Ice Caves of Sorrow

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This is a mission entry. For information on the outpost, see Ice Caves of Sorrow (outpost).
Ice Caves of Sorrow
Campaign Prophecies
Region Southern Shiverpeaks
Type Cooperative
Party size 8
Duration Medium
Preceded by Seeking the Seer
Followed by Iron Mines of Moladune

Having ascended, and with the truth behind the White Mantle and their Mursaat masters revealed, it's time to strike back. The leaders of the Shining Blade, Evennia and Saidra have been condemned to death. Break them free of their cell and escape to a boat prepared by your Deldrimor allies.

Contents

[edit] Objectives

Rescue Evennia.

  • Find a way into the holding area.
  • Break Evennia out of her cell.
  • Escape with Evennia to the awaiting ice ship.
  • *BONUS* Return news of Rornak to Hamdor Grandaxe.

[edit] Walkthrough

Upon entering, you'll see a few Ice Imps and Pinesouls scattered around. These shouldn't prove very difficult to defeat. Much more dangerous is the patrol of Mursaat Elementalists that circle the area. If you haven't fought Mursaat (or their Jade constructs) before, they have a unique skill called Spectral Agony that will cause massive damage to anyone without infused armor (which is most likely the case the first time through this mission). Avoid heading straight north to avoid the catapult fire, instead, head northeast through a Stone Summit group (containing a boss) towards the icy river. Don't cross the bridge just yet, as it is under heavy fire from catapults. Go under the bridge and you'll see more Stone Summit and an engineer. Killing this engineer won't do much to help now (other than a morale boost). Head north of the engineer to find a second engineer. Kill him and pull the lever he guarded. You'll see in a cut scene how the shot incites a Dolyak stampede, crushing the ballista operators that were bombarding the bridge.

Head back to the bridge and up the hill. You'll fight a few groups of White Mantle. Proceed all the way to the northeast and you'll find a door familiar from previous missions in the Northern Shiverpeaks. You know what that means. The powder lies west of the door; drop it in front of the door to open the way into the cave. The cave is occupied by White Mantle which should prove little resistance. Beware of the Mursaat and Jade that linger on the west side of the cave. If not attempting the bonus, you should avoid them. Head southeast to exit the cave into what looks like a mining quarry. Mursaat Elementalists patrol the center, so the easiest way to get to the prison cells is through the small cave to the east. You'll run into groups of weak White Mantle that can be easily dispatched. Exiting the cave, the cells should be visible to the south. Run past them to find conveniently placed powder kegs to blast the doors open. Opening the cell, you'll see a cut scene where Saidra sacrifices herself to allow you to escape with Evennia. Evennia must survive the rest of the mission.

Use another keg to blast open the door nearby the cells. The short cave opens to an icy sea with a narrow path leading north and a bunch of Mursaat Elementalists to the south. As soon as you approach point D on the map, the Mursaat will begin to move down the path.

Bug Bug.
A little while after the first Stone Summit group this mob of Mursaat passes, there is a Shiverpeak Chest which the Mursaat sometimes will get stuck on and stop moving. If this happens, you will have to retry the mission or attempt to have an infused player pull them away from it. The Mursaat stops after the stone bridge

You can either try to outrun them or let them pass. If you try to outrun them, you will still have to fight most of the Stone Summit, as Evennia tends to stop to fight them herself. If you get caught by the Mursaat, chances of survival are quite low. The easier method is to approach until the Mursaat start to move, then pull back into the cave to let them pass. Follow a distance behind, allowing them to clear out the Stone Summit they encounter. Eventually, they will all be killed by catapult fire. Regardless of which method you choose, simply follow the path until you reach the Deldrimor Dwarves and their ice ship. The mission is complete as soon as Evennia approaches the ship.

Bug Bug.
Sometimes the Mursaat aren't killed by the catapults. They will stay around the Monk boss and act as allies to the Stone Summit.

[edit] Skill recommendations

[edit] Bonus

After blasting open the first door to the ice cave, you'll notice a number of Jade and Mursaat along the western areas of the cave. The southern group of Jade Armor and Mursaat Elementalists protects another blast-able door. Make sure you take the correct path as there is a "door" guarded by Mursaat that is not blast-able just prior to this path. (This unblast-able door fools many players into thinking there is a bug) Try to kill the Jade fast before their Spectral Agony tears the group to shreds. Having expendable targets such as minions and spirits helps, as they will occasionally target these instead of the rest of the party. Also, any heroes automatically come with infused armor, thus will take only a slight amount of damage from their skill. Past the door, you'll fight a few White Mantle until you get to a cell holding Rornak Stonesledge (point 1) captive. Be quick because two white mantle zealots will attack him. You may use another powder keg to free him, but sometimes you can talk with him without the extra hassle. Talk to him to initiate the bonus.

