During the Trial of the Sekhemas you’ll have to overcome numerous trials - enemies, traps, timers and numerous combinations thereof, all while staying alive and retaining your honor by not sustaining too much damage. The last of these trials will see you face off against the boss at the end of the trials, Rattlecage the Earthbreaker, and this page will provide a guide that’ll help you overcome this foe in Path of Exile 2.
Page Breakdown¶
Rattlecage the Earthbreaker Location¶
In the Trial of the Sekhemas, you’ll need to clear various Trial Rooms, moving your way from the left side of the map to the right via various routes. Whichever trials you choose, Rattlecage the Earthbreaker will be waiting for you on the rightmost side of the map, the final trial that must be overcome before you can claim your rewards.
(1 of 2) Advance to the end of the Trial of the Sekhemas,
Advance to the end of the Trial of the Sekhemas, (left), to encounter the trials’ final boss - Rattlecage the Earthbreaker! (right)
Rattlecage the Earthbreaker Boss Strategy¶
Big, monstrous enemy, large arena, no adds, no apparent gimmicks… it almost seems like a proper, straight-forward boss fight. The only complication is the Honor system inherent to the Trial of the Sekhemet. Not only do you have to manage your Life totals (and supplemental forms of defense, like energy shield), but your Honor will also be depleted as you take damage, and you can’t make space and wait for this to regenerate or chug a life flask to recover Honor like you can Life. You run out of Honor during this fight and you will fail the trail, regardless of what your Life total is at. This means you should trend towards the conservative with this fight, play safe, don’t trade blows or face-tank. With that in mind, below you’ll find Rattlecage’s noteworthy attacks:
Triple Fire Nova¶
Rattlecage, despite not having a very fiery name, will quickly prove his pyromaniacal bonafides by hunkering down and emitting a fiery burst centered on himself. This will be followed by a second, then a third, each larger than the last. If you have ranged attacks, get to a respectful distance and pelt Rattlecage from afar, if not, just stay clear until the elemental is done making booms.
(1 of 2) This boss will use fire in various ways, including an expanding trio of flame novas,
This boss will use fire in various ways, including an expanding trio of flame novas, (left), and stomps that summon persistent geysers of fire. (right)
Flame Geysers¶
If you’re still not sold on Rattlecage’s affinity for fire, he’ll slam the ground and send out two fissures of magma, which meander around the battlefield. Where they stop, a geyser will erupt and spew out fireballs, and while the fissures will vanish after a short period of time, the geysers will remain a persistent hazard. As the fight goes on, these will pile up and make navigation more dangerous. The geysers don’t deal heavy damage, but mistakes will constantly chip away at your Honor, which is probably the intent of the attack.
Magma Stomp¶
Rattlecage will rear back and slam its two clublike front arms into the ground, shattering the earth and creating two magma-filled circular fissures where its club-fists impacted. This deals heavy impact damage and the magma deals damage-over-time, but the effect is short-lived. In addition Rattlecage has several other slam and sweep attacks involving its club-fists that don’t involve DoTs or area-denial effects, including a tantrum-like flurry of blows. These are as a general rule slow and easy to dodge - if you see it rearing back, make space. Later on in the fight most of Rattlecage’s melee attacks will spawn small, stationary vortices that deal damage if you touch them.
(1 of 3) Don’t neglect Rattlecage’s club-like arms, however - it has a variety of stomps, sweeps and slams, including ones that leave magma fissures,
Rattlecage’s offense isn’t dynamic - it’s a slow, lumbering, powerful creature whose attacks should all be easy to dodge. Initially, at least. This foe is also durable and over the course of battle its persistent effects will pile up - first the geysers spawned by its “Flame Geysters” attack, then the vortices that accompany its melee slams. Keep moving, stay wary of your surroundings and avoid the hazards that increasingly clutter the battlefield. You’re more in danger of losing this fight due to depleted Honor than Life, but a loss is still a loss. If you fight smart during the first half of the fight, you may be able to sustain more damage (read: Honor) in the latter half, allowing you to tank a bit, trading offense for a faster resolution to the fight.
Endure and dispatch Rattlecage with your Honor intact and you’ll be able to not only glut yourself on the drops from the boss itself, but unlock your Ascendancy Class!
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