i was about to ask for everyone's 3 favourite delves, but the mood seems neg

CoronHR · July 10

i have 2 favourite delves: quires wind (apocrypha) & bahraha's gloom (hew's bane).

i love quires wind so much, i think it's the best layout that zos has ever made

bahraha's gloom is particularly interesting with its secret passages.

i struggle to think of a third. any ideas?

(note: i know the mood is a bit sour right now, with major talent leaving the company, and i guess u47's changes are leaving a bad taste, although i haven't looked closely at it. i'm sort of used to sledgehammer nerfs etc, so i can't be bothered)

ESO_player123 · July 10

Lady Llarel's Shelter because short and the boss is basically is next to the entrance.

I know, not what you were looking for, but there a lot of us there when the endeavor is right.

SkaiFaith · July 10

The Nocturnal one in Clockwork, just for the atmosphere.
The Spriggan one in Galen, cause spriggans!
I would put one in the snow, sure there are some between wrothgar and western skyrim, but can't really remember them well now and the only one that comes to mind is the one in Eastmarch for the Undaunted.

Elvenheart · July 10

I do have a few favorite delves, but I’m at work right now and can’t remember them specifically. I’ll add to this topic when I’m able to look them up. 😊

Elvenheart · July 10

Oh, I remember two… I’ve always loved that delve in Craglorn with all the werewolves. And I really love the new Sanguine’s Revelry delve in Solstice. I keep expecting to see Jason somewhere in there.

cyclonus11 · July 10

Bahraha's Gloom is also my favorite because of the hidden passages and walkways. Abah's Landing is my favorite city for similar reasons - they're just so well done. Hew's Bane is probably my favorite overland zone because of that and the aesthetics, especially since they nerfed the Kotu Gava Broodmothers.

On the other hand, Shark's Teeth Grotto (the other delve in Hew's Bane) is my most hated because of all of the super annoying traps and stealth breakers, as well as the archers who dodge your first attack no matter where it comes from or how it's done. Even with their backs turned and while you're in stealth, they will dodge any attack. (I want to say that they'll even dodge Blade of Woe, but I might be remembering incorrectly.)

Two other delves I like to make it three:

2. Ruins of Kardala (group delve in Craglorn)
3. Traitor's Vault (Artaeum)

SkaiFaith · July 10

Vale of revelry and Traitor's vault are indeed good choices too

tsaescishoeshiner · July 10

I love the layout of Bahraha's Gloom. Getting to the skyshard is nice. They made both of the Hew's Bane delves feel very sneaky and exploratory.

Quire's Wind is very atmospheric and unique, so agreed there.

I also like Moonlit Cove, and I'm happy they included it in some of the zone quests and not just the delve quest.

katanagirl1 · July 11

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

I love the layout of Bahraha's Gloom. Getting to the skyshard is nice. They made both of the Hew's Bane delves feel very sneaky and exploratory.

Quire's Wind is very atmospheric and unique, so agreed there.

I also like Moonlit Cove, and I'm happy they included it in some of the zone quests and not just the delve quest.

Oh yes, I was completely enamored with Moonlit Cove when Elsweyr came out. What a beautiful place.

ragnarok6644b14_ESO · July 11

I love Gloomreach in the Reach as you can use it to get to Blackreach without a Dwemer lift, and explains how Reachfolk came and went from there for all these years.

SpiritKitten · July 11

I like delves that look like caves with water features and a bit of sunbeam coming from a hole in the ceiling. I want a house like this.

Hapexamendios · July 11

Bahraha's Gloom Is very good. That's one of mine.

Another one would be Teeth of Sithis in Murkmire. I like how it explores every aspect of the xanmeers: on, in and below. Very cool delve.

My other would probably be Briar Rock Ruins in the Reach. Like the mix of outdoors and interior and climbing up to the skyshard and boss.

Quires Wind is neat to look at and a pain in the neck to navigate. Not a good one for me.

Grec1a · July 11

My favourites are Fyrelight Cave and Faun's Thicket for scenery/atmosphere.

But for convenience, Ilessan Tower wins hands down.

spartaxoxo · July 11

For vibes, gotta agree with Bahara's Gloom and Midnight Cove. I also like the pretty one in Summerset with the rope bridge you can parkour.

moderatelyfatman · July 11

CoronHR wrote: »

i have 2 favourite delves: quires wind (apocrypha) & bahraha's gloom (hew's bane).

i love quires wind so much, i think it's the best layout that zos has ever made

bahraha's gloom is particularly interesting with its secret passages.

i struggle to think of a third. any ideas?

(note: i know the mood is a bit sour right now, with major talent leaving the company, and i guess u47's changes are leaving a bad taste, although i haven't looked closely at it. i'm sort of used to sledgehammer nerfs etc, so i can't be bothered)

The mood may be negative but it just means we need cheering up even more...

