Festive Ice Fortress

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(Redirected from Thursday Elf Encounters)

Sub-zero temperatures have turned this field into a frosty icescape, and an army of icy mice are using it as a staging ground for an invasion of Gnawnia! Build your Ice Fortress, wage snowball fights, and try to catch special bonus mice during this winter hunt season!

Description and Requirements

Hunters ranked Recruit and up can enter this location. Mice will not steal gold or points, but they have been known to steal cheese! The news item describing this event location dubbed it the Great Winter Ice Brawl.

Much of the gameplay in this area is focused around the Heads-up Display, where hunters track progress in a snowball fight against the event mice to collect Ice Bricks to upgrade their Ice Fortress, and Tower Slabs to upgrade their Ice Tower; the two projects are independent (either project can be built first). There is also a mini-game called the Snowball Showdown.

On the right side of the HUD, the hunter sees a current inventory count of Arctic Asiago (with the hint "Hunt with Arctic Asiago to catch mice that drop Tower Slabs and Ice Bricks!"), Ice Coins (with the hint "Gather Ice Coins to buy cool items from the shops!"), and Ice Bricks (with the hint "Use Ice Bricks to built and expand your Ice Fortress! Ice Fortress expansions will give you some sweet hunting upgrades!"), and a Build button for the Ice Fortress. There is also an indicator at the top right of the HUD showing X/13 Fort Upgrades or Fort Complete. If a hunter is not using Arctic Asiago, there is also a box with a message "Hunt with Arctic Asiago to progress!" and a button to arm it. This portion of the gameplay resembles the Snow Fort of the Great Winter Hunt 2013.

Along the bottom of the Heads-up Display is a progress meter for each week's goal towards an Ice Tower. During Week One (9-14 December 2014), the hint was "This wave is assaulting your fortress! Build an Ice Tower and defeat Glacia Ice Fist!", with instructions "Collect Tower Slabs with Arctic Asiago to build your Ice Tower!". The remaining two weeks give a pop-up hint of "This wave hasn't been released yet. Stock up on Arctic Asiago while you can!". At the bottom left is a progress meter towards 20 Tower Slabs, obtained from Frigid Foreman mice, and an Upgrade button. After collecting the parts for the week, the hint changes to "Defeat Glacia Ice Fist and their minions!", with a progress meter for 40 hunts. The message changed for Week Two (15-21 December), with 25 Tower Slabs then 50 hunts to catch Tundra Huntress; and for Week Three (22-?? December), with 30 Tower Slabs then 60 hunts to catch Borean Commander. Each week also includes a Bonus button, with an initial hint of "Unlock the Bonus Zone by defeating the wave general before the next wave arrives!" If a hunter defeats the boss within the week it is released, they have an opportunity to work towards a bonus, where the progress meter changes to a count of Stuck Snowball mice caught ("Catch the Stuck Snowball Mouse as often as you can before the next wave hits!"), and 20 hunts. If a hunter has not cleared earlier weeks, the message for the current week states "You'll have to defeat the previous wave before you can proceed!"

On the top left of the Heads-up Display is a count of Throwable Snowballs, and a "Throw 'em!" link to the Snowball Showdown mini-game.

At the conclusion of the event on 6 January 2015, hunters remaining in the area were moved to the Frozen Festive Pond, and had one additional week to spend loot in the shops.

Shops

These are the shops that can be found in the Festive Ice Fortress:

Festive Ice Fortress Mice

On Monday Snow Day, several mice in this table drop Winter Charm as additional loot, and the Snowflake, Hoarder, and Builder mice are more common when using the correct charm. On Thursday Elf Madness, Elf mice are more common.

