Path of Exile 2 Count Geonor boss fight and how to prepare

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How to prepare for the Count Geonor in Path of Exile 2

Count Geonor is a mandatory boss fight in Path of Exile 2 and one that marks the end of Act I. Even though coming out of this fight victorious depends on your capacity to survive Count Geonor’s attacks and hit him back, there are a few details that you should take into consideration before entering the battlefield.

First, be sure to reach at least Level 15 for this face off. If you have been following our tips and exploring the maps at least once, you are probably at the right level - or even higher - by this point. Once at the right level, you should verify the level of your gear. A good practice in general, but especially before fighting a boss. It is always important to run a fit check and see if you need to update your equipment from new weapons to the best flasks you can equip.

Now for a more detailed preparation, consider increasing your Cold Resistance. Count Geonor has a good number of abilities that will cause Cold Damage and apply Freeze buildup. Consider looking for pieces of equipment or accessories, such as charms, that can help you with this. A different solution is to put runes in a piece of armor, which can give you more Cold resistance.

Path of Exile 2 Count Geonor first phase

The first phase of the fight against Count Geonor goes on until his life reaches 50% or less. In this initial period, you must deal with his human form and a wolf form, each with different attacks. While the former is the one he stays for the longest in this part of the fight, the latter is more dangerous. Regardless of the form, Geonor has only a few attacks under his sleeves, making learning them fundamental to get to the second phase.

In human form, Count Geonor will use the following abilities:

Thrust Ice attack

Count Geonor's signature move is this thrust attack which he does after staying a few seconds standing still, aiming his sword at you. When he unleashes the attack, an ice projectile is shot forward. You can escape this attack by timing your dodge or rotatint around him. Both methods are valid and take advantage of how vulnerable he is while aiming his sword to hit him as many times as possible. Casting area-of-effect skills are also great since he won't start walking for a while.

Running attack

The Count may run toward you while holding his sword forward. If it gets you, he will drag you alongside him, causing you a considerable amount of damage. However, if you escape his initial onslaught, Geonor turns back and does a slash attack that covers a large area. But don't worry this is one of the easiest attacks to avoid. When Geonor uses this move, he screams phrases like 'You will pay with your life' or 'Run little rabbit', giving you time to the first part. In case you want to use the time he is still running to attack, you must prepare to roll when he uses his follow-up attack. For long-range classes, you can run toward the opposite side to stay safe and keep attacking him.

Slash attacks

These are the Count's normal attacks. If he gets too close to you, Geonor performs a three-part combo. His swings aren't fast, so escaping is easy. Because he stays locked on animation when using the combo, cast all the skills you can while he is fighting by himself.

Ice Wall attack

The fourth ability Count Geonor uses in his human form creates two massive ice walls in v-form and then charges a strong frontal attack with an ice-covered sword. You want to avoid getting trapped between the walls and the best method is to pay attention to learn when he is about to cast the first wall. The boss raises his sword which emits a light blue glow. When you see the blade shining, start running sideways. But, in case you can't avoid getting trapped by him, use your skills to break the walls, but do it quickly since his final animation is really fast and difficult to avoid.

As the first phase goes on, Count Geonor sticks his sword on the ground and turns into a wolf. This transformation may happen from one to two times and when he is in this form, there are a few abilities that he will use besides normal attacks. Because he can use these three in sequence, it's easy to find yourself overwhelmed and make mistakes. When facing his wolf form, stay away from where his sword is, otherwise you might get frozen.

One of the first abilities the world form uses is a howl that summons some minions from marks on the ground around him. Prioritize killing them as soon as possible so you don't get pressured by their attacks. He might create a line on the ground with four circles. Spheres of blood will appear above the circles and explode, sending projectiles to both sides, when he runs forward. You can dodge roll to avoid the projectiles, but you can also run to the safe spots at one of the ends of the line on the ground.

