Whether you’re a new player or a seasoned veteran – our PoE Act 3 Leveling guide can help you rush through all the waypoints, quests, and bosses in record time.
Love it or hate it – Path of Exile’s third act is kind of iconic in its own way. Whether it’s because you get to bash Dominus’ face in during the “poopworm” phase, or because you finally get access to the library and its treasure trove of skill gems enabling your build to pop off right there and then – there’s plenty of things to look forward to.
However, when you consider the long winding twists of the Solaris and Lunaris temples (especially the latter), the entirety of Act 3 in PoE can quickly turn into a bit of a time-consuming nightmare.
So, to help you keep your sanity intact and save you hours of time, we’ve put together this guide to the ultimate PoE Act 3 walkthrough.
Below, we’ll cover all the map areas, boss fights, quests, and waypoints that you’ll need to breeze through in order to complete the act – all in our signature step-by-step approach.
Our All-In-One PoE Act 3 Walkthrough
As the third installment in our Path of Exile leveling guide series (don’t forget to check our Act 1 walkthrough and our Act 2 guide while you’re at it), we’ll start off in the City of Sarn, having just killed the Vaal Oversoul (the Act 2 end boss).
City Of Sarn
This PoE Act 3 map is pretty straight forward and you’ll simply need to run towards the top left in order to find the exit to the Sarn Encampment, which is the act town.
On your way to the exit, you’ll find Clarissa tied up by a bunch of Ebony Legion goons. Set her free and kill her assailants in order to kick off the PoE Act 3 quests chain.
The Slums
Once you’ve entered the Sarn Encampment, you can go hit up the vendors – or simply run to the top right of the map to find the entrance to the Slums.
This area contains two notable things that we’re interested in:
- The Sewer.
- The Crematorium.
First and foremost, run through the start of the Slums in order to find the grated entrance to the Sewer. However, you can’t enter just yet – you’ll need to get the keys from Clarissa through the Lost in Love quest.
Keep running past the Sewer entrance to find the Crematorium. Typically, you’ll need to run down and then towards the top right. This is the case in 3/4 possible layouts that occur here.
Pro Tip: The easy way to navigate through this waypoint is to run along the wooden plank path that follows the treeline.
The Crematorium
Once you enter the Crematorium, you’ll want to grab the PoE Act 3 waypoint that’s at the very start of the zone.
Once this is done, you’ll want to head down towards the left (in most cases, occasionally it can be the top right) to find Piety and her bunch of Blackguards whom you’ll need to fight in order to complete the quest.
Bring Piety down to 50% percent HP and she’ll teleport away. Return to the Sarn Encampment to hand in the quest to Clarissa who can be found in the bottom left of the map. She’ll give you a pair of Sewer Keys that you can use to open the Sewer Entrance back in the Slums.
Note: This area contains a Trial of Ascendancy!
The Sewers
Now that you’re in the Sewers, you’ll want to clear the map towards the top right (even though the area will take you towards the top left at first). Throughout the zone, you’ll find 3 rooms with chests in them. Each chest will contain an ornament of Victario which you can hand in to complete the Victario’s Secrets quest, awarding you a skill point.
Don’t forget to grab the waypoint here, before heading further towards the top left of the map and entering the Marketplace.
The Marketplace
This is a pretty straightforward area, and one of the quicker ones in our PoE Act 3 guide.
You’ll want to run through towards the top right until you hit the walkway with the animated statues. Here, you’ll want to run through and pick up the zone’s waypoint quickly before continuing onwards towards the top right in order to find the Battlefront.
In some cases, you’ll find the entrance to the Catacombs (side-quest area for the Trials of Ascendancy) instead of the Battlefront while heading right. In this case, you can simply track down and to the left to find the entrance you need.
The Battlefront
Here’ we hit our second relatively static layout in our PoE Act 3 guide. Run towards the bottom left in order to find Captain Aurelianus and off him to pick up the Ribbon Spool, which kicks off “The Ribbon Spool” quest chain that will take you through the Solaris Temple later.
