This week's mutation is inescapably Icebound.
Outcries of “No Tarn!!!” were heard echoing across Aeternum as the mutations rotated this afternoon. As players come down off their Outpost Rush high after the successful preview weekend, the cold reality of repeated expeditions fits the mood. Icebound would have been perfect for Tarn, but it was not to be. Instead, we basically have a repeat of last week, swapping Forge for classic Lazarus. I guess if you missed your chance to get artifacts last week, you’re blessed with another go at it. At least this week’s curse is the easy one.
Contents
Mutation
- Frozen – 50% of all enemy damage is Ice.
- Rime – Attacks cause a slow on hit – M1: Heavy and Special attacks, M2 & M3: All attacks.
- Glacial – Enemies with this title drop an ice crystal that slows and roots players.
- Shiver – Enemies with this title inflict Biting Cold on players who are not near them
Promotion
- Enraged – Each hit on an enemy generates a stack of Fury. At 20 stacks, the enemy grows 15% larger and does 50% increased damage.
- Shattering – Enemies deal additional stamina damage and apply a bleed on breaking your block. M1: 20% increased stamina damage, 5% bleed, M2 & M3: 75% increased stamina damage, 8% bleed.
Curse
- Combustible – Selects the player with the lowest percent health and surrounds them with an Ice aura. When the aura expires, nearby players receive Ice damage of 50% max health.
- Shrivelled – All players except the one with the Ice aura get a Shrivelled Weaken debuff, reducing damage and healing by 50%. Stepping into the Ice aura cleanses the debuff.
Consumables
- Frozen Protection Amulet
- Aquamarines in Armor/Jewelry
- Desert Sunrise
- Honing Stone
- Attribute Bonus Food
Gearing up
- M1 – Opals in your armor is fine
- M2 – Add the Frozen Protection Amulet
- M3 – Swap most of your Opals for Aquamarines
- Enchanted Ward – Aim for 4 or 5 pieces with this perk
- For more detailed advice on gear, check out our Gear Guide.
Avoid Ice Crystals
Glacial enemies will drop an ice crystal on death, that can root you in place. You have a couple of seconds to move out of the crystal’s radius before it snares you, so be aware of the glacial tag and ready to move. The crystals can be destroyed, but this takes extra time. Perks like Relentless Freedom, Berserking Purge, or the 300 Dex milestone perk can help get you out of a tight spot.
Huddle up in the cold
Shiver enemies will hurt anyone outside their frosty radius, so working as a close melee group works best with these. If your group is having trouble with enemy AOE damage or the backswing on their attacks, the healer can place a Sacred Ground for ranged players to stand in.
Combat slows with speed
To make up for the slows applied by Rime, you can use speedy perks to get the group running faster. Speed of Light, the final Beacon upgrade, is one option, or the Quick Shower upgrade on Ice Gauntlet’s Ice Shower gives a short speed boost. You can also apply your own personal hastes if you are using a weapon that has them.
M2 - The best defense is a good offense
It’s best to get in first and kill these guys fast. After being hit 20 times, Enraged enemies are going to get bigger and stronger. Your tank will also need to draw on more skills than right-click, with Shattering enemies around. A side-step can help avoid a hit without using precious stamina, if you have the footwork skills for it.
M3 - Dip and Nae Nae
Desiccated is the easiest to manage of all the curses. If you get the Ice aura around you, be sure to dip all your teammates to remove their Shrivelled debuff. Then quickly move (or “Nae Nae”) away, so you don’t spike them with the chain Ice.
The Lazarus Instrumentality
Enemy Type: Ancient
Weaknesses: 30% Lightning 20% Strike 15% Void
Consumables
- Topaz gem Lightning damage
- Ancient Ward potion – 10% damage absorption
- Ancient Coating – 15% bonus damage
- Ancients Combat Trophy – 3/4/5% bonus damage x3
- Strike damage – War Hammer, Flail
Note: *Elemental damage gems in your weapons are simply recommendations based on the elements your enemies are weakest to. Your playstyle may suit non-elemental gems better and you are encouraged to continue using those if so.