The third ability of the wolf Geonor is when he drops from above and hits a large circular area. You will know he is going to use this attack because his wolf body begins to float and dematerialize. A few seconds later, a large red circle appears where you are. The animation of him falling is really fast, making it almost impossible to roll out of it or even run if you're in the middle of the area when the sign on the ground appears. So to escape from this one, you must start moving when he starts to dematerialize, way before the red circle appears on the ground. Be prepared to roll to see yourself completely out of his attack!

Path of Exile 2 Count Geonor second phase

The second phase of the fight starts when Count Geonor loses half of his Health bar. He will then transform into a more hellish wolf, gaining a new name - Geonor, The Putrid Wolf - and a refilled life bar. It's time to face the real boss fight!

Just like in the first phase, Geonor has only a few skills that he will constantly use. By learning how to escape from them, you can plan an effective counterattack. In general, avoid staying in the same place for too long to use your skills. Learn to cast or hit him and then move. This will increase your chances of escaping his attacks. Besides a jumping attack and swinging his massive sword at you, the Putrid Wolf is going to use the abilities listed below.

Ice frontal attack

For a short period, Geonor will blow a freezing breath. The animation is pretty fast and he doesn't stay long periods using this ability. However, it's easy to just dodge sideways and keep attacking him while he is standing there blowing ice at you. He tends to use this ability right at the beginning of this phase.

Dematerialize

This is similar to the plunging attack from the first phase when Wolf Geonor disappears and falls over you. Pay attention to his animation and start walking away from where you are as soon as his putrid body starts to disappear.

Fog attack

During the fight, Geonor will stop from time to time, howl and cover part of the arena with an intense gelid fog leaving only the center free of it. He will hide in the fog and come out of it after some time to attack you. As you might expect, the location from where he is coming is random, so the best strategy is to constantly move and dodge out of his assaults. However, while you're trying to prepare for his attacks, smaller enemies will appear and attack you. Although they won't instantly kill you, they can trap you, preventing you from avoiding Geonor's attack, or they might push you toward the fog. Staying in the fog slowly damages and causes freeze buildup, so your main priority alongside avoiding getting hit by the Putrid Wolf is to kill these enemies and reduce the pressure they cause.

Ice Beams

Another deadly skill Geonor The Putrid Wolf uses is the ice beams he cast on the arena. When he is going to use this skill, Geonor raises his sword and white beams start to appear in random places in the arena. They take around three seconds to fall at the beginning of the fight - the cast becomes quicker later in the fight - and are always cast four times by him. The best way to avoid getting hit is to move constantly to a different place. Even so, there is still a chance of a beam appearing right in front of you. That's when you want to quickly dodge to a safe place. If you get hit, the beams apply freeze buildup and can easily kill you. While Geonor is casting this skill, you can apply a damage-over-time ability or leave an area-of-effect spell near him, so you can keep damaging him while running from his attacks.

Freezing ground

When Geonor The Putrid Wolf sticks his sword into the ground, marks of ice will start to cover the ground of the arena while he is casting this skill. Your goal is to find a safe spot, stand still, and continue attacking Geonor. Once the cast is done, ice covers the arena and you get frozen if you are on one of the marks. Even though it might sound intimidating, escaping from this one becomes easier with practice and it gives you a great window to counterattack.

Red-Ice Beams

As you get to the end of the fight, Geonor The Putrid Wolf raises his sword as if he is going to cast the white-icy beams, but instead, he invokes some reddish ice spikes from the ground. The main difference from the regular ice beams is that they will keep appearing after the raised-sword animation ends. Initially trying to run from his other skills and keep your eyes open for these new beans will feel overwhelming, but try to stay calm. Focus on escaping from the spikes and attack whenever you see an opening caused by the other skills.

After having seen at least once every one of these abilities, you will feel more confident to tackle this challenge. Geonor The Putrid Wolf punishes mistakes, so keep in mind that is not supposed to be easy. Use every new try to learn his moves and when to attack him back.

Good luck hunting down a count and starting Path of Exile 2's Act II!