Fire Enchanted Bosses (FEBs): these are the arch-enemy of the Fire Sorcie and particularly of the Hot Babe. All FEBs have the maximum possible Fire Resistance, which is 75%. They will take considerably longer to kill with fire-only, on top of their already boosted life. This can mean as much as 32 times as tough as a regular monster of that type, not even counting other possible boss enhancements. Bosses are where the real danger mainly lies in the later difficulties, and FEBs will take the longest to kill, unless you borrow help from other trees. The list of Super Unique FEBs includes: Bishibosh, the Countess, Flamespike the Crawler, Fire Eye, Witch Doctor Endugu, Geleb Flamefinger, and the Grand Vizier of Chaos. However, in Nightmare and particularly Hell, where bosses gain extra random abilities, any boss can show up as a FEB. Andariel, who is supposed to be vulnerable to fire, is actually bugged in v1.03 and earlier and has max fire resistance.

Magic Resistant bosses: same story as FEBs, they are maximally resistant. The list of Super Uniques that are Magic Resistant (but not already FEB) by default includes: Bonebreaker, Bone Ash, Beetleburst, Ancient Kaa, and Hephasto. Izual has some resistance but not a lot. Duriel also has some fire resistance. The really bad news on Magic Resistant bosses, however, is that you won't gain much help from skills in other trees.

Fallen Shamen: Although their resistance and life are low in Normal, you will notice their toughness in Nightmare, and in Hell they are particularly resilient, with max resistance and hefty life. Boss packs are particularly mean, as you must kill the boss first, or else take out the minions with help from cold spells that will shatter the corpse (meaning mainly GS). Hydras and Firewalls work best here, although Meteors and to a lesser extent Fireballs and Inferno can also work. Forget Blaze, it's useless here.

Burning Dead: merely an annoyance in Normal, these foes become maximally resistant in Nightmare and will give Fire Sorcies fits in Hell. Fortunately they are slow and stupid, but even so you will have to be careful.

Hell Clan: highly resistant goats in the Arcane Sanctuary. These are so tough in Hell as to warrant help from other skills unless you are a Hot Babe, in which case you will have to be extremely careful. A couple hits from these things will drop you like a stone, while it takes forever to whittle them down even with your strongest and best attack plans.

Cloud Stalkers: low resistance and low health. You might not even know they are resistant, but they are. They resist lightning even more, though, so only cold dispatches them without fuss. They are found only in the Spider Forest and are more a pest than anything else.

Wailing Beasts: found only in the various Temples of Kurast, these can pose a serious threat in those tight quarters, particularly if there is a boss or champions. Use extreme caution.

Heirophants: found only in Travincal, these toughest of the Zakarum priests are fire resistant, and maximally so in Hell. Add in the ability to heal one another, particularly in packs, AND to heal via teleport, and you are looking at some serious firewall bait here. With my prototype Hot Babe, I found myself stacking the low-level firewalls on these puppies in Hell Act 3 to the degree of emptying my whole mana ball on just ONE of them at a time, in most cases. A boss pack can pose an extreme threat. Be careful.

Warped Ones: these weak things are nevertheless fire resistant. They show up only as boss or champ packs, with minions, in Act 3 temples, mainly the Durance of Hate. This is another one in the category of the Cloud Stalkers, except that since you only encounter them as bosses and champs with minions, they can take a little bit of work to kill. Don't get careless with them.

Balrogs: these Act 4 foes are speedy and maximally resistant even in Normal Difficulty. They are just cannon fodder to Cold and Lightning Sorcies, but are a serious foe to Fire Sorcies. Take them VERY seriously if you don't want to end up dead. They are candidates for Tempting Fate, but be careful.

Doom Knights: another maximally fire resistant Act 4 foe, found in the Steppes and Plains, but also in the Chaos Sanctuary. They are slow, thankfully, and thus die with less protest -- to Blaze, Meteor or Hydra -- than the speedier Balrogs, but must be handled with extreme care. Do not Tempt Fate: maintain distance.

Doom Casters, Stranglers: highly resistant, but thankfully fairly low health. Use caution, maintain distance, and if your lag is tolerable, be willing to Tempt Fate with these guys. Their attack animation is very slow.

Stormcasters: like Stranglers, but hardier and with maxed fire resistance. Found only in the CS.

Abyss Knights: only moderately resistant, these foes are nevertheless quite dangerous. Be careful. Found only in the City of the Damned and the River of Flame.

Oblivion Knights: not quite maximally resistant, they nevertheless are tough. Extreme caution.

Cliff Lurkers: quite simply the nemesis of the Fire Sorcie. Found only in the Steppes, these monsters pose more threat than anything else short of a boss or perhaps Oblivion Knights in numbers. Hydras are the best way to defeat these leapers with fire. The worst draw you can get in the game from the perspective of Fire Skills is an Act 4 Steppes with Cliff Lurkers, Doom Knights and Venom Lords. Yikes. :)

Tree Lurkers: act three version of leapers, found only in Lower Kurast. These pests have maximum fire resistance. Handle with care.

Fire Resistant Bosses: bosses gain the same resistances as their base creature type, meaning that all Fallen Shaman type boss packs are highly resistant or worse, that all Balrog bosses including the Infector have maxed fire resistance, and so on. A Heirophant or Wailing Beast or Hell Clan boss pack can spell real trouble, but generally the worst ones to deal with will be found in Act 4, thankfully not too often. Be careful and stay alert.

Spectral Hit Bosses: gain some extra fire resistance. It's not much, but you should still be aware of this, as in cases with already somewhat resistant foes, it can make a bigger difference, getting them closer to max.

Also of note is that fire will not shatter corpses, so if you aren't using any cold, you will have to apply some special tactics to situations where monsters can raise minions from the dead. This is particularly tough on fireball and inferno, but firewall, meteor and hydra can all be cast behind the lines to directly target offending shaman types.

Fire Sorcies and Hot Babes have it worst of any Sorceress in the Chaos Sanctuary, where all three Seal bosses and crews are highly fire resistant all the time, and the only critters there that AREN'T maximally resistant are the Oblivion Knights. Yummy. :) Take your best shot, and good luck.

| Next Section | Main Page |