INTRODUCTION
Hello everyone. Patch 2.5 introduced new Terror zones and with that also changes to what can drop from monsters and objects. Most of it is actualy silent change not described in patch notes. Only thing we were informed are increased levels of monsters. Changes to Treasure classes were completely left out even when it is practicaly most important change in 2.5 patch as farming items is main content of game.
Me and few others were looking into game files and discovered new things and later confirmed them with examples of found loot on live servers. I believe majority of player base doesnt know what exactly was changed and what you need to do to get better drop from monsters or objects. For that reason I decided to make a guide for anyone interested. This guide will consist of general information about rules of how items drop and what is changed in 2.5 in relation of loot and then I will talk about every Terror zone to share additional detailed info, tips and my opinions how good the zones are.
I would like to say that certain informations are taken from local game files but since Terror zones do not even exists in 2.5 offline game mode and there were even made some fixes to Treasure classes in local files to reflect fixes on live serves in last patch, I think we can come to a conclusion that local files are now fully reflecting live servers with drop changes. And a lot of it was tested on live servers and confirmed.
GENERAL INFORMATION
So what is really happening in terror zones in relation to loot? Terror zones increased monster and object levels based on level of person who created the zone. Thats noted in patch notes and I will further below explain what does that actualy mean for us and dropped items. Second effect of terror zones is increased Treasure class (or so called TC) and it is important to know that level of person who create the game has big impact on this. Lets talk about few things in more detail so you get the idea what rules is loot following and how Terror zones affects various things.
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Arealvl, ilvl, Qlvl, Treasure Class
Arealvl, ilvl, Qlvl, Treasure Class
Before patch 2.5 was implemented, highest level zones in game were area85. Maps like Pit, Ancient tunnels, Chaos Sanctuary and many others. Area 85 means that every object in the map can drop stuff with item level(ilvl) 85 with exception of Weapon racks and Armor Stands which are always arealvl-1 so in 85 zone its ilvl 84. Regular monsters are at level 85, champions are +2 so 87 and unique and super unique monsters +3 so 88. Certain superunique monsters with unique skins and bosses have own special monster level, ignoring the area level. Level of objects and monsters dictates quality level of items which can drop from them. Do not mistake this with quality of item(uniq/set/rareâŚ) as it is something different.
Quality level (Qlvl) is certain level required for white, set and unique items to drop. Lets explain mechanic of drop on example with Unique Armor Tyraelâs Might in Chaos Sanctuary. White Sacred armor has Qlvl 85, Unique Tyraels might has Qlvl 87 and Sacred armor belongs in TC87 groups. These TC groups together multiple items. TC 87 is highest group with most elite items with other stuff like Archon Staff, Diadem, and many others.
Regular monsters in Hell Chaos Sanctuary have lvl 85 so they drop ilvl85 items. Thats enough to drop Sacred armor base (Qlvl85) and even Set version Immortalâs King Sacred armor (Qlvl37). Not the unique version Tyraelâs might, because it has Qlvl87. Because of that only monsters with lvl 87+ can drop it. So any Minion Champion (87) or Unique (88) monster in Chaos Sanctuary can drop it. But Seal bosses and Diablo cant drop Tyraelâs might, so how is that possible? Bosses and and most superunique are limited by the game to not increase their Treasure class above 78. That is why you never could see most elite items to drop from Superuniqe monsters or some Bosses. There is few exemptions like superuniqe monster Pindleskin and Nihlathak who both can drop from highest TC87. From bosses can only Baal Hell drop TC87 items and even Diablo is limited to TC84. Thats why even he cannot drop Tyraelâs might in Chaos Sanctuary.
Unique and Set Jewelry (Charms, Jewels, Rings, Amulets) are using using Qlevels to determine where they can drop too. Runes have own Treasure classes and have also limitations for various types of monsters. They have 17 Treasure classes: Runes 1 up to Runes 17 where they are always grouped 2 together. Runes 17 TC has only Zod rune. Runes have also limitations for objects and they drop based on ACTs. Objects in ACT I drop max Vex, ACT II Lo, ACT III Ber, ACT IV Cham and ACT V Zod. Special monsters and bosses have limitation for Rune treassure class just like for weapons and armor TC. For example Diablo has limitation to only TC Runes 16 so he cant drop Zod rune.
If you want to see all Qlevels and Treasure classes for armor and weapons, you can visit this page:
https://www.purediablo.com/diablo-2/diablo-2-treasure-class/
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Terror Zones and Character level
Terror Zones and Character level
Character level is most important because higher Terror zones made on higher level means that some monster can drop items previously impossible to drop. Terrorized zone will be always arealvl=your level +2, unless zone was already higher than your level. Regular monsters and objects will have same level as arealvl, Champions will be+2 on top of area level and Unique, Superunique and bosses +3 on top of area level. Unless they had already higher level.
When you create Terrorized Chaos Sanctuary with character level 85 this is what happens:
- Regular monsters and objects ilvl 85+2=87
- Champion monsters ilvl 85+4=89
- Unique and Superunique monsters ilvl 85+5=90
- Minions monsters ilvl 85+5=90
- Diablo ilvl 94+0=94, because he already had higher level before Terror zone increase.
There are limitation how far can level of monsters go based on difficulties: and you can find that information in 2.5 patch notes. As you can see on example above, even regular monsters with lvl 87 can drop Tyraelâs might in terror zones made by level 85 characters now.
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Terror Zones and Objects/Monster level
Terror Zones and Objects/Monster level
Level of objects or monsters slightly increase chance to get higher quality of items - Uniqe, Set, Rare and Magic. Calculation is quite complex tho so I dont want to bother anyone with it 
. % increase is quite small and in many cases it makes very little difference. But its still something to keep in mind to get best possible chances to find items. The higher level of monster or objects is, the higher chance to get better quality of item. So Blizzard basicly increased chance to get more uniques, sets, rare and magic items by increasing monster levels in terror zones even if its just like by 1-3% on top of previous chance.
Level of monsters or objects is also important for dropping certain items because of their Qlvl. Hell Terror zones made with level 85 make monsters and objects able to drop all unique and set items in game as level of regular monsters will be 87. Only exception to this are Weapon racks and Armor stands which need be made in Terror zone by character level 86 as they area always -1 level.
It is safe to say that for regular monsters are changes made by terror zones not significant compared to pre 2.5 area85 zones as monsters in area85 zones could already drop all TC87 items bases and most Unique items too and they could already drop all runes. Yes regular monsters can now in terror zones drop unique items which they could not before but chance for that is very low as most uniques and sets usualy drops from elite monsters.
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Terror Zones and Treasure classes
Terror Zones and Treasure classes
Change to Treasure classes in Terror zones is most significant change in 2.5 patch. Most super unique monsters and bosses in game always used to have limited treasure class. Some monsters have also very special drop drop setting like for example Countess or Cow king. This is the case for most super unique monsters with special skin. I will use Hephasto from River of Flame as example to explain TC limitations and chances in 2.5.
