D'Sparil is the final boss and chief antagonist of Heretic, and is boss of Episode 3: The Dome of D'Sparil.
He is the first and the youngest of the trio of Serpent Riders, using cunning and deception to initially gain dominance of Parthoris, the world of Heretic. He declared that the supernatural race of the Sidhe be forever hunted as heretics of their new order. The sequel, Heretic II, begins with D'Sparil's death and shows D'Sparil cursing Corvus.
The name "D'Sparil" almost certainly comes from one of id Software's earliest games, Catacombs 3D, because level 12 is called "The Tomb of Desparil".
In Game
The player, as Corvus, fights D'Sparil in a wide arena with a large trident-shaped ledge in the upper-middle, and various teleporter destinations scattered around the map. D'Sparil initially is seated upon a Green Chaos Serpent, which are prevalent in Hexen.
The Serpent is the most powerful of any Chaos Serpents in the series itself, able to belch fireballs, at first in single units, and then after falling below half its Health, shoot a line of three scattered fireballs at the player. The Serpent can also make a bursting charge of speed towards the player when stunned by attacks. Like the Iron Lich and the Maulotaur, D'Sparil is immune to the effects of the Morph Ovum and cannot be instantly killed by the Firemace under the influence of the Tome of Power. D'sparil also has a 50% immunity to the powered up Hellstaff's rain like the Maulotaur.
When the Serpent dies, D'Sparil will electrify and rise up, and start attacking the player. His abilities are a mix of offensive and defensive tactics, one being to fire a blue, trailing bolt of electricity for extreme damage to unarmored players. He can also shoot a pair of purple rings which turn into Disciples of D'Sparil, and teleport himself to one of the 6 raised platforms in the area. As he is damaged more, he will teleport more often. D'sparil will also often teleport when he is hit by a Phoenix Rod missile or Hell Staff rain (the game code does a specific check for these weapon hitting him).
When D'Sparil finally dies, his flesh and robes explode and burn away in a burst of electrical energy, leaving a clean, intact skeleton that falls to the ground. All the other enemies on the level will instantly die, and the portal to the end of the third episode will be revealed.
D'Sparil's entire fight is 5500 Hit Points; 2000 Hit points for the Chaos Serpent, and D'Sparil himself having another 3500 Hit Points.
Possible Strategy
First off, run all around the large arena, collecting everything you can, including the Wings of Wrath. Fly to the ledge above, there are plenty of Mace Spheres, as well as two secret doors, one on the far end of each side, containing a Mystic Urn and a Ring of Invincibility; D'Sparil should rarely if ever attack you until you start fighting him in earnest. Pay attention to D'Sparil. Use the Phoenix Rod from a distance and you should be safe, but be aware that the Serpent will start to run and fire more fireballs the weaker it gets (by this point in the game, you should have no trouble circle strafing). When the Serpent dies, D'Sparil rises. His only attack is a fast lightning bolt that deals massive damage but has an extremely narrow range and gives you plenty of warning. The real challenge comes from his teleporting around and summoning Disciples; you should eliminate him as quickly as possible since the Disciples he summons may annoy or kill you. The Hellstaff might be an option to kill him, but consider the Phoenix Rod as well - D'Sparil teleports rather often so slower projectiles from too far away and continuous attacks don't work so well. If you've got a Firemace, it won't be so hard for you, and if the Disciples he summons get out of hand, consider using a Tome of Power with the Dragon Claw to clear them out.
You can also take cover in the narrow gaps in the raised Serpent Rider sigil (the structure you appear on top of when teleporting in). D'Sparil will come looking for you, appearing at the end of the narrow passage. You have no room to dodge, so you must force him to teleport away very quickly. When low on health D'Sparil will become virtually impossible to hit because as soon as he rounds the corner into line of sight of the player, he will teleport. When you reach this stage of the battle, you must go out to finish him off.
In addition to the conventional method of fighting D'Sparil, there are two methods which exploit design oversights. First, because D'Sparil's summon spells are cast at random, with a little save scumming you can easily defeat him without him ever summoning Disciples. Just save at regular intervals (such as every third time that D'Sparil teleports) and reload the last save any time that D'Sparil summons Disciples. Second, since the Disciples' projectiles harm D'Sparil, once there are a sufficient number of Disciples you can prompt them to destroy D'Sparil by running around the perimeter of the arena. So long as you maintain consistent speed and direction, the Disciples' rain of projectiles will consistently miss you, but will inevitably hit D'Sparil.
Battle Sounds
The demonic incantations of D'Sparil are actual phrases recorded backwards:
- SORSIT - This sound is hard to understand, but some possible interpretations are "Now ravens shall chew your flesh" and "I will torture your flesh"
- SORACT - "Surrender to D'Sparil"
Death sounds
- SORDTH - Screaming and burning in loud agony and falling to pieces. He screams with "WAAARGH!"
Data: D'Sparil on Serpent
| Attributes | |
|---|---|
| ID # | 142 (decimal), 8E (hex) |
| Hit points | 2000 |
| Speed | 16 map units per frame (112 map units per second) |
| Width | 56 |
| Height | 100 |
| Reaction time | 8 |
| Pain chance | 56 (21.96%) |
| Mass | 800 |
| Bits | ? |
| Bits list |
|---|
|
? |
| Sprites & sounds | |
|---|---|
| Sprite name | SRCR |
| Alert sound | BSTSIT |
| Active sound | SBTACT |
| Pain sound | SBTPAI |
| Attack sound | BSTATK |
| Death sound | SBTDTH |
| Melee attack | |
|---|---|
| Damage | 8-64 |
| Sound | BSTATK |
| Fireball | |
|---|---|
| Type | Projectile |
| Speed | 20 map units per tic (700 map units per second) |
| Damage | 10-80 |
| Width | 20 |
| Height | 10 |
| Sprite name | FX14 |
Data: D'Sparil Sans Serpent
| Attributes | |
|---|---|
| ID # | 143 (decimal), 8F (hex) |
| Hit points | 3500 |
| Speed | 14 map units per frame (122.5 map units per second) |
| Width | 32 |
| Height | 70 |
| Reaction time | 8 |
| Pain chance | 32 (12.55%) |
| Mass | 300 |
| Bits | ? |
| Bits list |
|---|
|
? |
| Sprites & sounds | |
|---|---|
| Sprite names | SOR2 (living), SDTH (dead) |
| Alert sound | SORSIT |
| Active sound | SORACT |
| Pain sound | SORPAI |
| Attack sound | SORATK |
| Death sounds | SORDSPH, SORDEXP, SORDBON |
| Melee attack | |
|---|---|
| Damage | 20-160 |
| Sound | SORATK |
| Lightning Bolt | |
|---|---|
| Type | Projectile |
| Speed | 20 map units per tic (700 map units per second) |
| Damage | 1-8 (direct hit) 0-(80-111) (blast radius) 81-119 (direct hit + blast radius) |
| Width | 20 |
| Height | 6 |
| Sprite name | FX16 |
See also
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