SWTOR Colossal Monolith guide: Best party comps, strategies, and rewards

The Colossal Monolith in Star Wars The Old Republic (SWTOR) is a single-world boss operation that can be found on the planet Ziost. It was introduced in 2015 with the update 3.2 — "Rise of the Emperor." The mechanics and gameplay have remained mostly unchanged, but there have been a few new additions. This guide will help players defeat the Monolith with up-to-date mechanics, as of Star Wars The Old Republic update 7.5.

The Colossal Monolith has a weekly mission, which can be picked up from the Operations Terminal on both Imperial and Republic Fleets. The mission would be listed as "(Weekly) Heart of Ruin."

How to access the Colossal Monolith in SWTOR

SWTOR's character selection screen (Image via Electronic Arts)

The Colossal Monolith is located north of the Barren Outpost, inside an operations instance on the center-north of the map.

To access the Colossal Monolith, you need to unlock the planet Ziost, which is locked behind the story. So, you must complete the ‘Shadow of Revan’ expansion or skip to the ‘Onslaught’ expansion to travel to Ziost. Like all other operations in SWTOR, you need to have a level 80 character and an active subscription to enter the instance.

Those with access to Ziost can summon other players to the entrance, even if the ones being summoned do not have access. You need to be in an operations group to enter the instance.

Team composition, mechanics and rewards for the Colossal Monolith

The operation for the Colossal Monolith comes in two difficulty modes, Story and Veteran. Teams can be set up as 8-man or 16-man, the two standard operations team sizes in SWTOR. Given below is a guide on how to fight the Colossal Monolith in both difficulties, along with the desirable team composition and potential rewards you can get after defeating the Monolith.

Best team composition for the Colossal Monolith raid

8-man Story: One tank, one Damage with Taunt (DwT), five DPS, and one healer should be sufficient for 8-man Story mode Monolith. There is a tank swap mechanic but for Story, one DwT would suffice. If needed, one DPS can be replaced with a healer, making it two healers. However, that is usually not needed.
16-man Story: The recommended composition for this would be two tanks, at least three healers, and the rest DPS. One tank can be switched for a healer here, and a DwT can assist the tank with the tank swap mechanic.
8-man Veteran: Two tanks, two healers, and an even mixture of four ranged and melee DPS would be ideal for this mode. It would be best if one healer is better at Area of Effect (AoE) healing like Medicine Operative/Sawbones Scoundrel and one healer has more burst/single target heals like Bodyguard Mercenary/Combat Medic Commando.
16-man Veteran: A composition of two tanks, at least four healers, and a mix of ranged and melee DPS is sufficient for this mode. If needed, one DPS can be swapped for a healer.

Colossal Monolith mechanics

The Colossal Monolith world boss in SWTOR has several different mechanics that you need to be aware of. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to identify and deal with the mechanics in this raid:

Siphon Energy and Lingering Destruction:

The tank should hold the Monolith at the center of the map.
Other players must spread out to avoid AoE damage from the Monolith, which appear as white or orange circles called ‘Siphon Energy’ and ‘Lingering Destruction,' respectively.
The white circles drop under each player. Everyone has to run out of it quickly or else they would get hit with heavy damage.
The orange circles drop on a random player 10 times at intervals of two seconds. The player who has this orange circle debuff needs to kite it away from the group and stay out of it.
There are a number of craters in the ground from which purple glowing energy emanates. These are called Rifts. Players should not step in the Rifts as that would drastically reduce their movement speed and apply a healing debuff on them.

Terrible Shout:

The Monolith turns to a random player and drops a large AoE attack called the ‘Terrible Shout’.
It appears as a large white-purple cone coming from the Monolith towards the player. The targeted player needs to stand still during the attack so that they don’t affect the rest of the group with the debuff.
If the AoE hits any other player, it will cause heavy periodic damage to whoever is affected for the next 10 seconds.

The Colossal Monolith 'Breaking the Rift' (Image via Electronic Arts)

Colors:

During the next phase, the Monolith exposes the 'Ancient Energies of Ziost', where four white circles appear.
These four circles will turn into colored orbs.
Players have to pick them up and walk them to the matching grid when the Monolith starts ‘Breaking the Rift.’
The white circles appear at the same spot every time in both modes.

In Story Mode, the colors appear in the same spots. But, in Veteran Mode, the colors appear randomly. You should only walk into the specific grid that is the color that they have picked.

In Story Mode, you can pick two colors to break the Colossal Monolith’s channel. But in Veteran Mode, all colors need to be picked, but not the same one twice in a row. You must change the color that you picked the first time. Each color also provides a slight buff to whoever picks it up.

Bite Wounds/Tank Debuff:

The Colossal Monolith uses an attack on the tank called ‘Bite Wounds’, which applies a debuff that reduces armor by 10% with each stack. The attack also has a knockback and the debuff lasts for half a minute.
The tank should never have more than two or three of these stacks.
This is where the second tank or DwT comes in for the tank swap, i.e., to taunt the boss and assist with the debuff.

Curse of the Monolith:

This mechanic only applies to veteran mode where a ‘Curse’ is applied on a random player, irrespective of their role. It is a 10-second debuff that starts a minute after the first ‘Terrible Shout.’
To counter this debuff, the player needs to stand on a rift and/or use shields and deflects. The affected player should stay more than 10 meters away from the Monolith or this debuff might heal the Monolith.

Achievements and drops from the Colossal Monolith

Players who clear each mode for the first time will have it listed in their legacy achievements in SWTOR. The Colossal Monolith drops operations gear and the quality varies depending on the mode. Story Mode drops green operations gear or ‘Tionese’ gear while Veteran drops blue or ‘Columni’ gear. The drops also include gear upgrade components like OP-1 Catalysts and Tech Fragments.

Furthermore, the Monolith drops the Rift decoration for strongholds. A few players receive it after each match.

One of the drops is a mount called the ‘Covert Gateway.’ It is one of the rarest items in SWTOR and does not bind to the character on pickup like mounts from other operations. Due to its rarity and the fact that it is unbound, it is a sought-after collector’s item. It is extremely expensive on the Galactic Trade Network or in-game marketplace.