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"The angel Izual was Tyrael's lieutenant, but he was captured by the enemy after an ill-advised assault upon the Hellforge. Izual surrendered to demonic corruption and revealed the secrets of the soulstones to the Prime Evils. Tyrael claimed that Izual was slain years ago, but his replacement has never emerged from the Crystal Arch..."

Izual was a fallen archangel-turned servant of the Burning Hells.

Biography

Fallen Angel

Izual was once an angel in service to the High Heavens, and served as the most trusted[1] lieutenant of Tyrael during the Great Conflict.[2] The two were close friends, and would walk together in Heaven.[3] Bearing the runeblade Azurewrath, Izual came to be venerated for his deeds.[2] One key moment was the Fifth Battle of the Diamond Gates, where the Prime Evils reached the gates of Heaven itself. Izual however, turned them back.[4]

FallofIzual

The Fall of Izual

The beginning of Izual's fall from grace came when he led an assault on the Hellforge—an assault that went against Tyrael's wishes, but an assault that was carried out nonetheless.[1] A new demonblade, Shadowfang, was nearing completion, and Izual was intent on destroying both the wielder and weapon. However, Izual was overcome by the demonic legions[2] and was captured by the Prime Evils. Twisted by their perverse power, they forced him to betray his own kind and give up Heaven's most guarded secrets. He became a corrupt shadow of his former self—a fallen angel trusted neither by Heaven nor Hell.[1] To add insult to injury, Izual's spirit was bound within the form of a terrible creature which was summoned from the Black Abyss.[1]

One secret Izual gave up to the Prime Evils was that of the soulstones, and how to corrupt them. He helped the Three Brothers mastermind the Dark Exile[1]—the soulstones would be corrupted, the Worldstone would be corrupted through them, and through the Worldstone, humanity would fall under the dominion of Hell.[5]

The demon Rakanoth served as Izual's jailer during his time of imprisonment, but eventually abandoned the angel to roam the Plains of Despair.[4]

The Harrowing

"Tyrael was a fool to have trusted me! You see, it was I who told Diablo and his Brothers about the Soulstones and how to corrupt them. It was I who helped the Prime Evils mastermind their own exile to your world. The plan we set in motion so long ago cannot be stopped by any mortal agency. Hell itself is poised to spill forth into your world like a tidal wave of blood and nightmares. You and all your kind...are doomed."
—Izual to his opponents[1]

Izual-spirit

Izual's spirit.

Centuries passed between the Dark Exile and the re-emergence of the Prime Evils, but eventually, the time came where the plan Izual had set in motion came to pass. Diablo, now fully in control of his mortal host, returned to Hell...albeit with a group of heroes led by Tyrael in pursuit. From the Pandemonium Fortress, Tyrael requested that the heroes put the soul of his old comrade to rest, believing that Izual had suffered enough. The heroes obliged, but found that Izual was past redemption. The fallen angel told them of the role he had played in the Dark Exile and proceeded to engage them in battle. Though long bereft of Azurewrath, Izual was a formidable foe, but the heroes were still able to strike him down.[1]

The Return

"It seems we've both fallen from grace, Tyrael. Come, embrace your former lieutenant!"
—Izual[4]

Izual

Izual's return

21 years after being struck down in Hell, Izual, now reborn, was called to serve Diablo[3] during his hellish invasion of the High Heavens following his resurrection as the Prime Evil. The Nephalem and a now-mortal Tyrael encountered him while pursuing Diablo through the Great Span. Izual showed great amusement about how Tyrael had become a fallen angel like himself. However, history repeated itself and Izual was once again struck down.[4]

In-game

Diablo II

Izual
Izual
Property Normal Nightmare Hell
Type Animal Animal Animal
Act(s) found in 4 4 4
Monster Level 29 60 86
Experience 22,761 237,724 1,044,247
Health points 11,946 41,811 57,365
Damage 1 24-45 58-78 117-156
Attack Rating 1 747 2,340 6,892
Damage 2 16-21 50-68 37-46
Attack Rating 2 Frost Nova - Frost Nova
Defense 146 918 2,002
% to Block 0 0 -
Damage Resist 30 25 30
Magic Resist 30 50 30
Fire Resist 30 50 30
Cold Resist 75 50 75
Lightning Resist 30 50 30
Poison Resist 30 50 30
Drain Effectiveness 100 75 50
Immunities - - -
Chill Effectiveness 50 40 33

In Diablo II, players encounter Izual wandering on the Plains of Despair in the game's fourth act. His exact location is randomized, but upon approaching him, the quest log notification should appear and Izual can be heard grunting Save yourself!

