Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden is a skill in Diablo II.

Lore
''This spell curses a creature, condemning them to receive whatever pains they inflict upon others. The greater the skill of the Necromancer, the greater the magnitude of torment the victim receives for his wrongdoings. ''

Synergies

 * Gives synergy to: None
 * Receives synergy from: None

Usage
This Curse causes all melee damage done by the target to be reflected towards the attacker. On lower difficulties, the reflected damage can kill monsters who are attacking the caster or his/her allies. The more points invested in Iron Maiden, the more damage is reflected &mdash; to the point where attackers take many times more damage than they inflict. Iron Maiden is similar in function to the Paladin's Thorns aura and the Druid's Spirit of Barbs, though it is weaker than the former and more powerful than the latter.

Iron Maiden has several limitations. It only reflects Physical damage, and resulting damage also counts as Physical. Iron Maiden doesn't reflect ranged attacks, with the sole exception of Flayer Blow Darts. Iron Maiden is useless against physical immunities. On Hell difficulty, where all monsters gain 50% physical resistance and have far more health than damage they are capable of dealing, Iron Maiden is not very powerful.

A popular Necromancers' PvP tactic against unwary melee fighters is casting Iron Maiden curse coupled with Bone Wall and/or Bone Prison. This is often followed by the trapped player's attempt to destroy the bone barrier with their own melee attacks, typically resulting in instant suicide.

Items
Several items grant Iron Maiden skill:
 * Maelstrom, unique Yew Wand: +1-3 to class skill
 * Wands and Shrunken Heads: +1-3 to class skill staffmod
 * , scepter/polearm runeword: level 15, 40 charges
 * Metalgrid, unique Amulet: level 12, 20 charges
 * Steel Carapace, unique Shadow Plate, CtC when struck, 8%, level 6
 * Saracen's Chance, unique Amulet, CtC when struck, 10%, level 2
 * Corpsemourn, unique Ornate Plate, CtC when struck, 6%, level 2
 * The Gavel of Pain, unique Martel de Fer, CtC when struck, 5%, level 1

Development
Before Patch 1.13, player characters were not the only ones who could use this dangerous curse. The Oblivion Knights in the Harrowing could also use Iron Maiden on the heroes. This was ultimately removed, because if they ever cast Iron Maiden on a melee physical attacker, a quick (and, for an inexperienced player, often completely unexpected and seemingly inexplicable) self-inflicted death could ensue, even on.

Skill Progression
Mana Cost: 5

Radius: 4.6 yards

Diablo III
This curse is a spiritual predecessor of Reflects Damage affix in D3, which allows monsters to briefly return damage they suffer to the attacker as projectiles. Some Skill Runes also allow players to discharge damage taken back to the attacker.

s in Diablo III do not regain this skill, relying on other Curses instead.

Trivia

 * In real world history, iron maidens were mythical medieval torture devices designed to non-lethally impale the victim with spikes. While they did not exist in reality until XVIII century (and there are no records of them ever being actually used), they do have a real prototype: a German "barrel of shame", a spikeless ironbound coffin mostly used on women, hence the "iron maiden" name.