Keepers of the Glade

This quest is a pieced together compilation from Monkly Business that I made long ago when I did the ring for my warrior. I got to the 9th but was never able to do my 10th War, however the war is fun for all I have participated in the war numerous times for guildies. Even the 8th and 9th ring are worth it imo, just for the added clicky dmg shield.

Coldain Ring Walkthrough
Many people question if the ring is even worth all the questing. Believe me, it's more than worth it, these quests can be really shortly summarized but I've been very thorough. Quests 1-8 can be done in one day, provided all the quest NPCs are up. So, do these quests, the reward is awesome and the quests themselves are really fun for the most part.

- Locations -
Garadain Glacierbane: -2700, -400 Eastern Wastes
Boridain Glacierbane: -2450, +1550 Eastern Wastes
Giant fort: -1770, +2920 Eastern Wastes
Jail: -30, +300 Eastern Wastes
Orc fort: -3500, +400 Eastern Wastes
Tain Hammerfrost: -4950, -2650 Eastern Wastes
Rodrick Tardok: -3400, +1050 Eastern Wastes
Icefang: -8100, +3230 Eastern Wastes
Korrigain (only at night): -7950, +3300 Eastern Wastes
Poxbreath Yellowfang's hut: -3300, -4480 Eastern Wastes
Warden Bruke/PH: +300, -350 Eastern Wastes
Corbin Blackwell: +215, +80 Eastern Wastes
Dobbin Crossaxe: -570, -3190 Eastern Wastes
Gloradin Coldheart: -2630, -440 Eastern Wastes
Murdrick Tardok's cave: -5600, +3500 Great Divide
Captain Berradin: -60, +2360 Eastern Wastes

- Quests -
1: Copper Coldain Insignia Ring: AC1, STR+1, MR+1
It all starts with Garadain Glacierbane. He can be found in a hut at the Coldain encampment just northeast of the Ry`Gorr fort at a location of -2700, -400. You may sometimes find these huts empty because someone is hunting the Coldain for heads and faction, but they're only on 20 minute timers. Talk to Garadain to find out that he wants a blanket. To tailor the blanket you must have some tailoring skill, or have someone else make it for you and multiquest the ring later because the blanket is NO DROP. Either way, the blanket is trivial at a tailoring skill of about 80. To make the blanket, combine two High Quality Tundra Kodiak Pelts (found from tundra kodiaks in Eastern Wastes), and two High Quality Cougarskins (found from snow cougars in either Eastern Wastes or Iceclad Ocean) in a large sewing kit. Give the blanket to Garadain for your first ring, the Copper Coldain Insignia Ring.

2: Silver Coldain Insignia Ring: AC2, STR+2, MR+2
Right after receiving your Copper Ring, you will want an axe from Garadain to trigger the second quest, even if you don't plan on doing it now. The only phrase I found that works to get the axe is, "How assistance?" Once you have the axe, go find Boridain Glacierbane who is on a hill just west of Garadain's hut at a location of -2450, +1550. He may not be up, and he is on about a 5-6 hour timer. In a nutshell, you'll be guiding Boridain around the zone in search of a rabid kodiak, and your goal is to make sure that he does not die. I recommend having a monk for this, so he can pull away mobs and feign death. Otherwise, you will need to kill the following before attempting this: All the giants at the front of the giant fort at -1770, +2920, the static giant and orc in the jail at -30, +300, and all orcs outside the orc fort at -3500, +400. To get started, give Boridain the axe and he'll be on his way. Remember to keep an out at all times for any roaming giants or orcs that look like they may collide with Boridain. You will either need to kill them (Boridain will assist you), or pull them away and feign death if you have the ability.
Boridain first heads west to the giant fort at -1770, +2920. He stops right at the entrance, then starts going northeast to the jail. Along the way he'll stop for a snack. Use the opportunity to med, heal, whatever...but remember to watch out for giants and orcs, they will still attack. If you don't want to wait, you may give him a food item to get him going again. If you don't, he will still move again eventually, it just takes a few minutes. After a couple minutes, he finishes the trip to the jail at -30, +300. He then heads south to the orc fort, and takes another break for a nap along the way (this time you can't give him anything to get him going quicker). When he arrives at the orc fort at -3500, +400, he will turn around and go back to his starting hill at -2450, +1550. When he gets there, he will sit down and give up. At this time the rabid kodiak will spawn behind you, and a short timer of about 5 minutes is activated, at the end of which Boridain will despawn.
So, kill the rabid kodiak quickly, loot his pelt, and immediately give the pelt to Boridain for a broken axe. If Boridain despawns, you will need to get another axe from Garadain with the phrase "How assistance?", wait 4 hours for Boridain to respawn, then give the axe to Boridain to trigger the quest. However, you don't need to wait for the rabid kodiak again. Just give him the rabid kodiak pelt as soon as Boridain starts walking to get the broken axe. When you're finished, give the broken axe and your Copper Coldain Insignia Ring to Garadain for the Silver Coldain Insignia Ring. NOTE: If someone else tailored the blanket for the first quest, they will need to turn it in for the Copper Ring and this is where you have it multiquested. Have your friend give the ring to Garadain, then you hand in the broken axe, and you will still receive the Silver Ring.

3: Gold Coldain Insignia Ring: AC3, STR+3, MR+3
Another quest based on a trade skill, this time smithing. The components are all found in Eastern Wastes. Ever seen one of those orange blobs with gray spots on the ground near the bridge to Iceclad? Well, you'll need one of those...it's a skinning rock, and is NO DROP. You'll also need to kill walruses just south of Kael until you have a High Quality Walrus Hide, and wooly rhinos found throughout the zone until you have a Wooly Rhino Horn. Once you have all 3 items, combine them in a forge to attempt to make the knife. The knife is trivial at a smithing skill of about 65. The knife was also NOT no drop at the time I did this, so you may have someone else get a skinning rock and forge the knife, and simply give it to you. Verant may have changed that however, but I can't confirm. Anyway, give the knife and your Silver Coldain Insignia Ring to Garadain for the Gold Coldain Insignia Ring. If someone else made the knife and it is no drop, you can obviously just multiquest it.

4: Platinum Coldain Insignia Ring: AC4, STR+4, MR+4
You're going to need some help for this one, but before you recruit anybody, you should make sure that Tain Hammerfrost is up. He's found beyond the first snowy hill that you encounter as you head west from the Iceclad/Eastern Wastes bridge, at a location of -4950, -2650. He may not be up because people kill him for faction, or they assume he drops something neat, and he's on a 5-6 hour timer. If he's up, you should have help from someone who can solo a giant, blue at level 54. I personally did this with a level 55 druid.
Anyway, when whoever is helping you has arrived at Tain, say "I will help" to trigger the quest. As soon as you do this, 4 giants will spawn over the hill to the east, and they are all agrod on Tain. As soon as you see the giants, attack ALL of them to switch the agro to you. You want to keep Tain alive, and about 3-5 hits from any giant can kill him. When you have all 4 giants chasing after you, have your helper(s) split the named one, Ghrek Squatnot, from the bunch, and kill him as you run around kiting the other 3. You may either kill them all this way, or just Ghrek, it doesn't matter. Either way, as soon as Ghrek is dead, loot the vial from him.
If Tain is still alive, quickly give him the vial to receive the Coldain Smithing Hammer. If Tain is dead, you'll need to wait another 4 hours for his respawn, trigger the quest by saying "I will help", then immediately give him the vial. The giants will despawn as soon as they lose all agro. Once you've done it, give the Coldain Smithing Hammer and the Gold Coldain Insignia Ring to Garadain for your Platinum Coldain Insignia Ring.

