Samael, Descendant of MNX

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SwineFlu
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Samael Solo kill on TSW by Kyromyr (video)
Samael Solo strategy for SP (miniguide)

Introduction



After I saw that Samael was finally defeated on realm I decided to give it a try on SP. It's not like I'm surprised but the lack of useful information about this boss fight left much to be desired. So, I decided to gather it myself, however the stats which I'll provide might not be exactly the same for realm... I'm not guarantee that you will be able to beat Samael after reading this miniguide, it's more about fight mechanic and theorycrafting, however you will have a better understanding of BS you'd have to face while fighting this boss.

Image

Samael, Herald of the End



    Level 120
    Base HP 1 120 000
    50% Physical Res
    50% Magic Res
    99% Fire Res
    99% Lightning Res
    99% Cold Res
    1k% Poison Res (Immune)
as you can see, he is a tough guy, insane damage resistance!

    Damage Divisor 30
which means all your damage is divided by 30 (for Destruction Baal this stat is equal to 15 btw)

    Armor Class 36 000
the chance to hit him with lvl 120 char would be:

    50k AR ~ 58% CtH
    100k AR ~ 74% CtH
    150k AR ~ 81% CtH
    200k AR ~ 85% CtH
    250k AR ~ 87% CtH
and only 700k AR would give you 95% CtH (unless you are using items with -%Monster Defense or -Monster Defense per Hit modifiers)

    HP Regen ~546 hp/frame
that's roughly 13 675 hp per second!

    225% IAS
    225% FRW
Samael is fast as lightning, he doesn't care that much about your slow (unless you're stacking different types of slow, ex. Chronofield, Miasma, Force Blast, Screaming Eagle)

    25% Block
    65% Dodge
    65% Avoid
    65% Evade
even with a decent amount of AR you are not guaranteed to hit him (spells would miss him 65% of the time as well)

    Life after Each Kill 250 000
he heals for like 22% of his max hp after kill

Samael has a chance to cast following spells:

    1% Ctc lvl 5 Teleport when Take Damage
    1% Ctc lvl 1 DeathStrike (Clone) when Take Damage
single proc from the DeathStrike Clone shots 7 Death Strikes consecutively
his other spells is actually his own attacks, so you can effectively reduce their cast rate (by slowing down his Attack Animation)

Samael also has a Debuff Aura which reduces the following stats:

    -50% Avoid
    -50% Evade
forget about evasion unless you are standing still (this aura doesn't reduce Dodge apparently)

    -350% Chance to Open Wounds
since Sword of the White Void was removed, it's impossible to stop his insane hp regen unless you nullify that negative OW% (so you can effectively apply it!)

    -50% Velocity
    -25% Max Lightning Res
lightning spell damage from the Gargoyle trap is annoying

Gargoyle trap (Wannabe Samael)



    Invulnerable, invisible, immobile
    Casts AoE lightning spell
    2% CtC lvl 1 Summon Pain Worm on Striking
more players present at the arena - more worms spawned
more time you spend trying to kill Samael - more worms getting summoned

Wannabe grants next Debuff Aura:

    -3% Chance to Block
forget about blocking projectiles

Pain Worm



    Invulnerable
    100% CtC lvl 99 Gift of Inner Fire when your enemy is Slain
here is another healing mechanic, just in case Samael get cold...
Edited by SwineFlu 5 years.
candyland
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did u end up killing it ?
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SwineFlu
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Unfortunately, no. I did manage to stop his life regen, however I gave up because of lackluster damage. Maybe it was possible to kill him with tp cheese, but that would take a lot of time.
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aerial
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Pretty good summary.
What would be nice to add is list of his attacks and abilities, what sort of instagibs to avoid and/or not bother trying to figure out how to tank them.
Note about slow is also correct, its important to emphasize how useful can it be, if you combine slows target with certain skill slows, because boss can be slowed to really decent state, giving you time in between his attacks to inflict damage.

edit:
As for the solo kill, it will be difficult to come close to Kyromyr result with barb, as it is hard to combine crucial components on a single character that make it possible, other than this very specific barb builds.
What you want:
- 450 ow (or close to it)
- reasonable chance to hit (problem for casters)
- 50% slows target + two slow skills (you can use one slow skill but boss will be significantly faster)
- enough ehp to survive/outheal shock aura and cold bolts from adds
- high damage output, ideally elemental with as high as possible pierce

