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Windows Central
Technology
Jennifer Young

Diablo 4 Boss ladder: Boss locations, summoning guide and loot tables

Beast in the Ice.

Diablo 4 endgame is where the real game starts, and you'll be wanting to hunt down the best gear in the game, Uniques and Uber Uniques. While these drop from any activity in the game, the drop chance is a lot higher if you target farm endgame bosses on the Boss Ladder, who each have their own individual loot table. Why is it called the Boss Ladder you ask? Because each Boss is summoned using crafting materials, often obtained from the Boss you fought beforehand. The Bosses increase in difficulty, the pinnacle being Andariel and Duriel who have the highest chance to drop Mythic Uniques. Most players end game will be farming materials to fight Andariel and Duriel.

From Season 4, Patch 1.4.0 introduced Tormented versions of each boss, which as you can assume, are much more difficult but drop better rewards. Tormented bosses are level 200 bosses summoned with Stygian Stones, acquired from The Pit of Artificers which you can read about in our Masterworking guide.

When can I start fighting Bosses in Diablo 4?

You'll need to have advanced to World Tier 3 before the bosses on the Boss Ladder become available to you. The bosses range in difficulty from level 55 to 100. At World Tier 4 you can summon a Tormented Boss which will be level 200. 

Echo of Varshan

Echo of Varshan (Image credit: Jennifer Young - Windows Central)

Varshan was added as a boss fight in Diablo 4 Season 1, Season of the Malignant, and their Echo remains for us to fight as the first Boss on the Ladder. Varshan is also the most efficient boss to farm for the popular Malignant rings.

Varshan will mainly inflict Shadow damage, so stack your build against this with Ameythst Gems and potions.

Where to find Echo of Varshan

Head to the Malignant Burrow under the Tree of Whispers to summon Varshan. (Image credit: Jennifer Young - Windows Central)

How to summon Echo of Varshan

You'll need the following materials to summon the Echo of Varshan.

  • Malignant Heart 

If you don't have any Malignant Hearts or you have used them all, you may have found the following materials from Whisper Caches and other drops in the game

  • Gurgling Head
  • Trembling Hand
  • Blackened Femur

These are basically Varshan's body parts, and what used to be needed to summon him. Now however as you only need Malignant Hearts to summon Varshan, you can convert these body parts to a Malignant Heart by visiting a Herbalist in any main city.

Tormented Echo of Varshan

  • 1 Stygian Stones
  • 3 x Malignant Hearts

Grigoire, the Galvanic Saint

You'll need to stack lightning resistance to take on Grigoire in Diablo 4 (Image credit: Jennifer Young - Windows Central)

Grigoire is the first boss you'll need to farm for materials to go and fight Duriel. He'll be doing Lightning damage so socket in some Topaz gems to your gear before this fight.

Where to find Grigoire, the Galvanic Saint

Grigoire can be found in the Hall of the Penitent (Image credit: Jennifer Young - Windows Central)

Grigoire is found in the Hall of the Penitent, which is located south of Ked Bardu in the Dry Steppes. 

How to summon Grigoire

You'll need the following materials to summon the Grigoire the Galvanic Saint:

  • Living Steel x 2 for World Tier 3
  • Living Steel x 5 for World Tier 4

Living Steel drops from opening Tortured Gifts in the Helltide. The most Living Steel is dropped from the chest of Living Steel (go figure). However, if you are playing Seasonal mode, you will also be rewarded with Living Steel by opening Mother's Gifts and Season Journey caches. So, there is little need to farm the Living Steel chest now.

Tomented Grigoire

  • 1 x Stygian Stone
  • 15 x Living Steel

Lord Zir

(Image credit: Jennifer Young - Windows Central)

Lord Zir was the final boss in Season 2's Season of Blood storyline, and thankfully he was kept for us to slaughter over and over for sweet loot. Blood in itself isn't an elemental damage type, but Lord Zir's blood attacks inflict Shadow damage, so you'll need Amythyst gems and a Potent Elixir of Shadow Resistance.

Where to find Lord Zir

Lord Zir is found at The Darkened Way (Image credit: Jennifer Young - Windows Central)

Lord Zir is found in The Darkened Way, East of Kyovashad in the Fractured Peaks. You will only be able to fight him in World Tier 4.

How to summon Lord Zir

To summon Lord Zir you'll need the following:

  • Exquisite Blood x 9

Exquisite blood drops from Legion events and World Bosses.

Tormented Lord Zir

  • Stygian Stones x 1
  • Exquisite Blood x 27

The Beast in the Ice

Stack up Cold Resistance for Beast in the Ice (Image credit: Jennifer Young - Windows Central)

The Beast in the Ice will inflict, yes you guessed it, Cold damage. So stack those Sapphire gems and chug a Cold elixir for this fight. 

