The King in The Mists Pinnacle boss encounter runs back to the Act 1 fight with the same boss, only this time he’s got a dedicated arena with several very dangerous attacks and a lot more health. Thankfully the rewards for this fight are exceptional, with a 30% chance to drop one of the best items in the game Ingenuity and several high value Omens.
To find this Pinnacle boss you’ll need to either run Rituals looking for an Audience with the King or you can buy the key to the boss fight from Alva for several divines. You can find out more about how to farm this mechanic efficiently here in our Ritual guide.
Once you have an Audience with the King you will begin the encounter by placing it in the Realmgate.
This is a permanent fixture on your Atlas and can be found quickly by locating the Home button.
You can find your Realmgate always next to the Ziggurat Refuge.
Things to Know Before You Enter
1. The King in the Mists deals almost exclusively Chaos and Physical damage. Be sure you have reasonably high Chaos resistance or the fight will be more difficult. It doesn’t need to be capped but consider that a player with 70% Chaos resistance will take 20% MORE Chaos damage than a player with 75% Chaos resistance.
2. Pinnacle boss fights are different from the Campaign boss fights, these CAN NOT be paused. This means if you enter the arena you will take damage if you try and pause.
3. You CAN log out and re-enter the fight if you get stuck. The King in the Mists won’t recover HP and this is a safe way to exit but be quick in the menu or simply Alt-F4 the game as it won’t pause.
4. The safest place during the majority of this fight is at a distance. If you are a ranged character this will be easy, but if you need to be close to him know that being close triggers one of his unblockable mechanics. He will also try and teleport away from you continuously if you are close. Pick your spots.
5. The platforms are a dangerous place to be. If you spend any time at all on them you’ll gain stacks of Portent Vapors which increases the amount of damage you take. These stack quickly and can turn a manageable fight into a very difficult one. After a few seconds, the stacks will fall off, make sure you are avoiding damage during this period.
Standing on the platforms give you Portent Vapor stacks which can increase the damage you take substantially. Don’t linger here.
Phase 1
The King in the Mists is very straight forward during his first phase. He will auto-attack you for a small amount of chaos damage and periodically perform a small number of attacks that are easy to avoid.
Auto-Attack
A very basic chaos projectile. He performs this attack a large number of times, though thankfully it is easy to dodge. This attack can inflict Wither on you which will temporarily increase the Chaos damage you take. Even though you can probably tank several of these it’s a good idea to dodge them.
These don’t hit hard, but they inflict Wither and will temporarily make you more vulnerable.
Affliction Totems
The King in the Mists will periodically place Affliction Totems around the Arena. These apply debuffs to you and will increase the amount of damage you will take. They have almost no HP, however, and can be easily destroyed. Prioritize taking these out when you see them pop up.
Hitting these with almost anything will instantly destroy it.
Mystic Fetish
The King of the Mists will also activate totems on one of three platforms during Phase One. These totems are easy to kill, but if left alone will make the arena more dangerous. Be quick about bursting them down as any time spent on the platform gives you Portent Vapors stacks which increase the damage you take.
Be quick on the platform as you will take increased damage.
Blood Pools
The totem in the center of the Arena will periodically shoot a red projectile which drops blood pools on the ground. These pools deal physical damage over time and aren’t a great place to loiter. These pools only come in higher difficulties of the fight.
Thorngrip
The King in the Mists will grumble “Thorngrip!” and a wave of purple thorns will erupt from the ground in your direction. This will fan out as a cone and is easy to dodge if you are far enough away.
Purple thorns erupting from the ground deal Chaos damage.
Ritual of Meditation
This is a particularly dangerous attack. The King will curse you for four seconds requiring you to be stopped for the last one or two seconds or you will be rooted to the ground. In my testing it didn’t matter if you moved for the first two seconds at all, so find a safe place out of danger and sit still briefly or you’ll have to tank some damage. The aura color for this attack is red.
Ritual of Dance
This is another particularly dangerous attack, though less so than Meditation. The King will curse you for four seconds requiring you to keep moving for the last one or two seconds or you will be rooted to the ground.
In my testing,, just as with Meditation it didn’t matter if you sat still for the first two seconds though moving for four straight seconds is certainly safer. If you stop in the last part you’ll be rooted to the ground and will have to tank some damage. The aura color for this attack is purple.
Vine Slam
This is the most dangerous attack in Phase One. The King in the Mists will only perform this attack if you are close to him, but if you don’t get out quickly he hits hard. He telegraphs this attack with a sound, red flash, bright purple energy and by raising his staff to slam it down.
Phase 2: Wisp Maze
This part of the fight is directly from Path of Exile 1’s King of the Mists. After depleting 75% of the bosses health bar you’ll be whisked into a maze. It can be tricky if you aren’t sure what is happening and there is a time limit; the maze is a pass-fail mechanic.
To succeed, you’ll need to find the door back to the Arena quickly. Glowing Wisps will guide your way. Walk up to the first Wisp you see and they will glide over a small section of the maze before disappearing.
A series of Wisps will lead you around the maze.
There will invariably be sections of the maze without any Wisps, and in those areas you’ll need to hustle to find the next one. You’ll also want to keep in mind that there can be several Wisps in a single area. It doesn’t mean you need to follow all of them, just pick one and let it lead you back to the arena.
Here there are three wisps, just pick one and follow it.
Once you see the purple Arena door you’ll start Phase Three of the fight.
Phase Three: Everything, Everywhere, All At Once
This phase of the fight is extremely chaotic. You’ll find familiar attacks if you’ve done Ritual in maps and in large quantities. The King in the Mists gains a new attack and will shoot three projectiles for his default attack instead of one.
In this phase, the platforms are no longer available and the King of the Mists will no longer summon Mystic Fetishes which is a small comfort.
Ritual Attacks: Afflicted Swarm
Purple insect swarms litter the arena dealing Chaos damage over time when in them. As long as you have reasonable Chaos resistance these don’t deal a huge amount of damage.
Ritual Attacks: Rat Tornado
Just as dangerous as it is in maps, the Rat Tornado will chase you down for the entirety of Phase Three. This is probably the most dangerous attack of the entire phase as if you get stuck in a Meditation or Dance cage (from Phase One) and are anywhere near the tornado it will hunt you down. Make sure you stay far away from the Rat Tornado and try to kite it away from the King in the Mists.
Rat Tornados are the most dangerous attack in Phase Three.
Ritual Attacks: Blood Wave
Blood waves will flow across the arena. These are pretty straight forward to dodge and don’t have the knockback annoyance that the Ritual map version does. Thankfully they also don’t deal a ton of damage.
Explosive Spore
This new ability by the King in the Mists shoots a slow moving projectile your way. It will explode if it hits you and leaves purple ground effects behind which will burst when you walk over them dealing Chaos damage.
Volatile Toads
Toads will leap about adding even more distraction to an already cluttered arena. These Toads explode on hit but don’t deal significant damage. Focusing on other attacks like the Rat Tornado is a better recipe for Phase Three success.
Ingenuity and several high value Omens.