Mouse Points
Gold
Standard
Cheese

SUPER|brie+
Gingerbread or
Seasoned Gouda
Festive Feta or
Snowball Bocconcini
Arctic Asiago
2014 Loot
Abominable Snow 1,750 1,750 X X X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Borean Commander 1 Ice
Tower
Boss
1
Advent Chocolate
Arctic Asiago Cheese
Borean Commander Caught
Crystal Ice Tower Skin
Ice Brick
Ice Coin
Iceball Brawl Theme Scrap I
Sealed 2014 Naughty List
Sealed 2014 Nice List
Winter Helper's Perch
Builder 2 3,000 2,000 Charm
Required
2
Charm
Required
2
Charm
Required
2
Charm
Required
2
Charm
Required
2
Ice Brick
Candy Cane 600 600 X Requires
Ice
Tower
3
Christmas Tree 2,600 1,200 X X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Confused Courier 650 325 X X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Destructoy 1,000 400 X X X
Diamond 1,200 600 X X X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Dwarf 225 450 X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Elf 4 900 750 X X X X X Winter Hunt Gift Box
Frigid Foreman 5 1,500 850 X 5 Ice Brick
Ice Coin
Tower Slab
Frozen 300 300 X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Gingerbread 1,200 750 X X
Glacia Ice Fist 6 4,500 2,000 Ice
Tower
Boss
6
Advent Chocolate
Arctic Asiago Cheese
Crystal Ice Tower Skin
Ice Brick
Ice Coin
Sealed 2014 Naughty List
Sealed 2014 Nice List
Winter Helper's Perch
Gold 600 1,200 X X X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Greedy Al 2,500 750 X Ice Brick
Ice Coin
Hoarder 7 2,500 1,000 Charm
Required
7
Charm
Required
7
Charm
Required
7
Charm
Required
7
Charm
Required
7
Arctic Asiago Cheese
Hydra 9,640 5,760 X X X X Bolt of Cloth
Rope
Scrap Metal
Simple Orb
Splintered Wood
Mad Elf 9,000 1,800 X X Throwable Snowball
Miser 8 3,000 2,000 Charm
Required
8
Charm
Required
8
Charm
Required
8
Charm
Required
8
Charm
Required
8
Ice Coin
Missile Toe 1,600 900 X X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Ice Coin
Monster 9,100 9,100 X X X Brie Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
Living Shard
Marble Cheese
Swiss Cheese
Mouse of Winter Future 9 4,000 3,000 Avoids
Charms
9
Avoids
Charms
9
Avoids
Charms
9
Avoids
Charms
9
Avoids
Charms
9
Festive Feta
Gingerbread Cheese
Seasoned Gouda
Snowball Bocconcini
Mouse of Winter Past 9 4,000 3,000 Avoids
Charms
9
Avoids
Charms
9
Avoids
Charms
9
Avoids
Charms
9
Avoids
Charms
9
Festive Feta
Gingerbread Cheese
Seasoned Gouda
Snowball Bocconcini
Mouse of Winter Present 9 4,000 3,000 Avoids
Charms
9
Avoids
Charms
9
Avoids
Charms
9
Avoids
Charms
9
Avoids
Charms
9
Festive Feta
Gingerbread Cheese
Seasoned Gouda
Snowball Bocconcini
New Year's 10 2,200 200 X 10 2015 Charm
Advent Chocolate
Arctic Asiago Cheese
Confetti
Ice Brick
Ice Coin
New Year's Dimensional Chest Trap Skin
New Year's Party Portal Trap Skin
Satchel of Gold (2,015 gold)
Nutcracker 3,000 300 X X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Ornament 900 2,600 X X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Party Head 10 2,000 2,000 X 10 2015 Charm
Confetti
Present 900 900 X X X X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Reinbo 4,000 500 X Ice Brick
Ribbon 600 750 X Requires
Ice
Tower
3
Ice Coin
Ridiculous Sweater 1,500 750 X X Ice Coin
S.N.O.W. Golem 10,000 1,200 X Ice Brick
Scrooge 70 3,000 X X Throwable Snowball
Slay Ride 8,000 4,000 X X Throwable Snowball
Snow Boulder 3,000 600 X Ice Brick
Snow Fort 3,400 1,200 X X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Snow Scavenger 2,500 900 X X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Snow Sorceress 5,000 400 X Ice Brick
Snowball Hoarder 2,000 900 X X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Snowblower 1,800 750 X X X Ice Coin
Snowflake 11 1,800 900 Charm
Required
11
Charm
Required
11
Charm
Required
11
Charm
Required
11
Charm
Required
11
Advent Chocolate
Arctic Asiago Cheese
Ice Brick
Sinister Winter Wreath Portal
Snowglobe 900 750 X Requires
Ice
Tower
3
Squeaker Claws 10,000 1,400 X Ice Brick
Ice Coin
Steel 270 500 X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Stocking 900 300 X X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Ice Coin
Stuck Snowball 12 2,000+ 12 650+ 12 X X X X X 12 Advent Chocolate
Arctic Asiago Cheese
Ice Coin
Satchel of Gold
SUPER|brie+
Winter Charm
Tiny 200 450 X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Toy 500 500 X Requires
Ice
Tower
3
Ice Coin
Toy Tinkerer 900 1,200 X X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Ice Coin
Triple Lutz 300 750 X Requires
Ice
Tower
3
Tundra Huntress 13 6,500 4,000 Ice
Tower
Boss
13
Advent Chocolate
Arctic Asiago Cheese
Crystal Ice Tower Skin
Ice Brick
Ice Coin
Sealed 2014 Naughty List
Sealed 2014 Nice List
Winter Helper's Perch
White 70 100 X Arctic Asiago Cheese
Wreath Thief 2,200 700 X X Arctic Asiago Cheese


