Izual

In-game (v2.05)

Izual, "The Betrayer", is a fallen Angel in Demon form. Distrusted by the High Heavens and Burning Hells alike.

Background

Izual was once Tyrael's lieutenant in the armies of the High Heavens and the bearer of the legendary angelic runeblade, Azurewrath, forged by the Archangel Tyrael himself. The two were also good friends, and he served as Tyrael's trusted right hand.

Izual fell during his assault on the Hellforge as the Shadowfang blade was nearing completion, and his spirit was corrupted by the three Prime Evils, Diablo, Baal and Mephisto. Through torture, he eventually revealed how Soulstones can be corrupted and turned to suit the three brothers' aims. He also revealed all his knowledge of the High Heavens, becoming an important but untrustworthy asset of the Burning Hells.

Izual has been rejected by both sides; the Heavens hated him for his corruption, and Hell also distrusted him for once being an angel.

His soul was encased within a hideous, demonic body of immense strength, dwelling in the burned out plains of Hell. This form was eventually killed by the Hero of Diablo II, revealing the extent to which he was corrupted by evil and why soulstones failed to work. By killing the body, Izual's soul was freed.

In Diablo III

Izual is a boss in the middle of Act IV, following the painful fight against Rakanoth. He is summoned by Diablo to challenge Tyrael, and resides in the Silver Spire. Izual takes on the form of the Oppressor demon type in Diablo III, although instead of fire, he's imbued with his classic frost damage and attacks.

He drops the plan for the Staff of Herding, which is necessary to enter Whimsyshire.

Boss Abilities

Izual's arena.

Izual was a quest-based superunique in Diablo II, and was largely a pushover. While he had a massive health pool, his only two abilities were a Frost Nova, and a melee attack imbued with cold damage. The fight usually consisted of the player slogging it out with him, holding down an attack button for minutes on end. Oddly enough, Izual's skill set remains mostly as it was in Diablo II, but in Diablo III, he is a quite dangerous boss.

His abilities are listed below:

• Melee Attack - His melee attack does medium damage, although Izual is slow to swing with his large mace. Prior to Patch 1.0.3, Izual hit much harder, and his attacks were imbued with cold damage.

• Frost Explosion - Izual, after reaching half health, will begin intermittently casting a frost nova which has no graphic attached, to freeze the hero and his or her allies, including Tyrael. The nova has a very large range. During the freeze period, Izual will often summon help or attack the hero. This ability cannot be avoided, outside of being at least a screen away from Izual when he casts it, which is exceedingly difficult to do as the arena size is not very large. Izual will preface this attack by shouting The cold hand of death reaches out for you, hero! Damage the player takes will break the freeze effect.

• Charge - Izual will charge the player, closing distance to get into melee range.

• Frozen Bombs - Izual has the frozen boss modifier where occasionally small spheres of ice will explode, randomly placed around the arena, and freeze the hero. This attack is passive, but becomes quite dangerous when coupled with Izual's melee snare. Izual will place eight frozen bombs near the player, which explode faster than the normal boss modifier version.

• Summon Minions - Izual will on occassion summon minions to aid him. They can be Oppressors, Corrupted Angels, or Tongue Lashers. They are the only source of external health regeneration outside of potions, as they drop health globes. Tyrael will also summon angels to aid the hero and battle Izual's minions, but the angels are highly outclassed. The minions, particularly the oppressors, are able to box in the hero and trap them with their bodies, making them succeptible to the frozen explosions that randomly occur around the arena.

Post-Release Tweaks

Izual was modified slightly in the v1.0.4 patch.[1]

Izual Bug Fixes

Skipping Izual’s cut-scene should no longer cause players to become trapped behind his ice barrier

• Fixed a bug where Izual’s Charge attack would not do any damage
• Fixed a bug where Izual’s Charge attack could damage players twice
• Fixed a bug where Izual could become immune to damage when at 30% health under rare circumstances

Gallery

Various images of Izual in game and in artwork.

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  Izual in-game.

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  Frozen exploding spheres.

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  Casting frost nova.

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  Alternate view.

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  Mighty melee swing.

Resources

• Diablo II Izual

References

• Diablo I Manual
• Diablo II Manual
• Deckard Cain dialogues