Pindleskin stands guard over Nihlathak's Temple and is accessible through the Red Portal next to Anya after you finish the Rescue Anya Quest. With access to the Treasure Class (TC) 87, and a Monster Level of 86, both he and his minions can drop almost every item in the game.
Because this farm spot is useful for Experience even at Level 96, it is very common to have end-game builds that continue to include Pindleskin in their rotation. With specialized builds specifically target-farming him as the most efficient single boss pack in the game.
Why farm Pindleskin?
There are ONLY 3 items that Pindleskin's pack CANNOT drop due to their mlvl being 86:
- azurewrath
- tyrael'smight
- arachnidmesh
This makes Pindle incredibly valuable to farm, since he always drops 2 items of Magic quality or higher. (Unless they drop a Rune or Gem). This means you do NOT need to farm him on higher Player Settings to get the largest benefit of your Magic Find. If you do increase Player Settings, his minions are more likely to drop items, and they also have access to the same TC.
Pindleskin is naturally Immune to Poison, and very rarely Immune to the other Damage Types, most often Fire. Even when he is Immune to other types, his minions are not. Builds that rely on Fire can easily clear the minions while your Mercenary finishes Pindle.
Here are some examples of what you can find in Hell. Check out our drop calculator for all possible drops.
| Hell | ||
| Character Specific | Jalal's Mane Herald of Zakarum Eschuta's Temper immortalking'ssoulcage | |
| Caster Builds | talrasha'sguardianship Mara's Kaleidoscope Harlequin Crest | |
| Attack Builds | Highlord's Wrath Guillaume's Face Andariel's Visage Dracul's Grasp Verdungo's Hearty Cord | |
| Other | griffon'seye Stormshield The Reaper's Toll | |
How do I find Pindleskin?
Red Portal in Harrogath
You must first rescue Anya from the Frozen River. After completing this quest, Anya returns to Harrogath and open a Red Portal. Anya, and the Portal, are located to the Southwest of the Waypoint.
Nihlathak's Temple
Pindleskin's pack is located inside the building in the Northeast of this area (on the Blue character marker). Quickly run towards the open doorway (yellow) from the Red Portal, to avoid the Dread Warriors who resurrect after a few seconds. The purple stairwell leads to the Halls of Anguish, which is safe to enter before returning to Town.
Tips & Tricks
High Damage Output Monsters
Pindleskin and his minions are very strong Physical Damage dealing monsters because they spam the charge Skill. This makes them very dangerous in close quarters, like the hallway they spawn in. But we can use that to our advantage:
- If Pindle spawns with Aura Enchanted might or Cursed (amplifydamage) he can one-shot Characters easily. Consider skipping him if your Character is fragile or on Hardcore!
- The Aura Enchanted might actually synergizes with charge as if Pindle has Skill Points in the Aura, as well as increasing the Physical Damage he deals.
- The area next to the Red Portal is covered in Dread Warriors, which have the special ability to resurrect themselves. Do not stay in the courtyard, and they should not aggroe on you while you fight Pindle.
- Pindle and the other monsters move very slowly until they are in range to charge. For Builds that use ranged attacks, start fighting at the entrance of the hallway, and the mobs will typically die before they make their way to you.
- For Builds without Teleport, you can open a Town Portal next to Pindle and reenter the area to bring your Mercenary inside. They will sometimes get stuck fighting outside. The same can be done by using the stairs down to the Halls of Anguish, and then reentering Nihlathak's Temple.
Pindle can be "horked" by using finditem on a Barbarian. This gives you a chance at 4 item drops per farming session.
Build Recommendations
Every Character has multiple builds which can farm Pindleskin. We list the Best build and their strengths.
- Amazon - Lightning Fury
- With her lightningfury damage scaling with density, this pack is quickly deleted. For Hardcore and lower-power Characters, decoy can intercept his pack, giving you more time to melt them.
- Assassin - Lightning Sentry
- This Assassin can actually set up her lightningsentry traps and begin killing this pack off-screen. With a combination of deathsentry to quickly finish off the pack, and cloakofshadows making her basically invisible to the monsters outside, this is a very safe build.
- Barbarian - Berserk
- This build focuses on killing the boss of this pack, and using finditem on Pindle. Using howl to clear out the trash minions, berserk will also start one-shotting at certain gear levels. This build would only farm on Players 1 Setting, since you do not kill the minions at all.
- Druid - Tornado Hurricane
- The tornado damage output, even on lower power-builds can quickly clean up this pack on Players 1 Setting. cyclonearmor and summongrizzly make this build very safe to take into this area, even on hardcore characters.
- Necromancer - Summoner
- The Summoner Necro has three amazing tools that make farming this boss as easy as can be. raiseskeleton removes the threat of the Dread Warriors by removing their corpses. They also act as tanks for you and your Mercenary. bonearmor gives high Physical Damage mitigation in case you find yourself poorly positioned. corpseexplosion will delete everything within its range once the first few monsters die.
- Since the Summoner needs to create an army, and Pindleskin's Area is the easiest place to do so, it makes sense to include his pack in your farming session. Consider the Bone Spear Necromancer if you ONLY want to farm Pindle.
- The Summoner Necro has three amazing tools that make farming this boss as easy as can be. raiseskeleton removes the threat of the Dread Warriors by removing their corpses. They also act as tanks for you and your Mercenary. bonearmor gives high Physical Damage mitigation in case you find yourself poorly positioned. corpseexplosion will delete everything within its range once the first few monsters die.
- Paladin - Fist of the Heavens
- The FoHdin uses the Magic Damage from our fistoftheheavens's holybolts to pop Pindle's pack from the edge of the screen. Coupled with the incredible survivability through Max Block Chance with holyshield, even on higher Player Settings you absolutely shred!
- Sorceress - Lightning
- With the fastest Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint, and massive targetable damage in lightning, the Lightning Sorc absolutely deletes this boss packs on Player 1 Settings. Her use of energyshield also helps to keep her safe if anything gets into melee range.
Summary
- Pindleskin is by far the highest value single Super Unique pack in the game, and he is easily available right near the Red Portal after you rescue Anya in Act 5 Harrogath.
- He can drop every item in the game except 3, and also gives a decent amount of Experience up to Level 96. Mid-Late game builds can benefit from adding this pack to their farming rotation.
- Pindle and his minions can pack a punch once they're in melee range, especially if they have Aura Enchanted might or Cursed (amplifydamage).
- Using finditem on Pindle drastically increases your drops per farming session.
- Anti-Grief Tip: During Group play, it's poor etiquette to open a Town Portal right next to Pindleskin, since people may enter it by mistake and die to the resurrected minions. Consider entering the Halls of Anguish just behind their spawn before heading back to Town.
Credits
Written by MacroBioBoi
Reviewed by Teo1904