The third SWTOR Operation starts from the Imperial Ziost Shadow mission deck and moves through four distinct encounters on Denova. This navigation-first guide shows the actual minefield controls, tank defense phases and Baradium bomb sequence rather than sending a first-time group to a generic quest marker.
LIVE 7.9 · LEVEL 80IMPERIAL ENTRANCE4 BOSS ENCOUNTERS
01 · FIND THE INSTANCE
How to get to the Imperial Operation entrance
VAIKEN SPACEDOCK → ZIOST SHADOW fleet capital ship → MISSION DECK → EXPLOSIVE CONFLICT / DENOVA instance door → Zorn and Toth.
Available modes: Story, Veteran and Master difficulties exist; this walkthrough prioritizes Story and Veteran. Master has additional attacks and is not recommended for a first Operation.
01
Reach Ziost Shadow from Vaiken Spacedock
On Imperial Fleet locate the ZIOST SHADOW capital ship travel connector and go to its MISSION DECK. Do not fly directly to a normal Denova planetary map: the Operation is entered from the fleet ship.
02
Find the Explosive Conflict door
On the mission deck find EXPLOSIVE CONFLICT, the DENOVA Operation entrance. The briefing NPC N4-S4 is reported near this entrance. If the one-time quest has already been completed, use the instance door with your group rather than waiting for the droid to offer it again.
03
Confirm group and difficulty
Form an 8-player Operations group with a subscriber character. Set Story Mode for the first run. Before entering confirm tanks, healers and DPS roles; a Vengeance Juggernaut is DPS, while Immortal is the tank discipline.
04
Inside: follow the Denova battlefield route
Fight through the opening battlefield enemies to the first dual drouk arena. The boss order is fixed: ZORN & TOTH → FIREBRAND & STORMCALLER → COLONEL VORGATH MINEFIELD → WARLORD KEPHESS. Use the source's combat screenshots for physical locations.
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.
How you reach this boss: Walk from the opening Denova approach to the arena containing TWO drouks. Assign one tank and a damage subgroup to each before pulling.
01
Split the drouks
Assign one tank to ZORN and one to TOTH. Vengeance melee typically attacks Toth; ranged players can stay farther than about 25m from Zorn where practical.
02
Control red circles
When Toth triggers GROUND SHATTER, step out of RED circles immediately. Healers cleanse Zorn's MENTAL ANGUISH damage-over-time effect.
03
Watch their health together
Keep both health totals reasonably close. At very low health they become more dangerous, so arrange the final kills nearly together.
04
Don't miss the handler
After the drouks fall, HANDLER MURDOK appears. Defeat him before leaving the arena or treating the encounter as complete.
05
Use the next battlefield route
After the handler, follow the cleared Denova path to the large armored-tank arena rather than heading back to the entrance.
06
Veteran: Fearful matters
In Veteran keep Zorn and Toth at least 15m apart. When Toth leaps, players near Zorn can get FEARFUL and should NOT damage Zorn during its reflective window; coordinate tank swaps and the Baradium Heave circle.
Story Mode: Story: Zorn and Toth can be stacked after older Surge behavior was removed from Story; learning groups can still split them to practice positioning. Cleansing Mental Anguish and avoiding red danger zones remain sensible.
Veteran Mode: Veteran: keep bosses apart; Toth's leaps generate FEARFUL near Zorn, whose Emboldened window reflects damage from Fearful players. Kite Baradium Heave into Toth to stop his Berserk and coordinate both kills.
Stuck here? Drouks alive but group dying suddenly? Check whether one drouk dropped below the final health threshold much earlier than the other. In Veteran, check FEARFUL before continuing to attack Zorn.
How you reach this boss: Proceed along the Denova battlefield after Handler Murdok until TWO MASSIVE TANK VEHICLES block the way. Split the eight players before starting the encounter.
01
Divide the raid
Assign half the group to FIREBRAND and half to STORMCALLER. The player tanks stand in front of each vehicle; all other players avoid frontal attacks.
02
During OFFENSIVE SYSTEMS
Deal damage to both armored vehicles. If assigned to the ground, kite the YELLOW target marker and lightning orbs away from other players.
