Beating Duriel with Javazon (first time player)

So I'm stuck on

Duriel with my lvl 24 amazon and need help taking him down. I have 11 points in

Power Strike, 3 in

Lightning Bolt and 5 in

Charged Strike. I don't think this is ideal but I already used up my respec because I'm a silly noob who didn't realize I only get one per difficulty.

I tried spamming

Power Strike and potions but he just froze me and ran right over me in like 8 seconds flat. Am I doing it wrong? Are there any tricks I can use to make the fight easier? Should I start over and distribute my skill points differently or is that unnecessary?

Any advice would be appreciated, this game has me hooked and I want to see the next act.

I can help you clear Normal if you want, add me if you're interested

ThisWangsChung wrote: 3 years ago

I can help you clear Normal if you want, add me if you're interested

Sorry I'm playing on switch and my character is offline ): . Is there a way to change a character to online?

Artemisia wrote: 3 years ago

ThisWangsChung wrote: 3 years ago

I can help you clear Normal if you want, add me if you're interested

Sorry I'm playing on switch and my character is offline ): . Is there a way to change a character to online?

Nope, offline characters can't be brought online. For

Duriel, thawing potions are your friend. You'll still be slowed down, but the

Thawing Potion gives you 30 seconds of increased cold resistance, which should help you beat him

So there is the standard thawing and health potion spam, which sounds like it didn't work. Also the less than helpful but maybe needed "level up a bit". Tombs and Arcane should be good for that. I know it sucks to pause and level, but sometimes you have to do it.

Hawkmail is a lvl 15 armor with a Cannot Be Frozen modifier, which might be just what you need. Maybe run Andy until RNGesus blesses you with it. Rhyme in a shielf (

Shael

Eth) is also a CbF, but I am not sure when Shaels start dropping in Normal. Maybe try and see if you can find some +skill items (assuming you have the request 1 point in

Dodge/

Evade/whatever the 3rd one is). It might be just that little bit that gets you through.

Honestly, don't get discouraged.

Duriel can be a be a Beast of a fight, especially for one who isn't quite ready in terms of gear and level. I think the recommended level is around 24, so you are right at that bottom line. It is doubly hard for a relatively squishy character like a young zon.

But, Act 3 is a Beast, so if you cheapshot

Duriel, the mobs of enemies in Act 3 are going to be a grind for you. Better to slow down and convincingly beat Little D, otherwise it will be a slog through the jungle.

Use

Charged Strike instead of

Power Strike. Just like all other act bosses,

Duriel's large size means more

Bolts hit per cast. If you placed a point in

Decoy at 24, use that to juggle his aggro.

Cannot Be Frozen doesn't work vs. his aura (it's a slow; not a chill).

You can also play it cheap by taking shots at him and then running back to town when you're low. Rinse and repeat.

Khegan wrote: 3 years ago

Cannot Be Frozen doesn't work vs. his aura (it's a slow; not a chill).

Yep. You're right. Forgot about that one. So much for my brilliant idea.

Many years ago when I first started with D2, I had a hard time with

Duriel on my Bowzon. I had just crappy blue gears at that time, and the fight became a slow grind.
Basically the first thing I did into the fight was to open a town portal, and ran away from the portal while my hireling took brutal shots. Then tried to fight and kite while keeping using pots. Then when I was out of potion, hurried back to town to replenish. Rinse and repeat.
It was a slow and painful process, but when I eventually killed

Duriel for the first time, it felt very rewarding, lol.

In your case, kiting won't be possible. So you may die a few times during melee. Just keep going at it and wear him down.

Thanks for the advice everyone; looks like I've got some grinding to do...

Thawing Potions for cold res +

Charged Strike. You can do it!

Well, after some marathon playing I now have a lvl 23 amazon in online mode. Is there a way to add ppl when playing on switch?

Also I have 2 rings that give Half Freeze Duration, are they of any use vs

Duriel?

Artemisia wrote: 3 years ago

I have 2 rings that give Half Freeze Duration, are they of any use vs

Duriel?

Yes, but they only count once.

Just thought of something that might be useful.

I wonder if you can shop for a staff or other kind of weapon that has charges of

Blaze on it? If so, you may easily kite

Duriel to Death without needing to fight him. You will just need to prepare some gold for repairing the charges.

I used the same strategy to pass

Duriel on my flimsy Sor when I first started. Just cast

Blaze and run in circles, and make sure the big worm follows you in the fire.

As to whether a weapon with the

Blaze skill can be shopped in normal act I or II, I'm not sure. But if it indeed can be found, then you will have an alternative way to grind down

Duriel for your future low level chars.

Btw, in case you are not familiar with the shop method, you can go out the town and come back in, and the vendor's inventory will refresh. So it is a good idea to create a game and make sure the vendor is standing next to the town exit. Then you can just run out and in to quickly see the new inventory. I recommend act II for this.

Artemisia wrote: 3 years ago

Thanks for the advice everyone; looks like I've got some grinding to do...

For offline single player I normally play the game at players8 difficulty, then when I get to a hard bit, I switch to players1.
This gives you way faster XP gain and means you are quite OP when you turn down the difficulty. You could quickly gain a few levels in the

Far Oasis killing beetles at a higher difficulty

SUCCESS!!!

I took him down with

Charged Strike and

Thawing Potion spam just like you guys said. Thanks to everyone for the advice...

"Looking for

Baal???" Great job, congrats!

I'll always remember the first time I fought him, about 20 years ago. Scared the crap out of me and killed me many, many times.