Strategy:Pain elemental

(0.9.9.7)

Care should be taken not to stay in melee range with a pain elemental as if it's a safe location, as in this version, their melee attack is just as damaging as a hell knight's and more damaging than an individual lost soul's, just with less accuracy. This won't help on Ultra-Violence, however, as it does have enough accuracy to always hit on UV. The main threat they pose is from the sheer number of Lost Souls they spawn, however, since these can quickly overwhelm any build that doesn't have or can't use a shotgun. They deal melee damage, so using tactics can help mitigate the damage if you can't dodge out of the way.

Additionally, in this version of the game, pain elementals can spawn lost souls after they've been attacked even if they can't see the player, but they will stop if the attacks also stop, so while it is advisable to run away and come back later if using a pistol build, staying out of vision no longer guarantees your safety.

The best way to deal with them is still a shotgun, as they're slow and tend to get knocked back easily, and the lost souls won't start attacking for a few seconds, giving you ample time to clear the entire horde away.

Main Guide (v0.9.9.5)

General Tactics

Basic strategy posted by Tormuse 11:32, January 16 2012 (GMT).

Pain Elementals have no ranged attack and their melee attack does very little damage. They also move slowly and are easy to evade, so the only significant threat they pose comes from the Lost Souls that they spawn. How dangerous they are depends on what kind of build you are using and also the surrounding terrain.

It's easiest to deal with them with any kind of shotgun. The spread from the shotgun will kill any Lost Souls around the Pain Elemental immediately and simultaneously and the Pain Elemental will fall fairly shortly after that. Back up, if necessary, to keep all the Lost Souls coming at you from one direction so that each shotgun blast takes out a group of them.

On the other hand, if you're using a pistol build, you may have some difficulty because Lost Souls are bullet resistant and you'll only be able to kill one at a time, which means the Pain Elemental will likely be spawning them faster than you can kill them! In this case, it's best to keep the Pain Elemental out of view, since it only spawns Lost Souls when it can see you, pick off the Lost Souls one at a time, and then use corner-shooting to finish off the Pain Elemental once all the Lost Souls are gone.

The rocket launcher is potentially hazardous to use because the Lost Souls will charge you as soon as they're spawned, which will cause a rocket explosion to damage you if it's too close, but if you happen to catch the Pain Elemental at the right moment when it's distant enough and Lost Souls are surrounding it, you can wipe out all the Lost Souls instantly and do substantial damage to the Pain Elemental.

The other thing to be mindful about is the terrain; different surroundings can present different challenges. If you are in open terrain, then it might be advisable to keep the Pain Elemental at the edge or out of your visual range to keep it from spawning too many Lost Souls, since they will fill the available space. The new AI in this version causes the Lost Souls to tend to scatter around which can make them a nuisance in open surroundings. On the other hand, if the Pain Elemental is in tight maze-like surroundings, then you need to be wary of Lost Souls that will be spawned on the other side of the wall, thus potentially allowing them to sneak up on you and approach you from a direction you're not expecting. (This last bit goes for when you kill the Pain Elemental too, since it spawns three last Lost Souls when it dies.)

Trait Usage

If you're using a melee build that uses Berserker trait, Pain Elementals become a valuable resource, because the abundant Lost Souls they produce will die from one hit each and can be used to keep your berserk status going. Blademaster master trait is helpful, in this case, to control the rate at which Lost Souls approach you and stops you from being overwhelmed, since, if the Lost Souls ever surround you, you can kill them all simultaneously.

If you're using a Vampyre build and you find a Pain Elemental, then Christmas has just come early! For a Vampyre, if handled properly, Pain Elementals pretty much guarantee that you'll be able to clear a level without too much trouble and come out with 200% health and start the next level berserk. The strategy is to hang around the Pain Elemental, letting it spawn Lost Souls and killing them as they come. Each kill heals you, so it won't take long to max out your health and get into a berserk state. If too many Lost Souls are spawned in a short time and you're getting overwhelmed, then back away from the Pain Elemental so they can only approach you one or two at a time. Once you get up to 200% health and have some berserk power going, use it to go on a rampage and clear the rest of the monsters on the level. You can return to the Pain Elemental to heal and recharge your berserk as many times as you need to. Once you're ready to leave the level, lure the Pain Elemental over to the stairs, heal yourself up, kill it, and then continue on to the next level, fully healed and berserk.