How to (actually) Complete Fire and Ice

Overview

Unlike the other one this actually tells you how to beat these ugly clowns, instead of whining about them being difficult!Fire and Ice is a 10-player rampage that requires a good deal of coordination and preparation to properly get through. Necessary to complete in order to get pieces of Justice Gear (the strongest equipment in the game), Questionite, the Ice Sheath aura, and special Firefighter costume pieces, F&I can be immensely rewarding to complete once you know the basics and get a properly working team to take them down. It’s still no easy task, but this guide can give you firm footing to build upon to take them on.

Quick Tips

If you don’t read anything else in this guide, focus on this part. Other players can readily warn you about other threats you might face on your fight against Kenina and Frosticus, so this short section can get the most important and pressing matters out of the way for first-time players:

PUGing (Pick Up Grouping) is unadvisable for this rampage, because it requires a very specific team layout to carry out (which will be explained later). To deal with this requirement, the update that included Fire and Ice also implemented the ability to join and create Private Queues, allowing players to negotiate to sort out specific teams

If you see any people advertising in zone chat that they are looking for members to join their PQ, either message them, or convene at the location they are broadcasting to join. More specifics on the Team Forming section.

Many of the moves that Frosticus and Kenina use will affect areas around specific targets, meaning that your positioning and targeting, relative to your allies, is very important. Keep an eye out for any allies stuck or calling out for help to get them back into the fight.

Similar to Gravitar, Warlord, and Cybermind, if you die during this boss fight, you will be unable to re-enter the fighting area until either everyone else has been defeated, or the rampage is won. In either case, you will not be able to help in the fight if you recover. Prepare some self-revive items/powers, or keep a revival-support on hand.

Meet Fire and Ice:

Kenina was pyromaniac. She loved setting things on fire just to see the souls of the flame dance in front of her. So when Dr. Destroyer offered her the ability to shoot fire at will of course Kenina accepted. After the good doctor was finished she became the one woman wildfire known only as Kenina Blaze.

Kenina Blaze is more responsible for crowd control of the two, toting some AoE attacks that can deal damage to multiple targets. While this means she’s not a huge threat to single, sturdy targets, she is well capable of throwing out some very surprising traps that can catch the entire team off-guard.

Her unique powers include:

• Conflagration – Moderately damaging burning rain. More a nuissance than anything.
• Flashfire – Also mostly a nuissance, this just leaves behind a patch of fire that does tiny bits of damage to you if you stand in it.
• Fire Pillar – What appears to be a fire-reskin of the Infernal Condemn move, this attack hits in a surprisingly powerful burst. So long as you’re decently sturdy, or blocking, it’s well survivable. This is quite responsible for random deaths that might occur nearby Kenina’s target, however, so be careful.
• Fireball – Charged attack that does very heavy damage in a burst. It’s easy to see coming, however, so if you’re targeted by it and not very sturdy, it can easily be blocked.
• Flaming Prison – Flaming Prison causes several orbiting rings of fire to appear around a specific target. When this first happens, all other allies around said target are knocked outwards, and the main target is rooted for a split second (your main warning that you shouldn’t move). If any other allies enter the area, or if the primary target attempts to move, the prison explodes, killing anyone inside it. If you’re stuck in a ring of fire, don’t move, and if you see one appear or are suddenly knocked back, don’t go near it!

Cory Caldwell was your every day refrigerator repair man until one day he was repairing a broken fridge in the Champions Headquarters. After Cory was done, Witchcraft cast a spell to cool the fridge faster but it backfired and caused a magical explosion. After the smoke cleared Cory Caldwell had been transformed into Frosticus. Now hideous in his metallic exterior he swears vengeance against all heroes… especially Witchcraft.

Whereas Kenina is adept in crowd control, Frosticus is all about extreme single-target damage, dealing icy devastating destruction to whoever his current target is. Of the two, he is indisputably the greater threat, and will quickly wipe out the entire team if he is not properly sustained. Even allies nearby his main target are at risk, so watch out!