Note that kyromyr barb gets 7k max damage per element from nephalem spirit with over 100% triple pierce. This sort of damage is pretty high to reach even if you dedicate other classes for damage, and forget about slow or having 450ow.
There is one interesting part about -def per target, which could be a way to get AR problem out of the equation for a caster.
But if you are a caster, using all these open wounds slot costs you a lot of damage, while for neph barb it mostly costs you pierce, since nephalem spirit is prebuffed upon casting anyway. Caster will lose both spelldamage and pierce, by not using spell crafts.
Finally there is problem with slow, while capping slows target only really takes up just weapon slot, not many classes can add multiple skill slow sources to the fight. If you wanted to use caster sin, you can't even use phase bomb because then you can't apply ow. Even little detail like ability to use time field charges dirk as offhand is very useful, because as other class that can't dual wield, you'd have to swap that during fight to cast the thing, which will cost you precious time.
Edited by aerial 5 years.
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SwineFlu
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His skills are pretty much straight forward, you don't need that much time to figure out hot to deal with them. I guess I can say that visible Samael's skills are fair (except for desync which is the thing even in TCP/IP game apparently), all of the bullshit mechanics is hidden behind the veil - that's what I tried to show with this thread.

Edit: Good stuff @aerial, finally a decent chunk of useful strategy tips :thumb:
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aerial
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I mean if you really analyze what is needed, you can tell why the fight supposed to be balanced for teams.
If you even use two characters, you can get these stats much easier, one utility chracter slows + ow, and then dps char focused on maximum damage (while boss is spawned @ p1). Usually that character can add one more slow skill without sacrificing any damage (sorc for example).
You can even add bunch of friends @ arena portal, that will only cast spell damage buffs, and will not take any active part in the fight, they will not enter the arena. Motw, bloodlust, innate necro spelldmg wall, these things can come completely free from party.

The main problem there is desynch and fact people die to invisible stuff, having hard time to synch tping out, this is why I think it took so long for people to kill it. Because they knew all this for quite some time.

There is one more factor I forgot to mention: proper skill used for dpsing the boss. He triggers suff when struck (deathstrike), so ideally you want skill that packs more damage per hit, rather than one that hits in more weaker ticks, because it will proc more. Another thing is that you need to be moving to not get deathstriked, so some skills that require you to stand still are not viable because of this.
Another thing that is very helpful when selecting skill, if skill is homing, it helps vs the desynch, because even if you don't see boss where he really is, homing projectiles will get him. Alternatively skill that creates aoe on the ground, boss can walk into it by itself, even if you don't see his correct position on screen (abyss).
Edited by aerial 5 years.
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Shadow
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you created a guide and you did not kill the boss :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:
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HechtHeftig
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Shadow wrote:you created a guide and you did not kill the boss :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:


This isn‘t a guide. This is a collection of data :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:
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SwineFlu
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Done. Samael is dead, solo kill in SP.

Victory screenshot:
► Show Spoiler

Charm stats:
► Show Spoiler

Pretty sure you can pull off my strategy on realm. I died a few times in the very beginning (which is fine) and 5 times :facepalm: when he was less that 50% HP, so there is a room for error, you don't need to do it perfectly. Not gonna lie, in the end fight was quite tricky since a lot of worms spawned, however it wouldn't be that bad if didn't died too much and played more safe. I guess it's time to nerf sorceress to the ground, she's clearly more OP than barb. I will post details about my build a bit later, nothing extremely rare or impossible to find.

Strategy



The main idea behind my build is exploiting D2 engine, when a different sources of slow is messing with monster AI. After applying only two debuffs from a sorceress skill trees Samael is barely doing anything and what is more important, you can reliably use her trap skill (inb4 jokes about traps).

Stats



everything into dex
you need that bonus Damage from dex and a lot of AR

Skills



smax Chronofield
smax Fusillade
smax Living Flame
smax Familiar
1pt Miasma
1pt Symbol of Esu

Rest doesn't matter, however I won't recommend to use Firedance:
you can't see shit with this buff and obstructed vision is lethal against Samael's instagibs

Gear



Shark (Xis)

(in Warp Blade obviously)
+ Maximum Damage
66% Chance of OW
Socket fillers: jewels with +%AR

Akarat's Crucifix

EWD +400%
50% Chance of OW

Comaetho
Comaetho
Sorceress Body Armors

'ZodPul'
Runeword Level: 85
Miasma Haunt Duration Increased by 2 seconds
+2 to Sorceress Skill Levels
10% Cast Speed
-(18 to 25)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
Slows Attacker by 10%
+(144 to 171)% Enhanced Defense
10% to Energy
5% Chance to Avoid Damage
+15 Life after each Kill

