Diablo II: Lord of Destruction/Betrayal of Harrogath


 * Objective: Slay the traitor Nihlathak.

To activate the fourth quest in Act V, you must first complete the third quest in Act V, Prison of Ice. Rescue Anya from her prison of ice down in the Frozen River below the Crystalline Passage. Once you rescue Anya, speak with her for your reward for quest three, and she automatically triggers the beginning of quest four with a speech.

"Nihlathak told me he struck a deal with Baal to protect Harrogath. In exchange for the demon's mercy, the misguided fool plans to give Baal the Relic of the Ancients, our most holy totem! Doing so will allow Baal to enter Mount Arreat unchallenged by the Ancients. I tried to stop Nihlathak, but he imprisoned me in that icy tomb. Nihlathak must be stopped before he dooms the whole world. As much as I would love to strangle the life out of him, I'm afraid I haven't the strength. You must go to his lair through this portal I've opened, kill him, and then bring back the Relic of the Ancients. Stop Nihlathak from destroying what we have striven eons to protect."
 * Objective Text From Anya

Location
You'll find Nihlathak deep inside the Halls of Vaught. Anya opens up the portal into Nihlathak's Temple. You must follow this portal to reach Nihlathak hiding out in the Halls of Vaught. Once inside Nihlathak's Temple, locate the entrance downstairs into the Halls of Anguish. Search the Halls of Anguish for the entrance downstairs into the Halls of Pain. Once in the Halls of Pain, seek out the waypoint marker before searching for the entrance downstairs into the Halls of Vaught. There's no waypoint in the Halls of Vaught, and if you're killed during the battle with Nihlathak and fail to erect a town portal, you could face a lot of walking to return to your corpse and Nihlathak!

Recommended Level to Complete Act V, Quest IV: Nihlathak's a tough necromancer, as are the minions scattered throughout the Halls of Anguish, Pain, and Vaught. You will certainly be over level 30 by this point, especially if you ventured into the side dungeons for further experience or took your time in the first four acts. Time to put those level-30 skills to use in this battle against the Betrayer of Harrogath!

Log Entry #1
Take Anya's portal to Nihlathak's temple.

After speaking with Anya and triggering the Betrayal of Harrogath quest, Anya opens a portal to Nihlathak's Temple. You must use this portal to reach Nihlathak. You won't find him by exploring the maps around Harrogath. Enter Nihlathak's Temple and battle the fire-enchanted unique monster, Pindleskin, almost immediately.

Log Entry #2
Find Nihlathak in the Halls of Vaught.

Once in Nihlathak's Temple, a new entry appears in your quest logbook with Nihlathak's location. He's in the Halls of Vaught. Inside Nihlathak's Temple, you must locate the staircase down into the Halls of Anguish. Comb the Halls of Anguish in search of the staircase leading down into the Halls of Pain. Though you should search for the staircase leading down into the Halls of Vaught once you reach the Halls of Pain, don't neglect to seek out the important waypoint marker.

In the Halls of Pain you'll find an important waypoint marker. There's no waypoint in the Halls of Vaught. If you happen to be killed during the battle with Nihlathak or his minions and fail to cast town portal, you could have quite a trek ahead of you if you failed to find the Halls of Pain waypoint. Even if you do use the waypoint, it could still be quite a walk!

Keep that in mind as you approach Nihlathak, and cast a town portal away from the minions so you can return to the Halls of Vaught with ease. There are a lot of undead in the Halls of Anguish and Pain, including prowling dead. You'll also face the lumbering putrid defiler and death maulers.

Log Entry #3
Kill Nihlathak.

As you near Nihlathak in the Halls of Vaught, a new entry appears in your quest logbook. Immediately cast a town portal away from Nihlathak and his plentiful monster entourage. The town portal helps protect you in case you perish during the fight, or it can be used as a means of quick escape if the battle becomes especially difficult.

Should you die during the battle, use the town portal to return to the Halls of Vaught and recover your corpse and equipment. Otherwise, you'll have to enter the portal to Nihlathak's Temple near Anya or use the waypoint to venture into the Halls of Pain and retrace your steps back into the Halls of Vaught.

Nihlathak is a necromancer and loves to use corpse explosion. A large force of fairly weak ice spawn monsters (easy to kill but not so weak when their corpses are exploding!) surrounds Nihlathak, giving the necromancer a ton of ammunition to use against you. Be careful when fighting the weak monsters around Nihlathak. He'll explode the corpses, which inflicts serious damage on your character, party, hirelings, or summonings. Use ranged skills to stay away from the fallen monsters (Nihlathak's corpse-explosion range is large).

With the monsters out of the way, defeat the necromancer Nihlathak to receive a new entry in your quest logbook.

Log Entry #4
Talk to Anya before you continue through the Crystalline Passage, past the Glacial Trail, to proceed up Mount Arreat to the summit.

After defeating Nihlathak, open a town portal or retrace your steps back to the waypoint in the Halls of Pain. Once in Harrogath, seek out Anya. She congratulates your victory over Nihlathak but notes that he didn't possess the relic.

Act V, Quest IV Completed from Anya: "You have stopped Nihlathak, but he didn't have the relic! He must have already given it to Baal. Now, Baal will not be tested when he reaches Arreat's Summit. Damn, Nihlathak. I do thank you for trying, though. Please, allow me to honor your courage by magically inscribing your name to an item of your choosing. It's the least I can do."

Log Entry #5
Anya will personalize an item for you.

As a reward for your courage, Anya offers to magically personalize an item for you. Speak with her after completing the quest and note the new selection "Personalize." Select the new dialogue and give her the item you wish to personalize. Your character's name will be added to the item.

Reward
Anya will magically personalize an item for you upon completion of the Betrayalof Harrogath quest. You can personalize an item on all three difficulty levels.