Strongholds are subregions that have fallen to hostile forces, functioning like a mix between an overworld dungeon and a side quest. To begin a Stronghold, just enter the subregion and complete the objectives, the first of which is usually to headhunt some elite enemies or destroy some defended object, after which you’ll need to find and defeat the Stronghold’s boss monster. Strongholds are unique, one-time events, and once cleared the subregion may become a safe area, populated with merchants and a Waypoint. Even without that incentive, some Dungeons cannot be accessed until the nearby Stronghold is cleared, and you gain a whopping 100 points of Renown for each Stronghold you conquer. On this page you’ll find a walkthrough for The Ruins of Qara-Yisu, a Stronghold in the Dry Steppes region in Diablo 4.

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You can find The Ruins of Qara-Yisu along the southeastern edge of the Dry Steppe.

How to Find The Ruins of Qara-Yisu Stronghold in Diablo 4¶

Qara-Yisu can be found in the southeastern corner of the Dry Steppes. You can reach it by heading northwest from Nevesk in the Desolate Highlands (Fractured Peaks) to reach The Pallid Glade, then turn south and west to reach The Accursed Wastes (Dry Steppes). The Accursed Wastes completely surrounds the Qara-Yisu subregion, and you can enter from the north, west or south.

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(1 of 2) Defeat a Cursed Yisuni,

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Defeat a Cursed Yisuni, (left), then destroy the Infernal Spire it guarded - there are three such spires that need your attention. (right)

Find and Destroy the Infernal Spires¶

When you make your way into Qara-Yisa, you’ll note the condition of the locals before being tasked with exploring a search area. Head towards the center, crossing bridges that connected the shattered sections of elevated land and before long something called “The Voice Below” will start taunting you. Shortly thereafter the first real objective for this Stronghold will begin - Find and Destroy 3 Infernal Spires.

These should be marked by skulls on your map - one is to the northwest, another is to the south and a third is to the northeast. When you approach the first one you’ll need to dispatch a Cursed Yisuni enemy, who is a nondescript elite (in our game it had Multishot and Teleporter, but your mileage may vary). After this cursed beast is smote, turn your attention to the nearby Infernal Spire, which has plenty of health for you to whittle down. Don’t get complacent and waste your mana/cooldowns, however, as another elite demon will arise and attack when you reduce the spire’s health to below half.

Once done, seek out the remaining two Infernal Spires and repeat this process two more times; it plays out the same way each time, with an elite Cursed Yisuni guarding each Infernal Spire and an elite Oppressor showing up to make a last stand when the Infernal Spire is damaged. When all three Infernal Spires are toppled it’s finally time to confront The Voice Below.

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(1 of 2) You can find a Lilith Statue along the southern edge of the Stronghold,

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You can find a Lilith Statue along the southern edge of the Stronghold, (left), just destroy some scaffolding to reveal it. (right)

How to Defeat Utulku¶

The Voice Below can be found lurking along the northern edge of the Stronghold, so fight through whatever minions he conjures to delay you and cross the bridge to find a large slab of ground that’ll serve as the boss arena. Here you’ll find a Fallen shaman named Utulku, The Voice Below. He’ll start the fight with a host of Cursed Yisumi, which you should deal with before focusing on Utulku himself.

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(1 of 3) Utulku’s main attack is a triple burst of Blood Stars, which spread out in a fan.

As a boss, Utulku is surprisingly simple and honestly fairly weak. He only has three attacks:

• Triple Blood Star: Utulku shoots three projectiles in a fan formation. These aren’t terribly fast and dont’ have homing, but their spread also isn’t great unless you’re the better part of a screen away, making it somewhat tricky to avoid all of the projectiles by just walking. Fortunately they don’t deal much damage unless you get hit by multiple bolts, so it’s mostly a penalty for melee characters.

• Lightning Storm: Around a half-dozen reticles appear on the ground and shortly afterwards lightning streaks from the sky and strikes the marked locations. The lightning persists for a few seconds afterwards, and while the speed at which these bolts drop and the fact that they cluster together can make it hard to avoid damage, this is mostly an area denial attack. As long as you don’t stand in the remnant lightning swirls you should be fine.

• Summon Bilefiend: Utulku calls forth around a half-dozen Bilefiends to distract and harass you. They spit, they bite, and while not terribly dangerous, they’re mostly there to get in your way and keep you from focusing on Utulku. Utulku will summon these more frequently as the fight progresses.

All in all, not a hard boss, you just have to keep moving and be able to remove his Bilefiends quickly. If you can manage this, he shouldn’t give you much trouble. Defeat Utulku and head southwest to find the Wanderer’s Shrine. Interact with it and you’ll complete this Stronghold, earning 120 Renown (100 for the Stronghold, 20 for the Ruins of Qara-Yisu Waypoint which you’ll automatically unlock). This area will, after a fade-to-black, be populated by a blacksmith, armor and weapons vendors and a healer a stablemaster, and you’ll be able to explore the nearby Shifting City dungeon now.