GETTING BATTY!
"Bats" is the generic term used to describe the four Winged Fiends encountered in Diabloâs Church and Catacomb levels. Fiends, Blinks, and Glooms are all animals (think "sharp weapon" for the most part), while Familiars are considered Demons (so, any weapon). Bats are pretty much generic opponents with a bit better to hit and melee (not ranged) attacks that do a bit more damage than what youâve probably already faced. They are worth better experience, BUT they also drop NO items, goods, or gold (with the exception of Bosses). However, there are four areas in which Bats differ from all previous encountered foes, as outlined below.
NEW FOES, NEW ABILITIES
#1. Winged Fiends have their own special movement AI
After conducting a melee attack, a Winged Fiend will then "retreat" away from its target, and then try to re-engage the target by moving to a tile either to the right or the left of the one it previously attacked from (depending on which direction it retreated). This means if you are defending against the bat, be prepared for it to automatically enter a new tile -- you canât keep swinging at the tile he first attacked you from, heâs moving to a new one!
This also means that Bats will "last" a bit longer than other foes, as if you donât connect with it while it attacks, itâs going to retreat (to a tile you cannot melee attack unless you choose to move adjacent) and then return to the attack again. While itâs been completing this movement, itâs been regenerating hit points. You have to adjust your attack to the new tile it may be entering, hope to hit it, hope to kill it, or again it will attack and retreat (regenerating all the while). This means Bats will be a tad more difficult to quickly dispose of as compared to other melee opponents -- best not to get caught out in the open where a horde may eventually get attracted to the battle!
This all supposes that there is a tile to retreat to, AND that the tile the bat plans to re-engage you in is indeed still unoccupied. As bats travel in groups -- especially the bosses -- this many times is not the case, and so the bat may a.) retreat and then return to the attack tile it was originally in, if that is the only tile available to attack from, or b.) if there is no tile to retreat to (due to mobbing, or the bat being in a doorway with a horde behind it) then the bat will chose to attack over and over rather than retreat. This, when facing Foulwingâs mob, can be quite deadly!
#2. The Hit Recovery of Blinks causes them to Teleport
When Blinks receive enough damage to put them into hit recovery (10 points in Normal), they will "teleport" -- the "new" tile can be any of the tiles surrounding the target that put the Blink into hit recover, including the tile the Blink is originally in (so it appears as a standard hit recovery rather than a teleport). This means that a Blink can teleport behind the target! And if after an attack the Blink retreats, his next move to re-engage may put him next to a different party member!
This teleport can occur across many tiles and behind closed doors! What do you mean? Well, say the Rogue (or Warrior) is "bow scouting" (or your Mage is scouting and has just cast a Charged Bolt doing at least ten points damage) and has a Composite Bow that does ten points max damage. If she fires down an empty-looking corridor, hits a Blink (even offscreen!), and does ten points damage, then next thing you know youâve got an angry Blink adjacent your lightly clad scout! Or, if the Mage sees a large group coming and runs back to the set point, throws a firewall into the room with the Blinks, and then slams the door, youâre safe, right? Wrong. If a Blink enters the Firewall and goes into hit recovery due to the damage, then it will teleport right through the closed door and attack the party. (Since this may actually happen to a great number of Blinks, itâs a good idea NOT to use a low-slevel Firewall against these opponents.)
#3. Glooms can "charge" into the attack
Glooms have the ability to "charge" when they move, which means they can fly very quickly all the way across the screen! This charge is a movement -- not an attack -- and so does no damage and does not put you into hit recovery. Itâs just their way of quickly moving about, and puts them quickly adjacent to you so that they can melee attack you. Know this, however, Glooms ONLY charge if there are four or more tiles separating them from you, and therein lies their weakness!(see below)
#4. Familiars can attack using a Charged Bolt
The attack of Familiars is a stationary Charged Bolt doing 4-16 damage. They perform this attack only when adjacent to their target (it is not a "ranged" attack). This is a painful attack, and since you probably havenât chosen to ID any item as of yet, you have no resistance to it, meaning the potential for stun (for the Warrior or the scout) -- is fairly high. A pack of Familiars in an open area is no laughing matter!
BAT-TACTICS
OK, so now you know of your foes new abilities, how does this affect how youâll choose to fight them? Letâs take a look.
Fiends -- dlevels 2-3, take 6 points to stun, hit points 3-6, AC 0, to hit 35%, damage 1-6, exp 102! Zero resistances.