5: Obsidian Coldain Insignia Ring: AC5, STR+5, MR+5
You'll need help for this too, preferably a few people this time in case something goes wrong with the pull, which is likely. However, first thing's first, you'll need Ry`Gorr Invasion Plans. These drop 100% of the time from the very rare, wandering Ry`Gorr Messenger. The plans are tradeable, and the messenger is killed on sight because the plans are in pretty high demand. So, you may be able to just buy the plans cheap from somebody. When you have the plans, start recruiting people to help you. You'll want as high a level as possible to pull, so as not to get adds.
Do not try to harmony, you won't have time. When your help has arrived, have them all buff up at the hill where people camp in front of the orc fort. When ready, you and only you will head over to Garadain's camp with the invasion plans. Locate the coldain lookout in this camp behind one of the huts. Giving him the plans will spawn about 8 orcs, all blue at level 54, in the field just west of Garadain's camp. Among these orcs is a 47th level shadow knight named Scarbrow Ga`Hruk. Immediately when they spawn, have the highest level helping you try to pull Scarbrow. The orcs only remain static for a brief moment before charging Garadain's camp, and once all agro is lost, they will despawn.
Garadain's camp is more than guaranteed to be wiped out, but this is not a problem. Just focus on killing Scarbrow. Take care of any adds as best you can. I personally had a level 56 shaman pull Scarbrow, and he got him single. When Scarbrow is dead, loot his head. He also has a chance of dropping a Frozen Orb, which is a pretty nice range item (AC2, WIS+3, INT+3, mana+40). If it does drop, it is not needed for any quests. When Garadain respawns, give him Scarbrow's head and your Platinum Coldain Insignia Ring for the Obsidian Coldain Insignia Ring.

6: Mithril Coldain Insignia Ring: AC6, STR+6, MR+6
You need help again, from a team about as powerful as the one that helped you with Scarbrow. But first, you have an option. You can either do the part that requires help, or you can camp the Coldain traitor named Rodrick Tardok. Rodrick spawns in the little tower that serves as a zone out of Crystal Caverns, at a location of -3400, +1050. However, he isn't on a timer, rather is triggered when the fairly rare Ry`Gorr Emissary walks up to the tower. When this happens, be careful not to agro the emissary, and wait a minute for Rodrick to spawn. You may want to ask the zone not to kill the emissary. He spawns in the orc fort and chances are he won't make it out alive.
When Rodrick has spawned, go ahead and kill him. He's easy, green to me at 54. When dead he drops his head and a no drop "Dirk of the Traitor". Loot BOTH of these. You only need the head right now but the Dirk is for the ninth quest. Now gather your army and head to the single hut just north of the Iceclad/Eastern Wastes bridge at -3300, -4480. Wait until midnight then kill everything in and around the hut. If someone is camping it, tell them they should stay back because you're about to do a quest here. As your friends are clearing the hut, you should head to the southwest corner of the zone to two huts, empty aside from a named dire wolf, Icefang.
Icefang is on the Coldain faction so should not attack you, and his location is -8100, +3230. If it's past midnight you should also find a dwarf ghost outside of Icefang's hut named Korrigain. When your friends are ready, give your Obsidian Ring to Korrigain, you'll get it back but this triggers Icefang to walk out, stop a moment, then run off to the hut where your friends are. Run as fast you can back to that hut. A minute before Icefang arrives, a few orcs will spawn outside the hut, and a named level 40 shaman inside named Poxbreath Yellowfang. Have the highest level there try to pull Poxbreath out single. When Icefang arrives, he'll fight the orcs and will die, but this isn't a problem. Loot the note from Poxbreath when he's dead. Return to Garadain and give him Rodrick's head, the note from Poxbreath, and your Obsidian Coldain Insignia Ring to receive the Mithril Coldain Insignia Ring.

7: Adamantium Coldain Insignia Ring: AC7, STR+7, MR+7
This quest has a really easy way to cheat, so you only need one person to do this...that person is a monk. But first thing's first. You'll need to kill Warden Bruke in the jail. You should have at least 2 people to do this, he's kind of tough and is completely MR. You can run around with the Warden on you as another hits him from behind. May take a while, but it works. Anyway, head to the jail and locate the ruined building in the northeast corner. Warden Bruke spawns in this building at a location of +300, -350. He does have a PH which is an all caps "Kromrif Prison Guard".
The PH and Warden are on about 7 minute timers. When the Warden is up, have the monk pull him even though he's alone. Have him pull from the hole in the right side of the building. The reason for this is, once agrod, 6 bodyguards will spawn at the entrance of the building, but they won't agro if you pull from the side. If they do, have a monk pulling so he can split the Warden. Once the Warden is dead, loot the no drop Shackle Key. The femur is extra and not needed. Once you have the Shackle Key, locate Corbin Blackwell in a building in the jail at +215, +80. He's surrounded by 5 mobs, all of which are green and I could solo easily as a level 54 monk. However, don't kill these yet. Locate Dobbin Crossaxe in a hut east of the jail at -570, -3190.
Have yourself and your monk (if you're not the monk) familiarize yourselves with the path from Corbin to Dobbin. When you think you've got it, kill all the mobs around Corbin. Here's what's going to happen. When you give Corbin the Mithril Ring and the Shackle Key, you get the ring back but not the key. Immediately run back to Dobbin's hut, but have the monk stay with Corbin at all times. If you are the monk, obviously you won't be running back to Dobbin. As soon as you give the key and ring to Corbin, he starts walking out of the jail. Once out, he proceeds over some hills for about a minute, then says something like, "Almost there, just a little but farther now." A second after this happens, 8 mobs will spawn around you including Commander Bahreck.
The Commander shouts something to the zone when this happens. IMMEDIATELY when he does this, have the monk attack Corbin once to agro him, then run out of the path of the mobs who should be currently charging. If done correctly, the mobs will come to where Corbin was and stop there dumbfounded. They will then roam the zone. Anyway, the monk is still running around with Corbin on him. Simply run to Dobbin's hut (only if the mobs have not agrod), and feign death once Corbin is inside. Corbin will walk out of the hut and immediately come back inside. Dobbin and Corbin will chat for a minute, then Corbin despawns and Dobbin tells you to give him your ring.
Do what he says, give Dobbin the Mithril Ring and you receive a note in return (you will not get the ring back). If this part of the quest fails and Corbin is killed because the monk sucks at running him out the way, you'll need to kill Warden Bruke for the key and try again. Once you have the note from Dobbin, return to Garadain. Give Garadain Dobbin's note for the Adamantium Coldain Insignia Ring.