His unique powers include:

• Ice Cage – Just roots the target. Minor annoyance, is charged, and offers a brief respite from his onslaught.
• Ice Blast – Charged ice blast. Though it does very respectable damage, it still is comparatively tame to his primary attack:
• Frozen Dagger – The most infamous attack of Frosticus’ arsenal: His main, spammed attack is Frozen Dagger: An instantaneous blast of ice that will deal out 8k-10k damage to his primary target with no warning. If you want to hope to survive this, either block until you lose aggro, or (if you’re the frosticus tank…) Have plenty of defenses ready, and make sure you’re constantly being healed by a dedicated support character!
• Shatter – Another surprising and instantaneous maneuver, Frosticus can hit for moderately high damage in a cone. It can one-shot fragile targets (and also expectedly breaks his ice cages), so make sure to not stand with or behind the tank if you’re low on HP!
• Frozen Spires – Mirroring Kenina’s Flame Prison in function, Frozen Spires will choose a random nearby target to hold in an inescapable column of ice (while Frosticus usually yells “Freeze! Freeeeze, punk!” gleefully). The spire is a targetable structure, and unless it is destroyed in 15 seconds, the target trapped inside dies. If you’re trapped in a Frozen Spire, call out for help!

Team Building

As mentioned before up in the quick tips, F&I Requires a very specific team setup to have a shot at winning. To get by safely, you’ll need at least the following:

• Frosticus Tank
• Frosticus Healer
• Kenina Tank
• Kenina Healer
• 6 DPS/Backup roles

Let’s go over each in order:

The Frosticus Tank is chiefly designed to withstand Frosticus’ immensely powerful attacks. Because Frosticus is no slouch at doing damage, however, said tank is going to need to be very sturdy to withstand more than a single blow from the boss, with substantial focus on either pure-percentage-based damage reduction, dodge, or just sheer heaploads of HP.

Combined with that, holding aggro is going to be way more important than dealing damage in this tank’s case (though in some cases, it might be beneficial to do more damage to back up threat!) The number one reason that the Frosticus tank exists, after all, is to keep the boss from firing Frozen Daggers at anyone too unarmored to deal with his attacks.

Because both Frosticus and Kenina have a significant defense buff, reducing all damage they take substantially,the threat effects of raw damage are highly dampened, comparatively making Crippling Challenge and other threat effects much more potent on them. This just pushes further how important having a good taunt and threat generator is useful for these bosses, instead of outright offense.

That all taken together, here’s a small checklist of the kind of tank you might want:

• Passive: Defiance and Lightning Reflexes are great choices. Other tank passives can also work well, provided enough support is given. Oddly enough, because Frosticus only does Cold damage, Ice Form can also provide substantial resistance against his attacks.
• HP: You’ll be best off if the tank in question has over 10,000 HP.
• Threat: If you got Crippling Challenge on that tank, you’re good to go!

No matter how sturdy the tank on Frosticus is, they will need support. That’s why we have the Frosticus Healer, who pour all resources specifically into keeping the Frosticus tank alive – extreme-strength single-target heals is the number one aim of this role, and any other effects you can pile on – forcefields, damage reduction, quick revival, auras, or passive healing – will only serve to back that aspect up, as well as give a bit of help to the rest of the team, too.

Frosticus also has a bit of an AoE aspect to him as well. To that end, the Frosticus Healer should also have some degree of personal protection to keep themselves running, in case something does go disastrously wrong.

Also a helpful tip: While not required, it is beneficial to have the Frosticus Healer on the same team as the Frosty tank, so that said tank can get benefits from the healer’s auras or passive.

So in short, a Frosticus healer has:

• Single-target Heal: Something very high strength and quick, like Psionic Healing or Iniquity, work best.
• Defense: Aura of Radiant Protection, or a decent reserve of health, will work wonders.
• Auxiliary support: Combined with the above, other passive effects, such as Sentinel Aura, will give other allies some passing benefits.

Because Kenina’s damage output is much more moderate, the Kenina ‘Tank’ isn’t even strictly required to be a tank, and instead will just serve to keep the chaos separate from the Frosticus Tank.

Optimally, a Kenina Tank will want to be ranged to minimize the amount of AoE carnage that can occur (via spacing out your team between melee and different ranged posts), and do decent enough damage, or use Crippling Challenge, to consistently hold aggro. The requirement for good threat is not as stringent as it is on Frosticus, however, as having Kenina target another player for a second likely won’t kill them.

