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To those on their first run-through ofPath of Exile II, The Trial of the Sekhemas will be the first true difficulty spike to halt them in their path.
After defeating Balbala in the Traitor’s Passage, you will receive aBarya, a key item needed to challenge the trial and unlock the power of ascension.
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This guide will cover every section of the Trial and offers someuseful tips and tricks to help youconquer this devilishly difficult dungeon.
Getting Started
This area has a monster level of 22, though even at this level, unless you’re very well-prepared,it may make sense to complete a few more areas before you give it a shot.
While this is an optional sidequest, in the greater scheme of things, it is very much essential to your progression through the game.
Completing this trial will grant you 2 ascendancy points, which can unlock fantastic buffs for your character, oftentimes completely changing the way you play. Having this new class will enhance your abilities and assist you in the challenges ahead.
Don’t be disheartened if you fail the first time around. It takes a while to understand all the mechanics. Resetting is part of the process.
The Trial Map
The Trial of the Sekhemas consists of 7 rooms, all culminating in a boss fight barring you from the final rewards.
You must make your way through these rooms, overcoming various challenges that lie in wait. The types of rooms are:
You won’t always need to face every one of these rooms, however, and some are more recommended than others.
Often, certain rooms can give you Afflictions, like slowing your movement speed or reducing the amount of damage you can deal, whereas others can give you Boons, offering you a variety of useful buffs.
These modifiers continue through your run, including during the final boss fight.
In addition,don’t forget to pick up the keys that are sometimes rewarded at the end of a room. They will be useful later on.
The Honour Meter
From the beginning of Path Of Exile II, you’ve been taught how to manage your health bar, sipping flasks to keep yourself topped up.
However, in the trial, this is completely turned on its head. While you will still need to look after your health bar, now you also have to deal with the Honour Bar.
This bar is made up of a combination of your Total Health and Energy Meter put together. Whenever you take damage, it will chip away at the Honour Bar. Drinking potions will not restore this.
Once your honour is gone, the only way to restore it is through special fountains in Break Rooms, or the use of special relics.
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Consequently, the most important things to focus on during this trialare your movement speed and ability to dodge effectively.Naturally, this makes the Trial a bit easier forRanged users in comparison to Melee characters.
Once your Honour falls to zero, you will be booted out of the Trial and forced to restart.
The Relic Altar
If you’re finding it a little difficult to proceed through the trial, you may pick up items called relics throughout your experience.
You can slot these relics into this little box before starting your run to offer helpful buffs,like increasing the amount of damage the boss will take, or increasing the amount of Honour that is restored at fountains.
There are plenty of Relics to choose from, and you can take whichever buffs fit your playstyle. Just verify you arrange them carefully within the tiled area.Certain relics are larger than others and will need to be slotted accordingly.
I found that some of the most important and useful relics are those that boost the amount of Honour you have, and those that buff your Honour resistance.
The Hourglass Trial
Upon entering this room, you will notice a huge hourglass with a lever beside it. Once you pull this lever, the Hourglass will flip, and the trial will begin.
You have 1 minute to survive while monsters continuously spawn around you.At first, you may be flustered, thinking that all the monsters must die,butthis is not the case.
One of the best methods of tackling this room is by camping in one of the corners and simply killing the few monsters that spawn next to you. The rest of the enemies will be off-screen and won’t aggro you unless you fire something in their direction.
Another decent strategy is simply running away. By upping your movement speedvia passives and a good pair of boots, and utilising your dodge roll effectively, you can run circles around the room, avoiding all the enemies and letting the timer run out.Once the clock hits 0, all spawned enemies will perish.
It may be tempting to kill the rare mob that spawns to reduce the timer counter, but this is rarely worth it and will usually cause you to take unnecessary Honour damage.
The Ritual Trial
This is arguably one of the easiest rooms and one of the quickest to power through.
Upon stepping through the doorway, you will see either one huge portal with 4 Summoners, or three smaller portals, each with two summoners.
You must kill the Summoners as fast as possibleto stop enemies from coming through and giving you a hard time.
Simply focus all your attention on the Summoners,kiting them around the room while avoiding attacks from the other mobs. Similarly to the previous room, once your objective is complete, the spawned enemies will die, allowing you to progress.
The Escape Trial
This is another easy trial and one you will often want to pick up because you very rarely take a single point of honour damage here.