Izual mainly uses melee and cold attacks, so it's useful to have some cold resistance. His Frost Nova can be a nuisance to deal with and Izual has a lot of health. However, he has no other special abilities, making the encounter a pretty straightforward fight. In Normal, Frost Nova has a fifteen second Chill duration, which increases to eighteen and twenty-two in Nightmare and Hell respectively. As stated previously, there is Cold damage added to his attacks. In Normal, the addition is 7-15 with a two second Chill and increases to 24-39 with three seconds and 49-78 with four seconds in Nightmare and Hell, respectively.

In Normal and Nightmare difficulties, Izual may actually prove to be tougher than Diablo himself. This is because he possesses 30% resistance to everything, even physical/magical damage, vs. Diablo's 33% and 50% resistance to the elements in the respective difficulties.

Quotes

  • "Save yourself!"
  • "Leave me!" (removed)
  • "You cannot help me!" (removed)

Diablo III

Izual D3

Izual in Diablo III

In Diablo III, Izual appears as a boss during the quest Prime Evil, shortly before the nephalem reaches the Crystal Arch in Act IV. His model is almost identical to his previous model. As before, he fights with his Frost Nova, but instead of a sword, he now utilizes a giant mace. He can also summon Oppressors, Corrupted Angels and Tongue Lashers to his side.

Defeating him will unlock his lore entry.

The battle begins only after the player enters the blue crystal-framed circular arena with the hole in the middle. In combat, Izual moves and attacks quickly, using four attacks:

  • Basic attack: single-target blow of the flanged mace.
  • Slam: slower, but more powerful attack of the mace.
  • Frozen Storm: creates a series of 5-10 mini-crystals (one by one, with a 0.3 seconds interval) that are identical to the Frozen affix crystals of elite monsters, except for they do less damage, cause a minor freeze duration, and have lesser radius. The crystals generally spawn close to the player, but can be avoided if moving quickly enough. On Torment difficulty, crystals are spawned beneath the player's feet, and 10-15 of them are spawned. The number of exploding crystals does scale depending on the number of players in the game.
  • Frozen Nova: freezes all enemies across the entire arena, avoidable only through use of certain skills. The duration of freezing for a hero with no control impairing effect reductions is 4-5 seconds, but ends immediately if Izual hits them with a melee attack.
Izual2

Izual

Every 25% life (at 75%, 50% and 25%), Izual also summons two Oppressors or two Corrupted Angels. There is no Enrage timer.

A player who makes use of a set of Ice Climbers and a Talisman of Aranoch may have a somewhat easy time against Izual; his cold attacks are useless against them. This, however, still leaves them vulnerable to the Opressors and Corrupted Angels that are summoned.

Upon defeat, Izual can drop a Staff of Herding plan, if you don't have one yet.

Cold Snap is the Rift Guardian variant of Izual.

Quotes

  • "It seems we've both fallen from grace, Tyrael. Come, embrace your former lieutenant!" (introduction)
  • "You've failed again Tyrael. The corruption cannot be stopped!" (in combat)
  • "The chill of hell will sap the life from your bones!" (While using his Frost Nova skill)
  • "The cold hand of death reaches out for you, hero!" (While using his Frost Nova skill)

Personality and Traits

As an angel, Izual possessed great valor and strength. However, his capture by Hell left him a shattered individual, his spirit maddened. By the time he was struck down, anything that remained of his once noble self appeared to be long gone.[1] He has taken on demonic traits, such as the ability to be reborn within Hell.[3]

Trivia

  • Izual's removed quotes from his Diablo II appearance suggest that he was originally intended to still be good or at least penitent. However, his soul once freed gloats over having willingly cooperated with the Prime Evils.

Videos

References

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