Duriel Lair Boss Guide (Season 8)

Duriel, King of Maggots, is a Greater Lair Boss in Diablo 4 with a deadly poison focused fight and a shared loot pool. To earn rewards, you will need to survive a series of mechanics. You can adjust the world tier to make the encounter easier or more challenging. Higher Torment tiers will improve your chances at better loot.

How to Summon Duriel

To open Duriel’s treasure after his defeat, you will need 3 Shard of Agony, which drop from defeating Varshan or Grigoire. Once you have collected the required materials, head to the Gaping Crevasse dungeon located south of Kehjistan. Duriel’s lair is on the edge of the map. You can travel directly to the dungeon by right-clicking.

Once inside the dungeon, fight your way to the end and use the altar to summon the boss. You will need the materials to unlock his hoard once you defeated him.

Preparations

• Stack Poison Resistance: Duriel deals heavy Poison damage throughout the fight. Equip gear with high Poison Resistance and use an Elixir of Poison Resistance II to boost your survivability.
• Play a Build You Trust: Bring a build with strong single-target damage and survivability. If unsure, check out our Boss Tier list for suggestions.

Boss Mechanics

Duriel deals primarily Poison and Physical damage and becomes increasingly dangerous the longer the fight lasts. Like most Lair bosses, he has a Stagger Bar; once it’s filled, it turns blue and will stun the boss temporarily, giving you a free damage window.

During the fight, in addition to his default attacks, Duriel has a few mechanics to watch for:

• Claw Slash: Duriel swipes multiple times with his claws, stunning anyone directly in front of him. Avoid standing in front to stay safe from this combo.

• Ground Stab: He ends his claw combo with a slam into the ground, leaving behind a poison pool. Stay out of the pool and try to hit Duriel from behind.

• Poison Pools: Duriel frequently fires poison projectiles that leave large, lingering poison zones on the ground. These stack up fast. Position yourself carefully to avoid getting cornered.

• Duriel Stab: Duriel grabs and stabs the nearest player directly in front of him, dealing massive damage. Always avoid standing in front of him to reduce the risk of being caught in this move.

• Charge: He will sometimes wind up and charge across the arena. Watch for the wind-up animation and use evade to dodge out of his path. Getting hit deals heavy damage.

• Burrow Phase: If the fight goes long enough, Duriel burrows underground and summons two elite Duriel minions. Clear them quickly. He will then re-emerge from a new hole, bringing a swarm of Poison-shooting Maggots. Avoid being near the re-emergence point, as this phase deals extreme damage.

• Maggots: Duriel periodically spawns maggots throughout the encounter. While weak individually, they deal significant Poison damage if left unchecked. Clear them quickly to keep the arena manageable.

Tips to Defeat Duriel

The fight against Tormented Duriel can be challenging, but with some preparation, it will not be hard to defeat him. Here are some tips and tricks on how to best prepare in order to defeat Duriel:

• Have good defense: Duriel is high level, and some of his attacks can be devastating. We advise you to maximize your armor and resistances.
• Improve your poison resistance: Take particular care in increasing your poison resistance, as it is one of the major damage types that Duriel deals, and being affected by Poison over time can be fatal with low poison resistance (maximum resistance is around 70%).
• Don not get surrounded by Maggots: Even if they seem small and insignificant, if you get surrounded by too many adds, the fight can become tricky. Defeat them as soon as possible.
• Keep your distance from Holes: Holes are where the Maggots spawn, or where Duriel comes back out after his Burrow attack. Both can do a great amount of damage if you are standing on a hole while something comes out of it, so make sure to keep your distance.
• Group up: Grouping with other players will make the fight harder, as Duriel will scale with the number of players. However, it will also make it easier to deal damage and work together. If you have a balanced team with different roles and skills, you can coordinate your attacks and strategies to defeat “Uber Duriel” more efficiently.
• Note: only one player from the party needs to use the materials in order to summon Duriel.
• You can die and retry: Unlike some other bosses, Duriel will not disappear if you die during the fight, as long as you do not reset the dungeon. You can simply walk back to the boss room where you summoned him, and he will be there waiting for you. However, if you reset the dungeon, you will need to use materials again to summon him.

Loot Table

To get your loot, you will need to use the required materials to open the reward chest or hoard after the fight. The first Unique dropped is guaranteed to come from the boss-specific loot table below. Any additional Uniques have a 50% chance to come from the general Unique pool instead.

If you are playing in a group, each additional party member increases the chance of an extra Unique dropping by 33%.

All Greater Lair Bosses share the same loot pool of Uniques:

All Classes: Azurewrath Godslayer Crown Flickerstep Tibault’s Will X’Fal’s Corroded Signet Soulbrand Banished Lord’s Talisman	Mythic Uniques: Melted Heart of Selig Andariel’s Visage Harlequin Crest Ring of Starless Skies	Tyrael’s Might Heir of Perdition Shroud of False Death Shattered Vow
Barbarian: Tuskhelm of Joritz the Mighty The Grandfather Doombringer	Druid: Tempest Roar Dolmen Stone Ahavarion, Spear of Lycander Doombringer	Necromancer: Black River Blood Moon Breeches The Grandfather Doombringer
Rogue: Cowl of the Nameless Scoundrel’s Leathers Doombringer	Sorcerer: Flamescar Blue Rose Ahavarion, Spear of Lycander Doombringer	Spiritborn: Rod of Kepeleke Sepazontec Sunbird’s Gorget Nesekem, the Herald

You can also earn the Smouldering Brimstone Mount:

For more information on Uniques, Mythic Uniques, and how to farm them, check out our guides below:

Greater Lair Bosses are challenging endgame bosses that will test your skills and gear, and Duriel is no exception! But he is also a rewarding fight, and has a chance to drop some of the best items in the game.

Belial Ambush Encounter

After defeating a Lair Boss, there is a small chance that Belial will ambush you. This unexpected encounter brings its own set of challenges, as Belial uses a mix of Blood and Poison magic that you will need to avoid.

Defeating this smaller form of Belial will grant you a second round of loot from the Lair Boss you just killed, without requiring any additional materials. He will also drop the Betrayer’s Husk, the item needed to challenge Belial’s Exalted Lair Boss form.

To learn more about the ambush mechanics and how to deal with them, check out our Belial guide.