then go back down the stairs and run to where you originally died to pick up stuff, this will give you a few extra seconds of time. The goal is to keep moving the portal further away from the stairs. I used this strategy in hell/hell lvl 15 with soul burners and hell spawn. The stairs were in the pentagram room and as soon as I came down, I activated about 15 of each. After I died, I ran up a corridor and kept casting portal and dying. I would then go down the portal and cast again. I could usually get in one cast before I would die. Eventually, most of the soul burners and hell spawn went down the corridor and I walked down the stairs to get my stuff untouched. You would be surprised how long you can live in a room full of soul burners if you concentrate on running!
4. Co-op recovery. If you and your buddies all died, an
effective strategy is for one member to go down, preferably your best spell-
caster, and use one of the above strategies to lure the monsters away from
the equipment. Recover the mage's equipment first, as the mage will
be the most able of the members to recover everyone's equipment.
If there are MANY monsters, send some of the members down as decoys after
the caster has drawn off some of the monsters from the stairs
or portal. The decoys run as fast as possible to other locations
in order to draw the monsters.
5. "Yes, but I died AT the stairs with no portal!". Well,
this is the most difficult recovery. I have been in this situation
with azure drakes. I was stun-locked as soon as I would come down.
Make sure you use phase and NOT teleport in this case. Moreover,
for mages, don't even bother trying to get a shield up. Hotkey phase,
portal, teleport, and mana shield. The last 2 in case you get
a second of breathing room. In this case you are trying to setup
up for a recovery, not fight monsters or even recover your equipment yet.
What you are trying to do here is get a portal up in a useful location
such as a corridor or near a choke point. Depending on the
circumstances, you may want to use your last breath in this phase for
a teleport away from both the stairs and the portal and simply die.
Disclaimer:
I have recovered equipment with each class using most of these techniques
and have yet to fail getting all my equipment back. I'm sure most
of this stuff is obvious to the vets on this forum, however, I needed this
info when I first started, and had a devil of a time getting equipment
back. Your mileage may vary.
On Wed Oct 29 8:43 AM, Lorax wrote:
Nice post, Graymane. While we're on the topic of dying (or almost
dying), I thought I'd throw out another tip for mages. I've used
it forever, and I've seen other vets here mention it before, but it's worth
mentioning again.
As a sorcerer, a good belt setup can save your butt. I always have a full rejuvenation potion in slot 1, and a mana shield scroll in slot 2. When you're caught in a sticky situation or just get careless and you suddenly notice that your mana shield is down (you know, that moment when your heart skips a beat), a quick 1-2 can get you back in business. The full rejuv not only gets your mana back up, but the extra kick to your hit points gives you another second or so. Of course, there are times when I'm in a stun lock, sucking down blues, that I don't even bother, because I know it'll be a waste of the scroll, but it's been the difference between life and death for me on more than one occasion. With this "insurance", you don't really need to hotkey mana shield either, so you've got an extra hotkey slot to fill as you please.
Ice creamflangewich..........................3.95
gottadamberger...............................2.75
*served on najs hot plate with pickle
cream of wheatforce..........................2.95
falcons taco.................................1.80
eaglecorn....................................1.00
*on the cob...$.75 extra
lightfudge...................................2.00
*with whipped cream $.50 extra
civerbs custard..............................1.75
mindfrys.....................................1.00
hamfather....................................3.95
{2 handed sub, served with undead kraut}
scavengers carrotcake........................2.00
demonsprite float............................2.50
* served in thinking cup
stirred gorash...............................2.45
* cooked with doomlard
griswalds egg................................$.50
azure cakes{assorted}........................3.00
* alcoholic beverages will only be sold to those over level 21, with proper scroll of i.d.
The debate has raged in chat rooms and here,
About this famed armor, this magnificent gear.
Is it legit, or only a hack?
I really don’t know, but here are some facts:
Gris doesn’t offer "Godly" items for sale,
You have to see Wirt, cross the stream through the vale.
And as we all know, Wirt’s prices are high,
So take lots of gold if your looking to buy.
If you fill up your pack, 5K in each slot,
200K you’ll be totin’ and "Boy, that’s a lot!"
But you must have some room in your pack for the stuff,
So empty six slots and hope you still have enough.
But you see, there’s the problem, cause there just ain’t no way,
You could buy Godly Whale Plate for 160K!
But wait, there’s no problem, to hell you will go,
Cause, that’s where you found that unique WindForce Bow.
You’ll just go see BloodLust, or Laz and his honeys,
And once you have found it, to hell with the money.
So you play through a game and many items are found,
but you don’t find any G.P.O.W. on the ground.
You keep playing hell runs, too many to count,
And your levels go up they continue to mount.
‘Til you think, "It’s just me, it must be bad luck",
Or maybe the CD you bought just might suck.
Then you come to this forum, where I’ve posted this rhyme,
And you find out that it’s just been a waste of your time.
In this forum it’s agreed, that this plate is a hack,
That it’s some cheater’s tweak, though it’s not a proved fact.
So give up your quest, buy some good plate instead,
Like "Awesome" or "Saintly", and a hat for your head.
So it seems G.P.O.W. is a myth of this game,
It’s existence is unlikely and that’s a damn shame.
Cause my fighter could use it, his AC would be great,
But I’d keep it to myself, to no one I’d relate.
Why, you might ask, if it’s truly legit?
Because I would catch heaping truck loads of shit.
No. No one would believe it, no matter the proof,
Even a screen shot would be called a spoof.
But I keep on hoping that I’ll find it one day,
But I know in my heart there’s probably no way.
- The Dirt Nap Poet -
Ways to tell if you are a diablo addict:
* You accidently call your lecturer a Sorceror.
* You see your universities archery team and wonder what their
%to hit is.
* You're feeling weak so you make your self some red coridal
and gulp it down.
* You put a shortcut of Diablo in your startup folder.
* You're out for a night out and see a drunk on the street and
you assume his name is farnham
* You have diablo installed on your work computer
* You constantly have battle.net/forums/diablo-stragety/index.htm
on your monitor.
* You approach corners wide and slow just in case unfriendlies
are waiting around the corner.
* You start to do tests on items, seeding etc.