Hephasto the Armorer is super unique monster with unique skin and he is located in area85 zone and have level 88. He has high level enough to drop anything in game, but his treasure class is limited normaly. If we look into game files, he has own line and can drop items from TC âAct 5 (H) Equip Aâ. If we go to that line of code, we end up on line telling game from which armor/weapon TC it should start roll on items. âAct 5 (H) Equip Aâ line has rolls for weapons and armor up to armo84 and weap84. Then roll compete against lower armor/weapon Treasure classes until one is picked. Armor/weap84 tells us that he can drop weapons and armor up to TC 84 and that is his limitation. Most super uniques in Hell in high area zones is limited to TC78, few of them to TC84.
All this means that in pre 2.5 version were most superuniques and bosses significantly limited in what they can drop. Which made some items very had to find as you could not just run Andariel Hell and expect Griffonâs Eye or any elite item to drop. But Terror zones changed that and I will show on two example how:
EXAMPLE 1: Hephasto Hell
EXAMPLE 1: Hephasto Hell
Lets take Hephasto again to explain what exactly Terror zone does to his loot. You have character lvl 85 who creates game and River of Flame is Terrorized. River of Flame will become area87 as it will be your level 85+2 for it being terrorized. That means unique/superunique monsters will be area87+3 so Hephasto ends up at level 90. Just level means nothing in this case as he already had high level enough to drop anything in his limited TC before. But Terorized Hephasto Hell has new TC lines based on his increased level. He has 3 new Desecrated TC lines on Hell for levels 88, 93 and 96. Since you made game with character level 85, he is able to reach only first Desecrated TC for lvl 88. That leads exactly to same TC line for armor and weapons like he had before: Act 5 (H) Equip A, so TC 84 items. Result is that he is still not able to drop most elite items from TC 87 like for example Tyraelâs might, Griffonâs Eye or Deathâs Fathom.
You need to level up 3 more levels so higher area level zone upgrade him to level 93. Then he is able to drop items from higher line leading to âAct 5 (H) Equip Bâ consisting of TC87 armor and weapons. So then he is able to drop Griffonâs or Tyraelâs Might for example. There is still one higher Desecrated line for Hephasto at level 96. If you make Terror zone with character level 91, he will get to that level as it will be 91+ 2 zone increase + 3 unique monster increase. His Desecrated 96 line goes to âAct 5 (H) Equip Câ, highest possible one in game for armor and weapons. âAct 5 (H) Equip Câ has actualy two rolls on TC87 items compared to only one from previous âAct 5 (H) Equip Bâ line. And even if roll on Act 5 (H) Equip C completely fails it still goes to âAct 5 (H) Equip Bâ as next and you have again chance to roll TC87 items.
EXAMPLE 2: Andariel Hell
EXAMPLE 2: Andariel Hell
Andariel Hell is normaly severaly limited in what she can drop. Its basicly just few elite unique items and runes up to Lo. She cant majority of elite items because of her level and TC limitations. Her level is 75 and TC limitation 69. Her Hell desecrated TC upgrades in Terrorized Catacombs are for these levels: 74, 78, 81, 84, 87, 90, 93, 96. These monster levels are milestone for every TC upgrade and if game is created with her being on these levels, she can drop more elite items.
So even if you made terrorized Catacombs with character level 69, she will still reach first Terrorized level 74 for TC upgrade. What will be difference exactly? She will have level 74 and access to Treasure class 75 weapon/armor vs TC69 (non terrorized) and also access to higher runes 15 (Sur,Ber) vs non terrorized Andariel Runes 14(Ohm,Lo).
Andariel Hell in Terror zone made with level 88 will have monster level 93 and can drop items from upgraded treasure class by terror zones to draw loot from line âAct 5 (H) Equip Bâ. That is same line Hell Baal is using if he is not terrorized. So having lvl 88 level is enough for Andariel Hell to drop anything as âAct 5 (H) Equip Bâ can drop highest most elite TC87 armor and weapons". Her increased TC âRunes 17â also means that she can drop up to Zod. It doesnt stop there tho. There is one more upgrade if Andariel will have lvl 96 and you need to make zone with level 91 for that. If that is the case she is taking loot from âAct 5 (H) Equip Câ. Bosses did not access that TC before patch 2.5 and that line has higher chance for TC87 armor/weapons.
You will be able to see more detailed info about TC upgrades for certain levels further in this guide under section dedicated to certain zones, but as you see in case of Andariel, TC limitation have big effect on her in comparison to other bosses who already had better loot before, because there is a lot Andariel cant drop when she is not terrorized.
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Ideal character Level for Terror zones
Ideal character Level for Terror zones
So what is ideal level for terror zones to get maximum from loot? Every level matters as level of monsters is part of calculation for quality of items, but realisticly effect of it is very small. Maximum required level for Terror zone Treasure class upgrades is 91, because with that objects and regular monsters will have level lvl 93, Champions 95 and Uniques/Super Unique/Boss monsters level 96. High enough to reach all treasure class upgrades and ilvls to drop all items. I would even say it is not good to raise your level above that with your MF/runefind character as 93-99 levels will only make monsters harder with almost no additional benefits for loot.
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Rune drop from Objects limitations per ACT and difficulty
Rune drop from Objects limitations per ACT and difficulty
Drop of runes from clickable objects is limited based on difficulty and ACT, terror zones have no effect on this so keep that in mind when farming clickable objects.
Rune drop limitations:
Act 1, Normal - No Runes
Act 2, Normal - El, Eld, Tir, Nef
Act 3, Normal - Eth, Ith, Tal, Ral
Act 4, Normal - Ort, Thul, Amn, Sol
Act 5, Normal - Shael, Dol
Act 1, Nightmare - Hel, Io
Act 2, Nightmare - Lum, Ko
Act 3, Nightmare - Fal, Lem
Act 4, Nightmare - Pul, Um
Act 5, Nightmare - Mal, Ist
Act 1, Hell - Gul, Vex
Act 2, Hell - Ohm, Lo
Act 3, Hell - Sur, Ber
Act 4, Hell - Jah, Cham
Act 5, Hell - Zod
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Monsters with increased rune drop
Monsters with increased rune drop
Further in this guide I will often mention various monster names under specific Terror rones. These will be: Wraiths, Gloams, and Finger mages. They are class of monsters and they have various different names but same look in game and they al belong in category of Wraith monsters who have naturaly increased chance to drop runes. Hell bovines in Secret Cow level have increased chance too.