Never got into delves... for me it was dungeons.
The first time I did Vaults of Madness was absolutely mindblowing. I was levelling up my first toon so my previous experience of dungeons were Fungal Grotto, Crypt of Hearts etc.
I had a patience PUG who waited for me during the quest stages. I trusted them enough that when the time came, I was willing to take the leaps of faith and jump off those cliffs twice in the game.
Best memory ever!

karthrag_inak · July 11

Khajiit particularly enjoys rubble butte, but then again, who doesn't enjoy butte rubbings?

Grizzbeorn · July 11

Don't tell Felande Demarie (I don't want to be evicted from my inn rooms), but I'm partial to Nocturnal and Hircine, so the delves associated with them are my favorites:

The Shadow Cleft in Clockwork City.
Hircine's Haunt in Craglorn.

karthrag_inak · July 11

CoronHR wrote: »

and i guess u47's changes are leaving a bad taste, although i haven't looked closely at it. i'm sort of used to sledgehammer nerfs etc, so i can't be bothered)

This one does not wish to derail this delightful thread (after all, who doesn't like talking about butte rubbing?), but Khajiit does not think U47 u46 is nearly as poorly received as the louder mouths on the forums would like folks to believe. Khajiit's friend list has been more active than it has been in years - there were actually 15 friends on yesterday afternoon, some of which haven't been on in 3 or 4 years.

Subclassing has made this game more like an Elder Scrolls game than it has ever been before. It has opened up content and experiences to folks that were close to impossible before.

Khajiit LOVES u47 u46.

Edit : Khajiit got his u's confused, a thousand apologies.

Northwold · July 11

I will say, in almost all respects, that the design of Hew's Bane is absolutely glorious. For a zone with seemingly not much in it, the detail, the touches (like the secrets in Bahraha's Gloom) we see almost nowhere else, things like the rivers tunneling through the rock, etc. It makes hugely interesting use of the landscape and feels like not a single cookie cutter was used in production. With Murkmire my favourite zone, not just for the delves but for all of it.

Heren · July 11

It would be hard to make a classement of delves for me, for I really like a lot of them. Craglorn ones, especially the more complexes / extensives like the Sword School for example, I absolutely like them - combining scenery, a rather large area with details, and it's own story ( all delves have their own stories, but some are more developped than others ).

Delves are really a strong point of ESO I'd say, as they extend the world and offer access to more specific areas ( some that would be otherwise difficult to access ), they offer different stories, some self-contained but still interesting, others fiting in the larger story of a region, and so on.

The one in Summerset in the mountains is great, really nice scenery, it feel good to be able to get into these mountains, and if I'm not mistaken it offers / supports two stories, one about some high elf being a werewolf or a vampire ( in any case a virtual outcast ), and one about goblins and their ancient relations with high elves.

I also really like the one in Telvanni Peninsula which is a stronghold village of the dunmer mafia, mostly because I absolutely like this type of dunmeri architecture ( the one you mostly see in Vvardenfell ) ( and it's nice to have some urban setting outside of the towns ).

Embervine from Galen I also found very enjoyable, passing from 'dark' caves to sunlit jungle, I quite like this place. Bit of the same for Desert Wind Caverns ( I think it's the one ), the setting, large caves, some light here and there, old khajiit structures and pieces of architecture, I really enjoyed being there.

( On a side note, I really like delves in Northern Elsweyr, as quite a lot of them offer to explore 'off places', peripheral places, that you don't really have access to in the open region : Predator Mesa being a bit of more elevated terrain, as the name suggest, the Tangle being a bit of subterranean jungle, when there's not much jungle otherwise, and all the 'ruins', bit of older khajiit architecture; all of these delves being also completed by the two dungeons being set up in the border mountains, Moongrave Fane and the other with the Azure Blight, further extending Elsweyr. )

I also liked the ayleid ruin in West Weald, mostly because I have great memories of exploring ( and dying in ) ayleid ruins in Oblivion, a feeling I sadly never entirely get in ESO - but the ayleid ruin in West Weald is, for my tastes, a huge improvement from older ayleid ruins, and it was extremely nice to go there and explore it.

And much, much more.

method__01 · July 11

easy pick, all Ayleid ruins

Naril Nagaia ,Ne Salas and Lipsand Tarn 3 of best imo

virtus753 · July 11

karthrag_inak wrote: »

CoronHR wrote: »

and i guess u47's changes are leaving a bad taste, although i haven't looked closely at it. i'm sort of used to sledgehammer nerfs etc, so i can't be bothered)

This one does not wish to derail this delightful thread (after all, who doesn't like talking about butte rubbing?), but Khajiit does not think U47 is nearly as poorly received as the louder mouths on the forums would like folks to believe. Khajiit's friend list has been more active than it has been in years - there were actually 15 friends on yesterday afternoon, some of which haven't been on in 3 or 4 years.

