Diakons (Deacons)
Servants of Good - Three Subclasses with Divine Origins
by Charis

Class: Any
Tag:
Angel (Rogue) = AA
Seraph (Sorcerer) = SEER or SER
Holy Avenger (Warrior) = HA

Introduction

The ongoing Sin War dictates that good and evil will continually struggle for power. With the birth of the powerful Netherspawn enemies comes a set of three servants of light, the Angel (Rogue), Avenger (Warrior) and Seraph (Sorcerer). Whether they are themselves angels, or offspring of a human-angel pairing is unclear, but their zeal for good and hatred for Diablo excel those of mortals. In some areas they are called Deacons.

## Angel

Class: Rogue
Tag: AA

She frequently uses of magic, and most often wields a staff, both for combat and to help spells.

Rules

+2 Magic and +1 Vitality are required each level-up

Starting off the Angel must learn reliance on a higher power, and will sell all starting goods (bow and potions) and give away or drop her money. She will surely find a suitable weapon within the church (or use her feet wisely!)

She will play with any virtuous legit characters. She prefers not to accept gifts, but will accept 'donations', and items that are holy or blessed, of light/radiance, or belong to the 'heavens' or 'angels.'

The Angels are also guardians of purity. Should a player enter a game and show him/herself to be a cheater, the Angel must expel or punish that character immediately. When playing with others she will always keep a high-level "Heal Other" spell ready and look to cast this frequently. In these situations she also seeks to bind the evil forces (Stone Curse) and to provide Guardian cover. Also, she would not leave an Avenger to be slaughtered if he gets surrounded.

Items

Most are ok except cruel sounding ones.

Obsidian, zodiac, and serpent's are disallowed. The preferred suffix is 'of the Heavens'.

Armor
Preference for Radiance, Saintly, Godly, Blessed, Holy. Other types are ok except 'of thieves'.

Bow
Use of a bow is allowed, but only if 'fair' (i.e. vs ranged attackers), and it must have a preferred suffix.

Melee Weapons
of Light/Radiance are preferred. Most are fine, but not of Vampire, Bat, Blood, Leech, wicked, vicious, ruthless, savage, merciless, etc.

Shield
All are fine, except of thieves.

Staves
Staff and Magic use are preferred, but not required. AA staff is supreme.

Allowed Enchantment List
If it's not in the list, it isn't used. Use of preferred items is not mandated, but very highly encouraged. There would have to be a very good reason not to use a 'most preferred' item!

Allowed Prefixes
Amber, Awesome, Azure, Blue, Bountiful, Champion's, Cobalt, Crimson, Crystal, Diamond, Dragon's, Drake's, Emerald, Fine, Flaming, Garnet, Glorious, Gold, Ivory, Jade, Knight's, Lapis, Lightning, Massive, Meteoric, Mithril, Platinum, Raven's, Red, Ruby, Sapphire, Sharp, Snake's, Soldier's, Spider's, Strong, Topaz, Valiant, Warrior's, White.

Preferred Prefixes
Angel's, Blessed, Lord's, Master's

Most Preferred Prefixes
Arch-Angel's, Godly, Holy, King's, Saintly

Allowed Suffixes
of Accuracy, Balance, Brilliance, Burning, Craftsmanship, Deflection, Eagle, Fire, Fox, Giants, Harmony, Haste, Jaguar, Lion, Magic, Might, Mind, Osmosis, Plenty, Power, Precision, Quality, Skill, Sky, Sorcery, Speed, Structure, Sturdiness, Swiftness, Thunder, Tiger, Titans, Vigor, Vim, Vitality, Whale, Wizardry, Wolf, Zest

Preferred Suffixes
of the Ages, Light, Perfection

Most Preferred Suffixes
of the Heavens, Life, Radiance

Uniques
No Demon-like items, or Constricting Ring. Darkness/shadow/black ones are also bad.
Naj's Light Plate is allowed after 3rd dot if it fits your character persona.

A few items are treated as +4% l.r. due to the luster (to help get the +144 for the Quest of Righteousness). These are Sparking Mail, Rainbow Cloak, and Holy Defender.

