Introduction
The Elder in an eldritch being and one of the various endgame Bosses in Path of Exile. Story-wise, he is the main antagonist of the War of the Atlas Expansion, introduced in Patch 3.1.0 Abyss League. According to the lore of the Conqueror's of the Atlas Expansion Patch 3.9.0, The Elder was slain by The Elderslayers led by Sirus, the Awakener of Worlds. You can still fight The Elder using the Key to Decay Map Fragment Set. These Map Fragments can be obtained by defeating The Elder Guardians. The Elder is considered the easiest out of the major Atlas Bosses, but is still dangerous if you are unaware of his abilities.
Elder Guardians - Boss Guides:
- The Constrictor - Fragment of Constriction
- The Purifier - Fragment of Purification
- The Enslaver - Fragment of Enslavement
- The Eradicator - Fragment of Eradication
Defeating The Elder is guaranteed to drop a Map Fragment required for the Uber Elder encounter, either Fragment of Terror or Fragment of Emptiness. The other 2 Fragments (Fragment of Knowledge and Fragment of Shape) are dropped by The Shaper.
The Uber Elder encounter is considered one of the hardest Boss fights in the game and consists of fighting both, The Elder and the Shaper at the same time. Master the mechanics of The Elder and the Shaper encounter, before attempting the Uber Elder. You will also need their Fragments to open the portals to the Boss fight. Defeating the Uber Elder for the first time rewards you a Decayed Voidstone that can be socketed into the Atlas.
Loot Table
In addition to regular loot, The Elder has the following boss-specific drops:
- Blasphemer's Grasp
- Cyclopean Coil
- Hopeshredder
- Impresence with Flammability curse modifiers
- Impresence with Frostbite curse modifiers
- Impresence with Conductivity curse modifiers
- Impresence with Vulnerability curse modifiers
- Impresence with Despair curse modifiers
- Nebuloch
- Shimmeron
- Watcher's Eye
- Orb of Dominance
The Watcher's Eye that can be looted in the Absence of Value and Meaning is a 2-Mod Variant with Item Level 85. The 3 Mod-Variant can be looted from the Uber Elder encounter and is Item Level 86.
Skills Breakdown
Boss Mechanics
In order to open the portals to the Absence of Value and Meaning, you have to collect all 4 Elder Guardian Fragments and place them into your Map Device in the right order.
These Fragments are:
- Fragment of Purification obtained in a Map occupied by the Purifier.
- Fragment of Constriction obtained in a Map occupied by the Constrictor.
- Fragment of Enslavement obtained in a Map occupied by the Enslaver.
- Fragment of Eradication obtained in a Map occupied by the Eradicator.
Phases
Once you enter the Absence of Value and Meaning, you find yourself in The Shaper's room, which holds a portal to The Elder.
The Elder uses the following abilities:
- Default Attack
- Ice Spears
- Ring of Death
- Siphon
Make sure to check out the Skills Breakdown above to learn more about each of the abilities.
Once The Elder's Life drops lower, he also starts using:
- Tentacle Whip
- Rising Slam
- Super Siphon
Upon reaching 25% Life, The Shaper binds him at the center of the arena. The Elder becomes invulnerable, and The Shaper has to channel all his energy to fully bind all four restraints. You have to protect The Shaper while The Elder spawns Null Portals, these spawn multiple monsters that can attack The Shaper. If he dies within this phase, The Elder is freed, and you have to end the fight in his first phase. You cannot loot a Watcher's Eye if The Shaper dies in this phase.
Each restraint takes approximately 35 seconds to complete. The Shaper performs his channel starting on the west side, followed by the east side, south side and north side. Each side spawns more Null Portals than the one before.
There are multiple ways to protect the Shaper while he is channeling. You can either destroy the Null Portals to stop them from spawning monsters (Null Portals respawn after a short period of time) or you can use abilities like Frost Wall to block the incoming projectiles on The Shaper.
The Shaper leaves once he finished all four restraints and The Elder becomes vulnerable again.
While still being bound to the center of the arena, The Elder continues to spawn monsters and attack you with Tentacle Whips, multiple Rings of Death and Pulse Novas.
It is recommended to end this phase as quickly as possible since you can be easily overwhelmed by the amount of overlapping abilities as well as hoards of monsters attacking you.
Good Luck, Exile!
Atlas Passive Tree
The newly revamped Atlas Passive Tree provides us with additional ways to empower Bosses and enhance the Pack Size and drop chances of Shaper and Elder influenced Maps:
Keystone
- Cosmic Wounds
Notables
- Remnants of the Past
Nodes
- Shaper and Elder Influenced Pack Size
- Shaper Influenced Pack Size
- Elder Influenced Pack Size
Summary
- Dodge the Ice Spear ability, since these spells are locked to your position while casting.
- Immediately move out of the siphon area.
- Outrun the Tentacle Slam ability with a Quicksilver Flask.
- Make sure to stand within the inner circle of the Ring of Death ability.
- Keep moving once he starts to spin and perform his Rising Slam ability.
- Keep The Shaper alive in Phase 2 in order to be able to drop a Watcher's Eye
- Once he reaches 0% health, rush to Zana's protective shield to avoid getting hit by his final shockwave.
Credits
Written by mbXtreme
Reviewed by wudijo