Path of Exile
Bosses
The Uber Elder Boss Guide
Last Updated: June 9, 2024
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I saw the fabric of creation in its most primordial form. I felt the Templar's grip loosen and slip away. I lay there, in the emptiness between worlds, for an eternity. Then, for the first time in my life, I truly awake.
The Uber Elder is a dual boss encounter where you have to fight both the Elder and the Shaper at the same time. This encounter is the final boss of the War for the Atlas Expansion and got introduced in Patch 3.2.0 Bestiary League. According to the lore of the Conqueror's of the Atlas Expansion, the Elder was slain by the Elderslayers led by Sirus, the Awakener of Worlds and was removed from the Atlas. You can still fight the Uber Elder using the Maddening Object. Defeating the Uber Elder for the first time rewards you a Decayed Voidstone that can be socketed into the Atlas.
This encounter is considered to be one of the hardest boss encounters in Path of Exile, due to the simultaneous activity of both bosses. It is recommended to practice the single bosses before you attempt the Uber Elder encounter, due to their overlapping Abilities. On top of that, the Uber Elder encounter also has an Uber Version.
The Uber Elder can drop one of the most desirable Items in the Game: a 3-Mod Watcher's Eye. This unique Prismatic Jewel grants you 2 (The Elder) to 3 (The Uber Elder) Aura mods. Powerful combinations of Aura bonuses on these Jewels can be worth hundreds of Divine Orbs,which keeps this encounter always relevant for endgame builds.
Defeating regular Shaper or Elder is guaranteed to drop a Map Fragment required for the Uber Elder Encounter.
The Shaper - Boss Guide:
- Fragment of Knowledge
- Fragment of Shape
The Elder - Boss Guide:
- Fragment of Terror
- Fragment of Emptiness
Loot Table
In addition to regular loot, The Uber Elder has the following boss-specific drops:
- Disintegrator
- Indigon
- Mark of the Elder
- Mark of the Shaper
- Voidfletcher
Additional Drops:
- Watcher's Eye
- Orb of Dominance
- The Gulf
- Void of the Elements
- Shaper & Elder Influenced Items
Skills Breakdown
The Shaper only auto-attacks if you are in melee range, dealing Physical Damage.
The Shaper unleashes a beam of elemental energy, dealing damage over time as Fire, Cold & Lightning.
With the voice line "Gaze into the Abyss", the Shaper locks to the player's current position and starts
channeling his Beam for 3 Seconds. Most builds don't survive standing in the beam, so avoiding it is a
high priority. This also opens up a window to burst the boss.
This damage is mitigated by your elemental resistances and other sources of damage mitigation.
The Shaper Beam is one of the only sources of Lightning DoT damage in the game, making Doryani's Prototype builds very weak to it.
The Shaper casts a volley of three orbs, dealing massive amounts of Cold Damage that penetrates your Cold Resistance. These Projectiles start slow and accelerate as they travel further.
The Shaper disappears into the void, then teleports to your location and slams the ground, dealing massive
amounts of Physical Damage. In order to dodge the Slam, you have to keep moving once The Shaper disappears. Most builds get one-shot by this ability.
Occasionally, Volatile Anomalies spawn randomly across the boss Arena, slowly floating towards you. If one
reaches you, it detonates and spawns a Vortex that deals heavy Cold Damage over Time. This also applies
the Chill debuff on your character while you stand inside the zone. These zones last for the entire fight
duration.
In The Shaper Intermission he teleports to the side of the boss arena and is immune to all damage, spawning a portal which releases monsters from the Atlas. Killing these monsters restores Flask Charges.
The Elder strikes you at melee range, dealing Physical Damage.
The Elder has a set of 3 different Ice Spear abilities. Each of them do heavy amounts of Cold Damage and should be dodged. The ability itself is locked to the player's position while casting.
Ice Spear - Variant 1
The Elder fires multiple sets of 2 icy projectiles.
Ice Spear - Variant 2
The Elder fires 4 icy projectiles at once.
Ice Spear - Variant 3
The Elder charges up and fires 5+ icy projectiles.
The Elder dives into the ground and re-appears, siphoning energy out of you within a 180 degree cone.
