Darklily's Coldain Ring War guide

[Darklily]

It seems many people on the server have never done this quest, and I can't help but wonder why. It's really easy and so worth it!

Why you should do it:
===================
The last few quests in this questline are well done and very fun!
Even if you are a DS class, this adds +8 to your existing damage shield which is really good!
Instant damage shield clicky from your inventory! Always have your DS up! Stacks with other damage shield clickies!
The buff lasts a little over 1 hour.
You can spam click it to up your Abjuration skill quickly! Don't waste your training skillpoints, use this instead!
Easy to do! Rings 1-8 are super easy.
You can even do it if you have bad Coldain faction! I killed Dain Frostreaver IV and was still able to do it.
(Rings 9 and 10 are also super easy to do on Casual Dreams, but you'll probably stop at 8 and I'll explain why later.)

Still with me? Let's get started!

RING 1 -- Copper Coldain Insignia Ring
=================================
First off, head to Eastern Wastes.
In the dead center of the map is 'Ry'Gorr Keep', a fort full of Orcs with Chief Ry`Gorr inside. Slightly northeast of that are two little Coldain huts with a cook pot between them. Gloradin Coldheart is in the west hut and Garadain is in the east hut. The east hut will be our "base of operations" for now. (-2600, -300)

If Garadain isn't there, it takes about 30 minutes for him to respawn.

The dialogue isn't required, but you can find what to say on Allakhazam if you want to follow the storyline more closely. If you are KOS, don't even worry about the dialogue.

At any rate, Garadain wants you to create a 'Coldain Hunting Blanket'. Luckily all the ingredients are in the immediate surroundings. If you do a wide circular sweep around the hut, you'll find lots of wandering snow cougars and tundra kodiaks. Hopefully you're high enough level that they're all gray and easy kills.

You can also kill placeholder direwolves, snow dervishes, etc. to get more of the mobs you are looking for.

You need 2 'high quality cougarskin' and 2 'high quality tundra kodiak pelt'. This shouldn't take too long, especially if you are riding a fast mount and have a ranged attack. You may have to kill 15-20 of each, but they go down easy.

(If plan to do ring 10, you may want to grab 4 of each skin. And if you see any black rocks on the ground, pick one up. This is for later in the quest line. Also, if you happen to see the Ry'Gorr messenger running by, definitely kill him and loot his invasion plans to save time later.)

At this point, I gated to the Nexus and crafted my 'Coldain Hunting Blanket'. Back to Eastern Wastes for the turn-in. (I did invis for the hand-in because he was glowering at me dubiously.)

Congratulations! You just completed Coldain Ring 1

Now you should have the 'Copper Coldain Insignia Ring'! Easier than you thought? This is only a 1 AC ring but it will be indispensable by the end.

You're going to have to actually talk to Garadain at this point. Just say 'I will give assistance' and you should get a 'Dull Bladed Axe'. This axe is for 'Boridain Glacierbane', who fortunately is close by.

[Darklily]

RING 2 -- Silver Coldain Insignia Ring
================================
Boridain can be found a little bit to the west of the two huts on top of a mountain. He is northwest of Ry'Gorr Keep. (-2450, +1550)

(And if you happen to see 'Rodrick Tardok' in the bottom of a watchtower whenever you're wandering west of Ry'Gorr Keep, kill him and loot his head and dirk! It could save you time later.)

If Boridain is not there on top of the mountain, you may have to wait a little while for him to respawn (30 minutes?), but none of the mobs involved in this quest seem to have too long a respawn timer.

Next, make sure you have at least 10 minutes of uninterrupted spare time. This is an escort mission that will begin once you hand him the axe.

Boridain is going to wander around aimlessly for awhile. Just keep him alive. He's slow. He will stop a few times for sleeping and snacking... They don't call him 'Glacierbane' for nothing.

(I like to know the goals ahead of time before the hand-in that triggers the event: The goal is to follow him around and keep him alive, loot the skin off of a 'Rabid Tundra Kodiak', and hand it to him immediately.)

Hand him the axe. I invis'd for this hand-in because he was also glowering at me dubiously.

I killed any monsters that wandered anywhere near us. If Boridain gets into a fight, he will stand around before continuing which can draw this out longer than it needs to be.

Eventually he will talk about how he just isn't cut out to be a hunter, when a scripted 'Rabid Tundra Kodiak' will approach. Kill it and loot the skin, then hand it to Boridain. If you don't give the skin to Boridain within 60 seconds of killing the kodiak, he could despawn and you may have to start over again. So don't dawdle and just hand him the skin.

Of course, he'll take credit for killing the monster and he'll give you a 'Broken Axe' as proof of his heroism.