Gloams:
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Finger Mages:
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Wraiths:
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
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Terror Zones and Magic/Rare Items
Terror Zones and Magic/Rare Items
Various Magic items can spawn with some important certain affixes and suffixes and they require high enough ilvl from monsters so I will list most important ones for consideration on which level you need to farm the Terror zones:
Prefixes:
+2 to characters skills on circlets/amulets requite ilvl 90
+1 min damage on Small charms requite ilvl 90
- Highest +cold damage roll on small charms requite ilvl 91
- Highest +fire damage roll on small charms requite ilvl 89
- Highest +lightning damage roll on small charms requite ilvl 90
- Highest +poison damage roll on small charms requite ilvl 88
Sufixess:
+45 life roll on grand charms requite ilvl 91
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Terror Zones and Sunder Charms
Terror Zones and Sunder Charms
Sunder Charms can drop from any Champion, Unique, Super unique or Boss monster in Terror zones at Hell difficulty. There is total 6 versions of them. They do not block drop of Gheeds Fortune so you dont have to be worried that you will not find Gheed because of them, they drop is completely separated and they are called by game directly when loot is calculated. Magic find has no effect on them.
All Council members, even minions at Travincal and Durance of Hate 3 can drop Sunder charms.
Sunder charms chances to drop are at /players 1:
Cold and Fire 1:800,
Lightning 1:1200
Poison 1:2000
Physical 1:4000
Magic 1:8000
Any charm: 1:238
Sunder charms chances to drop are at /players 8 solo:
Cold and Fire 1:201
Lightning 1:302
Poison 1:503
Physical 1:1006
Magic 1:2013
Any charm: 1:60
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Andariel Quest drop Bug
Andariel Quest drop Bug
Old Andariel Q drop bug still exists and if your character who killed Andariel for the first time talked to NCPs and went ACT II in same game, you did the quest bug to get always Q drops from her. And quest drop will overwrite Terror zone drops.
In order to get Terror zones drops with higher Treasure class Items and runes, your character who is for the first time ever killing andariel have to leave game without talking to any NPC/without going ACT II. That way you failed at Quest bug.
There is no fix to existing characters, if you already made Q drop bug previously by talking to NPC, you have to create new character who will not do that after first Andarel kill on quest in order to get Terror zone loot after that.
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TERROR ZONES - NORMAL TO HELL
In this section I will be sharing informations and my opinion about every terror zones on hell and about the interesting ones on Nightmare and even Normal difficulty. I will share info about treasure class uprades, what can some monster newly drop and many other details.
Rules for upgrading Treasure classes for non boss/special objects monsters and objects in Terror zones:
- Objects can drop TC87 armor/weapon base and runes up to Zod with zone level 85+
- Regular monsters can drop TC87+ armor/weapon base and runes up to Zod with zone level 85+
- Champion monsters can drop TC87+ armor/weapon base and runes up to Zod with zone level 83+
- Unique monsters can drop TC87+ armor/weapon base and runes up to Zod with zone level 82+
- Super Unique monsters are little bit more complicated. Only ACT V super unique monsters can drop TC87 items, other super uniques in previous acts can drop from TC78 and lower. In terrorized zones they need monster level 90 for TC84, 93 for TC87 and 96 for TC87+
Speacial Super unique monsters and Bosses TC upgrades are specified under current Terror zones. You will also see in some cases Treasure classes or TC with + at the end. Different in TC87 and TC87+ is that TC87+ has higher chance to drop TC87 items.
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NORMAL DIFICULTY
NORMAL DIFICULTY
Maximum level of Terror zones on normal is lvl 45 with champion monsters at level 47 and unique/superunique and boss monsters at level 48. That means many monsters can drop items they previously could not because their item levels (ilvl) will be at 45/47/48 and same goes for clickable objects.
With maximum level upgrade from terror zones on normal difficulty will most monsters will be able to drop items from Treasure class (TC) 48, runes up to Ko for regular monsters and most elite monsters TC51 and runes up to Lem. Some super unique monsters and bosses will have different drop and I will talk about it under specific zones with them.
Most unique items from TC51, TC48 require higher qlvl(level of monster or object) than 48 so effectively only some sets from those TCs can drop from regular or normal elite monsters. Items with required qlvl lower than 48 can be found in TC 45 and then more frequently in lower Treasure classes.
I will take it now one by one every interesting terror zone place, but I will share loot info only about highest TC upgrades at highest terrorized levels for normal difficulty.
ACT I NORMAL
ACT I NORMAL
Burial Grounds+Crypt+Mausoleum
- Terrorized Blood Raven upgrades Treasure class at levels 10, 29 and 48.
- Blood Raven at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC51 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- Blood Raven at level 48 can drop runes up to Lem
Jail+Barracks
- Terrorized Smith upgrades Treasure class at levels 13, 32 and 48.
- The Smith at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC72 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- The Smith at level 48 can drop runes up to Lem
The Forgotten Tower
- Terrorized The Countess upgrades Treasure class at levels 11, 34 and 48.
- The Countess at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC51 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- The Countess at level 48 can drop runes up to Um in her normal non rune drop.
Cathedral+Catacombs
- Terrorized Andariel upgrades Treasure class at levels 13, 32 and 48.
- Andariel at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC51 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- Andariel at level 48 can drop runes up to Lem.
Tristram
- Terrorized Griswold upgrades Treasure class at levels 8, 29 and 48.
- Griswold at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC51 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- Griswold at level 48 can drop runes up to Lem.
Secret Cow Level
- Terrorized Cow King upgrades Treasure class at levels 31, 40 and 48.
- Cow King at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC51 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- Cow King at level 48 can drop runes up to Lem.
ACT II NORMAL
ACT II NORMAL
ACT II Sewers
- Terrorized Radament upgrades Treasure class at levels 19, 33 and 48.
- Radament at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC51 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- Radament at level 48 can drop runes up to Lem.
Arcane Sanctuary
- Terrorized Summoner upgrades Treasure class at levels 18, 32 and 48.
- Summoner at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC54 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- Summoner at level 48 can drop runes up to Lem.
Tal Rashaâs Tomb
- Terrorized Duriel upgrades Treasure class at levels 22, 36 and 48.
- Duriel at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC51 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- Duriel at level 48 can drop runes up to Lem.
ACT III NORMAL
ACT III NORMAL
Travincal
- Terrorized Council upgrades Treasure class at levels 28, 38 and 48.
- Council at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC51 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- Council at level 48 can drop runes up to Lem.
Durance of Hate
- Terrorized Mephisto upgrades Treasure class at levels 26, 38 and 48.
- Mephisto at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC51 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- Mephisto at level 48 can drop runes up to Lem.
ACT IV NORMAL
ACT IV NORMAL
Outer Steppes+Plains of Despair
- Terrorized Izual upgrades Treasure class at levels 29, 38 and 48.
- Izual at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC51 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- Izual at level 48 can drop runes up to Lem.
River of Flame+City of the Damned
- Terrorized Hephasto upgrades Treasure class at levels 28, 38 and 48.
- Hephasto at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC54 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- Hephasto at level 48 can drop runes up to Lem.
Chaos Sanctuary
- Terrorized Diablo upgrades Treasure class at levels 40, 48.