Preferred Unique Items
Rainbow Coat (of Joseph), Bloodslayer, Hellslayer, Sparking Mail, Celestial Bow, Royal Circlet, Stormshield, Mindcry, Lightsaber, thinking Cap

Most Preferred Unique Items
Celestial Star, Dreamflange, Holy Defender

Spells

Preference for fire (except infernal), no Golem, Elemental, Blood Star or Bone Spirit; Guardian is ok, all lightning types allowed.

Note that all diakons capable of casting - and must cast - the spell Mana Shield when entering a new level (although the Avenger may or may not find it helpful to re-cast on a level). The Diakon casting of Stone Curse turns a wicked creature into a pillar of salt, and is permitted.

For scrolls, the same rules apply as with spells. Nova and apocalypse are well liked.

Quests

1) Defeating Diablo
Her goal is to gain in power and holiness, leading to the defeat of Diablo.

To pursue the first dot, the angel must have at least +20% light radius, and use a weapon & armor of 'preferred' status, and be in possession of an object giving +1 spell level.

For the second dot, she must have at least +40% radius, all items 'preferred', and be in possession of an 'angel' staff.

For the third dot, she must have at least +50% l.r., all worns items 'most preferred', and in possession of (if not wielding) an AA staff.

The titles for attaining these are Guardian Angel, High Angel, Arch-angel respectively.

Special: The Diakon Quest of Righteousness
At some point after their first dot, the Diakon will seek to suit up in their finest/brightest/whitest gear, and make a bold strike into the depths of hell. To undertake this quest their radiance level must be at least +144% (!).

They enter into hell with no spare equipment other than potions, and march down to defeat Diablo. The NO RETREAT rules of the Avenger apply to all Diakon subclasses for this quest, and they can NOT resurface to town until level 16 is cleared outside of Diablo's room. They then grab their gear (but no restocking), port back down to dlvl16, let Diablo loose, trap him in the maze, slay every one of his bodyguards in that room, and as the last one standing, kill Diablo with a Holy weapon or holy bolt. For Seraph, Holy Bolt should be primary damage. For Holy Avenger, Diablo must die by his blade. For Angel, weapon or fire spells are good. For all, one Holy Bolt must land before Diablo dies.

The Diakon may append his title with 'Righteous' should this quest be successfully completed (at Normal difficulty).

A Diakon bold enough (and strong enough) to do so at Nightmare difficulty is termed 'Most Righteous', while on Hell difficulty, the suffix 'on High' is earned. (ie., a Most Righteous Holy Avenger on High) Those who wish a suitable and dignified retirement may choose to restock one belt full of yellow potions and leave all excess equipment on the ground before their final re-entry into hell.

The Ultimate award goes to such a character who gets his 3rd dot, at thirtieth level, with the Quest of Righteousness!

## Seraph

Class: Sorcerer
Tag: SEER or SER

Rules

He has the same general rules same as Angel, with some changes.

He specializes in the channeling of magic to destroy evil. Typically wields a staff, especially Angel or Arch-Angel. Once found or available for sale and affordable, such a staff *must* be used. Nova and Apocalypse are favored, but to a lesser degree.

They look not upon their own strength but rely on man(n)a from heaven, so they never add Vitality when leveling up (elixirs ok), and will ONLY give points to Str or Dex to wear a 'preferred' item they have found.

The Seraphim are also guardians of purity. Should a player enter a game and show him/herself to be a cheater, the Seraph must expel or punish that character immediately. When playing with others he will always keep a high-level "Heal Other" spell ready and look to cast this frequently. In these situations he also seeks to bind the evil forces (Stone Curse) and to provide Guardian cover. Also, he would not leave an Avenger to be slaughtered if he gets surrounded.

Items

Can wear up to splint mail, or a breast plate of righteousness (blessed, etc.), plus allowed uniques. See "Angel" rules above for list of allowed affixes.

Spells

Can use any spell the 'Angel' can, and works hard to do so at the highest possible level. They scour the church levels for books and enchanted shrines, and do frequent catacombs runs as well. Golems are never tolerated on a level. If one is seen, it should be destroyed.

Quests

See the quests under "Angel" rules above. Titles gained by the Seraph are Seer, Cherub, Seraph (for 1st, 2nd, 3rd dot respectively).

## Holy Avenger

Class: Warrior
Tag: HA

Rules

He prefers melee and avoids bow (same limits as Angel - bows *only* vs ranged). He will NOT use a sword or axe, but rather uses only blunt weapons (club, mace, flail, morning star, maul, staff, shield, fist).

