Loral's Guide to Iceshard Keep, Kael

This guide was put together with the blood of two noble spies of the Tunarian court. Though of different skin and size, these noble warriors have hearts that sing true to the words of Tunare. Were it not for their sacrifice and the technology of the gnomish Ye' Quick Paintin' Box (patent pending) this information could not have been written. This guide will assist all who wish to attack Iceshard Keep within the city of Kael Drakkal.

This map was drawn out by the Kael spies with markings for each giant that was seen. Clicking on the maps various locations will bring up an image of the location.

Introduction to Iceshard Keep

Iceshard Keep is a small area of the city of Kael that is separated from the rest of the city by an icy ledge. It is lair to many spell casting giants in their mid 40s to late 50s. It is an ideal raiding area for those who seek many quests including the 9th coldain ring quest, the 7th coldain prayer shawl and the Thurgadin quest armor as well as some nice dropped treasure. It is an ideal raiding area for two groups above level 50 or four groups from 45+.

Recon

It is highly recommended that you recruit a spy to get a full understanding of the area a few days before the raid begins. You can do this by building a level 1 fighter that worships Rallos Zek, running him to Kael Drakkal from the Iceclad Ocean zone and binding at the zone. This spy will not be killed by the giants and is able to freely roam the entire city except for King Tormax's lair and the northern temple of Zek.

Group Composition

Iceshard Keep can be raided with as few as six members, though they must be of levels 58+. An easier time would be had by two full groups of 50+ or four groups of 45+. Groups should be of the standard configuration including at least one healer, one tank and one evacer. In order to properly attack the Keep, the raid should have one enchanter to charm any adds, one monk or one level 60 character to pull properly from the keep without pulling too many mobs, one or more level 51+ shaman to slow the mobs down, and at least two fighters to fully off-tank any added giants. The rest of the raid should be a mix of damage dealers, healers and buff/debuffers.

Battling the Giants

The giants you will encounter during this attack range in levels from 35 to 51. Giants are fully immune to both stun and mez type spells, however they can be charmed and slowed. Many of the giants on the way to Iceshard Keep can be dispatched without much work when you have the groups mentioned above. Only at Iceshard Keep itself must you worry about your strategy for defeating these foes. For the larger giants, sentinels and above, one should make sure to slow and off-tank or charm each giant that is encountered. If the giants are slowed, they can be easily off-tanked by having a secondary tank gain the full agro of the giant and a healer keeps the tank alive until the rest of the force can focus on it. It is important to prepare your off-tank members beforehand so they know what to do when the time arises.

The basic strategy for a battle with the giants should include the following arrangement. The puller will pull one or more giants to the raiding party. The primary tank gains agro for 15 to 20 seconds before the rest of the raid begins their attack, this is important for focusing all the healers upon one tank. During this period, a shaman or enchanter slows the giant down. Also during this period, any additional giants are either off-tanked or charmed. Once the first giant is down, any additional giants can be dispatched. Roots can also be used for controlling the number of giants one must battle at a time. All giants should be snared by the time they are halfway dead or the will run and gain additional support from other giants.

The giants are on a 20 minute spawn time, so you will want to clear them and move quickly to your next hunting spot. With two groups, travel should be fast.

Beginning the Raid

The raiding party should start out at the Eastern Wastes zone border within Kael. Transportation should be provided to the Greater Divide or Iceclad teleport circle well before the event begins. Because of the low power of the eastern guards, the raiding party should be able to pull quickly through the first and second guard gates. The raiding party should move quickly, following the puller to the first two pull spots marked on the map in yellow. The giants encountered will consist of level 30 to 35 watchmen, senior watchmen and low level casters.

The raiding party should move through the first two tunnels and guard gates and into the first major hall of eastern Kael. When entering the hall, there is a large icy staircase leading down and a small passage to the right that leads to the western halls of Kael. The stairwell leads to a semi-circle ramp that leads up to the icy ledge in front of Iceshard Keep. Below the icy ledge is a small pool and one or two giants. All the giants in this hall should be pulled and killed as your raid leads up to Iceshard Keep.

Pulling Outside Iceshard

The outside of Iceshard Keep is guarded by the first giants to give your 50+ raid any trouble. The Sentinals are levels 40 to 45 and are a bit more difficult than the watchmen defeated earlier. There are two guards above, near the keep's two doorways and two below. The two below can be ignored. Once the two guards by the doors have been slain, your puller should pull from the guard's dining hall by entering the right hand doorway. Once this room is clear the puller should pull from the foyer, clearing both entry halls into the Keep. Pulls from inside the keep will include giant spellcasters called Icecasters. Because of the giants immunity to stuns, no special strategy should be used to prevent them from casting, simply fight them as you would any other giant.

