Path of Exile 2: Akthi and Anundr — A Practical Dual Boss Breakdown

If, during the Interlude phase of Path of Exile 2, you suddenly find yourself boxed in by poison pools, slowing ground effects, and two oversized monsters that refuse to stay still, you’ve probably wandered into the fight with Akthi and Anundr. This encounter doesn’t overwhelm you with raw damage right away. Instead, it quietly pressures your movement and positioning until one mistake snowballs into several.

What follows isn’t a dry list of skills pulled from a tooltip. Think of it more as field notes — where these bosses show up, how they actually behave in combat, and what tends to work once the arena starts filling with poison and sand.

Where the Fight Happens

Akthi and Anundr appear in Khari Crossing, an area you naturally reach while moving forward from Khari Bazaar during the Interlude portion of the campaign. You don’t need to go out of your way to unlock the zone — progression will take you there sooner or later.

The encounter itself is tied to the side quest “Clearing the Way”. After speaking with Risu in Khari Bazaar, the objective becomes active. From there, a bit of exploration in Khari Crossing leads you straight into the boss arena. No hidden switches, no obscure triggers — just keep moving forward.

Earlier builds of the game had a reputation for being a little finicky here — killing one boss too quickly could confuse the quest state. That behavior has since been cleaned up, so you can focus on the fight itself without worrying about breaking progression.

Two Bosses, Two Different Kinds of Pressure

What makes this fight memorable isn’t any single attack, but how differently the two bosses behave. Akthi and Anundr complement each other in a way that steadily limits your options.

• Akthi stays relatively close, leaning into physical hits and poison-based area damage.
• Anundr prefers distance, layering the battlefield with slowing effects and ranged poison.

Alone, each would be manageable. Together, they force you to constantly decide where you’re allowed to stand — and for how long.

Akthi: Close-Range Pressure and Poison Zones

Akthi looks like something that crawled straight out of the desert — a scorpion-like creature built for sudden bursts of violence. Most of its damage comes from physical and chaos sources, and while the attacks hit hard, they rarely come without warning.

You’ll see wide tail sweeps that punish anyone lingering in front of it, burrowing attacks that bring Akthi up right under your feet, and venom projectiles that travel cleanly enough to dodge if you’re already moving. The real nuisance comes from its ground slams, which leave behind short-lived poison zones that quietly shrink your safe space.

Akthi isn’t subtle, but it’s persistent. Ignore the ground effects for a few seconds, and suddenly you’re cornered.

Anundr: Control Through Distance and Slow

Anundr plays a very different game. Resembling a massive sandworm, it spends much of the fight shaping the arena rather than chasing you directly.

Heavy ground smashes punish anyone standing too close, while burrow-and-emerge patterns constantly reset its position. Add to that volleys of poison projectiles and a steady stream of basic poison spits, and you’re already busy. Then comes the real problem: quicksand.

The slowing zones Anundr creates don’t look dramatic, but they change everything. Movement skills feel heavier, dodges come out late, and suddenly Akthi’s attacks are much harder to sidestep.

How Most Players Approach the Fight

Ask around, and you’ll hear a familiar suggestion: take down Anundr first. It’s not about damage numbers — it’s about regaining control of the arena. Once the slowing zones disappear, the fight opens up in a noticeable way.

Staying mobile is non-negotiable here. Poison pools overlap quickly, so lingering almost always backfires. Movement skills aren’t just helpful; they’re often the difference between a clean dodge and getting clipped by two attacks at once. Keeping both bosses on-screen also helps — surprises are rarely pleasant in this encounter.

It’s a fight that rewards patience more than aggression. Rushing damage tends to turn the arena into a mess faster than you can react.

What You Get for Finishing It

Defeating both bosses completes the Clearing the Way quest. After heading back to Risu, you’re rewarded with a Book of Specialisation.

Using it grants +2 Weapon Set Passive Skill Points. It’s not flashy loot, but it’s the kind of reward that quietly pays off over the long run, especially if you like experimenting with different weapon setups.

Final Thoughts

Akthi and Anundr aren’t there to wall you with raw difficulty. Instead, they test how well you read the battlefield and adapt when space becomes a limited resource. Clear them once, and future encounters with layered ground effects feel a little less intimidating.

For the passive points alone, the fight earns its place on your to-do list — even if it makes you work for every step of breathing room.