The Curse of King Leoric

The Skeleton King is the risen corpse of Mad King Leoric, returned to malevolent life and gifted with magical powers to raise and control a skeletal army. If this quest is activated, he must be destroyed to free the souls of his former priests and soldiers, but with his protectors and his combat ability, this will be no easy task.

• This article is about the quest, see King Leoric for stats and figures for the monster himself.

The Skeleton King

Leoric

• Quest Name: The Curse of King Leoric
• Frequency: Every game in MP. Half the time in SP.
• Triggered By: Speaking to Ogden after reaching the second level of the dungeon.
• Given by: Ogden.
• Location: In MP the Skeleton King and his retainers are found somewhere on level 3 of the dungeon. In SP a special passage to the Skeleton King's sub-level is found on level 3 of the dungeon.
• Reward: Random magical item in MP. In SP, the Skeleton King drops The Undead Crown, a unique crown with life leech. There are also a number of treasure chests in the Skeleton King's dungeon that contain multiple magical items.

The Skeleton King is a defleshed giant of a man. He's at least 3 meters tall and carries a long sword taller than your character. He fights well with it, but prefers to stalk around just out of reach, raising up fresh skeletons to join the battle and taunting you with his ghastly, echoing voice.

Strategy Tips

The Undead Crown 5% Life Stealing Armor Class: 8 Durability: 60

The King can hit hard and fast, but he moves quite erratically, and seldom races right into melee range. Mages and Rogues will generally fire a lot of shots and miss him with most of them, but he has enough power and speed to rip up a lightly-armored character at melee range, so try to keep your distance. For a melee character, the King can hit pretty hard, but at least while he's fighting at melee range he won't raise skeletons very often.

If at all possible, equip a blunt weapon before taking on the King, since the extra 50% damage from a club or mace will make a huge difference over the course of beating on so many skeletons.

You can keep continually gaining experience by letting the King raise skeletons and killing them, while ignoring the King himself.

Battling the Skeleton King is quite a different experience in single player or multiplayer.

Multiplayer

In MP, the King is found somewhere on level 3, and where he spawns, and what type of skeletons he spawns with, make a big difference in how the battle goes. He always appears with a great mass of skeletons, thirty or more, who are a mixture of melee fighters or archers. If the King appears in a small room, or a narrow hallway, his skeletons can be dealt with just a few at a time. If he spawns in a large open room, and especially if he does so with a great number of archers, he can be very difficult or even impossible to reach for a melee fighter, due to the torrent of arrows his skeletal archers fire. His undead servants will usually remain near their spawning spot, so it's up to you to brave their artillery fire, or try to lure them out, or try to lure the King away from his backup.

Single Player

In SP, the King is always in a special dungeon area which is a lot of fun to explore. Which skeletons he spawns with are randomized here as well, but there are a lot of other skeletons in the level who are the same type and are found in the same location every game. This makes the level more predictable, but also means the King will have dead skeletons in every direction, so no matter how you retreat when the fight begins, you will always have to run back over skeletons he can raise up.

In addition to the Skeleton King, there are a number of bone levers and crucified corpses in the area. Throw the bone levers to open secret doors to bonus areas, and knock down all four of the crucified skeletons to open a secret door in the rear of the King's burial chamber, where you'll find a great deal more skeletons and three well-loaded treasure chests as well.

• Skeleton King stats.

The Tomb of King Leoric.

Quest Dialogues

Activation

Ogden

The village needs your help, good master! Some months ago King Leoric's son, Prince Albrecht, was kidnapped. The King went into a rage and scoured the village for his missing child. With each passing day, Leoric seemed to slip deeper into madness. He sought to blame innocent townsfolk for the boy's disappearance and had them brutally executed. Less than half of us survived his insanity...

The King's Knights and Priests tried to placate him, but he turned against them and sadly, they were forced to kill him. With his dying breath the King called down a terrible curse upon his former followers. He vowed that they would serve him in darkness forever...

This is where things take an even darker twist than I thought possible! Our former King has risen from his eternal sleep and now commands a legion of undead minions within the Labyrinth. His body was buried in a tomb three levels beneath the Cathedral. Please, good master, put his soul at ease by destroying his now cursed form...

Townsfolk

Adria

The dead who walk among the living follow the cursed King. He holds the power to raise yet more warriors for an ever growing army of the undead. If you do not stop his reign, he will surely march across this land and slay all who still live here.

Cain

Ahh, the story of our King, is it? The tragic fall of Leoric was a harsh blow to this land. The people always loved the King, and now they live in mortal fear of him. The question that I keep asking myself is how he could have fallen so far from the Light, as Leoric had always been the holiest of men. Only the vilest powers of Hell could so utterly destroy a man from within...

Farnham

I don't care about that. Listen, no skeleton is gonna be MY king. Leoric is King. King, so you hear me? HAIL TO THE KING!

Gillian

I don't like to think about how the King died. I like to remember him for the kind and just ruler that he was. His death was so sad and seemed very wrong, somehow.

Griswold

I made many of the weapons and most of the armor that King Leoric used to outfit his knights. I even crafted a huge two-handed sword of the finest mithril for him, as well as a field crown to match. I still cannot believe how he died, but it must have been some sinister force that drove him insane!

Ogden

As I told you, good master, the King was entombed three levels below. He's down there, waiting in the putrid darkness for his chance to destroy this land...

Pepin

The loss of his son was too much for King Leoric. I did what I could to ease his madness, but in the end it overcame him. A black curse has hung over this kingdom from that day forward, but perhaps if you were to free his spirit from his earthly prison, the curse would be lifted...

Wirt

Look, I'm running a business here. I don't sell information, and I don't care about some King that's been dead longer than I've been alive. If you need something to use against this King of the undead, then I can help you out...

Others

Skeleton King

The warmth of life has entered my tomb. Prepare yourself, mortal, to serve my Master for eternity!

Player

Rest well, Loeric. I'll find your son.

Completion

Ogden

The curse of our King has passed, but I fear that it was only part of a greater evil at work. However, we may yet be saved from the darkness that consumes our land, for your victory is a good omen. May Light guide you on your way, good master.