Ashava, the Pestilent is a boss that can be encountered in the open world and in Act 6 of the main story during a quest called “In Desolation’s Wake”. The attack patterns are pretty much the same wherever you fight her, and the only difference is that when fighting Ashava in the open world, she will be using her attacks much more frequently.
This guide will cover all the attack patterns of Ashava in Diablo 4, where you can find this boss, and what kind of rewards you can get by defeating her.
Where to find Diablo 4 Ashava, the Pestilent
Ashava is located in The Crucible which is a zone southeast of the Fractured Peaks. The boss will spawn in this location at specific key times that can be tracked using this Twitter account.
When you complete the main story, world boss icons will start appearing on the map 30 minutes prior to the fight. You can identify them by a cross-hair icon that will show up on the map whenever the boss is expected to spawn.
The story version of Ashava, just like Ninsa and Karum, Hound of Hatred, can be found in the Searing Expanse which is a location that you will go to when you reach Act 6 of the main story.
How to defeat Diablo 4 Ashava
To defeat Ashava in the open world, 12 players have to be gathered at the spawn location as this is a 12-man boss and can’t be defeated while playing solo. Moreover, you will have to dodge most of the attacks, and having poison-resistance elixirs could prove useful as most of her attacks are poison-based.
Here is a list of all the abilities of Ashava in Diablo 4.
Ability 1 – Single Smash: Ashava, the Pestilent will attempt to smash the ground that will simply deal damage if you get hit by it. Identifying the smash is pretty easy, the boss will raise her hand and show a small brown circle where the smash will land.
Ability 2 – Swipe: The boss will swipe the ground with her big claws in a semi-circle with one hand, and another semi-circle with the other hand. If you are within the circle diameter, you will take damage, however, I noticed that sticking near the boss or keeping enough distance will prevent getting hit by the Swipe.
If you are fighting the world boss version of Ashava, the radius of the swipes is much larger than that of the main story.
Ability 3 – Poison Breath: Ashava will release a poison breath that deals damage and applies a poison effect if you get hit by it. The attack is cone-shaped, and avoiding it is simple if you are standing behind the boss.
Ability 4 – Poison Pools: The boss will throw circular poison pools that will remain on the ground for a short duration. Stepping on the pools will apply a poisonous effect that deals damage over time.
The number of poison pools that Ashava throws during the world boss fight is much more than that of the quest fight.
Ability 5 – Double Smash: Similar to the single smash, Ashava will smash both claws on the ground in front of her. After finishing the double smash, she will swipe her claws backward so make sure to dodge away from the boss either to the left or right of the boss after she performs her double smash.
Ability 6 – Jump: This ability is not a damage-dealing one, but the boss will jump far away and leave some distance between you two. A gap closer is recommended in this fight so you can quickly get back into position when the boss jumps away.
During the main story, Lorath will stun Ashava and give you some time to land a lot of damage before the boss becomes mobile again.
Ashava, the Pestilent in Diablo 4 rewards
When you defeat Ashava, you will get at least one legendary item, one rare item, as well as some gold and experience.
If you defeat the world boss, you can get a Legendary Cache that can be unlocked for some legendary-grade gear.