Subclassing has made this game more like an Elder Scrolls game than it has ever been before. It has opened up content and experiences to folks that were close to impossible before.

Khajiit LOVES u47.

U47 is only available on PTS right now, so people being on live likely isn’t reflective of it. It’s U46 that’s on live right now and that brought subclassing. A large part of U47 is aimed at continuing to rein in some of the power that got added with subclassing.

karthrag_inak · July 11

virtus753 wrote: »

U47 is only available on PTS right now, so people being on live likely isn’t reflective of it. It’s U46 that’s on live right now and that brought subclassing. A large part of U47 is aimed at continuing to rein in some of the power that got added with subclassing.

Apologies! Khajiit meant U46, of course.

AlnilamE · July 11

Grizzbeorn wrote: »

Don't tell Felande Demarie (I don't want to be evicted from my inn rooms), but I'm partial to Nocturnal and Hircine, so the delves associated with them are my favorites:

The Shadow Cleft in Clockwork City.
Hircine's Haunt in Craglorn.

I was going to mention Hircine's Haunt in Craglorn as well.

Craglorn has great delves, btw. Howling Sepulchres, Loth'Na Caverns and Balamath are also cool.

And in Cyrodiil, the delve that has a whirlpool that takes you to the lower floor is fun. Quickwater Cave.

Not a delve, but the entrance to Sanctum Ophidia has great ambiance.

Carcamongus · July 11

Traitor's Vault in Artaeum is an old favorite, as I love the eerie atmosphere, the architecture and I tend to like undead. Quires Wind is fascinating and the bottomless pits make me think of old platformers from when I was growing up. I'm having difficulty picking a 3rd, even after looking at a list of delves. Right now I'm torn between Nonungalo with its creepy atmosphere and Fathoms Drift with its beautiful shipwrecks.

Now I want ZOS to create a delve that's made entirely of shipwrecks, like the 2nd stage of the old Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts.

katanagirl1 · July 12

ragnarok6644b14_ESO wrote: »

I love Gloomreach in the Reach as you can use it to get to Blackreach without a Dwemer lift, and explains how Reachfolk came and went from there for all these years.

Thanks for reminding me of another of my favorite delves, Bthar-zel in the Reach area of Blackreach Caverns.

Supreme_Atromancer · July 12

Post-base game delves are all amazing, tbh. They are typically expansive and interesting to explore. People mentioned gloomreach because you can essentially travel between zones with it, I really thought that one was amazing. I'd love to see more of that please, ZOS!

Bahara's Gloom was also amazing, it really felt like a real place, and unlike anything we'd seen before.

Aesthetically, I really love the Western Skyrim Draugr-style delves, and the ancient Breton one (Death's Valor Keep in High Isle). The Nedic ones are great, too. But the Elsweyr, Blackwood, Summerset, Aylied, Dwarven, Daedric, Imperial and various Dunmer ones are all amazing.

I prefer ones that resemble the actual structures rather than abstracted ones.

The other aspect of the post basegame ones are that you often have to explore them to discover secrets- usually Skyshards. I'd love to see more secrets and more reasons to explore, honestly.

P.S., don't buy into the negativity- its just Forums, tbh. Theres' a lot of great things about the game, still.

Oh yeah, I forgot Howling Sepulchers! That one is fascintating, with nedic layers at the bottom and nordic ones at the top, and its sense of geography, being right on the border of Skyrim. And the little wolf story. Absolutely one of my favourites

SeaGtGruff · July 12

I have many different "favorites" depending on circumstances.

For instance, some of the delves in the Alik'r Desert are great for daily endeavors to destroy Dwarven constructs, plus they have a lot of lootable urns and other containers which can yield recipes or furnishing plans.

Other delves are great for killing humanoid Daedra, or beastial Daedra, or skeletons, or vampires, and so on. For instance, one delve in Murkmire is populated by vampires, and I like to go there for that endeavor so I can try to farm treasure chests at the same time, since Murkmire is one of the few zones where I don't have 100% stickerbook completion yet.

Other delves are just fun to run around in and admire their layouts and scenery.

reazea · July 13

No favorited delve for me. They exist to provide a skyshard and some drops from the delve boss. No reason to run them more than once on any given toon.

SpiritKitten · July 13

reazea wrote: »

No favorited delve for me. They exist to provide a skyshard and some drops from the delve boss. No reason to run them more than once on any given toon.

This isn't accurate. There are delve dailies in many zones.

YstradClud · July 13

SpiritKitten wrote: »

This isn't accurate. There are delve dailies in many zones.

Yeah, I run them every day in zones where I'm still chasing motifs but my favourite in Solstice (Carapace Cavern) isn't one that has a daily associated with it.