What's up, gamers? How are we doing? Well, we're continuing our adventure in Path of Exile, and this time things got really interesting. I finally met EINHAR, the Beast Master, at the entrance to the Riverways, and let me tell you, this mission was something completely different from what I'd experienced so far in the game. We're talking about hunting beasts, filling up the Bestiary, and discovering what the hell the Menagerie is all about.

The Hunt Begins

So there I was, making my way through Act 2, following the stone road that leads from the Forest Encampment when suddenly I encounter this massive dude named Einhar Frey. This guy is absolutely nuts in the best way possible. He's a hunter-scavenger who's obsessed with capturing the beasts of Wraeclast, and he wants me to help him. The moment he starts talking, you can tell this guy is a character. He's loud, enthusiastic, and talks about himself in the third person, which honestly makes him one of the most memorable NPCs I've encountered in the game so far.

The mission itself is straightforward: hunt down specific beasts that Einhar marks on your map and help him capture them. But here's where things get awesome—this is the first mission in the entire game where you actually have a companion fighting alongside you. Einhar doesn't just stand there giving you orders; he's right there with you, shoulder to shoulder, throwing attacks at monsters and helping you take them down. It legitimately felt like playing an online session with a friend, and that was a really cool moment for me.

The Thrill of the Hunt

The beasts you're hunting aren't your typical trash mobs either. Einhar marks them on your minimap with colored icons—yellow for medium difficulty beasts and red for the really tough ones. The yellow beasts have one special Bestiary modifier that makes them stronger, while the red beasts have two modifiers, making them significantly more dangerous and challenging to take down.

What's interesting is the capture mechanics. You don't actually need to do anything special to capture them yourself. Once you get a beast's health down to about 50%, Einhar spawns in and does his thing. He's completely invulnerable, so you don't have to worry about him dying, which is a relief. The guy just starts blasting away with ranged attacks, volleys of shots, and even bombs. He's like having your own personal tank with unlimited ammo backing you up.

As we pushed through the Riverways, the intensity ramped up fast. Monsters were coming at us from all directions—Bramble Cobras, Shadow Archers, Plummeting Ursas, and all sorts of nasty creatures that inhabit this corrupted wilderness. The amount of experience I was gaining was insane. I actually leveled up to 21 during the mission from the sheer quantity of monsters we were eliminating. The beasts just kept coming, wave after wave, and Einhar and I just kept mowing them down.

The Beast Master's Mission

What makes this mission so engaging is that it's not just about killing everything in sight. Einhar proposes specific beasts for you to hunt during the mission, so you're actually tracking down particular targets while dealing with all the other threats in the area. You're basically combing through the entire Riverways zone on this hunting expedition, and it takes you to places you might otherwise skip.
The whole experience gives you a real sense of being on a proper hunt. You're not just grinding through monsters to get to the next area—you're actively tracking dangerous prey with a purpose. And Einhar's constant commentary throughout the hunt adds so much personality to the mission. He's constantly yelling about the First Ones, survival, and his poetry (which he claims is great, by the way).

Discovering the Bestiary and Menagerie

Once you complete the mission and capture all the beasts Einhar wants, things get even more interesting. You unlock the Bestiary, which is basically an extensive book that tracks and classifies all the wildlife you've captured in Wraeclast. It's accessed through your challenges panel, and it shows you every beast you've encountered and captured. This is Einhar's life's work, and now you're contributing to it.

But the real prize is getting access to the Menagerie. This is Einhar's personal zoo, if you want to call it that, though it's way more metal than any zoo I've ever seen. It's a special area that you can access from any waypoint in the game, and it's where all your captured beasts are kept alive until you're ready to use them for something.

I haven't had the chance to fully explore the Menagerie yet, but from what I understand, this is where the real magic happens. There's a Blood Altar there where you can sacrifice the beasts you've captured to craft powerful items. It's called beastcrafting, and apparently, different combinations of beasts create different crafting recipes. You need one red beast and three yellow beasts for most crafts, with the red beast determining what kind of craft you get.

