If you’re diving into Diablo 4‘s endgame, you’ve probably heard about this thing called Exquisite Blood. It’s an important resource that lets you summon and farm one of the toughest bosses around. But getting your hands on Exquisite Blood is no easy feat. Let’s break down what it is and how to get it.
What is Exquisite Blood?
Exquisite Blood are special vials needed to summon Lord Zir, the big bad vampire dude at the center of Diablo 4’s Season of Blood. He’s an endgame world boss who only appears in World Tier IV content.
But Lord Zir isn’t a pushover. Defeating him requires using 9 Exquisite Blood vials at the Bloodied Altar in The Darkened Way dungeon. That’s a pretty big asking price for just one fight!
Each time you summon and beat Zir, he has a chance to drop some sweet loot and unique items like the Necromancer’s Lidless Wall set. So if you want to farm this deadly vampire lord over and over, you’ll need a steady supply of Exquisite Blood on hand.
How to Get Exquisite Blood
So where does one acquire such rare vials of bloody essence? There are two main sources:
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- Legion Events
- World Bosses
Every 30 minutes, a Legion event spawns somewhere in one of the five regions. These are tough group challenges against hulking demon overlords and their cronies. Completing a Legion event has a chance to reward you with 1 Exquisite Blood vial.
World bosses, on the other hand, are even more rare. Only 4 world bosses spawn per day on a 3-hour rotation across the whole world. But if you can take one down, you could get up to 3 Exquisite Blood as rewards.
As you can see, getting a steady supply of Exquisite Blood is a slow, time-gated grind. You’re at the mercy of random spawns and limited quantities. This is where trading with other players can come in handy.
Join trade channels, and Discord servers, or visit fan sites to try and buy Exquisite Blood from people who have extras to spare. You can also try selling and you get to earn resources in return. Just be careful about getting scammed!
Locating The Darkened Way
Once you’ve gathered 9 Exquisite Blood vials, you’ll need to travel to the Ancient’s Seat dungeon within The Darkened Way in the Fractured Peaks region. This area is found near the Kyovashad settlement.
At the end of the dungeon is the Bloodied Altar where you can insert your hard-earned vials to summon the mighty Lord Zir himself. But be prepared…
How to Beat Lord Zir
Slaying the vampire lord Zir is no joke, even for well-geared level 100 characters. His fight cycles through four deadly phases packed with brutal attacks:
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- Spawns blood pools on the ground to inflict Vulnerability
- Frontal slap and scythe melee swings to avoid
- Teleport strikes followed by explosive wind blasts
- Summons elite Bloodseeker minions to pressure you
- Casts blood ball orbs that spawn more adds or damaging waves
- Drenches the arena in rains of harmful blood pools
Whew! Lord Zir throws pretty much everything at you but the kitchen sink. You’ll need to stay incredibly mobile while juggling the summoned Bloodseeker minions and avoiding Lord Zir’s many area-denial abilities.
Having high fire and shadow resistance is strongly recommended to mitigate a chunk of Zir’s damage output. Stock up on Potent Elixirs of Shadow Resistance for a big boost.
Most groups also focus on Zir’s elite Bloodseeker minions as soon as they spawn. Those hard hitters can wreak havoc if left unchecked while you’re dodging the boss.
The Path to Powerful Loot
Even with all those challenges, downing Lord Zir is well worth the effort if you’re chasing best-in-slot items and elusive set pieces. His loot pool is absolutely stacked with powerful rewards.
But again, the main roadblock is getting a constant supply of Exquisite Blood to resurface the encounter as much as needed for those ultra-rare drops. Between griding Legion events and hunting world bosses, you may need to spend a lot of time before amassing enough vials.
While trading with other players can help, Exquisite Blood is still quite scarce on the market since everyone wants it for themselves. Expect the going rates to be quite steep, at least until more people get their farms established.
The Grind is Real
At the end of the day, the scarcity of Exquisite Blood is clearly an intentional move by Blizzard to create a serious endgame grind and gold sink for Diablo 4’s most powerful content.
Whether you love or loathe aggressive time-gating, there’s no denying that it puts up a major barrier to farming Lord Zir as frequently as you’d like. Every repeat encounter feels like a big investment and commitment.
It remains to be seen if Blizzard will address any of the frustrations around obtaining Exquisite Blood in the future. For now, it represents one of Diablo 4’s most daunting grinds for the real endgame chasers out there.
So if you’re aiming to pump out endgame builds and perfect your character, start stockpiling those Exquisite Blood vials as soon as possible! Lord Zir awaits any brave enough to repeatedly test their bloody skills against his unholy might.
