Blood Cultist

"I have heard troubling news... Another cult has emerged from the shadows, and its members gather to the north. They conduct their rituals under the veil of the Shrouded Moors, where few will think to look for them. One can only guess what dark rituals they will pursue in the forgotten corners of the world."

- Archangel Tyrael

Blood Cultists are followers of Vidian, the Lord of Envy.

They harvest nephalem blood for him, in attempts to allow their master to gain the power of a nephalem himself. They appear to hold his infestation (in form of parasitic insects) as a blessing and a path to "ascension". Apparently, Blood Cultists see the Reborn as their final step on the path to perfection.

They are encountered in of Diablo III, in Shrouded Moors and Temple of the Firstborn, as well as subzones of the two.

Types

 * Note: both Hematic Supplicants and Hematic Apostles can be named Hematic Priests in game.



Hematic Supplicant
The lowest step in the cult, Hematic Supplicants appear like any other cultists, wearing blood red robes and carrying daggers.

They have no special abilities in combat, though are usually encountered in large numbers.

It appears that Theodosius Jordan leads them.

Their most notable appearances are during the Blood Statue and The Hematic Key s, where their blood can be used to destroy the monument and to open the doors to the inner sanctum of the Temple.

Uniques

 * Hematic Father Feldman (Shrouded Moors)
 * Theodosius Jordan (The Sacred Path)

Hematic Disciple
Still humanoid in shape, but not even remotely human in appearance, Disciples are classified as Demons.

Visually, their upper bodies are twisted and bloated, with huge jaws and no eyes or any facial features, one arm overgrown with tentacles, huge bone spikes at their backs and in place of fingers.

In combat, Disciples fight with their claws in melee, delivering fast and deadly blows. In addition, they can often be found sleeping inside Iron Maidens (possibly their incubation pods), but will quickly awake and attack when the Nephalem is close enough.

Tomb Roaches often accompany Disciples in battle.

Vidian himself summons several greatly empowered Disciples dubbed "Favorites of Vidian", who appear much larger than their brethren.

Hematic Apostle
Similar to Disciples in their appearance, Apostles prefer to attack from distance. Armed with staves, they, apparently, are capable of using magic.

In combat, Apostles will hurl fireballs at the enemy, hitting a small area for high Fire damage. The fireball does not fly in a straight line, and can go over other foes, obstacles and walls.

Visually, their robes are of darker color, and their hands are more human-like, only the head and torso being distorted.

Uniques:

 * Elizar Bathory

Hematic Zealot
Zealots are among the most dangerous minions of Vidian. Appearing much like Disciples, they have bloated, brightly-glowing yellowish tumors on their head, which allows them to be easily distinguished.

Similar to Suicide Minions, they will not attack the Nephalem directly. Instead, upon approaching, they explode with deadly force in a small radius. Damage is high enough to kill an adequately-equipped foe in one blast.

Killing them only awards experience and loot if they die from wounds before having a chance to explode.

Wretched Host
Wretched Hosts are referred to by Tyrael as a late stage towards "ascension". They appear as broken, torn apart humans with rotten skin, tentacles holding them together and becoming their weapons.

While in battle, Hosts are quite durable and can attack with their appendages in melee. Still, their real weapon is the charged-up attack that marks several spots on the ground with green glow. After a few seconds, a swarm of glowing Tomb Roaches will erupt from the Host and explode at the marked areas, dealing heavy Poison damage.

To compensate, Hosts move and attack very slowly, making it easy to outrun them and the impending Roach blasts.

Uniques

 * Aberrant Horror (Trag'Oul's Avatar Set Dungeon)
 * Gun'toth

Reborn
The rarest and easily most deadly of Vidian's servants, Reborn are no longer humans on the outside, but rather look much like Vidian himself.

They gain the ability to teleport at will and fire barrages of energy bolts, which are very hard to dodge.

Uniques:

 * Axabra
 * Bain