Colossal Monolith: Heart of Ruin Operation Walkthrough
The Heart of Ruin on post-catastrophe Ziost is a separate instanced Operation against the Colossal Monolith. The Worldbreaker Monolith outside is a different WORLD BOSS. Follow the northern Ziost route, keep white and orange circles out of the group, handle the color-grid channel and understand the special Veteran prerequisite.
LIVE 7.9 · LEVEL 80IMPERIAL ENTRANCE1 BOSS ENCOUNTERS
01 · FIND THE INSTANCE
How to get to the Imperial Operation entrance
Finish the Ziost story so the POST-CATASTROPHE DAILY AREA is accessible → Activity Finder SOLO → Daily Area: Ziost transport → check Heart of Ruin weekly near the landing shuttle → travel to northern Ziost Operation entrance.
Available modes: Eight- or sixteen-player Story and Veteran Mode; NO normal Master mode. Veteran groups require the Worldbreaker Monolith's Ancient Protection preparation; the world boss itself is not the Operation fight.
01
Finish the original Ziost storyline
This Operation's entrance belongs to the POST-CATASTROPHE Ziost daily map. If your character is still in New Adasta or People's Tower, finish The End of It All or have your group summon you. It is not located inside the Monolithic single-player story phase.
02
Travel using the Ziost DAILY AREA shortcut
Open ACTIVITY FINDER → SOLO → Daily Area: Ziost → TRAVEL, if the destination is unlocked; alternatively fly to Ziost by ship. Do not use the pre-catastrophe GSI story mission entrance.
03
Find the Heart of Ruin weekly
Across from the landing shuttle on the post-event map, interact with the Ziost daily-area mission terminal and pick up [WEEKLY] HEART OF RUIN if your group wants the reward. The weekly requires BOTH Worldbreaker Monolith and Colossal Monolith.
04
Reach the northern raid entrance
Open the post-event ZIOST WORLD MAP, travel to its NORTHERN edge and locate the instanced Heart of Ruin entrance. The northwestern WORLD BREAKER area is a different boss location; ask your raid leader to mark the Operation phase door.
05
Veteran preparation: Worldbreaker FIRST
For VETERAN, the raid must first defeat WORLD BREAKER MONOLITH on Ziost to obtain ANCIENT PROTECTION, which makes the harder Colossal Monolith encounter survivable. Check that all participating members have the required buff BEFORE zoning into the Operation.
06
Assign FOUR color handlers and backup
Before the pull, decide who will collect PURPLE, GREEN, RED and YELLOW buffs when the arena emits energies. Keep the center and color spawn positions clear of lingering orange circles. Veteran requires alternating color responsibilities.
THE BOSS ENCOUNTERS IN ORDER
Operation travel order
A schematic of encounter order, NOT a scaled in-game location map. Use the source screenshot guides below for actual terrain and puzzle panels.
ENCOUNTER 01 / 01 · Northern Ziost Operation arena: color pick-up circles, grid and rifts
Colossal Monolith / Heart of Ruin
How you reach this boss: After entering the northern post-catastrophe Ziost Operation instance, assemble around the Colossal Monolith. The arena contains fixed spots for the colors and rifts: identify them before starting.
01
Position Monolith AWAY FROM RIFTS
The tank holds Colossal Monolith clear of active RIFTS, which empower the boss. Give damage players space behind the creature and room to escape marked attacks.
02
Move from the WHITE Syphon Energy circles
White circles appear BENEATH players repeatedly. Leave the WHITE CIRCLES within a few seconds; stacked circles can multiply damage and cause stuns. Vengeance melee damage dealers should avoid dropping them on the other melee players.
03
Kite ORANGE Lingering Destruction to the EDGE
A marked player leaves a sequence of TEN ORANGE CIRCLES, about one every two seconds. Move around the outer arena and lay them away from the center, the color spawn points and teammates. Return once all ten have been placed.
04
Watch Terrible Shout's FOLLOWING CONE
TERRIBLE SHOUT is a very broad CONE that follows a selected damage dealer while the boss cannot be taunted. The targeted player should STOP RUNNING and use a defensive; everyone else escapes the cone so it cannot sweep the whole raid.
