The Frost Gate (mission)

Mission Objectives
Open the Frost Gate.
 * Destroy the ballistas to secure safe passage for Rurik and the Ascalon refugees.
 * Retrieve the Gear Lever from the Dwarven fort to open the Frost Gate.
 * BONUS Steal the Stone Summit's secret plans for a powerful siege weapon.
 * ADDED Activate the three Frost Gate Lever Mechanisms before the Stone Summit overwhelms Rurik.

Primary
The ballistas are easy to find since destroying each one opens a gate which allows you to travel further south. Also, whenever a ballista strikes, you will see a flashing spot on your map showing where it was fired from. In order to destroy a ballista kill the Stone Summit Engineer next to it. The ballistas are located at the points marked A on the map. Continue south until you reach point B on the map where you will find a Gear Lever. Bring the lever to the gate in order to open it. Once it is open you will be faced with a few groups of Stone Summit guarding the three mechanisms. You will have to clear the area and put the Gear Lever into 3 winches which together open the frost gate and complete the mission (point C on the map).

Note: When your lever carrier puts the lever into a mechanism, he/she will lose the lever for a few seconds while the mechanism is started. the lever will then be dropped next to the mechanism. So, make sure they stand and wait for it to drop.

Tip: If you have cleared the two groups that are initially guarding the mechanisms, you can then move the rest of your party to the gate where the Summit are coming from and engage them. This leaves the three mechanisms clear for your lever carrier to operate them unmolested.

Bonus
The bonus mission is triggered by rescuing the dwarf located in the Frostfire Dryder caves (point 1 on the map). Be careful when engaging the dryders as they can place a great burden on healers with the use of the Suffering spell. The Dwarf will ask you to help him retrieve some secret plans from the Stone Summit dwarves nearby. Exit striaght West from the cave and you will find a group of Stone Summit fighting a group of Ettins. Beyond them will be a crater area where the ballista fire lands. It is in that crater that you will notice a small opening to your right (the path to point 2 on the map). Follow the path and beware of two groups of Stone Summit there. If they are together they will pose a significant challenge. Defeat them and go up the road to the ballista. the dwarf will fix it and you can fire the ballista to open a gate on the other side. Afterwards go back to the crater area, head across the bridge and through the now opened door. Proceed up the mountain and retrieve the plans (point 3 on the map). Just run the plans back to the dwarf.

Tip: The cleanest way to complete the bonus is to avoid the dwarf until you've cleared out both the area across the bridge, and the path leading to the derelict ballista. Then talk to him, walk him down, leave him at the ballista, and go get the plans.

Tip2: Skills that do AoE damage, or that debuff (Necromancer and Mesmer skills, for example) can make the fight with the dwarves guarding the ballista (point 2) a lot easier. Remember to focus on defeating any Dolyak Riders first.

Tip3: The plans at point 3 on the map are mainly guarded by Ice Golems. They are highly susceptible to Fire Storm, Fireball and other fire AoE spells as they do not move and take double Fire Damage.

You must talk to the dwarf once you have the plans, or you will not be awarded the bonus.

Elite Skill Capture
None