Obsidian Lord
by Charis

Class: Warrior typical, but others work fine
Tag: OBS

Introduction

> They had wondered about Kali ever since he joined them at the entrance to the catacombs. Turlok the mage, Rengar the Warrior and Illuvia the Luminous archer had just gotten strong enough to descend the stairs. They did just fine on that level, while Kali struggled. He wore the weakest of armor, no shield, and a weapon that was doing... less than amazing damage. Sure, he was light on his feet, but was taking a pounding. They descended down another flight of stairs, and were attacked by goat archers, drawn in by Illuvia's light.

> They fled around the corner into the unknown, but the next sound heard was a mighty thwap and a death scream from Turlok! Deathshade Fleshmaul had come from nowhere and slain their swarthy companion. Rengar tried to take on the Stone Clan warriors, and Illuvia was outnumbered by the Flesh Clan archers, with no means of escape.

> Rengar froze in horror, or so it would seem. He put his hands over his ears (or was he adjusting his helm?), and stood motionless. "For goodness sake Kali, DO SOMETHING!"...

> As the last word hung in the air, a blur that was Kali streaked towards Deathshade and hurled him back against the wall, leaving him dazed and confused. Kali readjusted himself and like a missile, hurled himself at a Stone Clan about to crush Rengar, and broke his spine in one fell swoop. All other goats lost their nerve and ran off in fear, once Deathshade was finished off with a series of pounding blows from the tall figure in black. Alluvia and Rengar were equally surprised, but before they could ask any questions, Kali revived Turlock and was heading toward a portal. "Who are you?! WHAT are you? Will we see you again?" Just before he disappeared, he spake in a deep voice, "One day, I will cleanse and rule the caves and we will meet again!"

I wanted to try something a little different, adding some defiance to variants. The Obsidian Lord does fine at low levels, and for a change has an *easier* time with boss monsters. At higher levels several limitations make him end up more challenging than when he started. The character focuses on charging, knock- back, bone-jarring damage, and the wearing of Obsidian.

Rules

This variant is designed to be like a Obsidian Lord, or half-breed spawn of one, and needs to have the charge ability from his birth. The following items will thus need to be received at birth:

- Book of Teleport and temporary use of (massive) readers.
- The lightest Obsidian armor you can give him; cannot be mail or plate.
- "Charge Gifts", which will *ONLY* be worn for charges, including a strong +mana jewel (to cast 1 teleport), a suitable charge-animal helm, and one or two weapons (knockback and high-dmg).

Example: Obsidian Cape, Drakes/Sorc Amu, Long Sword of Bear, Warrior's Blade of Carnage. (Those who like to make things hard can choose Black Razor or a weapon of bashing.)

Note that preparation and recovery times (see Charging section below) will be long until the player has found better items to reduce swapping. The 'Charge Gifts' are never worn for normal battle, just charges.

If you wish, you can upgrade the weapon later as a gift, but it too can only be worn for charges (e.g. When you hit hell for first time, a Soldier's Bastard Sword of Carnage might be a lot more appropriate.)

Obsidian Lords are fiercely territorial. You respect the Obsidian Lords (monster class) by avoiding them completely, except for Boss/cohort, and those that challenge you by hitting you in a charge. (Retaliate with a charge of your own!)

Other Horned Demons, however, are your mortal enemies. All must die if any are found on a level. (Horned Demon, Mud Runner, Frost Charger.)

Bosses that are masters of Charge and Knockback must also be slain: Deadeye (2, Skel Archer), Deathshade Fleshmaul (6, Stone Clan), Blighthorn Steelmace (7, Night Clan), Breakspine (9, Mud Runner), Bluehorn (11, Frost Charger), Blackstorm (10, Obsidian Lord), and Diablo.

Obsidian Lords are eligible to get a horn and hide upgrade after they kill one of these bosses for the first time (weapon, helm, body armor). Note the weapon is meant to be very high powered for the level, the helm and armor are not.