8: Velium Coldain Insignia Ring: AC8, STR+8, MR+8, Effect: Shield of the Eighth (Right-clickable and stackable 8 point damage shield)
Ever seen all those mobs at the front of the orc fort? Well that's you're about to do - war. But there's a way around this that isn't exactly a war. First thing you'll want to do is make sure Gloradin Coldheart is up in the hut next to Garadain's, at a location of -2630, -440. She's most likely not going to be up. She's on a 24 hour timer and may be killed because of the little war with Scarbrow, or because someone is stupid and kills her for faction, or because someone does the 8th quest. When she's up, start the recruiting and ask the zone not to kill her. One group is plenty, but the more the merrier because you only have one chance to do this.
If you fail, all is lost, and you have to start from ring one. I personally did this with me (54 monk) a level 53 paladin, 60 cleric, and 40 druid. I also did it later for a friend, we had me (54 monk), him (58 monk), a 42 paladin, 56 cleric and 53 wizard. You must have a way to invis everyone, whether you use potions or whatever. We easily succeeded both times. When your team has arrived, head inside the orc fort. Go into the building in the middle room with the big fire. Kill whatever is up in the building, including elites and even the chief if he happens to be up. When the whole building is clear, everyone should buff up and med up, and it is imperative that you warn the zone numerous times that war is about to start and everyone should stay clear of the fort. It's possible for a newbie to screw everything up. When ready, you will run outside to Garadain, while your team stays behind inside the room with the fire. You need an invis potion unless you can invis yourself.
If you can't and you have no potion, have someone who can invis go with you. Give the Adamantium ring to Garadain to receive a note. Go to the other building with Gloradin and give her the note. Immediately invis yourself, if you can't then have whoever went with you invis you and himself. Once invisible, run back into the room with the fire. You only have about 2 minutes before all the mobs pop. Invis at this point is not 100% required but you should still have it just in case you're slow going back inside and the mobs pop. Anyway, when you and everyone else is inside the middle room with the fire, and all the mobs have popped outside, look just outside your room. You will see two giants and some orcs including Firbrand the Black and Chief Ry`Gorr. Yes, they are outside the building because this is special. You only NEED the Chief, so have the highest level pull him inside.
At level 54, I attempted to pull him and got him with Firbrand, but no others. Your target is the Chief so drop him as quickly as possible, and loot his head when he's dead. As soon as whatever you pulled is dead (hopefully just the Chief) and you have the head, everyone needs to have invis and run completely outside of the fort. You will run to the hill outside of the fort where groups camp orcs for exp. On this hill, you should see an army of Coldain preparing for the war. If they're not there yet, wait a minute and they will run up and stop there. A minute after the Coldain army arrives, Garadain will walk up to the army and stop there to give them a pep talk. A bit after that, he shouts, 'CHARGE!'
As soon as he does this, give Garadain the Chief's head to receive your Velium Coldain Insignia Ring. You can actually give him the head before he shouts CHARGE, but if you wait, the Coldain will charge the fort. As you can see you need to kill the Chief as fast as possible because if you take too long, the Coldain will charge the fort and get wiped out. If Garadain dies, all is lost and you must start from ring one. So be fast, focused, understand what you must do, and do it. This is not as hard as it may seem.

9: Coldain Hero's Insignia Ring: AC9, STR+9, STA+9, MR+9, HP+50, Effect: Shield of the Eighth (Right-clickable and stackable 8 point damage shield)
As you can see, this ring is a big improvement from the 8th ring. It introduces some stamina and HP (with 9 stamina, the total HP addition for me is 86). It also still has the Shield of the Eighth effect, which is odd because it's the ninth ring. Hopefully they will fix that someday.
Garadain Glacierbane will no longer be the main Coldain behind the quests. It is now Seneschal Aldikar and Dain Frostreaver IV himself, both in Icewell Keep. If you zone into Icewell from the main entrance which is located in Thurgadin, enter the Keep and climb the stairs all the way up to the throne room. If it is between 8 AM and 8 PM, EQ time, you will find Seneschal Aldikar standing to the left of the throne. If it's not between the above time, you will find him in a room on the floor below, but he does not give out the 9th quest in this spot, only when he's at the throne. To get the quest, say the phrase "I will accept this task", and you will receive a 6-slot box. The quest, when summarized, requires you to seek out the 6 Coldain traitors and obtain an item from them to prove that they've been slain (usually a head). A faction level of dubious will work to do the quest.
NOTE: Any Coldain you kill in this quest is a traitor and is not on any faction whatsoever.

Traitor 1 - Rodrick Tardok
If you've been following this walkthrough, you should already have the item you need from Rodrick, which is the no drop "Dirk of the Traitor". You do not need Rodrick's head. If you don't know how to kill Rodrick and you don't have the Dirk of the Traitor, please read quest 6, it explains.

Traitor 2 - Murdrick Tardok
You may be thinking to yourself, "This guy has the same last name as Rodrick!" If so, you are amazingly observant. Murdrick is Rodrick's brother and is a traitor as well. However, he's found in the Great Divide, in a cave next to Velketor's Labyrinth, at a location of -5600, +3500. Murdrick is in the first room to the right inside the cave. He also has 6 other traitors with him, 2 of which are clerics. All of them should be dubious to everyone. DO NOT GO INSIDE MURDRICK'S ROOM. Going inside the room triggers a conversation between the traitors. If the conversation ends and Murdrick is not in his spawn point, he will despawn.
This part of the quest is damn tricky. You may think you have such an easy solution but trust me, it isn't. It seems no matter where you attack Murdrick, all the other Coldain will pop on you after a minute unless they are harmonied. When they lose agro they don't always go back to their spawn point in the cave. A level 60 cannot single pull Murdrick without harmony. Do not try to have a monk split him, not only will it never work, Murdrick will also despawn. There are two ways to do this. You can either have a few groups rush in and kill everything, which is way too unnessecary, or you can do it the way I did and the way I watched everyone else do it. I had myself (54 monk), a 60 paladin, 58 druid, and 51 shaman. One group is all you need, but high level harmony is a must. When you have your group, enter the cave and have them buff and med up somewhere in the hall, but not too close to Murdrick's room.
No one but the person with harmony should ever enter Murdrick's room, and even then they will not go in until ready to pull. Once everyone is buffed, have the druid/ranger with harmony to enter the room. They must not be in wolf form, as the traitors are KoS to wolves. The harmonier will harmony everything then cast a spell on Murdrick to pull him. No matter how many add, pull them to the group. If you have more than Murdrick, attempt to split by having everyone attack Murdrick except the one who pulled, then have the puller take the adds outside and kite them for the duration of the fight. You will need to give Murdrick everything you've got to kill him before he despawns. When he dies, loot Murdrick's head and Murdrick's plan. We personally had one add with the level 58 druid pulling, but he simply dumped Murdrick on us and kited the add outside as the shaman healed.

