**** Complete Guide to the Wintersday 2008 Event ****

Table of Contents:

Note: Use CTRL+F and search for each topic listed below...

• General Event Information
• Which characters can join in with the Event?
• Towns Redecorated for the Wintersday Event?
• Collectable Item: Candy Cane Shard

How to get them?
What are they used for?

• Wintersday Quests

Support Dwayna Quests

The Greatest Snowman Ever Made
1. Save the Reindeer
2. Find the Stolen Presents
3. Spreading the Wintersday Spirit

Support Grenth Quests

A Very Grentchie Wintersday
1. White Mist
2. How The Grentches Stole Wintersday
3. The Gift of Giving

Eye of the North Quests

1. The Three Wise Norn
2. Charr-broiled Plans
3. Wintersday Cheer
4. Snowball Dominance

• Special Reward - Jingle Bear

• Snowball Fight Arena PvP (Dwayna Vs Grenth)

How do I enter it?
Arena Rules and Setup
Snowball Arena Skills
Playing Tips
Prizes

• Snowball Fight Quests PvE (Dwayna Vs Grenth)

Support Dwayna

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grenth
Strength of Snow

Support Grenth

In Grenth's Defence
Straight to the Heart

• Feature: The Winter Dwarf
• Wintersday Henchman: Enchanted Snowman
• Present Hunt
• Festival Finale

Wintersday 9 Rings Game (Dwayna Vs Grenth)
Hat Information
Dwayna's Hat

Rudi Mask

Grenth's Hat

Grentch Cap

• Wintersday Collectors

Prophecies

Ascalon City
Lion's Arch
Droknar's Forge

Nightfall

Kamadan

Eye of the North
Special: Wintersday Gift Giver

• Candysmiths
• Wintersday Collectable Items

Frosty Summoning Stone

Crafting Details

Mischievous Summoning Stone

Crafting Details

Frosty Tonic
Mischievous Tonic
Eggnog
Spiked Eggnog
Snowman Summoner
Fruitcake
Peppermint Candy Cane
Wintergreen Candy Cane
Rainbow Candy Cane
Winter Gift
Wintersday Gift
Glob of Frozen Ectoplasm
Yuletide Tonic

• Updates to Guide
• Contributors
• Special Thanks

General Event Information

The event begins on Friday, Thursday 19th, 2008 Noon Pacific Time (-8 GMT) and runs till January 5, 2009 Noon Pacific Time (-8 GMT).

Time Conversion Tool:

http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc




Which characters can join in with the Event?

Any character can join in this event, providing that they have access to Prophecies or Nightfall campaigns. As the event doesn't take place anywhere in Factions. It does however take place in the Eye of the North located in the Far Shiverpeaks.

But you can still join in Snowball Fights by going to the Great Temple of Balthazar.




Towns Redecorated for the Wintersday Event

Towns that have been redecorated for this event included:

• Lion's Arch
• Kamadan, Jewel of Istan
• Droknar's Forge
• Ascalon City
• The Eye of the North

Changes include the following:

• Snow as far as the eye can see
• Wintersday Trees
• Snowmen
• Carollers
• Giant Candy Canes
• NPCs who throw snowballs
• Giant Gift Boxes

Special Collectable Item: Candy Cane Shard



A Candy Cane Shard is a special item only available during the Wintersday special event. They are classed as both a collectable drop and a Salvage Item.

How to get them?

• Every monster, throughout the game (but only during Wintersday 2008 event)
• Three candy cane shards are awarded to each member of the winning team in PvP snowball fights.

What are they used for?

• You can exchange 5 candy cane shards for a 1 Wintersday Gift by speaking to the Wintersday Gift Giver [Collector].
• You require 1 candy cane shard for each game in the Festival Finale you play in.
• You give these items to Candysmiths who will craft you Candy Cane Weapons in return. See next section for more information.

Wintersday Quests

During the festivities, special quests are on offer:


Support Dwayna Quests:

The Greatest Snowman Ever Made

You get this quest Old Nickoles in Lion's Arch:

1. Speak to Joy, priestess of Dwayna, and learn how to aid the goddess of light and turn the tide of winter. For the children.
2. Make Scrappy happy.
3. Ask around for 2 pieces of coal... There must be some out there somewhere.
4. Ask around for a pipe made out of corncob or some other material... There must be one out there somewhere.
5. Ask around for some a magical hat... There must be one out there somewhere.
6. Return to Scrappy Jhim and help him make the biggest snowman ever.
7. Take back Nebo Village for Dwayna! Destroy the Grentches and Humbugs.
8. See Joy for your reward.

