Diablo II Quests - Walkthrough for Act Two Quests in Diablo II
Introduction to Act Two
Act Two of Diablo II sees your character journey to the desert city of Lut Golein, in pursuit of the demon lord, Diablo. Having defeated Andariel, you travel with Warriv’s caravan to the desert city. Lut Golein is ruled by Lord Jeryhn and is the central point for the quests your character can undertake. On arrival, you soon find out that all is not well within Lut Golein’s walls.
Act Two Quests in Diablo II
Like Act One, there are six quests to perform in Act Two, although unlike Act One, most are mandatory, especially if playing solo. Act Two will also see your character face the second of the lesser evils; the demon known as Duriel. You should expect by the end of Act Two for your character to have risen to be around 20th level. Your character will begin Act Two in the market place of Lut Golein, and the six quests in Act Two are as follows:
Quest One: Radament’s Lair
This quest is given by Atma and requires your character to find and kill the creature known as Radament. Radament can be found in the sewers beneath Lut Golein, and there are two entrances into the area – one is via a trap door in the market place; the other is located next to the docks. It makes no difference which entrance you take. Radament can be found on the third level of the sewers.
The sewers are home to a lot of monsters, so make sure you take the time to explore the sewer levels thoroughly and gain as much experience as you can before going to face Radament.
Radament is a tough opponent; he is a greater mummy and is surrounded by a horde of undead monsters which he can resurrect infinitely. He also has a powerful melee attach and a poison breath weapon. Once dead, you’ll find among Radament’s loot drop is a Book of Skill, which can be used to gain a skill point. Also nearby is the Horadric Scroll – pick this up as you will need it in the second quest. Then return and speak with Atma who will reward you by having the townsfolk give you discounted prices on their wares.
Quest Two: The Horadric Staff
This quest is given by Cain, who has travelled with you to Lut Golein. The Horadric Staff quest involves finding the three Horadric items, which are scattered throughout the desert surrounding Lut Golein.
There is no distinct order to locating the items; they can be recovered in any order. The items to be recovered are:
· Horadric Cube – Found on level three of the Halls of the Dead, which is located somewhere in the Dry Hills
· Staff of Kings – Found in a chest near to the Maggot Queen, on level three of the Sand Maggot hive. The hive can be found in the Far Oasis but make sure you find and activate the Waypoint for this area before entering the hive, as it’s a long walk back if you get killed. Beware, when you finally kill the Maggot Queen, she will give off an extremely potent poison. Make sure you have an antidote readily available!
· Viper Amulet – Found in a golden chest on the second level of the Claw Viper temple. You’ll find the temple in the Valley of Snakes. This area is also relevant to quest three.
Once you have all three items, use the Horadric Cube to transmute the Staff of Kings and the Viper Amulet into the Horadric Staff. Show the staff to Cain to trigger the fourth quest; the staff itself is used as the trigger to access Tal Rasha’s lair towards the end of quest six, and makes for a fairly powerful weapon in its own right.
Quest Three: The Tainted Sun
The third quest of Act Two involves the character destroying the Serpent Altar in the Claw Viper Temple. Doing so allows light to return to the upper world, which is extinguished once the character enters the Lost City.
Speaking with Drognan in Lut Golein will inform you of the reasons why it has gone dark and give you the quest to restore the light. Find the Serpent Altar on level two of the Claw Viper Temple en route to level three and recovering the Viper Amulet.
There is no reward for completing this quest, apart from the Viper Amulet. While this item forms part of the Horadric Staff, it can be worn as an amulet up until the transmutation.
Quest Four: The Arcane Sanctuary
This quest that has no physical reward, but it is necessary to complete in order to move forward in the game. The quest is given by Jerhyn and involves the character finding the Arcane Sanctuary, which is located in the depths of Jerhyn’s palace. You’ll find the portal which leads to the Arcane Sanctuary on level two of the palace cellars.
The descent down will see your character explore several levels; make sure you gather as much experience as possible before entering the Arcane Sanctuary, and be ready to face a boss guardian at the portal.
Quest Five: The Summoner
This quest is given by Cain once you have reached the Arcane Sanctuary. If you haven’t talked to Cain, the quest will be triggered anyway, once you get close to the Summoner’s location within the Sanctuary.
Once inside the Sanctuary, find and activate the Waypoint, as it is a long journey back if you get killed and there is a good chance of that happening here. Also make sure you have some form of missile or ranged attack – the enemies within the Arcane Sanctuary attack in groups and there’s little room to manoeuvre, so taking them out at a distance is a good plan.
There are four different paths in the Arcane Sanctuary, and only one will lead you to the Summoner, who you must defeat in order to progress. The Summoner is a sorcerer and has no physical or melee attacks, but getting close to him is challenging for melee characters as the Summoner uses a range of cold and fire spells against you. It’s often better to try and shoot him down from distance rather than in melee as it’s possible to do so while remaining outwith his spell range.
Once you kill the Summoner, a portal will open to the Canyon of the Magi, where Tal Rasha’s tomb is located. It will also be shown which of the tombs found in the Canyon is the real tomb; there are seven tombs in all and the glowing glyphs on the wall signify the false tombs.
Quest Six: The Seven Tombs
This quest involves locating Tal Rasha’s true tomb from the seven tombs of the Horadrim, found in the Canyon of the Magi. Each tomb has a glyph marked on a pillar at its entrance so you will be able to find the correct one relatively easily if you’ve paid attention to the glyphs in the Summoner quest.
You can explore the false tombs first, if you prefer, to collect experience as it could come in handy later. Once you enter the true tomb, fight your way through until you find the orifice. Once there, use the Horadric Staff to break down the wall and reveal the final area of Act Two – Duriel’s lair and one of the hardest areas in the entire game. As before, when facing Andariel, always cast a Town Portal as soon as you enter the chamber.
The fight against Duriel is both long and arduous; unlike Andariel’s lair in Act One, there is no room to escape, and once you enter the room there’s only one way to get out. The room containing Duriel is very small and surrounded by a ridge, so you’ll have little room to manoeuvre or evade Duriel’s attacks.
Duriel’s attack is extremely powerful and he deals masses of damage. He also has a Holy Freeze aura which will slow down your own movement and attacks. It’s a good idea to have a hireling to help out in this fight. Once he is finally dead, he’ll drop some decent loot and a doorway will open to the left of the room. This will lead you to Tyrael, an Archangel who will tell you that you have arrived too late to stop Diablo and that he has escaped after freeing Tal Rasha.
The End of Act Two
Tyrael will open a portal for you to return to town – you’ll meet Tyrael again later in the game. Use the portal and head back to town. Once there talk to Jerhyn, who will close the quest and instruct Meshif to transport you to Kurast and Act Three of the game.
This post is part of the series: Diablo 2 Quest Guides
A collection of guides and walkthroughs for Diablo II.
- Diablo 2 Special Quests – How to Access Special Quests in Diablo II
- Diablo II Quests Guide: Act One Quests in the Diablo II PC Game
- Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Guide: Act I Townsfolk
- Act Two Quest Guide for Diablo II – Lut Golein Quests in Diablo II
- Guide to Act III Quests in Diablo 2 – The City of Kurast - Diablo II Quests
- Act IV Quests Guide for Diablo II - Guide to Act IV Quests in Diablo 2 – Hell Quests
- Lord of Destruction Quests – Diablo II Quest Guide for Act V – Mount Arreat & Harrogath