Boss Modifiers
Boss modifiers are special bonus properties that bosses randomly spawn, or that they have preset by the developers. These grant the bosses extra speed, damage, the ability to teleport or duplicate themselves, and much more.
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Special Modifiers
Most of the special, random modifiers found on bosses in Diablo 3 are reminiscent of those seen in Diablo 2, but there are some new ones mixed in. All of the bosses seen (on normal difficulty) in the Blizzcon 2008 and 2009 demos had at least one modifier, but quite a few had two. It's not known if the bosses with two mods were SuperUniques sporting their own innate mod + a random one, or if some bosses can just spawn with multiple modifiers on normal difficulty.
Most of the special, random modifiers found on bosses in Diablo 3 are reminiscent of those seen in Diablo 2, but there are some new ones mixed in. This should be considered a partial list, and was compiled from play experience at Blizzcon 2009.[1] Expect updates and changes until and even after the release of the game.
Cold Aura
This was reported by a fan, but not seen in any videos of the event. It reputedly worked just as it did in Diablo 2, chilling and slowing players within the radius of effect. After Blizzcon, Jay Wilson let it be known that Auras would return to the game, most likely as Monk skills, so monsters having auras as well doesn't seem that unlikely.
Doppelganger
A fairly common boss property; this one allowed bosses to create clones of themselves, much as Baal does in Diablo 2. The clones had the same properties as the boss, and fought just as the boss did. (Making them very dangerous, when they were clones of a nasty boss with a dangerous property.) Fortunately, they had fewer hit points (possibly 50% as much, as Baal's clone does), and their name hovers said "clone of _____" so they were fairly easy to spot. They disappeared when killed, dropping nothing, and all vanished when the boss was killed.
Individual bosses were able to produce numerous clones at the same time, essentially making their own minion packs. In most cases at Blizzcon 2009 (where this property was first observed) it was strategically better to ignore the clones and go right for the boss, since it would make more clones as (or more) quickly than players could kill them off.
Electrified
Diablo 3's version of Lightning Enchanted bosses, these guys emitted sparks when struck, added lightning damage to their attacks, and presumably resisted lightning damage as well. It's unknown if Multi-Shot will return as a boss property in Diablo 3, but if so it's assumed that Diablo 2's buggy, mega-damage from MSLE bosses will not be repeated in Diablo 3.
Fast
These were much quicker than normal, making the property seem identical to Diablo 2's "Extra Fast" boss modifier. Most bosses looked to be about twice as fast, but Diii.net reported seeing a crazy fast desert wasp boss. [2]
- It’s a substantial speed increase; I got a Doppelganger, Fast, Desert Wasp, and the boss and its clones were moving like lightning. Far faster than any other monster I ever saw in the Blizzcon build, and Desert Wasps usually just hovered in place, hardly moving at all. The boss and the clones did not shoot out any of the little green wasp BBs, at least.
Frozen
Diablo 3's version of Cold Enchanted. These monsters hit with bonus cold damage that chilled the target, and will presumably have boosted cold resistance as well. They give off a visual clue to their nature, by sparkling with frost and emitting shimmering little puffs of cold as they moved and fought.
Magical
This modifier was seen several times during Blizzcon 2009 play testing, but its effect wasn't apparent to any of the players.
Molten
A property that adds fire damage (and presumably fire resistance) to monsters, much as Fire Enchanted did in Diablo 2. This modifier was also seen on some normal monsters; Molten skeletons were seen, and they appeared to have fire damage added. From this sighting players are speculating that boss modifiers may regularly appear on normal monsters, adding to their abilities. Rather than Diablo 2's Burning Dead skeletons, Diablo 3 might just have regular skeletons with Molten or other boss properties.
Multi-Shot
The dreaded multi-shot boss modifier returns in Diablo 3, as confirmed by Bashiok.[3] The mod itself wasn't that bad in Diablo 3, since bosses with projectiles were seldom dangerous. The danger in Diablo 2 came when MS paired with LE (Lightning-Enchanted), known as Electrified in Diablo 3, since the sparks emitted when the boss was hit were multiplied by the MS property. That was a bug and was fixed in later versions of the game. The bug does not recur in Diablo 3, so a boss with those two properties is not uniquely dangerous.
However, since some of the projectiles fired in Diablo 3 are much more dangerous than those in Diablo 2, this modifier may be more dangerous on the whole.
Mythical
This modifier was seen several times during Blizzcon 2009 play testing, but its effect wasn't apparent to any of the players.
Nightmarish
A new boss mod in Diablo 3, this one inflicts Horrify, the Witch Doctor spell, during battle. This causes players and their minions to run away in fear for 2 seconds. It's an interesting property, since none of the mind control curses worked on players in Diablo 2. More testing will be required to determine just how dangerous this one is. Would horrified players run into fields of fire, or through a doorway into a room packed with enemies?
That a boss can do this opens the door to speculation that some mind control might work in PvP as well, which would be a very new angle on things.
Plagued
Bosses with this modifier added poison damage to their attacks, and presumably enjoyed greater resistance to poison damage as well. They gave off a visual identifier, with little clouds of green smoke rising up from them. This mod seems to be the Diablo 3 version of Poison Enchanted.
Powerful
Another mod that wasn't exactly clear. Players speculated that it might be the Diablo 3 version of Extra Strong, enabling bosses to hit for extra damage, but that wasn't clear from the play testing. These bosses did not seem to take any longer to kill, so apparently it's not a boost to their hit points or other defensive stats.
Stoneskin
This mod returns from Diablo 2, granting the monsters with it higher defense. It didn't seem to boost other resistances, since Wizards who got SS monsters blasted through them without pause.
Teleporting
Another returning modifier from Diablo 2, though it's been changed a bit in function. Diablo 3 bosses with Teleport used it regularly and randomly; about every 6 seconds the monster would vanish, reappearing at a random location elsewhere on the screen. They did not heal when they teleported, and if they were a melee attacker the boss would charge right back at the character without pause.
This one looked like it could be nasty on a ranged attacking enemy, especially in a dungeon with narrow pathways and different levels. The teleporting boss would be constantly popping around the screen, never pausing in its ranged attack, while the player chased it up and down stairways, etc.
Vampirific
These bosses had life leech, and a very high level of it. They didn't do more damage, but the fights took much longer since they were constantly healing themselves. Hard hitting enemies seemed to almost entirely refill their hit points with each successful strike, and some players reported enduring long, tricky battles with these bosses. [4]
- A vampiric monster ruined my last playthrough of the con. I tried to hit it with my Witch Doctor, but it kept healing itself by hitting my mongrels. I spent something like 5 minutes gently kiting it around, trying to get off a Skull of Flame or two before it could melee me. I didn’t even get to level up that time. Very, very mad.
- --ExtraCrispy