Graven Deep first impression 9.5/10

StarOfElyon · September 2022

I was invited to tank Vet Graven Deep last night. It was my first time in the dungeon but we blew through it all the way up to the final boss. Before I say more on that, let me tell you how beautiful and engrossing this dungeon is. I love the haunting atmosphere that is juxtaposed with the beauty of the ocean depths. I found myself stopping to admire it all and I don't think I've ever done that in a dungeon before. It's masterfully done.

Now, about the encounters and the imbalance in difficulty: The trash mobs and secret bosses were way too easy. We questioned whether we were on vet or not. But then we got to the final boss and there was an EXTREME increase in difficulty. It was so hard that it felt like we were doing hard mode. I think it's every bit as difficult as Fang Lair hard mode. There's no way normal vet should be that difficult. I had to leave to go to bed at 2:00 am. I don't know if the others were able to complete it without me. Still, I can handle some vet hard modes and that's what it felt like.

So overall, it's an very well done dungeon that unfortunately suffers from some imbalance in difficulty.

Necrotech_Master · September 2022

i would agree, i really enjoyed the atmosphere (several areas reminded me of something like bioshock)

but i would also agree that the final boss difficulty is insane compared to the other bosses in the dungeon

i still have to try again to complete graven deep on vet, but if you need 4 above-par players to really have a chance of completing it, its too hard (especially for a non-HM)

Dagoth_Rac · September 2022

Didn't they just reduce the difficulty of Graven Deep? Is it still overtuned on regular Vet?

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/616926/pc-mac-patch-notes-v8-1-6

smackinhippies · September 2022

I tanked this last week on vet and I would agree, the dungeon was pretty easy up until the last boss. We understood the mechanics of the fight, the issue came down to DD's not being able to stay alive and once one goes down it just seemed to snowball after that each time. We will try again this week to clear it.

Necrotech_Master · September 2022

Dagoth_Rac wrote: »

Didn't they just reduce the difficulty of Graven Deep? Is it still overtuned on regular Vet?

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/616926/pc-mac-patch-notes-v8-1-6

according to an analysis from code, those changes did little to nothing to affect non-HM difficulty

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/617070/graven-deep-zelvraak-veteran-non-hm-balancing-issues#latest

boi_anachronism_ · September 2022

Agree to all. I gotta say I was thoroughly impressed by the dungeon design and new mobs. The underwater aspect was super awesome and my team actually stopped a couple times to just appreciate the atmosphere. Mechanics were interesting and definitely required team co-op and really a mic if it was your first time. That said the final boss was bonkers in terms of difficulty. I ran it with guildmates on vet shortly after release and we are all quite experienced players each having completed nearly all vet content including trials and 4-man dungeons. Several of them had various trifecta completions as well. We got through all the mechanics with some trial and error but the tank just kept getting whomped by the flesh atro and we couldn't complete. After 2hrs+. I haven't been back yet which is disappointing because it really is one of their best additions in a while.

Xarc · September 2022

I have to say this dungeon is my favorite one actually.

dev team did great job with this dungeon, thx guys

StarOfElyon · September 2022

boi_anachronism_ wrote: »

Agree to all. I gotta say I was thoroughly impressed by the dungeon design and new mobs. The underwater aspect was super awesome and my team actually stopped a couple times to just appreciate the atmosphere. Mechanics were interesting and definitely required team co-op and really a mic if it was your first time. That said the final boss was bonkers in terms of difficulty. I ran it with guildmates on vet shortly after release and we are all quite experienced players each having completed nearly all vet content including trials and 4-man dungeons. Several of them had various trifecta completions as well. We got through all the mechanics with some trial and error but the tank just kept getting whomped by the flesh atro and we couldn't complete. After 2hrs+. I haven't been back yet which is disappointing because it really is one of their best additions in a while.

Same. I haven't even attempted it again.