Traitor 3 - Captain Berradin
This is one of the hardest parts of the quest. Not because of any NPC difficulty, but because you need to make Tainted Avalanche Ale. The recipe for which can be found in Murdrick's plan, but here it is: one Bottle, an Iceball, an Ice Wyvern Stinger, Arctic Mussels, Runed Sea Shell (Effect: Cloud), Seahorse Scales, and a vial of Mind Melt. The only no drop component is the Ice Wyvern Stinger. The Ale itself is trivial at a brewing skill of 248 (ouch), and it also is NO DROP. The bottle is bought from bartender merchants. The Iceball is a drop from snow dervishes in Eastern Wastes and Iceclad Ocean. The Ice Wyvern Stinger is a rare drop from wyverns in Cobaltscar.
Arctic Mussels are a ground spawn under the ocean in Cobaltscar, in the bottom of the shipwreck closest to the beach. Runed Sea Shell (Effect: Cloud) is a rare drop from sirens in Siren's Grotto only. Seahorse Scales drop from seahorses in Siren's Grotto, and Mind Melt is a poison that can be made from rogues only, and it also is trivial at 248, but is NOT no drop (obviously). The components for Mind Melt are two Mt. Death Mineral Salts, a Sealed Poison Vial, Ethereal Suspension, and a vial of Quicksilver. Mt. Death Mineral Salts are common drops from goblins in Droga. Ethereal Suspension is bought from rogue merchants. Sealed Poison Vial is made from the pottery trade skill, trivial at 188, the components for which are an old-world non-ruined skin (I personally used Zombie Skin), a Sealed Vial Sketch (merchant-bought), a Water Flask, and a Small Block of Clay (merchant-bought). You will then need to fire it with a High Quality Firing Sheet (merchant-bought).

The components for Quicksilver are one Cinnabar and one Gnomish Spirits (both bought from merchants in Kaladim). For convenience sake, here are some equations:
1. Cinnabar + Gnomish Spirits = Quicksilver
2. Zombie Skin + Sealed Vial Sketch + Water Flask + Small Block of Clay = Poison Vial
3. High Quality Firing Sheet + Poison Vial = Sealed Poison Vial
4. Mt. Death Mineral Salts (2) + Sealed Poison Vial + Ethereal Suspension + Quicksilver = Mind Melt
5. Bottle + Iceball + Ice Wyvern Stinger + Arctic Mussels + Runed Sea Shell (Effect: Cloud) + Seahorse
6. Scales + Mind Melt = Tainted Avalanche Ale
You may need to find someone else with mastered pottery, brewing and poison making skills. I gave up after getting my brewing to 151 and had someone else make it for me. Once the Tainted Avalanche Ale is made, find Captain Berradin in Eastern Wastes in a hut at a location of -60, +2360. You don't need a full group for this. I personally did it with myself (54 monk), a 60 shaman, 60 ranger and 53 wizard. However it was an overkill on Captain Berradin. When ready, have whoever made the Tainted Avalanche Ale give it to Captain Berradin. After a minute, he will choke and fall to the ground. At this point, pull him out of the hut and kill him, the other Coldain there will not assist him. Once dead, loot Berradin's head and the letter to Peffin. He does not drop these items if you haven't given him the Tainted Avalanche Ale.

Traitor 4 - Peffin Ambersnow
At this point on if you screw up you'll need to start with Captain Berradin and make another Tainted Avalanche Ale. The reason for this is each traitor drops an item to trigger the next part of the quest, starting with Captain Berradin who drops the letter to Peffin. So be careful, and have as many people as possible help you. I recommend having two groups for Peffin, or one well balanced with everyone near 60. I did this with almost everyone in my guild who was online at the time, and it was an overkill but also the first time anyone had ever done this before. Luckily, it succeeded. Locate Peffin Ambersnow in a building in the giant fort in Eastern Wastes.
The giant fort is at -1770, +2920, and Peffin is invisible and cons dubious. What happens is this: after you give the note to Peffin, some level 51 giants will spawn in the building you're in, 5 level 51 giants will spawn around the campfire outside the building but inside the fort, and Peffin will respawn in the middle of those 5 giants. This would be very easy if Peffin didn't despawn after a while. Neither she nor the giants around the campfire will move from their spawn point, no matter what. The giants simply stand there staring at you if they agro, and Peffin will shoot endless arrows and will never move. Do not try to AE the giants as you will be summoned and slaughtered. This is the strategy I used. Move your army to the back wall of the giant fort, facing the campfire. They must be against the wall or risk agroing giants. When everyone is buffed and ready, have a monk pull Peffin out and feign death near you but not near everyone else.
For some reason when we did this she agrod on some people so we had to let her go back and try again. When the monk feigns give her the note. The giants and Peffin will immediately spawn at the campfire. Throw something or shoot an arrow at the middle giant to agro them all. Remember they do not attack, rather just stare at you, and will not summon you if you use a ranged weapon. What you need to do is quickly get close to the campfire near where your groups are, and sit. Stay seated at all times, never get up, and make sure anyone who is in front of you never sits down. This way all melees are free to run in and attack Peffin, and the giants will not attack them because they're mostly pissed at you because you're sitting and you attacked them. Kill Peffin as quickly as you can, then have everyone back off so you can get up. Have another person throw or shoot something at the middle giant then sit where you were to switch agro to them so you can run in and loot Peffin.
You will need to loot Peffin's head and the letter to Doldigun. She also drops a very nice bow which is extra and not needed for the quest. The key rule is to not be afraid of the giants when everyone rushes in for the attack. They simply will not kill you. Make sure if anyone is going to sit that they sit down behind you. And kill Peffin ASAP. That's all! Oh one more thing, the reason for pulling her from outside the building to give her the note is because some giants also spawn inside that building that DO move from their spawn point, and if agrod they could cause problems.

Traitor 5 - Doldigun Steinwielder
This part takes place in Kael and it's really easy and fun. You need a minimum of two groups, and it can rewarding for all because armor drops for the Velious armor quests where you'll be going. Gather your forces in Eastern Wastes at the zone to Kael. Once ready, go inside and invis up or kill your way (the mobs on the way are green and easily soloed by me, 54 monk) there. The path you take from the Eastern Wastes zone is this: simply follow the one way hall until you get a large room that splits off in 3 directions.
In this room is a small pond and above the pond is an icy ledge. Climb up to the ledge and you should see a building here. At this point the mobs will be harder and you must kill them. Enter the building and kill all mobs you find inside, or pull them out one at a time and kill them then go in. One of the rooms in this building is long and has a throne at the end. Set up your camp in the room BEFORE the throne room, with the giant chair and table. After the building including the throne room is clear, you and only you will go up and stand on the throne itself and say the phrase, "The Dain shall be slain for the peace we must obtain." Immediately Doldigun Steinwielder will spawn, who is not KoS.
Give him the letter to Doldigun and you will receive a Ring of the Coldain Council. Now attack Doldigun and he despawns. WTF? Look behind you. You have triggered two level 51 giants. Pull these to your groups and kill them. After they are dead, another will spawn in the throne room and runs to your groups immediately. This one is level 55. Kill it and another spawns, this time level 57. Kill it and ANOTHER spawns, this one is level 60. After the level 60 one dies, Doldigun will spawn in the throne room and start running. As soon as the level 60 giant dies run to the throne room and throw something at Doldigun to agro him.
If you don't, he'll run straight through your groups and despawn. This version of Doldigun is level 55. Kill him and loot Doldigun's head. Note that you do not need the letter to Doldigun to trigger this quest. The letter is needed only to receive the Ring of the Coldain Council, and you can do this quest over and over and over for everyone who wants a head. Just say "The Dain shall be slain for the peace we must obtain" at the throne and attack him to trigger the wave of giants. There is no spawn time on the waves, but there is about a half hour spawn time on the other giants in the building, and you want to kill these because the giants in the triggered wave will run at low health.