You can collect the items in any order. The items themselves can be found from the following NPCs:

• Vanguard Kyle has the 2 pieces of coal in Ascalon City next to Symon the Scribe.
• King Jalis has the pipe in Droknar's Forge
• Magi Malaquire has the magic hat in Lion's Arch

The following 3 quests are done in a chain:

1. Save the Reindeer

Acquired from Grandfather Kringle in Kamadan, Jewel of Istan

1. Meet with the Frost Maiden in Fahranur, The First City.
2. Find the kidnapped reindeer in Fahranur, The First City. You have found x of the 2 groups of kidnapped reindeer.
3. Return the reindeer to the Frost Maiden.
4. Meet with the Frost Maiden in Mehtani Keys.
5. Find the kidnapped reindeer in Mehtani Keys. You have found x of the 2 groups of kidnapped reindeer.
6. Return the reindeer to the Frost Maiden.
7. See Grandfather Kringle for your reward.

The locations of the reindeer are as follows:

Fahranur, The First City:


Mehtani Keys:


Note: You must free all 4 Reindeer in each area and speak to the Frost Maiden without leaving the area. If you map travel or leave the area after freeing the Reindeer you will need to free the Reindeer again.


2. Find the Stolen Presents

Acquired from Grandfather Kringle in Kamadan, Jewel of Istan

1. Speak to the Frost Maiden on the Plains of Jarin and learn how to find the stolen presents.
2. Guide Rudi around the Plains of Jarin to find the stolen presents. You have recovered x of the stolen presents.
3. Return the stolen presents to the Frost Maiden.
4. Meet the Frost Maiden in Issnur Isles.
5. Guide Rudi around the Issnur Isles to find the stolen presents. You have recovered x of the stolen presents.
6. Return the stolen presents to the Frost Maiden.
7. See Grandfather Kringle for your reward.

The stolen presents can be found in the following locations:

Plains of Jarin:


Issnur Isles:



3. Spreading the Wintersday Spirit

Acquired from Grandfather Kringle in Kamadan, Jewel of Istan

1. Meet with the Frost Maiden in Zehlon Reach to learn how the Festive Moa can spread Wintersday spirit.
2. Escort the Festive Moa to the village so she can entertain the locals.
3. Play some music to put the Festive Moa in a dancing mood.
4. Tell the Frost Maiden about the Moa's performance.
5. Meet the Frost Maiden in Issnur Isles to continue spreading Winterdsay spirit.
6. Take the Festive Moa to the village so she can entertain the locals.
7. Play more music to inspire the Festive Moa to boogie down.
8. Tell the Frost Maiden about the Moa's performance.
9. See Grandfather Kringle for your reward.

You need to take the Festive Moa to the following locations:

Zehlon Reach:

Issnur Isles:


Note: The Festive Moa is not an animal and cannot be charmed.




Support Grenth Quests:

A Very Grentchie Wintersday

You get this quest Old Nickoles in Lion's Arch:

1. Speak to Vehemus to learn how you can assist Grenth.
2. Ask around for some termites... There must be some out there somewhere.
3. Ask around for some gunk... There must be some out there somewhere.
4. Ask around for some garlic... There must be some out there somewhere.
5. Ask around for a pair of unwashed socks... There must be some out there somewhere.
6. Return the four ingredients to Vehemus.
7. Meet Vehemus and the Grentch outside of Lion's Arch.
8. Travel to the Ascalon Settlement with the Grentch and destroy all the Wintersday gifts from Dwayna. X of 7 Wintersday gifts remaining.
9. See Vehemus for your reward.

Please check Guildwiki for item locations (Screenshots): http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/A_Very_...hie_Wintersday

Once all the items are acquired, talk to Vehemus then leave from Lion's Arch to pick up the Grentch and destroy the presents (7 total) in the Ascalon Settlement; click on a present to destroy it.


The following 3 quests are done in a chain:

1. White Mist

Acquired from Elder Skruuj in Kamadan, Jewel of Istan

1. Rendezvous with the Humbugs on the Plains of Jarin.
2. Destroy the Freezie Wannabes. x of 3 remain.
3. See Elder Skruuj for your reward.

Collect the Humbugs right outside of Kamadan and proceed to the nearby Freezie Wannabe and destroy it. Next make your way to the other two Wannabes are outside of the Sunspear Great Hall and destroy them.

Freezie Wannabes have a low resistance to Fire damaged, so use fiery weapons and fire magic to take them down easily.


2. How The Grentches Stole Wintersday

Acquired from Elder Skruuj in Kamadan, Jewel of Istan

1. Rendezvous with the Grentch squad in Fahranur, The First City.
2. Capture the Wintersday stocking by destroying its protectors. X of 5 groups remain.
3. See Elder Skruuj for your reward.

Depart Jokanur Diggings and meet up with the the Grentch Squad. From there proceed South along the eastern path, taking the final bridge towards Fahranur. There are five mobs of Level 12 Brrrls, some of the mobs also having a Yeti, you need to kill all these mobs. One of the mobs, the one closest to the bridge, has the boss Ursula the White.

Snowmen mobs have a low resistance to Fire damaged, so use fiery weapons and fire magic to take them down easily.