Artifact: Spark of Mjölnir
Dropped by Chardis.
- +38 Magnify (selectable attribute)
- Mjölnir Blessing: 99% of hammer damage is converted to lightning, and you deal 20% more lightning damage with both weapons.
- Spark: Mighty Gavel causes a lightning strike that inflicts a 30% weaken for 7s.
- Refreshing Mighty Gavel: Mighty Gavel hits reduce the ability’s cooldown by 10% (Max 2 activations per impact).
- Refreshing Move: Light and Heavy attacks reduce your active weapon cooldowns by 2.5% (0.2s cooldown).
- Cannot add Gem Setting Pin
Strategy and tips
Lazarus is a dungeon of puzzles, the first being the Door Room. Mobs spawn in front of a door with three spaces for symbols above it. The first symbol is lit up, and you need to stand on its match from the circle on the floor in the middle of the room. This will open the door and release more enemies, lighting up the next symbol, and so on. When the third symbol is activated, the door closes and another door to the right opens. The symbols are best activated by someone with range, usually the healer. The key is to open them fast enough to keep the fight flowing but not so fast the team gets overwhelmed. It’s good to kill the archers before moving to the next door.
When you get to Cilla, one person should run across to talk to her while the rest fight the enemies. The next fight, Alcyon the mage, can be challenging. The Overhead Staff attack does heavy Strike damage, while all his spells do Void. Look out for him raising his staff above his head and be ready to dodge. The two archers can also be problematic in this fight, so try to clear them early.
Be careful in the handwashing room, as using the fountain will spawn the mini-boss by the door. Make sure everyone is through before you wash your hands. Use the architecture in the room to get out of the ranged attacks line of sight to bring them to you, or just kill the archers quickly.
Main Damage Type: Arcane
Physical Phase: Cilla is a fairly straightforward fight, to begin with. While the tank holds her aggro, the DPS hit her from behind. She has a buff that increases stacks over time, making her hit harder. There are three ports in the floor, where a stone orb can emerge from. Once an orb has risen, you can interact with it to reset the stacks. This will also progress her into the next phase.
If you can withstand the damage through good tanking and healing, the game forces the next phase by reducing damage done to Cilla until the orb is pulled.
Magical Phase: In the magical phase, it is important that the team clump together. Cilla will cast a spell that makes each player leave a pool of Arcane damage at their feet. You have a few seconds to get to a clear area before she makes it explode. She also shoots out orbs that will root you in place if you touch them.
Main Damage Type: Strike and Arcane
Chardis is about the least mobile boss in the world of Aeternum. He is a giant stone automaton, who uses his detachable hands and a beam from his single eye to attempt to defeat you. When he first awakens, there will be an orb on each side of the room, trapped in a force field. You need to break the field to release the orb, which will spawn a mage over an orb port on the ground. Kill the mage and place the orb.
To fight Chardis, the whole group should stand at the edge of the arena closest to him, in a Sacred Ground. You can block or avoid most of his physical attacks. If you get a symbol over your head, it means you are going to drop a Slicer. Head to the back of the arena to drop it, then return to the fight.
After some time, Chardis will start beaming one player with his eye. This player needs to run to the orb that was placed previously, which will cause both the orb and Chardis to drop to the ground. Once down, players can do increased damage so be sure to use all your Oblivion and Rend to make the most of this advantage.
If there is no orb up, the beam will continue damaging the player it is on. With careful healing, lifesteal, etc, players can continue to fight Chardis while someone is being beamed. But where possible, the orb is always the better option. If an orb is available but not placed, everyone except the healer should work to place that orb.
Interesting Loot
- M3 – Chardis’ Set – Heavy armour with Slash Conditioning and Refreshing, upgradeable.
