How to defeat the Resurrected Malice in Diablo 4

The Resurrected Malice is both the Forbidden City boss and the Black Asylum boss in Diablo 4. It’s quite likely that you’ll encounter this boss early in the game and that it’ll seem impossible. But with the right strategy, you may not need to level up that much before you can beat it.

I beat the Resurrected Malice in the Forbidden City as a level 13 Rogue on World Tier II Veteran. I had no help from NPCs or other players. It was a very close battle, but I just about won. Here’s how.

How to prepare for the Resurrected Malice boss fight in Diablo 4

So, exactly how you beat the Resurrected Malice, and how much you need to level up in order to be able to do so, is going to depend on your class, your build, your skill level, and a bit of luck. But I can tell you about my build and how I did it, and you can aim for something similar.

First of all, I had three rare armor pieces, one of which was upgraded twice, and two magic ones, a rare and a magic blade (the rare was upgraded twice), a rare and a magic ring, and a common pendant. The best of all these was the rare boots, which were a lucky find on my way through the Forbidden City. They had a +1 to Caltrops, which was really useful. Everything else had a mixture of generally useful buffs.

Related: Here are all the Diablo 4 classes and abilities

I had upgraded my healing potions and also prepared a Weak Iron Barb Elixir specifically for this fight. But then I forgot to use it and won anyway. I’d still highly recommend a Weak Iron Barb Elixir anyway, as it’s well-suited to this fight.

My abilities were focused on being effective in intense close combat. I built my character this way because every video I saw of players beating Resurrected Malice used the same strategy, regardless of class. They got in close and just accepted incoming damage while dishing out damage in high volume.

For my Rogue, the two most important skills were Flurry rank five with Enhanced Flurry and Caltrops rank two (including the +1 from those boots) with Methodical Caltrops. Flurry is the Rogue’s best core skill for doing heavy burst damage up close. And Methodical Caltrops has a Chill effect that fills up a boss’ stagger meter (the yellow one under the health bar).

Whatever class you’re playing as, max out your best burst damage skill for this fight, and make sure you have some kind of crowd control effect to fill up that stagger meter. When it fills up, the Resurrected Malice and all vengeful spirits will be staggered for several seconds, and you’ll be able to do some serious damage to the boss.

How to beat the Resurrected Malice boss in Diablo 4

As mentioned above, the best approach for the fight itself is to focus on delivering intense, heavy damage to the Resurrected Malice, and not worrying too much about dodging. If the vengeful spirits come close, then quickly wipe them out (sometimes one will drop a healing potion), but don’t waste time chasing them around.

Wait till your health bar is pretty low before using healing potions, and remember that the Resurrected malice drops two health potions at two-thirds health, and two more at one-third health. This is one reason why it’s best to focus on wearing it down while absorbing damage.

I ended up taking evasive action towards the end of the fight, as the boss and I were both very low on health. But I timed my last-ditch assault perfectly and managed to kill the boss. A split second later, I was hit by a projectile and died. But my win still counted and I got all the rewards.