Ancient Crisis Fragment: Your Key to Unlocking the Arbiter of Ash

The Ancient Crisis Fragment is one of three essential Pinnacle Keys in Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2) that players must collect to unlock the final pinnacle boss encounter known as the Arbiter of Ash within the Burning Monolith.

What You Need to Know About the Ancient Crisis Fragment

• It is a special key item obtained by defeating faction leaders in Citadels found across the Atlas map during endgame mapping.

• Specifically, the Ancient Crisis Fragment is acquired from the Iron Citadel, located in forest and grass biomes.

• Alongside the Ancient Crisis Fragment, you need two other fragments—the Faded Crisis Fragment and the Weathered Crisis Fragment, obtained from other Citadels like the Copper and Stone Citadels.

• Once all three fragments are collected, you can use them to unlock the gateway inside the Burning Monolith, granting access to the Arbiter of Ash, a challenging pinnacle boss fight with high-stakes rewards.

How to Farm the Ancient Crisis Fragment Efficiently

• Farm Citadels: Citadels are special endgame zones that spawn boss encounters guarding the fragments. To reach the Iron Citadel (for the Ancient Crisis Fragment), explore forest and grass biomes on the Atlas, often marked by distinct wooden structures.

• Waystone Drop Chance: Increasing your chance to find more Waystones boosts your Citadel encounters and thus your fragment drops. This can be done by optimizing your Atlas passive skill tree and crafting Waystones with multiple suffixes to maximize Waystone Drop Chance.

• Map Progression and Difficulty: Citadels appear more frequently and yield better results as you progress to higher-tier maps (Tier 15+), and increasing cooldown/minion buffs helps farming efficiency.

• Modifiers and Crafting: Utilize items and crafting methods that raise Increased Item Quantity or Waystone Drop Chance, such as Precursor Tablets or Distilled Paranoia, to increase fragment drop rates.

• Travel Strategy: Moving in a straight line across the Atlas and unlocking towers efficiently improves Citadel discovery rates and fast-farms the necessary fragments.

Putting the Pieces Together

• Collect all three fragments by repeating Citadel runs until you have the Ancient, Faded, and Weathered Crisis Fragments.

• Insert all three fragments at the door inside the Burning Monolith area.

• This unlocks the Arbiter of Ash boss fight, one of the ultimate endgame challenges in PoE 2, granting access to unique rewards and progression opportunities.

The Ancient Crisis Fragment is your key to progressing deeper into PoE 2’s pinnacle endgame content. Farming it involves mastering Citadel runs, maximizing Waystone drop mechanics, and carefully advancing your Atlas to unlock the Burning Monolith’s secrets. Collect all three Pinnacle Keys to face the Arbiter of Ash and claim the highest-tier rewards available.