Strike Mission: Cold War
Strike Mission: Cold War
- Levels
- 80
Loading screen
| Image(s) |
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Click to enlarge. |
“WARNING: Entering this Strike Mission will reveal key plot points of the "No Quarter" story. Gather your allies and relive the desperate stand against the Dominion and their newfound power.
— In-game description
Strike Mission: Cold War is the seventh Strike Mission introduced into the game.
Getting there[edit]
After selecting one of the modes, either Public or Squad, players will be put into a new instance with up to 10 players. If a Public mission engages the boss with fewer than 10 players, it will be locked down and no more players will be able to join.
- Portal in Umbral Grotto in Drizzlewood Coast.
- Strike Mission portal in Eye of the North.
Objectives[edit]
- Approach the Bridge
- Hold Out against the Dominion Forces
- Defeat enemies to unlock reward chests. 8:00
- Chests earned: x
- Points Until Next Chest
- Destroy charr copters before they escape so Smodur can calibrate the guns
- Artillery Calibration
- Repel the Dominion Assault
- Hold Out against the Dominion Forces
- Chests earned: x
- Defeat the Minister of Morale
- Varinia Stormsounder
- Defeat the Minister of Morale: 7:00
- Strike Mission complete!
- Mission closes in: 4:00
Rewards[edit]
- Final bouncy chest:
Cache Key
Rare Charr Salvage
Charr Commendation (50)
Blue Prophet Shard (5-11)- 50
- Rare chance of the following:
- Grand Frost Legion Chest
- Up to 9 Frost Legion Chests
- If you miss looting any of these two types of chests before leaving the instance, the loot will be lost.
Walkthrough[edit]
Similar to the Forging Steel strike mission, players must complete a defense event that then culminates in a final boss encounter. Both strike missions are longer compared to the other The Icebrood Saga (IBS) ones.
Players with the respective essence manipulation mastery can attack the nearby pylon to collect orbs for either the 
Power of Resilience, 
Power of Valor, or 
Power of Vigilance effect, depending on the week. This grants players either the Spirit Nova, Night Terror, or Shattered Psyche special action key to deal significant damage to enemies and their defiance bar.
Players with the United Legions Waystation Synchronization mastery may interact with the United Legions Waystation at the strike mission entrance to purchase Electromagical Pulse or Remote Charge special action skills.
An invisible barrier prevents players from moving closer to the bridge until the encounter begins. A blue wall encircles the playing area shortly afterwards. Players may be stuck outside of this barrier if they were slow to enter the area before the wall appeared, or if they were 
knocked back by an NPC through the wall (usually when fighting too close to the wall). In either case, players will eventually be teleported inside the arena after a short time delay.
Wave defense[edit]
- Enrage Timer: 8 minutes
- Enrage Effect: Enemies retreat and final boss arrives
Players must fend off against waves of Icebrood for 8 minutes, with each wave culminating in a champion. The timer pauses if the entire squad is defeated. It resumes without losing the progress upon returning to the arena.
Each enemy defeated adds points that progress the bar in obtaining a Frost Legion Chest at the end of the encounter. The progress bar for the Artillery Calibration advances over time, granting players with the one-use Artillery Strike special action skill when full.
Veteran Frost Legion Cannoneers each drop a Charrzooka upon defeat. They can be interacted with to activate Action Camera Mode, allowing players to fire at Dominion Bombers. Destroying the bombers prevents them from launching airstrikes onto the arena. Each Charrzooka holds only 5 stacks of ammunition and cannot be reloaded. Furthermore, shots can be body-blocked by enemies and reflected by the 
Frozen Barrier effect. Charrzookas can be dropped by weapon swapping.
| # | Skill | 
|
|
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fire | ½ | ¼ | Fire at your target. The projectile disintegrates after 1 second. |
A champion spawns at the end of each wave, preventing other enemies from spawning except for Dominion's Bombers. One of the below champion will be randomly selected to spawn. Each subsequent champion will be a random one that has not been encountered yet.