- Diablo at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC51 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- Diablo at level 48 can drop runes up to Lem.
ACT V NORMAL
ACT V NORMAL
Nihlathakâs Temple+Halls of Anguish+Halls of Pain+Halls of Vaught
- Terrorized Nihlathak upgrades Treasure class at level 68.
- Nihlathak at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC51 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- Nihlathak at level 48 can drop runes up to Lem.
Worldstone Keep+Throne of Destruction
- Terrorized Baal upgrades Treasure class at level 60.
- Baal at level 48 can drop unique/set: TC51 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 48 and lower.
- Baal at level 48 can drop runes up to Lem.
FEW WORDS:
Terrorized upgrades are mostly less significant on Normal and even when monster have Treasure class 51 and some even 54, they will not have high enough level to drop most unique items from these TCs. Only exception is Terrorized Nihlathak and Baal as they will have high enough level to drop anything from TC 51. That means they can for example drop stuff like War Travelers, Herald of Zakarum, Skullders, OculusâŚ
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NIGHTMARE DIFICULTY
NIGHTMARE DIFICULTY
Maximum level of Terror zones on Nightmare is lvl 71 with champion monsters at level 73 and unique/superunique and boss monsters at level 74. That means many monsters can drop items they previously could not because their item levels (ilvl) will be at 71/73/74 and same goes for clickable objects.
With maximum level upgrade from Terror zones, most monsters on Nightmare difficulty will be able to drop items from Treasure class (TC) 69, runes up to Lo from regular monsters and most elite monsters can drop from TC72 and runes up to Ber. Some super unique monsters and bosses will have different drop and I will talk about it under specific zones with them.
Terror zones on Nightmare are more significant than on Normal because elite items will start to appear from TC57 and gradualy increase their presence as TC goes up. TC69 are pretty much only elite items already. That means monsters on nightmare can drop plenty of elite unique items if terrorized at max level. Items will be still limited by quality level(Qlvl) as many uniques will require higher than 71-74. But there is still plenty of good items possible to drop. Rune drops are also improved a lot and based on type of monsters it is possible to drop even runes up to Ber in max lvl terror zones on nightmare.
Nightmare Terror zones can be quite interesting place where to farm high runes. Regular mobs drop runes up to Lo and elites up to Ber, but even that is high and it can be really good way to farm some with weak characters who cant farm Hell that fast.
I will take it now one by one but mention only interesting terror zones , but I will share loot info only about highest TC upgrades at max terrorized levels for special superunique and boss monsters.
ACT I NIGHTMARE
ACT I NIGHTMARE
Burial Grounds+Crypt+Mausoleum
- Terrorized Blood Raven upgrades Treasure class at levels 43, 57 and 73.
- Blood Raven at level 74 can drop unique/set: TC72 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 74 and lower.
- Blood Raven at level 74 can drop runes up to Ber.
Jail+Barracks
- Terrorized Smith upgrades Treasure class at levels 43, 57 and 73.
- The Smith at level 73 can drop unique/set: TC72 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 73 and lower.
- The Smith at level 73 can drop runes up to Ber.
The Forgotten Tower
Terrorized Forgotten Tower is quite a good place to visit. It often contains a lot of elite monsters and thewe is plenty of Wraiths who have better chance to drop runes. Countess NM has very interesting upgrade to her normal drop. She used to be quite limited with that, but terror zone is increasing her TC for runes so high that she can drop even Cham. Keep in mind that it is her monster drop, not special rune drop. Rune drop is not changed at all. So in fact it is much better to run her at high player setting to supress her special rune drop and get her normal drop instead where you can get even Jah and Cham.
- Terrorized Countess upgrades Treasure class at levels 45, 59 and 73.
- The Countess at level 74 can drop unique/set: TC72 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 74 and lower.
- The Countess at level 74 can drop runes up to Cham (not in her special rune drop).
Cathedral+Catacombs
- Terrorized Andariel upgrades Treasure class at levels 43, 57 and 73.
- Andariel at level 74 can drop unique/set: TC72 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 74 and lower.
- Andariel at level 74 can drop runes up to Ber.
Tristram
- Terrorized Griswold upgrades Treasure class at levels 42, 57 and 73.
- Griswold at level 74 can drop unique/set: TC75 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 74 and lower.
- Griswold at level 74 can drop runes up to Ber.
Secret Cow Level
- Terrorized Cow King upgrades Treasure class at levels 67 and 73.
- Cow King at level 74 can drop unique/set: TC75 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 74 and lower.
- Cow King at level 74 can drop runes up to Ber.
ACT II NIGHTMARE
ACT II NIGHTMARE
ACT II Sewers
- Terrorized Radament upgrades Treasure class at levels 52, 62 and 73.
- Radament at level 74 can drop unique/set: TC72 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 74 and lower.
- Radament at level 74 can drop runes up to Ber.
Arcane Sanctuary
- Terrorized Summoner upgrades Treasure class at levels 55, 63 and 73.
- Summoner at level 74 can drop unique/set: TC72 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 74 and lower.
- Summoner at level 74 can drop runes up to Ber.
Tal Rashaâs Tomb
- Terrorized Duriel upgrades Treasure class at levels 55, 63 and 73.
- Duriel at level 74 can drop unique/set: TC72 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 74 and lower.
- Duriel at level 74 can drop runes up to Ber.
ACT III NIGHTMARE
ACT III NIGHTMARE
Travincal
- Terrorized Council upgrades Treasure class at levels 57, 66 and 73.
- Council at level 74 can drop unique/set: TC72 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 74 and lower.
- Council at level 74 can drop runes up to Ber.
Durance of Hate
- Terrorized Mephisto upgrades Treasure class at levels 59, 66 and 73.
- Mephisto at level 74 can drop unique/set: TC72 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 74 and lower.
- Mephisto at level 74 can drop runes up to Ber.
ACT IV NIGHTMARE
ACT IV NIGHTMARE
Outer Steppes and Plains of Despair
- Terrorized Izual upgrades Treasure class at levels 60, 66 and 73.
- Izual at level 74 can drop unique/set: TC72 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 74 and lower.
- Izual at level 74 can drop runes up to Ber.
River of Flame+City of the Damned
- Terrorized Hephasto upgrades Treasure class at levels 60, 66 and 73.
- Hephasto at level 74 can drop unique/set: TC72 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 74 and lower.
- Hephasto at level 74 can drop runes up to Ber.
Chaos Sanctuary
- Terrorized Diablo upgrades Treasure class at levels 62, 67 and 73.
- Diablo at level 74 can drop unique/set: TC72 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 74 and lower.
- Diablo at level 74 can drop runes up to Ber.
ACT V NIGHTMARE
ACT V NIGHTMARE
Nihlathakâs Temple+Halls of Anguish+Halls of Pain+Halls of Vaught
- Terrorized Nihlathak upgrades Treasure class at level 73.