The Kenina Tank checklist, thus, is quite short:

• Survivability: Have enough health, defense, or heals to survive Kenina’s attacks.
• Threat: Deal enough threat to hold Kenina’s attention semi-consistently.
• Range: Not strictly required, but if you plan for the optimal route of attack, fight Kenina at a range to minimize AoE mishaps with her main attacks and Flame Prison.

The Kenina Healer, probably more aptly named a ‘backup healer’ will be present to fill the gap that the Frosticus Healer leaves – because they are very busy healing the Frosty Tank, the Kenina Healer will play maintenance of the rest of the team.

This means that the healer will place lots of focus on AoE heals, rapidly switching targets, and most importantly, revival in the case any mistakes are made. A Kenina healer isn’t strictly required, but in the case that there’s only a single support on the team, they’re going to have to be very good at healing to keep everything under control – and also very sturdy.

To mirror the Frosticus Healer, and provide maximum benefit with auras, have the Kenina healer on the other team in a Private Queue.

This healer should focus on:

• Heals: Get some good AoE abilities – Iniquity with its advantage, Circle of Radiant Glory, and Sentinel Aura are some great candidates.
• Buffs: Similar tale as the Frosticus Healer, wide-area buffs are always good.
• Revive: Have a device or power ready that can bring your allies back into the fight!

Everyone else will be the main damage and support buildup for the team, and all serve to make the fight go much faster. However, everyone else has roles just as important as the main tanks and healers. The main functions of the rest of the team will include:

• Dealing the majority of damage to the two bosses.
• Ensuring that damage levels between the bosses stay roughly the same to avoid killing one too early.
• Freeing targets from Frosticus’ Frozen Spire.
• Destroying Living Fire/Living Ice instances.
• Temporarily replacing one of the above roles in case one of those tanks or healers die.

Here’s a few tips on what you can do to help with various build types:

• Melee DPS – Go after kenina. She’s not very damaging up-close, so long as the kenina tank isn’t focusing on a target nearby her. You can go after frosticus as well, but make sure to stay on the opposite side of the tank.
• Ranged DPS – Go after kenina or frosticus. Your increased range gives you more possible angles of attack to approach from.
• Huge AoE DPS – Very imporant, this role’s optimal for quickly taking out the various hazards that can appear in the fight: Living Fire, Living Ice, and Frost Spires. You will save the team from instant death, and rescue held allies.
• Other Tanks – If you’ve got a tank designated for Frosticus, you’ll work best ganging up on Kenina instead, which will make the Frost Healer’s job much more simple with only having to deal with one tank. In the case the main Frost tank dies, though, you could volunteer to jump in to take their place – just be ready for some very high damage.
• Other Support – Bringing in damage-boosting auras, pets, and your own attacks, can further serve to help keep the team safe and running in the battle! While they are at some risk, the fact that Kenina and Frosticus aren’t constantly slinging out AoEs like Gravitar makes it much more viable to use pets to back your forces up.

Alert Progress/Walkthrough

After getting your team together and starting up the queue, you’ll spawn inside the Containment Area: A domed section with a tent and ambulance, that’s out of combat and way out of range from the bosses. This is where you’ll reappear if you’re killed by the bosses, and the only way to leave it is when the Rampage has either been completed, or all heroes are defeated.

When the team is ready, a cutscene will play, and you can exit the Containment Area to enter the main fighting arena:

Versus the other main Rampage, confronting Gravitar, the geometry and positioning in the arena is much less important. The edges of the area have a few patches of lava and ice that can do damage to you if you stand on them (and slow you down), but unless you deliberately head in those directions, they will not factor in to the fight. Just remember to use the space you got, and these minor distractions won’t bother you.

The first person to jump in should likely be the Frosticus Tank, because once they jump in, both Kenina and Frosticus will be on them instantly. Optimally, the healers should get started healing right after, and everyone else jump on their respective targets to evenly split the aggro.

For most of the first half of the fight, Kenina and Frosticus will periodically summon up Living Fire and Living Ice at the same time (pictured to the left, Living Fire). These are large floating/spinning crystals that spawn with a huge charge bar over them. They are very fragile, but if the charge bar fills up, they will immediately do 80000 damage to everyone in the fightng area, and instantly restart the Rampage.

Both bosses are capable of using an infrequent PBAoE attack around their primary target at times, which can do moderate damage to anyone nearby the tank. Be wary if you’re a fragile DPS or healer.

