This week's mutation is inescapably Icebound.
As the weather turns toward a glimpse of Winter here in the southern hemisphere, so too does the mutation reflect a chilly vibe. It’s a bit of an old school week, with all expeditions from the original release. Nothing much on the news front for this week but we can expect some fun for the Easter break, with Rabbit’s Revenge coming on the 15th April.
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
- Weary – Periodically applies Weary to players, slowing movement by 30% and increasing incoming damage by 20%. Can be delayed by using abilities.
- Blood Offering – Using abilities applies a stack of Offering, 4.5% max health Ice damage over time, up to a max of 3 stacks. While under the effect of Offering, the player has 25% life steal.
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 - To Ability or not to Ability
While Weary is (apparently) delayed by using abilities, they trigger Blood Offering. As long as you are doing damage, the life leech from Blood Offering should be enough to offset the Dot (if your Con is not too high, since it’s a percentage of max health). This curse is particularly challenging when swapping protection for a boss fight, since it still applies mutation type damage. If you’re hurting too much, consider sticking to basic light and heavy attacks rather than abilities.
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.
Garden of Genesis
Enemy Type: Angry Earth
Weaknesses: 30% Fire 20% Slash
Consumables
- Ruby gem Fire damage*
- Angry Earth Ward potion – 10% damage absorption
- Angry Earth Coating – 15% bonus damage
- Angry Earth Combat Trophy – 3/4/5% bonus damage x3
- Slash/Fire damage – Hatchet, Axe, Great/Sword, Fire Staff
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: Freya's Francisca Hatchet
Dropped by The Blighted Greenskeeper.
- +38 Magnify (selectable attribute)
- Thrown Mastery: Thrown Axe projectiles reduce all axe skill cooldowns by 25% (5s cooldown).
- Empty Socket: Attach a gem to add its effect.
- Empowering Rending Throw: Ranged Hatchet attacks deal +40% damage against Rending Throw targets.
- Refreshing Move: Light and Heavy attacks reduce your active weapon cooldowns by 2.5% (0.2s cooldown).
Strategy and tips
This Garden is full of snares and Blight, so this is one time you might choose to use Powerful Incense over Desert Sunrise. Genesis is the shortest expedition and lots of players are used to speed-running it, so expect to have to keep up with your group. There’s a lot of skipping, and the boss in the secret room is rarely killed. Right at the start, you will need to collect some Concentrated Blight to unlock the first door. You can find this down the first staircase to the left, just be careful of the patrolling archer.
Main Damage Type: Strike
This fight is the most difficult in the expedition. There are two main methods of killing him, “All In” and “4 and 1“.
The Caretaker spawns in a large boggy room, all alone. He’ll jump around a bit and will slap out a long tendril at the furthest player, so be careful if you’re playing range. When you get his health down to about 70%, he’ll move to the centre of the room and start putting up a wall of thorns. This is where the group has to decide whether to stay inside the wall with him, or to go outside and deal with the adds that spawn.
All In
The All In method is a DPS check. Everyone enters the ring with the Caretaker and does as much damage as they can. A Genesis Cap mushroom will spawn – you need to destroy the first one to avoid a wipe. The person who kills the Genesis Cap will receive an Empower buff. After, he’ll start diving under the floor and emerging periodically to attack. You can just avoid the lunge by watching and moving. After 7 lunges, the Caretaker will stand up and you can fight him again. Sometimes the walls will go down and let in the adds at this point, so you have to kill him very quickly. If the group can’t kill him fast enough and ends up dying to the adds, you may need to try the 4 and 1 method.
4 and 1
This method involves sending one player (usually the tank) inside the thorn wall, while the rest remain outside. The tank needs to play defensively and also destroy the Genesis Cap mushroom when it spawns. Outside the wall, there will be three lots of adds spawn, the first one on the side near the entrance. A point will light up, indicating where the spawn is going to occur. The outside group need to kill each spawn of adds as quickly as they can, then move clockwise around the wall to fight the next group. After a period of time, the walls will come down, allowing the tank to help with any remaining enemies. The Caretaker will go into the wall phase again, this time everyone should go in and do the All In method as outlined above.
Main Damage Type: Nature and Strike
The Greenskeeper is a snake-like boss, with poison to boot. The main attacks are Strike damage, but you should be able to avoid those. The AOE poison and ranged attacks are Nature damage and it’s more likely you might be hit by these. This is a relatively easy fight, as long as you know what to expect.
- Poison Pools – if you see a stream of poison headed your way, run to the edge of the arena. A large pool of poison is about to appear at your feet, so you need to get it as far from the group as you can. Also try to avoid dropping it on boulders if possible.
- Scream – if you’re playing ranged, the Greenskeeper may send out a scream wave at you. This can be dodged.
- Projectile – she also throws three quick projectiles, which can also be dodged
- Boulder – an outline of a circle will appear on the floor at the feet of a player, just before a boulder drops. You can easily move out of the way in time if you see it. These boulders are used later, so it’s important there is room around the back. Make sure you’re not fighting at the edge of the arena, especially if you are ranged.
