How to complete the Poison in the Roots quest in Diablo 4

Diablo 4 Poison in the Roots - Tree of Whispers' coven
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Completing the Poison in the Roots quest is one of the necessary steps in Diablo 4's new seasonal storyline. The Season of Witchcraft is all about meeting the Tree of Whisper's coven of characters and helping them recover some heads that have gone astray, turning into monsters of their own called "Headrotten".

You'll get to choose your own array of witch-ey powers, including minions like a giant frog who'll poison enemies and smash up any crates in sight. First, however, you've got to help the coven perform a magical ritual at the tree, which involves lighting braziers in a certain order and drawing a ritual circle in blood. Here's how to do both so you can progress the seasonal story.

Poison in the Roots brazier puzzle solution

When you agree to help Gelena with the ritual, you'll be transported to the ritual site in front of the Tree of Whispers—the site itself is basically a magic circle and three braziers, each of which has one of the coven standing by it. As the ritual starts, they'll each say a word: Ayh, Yew, and Oun. Gelena then asks you to "Invoke the tree's forgotten name".

What you need to do is activate the braziers in the order the words were spoken at the start of the ritual:

  1. Ayh (left brazier)
  2. Yew (right brazier)
  3. Oun (top brazier)

After this, some Nangari Blood will drop which you can pick up and you'll be asked to "Draw the Ritual Circle with Nangari Blood". This step is a bit confusing but basically just slowly walk around the outside of the circle—as you do, little blood explosions will fire off, sketching it as you move.

Now all you need to do is defend the circle by defeating enemies, which will complete the ritual and finish the quest.

Diablo 4 boss loot tablesDiablo 4 resplendent sparksDiablo 4 Altar of Lilith locationsBest RPGs

Diablo 4 boss loot tables: Who drops what?
Diablo 4 resplendent sparks: Save for Mythics
Diablo 4 Altar of Lilith locations: Every altar
Best RPGs: The greatest you can play now

Sean Martin
Senior Guides Writer

Sean's first PC games were Full Throttle and Total Annihilation and his taste has stayed much the same since. When not scouring games for secrets or bashing his head against puzzles, you'll find him revisiting old Total War campaigns, agonizing over his Destiny 2 fit, or still trying to finish the Horus Heresy. Sean has also written for EDGE, Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, EGMNOW, and Inverse.

Read more
A raven holding a charm in its beak
Diablo 4 is getting its first bird pet in Season 7
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Spirits of the Dalish - Ghost
How to complete the Spirits of the Dalish quest in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
An axe-wielding Enraged Headless Husk attacks a barbarian
Diablo 4 players pleasantly surprised to find the first boss of the new season is a challenge for once: 'it's nice to actually have to think and prepare for fights'
Diablo 4 boss loot tables - Duriel
Diablo 4 boss loot tables for the Season of Witchcraft
Diablo 4 Resplendent Sparks - Lilith
How to get Resplendent Sparks in Diablo 4
Avowed - The Delemgan Queen, a magical humanoid creature with bark skin, leaf accents, and twisted root horns and crown
Delemgan Queen stealth route in Avowed: How to get the adragan heart without fighting her
Latest in RPG
A close-up of a scared young girl's face as she stumbles through the woods, a crown of twigs and flowers upon her head.
CD Projekt says it's not using generative AI on The Witcher 4 because it's 'quite tricky when it comes to legal IP ownership'
Ciri in The Witcher 4
The Witcher 4 won't be out until sometime in 2027 at the soonest, CD Projekt says
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 characters with their bodies replaced by skeletons, thanks to the KCD2 Skeleton mod.
Here's that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 mod that turns everyone into skeletons you asked for
Ghoul in sunglasses
I'm convinced being a ghoul in Fallout 76 is the best way to vibe in West Virginia, thanks to these powerful perk cards and my new true love: Radiation
A hunter digs in to some delicious dumplings in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds' first title update is overflowing with new stuff: A long-awaited Grand Hub, Arch-tempered Monsters, Arena Quests, and most importantly, fashion
Lou Graham
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 won't have typical RPG romantic relationships, but it will feature 'romantic feeding'
Latest in Guides
Assassin's Creed Shadows allies - A close-up of Yaya smiling after joining the League.
All Assassin's Creed Shadows allies and how to unlock them
Three mobs in their regional forms in Minecraft Spring to Life update
Minecraft Spring to Life update: everything you need to know about the newest drop
Assassin's Creed Shadows Tea Ceremony answers - Naoe about to sip tea from a bowl.
All Assassin's Creed Shadows Tea Ceremony answers
Assassin's Creed Shadows guided exploration - A close-up shot of Naoe with a contemplative expression, inside a dim building.
Assassin's Creed Shadows guided exploration explained
Assassin's Creed Shadows immersive mode - Naoe holding a tanto in her hand as two guards fall to the ground behind her.
Assassin's Creed Shadows immersive mode explained
Assassin's Creed Shadows canon mode - An upper-body shot of Yasuke standing in the hideout.
Assassin's Creed Shadows canon mode explained