Keep running towards the top left of the map in order to find the exit you’ll need to take to get to the Docks.
The Docks
Here you can farm up a level or two to keep within the EXP boundary and pick up the Thaumetic Sulphite that you’ll need for the quest up ahead.
The quest item chest has a 50/50 chance of spawning on the bottom left path or the top right one.
Pro Tip: If you’re going to do a few runs in order to level up, I’d recommend picking up this zone’s waypoint, which generally spawns somewhere in the middle between the paths.
Once you’ve got the Thaumetic Sulphite – go back to the Battlefront and head to the top of the map in order to find the entrance to the Solaris Temple.
Solaris Temple – Level 1
This is the simpler level in this zone. Just run along the red carpet and you’ll find the stairs to the second level. You’ll find the zone’s waypoint by the stairs too.
Solaris Temple – Level 2
In a similar fashion to the first level, you’ll want to run along the red carpet to find Lady Diala, the Gemling Queen, and turn in the Ribbon Spool quest.
There’s also a waypoint right beside Diala, so you’ll be able to quickly turn in the quest and take the waypoint back to the Sewers, where you’ll use the Infernal Talc that you just got from the quest to remove that big blockage growth you saw on your first run through. Once that’s done – follow the path to find the exit to the Ebony Barracks.
The Ebony Barracks
If you’ve thought that the PoE Act 3 maps we’ve covered so far were very linear and simple – this one’s literally a straight line headed up.
On your way, you’ll have to fight General Gravicious. He’s a bit of a tough fight if you’re not decked out in leveling gear as he’s pretty tanky and does big damage with his Firestorm, Burning Ground, and Molten Shell casts.
Once you’ve sent him on his merry way, keep running upwards to find the entrance to the Lunaris Temple.
Lunaris Temple – Level 1
In a similar fashion to the Solaris Temple, you can also just run along the red carpet on this level to find the stairs to the next one.
However, this zone is a little more dangerous with some big DPS flicker mobs and the miniboss Kole (whom I’d recommend you run past altogether).
Right before you take the stairs down to the second level, you’ll find the waypoint – which I recommend you grab.
Lunaris Temple – Level 2
Unlike the last few zones, this level is pretty long. In fact, this zone is the entire reason most people grow to hate Act 3. There are some absolutely ridiculous piercing mobs and a long, windy pathway.
Thankfully, there’s a bit of a trick to navigating this area!
You see, there are 3 sets of stairs you’ll need to climb to get to the end of the zone and find Piety. And the first stairs will almost always be either on the right or the left of the starting waypoint.
If you find that the first stairs are on the left, head down to the left and then up to the top left in order to reach Piety.
On the other hand, if they’re on the right, you’ll have to zigzag a bit towards the top right to finish this part of our PoE Act 3 guide and find Piety.
Pro Tip: To save roughly 5 seconds of time and avoid utter disappointment in yourself, take the direction with only 1 cart when you cross the last set of stairs.
Piety – The First PoE Act 3 Boss Fight
So, exile – you’ve finally reached Piety, and it’s time to show her who’s who.
Offhand, it’s important to understand that Piety technically has three forms that she can take on throughout the fight.
These will be a lightning damage form (normal), fire (melee), and cold (ranged). The two latter forms correspond to the orange and blue portals on the ground which she’ll take to transform into the related form.
The best strategy is to kill off the portals as they pop up and burst piety down in her normal form when she casts her lightning ball (as it has a slow cast animation).
When you’ve dispatched Piety, she will drop the Tower key, which you’ll use at the end of PoE Act 3.
At this point, you’ll want to take the portal back to town, hand in your quests, and teleport back to the Ebony Barracks. Walk directly to the right from the waypoint in order to arrive at the Imperial gardens.
The Imperial Gardens
In this zone, you’ll want to run straight through towards the middle to hit the waypoint. At this crossroads, you can follow the path to the left in order to find the Library and the Trial of Ascendancy.
Or, to keep going with the main quest, you’ll need to run to the right and then up in order to reach the Sceptre of God.