- Burrow – the Greenskeeper will tunnel under the ground and come up under a player. If you get hit, it does a large amount of Strike damage. It will keep tunnelling to the furthest player, so to shorten this section, the group can stand together in a Sacred Ground and block.
- The Floor is Poison – later in the fight, the floor will be covered in a wavy poison. If there is no boulder between you and the Greenskeeper, you’ll be instantly killed. Everyone should hide behind a boulder, unless you have Defy Death, in which case you can live through it.
Interesting Loot
- M3 – Blighted Growth’s Set – Light armour with Nature Harnessing and Shirking Fortification, upgradeable.
- M3 – Mossbourne weapon set for skins – split stat Con/Weapon scaling attribute, Mortal Power/Blessed, Weapon Ability Perk.
- Garden’s Amulet – Health, Fortified + Random perk and attribute.
- Garden’s Ring – Keen Awareness, Hearty + Random perk and attribute.
- Garden’s Earring – Healthy Toast, Nimble + Random perk and attribute.
Dynasty Shipyard
Enemy Type: Corrupted
Weaknesses: 30% Arcane 20% Thrust 15% Nature
Consumables
- Sapphire gem Arcane damage*
- Corrupted Ward potion – 10% damage absorption
- Corrupted Coating – 15% bonus damage
- Corrupted Combat Trophy – 3/4/5% bonus damage x3
- Thrust damage – Spear, Rapier, Bow, Musket, Blunderbuss
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: The Butcher
Dropped by Zhou Taiying.
- +38 Magnify (selectable attribute)
- Hemorrhage: Bleeds lasts 33% longer (Works on both weapons).
- Jagged Whirls: Whirling Blade inflicts bleed, dealing 10% weapon damage for 6s.
- Empowering Whirling Blade: If 2 or more enemies are within its radius while performing a Whirling Blade attack, gain 24% base damage for each nearby target (Max 5 Targets).
- Keenly Jagged: Inflicts Bleed on critical hit, dealing 10% weapon damage per second for 6s (7s cooldown).
Strategy and tips
Be careful of the pink elemental Void attacks from maidens and mages, and either block or dodge out. A ranged weapon can be useful in here. Enemy muskets are also quite annoying, so either bring the fight to them or stand out of their line of sight so they come to you.
Main Damage Type: Slash and Void
Isabella begins this fight, leaping around and running away as usual. She has a range of physical damage types, so the tank may be best off with some Onyx and a Slash protection shield, while everyone else needs to just stay out of her reach. She will also spawn three abominations, which are pretty easy to kill.
At about 75% health, Isabella will fly toward the boats and canons will shoot from the distance. The group can huddle up next to the eastern dog cage to prevent the canon fire from landing on them, then go and resume the fight. Canon fire will continue, so make sure you’re not standing in it.
Just before she gets to half health, Isabella gets tired of fighting and opens two of the cages in the room to reveal Oro and Joven, her pet tigers. There are a few strategies for this part of the fight, including allowing the tank to hold one dog while the rest fight the other, or having a DPS play an off-tank for the second dog. This can easily go wrong, however, so you may want to get the group to stand over by the west-side dog and get the tank to grab both of them. That way, AOE attacks will hit both enemies, killing them faster. The dogs do Slash damage and watch out for them jumping back and doing a Void breath attack, catching DP who had been standing safely behind.
Main Damage Type: Void
Empress Zhou’s moves are mostly telegraphed by particle effects, so once you get to know these, you can react in time to avoid them.
- Small particles rising from the floor = Dragon Breath – only hits in front, so just dodge to the side.
- Small particles on the floor radiating out from her = Corruption Wave – dodge into the wave.
- Small particles spinning in a small and wider circle around her = Dragon Circle – if you have grit, you can stand inside, otherwise block.
- Points to a player = Dragon Dive Solo – she will shoot a dragon at you, so move!
- Multiple perpendicular pink lines – Dragon Dive – Dragons will shoot out along those lines and follow players, just step to the side and avoid them.
At about 60% health, the Empress will take a break and summon two waves of trash mobs, plus two pillars. These pillars can also perform her magic spells. Kill the mobs only, then everyone should stack at the East wall of the arena. Zhou will throw 3 more pillars and we want these at this end. Do not kill the pillars. Once all pillars are thrown, everyone should run to the West end to finish the fight.
Interesting Loot
- M3 – Empress Zhou’s Set – Light armour with Health and Refreshing, upgradeable.
- M3 – Harbinger weapon set for skins – split stat Con/Weapon scaling attribute, Enchanted/Purifying Breeze, Weapon Ability Perk.
- Shipyard’s Amulet – Health, Fortified + Random perk and attribute.
- Shipyard’s Ring – Hearty, Blood Letting + Random perk and attribute.
- Dynasty’s Earring – Refreshing Toast, Regenerating + Random perk and attribute.
