The Strength of Snow

The Strength of Snow
Section	Festival Event Quests
Event	Wintersday
Given by	Rift Warden in Lion's Arch or Kamadan, Jewel of Istan
Type	Festival quest  (Solo Quest)
Map(s)
(Click to enlarge)

The grentches have discovered the secret base of the snowmen. Assist Freezie in repelling the invasion and save Wintersday.

Quest information

Requirements

• Guild Wars Prophecies or Guild Wars Nightfall
• Guild Wars Eye of the North
• Must not have Straight to the Heart in your Quest Log.

Objectives

• Speak to the Rift Warden when you are ready to defend the secret lair of the snowmen.
• Join Freezie's forces to defend the secret lair of the snowmen.
• Defend the secret lair of the snowmen from the attacking grentches.
• See Rift Warden for your reward.

Reward

• 1,000 Experience
• 5 Wintersday Gifts

The Wintersday Chest spawns after the death of Grentchus Magnus and his mob.

Walkthrough

During this quest, players will be under the effects of Yuletide with Avalanche in the fifth slot. Your goal is to help Freezie and his allies defend against the invading grentches.

Along the route, various snowmen and grentches will battle each other; most of these can be safely ignored: victorious snowmen will run to the starting area (and disappear) and only a few of the surviving grentches might chase you. This allows you to rush towards Freezie, delaying only to deal with the grentches in five spots. It takes less than 3 minutes to run to the end without stopping.

For the final battle, you can participate in the fight or move yourself to a safe spot and wait it out (the snowmen always win...eventually). You will receive a morale boost the first time Freezie dies.

There are a variety of tactics that work to get past the five trouble spots; the most important is to prepare a Hidden Rock (skill #4) when you spawn and once after every successful battle. You can run past most of these using a speed boost (e.g. the Warrior shout, "Let's Get 'Em!"), or by snaring foes using Avalanche (skill #5) or cupcakes or equivalent. Alternatively, some players find it easier to fight, primarily by spamming Snowball (skill #1); if you hit with your Hidden Rock on the first attack, the grentch is half dead before they can get off any of their own skills.

1. The first pop-up grentch spawns about a short distance after the second snowmen versus grentch fight.
2. Two grentches battle two snowmen just after the first bridge. This can be difficult since the grentch often win: get in your first attack and immediately activate an Ice Fort (skill #7). This gives you enough protection to kill one of your opponents and build enough adrenaline to power a Mega Snowball, which should be enough to help you defeat the second.
3. The next grentch pops-up around the corner. You can run past or easily defeat this one if your first attack includes a Hidden Rock.
4. There is another pop-up at the bottom of a slope just before a gate and after the largest battle along the route.
5. The final pop-up is around the corner.

These last two grentches are hostile to the ones that spawn to attack Freezie — you can pull the last two to help in the final battle.

The safest approach for the end-fight is to run to the left side of the nearby gate and wait it out; this takes anywhere from 8 to 13 minutes. Alternatively, you can join in the fray as long as you remember to step back as soon as the grentches start outnumbering the snowmen, otherwise your foes are likely to gang up on you.

NPCs

Allies

Snowmen

• 15 Bustling Snowman
• 15 Bustling Snowman
• 15 Glimmering Snowman
• 15 Chilled Snowman
• 15 Industrious Snowman
• 15 Impeccable Snowman
• 15 Blessed Snowman
• 15 Mischievous Snowman
• 15 Roguish Snowman

Bosses

Snowman

• 19 Freezie

Foes

Demons

• 15 Speedy Grentch
• 15 Hasty Grentch
• 15 Frozen Grentch
• 15 Grentch
• 15 Flashy Grentch
• 15 Icy Grentch
• 15 Dodgy Grentch
• 15 Shifty Grentch
• 15 Sneaky Grentch
• 15 Tricky Grentch

Bosses

Demon

• 19 Grentchus Magnus

Dialogue

Initial dialogue

Rift Warden

"Grenth's forces have located the snowmen's secret base and are staging an attack. If they are successful, there will be no snowmen to defend the just and the innocent. The grentches will be unopposed in their capers! Dwayna beseeches you to defend the snowmen and save Wintersday...for the children.

For the children!"

 Accept: "For the children!"

 Decline: "For eggnog!"

"Are you ready to defend the Secret Lair of the Snowmen? You will be separated from your party for the duration of this task. You must protect the snowmen at all costs. Are you ready?"

 Accept: "I am ready."

 Decline: "I need more time to prepare."

Intermediate dialogue

Freezie: "The grentches are here!"

Reward dialogue

Rift Warden

"The grentches have been routed and Wintersday is saved! Please take these gifts to spread joy and happiness around the world this Wintersday."

Notes

• Similar to Straight to the Heart, the foes in this quest can randomly drop a Candy Cane Shard, but not a Eggnog, Frosty Tonic, Fruitcake, Mischievous Tonic nor Snowman Summoner.
• This is a good place to farm Candy Cane Shards; typically 8–12 drop in the final battle alone (although some have found up to 18).
• The Wintersday Chest spawns as soon as Grentchus Magnus and his mob dies, even if there are other grentches still alive.
• It takes at least 11 minutes to repeat this quest (including accepting the reward and rezoning to retake the quest):
  • You can reach Freezie in 2:47 minutes, the fastest time without using "Let's Get 'Em!".
  • The end-fight takes at least 8 minutes if you do not help the snowmen.
  • The fastest way to repeat this quest is to visit your Guild Hall and return (after accepting the reward); the Rift Warden cannot offer the quest again until you rezone. You can also save a few seconds by starting from Kamadan and exiting the area via campaign travel (via the ship icon); this places you closer to the Rift Warden than you would be if you waited out the timer.
• There are no resurrection shrines available; if you die, the quest fails.
• Deaths in this area do not count against the Survivor title track.
• A "MISSION FAILED: The Secret Lair of the Snowmen has fallen to Grenth's forces" message appears if the mission was failed.

Bug.Sometimes a grentch may spawn inside the wall, becoming unreachable. This will not prevent quest completion.

Bug.The Quest Log displays "Avatar of Dwayna (Kamadan, Jewel of Istan)" as the quest giver despite this quest being given by the Rift Warden in both Lion's Arch and Kamadan.

Trivia

• This quest was introduced in Wintersday 2007.
• Prior to Wintersday 2010, this quest awarded 5 Candy Cane Shards instead of Wintersday Gifts.