05
Recognize Ancient Energies and FOUR COLORED SPOTS
When the screen announces that Ancient Energies have been exposed, players must pick up their assigned COLOR by walking through its ground circle. Your designated color tells you which section of the grid to enter during the next phase.
06
Enter the MATCHING GRID squares for the channel
During BREAKING THE RIFT the boss creates a four-color grid. Color holders run into their MATCHING SQUARES to interrupt the mechanic. In Story, TWO matching colors are sufficient; in Veteran ALL FOUR are required.
07
Veteran handlers must ALTERNATE colors
A Veteran player cannot safely reuse the SAME COLOR on consecutive cycles. Pair handlers who switch responsibilities, such as RED/PURPLE and GREEN/YELLOW, and confirm the next pair before the channel starts.
08
Avoid standing ON rifts
RIFTS reduce player mobility and can impair healing while empowering the Monolith when it stands on them. The colors/grid interaction is designed to resolve their channel; don't stack with the boss on a rift while waiting.
09
Tank swap after Bite Wounds stacks
BITE WOUNDS applies an armor-reduction debuff to the tank. On Veteran, coordinate a tank swap around TWO STACKS; healers prepare for spikes while the previous tank waits for the debuff to fade.
10
Continue circles → colors → channel until victory
The mechanics repeat several times and the encounter is a lengthy coordination check. Preserve safe color spots, repeat assigned swaps, watch the 9:40 enrage reference in source guides, and continue until Colossal Monolith is defeated.
11
Check both weekly objectives
After the instanced boss dies, confirm the Heart of Ruin WEEKLY also credits the Worldbreaker Monolith. The world boss must be defeated separately if you have not already done so.
Story Mode: Story: two matching colors can interrupt the grid mechanic; kite ten orange circles out of the raid, dodge white Syphon circles and stop moving if Terrible Shout is following you.
Veteran Mode: Veteran: defeat Worldbreaker first for Ancient Protection; all FOUR colors are required every cycle, assigned players must alternate colors between rounds, and Bite Wounds tank stacks require coordinated swaps.
Stuck here? If the channel wipes the team, confirm the correct players PICKED UP the ground colors and stepped into their MATCHING GRID SQUARES; only TWO are required in Story but FOUR in Veteran. If healing seems impossible in Veteran, check Worldbreaker's ANCIENT PROTECTION and avoid boss positioning on rifts.
Player reports are not guaranteed fixes for every game version. These answers link to their source so readers can check the original context.
Is the Worldbreaker Monolith the same boss as Colossal Monolith?
NO. WORLD BREAKER is the open-world northwestern Ziost world boss; COLOSSAL MONOLITH is inside the northern instanced HEART OF RUIN Operation. The related weekly requires both kills, but they have different mechanics.
Why can't I find Heart of Ruin while on Ziost's original story?
The instanced boss is on POST-CATASTROPHE Ziost. Complete the Ziost story and use the DAILY AREA travel option, or coordinate an eligible summon with the raid. Original New Adasta story phases are not the daily map.
The ANCIENT PROTECTION world-boss prerequisite applies to VETERAN, not the normal Story Mode encounter. The WEEKLY may still require both kills regardless of the raid mode.
Why is Terrible Shout hitting everyone when the tank has aggro?
Terrible Shout briefly selects and follows a DPS even with a proper tank. The marked damage player should STOP MOVING; other teammates must MOVE OUT of the very large CONE.
Color pickup occurs from the GROUND SPOTS first. Those players then must enter the CORRESPONDING GRID SQUARES. Story requires two correct squares, but Veteran demands ALL FOUR; Veteran handlers cannot take the same color every cycle.
LINGERING DESTRUCTION drops TEN orange circles in a trail. Leave the melee pack and place all ten along the OUTSIDE edge, away from color pickup spots; then return to boss damage.
BITE WOUNDS stacks an armor-reduction effect. Veteran raids typically swap around TWO stacks so the current tank does not take increasing unmanageable damage.
At the Ziost POST-EVENT daily-area landing, use the weekly mission terminal near/across from the shuttle. Read the objectives: it requires WORLD BREAKER plus the instanced COLOSSAL MONOLITH.
Last research check: 2026-10-14. Boss tuning and interface controls can change after patch releases. These directions are source-researched, not claimed as first-hand in-client verification.
