Path of Exile 2: Complete Trial of The Sekhemas guide

Trial of The Sekhemas is the first possible Trial system you can access in Path of Exile 2 to unlock your class Ascendancy early. Much like lab trials from the first game, this is a series of randomized rooms strewn with danger you have to beat without dying. However, to spice things up this time, there's an Honor resource that necessitates a careful and evasive playstyle, and a bunch of other mechanics to take note of.

In this guide, we'll go over everything you need to know about the Trial of The Sekhemas in Path of Exile 2.

How to unlock Trial of The Sekhemas in Path of Exile 2

To unlock Trial of The Sekhemas, you must get to Act 2 of the main campaign in Path of Exile 2 and beat Balbala The Traitor. Once bested in battle, she will appear as Balbala The Released, a friendly djinn. Reroute the caravan to the newly unlocked Trials locations through the Desert Map.

Once there, you can start the Trial by interacting with the Relic Altar. This will need a key to unlock, and luckily, the Balbala's Barya item serves this purpose. Should you fail in your attempt to beat the Trial, you can request another copy of this item from Balbala ad infinitum.

You can also get other Baryas as a drop in the latter part of Act 2 and beyond that, you can use to do further runs.

How does the Relic Altar work?

You can slot up to three Relics here (Image via GGG)

The Altar menu has a 3x2 Grid where you can fit up to 3 Relics that can grant your character buffs during the Trial, or modify conditions of the Trial to mitigate the challenge. If you keep playing this activity, you'll come across numerous Relics, which you can stash at the Relic Locker nearby. Relics cannot be swapped out once you've initiated the Trial till the next attempt or retrial.

Path of Exile 2 Trial of The Sekhemas guide: All mechanics explained

Plan your route well to minimize damage (Image via GGG)

To beat the Trial of The Sekhemas in Path of Exile 2, you must get past a series of seven interconnected Trial Rooms. After the first Room, you can pick all of your subsequent rooms from an option of two. Each Room has a predetermined Trial type, possible Affliction that can debuff you, and a reward awaiting at the final chamber.

By default, you can see up to two rooms ahead, which lets you plan your movement accordingly.

All Trial Rooms in Trial of The Sekhemas

There can be five types of Trial rooms, barring the boss fight at the end:

Escape Trial - Light up the Crystals in order before the timer runs out.
Chalice Trial - Eliminate two Rare (Gold) monsters in the room.
Gauntlet Trial - Find the Exit through a room full of traps.
Ritual Trial - Kill Ritual Cultists to stop all Rituals. Can contain multiple Rituals, or only one Ritual with stronger enemies.
Hourglass Trial - Activate the Hourglass and survive till the timer expires.

Other than the Room-specific challenges, a persistent Mechanic is the Honor system, which is discussed below.

How does Honor work in Trial of The Sekhemas?

Honor is a second Health bar you have to manage (Image via GGG)

Honor is the central gimmick that significantly amps up the challenge in Trial of The Shekhemas. Once the Trial starts, you get a finite amount of resource called Honor, displayed on the golden bar below. Honor depletes upon taking damage from enemies or traps, and if you hit 0 Honor, the Trial will instantly fail.

Damage on Energy Shield or Mana (with Mind over Matter passive) does not deter or mitigate the damage done to your Honor bar. In other words, you must try to take as little chip damage from mobs and traps as possible throughout the course of the run.

Thankfully, a few of the rooms contain Tabanas that let you restore some Honor at the cost of Sacred Water. Your total Honor bar is a sum of your HP and Energy Shields, so you'll have a higher amount at higher character level. There's also Relics that grant Honor Resistance, mitigating the amount lost upon taking damage.

What is Sacred Water?

Sacred Water is the form of currency exclusive to the Trial of The Sekhemas. Enemies slain during Trials drop this currency, and it can be used to purchase Boons and Relics from Trial-exclusive merchants. You can also potentially receive Sacred Water from giant pools at the end of a room.

What are Keys?

You can obtain Golden, Silver, and Brozne Keys as potential rewards for clearing a Trial room as indicated beforehand. These can be used to open a Cache of the respective type, which can drop a bunch of gear, with an increased chance of dropping Rare and Magic items. The keys do not go into your inventory, and they do not persist in future runs after you have beaten or failed the Trial.

Trial of The The Sekhemas: Rattlecage the Earthbreaker Boss guide

Rattlecage the Earthbreaker is the boss in the final room in Path of Exile 2's Trial of The Sekhemas (Floor 1). This is a hulking Golem you have to beat in order to clear the related sidequest, as well as unlock the Ascendancy passives.

The main thing to know beforehand about Rattlecage is the huge AoE slam attack he does right after spawning, which can catch you by surprise the first time. This is a series of three explosions around him in increasingly large circles, dealing damage and Igniting you for a massive hit to your Honor bar.

Other than this, most of his melee attacks are well-telegraphed, and you can sidestep them by moving towards his flank. He's a bit trickier to damage with ranged classes, as his slams can also spawn fissures that create permanent mini-volcanos that then act as an erupting area-denial tool. These tend to go at the edge of the arena, forcing you to play closer to the boss.

Furthermore, the boss can create rock walls to block you off similar to Rock Golem minibosses. These are especially perilous if you are stuck in the small area towards the top of the arena.

The boss is also quite durable (base lvl 22), so if you're having trouble with taking him down, you should revisit Trial of The Sekhemas at higher levels when you have better gear and more potent skills.

Check out our other guides on the game:

Edited by Sijo Samuel Paul