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One of the most notable end-game features in Diablo 4 are the endgame bosses that you can summon and defeat. These monsters are fantastic bosses with unique loot and special summoning methods. The Beast in the Ice is one of the most difficult among these bosses, only able to be faced on World Tier 4. Need to know how to summon and beat The Beast in the Ice in Diablo 4? We’re here to let you know.
The Beast in the Ice Diablo 4 boss location
The Beast in the Ice is located in the Glacial Fissure, found in the Desolate Highlands region of Fractured Peaks. This is a level 85 dungeon just south of the city of Kyovashad. You can use the waypoint in the city to travel to the location quickly. Luckily, as soon as you craft the Nightmare Sigil it will appear on the map no matter how zoomed out you are.
How to get Distilled Fear
To summon The Beast in the Ice, you’ll need to gather a special material called Distilled Fear. This material can then be refined into a Glacial Fissure Nightmare Sigil. Distilled Fear can only be earned from completing Nightmare Dungeons on World Tier 4 Torment difficulty. That’s tier 30 and above. You’ll need to gather nine Distilled Fear to make the Glacial Fissure Nightmare Sigil, so be prepared to run through a few dungeons. You’ll only get Distilled Fear upon completion, and it doesn’t always drop at the end. I’ve found Guulrahn Canals to be the easiest dungeon to speedrun, so I’d recommend doing that one.
Once you’ve got enough, simply head to the Occultist and open the Ancestral tab to find the Glacial Fissure Nightmare Sigil. You’ll need 250 Sigil Powder as well, so make sure you have that handy. Craft it, and the map will show you the location of The Beast in the Ice. Each time you summon the Beast in the Ice you’ll need these materials, so unfortunately if you want to fight him multiple times you’ve got a good amount of farming to do.
How to beat The Beast in the Ice
Before you can get to the boss, you’ll need to fight the enemies that are in the dungeon first. There will be a lot of these enemies, so be careful not to waste all your health before even coming face-to-face with the beast. The Beast in the Ice is one of the hardest endgame bosses, as you can only take him on in World Tier 4. The most important thing is to have ice resistance. This boss, which you can tell by the name, will have Cold elemental attacks that are devastating if you aren’t ready for them.
Cold Resistance is necessary for taking on The Beast in the Ice. You can get this from socketing Sapphires into gear, or from an Elixir of Cold Resistance. If you don’t up your Cold Resistance, you can fall to the beast easily.
He’ll pop up right in the middle of the arena once you get there. He has a few attacks that can do a lot of damage, in particular when he jumps up into the air and tries to land on you. You can avoid most of his attacks, including the AoE ones. Have Dodge ready and look at the floor to see where his attacks will go next. He’ll also summon elite enemies into the arena, like Carver Overseers who you’ll need to take out. There will be a lot happening during this boss fight, so it can be difficult to dodge the attacks because the screen will be cluttered. Keep your character moving around. The Beast has three phases with one intermission:
Phase 1
The easiest phase of the fight sees the beast using its sword and breath for the most part. Some notable abilities include:
- Frozen Strike: The boss will use his sword that shoots out icy projectiles. Move to the side or behind to avoid them.
- Ice Breath: The boss uses a cone breath attack that shoots icy projectiles. Stay out of the marked cone area.
- Frostquake: The boss lets out a roar and slams the ground, generating areas where icicles will fall after a brief moment. Stay out of the marked circles.
- Leap Attack: The boss leaps into the air and then slams down. This deals damage in a large area, as well as creating more falling icicles. Quickly move out of the range of the slam and avoid marked circles. Consider popping a defensive skill to negate any incoming damage.
Intermissions
The Beast in the Ice has two intermission phases, at 66% and 33% remaining health. He leaves the area, so you can’t damage him, only deal with his abilities:
- Summoned Adds: The boss summons minions to swarm you. Kill them quickly and pay attention to the exploding ones.
- Strafing Run: While you deal with the minions, the boss summons waves of ice across the arena. Prioritize avoiding the telegraphed lines and stay in the safe zones.
Phase 2
In the second phase, the boss returns to the arena and uses a new ability:
- Icy Hail: The boss berries his sword into the ground and channels the ability. This causes four explosions to target your position, each of which releases five damaging waves. Avoid this ability by staying on the move and getting away from the points of origin. Also keep an eye on the projectiles which can freeze you, which can quickly add up a lot of damage.
Phase 3
After the second intermission phase, the boss once again returns to the arena for the final phase. This is where the fight gets hectic. The ice storm blankets the arena and the Strafing Run ability remains active as well. Meanwhile, the boss will use an empowered version of Icy Hail, so make sure to avoid it as before, while dealing enough damage to bring it down.
Tormented Beast in the Ice version
There is an even stronger version of this boss, called the Tormented version, who is a part of the Boss Ladder system. The abilities are mostly the same, though they come with stacking debuffs. To summon this version you’ll need to obtain a Stygian Stone, as well as three times the usual summoning materials. However, beating this version nets you even greater rewards, at a rate of five times the normal loot.
The Beast in the Ice Boss Rewards
Once The Beast in the Ice is finally defeated, you’ll receive a fantastic pool of loot. Notably, he can drop the Skull Torch and Fell Steed Mount Trophies, which are exclusive to him. He’ll also drop Unique Items like The Oculus for your character to pick up. He also has a chance to drop Mythic Unique items as well.
| Class | Possible loot drops |
|---|---|
| Barbarian | Fields of Crimson 100,000 Steps Ancients’ Oath Battle Trance Hellhammer Ring of the Ravenous Doombringer The Grandfather |
| Druid | Insatiable Fury Hunter’s Zenith Waxing Gibbous Storm’s Companion Unsung Ascetic’s Wraps Ahavarion, SPear of Lycander |
| Necromancer | Bloodless Scream Howl from Below Deathspeaker’s Pendant Ring of Mendeln Mutilator Plate Dooombringer The Grandfather |
| Rogue | Condemnation Word of Hakan Windforce Eaglehorn Beastfall Boots |
| Sorcerer | Staff of Lam Esen Esu’s Heirloom Gloves of the Illuminator The Oculus Starfall Coronet Ahavarion, Spear of Lycander |
| Non-class specific items | Frostburn Mother’s Embrace Fists of Fate Tassets of the Dawning Sky Paingorger’s Gauntlets Melted Heart of Selig Andariel’s Visage Harlequin Crest Tyrael’s Might Ring of Starless Skies |
That’s all you need to know about The Beast in the Ice and how to defeat him. Be sure to check out our guide on how to fight Lord Zir if you’re looking for other bosses to take on.
About the Author
Diablo 4
- Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X
- Genre(s): Action, Action RPG, RPG