Ice Fortress

To construct the Ice Fortress, Hunters must collect Ice Bricks from the various mice in the Festive Ice Fortress, when hunting with Arctic Asiago Cheese or with Winter or Winter Hoarder charms. Ice Bricks are consumed when building the Ice Fortress.

Framework

The first step is building the Framework.
Build a Mighty Ice Fortress!
Ice Fortress Framework

  • Build your Ice Fortress and upgrade it with expansions to give bonuses to your trap, your rewards, and your friends!
  • Requires 80 Ice Bricks.
  • Completing this step creates a Hunter's Journal entry:
I used 80 Ice Bricks to build a mighty Ice Fortress!
Now I can begin building useful additions and expansions to help me fight the icy mice!

Upgrades

Once the Framework has been completed Hunters can move on to upgrading their Fortress. There are 4 upgrades available, each with three levels: Ice Cannon, Ice Armoury, Winter Walls, and Festive Tavern. They can be constructed in any order, but the levels within each upgrade must be completed in order. Level 1 costs 75 Ice Bricks, while the Level 2 and Level 3 upgrades each cost 50 Ice Bricks and require previous levels. Each upgrade earns the hunter 2-4 Ice Coins, and leaves a message in the Hunter's Journal.

Ice Cannon

  • Level 1
  • Your trap receives a +15% Power Bonus while at the Festive Ice Fortress!
  • Completing this level creates an entry in the Hunter's Journal:
I built a a Ice Cannon with 75 Ice Bricks!
My trap now receives a +15% Power Bonus while at the Festive Ice Fortress!
I earned 2 Ice Coins for upgrading my Ice Fortress!
  • Level 2
  • Your trap receives +1,000 Power while at the Festive Ice Fortress!
  • Completing this level creates an entry in the Hunter's Journal:
I upgraded my Ice Cannon to Level 2 with 50 Ice Bricks!
My trap now receives +1,000 Power while at the Festive Ice Fortress!
I earned 3 Ice Coins for upgrading my Ice Fortress!
  • Level 3
  • Your trap receives +3 Luck while at the Festive Ice Fortress!
  • Completing this level creates an entry in the Hunter's Journal:
I upgraded my Ice Cannon to Level 3 with 50 Ice Bricks!
My trap now receives +3 Luck while at the Festive Ice Fortress!>
I earned 4 Ice Coins for upgrading my Ice Fortress!

Ice Armoury

  • Level 1
I built a an Ice Armoury with 75 Ice Bricks!
My trap now receives +3 Luck while in Winter Hunt Tournaments!
I earned 2 Ice Coins for upgrading my Ice Fortress!
  • Level 2
I upgraded my Ice Armoury to Level 2 with 50 Ice Bricks!
I'll now earn more Tournament Tokens during Winter Hunt Tournaments!
I earned 3 Ice Coins for upgrading my Ice Fortress!
  • Level 3
I upgraded my Ice Armoury to Level 3 with 50 Ice Bricks!
I'll now earn Ice Coins as a special reward from Winter Hunt Tournaments!
I earned 4 Ice Coins for upgrading my Ice Fortress!

Winter Walls

  • Level 1
I built a a Winter Walls with 75 Ice Bricks!
My trap now receives a bonus to cheese freshness and a +5% Attraction Bonus! Mmm, winterfresh!
I earned 2 Ice Coins for upgrading my Ice Fortress!
  • Level 2
I upgraded my Winter Walls to Level 2 with 50 Ice Bricks!
When I catch a mouse carrying Arctic Asiago, I'll now earn an extra piece!
I earned 3 Ice Coins for upgrading my Ice Fortress!
After this upgrade, catching any mouse with Arctic Asiago loot leaves an extra message in the journal:
The XX Mouse also dropped 1 Arctic Asiago while scaling the wall!
  • Level 3
I upgraded my Winter Walls to Level 3 with 50 Ice Bricks!
When I catch a mouse carrying Ice Coins, I'll now earn an extra coin!
I earned 4 Ice Coins for upgrading my Ice Fortress!
After this upgrade, catching any mouse with Ice Coin loot leaves an extra message in the journal:
The XX Mouse also dropped 1 Ice Coin while scaling the wall!

