Dragon Response Mission

Spoiler alert: The following text contains spoilers relating to The Icebrood Saga.

“

Dragon minion incursions have thrown once-peaceful lands into chaos, and there's no predicting where the next attack will erupt.
Each chapter of The Icebrood Saga: Champions introduces new Dragon Response Missions, which can be tackled solo or in a group of up to five players. In these encounters, you'll head to invasion points to shore up defenses and protect the area from rampaging dragon minions. Work together with allied reinforcements to neutralize powerful dragon champions—the ultimate threat at the heart of the assaults.

— Official description

A Dragon Response Mission.

Dragon Response Missions (DRM) are party-based instances for level 80 characters that were released with the episode Champions of The Icebrood Saga. They are accessed via the Ancient Gate in the Eye of the North. The latter serves as a lobby and has vendors accepting Tyrian Defense Seals, a currency earned in the Dragon Response Missions.

The missions contain story from Episode 5 of The Icebrood Saga, "Champions". Like story instances, Dragon Response Missions can be completed by a party of 1 to 5, and their difficulty scales to accommodate the number of players. Only the Champions episode of The Icebrood Saga must be unlocked in order to access and start the instances, and it is not required to own the previous Episodes. Completion of the story chapters is also not required as DRM are unlocked immediately upon purchase.

Mechanics[edit]

Dragon Response Missions allow both private and public instances, and are structured to have a pre-event, middle progression part and the end boss encounter. They scale significantly based on the number of players present, meaning they are much more suited for solo play than most other similar instanced content.

Public instances employ automated matchmaking that lets players join during a pre-event. After its pre-event is done, the instance is locked and from that point functions similarly to a private instance (see below). A help from a random allied faction will be assigned at this point.

Private instances allow activating challenges for achievements and extra rewards by talking to the NPC Veadh. Players can enlist support from a specific allied faction at the NPC Meradh. Private instances require a pre-organized party and function similarly to story or home instances, which means:

Players can only use the LFG tool prior to starting the instance as party member slots are locked upon entering.
Before starting, it is important to have all party members to be in the same Eye of the North instance. Players that are in a different instance will not get any invitation from the instance initiator.
Only initiating player can cancel the mission start as they are technically considered to be the instance owner. This is useful to prevent starting the instance prior to all members accepting mission invitation.
Other party members, non-initiators, can only accept or reject the mission invitation. If non-initiators reject, they will be left behind in the Eye of the North, while any accepting member will be launched into the mission instance. Players who joined the party later similarly will be unable to enter the mission.
If a player was disconnected, they will be unable to rejoin the ongoing mission. The only way to let a such player in is for the entire group to leave the instance and restart it from the Eye of the North.

General Mission Structure

At the start of the mission a timer will start to count down as soon as you enter. During this timer, you will have to carry out up to three tasks, one of which is always defeating a certain number of enemy mobs. Other tasks are things like building defenses or other structures, arming allies or running supplies, putting out fires or saving locals by talking to them.
Saving locals is done by talking to them, which will make them follow you until you reach their drop-off zone. Until you drop them off they will not count for progressing that task. These NPCs cannot be killed and will follow you on any mount.
Any task completed within the timer duration will grant a morale boost for the rest of the mission.
If all tasks are completed before the timer runs out, the mission is immediately progressed towards the middle part.
For the middle part, complete the task given, usually either a defense event of a certain area for 5 waves of enemies, escorting the NPCs to the boss location, or a combination of both.
The final part of each mission is a boss fight. All bosses have different mechanics so check their individual mission entries to learn more.

Allied Factions and Tide Turner achievements

If you do not recruit an allied faction by paying 10 Tyrian Defense Seals you will get a random allied faction to help you. However, this will not count towards a Tide Turner achievement for that faction. To get progress on such an achievement, you have to pay for the faction to come to your aid.

Challenges

Recalling Vigil Strike Teams adds a timer of around 18 minutes after completing the initial tasks, with the mission failing if it reaches zero.
Recalling Order of Whispers Infiltrators gives all non-boss enemies the Challenging effect, which buffs their health and damage. They also gain Swiftness for 15 seconds upon spawning and are buffed with Fury and 20 stacks of Might for 20 seconds every 10 seconds, and are granted Aegis and 3 stacks of Stability for 10 seconds upon entering combat with them.
Recalling Priory Enchanters gives Dragon Champions (boss enemies) the Challenging effect, which buffs their health and damage.
Activating all 3 challenges and completing the mission rewards you with progress in the Top Dragon Responder achievement for that mission.