* A certain song by Hanson reminds you of a bow you'd love to
have (MBOP)
* You dream that you are your diablo char and you are in Hell/Hell
facing a ton of bloodknights and soulburners.
* Lazarus sees you outside his chamber and says: "Oh no! Not
*YOU* again!!"
* You dedicate a 1.6g Hard drive for diablo screen shots.
All organized of course in different directories.
* You get your girlfriend to dress like a soulburner and chase
chase her around with your *bone* spirit.
* You try to dupe your paycheck.
One of the most important part of playing diablo is knowing when there are too many tuffs for you to fight. In this case the best thing to do is fall back and thin them out. I'll just list a few methods that I do often.
Using Guardian: If you're running away from fire succeptibnle
monsters then cast a few guardians (4-5 - more if possible) in front of
you. This increases the time in which the baddies will get hit by
the guardians. If you cast it behind you, you'll be casting it on
top of them which isn't as effective. Other variations might be teleport
away, face the monsters, cast your guardians between you and the chasers.
now teleport back and forth so that the monsters chasing you is always
within range of the
monsters. Also as they are coming towards you...fireballs now and then
won't hurt.
Stone Curse: If you make a really big mistake and alert a whole bunch of monsters, run away and cast stone curse a few times. Keep running and the monsters will keep chasing (the stoned ones will stay put DUH!) repeat the earlier steps until they are thinned out to an amount that you can handle.
Doorway: Retreat to an opening of a door which will let you take only one monster at a time. Casting firewall or guardian in front of the doorway will also help.
Golems: Golems are good diversions. Cast Golem in front
of you. When the monsters chasing you come across the golem. They'll
beat him up before deciding they wanna chase you again. This will
give you time to cast a few offensive spells towards them. It won't
matter how long golem lasts, if your golem is weak it will still slow
them down somewhat. Of course a stronger golem would be better.
NAME RACE LVL
Pukerat the Unclean
Fallen One (Spear)
2
Bladeskin the Slasher
Fallen One (Sword)
2
Gutshank the Quick
Carver (Spear)
3
Bongo
Devil Kin (Spear)
3
Shadowcrow
Dark One (Sword)
5
Boneripper
Skeleton Axe
2
Deadeye
Skeleton Bow
2
Bonehead Keenaxe
Corpse Axe
3
Skullfire
Corpse Bow
3
Brokenhead Bangshield
Corpse Captain
3
Madeye the Dead
Burning Dead Axe
4
Blackash the Burning
Burning Dead Bow
4
Shadowdrinker
Horror Captain
5
Soulpus
Zombie
2
Rotfeast the Hungry
Zombie
2
Rotcarnage
Ghoul
3
Goretongue
Rotting Carcass
3
Warpskull
Hidden
3
Shadowbite
Scavenger
2
El Chupacabras
Plague Eater
3
Pulsecrawler
Shadow Beast
4
Spineeater
Bone Gasher
4
Moonbender
Blink
4
Wrathraven
Blink
5
Foulwing
Gloom
5
Bloodskin Darkbow
Fleshclan Bow
5
Deathshade Fleshmaul
Stoneclan Mace
6
Bloodgutter
Fireclan Mace
6
Blightfire
Fireclan Bow
7
Blighthorn Steelmace
Nightclan Mace
7
Gorestone
Nightclan Bow
7
Bilefroth the Pit Master
Overlord
6
Baron Sludge
Mud Man
8
Oozedrool
Toad Demon
9
Deathspit
Acid Beast
6
Chaosshower
Poison Spitter
8
Plaguewrath
Poison Spitter
10
Nightwing the Cold
Gargoyle
7
Goldblight of the Flame
Blood Claw
10
Viletouch
Death Wing
11
Firewound the Grim
Magma Demon
8
Fangspeir
Cave Viper
11
Viperflame
Fire Drake
12
Fangskin
Gold Viper
14
Brokenstorm
Red Storm
9
The Flayer
Storm Rider
10
Doomcloud
Maelstorm
13
Breakspine
Mud Runner
9
Bluehorn
Frost Charger
10
Blackstorm
Obsidian Lord
10
Windspawn
Vortex Lord
12
Gorefeast
Vortex Lord
14
Blackskull
Balrog
13
Lionskull the Bent
Black Knight
12
Rustweaver
Doom Guard
13
Graywar the Slayer
Doom Guard
14
Steelskull the Hunter
Steel Lord
14
Sir Gorash
Blood Knight
16
Witchfire the Unholy
Succubus
12
Witchmoon
Snow Witch
13
Stareye the Witch
Hell Spawn
14
Bloodlust
Hell Spawn
15
Red Vex
Hell Spawn
15
Blackjade
Hell Spawn
15
Dreadjudge
Magistrate
14
The Vizier
Cabalist
15
The Butcher
Overlord (kinda)
2
Skeleton King
Unique Look
3
Arch-Bishop Lazarus
Advocate
15
(The Dark Lord
Unique Look
16)
SINGLE PLAYER ONLY:
Snotspill
Dark One
4
Gharbad the Weak
Flesh Clan Mace
4
Zhar The Mad
Advocate
8
Warlord of Blood
Steel Lord
13
Lachdanan
Blood Knight
14
I compilated that list a very long time ago... umm... I even forgot when... it's 100% complete and I'm pretty sure it's at least 95% correct too :|
I'm too lazy to put the resistances and immunities I know of in this list... for Normal/Nightmare and Hell diffs... since finding out resistances isn't much work I guess I won't have to do that anyways...
I have for some time been collecting data about spells and thought I
might put it all together and post it. For all veterans out there it probably
does not have much new stuff but I have yet to see it all put together
nicely. For some spells the damage calculation is quite hard to write down
in a short and easy way although it is not hard to
do the calculation once one knows how to do it. As I didn’t find any
good way to write to down I "stole" Sourcerors way of writing it down with
a recursive formula. All honor for that part should go to him. I also took
information about the Chain Lightning from a post from Lok (I _think_ it
was by Lok). Otherwise all information gave
been assembled by myself.
I first intended to include all the new Hellfire spells but due to lack of time I have not been able to check for all data for those spells. I decided to include what I had though. There are also other "holes" where I don’t have enough data or knowledge and if anyone knows anything, please fill it in. There are probably also errors and I would appreciate if anyone who finds them would like to point them out.