3. The Gift of Giving

Acquired from Elder Skruuj in Kamadan, Jewel of Istan

1. Deliver a special present to Bahbukar in Churrhir Fields.
2. Deliver a special present to Timahr in Plains of Jarin.
3. Deliver a special present to Ashigun in Zehlon Reach.
4. Deliver a special present to Kanyama in Issnur Isles.
5. Deliver a special present to Tesserai in Mehtani Keys.
6. See Elder Skruuj for your reward

The usual monsters will be found in the area, so be careful. You need to click on the NPC to deliver the present, at which time you can map travel to the next location.

Maps:

Snowball Fights Arena PvP (Dwayna Vs Grenth)

The snowball arena is where players can join and fight for Dwayna or Grenth (selected a random) and earn prizes, faction and gamer points:

How do I enter it?

Simply speak to any any Wintersday Priest to teleport to the starting location. From there you can enter the arena solo.


Arena Rules and Setup

The following rules apply for this arena:

• Level: Any
• Team Size: 4
• Teams: Random
• Side: Random (Dwayna's or Grenth's team)

Character Rules:

• All characters may enter regardless of level. (See reason below)
• Equipment, including armour and weapons, is disabled and has no effect during the match.
• The Yuletide effect sets everyone's maximum health to 500, maximum energy to 40, energy regeneration at 4, and prevents attacks with weapons.

Snowball Arena Skills

Regardless of what your skill bar is when you enter, you skills are replaced with the following skill bar:


The skills you are provided with are described as follows:

• Snowball - Spell. You throw a slow-moving snowball at target foe. That foe takes 50 damage if it hits.
• Mega Snowball - Spell. You throw a very slow-moving snowball at target foe. That foe is knocked down and takes 75 damage if it hits.

Skill 5 will be one of two skills depending on which God side you are currently fighting on:

• Avalanche - Skill. Target foe and all nearby foes are Crippled for 10 seconds.
• Yellow Snow - Glyph. Lose one Condition. Your next snowball causes Disease for 10 seconds. (Note that this will replace Hidden Rock since its also a Glyph)

Skill 6 is replaced with one of the following skills, depending on your current primary profession:

Warrior:



Elementalist:



Mesmer:



Monk:



Necromancer:



Ranger:



Assassin:



Dervish:

The Avatar of Dwayna:



The Avatar of Grenth:



For 30 seconds, whenever you use an attack skill, you Steal 5 Health from your target. This Skill is disabled for 60 seconds.

Paragon:



For 10 seconds, the next time each ally within earshot throws a snowball, that snowball moves 100% faster.

Ritualist:



Create a level 5 Spirit of Jack Frost. This spirit's attacks deal 50 damage. This Spirit dies after 60 seconds.


Playing Tips

• Presents spawn every 30 seconds, starting 15 seconds into the match. Presents can spawn in front of the waterfall in the south west and cave in the north east, or at the top of the cliffs behind them.
• Dwayna is to the east, north of the red resurrection shrine. Grenth is west, to the south of the blue resurrection shrine.
• Players must pick up presents and carry them to the avatar of "their" god.
• The victors will be decided by which team brings 5 Presents to their god's avatar first. In the event of a tie both teams lose.
• There are fake presents that explode and do 250 damage to the player who picked it up. Roughly 1 in 3 presents are fake, there is no way to distinguish them from regular presents without picking them up.
• Presents reduce movement speed to roughly 50%.
• Presents are dropped if the player holding it is knocked down.
• Players who die resurrect every 5 seconds
• Dying in the arena does not count as a real death. This means people aiming for the Survivor title can die in the arena without losing their progress.
• Some of your weapon stats do work in snowball fights. Vamp mods for example make you lose health, a monk using enchantment mod gets a longer ice breaker, shields with condition duration reduction work when you get crippled by avalanche or poisoned by yellow snow or dazed by hidden rock.

Prizes

• 100 Balthazar Faction for each unique kill
• 50 Balthazar Faction and 3 Candy Cane Shards for winning
• 50 Balthazar Faction for a Flawless Victory
• 50 Balthazar Faction for 5 and 10 Consecutive Wins
• Gladiator points are NOT awarded to teams winning 10 times in a row.
• 10 points toward the Gamer title track are awarded for each victory

Snowball Fight Quests PvE (Dwayna Vs Grenth)

The PvE snowball fights are special repeatable solo quests where you will use Snowball Fighting Skills instead of normal skills. To do any of the solo quests, you need to speak to the Rift Warden in Kamadan, Jewel of Istan or Lion's Arch. The quests are as follows:




Support Dwayna

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grenth

This is a solo quest.

Speak to the Rift Warden when you are ready to enter the Underworld.

1. Recover all the stolen presents. x of 5 gift bundles recovered.
2. See Rift Warden for your reward.
3. *BONUS*: Survive for as long as possible.

