Path of Exile 2 Count Geonor boss guide

Count Geonor is the final boss of Act 1 in Path of Exile 2, and as expected, he's much tougher than what you've faced up till this point. Rather than just a DPS-check meat shield, Count Geonor comes with an astounding variety of attacks, and even multiple phases to make for one of the most memorable fights in the entire game.

As the boss gatekeeping the next world map, it's expected you'll get mechanic-checked quite hard during this battle. The fight is especially tricky if you're playing hardcore, as there are a lot maneuvers that can catch you off guard the first time around.

We therefore recommend that you do it blind the first time you're playing Path of Exile 2, as this is not an experience you would want to spoil. However, if you're having a hard time beating Count Geonor after many trials and tribulations, this boss guide is here to help you.

How to beat Count Geonor in Path of Exile 2

Count Geonor always pops out of his throne and lands at the exact center of the arena as the fight begins. You can prep a delayed-activation spell like Mercenary's Grenades or Sorceress' Frost Bomb to get some chip damage in to start the party.

The first phase

In Phase 1, Count Geonor has a three-hit sword combo during which he maintains good momentum - but as a melee class, you can simply dodge to his flanks to avoid it. There are three big moves you need to look out for during this phase, all of which are following by the cue of a stinger:

Ice Spear: Count Geonor shoots out an icy projectile from the tip of his sword. This one takes long enough that it's easy to move out of the way. On contact, it can slow you down to a crawl.

The Charge and Spin: Count Geonor flashes red and charges forward till he hits the edge of the arena. Once he reaches the edge, he turns around and swings his sword in a massive arc that can cover almost a third of the arena. This deals massive damage, so don't get caught in it.

It's also an AoE attack, so you cannot dodge-roll through it or block it. The right thing to do is run to the opposite end of the arena when he begins charging.

The Ice Trap: Count Geonor will send forth two shards of ice, creating two walls to isolate a conical area before he slams the sword to send a cavalcade of frost in the area. The ice walls will take some time to form fully, which is your opportunity to react quickly and get out of the danger zone.

Phase 2: The Lesser Wolf form

Once he gets to about two-thirds of his Health pool, the Count will plunge his sword into the ground and shapeshift into a wolf. At this point, take care not to get into the frozen circle around the plunged sword, as it can freeze you once it expands.

The wolf form has some melee bite attacks, and three telegraphed moves in addition:

The Blood Ad-spawn: As the wolf howls, three trails of blood will stretch out from it to make three bloodstains that summon a frozen zombie each. While you'll need to take care of the summons after, this is a good opportunity to land a few hits if you're a melee class.

The Blood Lunge: The wolf will create a series of giant bloodspots on a line ahead of it, and then charge on that line, creating small explosions on all the blood spots. This one is easy to avoid if you are a ranged class, but you'll need to try and get some space between you and the boss if you're melee.

Basically, once the bloodspots form, see if they're the ad-spawning ones, which look visually similar. If they're on a straight line, that's your cue to move back.

The Calldown: The wolf will pounce into the air, and dive-bomb you from above. This spawns a red circle to indicate the damage AoE that glows brighter as the move is being executed, so watch out for it. These are quite similar to Asinia's Rite of the Full Moon, so you likely already got the training for this one.

If he reverts to his human form, the Count calls his sword back to him, which can damage you on its path if you intercept it. So, once again, careful about the seemingly dormant blade.

Phase 3: Geonor, The Putrid Wolf

Once you get him to about one-third of his Health pool, Count Geonor will obtain his final form: a wolf with a deft sword arm. In the beginning of this phase, the boss will get a full Health refill, which makes it a soft reset for him.

During this phase, the basic melee attack will sometimes get a fancy variant, especially after completing one of the special moves. In this, the boss will swing his sword in an arc similar to the Charge-and-Spin move from the first phase, after which, he will do it a second time - covering his flank this time. There seems to be no obvious tell for this move, so you'll just have to be prepared for surprises if you're playing melee.

Other than that, here are the moves he can pull off during this phase:

The Ice Breath: Count Geonor will breathe ice, a self-explanatory move that gets easier to dodge the closer you are to him.

The Freezing Field: Several ice-spots will appear on the ground, which will eventually form into glaciers, damaging and freezing everything in its wake. This move is easy to avoid by simply picking a dry patch of ground where the ice spots haven't formed, and standing still. If you are a ranged class, this is also the best opportunity for you to let loose.

The Calldown: This move is the same from the previous phase, except there's less time for you to react. Generally, you should start moving as soon as Count Geonor seemingly disappears into thin air.

The Fog: Count Geonor will cover the area with a thick fog that slowly freezes you, effectively shrinking the arena into this secluded spot. Within it, zombies will keep spawning, and Count Geonor will pounce at you from the fog once every five seconds. An additional cue is that he stops reciting right before attacking, in between the verses.

The effective strategy here is to stay near the center of the arena and anticipate the pounce so you can react in time. The ads automatically die once the fog dissipates after roughly 30 seconds of uptime.

The Ice Beams: Count Geonor will hoist his sword to call down a series of icicles from up above. These will form a white pillar around the areas of impact, and the move repeats four times before it stops. Contact with these beams when they connect will instantly freeze you, opening you up to massive damage from the next wave. Even as a caster, you should stop attacking altogether during this move and focus on staying mobile.

The Blood Beams: Sort of similar to the Ice Beams, this move will shoot up blood projectiles from the ground, which will explode with Cold damage in the affected areas. The strategy is the same as before, except this happens only once or twice, and you have to react faster.

The most difficult mutation of the fight is a possible scenario where the Fog and Blood Beams happen simultaneously, which is extremely hard to avoid. Fortunately, as long as you have steady damage, this is avoidable three out of four times.

If you're having trouble with the Count Geonor fight, there's not many offensive options to perk up your DPS in Path of Exile 2 dramatically. Instead, you should focus on getting some Cold Resistance on your gear, and slotting in a Cold-Immunity Charm.

Check out our other guides on the game:

Edited by Abu Amjad Khan