Everything You Need to Know: Anthem’s Icetide Season

A strange but welcome chill in the air heralds the coming of one of the most anticipated seasons in the world of Anthem, Icetide. It’s a time of joyous celebration, friendly competition, and harvest – but it also has its dangers. While some enemies avoid the cold, others flourish in the frigid temperatures and will test you to your limits. Better bundle up, Freelancer, it’s time to take on Icetide!

Your Guide to Icetide

Icetide is a themed, season-long event that offers unique rewards and challenges for its duration – similar to the Season of Skulls. The normally steamy jungles undergo a fantastic transformation as Bastion becomes a winter wonderland, for a time. The people of Fort Tarsis celebrate by hanging colorful lights and delicate glass ornaments in every public space.

How to Begin

There are no level requirements for the Icetide content, anyone at any level is welcome to enter. If you’d like to participate in the Seasonal Stronghold events you will only need to have completed the Incursion story. You can select currently available events by visiting the “Game Modes” menu. For more information on what’s happening during each week of this event just visit the World Updates page here on the Anthem website.

Strongholds and Freeplay

Each week you’ll face a Seasonal Stronghold with leaderboards, scoring, and timers – plus extra objectives and challenges. Understanding how to maximize your score by planning out your Stronghold strategies and keeping score multipliers in mind will also mean earning more Crystals to spend in the seasonal store.

If you’ve unlocked Freeplay (the mode where you can freely roam through the world of Anthem) you can also encounter season-related world events. Here you’ll aid Arcanists as they attempt to harvest a rare Coolant in the midst of ferocious, localized snowstorms. But beware, bad weather is the least of your worries!

Or, if you’d like to test the speed and agility of your javelin, enter one of the Time Trials – races where you’ll maneuver through floating hoops to try to achieve the best time possible. There are three different tiers you can complete the race in – Gold, Silver, and Bronze – with greater rewards going to those who finish faster.

Enemies and Rewards

Some enemies (like Scars and Dominion) find the cold weather daunting and will withdraw or even go into hibernation. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean Freelancers are in for an extended winter holiday. You’ll find yourself fighting off Outlaws with greater frequency throughout the whole of the Icetide season as well as formidable wildlife adapted to the colder weather.

Of course, a new season means new seasonal store inventory to spend your hard-earned Crystals on. Visit Herschel’s Hut (in the Fort Tarsis market, near the doors to the courtyard) for weekly inventory refreshes of ice-themed vanity items, War Chests, plus gear and weapons. Unique seasonal vanity items will also be available as rewards for completing challenges.

The Lore of Icetide

You’ll be able to delve further into the lore of this much-anticipated season through weekly stories published on the News page. And take some time to explore the wintery landscape for light-up wreaths that will help you unlock even more!

Anthem is available now in both Standard Edition and the Legion of Dawn Edition for Xbox One, PlayStation® 4, and PC. Play the Standard Edition with EA Access and Origin Access Basic or the Legion of Dawn Edition with Origin Access Premier*

Make sure not to miss any of the latest info and sign up for the Anthem newsletter for all the latest Anthem news, updates, behind-the-scenes content, offers, and more (including other EA news, products, events, and promotions) by email.

Follow Anthem on Twitter and Instagram.

*CONDITIONS, LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS APPLY. SEE ea.com/ea-access/terms AND origin.com/store/origin-access/terms FOR DETAILS.