Quick Links
Diablo 4 has a wealth of side dungeons, which many players have prioritized completing to fill out their Renown bar and Codex of Power. One such dungeon, Sarat's Lair, is giving people some trouble. To add insult to injury, this dungeon unlocks a key aspect for many Sorcerer builds, The Snowveiled Aspect.
Don't let this poison-spitting spider keep you away from that 100% completion. Keep reading for tips on beating Sarat, where to find Sarat's Lair, what rewards you can expect, and a list of side quests that use this dungeon.
Where Is Sarat's Lair?
Sarat's Lair is a side dungeon in The Downs subregion of Scosglen. This is immediately next to Cerrigar, near the Westernmost pass, where you enter Scosglen from The Fractured Peaks.
Lair Location Inside The Dungeon
Inside the dungeon, there is no second area. Instead, an underground labyrinth will lead around and confuse players until they have beaten the initial objection of the dungeon. At this point, you'll need to backtrack to a large cavern in the center.
Sarat will spawn in this central cavern. However, the boss will only spawn after you've destroyed all the Silken Spires, then walked into the right area. You may have uncovered the boss arena on your map while wandering without realizing it and need to reenter the area to trigger the spawn.
Preparing To Fight Sarat
Sarat is a dangerous artillerist of the spider variety. You can expect to be restrained by webbing and getting shot with poison. To prepare, take stock of your consumables and gear situation.
Consumables
It is, therefore, advisable to drink an Elixir of Poison Resistance or an Elixir of Acrobatics just before the fight begins. This will grant you a small but impactful edge, especially if you have low defensive stats.
If you feel adequately mobile and defended without these, you can instead consider an Elixir of Beast Slaying, which will help with clearing Sarat's minions.
Gear
Your opportunities to damage Sarat will be scarce due to the boss' tendency to move frequently and distract you with other threats. Additionally, this is a fight that can quickly spiral out of control when you're slow at chipping away at Sarat's health. To avoid this fate, consider weapon upgrades before the boss fight, and make sure you have fully repaired gear.
Potions
Because Sarat covers most of the arena with puddles of poison, especially at low health, it is nearly impossible to avoid heavy damage in this fight. For that reason, you'll want maximum potions at maximum effectiveness. Don't put off a new potion upgrade or visit the healer before this fight.
How To Beat Sarat
Sarat has three main abilities to juggle - a poison shot, a web shot, and her summoning ability. Let's break down each ability.
Poison Shot
This is Sarat's main method of damaging the player. Sarat will frequently fire poison which does a small amount of damage on impact before forming a pool on the ground. During the first phases of the fight, she will fire three at a time, but after reaching 50% health, she will fire five at a time.
During the flight, these abilities move semi-slowly and are not honing. You can often avoid the initial damage (especially if you are a ranged build). Once a pool is formed, it has two phases. During the first phase, the pool is large and smoking, dealing high amounts of damage to players who stand inside. After several seconds, the pool will shrink in size, entering the second phase. Pools in their second phase do less damage but can be more difficult to see.
Prioritize avoiding these puddles, especially those in the first phase. It is usually better to run away rather than damage Sarat due to its high health pool.
Web Shot
In addition to shooting poison balls, Sarat will cover the ground in webs that persist for a long time. These webs will Immobilize players who walk over them for a couple of seconds. While the webs themselves do no damage, the inability to dodge is a big hamstring in this fight, as you become a sitting duck for Sarat.
To avoid becoming immobilized, avoid walking over areas of the ground covered in a white substance. If you need to clear the webbing, you can evade the web to break it without becoming immobile.
Minion Summon
Perhaps the most frustrating part of the Sarat boss fight is its ability to summon minions. Each time minions are summoned, three to five Spider Hosts will spawn (depending on Sarat's current health). Once killed, the Hosts will break into one large spider and several Spiderlings. These minions restrict your movement further and deal a surprising amount of damage.
To deal with this ability, your goal is to burst the minions as soon as they spawn (through both phases). This will allow you maximum time to damage Sarat before she summons another wave and prevents you from becoming overwhelmed. Never kill the Hosts and then switch focus back to Sarat before killing the spiders - they will easily kill you by body blocking and sheer numbers.
Sarat will prioritize summoning minions whenever the ability is off cooldown. The approximate base cooldown for this ability is ten seconds, though this will speed up as health gets lower (and may vary at higher World Tiers).
Rewards For Beating Sarat
Once you've beaten Sarat, several rewards will drop. Some of these are items, while others are Codex of Power Aspects.
|
Reward |
Amount |
|---|---|
|
Gold |
Level Synced |
|
Experience |
Level Synced |
|
Rare Items |
1-3 |
|
Legendary Items |
0-2 |
|
0-1 (requires World Tier 3) |
|
|
Unlocked in Codex of Power (once per account) |
|
|
+20 (one per character) |
Side Quests Connected To Sarat
You will need to enter Sarat's Lair to complete the side quest Feral Moon. However, you do not need to complete the dungeon in order to complete the quest. Instead, you will be asked to retrieve an amulet from the dungeon, which is found on a Slain Knight Penitent's corpse. Once you have the amulet, you can leave the dungeon without negative consequences.
How To Get The Snowveiled Aspect
The Snowveiled Aspect is a highly sought-after addition to the Ice sorcerer's arsenal. To get this aspect, simply complete the Sarat's Lair Side Dungeon in Scosglen. Once you've completed the dungeon for the first time, the aspect will become unlocked on all current and future characters.