Each champion gains Unstable Magic Abilities that vary based on the week. The first champion gains one ability, the second gains a new one in addition to the previous, and the third gains a new one in addition to the previous two. The sets of these effects are:
| Week | Pylon | Unstable Magic Abilities Order |
|---|---|---|
| Red Whispers | Resilience |  Frigid Vortex →  Frigid Footfalls → Frozen Barrier
|
| Green Priory | Valor |  Icy Echoes →  Lethal Coalescence →  Flash Freeze
|
| Blue Vigil | Vigilance | Icy Echoes → Lethal Coalescence → Flash Freeze
|
The effects of each Unstable Magic Ability are listed below:
| Unstable Magic Ability | Notes |
|---|---|
| Flash Freeze
|
Three telegraph rings expand outwards prior to an expanding blue wave. Failure to jump over the wave will inflict  Chilled and  Slow and flash freeze hit players, preventing their actions for a brief moment.
|
| Frigid Footfalls
|
Leaves behind a trail in its path that inflicts Chilled and pulsing damage (roughly 200 radius). Encourages skills with larger ranges.
|
 Frigid Vortex
|
Four ice tempests emerge then move outwards and spin around. |
| Frozen Barrier
|
Temporary barrier on the enemy that reflects projectiles. |
| Icy Echoes
|
Each player pulses low damage (at most every two seconds) to nearby players each time the enemy is hit. Discourages tight stacking. |
| Lethal Coalescence (Green) |
Targets a random player with a green circle that inflicts massive damage to all players within the circle after a delay. Each player standing within greatly reduces the damage. Encourages group stacking. |
Skills that convert conditions into boons, such as Nefarious Favor, can mitigate the conditions from not only most of these abilities but also from other enemies.
When the wave defense timer expires, all enemies retreat and the final phase begins.
Varinia Stormsounder (Minister of Morale)[edit]
- Health: 17,892,420
- Enrage Timer: 7 minutes
- Enrage Effect: Defeats all players
- Fixation Mechanic: None
The second half of the encounter involves subduing the Minister of Morale within 7 minutes. She spawns in the middle of the arena and players should ideally keep her within the middle of the arena. She uses the following skills:
| Skill | Notes |
|---|---|
| Balloon Drop | Drops down a Propaganda Balloon. The balloons follow players then explode after a delay, inflicting  5 Confusion. They can be destroyed either with damage or breaking their defiance bar.
|
| Claws of Ice | Targets a random player with a red reticule then charges forward and sends forth a cascade of ice spikes. Inflicts  Daze to players directly in front of the attack.
|
| Flurry of Ice | Multi-swing attack with ice shards falling in each cardinal direction. |
| Frostbite Aura | Pulses low damage every three seconds. |
| Thrust → Slash |
Auto-attack chain. |
In addition to these skills, Varinia also gains the three Unstable Magic Abilities for the week. Her defiance bar periodically unlocks and breaking it temporarily disables these abilities. The bar does not regenerate, however the unlocking condition is unknown.
She will also perform the following legion-themed skills, each indicated by a voice line:
| Legion skill | Notes |
|---|---|
| Call Assassins | “Assassins! Strike Swiftly!” All players are targeted with an orange circle that inflicts damage after a delay. Players standing in overlapping circles take significant damage. |
| Charge! Detonate |
“Engineers! Obliterate them!” Destructible mines spawn across the arena and de-spawn after a period of time. Two untargetable Charr Tanks eventually charge through the arena,  knocking down everyone in their path. The tanks can be stunned with  Shocking Aura.
|
| Flame Wall | “Specialists! Incinerate them!” Two sets of four flamewalls are launched towards the center, with the first set forming a square and the second set positioned outside of each square edge. Pulses low damage and  Burning. The boss gains the  Boon of Flame effect only when charging through a flame wall during the Claws of Ice attack.
|
| Torrent of Ice | “Frost Legion! Cut them down!” An untargetable Frost Legion shaman showers the arena with ice blocks, inflicting moderate damage and  Frozen on-hit.Players with this effect will be trapped in an Ice Shard and take periodic damage. Destroying this shard either with Struggle to Escape or other allied skills will free the trapped player. |
| Mighty Spin | “Infantry! Attack!” Four untargetable Blood Legion Blademasters jump into the arena and alternate between a spinning attack and a charge, both of which inflict Knockback.
|
These legion-themed skills are at first performed in a random order, but will repeat in the same order they first occurred in. A themed skill will not be repeated until all five skills have been performed.