Where to find The Beast in the Ice

(Image credit: Jennifer Young - Windows Central)

The Beast in the Ice's location used to be a Nightmare Dungeon. But no more! Now you can travel straight there. The Glacial Fissure can be found in The Fractured Peaks  
just South-West of Kyovashad.

How to summon The Beast in the Ice

  • Distilled Fear x 9    

Distilled Fear drops from Nightmare Dungeons Tier 30 and above. 

Tormented Beast in the Ice

  • Stygian Stones x 1
  • Distilled Fear x 27

Duriel, King of Maggots

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Duriel, who made a fleeting appearance in the campaign, and who also featured as a boss in Diablo 2: Resurrected, returns in the endgame. He will inflict Poison damage so stack Emeralds and a Poison Elixir to max out your poison resistance. 

Where to find Duriel

(Image credit: Jennifer Young Windows Central)

The Gaping Crevasse to the East of Gea Kul in Kehjistan.

How to summon Duriel

To summon Duriel, you'll need to have fought Varshan and Grigoire. Note that only the player that summoned these bosses will have the necessary materials dropped, but can summon for the entire group. You can also drop materials you have for another person in your party. Duriel is only available in World Tier 4.

  • Mucus Slick Eggs x 2 (from Varshan)
  • Shards of Agony x 2 (from Grigoire)

Tormented Duriel

  • Stygian Stones x 1
  • Mucus Slick Eggs x 6 (from Varshan)
  • Shards of Agony x 6 (from Grigoire)

Andariel, Maiden of Anguish

Andariel is being added to the Boss Ladder (Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

Andariel is Duriel's twin, therefore they have identical loot tables. Both Andariel and Duriel will be your main sources for Mythic Uniques at least at their base level.

Andariel will inflict all damage types, so go for an 'all resistance' gem in your gear with Diamonds. 

Where to find Andariel

Andariel is lurking at the Hanged Man's Hall (Image credit: Jennifer Young - Windows Central)

Hanged Man's Hall to the East of Tarsarak

How to summon Andariel

You'll need to have fought both The Beast in the Ice and Zir for the materials required to summon Andariel.

  • Pincushioned Doll x 2 (From Beast in the Ice)
  • Sandscorched Shackles x 2 (From Lord Zir)

Tormented Andariel

  • Stygian Stones x 2
  • Pincushioned Doll x 6 (From Beast in the Ice)
  • Sandscorched Shackles x 6 (From Lord Zir)

Echo of Lilith

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Lilith isn't technically part of the Boss Ladder, and isn't worth farming for Uniques and materials, however as a 'Pinnacle Boss' she is worth fighting as she will drop a Resplendent Spark when first defeated. You won't get another Resplendent Spark from Lilith if you have already received one from the previous season.

Resplendent Sparks are incredibly rare crafting materials used to craft  Mythic Uniques.

Where to find Uber Lilith

(Image credit: Jennifer Young - Windows Central)

Uber Lilith can be found in World Tier 4 at the Nevesk Church, go and meet Mommy at level 100 and with a perfected build. Uber Lilith is by far the toughest of all the bosses. 

Which boss is best to farm Mythic Uniques?

As of Diablo 4 Patch 1.5.0, this line was included, which changed the Mythic Unique farming method:

  • All Tormented Bosses have 5 chances to drop a mythic at 1.5% chance each. In total, a 7.5% chance to drop a Mythic Unique. The resulting effect of this change is that the bosses have a chance to drop multiple Mythic Uniques instead of just 1.

Developer’s Note: The goal of these changes is to broaden the chances of acquiring Mythic Unique Items. Now, players can engage with whatever Tormented Boss they have the materials for in their quest to find a Mythic Unique.

But what does this mean? Well, previously, Andariel and Duriel had the best drop rates for Mythic Uniques. The patch notes only refer to Tormented versions of bosses, therefore if you are target farming Mythic Uniques, Duriel and Andariel have the best drop rate at their base difficulty. As Andariel has a forced second phase and cannot be killed as quickly, Duriel is the best to farm at this stage.  

Once you are level 100 with strong gear and are able to take on Tormented Bosses, using Stygian Stones, ALL of the Tormented Bosses have the same drop rate for Mythic Uniques. Due to the rarity of Stygian Stones, you'll want to focus on the easiest boss to defeat, which can differ depending on your build. At the time of writing, based on who does and doesn't have forced phases and annoying mechanics, I would advise you to fight Tormented Lord Zir or Tormented Grigoire. 

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