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Tor Gul, The Defiler is a major boss in Act 2’s The Trail of Corruption quest inPath of Exile 2. After finally assembling and blowing the Horn of the Vastiri, you may continue tracking Jamanra and the Beast of Corruption into Deshar.
Exploring around this region for a while will eventually reveal Jamanra, but before you can get to him, he will summon the massive skeletal abomination, Tor Gul, The Defiler. Below, we’ll take a look at everything you need to know about this boss, including each of its attacks and strategies for how to avoid them.
Where To Find Tor Gul, The Defiler
Tor Gul is found at the end ofthe Spires of Deshar, which are preceded byDesharandthe Path of Mourning, in that order. You’ll fight him as part of theAct 2 Trail of Corruptionmain story quest.
How To Beat Tor Gul, The Defiler
The fight will take place in an octagonal arena, with Tor Gul being stationary in a hole in the center. It will use the following attacks throughout this fight.
Notes
Claw Rake
Tor Gul will drag both of its arms across the arena, from its right to the left.
When you seeTor Gulpull back its arms, quickly dodge behind it to avoid taking damage.
Skeleton Vomit
Tor Gul willvomit up several skeleton enemiesthat will begin to attack you. Thevomit will persist on the arena, dealing damage over time.
Kill the summoned skeletons and quicklyget out of the vomit poolif you’re standing in it.
Fire Strike
Tor Gul willopen up its chest, letting outfireballsthat fly in random directions to the front of the boss.
Tor Gul willstand up straightbefore using this back, then use its arms to pry open its chest. Watch for these tells andmove near the back of the bossto avoid taking damage.
Head Smash
Tor Gul willstand up straightbefore slamming its head down, dealing massive damage.
The telegraph for this attack is similar to Fire Strike, but in both cases,the back of the boss is a safe spot, so move there regardless.
Hand Crush
Tor Gul will quicklyslam one of its hands downon top of you, dealing high damage.
This attack can be difficult to avoid because of how fast it comes out. If you’re able to keep your eye trained on Tor Gul’s hand, dodging at the last second will safely avoid this attack.
Flamethrower
Tor Gul will breathe fire and thenslowly turn, covering half of the arena with its flamethrower. This willleave behind flamesthat deal damage over time.
Run to the opposite side of the arena when you see Tor Gul start to breathe fire. This attack has afairly long animation, so as long as you’re safe,use this opportunity to deal some damage to the boss. However, keep in mind thepersistent flamesaround the edge of the arena as you move and avoid Tor Gul’s other attacks.
Bombs
Tor Gul willcrouch downand generate bombs around the arena, marked byorange sigils.
The explosion of these bombs isslightly larger than what the sigil shows, so factor this in when moving to avoid them.
Flame Tornados
Occasionally, after Tor Gul uses its bomb attack, it will createtornados of fireon some of the sigilsthat persist for a few seconds.
These are fairly easy to avoid, since you should already be avoiding the bomb sigils when they appear.
The key to this fight is toconstantly stay on the move, and tostay behind the boss as much as possible. Being behind the boss will make it easier to avoid almost all of its attacks. If you’re behind Tor Gul,it will always turn towards you to perform its attacks, giving you precious additional seconds to react and hopefully dodge out of the way.
This fight also involves a lot ofchip damageanddamage over time, so makingefficient use of your potionsis essential. Tor Gul’s skeleton vomit and persistent flames on the arena willslowly drain your healthif you stand in them, and these can be difficult to see when you’re busy avoiding its other attacks.
Make sure your Flasks are up to date, and having aLife Flask thatgains Charges over timewill be a great help.
As you may expect, Tor Gul will mainly useFireandPhysicalattacks, so preparing your resistance accordingly will greatly increase your chances of survival. Swapping inRuby Ringsandfire resistance Charmswill improve your survivability without having to alter your whole build around this single fight.
If you’re still struggling with Tor Gul, trygrinding out a level or twoin the nearby areas. The additional skill points may not seem like much, but they can make a huge difference in fights like this.
After Tor Gul is defeated, you’ll be onto the Dreadnought, the final location of Act 2.
