General Tips for dealing with Monster Affixes

In this post, I will try to give out few general tips that players can try when fighting with monsters with certain affixes. These tips can easily help those that are having problems in higher difficulties as monsters spawn with multiple affixes.

Arcane Enchanted – One of the easiest ways to defeat these kinds of monsters is to simply lure them away from their sentries. Once they place their sentries, the player can simply move a bit out of range of the rotating sentries and you can continue to attack them. Without their sentries, they are simply monsters with more arcane resistance and damage. It is also important to consider that some obstacles such as rock formations block the rotating beams completely. It could be advantageous for the player to use these obstacles so that you do not need to run away from the sentries frequently.

Avenger – For those that are having trouble dealing with avenger type monsters, I suggest lowering all of the monsters hitpoints down to a very low amount before finishing them off. As such, their increased damage after one of the monsters died will only last for a very short while.

Desecrator – Quite similar to arcane enchanted monsters, desecrator types of monsters only become difficult if the player does not move around. Once they have casted their reddish void, the player can simply move to another spot without it and continue fighting. A thing to note though is that the void takes around 1 or 2 seconds before the player starts taking damage.

Electrified – This type of monster affix  back in Diablo 2 was a bane to all classes both ranged and melee alike, but in Diablo 3, the bolts move quite a bit slower and can easily be dodged from a safe distance. As for melee classes, there is not anything much that the player can do but to absorb some of the bolts and maybe use a potion or two in between fighting. I believe all classes have some form of damage mitigating skill and it would be best to use it against electrified monsters so the player does not really need to mind all of the charged bolts that get discharged. Having a higher lightning resistance will also prove useful in dealing with these monsters.

Extra Health – These monsters are not really a problem, but they can start getting frustrating with other affixes the monsters can spawn with (i.e. extra health, shielding). As such, two easy ways in dealing with these types of monsters would be dealing more damage with skills or equipment and moving to a safe distance in order to wait for skill cooldowns. There is no shame in running away from the monster for a short time in order to wait for the cooldown of skills, I believe all classes would require such a tactic especially on higher difficulties as the monsters start to become tougher.   

Fast – These monsters are a bane to ranged classes as they render the ability of ranged classes to kite useless unless they are naturally a slow moving monster (i.e. mallet lord, zombies). The best way to deal with these kinds of monsters would be to stun them and do enough damage to them while they are stunned. If the player does not have stun skills, the next best thing to do is to use the environment to your advantage. For example, the player can simply lead these fast monsters to a narrow doorway and stop in front of it thereby only allowing one or two of the monsters to attack at the same time.

Fire Chains – Fire chained monsters start to get frustrating when pair with the fast affix. I believe all classes who get tagged by the fire chains will suffer severe damage over time in the span of seconds. It would be best to try and disable one of the monsters or kill one of them in order to reduce the effectiveness of the fire chains. After killing all but one of the monsters with fire chains, the affix becomes useless.

Frozen – Having an escape skill or an invulnerability skill is a very handy way to deal with monsters that spawn with frozen affix as it simply allows the player to avoid getting frozen and damaged by the orbs that explode. If the player does not have an escape skill, it is important to note that the orbs explode at around 3 seconds from the time they were placed and they have a radius of around 10 yards. In addition, some skills such as the Wizard’s diamond skin will prevent damage from these orbs but will not prevent the player from being frozen.

Health Link – Since monsters with health link share the damage dealt to one monster to the others, it is best to focus all of the attacks on one of the monsters. Usually when done right, all of them will die once the player defeats one of the monsters with health link.  

Horde – When dealing with this affix, the player should be aware of where he/she is going as to avoid getting trapped by these monsters or stuck in a bad position. The player can also use obstacles like the doorways to try and reduce the number of monsters that can attack them simultaneously.

Illusionist – Dealing with illusionists can be a pain at times, the only best way to deal with them is to use a good crowd control skill or some forms of attacks that can hit multiple targets. If that is not an option, obstacles and narrow pathways will greatly decrease the damage the player takes from the illusions. I believe the illusions are unable to use other skills such as fire chains, molten and plague which could make it easy for players to pick off the real one unless they do not spawn with other affixes.

Invulnerable Minions – There is only one way to defeat these kinds of monsters and that is to kill their leader swiftly. As many may have mentioned, it is best to skip such monsters as the time it takes to defeat this group and the amount of gold lost due to player deaths is not worth it. Alternatively, when playing in a party, it is possible for someone to lure away the invulnerable minions while the other players defeat the leader. I have done this quite a lot of times in inferno along with my friends where I took the bait and they continued to defeat the leader.

Jailer – When facing monsters with jailer affix, it would be best for players to have damage mitigation skills or escape skills. This would act like the player’s “get out of jail card” in case things do not turn out as expected. It would also be helpful to equip certain items with the ability to reduce controlling effects would decrease the time getting jailed.