- M3 – Bone Wrought weapon set for skins – split stat Con/Weapon scaling attribute, Keenly Fortified/Blessed, Weapon Ability Perk.
- Instrumentality’s Amulet – Health, Shirking Debilitate Cleanse + Random perk and attribute.
- Instrumentality’s Ring – Sacred, Infected + Random perk and attribute.
- Instrumentality’s Earring – Healing Heart, Refreshing + Random perk and attribute.
Savage Divide
Enemy Type: Beast
Weaknesses: 20% Thrust
Consumables
- Beast Ward potion – 10% damage absorption
- Beast Coating – 15% bonus damage
- Wildlife Combat Trophy – 3/4/5% bonus damage x3
- Thrust damage – Spear, Rapier, Bow, Musket, Blunderbuss
Artifact: Endless Thirst Earring
Dropped by Mahantaram.
- +32 Magnify (selectable attribute)
- The Thirst: Healing consumables are 33% stronger, but Survival and Mana Potion cooldowns are 25% longer.
- Empty Socket: Attach a gem to add its effect.
- Empowering Toast: On Potion Drink: Gain 10% Empower for 8s (10s cooldown).
- Fortifying Toast: On Potion Drink: Gain 20% Fortify for 8s (10s cooldown).
Strategy and tips
Even after running it a few times, it’s still easy to get lost in the Savage Divide. The pathways look very similar and there are repeated mechanics throughout. To open doors, someone will need to pick up a ball and place it on the pedestal beside the door. If they get hit, the ball will usually reset. Fun fact about Savage Divide, it has two gypsum nodes that yield a gypsum orb each – keep your eyes out for them!
As well as the standard Thrust damage weakness that Beasts have, elemental enemies in the Savage Divide are weak to their opposing element. So Ice Mammoths and Ice Hurlers have a 15% Fire weakness, Nature beasts have a 15% Lightning weakness and Lightning beasts have a 15% Nature weakness. Plants, such as the Razor Lotus, are Angry Earth rather than Beast.
Main Damage Type: Elemental
Both boss fights in Savage Divide employ all the elements, to keep you on your toes. Kurok is a large gorilla, with no weaknesses. His arena has four shrines, for the elements Fire, Ice, Lightning and Nature. When he leaps to a shrine, he will activate it, and an AoE attack of that element will periodically spawn at the shrine and move around the room. After the element has been up for a short time, the shrine becomes active and a player can interact with it to become an antidote for that damage type. They will have a small elemental disc at their feet and when they stand on the AoE attack zone, it neutralises it.
After a player has activated the antidote, Kurok will move to a different elemental shrine and start that one, requiring another player to get the antidote disc and clean up any AoE damage zones. Groups will often hold off activating the antidote to minimise the amount of different elements spawning, especially if the first shrine is Nature. While an element is not being neutralised, Kurok will build stacks of that element. At 10 stacks, he does an AoE attack, which you can dodge if you’re watching. For the last 10% of his health, he does Void damage and builds Void stacks. This is the most dangerous part of the fight and someone often goes down.
If you see a red target appear above your head during the fight, Kurok is about to throw something at you, so be ready to dodge.
Main Damage Type: Elemental
Mahantaram is a mammoth who spawns various elemental conduits while he tramples all who dare enter his cave. Like Kurok, he has no weaknesses and commands all elements. It is important that the DPS destroy the conduits as quickly as possible before returning to damage the boss. The tank can maintain aggro and move Mahantaram around the room to keep out of elemental damage zones.
If you see a red target appear above your head during the fight, Mahantaram is about to charge at you, so be ready to dodge.
Interesting Loot
- M3 – Primal weapon set for skins – split stat Con/Weapon scaling attribute, Keenly Empowered/Blessed, Weapon Ability Perk.
- Primal Amulet – Strength, Health, Empowered + Random perk.
- Primal Ring – Dexterity, Crippling, Hearty + Random perk.
- Primal Earring – Intelligence, Refreshing Toast, Healing Heart + Random perk.
