How to Find Citadels in Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2’s Pinnacle of Flame quest requires you to get all Crisis Fragments and open the Burning Monolith. This takes you to the Arbiter of Ash pinnacle boss fight. However, the hardest part about this quest isn’t the boss fight – it is finding the Citadels so you can complete the three Crisis Fragments. Here’s the best way to find Citadels in Path of Exile 2 and get those Crisis Fragments to run the boss or make a profit!

How to Easily Find Citadels in Path of Exile 2

There are three types of Citadels: Iron, Copper, and Stone. Each of these Citadels leads to different boss encounters, and each boss drops a specific Crisis Fragment needed to open the Burning Monolith.

The Iron, Copper, and Stone Citadel spawns are completely random on your map, but you can path your exploration in a way that gives you more chances to find them. 

First, path in a direction so you can get as far as possible from the starting point (Ziggurat Refuge). The farther you are from the starting point, the more you’ll see Citadels and other maps you haven’t heard of before. 

If you start clearing all the nodes as you play, it might take forever to find your first Citadel. Blitz through a single path to make it quicker.

Second, you can see wide and spacious landmasses when exploring the map. You can also see some rivers and some small islands. You want to go for these landmasses and avoid the rivers when pathing. This is because you see fewer nodes when pathing to the edges of the landmasses or the shores. You will always see more nodes if you are pathing in the middle of those big landmasses. 

Third, pay attention to the surroundings on each node. Each has a distinct art that will help players “know” what kind of map it is without hovering over them. Smaller maps are harder to distinguish, but Citadels will be hard to miss if you pay attention to the art. 

Stone Citadels look like a big stone pyramid; Iron Citadels look like a small enclosed village; Copper Citadels look like an underground excavation site with a few houses at the edge. All of these have a massive radius compared to your regular nodes. This is why it is always best to go through big landmasses to explore more of the fog of war. 

Related: Path of Exile 2 Delirium Mechanic, Explained

How to Open the Burning Monolith in Path of Exile 2

To go back to the Burning Monolith, you can select the little red skull icon in the endgame map screen to instantly switch the Burning Monolith. Bring one of each Crisis Fragment and go to the Burning Monolith. You can buy the remaining pieces in the Currency Exchange market if you don’t have the complete Crisis Fragment set.

Place one of each Crisis Fragment on the sealed door to open it. This will bring you to the Arbiter of Ash boss fight. Defeating the boss will earn you some Arbiter of Ash Atlas skill points to increase the difficulty for future encounters. 

You’ll have to bring more Crisis Fragments to get another attempt, so make sure you are always ready for the fight. You can buy Crisis Fragments in the Currency Exchange, but it’ll be extremely expensive. It does make sense because the boss has great drops, and it is also extremely difficult to find Citadels to get Crisis Fragments. 

Most players just aim to finish the Pinnacle of Flames quest to get their Map Boss skill points. Any attempt after the quest will be for personal goals or fun.