It's back to Garadain in the pair of Coldain huts (-2600, -300). Hand him the Broken Axe and the Copper Coldain Insignia Ring. I was no longer KOS to the guards outside and didn't have to invis for this hand-in, even though Garadain was still glowering at me dubiously.

Now you should have the 'Silver Coldain Insignia Ring'! 2nd ring complete!

[Darklily]

RING 3 -- Gold Coldain Insignia Ring
===============================
If you were to continue the dialogue at the end of ring 2, you'd learn that Garadain now wants you to craft a 'Coldain Hunting Knife' for him. But there's no need to talk to him. Just set out and get the ingredients! Luckily they're all in-zone.

You'll need a 'Skinning Rock'.
Remember during Ring 1 when I asked you to pick up a little black rock if you see one? That's the Skinning Rock. They are a random ground spawn all over the map. If you still don't have one, they seem really common around the portal to Sleeper's Tomb, which is due south from Ry'Gorr Keep at the bottom middle of the map.

You'll need a 'High Quality Walrus Hide'.
In the southwest corner of the map, there are lots of 'a walrus' wandering around. This was easier for me to get than the cougarskins and kodiak pelts both times I tried it because it required a lot less running around. The walrus population is super-concentrated down there, very convenient!

You'll need a 'Wooly Rhino Horn'.
Don't mix this up with the wooly mammoths and their tusks... 'a wooly rhino' just looks like a typical rhinoceros. I found the rhinos wandering around with the giants east of the entrance to Kael Drakkal. You may have to kill some placeholders to get more to appear.

(Once again, if plan to do ring 10, you may want to grab 2 of each.)

At this point I went back to the Nexus and crafted the Coldain Hunting Knife with a forge. (Now that I think about it, there might be a forge in Ry'Gorr Keep. I thought I saw one in there?)

Hand it in to Garadain with the Silver Coldain Insignia Ring.

Now you should have the 'Gold Coldain Insignia Ring'! So far so easy, right?

Now say, 'What smithing hammer?' to Garadain. You'll receive 'a Note to Tain'. (This step may be skippable because Tain doesn't even accept the letter.)

[Darklily]

RING 4 -- Platinum Coldain Insignia Ring
==================================
It's time to find Tain Hammerfrost. You may have seen him being ganged up on by cougars and kodiaks while hunting during Ring 1.

Tain is west and a teensy bit south of the bridge to Iceclad Ocean (sometimes called the 'Great Span'). (-4950, -2650)
He may be laying down like a corpse due to low health.

This is another escort mission of sorts, so make sure you have at least 5 minutes on your hands before proceeding. It's very short, though. (No pun intended.)

Before triggering the event, here are the goals: The goal is to keep Tain alive, loot the 'Frozen Elixir' off of 'Ghrek Squatnot', and hand it to him.

Saying, 'I will help' triggers the event. No need to hand him the note.

Go east ahead of Tain and kill Ghrek and his goons. If they reach Tain and kill him, you'll have to wait for Tain to respawn to do the hand-in, which is annoying.

Once you hand him the Frozen Elixir, he will give you the 'Coldain Smithing Hammer'. You can safely destroy the 'Note to Tain' now.

It's back to Garadain at our "base of operations". Give him the hammer and your Gold Coldain Insignia Ring.

You should now have the 'Platinum Coldain Insignia Ring'! Halfway there!

[Darklily]

RING 5 -- Obsidian Coldain Insignia Ring
==================================
This step has the potential to be annoying.

Garadain wants you to kill 'a Ry'Gorr messenger' and loot the 'Ry'Gorr Invasion Plans'.

Hopefully you've run into the messenger by now and already looted it, which is why I mentioned to keep an eye out for him during Ring 1. Finding him can be a little annoying, but he does run from the north (from the 'prison area', the ruins to the far north with giant guards and Corbin Blackwell) and runs straight south to Ry'Gorr Keep.

If you haven't found him yet, you should be able to stand guard north of Ry'Gorr Keep to intercept him. He runs fast, but he will aggro you if he sees you which makes him a little easier to catch.

Once you have the invasion plans, find 'a Coldain lookout'.

Unfortunately, both times I did this quest, the Coldain lookout was not up and I had to wait. The lookout should be near Garadain at our "base of operations" very close to the two Coldain huts. I have seen her appear in two places: slightly north of the huts, and slightly west of the huts.

I think what happens is the lookout is the first to die from the wandering mobs. Given enough time, they whittle down her health faster than the other NPCs around the huts. Her respawn time seems to be about the same as Garadain (~30 minutes).

When you hand the invasion plans to her, this will trigger another event. She will scream about being 'too late' and a group of mobs will appear. They will come attack everyone at the two huts. The goal is to kill Scarbrow Ga'Hruk and his minions as quickly as possible so they don't kill Garadain. I was a little confused as to what direction they came from. The first time I did it, it seemed like they came from the west. The second, they came from the east. So just stay near the lookout at engage Scarbrow and his goons when you see them.

