Atma's Scarab

Atma's Scarab is a niche but powerful unique amulet that fills a specific role in Diablo 2 Resurrected: automatically cursing enemies with Amplify Damage. While overshadowed by Highlord's Wrath for most endgame builds, this amulet shines for physical damage characters that lack reliable curse access, particularly bowazons and melee builds targeting immunes.

The Amplify Damage Advantage

The key mechanic is the 5% Chance to Cast Level 2 Amplify Damage On Striking. This curse doubles physical damage against affected enemies by reducing their physical resistance to exactly 80% (even immune enemies). For fast-attacking builds, this proc rate compounds: a 10-attack strafe volley effectively gives 50% chance of triggering Amplify Damage, making it reasonably reliable despite the low per-hit chance. The +20% Bonus to Attack Rating synergizes perfectly with physical builds, boosting hit chance to ensure more attacks land and more curse procs occur.

Best Uses for Physical Builds

Bowazons benefit most from Atma's Scarab. Strafe and multishot Amazons deal high attack speeds, allowing the 5% proc to trigger consistently against physical immunes—a major problem for pure physical builds. Physical zealots with Zeal (one of the fastest attacks in the game) also trigger the curse frequently, making immune-breaking reliable without sacrifice slots. Fury druids similarly appreciate the automatic curse access, solving their physical immunity weakness while maintaining inventory space.

The +75% Poison Resistance and +40 Poison Damage over 4 seconds offer modest defensive protection and occasional damage boost, though these are secondary benefits. The Attacker Takes Damage of 5 is negligible for most builds.

The Highlord's Question

Highlord's Wrath dominates the endgame amulet market with +2 All Skills and +20% Faster Hit Recovery, making it superior for most builds. However, Atma's Scarab remains the better choice when automatic curse triggers matter more than skill bonuses—especially for character builds lacking Decrepit or Amplify Damage access. For dedicated physical damage dealers farming Hell and Ubers, this amulet's reliability at solving immunes makes it a smart, affordable alternative.