Titan Souls: how to find the snowy region and kill Stratus, Yeti and Onyxia

Once you arrive in the sanctuary, you'll notice that it's much larger than the starting zone. Numerous paths lead away from the central elevator, each one of which takes you to new environments and new titans. Of most importance, however, are the huge stone doors that lie directly ahead to the north. There are eight circular slots on the doors and only one of them is illuminated initially.

Each time you defeat a titan, another circle will light up, and the door will eventually open when all eight are illuminated. As it happens, there are 12 titans to defeat in the surrounding area, so you won't need to kill them all to proceed - something to remember if any of them are giving you a particularly hard time!

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How to reach the snowy region

Orientate yourself by returning to the central elevator if necessary, then begin travelling to the north-west. Soon, you'll arrive at a small body of water - swim across to reach the stone steps situated a little north. Back on dry land, follow the path around to the left. Soon you'll reach another staircase and, at the top, a mysterious cave.

Head into the darkness and, once inside, follow the path until you emerge back into the open air, atop a snowy precipice. Continue left and follow the path around, crossing over the bridge that leads back east. From here, look for the checkpoint glyph on the ground and activate it.

How to kill Stratus, the laser-spewing, column-probing boss

When you're ready to tackle your next titan, ascend the large stone steps to the north until you reach the snowy enclosure.

To begin the battle, shoot your arrow at the strange stone plinth to the north of the area. The titan exhales immediately, sending out a gust of wind that forces you backward across the snow. The head continues to rise in and out of the ground throughout the fight, blowing out another gust of wind whenever it's fully exposed. Pay attention to the titan's breath, as it can push you into the path of incoming perils later on in the fight, spelling instant death.

Next, the creature sends a large column tunnelling beneath the ground, ready to home in on your position and burst upwards. Be careful here: although the column merely shoves you out of the way when it erupts from the earth, you'll die if it slams you into one of the walls surrounding the area. Luckily, it's easy to avoid the column - simply roll around to get away from its position.

Shortly after emerging from the earth, the column unleashes a laser attack that creates a trail of deadly ice shards along the ground. The trail makes it way towards the location you occupied when the laser was fired, so it shouldn't hit you as long as you keep moving. Avoid touching the ice shards at all costs, however (even once the laser has dissipated), as contact with them will kill you instantly.

Your not-entirely-obvious objective here is to guide the laser beam toward any of the five shining teeth on the titan's head. In order to do so, dodge the column as it bursts from the ground, then immediately reposition yourself so that you're standing directly in front of the creature's teeth. Dodge again to avoid its laser attack and - all being well - it should sweep by and hit your target. Note that you can only damage the titan's teeth when its head is fully exposed, so it might take a few attempts to get your timing just right.

Once you've shattered a tooth, you're able to access the glowing weak spot in the titan's mouth. You just need to fire a single arrow at it to end the battle. That's a little easier said than done, however, and success demands impeccable timing. You need to launch your arrow immediately after the column has fired its laser (giving you a few seconds of respite from its attacks), but also while the head is fully raised. What's more, you need to fire a charged arrow shot immediately after the titan's gust breath subsides in order to guarantee a direct hit.

Needless to say, the window of opportunity is erratic and brief so close observation of your surroundings is key. Once the creature is down, consume its soul and return to the snowy peak's checkpoint glyph.

How to beat Yeti, the furry boss with the exposed bottom!

With Stratus defeated, follow the short path leading to the north-west of the checkpoint glyph. Once you reach the alcove, look for the wall covered in vines and clamber on up. There's a mysterious cave at the top, so head on through it to begin the next battle.

Inside the ice cave, fire an arrow at the motionless yeti-like titan to get the battle started. Almost immediately, it launches a barrage of snowballs which - while not deadly on their own - will kill you if they knock you into one of the area's surrounding walls. Keep dodging clockwise around the titan in order to avoid them.

Once the initial volley has subsided, the creature performs its second move: a lightning-fast roll that requires speedy reflexes in order to dodge. Successfully avoid it, however, and there's still more danger to watch out for: as the titan slams into the cavern wall, it bounces backward, pounding the ground on its descent. Worse still, the creature's landing also dislodges a number of deadly ice shards that tumble from the ceiling and fall in a line leading away from the titan. Don't touch them!

After three high-speed rolls, the titan comes to a halt and you're given the chance to fire your arrow at his exposed buttocks. Be warned though: your window of opportunity is small here, and your target is impossible to strike if you're not correctly positioned.

Essentially, you need to be as close to the arena's surrounding wall as possible when the yeti launches it third and final roll attack. The snowball volley that follows will force you to move, so it's vital that you position yourself correctly during the creature's first two roll attacks. As the yeti's third roll thunders toward you, quickly dodge out the way, staying close to the perimeter. If all goes to plan, the titan's attack will miss and it will bounce off the wall, landing with its back to you a short distance away.

This gives you a few seconds to quickly launch an arrow at his backside and bring the battle to a close. Just be aware that there's a chance the falling ice shards will prevent you from hitting your target. If this happens, simply dodge the yeti's snowball attack and repeat the process until victory is yours.

Once the fight is over, consume the Yeti's soul and return to the snowy peak checkpoint glyph.

How to kill Onyxia, the underwater snake boss

From the snowy checkpoint glyph, look for the burning torch just to the north-east. Fire your arrow through it to illuminate the second torch immediately to its right, then use that torch to illuminate the next one, just up the steps to the north.

Next, you need to illuminate the torch to the right, but it requires a fully-charged shot to reach it, and you'll have to aim carefully as it's positioned off-screen. Once that torch is lit, head on over and use another fully-charged shot to light the torch down the steps to the south, again off-screen. With all that done, use the final torch to fire a flaming arrow at the ice boulder blocking the entrance to the cave across the icy lake to the right. Finally, with the path clear, you can head inside.

The battle against Onyxia begins as soon as you fire an arrow at the gong on the central ice platform. The gong summons the serpent from below, and it immediately ascends to the water's surface. As the creature bursts from the water, it arcs over and crashes down towards you. Any floating ice platforms that get in its way will be destroyed - as will you.

After the titan has burst upwards three times, it unleashes a deadly electrical charge that spreads throughout the water. Quickly climb onto one of the ice platforms dotted around the arena to avoid being electrocuted. Needless to say, it's vital that you don't accidentally lure the creature into too many ice platforms during the preceding stage if you want to stay alive. Thankfully, all destroyed platforms are replaced after the electrical attack phase.

As it turns out, Onyxia is pretty easy to defeat, although as always it's all a matter of timing. When the creature is underwater, swim around to lure it out, and make sure that you're in easy reach of an ice platform. Be careful though - you need to be close enough to reach the platform in the short time that you have, but not so close that the titan smashes it (and you) during its ascent or descent.

Once the titan emerges and begins arcing through the air, quickly clamber onto the platform and fire an arrow at its tail before it can disappear underwater again. You only need to hit the tail once to defeat the boss, so simply repeat the pattern until you're successful. Once it's down, consume its soul and then make your way back to the elevator in the centre of the map.

With the area's titans defeated, four of the eight lights on the temple doors should now be illuminated. Return to the central elevator and prepare for the next leg of your journey.

- The next part of our guide explains how to kill the bosses in the fiery cave.

- Head back to the first page for the rest of our Titan Souls guide.