1/8 The Butcher
DIFFICULTY: EASY

Level
Hatred : 60
Terror : 115
Destruction : 120

Summon at
The Hole Level 2 (Black Marsh)

Lore
Slain in his hellhole beneath Tristram, the Butcher rises from the dead at the call of your summoning spell and the smell of fresh blood. It is said the Butcher cannot be summoned without an acceptable human sacrifice, and if none is provided, he will take one...

Strategy
The Butcher is the ultimate melee fighter. His tainted cleaver hits hard and if he catches you, you are dead meat. His flabs of fat negate a large percentage of your attacks, which would be a problem if he wasn't invulnerable to mortal weapons and spells in the first place. Like a Hellcat playing with a mouse, the Butcher may reveal his one weakness if you can take enough pain to convince him you are no threat....

Reward
Defeat the Butcher on Destruction difficulty to get The Butcher's Tooth.

In older versions of Median XL, this was a straightforward melee fight. The invulnerability shield may come as a surprise.

2/8 The Binding of Baal
DIFFICULTY: MODERATE

Level
Hatred : 65
Terror : 115
Destruction : 120

Summon at
Valley of Snakes

Lore
Reenact the capture and imprisonment of Baal by Tal Rasha and his Horadrim, with you playing the role of Baal. To protect their leader, the Horadrim weave warding spells that make Tal Rasha immortal until the last of his soldiers has died and their spirits have faded.

Strategy
During this uberquest, you morph into Baal when you are near Tal Rasha. The archmage himself is immune to all damage until you get rid of all Horadric Mages. Even then, Tal Rasha has a phasing spell that negates a percentage of incoming attacks and their elemental affinity grants all mages 50% resistance to all. Being magical in nature, the shield aura is vulnerable to resistance breaking spells, offering the hero another way to deal with Tal Rasha. Beware the Horadrim's fire and lightning spells, empowered with ancient metamagic to bypass up to 250% of your resistances.

Reward
Defeat Tal Rasha on Destruction difficulty to get the Scroll of Kings.

3/8 Assault on Mount Arreat
DIFFICULTY: MODERATE

Level
Hatred : 70
Terror : 115
Destruction : 120

Summon at
Arreat Summit

Lore
In ages past, Diablo himself attempted to invade Mount Arreat to destroy the Worldstone and was repelled by the Bear tribe defenders and their king, the shaman Koth. This is a reenaction of that battle on the peak of Mount Arreat, with you as Diablo.

Strategy
The powers of the Bear Shamans protect King Koth with an ancient invulnerability shield until the last of the defenders has fallen. Even when the shield is down, the King's spirits deflect a percentage of incoming attacks. Thanks to their connection to the primal forces, all shamans have an innate 50% resistance to all. In many aspects this is the physical version of the Tal Rasha fight.

Reward
Defeat Koth on Destruction difficulty to get the Sacred Worldstone Key.

4/8 Akarat
DIFFICULTY: TRICKY

Level
Hatred : 75
Terror : 115
Destruction : 120

Summon at
Kurast Causeway

Lore
The church of Zakarum is highly ritualistic. One of the grand Zakarumite ceremonies involves the summoning and ritual crucifixion of the living spirit of the prophet Akarat by the church fathers of Travincal, four times a year or in times of trouble. These are certainly troubled times, but there is no telling if the ritual may be affected by the corruption that has tainted the temple city...

Strategy
The corrupted spirit of Akarat is protected by heavenly invulnerability and is impossible to attack directly. Remember that a religion is nothing without followers and attack his twelve apostles first. The death of one of his apostles unleashes a wave of holy energy, reducing all resistances of other apostles to -100% and breaking the immunity shield of Akarat himself, reducing all resistances to 0% for a few precious seconds. This does however enrage them and they will attack you with renewed vigour. Killing an apostle may be difficult due to the mass healing spell they cast when low on health, as well as the storm of magical hammers with which they pummel you from a distance and their ability to heal when they slay a minion or hero. If you have access to Nightmare or a Void Archon, use it to shut down their healing. Akarat himself is blessed in another way as well: the spirits of the Light repel a percentage of all incoming attacks.