03
Watch the defensive trigger
Near each 80/60/40/20% threshold DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS begins. Stop trying to ignore the phase; the vehicles gain heavy resistance.
04
Get UNDER SHIELDS
Most players get off the tanks and enter the GLOWING PROTECTIVE SHIELDS beside the vehicles to survive FIREBRAND'S MORTAR BARRAGE.
05
Stormcaller tank runs outside
The player tanking STORMCALLER normally stays OUTSIDE the shields and moves to kite electrical missile impacts. Healers watch that player's health.
06
Deal with shield adds
Defeat enemy troops inside the protective bubbles, wait for Mortar Barrage to end, then climb back onto your assigned tank and repeat.
07
Finish almost together
Coordinate vehicle health. Avoid killing one far ahead of the other, which can trigger a dangerous burn on the survivor.
Story Mode: Story: the crucial mechanic is sheltering during Defensive Systems. It is not enough to damage the vehicles through Mortar Barrage.
Veteran Mode: Veteran: shield placement and explosive attacks are less forgiving; ground targets and Electrical Disturbance require assigned bait players, and some damage can destroy the shields.
Stuck here? Dying during mortar fire? Look for the shield objects that appear ON THE GROUND NEXT TO the vehicles rather than staying on a tank during Defensive Systems.
ENCOUNTER 03 / 04 · 7×4 MINE GRID, CONTROL TOWER AND FAR-SIDE CAVE
Colonel Vorgath: the Minefield
How you reach this boss: After the armored vehicles, follow the combat route to the MINEFIELD with SANDBAGS at its near edge and a CONTROL TOWER. Stop at the sandbags until the player operating the tower is ready.
01
Choose the tower operator
One player, generally a tank, takes the SIDE ELEVATOR up into the minefield tower. Other players wait safely at the SANDBAGS; the safe starting edge becomes dangerous if the group takes too long.
02
Find the 7×4 control grid
The tower has a SEVEN-ROWS-BY-FOUR-COLUMNS panel. The BOTTOM ROW corresponds to the group's entrance. The operator LEFT-CLICKS HIDDEN CELLS to reveal GREEN safe squares and RED active mines.
03
Do NOT cross RED squares
The group advances only onto GREEN tiles or cleared paths. RED mines kill players who step on them. Clicking a red square temporarily turns it YELLOW (about 15 seconds) for a disarm attempt.
04
Reveal a Demolition Probe
The tower operator uses the SMALL BUTTON TO THE RIGHT of the grid to enter the HOLOGRAM scouting view, runs toward the team and reveals a hidden DEMOLITION PROBE.
05
Kill the probe and loot a kit
The rest of the team defeats the revealed DEMOLITION PROBE; the eligible player receives a MINE DEFUSAL KIT. In Veteran a precise interrupt rotation on OVERLOAD prevents deadly knockbacks into mines.
06
Open a yellow tile and disarm
The tower operator selects the next RED square to make it YELLOW. The designated player with the kit enters that YELLOW TILE and CHANNELS THE MINE DISARM, turning it safe. Repeat this process row-by-row.
07
Push through and finish
Reach the FAR SIDE without standing on uncleared mines. Use the control panel to handle the defenses as prompted, then fight COLONEL VORGATH and proceed through the CAVE EXIT toward Kephess.
Story Mode: Story: most failures come from taking unsafe squares, failing to spawn/destroy the Demolition Probe for a defuse kit, or spending too long at the starting sandbags.
Veteran Mode: Veteran: the probe's OVERLOAD knockback must be interrupted repeatedly; assign a named rotation before spawning it. The far-side turrets and commander remain separate from the mine-disarm puzzle.
Stuck here? Can't cross? The tower operator must reveal a RED mine, then choose that red square to create a temporary YELLOW disarm tile. A 2012 forum thread reported turrets reappearing after the far-side control; the workaround was inconsistent and is historical, not a verified 2026 bug.
How you reach this boss: From Colonel Vorgath exit through the cleared cave/approach into the open field dominated by the huge WARSTRIDER BATTLEWALKER. The walker is the first target sequence; KEPHESS comes later.
