Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Quest Guide: Frozen Frontier

Frozen Frontier is the zone following Siveria (quest guides for Siveria: Part I and Part II). To reach Frozen Frontier, use the June Stone at the Cape of Good Hope in Siveria. The complete list of Frozen Frontier quests can be found right here. The reputation faction for this area is the Gibberlings, and, as noted in the Reputation Guide, it's one of the easiest factions to grind rep for.

Unlike previous zones, Frozen Frontier is a collection of multiple small Allods. You begin your journey through this zone on Quiet Harbor, then, in order, move on to the Foothills of Arov, Shaggy Island, Urgrov Ridge, and Cold Island, finishing off your questing on Nordheim Island. You'll use the June Stone on Quiet Harbor to reach the other Allods in the cluster, and each remote Allod, except Urgrov Ridge, has a June Stone leading back to Quiet Harbor. It pays to set your Adventurer's Stone to the portal here as well.

The quest chains here lead very naturally from one Allod to the next, so it pays to finish off each Allod in order. Also, once you get to Urgrov Ridge, you'll start suffering from Frostbite, an environmental damage over time effect that can be countered by Burning Ale. Don't worry, you'll get more than enough Burning Ale from quests along the way to counter the Frostbite effect, but it pays to be efficient in your questing on the later Allods. I'll talk about each Allod in order.

Quiet Harbor

There are quite a few quests on this Allod, so watch your quest log and insure you don't fill it as you go. I recommend working from the east side to the west to most efficiently clear your quests and avoid accumulating the bear meat needed for the first quest leading to the Foothills of Arov until you've completed at least a few of the quests here. A couple quests of note:

  • Patrols - Each of the two patrols will give you a follow-on quest (thus my previous comment about watching your quest log). The eastern patrol's quest See for Yourself can be done right along the edge of the Allod near their camp. The western patrol's quest The Missing Watchman leads you to the Foothills of Arov.
  • A Strong Embrace - Watch your health when doing this quest. Your warming hug can do considerable damage!
  • Like I Said it's Bears and Like I Said it's Leopards - Be sure you shoot the flares to start and end these quests. These two quests are a bit fiddly, as the locations for the flares are restrictive and the quest seems a bit buggy. I've had to restart one of these because the flares didn't register.
  • Winged Sails - You can start this quest around Gray Lake, but don't fret if you have a hard time getting wings, there are plenty of harpies to kill on the Foothills of Arov too.
Most of the other quests on Quiet Harbor are standard gathering or kill quests. Remember to keep Extermination! in your quest log at all times so any killing you do registers. Not all monsters count, but it's worth doing the extra bit of legwork to keep this quest available on each Allod. Doing this will make your reputation grind go very quickly.

Foothills of Arov

This area has the zone's first raid boss for Demonstrating Strength. Along the way you'll turn in the bear meat for Good - Money - Goods (be ready for a fight), and find the lost watchman for The Missing Watchmen, who will give you another quest on this Allod, The Sacrifice, which takes you to the altar where you face a fairly tough fight. The monsters here respawn quickly and the shaman heal and wake up other mobs. All in all a tough little battle. Fight your way up the altar and find the dead scout, who will lead you to a new quest The Ice Drake. Finish off the  remainder of your harpy killing and the collection quest Curly Lichen, and you're pretty much done with Foothills.

Shaggy Island

Shaggy is my least favorite Allod in the group. There are multiple gathering quests here which put a real strain on bag space. That, combined with the mean werebears, who like to knock you into their buddies or off the edge of the Allod, and you have the makings of a good time. The best advice here is to focus on one or two collection quests at a time and finish them off before starting the others. You'll probably kill plenty of werebears along the way. Don't forget to kill the big leopard for Silver Fur, his lair is near the highest point on the Allod.

Note that you can circle around the worst of the werebears by traveling along the northern edge of this Allod, a handy shortcut to reach Urgov Ridge, which does not have a June Stone of its own. Unfortunately most of the ore spawns for Ore in the Werebear's Cave is clustered around the center of the map. If you're patient you can get enough from the edges of the Allod to avoid this central area.

Urgov Ridge


Note: There's a small opening that requires a jump to get to this Allod. Don't fall!

There are only a few quests on this barren Allod, but note that this is the first place you'll start suffering from Frostbite. Have the Burning Ale ready and keep moving. Collect your Frozen Meat to the east, where the Elder Polar Bear for Decoration for the Cabin roams. You can also find an Astral Battery here on the sled-like contraption on the northern corner of the Allod. If you miss it don't fret, there's another on the north-east side of Cold Island. Talk to the shaman near the bridge leading to this Allod, then head to the altar on the south-west end for another tough battle to retrieve The Great Red Treasure. This altar is a slightly tougher version of the one on the Foothills of Arov. Be prepared. After you finish this fight, save yourself the run and portal back to town. You're done here.

Cold Island

Another fairly small Allod, Cold Island also has Frostbite issues. Be sure you have the quest Cold Island Navigational Directions, Papan's Expedition and For Safety's Sake when you head out. Be wary of the trolls that come very close to the June Stone landing pad. Make your first stop at Papan's Expedition to pick up The Troll's Ruins and Monsters from the Astral.

Start off with a loop or two around the outside edge of the Allod to do Navigational Directions. Don't forget to set the beacons by using the inventory items as well as getting the map location ding in your quest log. Along the way you can kill demons and trolls for Monsters from the Astral and For Safety's Sake. Note you can run the entire way around this Allod, but there are a couple of very narrow spots that could lead to a long fall if you're not careful.

Next head up to the center of the Allod for The Troll's Ruins, killing any Ice Elementals along the way for Soul of the Ice. Note that you don't have to finish this off here, as the Elementals on Nordheim will drop this quest item too, and you'll have to kill quite a few to complete the quests there.

That's about it. Stop by Papan's camp to turn in quests, then head back to Quiet Harbor for the next round!

Nordheim Island

Nordheim is easy to do in two trips. On the first round you can take care of Lapis Lazuli, and finish off Soul of the Ice here, since you'll have to kill a bunch of Ice Elementals to complete Lapis Lazuli.

Complete the quests above, and return to Quiet Harbor to turn things in. Prepare for The Fight, which you do right in town. Be sure you use the cannon in the center of town on the Ice Drake when it shows up, and even with that, it can be a tough battle. Completing this quest gives you the last Nordheim quest Drake Hunting, which requires a group or high level assistance.

Return to Nordheim for Stone Hearts, and Meeting the Dragon, along with the follow up quests it gives. After talking with the Dragon spirit inside the caves, be ready to take on a fairly tough June Golem that guards the altar further in. Note that the gargoyles in the cave drop a second quest item, Heart Shards, that don't seem to be for any known quest. Finish your second trip by going all the way through the caves to the Drake area to complete Drake Hunting and to find the zone's treasure.  The Ice Drakes are red ring elites that respawn pretty quickly so the safest way to take them on is to pull them down to the entry path one at a time. Return to Quiet Harbor to wrap up a few loose ends, and you're done!

After you've wrapped things up in Frozen Frontier, your next stop is Darkwater, one of my favorite zones.

4 comments:

Mattaru said...

Thanks for the guide! :D

Mark Thomas said...

You're more than welcome, hope it was helpful!

Rgagnier06 said...

Good stuff, thanks!

Mark Thomas said...

Glad it was useful. Hope it's not gotten too outdated.