Samael, Descendant of MNX

Some useful links

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.

Samael, Herald of the End

Level

Base HP

Physical Res

Magic Res

Fire Res

Lightning Res

Cold Res

Poison Res

Immune

as you can see, he is a tough guy, insane damage resistance!

Damage Divisor

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

Armor Class

the chance to hit him with lvl 120 char would be:

AR

CtH

AR

CtH

AR

CtH

AR

CtH

AR

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

that's roughly 13 675 hp per second!

IAS

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)

Block

Dodge

Avoid

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

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:

Avoid

Evade

forget about evasion unless you are standing still (this aura doesn't reduce Dodge apparently)

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!)

Velocity

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:

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...

did u end up killing it ?

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.

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.

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:

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).

you created a guide and you did not kill the boss :facepalm:

Shadow wrote:you created a guide and you did not kill the boss

This isn‘t a guide. This is a collection of data :facepalm:

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)

Shark
Weapons
'TalXis'
Runeword Level: 121
1% Chance to cast level 31 Bloodlust on Kill
+(201 to 250)% Bonus Damage to Bloodlust
50% Increased Attack Speed
+230% Enhanced Damage
+(3.25 per level) to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
66% Chance of Open Wounds
+5 to all Attributes
-500 to Mana

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

Akarat's Crucifix

Akarat's Crucifix
Spiked Shield (Sacred)
Defense: (1595-1878) to (1903-2241)
Chance to Block: class%
Required Dexterity: 550
Required Level: 100
5% Chance to cast level 16 Bloodlust when you Take Damage
15% Chance to cast level 19 Mind Flay when Struck
+(16 to 20)% Bonus Elemental Damage to Bloodlust
50% Chance of Open Wounds
Enhanced Weapon Damage +400%
+(58 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
+(41 to 50) to Strength
+(41 to 50) to Dexterity
+(41 to 50) to Vitality
Lightning Resist +(31 to 40)%
Fire Resist +(31 to 40)%
Socketed (6)

EWD +400%
50% Chance of OW

Comaetho

Comaetho
Sorceress Body Armor
'On'
Runeword Level: 100
+2 to Sorceress Skill Levels
-(16 to 25)% to All Enemy Resistances
+(144 to 171)% Enhanced Defense
5% Chance to Avoid Damage
Total Character Defense plus 5%
Miasma Effect Duration: +2 seconds
Slows Attacker by 10%

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

Lacuni Cowl

Lacuni Cowl
Skull Cap (Sacred)
Defense: (2678-3027) to (2771-3132)
Required Strength: 486
Required Level: 100
1% Chance to cast level 4 Mark of the Wild on Kill
30% Faster Run/Walk
25% Increased Attack Speed
15% Faster Hit Recovery
25% Faster Block Rate
(101 to 150)% Bonus to Attack Rating
50% Chance of Open Wounds
20% Bonus to Dexterity
+(115 to 143)% Enhanced Defense
+750 Defense vs. Missile
3% Reanimate as: Prowler Priestess
Socketed (4)

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

Hammerfist

Hammerfist
Heavy Gloves (Sacred)
Defense: (777-915) to (824-970)
Required Strength: 484
Required Level: 100
25% Chance to cast level 14 Banish on Kill
50% Chance of Open Wounds
+(3 to 7) to Overpower
+(58 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
+(31 to 40) to Strength
Magic Resist +5%
+(31 to 50) Life on Attack
Socketed (4)

50% Chance of OW

Death Spur

Death Spur
Heavy Boots (6)
Defense: (27 to 39)
Required Strength: 28
Required Level: 3
1% Chance to cast level 6 Spike Nova when you Take Damage
+(0.09375 per level) to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
(21 to 25)% Chance of Open Wounds
+(11 to 15) to Strength
+(11 to 15) to Dexterity
Socketed (1)
Defense: (59 to 82)
Required Strength: 41
Required Level: 11
1% Chance to cast level 8 Spike Nova when you Take Damage
+(0.125 per level) to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
(26 to 30)% Chance of Open Wounds
+(16 to 20) to Strength
+(16 to 20) to Dexterity
Socketed (2)
Defense: (109 to 141)
Required Strength: 59
Required Level: 20
1% Chance to cast level 10 Spike Nova when you Take Damage
+(0.15625 per level) to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
(31 to 35)% Chance of Open Wounds
+(21 to 25) to Strength
+(21 to 25) to Dexterity
Socketed (2)
Defense: (173 to 215)
Required Strength: 85
Required Level: 28
1% Chance to cast level 12 Spike Nova when you Take Damage
+(0.1875 per level) to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
(36 to 40)% Chance of Open Wounds
+(26 to 30) to Strength
+(26 to 30) to Dexterity
Socketed (3)
Defense: (248 to 310)
Required Strength: 124
Required Level: 38
1% Chance to cast level 14 Spike Nova when you Take Damage
+(0.21875 per level) to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
(41 to 45)% Chance of Open Wounds
+(31 to 35) to Strength
+(31 to 35) to Dexterity
Socketed (3)
Defense: (346 to 427)
Required Strength: 179
Required Level: 46
1% Chance to cast level 16 Spike Nova when you Take Damage
+(0.25 per level) to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
(46 to 50)% Chance of Open Wounds
+(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: (3052-3384) to (3209-3561)
Required Strength: 634
Required Level: 100
Adds 7-13 damage
-(7 to 18)% to All Enemy Resistances
+(13 to 23) to Fowl Fight
Slows Target by 5%
+(115 to 143)% Enhanced Defense
+500 Defense
+(20 to 25) to all Attributes
Increase Maximum Life 5%
+3% to All Maximum Resistances
Damage Reduced by 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
+(0.25 per level) to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
(31 to 50)% Chance of Open Wounds
+(11 to 20) Life on 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)

Pax Mystica
Staves
'NefXis'
Runeword Level: 121
+15 to All Skills
+30% Enhanced Damage
+(20 to 37) to Blink
All Resists +(55 to 66)%
(101 to 125)% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

+15 to All Skills

Sky Scorcher

Sky Scorcher
Brandistock (Sacred)
Two-Hand Damage: (236-251) to (441-509)
Required Strength: 430
Required Dexterity: 460
Required Level: 100
Current Dexterity Damage Bonus: (76/256 Per Dexterity)%
50% Increased Attack Speed
+(144 to 171)% Enhanced Damage
Adds 100-(276 to 325) damage
50% Bonus to Buff/Debuff/Cold Skill Duration
(21 to 30)% Life stolen per Hit
Stun Attack
+(13 to 16) to Beacon
+100% Bonus to Summoned Minion Life
Increase Maximum Life and Mana (11 to 15)%
Socketed (6)

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.

Impressive, good job man