The first time you meet the Watchful Twins in Deshar, it doesn't feel like a "boss fight" so much as a quick lesson in humility. You step into that cramped room thinking you're geared, you're steady, you've got enough PoE 2 Currency to have upgraded a bit… and then you're down before you've even clocked what hit you. It's not just the damage. It's how fast everything stacks up, and how little space you've got to breathe.
Why It Feels So Brutal
Hunin (storm) and Mugin (frost) are nasty on their own, but together they're a problem. Hunin's lightning bursts land quicker than you expect, and they punish any sloppy resistance setup. Mugin's the one that ruins your rhythm—chill, slow, that "why am I moving through glue?" feeling. You try to sidestep Hunin, but your feet don't listen. If you get pinned and the lightning lands, it's a wipe. That overlap is the whole trick, and it catches a lot of players who normally cruise through early bosses.
Split Them, Don't Prove a Point
The clean way to win is to stop fighting both at once. Don't charge in. Walk in like you're checking for traps. Inch forward until only one twin wakes up—usually whoever's nearer the entrance—and then backpedal to the doorway. Keep it boring. Keep it safe. Burn that one down while the other just paces around off-screen. After the first drops, the "fight" turns into a normal duel, and suddenly you can read attacks instead of guessing. If you're dying repeatedly, it's almost always because you're letting them sync up again.
Mods, Movement, and One Gear Check
Sometimes the encounter rolls modifiers that are simply rough for your build. Extra lightning plus faster actions can feel unfair, especially if you're already undercapped. If you see a combo that's clearly going to bully you, don't waste ten attempts trying to outplay math—take the death, reset, and try again with a better roll. In the actual fight, don't plant your feet. Little stutter-steps help. Circle wide when you can, and save your panic button for freezes, not for chip damage. If you only fix one thing in your kit, fix lightning resistance first. Cold slows are annoying; lightning spikes are lethal.
What You Walk Away With
Yes, you're there for the Djinn Barya and the path toward the Trial of the Sekhemas, but the bigger takeaway is how PoE2 rewards control over bravado. Pull clean, fight one target, and make the room work for you instead of against you. Do that, and the Twins stop being a wall and start feeling like a checkpoint you can repeat on purpose, even when you're farming or topping up u4gm poe currency for whatever you're building next.