The following abbreviations are used throughout this post:
slvl - spell level
clvl - character level
slvl0 - damage for spell level 0
And introduced by Sourceror:
[] - round down
Rec - recursive function, defined as follow:
Rec(0,slvl0)=[slvl0]
and for slvl>0 : Rec(slvl,slvl0)=[Rec(slvl-1,slvl0)*9/8]
The easiest way to understand how the recursive function works is to make an example. A fireball's maximum damage for a level 30 character is:
Rec(slvl,40+2*clvl) (where clvl=30)
First calculate damage for spell level 0: 40+2*clvl = 100
Damage for level 1 can then be calculated as: [100*9/8] = 112
Damage for level 2 can then be calculated as: [112*9/8] = 126
and so on....
Note that it is very important to round down. For those spells using this recursive formula I have also given a quick form. For a fireballs maximum damage it is:
(40+2*clvl)*(9/8)^slvl
Note that this formula does not round down and you will therefore get a damage a bit to high but it will still be more or less accurate. For a level 20 fireball from a level 50 character the correct max damage is 1442 while this quick method gives 1476.
Note, unless otherwise noted all numbers should be rounded DOWN.
BLOODSTAR
Type: magic
Damage: 3*slvl+3*Mag/8
Note: Costs 5 life to cast.
BONE SPIRIT
Type: magic
Damage: 1/3 of monsters HP
Note: Costs 6 life to cast.
CHAINLIGHTNING
Type: lightning
Min. Damage: 4
Max. Damage: 4+2*clvl
Bolts: 1+numbers of monsters in range
Range: 2+slvl
Number of bolts: 4+slvl/3 (uncertain but seem to be of same length
as Lightning)
Note:
*You get one bolt in the direction where you aim with your mouse and
one additional bolt for each monster in range.
*This spell is well known for causing gaps at high levels and/or when
there are many monsters in range.
CHARGED BOLT
Type: lightning
Min. Damage: 1
Max. Damage: 1+Mag/4
Number of bolts: 3+slvl
ELEMENTAL
Type: fire
Min. Damage: Rec(slvl,4+2*clvl)
Max. Damage: Rec(slvl,40+2*clvl)
Quick Min. Damage: (4+2*clvl)*(9/8)^slvl
Quick Max. Damage: (40+2*clvl)*(9/8)^slvl
Note:
*This is basically a fireball that have some homing abilities.
*It does the same damage as a fireball but seem to miss more often
than a fireball though.
FIREBALL
Type: fire
Min. Damage: Rec(slvl,4+2*clvl)
Max. Damage: Rec(slvl,40+2*clvl)
Quick Min. Damage: (4+2*clvl)*(9/8)^slvl
Quick Max. Damage: (40+2*clvl)*(9/8)^slvl
Note: With higher spell level the fireball will go faster.
FIREBOLT
Type: fire
Min. Damage: 1+slvl+Mag/8
Max. Damage: 10+slvl+Mag/8
Note: With higher spell level the firebolt will go faster.
FIREWALL
Type: fire
Min. Damage: 4+clvl
Max. Damage: 40+clvl
Duration: 8+8*slvl (12+8*slvl in Hellfire)
Width: 11m squares
Note: The firewall will disappear if you gain any level in the spell.
FLAME WAVE
Type: fire
Min. Damage: 6+6*clvl
Max. Damage: 60+6*clvl
Number of flames: 5+slvl/2
Note: Each flame is two hexes wide.
FLASH
Type: magic (but uses lightning graphics)
Min. Damage: Rec(slvl,clvl)*3/2
Max. Damage: 2*[Rec(slvl,clvl)*3/2]
Quick Min. Damage: clvl*3/2*(9/8)^slvl
Quick Max. Damage: clvl*3*(9/8)^slvl
Note: You seem to be able to do two flashes in a row then you have
to wait for them to finish. Don’t know how this affects damage though.
GOLEM
Type: n/a (but uses same animation as fire)
Stated damage: 11-17 (quite meaningless number)
Note:
*Each player can have only one golem alive at a time. If you cast the
spell again the first golem will be destroyed.
*If more that one player cast golem, they will seek each other out
and fight until one of them is destroyed.
*The golem have the following stats:
HP: 2*maxmana/3+9*slvl
AC: 25
ToHit=40+2*clvl+5*slvl
Min. Damage: 8+2*slvl
Max. Damage: 16+2*slvl
*HP regeneration: 1.8, 4.8 and 7.2 each second on normal, nightmare
and hell difficulty (not necessarily added each second but this is
the rate counting over a longer time)
GUARDIAN
Type: fire
Min. Damage: Rec(slvl,1+[clvl/2])
Max. Damage: Rec(slvl,10+[clvl/2])
Quick Min. Damage: (1+clvl/2)*(9/8)^slvl
Quick Max. Damage: (10+clvl/2)*(9/8)*slvl
Duration: slvl*4/5+clvl*2/5
HEALING
Type: n/a
Mana Cost: 3+2*clvl-3*slvl
Healing: ? (Don’t know)
HEAL OTHER
Type: n/a
Mana Cost: 3+2*clvl-3*slvl
Healing: ? (Don’t know)
HOLY BOLT
Type: n/a
Min. Damage: 9+clvl
Max. Damage: 18+clvl
Note:
*Higher spell level means faster bolt.
*This spell only works on skeletons, zombies and Diablo.
INFERNO
Type: fire
Min. Damage: 3
Max. Damage: 6+clvl*3/2
Note: This spell always seem to affect the same area and have the same
duration regardless of spell level.
LIGHTNING
Type: lightning
Min. Damage: 2
Max. Damage: 4+2*clvl
Number of bolts: 4+slvl/3 (uncertain)
Note: I have no knowledge of how the actual damage is done. If the
stated damage is done by each bolt or by the whole stream of bolts or in
any other way.
MANA SHEILD
Type: n/a
Note: A Mana shield decreases the damage taken but, even for a level
15 Mana Shield this does not seem to be more than about 5%.
PHASING
Type: n/a
Note: Seem to be faster than teleport.
