How To Fight Traitor Balbala Which Is A Key Boss In Path Of Exile 2 Early Access? - Location & Moves
After nearly a decade of waiting, the boss fights in Path of Exile 2 Early Access have been recognized by players as the best in the isometric ARPG genre. Fortunately, there are plenty of boss fights to explore throughout the campaign in the current Early Access, with some required bosses with unique combat mechanics in almost every area, as well as some optional bosses that you need to find through the game’s various side quests.
Some of these bosses are very important to the progress of the entire game, such as Traitor Balbala in Act 2’s Traitor’s Passage, which rewards you with Balbala’s Barya for Ascension Trial. But this boss’s combat mechanics are a bit complicated, and you can learn how to find and defeat Balbala in this guide, which will make your exploration process smoother.
Balbala’s Location
As mentioned above, Balbala will appear in Act 2’s Traitor’s Passage. But you need to explore the total area first, and after you have explored Six Sisters area, you will find a door leading to Prison of the Disgraces. Interact with Ancient Seal on the door, then remove the three Runic Seals that are used to bind Balbala, and you will release him.
It is important to note that after you remove the last Runic Seal and release it, Balbala will immediately fight with you, so at the checkpoint closest to the interactive door, you need to restore your health and mana (or charge) to a healthy level. You can also spend some POE 2 Exalted Orbs to make the rarity of your current gear higher and add an affix to make it easier to fight Balbala.
Balbala’s Moves
Pleases note that the arena you used to fight Balbala is relatively small, so you don’t have much room to avoid its attacks. If you team up with a friend or fight Balbala as a party, the arena can be quite claustrophobic, so you’ll need to be careful and keep track of your position.
Also note that Balbala’s method of movement is unusual, as he teleports to your area and then swings at you with his daggers, dealing damage. You’ll need to keep moving to avoid his teleport attacks. Here are some attacks Balbala will use on you during the fight and strategies for how to deal with them.
Summon Spirit
Balbala will drop a coin into the arena, and after a few seconds Spirit of Balbala will spawn from the coin. After you knock its health down to zero, it will regenerate into a coin and then resurrect a few seconds later. Although this enemy has low health, it will keep resurrecting and dying repeatedly, so you should defeat it as quickly as possible to avoid being knocked out.
You can also prevent Spirit of Balbala from reviving by walking through the coin that is hovering in the rune. But when you do this, Balbala will immediately teleport to a location near you and slam the rune, which will deal very high damage to you and cause you to take fire damage. So be sure to use dodge when trying to stop the soul from resurrecting, and roll over the coins as much as possible to avoid being hit.
Dagger Toss
During this attack, Balbala will teleport several times and summon numerous yellow daggers around the arena, which will spin towards you and shoot rapidly. All you need to do is pay attention to the flight path, position, and timing of these daggers, and then dodge them before they can damage you, and you can spend some POE 2 Currency to make your build more flexible and maneuverable.
Poison Seep
In addition to the poison dagger, Balbala will also use the hole in the center of the arena to release a poison cloud that can also cause continuous poison damage to you until the entire arena is covered. At this time, Balbala is also hiding in this poison gas. To stop it from continuing to damage you, you need to go around the edge of the arena to find Balbala and hit it.
But as you find it, it will throw a grenade at you, which will cause extremely high damage after it explodes. Here you need to prepare a position in advance where you can hide to avoid the explosion damage.
Ascending Daggers
Finally, Balbala will throw three waves of yellow daggers at you, stabbing them into the ground. After a while, these yellow daggers will fly into the air and will damage the area of the arena directly below them. During this maneuver, you can avoid the daggers as they fly away to avoid the damage they cause you.
After you successfully defeat Balbala, you will be rewarded with Balbala’s Barya for Ascension, which you can use to interact with Zarka and start a new quest. The above are the specific methods and strategies for finding and defeating Balbala in POE 2 Early Access. I hope you can successfully get through this interesting Boss battle stage with the help of this guide. I wish you have fun in this brand new POE 2!
