Souls to watch for...

[Chris]

We nezmodders have seen them. We know what they are. We know what to do with crap souls. But... what is really defined as crap souls.

USually crap souls are souls that have powers that you don't really want to benefit off for late game. If you just started and you found it, there can be quite a difference.

This list of monsters are the recommended souls you should watch out for and why you should keep them. A picture or a visual aid is provided in case you are new and don't know what monster we are talking about.

To use them, simply equip them to the Ring Slots. You could also get a Montreal's Spirit Jewel device from Mystery Chests or Gauntlet. With this, a soul and 2 space frags, you create a Jewel you can place into sockets.

People must PM me with thier recommended reason for this soul, a visual of the creature if its new, where they could appear, and what powers the provide.

Note that some of the powers have +X on some places. This is because it changes depending on the difficulty you collected the soul and what class you are.

This list will grow as time goes on.

The "list"

Monster #1 - Baal's Minion Type


Varieties - Enslaved, Slayer, Ice Boar, Fire Boar, Ice Spawn, Hell Spawn, Greater Hell Spawn, Greater Ice Spawn

Locations - Starts appearing in Act 4 City of the Damned/Chaos Sancturary (Enslaved w/ Overseer) to Act 5 Worldstone Keep (Greater Hell Spawn)

Soul Powers - IAS, Faster Block Rate, +x to Sword/Axe/Mace Masteries with another bonus if you are a barbarian (Barbarian will reduce the all class +x and reduce the level requirement), Mana Leech, random elemental damage, +x defense vs melee attacks.

This monster is the bomb for melee classes. The breed of monster is quite easy to find too. Just remember that they appear with Overseers as well, and they can go kamikaze and you cannot get the soul if this happens.

The reason you want this soul is mainly for the Masteries, mana leech and ias. Something that melee characters love to benefit off of. With Masteries, you get a chance to criticial hit something AND you also get ED. These also benefit from other +x all skill items.

Use this soul with Paladins and Barbarians that do heavy melee combat. Zealers can also benefit from this, since the most common Chaos|Depression's Triumph weapon people use is the one handed Berserker Axe (Axe mastery is on this soul).


Monster #2 - Izual


Varieties - Izual, Fallen Angel

Locations - Plains of Despair (Izual), Kagero Level 4 and 5 (Fallen Angel)

Soul Powers - X% chance of Level X First of Heavens on Striking, Level X Conviction Aura when Equipped, +X to Summon Fallen Angel, +X to Frost Nova, another bonus to this if you are a Sorceress, +X Defense Vs Missiles, Resist all (extra to cold), Damage Reduction, Cold Damage

A badass soul for a basic Conviction Aura and some Damage reduction, but that is not all its worth for. This soul allows you to summon Izual himself to aid you in combat.

He fights the same way except loses Frost Nova. He also has a chance of casting Fist of Heavens on striking, which will do more damage if the enemy is under conviction and not immune to lightning. He has plenty of hit points when you get him and does some decent damage. You will need +X skill items to improve this power. Once you got that through, he is one of the ultimate tank summons in the game (Next to Golems, Bears and Marilith).

I do believe that Izaul's variation is roughly the same power as the Fallen Angel. Getting them is a balance. Izual only appears once but any character around his level or greater can kill him. Fallen Angels are more common in Kagero but you need to survive the other monsters. The Fallen Angel has less HP than the Izual counter part. It is also immune to Lightning and Cold in Hell.

Use this soul with Summon Necs, Summoning Druids or other classes that need a spare meat shield to assist you.


Monster #3 - Doom Knight

Note: This is the Abyss Knight. The Doom Knight doesnt have a glowing right hand.
Varieties - Doom Knight, Nezeramon Guard

Locations - Anywhere in Act 4 except River of Flame and City of the Damned (Doom Knight, appears with Oblivion Knights in Chaos Sanctuary), Level 1 Kagero (Nezeramon fighter with Omega Knights), Act 5 Throne of Destruction and Halls of Pain (Appears with Baal's Subject Mummy)

Soul Powers - IAS, Elemental Damage of all kinds (Spectral Hit passive), +X Summon Doom Knight, +X Skeleton Mastery, Resist All elements except magic.