+2 Sorceress Skills
+2 sec Miasma Effect Duration
Socket fillers: jewels with +%AR

Lacuni Cowl
Lacuni Cowl
Skull Cap (Sacred)

Defense: (2865 - 3115) to (2964 - 3222)
Required Level: 90
Required Strength: 550
Item Level: 105
Orb Effects Applied to this Item are Doubled
Adds 150-200 Fire Damage
Adds 150-200 Lightning Damage
-(5 to 20)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-(5 to 20)% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+(130 to 150)% Enhanced Defense
Maximum Elemental Resists +(0 to 1)%
2% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (4)

+(101..150)% Bonus to AR
50% Chance of OW

Hammerfist
Hammerfist
Gauntlets (Sacred)

Defense: (1227 - 1450) to (1436 - 1697)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 625
Item Level: 105
Adds (1 to 15)-(20 to 30) Damage
5% Life stolen per Hit
+(15 to 25) to Spiral Dance
5% Chance of Crushing Blow
Weapon Physical Damage +(30 to 60)%
+(120 to 160)% Enhanced Defense
Elemental Resists +15%
Socketed (4)

50% Chance of OW

Death Spur
Death Spur
Heavy Boots (4)

Defense: 27 to 39
Required Level: 3
Required Strength: 27
Item Level: 1
1% Chance to cast level 6 Spike Nova on Kill
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+0.09375 to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
+(11 to 15) to Strength
+(11 to 15) to Dexterity
Socketed (1)
Defense: 109 to 141
Required Level: 20
Required Strength: 55
Item Level: 31
1% Chance to cast level 10 Spike Nova on Kill
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+0.15625 to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
+(21 to 25) to Strength
+(21 to 25) to Dexterity
Socketed (2)
Defense: 248 to 310
Required Level: 38
Required Strength: 193
Item Level: 51
1% Chance to cast level 14 Spike Nova on Kill
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+0.21875 to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
+(31 to 35) to Strength
+(31 to 35) to Dexterity
Socketed (3)
Defense: 346 to 427
Required Level: 46
Required Strength: 386
Item Level: 77
1% Chance to cast level 16 Spike Nova on Kill
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+0.25 to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
+(36 to 40) to Strength
+(36 to 40) to Dexterity
Socketed (4)

(46..50)% Chance of OW
Make sure to get a decent OW roll

Dementia
Dementia
Belt (Sacred)

Defense: (3111 - 3348) to (3272 - 3524)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength:
690
Item Level: 120
-(15 to 20)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(15 to 25) to Fowl Fight
Slow Target 5%
+(120 to 140)% Enhanced Defense
+500 Defense
Maximum Life +2%
Maximum Elemental Resists +1%
Physical Resist 5%
Requirements +20%
Socketed (2)

I used Dementia because of +%Maximum Resistances, it's not necessary for the build

Ripstar
Ripstar
Ring

Required Level: 60
Item Level: 60
+0.5625 to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
+20 Life on Melee Attack

(31..50)% Chance of OW
Make sure to get a good roll (and lottery upgrade too, if possible)

Amulet
with +4 to All Skills
and +Life preferably

Pax Mystica (Xis)

+15 to All Skills

Sky Scorcher

Beacon oskill for prebuff
The same as Dementia, it's not necessary but since Samael's Aura reduces your Velocity it's good to have a decent run speed

Aim for 200k+ AR (85% CtH Samael)
the Sleep with Rathma Square trophy may come handy because of bonus +%AR

Socket fillers:
Make sure to use some POnyxes (+Max Cold Resist against Worms of Pain) and PAmbers (+Max Lightning Resist, since Debuff Aura reduces your maximum LR you need to compensate that loss!)

It's good to have some large Cycles of Miracles (+Max Resistances bonus)

Tactics



Cast Chronofield with Pax Mystica
(mine was giving me -45% Enemy Physical Resistance)
Cast Miasma under Samael's feet
Hit him once with Moonstrike to get buff
Cast Fusillade
Dance around evading Death Strikes
(unfortunately Fusillade causes a lot of them, that's the main downside of this build)
Rinse and Repeat

You don't need to abuse TP cheese that much with this build, however if you don't know for sure what's Samael doing (ex. after teleport) just go to the town and wait half a minute. I prefer to use TP every time when he cast his Bone Arrow volley and Fire Nova, although barely visible Exploding Novas from his another spell might one shot you as well. When he cast Pentagram make sure to be in the center before it explodes - that way you won't die.
Edited by SwineFlu 5 years.
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Aspirine101
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Impressive, good job man :D