When you arrive in Act 3 you’ll have only the most basic of services and provisions at your disposal. The first vestige of civilization can be found in the Ziggurat Encampment, but to get there you’ll need to cross the Sandswept Marsh, which is full of corpses and other hazards. Most dangerous of them all, however, is the optional boss Rootdredge, which can use the aforementioned corpses polluting the swamp to make travel even more perilous. This page will provide strategies for defeating Rootdredge in Path of Exile 2!
Page Breakdown¶
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| Rootdredge Location |
| Rootdredge Boss Strategy |
Rootdredge Location¶
Like many optional bosses, Rootdredge doesn’t have a fixed location save for “somewhere in the Sandswept Marsh”. Also like many other optional bosses, Rootdredge doesn’t just spawn on his own - rather it’s got its own unique set piece arena that randomly generates somewhere in the area, and if you find it, you’ll find Rootdredge. Looking for this standout terrain is often easier than looking for the boss itself, and in the case of Rootedge it’ll always appear in a diamond-shaped arena with a checkpoint nearby. In this diamond-shaped arena is a small patch of swamp marked on the map as the site of a “Foul Ritual”, so on your minimap you’re looking for a diamond with a circle in the middle… with a checkpoint out front. Shouldn’t be too hard to find, just keep in mind that this is in the sandy part of the area - if you hit jungle, you’ve gone too far. Rootdredge will be ambling in circles around the pond.
(1 of 2) Search the sandy part of the Sandswept Swamp to find a diamond-shaped area with a pond in the middle.
Search the sandy part of the Sandswept Swamp to find a diamond-shaped area with a pond in the middle. (left), This is where you’ll encounter Rootdredge - a necromatic treant that roams around the pond. (right)
Rootdredge Boss Strategy¶
Rootdredge isn’t a very proactive boss, preferring to stand back and pester you with ranged attacks and summon undead to do its bidding. These undead - mobs of Bogfelled Commoners called from the marshes and the odd Bog Hulk - serve not only as distractions, but as Rootdredge’s primary form of ammunition, be converted into bombs via Rootdredge’s foul magic. Other than these undead bombs and the danger imposed by the corpses themselves, Rootrdredge will toss the odd halfhearted necrotic bolt at you and hinder your movement with water spouts. He doesn’t deal a lot of damage each attack, but if you can’t whittle down the undead Rootdredge constantly summons, you could end up boxed in and subsequently blown up by your foe’s various corpse bombs. To help you prioritize your attacks and stay ahead of the undead tied rising around you, read up on Rootdredge’s attacks, below:
Water Spout¶
One of Rootdredge’s few direct attacks, he’ll summon a spout of water to erupt under you, dealing minor damage. If you keep moving you shouldn’t get hit by it, but dealing damage isn’t its purpose - its purpose is to leave a patch of rough ground under your feet, which will slow you down, making it more likely that Rootdredge’s undead can mob you.
Necrotic Orbs¶
Another rare direct attack, Rootdredge likes to toss these out after Corpse Bombs detonate - throwing out three green orbs of necrotic energy at you. They deal minimal damage and don’t track, so avoiding them should be trivial, if you can see them amidst the rest of the spell effects going off. They look similar to the necrotic energy Rootdredge uses to reanimate corpses.
(1 of 3) Rootdredge only has a few direct attacks - he can spawn a waterspout under your feet, which deals minimal damage,
Summon Bogfelled Commoners¶
Rootdredge’s offense is powered by corpses, and while these deadly stiffs will stumble through the swamp on their own, Rootdredge can also summon more from the ground - expect several to rise every time Rootdredge beckons. You likely won’t rid yourself of roving undead for any significant length of time during this fight.
Corpse Bomb¶
Your foe will send out necrotic energy (similar to its Necrotic Orbs attack) that targets its undead minions. The afflicted undead will contort into a floating ball, then seek you out. When it gets close it’ll stop moving and explode after a moment. They’re easy to avoid - just dodge after the bomb stops near you. You’ll take heavy damage if you get hit by one, but you should still be able to weather two or three… but sometimes Rootdredge will send that many at you at a time, so don’t take them lightly. That said, you’re unlikely to get hit unless you just lose track of one with all the other spell effects going on.
(1 of 2) Corpses will shamble from the swamp, but also Rootdredge can summon them directly.
Corpses will shamble from the swamp, but also Rootdredge can summon them directly. (left), Corpses can be afflicted with necrotic energy, turning them into explosive orbs that will track you down! (right)
Corpse Explosion¶
Similar to the Corpse Bomb attack above, save Rootdredge will slam its staff into the ground, covering the area with necrotic energy. Afflicted corpses - both animate ones and defeated enemies on the ground - will glow green before exploding. Rootdredge seems to be able to target which ones explode, and if a great many undead are afflicted simultaneously, they may explode in succession. When you see a corpse glowing green, you’re best off avoiding it until it explodes.
(1 of 2) When you see Rootdredge slam its staff on the ground, be wary, as it’ll infuse corpses (defeated or not) with nectrotic energy,
When you see Rootdredge slam its staff on the ground, be wary, as it’ll infuse corpses (defeated or not) with nectrotic energy, (left), these corpses will inevitably explode, and are best avoided. (right)
All in all this fight is another DPS test, with a bit of a bonus if you’ve also got some decent AoE. If you can clear out Rootdredge’s undead reliably, this fight won’t be a problem - you’ll be able to avoid your foes Corpse Bomb and Corpse Explosion attacks, and other than that Rootdredge doesn’t have much offense you need to worry about. If you have to back up to bottleneck you foes in one of the arena’s exits, so be it, but be warned that Rootdredge will gain an energy shield if you neglect him for too long, so even if your focus is defeating adds, you want to give Rootdredge a love tap once in a while just to keep him from shielding up.
Rootdredge is the boss, but his undead are a shield, a distraction, and his ammunition - sometimes you’ll want to concentrate on culling them to keep their numbers down.
Defeat Rootdredge and you’ll get… nothing! Nothing besides normal boss drops. No stat-boosting items, no Book of Specialization. Despite the boss bar above his name, Rootdredge is something of an over glorified elite enemy.
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