It's Getting Frosty

The newest escalation came out and it's frost as I had predicted a while back. (Up next if the pattern holds is radiant). It adds a frostbite meter and a new keystone behemoth. I love the aesthetics of the new area and behemoths, probably in part due to my nostalgia for the first Ice Age movie. However, some community members aren't as happy as me so I'll discuss some of the problems with the New Frost Escalation later on.

What's new

• Rumors

• Behemoths (keystone and deepfrost)

• Frostbite (boons and avatar abilities)

• Realm of Ice Hunt Pass

Rumors

The absolute best change in the new update is that you can now pick up both rumors at once. Phoenix Labs you absolute legends. I can now make progress more easily without having to laser focus down one questline at a time. I was surprised to find out that the rumors are based on the same behemoths as last time, but with a different type of cosmetic. I wonder they'll continue releasing cosmetics for these two, blaze Rezakiri and umbral Koshai, or if we'll see new ones next time around. I happen to like the shadow-touched Koshai cosmetics a lot so you won't hear me complain.

Behemoths

Keystone Behemoth: Urska

The new keystone behemoth is clearly based on a sabertooth cat and features some really interesting animations where it jumps around on icicles within its cave. The biggest problem I've encountered is that I can't stand still and get a good look at it without freezing to death.

Deepfrost Behemoths:

I have some thoughts. The deepfrost Gnasher is cute and the pastel colors would be sick on some transmogs. I like all of its new frosty animations like throwing a snowball. The deepfrost Skarn doesn't feel very different to fight but I like the aesthetics a lot. However, The deepfrost Embermane is barely an Embermane. I literally thought it was a new behemoth. It looks nothing like an Embermane and it calls little wolves to its aid (and I want them as pets). I think it looks super cool and I like it a lot but literally, this is not an Embermane other than the fact it runs at you and you can interrupt it easily.

Frostbite

Boons

I don't personally understand why Phoenix Labs decided to add boons to this escalation. I like the idea of them, and I don't dislike any of them, but they seem to just add another layer of complexity to the frostbite meter that seems to overlap a lot with avatar abilities.

Avatar Abilities

This one is not my favorite addition. I play online with randoms because I think that's what Escalations are all about (and it makes the Frostbite easier to deal with). The problem is that everybody wants the same one and since only one person can have each, the first 30 seconds of every run is a bit of a nightmare. I really wish people could use the same one or there were more or better choices. Nothing is worse than seeing the Repeaters player forced to pick up the stagger damage pillar and contribute nothing to our frostbite meter.

Hunt Pass: Realm of Ice

This hunt pass is clearly frost-themed to connect to the new escalation similar to what other hunt passes have done in the past. I think it looks pretty similar to the one from December so it isn't my favorite. I will admit that the weapon transmogs are very nice looking.