01
Destroy three Siege Droids
Kill the THREE IMPERIAL SIEGE DROIDS around the walker. Interrupt CALIBRATING SHOT when possible and avoid the moving purple walker bombardment.
02
Watch for BARADIUM BOMBER
After the opening wave, locate the BARADIUM BOMBER add. Defeat it before its attack overwhelms the group; its bomb is a mechanic required to damage the walker.
03
Use the BARADIUM BOMB on the walker
The player who receives the bomb moves to the highlighted walker interaction point and uses the scripted action to temporarily expose/disable the WARSTRIDER BATTLEWALKER.
04
Burn the exposed walker
All DPS swap immediately to the walker while it is vulnerable. When it recovers, repeat the add/bomber/bomb sequence when required; do not waste a full rotation against its protected state.
05
Handle follow-up waves
Defeat named Trandoshan and other add waves required by the phase. Maintain focus on the walker trigger rather than wandering the perimeter for unrelated troops.
06
Fight Warlord Kephess
Once the walker is destroyed, KEPHESS joins the fight. Tanks point him away; dodge red leap circles and dangerous purple ground effects.
07
Leave GIFT OF THE MASTERS
At the later phase, when KEPHESS channels GIFT OF THE MASTERS, move away from the PURPLE AREA. In Veteran watch BREATH OF THE MASTERS void zones and follow tank-swap calls.
08
Confirm final kill
Defeat Kephess and check the raid's weekly/progression objective before using the exit. The encounter does not end when the walker is destroyed.
Story Mode: Story: the scripted bomb removes the walker's protection; the second half is the Warlord Kephess fight. Simply trying to burn the walker without the bomb does not advance the encounter.
Veteran Mode: Veteran: expect more demanding tank swaps on Kephess, added mechanics during the walker/add phases and high damage from Gift/Breath of the Masters.
Stuck here? Boss seems immune? Look for the BARADIUM BOMBER and its scripted bomb action. If the walker has not fallen, you are still in its phase and Kephess is not yet the active primary target.
Player reports are not guaranteed fixes for every game version. These answers link to their source so readers can check the original context.
Where is Explosive Conflict on the Imperial side?
It is an OPERATION INSTANCE entered from the Imperial fleet capital ship ZIOST SHADOW, Mission Deck. The one-time contact is N4-S4 near the entrance. Do not search for a normal solo quest giver on Denova.
Explosive Conflict has FOUR major encounters. The handler after Zorn and Toth, and the Baradium Battlewalker sequence in the Kephess encounter, are subphases rather than separate Operation bosses.
The Zorn and Toth guide tells us to separate them, but Story Mode allows stacking?
Both reflect different difficulty or patch behavior. Current Story Mode no longer uses the older Surge proximity buff. Veteran still requires separation and FEARFUL management. Stacking is not a safe Veteran strategy.
My Vengeance Juggernaut loses health when attacking Zorn?
In Veteran, Toth's leap can give nearby players FEARFUL, causing Zorn's Emboldened phase to reflect their damage. Stop attacking Zorn while affected and follow the assigned split or tank swap.
Firebrand's Mortar Barrage kills players standing on the tank?
DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS means most players should drop into the ground-side PROTECTIVE SHIELD bubbles while one Stormcaller tank kites outside. Staying on the tank is the typical fatal error.
One player takes the lift to the CONTROL TOWER and uses the 7×4 GRID. Reveal a safe GREEN path, spawn the DEMOLITION PROBE via the button to the right for a defusal kit, then temporarily turn a RED mine YELLOW for the player to disarm.
The minefield turrets respawn after we used the control. Bug?
An official SWTOR forum discussion from April 2012 documents this historic issue, and players offered conflicting reports about waiting for the tower operator or staying by the far cave. Do not assume a 2012 workaround is still necessary; if current turrets stay active verify the panel and group position first.
Why can't we damage the walker in the Kephess fight?
The giant walker becomes vulnerable after the BARADIUM BOMBER dies and a player uses its BOMB on the required walker interaction. After it falls, WARLORD KEPHESS is the final active boss.
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.