Festive Tavern

  • Level 1
  • This effect only applies to the 2014 Treasure Chests.
I built a Festive Tavern with 75 Ice Bricks!
When I complete a Naughty or Nice Treasure Map, I'll now receive double the festive cheese, festive charms and Ice Coins rewarded!
If I use Rare Map Dust, some of the rewards will now be QUADRUPLED!
I earned 2 Ice Coins for upgrading my Ice Fortress!
  • Level 2
I upgraded my Festive Tavern to Level 2 with 50 Ice Bricks!
My Winter Hunt Profile now gives away both Festive Feta and Snowball Bocconcini!
I earned 3 Ice Coins for upgrading my Ice Fortress!
  • Level 3
I upgraded my Festive Tavern to Level 3 with 50 Ice Bricks!
I can now claim 15 daily gifts each day instead of only 10!
I earned 4 Ice Coins for upgrading my Ice Fortress!

Completion

Building the complete Ice Fortress requires the framework and all 12 upgrades, for a total of 780 Ice Bricks. Upon completion, hunters would receive 1 Advent Chocolate and 1 Iceball Brawl Theme Scrap II, with the following entry in the Hunter's Journal:

Now that's what I call an Ice Fortess!
Mighty cannons and soaring towers, surrounded by an impenetrable moat! The Crystal Citadel stands no chance against the fruits of my labour!
While putting the finishing touches on, I found 1 Iceball Brawl Theme Scrap II!
I also earned 1 Advent Chocolate for completing my Ice Fortress!

Hunters would also be awarded with the Ice Fortress Completed special item required for purchase of a Festive Gauntlet Crusher weapon at the Trapsmith.

Ice Tower

To construct the Ice Tower, Hunters must hunt with Arctic Asiago to collect Tower Slabs from the Frigid Foreman Mouse. Tower Slabs are consumed when building the Ice Tower. The Frigid Foreman can only be attracted as long as the hunter has not met the current week's goal of slabs, so that it is not possible to save up slabs for a future week. If a hunter is behind on progress from an earlier week, it is still possible to progress towards the earlier general, but no longer possible to participate in that week's bonus catches for Stuck Snowball mice.

Week One

20 Tower Slabs are required to construct the Ice Tower.
Collecting enough Tower Slabs creates an entry in the Hunter's Journal:

I have enough Tower Slabs to build the next level of my Ice Tower, so I can begin a snowball fight!

Completing the Ice Tower creates an entry in the Hunter's Journal:

I used 20 Tower Slabs to build a level of my Ice Tower! Now I'm ready to face the wave of mice and their nefarious leader!
I earned 2 Ice Coins for upgrading my Ice Tower!

Once the Ice Tower is complete, Hunters must catch 40 mice using Arctic Asiago before Glacia Ice Fist will be released. Catching the 40th mouse creates an entry in the Hunter's Journal:

I must take care, Glacia Ice Fist approaches! I must defeat her to complete the first stage of the icy invasion!

Catching Glacia Ice Fist before 15 December unlocks the Week 1 Bonus Zone and creates an entry in the Hunter's Journal:

I caught Glacia Ice Fist and chased her out of the Crystal Citadel! The next icy general has yet to show their face, so I have some time to spend catching the Stuck Snowball Mouse for prizes and loot!

Catching her after 15 December produces a different entry:

I caught Glacia Ice Fist and chased her out of the Crystal Citadel! No time to dally, though. The Tundra Huntress is out there, ceaselessly building and preparing her invasion!

The Week 1 Bonus Zone allows Hunters to chase the Stuck Snowball Mouse.

  • Hunters need to catch 20 mice within the zone using Arctic Asiago. Once this is done, the Stuck Snowball Mouse is a guaranteed attraction. A Failure To Catch the Stuck Snowball Mouse will not reset the Bonus Zone.
  • Both the Stuck Snowball Mouse and Glacia Ice Fist are part of the mouse population in the Bonus Zone and can be encountered while filling the 20 pips.
  • Once a Hunter has successfully captured the Stuck Snowball Mouse as the final mouse, the Bonus Zone resets and can be played through again.
  • Catches for the Stuck Snowball Mouse are cumulative and carry over when the Bonus Zone resets, including any catches made outside the Bonus Zone.
  • Partial progress in filling the Bonus Zone pips, when interrupted by the next week's release, carries over to the next time the bonus zone is unlocked.

