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Diablo 4 does an excellent job of building the game up during the final act. As our heroes fight their way through the Burning Hells in pursuit of Lilith, it becomes increasingly clear that you are Sanctuary's final hope. This all comes to a crescendo in The Cathedral of Hatred, where players will need to fight Lilith not once but twice.
As the final boss of the main story, Lilith is a powerhouse with health, damage, and mobility to spare in both of her forms. For players having trouble in this epic fight for Sanctuary: here are tips for beating her, all fight mechanics explained, and the rewards she drops.
How To Beat Lilith, Creator Of Sanctuary
When Lilith first enters The Cathedral of Hatred, she takes the form we've seen her in the entire game. We saw a preview of her fighting style in this first form during the cinematic with Inarius. Here, she wielded her wings like swords, flitting around at speed to evade attacks.
Preparation
To prepare for this initial fight, elixirs and gear that increase your own mobility are suggested. The Elixir of Acrobatics and gear that grants movement speed or extra charges of Evade will help you dodge her fast-paced movements.
You'll also want to tweak your build, as lacking certain skills can make it impossible to whittle her down before running out of potions.
- Use an AoE skill to deal with the minions that Lilith summons.
- Equip a ranged skill of some kind to keep up the damage when she flits around the platform, OR layer the CC to stagger her, stopping her from running around.
It is suggested that you fight Lilith when you are level 48-50, so keep in mind that it will be even more difficult if you attempt to do it before this.
Phases & Health Bar
This version of Lilith has five sections on her health bar. Unlike the earlier boss fights against Ninsa, she will not flee early. Instead, players really will need to tackle a five-phase boss, and this is only the beginning. Which phase Lilith is in primarily affects the frequency of her attacks, but she will also begin summoning larger waves of minions as her health decreases. Ration your potions jealously, as she doesn't drop many.
Filling Lilith's stagger bar is a very worthwhile activity in this fight, as she is highly mobile (which can make her hard to hit consistently). When she is staggered, she will slump for 12 seconds, allowing you to burst her through an entire phase if you have a boss-killing build.
Abilities & Counters
This is the more complex form of Lilith, although individual abilities tend to do less damage. Here are her attacks in this form, ordered from highest to lowest threat.
|
Ability Name |
Phases Used |
Description |
Counter |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hell Dive |
All Phases |
This is the main threat in Lilith's Creator of Sanctuary Form. She will fly up off-screen and crash down where the player was recently standing, dealing massive damage. |
You can easily be one-shot by this ability and should avoid getting hit by it at all costs. When Lilith flies up, moving away from your previous location - do not stand still until she touches down again. |
|
Champion summon |
2 - 5 |
Lilith will occasionally summon a minion when <75% health, then two at a time when <50% health. These can be Succubi or Oppressors. |
Use an AoE ability to kill these minions quickly without ceasing your attacks on Lilith. They are weak in comparison to her, but her distracting and can easily build up when not dealt with. |
|
Bloodlines |
All Phases |
Lilith stands still and scores the ground in blood; this is the prelude to a high-damage combo. |
Avoid standing in the red lines, which appear where this attack will hit shortly before it goes off. Notably, you can stand between the lines without taking damage. |
|
Spinning Slice |
All phases |
Lilith beats her wings to damage the player in a whirlwind of talons. |
You can avoid this by being behind her, but it's pretty tricky to dodge this 100% of the time. It happens fast and often. Luckily, it doesn't do much damage and can be soaked by well-built characters. |
Once you've emptied her health bar in this form, any remaining minions will disappear, but she will not drop loot or refresh your health potions. This can stretch your resources going into the next section.
How To Beat Lilith, Daughter Of Hatred
After a short pause to make you wonder if it's really over, Lilith will respawn in her second form. Lilith, Daughter of Hatred, moves even faster and hits harder than the previous form. However, her attacks have less variety which makes them easier to predict.