If you stay in the siphoning attack area:
- Deals moderate Physical Damage per second as debuff fed upon.
- You have 60% less action speed.
- The Elder gains Energy Shield depending on how much he siphons you.
The Elder spawns several tentacles around you that slam the ground dealing Area of Effect Physical
Damage. This attack also leaves a visual ground effect that deals damage over time for a short duration.
The Elder casts a ring around him, creating a field that expands over time.
After approximately 9 seconds, it explodes dealing massive Physical Damage, enough to kill most builds.
You are free to step outside before the final explosion, but have to stay within the inner ring during the final
explosion in order to survive.
The Elder starts to spin, launching multiple Cold Damage projectiles that land in a ring around him, there is
a blind spot directly under The Elder. After that, he teleports on top of you to perform a slam attack that deals
heavy Cold Damage.
Occasionally, Madness Propagators spawn randomly across the boss Arena. They fire slow projectiles that
leave a patch of eldritch decay if they are left alive for too long. Kill these monsters right away since the puddles they leave last for the fights duration.
In The Elder Intermission, he creates Null Portals that spawn multiple eldritch monsters that attack you on
sight. Attack the portals and the monsters that spawn to restore Flask Charges and not get overwhelmed. Killed Null Portals respawn after a short delay until the Intermission is over.
Boss Mechanics
It is highly recommended to master the mechanics of The Elder and The Shaper encounter. Both bosses have the exact same skill set as they have in their individual boss fight, with the following exceptions:
- The Shaper does not cast the Bullet Hell ability.
- There are no Shaper clones.
- No restraint phase from the Elder encounter. He still casts Null Portals in the Intermission.
- The Elder does not release any Pulse Nova's (Elder's instable phase).
Make sure to check out the Skills Breakdown above to learn more about each of the abilities.
Phases
The fight itself is split in 7 phases. 4 boss phases and 3 Intermission phases.
- Boss Phase (100% to 75%)
- Elder Intermission 1 (Null Portals)
- Boss Phase (75% to 50%)
- Shaper Intermission (Monster Portal)
- Boss Phase (50% to 25%)
- Elder Intermission 2 (Null Portals)
- Boss Phase (25% to 0%)
Boss Phase
Elder Intermission
Shaper Intermission
When the Uber Elder encounter starts, you are only able to attack The Shaper. The Elder is immune to damage as long as The Shaper is above 75% health, marked by a distinct silver glow around him. Once you hit the Shaper's health threshold, he becomes invulnerable (marked by a distinct purple shield around him), and it's time to attack The Elder. If both bosses reach the 75% health mark, The Elder Intermission begins.
Note that you always have to fight The Shaper before you can Attack The Elder, this repeats throughout the entire fight!
Once the Elder is done spawning Null Portals, the boss phase continues. You have to attack The Shaper to bring him down to 50% health. Afterwards, The Shaper becomes invulnerable, and you have to fight The Elder until he reaches 50% health as well. Once both are at 50% health, The Shaper Intermission begins.
To learn more about The Elder and Shaper Intermissions, click the tabs listed above.
After The Shaper is done releasing monsters into the Arena, the Boss Phase continues. This time, you have to bring both Bosses down to 25% health. Once you completed this task, The Elder Intermission triggers again, spawning Null Portals.
At the final Stage, both bosses are vulnerable to damage, but you still have to kill The Shaper before you can defeat The Elder. Note that Culling Strike Support only works on The Shaper, since The Elder cannot be killed before The Shaper.
Good Luck, Exile!
In The Elder Intermission, both bosses become immune to damage. While The Elder is locked in the center of the arena, The Shaper still attacks you while staying invulnerable. The Elder then proceeds to summon 4 Null Portals that spawn eldritch monsters into the Arena. It is recommended to attack the portals as well as the monsters that spawn to restore Flask Charges and not get overwhelmed. Make sure to dodge The Shaper's abilities while doing so. Killed Null Portals respawn after a short delay until the intermission is over.