• Upon entering the Underworld, all other party members are removed and your skills are replaced with the snow fighting skills.
• In order to "capture" the presents you must clear the enemies from around each gift bundle and stand by it. In the Mission Progress section of your interface a bar will measure your capture progress. Red means the enemy control the gift bundle, while blue means you have captured it.

• BONUS - Upon finishing the mission an Avatar of Dwayna appears. She offers to send you back to town or you can try the bonus, which is to survive as long as possible. There are 6 rounds of 6 Grentches to fight. You receive one Candy Cane Shard for each completed wave.

• Drops include Candy Cane Shards and Globs of Frozen Ectoplasm. See sections below for what you use these times for.

Strength of Snow

Note: Eye of the North expansion is required to access this quest.

This is a solo quest.

Speak to the Rift Warden when you are ready to enter the Secret Lair of the Snowmen.

Summary

1. Speak to the Rift Warden when you are ready to defend the Secret Lair of the Snowmen.

You need to make your way to Freezie in the area where he is normally located within the Secret Lair of the Snowmen Dungeon.

Along the way you will find Snowmen fighting Grentches (and losing). Help them out since it'll make it easier for you to kill the Grentches with Snowmen taking hits. However any surviving Snowmen won't help afterwards, as they'll flee to the exit. A few Grentches will also pop up along the way but well before they're in your aggro circle, so you can prepare for them.

Once you get to Freezie, there will be several waves of Grentches descending upon him and his small army of Snowmen. They'll come from 2 different locations, the groups are randomly composed.

Any Snowman that are killed during these waves will automatically respawn after a short while regardless of foes in the corpse's range (for EotN NPC's to respawn under normal circumstances, there can't be a foe withing earshot of the corpse, so it's not the case here).

If it gets too hot and the snowmen are going down to quickly, you can run outside of aggro range of the Grentches and dodge/Ice Fort their attacks for a while, while the Snowmen respawn under their feet, basically having the Snowmen doing all the work.

Reward message:



Reward

• 1,000 Experience
• 5 Candy Cane Shards

Also upon completing the quest, a Wintersday Chest spawns as well. This will provide 5 random Wintersday items including any of the following:

• Eggnog
• Spiked Eggnog
• Wintergreen Candy Cane
• Rainbow Candy Cane
• Peppermint Candy Cane
• Fruitcake
• Snowman Summoner
• Yuletide Tonic

• You also have a very slim chance of getting a Miniature Polar Bear from the chest. This miniature is not a normal Polar Bear, but is actually a miniature of Ursula the White. It is one of the rarest minis in the game. Here is a picture of the mini:

Note: You only have 15 seconds to pick up all drops from the chest once its been opened. So be quick!

Known Bug:

• In each quest you get a boss on your side, Freezie/Magnus Grentch for Dwayna/Grenth respectively. When they die, you get a morale boost, which is odd to say the least considering they are on your team.

Support Grenth

In Grenth's Defense

This is a solo quest.

Speak to the Rift Warden when you are ready to defend the Underworld.

1. Destroy all followers of Dwayna who attempt to breach the Underworld. They must not reclaim the stolen presents.
2. See Rift Warden for your reward.
3. *BONUS*: Survive for as long as possible.

• Upon entering the Underworld, all other party members are removed and your skills are replaced with the snow fighting skills.
• You must defend the stolen presents from 24 level 15 Snowmen of various professions, as well as a level 19 boss named Freezie.
• Use Yellow Snow to remove conditions.
• Also you should consider using a Ritualist who has access to the skill "Jack Frost". Cast Jack Frost and simply keep it up all times to take damage and use Hidden Rock and then a Snowball to shut the enemy down.

• BONUS - Upon finishing the mission an Avatar of Grenth appears. It offers to send you back to town or you can try the bonus, which is to defend the presents for as long as possible. There are 6 rounds each containing 6 Snowmen. You receive one Candy Cane Shard for each completed wave.

• Drops include Candy Cane Shards and Globs of Frozen Ectoplasm. See sections below for what you use these times for.

Wintersday Henchman: Enchanted Snowman

Enchanted Snowmen are special henchmen available during Wintersday. They are Elementalists which specialise in Water Magic. Their level varies from 3 to 20 depending on location and which mode (Norma Mode or Hard Mode) your playing the game in. Their appearance is like this:


The Skills Bar they use is:

• Aura of Restoration
• Frozen Burst
• Ice Prison (Hex)
• Ice Spikes
• Resurrection Signet

Also those from Lion's Arch or Droknar's Forge also have:

• Ward Against Harm (Elite)

Note: Try to avoid using Fire Magic or Fire Damage weapons as doing so will negate their Ice Prison hex, which is removed if mobs receive any fire damage.




Present Hunt

This is a mini-game played in Lion's Arch and Kamadan, Jewel of Istan. Periodically a present will randomly spawned.