Once both the guard's dining hall and the foyer have been cleared by the puller, you can move the raiding party inside Iceshard Keep through the left doorway.

Pulling Inside Iceshard

Once inside the keep, you can lead your raiding party into Reivaj's quarters through the north door of the foyer opposite the throne room. The entire raid should rush into Reivaj's quarters at the same time and fight him within there to remove any chance for adds from the throne room. Reivaj is a powerful member of the Iceshard family and is assisted by another giant Icecaster. Reivaj hits very hard and fast and must be slowed in order to effectively defeat him. His loot however makes it worth the time to defeat him.

When defeated, the raiding party should move down to the staircase of the Throne room to the south.

The Throne Room

Vorkin and Klagan Iceshard stand at the southern most end of their throne room flanked by four of their sentinals and spellcasters. With a high enough puller (generally level 60), one can pull these guards one at a time, leaving the two powerful brothers for last.

The two brothers have both powerful hand to hand combat skills as well as powerful spellcrafting abilities. They should be treated the same as the giants before, with slows to keep their melee under control and either charm or off-tanking to keep them from killing the raiding party spellcasters. Vorken is a cleric and will Complete Heal if he is able. He should be your first target before killing Klagan who is primarily melee.

Once they have been killed, you can begin the true purpose of this event, uncovering the traitor of the Coldain.

The Quest of The Traitor

According to Dain Frostreaver IV there are six Coldain dwarves that have betrayed the noble dwarves and now work with the minions of Kael. One of these dwarves, Doldigun Steinwielder, seeks refuge with the Iceshard brothers. In order for him to show himself, you must stand on the throne once the Iceshard brothers have been defeated and say:

"The Dain shall be slain for the peace we must obtain."

Attack the dwarf and a series of giants will spawn, starting with two level 51 giants. They should be properly off-tanked or charmed as they are very powerful and could easily cause problems for a small group. Once these two are defeated, a level 54 giant will spawn. Upon his death, a level 57 giant spawns and upon his death the final level 60 giant spawns. This giant has a huge amount of hitpoints and can take up to 10 minutes to kill with a full raid. Once the final giant is killed, Doldigun will spawn back up at the throne. He should be attacked and killed. He is level 54. Should he not be killed, he will despawn and you will not be able to restart the quest right away. It is important that your group is fully buffed and fully medded in order to take them all so quickly one after another. Spell casters should save their mana and ration it out accordingly for each battle and healers should use their most mana efficient heals to keep the tanks alive for each battle.

Each of these giants has the ability to drop one of the Thurgadin plate quest armor drops, the true value and main purpose of this raid. They do not drop chain, leather or silk armor.

This event should be triggered between each spawn of the four giants inside the room. Their 20 minute spawn will mean you can only trigger the event once every 20 minutes.

Other Mobs of Interest

There are a couple of other named mobs within Iceshard Keep that may be of interest to you or members of your raiding party. Because of the fast spawn time, however, it may be in your best interests to simply pick a single goal for your raid, such as the armor mentioned above, rather than trying to clear these named mobs every time they spawn. These mobs include Reijav who drops a nice sword and a ranged item with +6 strength, and Nojas who drops the Staff of the Icecrafter, a nice wisdom caster item. Once again, the armor is probably the most useful drop in this area, so keep your group focused on that.

Leaving the Raid

Once it is determined that your raid has met it's time limit, it is time to leave and leave quickly. Raids like these have a tendency to lose their organization once it is over, so make sure to keep control of the situation. the easiest thing to do is have each group port out to a specific location at the exact same time. Make sure everyone gets out quickly and at the same time or you risk having a single group fighting multiple giants. Your best bet is to pick a predetermined spot, and meet there before porting individuals elsewhere.

Conclusion

This hidden building deep within Kael houses one of the most dangerous threats to the Coldain dwarves and all that they stand for. Organizing and leading a small two group raiding party can quickly clear out these foes and offer the possibility of some nice treasure for you and your groups. Hopefully this guide has given you enough information to plan such an event, but one should make sure to learn all you can before heading into this dangerous area. There is no guide like experience.