Succubus

"I once met a raving drunk who claimed he had wrestled with a succubus — a demonic creature that possesses the form and face of a beautiful woman. He said she cursed him and tore out the heart of his friend before he made a narrow escape! Really, young men are given to such exaggeration these days..."

- Abd Al-Hazir^(src)

A Succubus

Succubi are demons in the form of voluptuous female humans with wings and talons.

Lore

A Succubus

The handmaidens of Andariel, Succubi are beautiful and seductive demons, and so tempt mortals into evil and death. They possess an incessant craving for blood, especially that of human men, and they take to battle with a passion and a joy not often seen in demons. They are fast and mobile in combat, preferring to weaken their prey from a distance with a diabolical curse. Once their prey is weakened, the Succubi move in for the kill, slashing viciously with their long, curved talons. Gathered in a clutch, a Succubi pack can send nigh inexhaustible streams of of destructive magic sufficient overcome most foes.

The figure of a Succubus is perfect and smooth, with milky skin, coupled with demonic bat wings and a smooth, thorny dress. While capable in combat, Succubi prefer to to seduce mortals with subtle machinations, only to kill them and drag their souls into Hell. The separation of the soul is usually carried out through poison, a dagger in the dark, or some other easy betrayal to separate the soul from the flesh.

Variants

Variants of Succubi exist, including the following:

• Snow Witches: These Succubi enjoy the chase, and are more given to use Hell-brewed love potions to capture slaves of the opposite sex. When in doubt, a Snow Witch reads a slave's entrails as an augury.

• Hell Spawn: These Succubi know no other pleasure than the delivery of a screaming soul to Hell. Birthed in pain, Hell Spawn strive to make all others suffer as they do.

• Soul Burners: These Succubi have mastered the essence of terror and pain.

History

A multi-limbed Succubus

The Succubi were present below the Tristram Cathedral during the Darkening of Tristram. They were thought to have been wiped out in the battle that followed, but two years later, Baal unleashed his personal harem of Succubi during his assault on Mount Arreat. These Succubi were among the most zealous minions of their master. Twenty years later, Succubi were again seen on Sanctuary, among Azmodan's Army of Destruction, and later, during Diablo's assault on the High Heavens.

In-game

Diablo I

Succubi appear in Diablo I. Archbishop Lazarus uses Succubi as his personal guards below Tristram. They are then encountered in the later levels of the game.

Succubi attack using the spell Bloodstar, but unlike the spell players can learn, it does not consume their health. The projectile's color corresponds to the different colors of blood. As the succubi have no melee attack, they flee if the player closes in on them, making them infamously troublesome for melee attackers, especially the Barbarian. Succubi appear in three other variations: Snow Witches, Hell Spawn, and Soul Burners.

Stats

Name	Image	Level	Damage	HP	Resistance	Immunity
Succubus		24	1–20	120–150	Magic	None
		39	6–44	230–275	None	None
		54	10–86	340–400	Fire	Magic
Snow Witch		26	1–24	67–87	Lightning	None
		41	6–52	251–311	None	None
		56	10–102	368–448	Lightning	Magic
Hell Spawn		28	1–30	75–100	Magic	Lightning
		43	6–64	275–350	None	None
		58	10–126	400–500	Lightning	Magic, Fire
Soul Burner		30	1–35	70–112	Magic, Lightning	Fire
		45	6–74	260–386	None	None
		60	10–146	380–548	None	Magic, Fire, Lightning

Unique Succubi

• Blackjade (Hell Spawn)
• Bloodlust (Hell Spawn)
• Red Vex (Hell Spawn)
• Stareye the Witch (Hell Spawn)
• Witchfire the Unholy (Succubi)
• Witchmoon (Snow Witch)

Diablo II

Succubi appear in Diablo II, specifically in Act V. Their appearance has changed slightly, and they actually utilize their wings for flight. They are clothed, and have a stabbing tail.

The Succubus' infamous curse returns, this time under the moniker of "Blood Mana." However, they will only cast it on players that have greater than or equal mana to life. If the opposite is true, Succubi will cast a curse that halves defense.

