PoE 2 Boss Guide: The Rust King Strategy & Drops

The Rust King is a monstrous, armored optional boss encountered in The Rustbowl, a side area of The Iron Manor in Act 1 of Path of Exile 2. While not required to finish the Act's main story, hunting him down is essential for character progression. He guards a precious resource that permanently increases your Spirit capacity, allowing you to reserve more buffs and minions.

Lore & Background

In the runoff channels beneath the Iron Manor, where the blood of the Count's enemies mixes with rusted scrap, a primal horror has grown fat. The Rust King is an ancient, mutated crustacean that scavenges the battlefield above.

Over decades, it has fused the discarded plate mail and broken swords of the Iron Count's army into its own chitin, creating an impenetrable shell of oxidized steel. To the local scavengers, he is a deity of decay; to an exile, he is a treasure trove of raw materials waiting to be cracked open.

Core Mechanics

Summoning Mechanism: He will not appear directly on the map. You need to find and activate 3 Obelisk of Rust in the map. After activating the third obelisk, The Rust King will appear as the final boss for the encounter.

Phase 1: The Armored Shell

• 1. SLightning Barrage
  Description: Rust King raises the staff/weapon in his hand and summons a large area of falling lightning around him.Causes continuous lightning damage and is usually accompanied by the resurrection of Ancient Ezomyte Warriors.
  Strategy: When you see electric arcs appearing on the ground, immediately run out of the area.
• 2. Blad Nova Grenade
  Description: He gathered a circle of rusted swords above his head and then fired them in all directions (360 degrees).
  Strategy: There are obvious gaps between the swords. Standing in the gaps allows you to take no damage, or you can use the invincibility frames of a dodge roll to pass through the sword formation.

• 3. Weapon Line Drop
  Description: Generate a row of floating axes and swords in front, then smash them vertically into the ground.
  Strategy: This is a narrow straight attack; you can dodge it by slightly sidestepping.
• 4. Metal Rain Storm
  Description: He shot some of the armor on his body and scrap metal into the sky, then rained down dense metal in a straight or fan-shaped area ahead.
  Strategy: The pre-swing is long (he will have an 'unarmoring' action), moving sideways to dodge straight-line bombing.
• 5. Rust Charge
  Description: Launch a quick charge and slash at the player.
  Strategy: Keep moving, don't be greedy for more.

Recommended Builds

Breaking his shell requires heavy hits or armor-bypassing damage.

• Warrior - Sunder: The innate "Armour Break" from Warrior skills counters the boss's high defense. Sunder's line AoE can also hit him safely from a distance.
• Sorceress - Lightning: Lightning damage is effective against his metal shell (thematically) and ignores his physical armor rating.
• Key Stats: Armour is vital to survive the Pincer Slams. A Granite Flask is very strong here.

Loot Table

The Rust King is a "must-kill" boss for his Spirit reward.