Players must quickly pick up the present and deliver it to one of the Young Children in town before any of the Grentches reach the present and destroy it. Grentches could also destroy presents held by players if they come within adjacent range. When a present spawns the Grentches would run all the way to the spawn point before chasing someone who had picked it up.

Note that Grentches move much faster than players, however if you use a Sugar Rush sweet item, you can easily outrun them.

In return, the child would hand the player a Candy Cane Shard or, if the present is handed to Scrappy Jhim in Lion's Arch, a Winter Gift which will unwrap into a random Wintersday collectable item.



Festival Finale

On January 1st, 2009 at 12:01 AM PST (7:01 AM UTC) in Lion's Arch and Kamadan, the Avatars of Grenth and Dwayna will appeared for their annual challenge. The event will occur every three hours until 12:01 AM PST (7:01 AM UTC) on Friday, January 2, 2009.

This is a game everyone in each town district can play. and whichever god wins will affect which hat you will be provided with at the end of the finale event.

The finale event in Kamadan, Jewel of Istan begins 15 minutes later.

Below is a timetable of the finale event:



Wintersday 9 Rings Game (Dwayna Vs Grenth)

Playing is very simple, each game costs 1 candy cane shard to play, so make sure you have some in your inventory.

This Wintersday 9 Rings finale game consists of 3 rounds per finale, 5 games of 9 Rings per round, so for a total of 15 games. You will therefore need 15 candy cane shards per finale to play in all the games.

Players could stand in blue (Kamadan) or green (Lion's Arch) rings for Dwayna or red rings for Grenth with a Candy Cane Shard as the wager, players standing in the the chosen ring were rewarded with a Wintersday Gift.

The winning and adjacent rings were awarded 1-5 candy cane shards depending on which ring they stood in, and also had their winning shard count added towards the score of their side's god.

After the match ended, the god with the highest total was considered the winner, and all players in the district were given a festival hat.

Note: Any wagers of candy cane shards do count towards the Lucky and Unlucky Titles.

A table of the prizes are as follows:



Hat Information

You do not have to play the 9 rings game in order to get a hat. Everyone in the district gets the hat of the God who gets the most points in that district.

Last year there were agreements that an odd numbered districts are for Grenth, and even numbered districts are for Dwayna. Likely this will remain the same.


Dwayna's Hat

Rudi Mask

• This is a free item given out during the Wintersday 2008 event.
• It have zero AR... Headshots are deadly in PvP and PvE. So watch out!
• It comes pre-customised and thus should not be traded.
• It can be infused!
• This mask cannot be dyed.
• You can add runes to it, for your primary profession only.
• It cannot be salvaged.

Grenth's Hat

Grentch Cap

• This is a free item given out during the Wintersday 2008 event.
• It have zero AR... Headshots are deadly in PvP and PvE. So watch out!
• It comes pre-customised and thus should not be traded.
• It can be infused!
• This mask cannot be dyed.
• You can add runes to it, for your primary profession only.
• It cannot be salvaged.

Wintersday Collectors

All collectors offer Eggnog, Spiked Eggnog, Fruitcake, Snowman Summoner, Wintergreen Candy Cane. Yuletide Tonic however is currently only available through Terum the Tonic Maker and Tina the Tonic Maker and from Wintersday Gifts.

The following collectors can be found during the Wintersday event:

Prophecies

• Ascalon City

- Dwayna - Priest Erwin collecting 2 Ornate Grawl Necklaces
- Dwayna - Priestess Clara collecting 3 Charr Carvings

- Grenth - Necromancer Ichibaun collecting 2 Stormy Eyes
- Grenth - Necromancer Malaise collecting 2 Singed Gargoyle Skulls

• Lion's Arch

- Dwayna - Priestess Siara collecting 1 Shadowy Remnants
- Dwayna - Priest Meran collecting 3 Decayed Orr Emblems

- Grenth - Dark Priest Calmein collecting 2 Feathered Caromi Scalps
- Grenth - Necromancer Kalvori collecting 2 Hardened Humps

- Terum the Tonic Maker collecting 1 Glob of Frozen Ectoplasm

• Droknar's Forge

- Dwayna - Acolyte Rockhammer collecting 1 Frozen Remnant
- Dwayna - Abbot Silverbeard collecting 3 Stone Summit Badges

- Grenth - Dark Priestess Velna collecting 1 Dredge Manifestos
- Grenth - Dark Priest Shadowvein collecting 2 Frigid Hearts

Nightfall:

• Kamadan

- Dwayna - Monk Sutoni collecting 3 Sentient Roots
- Dwayna - Priestess Mahni collecting 3 Copper Shillings

- Grenth - Dark Priest Bandeh collecting 2 Silver Bullion Coins
- Grenth - Necromancer Dunbari collecting 3 Juvenile Termite Legs

- Tina the Tonic Maker collecting 1 Glob of Frozen Ectoplasm

Candysmiths

Candysmiths are special collector NPCs who provided candy cane weapons in exchange for Candy Cane Shards.