The only thing good about this soul is the +X Summon Doom Knight power. This skill destroys a corpse and calls an A4 Doom Knight from it. It will fight with a sword and slash any enemy it finds. Much like the Skeleton does.

What's the difference? At level 1, a Doom Knight has around the same DEfense and Attack Rating as a Skeleton and you can only summon 1. However, the Doom Knight has over 260 Life in Normal and does 14-25. A normal skeleton as like 35 Life and only does 1-2. It also recieves bonuses from Skeleton Mastery, like Skeletons do. It costs around the same mana to call a Doom Knight than a Skeleton.

Early on, you can use this to make your summon army stand up to combat better till you can use Marilith, better Golems, Fallen Angel or other better summons. Late game, they can still flood the area like Skeletons and Mages could... just you need +X all skill items to improve thier powers.

Use this mostly with a Summon Necro if you are looking for a Quantity type of summoner (Goblins, Hell Cats, Crows, Flesh Worms). If you are searching for Quality, you could still use them if you want but you would probably be better off with Skeletons, Golems or other summons. But either type of summoner still hurts like hell.

Monster #4 - The Smith


Varieties - The Smith, Moe, Larry, Curley, Hephasto The Armorer

Locations - Act 1 Barracks (Smith), Pit Level 2 (Stooges). Act 4 River of Flame Hellforge (Hephasto)

Soul Powers - X% chance to cast Level X Amplify Damage on Striking, Level X Concentration Aura when Equipped, IAS, Faster Hit Recovery, various elemental damages, -X% resist drop on enemy, X% Crushing Blow, Prevent Monster Heal, Fire Resist, drops Poison Resist

The poison resist drop is the only drawback to this soul, which is easy to fix with PSN resist items or length reducers. The amp damage on striking and Concentration Aura makes it a good reason to collect this soul, especially in team games or with summons. This is the only way to get this aura except thru Malarith. The resist drop is small, but it could give you the small edge you need to combat a foe.

Note that Smiths have the aura when you fight them, so be prepared to take some damage if your character is a little weak.

This aura also works on magic spells, but at half capacity.

Use this with melee characters or Summon characters for maximum effects. Just make sure you counter the poison drawback.


Monster #5 - Vile Mother


Varieties: Flesh Spawner, Stygian Hag, Grotesque

Locations: Act 4 Outer Steppes/Plains of Despair (Flesh Spawner), City of the Damned (Stygian Hag), River of Flame (Grotesque)

Soul Powers: Poison Damage, +X to Summon Vile Child, +X% Maximum Life, +X% Slower Stamina Drain, +X% Shorter Curse Duration, +X% Cold Resist, +X% Shorter Poison Length

Summoners will love this one! Not only it provides you with a good life and status debuff duration decrease, it allows you to add another summon to your roster, the Vile Children. Vile Children are little worms that will scratch at any monsters that attack them. They also have an innate life steal on thier attacks, so they can heal themselves as they strike.

This summon like the Doom Knights, Hell Cats and Skeletons are quantity over quality. With good buffs and healing going off, these summons can share the valor and strength of any skeleton you summon.

They are best used with Summon necs, druids or other summon classes. Just be sure to use +X skill items to improve this skill.

[Chris]

Monster #6 - Abominable


Varieties - Snow Drifter, Abominable, Chilled Froth, Frozen Abyss

Locations - Act 5, any level that takes place in a cold cave including subdungeons (various species)

Soul Powers - X% chance of casting Level X Amplify Damage when Struck, Cold Damage, Crushing Blow, Hit Stuns enemy, Hit Freezes Target, Cold Resist, Half Freeze Length.

Contains 4 of the most nasty status debuffs in one soul!

Amplify Damage will double your physical damage, plus it affects more than 1 unit. You can freeze a target solid, allowing you to fight it unchallenged and shatter its ass into ice cubes. If it cannot be frozen solid, then it can be stunned for a short time. Finally Crushing Blow will cut a fraction of the target's life by chance. These status effects combined can make any monster (even the hard monsters of Kagero or Infernal) fall in seconds.

