Path of Exile 2: The Slithering Dead Quest Guide

This guide covers the Path of Exile 2 side quest, "The Slithering Dead," detailing its walkthrough and providing recommendations for the best reward choices at each stage.

Quick Links

• The Slithering Dead Quest Walkthrough
• Choosing Your Venom Draught Reward

The Slithering Dead quest involves helping Servi, a guide in the Ziggurat Encampment, uncover the fate of her son. While the quest itself is straightforward, selecting the right reward is crucial. You only get one choice, and it's permanent.

The Slithering Dead Quest Walkthrough

To begin, locate the Venom Crypts entrance within the Jungle Ruins map in Act 3 (and Act 3 Cruel). It's near the Waypoint. The Venom Crypts are optional for main quest progression, but accessible even after completing the main story.

Explore the Venom Crypts until you find a corpse in the Den of the Serpent Priestess (location varies randomly per map).

Interact with the corpse to obtain Corpse-Snake Venom. Return to Servi in the Ziggurat Encampment to complete the quest.

Choosing Your Venom Draught Reward

The Slithering Dead is repeatable (Act 3 and Act 3 Cruel), with different rewards each time.

Act 3 Rewards:

Choose one of the following:

• Venom Draught of Stone: 25% increased Stun Threshold.
• Venom Draught of the Veil: 30% increased Elemental Ailment Threshold.
• Venom Draught of Clarity: 25% increased Mana Regeneration Rate.

Recommendation: Venom Draught of Clarity is generally the best option, especially for melee builds often facing mana issues. Venom Draught of the Veil is a strong alternative for builds not reliant on mana. Venom Draught of Stone is the least desirable unless specifically needed to mitigate stun effects.

Act 3 Cruel (Act 6) Rewards:

Choose one of the following:

• Venom Draught of the Lost: +10% to Chaos Resistance.
• Venom Draught of the Sky: +5 to All Attributes.
• Venom Draught of the Marshes: 15% Reduced Slowing Potency of Debuffs.

Recommendation: Venom Draught of the Lost (+10% Chaos Resistance) is overwhelmingly superior due to the rarity of Chaos Resistance on gear. Only builds utilizing Chaos Inoculation with Eternal Youth might prefer Venom Draught of the Sky for the attribute boost.