Preparation
You won't get a chance to prepare for this encounter, but you need to make sure you've not exhausted all of your resources. Lilith's second form is very tanky, so this fight tends to really extend. Put yourself in the best possible position at the beginning of this fight by having evaded off cooldown and full potions.
Since Lilith does not refresh your potions when her first form dies, it can be worthwhile to postpone triggering her second form until she summons more minions if your potions are low. This is because these minions will drop potions when killed, allowing you to pick up an extra two right before starting the next section.
Phases & Health Bar
Once again, Lilith will have five phases on her health bar. These will influence the speed of her rotation and spawn health potions. The second, third, and fourth phases also trigger her destruction of the arena ability.
Abilities
While all of Lilith's abilities in this form are very dangerous, she doesn't have as many options. The biggest challenge will be continuing to evade her while the arena gets smaller.
|
Ability Name |
Phases Used |
Description |
Counter |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Arena Destruction |
2 - 4 |
When Lilith reaches 75%, 50%, and 25% health, she will fly up into the air, breaking off a section of the arena. Players who are standing on the broken section when it falls will die instantly. |
To avoid instant death, move off of the black smokey section. This attack's indicator looks very similar to Shadow Flight, but you shouldn't be standing on this either, so move regardless. |
|
Shadow Flight |
All phases |
Lilith flies up into the air, raining down shadows in a line across the arena. Players who stand in this area will take constant damage. |
Avoid standing in this area, even if it means ceasing your attacks on Lilith. The amount of damage you'll take simply isn't worth it. |
|
Corrupted Growth |
All phases |
Occasionally, Lilith will stab her tail into the ground, summoning corrupted growth on the ground. These cause the Vulnerable status effect when stepped on and explode after a five-second delay. |
Stay clear whenever you see her stab her tail downwards - being afflicted with Vulnerable is only going to make the fight harder, and the explosions will chunk the health pool of even the sturdiest characters. |
|
Summon Champion |
5 |
Lilith will only summon minions in the last leg of this fight. These will be similar to the minions you fought in her first form. |
Use your AoE to take care of the minions and pick up the dropped health potions. |
|
Whirlwind |
All phases |
Used primarily when players are attacking Lilith from range, she will spawn a whirlwind that drags them toward her. This immediately causes her to do her Vicious Swipes attack. |
You can Evade the whirlwind if timed carefully, but otherwise may just need to chug a health potion after taking this attack to the face. |
|
Vicious Swipes |
All phases |
This is the supercharged version of Spinning Slice; Lilith will make this attack often when your character is in melee range. It does damage a cone in front of her and causes her to pause briefly after performing it. |
This attack can whittle you down and will be the main pressure on your potions when the fight is going well. Due to Lilith's speed, it can be tricky to dodge - evade behind her for the best success rate. When she winds down after the attack, run up to Lilith and activate your highest damage abilities. |
Due to the lack of minions in this fight compared to her first form, you will need to be even more conservative with your health potions in this section. If you found yourself in a disadvantageous position when Lilith's second form spawned, know that dying isn't the end of the world. There is a checkpoint between her first and second form, meaning you won't have to redo the first fight.
Rewards For Beating Lilith
Upon the death of Lilith's second form, a moving cutscene will trigger. This marks the end of Act 6 and the beginning of the Epilogue. Congratulations, you have now reached end-game content!
In addition to this achievement, Lilith drops several items. It is common to receive 2-3 Legendary Items and several Rare Items for defeating her. You are also likely to get a special unique item called Mother's Embrace.
Mother's Embrace
Mother's Embrace is most people's first Unique Item. Based on observations by players, it is not a guaranteed drop, but the chance is pretty high.
This Unique ring grants the wearer:
- Fire and Shadow damage resistance
- A boost to stats across the board
- Critical Strike and Lucky Hit Chance
- Overpower Damage
- 20% of the resource cost refunded when Core skills hit 5+ enemies
It is currently unknown if there is an alternate way to get this item.