Recommended Article
View More
In PoE Curse of the Allflame, Orb of Fusing is a crucial base currency, especially during the early game and gear-building phases. This item allows you to re-equip random Socket Links.
For builds that rely on 4-Link, 5-Link, and 6-Link skills, this is a key way to boost damage output.
This article will teach you how to obtain and use Orb of Fusing in Path of Exile 3.29.
How to Obtain?
Direct Drops
Orbs of Fusing can drop from killed monsters, chests, and destructible containers. Research suggests that Arcanist's Strongboxes have a higher drop rate. However, this remains a less reliable primary farming method.
Trading with Merchants
While Orbs of Fusing can drop directly in Path of Exile Curse of the Allflame, the most reliable way to obtain them is through a two-step merchant recipe cycle, converting common drops into a stable source of fusion orbs. Here's how:
Sell any item with a socket to a town merchant. They'll give you 7 Jeweller's Orbs. You can then use these Jeweller's Orbs to trade for Orbs of Fusing from the same merchant. The exchange rate is 4 Jeweller's Orbs for 1 Orb of Fusing.
If you have an item with six sockets, all connected, selling it to a merchant will get you 20 PoE Orbs of Fusing. However, six-socket items are very rare and require a strategy to obtain. Here's how to quickly acquire Six-socket items:
Choose right location
Six-socket items drop from monsters. The drop rate depends on the total amount of items dropped by the monster, not the item's rarity or attributes. Therefore, your monster-farming strategy should focus on dungeons that allow you to encounter as many monsters as possible.
Prioritize seasonal mechanics that significantly increase the number of monsters on the map. Legion, Breach, Abyss, and Delve are excellent choices for dungeons with a large hourly drop rate.
In addition, you need to improve your map clearing speed. The faster you clear the map, the more items you'll see over time. Therefore, builds with high map clearing speed and good mobility will naturally farm more six-socket items.
Farming Loop
Pick Up
During PoE 3.29 gameplay, pick up all six-socket items highlighted by the filter. However, you don't need to stop to identify them. Their rarity ((white, magic, rare, unique) is unrelated to the recipe.
Discarding
To maintain speed, you'll need a dedicated stash tab. After completing each map, quickly hold down Ctrl key and click on all six-socket items in your inventory to place them into this tab; sorting is not required.
Trading with Jewellers
Once the discard tab is full, go to any merchant. Hold down Ctrl key and click on the six-socket items in your inventory to place them in the merchant's sale window. Collect Jeweller's Orbs.
Converting to Orbs of Fusing
Go to a vendor, such as Lilly Roth (she's the most convenient choice), find Orbs of Fusing in her trade window, and trade as many as possible using Jeweller's Orbs.
Divination Cards
Some Divination Cards can be directly exchanged for Orbs of Fusing, providing players with a more targeted acquisition method.
Lucky Connections
These are the cards players should pay the most attention to in PoE 3.29; collecting 7 cards can exchange for 20 Orbs of Fusing. These cards have a chance to drop in specific areas, such as The Docks, Wharf Map, Pier Map, and Shipyard Map.
Other Cards
Other divination cards can be exchanged for Orbs of Fusing, such as The Gambler, but the exchange method is more indirect, and the reward is random currency.
Beastcrafting
The recipe for Craicic Sand Spitter beast can be used to craft Orbs of Fusing. You need 1 × Craicic Sand Spitter and 3 × any Rare Beast.
How to Use?
Manual Fusing
In PoE 3.29, using Orbs of Fusing resets the connections between item slots. The number and color of the slots remain unchanged.
If your item has quality (from Armorsmith Shards or Blacksmith Sharpening Stones), the quality will be consumed to increase the chance of getting better connections.
Generally, 20% quality items have a higher chance of getting 6-connections, however, the chance of manually getting a 6-connection on a 20% quality item is still about one in a thousand. This means that on average, you need one thousand Orbs of Fusing.
So it's entirely based on luck; you might get incredibly lucky, or you might lose much more.