If a wide-area AoE character is present, they can vaporize Living Fire/Living Ice without a second thought. If not, these can prove a consistent threat, and should be kept on the lookout for.

The duo also use their ‘hold’ abilities, Fire Prison, and Frozen Spires. Frosticus apparently uses his Frozen Spires whenever he feels like, while Kenina will usually start using her Fire Prison later on.

Fire Prison will create spinning rings of fire that will cause all allies within to be knocked outwards, and one specific target to be encircled by the rings. If the main target moves, or if any ally enters the rings, it will explode and kill everyone inside.
If encircled by rings, you should just stand still and continue fighting (or blocking) until they end.
If you’re outside the rings, or have just suddenly been knocked back, do not go near the rings until they dissipate.
Note that the flame rings’ visuals can also glitch out, causing them to sometimes flicker out of visibilty at some angles. In this case, make sure to be very careful if you see everyone get knocked back, or suffer some knockback – this is the only attack in the rampage that deals out knock.

Frozen Spires will encapsulate a random target in a pillar of ice, holding them in an inescapable stun. The Spire is targetable, but rather sturdy, and unless it’s destroyed within 15 seconds, the person trapped inside will die.
If trapped in a Frozen Spire, call out for help in either normal chat, or by using a bind. “/bind numpad1 local Help!” can be used for a macro in this case.
If you spot somebody trapped in a frozen spire, or hear Frosticus yell “Freeze!”, look for the target in question and attack the Ice Spire to free your ally!
This can be dangerous if the target is the main Frosticus Tank, and they have no healing backup, as it effectively renders them defenseless (unable to block or use heals). Keep your eyes open!

After both Frosticus and Kenina are reduced to below 33% health, they will start this phase. The duo will huddle together in an unbreakable forcefield, while one of the two uses either Falling Ice, or Lava Plume. The two attacks are basically the same: Reticles will start appearing above everyone in the fighting area, and will shoot fire or drop ice after a couple of seconds. 10 reticles are spawned for each target over 2 periods of about 5 seconds. After this is done, there’s a very high chance that the duo will fire a Frostfire Bolt at a random target for extreme damage, so watch out!

As mentioned before, the bosses can’t be damaged while doing this attack. The goal is to keep moving, but in whole the attack is not very threatening from a Damage standpoint. If anything, this allows players to get a bit of a breather for the other attacks they use. The columns can also be entirely avoided by flying high in the air (they are actually sphere attacks, despite their appearance).

However, the debuffs they apply can be somewhat troubling, and it’s the debuffs that set the two apart. Lava Plume will apply Clinging Flames, which deals very low damage over time – which, if a healer is affected by this, can disable them from being able to revive their allies. Falling Ice will apply Chill, which slows targets down and makes it difficult to contend with escaping further ‘column’ attacks. Both can stack.

After one of the two is killed, the remaining boss will start becoming Enraged. They will begin building up stacks of ‘enrage’ (which can get as high as 24 stacks), drastically increasing their damage output and enabling them to basically use Falling Ice/Lava Plume constantly (but without shielding, so don’t stop attacking). Regardless of whether it’s Kenina or Frosticus, the remaining boss can become extremely dangerous, and is well capable of one-shotting anyone if they get enough enrage. In this stage, their attacks also will chain between nearby players, much like a Ricochet Throw, so their attacks can be dangerous to the whole team!

To prevent this from becoming a factor, keep the health of the bosses roughly equal as you get close to finishing them off. This will allow you to synchronize their deaths, and prevent this final phase from coming into play.

To further complicate matters, you can gain certain buffs: Fire in your Veins, and Ice in your Veins, that can cause huge bursts of damage to be dealt to the opposite boss. What this can end up causing is one of them to suddenly and unexpectedly die, so that’s one more reason to keep an eye on their health levels, and try and focus attacks on one or the other.

It’s quite possible that this sudden health loss is actually passively caused by their normal attacks, and only comes into play due to them standing closer together for this last part, but regardless of the cause, try and use it to your advantage instead of prematurely finishing one before the other. If the bosses are down to about 5% of their remaining health, that’s a good time to finish one off.

Congratulations! If you made it there, you’ve beat Frosticus and Kenina! Collect your prize!