The Malnok Stronghold is one of the first of its kind you may run into in Diablo 4, which can fool you into trying to conquer it at a low level. But you should be careful. Strongholds are one of the biggest challenges you can take on solo in the early game, and I am guilty of trying to take one at level 15 and failing miserably.
Clearing the Malnok Stronghold is important if you want to unlock more dungeons and get a lot of Fractured Peaks renown, which can give you rewards from region progress. That could get you extra skill points or higher potion capacity, so the challenge is worth it.
Get ready for some fights and bring decent area damage to take care of weak monsters thrown at you. Also, bring extra Cold Resistance, though it’s not mandatory. Finally, bring any skill that makes you Unstoppable or reduces crowd control applied to you since the final boss will freeze you constantly. In my Druid, I brought Trample and Enhanced Earthen Bulwark to solve this issue.
With my Druid on level 38, I decided it was time to conquer the Malnok Stronghold. Here’s how you can do it too, at any level, step by step.
Expected clear time: 10 to 15 minutes, depending on your damage output.
I’ve put a table of contents below. Click on any of the items to be taken to that section of the article.
- Where to find the Malnok Stronghold in Diablo 4
- How to complete “Search for the source of the storm”
- How to complete “Slay the Ice Clan Stormcallers”
- Malnok boss fight: How to slay Frosthorn
- All Malnok Stronghold rewards in Diablo 4
Where to find the Malnok Stronghold in Diablo 4
If you travel east from Kyovashad, the main city hub in Diablo 4, you will be at the Frigid Expanse. Continue going east until you see the red skull on your map indicating the location of the Malnok Stronghold. Open your map and put a pin on this skull so you have a path drawn to it. The image below shows the exact path you must follow from Kyovashad.
You will enter from the north of the stronghold and unlock the first quest in the area.
How to complete “Search for the source of the storm”
Head immediately left when you enter the Malnok Stronghold and interact with the ropes to cross the broken bridge. Follow the path, clear the Ice Clan mobs spawning, and continue heading down. Right after the first Ice Clan group, you will see a small statue with ice spikes coming out of it, called “Soul Shot”. Destroy it to trigger the next part of the event.
The video below shows the path I took with my Druid and the Soul Shot location.
How to complete “Slay the Ice Clan Stormcallers”
There are three Ice Clan Stormcallers you must defeat. Each is represented by a white skull icon on the map.
The first Stormcaller is down from where you just finished the last step. However, it will be immune to damage until you defeat its Ritual Guardian, which in this area is Coldaxe. Once you kill it, head to the right to find and kill the first Stormcaller.
Follow the path southeast, jump down the broken bridge, and head east until you can see another white skull icon on your map, close to another broken bridge. Climb up, head down, and kill Winterspear, which is another Ritual Guardian, to make the second Stormcaller killable. Defeat it, climb down, and head north to face the last Stormcaller.
In the third area, you will find Rimescar protecting the ritual. Kill it while dealing with the Ice Clan enemies surrounding you to remove the last Stormcaller’s immunity to damage. Shred it to pieces and head to the center of Malnok for the boss fight.
Check out all Stormcaller locations and how to beat their Ritual Guardians in the video below, which shows my Druid absolutely smashing them all.
If you haven’t killed all enemies in the stronghold until this point, you will receive another quest asking you to do so. When you go to the center of Malnok, these enemies will follow you and the clear will be easy.
Malnok boss fight: How to slay Frosthorn
Frosthorn is a giant goat boss that will slash you with its axe and freeze you with orbs. Its light attack is a side slash with the axe, dealing moderate damage. Its heavy attack is a jump followed by a heavy axe slam on the ground, dealing massive damage. Frosthorn sets up the latter by sending swirling frost orbs all around the arena that freeze you upon exploding. That’s why you want to break the freeze with skills that make you Unstoppable.
Here’s how I dealt with Frosthorn’s attacks:
- Side slash: Since my Druid runs a build with Fortify and lots of damage reduction, I tanked the hits. If you can’t tank them and are playing at range, I recommend using mobility skills to keep distance from Frosthorn.
- Heavy axe slam: Dodge to the back of Frosthorn. You must pay close attention to the boss since it will always jump before slamming the ground, making it easy to know when this attack is coming your way.
- Frost orbs: Constantly move and use Unstoppable skills. I was actually frozen by them way more than I wanted to, which led to me taking scary heavy slams to the face. These orbs are hard to avoid and pay attention to, so make sure you’re constantly moving away from them when you see any nearby.
The video below shows my Frosthorn kill with my Druid. Trample and Earthen Bulwark saved me many times.
You have one minor step to finish before conquering Malnok. Complete the quest “Rekindle the Wanderer’s Shrine to conquer Malnok” by heading east to interact with the Wanderer’s Shine and complete the Malnok Stronghold quest.
All Malnok Stronghold rewards in Diablo 4
Here is everything you unlock in Diablo 4 after conquering the Malnok Stronghold:
- +100 Fractured Peaks renown.
- Malnok becomes a friendly city with a Healer, a Blacksmith, a Rings and Amulets vendor, and an Armor vendor.
- Access to the Anica’s Claim and Rimescar Cavern dungeons, which reward you with Stormclaw’s Aspect and Aspect of Plunging Darkness on first completion, respectively.
Unfortunately, Malnok has no Waypoints. You can travel north from it to find the Bear Tribe Refuge Waypoint, though.
If you want to clear more strongholds, Túr Dúlra is a must if you’re playing Druid or just want a useful Waypoint north of the world.
Published: Jun 7, 2023 09:59 am