Traitor 6 - Councilor Juliah Lockheart
The sixth and final traitor is perhaps the easiest of them all, aside from Rodrick. Again, you need 2 groups for this, composed primarily of tanks and healers. Juliah Lockheart can be found in Icewell Keep, so make sure everyone who is helping you is not KoS to Coldain. Enter the Keep's main entrance and head straight across the first floor lobby to the room behind it. You'll find a large room with bleachers on either side. If it is between 8 PM and 8 AM EQ time, the room will have three Councilors in it, including Juliah. If it's between 8 AM and 8 PM, then Juliah will be all the way upstairs in the throne room. You can do this at either location. When your groups are buffed and FM, give Juliah the Ring of the Coldain Council from Doldigun. This respawns her as a much tougher version of herself. She does not cast and hits for 300ish. No other NPCs in the zone will assist her. She fights alone. The tactic I used was to have a level 60 paladin tanking for about 10 to 15 seconds by himself as an enchanter chain runed him, so she got nice and mad at him. At this point have everyone else join in until she dies. Loot Juliah's Head from her. You're almost done!

Getting your 9th ring
Juliah Lockheart was the last kill you need to make. You now have all 6 items from the 6 traitors. Put them in the box that you got from Seneschal Aldikar at the beginning of the quest and remember to combine them. You will need to turn in the full Box of the Guilty and your Velium Coldain Insignia Ring directly to Dain Frosteaver IV himself. This can be a bitch because Dain is on a 7 day timer and uber guilds who are KoS to Coldain are all over him. Whenever you find Dain up, hand over the items to receive your Coldain Hero's Insignia Ring at long last. A faction level of dubious or higher is all you need. In return you will not only receive the ring, but also a no drop Dirk of the Dain, a nice piercing weapon. This is actually the Dirk of the Traitor but the curse has been removed. Return the Dirk of the Dain back to Dain right away and you will not only receive the Dirk back, but also a Declaration of War. You should never ever destroy the Dirk of the Dain, even if you won't use it.

10: Ring of Dain Frostreaver IV: AC10, STR+10, STA+10, MR+10, HP+100, Effect: Frostreaver's Blessing (Right-clickable and stackable 10 point regeneration, 10 point damage shield, and 10 ATK)
10th Coldain Ring War Guide
Nowadays any reasonable tier 2 guild can do a 10th ring war, so hopefully I'm saving a little heartache and reducing the chance of failing a war, so saving you and your guild time, and saving causing grief to others who want to use GD/Thurg.

PREPARATION:
For this War you need the following.
1.9th Coldain Ring.
Please read the guides elsewhere on the MB boards on how to get this.
2. Declaration of War.
This is obtained by handing your Dirk of the Dain (the uncorrupted one from 9th ring) to the Dain, and following the text. You should never destroy your Dirk of the Dain, as if you lose the war you can get a fresh Declaration and try again. Normally it's best to get your declaration upon getting your 9th ring if possible and keep it in the bank ready for the day, because as sure as night follows day you can bet someone will have killed the Dain the day before you want to trigger it.
3. Enough force to do the war.
I'd suggest a minimum of 5 groups of 60th level fairly well equipped people. You should be very comfortable with killing Vindi, and also as far as possible a "raid accomplished" force so able to follow commands, know how to buff, etc etc. We've done it with 4 groups before, and it was damn hard and very close with deaths almost every wave. With 6 groups we walk the encounter.
If your own guild is not strong/big enough to do the war, you can always enter into an agreement with an allied guild, with the promise of future reciprocal help, or of a share in end loot.
This is of course "official" groups. You will always get several individuals "helping" out. Whilst it's probably best to not directly encourage them as they only add to lag, don't piss them off. They ARE trying to be helpful after all. However it's really a 50+ level encounter only. Level 30's tend to get squashed to mobs that hit for 200.
4. Sentry Badain up in GD. He's in the West side "hut" (hill.. whatever.. I'll call them huts here) beside the river near Thurg.
5. Time. The War normally lasts "a good" 2 hours. Make sure your guild has time to do it. You don't want people logging off half way through.
6. Beer Lots of beer for afterwards, or someone with Beer Goggles. Nothing like getting sloshed after a major War.
Gather your forces in GD in between the two "huts" near Badain. This will be your meeting point, buff station and rez station from now on. * (NB. See note on KOS people). Some people put it further back nearer the falls, but there is no need, as giants are easily interceptible at this spot, giving you time to catch "runners" before they reach Thurg. It's also a nice spot because you can use the dwarfs there if necessary to help kill runners.
Make sure you warn the zone for a good 30 minutes before hand what is going to happen in both ooc and shout and give warnings every 5 minutes.
When the war is triggered, ALL mobs in the zone de-pop, the Nexus scion de-pops (ie, no port up, although you can still port down), and very soon a large proportion of the zone will be over run with lvl 50+ giants. Give people time to finish their camps, port out (or up to Luclin). I'd suggest you time the start with the 2nd port up of the Nexus portal. This gives people 2 chances to escape the zone via TP.
The Velks area and the druid/wiz ring are safe areas, and no giants go there.
Make sure you have a wizard with shards at the buff station ready to TL people out for free if necessary, and I'd also have a click stick cleric ready to rez any unfortunates who "get in the way accidentally". You will get good "press" for doing so.
The reply to people who want to help "on the fly" should be "Be careful and don't die, don't agro the dwarfs. Don't expect heals/buffs, and rezes will be given out when we have time."
Also expect a good number of faction taggers, and scavengers to turn up. Faction taggers run around hitting every mob for faction. Scavengers hang around hoping to loot the swords and axe's off the giants to sell for some pp. There is little you can do to prevent this, and I'd suggest you don't get angry about it. If they die, drag them to the middle and tell them they will be rezed AT THE END.
LAG
One thing you need to be aware of is the lag.
When the war is running you can have 50+ people running around in a fairly small area with 10 odd giants, and sometimes 10-20 dwarfs as well. Not only do you get video lag (slow frame rate), you also get data overload lag (data flooding).
Any "lag prevention" measures you can take are best taken early. Turn off anything you don't need, and set your clip plane appropriately. Make sure critical people are not those always going LD when there are more than 15 people in the same place. You really don't want the MA on Narandi to go LD half way through.
The worst lag occurs during the Narandi fight, so again be prepared for it, esp the clerics and MA.

