Deep within Path of Exile 2’s Grelwood, Brambleghast awaits. An optional encounter, it’s one that players should go out of their way for, especially when seeking useful gear and items. Each zone in the game has its own secret mini-bosses, and this plant-based one is no exception. In addition to it being a powerful, hard-hitting foe, it also has a lot of allies that spring up to help.
When you combine this with a comically small battle arena, compared to what Beira of the Rotten Pack had, it can feel frustrating to overcome this boss. However, if you’re struggling with Brambleghast in Path of Exile 2, we’re here to help you succeed.
How to beat Brambleghast in Path of Exile 2
While Brambleghast’s spawn location is random in Path of Exile 2, due to the nature of the maps, there is a way to spot it. You’re looking for a region called The Moving Bramble. This is found between a pair of crescent bramble sections on the map, seen in the image below. If you spot these, with a checkpoint near one, you’re close to the boss.
Brambleghast has quite a few dangerous attacks at its disposal in Path of Exile 2. Since the arena you fight in is so small, its cone of thorns and tree roots can be devastating. You’ll see it on the ground and will have time to dodge before it really hits you. In addition, Brambleghast can also fire a bit of purple energy orb that will splinter into purple shards. Depending on where it’s fired, the orb can move as well.
Just take advantage of Path of Exile 2's new dodge mechanic and roll through or around these, and you’ll be fine. It can also do up to three melee attacks in an arc in front of it. These don’t hit especially hard, but the follow-up is what can make this fight infuriating. When Brambleghast roars in Path of Exile 2, it’s going to summon allies - Vicious Vines.
These make the arena even smaller, by constantly swinging at you. Brambleghast combines this with more of the cone attacks, and a delayed, charged attack in front of it. This deals splash damage in front of it in a pretty large AOE, so try and be behind it.
When you get closer to 50%, the Vicious Vines will begin firing small purple orbs that track you down. This makes the Vines the most important target, anytime they’re up. Those that do melee will get a bit bigger as well - in general, focus on these adds.
Thankfully, this is one of the bosses that doesn’t really move around a lot - feel free to target it with stationary, repeated hits, and AOEs that land on the ground. Brambleghast isn’t going to avoid them.
As a Witch player, I used a lot of AOE attacks and dots, such as the Skeletal Archer’s Poison Gas attack. Once defeated, the boss can drop a variety of equipment, such as Rings, Charms, Uncut Skill Gems, and Mana Flasks.
Check out our other Path of Exile 2 guides and features:
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- Does Path of Exile 2 have co-op features?