Candysmiths are located in Ascalon City, Lion's Arch, Droknar's Forge, Kamadan, Jewel of Istan and the Snowball PvP arena starting location.

The Candy Cane weapons available are as follows:

Primary Weapons: Weapons cost 9 Candy Cane Shards depending on which town your in:

• Candy Cane Axe: Slashing Dmg: 10-10
• Candy Cane Bow: Piercing Dmg: 15-15 (Longbow)
• Candy Cane Hammer: Blunt Dmg: 15-15
• Candy Cane Staff: Cold Dmg: 10-10
• Candy Cane Sword: Slashing Dmg: 10-10
• Candy Cane Wand: Cold Dmg: 10-10
• Peppermint Daggers: Piercing Dmg: 5-5
• Peppermint Scythe: Slashing Dmg: 10-10
• Peppermint Spear: Slashing Dmg: 10-10

Off Hands: Given in exchange for 12 Candy Cane Shards:

• Gingerbread Focus, Energy: +5
• Gingerbread Shield, Armour: 8
• Peppermint Shield, Armour: 8

Wintersday Collectable Items

The following collectable items are available during the Wintersday 2008 event:


Frosty Summoning Stone



Collectable item: has only one use. Double-click to summon a Snowman ally of your level that lasts for 30 minutes or until slain in combat. Summoning stones can only be activated once every 60 minutes per character, and only one summoned ally from a summoning stone can be present in an instance at a time.

This item can only be used in explorable areas. The summoned Snowman uses the following skills:

1. "Mmmm. Snowcone!"
2. Hidden Rock
3. Ice Fort
4. Snowball

Crafting Details:

One can also be crafted by Will Brockman in the Eye of the North (Outpost). You will need the following crafting materials:

1 Platinum
10 Granite Slabs
100 Piles of Glittering Dust
7 Lumps of Charcoal
1 Skill Point

Mischievous Summoning Stone



Collectable item: has only one use. Double-click to summon a Grentch ally of your level that lasts for 30 minutes or until slain in combat. Summoning stones can only be activated once every 60 minutes per character, and only one summoned ally from a summoning stone can be present in an instance at a time.

This item can only be used in explorable areas. The summoned Snowman uses the following skills:

1. "Mmmm. Snowcone!"
2. Ice Fort
3. Snowball
4. Yellow Snow

Crafting Details:

One can also be crafted by Will Brockman in the Eye of the North (Outpost). You will need the following crafting materials:

1 Platinum
10 Granite Slabs
100 Piles of Glittering Dust
5 Lumps of Charcoal
2 Monstrous Eyes
1 Skill Point

Frosty Tonic



Collectable item: has only one use. Double Click to transform yourself into a Snowman. This item can only be used in a town or an outpost.

• There is a everlasting version of this.
• The only emote that will have an effect is /sit. However, instead of sitting, the snowman will drop into pieces on the floor.
• Using this counts 2 points toward the Party Animal title track.

Mischievous Tonic



Collectable item: has only one use. Double Click to transform yourself into a Grentch. This item can only be used in a town or an outpost. This item can only be used in a town or an outpost.

• Unlike most other one-use tonics, this one does not have a known everlasting counterpart.
• The only emote that will have an effect is /sit, followed by /stand. This will cause the Grentch to fallover backwards
• Using this counts 2 points toward the Party Animal title track.

Eggnog



Collectable item: has only one use. Eggnog makes you drunk. When used in excess it causes various effects such as a blurred screen and involuntary sitting and /emotes. Mixing normal Eggnog with Spiked Eggnog has extreme graphical effects.

• Provides 1 minute towards the drunkard title.
• Each Eggnog counts towards 1 level of drunkenness.
• In Tyria they were obtainable from collectors of Dwayna
• In Elona they were obtainable from collectors of Grenth

They are a random reward from a Wintersday Gift (See below), or can be gained from collectors.


Spiked Eggnog



Collectable item: has only one use. Spiked Eggnog makes you drunk. Drinking one while sober boosts the drunkenness level to the max (Level 5). Spiked Eggnog differs from Eggnog in the way that it gives the screen a purple tint and has also been known to temporarily remove the skills on your Skill Bar.

• Provides 3 minutes towards the drunkard title.
• Using one Spiked Eggnog will immediately take you to level 5 drunk. So they are good starting drinks.
• In Tyria they were obtainable from collectors of Grenth
• In Elona they were obtainable from collectors of Dwayna

They are a random reward from a Wintersday Gift (See below), or can be gained from collectors.


Snowman Summoner



Collectable item: has only one use. Using this item will summon a snowman to your current location. If the snowman pops out of the ground, lasts about 10 seconds and then disappears.

However, there is a chance the Snowman Summoner will malfunction and result in a snowman plummeting out of the sky at top speed and smashing on the ground at a characters location.

