Between feral wild life, deranged elementals and more dangerous foes like powerful hags, overgrown, man-eating worms and belligerent treants, it’s safe to say that nature is not on our side. At least, not with all the recent corruption, ancient curses and general pall of grimdark malaise that suffuses the world of Path of Exile 2. It doesn’t stop at flora, fauna and fey, however - even the caretakers of nature have succumbed to the darkness! This page will provide strategies for defeating The Rotten Druid in Path of Exile 2.

Page Breakdown¶

The Rotten Druid Location¶

During the quest Secrets in the Dark you’ll be given the vague objective to “search the Grelwood for evidence of the Count’s activities”, which means explore the Grelwood until you find The Hooded One strung up on a tree. Summon Una and she’ll task you with heading to the Red Vale and finding several Rune of Power, which involves defeating the boss [The Rust King]. Once that’s all done and The Hooded One is freed you’ll be able to travel to The Grim Tangle, a subterranean dungeon found within The Grim Tangle, but largely inaccessible until you free The Hooded One. Contact Una in The Grim Tangle and she’ll call upon some friendly fey to open the way forward.

The Rotten Druid lurks within The Grim Tangle, although his exact location is random. He’s always located within a large chamber with a patch of glowing yellow mushrooms in the middle, and this chamber always has a checkpoint in it, although it may be on the far side from where you entered. The exit to the next area - the Cemetery of the Eternals lies beyond this chamber, but you’ll have to vanquish The Rotten Druid to progress.

The Rotten Druid Boss Strategy¶

The Rotten Druid falls definitively in the caster camp of bosses, having little in the way of melee attacks (certainly nothing worth worrying about) and oddly enough, no adds, either! Instead, The Rotten Druid relies on ranged spells and environmental hazards to rid himself of trespassers. Knowledge is power, as they say, and being aware of The Rotten Druid’s attacks will help you survive!

Arcane Lash¶

By far The Rotten Druid’s most common and (aside from a melee swat he does if you get too close) his weakest attack. The Rotten Druid will shoot a trio of winding bolts of energy that twist through the air in your direction before slamming into the ground and detonating. While it can be somewhat tricky to predict where these attacks are going to land, their damage output is weak and their AoE small than you might expect, so if you just keep moving you shouldn’t get hit all that often.

Arcane Barrage¶

A far more dangerous version of “Arcane Lash”, The Rotten Druid will unleash a sustained torrent of “Arcane Lash” bolts at you - the function the same way as standard “Arcane Lash” bolts save they fire a lot faster - abandon the offensive and dodge roll during this attack to avoid taking damage. If you get grazed, you’ll be fine, but if you get caught by a substantial number of bolts their damage can really add up.

Rooteport¶

Not really an attack - The Rotten Druid is a ranged caster and he knows it, and fittingly he’ll try to keep out of melee if at all possible. He’ll surround himself in roots, sink into the ground, then appear somewhere else on the battlefield.

Mushroom Relocation¶

One of The Rotten Druid’s two-stage attacks, he’ll start by conjuring a circular aura centered around himself, and if you’re within this AoE reticle when The Rotten Druid finishes, you’ll be teleported to the fungus in the center of the arena. This fungus will, of course, explode, and once the fungus near you detonates, the rest will, too. This can deal massive - even fatal - damage, and it’ll leave a patch of damaging goo behind as well. Simply put, stay away from The Rotten Druid while he’s channeling his sneaky teleportation trap.

Tendrilshrooms¶

Another two-stage attack, The Rotten Druid will strike his staff on the ground and send out a pulse of light across the arena. This will cause tendrils to spawn and lash at you, dealing light damage and leaving behind a patch of explosive fungus when the tendrils withdraw back into the earth. It can be hard to tell where these tendrils will strike, but like the “Arcane Lash” attack, if you keep moving you shouldn’t take much damage.

Boulder Toss¶

You’ll see this attack after The Rotten Druid drops below half of his health. He’ll summon a boulder over the fungus patch in the center of his arena, then send it hurtling at you. This attack deals heavy damage and can be hard to dodge simply because you might not be in a position to see the boulder as it manifests - one of the downsides of having a rather large arena to fight in. If you do see it coming, wait until it starts moving at you to dodge, as if you dodge prematurely you’ll probably take a hit. Fortunately this attack is fairly uncommon.

Your foe’s core attacks may lull you into a false sense of security at the start of the fight, but they ramp up fairly quickly. Aside from The Rotten Druid’s “Arcane Barrage” attack, most of his spells just don’t deal a lot of damage or are very easy to dodge, so once you learn The Rotten Druid’s tricks it should be easy to take him down. Just keep moving, be wary of explosive fungus and don’t get caught in The Rotten Druid’s AoEs - he’s generally easier to defeat at medium range, if you’ve the luxury. Aside from The Rotten Druid himself you do need to be wary of the explosive fungus in the center and at the edges of the arena (more explosive fungus will also spawn during the “Tendrilshrooms” attack), which is the lone hazard outside of the boss himself.

Defeat The Rotten Druid and you’ll earn the right to continue on to the Cemetery of the Eternals, but don’t expect The Rotten Druid to drop anything specific - standard boss RNG is on the table.