How do you defeat Count Geonor in Path of Exile 2? Count Geonor and his second form, the Putrid Wolf, function as a skill check at the end of Act 1, ensuring that – if you can defeat him – you’ll likely be capable of handling the steep challenges beyond. But you may need a little help, as you might die over and over like we did. Luckily, we’ve beaten him a few times now, and know all the ins and outs of this tough fight.
First things first though, you may want to make sure your PoE 2 build is capable of taking him on. For that, you’re going to want to either head on over to our specific build guides for each class, such as the PoE 2 Mercenary, or check out our full-fledged best Path of Exile 2 builds. With the proper setup, you’ll be ready to take on Count Geonor.
Where to find Path of Exile 2 Count Geonor
After you defeat The Executioner in Ogham Village, you’ll come upon the Ogham Manor Ramparts and then the Ogham Manor itself. Within the manor, you’ll have to navigate three levels of dangerous foes to reach Count Geonor. You’ll periodically pass by ruined scaffolding to see him below with the tentacle-like Beast locked up in a cage.
Some of these enemies, called Blood Carriers, will leave behind pools of blood that will sap your health incredibly fast, making this a tricky area to explore.
The manor also houses the optional boss Candlemass, The Living Right, that we recommend taking on in order to gain some valuable experience and Skill Gems to power up your character.
Once you reach the final level and find the lift down into the arena, teleport back to town and make sure your equipment is up to par by gambling for new items through the NPC merchant Finn. Having topped-up equipment, especially your weapon, is imperative to beating bosses in Path of Exile 2. Blue items will often outpower older yellow rarity items that seem more powerful.
How to defeat Path of Exile 2 Count Geonor
Like many bosses in Path of Exile 2, Count Geonor has two forms. Once he’s at about 50% health, he’ll morph into his powerful Putrid Wolf form. Both forms are resistant to Cold damage, and he doesn’t have any notable weaknesses, so try to avoid using skills like the Sorceress’ Frost Bolt or the Monk’s Frozen Locus.
All Count Geonor moves
In his first form, Count Geonor has several moves outside of simple slashes with his sword:
- Hammer and Anvil: Geonor throws his sword and dashes forward, slashing behind him once he reaches it. Stay on the other side of the arena to avoid the slash.
- Sword Impale: Geonor will rush forward and impale you with his sword, pinning you to the arena wall briefly. This is easy to dodge.
- Ice Walls: Geonor will slash twice, creating two large walls of ice before slamming his sword down. The best way to avoid this is to back up and dodge out of the ice walls, though you can always break them with melee attacks.
- Blood Leap: Geonor will transform into a large wolf and jump in the air before falling from the sky. When he jumps, keep moving and roll out of the blood circle where he lands.
- Blood Dash: When in his wolf form, Geonor will spawn several bloody circles on the ground before dashing between them, sending out sprays of damaging blood. Get behind Geonor and stand beyond the circles on the other end.
- Blood Summon: Geonor will summon several werewolves. Deal with them quickly so they don’t block your dodge rolls.
All Geonor, the Putrid Wolf moves
At about 50% health, Geonor will morph into the Putrid Wolf, gaining all his health back and periodically leaping forward to attack. He hits much harder and has way deadlier skills in this form
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- Requiem on High: Ice shards will fall from the sky, marked by pillars of bluish light. Do NOT roll or attack Geonor during this phase, as they can freeze and kill you outright. Simply walk to avoid the ice pillars.
- Ice Spikes: Frost will spread out from Geonor. Where the frost forms a circle, ice spikes will soon erupt. Stand outside of the circles and hit Geonor with ranged attacks.
- Desolation: Geonor will breathe out frost in a cone. This frost will linger and slow you down if you walk on it. Fortunately, you can attack him freely from the sides while he does this.
- Misty Attack: Geonor will howl, summoning mist that shrinks the arena. As he backs into it, you can attack him freely. Werewolves will then spawn in and try to overwhelm you while Geonor periodically dashes from the mist, dealing damage. Depending on your build, you may want to run from the werewolves altogether or deal with them with AoE skills. Geonor will speak throughout this and dash about one second after he finishes a phrase.
- Upgraded Requiem on High: This occurs at about 25% health. The blue ice bolts will gain a red coloring to them and appear faster, making them harder to avoid. If you’re hit, a bleeding effect will stack on you. These are easier to dodge roll than the regular Requiem on High; however, they periodically come back during Geonor’s other moves, making it imperative to kill him quickly.
Path of Exile 2 Count Geonor melee strategy
Defeating Count Geonor, specifically the Putrid Wolf form, is more difficult with a melee character because his regular attacks do large amounts of damage.
In his first form, you can tank the hits he doles out by staying close and avoiding his Hammer and Anvil and Sword Impale attacks. It shouldn’t take you long to get him down to 50% health, but you’ll want to do so with as many health flask charges remaining as possible.
In the Putrid Wolf form, you need to wait until he uses attacks like Desolation before you move in to deal as much damage as possible or to whack him when he begins the Misty Attack. Here, it’s great to have some damage-over-time effect for when he does his long animations like Requiem on High. For the Warrior, hitting him with an Earthquake and Shockwave totem before avoiding the icy bolts works well. For the Monk, Vaulting Impact is your best bet.
When he reaches 25% health, it’s a race against time to kill him before his upgraded Requiem on High gets you. If you have the flask charges available, consider risking moving in close to deal as much damage as possible before he uses a Misty Attack and prolongs the fight.
Path of Exile 2 Count Geonor ranged strategy
Our ranged strategy against Count Geonor makes him a bit more manageable. In his first form, you only need to be wary of his Ice Walls attack as you keep your distance on the other side of the arena, dealing as much damage as possible with your ranged, non-Cold damage attacks. It shouldn’t take you long to whittle him down to 50% health to trigger his next form.
Here, you’re looking to deal damage as he performs animations for his attacks like Desolation and Requiem on High. These moves have him remain in place for several precious seconds, allowing you to stack AoE attacks on him to whittle down his health quickly. For the Sorceress and Witch, we found a lot of success with Flame Wall. For the Mercenary, you can remain at a distance and hit him with Incendiary Shot. The Ranger, on the other hand, succeeds with pretty much her entire kit, particularly Stormcaller Arrow.
When Geonor reaches 25% health and begins his upgraded Requiem on High, make sure you pop a mana potion before hitting him with everything you’ve got before he uses a Misty Attack, prolonging the fight as the bloody icicles rain down on you.
Once defeated, Geonor will drop a handful of items before a short story sequence plays out, granting you access to Act 2 where even more ferocious bosses await.
And that’s all you need to know to defeat Count Geonor in Path of Exile 2. Before heading on to Act 2, you might want to check our Path of Exile 2 quests list to make sure you didn’t miss any main or side missions.