Reward
Defeat Akarat on Destruction difficulty to get the Visions of Akarat.

2% chance to drop a trophy on Destruction difficulty. Cube the trophy with the charm for a small bonus.

5/8 Lord Aldric Jitan
DIFFICULTY: TRICKY

Level
Hatred : 80
Terror : 115
Destruction : 120

Summon at
Nihlathak's Temple

Lore
Driven mad by nightmares, the Western aristocrat Lord Aldric Jitan hopes to summon a terrible demon and plunge the land into darkness. Stop him before he does.

Strategy
Lord Aldric Jitan linked his lifeforce to his Royal Guards, granting him unholy immortality until all of his guardsmen are dead. The demonic powers guiding his actions also imbue him and his guardsmen with 50% all resistances and the ability to harmlessly deflect a percentage of incoming attacks. The guardsmen are tougher than anything that came before and will heal themselves, inflict tri-elemental damage and summon guard towers that will pummel the living daylights out of you if you stand still for too long. Keep moving and the towers will vanish behind you. When any of the enemies dies, the dark forces reclaim his spirit, creating a vortex of magic that should be given wide berth.

Reward
Defeat Lord Aldric Jitan on Destruction difficulty to get the Moon of the Spider (1/6 chance).

2% chance to drop a trophy on Destruction difficulty. Cube the trophy with the charm for a small bonus.

6/8 Legacy of Blood
DIFFICULTY: HARD

Level
Hatred : 85
Terror : 115
Destruction : 120

Summon at
Tower Cellar (Black Marsh)

Lore
Bartuc, the Warlord of Blood, was once Horazon's brother in the Vizjerei mage clan. Whereas Horazon wanted to summon demons to enslave them, Bartuc chose to worship them and traded his soul for demonic power. Their conflict eventually led to a civil war that shattered the mage clan. Although Bartuc was eventually destroyed by the very powers he sought to control, his soul and power have been claimed by the forces of Hell. It may be possible to summon Bartuc's spirit in the crypt where his cursed armour was buried...

Strategy
Bartuc and his summoned Blood Golems have ranged attacks and can hurt a lot in this tiny room. Protected by the power of his cursed armour, Bartuc and his golems are invulnerable to damage. However, his Wychwind blade throw requires him to concentrate on the spell and drop his resistances for a brief time, and his dimwitted golems may briefly forget to shield themselves when they successfully hit you and are distracted by your suffering.

Reward
Defeat Bartuc on Destruction difficulty to get the Legacy of Blood.

2% chance to drop a trophy on Destruction difficulty. Cube the trophy with the charm for a small bonus.

7/8 Judgment Day
DIFFICULTY: VERY HARD

Level
Hatred : 90
Terror : 115
Destruction : 120

Summon at
Inner Cloister

Lore
When Uldyssian sacrificed his life at the Cathedral of Vanity in the battle between angels and demons, his soul was thought to be blown to the far reaches of the universe. But a malicious spirit in the High Heavens, watching over the battle from afar, snatched Uldyssian and his edyrem on their way to oblivion. Imperius, archangel and high warlord of the Crystal Arch, had his own opinions about Sanctuary and the human vermin inhabiting it. This taint on creation had to be eradicated. But his side of the argument, despite the support of Malthael, lost out in the Angiris Council due to the intervention of Tyrael, and the ensuing blood pact with Mephisto prevented him from intervening on the mortal plane at all. A puppet had to be found, and Uldyssian was just what he sought. After a thorough brainwashing, Imperius sent his harbinger Dark Uldyssian to Sanctuary with the mission to exact divine justice and destroy the world...