- Nihlathak at level 74 can drop unique/set: TC72 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 74 and lower.
- Nihlathak at level 74 can drop runes up to Ber.
Worldstone Keep+Throne of Destruction
- Terrorized Baal upgrades Treasure class at level 75.
- Baal at level 74 can drop unique/set: TC72 weapon/armor and jewelry if qlvl of items is 74 and lower.
- Baal at level 74 can drop runes up to Ber.
FEW WORDS
Its certainly nice that pretty much everyone on Nightmare can now drop Shako when terrorized and some other elite items. This open up new posibilities where to farm for good items even when your character is too weak for hell difficulty. What I consider as biggest change are rune drops. It is mindblowing that you can find High runes on NM now.
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HELL DIFFICULTY
HELL DIFFICULTY
Maximum level of Terror zones on Hell is lvl 96 with champion monsters at level 98 and unique/superunique and boss monsters at level 99. That means any terorized zone at 85 will be same as area85 zones with few exception in Tressure classes of special and boss monsters. Character level 91 is enough to get all benefits of increased loot for terror zones so if you dont want to level up above that, you dont have to, as you already have all benefits.
ACT I HELL
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ACT I HELL
Blood Moor+Den of Evil
Blood Moor+Den of Evil
Number of Elites: 7-9 + 1
Blood Moor and Den of Evil have mostly easy monsters, only Quill rats can be sometimes dangerous. Den of Evil kind of suck as there is only one super unique Corpsefire and no other elites at all. One of the worse Terror zones, but atleast it has very easy access from town and cabines can have superchest.
Cold Plains+Cave
Cold Plains+Cave Level 1-2
Number of Elites: 7-9 + 6-8
Easily accessible place from Waypoint, mostly easier monsters with exception of archers in Cave and decent number of elites in one zone consisting of Cold plains and two cave levels with golden chest in second level. You can find here two super uniques monsters, Bishibosh in fallen camp and Coldcrow in cave. Zone has mostly easier monsters with exception of Dark Archres in Cave.
Burial Grounds+Crypt+Mausoleum
Burial Grounds+Crypt+Mausoleum
Number of Elites: 1 + 4-5 + 4-5
One small map with Blood Raven and two dungeons with only undead Lightning immune monsters. It is little bit hard to navigate in Crypt and Mausoleum as there is a lot of rooms. Zone has a lot of objects and two golden chests but they can drop only up to Vex rune. Crypt has Super unique Bonebreaker and Blood Raven at Burial Grounds has significantly improved drop. But farming her is kind of pain sometimes as she likes to run around instead of going at you so your attacks will often miss.
Blood raven upgrades her treasure class at levels:
88 - can drop TC78 armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
90 - can drop TC84 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
93 - can drop TC87 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
96 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
Stony Field
Stony Field
Number of Elites: 7-9
Zone easily accessible from own waypoint. Monsters there are mostly easier with maybe exception of dark archers. Superunique Rakanishu can be found there too. Not much else to say really.
Dark Wood+Underground Passage 1-2
Dark Wood+Underground Passage
Number of Elites: 7-9+6-8+3-5
Basicly same case as Stony field, everything here is mediocre, not really anything interesting but also nothing very bad. Monster density is slightly better than Stony field and there is Superunique Treehead the Woodfist guarding Tree of Inifus. Zone is rather easy so it can be good for weaker characters. Patch 2.6 added Underground passage as part of the zone which has second level with golden chest.
Black Marsh+The Hole 1-2
Black Marsh+The Hole 1-2
Number of Elites: 7-9+6-8+2-3
Easily accessible from Black Marsh waypoint with not so dangerous monsters type with exception of Archers. Hole has similar type of monsters like Black Marsh but its little bit more dangeous because of monster type Tainted. Second level has also Golden chest.
The Forgotten Tower
The Forgotten Tower Level 1-5
Number of Elites: 5x3-4
Accessible from Black Marsh Waypoint. It has 5 levels with elites on every level. Wraiths can spawn there and Countess at the end has improved loot. Layout of maps can be challenging for non teleport builds who are mostly interested in countess who is
at level 5. Tower has also decent amount of objects nad sometimes superchests, but sadly best rune from them can be only Vex. Terrorized Dark archers can be very deadly so carefull around them on harcore.
The Countess itself is mostly run solo because her loot is combination of two different drops. One is her normal drop and second is her special rune drop. So usualy you want to do her solo as her normal drop tend to supress rune drop in games with more players so she will give less runes. But In terror zone you actualy want to run her at higher setting, because she still has naturaly good chance to drop jewelry and most importantly runes in her normal drop and since her rune loot table is significantly improved, running her on high player setting is prefered choice.
Countess upgrades her treasure class at levels:
82 - can drop TC78 armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
84 - can drop TC78+ armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
87 - can drop TC81 armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
90 - can drop TC84 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
93 - can drop TC87 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
96 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
Forgotten Tower super chest location:
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Jail+Barracks
Jail Level 1-3+Barracks
Number of Elites: 6-8+3 x 6-8
Quite big zone with 4 levels, accessible from 3 waypoints, Outer cloister, Inner Cloister or Jail. Monsters here are generaly speaking not so hard. Ghost can spawn in Jail and there can be also found a lot of clickable objects. Second level of Jail has Super unique Pitspawn Fouldog who can be challenging encounter. Another Super Unique The Smith can be found in Barracks.
Smith upgrades his treasure class at levels:
73 - can drop TC72 armor/weapon and runes up to Ber
75 - can drop TC75 armor/weapon and runes up to Ber
78 - can drop TC75 armor/weapon and runes up to Ber
81 - can drop TC78 armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
84 - can drop TC78+ armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
87 - can drop TC78+ armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
90 - can drop TC84 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
93 - can drop TC87 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
96 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
The Pit
The Pit Level 1-2
Number of Elites: 6-8 + 2-3
Short walk following the path from Outer Cloister WP. Good amount of elites in two level dungeon with Golden chest at the end. Mostly easier monsters with exception of Dark Archers who can be dangerous. Pit is good place to farm and favourite place for horker barbs, but terror zone doesnt do anything special here really as it was already area85 before.
Tristram
Tristram
Number of Elites: 5-6
Very tiny zone located at in Stony Field, entrance is in middle of Cairn stone so you to complete Deckard Cain quest to have it opened. It had decent amount of elites for such small place. Its best to search for elites counter clock wise as Champions in middle are guaranteed and could lower total number of elites in Tristram. Griswold in increasing Treasure class and he has also special non magic drop so he can drop grey or white items so that can be usefull for elite bases.