Using a Crafting Table
If you want to avoid the risk of bad luck, you can use a crafting table (unlocked through Syndicate member, Vorici). A crafting table allows you to guarantee a specific number of connections at a fixed price.
- 5 Linked Sockets: Costs 150 Orbs of Fusing
- 6 Linked Sockets: Costs 1,500 Orbs of Fusing
This is a risk-averse option. It guarantees success at a known cost, avoiding the risk of spending thousands of fusion orbs and failing.
This concludes the article on how to obtain and use Orbs of Fusing in Path of Exile 3.29. Orbs of Fusing are a currency that players frequently use; if your currency reserves are low, get some now. If you have enough, you can save it to exchange for other currencies or for crafting equipment later in the game.
It has been three months since the launch of Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0. Given that no further Early Access patches are expected before the full 1.0 release, anticipation for Patch 0.5.5 and Version 1.0 is undoubtedly growing.
Interestingly, there is a gap of about two months between Gamescom and ExileCon 2026, two confirmed events where PoE team will be present or hosting, suggesting that each will probably feature distinct updates regarding PoE 2.
With Gamescom 2026 fast approaching, we are combining known information to speculate on what new details regarding Path of Exile 2 might be revealed at these two events.
Patch 0.5.5 to make its debut at Gamescom 2026
The event runs from August 26 to August 30. A fresh showcase of PoE 2 is scheduled for Opening Night Live, which takes place just before the main event kicks off.
Furthermore, while a specific release date for Patch 0.5.5 has not yet been announced, the exclusive demo featuring new content at Gamescom 2026 is clearly 0.5.5 build. Attendees can experience the demo firsthand by visiting Path of Exile booth.
Patch 0.5.5 is expected to bring significant changes, primarily focusing on balance adjustments, gameplay modifications, and the introduction of a mini-league.
Although the exact amount of 0.5.5 content to be showcased at Gamescom 2026 remains unknown, this event presents a prime opportunity to draw players back to the game.
Interestingly, the past month has seen leaks and community speculation regarding features that might appear in the final release.
These details cover everything from new weapons and classes to improvements in core systems, most notably the highly anticipated death recap feature. This function represents an evolution in how PoE 2 communicates the cause of death to players.
If Early Access lays the groundwork for the 1.0 launch, then Gamescom 2026 is the perfect stage to showcase the final results, particularly system optimizations that don't necessarily count as spoilers.
Will Gamescom 2026 reveal PoE 2 1.0 content?
Generally speaking, Path of Exile 2's focus at Gamescom 2026 will likely be on showcasing the content of Patch 0.5.5, but that doesn't mean the development team won't reveal anything related to the 1.0 release.
Assuming PoE 2 1.0 launches in late 2026, relying solely on ExileCon 2026, held in early November, for the official announcement and hype-building would be cutting it too close. Gamescom, however, offers a prime promotional opportunity in terms of both timing and scale.
By comparison, ExileCon is a closed event exclusive to PoE players, serving more as an internal celebration; Gamescom is a global spectacle. Public promotion there carries more weight and attracts a broader audience, potentially even reaching players who aren't yet familiar with PoE 2.
Therefore, alongside the content included in Patch 0.5.5, Path of Exile 2 might use Gamescom to showcase finished, public-ready elements of the 1.0 version, or even allow attendees to play them alongside 0.5.5 mini-league.
This content could well include one or two new classes or Ascendancies, or a public preview of a new Act. We might even see the release of the first teaser for PoE 2 1.0, possibly including the final launch date, after Gamescom 2026 concludes.
ExileCon 2026 may reveal more about future plans
If the speculations above hold true, does that mean ExileCon 2026 has nothing left to say about Path of Exile 2? Certainly not.
At the very least, PoE 2 will undoubtedly remain the promotional focus of the franchise throughout the second half of the year. If Gamescom 2026 offers a glimpse of the 1.0 version, Path of Exile 2 development team will almost certainly build on that momentum at ExileCon.
They are likely to present a detailed timeline for the post-1.0 period, showcase all remaining new classes and Ascendancies, and perhaps even reveal details about the first official league.
