The Ashfen Keeper

Guardian

Fought on floor 46, in Act 3: The Ashfen Mire.

Who They Were

Keeper of a border drawn in ash by lords who no longer agree on where it runs. It does not know your name and does not want it, only your mark, and the fact that letting you pass would mean one more line Ashkar could not hold against the world that abandoned it.

Mythic, cursed, and divine relics sit above legendary, the fusion ceiling, and drop only from boss and guardian kills: mythic from floor 50, cursed from floor 80, and divine from floor 90, but only on Infernal. This fight sits below all three gates, so no apex relic drops here.

Abilities

Rotting Touch

Targets enemy · 2s cooldown

A festering touch that poisons.

• damage, power 8 + 0.8×attack
• status, applies Poisoned (dot, 3 turns)

Statuses It Inflicts

Inflicts: Poisoned

How to Prepare

• You fight The Ashfen Keeper solo, and there is no rest heal before the encounter, so arrive with real HP in the bank and sustain already flowing: lifesteal earned in the fight itself, plus potions bought with gold beforehand.
• An escort wave of the biome's regular enemies fights first. Only after they fall does The Ashfen Keeper step out alone for the closing wave, so keep enough HP and cooldowns in reserve for the real fight.
• It can inflict Poisoned, damage that keeps ticking after the hit lands, so don't count only your burst; a dragged-out fight bleeds you too.
• If you wipe, you restart at floor 1, but your permanent upgrades and talents carry over, so a loss here is a setback, not a full reset. Optional Hardcore mode also destroys your equipped gear on a wipe.