About halfway into Act 3 of Path of Exile 2, you might come across some differently colored mushrooms as loot drops. These mushrooms are highlighted in green, so you know they’re for some kind of quest, but the game doesn’t explain in the slightest how to use them or where to bring them.
Fortunately, the mushrooms do have a distinct purpose in Path of Exile 2. You also don’t need to travel far to find what they’re used for, which offers a sweet reward after everything is said and done. However, things aren’t as simple as they seem, as you need to find more than just a single mushroom and they’re not too common of a drop.
How to get Mushrooms in Path of Exile 2
Mushrooms come in three separate colors, and they’re all different loot drops. The three colors of mushrooms are blue, green, and red. When they drop on the ground, you’ll be able to see what color they are before adding them to your inventory. Don’t worry, though, as once you collect one color of mushroom, it won’t drop again, giving you a better chance to find the other colors you’re missing.
You can only find mushrooms as loot drops in the Apex of Filth region in Act 3. You have to travel here anyway for the main story in Path of Exile 2 and it has a level requirement of 41. The Apex of Filth is located at the top of the pyramid on the Act 3 map.
Unfortunately, once you get to the Apex of Filth, there are no ways to improve your odds of getting mushrooms as drops. They drop randomly from killing enemies, opening chests, and defeating bosses in the area. You can be on either Normal or Cruel difficulty when searching for the mushrooms, but players have reported they drop more frequently on Cruel difficulty.
Regardless of your difficulty level, you could spend hours searching for all three colors of mushrooms in the Apex of Filth. There’s no guaranteed timeframe for when they’ll drop so you could kill every enemy on the map and still not have the mushrooms. If you actually do kill every enemy and you’re still missing some mushrooms, you’ll want to create a new instance so the map gets refreshed. To create a new instance, follow the steps below:
- Go to any Waypoint and select the map you want to reset
- Click the map’s icon and on controller, hold A/X to bring up the instance manager. On keyboard, press Ctrl + Left Click to get to the instance manager
- From the instance manager, follow the prompts to create a new instance of the map
- This respawns at you at the start of the map, clears any map progress you made, and respawns all enemies and bosses
You’ll have to keep resetting the Apex of Filth map until you find one blue, green, and red mushroom.
What to do with the Mushrooms in Path of Exile 2
When you have all three mushrooms in your inventory, it’s time to use them. Luckily, you don’t have to travel outside the Apex of Filth to find out what the mushrooms are used for.
In the Apex of Filth, you need to find a small area that has a cauldron and the Cauldron Keeper NPC. This is located right near a checkpoint and is usually off to the side of the map.
Once you find the area, click the cauldron itself and your character should say: “Here is everything you need.” When your character says that line, wait a few seconds and the cauldron will start to engulf with flames. You might need to click on the cauldron again for the effects to work.
After several seconds, the cauldron text will disappear from the screen and you’ll be left with one Mana Flask and one Life Flask as a reward. Usually, these flasks are massive in size and of rare quality. In our case, we received a Superior Gargantuan Mana and Life Flask, but your results will vary, especially depending on what difficulty you’re playing.
When you receive your flasks, this hidden quest is over. There’s no reason to talk to the Cauldron Keeper, but they do sell some items if you’re curious. You can also sell any unneeded gear to make some room in your inventory.