They are a random reward from a Wintersday Gift (See below), or can be gained from collectors.


Fruitcake



Collectable item: has only one use. Eating it while in towns enchants you with Sugar Rush. Sugar Rush ends if you leave the outpost. Sugar Rush makes you run 25% faster for 5 minutes.

This item only works within towns and outposts, so use them for running about the larger towns. They also provide 1 point towards sweet tooth title track.

They are a random reward from a Wintersday Gift (See below), or can be gained from collectors.


Peppermint Candy Cane



Collectable item: has only one use. Double-click to remove all Death Penalty. This item cannot be used in PvP. They also provide 2 points towards sweet tooth title track.

They are a random reward from a Wintersday Gift (See below).


Wintergreen Candy Cane



Collectable item: has only one use. Double-click to remove 15% of your Death Penalty. This item cannot be used in PvP. They also provide 1 point towards sweet tooth title track.

They are a random reward from a Wintersday Gift (See below), or can be gained from collectors.


Rainbow Candy Cane



Collectable item: has only one use. When used it will give your party a 5% morale boost. This morale boost does not cause skills to instantly recharge. This item cannot be used in PvP. They also provide 1 point towards sweet tooth title track.

They are a random reward from a Wintersday Gift (See below), or can be gained from collectors.


Winter Gift



Collectable item: has only one use. This item can be obtained by collecting a present from the ground and giving it to a NAMED Young Child, such as Scrappy Jhim in Lion's Arch. Other Young Child NPCs will only give you a single candy cane shard instead. The Winter Gift can be opened to get a random Wintersday item.

Winters Gifts can contain any of the following:

• Eggnog
• Rarely a Spiked Eggnog
• Peppermint Candy Cane
• Snowman Summoner
• Rarely a Rainbow Candy Cane
• Candy Cane Shard
• Yuletide Tonic

Wintersday Gift



Collectable item: has only one use. You can gain Wintersday Gifts during the Wintersday finale and from Collectors. You can obtain gifts by doing the following:

• You win 1 Winter Gift if your standing in the winning circle during the finale ring game event.
• Wintersday Gifts, which are specifically assigned to your character, are dropped near where your character is standing. Pick them up by clicking on them.
• Finally Wintersday Gift Givers [Collectors] will trade 1 Wintersday Gift in exchange for 5 Candy Cane Shards.

Wintersday Gifts can contain any of the following:

• 2 Eggnogs
• 2 Spiked Eggnogs (Rare)
• 2 Fruitcakes
• 2 Snowman Summoners
• 10 Candy Cane Shards
• 1 Yuletide Tonics
• 1 Peppermint Candy Cane
• 1 Rainbow Candy Cane
• 2 Wintergreen Candy Canes

Glob of Frozen Ectoplasm



Collectable item: Glob of Frozen Ectoplasm is a collectable drop which drops randomly from Grentches and Snowmen during You're a Mean One, Mr. Grenth and In Grenth's Defence, including during the end bonuses.

Give this item to Tina the Tonic Maker in Kamadan, Jewel of Istan, or Terum the Tonic Maker in Lion's Arch. They will give you 1 Yuletide Tonic for each Glob of Frozen Ectoplasm.

Note: Globs of Frozen Ectoplasm cannot be converted into normal rare material Ectoplasm, don't be scammed by people.


Yuletide Tonic



Collectable item: has only one use. This item will embody the spirit of Wintersday. You will turn into a Wintersday Elf for 50 minutes and will perform male Mesmer emotes. This item cannot be used in PvP.

The effect is as follows:

Updates to Guide:

Note: Updates at the bottom of the list are most recent...

• Guide uploaded - made numerous changes and improvements to the text and layout when compared to last years event guide. (PM me directly if you find any mistakes - thank you) No really please do, spelling, grammar, etc... Its possible to proof read something yourself, not helped by the fact a lot of the above information is from OTHER users.
• Added details about the Mini Polar Bear which you have a very slim chance of getting from the Wintersday Chest.
• Corrected mistake regarding which collector takes 2 Singed Gargoyle Skull - thanks jammerpa
• Added additional information and details regarding the new Summoning Stones - thanks Azazel The Assassin
• Added information on the new Eye of the North Wintersday quests - thanks Azazel The Assassin
• Added screenshots for the Dialogue of the new Eye of the North Wintersday quests - thanks
• Added details and a image of the Jingle Bear found in Gwen's Garden
• Added list of Eye of the North collectors
• Added info about the Everlasting Frosty Tonic
• Added info about the two new event masks

Contributors:

RTSFirebat, EroChrono, Shasgaliel, jammerpa, Azazel The Assassin, SirJackassIII, Clord


Special Thanks to:

Guildwiki, ImageShack.us and the Official Guild Wars Wiki

It’s going to be a event and of course I want to get some event game play in myself, so as always I'm requesting the public to officially help out!

