Welcome to a Path of Exile guide! In here, you can learn more about the Purifier and its mechanics, abilities and more. The Purifier is one of the four elder guardians that is required to beat before facing the Elder.
Fighting Mechanics
The Purifier is a hybrid range and melee elder guardian that deals heavy physical damage with no ailments. This elder guardian is the easiest among the rest because all it does is pure flat damage, there will be no debuffs of any sorts.
Each Elder Guardians is fought in one of three stages, each with different hazards. At higher tiers, the boss will change phases, teleporting you to a new area with different stage hazards. On yellow maps, this occurs at 1/2 health, and in red maps, this occurs at 2/3 and 1/3 health.
The elder guardian is predictable and his abilities can be avoided easily, which makes this boss fight a lot easier. They are also many easy ways to gain physical damage reduction against this boss.
Basic Melee Attack
The Purifier attacks in a melee range dealing physical damage.
Double Slam
The Purifier performs a slam with both of his weapons, creating two overlapping explosions that deals heavy physical damage. Make sure you have Fortify buff up and flask ready to go whenever ready.
Mace Toss
The Purifier will take hold of both maces, jump high into the air and toss the mace into the target area twice, creating large area of effect explosions. These explosions large amount of physical damage.
Hover
When the Purifier falls below 90% health, he will ascend into in the air while the maces hover behind his back. During the hover stance, the Purifier can perform new abilities.
Mace Attack and Spectral Throw
During the Hover Stance, the Purifier can use the animated mace to perform a long mace throw or melee attack that deals physical damage. This attack deals minimal damage and can be easily avoided. The thrown mace will only deal damage at its end point of the travel where it explodes and its usually at the edge or outside of the arena.
Circle Blast
The Purifier will call down divine light blast that deals physical damage in a small yellow circle.
Crossed Swords
The Purifier will spawn seven tentacled swords which surround the player, which each of them firing a shot towards the center of the circle. This attack can stack or overlap at the center of the spawned swords.
Bladestorm
The Purifier will call down sixteen sword storms on target location. Each storm of blades will explode once all the swords of that storm have reached their target location. Target locations have a shockwave graphic around the impaled sword that depict the area of effect that the final explosion will damage.
No damage is dealt while the swords fall, only once they explode at the end of the travel. These explosions deal heavy physical damage and can overlap or stack.
Spawn Adds
When the Purifier falls below 75% health, he can begin to cast spawn adds. The Purifier will cast a five projectile spell that will spawn animated swords that perform basic melee physical attacks. These animateds sword deal minimal damage and can be killed to refill flask charges quickly.
These animated swords will disappear after 20 seconds if not killed.
Arenas
Elder Guardians replace the map boss of the map it is occupying. A portal will appear in the boss arena leading to a side zone which contains the Elder Guardian. Their monster level matches the base map of where the Elder is occupying.
The Purifier can randomly spawns in one of the three arenas. All three arenas has different mechanics that players are required to dodge the attacks. In Tiers 6 to 11 maps, at 1/2 health you will be teleported to another arena with different stage hazards, and the same applies for Tier 11+ maps at 2/3 and 1/3.
Although the Purifier is full physical damage with no ailments, some of the arena has abilities that deals fire damage. Nothing much to be worry about but worth mentioning.
Vaults of Insanity
- Beams of light move across the stage, dealing fire damage over time.
- A totem at the center fires two rows of flame in random directions.
- Golden circles in the corner fire slow-moving Spark projectiles.
Halls of Delirium
- Small circular explosions occur periodically in random areas.
- Multiple golden orbs drop down from mid-air in random areas.
- Beams of light fire down which chase the player, dealing fire damage over time.
Pits of Sorrow
- Has randomly placed circular explosions around the arena which deals physical damage.
Preparing against the Purifier
The Purifier deals heavy physical damage and has no ailments which means you have to only mitigate against physical damage.
Arctic Armour
Arctic Armour is a very good buff to reduce physical damage taken. It can reduce up to 13% physical damage taken at Level 20 skill gem.
Basalt Flask
Basalt Flask can reduce up to 15% physical damage taken while on use. One of the best and cheap defensive flasks in the game against physical damages.
Fortify
One of the best defensive buffs in game which reduce damage taken by 20%. If you are a melee build, feel free to remove one of your melee attack supports with a Fortify Support.
Armour Rating
If your character is using a build with heavy armour, this boss fight should be very easy for you. You might even able to face-tank it without an issue, depending on your total armour and build.
Fighting Strategy
The fight against the Purifier should be very straight-forward. There is no special kind of mechanic that you have to learn. Make sure your Fortify buff is always up, use any sort of movement skill to dodge the attacks, especially the Bladestorm, Mace Toss and Circle Blast.
Kill the spawned animated sword to refill your flask charges whenever needed.
Item Drops and Rewards
These items are only dropped from the Purifier only and cannot be chanced or obtain from any other places. These items are unique and can be used for some certain builds.
