A note that we probably need to fix this up, to note that some of the messages change by both number and scariness of snowmen. A couple number messages:
A handful of snowmen stand quietly on the Quad, although you get a strange feeling… a taste of barely contained malice. Maybe it's the Eclipse talking… but maybe the Eclipse is right. None of the mob seem particularly more or less dangerous than the others.
Dozens of snowmen mark the Quad, glaring down at you balefully. A few snowmen with vicious icicle fangs work their way through the crowd. The others seem like lost puppies in comparison.
Think we've usually blown past these markers by the time people go etheric.
At over 500 max scariness (with a lot of heads involved), and 97 snowmen built, we're sitting at:
Dozens of snowmen mark the Quad, glaring down at you balefully. At the center of the horde, you see a small group of snowmen watching the proceedings. Some have horns and a single coal eye, while others have too many heads or stare out with a pair of bulbous eyes like Christmas ornaments.
I'm wondering if maybe hitting 100 snowmen built is a required threshold for moving to a 'mass' and maybe getting the towering snowman to show up.
Seems like it should be possible to get the towering snowman, even without hitting the 'legion' level of snowmen. From some text we've got recorded on the Snow Goons (2009) page, it would seem to be possible. So maybe there's still something else going on.
When I asked Kinak if we were close to the towering snowman:
"Very close, but not quite. Should be fine shortly."
At the time, the number of snowmen taken down was below 500. I got it up to 508 and it's still not available. Number of snowmen built is 133, so I'm guessing increasing that (as was previously suggested - maybe to 150?) is the key.
Checked at 149 and then 150; no change in message. Will continue to build if while I can.
Looks like the towering snowman is up at 151 built. There's also an odd gap in between the lines about snowman arranged around the giant, and the line about snowmen casting strange shadows.
Since this encounter ended up replacing some older, annual versions of the encounter, pulling in some notes about things that have been tried for unlocking snow snakes:
- Serpent outfit
- Burning Vision
- Running in terror after using a silk top hat, before encountering an evil snowman
- Holiday Cheer
- Using a Frost Breath, Serpent Pattern combination a few times
- +3 Chance of Combat Encounters, making it my highest encounter chance modifier
- Serpent Venom
- Killing 3 swarms of tiny snowmen and then getting to this encounter before hitting a snow avenger
- Emerald Gift
- Wearing 3 pieces of the Midgard Security outfit
- Classic Carols
- Brain Staples
- Having a fishing pole equipped
- Killed Dave
- Started the punk uprising
Also, I believe Al has tried Wide Open and rage effects.
And some more recent things:
- Running away with no pants on
- Running away with a sheet of scales on
- Coming in with a binding tome
- Using Release the Hounds on some snowmen
- Binding a Dazzling Cloud to see if the "glowing energy" does anything with the shadows
Considered using Awaken Students against snowmen, but turns out you can't learn it while the snowman competition is up at the dorms.
Running away with Channeling Matsuo active and a replica sword equipped (Because "White Worm", get it) didn't do anything special.