The encounter continues until the Minister of Morale is defeated.
Achievements[edit]
 Morale Breaker
|
No Quarter | 2  25
| |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defeat the Minister of Morale 50 times in the Cold War Strike Mission. |
Defeated the Minister of Morale 1 Time | 5
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| Defeated the Minister of Morale 5 Times | 5
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| Defeated the Minister of Morale 10 Times | 5
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| Defeated the Minister of Morale 15 Times | 5
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- Complete the strike mission 50 times. The strike can be completed multiple times per day for credit.
| Daily Cold War Strike
|
Daily Icebrood Saga | 0
|
|---|---|---|
Complete the Cold War Strike Mission.
|
Completed the Cold War Strike Mission | 0
|
| Priority Strike: Cold War
|
Daily Strike Mission | 0
|
|---|---|---|
Complete the Cold War Strike Mission.
|
Completed the Cold War Strike Mission | 0
|
NPCs[edit]
Allies[edit]
Foes[edit]
- Dominion Axe Fiend
- Dominion Blademaster
- Dominion Bladestorm
- Dominion Bomber
- Dominion Duelist
- Dominion Engineer
- Dominion Fire Shaman
- Dominion Scout
- Dominion Sentinel
- Dominion Shadow
- Dominion Soldier
- Dominion Spy
- Dominion Stalker
- Elite Dominion Blademaster
- Elite Dominion Engineer
- Elite Dominion Fire Shaman
- Elite Dominion Soldier
- Elite Dominion Stalker
- Veteran Dominion Axe Fiend
- Veteran Dominion Blademaster
- Veteran Dominion Bladestorm
- Veteran Dominion Duelist
- Veteran Dominion Engineer
- Veteran Dominion Igniter
- Veteran Dominion Marksman
- Veteran Dominion Scout
- Veteran Dominion Smoke Shaman
- Veteran Dominion Soldier
- Veteran Dominion Spy
- Veteran Dominion Stalker
- Champion Corrupted Kodan
- Champion Ice Giant
- Champion Icebrood Beast
- Champion Icebrood Goliath
- Icebrood Claymore
- Icebrood Elemental
- Icebrood Goliath
- Icebrood Mauler
- Icebrood Quaggan
- Veteran Icebrood Elemental
- Varinia Stormsounder
- Veteran Frost Legion Cannoneer
- Veteran Frost Legion Crusher
- Veteran Frost Legion Musketeer
Objects[edit]
Dialogue[edit]
- Speaking to the Sentinel Centurion
- Thanks for the assistance, Commander. Is your squad ready to go?
Let's do this.
We're still waiting for more people to show up.
- Interacting with the portal
- Sentinel Centurion: Do you want to return to Drizzlewood Coast?
Yes.- I want to return to the Eye of the North.
- Not right now.
- During battle
- Varinia Stormsounder: You cannot hope to defeat Bangar's forces.
- Varinia Stormsounder: You haven't made a dent in our numbers.
- Varinia Stormsounder: Look at what our imperator has achieved! You should have chosen his side.
- Varinia Stormsounder: One by one, I'll raze your ranks!
- Varinia Stormsounder: Infantry! Attack!
- Varinia Stormsounder: Your minds are too weak to resist the coming storm!
- Varinia Stormsounder: Engineers! Obliterate them!
- Varinia Stormsounder: Assassins! Strike swiftly!
- Varinia Stormsounder: Frost Legion! Cut them down!
- Varinia Stormsounder: Specialists! Incinerate them!
- Upon wipe
- Varinia Stormsounder: United you fall! Frost Legion above all!
Trivia[edit]
- Prior to the February 28, 2022 game update, the strike mission rewarded shards depending on the weekly Emissary:
- Blue Prophet Shard (5-11)
Green Prophet Shard (5-11)
Red Prophet Shard (5-11)
