The first two times Skeletorr fought Duriel, he had taken hits, he had been charged and hit. I could not afford to allow that here. This was my main reason for pumping up Iron Maiden. I didn't need much for most of the game. I could even have continued to make do on slvl 1 (which the adders would boost to 5). Would have had a harder time with many bosses, but things had almost gotten a little too easy at times, so that would have still been quite doable.

However, this isn't softcore, and I am far from a flawless player. The Duriel conflict leaves no room for error, does not allow you to maintain distance very easily, and offers you no way to pause for a breather in a drawn out engagement. I really hate this boss, but by now you've probably read that before, so I'll spare you. I've been preparing Skeletorr for this battle for some time, and if he survives, I am fairly confident he will make it at least to the end of Act Three, if not all the way.

Most of the reason for the higher level iron maiden was duration. Having to refresh too often had been Skel's downfall the first two times. Just takes too long to curse and then raise a new golem. Even if you do one, then wait for an opening to do the other, you've lost half the curse duration already, if not more. With slvl 11, the curse would last over half a minute, and I could spam golems. So long as a warrior or the merc lived, Skel would be safe. Once all those were dead, Duriel would try to eat the mages, and at some point he would target Skeletorr and the crisis would come. So depending on how long the other melee targets lasted, Skel could remain fairly safe and relaxed. Once it was down to golem and mages, or worse, golem only, things would be extremely dangerous. One charge could end it all.

Here Goes Nothing