Tips

Potions of Destroyer and Icebrood slaying work inside Dragon Response Missions.

List of Dragon Response Missions[edit]

#	Name	Encounters	Release	Elder Dragon	Unfinished weapons
1	Dragon Response Mission: Metrica Province	Destroyer of the Ironhammer Line	Chapter 1: Truce	Primordus	Crimson weapons
2	Dragon Response Mission: Brisban Wildlands	Destroyer of the Crystal Fields	Chapter 1: Truce	Primordus	Crimson weapons
3	Dragon Response Mission: Gendarran Fields	Destroyer of the Great Bridge	Chapter 1: Truce	Primordus	Crimson weapons
4	Dragon Response Mission: Fields of Ruin	Destroyer of the Third Fortress	Chapter 2: Power	Primordus	Crimson weapons
5	Dragon Response Mission: Thunderhead Peaks	Destroyer of the Last Forge	Chapter 2: Power	Primordus	Crimson weapons
6	Dragon Response Mission: Lake Doric	Bors of the Ice Gavel	Chapter 2: Power	Jormag	Azure weapons
7	Dragon Response Mission: Snowden Drifts	Ryland Steelcatcher	Chapter 2: Power	Jormag	Azure weapons
8	Dragon Response Mission: Caledon Forest	Frost Colossus	Chapter 3: Balance	Jormag	Azure weapons
9	Dragon Response Mission: Bloodtide Coast	Tribune Splitwall	Chapter 3: Balance	Jormag	Azure weapons
10	Dragon Response Mission: Fireheart Rise	Tribune Splitgold	Chapter 3: Balance	Jormag	Azure weapons

Daily[edit]

Every four days, during the Champions part of the daily The Icebrood Saga rotation, three Dragon Response Missions, one from each of the first three chapters of the Champions episode, will have achievements counting towards daily progress.

	Chapter 1	Chapter 2	Chapter 3	Next time daily starting
1	Brisban Wildlands	Snowden Drifts	Bloodtide Coast	22 Jan 00:00 UTC+00:00
2	Metrica Province	Fields of Ruin	Fireheart Rise	26 Jan 00:00 UTC+00:00
3	Gendarran Fields	Thunderhead Peaks	Caledon Forest	30 Jan 00:00 UTC+00:00
4	Brisban Wildlands	Lake Doric	Fireheart Rise	3 Feb 00:00 UTC+00:00
5	Metrica Province	Snowden Drifts	Caledon Forest	2 Jan 00:00 UTC+00:00
6	Gendarran Fields	Lake Doric	Bloodtide Coast	6 Jan 00:00 UTC+00:00
7	Brisban Wildlands	Fields of Ruin	Caledon Forest	10 Jan 00:00 UTC+00:00
8	Metrica Province	Thunderhead Peaks	Bloodtide Coast	14 Jan 00:00 UTC+00:00
9	Gendarran Fields	Lake Doric	Fireheart Rise	18 Jan 00:00 UTC+00:00

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Rewards[edit]

Completing a mission offers the following rewards:

One bouncy chest on first daily completion:
- Scrap of Icebrood Saga Mastery (2)
- Tyrian Defense Seal (10)
- 1,000

Depending on the amount of challenges completed, one of these rank chests (only one rank chest is received for each completed mission):
- These chests can be acquired multiple times per day per character.
  - Bronze Rank Chest (0/3 challenges)
  - Silver Rank Chest (1/3 challenges)
  - Gold Rank Chest (2-3/3 challenges)

Note: challenges can only be completed in private instances by talking to Veadh. You cannot complete challenges in a public instance.

