The Arbiter of Ash Boss Guide: Attacks, Phases, and Defenses

The Arbiter of Ash stands as the pinnacle campaign boss in Path of Exile 2, a fiery juggernaut residing in the Burning Monolith zone. Defeating this boss requires precise dodging of telegraphed attacks, strong mobility, and awareness of overlapping mechanics across two intense phases. Players access the encounter by collecting three Crisis Fragments Ancient, Faded, and Weathered from citadel bosses and inserting them into the sealed passageway door.

Phase 1 Mechanics

The fight begins with the Arbiter hovering and unleashing slow-moving fire projectiles that players must sidestep. A key ability is the Fire Beam, where the boss raises its claw scepter and channels a sweeping line of flames dodge sideways as it tracks. Bullet Hell Orbs follow, launching two large fire orbs that split into arena-wide projectiles; stay mobile and avoid clustering.

Flame Seeds pose the greatest threat: the Arbiter tosses seeds into marked circles that explode outward, leaving only the center safe. Quickly rotate between safe zones while the boss continues other attacks. Hallways erupt as arena-wide flame blasts with brief gaps spot the slightly bluish-tinted safe lanes and dash into them immediately, as mistiming leads to heavy damage. Requires Dodge. The phase ends at 55% health when the Arbiter grabs its sword from the arena center.

Phase 2 Attacks and Combos

Wings sprout, enabling flight and aggressive melee. Basic sword slashes combo into 2-3 forward presses backpedal or dodge perpendicularly. Fire and Ice orbs spawn (black for burning ground, white for chilling); step on the opposite color to cleanse the arena, but beware empowered stabs that trigger both effects simultaneously.

Sword Beam spins up before firing a wide line strafe out early. Pulsing Orb releases expanding fire rings that chain-explode on contact; keep distance from minions or edges. Diving Slam sees the boss leap, slice a fire line through the center, then slam with its thrown sword roll through the line and evade the AoE. Baiting Flame Seeds is deadly: two seeds drop ahead, followed by Sword Beam into Ground Sunder; hover near the circle edge, dodge in post-beam, and sidestep the sunder waves.

Defensive Strategies

Prioritize dodge-rolling for red-glowing attacks with audio cues. Maintain high movement speed to weave between seeds and hallways. Fire and physical resistances cap at 75-80%, with life leech or flasks for sustain. Minion-heavy builds risk chain explosions clear them fast or go solo. In Uber mode (22.6M health), patterns intensify; farm Crisis Fragments from Atlas citadels post-progression.