Path of Exile 2 Ominous Altars quest guide

Ominous Altars is one of Path of Exile 2’s many side quests, and it introduces a really interesting mechanic - the Ominous Altar. You can spend Tribute at these to purchase potentially powerful equipment, and other useful crafting reagents. The Ominous Altars quest requires you to head into the Freythorn and cleanse a series of Ritual Altars.

No matter what Class or Ascension you pick in Path of Exile 2, this is potentially useful to you. There’s no telling what kind of amazing gear you could purchase at one of these Altars. You can always come back to this quest as well, if you skipped it. Here’s what you need to know.

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How to complete the Ominous Altars quest in Path of Exile 2

Late in Act 1 of Path of Exile 2, you can speak to Finn at Clearfell Base to begin Ominous Altars. He’ll task you with heading into Freythorn to cleanse a series of Altars. This particular area isn’t on the way to the main story objectives, so it could be something you skip completely - but you shouldn’t.

These Altars summon relatively easy monsters to slay (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

To get to Freythorn — a Level 11 zone — you need to pass through the Hunting Grounds first. You’ll also find a Ritual Altar somewhere in the Hunting Grounds - likely near the Crowbell boss. We don’t think this is a required Altar for the quest, but it's likely one you can farm more Tribute at later. We didn’t have to complete it in our playthroughs, but thought it worth mentioning.

Due to the chaotic, random nature of Path of Exile 2’s maps, we cannot guide you to all of the Ritual Altars in the Ominous Altars quest. You will typically see them in wider open parts of the map with a checkpoint nearby - see the above screenshot. When you interact with the Ritual Altar, a large wave of enemies will show up that you need to defeat.

This zone is massive, but finding two Altars side by side makes it easier to manage (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

After you cleanse the first Altar, you can summon Finn, and he’ll charge you with finding the others and cleansing them. Your locations will vary - we found two altars right next to each other in the same space.

You might run into an Altar in the center of a large, circular area, as well. If you come upon this one, and you can’t interact with it, that means there are other Altars you need to clear first. In my experience, I had to cleanse three Ritual Altars, and then I ran into this final one.

We also found a Skullslinger here to fight, before we challenged the Altar. If you spot one there as well, take care of it before interacting with the Ominous Altars objective in Path of Exile 2.

This is the final Altar, where a threatening boss awaits (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

This final Altar also has a boss attached, after you clear the waves of enemies - The King in the Mists. This mobile plant boss isn’t terribly difficult, but I cannot stress to you enough that you need to make sure it doesn’t die in the center of the room. This happened to me, and caused a glitch where I couldn’t claim the reward he dropped - which increases your Spirit.

Defeating him will grant you the Gembloom Skull, and access to the Ritual Rewards at the Altar. Slaying monsters during a Ritual grants you Tribute, and you can use that on rewards once the Ritual is complete. In our case, it had a few very interesting items for purchase.

When you’re ready, summon Finn to complete Ominous Altars in Path of Exile 2, and claim your reward, which is either a Ruby Charm, Topaz Charm, or Sapphire Charm. This is likely where you’ll unlock one of your first charms in Path of Exile 2.

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Check out our other Path of Exile 2 guides and features:

• Jonathan Rogers on why Path of Exile 2 is harder than the first game
• Path of Exile 2: All returning League mechanics confirmed so far
• Path of Exile 2 Ascension Trials, explained