Viper Napuatzi is a campaign boss in Path of Exile 2 who appears near the end of Act 3. Defeating her is required to gain access to Aggorat and confront Doryani. She is one of the toughest bosses you will encounter during the campaign due to her high elemental resistances and Chaos-based attacks that can be difficult to mitigate while leveling.
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This guide covers everything you need to know about defeating Viper Napuatzi, including a detailed breakdown of her attacks, how to counter them, and some tips to help you out.
Path of Exile 2 is currently in Early Access. The information in this guide is subject to change as the game continues development.
Where To Find Viper Napuatzi
You will encounter Viper Napuatzi in Utzaal during the ‘Legacy of the Vaal’ quest near the end of Act 3. She is a mandatory boss that you must defeat to reach Aggorat and enter The Black Chambers.
Utzaal is an Area Level 43 zone, which means you should be somewhere around Level 50 before fighting Viper Napuatzi.
She is highly resistant to Fire, Cold, Lightning, and Physical damage. If you are not using a Chaos-based skill, try to invest in some form of Elemental Penetration.
Preparation And Battle Tips
As for her attacks, most of them deal Chaos damage, which can be very deadly if you do not find a way to mitigate it. Here are a few ways to do so:
- Chaos Inoculation on the Passive Skill Tree. This makes you immune to all Chaos damage, but at the cost of your HP being zero. If you choose to go this route, you will need to invest in some Energy Shield.
- You can also gain ten percent permanent Chaos Resistance from completing ‘The Slithering Dead’ quest.
-
Some cheap Uniques in the Trade League, like
Serpent’s Egg,
Oaksworn,
Snakebite,
Ghostwrithe, etc.
- Check vendors for items with any tier of Chaos Resistance. For example, an Amethyst Ring is a good base.
- Equip an Antidote Charm to get temporary immunity to Poison after being poisoned once.
The fight takes place in a small arena that gradually shrinks over time. Because of this, we recommend at least 20 percent Movement Speed to dodge her attacks.
Also, since no monsters spawn during the encounter, it is very common to run out of Flask Charges. This is why we recommend having the ‘Gains # Charges Per Second’ mod on your Flasks. This is not absolutely necessary, but it is a nice quality-of-life bonus.
Try to burst her down as quickly as possible. The last thing you want is to let her spam all her abilities throughout the encounter. Unless you can nuke her instantly, the fight is significantly harder for a melee character than a ranged one.
Endgame builds like Spark, Lightning Arrow, Attribute-stacking etc. can easily trivialize the fight if you invest in some Chaos Resistance on your leveling gear. Moreover, skills like the 
Tempest Bell
and 
Frost Wall
can keep her in one place, allowing you to deal damage until she is dead.
If you are unable to get Chaos Resistance, your other option is to get as much HP as possible to brute force the fight.
The fight against Viper Napuatzi is a dodge–check, if anything. If you are able to time your dodges perfectly, you should have little to no trouble with it.
How To Defeat Viper Napuatzi
Viper Napuatzi has several attacks that can be challenging to dodge because you do not have a lot of room to work with. Her attacks can be divided into two types: Spear Attacks and Unarmed Attacks. Below is an overview of all her attacks, along with some tips to help you avoid them:
Spear Attacks
This is the combat stance Viper Napuatzi starts the fight with. She switches to Unarmed Stance at around 80 percent HP before returning to Spear Stance at close to ten percent HP.
|
Attack |
Description |
How to Dodge |
|---|---|---|
|
Spear Throw |
She hurls her spear at you, dealing Poison damage. |
You can dodge in any direction to avoid it. |
|
Lightning Spear |
Her spear splits into four electric projectiles (similar to Lightning Strike from the original Path of Exile) that ricochet off walls. |
Avoid standing near the walls and dodge sideways. |
|
Melee Combo |
When at close range, she executes a three–hit melee combo that ends in a poison cloud around the area. |
To avoid it, try to dodge backward twice, then roll in any direction. |
|
Forward Dash |
She dashes in a straight line and spews poison at you. |
Simply roll in any direction to avoid taking any damage. |
Unarmed Attacks
When you see Viper Napuatzi plunge her spear into the ground, it means she is about to switch to her Unarmed stance.
|
Attack |
Description |
How to Dodge |
|---|---|---|
|
Meteors |
She summons meteors that explode on impact, dealing Fire and Chaos damage. |
Watch for circles (red and purple) on the ground and stay out of their AoE. We do not recommend rolling since it can slow you down. |
|
Slam Attack |
She leaps into the air and slams the ground to create a large AoE that deals damage. |
To avoid it, roll backward as soon as you see her go airborne. |
|
Snakes |
She summons multiple snakes which roam around the arena and ricochet off walls. They deal Chaos damage, which — when combined with other attacks — can be deadly. |
We recommend staying away from the walls to avoid unexpected ricochets. If you can, remain near the center of the arena as much as possible. |
|
Poison Darts |
She locks onto you and fires a barrage of poisonous projectiles. This attack ends with her throwing multiple projectiles in a cone shape. |
The best way to avoid this attack is to keep moving in any direction. Additionally, remember to roll into her at the end of the attack. |
|
Spear Thrust |
For this attack, keep a close eye on the soldiers around the arena. Whenever you see their spears glow, dodge in any direction as they will perform a thrusting attack. In the end, all the soldiers would execute this attack. |
It could take a while to get the hang of this attack, but it is not as complicated as it seems. Ideally, you should dodge whenever you see the tip of the spears glow green. |
If possible, pay attention to her dialogues. She says a specific set of dialogues before particular attacks, which can help in some cases.
After defeating her, the soldiers in the arena will turn their attention to you. Be careful not to get overwhelmed and defeat them to complete the encounter.
Loot
Viper Napuatzi does not have any exclusive drops. She will drop random items, including currency items that may be useful for your character. After she is defeated, you can proceed to Aggorat to confront Doryani, the final boss of Act 3.
Finally, keep in mind that the Cruel difficulty is only available during the Early Access period. This means in the final version, you will only defeat Viper Napuatzi only once.
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