Diablo 4’s finally in beta, and players with Early Access can now attempt to face the world boss of the Fractured Peaks, Ashava the Pestilent. Ashava is a pretty difficult boss in the sense that you’ll need good gear to take him on. This Diablo 4 Ashava the Pestilent world boss guide will go over the necrotic beast’s moves and tells, giving you an idea of what to look out for when taking it on yourself. Do note that this guide is based on the fight in the beta version of Diablo 4, and Blizzard may very well change things up in the final release version when it comes out in June.
With that being said, here’s what you need to know about Ashava the Pestilent in Diablo 4.
Diablo 4 Ashava the Pestilent World Boss Guide
Ashava the Pestilent doesn’t just spawn anywhere. In fact, the boss actually has its own dedicated area in the Fractured Peaks. Named The Crucible, this area has no enemy spawns outside of Ashava, so players can comfortably AFK there while waiting for it to spawn.
You can find the location of the Crucible as shown above. If you ever die while fighting Ashava, don’t worry—you will respawn near the edge of The Crucible, allowing you to get right back in the action. You’ll also gain potion charges upon dropping Ashava’s HP to certain thresholds, as indicated by the red arrows on top of Ashava’s HP bar.
Here’s a list of all the different moves and attacks Ashava can execute (the order seems to be random).
Bite
Ashava bites at a player in front of it. This attack has a quick windup and deals lots of damage, so melee players must always look out for this move when in front of Ashava.
Smash
Ashava raises one of its wing bones in the air, causing an AoE marker to appear. Ashava will then slam its wing bones at this location, knocking players away from the center of the AoE. Simply move out of the AoE when it appears or Evade at just the right time to dodge the damage and knockback.
Double Smash/Swipe
Ashava raises both of its wing bones in the air, causing two AoE markers to appear. Ashava will then slam its wing bones at these locations. This is immediately followed up by a backward swipe. To avoid this attack, simply move to Ashava’s sides when you see two AoE markers appear in front of Ashava, and you’ll be fine.
If you can’t get out in time, there seems to be a small safe spot between the two swipes, though there’s such little room that it may be difficult to pull off.
Leap
Ashava leaps at a random player. This leap can cause Ashava to travel quite far across the arena, so keep that in mind if you’re playing a melee class like Barbarian.
Ice Swipe
Ashava raises one of its wing bones and swipes the ice around it in a wide arc. The wing disrupts the ice beneath it, and any players caught in the wing attack will take massive amounts of damage. While this is arguably Ashava’s deadliest move, it’s also the easiest to spot thanks to the obvious tell.
To dodge the swipe, you can either Evade into the swipe, making use of your invulnerability frames from Evade, or stand right under Ashava. There’s a tiny safe spot below Ashava, and you only need to move slightly in order to steer clear of the swipe. Alternatively, you could also simply stay out of Ashava’s swipe range if you’re playing a ranged class, but this can be a bit trickier to do.
Rotten Breath
Ashava spews out rotten fluid from its mouth in a cone. This leaves behind puddles of the same liquid at random locations on the arena. Simply dodge the breath attack and avoid the puddles while fighting.
And that’s about it! There aren’t any second phases or new attacks once Ashava gets low, so it’s just a matter of learning the tells and dodging the attacks from start to finish. Once you take down Ashava, it can drop all sorts of loot, including legendary gear and Ashava’s Spoils, a bag of loot that contains even more gear.
Ashava will spawn four times during the Early Access weekend and four more times during open beta. Click here for the specific times based on region.