Frozen Monolith

Frozen Monolith (FM), also known as Holy Tower^KR/EU, is a group instance for players of level 80 and above. Originally added in 5.8, it can now be accessed from the bases in the Ancient Temple of Records ( Elyos) and Ancient Red Tree Forest ( Asmodian) in Lakrum. Said base must be in the faction's possession to access the instance.

This obelisk stands atop Divine Fortress and serves as the main line of defense from the Daeva's assault. In order to bring it down Daevas will face off against Brigade General <Nergal> of Ereshkigal's Atasin Legion. The boss fight has several wipe mechanics, therefore posing a significant challenge to lower geared and uncoordinated groups.

This instance, along with Bastion of Souls, is a source of the Legendary Voidsoul set, the second best tier of PvE gear. It will award the armor and feathered accessory pieces of said set. Other rewards include Minions, either Grade B or A, as well as several gear enhancing materials. The Ancient Fog set from here is generally regarded as DEing/selling material.

Backstory[]

With Ereshkigal's presence growing in Reshanta, Daevas attempted to siege their way into the Core of Reshanta, only to be utterly destroyed by the Dragon Lord. Despite the difficulty, Daevas did not give up, and decided to launch a second attack before the entrance to the Core was sealed off again. Following the orders of <Bastiel>/<Bastikan>, the fleet set off into Ereshkigal's frozen realm.

Nearing to Divine Fortress, an odd tall structure is spotted on a floating island, standing on the way to the fortress. A strong Balaur figure is spotted, who begins activating the beacon above him. The obelisk is an artifact, which paralyzes Daevas and disables their ships; one by one crash into the island. As the player recovers, they find few survivors and them fighting off Balaur.

Their second assault was a failure as well because of <Nergal> and his monolith. However, his power being an imposing threat, he must be dealt with before proceeding with another attempt. The player flies off towards the beacon, to have a titanic battle against the Atasin Legion.

Despite his overwhelming power and the aid of <Pelida> (a Harvester assigned to him), players succeed on terminating <Nergal>. They proceed to blow up the monolith, and retreat to their Landings. Having experienced the might of Ereshkigal's army, Daevas must organise and deploy a final strike fast before they recover.

Walkthrough[]

The damage inflicted by <Nergal'sNergal> skills are HP-% based, therefore putting a greater importance on DPS. In order to reach him and engage him on somewhat equal grounds it is recommended to have a somewhat enchanted Ancient gear set minimum, and to be familiar with his mechanics beforehand. <Nergal'sNergal> attacks can and occasionally will crit on players for additional damage, requiring a proficient Cleric. Some groups may also bring an off-healer such as a Chanter, but that person will also be required to DPS most of the time.

The party will zone-in on the Remote Island along with a couple of other NPCs, offering quests. To access the main land, they must interact with the main NPC. This is where the first section of the instance begins.

Pod Waves[]

The group must first reach <Nergal>, a mostly simple task. Parts of the Defense Route will be blocked off by <Pelida>, who is casting a shield. As the party approaches her, an <Atasin Skyfighter> (pod) will appear and release several Balaur guards. Destroying the pod will open the way into the following segment. The scenario repeats thrice more, with each time an additional <Atasin Skyfighter> spawning.

The pods will spawn once a player enters Pelida's range, or if the patrolling mobs are engaged. The mobs spawned by <Atasin Skyfighter> are of common grade, but will quickly accumulate. As of such, the Defense Route is a kind of DPS test to see if the group has sufficient damage output for the battle against Nergal: if the group finds itself overwhelmed by the spawned mobs and can't bring the pods down fast enough, it will likely have a hard time against Nergal.

Once all waves have been dealt with, the group will have reached the top of the platform, the Forward Defense. The main fight will begin after they pass through the fence and spawn before <Nergal>.

Nergal[]

<Nergal> is mostly a simple fight in terms of mechanics, but of remarkable difficulty because it requires very strong coordination and damage output. There is also an element of luck as, depending on the amount of HP left, he will perform random mechanics; some are easier to deal with than others.