This soul is a melee class must have early on. Later, it may not help you out that much since you can easily collect these buffs by charms, runes, other souls or item bonuses. However, it's still a good soul to look into to

For even more fun, try this soul on a Javelin Hail or Strafe Zon. I sure did, and I turned an area into ice cubes in seconds.


Monster #7 - Hell Bovine



Varieties - Hell Bovine

Location - Act 1, Moo-Moo Farm (Secret Cow Level)

Soul Powers - X% chance to cast Level X Magic Vacuum when Struck, X% chance to cast Level X Stun Shot on striking, X% chance to cast Level X Decripify on striking, X% chance to shoot Level X Charged Bolt on attack, magic/lightning damage, mana leech, -% enemy resist to lightning, X% chance of Crushing Blow, X% chance of Open Wounds, x% Stamina Bonus, +X% Resist All, +X% Damage Reduction

Another powerful status debuff enducer. Except carries Damage reduction, open wounds, lightning resistance drop and mana leech.

The mana leech on this soul is quite high. For a normal Hell Bovine, its 10%. You can also use it the moment you get it (No Level requirement). This is probably the only reason to get it besides the curse chances and Damage Reductions.

Use this mostly with melee classes or Amazons. This will help you get back mana and conserve potions for other situations.


Monster #8 - Coldworm the Burrower


Varieties - Coldworm the Burrower

Location - Act 2, Maggot Lair Level 3 (Room with Staff)

Soul Powers - Poison Damage, Resist All (More to cold), Cannot be Frozen

Kinda basic in the soul power department. Its pretty obvious why a character early on needs this soul: Resistances! This soul offers a good resist boost to almost all elements, except Cold gets a drastic increasement. You also cannot be frozen while carrying this soul.

This soul is good for anyone early or middle game that is lacking strength in the Resistance Department.


Monster #9 - Greater Mummy


Varieties - Hollow One, Guardian, Unraveler, Horadrim Ancient, Radament, Baal's Subject Mummy, Akmodan

Locations - Act 2, Halls of the Dead (Hollow One), Out/In Claw Viper Temple (Guardians), Tombs of Tal Rasha (Unraveler), Act 3 Sewers Level 1 and 2 (Horadrim Ancient), Act 2 Sewers Level 3 (Radament), Act 5 Halls of Pain and Worldstone Keep (Baal's Subject Mummy), Kagero Level 1 and 2(Akmodan)

Soul Powers - Transforms player into Radament, Poison Damage, +X to Mummy Taunt, Ally Heal, Skeleton, Skeleton Mastery, Mummy Breath, Unholy Bolt (an extra bonus if you are a Necromancer, this will reduce the level and the All class bonus for the Skeleton moves), Posion Resistance.

Radament Form

Originally Posted by Jkar

The form has the auto attacking with mummy breath on random norm hit, and the damage reduction/attack damage bonus for in rad form, the actual 0 mana cost for mummy breath, the identical walk/run speed in rad form that allows you to save stamina, and the nice 'second chance' that rad form gives you if you take fatal damage (You get 1 HP back and revert to human). Unholy Bolt is one of the most powerful basic magic-damage attacks, and is most effective against Undead.

Summon Necros will be feared by anything with this soul's power in your hands.

Although it turns you into Radament (which can be removed when you change acts or get to 1 HP), this soul has the largest boost to Skeleton Mastery and Skeletons in the game. Each soul varies in power, but the Varieties line is ordered in power from weakest to best. However, its an extremely rare soul to come by since 1 spawns and it has minions.

The skeleton bonuses are insane. For instance, if a barbarian gets his hands on a Baal's Subject. He will get Level 10 skeletons off the bat, plus a Level 8 Mastery. Ouch!

You can also use Mummy Breath and Unholy Bolt to combat enemies. But Mummy Breath will only work in Radament form. You can use Unholy Bolt, the skeletons, and Ally Heal outside of Rada form.

Ally Heal is the ultimate form of healing. It blows major mana, but you heal a % of the target's life. Good for saving players, mercs, and quality summons from death.

Use this soul with Summon Necros, that is all I can mention. It will be your friend as you progress through the game. Just remember to change out of the form, because of the movement speed you have. Unless you want to be J'kar's infamous Radamancer and you have a lot of Increased Movement Speed items.