Every level up he must add 2 points to Magic until it's maxed.

For item recovery, he may choose to make a 'Divine Mission' run to retrieve items; wearing no equipment, and striking no foe until the sacred items have been returned safely.

An Avenger can always be relied upon to answer a call for distress, especially those slain in a dungeon and stripped of their goods. They may give and receive appropriate gifts.

The Holy Avenger does *NOT* RETREAT. Period. No backing away, ducking around a corner, or fleeing via Town Portal if any monsters present. Advance carefully, avoid running into rooms, and/or increase stealth as needed. (Lemming's Note: Stealth? I thought -LR items were forbidden?) Taking a few steps back into a corner/against a wall to prepare for an onslaught, and sidestepping movements & running around ('happy feet') are ok if they are used to position yourself, avoid damage and corner an opponent, but not to lure foes away to a safer combat zone. (You really might want to improve your stone curse abilities!)

If you're still not clear on what "no retreat" means, here's another way of saying it:
You can't leave a room, leave the line of sight of nearest enemies, or run away from enemies, but you can chase one enemy down who happens to be running in the direction you would like to go! The Avenger does not fear death (or anything else, for that matter).

Items

Armor/Helm/Shield
Any, as long as pref/suffix ok. See "Angel" section for allowed affixes.

Spells

He can use the same spells as the others. (See "Angel" section for allowed spells.)

He may use teleport to position himself within battle, but not to flee, and cannot leave line-of-sight of enemy. They seek to master the tele-kill strategy. An Avenger may not stone curse an opponent (or beat on one stoned by someone) when it's the only enemy around, as it is a cowardly tactic. Stone Curse is reserved for those who would try to gang up on the Avenger.

Quests

Same quests as Angel; see her quest section above.

Titles gained for quests: Avenger, Apostle (or Avatar, if the player prefers that title), Holy Avenger.

## Summary of Diakon Rules

Class: Rogue(AA), Sorcerer(SER), Warrior(HA)

Rules

+20%, +40%, +50% light radius required to go for 1st, 2nd, 3rd dot

+2 Magic/level (HA), +2 Magic/level and +1 vitality/level for AA, NO vitality by level-ups for SER.

HA's can never retreat.

AA's sell starting items.

Items

Staff typical for (AA,SER), but others allowed. Blunt weapons for (HA). +Light Radius, and 'good/blessed/etc.' prefix/suffixes preferred.

No 'nasty' pref/suffix on bows; used vs ranged attackers only.

Armor up to breastplate (SER); all (AA,HA).

Shields are ok.

Affixes are allowed except for 'cruel'/'evil'-sounding ones; a number are preferred, especially radiance, of the heavens, godly/holy/etc., life, angels.

Spells

Lightning spells are all ok, fire is fine (except Inferno), magic is limited to Flash, plus stone curse, holy bolt, town portal and teleport type spells and mana shield. Mana Shield must be cast upon entering a level, but some may find it helpful to not re-cast it after it falls off.

Scrolls are allowed if the spell is, plus nova/apocalypse/identify/etc.

Quests

Special: The Diakon Quest of Righteousness
At some point after their first dot, the Diakon will seek to suit up in their finest/brightest/whitest gear, and make a bold strike into the depths of hell. To undertake this quest their radiance level must be at least +144% (!).

They enter into hell with no spare equipment other than potions, and march down to defeat Diablo. The NO RETREAT rules of the Avenger apply to all Diakon subclasses for this quest, and they can NOT resurface to town until level 16 is cleared outside of Diablo's room. They then grab their gear (but no restocking), port back down to dlvl16, let Diablo loose, trap him in the maze, slay every one of his bodyguards in that room, and as the last one standing, kill Diablo with a Holy weapon or holy bolt. The Diakon may append his title with 'Righteous' should this quest be successfully completed (at Normal difficulty).

A Diakon bold enough (and strong enough) to do so at Nightmare difficulty is termed 'Most Righteous', while on Hell difficulty, the suffix 'on High' is earned. (i.e. a Most Righteous Holy Avenger on High. Those who wish a suitable and dignified retirement may choose to restock one belt full of yellow potions and leave all excess equipment on the ground before their final re-entry into hell.

The Ultimate award goes to such a character who gets his 3rd dot, at thirtieth level, with the Quest of Righteousness!