Overview
The Icewing Plate Armor is an Epic-rarity chest piece in Crimson Desert, part of the Icewing Plate set belonging to Gwen Kraber. It is the standout piece of the set thanks to its Shattering Frost imbue, one of only two ice imbue skills in the entire game. The chest piece has the highest defense ceiling of any item in the set, reaching 41 at max refinement. Like other Icewing Plate pieces, it arrives at refinement level 2.
A piece of armor belonging to Gwen Kraber, captain of the Wolf Trackers. She is Giath's loyal right hand, constantly seeking new prey for him. In some ways, she seems an unlikely fit among wolf trackers. Her true origins are unknown, but her skill is beyond doubt.
Stats
Stat | Base (+0) | At +2 | Max (+10) |
|---|---|---|---|
4 | 8 | 41 |
With 41 defense at +10, the Icewing Plate Armor has one of the highest defense values among chest armor pieces. The defense scaling is aggressive: the jump from +9 (34) to +10 (41) alone accounts for 7 points.
Abyss Gears
The Icewing Plate Armor comes with three Abyss Gear sockets pre-filled, making it one of the most gear-dense armor pieces in the game:
Gear Slot | Effect | |
|---|---|---|
Socket 1 | Shattering Frost (Imbue Ice) | Triggers a delayed ice explosion at the target location. Can instantly freeze enemies that are not resistant to cold. |
Socket 2 | Spirit Regeneration Lv 1 | Restores +100 Spirit every tick. Keeps your spirit pool topped off during extended fights. |
Socket 3 | Damage Reduction Lv 1 | Reduces incoming damage by a flat amount. Stacks with other sources of damage reduction. |
Shattering Frost is the crown jewel of this piece. Ice imbues are extremely rare in Crimson Desert, and this is one of only two ways to access one. The delayed explosion mechanic means you can apply the imbue and then continue attacking while the ice detonation charges up in the background, potentially freezing the target if they lack cold resistance.
Refinement
The armor can be refined from +0 to +10 at a blacksmith. Higher levels demand increasingly expensive materials. The final upgrade to +10 requires an Aeserion's Scale.
Level | |||
|---|---|---|---|
+0 | 4 | None | 2,037 |
+1 | 6 | Iron Ore x2 | 2,073 |
+2 | 8 | Iron Ore x3 | 2,127 |
+3 | 10 | Iron Ore x4, Copper Ore x2 | 2,289 |
+4 | 14 | Iron Ore x5, Copper Ore x4 | 2,559 |
+5 | 18 | Iron Ore x6, Copper Ore x6, Large Bone x1, Abyss Artifact x1 | 5,847 |
+6 | 22 | Iron Ore x8, Copper Ore x8, Large Bone x3, Abyss Artifact x1 | 9,381 |
+7 | 26 | Iron Ore x10, Copper Ore x10, Large Bone x5, Abyss Artifact x1 | 13,161 |
+8 | 30 | Iron Ore x15, Copper Ore x15, Large Bone x8, Bismuth Ore x2, Abyss Artifact x1 | 17,976 |
+9 | 34 | Iron Ore x25, Copper Ore x20, Large Bone x12, Bismuth Ore x6, Abyss Artifact x1 | 24,516 |
+10 | 41 | Aeserion's Scale x1, Abyss Artifact x1 | 27,367 |
How to Obtain
The Icewing Plate Armor is obtained as a reward from the "Frozen Elder Tree" quest, given by House Celeste as part of the Hernand faction questline. This quest is one of the last in a very long chain of prerequisite quests that spans multiple Hernandian factions and guilds. You need to be at least Chapter 5 (possibly Chapter 6) of the main story before the chain becomes available.