STONE CURSE
Type: n/a
Duration: 4+slvl (max 12)
Note: Stone Curse works on all monsters except Diablo and Na-Krul
TELEKINESIS
Type: n/a
Note:
*Can be used to open doors and chests from a distance.
*Can also be used to pick up items from a distance.
TELEPORT
Type: n/a
Note: You can teleport to anywhere within the screen. I have noticed
that if you quickly move your cursor before teleporting you often end up
teleporting to where your cursor was just before you quickly moved it.
TOWN PORTAL
Type: n/a
Note: Makes a portal to town and disappears when the caster use it
to go down to the dungeon again.
I only have damage information about the following spells form Hellfire.
LIGHTNING WALL
Type: lightning
Min. Damage: 4+clvl
Max. Damage: 40+clvl
Duration: 13+13*slvl
Note: Does the same damage as a Fire Wall but lasts longer.
RING OF FIRE
Type: fire
Min. Damage: 4+clvl
Max. Damage: 40+clvl
Duration: 12+8*slvl
Note: Does the same damage as a Fire Wall and last the same ammount
of time.
As everyone knows casting spells cost mana. Each spell has an initial
mana cost at level 1. For each spell level the mana cost then decreases
by a certain amount specific for each spell until it reaches its minimum
mana cost. The table below shows the mana cost for each spell. Note that
rogues, monks and bards only pays 75%
of the mana cost. However they never pays less than the minimum mana
cost. Casting spells from scrolls and staves does not cost any mana but
you have to have the required magic to do so. For staves the required magic
is the same as it is to learn the spell to first level. For scrolls it
is less. The table below also shows those
required magic levels
Note: Apocalypse and Nova is only available as scrolls in Diablo.
The columns are:
Initial mana cost
Decrease in mana cost/spell level
Minimum mana cost
Level you reach minimum mana cost
Magic required to use staff and to learn spell to level 1
Magic required to use scroll
Blood Star 25 2 14
7 70 -
Bone Spirit 24 1 12 13
34 -
Chain Lightning 30 1 18 13 54 35
Charged Bolt 6 0 6
1 25 -
Elemental 35 2 20
9 68 -
Fireball 16 1
10 7 48 31
Firebolt 6 0.5 3
7 15 -
Firewall 28 2
16 7 27 17
Flame Wave 35 3 20
6 54 29
Flash 30
2 16 8 33 21
Golem 100
6 60 8 81 51
Guardian 50 2
30 11 61 47
Healing special*
17 0
Heal Other special*
17 -
Holy Bolt 7 1
3 4 20 -
Inferno 11
1 6 6 20 19
Lightning 10 1
6 5 20 0
Mana Shield 33 0 33
1 25 0
Phasing 12
2 4 5 39 25
Stone Curse 60 3 40
8 51 37
Telekinesis 15 2 8
5 33 -
Teleport 35 3
15 8 105 81
Town Portal 35 3 18
7 20 0
Apocalypse - -
- - 149 117
Identify -
- - - - 0
Infravision - - -
- - 23
Nova
- - - - 87 57
Resurrect - -
- - 30 0
Berserk 26
? 15 ? 35 -
Immolation 60 3 ?
? 87 -
Lightning Wall 28 2 ? ?
27 -
Reflect 35
3 ? ? 25 -
Ring of Fire 28 2 ?
? 27 -
Search 15
1 ? ? 25 0
Warp
35 3 ? ? 25 0
*The mana cost for healing and heal other is: 8+2*clvl-3*slvl
When learning higher spell levels the next higher spell level always requires 20% higher magic to learn (round down). For your convenience I have calculated all the magic requirements. Note that some where between 212 and 217 the magic requirement is increased to 255.
Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Blood Star 70 84 100 120 144 172 206 255
255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Bone Spirit 34 40 48 57 68
81 97 116 139 166 199 255 255 255 255
Chain Light. 54 64 76 91 109 130 156 187
255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Charged Bolt 25 30 36 43 51
61 73 87 104 124 148 177 212 255 255
Elemental 68 81 97 116 139
166 199 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Fireball 48 57 68
81 97 116 139 166 199 255 255 255 255 255 255
Firebolt 15 18 21
25 30 36 43 51 61 73 87 104 124
148 177
Firewall 27 32 38
45 54 64 76 91 109 130 156 187 255 255 255
Flame Wave 54 64 76 91 109
130 156 187 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Flash 33
39 46 55 66 79 94 112 134 160 192 255 255
255 255
Golem 81
97 116 139 166 199 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Guardian 61 73 87 104
124 148 177 212 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Healing 17 20 24
28 33 39 46 55 66 79 94 112 134
160 192
Heal Other 17 20 24 28
33 39 46 55 66 79 94 112 134 160 192
Holy Bolt 20 24 28 33
39 46 55 66 79 94 112 134 160 192 255
Inferno 20 24 28
33 39 46 55 66 79 94 112 134 160 192
255
Lightning 20 24 28 33
39 46 55 66 79 94 112 134 160 192 255
Mana Shield 25 30 36 43 51
61 73 87 104 124 148 177 212 255 255
Phasing 39 46 55
66 79 94 112 134 160 192 255 255 255 255 255
Stone Curse 51 61 73 87 104 124 148
177 212 255 255 255 255 255 255
Telekinesis 33 39 46 55 66
79 94 112 134 160 192 255 255 255 255
Teleport 105 126 151 181 255 255 255 255
255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Town Portal 20 24 28 33 39
46 55 66 79 94 112 134 160 192 255
Apocalypse 149 178 213 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
255 255 255 255 255
Berserk 35 42 50
60 72 86 103 123 147 176 211 255 255 255 255
Imolation 87 104 124 148 177 212 255 255
255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Lightning Wall27 32 38 45 54 64
76 91 109 130 156 187 255 255 255
Nova 87 104
124 148 177 212 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Reflect 30 36 43
51 61 73 87 104 124 148 177 212 255 255 255
Rign of Fire 27 32 38 45 54
64 76 91 109 130 156 187 255 255 255
Search 25 30
36 43 51 61 73 87 104 124 148 177 212 255
255
Warp 25
30 36 43 51 61 73 87 104 124 148 177
212 255 255
Finally, with all the recent discussion of prices on items, here is a list of the prices of scrolls and books. Note that books of Apocalypse and Nova are only available in Hellfire.