The Obsidian Lord (character) is territorial, and dark in color, but by no means evil or cruel. He gets along just fine with others, but would likely go ballistic if he saw someone killing an Obsidian Lord (instant charge, no warning, but if it was accidental or without thought, the offender need not be slain). The territorial nature shows up sometimes unavoidably, and sometimes charges don't land where they should. (Player friendly must be turned off in the caves, although kind OBS's will heal other quickly.)

Charging

There are several types of charges, but the basic pattern is: Preparation, Execution, Recovery. As the Obsidian Lord advances, he will be able to execute these faster. Charge attacks *must* be made against all boss monsters.

Preparation

1. A helm of a fast mammal must be put on if not already wearing (fox, wolf, tiger, lion, mammoth).
2. Items equipped to allow enough mana to cast teleport.
3. Weapon swap, from the usual fighting weapon, to knockback or high damage.

Execution
Teleport spell cast, and target left clicked *immediately* after cast, causing your first action on landing a swing at that monster. (Good idea to move your mouse cursor to mid screen after these two clicks.)

Recovery
After the charge (teleport + first swing) is a recovery period.

1. Helm/Jewelry put on FOR the charge must be removed/swapped. (Sometimes weapon must be swapped, too.)
2. Wait 3/2/1/0 seconds (no dot/1 dot/2 dot/3 dots) between initial swing and next swing or spell cast (some of this time might be swapping).

Special charges, described below, can be done more easily than this.

Types of Charges
Stunning Charge: First of two basic charges, uses knockback weapon. Need not wait to swing again once helm and mana swapped out (if necessary).

Death Charge: Second basic charge, uses a high damage weapon with aim to kill. This is the one that requires the full recovery period described above. If a special weapon was swapped in for this, you must take it off OR cast teleport again for next swing.

Pincushion Charge: In preparation, just before the teleport is cast, shoot one arrow at the target, then cast teleport immediately. On arrival, nibble at the target until it is dead. At that point, the bow, if swapped in, must be removed. A Pincushion charge bow MUST be knockback or Obsidian.

Magical Burst: After the teleport is cast, during the pause before it occurs, hit the hotkey for an offensive spell. It can be cast at pointblank range until the target is dead.

Items

Armor
Eventually any, but fairly light in weight and dark in color.

The AC of the actual Obsid Lord is 55/105/135 on Normal, NM and Hell. Your AC can not exceed these values until you have dotted the respective level.

Either the plate or the shield must be obsidian, so the best set up while going for your 3rd dot will be < 135: Obsidian Full Plate (of Suffix) and Awesome or Obsid shield, and after third dot you can't have both the plate and shield Awesome (one must be Obsidian, likely the shield).

Helm
Any, plus one special.

Shields
Only Obsidian or Gothic may be worn, and never received as a gift.

The only shield that can we worn is black - Obsidian, Night/Dark, or Gothic and only Obsidian or Dark shields can be worn for charging.

Weapons
Any, plus special high-damage and knockback weapons for charges. Piercing, puncturing or bashing can be used in a pinch.
Axes are used only if you are still able to get the first hit in on a charge.

Resistance
With their love of Obsidian, there is usually not a problem with resistances.

Before third dot, there can be no benefit to fire resistance from non-obsidian items, since on normal and NM the obsidian lord monster is harmed by fire. (If Fire Res is maxed by Obs items, incidental wearing of fire resistance is fine.

Special Uniques
The Grizzly and Windforce are highly favored by Obsidian Lords, for their knockback ability. Highly punishing weapons are also favored for charges, including Doombringer, Grandfather, Bloodslayer, Civerb's Cudgel, Hellslayer, Cranium Basher, Messy Reaver.

Scavenger's Carapace (low AC, -15 dfe) and Sparking Mail (extra dmg by lightning) are well liked.

Spells

Any defensive/utility, but offensive post-charge only.