What is needed?

You can help me by sending a forum Private Message with any of the following:

• Pictures and information about new items
• Information and pictures of any in-game bugs found during the event
• Any pictures of interesting locations such as towns, NPCs etc... If I like them I'll add it into the guide
• Information, pictures and better yet how-to guides for any of the mini games
• Information on quests or missions during the event.

Guidelines:

Take the following into account before sending me a Private Message:

• I won't accept screenshots with user interface stuff like health bars and skills bars blocking things.
• Don't send massive 1024 x 1280 (or along those lines) images, please resize them to 640 x 480 if possible.
• All information must be accurate and clear. Nothing made up or speculation.

All submissions will be of course credited in the Contributors section. The important thing is to PM (Private Message) me the information, as I won't have the time to read tons of posts in the guide thread looking for it.

Nice guide as always, idk if you are waiting for in-game confirmation but I believe ANet already said the Mini Polar Bear IS coming out of the wintersday chest again.

Wintersday! Bring it on!

I was waiting for this. Thanks as always.

Yup, I noticed the Miniature Polar Bear was missing from the chest drops as well.
According to this it has been confirmed by Regina.
(unfortunately, the official links posted in this thread does not work,- for me at least)

Great guide as always!

any info yet on gwen's "special quest" in her garden?

If I had the info, I would surely add it in would I not?

When do the Rift Wardens appear for the polar Bear quests? ^^

Spoiler Alert











Reward for finishing all the EotN quests is the ability to NOT TAME a polar bear (the one with the bell on it, called Jingle Bear) in Gwen's Garden (found in Ice Cliff Chasms on the West side).

Also, one of the quests has a bunch of UW monsters (smites, spirits, coldfires, etc) that you have to kill and a locked chest spawns after it with an inscribable UW weapon (mine was Eternal Bow).

are you sure its tamable? i just tried and it said this creature is not an animal

Agreed, untamable, I went with a character that didnt have charm animal, I just assumed it was. Dumb dumb dumb Anet.

A Jingle Bear will await you during Wintersday if you complete all four Eye of the North related Wintersday quests.
Note: The Jingle Bear is a obtainable pet, however it is glitched at the moment.

from the official wiki. hoping it really is glitched

Regina already said it is been worked on, it is meant to be tamable.

Great guide, thanks!

I've been looking for the Rift Warden but he hasn't appeared yet... is he supposed to appear later or am I missing something?

there. my jin now has a jingle bear pet. so it was an actual surprise after all

Yeah charming the bear works now but still no Rift Wardens ;(

Last year they came out the second day of the event, I'm guessing it'll be the same this year.

hmm makes sense, maybe they want to give ppl in europe a good sleep before the 24H mini bear farming :P

your telling me im finally gettin rid of malandrus stalker

Guild Wars tip #127

"Keep your old pet as food for the new pet"

title is misleading as its not really complete
i was hopin to read bout the new eotn stuffs .__.

It is as complete as there is around so far, suggestion to you is go and do some eotn and contribute to the guide

People charging 1k bear runs now, no effort needed

So I've done Snowball Dominance on a couple of other characters, but I think somehow the quest has gotten HARDER. With my current character (my third) I'm routinely getting demolished by the other AI team. They get to the end part and outnumber us by like 8:2. It wasn't like this before, at all. What changed? I'm getting really frustrated at something that shouldn't be frustrating at all. Man, I hate these snowball skills.

Personally, I think the AI on your NPC team sucks compared to that of the opposing team, but that's just me.


Anyone have some sure-fire all-class-encompassing Snowball Dominance tips?

Thats a nice way to put it lol

Yes.

1. At first attack with them and try to kill as many as you can.
2. When you start loosing lots of allys run behind the crowd of sitting people who are "out".
3. Lure all enemies 1 by 1 and kill them.
4. Slow and steady wins teh race.

The guide is missing the NEW quests in EotN!

I just wondereing will the jingle bear still be there after Wintersday?

I take it the Rift Wardens aren't appearing yet?

No. They will most likely be added some time today, if this years event is like last years.

OMG give me a break, I do have a 14 week old daughter who needs my attention as well you know

I will be doing some updates on the guide later when I have the time.

They're already on the wiki and 2 of them are remake of normal EotN quests, the other two being very straightforward.

Well they are up now, with screenshots and all. The amount of flaming I've gotten this time around for 'missing' is almost laughable considering its meant to be the Season to be Jolly. lol

I've best drink more coffee and stop sleeping, then I can give this my complete attention 24/7

thanks

but how do i get the hats?

Don't worry, Firebat. Those of us who aren't spoilt brats appreciate your efforts.

And you don't receive the hats until the finale on Jan 1st. You get Dwayna's hat just for being in a district with more Dwayna supporters. Grenth's hat is the same (but different) .

It does say that in the guide somewhere.