Full Quest Chain Prerequisites
The Frozen Elder Tree quest requires completing the following quest chains in order. This is the longest prerequisite chain in the game:
Complete 10 House Roberts quests
Complete 6 House Alfonso quests (Piercing Spear, Crimson Stain and Fear, House of Spears, Transcendent Structure)
Complete 10 House Circus quests (Silent Anvil, Flames Melting the Chains, Secret of the Lost Seal, Lord Amidst the Runes, Hooves Through the Wind)
Complete 2 House Celeste quest chains (Queen of the Silk Spun Citadel and Abandoned Factory)
Complete 6 Vela Fisherman's Guild quests
Complete Hernandian Parish of Solomon quests (Where Land Meets Sky, Missing Relic)
Complete the Hellhounds quest line to unlock the Legendary Wolf
Complete 3 Legendary Wolf quests
Complete 5 House Felix quests
Complete 4 Beggar's Alliance quests
Complete 5 House Grace quests (including the secret room puzzle in "Whereabouts of the New Lord" / "Lord Who Hid in the Manor")
Complete 3 Kuranso Croll Alliance quests (includes a boss fight)
Complete "What the Stars Left Behind" for Skola Stone Institute (includes a constellation puzzle)
Finally, "Frozen Elder Tree" unlocks for House Celeste: you must kill a tough boss (weak to fire, resistant to ice) and then clear a fortress
House Grace Secret Room Puzzle
One notable step in the chain is the secret room puzzle during the House Grace quest "Whereabouts of the New Lord" (also called "Lord Who Hid in the Manor"). On the first floor next to the staircase, walk into the wall to discover it rotates. Behind the rotating wall, pick up a key to the basement from the table. Go upstairs and collect a dagger from the shelving unit. Open a nearby cabinet to reveal a wheel, then spin the wheel to aim light onto a decorative stone. This opens another shelving unit containing a second dagger. Proceed to the room with the ornate fireplace and insert both daggers. This opens a secret entrance to the basement. Use the key you found earlier to get inside.
Skola Constellation Puzzle
The Skola Stone Institute quest "What the Stars Left Behind" includes a constellation puzzle. Equip the special helmet from the quest and also place it in your food wheel slot. Activate the helmet's skill, then look up at the sky to find the constellation. Rotate until you find the angle that forms a square shape, then hold the examine button to solve the puzzle.
Drop Location and Approach
The Icewing Plate Armor is awarded by defeating Gwen Kraber at the Elder Tree arena. The arena sits northwest of Castle Hernand in the mountains south of Sage's Peak, deep inside the Hernand region. The fight is the terminal objective of the Elder Tree quest line in House Celeste, which itself unlocks only after the chain of Hernand faction quests has reached the Legendary Hunter step at Lion Crest Manor. See the Shattering Frost article for the full stage-by-stage faction chain that opens this fight.
Arena Site
From Castle Hernand, travel northwest into the mountain range that sits south of Sage's Peak. The Elder Tree is a clearly visible landmark; the arena floor wraps around its base. Gwen Kraber paces near the trunk of the tree with his Gwen Kraber's Forces elite escort. Clearing the escort before triggering the boss is recommended; the open arena floor allows ranged kiting if the player needs space during the encounter.
Drop Contents
Item | Notes |
|---|---|
Drops directly from Gwen Kraber on first kill. Comes pre-socketed with the Shattering Frost abyss gear, saving the five-core crafting recipe required to make Shattering Frost from scratch at a Witch's Workshops. | |
Gwen Kraber's Spear | Sits on the ground at the lower section of the arena after the fight ends. Easy to miss in the rush to grab the armor drop. Walk down the slope below the kill point before fast-traveling out. |
Embedded Abyss Gear Note
Because Shattering Frost ships in the chest piece on the first kill, players do not need to invest crafting materials to start running the frost burst loop. Shattering Frost combines with Frost Hail (rewarded separately from the White Horn boss in the Pelune Malisia chain) for the canonical ice abyss gear pair. The standard workflow once both pieces are in inventory: extract Shattering Frost from the Icewing chest piece at any Witch's Workshops and re-embed it alongside Frost Hail in a single armor piece so both fire on the same activation. The Icewing chest piece can then carry a different abyss gear or be slotted into a defensive loadout that prioritizes its 41 defense at +10. See Frost Element for the full element-swap workflow.
After the Fight
Once Gwen Kraber falls, Root Hold and the surrounding mountain are liberated. Vendors and travel options around the Elder Tree become accessible, and the Hernand faction tab reflects the Elder Tree quest as complete. Cycle back through House Celeste to confirm the quest closure and to pick up any follow-up rewards tied to the Elder Tree storyline.
Part of Set
The Icewing Plate Armor is the chest piece in the five-piece Icewing Plate set. The other pieces are:
Icewing Plate Helm (head)
Icewing Plate Gloves (hands)
Icewing Plate Boots (feet)
Icewing Plate Cloak (back)
Completing the Frozen Elder Tree quest also unlocks the Frost Fang spear, which thematically pairs with the Icewing Plate set.
See Also
Gwen Kraber (the original owner of this set)
Wolf Trackers (the faction Gwen leads)
Frost Fang (spear obtained alongside the armor)
Armor Sets (overview of all equipment sets)
Abyss Gear (gear augmentation system)
Elemental Effects (ice imbue mechanics)