Besides normal Succubi, there are four other variations: Vile Temptresses, Stygian Harlots, Hell Temptresses, and Blood Temptresses.

Stats

Succubus

Property	Normal	Nightmare	Hell
Type	Demon	Demon	Demon
Act(s) found in	5	5	5
Monster Level	32	61	82
Experience	913	11412	42406
Health points	155–228	827–1241	2626–5253
Damage 1	9–17	24–45	46–83
Attack Rating 1	453	1841	5105
Damage 2	9–17	24–45	46–83
Attack Rating 2	453	1841	5105
Defense	205	952	1837
% to Block	42	42	42
Damage Resist	0	0	10
Magic Resist	0	0	0
Fire Resist	0	0	120
Cold Resist	0	0	50
Lightning Resist	0	0	50
Poison Resist	0	0	25
Drain Effectiveness	100	85	75
Immunities	—	—	Fire
Chill Effectiveness	50	40	33
Walk/Run Speed	?	?
Group/Minion Size	?	?

Vile Temptress

Property	Normal	Nightmare	Hell
Type	Demon	Demon	Demon
Act(s) found in	5	5	5
Monster Level	34	61	82
Experience	1097	11412	42406
Health points	157–252	827–1241	2626–5253
Damage 1	10–18	25–45	46–83
Attack Rating 1	441	1841	5105
Damage 2	10–18	25–45	46–83
Attack Rating 2	441	1841	5105
Defense	218	952	1837
% to Block	44	44	44
Damage Resist	0	0	10
Magic Resist	0	0	0
Fire Resist	0	0	66
Cold Resist	0	0	50
Lightning Resist	0	0	50
Poison Resist	0	0	110
Drain Effectiveness	100	85	75
Immunities	—	—	Poison
Chill Effectiveness	50	40	33
Walk/Run Speed	?	?
Group/Minion Size	?	?

Stygian Harlot

Property	Normal	Nightmare	Hell
Type	Demon	Demon	Demon
Act(s) found in	5	5	5
Monster Level	35	62	83
Experience	1211	12097	43629
Health points	165–264	827–1270	2678–5356
Damage 1	10–19	25–45	47–84
Attack Rating 1	458	1869	5164
Damage 2	10–19	25–45	47–84
Attack Rating 2	458	1869	5164
Defense	224	966	1858
% to Block	46	46	46
Damage Resist	0	0	10
Magic Resist	0	0	0
Fire Resist	0	0	66
Cold Resist	0	0	50
Lightning Resist	0	0	100
Poison Resist	0	0	25
Drain Effectiveness	100	85	75
Immunities	—	—	Lightning
Chill Effectiveness	50	40	33
Walk/Run Speed	?	?
Group/Minion Size	?	?

Hell Temptress

Property	Normal	Nightmare	Hell
Type	Demon	Demon	Demon
Act(s) found in	5	5	5
Monster Level	40	63	84
Experience	1945	12824	44852
Health points	206–326	868–1302	2730–5460
Damage 1	11–21	26–46	47–84
Attack Rating 1	523	1897	5223
Damage 2	11–21	26–46	47–84
Attack Rating 2	523	1897	5223
Defense	256	979	1879
% to Block	50	50	50
Damage Resist	0	0	100
Magic Resist	0	0	0
Fire Resist	0	0	66
Cold Resist	0	0	50
Lightning Resist	0	0	50
Poison Resist	0	0	25
Drain Effectiveness	100	85	75
Immunities	—	—	Physical
Chill Effectiveness	50	40	33
Walk/Run Speed	?	?
Group/Minion Size	?	?

Blood Temptress

Property	Normal	Nightmare	Hell
Type	Demon	Demon	Demon
Act(s) found in	5	5	5
Monster Level	42	64	85
Experience	2361	13593	46075
Health points	222–355	888–1332	2782–5563
Damage 1	12–22	26–46	48–86
Attack Rating 1	551	1925	5282
Damage 2	12–22	26–46	48–86
Attack Rating 2	551	1925	5282
Defense	269	993	1898
% to Block	50	50	50
Damage Resist	0	0	25
Magic Resist	0	0	0
Fire Resist	0	0	66
Cold Resist	0	0	50
Lightning Resist	0	0	50
Poison Resist	0	0	120
Drain Effectiveness	100	85	75
Immunities	—	—	Poison
Chill Effectiveness	50	40	33
Walk/Run Speed	?	?
Group/Minion Size	?	?

