All journeys must end somewhere.

Ember began her final adventure at clvl 38 with the following skills, stats and equipment:

Firebolt @ max (+3 from staff)
Fire Mastery @ 9
Warmth @ 15

Str 12, Dex 25, Vit 153, Nrg 80

Primary Gear:

Gemmed Battle Staff: +3 Firebolt, +2 Frozen Armor (unused), w/ flawless ruby and diamond, normal amethyst
Rare Quilted Armor: +49 Lit Resist, +29 Cold Resist, +34 Life, -50 Poison Dur, -20 Req - gambled Act 1 NM
Rare Light Belt: +26 Cold Resist, +15 Lit Resist, Fastest Recovery, +19 Life, +6 Mana - gambled Act 1 NM
Burgundy Leather Gloves of Tiger: +18 Fire Resist, +29 Life - bought from Gheed in NM
Rare Boots: Faster Run, Fastest Recovery, +24 Fire, +11 Poison, +18 Mana, +3 Life - gambled Act 3 NM
Rare Ring: +37 Lit Resist, +29 Life, +1 Light, +130 AR - gambled Act 1 NM
Ring: -2 Damage, +35 Cold Resist - flesh spawner boss, Outer Steppes in Normal
Amulet: +45 Fire Resist, +12 Dex - beetle boss in the Disused Fane in Normal
Rare Cap: Fastest Recovery, +53 Life, +2 Light, +8 Poison Res, +3 Mana - gambled Act 1 NM

Alternate Gear:

Greyform: +20 Cold and Fire Resist, -3 Magic Damage - gambled Act 3 Normal
Amber Light Belt of Tiger: +32 Lightning Resist, +28 Life - bought from Gheed in NM
Rare Boots: Faster Run, Fastest Recovery, +14 Lit Resist, +11 Life, +7 Stamina - gambled Act 2 Normal
Ring: +22 Lightning Resistance, -2 Magic Damage
Hand of Broc, Hotspur, Snakecord, and Bloodfist saved for High Durability Rare purposes (gambling).

Unlike the Outer Steppes, the worst of Ember's final adventure lay waiting near the end. I would have the chance to warm up on the River maze before I had to undertake the hardest part of Ember's quest, the Chaos Sanctuary.

The dangers of the Sanctuary for Ember were fourfold, these factors combining to offer a challenge that could only be met with flawless tactics and a mistake-free execution of the battle plan:

1) Fire Resistance. Every foe, everywhere, maxed out in fire resistance, taking only 16 or 17 damage damage from each hit. (One exception, the Oblivion Knights, only 60% resistant, meaning they would absorb about 26 damage per hit, except for the fire-shooters, whose resistance is maxed).

2) The narrow, linear layout of the Sanctuary removes any hope of Portal Parking. Neither can any parts of the Sanctuary be avoided or ignored. All the opponents must be slain, every last one of them.

3) There would be three, probably four boss packs to deal with. The first boss, the one typically found near the front of the sanctuary (randomly generated) might pose a deadly threat. The Infector of Souls would be hard to kill, but I could trap him out on the river, in the maze, as long as I could get him there without a repeat of the catastrophe Ember faced in Normal. Lord De Seis would be dangerous, but Ember had lots of health, high resistance, and the will to get it done. The real enemy, the one for which I did not have an answer, was the Grand Vizier of Chaos.

4) Storm Casters. Like the Sanctuary on the whole, these opponents posed a compounded risk that set them so far above anything else as to merit their own category. They are fire resistant and would require twenty shots or more to kill. At half health, they bolt and run. Do you think Ember can fire off ten more shots and hit them before they can get away? Neither did I. They regenerate (as do all normal monsters) and unless killed, they will come back once healed and have to be fought again. They might even sneak up on Ember from behind, posing an extreme threat that could, in an instant, force her to surrender through a Save and Exit and end her quest permanently. They could flee beyond range, out over the lava, where Ember could not target them. And despite Ember's conditioning as the least mana-hungry sorceress ever to play the game, despite her complete inability at this point to even drain her mana orb below full, they could run her dry of mana and force potion use or a retreat before she could do enough damage to kill even one of them, if she just stood in place, firing, while their homing missiles sapped her dry. And the kicker to all of that is their ability to fly, to completely ignore the river maze and swarm poor little Ember. They HAD to be tackled in the Sanctuary proper, where a bare handful of architectural features could catch and trap them on the retreat, ONE at a time, to allow Ember to finish them off before they could get away.

Now imagine up to a dozen of those with double health, and thus double regeneration, possibly juiced up by some aura, or worse, extra speed, led by an Extra Strong Fire Enchanted boss who might be Lightning or Cold enchanted, Multishot or Teleport, and you understand the magnitude of the climactic battle that lay between Ember and victory. If somehow the Vizier and his mob could be defeated, Diablo would be less than an afterthought, a mere ceremonial battle to crown the victorious heroine.

Duchess Ember? To Be or Not To Be...