<Nergal'sNergal> regular skillset is marked by two area attacks; <Ice Pick Shield> is a short-ranged AoE with low to medium damage, while <Earth Shacking Shield> is a room wide AoE with high damage. Periodically he will also use <Lightning Smash (FM)> on a random target, paralyzing it for 10 seconds and thus removing said player from combat during this time (although they will still take damage). Finally, <Nergal> will also continuously spawn small circles across the arena. These will inflict heavy damage when they explode a couple of seconds after they appear, and must thus be avoided.

Important to note is that damage from both area attack skills is based on the player's HP percentage, rather than fixed amount. The importance of bringing along a secondary support class is in case <Lightning Smash (FM)> lands on the main healing Cleric, leaving them out of battle for a lengthy time. The side healer must take over in case group members find themselves low on HP.

Mechanics[]

After a certain point, <Nergal> will begin using his special abilities. They happen roughly every 1 minute and 20 seconds. The kind of mechanic Nergal will use is randomly selected based on his remaining HP: there are two possible mechanics above 50% health, and four possibilities below 50% health. Below 25% health this will be a combination of two mechanics at the same time, thus requiring the group to burn him down as fast as possible at this point. Finally, there will also be a one-time special mechanic once or shortly after he hits 50% health.

Option 1: Transcendental Shield (All)

If Nergal uses this mechanic a pop-up message will appear: "Nergal is using the Transcendental Shield to gather power. Use the Separated Shield to prevent him from gathering power". The boss will become invulnerable to damage and begin casting <Transcendental Shield>. As the group may have noticed, there are six blue spots arranged across the platform. On each of those, a <Fragmented Shield> will spawn, guarded by an <Atasin Tower Guard>.

FM - Map — Positioning for Fragmented Shield

To clear this mechanic the group must interact with all six <Fragmented Shield> at the same time. To this end, the group must assign a shield fragment to each person before entering the battle, so that there is no hesitation during this short time. It is crucial to only interact with it once, as moving away from the shield after clicking it or getting hit by a mob will cause the shield to disappear and the mechanic to fail.

The idea is that everyone pulls the <Atasin Tower Guards> next to his/her assigned shield with a non-DoT skill and lures it to mid, where the group's Sorcerer will then use an area CC such as Winter Binding (or a Spiritmaster's <Fear Shriek I>). Geared groups may also opt to quickly kill all adds. The group members must then move to and interact with their respective shield at roughly the same time.

If the group manages to interact with all <Fragmented Shield> at the same time, <Nergal> will enter a <Shield Reassembly> state, rendering him unable to move or attack for a some time. During this time the party, including Clerics, can freely DPS him without worries.

If the mechanic is failed, <Nergal> will gain the <Transcendental Shield> buff. This is a soft enrage which tremendously boosts his auto attack damage. Geared groups will be able to facetank him or kite him around the platform while the other members stay in the center and quickly burn him down, which is the variant most groups opt for. If DPS is lacking or people are not kiting properly, the only viable option is to die and restart the fight.

Option 2: Harvester (All)

If the Harvester is triggered instead, the pop-up message will read "A Harvester has reappeared, and the surrounding magic ward begins to respond". <Nergal> will begin casting <Explosive Chill>, and <Pelida> will spawn. Players must take <Pelida> on top of any of the blue spots on the platform and kill her there. If done properly, an updraft windstream will appear, and players must glide up to be lifted into the air, where they will be out of range for <Explosive Chill>. The camera should be faced upwards while gliding, else the glide may bug.

Once <Explosive Chill> finishes casting it will one-shot all members still on the platform, as well as those who did not glide up high enough in time. As of such <Pelida> must be killed within the 20 seconds it takes <Nergal> to cast <Explosive Chill>. This is where burst classes or strong players are an absolute requirement.

