As you progress through Path of Exile 2’s main quests, you’ll get the opportunity to go off the beaten path a little and undertake different quests, often with some great rewards. One of these quests is the Ominous Altars one, that introduces the Altars system and allows you to help Finn from Clearfell Encampment, keep reading to learn how to defeat the boss, The King in the Mists, at the end of it.

Table of Contents¶

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King in the Mists Location¶

As you make your way to the Hunting Grounds in an effort to make it to Ogham Village for the main quest, you’ll be able to take a side path to the Freythorn, an area recommended for Level 11 and above. Before you head there though, return to Clearfell Encampment to discover that Finn has a new quest for you, Ominous Altars.

The goal of this quest is to head through this relatively smaller area (compared to many of the others in the game) and cleanse a number of altars before you can challenge the King in the Mists. Altars are an activity that will see a horde of enemies rush you once you activate it, so be sure to fully heal up before you do so, and look to make use of any strong AoEs that you may have. Fortunately, there always seems to be a Checkpoint near an altar, so if you do fall, you won’t have to go far.

Once you have cleansed the regular altars, you’ll be able to interact with the larger one with the mist around it, make sure you’re prepared, however, as after you deal with the initial wave, the King in the Mists will make an appearance.

King in the Mists Boss Strategy¶

The King in the Mists is one of the more challenging early-game bosses you can fight in Path of Exile 2 as he will have two phases for you to deal with, along with an attack that can outright freeze you in place if you don’t know what you’re doing. As such, pay attention to all of the attacks that the King in the Mists has below, and how you can avoid them:

Thorngrip¶

Very often the attack that the King in the Mists begins the battle with, he will launch a barrage of thorns across the ground to you, if you get caught, you’ll take moderate damage. This is simple enough to avoid by rolling to one side or the other.

Marked for Death¶

The King in the Mists will conjure pools of blood that persist on the battlefield for a while, walking into these will damage you. While you’ll only be dealing with one early on, there will be multiple later that are easy to roll into, keep an eye on your surroundings.

Fas¶

The King in the Mists will raise an effigy out of the ground, then lift his staff and slam it into the ground, dealing a shockwave around him that deals moderate damage. Once you see the effigy rise, start backing away from him to avoid the subsequent shockwave.

Ritual of Meditation¶

Part of the defining skills of The King in the Mists, you’ll see a red sigil below you following you about. This indicates that once it goes off, you’ll need to ensure you’re standing still, or risk being rooted for a period of time. Spend the first few seconds getting away from him, then make sure you’re standing still until the circle fades.

Ritual of Dance¶

Very similar to the above skill, only the sigil will be purple instead of red. This time around, when the sigil goes off, you must be moving or else you will be rooted for a period of time. This is a lot easier to avoid than Ritual of Meditation, as you’ll usually find you’re constantly moving in this battle anyway.

Gate to Nothingness¶

During the second phase of the battle with the King in the Mists in its treant form, he’ll summon a swarm that travels towards you and will inflict you with a debuff if it hits you before exploding in an AoE. He’ll also leave purple orbs on the ground that will explode if you get near them.

The battle against the King in the Mists is a mixed one, with the first phase being simple enough to deal with, especially as there are no adds for you to deal with. Your goal here should be to take him down to a 1/3 of his health and the phase transition without using too many potions, as you’ll need them for that phase. The most noteworthy attacks during this phase are the Rituals.

Ritual of Dance shouldn’t be nothing to worry about, as you’ll only get rooted if you stop moving, which in Path of Exile 2 is something you usually want to avoid doing, especially in boss battles. Ritual of Meditation, on the other hand, can be a real problem, and lead to death if you’re not careful. As soon as you see a red sigil underneath you, get as far away as possible and then stop until the debuff fades.

The battle becomes far more difficult during the second phase however, not only is its treant form stronger, but it’ll add in Gate of Nothingness into the mix which can hit a large AoE where the swarm lands, this is on top of there being plenty of blood pools around the arena at this point of the battle, so keeping on the move, especially during the Ritual of Meditation attack, can be tricky. This is a battle that is certainly easier as a ranged Class, such as the Sorcerer, Mercenary, or Ranger.

Once the battle is over, claim any loot that may be useful to you and then pocket the Gembloom Skull, the real prize here. When used, this item will grant you 30 Spirit, allowing you to activate a support skill such as the useful Herald of Ash.