Path of Exile 2’s first Act boss, Count Geonor, is one of the biggest challenges in the game. Some players get stuck for hours trying to beat the boss. Some even say that this boss is what repels players from continuing to play the game. However, every class or build should be able to defeat the boss, and most of it all boils down to proper mechanics. Here’s a complete boss guide on defeating Count Geonor and his Putrid Wolf phase in Path of Exile 2.
How to Defeat Count Geonor the Putrid Wolf in Path of Exile 2
Count Geonor has two main phases. When the battle starts, you’ll face Count Geonor, his human and wolf version. Once Count Geonor reaches around 40% to 50% HP, he complains about his wife abandoning him and eventually transforms into Geonor the Putrid Wolf. The transformation restores the boss to full HP, giving you another big challenge to overcome.
Count Geonor Fight Guide
The first fight is quite simple. Count Geonor wields his sword and unleashes a flurry of combos when players are in melee range. He also does a wide-sweeping attack, hitting anyone in a 180-degree cone with a massive arc.
Aside from these attacks, Count Geonor also turns into his normal wolf version and starts commanding his sword to drop in a random spot in the arena, causing freezing damage in a circular radius around the sword. While commanding the sword, his wolf version attacks you constantly with rapid bites and lunges.
If you are using a decent build, this first phase wouldn’t even last a minute.
Related: The Best Invoker Tempest Flurry Build in Path of Exile 2
Geonor the Putrid Wolf Fight Guide
Once Count Geonor reaches 50% health, he will start his transformation, making him immune to damage. In some cases, his transformation activates from as low as 30% HP, but this is only because he was stuck in long attack animations.
It doesn’t matter how low you get him in the first phase, since he fully heals after the transformation. Once Count Geonor transforms, he immediately executes his most dangerous attack. Geonor the Putrid Wolf leaves the arena and summons a snowy fog and some tiny wolves to attack you.
During this phase, Geonor starts reciting some lines to you. He starts lunging in your direction after saying each phrase, dealing massive damage and staggering you. These attacks are extremely dangerous as you also might get surrounded by the corrupted wolves while stunned. If this happens, it is basically game over.
To avoid this situation, you want to constantly eliminate the corrupted wolves and dodge at the exact moment Geonor lunges at you. You can hear Geonor’s line more clearly if you turn up the volume. Once he pauses after saying a line, wait a second and dodge. He always lunges after finishing his phrase.
When he says two phrases instead of one, that will end this phase, and the fight will continue. You can read the dialogue from the chat window, as seen in the image above.
After dealing with the most dangerous phase of the fight, you’ll have to deal with Geonor, the Putrid Wolf’s new attack set. As for the two most dangerous attacks, the first one is when Geonor calls laser beams from the heavens, dealing massive damage to anyone caught in it. The laser beams last for at least three blasts, suffocating the space around the arena. These laser beams turn red (maybe with a little added chaos damage) when Geonor is on low life.
As for the next dangerous attack, Geonor jumps up and smashes the ground, dealing massive AoE damage to anyone caught in the radius. When Geonor jumps, you’ll see a red circle on the floor. Use dodge roll twice to completely avoid the attack. You’ll take massive damage from the slam if you are a second late.
As for his other attacks, they mostly revolve around ice attacks and melee attacks. Most of these are quite similar to Count Geonor but with a slight variation, as seen in the third image above.
The fight will be easier once you get these mechanics down, even in Cruel difficulty. If you have problems with the fight, you can buy or trade items to improve your character. Sometimes, a single gear change can make a difference in the fight.
Good luck fighting this difficult boss, but take heart, I know you can beat him.
Published: Dec 17, 2024 01:41 am