Griswold upgrades treasure class at levels:
87 - can drop TC81 armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
90 - can drop TC84 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
93 - can drop TC87 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
96 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
Cathedral+Catacombs
Cathedral+Catacombs Level 1-4
Number of Elites: 3-3 + 4x 6-8
One of the best zones, easy access from waypoints, a lot of elite packs and objects and boss at the end. Terror zone consist of 4 catacombs levels and Cathedral. You can find some Wraiths there often and super unique Bone Ash. Fourth level of catacombs has Boss Andariel who has significantly improved loot table in terror zone. Her no drop chance is little bit higher so she doesnt drop so many items in solo games that often, but with right level she will be able to drop anything. That is amazing together with the fact that she is always having Quest drops so you wont find any junk from her. Catacombs can be harder to get through for nonteleport builds as it consist of many smaller rooms easily blocked by monsters.
Andariel upgrades her treasure class at levels:
74 - can drop TC75 armor/weapon and runes up to Ber
78 - can drop TC75+ armor/weapon and runes up to Ber
81 - can drop TC78 armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
84 - can drop TC78+ armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
87 - can drop TC81 armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
90 - can drop TC84 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
93 - can drop TC87 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
96 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
Secret Cow Level
Secret Cow Level
Number of Elites: 6-8
Hell Bovines(Cows) from Secret Cow level could already drop TC87 bases and all runes so effect of Terror zone is significant basicly only for higher qlvl so cows can drop all set and unique items now. Most significant change is to Cow king. Terror zone changes his loot table and makes from him very good target if you are playing barbarian with find item. Cow King has 0% no drop chance and always drops 5 items and if you use find item succesfully on him with barbarian, its another 5 items. With high level of Find item thats basicly 70% chance to get 10 items with loot table better than Baal when he is not terrorized. Cow king has only slightly lesser chance for Unique items but high chance
for sets. Basicly it is better farming just him when cows are terrorized, unless you mainly farm cows for runes or white item bases. Keep in mind that cows hit hard and have a lot of HP.
Cow King upgrades treasure class at levels:
86 - can drop TC78 armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
90 - can drop TC84 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
93 - can drop TC87 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
96 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
ACT II HELL
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ACT II HELL
Sewers
Sewers Level 1-3
Number of Elites: 3 x 6-8
Decent zone with good amount of elites across all 3 levels with easy acess from town or Waypoint and special superunique radament at the end who
has increased Treasue class. His chance to drop Unique or Set is amongst highest compared to other special super unique monsters.
Radament upgrades treasure class at levels:
86 - can drop TC78 armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
90 - can drop TC84 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
93 - can drop TC87 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
96 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
Rocky Waste+Stony Tomb
Rocky Waste+Stony Tomb Level 1-2
Number of Elites: 7-9 + 6-8 + 4-6
Easy access from town to Rocky waste with Stony Tomb inside of Rocky waste map. Scarabs can spawn in both places and can be challenging, other
than that its rather easier to kill monsters on both maps. Stony Tomb has decent amount of objects and often also few weapon racks/armor stands good for elite
bases. Second level of Stony Tomb also has Golden chest and super unique Creeping Feature.
Dry Hills+Halls of the Dead
Dry Hills+Halls of the Dead Level 1-3
Number of Elites: 7-9 + 6-8 + 6-8 + 1-2 Bloodwitch the Wild
Quite a big zone easily accessible by two waypoints. Monsters in Dry hills and Halls are mostly easier to kill but some people might find little bit difficult to target elite Greater mummies and Bats as they are not that easily to notice as elite version. You can find superunique Bloodwitch the Wild at third level of Halls of dead, but she is sometimes missing for some reason. Halls of the Dead have decent monster density, but some builds might struggle with Mummies reviving skeletons and blocking entrances from rooms.
Far Oasis
Far Oasis
Number of Elites: 7-9
Only positive fact about this zone is that there is waypoint. Scarabs with charged bolts, Maggot laying eggs to spawn countless little maggots and swarms with high no drop chance or dropping mostly potions. Amount of elites here is not bad and you can access area84 zone Maggot Lair from Far oasis. Yes there are people who like to farm that place too :). You can also find superunique Beetleburst Scarab in Far oasis.
Ancient Tunnels
Ancient Tunnels
Number of Elites: 6-8
Ancient tunnels is accessible from Lost city, its favourite place even without being Terror zone for ages. Monsters here are not that difficult and there is also Golden chest. Elite monsters in Ancient tunnels could always drop all items already, so effect of terror zone is not that significant. Density of monsters is at medium level, but a lot of clickable objects can be found here.
Lost City+Claw Viper Temple
Lost City+Claw Viper Temple Level 1-2
Number of Elites: 7-9 + 6-8 + 1-2
Can be accessed by Lost City Waypoint, but Claw viper temple have to be found on edges of map. Monsters at Lost City are mostly not challenging, but vipers in Clav Viper temple definitely are not fun to fight against, especially for melee characters. You can find two super uniques in zone, Fangskin in Claw Viper Temple 2 and Dark Elder in Lost City.
Arcane Sanctuary
Arcane Sanctuary
Number of Elites: 7-9
Arcane Sanctury has own waypoint and is one of the better places in Terror zones. Paths are narrow so it might be big obstacle for melee characters who cant get through monsters by using some abilities. On other hand it might be easier for fighting because monsters will block each other with exception of Wraiths. They can fly and also can die outside of paths so try to avoid that if you dont want to loose their loot. You can take 4
different directions in Arcane Sanctuary from waypoint and in one of them will be Summoner and in other ones small platforms with 2-3 super chests. They can drop runes up to Lo and are best opened in game with more players. Summoner itself is quite good target for runes and Terror zone increase his rune table significantly as normaly he can drop only up to Lo rune. Arcane Sanctuary is very good place for finding runes because of many Wraiths.
Summoner upgrades treasure class at levels:
80 - can drop TC78 armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
84 - can drop TC78+ armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
87 - can drop TC81 armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
90 - can drop TC84 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
93 - can drop TC87 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
96 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
Arcane Sanctuary Super chest location:
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Tal Rasha's Tombs
Tal Rashaâs Tombs
Number of Elites: 7 x 7-9
Tal rashaâs Tombs are one of the best Terror zones for various reasons, they are easily accessible by Canyon of the Magi Waypoint, they can spawn Wraiths, every tomb has Golden chest, Monster density is very high and there is also quite a lot of objects. On top of that you can find Duriel in one of the tombs. Sadly his drop is often bad because of town portal scrolls, but he still has improved loot. Tal Rashaâs tombs can be hard to farm for non teleport builds as they consist of many rooms and monsters will be blocking entrances to them. There is also quite high variety of monsters so expect many different immunities. Some monsters are ale more challenging like Blunderbores or Scarabs. One of fake Tombs has superunique Ancient Kaa the Soulless. If you are for some reason interested only in farming Duriel, he can be always found in tomb with with same missing floating symbol at Summoner platform at Arcane sanctuary.