Spell
Book Scroll
Apocalypse 30,000 2,000
Blood Star 27,500 -
Bone Spirit 11,500 -
Chain Lightning 11,000 750
Charged Bolt 1,000 -
Elemental 10,500 -
Fireball
8,000 300
Firebolt
1,000 -
Fire Wall 6,000
400
Flame Wave 10,000 650
Flash
750 500
Golem
18,000 1,100
Guardian 14,000
950
Healing
1,000 50
Heal Other 1,000 -
Holy Bolt 1,000
-
Identify
- 100
Infravision
- 600
Inferno
2,000 100
Lightning 3,000
150
Mana Shield 16,000 1,200
Nova
21,000 1,300
Phasing
3,000 200
Resurrect
- 250
Stone Curse 12,000 800
Telekinesis 2,500 -
Teleport 20,000
3,000
Town Portal 3,000 200
Berserk
3,000 -
Immolation 21,000 -
Lightning Wall 6,000 -
Reflect
3,000 -
Ring of Fire 6,000 -
Search
3,000 50
Warp
3,000 -
All these data have been extracted from the diablo.exe and hellfire.exe
file. They presented here without any editing on my part and I might be
wrong in guessing the "meaning" of some data but I think I have gotten
the ones below correct. Some monsters have multiple attacks, like Horned
demons, Lighning demons and so on. I
have presented what appears to be the data for the second attack but
as you might notice I have found none for the spitters for example although
they have two attacks (melee and spit).
All data below belongs to Normal Multiplayer, even the ones for Hellfire. The reason is that those are the ones present in the exe-files. To calculate single player and difficulty levels data use the following formulas:
Hit points:
Singel Player Normal: HP/2 (round down and minimum is 1)
Nightmare: HP*3+100 (+50 for single player)
Hell:HP*4+200 (+100 for single player)
Note, for single player nightmare and hell use the HP from normal Single player, that is half the values stated below. Also note that there is a bug in Diablo and the unpatched Hellfire. Although stated, monsters lack the +100 and +200 in nightmare and hell difficulty. Unpatched Hellfire display the +100/+200 for monsters.
To Hit:
Nightmare: +85%
Hell: +120%
Damage:
Nightmare: Damage*2+4
hell: Damage*4+6
Armor Class:
Nightmare: +50
Hell: +80
I will do tables for nightmare/hell and single player too but thought
I might post these ones first (otherwise you would probably had to wait
for an extra day or two). I will also later add data about Unique monsters
(hopefully).
Name of Monster
AC HP ToHit%
Auto Damage
ToHit%
Fallen One
(spear) 0
1-4 15 7
1-3
Carver (spear)
5 4-8 20
7 2-5
Devil Kin
(spear) 10
12-24 25 7
3-7
Dark One
(spear) 15
20-36 30 7
4-8
Fallen One
(sword) 10
2-5 15 8
1-4
Carver (sword)
15 5-9 20
8 2-7
Devil Kin
(sword) 20
16-24 25 8
4-10
Dark One
(sword) 25
24-36 30 8
4-12
Zombie
5 4-7 10
8 2-5
Ghoul
10 7-11 10
8 3-10
Rotting
Carcass 15
15-25 25 8
5-15
Black Death
20 25-45 30
8 6-22
Scavenger
10 3-6 20
7 1-5
Plague Eater
20 12-24 30
7 1-8
Shadow Beast
25 24-36 35
7 3-12
Bone Gasher
30 28-40 35
7 5-15
Fiend
0 3-6 35
5 1-6
Blink
15 12-28 45
5 1-8
Gloom
35 28-36 70
5 4-12
Familiar
35 20-35 50
5 4-16
Skeleton
0 2-4 20
8 1-4
Corpse Axe
0 4-7 25
8 3-5
Burning
Dead
5 8-12 30
8 3-7
Horror
15 12-20 35
8 4-9
Skeleton
Archer 0
2-4 15 12
1-2
Corpse Bow
0 8-16 25
12 1-4
Burning
Dead Archer 5
10-24 30 12
1-6
Horror Archer
15 15-45 35
12 2-9
Skeleton
Captain 10
3-6 20 8
2-7
Corpse Captain
5 12-20 30
8 3-9
Burning
Dead Captain 15 16-30
35 8
4-10
Horror Captain
30 35-50 40
8 5-14
Flesh Clan
40 30-45 50
8 4-10
Stone Clan
40 40-55 60
8 6-12
Fire Clan
45 50-65 70
8 8-16
Night Clan
50 55-70 80
8 10-20
Flesh Clan
Archer 35
20-35 35 13
1-7
Stone Clan
Archer 35
30-40 40 13
2-9
Fire Clan
Archer 35
40-50 45 13
3-11
Night Clan
Archer 40
50-65 50 13
4-13
Hidden
25 8-24 35
8 3-6
Stalker
30 30-45 40
8 8-16
Unseen
30 35-50 45
8 12-20
Illusion
Weaver 30
40-60 60 8
14-24
Winged-Demon
45 45-60 50
7 10-16
Gargoyle
45 60-90 65
7 10-16
Blood Claw
50 75-125 80
7 14-22
Death Wing
60 90-150 95
7 16-28
Overlord
55 60-80 55
8 6-12
Mud Man
60 100-125 60
8 8-16
Toad Demon
65 135-160 70
8 8-16
Flayed One
70 160-200 85
8 10-20
Magma Demon
45 50-70 45/50 4/13
2-10
Blood Stone
45 55-75 50/50 4/14
2-10
Hell Stone
50 60-80 60/60 4/14
2-20
Lava Lord
60 70-85 70/60 4/14
4-24
Horned Demon
40 40-80 60/100 7/0
2-16/5-32
Mud Runner
45 50-90 70/100 7/0
6-18/12-36
Frost Charger
50 60-100 80/100 7/0
8-20/20-40
Obsidian
Lord 55
70-110 90/100 7/0 10-22/20-50
Acid beast
30 40-66 40/25 8/8
4-12
Poison Spitter
30 60-85 45/25 8/8
4-16
Pit Beast
35 80-110 55/35 8/8
8-18
Lava Maw
35 100-150 65/40 8/8
10-20
Red Storm
30 55-110 80/75 5/8
8-18/4-16
Storm Rider
30 60-120 80/80 5/8
8-18/4-16
Storm Lord
35 75-135 85/75 5/8
12-24/4-16
Maelstorm
40 90-150 90/75 5/8
12-28/4-16
Slayer
60 120-140 100 8
12-20
Guardian
65 140-160 110 8
