Cold Vengeance

Overview

Summary

1. Travel through the wurm's lair and destroy Frostmaw the Kinslayer.
2. Speak with Fastulf and discover his findings.
3. Destroy Frost Wurm Larvae within the wurm's lair to enrage Frostmaw the Kinslayer and force her to appear.
4. Exact revenge on Frostmaw the Kinslayer for all the Norn she and her offspring have killed.
5. Convince Latham to share the glory of the kill.

Obtained from

Latham in Jaga Moraine

Reward

• 10,000 XP
• 2,000 Gold

Dialogue

"[Difficulty: Master] We were on a hunt, my brothers and I, when the ground shook and heaved beneath our feet. It was as if the earth itself became wracked by a death rattle! I was tossed into the air and slammed against a mighty tree. When I awoke, the smell of blood was thick on my tongue. When I found my brothers, torn to pieces, a giant frost wurm ripping the flesh from their bones. I could only watch, sick with horror, as the beast finished its meal and descended into its lair. I swore I would avenge my kin or join them. My destiny and my honor are linked to that creature, in life or death."

Accept: "Revenge is best served cold. Ice cold."

Reject: "Good luck with that whole "honorable death" thing."

Intermediate Dialogue (Fastulf)

"Don't linger over my wounds. Death comes for me, and I welcome its cold embrace. If you seek the ghasty wurm, you must lure her from the mountains. Frostmaw and her children feed on the rats infesting this place. Use them to lure the wurms out where you can kill them. Beware! That raging abomination has sent many hearty souls to their deaths... but you are determined, yes? May your passing be glorious and quick."

Reward Dialogue

"My brothers are avenged at last! Many songs will be sung of our deeds, <name>. I must hunt down the remaining wurm younglings hiding in the mountains. You shared in Frostmaw's downfall. Rest assured that your name will not be forgotten."

Walkthrough

This quest takes place in the 5-level dungeon Frostmaw's Burrows. Four Norn ( Latham, Hroth, Kitta, and Gareth) will accompany you through the dungeon, but they will not be part of your party. If they happen to die, they will resurrect once there are no more aggroed mobs (including spirits).

As hinted by the quest text, the Burrows are filled with wurms. The wurms over level 20 are necromancers with Suffering and Feast of Corruption, both of them easily interruptible. These wurms also have the highly damaging Wurm Bile skill that is very important to interrupt. You will also encounter a large number of melee Frost Wurm Larvae that, when aggroed, will run to you underground (causing 16 damage per second each) before popping up and engaging. Occasionally you will encounter a Frost Siege Wurm with the Wurm Siege skill. Unlike in places like Dunes of Despair, these sieges do strike for considerable damage, and should therefore be interrupted. (The map will ping whenever a siege wurm fires at you). Try to have your indestructible Norns bear the brunt of all wurm damage, and remember to bring a good weakness-causing skill.

Minion Masters work great here, since there are plenty of corpses, but bear in mind they get can get wiped quickly. Also, Putrid Explosion will damage wurms that are in range but currently underground. An earth elementalist with wards might be a good suggestion, to deal with knockdown and melee damage from wurms.

The fifth and final level consists mainly of the fight against Frostmaw the Kinslayer. Don't be fooled by the apparently sparsely populated lair: there are several Frostmaw Spawn and Frost Siege Wurms hiding. After you kill the visible wurms, they will appear and can quickly wipe your party unless you run back out of the lair. (Frostmaw can also appear if you are near the center of the area, and the net damage with more than one wurm will quickly exhaust your monks; therefore, it is best to retreat first). When only Frostmaw remains, close in and take her out. She should fall quickly, provided you keep her damaging skills, particularly the Wurm Siege, interrupted. You can safely ignore her Dark Apostasy and Deadly Paradox, although keep in mind that her attacks will almost always remove an enchantment as she has a very high critical rate. It is advisable to bring Pain Inverter, with that, Frostmaw will take a considerable amount of damage every time she uses Wurm Siege.

Notes

• You can suffer a wipe even after the chest is opened if some of Frostmaw's allied wurms survive. The party will rez at the shrine and will warp out of the dungeon (after 3 minutes) as normal, although the countdown timer will not display.
• Since Frostmaw does not regenerate her own health, the party can beat her through a war of attrition by (1) damaging her as much as possible until wiping, then (2) resurrecting to return again.

Trivia

• The Accept dialogue is an old proverb that appeared in the 18th century novel "Les Liaisons Dangereuses."