Dawning Fear Walkthrough Guide: Teardrop Cave on PC, PS5

Dawning Fear is the tenth main quest in Echoes of Aincrad, sending players back into Teardrop Cave for another run in search of Tempered Steel—and a showdown with the Shrewman Queen.

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After finishing Cave Diving, you’ll return to Teardrop Cave. The goal now is to explore the dungeon a second time to try to secure Tempered Steel, using the walkthrough below for navigation tips and help with both boss fights.

Dawning Fear Walkthrough: Start exploring Teardrop Cave, beat Glenspore Grizzly, beat Shrewman Queen, grab Tempered Steel, then enhance the Annealed Blade

Dawning Fear Walkthrough: Start exploring Teardrop Cave, beat Glenspore Grizzly, beat Shrewman Queen, grab Tempered Steel, then enhance the Annealed Blade

Start exploring Teardrop Cave, beat Glenspore Grizzly, beat Shrewman Queen, grab Tempered Steel, then enhance the Annealed Blade

Dawning Fear Walkthrough

Starting Dawning Fear drops you back into Teardrop Cave right away. Because this is a dungeon, the map layout is partially randomized, so your route may differ from the example run here. Still, the strategies below should help you navigate any dungeon layout in Echoes of Aincrad.

Dungeon Tips From Guide Writer Jeffrey

Even if you’ve cleared Echoes of Aincrad dungeons before, it’s worth remembering that they’re randomly generated. That means the route you need to take may not match the walkthrough exactly, but there are still some practical helpful tricks you can rely on.

Even though there’s no quest waypoint inside the dungeon, you can set your own markers on the map. This is handy for locating specific spots or when you’re retracing your steps.
The dungeon’s entrance and exit share the same purple arch icon on your map. Spotting the second one is a clear sign of where you need to go.
Checking your map can also reveal rooms connected to your current area. Each connected room has a greenish line along the border where the areas meet.

Start Exploring the Teardrop Cave

When you’re ready, push deeper into Teardrop Cave. Since this isn’t a brand-new dungeon area, you’ll see plenty of the same enemies. One difference the guide notes is a slightly altered wasp—potentially tied to increasing Cardinal Rank. The creature name didn’t appear to change after defeating it, but it did have the ability to fire projectiles while airborne.

Beyond that, the current quest objective can feel a bit unclear. It tells you to “Search for enhancement materials in the cave,” which might make you think you must hunt down a specific item. However, you only need to move through the dungeon normally until you finish it.

As you progress, you’ll reach several Safe Areas and fight a couple of bosses. After arriving at the first Safe Area inside the dungeon, you’ll run into Glenspore Grizzly.

How to Beat the Glenspore Grizzly

Glenspore Grizzly is one of the bosses you’ll encounter during your Teardrop Cave run, and this will be a familiar fight—this is the third time the guide references players facing it. The first encounter was during Within the Shadows, and the second was during The Violet Fencer II. Here, the apparent change is that it now has a second Gluttonous Grizzly add. For a quick refresher, here are the fight tips:

It can shake and generate a dark cloud packed with embers. If you enter the smoke, it will knock you away.
The Glenspore Grizzly can breathe fire from left to right with a moderate reach in front of it. If you position behind it, you can strike safely. Getting hit by the breath will raise your Burning ailment meter.
It also uses a melee combo with several nearby swipes using flaming claws, which can apply Burning as well.
While standing on its hind legs, it may switch from fire-breathing to a downward swipe aimed at you.
Don’t ignore the Gluttonous Grizzlies: they can create clouds that inflict the Paralyzed ailment.
If you bring the boss down before you eliminate the two adds, they’ll disappear anyway.

Possible loot after defeating Glenspore Grizzly includes:

Col
Silver Ingots
Hard Bone
Shortsword
Iron Tooth

After defeating this boss, keep moving through the dungeon until you reach the next Safe Area. Just beyond it, you’ll find a sealed yellow wall with dancing shrewmen in front of it. This is the path to the Shrewman Queen.

How to Beat the Shrewman Queen

Passing through the sealed yellow wall interrupts the dancing ritual the shrewmen were performing. During the fight, you may recognize a few attacks from smaller versions of this enemy type. Here’s what to expect:

She can begin dancing in place while wind gusts gather above her, then she sends waves of wind outward in every direction. You can’t block these and you can’t hide behind nearby objects.

If the Shrewman Queen starts charging toward you in a very “titan-like” way, be ready to dodge. If you’re not familiar with Attack on Titan, the key idea is that she’s dancing while running. When she reaches you, she attempts to grab you. If the grab misses, you’ll get a window to attack before she recovers.
She has multiple short- to mid-range melee combo sequences, typically centered on three swipes.
Like other Shrewmen, she can perform a backflip and then flip forward to strike. She dips lower to the ground before executing either flip.

Another move involves slowly lifting her leg backward before attacking all around her. Make sure you’re out of reach before she releases the attack.
The guide notes that only after draining her first health bar did she start using her roar to summon additional Shrewmen.

Possible drops from defeating the Shrewman Queen include:

Col
Iron Ingot
Silver Ingot
Magestone
Bronze Axe
Decapitator

Grab the Tempered Steel

After you defeat the Shrewman Queen, continue deeper into the cave to find Wyzeman and the Tempered Steel. Even though there are three different materials available past him, only one is actually the Tempered Steel. Pick up the correct one to complete the Dawning Fear quest.

Next comes a cutscene in which you and Iori both suddenly receive an Antique Brooch. Wyzeman and Iori try to figure out where the item came from and why the two of you ended up with it. After they can’t make sense of it, Iori suggests going back to town to enhance the Annealed Blade.

Enhance the Annealed Blade

Once you’re back in the Town of Beginnings, head over to the Smithy. You can’t interact with the inn chest until you’ve enhanced the Annealed Blade. Talk to the Smithy and select the Annealed Blade from within the enhancement interface. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to apply the Tempered Steel to a different weapon here.

If you’re struggling to locate the Annealed Blade, check that you’re inside the first weapon category. This is the sword option. It has a green rarity, so it may blend in with other entries. After enhancing the Annealed Blade using Tempered Steel, you can technically smelt it into another weapon later. Just don’t burn through all its levels if you’re using it to top off a weapon that’s already high level.

With the enhancement complete, you can continue your usual town activities—leveling up, enhancing other gear, and so on. When you’re ready to move to the next quest, go to the main terminal for Onward to Tolbana.

Dawning Fear Quest Walkthrough: Get Tempered Steel in Teardrop Cave

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