• Depending on the variation, Succubi can be immune to one of the elements in Hell mode.
• Succubi have a chance of dealing Magic damage.
• If you have more life than mana, instead of casting Blood Mana, Succubi will cast a curse that halves your Defense. This is raised to 65% in Nightmare, and 85% in Hell.
• There are no super unique succubi.

Diablo III

Succubi are back in Diablo III as handmaidens and daughters of the Maiden of Lust. They can be found in different areas of Act III and IV, respectively in the Arreat Crater and in most areas of the High Heavens. Their appearance is different from that in the first two games, but like in Diablo I, they literally fight completely unarmored.

As seductive and deadly as usual, the Succubi possess their signature Blood Star attack. Prior to patch 2.2.0, it used to apply a curse on damaging hit, reducing Armor by -35% for 5 seconds. Because of that, the Succubi used to be support attackers, not too deadly by themselves, but they did make it much easier for all other monsters to kill a hero, especially towards classes that rely on Armor instead of all resistances as their major form of protection.

The Succubi with their Blood Stars clearly visible.

Succubi are fragile, and killing them is only problematic if they are hiding behind their more resilient allies. The damage of a Succubus's attacks is low, but their Blood Star homing projectiles are moving erratically with changing speed, making them rather unpredictable for avoidance, and may make slight changes to trajectory to home at enemies. Avoid large groups of other monsters accompanied by the Succubi, or separate them for easier dispatching. Remember Succubi can fly over the impassable terrain and even have a 'backflip' move that frequently allows them to escape melee combat.

There is a mini-event in Tower of the Cursed involving several Keep Guards mind-controlled by the Succubi as they are being prepared to be sacrificed to Cydaea. Upon the death of their tormentors, these guards join the hero to help with clearing the rest of the tower. Sadly, though, they cannot last long against the monsters in the tower, especially Champion/Rare packs.

Succubi model artwork

Succubus in-game model

Unique Succubi

• Demonika the Wicked (Tower of the Damned Level 1)
• Kysindra the Wretched (The Silver Spire Level 1)
• Lady Victoria (House of Deep Sorrow, Westmarch Commons, Event)
• Lysa (Lair of the Prophet)
• Tethrys (Rift Guardian)

Trivia

This section contains facts and trivia relevant to this article.

A Succubus

• Despite Succubi often fighting without any armor to cover their upper body in the first and third game (and on artworks), no organization has ever demanded Blizzard Entertainment to make 'censored' versions of these monsters in either of the three games. According to Lylirra, who commented on the issue, all three Diablo games have an M rating (Mature, 17+ on ERSB), which allows nudity and gore.

• If one looks closely at a Succubus model in Diablo III, their "wings" are actually made from their own hair.

• A non-combat pet was added in patch 2.4.1: Queen of the Succubi.

• There are no Incubi (male variant) in the series.

• Oddly, in the second game, unlike the first and the third, Succubi have bright feathered wings and long, thick, almost lash-like tails. In the first game, they have no tails at all.

Etymology

• In the Western medieval legend, a Succubus (plural Succubi) is a demon who takes the form of a beautiful woman to seduce men in dreams to have sexual intercourse. They draw energy from the men to sustain themselves, often until the point of exhaustion or death of the victim. Similarly, there are also demons called incubi, the male version of succubi. However there are no apparent incubus in Sanctuary as of yet.

• The word "succubus" comes from an alteration of the Late Latin succuba meaning "strumpet". The word itself is derived from the Latin prefix "sub-" which means "below, underneath", and the verb "cubo" which means "I lie". So a succubus is someone who lies under another person, whereas an incubi (Latin "in-" in this case stands for "on top") is someone who lies on top of another person.