TRIGGERING
When you are all ready, hand the Declaration of War and your 9th Ring to Sentry Badain in the West side hut.
<20:15:44> Sentry Badain Breathes deeply and blows into an ornate horn. The sound echos through the mountain pass. All local inhabitants scurry to take cover.
<20:15:44> Sentry Badain says 'I'll be right with you, Azathool.'
You will get your 9th Ring back. At this point the Nexus scion will de-pop along with all zone mobs !. So make sure the zone knows your about to do it.
Your sure to get someone who was not listening and in the middle of a fight their mob de-pops and do a WTF ? Well. That's not your problem.
If you now walk out of the hut and towards Thurg, and cross the river about half way there a ring of "Hero Dwarfs" will spawn.
Wait and listen to them talking... This text can take quite a while (~10 mins).
<20:16:40> Sentry Badain says 'Excellent! All of your commanders have reported to the Dain, and none too soon mind you. We are getting reports of Kromrif troop movement in the area and final preparations must be made. Follow me and the Seneschal will brief you.'
<20:16:58> Kargin the Archer 's stomach growls loudly.
<20:17:33> Garadain Glacierbane says 'With all due respect, Seneschal, I feel my men are best suited for the eastern post. If the outlander has rounded up enough soldiers to hold 'em off from the south then they'll definitely test us in the gorge. We'll be needin' a solid defense there.'
<20:17:44> Seneschal Aldikar says 'Very well, Garadain, the eastern post is yours. I'll place Kargin and his bowmen on the hill to the west, and Churn, you'll station your troops up near the caves just past them.'
<20:17:48> Churn the Axeman says 'Understood sir.'
<20:17:51> Sentry Badain says 'Excuse me, Seneschal Aldikar, you instructed me to report to you when the outlander returned. I have brought him.'
<20:18:38> Seneschal Aldikar says 'Perfect timing outlander, please be seated and listen carefully. Badain, yer dismissed.'
<20:20:13> Sentry Badain says 'Sir, yessir!'
<20:21:00> Seneschal Aldikar says 'We knew the day might come when the Kromrif would discover the location of our beloved city. It was only prudent for there to be a plan for such a circumstance. In light of recent developments, however, our plans have been adjusted. Outlander, the Dain has appointed you to lead our armies in defense of Thurgadin.'
<20:21:47> Seneschal Aldikar says 'I will stand here with a handful of men as a final line of defense. Should I fall, all will be lost. You will have these men and their soldiers to command. Use them wisely, you will be richly rewarded if your forces are able to keep them alive.'
<20:22:34> Seneschal Aldikar says 'Garadain will post his men in the gorge to the east. Churn and his men will await your command in the caves to the west. Dobbin will have his forces at the ready in the clearing directly south of here near the towers. If any Kromrif make it to his vicinity he and his men will attack with or without your command.'
<20:23:21> Seneschal Aldikar says 'Lastly, Corbin will hide his men in the worm caves to the south, call on him for a surprise attack. Remember where these men are stationed, outlander. Should they call out for help you may wish to send some of your people to aid them.'
<20:24:09> Seneschal Aldikar says 'The leader of this invasion is a powerful Kromrif named Narandi. Rumor has it that he is more powerful than any ten of his peers. He must fall. When he is slain you must show his head and the ninth ring to me.'
Eventually Seneshal Aldikar will ask for your Ring.
<20:24:56> Seneschal Aldikar says 'Scout Zrelik here will follow you and serve as your herald. He will relay your orders to the troops. Show me your ninth ring now to verify your identity and I will give you the orders to memorize.'

Give him your 9th Ring, and you will get it back along with a note. This contains instructions on how to command the dwarfs.

<20:25:02> Seneschal Aldikar says 'Commit these orders to memory, Azathool, have them ready to speak at a moment's notice. When you are finished memorizing, repeat them to me. Tell your soldiers to prepare themselves. When the orders are handed to Zrelik we will take up our positions.'

Write down the commands (if you want to..), and then hand the instruction note to Zrelik the Scout. You have a maximum time limit to hand in the note to Zrelik, so don't take too long.
** Seneschal Aldikar says 'Outlander, the enemy approaches. If you do not hand Zrelik the orders you will not be able to command the Coldain armies. You have one minute remaining.

<20:29:08> Zrelik the Scout says 'At yer service, Azathool. Remember now, before issuing me an order ya must disengage from any combat and be sure yer speakin to me. I advise yo to avoid combat at all costs, your leadership is crucial.'

At this point Zrelik the Scout becomes your "pet" and the War itself is triggered. Within a few minutes the dwarf armies will spawn, and the first wave of giants will spawn.
The following shouting match should occur, but personally I've never seen it. One of the many quest bugs I guess.
Seneschal Aldikar shouts 'Good citizens of Thurgadin, hear me! Our city, our people, our very lives are in danger this day. The Kromrif are at this very moment marching towards us in an offensive they hope will bring about our demise...
Seneschal Aldikar shouts 'I hereby command, by authority of Dain Frostreaver the Fourth, that all able bodied Coldain fight to the death in defense of our land. Children, disabled citzens, and unseasoned travellers are advised to evacuate immediately!
Seneschal Aldikar shouts 'My fellow soldiers, take heart! For we are not alone in this endeavor. One among us, an outlander, has earned the title Hero of the Dain for valiant service to our people. This newcomer has brought with him allies that will fight alongside you to help bring about our victory.
Seneschal Aldikar shouts 'My friends... Brell did not place us here so many centuries ago to be slaughtered by these heathens. Nor did our forefather, Colin Dain, sacrifice himself simply to have us fail here now. Through these events we were brought to this day to test our strength and our faith.
Seneschal Aldikar shouts 'Will we be shackled together to slave away in Kromrif mines or will we stand united and feed these beasts Coldain blades? By Brell I promise you, 'It is better to die on our feet than to live on our knees!'
Seneschal Aldikar shouts 'TROOPS, TAKE YOUR POSITIONS!!
Narandi the Wretched shouts 'No need to pray to your little God stumpymen, you'll be meeting him in person soon enough!
Seneschal Aldikar shouts 'You'll be begging Brell for forgiveness by the day's end, vile beast!
Narandi the Wretched shouts 'Kromrif! Form up! Dispatch these tiny fools and destroy Thurgadin. Theres a keg of ice mead waiting for every man back at home.
<20:32:25> Kementar tells the guild, 'POP SOUTH'

ZRELIK the SCOUT
Zrelik the Scout is a dark blue con to a 60th level, and will follow you around. He will assist exactly the same as an enchanter pet in that you have to be hit for him to assist you. However you cannot call him off. Don't worry about having SOW or whatever, he will run pretty fast to keep up.
He CAN be killed, but don't worry overly. If he is killed you just lose the ability to command the dwarf armies. He is NOT a hero, and you lose no "end loot" by him dying. But more on that later. As a monk/SK, if you FD you also FD off your pet. Meaning he no longer moves around. So I'd suggest leaving him in the middle with the other dwarfs rather than in the middle of the battlefield.
Some people actually purposefully get Zrelik killed as he can be a pain. Myself, I just FD'd at the huts and left him there nice and safe.

THE GOAL
The goal of the war is to stop Seneschal Aldikar being killed, and to kill Narandi the Wretched. If any giant reaches Thurgadin, the Seneshal will (usually) be killed, and you lose the war.
If this happens, then a line of giants pop outside Thurgadin "guarding it", and every NPC inside Thurgadin de-spawns (dies). This is usually for about 2 hours duration.
You will be pretty unpopular for de-popping Thurg for 2+ hours, so don't start the war unless you know what you are doing.