This test is all about speed and memory. You will be tasked with running around the map, tagging Death Crystals before the time runs out. Every time you touch a crystal, you will be granted more time.
The key here is to move fast and ignore the surrounding enemies.There is very little point in fighting, as you will often lose Honour and, importantly, time.
Focus on keeping track of where the little white wisp travels, and keep moving in that direction. The map is crafted so thateven if you take the wrong path, you will probably loop around to the crystal.
If you just keep moving, generally, you will finish with plenty of time to spare. It’s usually not worth looting the chests here, as tempting as it may be, unless it’s a gold chest, then maybe have a quick peek inside.
If you see a boon that grants movement speed, always grab it. Maneuverabilityis key during this entire challenge.
The Chalice Trial
These next two trials are a little more tricky, and often, you’re going to want to try and avoid them unless you don’t have another choice.
The task here is simple. Travel around the map and kill the rare creatures that spawn to fill the chalice up with blood.
While the challenge sounds easy, and it is, the unpredictability of the modifiers that the monsters spawn with is the real pain here. Yes, you can kill them with ease,but can you kill them without taking damage?That’s the real question.
Often, these rare mobs will spawn annoying modifiers like Haste or a cloak, which only allows them to be damaged when you’re nearby. They may slow you down, or attack from afar. Again, they’re unpredictable and often annoying.
Just be sure to take this room slowly.Kill the smaller monsters before tackling the rare one. You don’t need the extra hassle.
The Gauntlet Trial
This is my least favorite trial and one that I hate to see when it’s paired up with a movement debuff.Try to skip this if possible.
You will have to navigate a maze filled with monsters and traps, pulling different colored levers to open various doors.
Often, it’s not immediately apparent where to go, and even more often, you’ll find yourself trapped in a little dead end, being swarmed by serpents while you fumble to flip a switch.
Unlike the Escape Trial,you will usually have to tackle some of the monsters here, as you’re vulnerable when pulling levers. But movement is still vital.
Clearing this room without taking at least a bit of damage is pretty unlikely, as even if you avoid the monsters, you’re probably going to get by one of the traps as you dodge them.
you’re able to take it slow and steady, like a sensible person, or use my preferred method and run through like a maniac and hope for an honour-restoring fountain later on. Both are good.
Rattlecage, The Final Challenge
Once you’ve made it through all these rooms, you’re greeted by a very unhappy pile of rocks.Dying here on your first try is almost guaranteed.
Having your honour as high as possible before you even enter this room is highly recommended, as if you’re under half, your chances are pretty slim.
Rattlecage is a very slow boss, but he’s a heavy hitter, with some moves that will wipe away what’s left of your honour in a few seconds.
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Despite this, he’s not exactly a difficult boss.In all honesty, what makes this boss particularly punishing is how long it takes to reach him.
Wiping here can be pretty disheartening, but it’s intentional. The more you run through the different maps, the more you will learn how to cheese them, and the more Honour you will have.
Here are a few moves you will want to look out for:
Attack Names
Description
The Triple Slam
Rattlecage will stomp his feet thrice, each time causing an increasingly large AoE fire explosion. As soon as you see him lifting his legs, move away as far as possible. The diameter of this attack is huge. He will always start the fight this way.
Lava Streaks
Lines of magma will ripple through the ground towards you, opening up a little volcano and damaging you in the process. Try to roll out of the way, or stay behind Rattlecage for an easier time.
Falling Rubble
As the fight progresses, more environmental hazards will crop up, causing you to keep your eye on the ground as well as where Rattlecage is. Simply keep your distance from him, and watch out for the rubble that breaks away from the ceiling.
The rest of the fight is about moving around and poking him when you have the chance.
Similarly to many bosses in this game,try and focus him down right at the end,as during the final section, a lot of hazards will spawn around the arena. You may even want to sacrifice a bit of your Honour just to finish him off.
The first time I beat him, I died at the very same time. Yes, it was soul-crushing.
The Treasure Room
Once you finally manage to turn Rattlecage into pebbles, you can claim your rewards.
There will be many chests available for you to open with the keys that you’ve collected along the way.
you’re able to use the Sacred Water, which you can trade for even more keys, or choose to trade with Balbala for some more useful relics.
The most important thing here, however, is the Ascendancy altar. Now you can pick between two different subclasses of your character and enjoy the huge bonuses that this will bring.
While it’s important to pick what you like, don’t be afraid to do a bit of research first. Once you’ve picked, you may’t go back.