Beyond the new content within Path of Exile 2 itself, the launch of version 1.0 signifies that development is fully on track, inevitably leading to stronger connections with the original Path of Exile.
To promote Path of Exile 2 1.0 launch, the original game might even host exclusive crossover events, allowing you to earn resources in both games simultaneously.
How can you prepare?
Given travel and scheduling constraints, you might not be able to attend Gamescom or ExileCon 2026 in person. However, official livestreams will be available, so you can tune in live or catch the replays later.
Beyond these two events, the four months following Gamescom 2026 will likely see a gradual rollout of information regarding Patch 0.5.5 and version 1.0 through livestreams, interviews, and other channels.
Therefore, if you want to stay up to date with the latest Path of Exile 2 news, keep an eye on the community, forums, and updates across various platforms.
Additionally, even though Patch 0.5.5 hasn't launched yet, it's best not to step away from the game just because there isn't new content right now.
For one thing, ExileCon Qualifier is still underway, there's no reason to miss out. For another, minor fixes might be released to pave the way for Patch 0.5.5 launch.
In short, while things might seem quiet on Path of Exile 2 front right now, a massive wave of new content and promotional hype is just around the corner. Get ready for it!
Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5 endgame has entered a phase that truly tests the overall strength of a build. High damage is important, but for long-term farming, it's also necessary to reliably handle high-difficulty maps, have sufficient survivability, and be able to challenge pinnacle bosses.
Based on these criteria, three endgame builds are particularly noteworthy: Ice Shot Pathfinder, Spark Storm Oracle, and Flameblast Gemling Legionnaire.
If you're still looking for a Path of Exile 2 build that can handle everything from mapping to high-difficulty boss content, these three are worth considering.
Ice Shot Pathfinder
If I had to choose one of these three builds specifically for long-term map farming, I would prioritize Ice Shot Pathfinder. This build is perfect for Path of Exile 2 players who enjoy ranged DPS and high mobility. From a practical standpoint, Ice Shot is sufficient for most regular mob clearing. Herald of Ice further enhances cold damage and mob clearing efficiency, while Tornado Shot provides additional projectile options.
When facing high-durability Path of Exile 2 enemies, Barrage is better suited for focused fire. Combined with Freezing Mark for Priority Targets, it significantly alleviates the output pressure on this build in single - target encounters.
Ice Shot Pathfinder doesn't need to withstand high damage head-on. You can improve survivability through range and flexible positioning. When encountering dangerous boss mechanics or dense attacks, quickly create distance and readjust your position.
Ice Shot Pathfinder's greatest strength lies in its mapping. Ice Shot boasts excellent projectile coverage, and combined with Movement Speed, ranged damage, and the control effects of Cold Damage, it allows you to quickly traverse PoE 2 maps while maintaining a safe distance. Once your gear is fully developed, ordinary enemy groups will hardly hinder your progress.
It's important to note that this build emphasizes weapon progression. Bows are one of the core items in this build. As map difficulty increases, you need to continuously upgrade Weapon Elemental Damage, Attack Speed, Projectile Scaling, and other offensive stats.
If weapon upgrades don't keep up, overall damage will decline. While this build can start with relatively inexpensive gear, to maximize its potential, you'll still need to invest heavily in Path of Exile 2 Currency later on.
Spark Storm Oracle
If you want a POE 2 Caster that balances excellent map coverage, sustained spell damage, and mobility, Spark Storm Oracle is a highly recommended choice.
Spark is its primary damage skill. It can continuously fire projectiles forward and in the surrounding area, eliminating the need for precise targeting, making it particularly convenient for clearing maps.
Mana Tempest is a crucial offensive tool for Spark Storm Oracle, increasing DPS when Lightning Damage needs to be maximized, providing a stronger output window when dealing with high-health targets quickly in Path of Exile 2.
Explosive Transmutation, Blasphemy, and Refutation supplement DPS, while Mana Remnants and Remnants of Kalguur help you regenerate Mana resources.
