Forgotten Temple (Act 3) Farming Guide - Diablo 2

How to Reach: Upper Kurast (WP) > The Forgotten Temple
Zone Level: Nightmare: 37 -- Hell: 85
Golden Chest: Yes
Boss/Champ Packs: 4 - 5
Hell Immunities: Fire (Blood Diver), Cold (Flesh Archer & Serpent Magus), Lightning (Bone Scarab)

The Forgotten Temple is an extremely small zone that's found in Upper Kurast. On Hell difficulty this is one of the few zones in the game with an Area Level of 85 which means that the Champ/Boss packs in this zone can drop the highest Treasure Class of loot. This is important for people searching for the best loot in the game, for more information about Treasure Class head over to my Magic Finding Guide.

Since the Forgotten Temple isn't very large, most people don't go out of their way to come here and farm. It takes too long to get here and there isn't enough here to actually make it worth the travel time. There are a few exceptions to this rule, however. If you're playing on Single Player and your maps never change, hitting The Forgotten Temple along with Ruined Fane and the Disused Reliquary before doing Travincal High Council or Durance of Hate runs is not a terrible idea.

You can also fit the Forgotten Temple into a farming run of The Sewers, since the entrance to the temple is usually very close to The Sewers entrance. When I am focusing more on Gold Finding than I am Magic Finding I like to do full runs of Lower Kurast, Upper Kurast and Kurast Bazaar and clear out each of the optional dungeons, like the Forgotten Temple when I do. This is just another one of the many ways that you can encorporate this zone into your farming rotations.

Note: There is a chest right next to the Forgotten Temple entrance that is usually a 'Super Chest'. This means that it's a normal chest but gives you as much loot as one of the Golden Chests typically found at the end of a dungeon.

Forgotten Temple on Hell. Red = Regular Enemies & Orange = Boss/Champ Pack.

Inside of the Forgotten Temple you can encounter Scarabs, Bats, Vipers or Archers. The Scarabs are immune to Lightning, like the ones from Act 2, Bats are immune to Fire and the Archers/Vipers are immune to Cold. Which type of monster you encounter in the temple is usually random and they usually come in pairs... Meaning that you'll encounter Scarabs and Archers together or Bats and Vipers together but rarely all four types in one temple.

For the most part, only the Cold Immune enemies are a problem in my experience. The Flesh Archers hurt and the Serpent Magus' are probably the deadliest enemies in the zone. If you're a class or build that primarily deals Cold damage you will have to find a way to defeat these enemies as leaving them alive just isn't an option in this small zone. They'll follow you all over the zone and you won't be able to easily break agro.

Mob Alert: Serpent Magus without a doubt is the main enemy you'll want to watch out for in this zone. Their regular attacks drain your mana and have a chance to chill you on each strike. They also have a short range charge attack that will momentarily stun your character.