Duriel upgrades treasure class at levels:
88 - can drop TC78+ armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
90 - can drop TC84 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
93 - can drop TC87 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
96 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
ACT III HELL
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ACT III HELL
Spider Forest+Spider Cavern
Spider Forest+Spider Cavern
Number of Elites: 10-15+4-5
Spider forest is very big zone with waypoint and a lot of elite monsters. But it might be quite difficult for nonteleport characters because of layout of map. Waypoint is always next to Arachnid Lair which is not part of Terror zone but still good place to visit as it is area85. Zone has decent desnsity but spider forest is often filled with Flayers using range attack and running away so it might be harder to target them as they are also quite small. Monsters in spider forest are not hard to kill mabye with exception of
Thorned hulks. Spider Cavern has Super unique monster Szark the Burning inside, he is always guarding sparkly chest with Khalimâs Eye.
Great Marsh
Great Marsh
Number of Elites: 10-15
Great marsh is accessible from own waypoint, zone has same layout as Spider Forest or Flayer Jungle. It has good number of elites but it is quite big and harder to navigate place for any non teleport characters. Density is fine but flayer jungle is much better in that regard. You can find one golden chest in Great Marsh and Gloams can spawn here quite often.
Flayer Jungle+Flayer Dungeon
Flayer Jungle+Flayer Dungeon Level 1-3
Number of Elites: 10-15 + 5-6 + 5-5 + 2-3
Flayer Jungle is similar case as Spider Firest, its quite huge map with a lot of elite monsters. This part of Jungle is mostly occupied by melee flayers with very high density so its ideal place for killing a lot of monsters in short period of time as they are quite weak. Flayer Jungle can be accessed by own waypoint or from Lower Kurast. If you go from there, you will find first super unique Stormtree and second Witch Doctor Endugu will be in Flayer Dungeon which is part of zone too. Flayer dungeon can be challenging because of Stygian Dolls, but but you find there also Wraiths who has higher chance to drop runes. Swampy pit is not part of Terro zone but worth Visiting as is has good monster density and it is area85.
Kurast Bazaar+Ruined Temple+Disused Fane
Kurast Bazaar+Ruined Temple+Disused Fane
Number of Elites: 7-9 + 4-4 + 4-4
Zone accessible directly from waypoint with two very small temple maps. Super Unique Battlemade Sarina is located in Ruined Temple. Quite a lot of objects can be found at Bazaar and sometimes in temple too. Sadly Kurast Baazar is worst of Kurasts maps, because Lower Kurast and Upper kurast have multiple superchests while Bazaar has only one or two.
Kurast Bazaar Super chest location:
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Travincal
Travincal
Number of Elites: 6-8
Zone with Waypoint directly to Travincal. Quite favourite zone for any item find barbarian because of Council. Council members makes this zone very desisirable because normaly they are limited in what they can drop, but terror zone increase they Treasure class, so not only they can drop Zod, but also any other uniq and set in the game when terrorized at proper level. Travincal can be more challenging tho, because Zealots who normaly run aways from you will no longer do that when Travincal is terrorized and will go after you and they hit hard. So you will have to fight them or deal with them with others ways like for example Howl skill. I suggest clicking any objects in your way to council. I personaly dropped several high runes from objects there when doing travincal runs.
Council members upgrades treasure class at levels:
85 - can drop TC78+ armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
87 - can drop TC81 armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
90 - can drop TC84 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
93 - can drop TC87 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
96 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
Durance of Hate Level
Durance of Hate Level 1-3
Number of Elites: 3x5-7
Durance of Hate has 3 levels with waypoint leadign to second level, but you can start from Travincal. Layout of map makes it hard for any non teleport builds and on top of that its often swarming with Stygian dolls who explode on death. Also Urdars hit very hard so it can be quite tough zone to farm.
Durance of hate can offer amazing amount of clickable objects, probably zone with most objects in whole game. Zone has also act boss and several Council members at level 4. If you are farming Durance, I highly suggest to kill all Council members at level 3 as they do increase their TC in same way Council at Travincal does so check previous Travincal zone for more info. Also do not forget to always click weapon rack and armor stand on side entrances to Mephisto location and super chest behind him.
Mephisto upgrades treasure class at levels:
87 - can drop TC78+ armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
90 - can drop TC84 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
93 - can drop TC87 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
96 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
ACT IV HELL
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ACT IV HELL
Outer Steppes+Plains of Despair
Outer Steppes+Plains of Despair
Number of Elites: 8-10 + 8-10
Two quite big open maps accessible directly from town. You can find here decent amount of elites, some clickable objects, Finger mages/Gloams both having higher chance to drop runes and Superunique Izual. He has improved Treasure class so he might be quite good target, especially at high player setting as his death will have same area effect as seal activation in chaos sanctuary and everything around him in certain radius dies. So try to lure as many monsters as you can to him before you finish him if you play on higher player setting and always check if something didint drop out of your sight. Monster setup in both zones is variable but can be very challenging as some monsters will have a lot of HP ans Gloams do quite a lot of Lighting damage and their spawn at Plains of Depait often.
Izual upgrades treasure class at levels:
86 - can drop TC78+ armor/weapon and runes up to Cham
90 - can drop TC84 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
93 - can drop TC87 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
96 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
City of the Damned+River of Flame
City of the Damned+River of Flame
Number of Elites: 8-10 + 6-7
Accessible from City of Damned or River of Flame waypoints. Both maps have similar monster types, often harder to kill because of a high HP. City of Damned can spawn Vile mothers spawnign their babies so that can be tough for builds without AoE damage. there are some clickable objects and good amount of elites.
River of flame can also spawn Vile mothers but on top of that also Maggots, making this zone pretty much nightmare to farm for anyone without AoA damage. River of Flame has only few objects to click but can spawn 2-4 superchest which can drop runes up to Cham so definitely hit those when you clear the zone. Hephasto the Armorer can be found here and he has improved Treasure class to drop higher items. TC. Both River of flame and City of the Damned can spawn Finger mages.
Hephasto upgrades treasure class at levels:
88 - can drop TC84 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
93 - can drop TC87 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
96 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
River of Flame Super chest location:
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Chaos Sanctuary
Chaos Sanctuary
Number of Elites: 9-10
Accessible from River of Flame waypoint. Sometimes little bit difficult to access without teleport for certain melee build as Maggots and Vile Mothers can spawn in zone leading to Chaos Sacntuary and will block the path. Chaos Sanctury is one of best terror zones in game as it is fixing two issues zone previously had. Seal bosses do increase their treasure class and are not anymore limited to TC78 items and Diablo itself also has improved Treasure class. Since he is already level 94, he can now always drop TC87 items when terrorized no matter at which level is zone created.
Chaos Sanctuary has quite a good amount of elite monsters and high density of monsters, but it is very tough place. Mostly because of Oblivion Knights casting curses. Doom knights and Venom lord are strong melee fighters too. You can either clear zone completely, hit only elites or use seal popping method to kill everything but without effect from your Magic find. This is very effective way to get a lot of loot at higher player setting. Check youtube how to properly seal pop as there is a lot of guide for that.