Loot the 'Head of Scarbrow' and hand it to Garadain along with your Platinum Coldain Insignia ring.

He will hand you the 'Obsidian Coldain Insignia Ring'.

Hopefully Ring 5 went more smoothly for you than it did for me

[Darklily]

RING 6 -- Mithril Coldain Insignia Ring
=================================
It's time to find Korrigain! Korrigain is a spooky red-eyed ghost Coldain that can be found standing outside of a pair of huts to the southwest of the map. If you go to where all the walruses were, you're close-by. Just go a little bit northeast of that.

If Korrigain isn't there, he should spawn at 9 PM game time (use /time command to see what the current game time is).

Once you hand him your Obsidian Coldain Insignia Ring, it will trigger another escort mission, so make sure you have 8-ish minutes of uninterrupted time on your hands before doing this.

When you hand him the ring, what should happen is a wolf named Icefang should come walking out of the huts toward Korrigain. If the wolf does not come out, that means someone else is doing the Icefang mission and you'll need to wait.

Icefang will start running east. Thankfully, he moves a lot faster than Boridain Glacierbane. The goal is to follow Icefang and keep him alive, then kill 'Poxbreath Yellowfang' and loot the 'Note from Kromrif'.

If you read the note (not necessary), you'll learn that there is a Coldain traitor named 'Rodrick Tardok'.

I mentioned during Ring 2 to keep an eye out for Rodrick. OUTSIDE of the Ry'Gorr Keep walls to the west is a lone tower. Every now and then, a 'Ry'Gorr Emissary' appears and walks up to the tower. If you wait, Rodrick should appear and they'll have a conversation.

If you see Rodrick, don't waste time. Just kill him and loot 'Rodrick's Head' and the 'Dirk of the Traitor'. (Hold onto the dirk just in case you decide to do ring 9.)

Back to Garadain at the base of operations. This time you'll hand him three items: 'Note from Kromfrif', 'Rodrick's Head', and the Obsidian Coldain Insignia Ring.

You should now have the 'Mithril Coldain Insignia Ring'! Just two more to go! Were you expecting these quests to be more eventful? Well, Ring 8 is a fun one.

[Darklily]

RING 7 -- Adamantium Coldain Insignia Ring
======================================
It's time to find Warden Bruke! In the middle of the map to the far north, you'll find some ruined buildings with giant and Ry'Gorr guards around. Some people call this the 'prison area'. There's an Interrogator of Ry`Gorr in one of the ruins with Corbin Blackwell, and another ruin with Captain Ulmog. The easternmost ruin should have a lone giant standing in it.

Hopefully that giant is named Warden Bruke. If not, you'll have to kill the placeholder giant and wait about 10-15 minutes for the respawn. It could take two or three kills to get him to show up. (The first time I did this quest it took two kills. The second time, he was just up and waiting for me.)

The Warden will instantly spawn some giants to help him, but they are all easy to kill. Loot the 'Shackle Key'.

Next, you need to find Corbin Blackwell. You are in the right ruins if two giants are guarding the entrance and you see the 'Interrogator of Ry'Gorr'. Unfortunately both of the times I ran the quest, Corbin was not there and I had to wait for him. It seems like the Interrogator literally beats Corbin to death, given enough time. If Corbin is not up, the Interrogator sort of faces the wall as if he's got someone cornered. Kill everyone not named Corbin in the room. If he wasn't there, after two clears, Corbin should show back up.

Once you hand him the key and your Mithril Coldain Insignia Ring, it will trigger another escort mission. The goal is to follow Corbin and keep him alive. Corbin will walk to a set of Coldain huts we haven't seen yet to the east of the ruins. On the way, there will be an ambush of four Ry'Gorr and four giants, plus 'Commander Bahreck'. No need to loot anything from them. You can run ahead of Corbin a little and slay the enemies before he gets there if you want.

Once Corbin reaches his destination, he will have a short exchange with Dobbin Crossaxe. Their dialogue is done when Dobbin says, "We thought it was too late, the Dain will be very pleased!"

It seems your heroic exploits are starting to catch the attention of the Dain!

Give DOBBIN your Mithril Coldain Insignia Ring and you'll get a 'note to Garadain'.

Go a short way southeast, back to our base of operations. Give Garadain the note and you'll receive ring #7, the 'Adamantium Coldain Insignia Ring'! One more to go!

Oh, and hand Garadain your Adamantium Coldain Insignia Ring to receive 'Marching Orders'.

[Darklily]

RING 8 -- Adamantium Coldain Insignia Ring
======================================
This quest is fun and the prize is amazing Congrats on making it this far!

