Path of Exile 2 Asinia The Praetor's Consort boss guide
The Praetor's Consort, Asinia, is a main campaign boss in Path of Exile 2 who guards one of the Memorial Gate keypieces at The Graveyard during Act 1. To find and beat this boss, you have to enter Tomb of the Consort, a sub-area adjacent to The Graveyard. Keep in mind that there's no specific order to do them in. So, if you happen to come across the Mausoleum of the Praetor first, you should beat Draven the Eternal Praetor before moving on to look for Asinia.
Much like that battle, the fight against Asinia takes place in an obvious arena with a checkpoint nearby. This will likely come in handy for players as Asinia has a few surprise moves up her sleeves, which makes her one of the nastiest enemies to face at this point in Path of Exile 2.
How to defeat Asinia the Praetor's Consort in Path of Exile 2
Asinia the Praetor's Consort has a repertoire similar to the Witch class in Path of Exile 2, boasting some physical-damage spells as well as magic that covers a wide area.
Right off the bat, the first thing to note is that Asinia has a four-hit melee swing combo, and can teleport right on top of you. This makes her a particularly challenging boss for ranged glass-cannon characters, who will have to stay mobile and choose their attack windows very carefully.
The loose spirits and empower mechanic
If you've done the Draven fight before, the same spirit-drawing mechanic returns during the Asinia boss fight in Path of Exile 2. When Asinia is roughly under 80% Life, she will call out across the Tomb, drawing loose spirits into the arena.
These cyan spirits will slowly but surely get dragged into Asinia, and once she imbibes three of these, she temporarily becomes empowered, allowing her to deal more damage. This empowered state is indicated by a cyan flame on her head.
You can run directly into the spirits before they reach Asinia to ground them and deter her from getting the power-up. However, if you're well-prepared, you can also ignore this mechanic altogether as intercepting the spirits also comes with a risk: if they get grounded into one of the burial tablets in the room, it spawns an Eternal Knight, the same as in the Draven fight.
One thing about Asinia that can help you win this iconic fight involves her callouts and incantations. This is a clue for which attack she's likely going to use. Since some of her attacks have similar telegraphing animations, you'll sometimes have to rely on these as an audio cue. Below are all of her special moves, named according to her callouts during the fight.
Wilt and Rot
When Asinia shouts "Wilt and Rot", it means she will instantly evaporate and re-appear near you, launching into a three or four-hit melee swing afterward. While the teleportation is instantaneous, there's enough delay before she starts attacking for you to react.
Conquer/Insolence (we don't know what to call this one)
When she shouts out "Conquer" or "Insolence", it is usually followed by a shockwave that stretches outward from her in a cone. Since it's visually quite similar to the Unearth Witch skill, it likely deals physical damage. Due to its shape, it is impossible to evade the shockwave by dodge-rolling away from her. Instead, dodge laterally or diagonally towards her sides.
Rite of the Full Moon
This is the most common move she uses, and thankfully, it's an easy one to handle. A series of three ritual circles will appear on the ground, briefly glowing brighter before it explodes in the same area of effect. Due to the visually prominent nature, you can easily spot one. Once a ritual circle appears, keep moving till a second one and a third (bigger) one appear and explode, and re-engage afterward.
Bone Cage
Asinia will attempt to entrap you in a circular bone cage. Regardless of whether you're caught in it or not, a series of homing projectiles will then bombard the area within.
If you do get caught in it, there's a tiny opening in the cage you can slip through. Otherwise, your only option is to either try and destroy a part of the cage wall to escape or brace for impact.
Draven's aid
Once Asinia gets to around two-thirds of her Health, she will call the spirit of Draven the Eternal Praetor for aid. Draven swings his sword to cast a volley of 11 spirit projectiles, which get easier to slip past when you're farther away. You'll virtually never get hit by this as a caster or ranged class if you have good positioning. As a melee class, you can also try blocking the projectiles with Raise Shield.
Sacrificial Souls
Asinia shoots out a concatenation of flaming skulls that home in on an area ahead of her. This can deal tremendous damage if you get caught in it, so move to her flank whenever you hear "Sacrificial Souls".
Due to the numerous AoE spells and entrapment mechanics, the Asinia boss fight in Path of Exile 2 is a test of patience. Furthermore, classes with access to Curses and DoT such as the Witch will have an easier time with their fire-and-forget playstyle.
However, if you're playing an active damage dealer, the key is to attack her during the Sacrificial Souls and Conquer/Insolence move or her melee attack chains, since they are good openings if you can flank her. Some of her moves can overlap, making the arena dangerous to maneuver through - so you'll also want to bide your time when there's a lot of stuff going on.
Check out our other guides on the game:
- Path of Exile 2 Count Geonor boss fight
- Path of Exile 2 class tier list for beginners
- Path of Exile 2 Beginner tips
- Path of Exile 2: All Buff Skill Gems