Hephasto the Armorer

Hephasto the Armorer was the head armorer of the Burning Hells.

Biography
Hephasto was one of the weapon smiths of Inarius that was corrupted by Mephisto as punishment for the destruction of his temple. He rose through the ranks of Hell to become a master armorer for the forces of darkness, serving as a minion of Baal. He toiled away in the Hellforge, molding incredible weapons for his comrades to use in battle. He would twist souls to use as catalysts in the forge, and the remaining coals carried the mark of their torment. While his place at the fires of the Hellforge was coveted amongst jealous Overlords, none dared cross swords with him lest he take the anguish of his lost glory out upon their bloated bodies.

One of Hephasto's creations was the Shard of Hate, which he delivered to Mephisto personally.

Hephasto was struck down by a group of heroes which had followed Diablo into Hell during the Prime Evil's return. Taking his hammer, they were able to shatter the soulstone that contained Mephisto, and later, do the same to Diablo. Years later, Deckard Cain reflected that it was possible that Hephasto could return, given that according to ancient Vizjerei texts, demons have the potential to be reborn in Hell after their death.

Diablo II
Hephasto is found in of Diablo II, located in the River of Flame zone. He is identical in appearance to the Smith which can be found earlier in the barracks, but is tougher and stronger than his subordinate, and with green skin. Upon defeat, he drops the Hellforge Hammer, which is required to destroy Mephisto's Soulstone.

Special Abilities:


 * Aura Enchanted
 * Spectral Hit
 * Additional random abilities on higher difficulties (immune to fire/cold/lightning/physical, extra strong, extra fast, mana burn)

Hephasto's spawns with an random aura and is an extremely difficult enemy to face, especially if players are fighting him around Abyss Knights, particularly in Hell difficulty when there is a substantial reduction in resistances. He is weakest against Poison so use poison attacks against him whenever possible.

Quotes

 * "Your souls shall fuel the Hellforge!"

Diablo III
Hephasto is mentioned in flavor text for the Shard of Hate and Hellforge Ember.

Personality and Traits
Hephasto was a hulking demon and moved slowly. As a minion of Baal, was driven to destroy everything he touched. Yet at the same time, he possessed the ability to create. Cain speculated that Hephasto managed to channel his destructive nature into the armaments he forged. It is said that Hephasto took great pride in the knowledge that his creations would cause untold death and carnage.

Trivia

 * Hephasto's Arreat Summit flavor text mentions him as being among the angels that destroyed Mephisto's Temple in the Sin War. This Sin War history has generally been rendered null by more recent lore, where the temple was destroyed by the Edyrem. Taking the text as is, however, Hephasto being corrupted is not in itself a contradiction.


 * His name is possibly a reference to Hephaestus, the Greek god of blacksmiths.

Development

 * Originally in v1.00-1.09d Hephasto The Armorer wasn't green.
 * In v1.00-1.06b he had Extra Strong, Cursed, Magic Resistant instead of his later abilities.
 * In v1.07-1.09d he had the same abilities as now but his aura was always Conviction (3/7/11 Level)