Diablo upgrades treasure class at levels:
94 - can drop TC87 armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
96 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
ACT V HELL
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ACT V HELL
Bloody Foothills+Frigid Highlands+Abbadon
Bloody Foothills+Frigid Highlands+Abbadon
Number of Elites: 4-6+9-11+6-8
Two big maps accessible from town or Frigid Highlands waypoint. There is seveal superunique monsters: Dac Farren in the middle, Shenk the Overseer close to waypoint, Eldritch the Rectifier close to waypoint, Shartooth Slayer in middle of highlands and Eyeback the Unleashed at end of it . Zones has can spawn a lot of monster types just like pretty much every ACT V map on hell. Most of them will not be fun to fight against as there is a lot of ranged monsters possible to spawn. Skeleton Archers with fire arrows and Thorned hulks can be also quite dangerous. Maps are open but consist of many elevated places with stairs, walls and destroyable obstacles that makes it quite bad place for non teleport builds. Number of normal elites in zones is also not exactlyamazing and density is not good either.
There is also red portal leading to Abbadon, smaller map with very challenging monsters. Both Abbadon and Frigid Highlands have golden chest.
Arreat Plateau+Pit of Acheron
Arreat Plateau+Pit of Acheron
Number of Elites: 9-11+6-8
Zone has own waypoint and has same layout as Frigid Highlands so expect destroyable objects blocking certain parts of map making it worse for nonteleport builds. Number of elites is decent and map is big enough but monster density is often not that amazing. You can find here some clickable objects, Golden chest and Super unique Thresh Socket. Also red portal leading to Pit of Acheron which isquite challenging place with multiple different immunities on monsters who are quite dangerous too. At the end is another golsen chest.
Glacial Trail+Drifted Cavern
Glacial Trail+Drifted Cavern
Number of Elites: 7-9+6-8
Zone with own waypoint and sub-level Driften Cavern. Driften Cavern is very small map with high amount of elites and Golden Chest. Its very challenging place because of very dangerous monster combinations. Glacial trail has decent amount of elites considering fact that evil urns will increase total count of elite spawning here. Glacial Trail can be very easy zone but in some cases, but hard when Blood Lords and Pit Vipers spawn. You can find there also superunique Bonesaw Breaker who is guarding Golden chest. Wraiths can spawn in Glacial Trail too.
Crystalline Passage+Frozen River
Crystalline Passage+Frozen River
Number of Elites: 7-9 + 6-8
Zone with own waypoint and Frozen River dungeon as part of the zone so it together offer good amount of elites. Evil Urns spawnign additional elites can be also found on both maps. Zone is tough place as many quite dangerous monsters can spawn there like Blood Lords and Dark Archers. Frozen river is even worse and I consider it as one of most dangerous places in game as it can spawn various very deadly monsters like Dark Lancers, Vipers, Gloams and Succubus. Frozen river has also Super unique Frozenstain. Both maps can spawn Wraiths so Frozen River can be excelent place for farming runes if both wraiths and gloams spawn there.
Nihlathak's Temple+Halls of Anguish+Halls of Pain+Halls of Vaught
Nihlathakâs Temple+Halls of Anguish+Halls of Pain+Halls of Vaught
Number of Elites: 1 + 6-7 + 6-7 + 1-4 + Nihlathak
Quite a big zone consisting of 2 big maps, one smaller with super unique Nihlathak and one tiny map with Superunique Pindleskin. Zone can be entered from red portal in town or from Waypoint on second level. Map layout is quite difficult to farm for any non teleport builds and some monster combinations here will be challanging to beat not only because they are dangerous, but also because various immunity combinations.
Halls of Anguish and Halls of Pain often have very high monster density ideal for framing weapon/armor bases or runes. Nihlathak can be found at Halls of Vaught and his Treasure class is improved. He was already able to drop TC87 items and Zod rune , but in Terror zone he has better chance to drop TC87 items. You can also find Golden chest at Halls of Pain and Anguish and whole zone has decent amount of clickable objects able to drop highest rune Zod unlike previous acts.
Nihlathak upgrades treasure class at levels:
95 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
Ancient's Way+Icy Cellar
Ancientâs Way+Icy Cellar
Number of Elites: 7-9 + 6-8
Zone with own waypoint and dungeon Icy Cellar as part of terror zone. Both maps provide solid number of elites +Evil Urns spawning more of them. Icy Cellar is probably most dangerous zone in game because it has horrific monster combinations spawning there: Succubus, Gloams, Undead Stygian dolls, Vipers and Blood Lords, so visit it only if your character can take it and probably better avoid it on hardcore. You can find there Golden chest and superunique Snapchip Shatter and also Wraiths can spawn here. It offers a lot for small map layout but risk of dying is very high.
Worldstone Keep+Throne of Destruction
Worldstone Keep 1-3 + Throne of Destruction + Worldstone Chamber
Number of Elites: 3x 6-8 + 9-10 + Baal
Zone accessible from Worldstone Keep level 2 waypoint. Zone consist of 3 Keep maps with decent size and Throne of destruction with Baal at the end. Zone can offer quite high monster density and good amount of elites but monsters can be very challenging. There is many monster combinations and some monsters spawning in zone are very dangerous. Souls, Oblivion Knights, Blood Lords, Vipers, Stygian dolls, Succubus, basicly anything dangerous in game can be found here.
Especialy Keep level 3 is interesting as it can spawn Wraiths and Finger mages and has usualy less dangerous combinations. If you are afraid of Gloams(souls), they can spawn only in level 2 and throne of destruction and dolls can spawn only in throne of destruction.
Throne of Destruction has also always 5 super uniques guaranteed from Baal waves. Baal itself is very good target as he can drop everything and his TC is slightly improved from TC87 to TC87+ incresing chance to get TC87 items from him. It doesnt matter on which level was zone created as he will always has that upgrade if zone is terrorized. Sadly there is only few clickable objects in whole zone.
Baal upgrades Treasure class at levels:
99 - can drop TC87+ armor/weapon and runes up to Zod
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ADDITIONAL SOURCES:
Terror zone list with information about immunities:
https://maxroll.gg/d2/resources/terror-zones
List of items and their Treasure classes and Qlevels:
https://www.purediablo.com/diablo-2/diablo-2-treasure-class/
Drop calculators:
I dont know about any item drop calculator properly reflecting 2.5 changes so I cant give advice which one to use. The one Maxroll has has some Terror stuff implemented, but not upgrades to treasure classes of bosses and Normal difficulty is not properly updating. They still has probably best calculator atleast reflecting some changes.
EDIT: If anyone has some feedback, additional information or suggestion what to add, let me know please
I also appretiate anyone who helped to get some information i needed and who was part of discussions about terror zone changes. It would take me definitely more time without help from some people, so thank you.
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