Special Mechanic: Pods (after hitting 50% Health)

Upon or shortly after reaching 50% remaining HP, <Nergal> will cast <Explosive Chill> (gaining invincibility once again), and will summoning four <Atasin Skyfighter>, one of each corner of the platform. The pop up message will show: "Nergal holds up the Shield of Conviction and summons his legionnaries".

Similarly to the beginning of the instance, the group must focus and burn down the pods as soon as possible, as they will continuously spawn forth adds. This is a true test of DPS, as failing to bring the pods down before <Nergal> rejoins the battle can prove fatal - if the adds have not overwhelmed the group at this point already. Clerics should move and kite the adds around while the group burns down the pods. Once all pods are brought down all mobs they have released will despawn.

From this point on, in addition to the Transcendental Shield and Harvester mechanics, two new mechanics are also added the the pool of possibilities.

Option 3: Mark of Ascension (below 50% Health)

The boss will spawn an <Atasin Tower Guardian Captain>, a Balaur warrior with the <Mark of Ascension> buff. This state grants him enhanced offensive abilities and a larger HP pool. Because of this, he can kill a player with a few hits. The twist is that whoever hits this mob first, will receive the <Mark of Ascension> buff as well. It has to be killed as soon as possible, with the main damage being done by the DPS class that hit him first. If the mob takes too long to bring down it will begin to change targets randomly, forcing healers to be fast.

Option 4: Mark of Calamity (below 50% Health)

In this mechanic is used <Nergal> will cast <Mark of Calamity> on a random player. This state is an extremely high damage delayed skill, which will instantly kill the primary target and any other targets within the circle created around it. However, the real threat is a mob which is spawned; <Atasin Tower Scout Captain>. It will not attack but instead begin to cast <Explosion>, which will kill everyone on the platform instantly once it goes off.

The strategy here is for the person with <Mark of Calamity> (this can be recognized by the circle underneath their feet and the "eye" icon above them) to stand within range of the <Atasin Tower Scout Captain>, so that the damage will eliminate it before <Explosion> goes off. Logically, no group members must be standing near the player or mob while this is happening. After this mechanic the affected player should be resurrected quickly.

Below 25% health the group should utilize everything they have and finish off <Nergal> as soon as possible, as from this point on two of his mechanics will happen at the same time: these are either the Harvester + Mark of Ascension or the Transcendental Shield + Mark of Calamity mechanics.

If the party takes down the protector of the Frozen Monolith, they may loot its corpse for loot. A Daeva will spawn nearby, allowing them to retreat to the ship, and from there exit the instance.

Quests[]

Elyos

[Instance Dungeon/Group] Destroying the Monolith [?]
[Instance Dungeon/Group] Defeating Nergal [?]

Asmodian

[Instance Dungeon/Group] Assaulting the Monolith [?]
[Instance Dungeon/Group] Monolith Demolition [?]

Rewards[]

1 random piece from the Legendary Voidsoul set (Armor, Wings, Plume, Bracelet)
2 random pieces from the Ancient Fog set
<Ancient PvE Enchantment Stone Bundle> x5 (all)
<Grade A-B Minium Bundle> x2 (all)
<Transformation ContractTransformation Contract (item)>^NA (all; chance)
Minion Contract (all; chance)

Trivia[]

This instance was originally designed for players of level 66 and above. It was accessible from Redemption Landing (Elyos) and Harbinger's Landing (Asmodians) in Upper Reshanta, but was adjusted and moved to its current location after the 6.0 patch.
The island holding the monolith artifact is present in the Core of Reshanta itself, as the aftermath of the battle that took place inside the instance. Its purpose is to act as ground for the campaign quests.
Frozen Monolith and Mirash Sanctum are the only instances whose mobs can perform critical attacks.
The NPCs in the cutscene that is triggered upon entering the instance, after the player's ship crashes, are wearing the Harvester's set. This is because they represent the player's actual group, distinguishable from other NPCs.
The instance is referred to as "idab1_heroes" in files.