Starstone Barrows
Enemy Type: Ancient and Lost
Weaknesses: Ancient: 30% Lightning 20% Strike 15% Void. Lost: 30% Nature 15% Ice 10% Strike
Consumables
- Topaz gem Lightning damage* | Amber gem Nature damage*
- Ancient Ward potion | Lost Ward potion – 10% damage absorption
- Ancient Coating | Lost Coating – 15% bonus damage
- Ancients Combat Trophy | Lost Combat Trophy – 3/4/5% bonus damage x3
- Strike damage – Hammer, Void damage – Void Gauntlet | Nature/Strike/Ice damage – Life Staff, War Hammer, Flail, Ice Gauntlet
Note: *Elemental damage gems in your weapons are simply recommendations based on the elements your enemies are weakest to. Your playstyle may suit non-elemental gems better and you are encouraged to continue using those if so.
Artifact: Blooddrinker Ring
Dropped by Greundgul the Regent.
- +32 Magnify (selectable attribute)
- Ghoul’s Harmony: -25% damage, +25% lifesteal. All healing from lifesteal is increased by 5%.
- Empty Socket: Attach a gem to add its effect.
- Leeching: Heal for 7.1% of the damage you deal (Does not trigger off persistent damage or DoT effects).
- Hearty: +10% max Stamina.
Strategy and tips
While it has the same name, this is not the Starstone Barrows you entered on your journey growing up in Aeternum so many levels ago. There is a break in the walls of the dungeon and you’ll find yourself in Amrine, fighting Lost, for a period of time. This is a fun dungeon full of nostalgia, twists and tricks. Be careful of the purple beams as they will kill you outright should you wander into one.
When you emerge from the Lost tunnels and return to fighting Ancients, the first reliquary can be used to let the group through both sets of beams to continue fighting, while the torchbearer goes up the stairs to turn the power off. This saves everyone from standing around just waiting.
Remember to carry extra consumables so you can swap wards and coatings in higher level mutations, it can mean the difference between life and death.
Main Damage Type: Strike
Simon Grey has grown up too and is level 70 in mutated expeditions. His attacks are scaled up accordingly and his Overhead Slam can outright kill a low con, under-geared DPS. Apart from that, this is a fairly straightforward fight.
- Overhead Slam: Simon raises both hands over his head and slams down, causing AoE Strike damage. Look for the movement and be ready to dodge.
- Minions: Simon will spawn 3 lost enemies. If you don’t kill them in time, he will suck them in for a life leech.
- Vomit: Simon’s vomit is pretty toxic and will cause a slow as well as reduce incoming healing.
Main Damage Type: Slash
Greundgul is an Ancient construct with a very large sword. Be careful of the backswing when fighting behind her. She’s quite mobile and will push the group around the arena. Make sure you have someone with a ranged attack to stop her when she gets to the jumping phase.
- Throw Bone: Greundgul throws a bone at the furthest player, that spawns skeletal minions. These are only a mild annoyance unless the fight takes long enough to create too many of them. This can be minimised by the group clumping close to the boss, so the bone and adds get destroyed by everyone’s attacks.
- Jumping Phase: After the first time Greundgul’s health reaches almost zero, she will reassemble herself in the centre of the arena and then leap at a random player, sending out a shockwave of damage with each jump. To control where she jumps, the group should all stack on one player. If you can hit her in the eye as she lands, she’ll stop jumping. The jumping phase repeats periodically until she finally dies.
Interesting Loot
- M3 – Simon Grey’s Set – Medium armour with Arcane Harnessing and Health, upgradeable.
- M3 – Stormbound weapon set for skins – split stat Con/Weapon scaling attribute, Keenly Jagged/Blessed, Weapon Ability Perk.
- Starstone Amulet – Health, Fortified Recovery + Random perk and attribute.
- Starstone Ring – Fire Damage, Refreshing + Random perk and attribute.
- Starstone Earring – Despised, Nimble + Random perk and attribute.