Before proceeding any further, make sure you have around 20-30 minutes free. Also know that if you somehow screw this up, you'll lose your ring and have to start all over from Ring 1. But don't worry, if everything else so far has been effortless, this should also be no problem. If you are level 60+ or 50 and very well twinked, this should be easy.

What will happen is you'll hand Gloradin the marching orders in the west hut of our base of operations.

Go across from Garadain's hut to Gloradin's hut and hand her the marching orders, but read ahead first to know what will happen and what to do.

Garadain will almost immediately leave his hut and start walking south. Follow him and keep him protected. Garadain will walk up to an impressive number of troops. He will inspire the troops with a speech. At some point, the troops will 'about face' and march toward the Ry'Gorr Fort. Garadain will hesitate for a bit and then follow the troops.

If you run ahead of the troops, you'll find Ry'Gorr fort is loaded with Ry'Gorr and giants. There will be a large set of troops to the left and right sides of the entrance to the fort. What I do is run right up to the right side and engage while Garadain's troops are still walking and positioning themselves on the hill. Garadain will still be talking with them. Once you've killed the giants and Ry'Gorr on the right side, head into the fort and right past the entrance you'll see Chief Ry'Gorr standing there among his troops.

You'll kill the chief and loot his head. You'll kill any adds and head back to Garadain, who probably won't even be done addressing his troops. Wait for him to say, 'For the Glory of Thurgadin! CHARGE!', then hand him the head. The troops may run at the fort a little bit BEFORE he gives the charge order

You will receive the awesome 'Velium Coldain Insignia Ring', ring #8!!! Get ready to clicky that thing, it's great! Congratulations!!!

For the next half hour or so, all of Garadain's troops will run around near the fort like chickens with their heads cut off

[Darklily]

Before continuing to Rings 9 and 10, consider the following:
-You are probably not going to actually wear Ring 8, and Ring 9 has the exact same instant clicky effect as Ring 8.
-Ring 10 has a better instant clicky effect, but it can only be cast while worn.
-When you turn in Ring 9 for Ring 10, you'll lose Ring 9.
-Rings 9 and 10 take a lot of work, though still a lot less than they would on a live server.
-Part of the spectacle of Ring 10 is the Coldain Ring War, which is a big zone-wide event that requires a raid force. Unfortunately this event isn't running very well on any EQEmu at this time, but this is completable in a different, easier way on CD.
-Parts of Ring 9 are not possible to complete on Casual Dreams, but fortunately they are skip-able. (I found out the hard way so you don't have to!)

That said, you may decide to push on to Ring 10 on your main. It's not a bad idea to bandoleer Ring 10 and cast it before facing a challenging fight. I also decided to use Ring 10 as my 'Enduring Breath' item using the aug from the LDON vendors, so it gives me a good excuse to keep it in inventory. Also, I've just always wanted to do it.

[Darklily]

Going for Ring 10? Wow, cool!

Okay, we're potentially going on a big adventure. Here's what you have to look forward to:

-A change of scenery. You get to do quests outside of the Eastern Wastes!

-Street cred.

-When equipped, Ring 10 lets you cast Frostreaver's Blessing which does the following:
+10 HP regen
+10 damage shield
+10 ATK
1 hour duration.
I believe it stacks with other DS clickies, such as the Girdle of Living Thorns and Cloak of Thorns, so all of these together with some DS augments would be quite nice! However, it does not stack with ring 8.

-The 'Tri-Plated Golden Hackle Hammer', which is a 1.0 casting time clicky from inventory that provides:
+250 HP
+39 AC
+21 MR
This is a great item, arguably a must have for PoP-era.

-Potentially, the Crown of Narandi, which is just an AC 25 helm with stats (PAL RNG SHD BST)

-Potentially, the Eye of Narandi, a 5 AC range item with an okay clicky effect from inventory.

-Potentially, an Earring of the Frozen Skull, which is an AC 4 earring with a 4 charge invulnerability clicky from inventory (Divine Aura) that unfortunately can't be recharged. I could see myself using such a thing during a fight against Quarm or the Bridge Troll someday.

-Potentially, the Faceguard of Bentos the Hero. This is a 10 AC face armor that has a See Invisible effect when worn. (WAR PAL RNG SHD MNK BRD ROG BST BER)

-Potentially, the Choker of the Wretched. Just an AC 8 necklace with stats and a minor mana regen effect.

-Potentially, a Protection of the Dain, which is a refreshable 1 charge version of the Earring of the Frozen Skull.

-Potentially, Narandi's Lance. A 2HP weapon that had a very good ratio and proc for Velious period, but is not so good compared to what you probably already have. (WAR PAL SHD BER)

-Potential for other goodies as well, some of which are better than most of the vendor-fodder listed above!