14-22
Vortex Lord
70 160-180 120 8
18-24
Balrog
75 180-200 130 8
22-30
Cave Viper
60 100-150 90
8 8-20
Fire Drake
65 120-170 105 8
12-24
Gold Viper
70 140-180 120 8
15-26
Azure Drake
75 160-200 130 8
18-30
Succubus
60 120-150 100 10
1-20
Snow Witch
65 135-175 110 10
1-24
Hell Spawn
75 150-200 115 10
1-30
Soul Burner
85 140-225 120 10
1-35
Black Knight
75 150 110
8 15-20
Doom Guard
75 165 130
8 18-25
Steel Lord
80 180 120
8 20-30
Blood Knight
85 200 130
8 25-35
Counselor
0 70
90 8
8-20
Magistrate
0 85
100 8 10-24
Cabalist
0 120 110
8 14-30
Advocate
0 145 105
8 15-25
Diablo (Diablo)
70 1666 220
4 30-60
Diablo (Hellfire)
90 3333 220
4 30-60
Name of Monster
AC HP ToHit%
Auto Damage
ToHit%
Stinger
50 30-40 85
8 1-20
Venomtail
60 40-50 85
8 1-30
Psychorb
40 20-30 80
8 10-10
Necromorb
50 30-40 80
8 20-20
Archanon
50 60-80 50
8 5-15
Spider Lord
60 80-100 60/75 8/8
8-20/10-10
Felltwin
50 50-70 70
8 10-18
The Shredded
65 70-90 75
7 4-12
Hellboar
60 30-40 70
7 16-24
Torchant
70 60-80 75
8 20-30
Lashworm
25 30-30 60
8 10-25
Hork Spawn
50 30-30 75
8 12-20
Hork Demon
80 120-160 60/80 8/7
20-35
The Defiler
80 240-240 110/90 8/8
20-30/50-60
Firebat
70 60-80 100
8 15-20
Hellbat
80
100-140 110 8
30-30
Skullwing
80 70-70 75/75 7/9
15-20/15-20
Bone Demon
100 240-280 100/160 8/12 40-50/50-50
Lich
60 80-100 100
8 15-20
Arch Lich
75 180-200 120 8
30-30
Tomb Rat
30 80-120 120
8 12-25
Devil Kin
Brute 70
120-160 100 6
18-24
Gravedigger
20 120-240 80
6 2-12
Biclopse
85 200-240 100 8
20-40
Satyr Lord
70 160-200 90
8 20-30
Reaper
90 260-300 120 8
30-35
Flesh Thing
70 300-400 150 8
12-18
Crypt Demon
80 200-240 90
8 40-50
Na Krul
125 1332 150/150 7/10
40-50/40-50
Experience points for killing a monster is based on the following formula:
(base xp) * (1.0 + 0.1 * (monsterlevel - playerlevel))
Yes, this means all monsters have a level. Again, for nightmare and hell do the following modifications:
Level:
Nightmare: +15
Hell: +30
Base Expereince:
Nightmare: XP*2+2000
Hell: XP*4+4000
The table below shows the first level where you no longer recieve full
experience point for killing a monster. Full experience is calculated with
the following formula:
playerlevel*200
I have only given this for normal difficulty. I have also given the
first level you don’t get any experience for killing a monster. That level
is 10 levels higher than the monsters level and as it is quite easy to
calculate I have given it for all three difficulty levels. Again, I will
do tables for nightmare and hell too (quite easy with Excel).
Name of Monster Level Base XP XP<Full 0 XP
Fallen One
(spear) 1
46 1
11
Carver (spear)
3 80
1 13
Devil Kin
(spear) 5
155 2 15
Dark One
(spear) 7
255 2 17
Fallen One
(sword) 1
52 1
11
Carver (sword)
3 90
1 13
Devil Kin
(sword) 5
180 2 15
Dark One
(sword) 7
280 3 17
Zombie
1 54
1 11
Ghoul
2 58
1 12
Rotting
Carcass 4
136 1 14
Black Death
6 240 2
16
Scavenger
2 80
1 12
Plague Eater
4 188 2
14
Shadow Beast
6 375 3
16
Bone Gasher
8 552 4
18
Fiend
3 102 1
13
Blink
7 340 3
17
Gloom
9 509 4
19
Familiar
13 448 5
23
Skeleton
1 64
1 11
Corpse Axe
2 68
1 12
Burning
Dead
4 154 2
14
Horror
6 264 2
16
Skeleton
Archer 3
110 1 13
Corpse Bow
5 210 2
15
Burning
Dead Archer 7
364 3 17
Horror Archer
9 594 5
19
Skeleton
Captain 2
90 1
12
Corpse Captain
4 200 2
14
Burning
Dead Captain 6 393
3 16
Horror Captain
8 604 5
18
Flesh Clan
8 460 4
18
Stone Clan
10 685 6
20
Fire Clan
12 906 7
22
Night Clan
14 1190 9
24
Flesh Clan
Archer 8
448 4 18
Stone Clan
Archer 10
645 5 20
Fire Clan
Archer 12
822 7 22
Night Clan
Archer 14
1092 9 24
Hidden
5 278 2
15
Stalker
9 630 5
19
Unseen
11 935 7
21
Illusion
Weaver 13
1500 10 13
Winged-Demon
9 662 5
19
Gargoyle
13 1205 9
23
Blood Claw
19 1873 15
29
Death Wing
23 2278 18
33
Overlord
10 635 5
20
Mud Man
14 1165 9
24
Toad Demon
16 1380 11
26
Flayed One
20 2058 16
30
Magma Demon
13 1076 9
23
Blood Stone
14 1404 10
24
Hell Stone
16 1720 13
26
Lava Lord
18 1809 14
28
Horned Demon
13 1172 9
23
Mud Runner
15 1404 11
25
Frost Charger
17 1720 13
27
Obsidian
Lord 19
1809 14 29
Acid beast
11 846 7
21
Poison Spitter
15 1248 10
25
Pit Beast
21 2060 16
31
Lava Maw
25 2940 21
35
Red Storm
18 2160 15
28
Storm Rider
20 2391 17
30
Storm Lord
22 2775 19
32
Maelstorm
24 3177 21
34
Slayer
20 2300 17
30
Guardian
22 2714 19
32
Vortex Lord
24 3252 22
34
Balrog
26 3643 24
36
Cave Viper
21 2725 18
31
Fire Drake
23 3139 21
33
Gold Viper
25 3540 23
35
Azure Drake
27 3791 25
37
Succubus
24 3696 23
34
Snow Witch
26 4084 25
36
Hell Spawn
28 4480 27
38
Soul Burner
30 4644 28
40
Black Knight
24 3360 22
34
Doom Guard
26 3650 24
36
Steel Lord
28 4252 26
38
Blood Knight
