Path of Exile 2 - Day 5: Jamanra

Platform: PC
Controls: X-Input Controller
Class: Titan
Level: 35

Skills:
Rolling Slam L9 with Overpower and Fist of War
Boneshatter L8 with Execute and Impact Shockwave
Volcanic Fissure L9 with Fire Infusion and Persistence
Shield Charge L8 with Stomping Ground and Second Wind
Armour Breaker L8 with Martial Tempo and Brutality
Infernal Cry L8 with Premeditation and Corrupting Cry
Magma Barrier L8 with Magnified Effect and Ignition
Perfect Strike L8 with Eternal Flame and Unbreakable
Leap Slam L8 with Jagged Ground

Content: Dreadnought and Jamanra

I think the title sets up all you need to know.

This was my first real bottleneck in the game. After clearing the Dreadnought with what felt like consistent difficulty for what I'd previously faced, I struggled against Jamanra quite a lot.

As I said in the previous log, I've begun to feel strain in upgrading my loot. Today I started by spending a lot of money on gambling, and continued to do so as I farmed. But when facing Jamanra, it just felt like I couldn't do any damage. Armour breaking into slams, layering fissures under him, armour breaking, layering fissures, and slamming. I just kept finding myself running out of mana flask charges. And I didn't feel like I had any tools to fix it. I'd already converted some of my costs to life. I'd been grabbing and transmuting every mana flask I could. I'd been scrapping socketed gear to maybe put a Mind Rune in a decent weapon.

But it still felt like the true problem was damage. And I ended up being able to fix that problem first. Two further clears through Dreadnought Vanguard, each with a few fights to see what progress I was making, and I upgraded my two-hander and grabbed some more melee damage off the tree. With that I could finally deal damage after getting a stun.

My opinion of the fight is almost certainly tinted by the fact that it took so many tries and so much farming to beat him. I do believe the fight is probably overtuned. But I also know some changes are coming which might improve loot. I'll need to see how he feels on my next character. But my current feel is that he doesn't feel as impressive or dynamic as the fight with Geonore. Though I did enjoy the claustrophobic feeling as his abilities closed in during the final phase. When he began opening up those fiery gates, that was genuinely cool! It was also a really badass moment when he cleaved through the Dreadnought.

And while we're still talking about cool things, that design on The Beast is fantastic!

My next criticism is that his minions feel cheap. They killed me during my first run and I had no clue what happened. Then they did massive damage to me in my second run, and I still didn't know what was going on. The way they hide in the sandstorm, they're a complete surprise. They don't feel telegraphed and they're hard to spot until they're on you. Then it's incredibly hard to see their animation, even behind Asala's shield, when they explode on death. It just looks like you kill them, then you take a ton of damage. It's true that after three sandstorms through my second run, I was onto them. But to me that's at least two too many. I should have been able to see and figure out what they were doing when they killed me the first time. You can't learn from a mechanic if you can't see it.

Other than that, the mechanics were well telegraphed and felt fun. I kinda gotta kick out of dancing with his spires during the attack where he manipulates them directly. It's too bad Asala can't seem to do anything too him while he's standing there like that. Some of his attacks in the second phase feel a little like Shaper balls, and I quickly started guiding where they'd hit so I'd have a safe spot to duel him.
There is a lot of good in this fight! But I can't help but feel a little disappointed.

Still! It's said that you want your opening and your ending to be your high points! Duriel was the worst boss in Diablo 2, after all. And this is also a desert Act.

Actually I have noticed what feels like more than a few homages here. On the whole, there was a lot of Act 2 that made me feel a little nostalgic. I still think this was a better Act on the whole then Act 1 was.

Though I get the feeling the finale of the act was supposed to be more. Asala talks about addressing her Akhara. I hope that's something intended to be present in the final version of the game. I also hope there will be more dialogue you can find for the various locations you visit. I found myself wanting to know more about the lore of this area, and I hope we revisit it in some form in the future.