Knockback – When dealing with monsters with knockback affix, the players should be wary of where their backs are facing. This is to avoid getting knocked into corners where the monsters can permanently get the player stuck with their attacks. It is important to note that the knockback effect pushes the players and leaves a 2 second slow after the player has been knocked backwards. Some skills such as the Witch Doctor’s spirit walk will remove this slow effect after being knocked back.

Missile Dampening – Monsters with missile dampening affix are not really a threat to melee classes however, a lot of the ranged attacks have missiles and as such they are severely hindered by this ability. One way of beat this monster is to try and get near it as such, the missile projectile of the ranged attacks travel a short distance, thereby hitting the monster. However, in cases where the player cannot get near the monster as it would prove to be dangerous, certain spells or attacks which can track or home in to the enemy can be used in order to hit the monster with ease.  

Molten – When dealing with monsters with molten affix, avoid stepping on the lava trails that they leave. In higher difficulties, these lava pools will drain the player’s hitpoints very fast. It would be best to keep the monsters still for some time in order to give time for the lava trails to disappear or run around in big circles (especially useful when kiting). Finally, always remember that these monsters will leave a timed explosion when they die and often times these explosions would be lethal especially in inferno.

Mortar - Monsters with mortar affix are generally long ranged grenadiers and each mortar bomb deals quite a lot of damage if they manage to hit the player. These mortar bombs have a minimum range hence staying near the monsters would allow the player to avoid all of these mortar bombs. However, it is also viable for ranged class players to stay away from the bomb’s maximum range especially if the monster moves slowly. Note that some forms of obstacles may block mortar attacks like solid walls and this would be advantageous to use if applicable.

Nightmarish – Quite similar to knockback, player should be wary of their backs. Players should make sure that there are no potential hazards behind them such as environmental traps, arcane sentries, poison pools etc… A player can also reduce the amount of time getting feared with equipment that can reduce controlling effects. Lastly, it would be important to note that the player is unable to cast skills when they are feared.

Plagued – Monsters with plagued affix are particularly dangerous towards melee classes as they lay poison pools on the spot where the monster is standing from time to time. When facing plagued monsters, always be wary of their actions as it will indicate whether or not they will place poison pools. Usually when the monster stops for a second, it is the signal that they will place poison pools. Hopefully this will be enough time for the player to move out of the way. Note that more often than not, it would be best to lure plagued monsters to more open fields when the situation allows it so that their poison pools would not be in the way.

  

Reflect Damage – When facing reflect damage monsters, there is little that the player can do as all skills both physical and magical are reflected. A good way to counter the damage reflected is to have a good amount of life regeneration from equipment. Without good life regeneration from equipment, a damage absorbing skill or potions would be the next best thing to use.

Shielding – These types of monsters can be quite bothersome to deal with as their shields grant them immunity to damage for a few seconds. The best way to beat them is to move away when they start shielding up and start attacking them again when the shield is dispersed. I believe some skills with snare can bypass shield slowing down the monsters for a short time but will not do damage. Increasing the player’s damage output can ensure that battles with shielding monsters do not drag out too long.

Teleporter –  Monsters with teleporter affix can be quite a nasty surprise on players who are trying to run away. There is little that can be done to stop monsters from teleporting but perhaps slowing them down would decrease their attack speed and will likely not land an attack once they teleport right beside the player.  

Waller – When facing waller types of monsters, there are quite a lot of things that could happen and most of them are not ranged class friendly. The first scenario would be that the player gets stuck or blocked with walls with nowhere to escape. If the player gets stuck or blocked with walls, having an escape skill or a damage mitigating skill ready will help this would probably be the best time to use them. The second possible scenario is that the monster gets blocked by its own walls. As such, the player just needs to wait for the walls to crumble and attack the monster again. Finally the last scenario is that the player gets blocked with walls but there are holes or places where the player can move out to. It would advantageous for ranged classes to exit the walls by running out of it instead of using their escape skills like the Wizard’s teleport. It is important to remember that the earthen walls made by monsters with the waller affix can block most ranged attacks. However, area of effect attacks will still hit the monsters even if they block themselves with walls.

Vampiric – Increasing the player’s damage or armor rating will be the best way to deal with vampiric monsters. Having more damage would allow the player to quickly finish the battle ensuring that vampiric monsters do not gain a lot of life. Alternatively having more armor decreases the damage the monsters will do which also reduces life they gain from attacking the player.  

Vortex  - Monsters that spawn with vortex affix can be a nightmare to ranged classes as most ranged classes do not want to get near or right beside monsters. One of the most effective ways that the player can do to defeat vortex monsters is to use the environment. Often times, vortex does not completely suck the player in if there is a wall, obstacle or some form of doodad in between the player and the monster. The player can also use the corners of an intersection to stop the monster from pulling the player in completely.  If none of these are available, try to lead monsters into less open areas as vortex works well when there are no obstacles.

I believe there are other tips that players can use out there that I have failed to list down, feel free to place them in the comments below.