Path of Exile 2: Mektul, The Forgemaster Boss Guide

There are many boss fights in Path of Exile 2 that are only going to be small steps along your journey, with you taking them down in one attempt, without needing to do anything special to defeat them. And then there are bosses like Mektul, the Forgemaster.

Mektul is not a particularly difficult character to face, but what makes him difficult is the situation in which you need to fight him. You are placed under extraordinary constraints in your fight against him, and many builds are going to need to change themselves specifically for this fight, swapping support gems and respeccing passive skills.

Where To Find Mektul, The Forgemaster

Mektul is found in the Molten Vault, an area located in the Drowned City. You'll gain a quest to enter this area called Treasures of Utzaal in Act Three. The Molten Vault is going to be located on the outer edge of your map; skirt around the edges, and eventually, you'll find it.

Preparing For Mektul

As mentioned before, Mektul himself is not a big issue. Most of his attacks are cleegraphed, don't do very much damage, and are easily avoided. In many cases, Mektul himself is not going to kill you.

But the fight with Mektul begins with him unleashing the lava in the forge of the Molten Vault. That lava is going to be creeping forward the entire fight, and you do not have unlimited space to back up before it engulfs you.

Mektul has a few different attacks, and avoiding them quickly and properly is going to ensure you can continue to pour as much damage as possible into him.

How To Build Your Character For Mektul

If you don't put Mektul down before you reach the quite literal end of the line, you're going to die, regardless of how well you've been fighting him. This means you're going to need to get as much single-target damage going as you possibly can.

Because of the number of builds possible in PoE 2, this is going to look a little bit different for each build. Some general suggestions will prove beneficial to most builds, though:

Create a damage interaction. For instance, Lacerate causes Bleed, and Bloodlust deals more damage to bleeding enemies. Slot the Lacerate support gem on an ability to create bleed on Mektul, and then attack him repeatedly with your Bloodlust-supported ability to deal extra damage.

Putting Martial Tempo on your most-used attack is going to increase your damage-per-second (DPS) by a meaningful amount.

If you're a melee character, putting Close Combat on a melee attack is going to increase your damage pretty much all the time.

Life Thief is going to allow you to tank some of Mektul's weaker attacks, allowing you to continue hitting him, rather than needing to dodge or block as often.

The moment Mektul is at 35 percent health, ensure you have Execute on your most-used attack. This is going to deal considerably more damage to him at this final stage, where you're often backed up against the wall.

When it comes to passive skills, it might be worth visiting The Hooded One to remove any defensive skills you have in favor of offensive ones. Mektul is not very lethal himself, and that extra damage could save your life.

Tips For Defeating Mektul

For most bosses, the answer is patience; the opposite is true for Mektul. You need to be constantly dealing as much damage as you possibly can to put him down in time, but still do enough dodging and/or blocking to stay alive.

Move Mektul Away From The Lava

Meknul will stand and fight you more or less wherever you take the fight. You'll need to move backwards every once in a while to stay away from the encroaching lava; move a decent way away from the lava, to ensure you have a good portion of time when you won't need to move again. This will let you get through your damage rotations more often and keep you from getting interrupted.

Dodge Toward Mektul

Most of Mektul's attacks are easily dodged, and the instinct of many players is to dodge away from an attack. But this is going to take time away from attacking him, because you'll need to move back toward him afterward.

If you dodge toward Mektul instead, you'll be able to damage him a second or two sooner. This might not seem like a big difference right away, but it will make a difference if done throughout the entire fight. PoE 2 will likely keep many familiar currency orbs from PoE 1 such as Chaos Orbs, Exalted Orbs, and Orb of Fusing. These will continue to be the main crafting and trading PoE 2 items, with potential new PoE 2 currency types introduced to support new crafting systems.

Path of Exile 2: Mektul, The Forgemaster Boss Guide

There are many boss fights in Path of Exile 2 that are only going to be small steps along your journey, with you taking them down in one attempt, without needing to do anything special to defeat them. And then there are bosses like Mektul, the Forgemaster.

Mektul is not a particularly difficult character to face, but what makes him difficult is the situation in which you need to fight him. You are placed under extraordinary constraints in your fight against him, and many builds are going to need to change themselves specifically for this fight, swapping support gems and respeccing passive skills.

Where To Find Mektul, The Forgemaster

Mektul is found in the Molten Vault, an area located in the Drowned City. You'll gain a quest to enter this area called Treasures of Utzaal in Act Three. The Molten Vault is going to be located on the outer edge of your map; skirt around the edges, and eventually, you'll find it.

Preparing For Mektul

As mentioned before, Mektul himself is not a big issue. Most of his attacks are cleegraphed, don't do very much damage, and are easily avoided. In many cases, Mektul himself is not going to kill you.

But the fight with Mektul begins with him unleashing the lava in the forge of the Molten Vault. That lava is going to be creeping forward the entire fight, and you do not have unlimited space to back up before it engulfs you.

Mektul has a few different attacks, and avoiding them quickly and properly is going to ensure you can continue to pour as much damage as possible into him.

How To Build Your Character For Mektul

If you don't put Mektul down before you reach the quite literal end of the line, you're going to die, regardless of how well you've been fighting him. This means you're going to need to get as much single-target damage going as you possibly can.

Because of the number of builds possible in PoE 2, this is going to look a little bit different for each build. Some general suggestions will prove beneficial to most builds, though:

Create a damage interaction. For instance, Lacerate causes Bleed, and Bloodlust deals more damage to bleeding enemies. Slot the Lacerate support gem on an ability to create bleed on Mektul, and then attack him repeatedly with your Bloodlust-supported ability to deal extra damage.

Putting Martial Tempo on your most-used attack is going to increase your damage-per-second (DPS) by a meaningful amount.

If you're a melee character, putting Close Combat on a melee attack is going to increase your damage pretty much all the time.

Life Thief is going to allow you to tank some of Mektul's weaker attacks, allowing you to continue hitting him, rather than needing to dodge or block as often.

The moment Mektul is at 35 percent health, ensure you have Execute on your most-used attack. This is going to deal considerably more damage to him at this final stage, where you're often backed up against the wall.

When it comes to passive skills, it might be worth visiting The Hooded One to remove any defensive skills you have in favor of offensive ones. Mektul is not very lethal himself, and that extra damage could save your life.

Tips For Defeating Mektul

For most bosses, the answer is patience; the opposite is true for Mektul. You need to be constantly dealing as much damage as you possibly can to put him down in time, but still do enough dodging and/or blocking to stay alive.

Move Mektul Away From The Lava

Meknul will stand and fight you more or less wherever you take the fight. You'll need to move backwards every once in a while to stay away from the encroaching lava; move a decent way away from the lava, to ensure you have a good portion of time when you won't need to move again. This will let you get through your damage rotations more often and keep you from getting interrupted.

Dodge Toward Mektul

Most of Mektul's attacks are easily dodged, and the instinct of many players is to dodge away from an attack. But this is going to take time away from attacking him, because you'll need to move back toward him afterward.

If you dodge toward Mektul instead, you'll be able to damage him a second or two sooner. This might not seem like a big difference right away, but it will make a difference if done throughout the entire fight. PoE 2 will likely keep many familiar currency orbs from PoE 1, such as Chaos Orbs, Exalted Orbs, and Orb of Fusing. These will continue to be the main crafting and trading items, with potential new currency types introduced to support new crafting systems.