30 5130 29
40
Counselor
25 4070 24
35
Magistrate
27 4478 26
37
Cabalist
29 4929 28
39
Advocate
30 4968 29
40
Diablo (Diablo)
30 31666 38
40
Diablo (Hellfire)
45 31666 52
55
Name of Monster Level Base XP XP<Full 0 XP
Stinger
22 500 7
32
Venomtail
24 1000 12
34
Psychorb
22 450 6
32
Necromorb
24 1100 13
34
Archanon
22 500 7
32
Spider Lord
24 1250 14
34
Felltwin
22 600 8
32
The Shredded
23 900 11
33
Hellboar
23 750 10
33
Torchant
22 1250 13
32
Lashworm
22 250 4
32
Hork Spawn
20 600 7
30
Hork Demon
27 2000 19
37
The Defiler
30 5000 29
40
Firebat
24 2400 19
34
Hellbat
29 3600 26
39
Skullwing
27 3000 23
37
Bone Demon
30 5000 29
40
Lich
25 3000 22
35
Arch Lich
30 4000 27
40
Tomb Rat
24 1800 17
34
Devil Kin
Brute 27
2400 21 37
Gravedigger
26 2000 19
36
Biclopse
28 3200 24
38
Satyr Lord
28 2800 23
38
Reaper
30 6000 31
40
Flesh Thing
28 4000 26
38
Crypt Demon
30 4000 27
40
Na Krul
40 13333 44
50
While looking through the data for monsters I found what seems to be
the "type" of monster. There are three types of monsters. Undead, Animals
and Demons. Most monsters you will find in Hell (except spitters) are demons,
including the witches BUT Hell Spawns are considered animals. I think I
remember someone testing Civerb's
Cudgel which has a +200% damage versus demons. Didn't that person (excuse
for not remembering who it was) say that against Hell spawns, it did less
damage? The explanation is that Hell Spawns are not demons. The reason?
Either a bug or some balancing matter. Remember that Hell Spawns are the
ones you find together with Lazarus, both in single player and multiplayer.
Here is a list of the type for each monster:
Undead:
Zombies
All skeletons (including King Leoric
The Shredded
Gravedigger
Skullwing
Bone Demon
Lich
Arch Lich
Animals:
Fallen One
Scavengers
Winged Fiend's
Spitting Terrors
Horned Demons
Hell Spawn
Stinger
Venomtail
Psychorb
Necromorb
Archanon
Spider Lord
Hork Spawns
Torchants
Devil Kin Brute
Satyr Lord
Tomb Rat
Firebat
Demons:
Hidden Ones
Goat Mens
Overlords
Magma Demons
Lightning Demons
Gargoyles
Balrogs
Vipers
Knights
Succubus (except Hell Spawns)
Mages
The Butcher
Diablo
Hellboar
Felltwin
Lashworm
Hork Demon
The Defiler
Biclops
Hellbat
Crypt Demon
Flesh Thing
Reaper
Na Krul
OK, you have asked me and here is what I know today. I have a few ideas about some others but am very uncertain. Bostic, feel free to mail me if you want to know or discuss more.
Each monster is represented (in this part of the data) by 128 bytes. I have numbered them 0-127. The starting byte always has the value of 128.
Data at 8-9, 16-17, 28-29 and 80-81 is completely changed in Hellfire (although sometimes changed acording to a pattern, at 80 they are basically increased by 40, and others are just renumbered to start with 1 in the area of the new Hellfire monsters instéad at the Diablo monsters). This makes me believe it is just some sort of pointers to other data or the equivalence. I have there fore so far not paid them any attention. I also suspect some of this data is behaviour datat for use by the AI but that is only a guess.
Note, I have not written about ALL the sources I have used to confirm the field below are really what I think but just given a few basic ideas how I found them out.
Data that seems interesting but of unknown nature:
4-5, 20, 24, 32-59 (a block of 7 datat with zeros in between), 72-79 (two more 4 byte blocks with the zeros in each) and 122
84-85 I suspect this to be something related to levels and perhaps treasure, I share Bostics idea about them.
86 Monster level. I "picked" this as the monsters level or the experiencepoints given by monsters (I started a new character and went to church) would not match the experience formula which I _know_ is correct.
88-89 Minimum HP
92-93 Maximum HP
96 I suspect this to be an indication on monster type (archer, spitter and so on)
104 ???? Seems to alsmost always go 0 1 2 3 withing a monster group but not always.
105-106 ToHit (I basically looked in the Officially Strategy Guide and for many monsters this data matched. With the information from Da O'Toth that players had an auto ToHit of 5% but many monsters had higher I asumed that 106 was this auto ToHit (I think Van_Damned wrote he had tested and found some moneters to be in the range 6- 8%, that matched this data to).
107-108 Damage (minimum and Maximum). This matched (more or less) my data I have collected for many monsters my self.
109-112 I asumed this to be the second attack from monsters. Ranges was like 107-108 and for Horned Demons the damage was basically doubled. Seemed it could be their characged attack.