The rank chests above are one of the primary acquisition sources for the following rare rewards:

Unfinished weapons[edit]

To craft an unfinished weapon, you need to purchase its recipe from Tactician Erlandson in Eye of the North.
To create a Crimson Dragon Slayer or an Azure Dragon Slayer from the unfinished weapon, use the unfinished weapon during the final fight and then use the special skill Dragon Forger on the champion while their Defiance bar is broken.
- Crimson weapons require a champion of Primordus and the related unfinished weapon item:
  - One-handed: Axe, Dagger, Mace, Pistol, Scepter, Sword
  - Off-hand only: Focus, Shield, Torch, Warhorn
  - Two-handed: Greatsword, Hammer, Longbow, Rifle, Short bow, Staff
- Azure weapons require a champion of Jormag and the related unfinished weapon item:
  - One-handed: Axe, Dagger, Mace, Pistol, Scepter, Sword
  - Off-hand only: Focus, Shield, Torch, Warhorn
  - Two-handed: Greatsword, Hammer, Longbow, Rifle, Short bow, Staff

List of Ally Factions[edit]

Name	Effect	Event	Advantage	Shining Champion mastery addition
Asura	Ally Support: Asura	Faction Aid: Asura Use asuran power suits to defeat enemies.	Grants access to Power Suit transformation. Multiple Golems and Peacemakers come to aid.	Adding Self-Repair skill.
Charr	Ally Support: Charr	Faction Aid: Charr Use charrzookas to repel enemies.	Grants access to Charrzooka bundle. Multiple Charr troops from diferent warbands come to aid.	Missing
Crystal Bloom	Ally Support: Crystal Bloom	Faction Aid: Crystal Bloom Defend the Crystal Bloom while they charge protection crystals.	Grants access to Prismatic Crystal object. Multiple Order of the Crystal Bloom troops come to aid.	The crystal loses 10% of its health when power is drawn from it instead of 20%.
Deldrimor Dwarves	Ally Support: Deldrimor Dwarves	Faction Aid: Deldrimor Dwarves Use dwarven alchemical acid to corrode enemies.	Grants access to Alkar's Alchemical Acid special action skill. Multiple Deldrimor Dwarf troops come to aid.	Adding 3 stacks of Alkar's Alchemical Acid from 1.
Ebon Vanguard	Ally Support: Ebon Vanguard	Faction Aid: Ebon Vanguard Rally at Ebon Vanguard battle standards to stand together for victory!	Grants access to Ebon Vanguard Banners object Grants access to Rally for Victory special action skill. Multiple Ebon Vanguard troops come to aid.	Using Rally for Victory summons 3 allies instead of 1.
Exalted	Ally Support: Exalted	Faction Aid: Exalted Use suits of enchanted armor to crush enemies.	Grants access to Enchanted Armor transformation. Multiple Exalted come to aid.	Adding Healing Burst skill.
Flame Legion	Ally Support: Flame Legion	Faction Aid: Flame Legion Defend Flame Legion shamans while they perform effigy summoning rituals.	Shamans sometimes perform a ritual to summon a Flame Legion Effigy. Multiple Flame Legion troops come to aid.	Missing
Kodan	Ally Support: Kodan	Faction Aid: Kodan	Grants access to Koda's Hammer against Destroyers and Koda's Flame against Icebrood Multiple kodan fighters come to aid.	Missing
Norn	Ally Support: Norn	Faction Aid: Norn Fight alongside the norn shamans to obtain Spirit Blessings.	Norn shamans with one of Spirit Blessings. Multiple norn fighters come to aid.	Missing
Olmakhan	Ally Support: Olmakhan	Faction Aid: Olmakhan Defend Olmakhan sandshifters while they perform effigy summoning rituals.	Sandshifters sometimes perform a ritual to summon a Olmakhan Sand Effigy. Multiple Olmakhan troops come to aid.	Missing
Seraph	Ally Support: Seraph	Faction Aid: Seraph Fight alongside the Seraph and their watchknights.	Multiple Seraph troops and watchknights come to aid.	Missing
Skritt	Ally Support: Skritt	Faction Aid: Skritt Herd distracted skritt together into an inteligent hive mind, and then plant the mines they construct. Skrit organized: 0/X	Grants access to Throw Mine skill and Taunt special action skill. Multiple Skritt troops come to aid.	Missing
Sylvari	Ally Support: Sylvari	Faction Aid: Sylvari Use fern hounds[sic] to defeat enemies.	Grants access to Release the Hound special action skill. Multiple Wardens come to aid with Sylvari Mortar Turrets.	Missing
Tengu	Ally Support: Tengu	Faction Aid: Tengu Use tengu longbows to pin down enemies and keep them at bay.	Grants access to Tengu Longbow (bundle) bundle. Multiple Tengu warriors come to aid.	Adding Read the Wind skill.