DWARF ARMIES
The Dwarf armies consist of 6 "camps" of dwarfs.
The 1st is right at the Thurgadin entrance itself. It's commanded by Seneschal Aldikar himself standing near the zone line, with some crossbow men outside in the vally. If he dies (ie, a Giant reaches the falls) you lose.
The 2nd is a little down the river at the "huts" (or towers as Aldikar calls them). This is commanded by Dobbin.
The 3rd is to the East of that point, near the needle in the valley towards the EW zone. It's commanded by Garadain.
The 4th is up the hill on the West towards the Tizmak caves. It's commanded by Churn.
The 5th is to the West of the huts at the bottom of the hill down from the Tizmak caves. It's a line of crossbow men commanded by Kargin.
The 6th is just outside the Wurm caves tucked into a little alcove to the west of it, and is commanded by Corbin.
These are the hero's you must protect during the War if you want any of the "extra" end items. If a dwarf camp gets over run and the hero killed, you will lose his item.
You cannot heal any of the NPC's, but they have their own clerics, so usually there is no need.
If your a caster, be careful to not use any AoE spells around the dwarfs, because you will agro them.

THE WAR & MOBS
The war itself consist of three "major" waves. Once a major wave is finished there is usually a 10 minute break where everyone can rest for a while and get ready for the next wave.
Each major wave itself consists of several "mini" waves of mobs. The number of mini waves is semi-random, and the number of mobs in each mini wave is semi-random. As long as you kill each mini wave fairly quickly you will end up with around two minutes between them, but if your slow they can over lap.

Wave 1
The first major wave consists of Kromrif Recruit's and Kromrif Captain's.
The Recruits are pretty easy and can be handled by just about any 60th solo, even unslowed. They are not very MR and can easily be slowed, nuked, rooted and snared. They are akin to the simple blue con trash mobs at the WL zone of Kael, but have more HP's.
The Captain summons and needs a couple of people on him, even so, not too hard. Leave the Captain until last.
At the end of the First Major wave, the following text should occur.
Seneschal Aldikar shouts 'Outlander, our scouts report no more Kromrif for the time being. Resurrect your fallen and heal your wounded. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of them.
Narandi the Wretched shouts 'Interlopers! You've chosen the wrong side in this war. My warriors will succeed where the young recruits have failed. You shall suffer the same fate as the pathetic vermin you serve. Your heads shall be perched upon our spears along with those of your Coldain friends!
Seneschal Aldikar shouts 'Pay no attention to his babbling, outlander. It is our destiny to emerge victorious. Prepare your army for glorious battle!
Narandi the Wretched shouts 'My warriors approach, I offer you one final opportunity to bow before the might of Rallos Zek. Throw down your weapons and surrender. You will live out your lives in relative peace, rightfully serving your Kromrif masters.
Seneschal Aldikar shouts 'Enough! Show yourself coward! Your blasphemous words shall be etched upon your spacious brow. All will mock you for generations to come. Your own god will forsake you when he witnesses your defeat here today!
Narandi the Wretched shouts 'Warriors! Charge through these pompous fools. Any you manage to capture shall become your personal slaves. The outlanders and the Seneschal must die! Bring me their heads!

Wave 2
The 2nd major wave consists of Kromrif Warrior's, Priest's of Zek, and sometimes a Kromrif General.
Tougher, and you will probably need the mob slowing or a CH. Once slowed they can be solo tanked pretty easily, but have a large number of HP's so will take a while. Two people can handle one fine once slowed.
The Priests and Warriors are around level 50.
Take out the Priests before the Warriors.
Generals are around level 55, and are as hard as Vets in Kael and should be killed last in each wave.
2nd wave still slowable with a few resists, magic lands fine and can be snared.
All giants in the 2nd wave summon, and Generals enrage.
Again, at the end of the second wave, the following text should occur.
Seneschal Aldikar shouts 'Well fought, friends! May the piles of Kromrif corpses strike fear in the hearts of our overgrown enemies.
Narandi the Wretched shouts 'Silence fool! Speak not of our fallen. They who die honorably in combat earn an eternal rest in the company of our greatest heroes... even Rallos Zek himself!
Seneschal Aldikar shouts 'It is your misguided beliefs that made this war necessary. Now you feel the sting of your errors. Return to Kael and preach the doctrine of Brell Serilis in hopes that your people may someday be spared.
Narandi the Wretched shouts 'Enough chatter. Our veterans approach now to finish you. You have been tested and your weaknesses have been assessed. Bid farewell to your dear Thurgadin, those of you who are fortunate enough to survive the slaughter shall make a new home in the Kromrif slave pens!
Narandi the Wretched shouts 'Veterans! Be sure that this time we allow none of the stumpymen to escape to create yet another city. This shall be our final war with these unworthy beings.

Wave 3
The 3rd major wave consists of Kromrif Veteran's, High Priest's of Zek and 4 Kromrif Warlord's. So sometimes you will get a WL in a wave, and sometimes not.
A typical pop is 8 Veterans, 2 Priests and a Warlord.
Veterans are around level 58, hit for 200 and will very quickly beat a none tank down. They are pretty MR, and you'll be lucky to land a magic based slow unless fully debuffed or snare on them. Tanks will die unless they have healing close by. Disease slow lands ok.
The Priests can be slowed by magic.
Warlords are level 60, hit for 350 odd and are similar to a PoZ (Kael), and it's usually best to have a defensive warrior solo tank them with a dedicated cleric until the other mobs in the wave are dead. Some WL's are also casters.
You should kill the High Priests first, then the Veterans and then the Warlord.
Once you get your 4th Warlord pop in a wave, get ready for Narandi, because he usually appears very soon.
Spearmen
There are also 2 permanent placements of Giant Spearmen. These don't pop immediately on commencement of the war, but usually after the first mini-wave.
One is up near the Wurm cave "Needle" in the valley towards the Spires, and the other is directly opposite across the ice plain towards the druid ring. These stay in place and de-spawn soon after the end of the war.
Giant Spearmen are of themselves not too hard, however they summon which can be a real problem if you get within agro range of them. You will not easily be able to escape them once summoned,
As stated elsewhere, if you have the forces, try and kill the two lines of spearmen during quiet moments of the first wave.
At the end of the 3rd major wave Narandi the Wretched spawns down the river from Thurgadin near the wurm caves. When this occurs, all of the normal Coldain Dwarfs will de-spawn except for the hero's. Each mini wave can spawn in one of three places. 1. Directly south of Thurgadin near the Wurm caves. These will run straight down the river towards Thurgadin. 2. Near Nexus spires. These can head in two directions. West towards the river, and then down the river. OR North towards the needle and the dwarfs there, and then West towards Thurgadin. 3. West plains. These can head in two directions. East towards the river, and then when half way there run North/East towards the dwarfs and Thurgadin. North straight up the hill towards the Tizmak caves and the dwarfs on top. For 2 & 3, until you have killed (see below) the spearmen, it's not a good idea to approach the giants spawn points as you can agro the spearmen and get summoned. Once the spearmen are dead, you can engage the pop whenever you want. Each wave can be of a varying size, so it's a good idea for the tracker to call out on a pop if it's small or large, and for the 3rd wave if it has a Warlord or not.

