This page will relay information about Baal, the Act 5 Boss of Diablo 2, especially concerning information about farming him for unique and set items.

Baal, the Lord of Destruction, awaits you at the end of Act 5, and is the final boss of Diablo 2 Resurrected. To reach him you’ll need to trudge through Act 5, defeat the Ancients, and delve through three levels of the Worldstone Keep to reach the Throne of Destruction, where Baal holds court. This task is made more difficult in Nightmare and Hell difficulties thanks to the inclusion of “guest” monsters in Act 5 - higher-level versions of foes from previous Acts which makes it hard to predict what you’ll face. Fortunately the trek to Baal isn’t terribly long, as you merely need to use the Worldstone Keep Level 2 Waypoint, pass through Level 3 and reach the Throne of Destruction.

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(1 of 2) Make your way to the Throne of Destruction,

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Make your way to the Throne of Destruction, (left), and defeat five waves of minions. (right)

Like [Diablo], you’ll need to fight through a host of Super Uniques before you gain the honor of fighting the Lord of Destruction himself. This slows down the run, but five Super Uniques in quick succession can yield plenty of extra loot and experience, so it’s not all bad. These five enemies have their own immunities and minions, however, which can complicate matters:

• Colenzo the Annihilator: Always Fire Enchanted and fire immune.
• Achmel the Cursed: Always Poison Enchanted and immune to poison. Also immune to magic in Hell difficulty.
• Bartuc the Bloody: Always Lightning Enchanted, no inherent immunities, but highly resistant to lightning damage.
• Ventar the Unholy: Always Extra Fast, highly resistant to fire and poison and immune to poison in Hell difficulty.
• Lister the Tormentor: Always has Spectral Hit, highly resistant to fire, cold and poison, immune to fire in Hell difficulty.

Below you’ll find a table of Baal’s stats by difficulty:

Baal himself can be an annoying boss to fight, as he’s got a potent 360-degree AoE attack, a close range ability that saps Mana and can stamp into existence a wedge of frost which will knock enemies back and potentially hit them several times per cast. For players who think they’re clever, he’s also got tentacles he’ll summon to damage them, even if they’re otherwise off-screen or behind obstacles. Worst of all, he’ll teleport around and can summon a clone, which has the same abilities Baal himself does.

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(1 of 2) Baal can drain your Mana if you get too close,

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Baal can drain your Mana if you get too close, (left), and he’ll stamp out a frost wedge, which knocks enemies back and can strike multiple times - he’s not shy about spamming it, either. (right)

Baal is always moderately resistant to most elements (save non-elemental magic damage, Hammerdins rejoice!), and has a good store of Life. Between that and Baal’s minions, he’s a somewhat time-consuming boss to farm, and on higher difficulties you’ll probably want to farm Baal with a party so you can account for each other’s weaknesses… unless you’re a Lightning Sorceress, Wind Druid, or Summonmancer in which case you shouldn’t have much trouble with Baal’s minions (the enemies on the way there may be another matter).

With an incredibly high Monster Level (mLv) even on Normal difficulty, Baal can drop mid-tier items like Titan’s Revenge and Skin of the Vipermagi, although your odds are better with Nightmare Mephisto and those runs are faster. Nightmare Baal is even more lucrative, being one of the first monsters you’ll encounter who can drop a Harlequin Crest… although again, Hell Andariel might be a better, faster source to farm. Hell Baal can drop any item in the game, and it’s well worth doing if you - or you and a party - can manage the feat safely and quickly.