Shenk & Eldritch (Act 5) Farming Guide - Diablo 2

How to Reach: Frigid Highlands (WP)
Bloody Zone Level: Nightmare: 58 - Hell: 80
Frigid Zone Level: Nightmare: 59 - Hell: 81
Golden Chest: No
Boss/Champ Packs: 1 - 3 (In the areas we're going)
Hell Immunities: Fire (Demon Imp, Quill Rat, Slinger, Slayer, Siege Beast, Vile Archer, Berserk Slayer), Cold (Overseer, Fanatic Enslaved, Enslaved, Slinger, Lasher), Lightning (Vile Lancer, Death Brawler, Death Mauler), Poison (Burning Dead Archer) Note: There are other enemies that you may encounter that are not on this list if you go further into the zones

Shenk and Eldritch is one of the most well known farms in the game because of how easy it is combined with how good it is. Both Shenk and Eldritch are Super Unique enemies that can be found extremely close to the Frigid Highlands Waypoint in Act 5. You'll find Eldritch a tad bit north of the Waypoint and Shenk to the south, down the stairs.

Both of these enemies can be taken out in less than two minutes and many players (myself included) typically do a Shenk and Eldritch run after finishing their usual farming route before they reset the game. Port into Frigid Highlands, go north a little and dispose of Eldritch then zoom down south to Shenk and take him out too. Sometimes you'll get lucky and another Champ/Boss/Unique will spawn along with Shenk or Eldritch in the same area to give you an even better chance at good loot. Use my screenshot below to see where both of these guys are on the map.

Frigid Highlands and Bloody Foothills both have an area level of 80+ which means that they can drop the majority of the loot in the game. Shenk and Eldritch are Super Unique enemies which means they are Area Level + 3; in Shenk's case that means he is level 83 and in Eldritch's case he is 84. Both enemies can drop items from all but two Treasure Classes in the game. For more information on what this all means check out my Magic Finding Guide.

Depending on the loot you are after, I would actually recommend you check the area around Shenk too in the Bloody Foothills and around Eldritch for any additional Champ/Boss packs. In the area north of Eldritch I typically always find one or two additional Champ/Boss packs and same goes for the area around Shenk.

I don't recommend you go too far into Frigid Highlands though, the zone isn't the best for Magic Finding (although it's made better if you have Teleport and can easily navigate the parts of the level with the destroyable doors/walls). This is just my personal preference of course but I find Bloody Foothills to be better overall for Magic Finding for anyone without Teleport since it is easier to navigate than Frigid Highlands.

Orange = Boss/Champ & Red = Regular

Above is a screenshot of the area around Shenk, the orange X are Champ/Boss packs and the red X are regular enemies. This is a demonstration of why it is sometimes worthwhile to explore around Shenk. Even though Bloody Foothills is a lower level zone, be warry of Archers, Quillrats and Javelin throwers as they'll mess you up even when you out level the place.

 

Burning Dead Archers: Regular enemies don't hurt too bad but Champ/Boss packs of Burning Dead Archers will do some serious damage to you, especially if you're a squishy caster. Something worth always keeping in mind is that Missile attacks in Diablo 2 do a lot more damage than other physical attacks.

 

Quill Rats: Much like the Burning Dead Archers any Champ/Boss packs of Quill Rats you should watch out for. They ouchie with the darts that they throw.

 

Slingers: Probably the enemy to fear most of all. They hurl Javelins at you and come in large enough groups to do some serious damage if you stand in one spot for too long.