Blink is also an indispensable mobility tool, allowing for rapid map traversal and timely repositioning in Return of the Ancients Boss Encounters. Spark itself relies on Projectile Coverage, while Blink helps you proactively find better DPS positions, making Spark Storm Oracle combat rhythm more proactive than traditional stationary casters.
You need to continuously cast Spark to cover the battlefield with Projectiles, use Mana Tempest as needed, and maintain a suitable DPS position through movement. It doesn't simply rely on stationary spell-casting; instead, it maintains damage pressure while circulating.
Boss farming is another strength of Spark Storm Oracle. Spark doesn't depend on a single burst; instead, it maintains damage pressure throughout the entire encounter by continuously generating projectiles.
However, Spark's performance isn't entirely consistent across all PoE 2 boss encounters. Arena layout, boss movement patterns, and projectile behavior can all affect actual hit rates. If the arena is open, or if the boss frequently moves out of the projectiles' coverage area, some of Spark's advantages will be diminished.
Mapping is one scenario where Spark Storm Oracle excels. Spark inherently possesses a large coverage area, allowing it to continuously clear surrounding monsters with no need to target enemies one by one. Combined with Blink, you can quickly advance the map while allowing projectiles to continuously deal with enemy groups behind you.
Flameblast Gemling Legionnaire
Flameblast Gemling Legionnaire is the number one endgame build for Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5. If your goal is to tackle challenging endgame content, rather than simply pursuing the fastest mapping speed, this build offers superior overall performance.
Flameblast, as the core damage skill, combined with Scouring Flame, Ignite, Concentrated Area, and Considered Casting, allows you to unleash a large amount of fire damage within a suitable output window.
Oil Grenade and Elemental Weakness primarily handle utility, helping to manage tough targets and supplement area coverage; Mana Remnants, Wind Dancer, and Virtuous Barrier further enhance resource management and survivability.
Its mapping speed isn't the fastest. When facing regular enemies, you need to control PoE 2 battlefield and find a suitable position. Against bosses, you need to observe the attack patterns and mechanics, then use the brief openings to unleash Flameblast. This playstyle does sacrifice some smoothness in terms of controls, but it results in a higher single-hit damage ceiling.
Regarding progression, it doesn't require a complete Path of Exile 2 endgame gear from the start. Early on, prioritize building Core Fire Damage and basic spell gear, then gradually add Defensive Gear, Support Setup, and other enhancements.
The real worthwhile investment in PoE 2 Currency is further improving Flameblast's damage ceiling in the late game, while ensuring sufficient survivability to support higher difficulty encounters. Once the build is complete, the advantages of Flameblast Gemling Legionnaire will become increasingly apparent.
While its map-clearing speed might not match the other two builds, Flameblast's burst damage makes combat exceptionally easy against high-health enemies or challenging bosses. If you don't mind the increased movement and skill required, this build's late-game performance is definitely worth anticipating.
Overall, among these three top-tier Endgame builds for Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5, Ice Shot Pathfinder is better suited for those seeking fast mapping, Spark Storm Oracle is better for players who want a balance between map clearing and bossing, while Flameblast Gemling Legionnaire is better suited for those focusing on high-tier content and boss progression. You can choose based on your playstyle.
Exiles, have you been plagued by the sluggishness and frequent deaths of summoned creatures in Path of Exile 3.29? If you want to say goodbye to this pain but still want to continue using the summoner build, then Raise Zombie of Slamming build might be your answer.
It revives the glory of the zombie build, with smooth and fluid controls, finally freeing our hands completely when farming.
Furthermore, using Necromancer ascendancy class, along with a moderate PoE currency budget, we can unleash tens of millions of damage with the help of Raise Zombie of Slamming, crushing bosses in the blink of an eye!
Damage Mechanics
Of course, because of Necromancer and zombie gameplay, the community usually calls this build Zombiemancer, and the core idea of this build is to address the shortcomings of the original zombie mechanics summoned by Raise Zombie of Slamming one by one.
Because the base damage of zombies in PoE 3.29 isn't particularly impressive, we need to introduce Necromancer's Ascendancy passive: Unnatural Strength, which converts all physical damage into Chaos Damage.
