Is anyone else having difficulties killing Zhar the Mad? On about the fourth or fifth attempt I got him trapped in a corner next to his bookcase where he couldn't teleport away, and I swear, I stood there and whaled on him with a bastardsword for fifteen solid minutes hitting him every time he teleported in all the way, had to have hit him at least fifty or sixty times, and HE JUST WILL NOT DIE.

Zhar The Mad is just stupidly hard to kill.

He has more health than a Counselor found in Level 13-16 if you found it in a Hell-difficulty Singleplayer game.

He's got like 360 health, also when teleporting, they are harder to hit by a fair amount.

He SHOULD eventually die, then again, it's possible he could be bugged too. Just remember, Diablo 1 has hit chance in hte To Hit stat. Sometimes it japes you and you cna get unlucky with hits.

Also the Broadsword has a low minimum damage right? I'd recommend prioritizing minimum damage over maximum damage, you'll do more damage on average with a 4-8 weapon, than with a 1-12, simply because you may at times just do 1 damage to an enemy with 50, or even, 360 health.

Zhar is not bugged. As StormyFacade said, he is only a bag full of PV which is hard to hit with weapons. But he is easier to kill with spells as he don't try to teleport as you are not near him.

Also Bow attacks work well on him. Counselors and those with the same AI, like Zhar, only "teleport" away when others enter melee range with them, or nearly melee range.

When he vanishes, you can still see the lit up tile he's on. When he teleports, he more or less just becomes invisible, gets like 3x faster than you until he stops, and also gains more armor, when in this mode, the tile he's on is still lit up, and you can still hit him.

The key is to back him into a corner, which can also be the tile the bookshelf itself is on. Ranged enemies and their AI break when in a corner, since their AI tells them to never move anywhere other than away from a melee attacked, and if they can't move according to that AI command, to then attack the enemy. Some enemies, such as Counselors, only ever attack you when not at low health, otherwise their AI tells them to simply run away when in melee range and nothing else.

I haven't seen the game's AI scripting, but it seems to be that way. My recommendation is to just take plenty of potions, get him in a corner, and whack at the "empty" air he lives in. High damage weapons help, also spell scrolls too like Inferno especially, firebolt's not that great, same with lightning, if you have the magic to cast them that is.

I mainly say only Inferno works because it does the highest DPS, since it's a damage over time spell like Lightning, but it moves slower, damages just as often when someone hits it and is perfect for those like a warrior, who are always wanting to be in melee range anyways, since Inferno only travels like 3-4 tiles from the caster.

It is not really easy to block a character like Zhar in a corner. And it is more difficult when he takes a big piece of your life point on each attack. So the best way to kill him is by using range spells to not frighten him. But if you can block him you must be sure to hit him without miss or he will attack and kill you.