In The Shaper Intermission, both bosses become immune to damage. While The Shaper is creating a monster portal, The Elder still attacks you while staying invulnerable. The Shaper then proceeds to let monsters from random maps enter the Arena. It is recommended to attack the monsters to restore Flask Charges and not get overwhelmed. Make sure to dodge The Elder's abilities while doing so. Once The Shaper is done, the Intermission ends and the Boss Phase continues.
Uber Uber Elder
In addition to the regular Uber Elder encounter, there is also an Uber version available by opening 5 Decaying Fragments in your Map Device. This makes the fight much harder in several ways:
The Shaper
- The Shaper has vastly increased Life and Damage.
- The Teleport Slam ability is faster.
- The yellow balls have 2 additional Projectiles.
- Casts a weaker version of the Bullet Hell spell from the Shaper encounter, but without Zana's protective shield.
The Elder
- The Elder has vastly increased Life and Damage.
- The Rising Slam ability is faster.
- Casts 3 instances of his Ring of Death ability that trigger in quick succession.
In addition to the regular Uber Elder loot, the Uber Uber Elder has the following boss-specific drops:
- Call of the Void
- The Eternity Shroud
- Soul Ascension
- The Devourer of Minds
- Voidforge
- Sublime Vision
- Decaying Reliquary Key
- Impresence Full Power / 2 Curses
- Curio of Decay
Additional Drops:
- Watcher's Eye
- Orb of Dominance
- The Gulf
- Void of the Elements
- Shaper & Elder Influenced Items
This special variant of Impresence is double-influenced and drops with one of the following extra mods:
- Punishment has no Reservation if Cast as an Aura
- Elemental Weakness has no Reservation if Cast as an Aura
- Enfeeble has no Reservation if Cast as an Aura
- Temporal Chains has no Reservation if Cast as an Aura
Sublime Vision variations:
- Anger - Always Scorch while affected by Anger
- Hatred - Always inflict Brittle while affected by Hatred
- Wrath - Always Sap while affected by Wrath
- Zealotry - Unaffected by Curses while affected by Zealotry
- Malevolence - You can apply an additional Curse while affected by Malevolence
- Pride - (20–40)% increased Effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skills on Enemies & Enemies you Kill while using Pride have 25% chance to Explode, dealing a tenth of their maximum Life as Physical Damage
- Determination - +1 to Maximum Endurance Charges while affected by Determination
- Discipline - +1 to Maximum Power Charges while affected by Discipline
- Grace - +1 to Maximum Frenzy Charges while affected by Grace
- Haste - 10% increased Action Speed while affected by Haste
- Purity of Elements - +3% to all maximum Elemental Resistances while affected by Purity of Elements
- Purity of Fire - 30% of Cold and Lightning Damage taken as Fire Damage while affected by Purity of Fire
- Purity of Ice - 30% of Fire and Lightning Damage taken as Cold Damage while affected by Purity of Ice
- Purity of Lightning - 30% of Fire and Cold Damage taken as Lightning Damage while affected by Purity of Lightning
- Vitality - Regenerate 15% Life over one second when hit while affected by Vitality
- Clarity - 80% increased Effect of Arcane Surge on you while affected by Clarity
- Precision - 25% more Critical Strike chance while affected by Precision
Summary
- Master the mechanics of The Elder and The Shaper encounter, before attempting the Uber Elder. You also need their Fragments to open the portals to the Boss fight.
- In all Phases you always have to attack The Shaper before you can damage the Elder.
- Dodge The Elder's Ice Spear ability, since these spells are locked to your position while casting.
- Immediately move out of the Elder's Siphon area.
- Outrun the Tentacle Slam ability with a Quicksilver Flask.
- Make sure to stand within the inner circle of the Ring of Death ability during its final explosion.
- Keep moving once the Elder starts to spin and performs his Rising Slam ability.
- Most of the Shaper's abilities can be outmaneuvered, like The Shaper's Beam or his Teleport Slam.
- Burst while The Shaper's Beam is active, since he doesn't move before finishing the cast.
- Use a Culling Strike Support and link it to a Totem or any other skill that can use it to shorten the last Boss Phase. Note that you can only cull The Shaper since The Elder cannot be defeated as long as the Shaper is alive.
Credits
Written by mbXtreme
Reviewed by wudijo