A Severed in Sleep one-handed sword is also essential for this build. This allows us to maximize DPS through double critical strike chance, increased critical strike damage, and the significant base Chaos Damage provided by Envy aura.
Attack Speed
After addressing the zombies' damage cap, another issue we need to resolve is attack speed.
The base attack speed of the zombies summoned by Raise Zombie of Slamming is only 0.85, making our gameplay feel particularly sluggish.
Replica Maata's Teaching weapon doubles the attack speed, completely changing the zombies' clunky and slow performance in Path of Exile.
With the damage and attack speed adjustments mentioned earlier, we can now ensure that zombies in the game can both deal burst damage and keep up with the pace of combat, thus supporting a smooth and fluid gameplay experience.
Core Equipment
Helmet
It's worth mentioning that while the unique Bone Helmet: Ancient Skull provides a significant increase in summon critical hit rate and triggers Whisper buff, increasing their damage and attack speed by 50%, the cost is that summons lose 5% of their life per second.
To address this, we can obtain 5% Minion Life Regeneration through nodes in Passive Skill Tree and combine it with the existing resistance from the weapon Severed in Sleep to compensate for summon Chaos Resistance, thereby mitigating continuous damage and ensuring zombie survival.
Additionally, through Allflame Crafting in the current Path of Exile 3.29, Minions are Aggressive can be used as the base affix for the helmet, which is also the best choice, but PoE currency cost is too high.
An alternative is to use the +2 Summon Gem Level affix to upgrade the levels of Spectres and Zombies.
Even without Minions Are Aggressive, Whisper effect of Ancient Skull can indirectly increase the attack range of summons, having little impact on daily boss battles in the game.
Body Armor
Theoretically, the best choice for chest armor is Skin of the Loyal with affixes that increase gem level obtained through corruption, but this is also too expensive.
An alternative, The Covenant, can also provide us with additional base Chaos Damage, resulting in approximately a 65% damage increase.
Amulet
Ashes of the Stars amulet is crucial for our zombie summoning build.
Because Raise Zombie of Slamming's mechanic is to add one zombie for every 20% quality, this amulet increases its quality by another 30%.
The original 30% quality, plus the 30% from the amulet, allows us to stack a maximum of +3 zombies.
Combined with the level effect of Congregation Support, the maximum number of zombies increases by 2, allowing our summoned creatures to deal significant damage.
Defense Mechanics
For blocking and recovery, we can use Bone Offering and Amulet Anoint to give zombies a 75% attack and spell block rate, along with life recovery from blocking, greatly reducing the probability of zombies dying in PoE boss battles.
For our character, Necromancer, since dual-wielding weapons prevents her from wielding a shield, we can utilize Mistress of Sacrifice Ascendancy passive to extend Bone Offering's effect to herself.
Spell block relies on Elegant Hubris to randomly convert nodes in Passive Skill Tree into Spell Blocks.
Additionally, Leech Mastery provides substantial life recovery, further enhancing Necromancer's survivability.
Skill Links
For boss battles, this Raise Zombie of Slamming build can use Ruthless Support to enhance the slam damage of individual attacks, while deliberately avoiding Minion Damage support gem to prevent it from reducing the zombies' maximum life.
When clearing maps and monsters, Ruthless Support can be replaced with Annihilation Support, allowing the zombies' damage and area-of-effect skills to chain together, resulting in incredibly smooth gameplay.
To further enhance the output and survivability of this summoned team, you can equip Animated Guardian with Kingmaker, providing +50% critical strike damage to all nearby allies.
Overall, this Necromancer and Raise Zombie of Slamming build is a mid-budget option, using Replica Maata's Teaching as its core equipment, with high flexibility in adjusting the remaining components.
While Raise Zombie of Slamming might not be the strongest option in PoE 3.29, as a summoner build, you don't need to do much preparation before boss fights, and the overall gameplay is very comfortable and easy.
If you enjoy playing summoner builds, believe in the potential of Raise Zombie of Slamming and Necromancer!
