All Path of Exile 2 bosses, locations, and rewards

How many bosses are in Path of Exile 2? Like other action RPGs, you’ll stumble upon rare and magic monsters denoted by the color of their name; however, these are randomly generated monsters and not what you’ll want to seek out to collect the best gear and passive buffs the game has to offer. Instead, you’ll want to check your world map and check out the skull icons which reveal the names and locations of powerful bosses you’ll want to defeat if you’re looking for the best loot.

Path of Exile 2 is an incredibly complex game despite still being in early access, so you’ll want to check out the best Path of Exile 2 builds or information on all Path of Exile 2 missions. While it’s still early in the game’s life, these guides will have you heading in the right direction as you seek out the corrupting Beast. They’ll also come in handy when it comes to tracking down and taking on these PoE 2 bosses.

All Path of Exile 2 bosses

Below is a list of all PoE 2 bosses in each of the three acts. All bosses drop a random assortment of miscellaneous items if you tackle them multiple times, so we’ve only listed unique first-time drops below. Do note that many of these unique drops will drop again if you’re playing on the Cruel difficulty.

All Path of Exile Act 1 bosses

All Path of Exile Act 2 bosses

All Path of Exile Act 3 bosses

All Path of Exile 2 permanent upgrades from bosses

While many PoE 2 bosses simply drop a quest-related item or an Uncut Skill Gem, many optional bosses grant items that bequeath permanent upgrades to your character, such as an increase of Spirit as a result, so you should prioritize seeking them out in both the regular and Cruel difficulty.

On the world map, you’ll see their skull icon marked with a small ‘+’ symbol. Here’s where to find them all in more detail:

Act 1 permanent upgrades from bosses

• Beria of the Rotten Pack is found right in the middle of the Clearfell zone, in an area covered by ice. Her Head of the Winter Wolf will grant +10% to Cold resistance.
• The Crowbell is typically found in the top left corner of the Hunting Grounds area up a winding path. While fighting him, he will flee to a small arena right outside of the entrance to where you found him. He will drop a Book of Specalization that grants +2 passive points to spend.
• The King of the Mists is found in the Freythron area which you can access from the Hunting Grounds, somewhere along the edge of the map. This is part of a quest from Finn and will require you to interact with several Obelisks that spawn waves of enemies in order to release the boss. He has two difficult phases and drops a Grembloom Skull which grants your first patch of 30 Spirit.
• Candlemass, the Living Rite is found on the first floor of Ogham Manner. Interact with an altar found past many pews to begin the fight. When defeated, he drops Candlemass’ Essence which grants +10 Maximum Life.

Act 2 permanent upgrades from bosses

• Balbala the Traitor, in the Traitor’s Passage, will grant an item to do your first Trial and also unlock the quest to unlock your Ascendancy (subclass) when you speak to Zarka back at the caravan. Balbala is found after the set of stairs in Traitor’s Passage but before you go up to the Hilani Gates. When she disappears and spawns poison in the room, search for where she turns invisible to stop it.
• Kabala, the Constrictor Queen is found in Keth before you head into The Lost City. The battle against her will trigger when you enter a small pit where she’ll summon many undead snakes to attack you. In our experience, the put was in the southeast corner of the map each time. She will drop a Book of Specialization (+2 passive points) upon defeat.

Act 3 permanent upgrades from bosses

• The Mighty Silverfist in the Jungle Ruins also grants a Book of Specialization upon defeat, giving you another +2 passive points to spend. The Mighty Silverfirst will ambush you the more you explore this area.
• Xylucian, the Chimera will drop the Chimeral Inscribed Ultimatum upon defeat, which will then grant you access to the Trials of Chaos quest as it functions as a token used to open the Temple of Chaos.
• Ignagduk, the Bog Witch is easy to miss in the Azak Bog. Servi back in camp will give you a quest and reward you for finding her. More importantly, you’ll also get a Gremroot Skull for defeating Ignagduk for the first time.
• Black Jaw, the Remnant is an optional boss found in the Oubliette area of Jiquani’s Machinarium. Find him before you head into Jiquani’s Sanctum. He’s a difficult fight but well worth it for his Flame Core drop, which grants 10+ to Fire resistance.
• Metkul the Forgemaster drops The Hammer of Kamasa which unlocks smelting down items into new ones.

And that’s all you need to know about the bosses in Path of Exile 2 as of the Early Access release. There’s undoubtedly more to come in acts already playable and in the three other acts currently in development that will eventually replace the Cruel difficulty on the way to the endgame. If you’re curious about what we thought about this long awaited action RPG, check out our Path of Exile 2 early access review.