After you free Evennia and get to the part with the horde of Mursaat Elementalists, you'll notice Hamdor Grandaxe standing a distance behind the Mursaat (point 2). To complete the bonus, you need a party member to talk to him. The easiest way is to let the Mursaat walk by, allowing you to walk over unhindered. But, you can choose to fight through them or run past them if you really wish. Be careful if you fight them even with infused armor, if Evennia is killed, the mission will end and all your efforts will have been in vain. There is a way to avoid this happening though, simply don't free Evennia until after you have spoken with Hamdor Grandaxe.

You can actually talk to the Dwarves in either order. Should you choose to talk to Hamdor first, you will gain credit for the bonus upon talking with Rornak.

[edit] Hard Mode

The White Mantle patroling the mining quarry area may become a problem in hard mode if you have to face two or more groups simultaneously. Proceed carefully to avoid overaggroing, especially with a minion master. It is advisable to blast the gate leading to the last part of the mission before you release Saidra and Evennia, since the cave it blocks provides a safe place to park your henchmen and heroes.

In hard mode, some of the Mursaat Elementalists will not be killed by siege fire. They will stop a short distance before the boat you have to reach and remain patroling. Part of this area is, nevertheless, still under siege attack, and if you wait long enough most the group will eventually be killed. When two or three enemies remain, lure carefully with a bow (due to uninfused henchmen) and take them down.

[edit] Mission NPCs

[edit] Allies

Human (Shining Blade)

Dwarf (Deldrimor)

[edit] Foes

Dwarves

Imps

Plants

Mursaat

White Mantle

[edit] Bosses

Dwarves

Elementals

[edit] Dialogue

Warning: This dialogue section is incomplete. You can help the Guild Wars Wiki by expanding it.
Evennia: Help! Help! We're over here!

After being rescued (cinematic):

Saidra: We're caught.
Saidra: Take Evennia to the east. The Deldrimor Dwarves use the frozen lakes and rivers there for transport.
Saidra: If you're lucky you'll find one of their ice ships.
Saidra: I'll hold off the Mursaat as long as I can.
Saidra: Take my bow. I won't be needing it where I'm going.
Saidra: To the end of us all!
Evennia: Quickly. Don't let Saidra's sacrifice be wasted.

After boarding the ship (cinematic):

Evennia: I can't believe Saidra is gone.
Evennia: If the old gods still exist, then hear me now.
Evennia: Saidra should not have died. It wasn't her time.
Evennia: But she gave her life so that the rest of us could live on.
Evennia: Now I put you on warning, you gods who abandoned Tyria so long.
Evennia: When my time comes, and I arrive in the Mists, I'd best not find that she's been mistreated.
Evennia: Or as Balthazar as my witness, I will make all of you pay.
Evennia: To the end of us all.
Evennia: Now we settle our account with the Mursaat. For every drop of our blood they have spilled, we will take two from them.

[edit] Notes

  • Since the bonus requires fighting both Mursaat and Jade Armor, you may choose to get infused armor before attempting the mission. This can be done either in the Iron Mines of Moladune mission or in the Mineral Springs explorable area. In either case, you will need to defeat an Eidolon then bring the dropped Spectral Essence to a Seer. In the Iron Mines mission, they are about two-thirds of the way through the mission. In the Mineral Springs, they are in the far northeast corner, at the back of the Ice Imp cave.
  • On the trail to the ice boat, after freeing Evenia, it is possible to kill Engineers with a flatbow.
  • If you manage to kill the enemies that are attacking Saidra she will just run off and disappear.
Anomaly Anomaly.
Sometimes, a Shiverpeak Chest will be located by one of the ice boat siege engines, which cannot be reached from any position on the mission.
Prophecies missions
The Great Northern Wall » Fort Ranik » Ruins of Surmia » Nolani Academy » Borlis Pass » The Frost Gate » Gates of Kryta » D'Alessio Seaboard » Divinity Coast » The Wilds » Bloodstone Fen » Aurora Glade » Riverside Province » Sanctum Cay » Dunes of Despair and Thirsty River and Elona Reach » Augury Rock » The Dragon's Lair » Ice Caves of Sorrow » Iron Mines of Moladune » Thunderhead Keep » Ring of Fire » Abaddon's Mouth » Hell's Precipice
Missions in the Southern Shiverpeaks
Ice Caves of Sorrow • Iron Mines of Moladune • Thunderhead Keep
Towns and outposts • Explorable areas • Landmarks
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