Fiends are actually pretty good opponents for the group to face, since their AC of 0 means that even the Mage should be able to connect with them fairly consistently, and their relatively low hit points means he should eventually be able to kill them. However, this assumes that you are holding a doorway or arch and that the mage is not the game creator! Fiends hit hard and have a decent to hit, so itâs best not to face groups of them in the open. Instead, have the scout lead them to a trap point and then let them try to attack the Warrior while the Mage madly swings!
Blinks -- dlevels 3-5, take 10 points to stun, hit points 12-28, AC 15, to hit 45%, damage 1-8, exp 340. No resistances.
Blinks add a new danger for the group -- while trying to hold a doorway or arch, Blinks can teleport behind the party when attacked and put into hit recovery. They then retreat and rejoin the combat, sometimes choosing a different party member to attack! This can be serious for a lightly armored Mage or Rogue!
What to do? Three tactics -- first, if you want to stick with the basics, then hold a set point (door or arch) and concentrate on one opponent at a time. If the first Blink in the doorway teleports behind the group, all party members IMMEDIATELY stop attacking toward the door tile and instead concentrate on the Blink in the rear. The Warrior should NOT leave his set position at the doorway, however, as this might lead to even more Blinks entering the room making that trap point un-holdable. The Mage may temporarily retreat from the combat (and the clutches of the sneaky Blink) until the Rogue and Warrior dispose of it.
Secondly, take the attack to the opponent. Since Blinks only teleport if they take stunning damage, have the Warrior, Mage, or Rogue try to kill them using bows. Bows do less damage and so -- for the most part -- wonât activate the Blinks special teleport ability. The Warrior should be careful to use a bow doing less than ten points damage max -- Blinks can teleport across many empty tiles if put into hit recovery!
The third method is unusual and may seem counterintuitive, but it works. Have everyone at a set or trap point, funneling the Blinks into a single tile. Then have the Warrior switch to a blunt, while the Mage and Rogue switch to whatever melee weapon does less than ten points damage max to an animal. Why do this? Itâs to prevent an individual party member from stunning the Blink and teleporting it behind the group -- if no one can stun it, then it will be forced to stay in the doorway tile, and youâll face all the foes one-at-a-time! There is an exception though -- the Warriorâs critical hit (even with a Blunt!) may teleport the Blink behind you. Then you need to concentrate on that one foe, as per above, and unfortunately you may not have the best weapons readied to deal with it. Just remember this critical hit only occurs with a frequency of the Warriorâs clevel, it may NOT stun/teleport the Blink in every case, it may not stun/teleport it BEHIND you, and even if it does you know youâve damaged that Blink with at least 33% of its total life.
Glooms -- dlevels 4-6, stunned with 12 points damage, hit points 28-36, AC 35, to hit 70% (!), damage 4-12, exp 509, resist magic.
Glooms are a triple threat -- high to hit, damage that can potentially stun, and fast movement. Simply put, itâs best to face Glooms from a strong set point!
However, the party scout doesnât have this option, and therein lies a dilemma. While scouting in the dark Catacombs (or even the Church) you may active a flock of Glooms without realizing it -- their activation radius is greater than your ability to see! This means you can quickly be in a world of hurt, unless you move very slowly to activate only a very few foes. However, even with conservative scouting you may get in trouble! If the Glooms charges and MISSES you (due to your moving to dodge him), it may end up charging all the way behind you and place it between you and the doorway. Yikes! Now your retreat is blocked, and if more Glooms are on the way, youâre probably toast -- youâll just have to fight your way out of it. (Note to the remaining party members: do NOT try to enter the area to help the scout! The Glooms may temporarily block the door, but if you choose to try to walk through it, youâll DEFINITELY block the door for a number of turns. A good scout should try to dodge back to the set position -- donât prevent them from moving back to it!) Then have everyone arm up with sharps and chop âem to bits.
Of course when the Gloom charges, it will "stop" at the point it thinks it can attack the scout. So what does this mean to you. tactic-wise? As a scout, when you see a Gloom sweeping in, when it is about three tiles distant from you during its charge, simply back up a tile toward the door. The Gloom ends up stopped in a tile one distant from you (you retreated one away) and now CANNOT charge to attack you since there must be four tiles separating the two of you for it to go into its charge routine. Either walk (or run if more than one Gloom is present) back to the set point with your comrades.
Knowing how Glooms charge renders their attack a bit less dangerous. Still, good scouts should know to move slowly on a level with Glooms (especially Cats 5 with Foulwing!).
Familiars -- dlevel 6-8, stunned with 16 points, hit points 20-35, AC 35, to hit 50%, damage 4-16, exp 448, resist magic, immune to lightning.