The Benefits of Having Einhar Around

One thing I noticed right away is that when Einhar is following you during the hunt, he grants you an aura that gives you life leech and life gain on hit and kill. This is incredibly useful because it means you can sustain yourself much better during prolonged fights. The beasts hit hard, and having that extra survivability makes a huge difference, especially when you're dealing with multiple tough enemies at once.

Einhar also sells Bestiary Orbs once you've unlocked the Menagerie. These orbs let you capture a beast and turn it into an item that you can trade with other players. I haven't gotten that far yet, but it's cool to know that if I capture something really rare and valuable, I can actually sell it to other players. That adds a whole economic layer to the beast hunting that I wasn't expecting.

The Split Path of Act 2

After finishing Einhar's quest, I realized something about Act 2's structure—it's divided into two main paths, left and right from the Forest Encampment. I started with the left side missions, which led me to the Riverways and eventually to Einhar's hunt. The right side leads to the Old Fields, the Den, and the Crossroads, which I'll need to explore for other quests.

This branching structure gives you some flexibility in how you approach the act. Some players prefer to tackle the Riverways first to get quick access to waypoints and the experience boost from Einhar's mission. Others start with the right path and work their way back. I'm finding that starting with Einhar's mission was a great choice because it gave me a significant level boost and unlocked the Bestiary mechanics early, which I can now use throughout the rest of my playthrough.

What's Next: The Menagerie Awaits

So the mission was incredibly entertaining, and I even got to chase down part of the hive with Einhar until we found the final beast of the mission. Once we took it down, the quest wrapped up, and I was left standing there thinking, "That was awesome."

Act 2 continues to surprise me with its variety. Between the bandit camps, the Vaal ruins, and now the beast hunting mechanics, there's so much more depth to this game than I initially realized. The fact that these league mechanics—like the Bestiary—have been integrated into the core game means there's always something new and interesting to discover, even in the main story.

Next up, I'm planning to dive deeper into the Menagerie and figure out exactly what I can do with all these captured beasts. I need to check out the Blood Altar and see what kind of crafting options are available. From what I've read, there are some seriously powerful crafts you can create by sacrificing the right combination of beasts, and some of the rarer beasts can unlock special recipes that are worth a lot in trade.

I'm also curious about the legendary beasts that Einhar mentioned. Apparently, there are even tougher, rarer beasts out there that require serious preparation to capture. These legendary beasts unlock the most powerful crafting recipes and can even open portals to special boss fights called the Spirit Beasts. That sounds like endgame content, but I want to keep an eye out for any legendary beasts I might encounter along the way.

Meeting Einhar and going on my first beast hunt was easily one of the highlights of my Path of Exile journey so far. The mission had everything—intense combat, a memorable companion, good rewards, and it unlocked an entirely new system that I'll be engaging with for the rest of the game. The fact that Einhar fights alongside you makes the experience feel special, like you're actually forming an alliance with this crazy hunter who's trying to catalog every dangerous creature in Wraeclast.

The Bestiary system adds a layer of depth that I wasn't expecting from Act 2. It's not just another side mechanic—it's a legitimate crafting and trading system that has real value. The ability to capture specific beasts, save them in your Menagerie, and then sacrifice them for targeted crafts is going to be incredibly useful as I progress through the game.

So yeah, gamers, if you're playing through Path of Exile and you've reached Act 2, don't sleep on Einhar's mission. It's not just a side quest—it's an introduction to one of the game's most interesting mechanics. Plus, the experience boost from clearing the Riverways with Einhar is substantial. I went from level 19 to 21 just from that one mission, which is going to help me tackle the rest of Act 2 much more smoothly.

My next adventure will be exploring the Menagerie in detail and figuring out the best way to use these captured beasts. I also need to continue with the main story and see where the left side of Act 2 takes me next. The Wetlands and Western Forest are waiting, and I've heard there are bandit lords to deal with and more challenges ahead.