113 AC Seemed the only logical explanation, again the Oficcial Stratey guide seemed to agree with me.
114 Monster type (0=undead, 1=demon and 2=animal) should mainly affect damage done with different weapons (swords bad against skeletons for example) but might influence other stuff too. See my previous post a few spaces down.
116 Resistance and Immunity in normal and Nightmare (Still two unknown bits)
118 Same for Hell
124-125 Base experience point. Easielly checked ny killing a few monsters in the church with a level 1 character. Toghether with the data in 86 the experience from killed monsters worked well together.
Unique monsters (97 there seem to be data about in the file) have 32 bytes:
0 - Type of monster 0=Normal Zombie up to 111 witch seem to be the not used Arch Lich Malignus
14-15 HP
16 Probably level although I have not chekced to much
18-19 Damage
20 Resistance and Immunity
If you installed the Sierra HF patch and read the text file you've probably noticed that it says that they now implemented balance, stability and harmony.
I went to a reliable source (Sierra's lead programmer on HF) and got some additional info. Putting this together with some of Jarulf's test results and my own experience, I come up with the following:
(1) Balance, stability and harmony were NOT implemented in Diablo
(per Sierra; in the case of the warrior, Jarulf's and my tests indicate
this too).
(2) Balance, stability and harmony are now implemented in the
HF patch by reducing the recovery animation (which normally takes 6-8
frames) by 1, 2, and 3 frames respectively.
What does this mean? Well, as shown by tests conducted by Jarulf,
if a character receives damage greater than his/her level, he/she goes
into the recovery routine (this was also confirmed by my source at Sierra).
If he/she gets hit again during (or immediately after) recovery,
with damage sufficiently high to initiate another sequence,
he/she is effectively "stun-locked".
According to my source, the recovery routine takes 6 - 8 frames (0.3 to 0.4 sec), depending on character (with warrior on the fast end and sorceror on the slow end, in Diablo; may have changed in HF). [Note: would be great if someone out there with the capability to capture video could confirm this.]
Balance, stability and harmony, as implemented by the patch, now
reduce the recovery routine by 1, 2, and 3 frames, or 0.05, 0.10, and
0.15 sec, respectively.
Observations/Questions:
Comparing the duration of the recovery (just considering the old Diablo for now) with the fastest weapon speeds -- 0.35 sec for a warrior with a speed/haste one-handed weapon or a rogue with a bow -- would seem to indicate that a warrior couldn't be stunned unless (a) the recovery takes longer or (b) there a "gap" after the routine, during which the character is still unable to react.
Now, in patched HF, the recovery routine with harmony could be as short as 0.15 sec; so even with the the faster weapons measured by Jarulf (0.30 sec for barbarian with a club or axe of speed/haste; monk with a staff of haste) a warrior with harmony should not go into stun (again, unless the recovery takes longer or there a "gap" after the routine, during which the character is still unable to react).
Hi there, good morning America!
As I'm sitting here checking the strat forum, I just thought of the
fact fact that my internet messages,etc., go out over a phone line that
is leased to the US Embassy here (I live in government housing) - - the
use of the phone line is ok, personal use is authorized, as long as I pay
the charges, which I do (this is just in case you worried about (a) me
getting into trouble, or (b) that I was wasting the taxpayer's dollar ;-).......
Don't know how many of you are aware this -- let me see how to but this
diplomatically -- it is not unheard of that some foreign countries routinely
tap and intercept embassy phone lines (in the interest of national security
of course).... I wonder..... So, daydreaming, I came up with this
hypothetical conversation:
Comandante, I would like to give you an uptdate. As you know we have implemented our new computerized intercept procedures on the embassy lines....
Yes, yes -- the one based on the US CIA's Randru robot that searches for key words etc. -- I am well aware of that, sargento.
Isn't that Landru sir?
No, estupido, that one is only a cheap immitation! Go on with your report.
Well, we have been getting many hits on line US 237...
Ah yes, the one that caught our attention with repeatedly trying to tie into something called the battle net..... The one used by someone codenamed Da O'Toth -- go on, what were some of the hits?
Lots of hits on the words "weapon" and "armor".....
Details?
Many hits on "Hellfire" sir, regarding modifications and updates....
Ah yes, the gringos' premier air-to-ground anti-tank missile, interesting -- what else?
Well, repeated use of the words "storm" and "shield"....
(interrupting) Was the word desert also mentioned?
Well, we're not sure, comandante, there is lots of noise in the lines....
Yes, yes, I know -- rainy season in Brasilia, athmospheric conditions, flooded telephone switching vaults and cable runs..... In any case, we better notify our friends in Baghdad...... What else?
"Eaglehorn" -- or analysts think this may be related to some new items on the F-15 Eagle aircraft. Also apparently many things on the effectivensess and guidance systems -- referred to as "to hit%".... Also hits on "stealth"....
That's routine -- anything really out of the ordinary?
Well, repeated referals to a "constricting ring" -- the analysts think this may relate to the blockade.......
Better let our friends in Havana know....
Also a lot on "cudgeling being very effective on Demons"..... our analysts haven't been able to relate that to anything yet.....
Imbecils! Incompetents! This is an obvious reference to Iran's recent overtures to the US -- and it is apparently effective! -- Have to let Teheran know....
Also very many repeats "magic" -- which seems strange....
Fools! -- Magic was the codeword used by the US during WWII to refer to their having been able to break the Japanese encryption codes..... This makes it interesting..... Any other strange contacts, besides the "battle net"?
Yes -- repeated ones to a weapons test lab code named Jarulf, in Sweden...
Bah, they're supposed to be neutral. What else?
Something to codename Khan in Germany, relating on how to get better items offerred by someone codenamed Griz.....
Probable some ex-soviet union weapons black-marketeer...... More?
Yes, repeated attempts to contact "angels of hell" -- which we believe is some elite counter-terrorist group.
Yes, I recall, lots of coded references to groups.
Yes comandante, warriors, rogues, monks....
(interrupting) The church is involved in this?
Apparently so, sir. Many hits on the word "church", "shrine", also "catacombs" and "hell" -- and sir, "Diablo"......
Dios! -- this group may include some heretics involved with devil worship.....
Keep me posted! Contact me with the full report monday morning!