Mephisto is Act III boss. He is Diablo`s elder brother and first of Three Prime Evils you have to destroy. I have beat him more than 20 times with different chars and on different difficulty levels. And I have feeling that mephisto is classified as "undead", because 150% dam to undead weapons seem to affect him more, but strange thing is that Paladin`s Holy bolt, flyes through him as through normal monster.
Mephisto`s weak side is he has less HP than any other bosses. But his damage is extermely high. And in addition to this he uses level 23 Charged bolt on normal diff. And hell knows what level on NM and Hell. Also he uses some other spells as lightning, chain lightning, and even static field sometimes.GENERAL TIPS:
- High lightning res will be very useful.
- Beware of charged bolts and don`t come close if you are playing non-melee combat char.
- Mephisto has a habit to turn around rapidly and fire lightning. Keep it in mind.
- If High Council members don`t let you fight Mephisto - open a TP near him and then lead Council Members to the level3 entrance. Go back to Durance level. Use waypoint to return to town and then go into your TP. Remember to cast it again immediately, when you enter, because Council Members are still camping near Durance lvl3 entrance!
- Hireling will not be useful, because they are extremely stupid and will die after few charged bolts
Amazon
Normal Difficulty = 6, Nightmare(NM) = 8, Hell = 8
Mephisto is much more difficult than Duriel, so prepare for the real combat.
High-level Valkirye vill help a lot. No point to use multishot, because Meph doesn`t have any minions, so try to concenterate your damage in a single arrow. Keep away from static field range (if possible)
SPEAR-USING AMAZONS:
Attention! If you are standing directly behind Mephisto, be ready for everything! Mephisto can turn around and launch lightning any time, so keep your fingers on potions keys.
Necromancer
Normal Difficulty = 5, Nightmare(NM) = 5, Hell = 6
Do not use Blood Golem! Use Iron. (On NM and hell use Fire golem instead)
If you are using Iron Golem:
Buy some cheap metal items in the town. When you enter Durance3 - Cast Blood golem first (to keep Meph`s attention for a few seconds), then throw all items you bought on the ground and cast Iron Golem. Each time golem dies immediately turn another item into golem. Iron maiden will be very useful against Meph, because of his high damage.
If you`re still using blood golem:
Well, I can name at least 10 disadvantages of Blood Golem in this combat, but I won`t. You`ll see them by yourself. Blood Golem is highly not recommended, because Mephisto has very high damage and he will turn your golem in a pile of dust on the floor very quickly. And, as you know, when blood golem dies your health reduces to 1. And even Super healing potion can`t refill your HP fast enough before Mephisto will strike again. Result: absolutely stupid death because of your golem.
All this stuff is not about NM or Hell. When you have Fire Golem and Bone Spirit your tactics are absolutely different.
Cast Fire golem and Iron Maiden, (Not Amplify - it`s useless) then hide somewhere around the corner and launch Bone Spirits. Keep eye on your mana, because you`ll be need 70-120 any time to recast your golem. Beware of Charged bolts and Chain lightnings! They are extremely dangerous!
Barbarian
Normal Difficulty = 4, Nightmare(NM) = 4, Hell = 5
The faster you kill him is better. The battle will be short, but it will take a lot of potions. I have tried many tactics but the best of them is - leap attack, leap back, leap attack, leap back and so on. In NM and Hell: Use whirling instead of leap back.
I`m not giving any more specific tactics, because i can`t. It`s impossible. Barbarian is a type of character with no tactics. If you are playing a Barbarian your success depends on: 50% - the way you build your char. 30% - your reaction. 10% - luck and 10% - tactics.
Paladin
Normal Difficulty = 5, NM = 5, Hell = 6
You have to make an impotant descission before this combat - to use Thorns or to use Lightning res aura. Well, its up to you. I won`t recommend any of them. I`ll just descibe all advantages and disadvantages ot those auras. But if you have one aura much higher than the other - choose the higher one.
Thorns:
the combat will be much faster, but you`ll waste a lot of potions. Don`t let Meph use distant spells. Always go in melee combat, because Thorns does not work with ranged attacks. If you running out of potions - turn on lightning res. and run to your TP. Do not use high-level zeal in combination with thorns! (I mean in this case). Because when you want to run - you can`t. Paladin still needs to finish attack. If your zeal is higher than lvl 10 - DON`T USE IT! (I don`t recommend to rise it that high - its the only skill, that becomes too dangerous to use after lvl 10. If you pressed the button - you`ve to stay on the same place for 3 or more sec.)
Resist Lightning:
It will take much longer to kill Meph, because only you damage him. He doesn`t get any feedback after he hits. On the other hand you`ll get much less dam too.
So if your damage and AR are high - use Resist Lightning. If your dam is low, but you have much HP - use thorns. Try to stay away from melee combat and use blessed hammer, if you chose R. Lightning, because Meph`s melee attacks do direct dam, and ranged attacks do lightning dam.
Sorsceress
Normal Difficulty = 7, NM = 8, Hell = 9
I have killed Meph with Sorsceress only twice. Once on normal diff and once in NM. (Hell Diff. mark above - just a guess) So I can`t say much about it. I have only one sorsceress and I developed her skills mainly in ice branch and additional - lightning
So, I took a hireling and while Meph was killing her I attacked him with Static. This way I reduced his HP to 10%. But the last 10% were more difficult than first 90! Static did not affect him much since he has only 10% of HP, and Mephisto has pretty high lightning res. So, I had to use other spells. I ran around all Durance3, sometimes stopping to cast Blizzard. It took me more than 5min to finish him off and I died 2 or 3 times during this. :( Mephisto seems to be the most difficult boss for sorsceress.
You can read some more about mephisto Here
Go on to next of most difficult places in the game - Lord De Seis