Pre Launch:Diabolist

From Hellgatewiki.com

Diabolists are the leaders of the various Darkspawn, Gremlin, and Imp clans. Standing taller than Trooper, Scout, or Sniper, the spider-like diabolist stands to the rear of its minions, hurling offensive spells and enhancing the power of its servants with eldritch magics. Diabolists can even raise the dead, and a wise adventurer will go out of her way to bring down the diabolist as soon as possible. They are called Shaman in some concept art, and it's not clear at this point if they are the highest ranking members of their clans, or if the newly-revealed Fiend Priests fit into the family as well.

Here are the official game descriptions of the various types of diabolist.

Darkspawn Diabolist
The Diabolists are a proud group, but those of the Darkspawn are arrogant and sadistic. While the clans are so competitive that they do little to aid each other, rumors exist of these demons actually acting to the detriment of other clans. They will aid their own, although they prefer unleashing their arcane energies against their foes.

Gremlin Diabolist
These spell-casters are extremely problematic when amongst their more combat-oriented kin, keeping them alive and protected with their arcane powers. They are not above calling upon the forces of Hell to do damage, however, should they be so provoked.

Imp Diabolist
The Diabolist has no need for the mechanisms of which its kin is so fond. This demon relies on the arcane powers of the underworld to wreck havoc on unfortunate adventurers. The fires of hell and essence of the spectral plane can be used for more than crude damage, however. Diabolists also share a bond with others of their clan, devoting a portion of their energies to shielding and healing them.

Name: Diabolist
Caste: Primus
Rank: Lesser Demon
Subtypes: Darkspawn, Gremlin, Imp
Special: Hurls magical projectiles, raises its own dead, casts invulnerability shields on Troopers, lashes Troopers to attack.

• See all the Diabolist shots in our image gallery.

As with the other types of Darkspawn, there's not a lot in the Diabolist descriptions to make the clans sound different. It sounds like Darkspawn might occasionally attack Gremlins and Imps, which would be interesting. Flagship has said that some monsters might sometimes fight each other, but they've never given any examples. As for Gremlins and Imps, their information is just a general primer on the species' behavior.

Diabolists can cast a variety of magical spells, not all of which are well-known. Here you see a trooper protected by a invulnerability shield. It only lasts for a few seconds, fortunately, since troopers so protected charge straight at the nearest human and deal damaging, slashing attacks.

<Player Note: Yunadanta; The shield doesn't infact make them invulnerable, but increases the demon's sheild recharge rate by an emormous amount, however, with a large damage output it is easily possible to destroy their base sheild even with this barrier still on, when their base shield is destroyed the barrier is also destroyed. This "invulnerablity" sheild doesn't affect the demon's health so any damage that has shield penetration (be it from effect or equipment) goes straight through it and is permaneant, meaning the shield doesn't recover it. The sheild is also affect by the user's sheild overload effects.>