When I first stumbled upon the Trial of All Seasons in Reaper's Coast, I genuinely thought it would be another generic fetch quest - boy was I wrong! 🔥 That ominous brazier surrounded by four mysterious totems immediately gave me chills, especially when the Tongue of Flames NPC started reciting that cryptic poetry. The sheer complexity of Divinity: Original Sin 2's systems hit me like a thunderbolt as I realized this wasn't just some combat gauntlet but a cerebral environmental puzzle demanding creative spell-synergy. Honestly? I spent a solid hour just staring at those seasonal riddles feeling utterly dumbfounded before finally cracking the code. That moment when all four totems simultaneously ignited with ethereal light? Pure gaming euphoria!

❄️ Winter Totem: The Frosty Nightmare

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The "Winter shudders with ice and snow" clue had me initially trying ridiculous things like throwing snowballs (don't judge me!). What actually worked was combining Hydrophist spells:

  • Casting Rain to create water puddles

  • Following up with Global Cooling to instantly freeze them

  • Alternatively using Hail Strike for instant icy surfaces

My personal breakthrough came when my elven ranger fired freezing arrows at the ground - the crisp crackle of forming ice and the way the totem pulsed with blue energy gave me goosebumps! ❄️ Pro tip: Positioning matters! Stand too close and you'll slip on your own ice like I did... twice. 🙈

⚡ Autumn Totem: Electric Boogaloo

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"Autumn rumbles, the sky lit aglow" sounded poetic until I realized it meant creating ELECTRIFIED CLOUDS - easily the most frustrating phase! My failed attempts included:

  1. Casting thunder spells directly at totem (no effect)

  2. Summoning storm clouds without proper surface prep

The winning combo?:

  • Rain → creates water → Fireball turns it to STEAM → Electric Discharge zaps it

When those purple lightning currents finally wrapped around the totem, I literally jumped off my chair! ⚡ The visual spectacle of crackling energy dancing across the misty meadow was worth every failed attempt.

🔥 Summer Totem: Trial by Fire

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Oh boy, "Summer burns, air fiery as a hearth" – this one almost broke me! Creating sustainable fire clouds is absurdly rare in normal gameplay. After wasting precious scrolls, I discovered:

Method Difficulty My Success Rate
Vaporize on existing fire Medium 3/5 tries
Laser Eyes spell Hard 1/10 😭
Fire Slug summon Easy Instant!

Finding a Fire Slug near Driftwood saved my sanity! Watching its laser beams condense the air into swirling crimson clouds while the totem erupted in flames felt like orchestrating a dragon's breath. 🔥 The heat distortion effects in the game engine still blow my mind!

💀 Spring Totem: Bloody Easy... Literally

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After the previous nightmares, "Spring quenches, with bloody rebirth" was almost therapeutic! Options I tested:

  • Necromancer's Rain Blood (elegant but requires specific build)

  • Making companion bleed (Fane hated me for this)

  • Elf's Flesh Sacrifice (my personal choice)

As my elf character sacrificed flesh, that gruesome yet beautiful crimson pool spreading beneath the glowing green totem created such visceral contrast! 💀 Dark humor moment: When Lohse asked "Why are you bleeding on ancient artifacts?" I couldn't stop laughing.

🎮 The Final Gauntlet & Rewards

After the fourth totem lit up, BAM! - Four elemental champions materialized:

  • Ice warrior with brutal freezing AOE

  • Storm mage chaining lightning

  • Fire archer with burning arrows

  • Blood necromancer healing allies

At level 13, this fight WRECKED me twice before I devised this strategy:

  1. Focus fire mage FIRST

  2. Use terrain obstacles against archer

  3. Save ice warrior for last since slow movement

The victory explosion of XP numbers (10,400 + 15,775!) felt orgasmic 💥 and the Phoenix Heart reward? Game-changing for elf builds! That Flaming Tongues skill has since become my signature move.

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This trial fundamentally changed how I view RPG puzzles - it wasn't about stats but CREATIVITY within game mechanics. Could environmental puzzles like this work in real-time action games? Does forcing players to harm companions for progression cross ethical lines in gaming? And most importantly... why don't more games trust players to solve complex poetic riddles? 🤔 The sheer satisfaction when everything clicks makes me wonder if we've been underestimating gamers' intelligence all along!