Path of Exile 2: Burning Monolith Explained

The Burning Monolith is a special map on the Atlas of Worlds, similar to the Realmgate, which can be encountered near the location where players start their mapping journey. Using it, however, is anything but simple.

The Burning Monolith requires three special items, called Crisis Fragments, to access, and each one can only be found by completing Citadels, which are special map nodes on the Atlas that are extremely hard to find.

How to Use the Burning Monolith in Path of Exile 2

The Burning Monolith is the encounter area for the endgame pinnacle boss, Arbiter of Ash. After players visit the Burning Monolith for the first time and try to activate the door, they’ll automatically start the quest, The Pinnacle of Flame, with three subquests: Ezomyte Infiltration (Iron Citadel), Faridun Foray (Copper Citadel), and Vaal Incursion (Stone Citadel). Completing the three Citadels will reward players with three unique Crisis Fragments. Use the three Crisis Fragments together on the altar in the Burning Monolith to activate and unlock the fight with the Arbiter of Ash.

How to Find Citadels in Path of Exile 2

There are three Citadels in PoE 2: Iron, Copper, and Stone, each with a different map boss that you need to defeat in order to obtain the Crisis Fragment associated with that Citadel. By far the most difficult part about Citadels is finding them in the first place.

Since each player’s Atlas is randomly generated, each one is unique, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to where a Citadel might appear. A few tentative theories have emerged among the community based on anecdotal evidence and personal experience. Take these with a grain of salt.

1. Pick a direction on the Atlas and keep progressing in that direction until you eventually encounter a Citadel. Unlock Towers to get an eagle’s eye view of the maps.
2. Follow the corruption. Look towards the edge of your field of vision in the Atlas and look for nodes with corruption. Make a beeline towards these nodes, clear them without failing, unlock the nearby Tower and repeat. This can be combined with the previous tip.
3. Citadels seem to appear in a cluster. If you find one, you’ll find the other two nearby.

Citadel hunting is a time-consuming endeavor that should be left for very late in the endgame when your build is as strong as it can get and hunting bosses becomes second nature.