Week Two

25 Tower Slabs are required to upgrade the Ice Tower to level 2.
Once the upgrade is complete, Hunters must catch 50 mice using Arctic Asiago before Tundra Huntress will be released. After catching Tundra Huntress during the week, the hunter again participates in 20-hunt Stuck Snowball rounds.

Week Three

30 Tower Slabs are required to upgrade the Ice Tower to level 3.
Once the upgrade is complete, Hunters must catch 60 mice using Arctic Asiago before Borean Commander will be released. After catching Borean Commander during the week, the hunter again participates in 20-hunt Stuck Snowball rounds.

Capturing the Borean Commander will award the hunter with the Borean Commander Caught requirement necessary to purchase the Hothouse Base at the Trapsmith.

Snowball Showdown

The Snowball Showdown mini-game is similar to the Battleship game, and is accessed from the Heads-up Display as a pop-up window. For each Throwable Snowball a hunter collects, they have a chance to throw at one of 66 squares (6 rows of 11 columns) that have not yet been revealed. The top of the pop-up window gives various hints as the game progresses:

Throw snowballs to reveal hidden shapes and earn prizes!
I've hit something!
Grrr.
Argh! A miss.
That's a miss.
Nothin'!
Not a thing!
Where are those shapes?!

The top right also has a link to Get More! by donating for a Throwable Snowball Booster Pack. If a hunter runs out of snowballs, the center changes to a message:

You've run out of Snowballs!
You can get more Snowballs:
Cool.

Along the bottom is a message "Hidden somewhere in this board are:" and a picture of four shapes with their reward:

Each snowball thrown at an uncovered square will reveal either "MISS" or "HIT"; if a hit is made, some nearby squares will also be hits until the outline of one of the shapes is uncovered. The shapes in the board can be rotated any multiple of 90 degrees, as well as appear as a mirror image, from the orientation shown at the bottom. When the last square of a shape is hit, those hits will change to the image of the item uncovered, and a message is added to the Hunter's Journal:

I've revealed a XXX in the Snowball Showdown and received XXX as a prize!

Completing the Snowball Showdown earns 5 SUPER|brie+ with a pop-up message in the game:

Nice work!
Wow, you've found all the hidden gifts!
You've earned some bonus SUPER|brie+! for clearing the board!
Play again

It also generates an entry in the Hunter's Journal:

I completed a Snowball Showdown board and earned 5 SUPER|brie+!

The board then resets and Hunters can play again.

Hunting Strategy

Hunting tips by Larry

Welcome to the site of your Festive Ice Fortress!

Sub-zero temperatures have turned this field into a frosty icescape. An army of icy mice have taken advantage of the circumstances and are creating a Crystal Citadel to oppose the hunters of Gnawnia. You'll need to steal their supplies and build a Festive Ice Fortress of your own to challenge them!

First, collect Arctic Asiago using any cheese (good), previous years' festive cheeses (better), or SUPER|brie+ (BEST). Next, arm that Arctic Asiago and use it to hunt festive mice! They'll drop Ice Bricks which you can use to build your Festive Ice Fortress and obtain special bonuses! More importantly though, you'll attract the Frigid Foreman mouse, who carries special Tower Slabs. Use these to build stages of your Ice Tower, which you'll need to challenge the leaders of the icy mice.

Each week, a new icy leader will face you, and you'll need to build your Ice Tower higher to challenge them. Once you've built that week's stage of the Ice Tower, you can wage a snowball fight against icy mice until you finally draw out the leader and defeat them!

If you manage to defeat the week's leader early, you'll have an opportunity for some bonus-hunting: The Stuck Snowball Mouse is stuck in an ever-growing snowball and zipping around collecting loot and weight. Normally, you'll encounter him rarely, but every time you do encounter him, he'll weigh more and eventually begin dropping better and better loot! But if you defeat the week's leader early, you can repeatedly wage a snowball fight against the Stuck Snowball Mouse directly for that week. Try to be the one hunter who catches the biggest Stuck Snowball Mouse in all the land!

Get to it - go collect that Arctic Asiago, build your Ice Fortress, challenge those leaders, and capture that Stuck Snowball Mouse!

Links