Familiars are a danger to the reckless scout since their charged bolt attack can often stun. Plus, in packs Familiars are quite dangerous to whoever is the game creator trying to hold a set point. This is because if the Familiar cannot retreat after an attack -- due to a mob being behind it -- then it will attack over and over and over, causing multiple damaging hits to occur. Being demons, any weapon will do against them, just try to make sure you are doing at least 16 points damage to stun them! Also, have the game creator set to a side of the door, as it take just a fraction of a second longer for the Familiar to enter the doorway, then turn to attack the target, during which time you stand a decent chance of killing it before it attacks you.
However, the best tactic here is simply the best defense is a good offense. If the Mage is the scout, Familiars are tailor-made for being blasted by Firebolts. (Also, if youâve been saving those silly Inferno scrolls, this is a perfect foe to use âem on!) If the Rogue is the scout, take âem out with your bow. Itâs simple better to deal with them individually at a distance than try to take them out melee-style, they cause too much damage and force you to use up too many resources healing injured party members. If the Warrior MUST get some exp (say, to level up), then have the Warrior scout using a bow, and have HIM take them out with a bow!
Finally, if you open the door to a large room and it is filled to the gills with Familiars, now might be a good time for the Mage to cast a Firewall just inside the room and slam the door! (Advanced skill -- everyone knows you should actually step INTO the doorway first, activating more Familiar foes, before stepping back out and slamming the door. That way more foes enter the Firewall and are destroyed before the low slevel Firewall goes out.)
BOSS MAN COMING!
OK, so now you know how to handle the regular Winged foes, what about their bosses and mobs? Remember too, all minions in a boss group have DOUBLE the number of hit points as the standard foe they represent!
Moonbender, Blink boss, mob present, Church Four (Note: neither Moonbender or his mob can open doors)
Moonbender shows up on Church Four. Since he cannot open doors, the best way to handle him is in a room with a grate your can fire through and a door that can be closed. Piece of cake! Just remember that the damage the bows do must be less than 10 points max, or else the Bat may teleport through the grating to attack the party!
Wrathraven, Blink boss, mob present, Catacomb Five (Note: both Wrathraven and his mob CAN open doors!)
Wrathraven shows up on Cats 5, so no rooms with grating here. Best bet: a retreating bow battle. Bowing the opponents rather than meleeing with them avoids all damage (saving resources) while destroying them Just make sure everyone has clear lines of fire, know in which direction everyone is going to retreat, retreat in straight lines (donât cross in front of firing comrades!), and have a decent distance (or a circular track) that you can retreat to. Simplifying it even further, a decent Rogue with a short or hunterâs bow should be able to solo the entire group without anyone taking any damage. Remember, casting Firewall against these foes and slamming a door on then is NOT a good option! âNuff said.
Foulwing, Gloom boss, mob present, Catacombs Six (Note: Foulwing and his mob CAN open doors!)
Make no mistake, Foulwing and his mob are a serious threat to the entire IM party! There are two major concerns here -- either the Glooms will charge and cut off and kill the scout, or the Boss (with mob behind him) gets into the doorway at the set point and cannot retreat and ends up attacking quickly over and over again. Weâre talking a lot of reds getting consumed here! Best bet: everyone uses the biggest, baddest sharp weapons they have, hold that set point, swing like crazy!
A couple of notes, however. First, the minion in this Gloom mob have a tendency to charge attack one at a time -- most of them want to stay close to the Boss. Once that single Gloom has charged, it has a tendency to "hover in place" while the Boss and mob move up to the point itâs now at. That being the case, the Rogue can shoot it to pieces with a bow while it stands there. Warning! Be alert for ANOTHER gloom charging in to attack. Simply use the "step back" tactic and continue to fire on each in turn.
Finally, and this is a very advanced IM skill, simply have the Rogue charge the group with a bow and solo it. WHAT?!?!?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!?!? No, but you DO have to know and KNOW WELL the movement AI of the Gloom charge attack. Simply have the Rogue stop exactly three tiles away from the group. They canât charge; you CAN fire. Every time the mob moves forward one to two tiles, you move backwards one to two tiles. When none but Foulwing remain, simple stay two to three tiles distant to him and bow him to death. He canât melee attack you, nor can he charge. Simple, uses up no resources (beyond durability of the bow; best to have a backup in your backpack), but dangerous -- while you approach, a single Gloom may charge attack YOU, stopping you further than four tiles away from the mob and thus ruining this tactic. If that happens, retreat back to the set point and gear up for a melee battle. This advanced tactic actually works best if the Rogue stands -- hidden from the mob -- against a wall and three tiles away from a corner and waits for the Gloom-mob to come to him down a perpendicular corridor. There are plenty of these intersections in the Catacombs!)
*****
And that's it -- Att's take on Bats.