TACTICS
There are many ways of doing the War, but I'll describe the way our guild does it. Many successes (and a couple of failures) have fine tuned this.
1. Have a tracker or two placed up the river towards the Wurm cave entrance. Their job is to TRACK. Not fight. The only fight they should do is Narandi (who has no faction hit btw). When a wave pops, it's their responsability to say where, how big and what direction it's heading in. It's best for them to stay invis/out of the way if they can, because a dead tracker cannot call new pops. We use a +Giant faction tracker so she can run around them as she wishes. And she always gets the solo exp kill on Narandi as well. Damn AM3/disc Rangers.
2. Do NOT command the dwarfs around (using the Zrelik the Scout). It causes lag, they are pretty useless, they get in the way of KOS people and you can lose hero's doing it. See (how to use the Dwarfs) below.
3. Do NOT split your forces unless you get multiple spawns at the same time. See more tactics below.
4. Kill the spearmen with one group during the first "major" wave during gaps between waves or at the end of the 1st major wave.
If you can spare a group (healer, slower, damage) have them start on the East side spear men, and work their way down the line killing them. When the small east side is dead, move to the larger West side. They have to be careful not to get trapped by a pop.
This helps hugely at later stages of the war. It reduces lag, and gives you far more freedom of movement. Being able to engage a pop earlier helps a lot to reduce the risk of wave overlap. We now always do this every war, and the difference it makes in being able to move to engage is significant.
5. When fighting the giants, try and keep then as closely packed together as possible. If able, try and draw them close together. If your off 100 yards away on your own, heals may not be incoming, and it's hard for another tank to come to your aid.
6. DO NOT TRAIN Thurgadin. I don't know how many times this has to be said, but do NOT train Thurgadin if your in trouble. If a giant reaches Thurg, you lose. This goes for anyone in the zone. Train the opposite way, towards the wurm caves and/or other groups away from Thurg. Better to die and get a rez than lose the war.
Be very careful of sowed newbs doing this. Giants run at sow speed, and if someone agro's one, and runs for Thurg the giant can be hard to catch. The newb will/can train the giant all the way to Thurg.
7. Make sure you know how many groups you have and who generally is in them. If you get a multi-pop, you will have to split your forces, so will have to know which groups to send.
Also be aware of what warriors you have, and if they have defensive up or not. Very important for the Warlords and Narandi.
8. If you die, get a /loc before you do, and consent your group and say where you died. It's their responsability to drag you back to the buff station for a rez.
At the start of the War we have everyone waiting at the buff station, and the tracker calls out when a pop occurs. The will be one of 3 options.
A. "POP SOUTH. All go South and engage". Everyone should run south down the river and engage.
B. "POP WEST.. Please wait for more info." Option 2 can then be further defined as.. "WEST POP Heading E to river. please go South and engage" Everyone should run south west heading towards where the ring is, and engage. "WEST POP Heading N to Tizmark. All go West and engage". Everyone should head directly east up the hill towards the tizmak caves.
C. "POP EAST. Please wait for more info." Option 3 can then be further defined as.. "EAST POP Heading west to river. Please go South and engage" Everyone should run down the river and engage when they get there. "EAST POP Heading N to needle. All go East and engage". Everyone should run East towards the needle in the valley.
For "almost" all of the fights you will only have a single "mini" wave spawn at any one time Rarely you can have two mini waves pop at once, or overlap. So the way we generally do it is have everyone run to the fight and engage the giants.
If you have 5 good groups, you very rarely have any overlap between waves as you can kill them reasonably fast.
I've seen strategies where you split your forces and have one group east, one west and three middle. Personally I think it's a waste of resource and your better off having most of the one force moving together.
However, the tracker MUST keep a lookout for more spawns. If an extra mini wave pops, then (by group number) the raid force should be split and the 2nd pop engaged. That's why it's important that the tracker keeps on the lookout, everyone listens to orders and you know how/when to split your forces.
However, in every War we have done we get very few overlaps/multi-pops per war and it's usually not that bad. Just keep on your toes and only split your forces when you need to.
For mini-waves, you should always kill clerics first, warrior giants 2nd and leave the "boss" mobs till last (ie, Warlords).
Melee tactics Generally wherever possible every melee should engage a mob. If you have limited numbers of people, you will often find that you end up with 10 mobs and 10 melee. It's important that all mobs are engaged, else they run for Thurg and you lose.
Be careful when you engage as the giants start out close together, and you can end up with three on you at once.. and for the 3rd wave this can be fatal. So try and split one out if possible and then tank it until help comes.
Keep an eye out for solo casters, especially later in the war, as they will die very quickly.
Cleric tactics It's going to be hard for you, as mobs are spread out, and melee are spread out. Communication and vigilance is the key. If a cleric is near 2 mobs engaged by 2 melee, then you are not needed there. Look for single/lone people tanking mobs. Make sure you have a good spread of spells loaded, CH, Celestial and a fast heal (DL or whatever). Don't bother with Stuns, they don't work. Also have DA and DB loaded because if you have 2 mobs on 1 person, and you CH one will usually jump you.
MoK/MoR lands fine on the first two waves of mobs, but not Vets.
Slower tactics It's the slowers job to slow as many mobs as possible. This includes enchanters. However the veterans in the 3rd wave are very magic resistant, and usually only shammies disease slow will traditionally stick. With the new resist changes, if the mob is sufficiently debuffed first however magic based slows land.
Watch your agro slowing so many mobs.
Forget trying to nuke etc. Slowing everything is your number 1 priority. Once slowed just about any of the mobs can be solo tanked so your first minute of any wave will be running around slowing things. Make sure if there are multiple slowers you split up the battlefield and know where each of you is going.
Nukers tactics Normal tactics apply. Don't over agro. Also have snare loaded. The first two major waves can be snared.
Keep an eye out for runners. We usually leave runners to the casters to catch, and then throw a melee onto them.
Buffers Tactics Make sure you have your buffs loaded when your at the rest spot. Aego/Focus/Sta/KEI/VoG/CoP/SoE/BMB/Regen are the most common. Try not to have the whole raid force's buffs fade at once, as you will have to refresh them at regular intervals. MGB helps enormously.
It's a 2+ hour fight, so be prepared to refresh buffs several times, especially haste.
You should generally try and leave a group at the buff spot. This serves a few purposes.
1. If anyone dies, their corpses can be dragged back and rezed.
2. Anyone who needs buffs can generally get them there.
3. Runners. It's possible for a runner to break away from the main force and make a charge for Thurgadin. It's therefore vital that these runner giants are stopped before they reach Thurg.
After each mini wave is killed have everyone run back to the central buff station and wait for the next pop. Whilst there you can rez and re-buff.
Make sure everyone keeps their buffs up !!
Here are the timestamps/log extracts from my own war to give you an idea of the frequency of waves etc. As you can see, we get just over a minute rest between each mini wave, and around 10 minutes rest between each major wave. Each wave consists of between 6 and 11 giants, so your looking at around 180 giants in total for a whole war. Which means your killing on average a giant every 40 seconds.