Strategy
Dark Uldyssian and his Fallen Edyrem exist only partially on the mortal plane and cannot be hit by mortals. When Dark Uldyssian hits a player or minion, an avatar of Imperius or Malthael may be summoned to interfere directly with the battle and this avatar is vulnerable to attack. The Fallen Edyrem do not have this power, but you can tell apart Dark Uldyssian by his heavy armour. Both Avatars can throw alchemical holy hand grenades packing the power of creation itself, summon homing magical bolts and summon more Fallen Edyrem at a rapid rate.

Reward
Defeat Imperius or Malthael on Destruction difficulty to get the Crystalline Flame Medallion.

2% chance to drop a trophy on Destruction difficulty. Cube the trophy with the charm for a small bonus.

Bonus quest
If you are exceptionally daring or suicidal, distract Dark Uldyssian until both the Avatar of Imperius and the Avatar of Malthael are summoned. Destroy them both within 30 seconds, then transmute the Medallion in the cube to upgrade it. Make sure you kill both Avatars, not the same one twice or the recipe will not work.

This upgrade recipe adds the following bonuses:

8/8 Brother Laz
DIFFICULTY: IMPOSSIBLE

Level
Hatred : 95
Terror : 115
Destruction : 120

Summon at
Swampy Pit Level 3 (Flayer Jungle)

Lore
There are many religions in Sanctuary. Although they all tell very different stories, loremasters agree that since most of them seem to be effective and enable their faithful to work miracles, there has to be a common truth between them. One particular element found in most religions is the creation of the world by a God or other deity, whether it be Anu, the Earthfather and Skymother or even Tiarna Dulra. Some even believe that the world as we know it was shaped by an individual human on another plane, one 'Brother Laz' with a calculation engine powered by lightning. According to this cult, when humanity complains too much about the difficult living conditions in Sanctuary and the scarcity of divine weaponry, he may send his avatar to the mortal plane to deal with those who annoy him in person...

Strategy
The Groupies are just your average frenzied fanbois with throwing knives and should not be too hard to dispatch despite their tri-elemental attack. The boss, Brother Laz, is at a whole different level. Do not stand still in his crosshairs or he will cast either Deathstrike or Singularity on you and annihilate you. If you keep moving, he will attempt an offensive teleport, summon more minions and may cast totems that kill you if you go near them. Do not destroy the totems: they will unleash wild magic that renders you brittle as glass and heals Brother Laz and his Groupies. Using his leet hax0r powers, Brother Laz is invulnerable to any damage and this time there is no loophole or weakness. Use the Purify skill you acquired in Duncraig and keep hitting the power tripping modmaker with it until he dies.

Reward
Defeat Brother Laz on Destruction difficulty to get the Glorious Book of Median (1/6 chance).

2% chance to drop a trophy on Destruction difficulty. Cube the trophy with the charm for a small bonus.

Secret: Inarius' Revenge
DIFFICULTY: MODERATE

Level
Hatred : 85
Terror : 115
Destruction : 120

Summon at
??? -- Find it yourself!

Lore
In his vanity, fallen angel Inarius made the fatal mistake of raiding one of Mephisto's black temples on mortal soil and killing the dark monks there. The Prime Evils had previously ignored this rebellious angel, but this was an insult they could not leave unpunished. Mephisto invaded Inarius' cathedral of vanity, burned it to the ground and captured Inarius and his followers, warping and mutating them into flabby and horrible creatures - the Overlords - instilling them with eternal hatred for the still beautiful creations of Zakarum, humans. You may be able to summon Inarius' ghost at a place of great significance for the fallen angel...

Strategy
Even in their weakened state, Inarius' ghost and his minions hit very hard and almost always hit. Even in death, Inarius' followers protect him with their own spirits, granting Inarius invulnerability until the last of the followers are dead. The tough Overlords have 50% all resistances, and Inarius' angelic heritage additionally grants him the ability to ignore a percentage of all attacks. Despite all this, the battle should be easy, a fitting end to Inarius' wretched existence.

Reward
Defeat Inarius' ghost on Destruction difficulty to get the Spirit of Damnation.