Cydaea

"Though Azmodan is close to all of his lieutenants, Cydaea is his special favourite. The Maiden of Lust is both beautiful and grotesque in appearance, with the torso of a woman and the legs of a spider. Her voice is said to be as smooth as honey, but she only speaks words of death."

- Deckard Cain

Cydaea, the Maiden of Lust was a powerful demon, and a favorite lieutenant and concubine of Azmodan.

Biography
Cydaea was a consort of the Lord of Sin himself and one of his dreaded sin lieutenants. She also held dominion over a flock of Succubi, calling them her "daughters". When Azmodan launched his assault on Bastion's Keep, Cydaea remained behind. However, when The Nephalem thwarted the demonic incursion, Azmodan called upon his consort to defend the vile Sin Hearts that powered his legions from within Arreat Crater. However, like many other minions of Sin, Cydaea proved unable to stop The Nephalem. She was slain in the depths of Arreat Crater.

In-game
Cydaea appears as a minor boss in the Tower of the Cursed of Act III in Diablo III, appearing when the Nephalem destroys the Siegebreaker Assault Beast and proceeds to make progress towards the Heart of Sin. Cydaea will taunt the heroes seductively during their journey through the crater, dangling from a string of silk. Players will also encounter mind-controlled guards of Bastion's Keep who will say that Cydaea lured them with false promises and was preparing them to be sacrificed.

The player fights her twice, both times when a Sin Heart is within the heroes' reach. Both battles take place at a C-shaped arena, starting as soon as player approaches the Heart. The first battle is more like a gear-check, as she retreats immediately after receiving 50% damage, leaving the matter to her daughters and ghoul thralls.

The second and final battle at the Heart of the Cursed is more complicated. Cydaea is the fastest boss in game, and often runs away from the player, forcing them to fight her spiderlings instead. She uses the following abilities:
 * Poison Spit: a three-missile ranged attack dealing low Poison damage.
 * Impaling Limb: a melee attack, dealing average Physical damage.
 * Spiderling Pit: creates a pool of toxins on the ground which lasts for 15-30 seconds. From this pool, Spiderlings pour through, attacking the heroes, and the toxin itself is dealing low Poison damage every second. The Spiderlings are Cydaea's main weapon, as they block path and deal slightly damaging, but quick and very numerous attacks. Each Pit spawns Spiderlings at increasing rate. The last Spiderling from each Pit drops a guaranteed Health Globe upon death. As they have very low health, AoE damage and fair amount of Life per Kill are advised to deal with them.
 * Net Toss: Cydaea covers a 10-yard range area with a web that slows players' movement by 60%. This web holds for 15 seconds.
 * Silkweb: Cydaea retreats to the ceiling for 20 seconds, getting out of the heroes' reach. While she is up there, she can only use her Spiderling Pit ability, but that one has no cooldown.
 * Power from Pain: as her health drops, Cydaea recharges all of her cooldowns at increasing rate, while her taunting phrases become more and more threatening (as opposed to originally mocking ones).

On Torment difficulty, she has a semi-hard 4 minute enrage timer. Once it expires, she loses a cooldown of her Spiderling Pit and Net Toss abilities, overwhelming the players with the endless swarm of minions if not killed quickly. As her own damage does not grow, however, she can still be defeated even on adequate difficulty.

Note: Due to mechanics of her fight, it is actually the easiest boss in game for builds that rely on gaining power from killing blows (Archon, Grave Injustice, Dominance, Rampage etc.).

The Binder is the Rift Guardian variant of Cydaea.

Quotes

 * You've killed one of my playthings... Now you have my undivided attention (upon entering Arreat Crater)
 * Is it the riches you desire?  (upon opening a rigged Resplendent Chest)
 * These poor things live in eternal torment.
 * You're an extraordinary one, aren't you?
 * All the pain and suffering you are enduring... you must be dying to meet me!
 * I feast on their agony... Their eternal anguish...
 * The chains tear at their flesh... Hear their screams. Such sweet music.
 * Oh, you are so eager. I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Cydaea, Maiden of Lust, consort of Azmodan. (upon reaching the first Sin Heart)
 * How invigorating. Play with my daughters. I do not wish to tire you out. (upon defeating her the first time)
 * I can feel the blood hemorrhaging from the Sin Heart... Oh, you will pay for this. (upon destroying the first Sin Heart)
 * So close now... So close.
 * (laughs) I do hope you're not in over your head...
 * Oh, the things I am going to do to you...
 * Oh yes, I've been looking forward to this. (upon confronting her for the final battle)

Below Max Life

 * You want to make me bleed? And I thought we were friends.
 * Come, now, you can do better than that. 
 * If you keep this up, I might get upset.
 * Why are you trying to hurt me?
 * Oh, is that how you want it? 

Below 66% Life

 * Why are you hurting me? 
 * I fear I may have to take you seriously after all. 
 * This is unacceptable.
 * I will take great pleasure in your suffering. 
 * You will beg for mercy. And I will laugh. 
 * You are no hero. 
 * Shhhhh... I eat you now.

Below 33% Life

 * Now you will see what I am capable of... 
 * No!
 * I thought we understood each other!
 * Enough!
 * You will not make me bow to the likes of you!
 * I will break every bone in your body!
 * I will enjoy playing with your corpse!

Trivia



 * Cydaea was originally called the "Mistress of Pain." The character was removed during development, but was added back in due to positive reviews from the fanbase. Her title was changed because it would link her to Duriel instead of Azmodan.
 * The word "Cydaea" is the romanized form of "χυδαία"(pronouced "Khidea"), a greek adjective in its feminine form, meaning "obscene, profane, vulgar".
 * Cydaea's namesake and physical form harken to the Mistress of Torment and nerubians respectively, both of Warcraft.


 * During Blizzcon '09, the Costume Contest was won by Lorraine Torres, dressed as Cydaea


 * She was voiced by Claudia Black.


 * Her master's name is a variation of Asmodeus, who happens to be a demon of lust. This would also explain why her character serves to be the Lord of Sin's consort.
 * Her concept is also similar to that of Jorogumo, the infamous "Spider Whore" spirit, from Japanese folklore.


 * She has been considered as a playable character for Heroes of the Storm.
 * There is an achievement called Naked Lust to kill the Mistress of Lust without any items equipped on the character (only source of damage is a follower).