The Sceptre Of God
Just like in Act 2’s Ancient Pyramid – you’ll have to ascend several levels in order to reach the top and fight the boss.
Navigating each level of the Sceptre of God can be a bit confusing at first – but thankfully, there’s a quick and simple way to predict the direction you’ll need to go in to reach the next floor.
Each floor actually spawns diagonal from the stairs you ascended – though this doesn’t always hold true. All in all, you’ll need to climb six levels, through the Sceptre of God and the Upper Sceptre of God in order to reach the PoE Act 3 Boss – Dominus.
Note: If this is your first playthrough, you can unlock the Scion class here by freeing her from the cage on the second or third level.
Dominus – The Final Act Boss
Congratulations, exile, on making it this far into our Act 3 guide for Path of Exile!
At this point, you’re about to fight the last boss and clear the act. The boss fight is pretty straightforward thankfully with three key phases involved in the fight.
Phase 1 – Pre-Fight
Before you fight Dominus, you’ll need to kill his minibosses. There are six of them – three unique mobs, and three more unique guards who use Cyclone, Fire Strike, and Arc respectively. The unique mobs, on the other hand, use Barrage, Reave, and Viper Strike.
Pro Tip: Stack some sort of physical damage mitigation to make this part of the fight a little easier.
Phase 2 – Dominus Stage 1
This phase is relatively brain dead – dodge the projectiles, don’t get slammed, and kite Dominus around the map.
Dominus will use three main types of attacks in this phase – searing bond totems that slow you, lightning projectiles, and a lightning-damage version of Ground Slam.
Pro Tip: Make sure your lightning resistance is up-to-par in order to make this phase super easy.
Phase 3 – Dominus Stage 2
At this point, he’s going to teleport to the bottom right of the zone and morph into a bloody miscreation. This phase is much simpler than the last two, but you’ll want to keep an eye on your health as you’ll always be in hit-proximity.
Stay in the bubble to avoid being damaged by the toxic bloody rain, and use a staunching flask of any kind to remove the corrupted blood that Dominus applies on you with every hit.
Once you finish him off – step through the portal in the top right of the map in order to arrive at the Aqueduct and kick off Act 4 by talking to Diala at the entrance to that zone.
PoE Act 3 Side Quests & Rewards
Victario’s Secrets
Find Victario’s stashed busts in the Sewer and deliver them to Hargan in the Sarn Encampment.
Quest Giver: Hargan at the Sarn Encampment
Notable Rewards: Book of Skill
A Swig Of Hope
If you killed Fairgraves in Act 1, you can meet him at the Docks to help him find the Decanter Spiritus in the Marketplace and the Chitus’ Plum in the Imperial Gardens.
Quest Giver: Captain Fairgraves at the Docks
Notable Rewards: One of three rings (Coral, Gold, or Paua).
A Fixture Of Fate
Help Siosa find the missing Golden Pages throughout the Archives and deliver them back to her at the Library.
Quest Giver: Siosa at the Library
Notable Rewards: Your choice of skill gem & vendor access to all skill gems in the game.
Helpful Tips For Clearing Act 3 In Path Of Exile
Keep close tabs on your resistances as there’s a number of bosses that creep up on you with how much damage they do, which catches some players off-guard. This is especially true for Dominus.
It’s strongly recommended to not skip the Trials of Ascendancy as completing the Labyrinth at this stage offers quite a big jump in character power.
The Library and “A Fixture of Fate” quest are a wonderful resource to maximize your build early on and start leveling up the key skill gems that you’ll be using into the endgame.
Closing Thoughts
Now that you’ve read through the entire guide to PoE Act 3 – you’ve got all the knowledge and tools needed to breeze through the entire act in just a few minutes, with this handy walkthrough by your side.
Typically, this act takes 15 minutes for most average players to complete, though you can easily take your time and go at a slightly slower pace to catch up on levels or find the gear you need if you’re playing solo self-found (SSF).
With that – it’s our turn to hear from you, exile!
Did we miss any info, or maybe you’ve got some handy Act 3 tips you’d like to share? Drop a quick comment and let us know!
