Lair of Maarselok VS Moongrave Fane

VDoom1

Hi everyone.


Spoilers below for the two new dungeons! If you haven't done them and want to see for yourself do not scroll further down.

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So the two new dungeons have been out for a few days now. Both are equally unique and have their own stories.
In one you are fighting vampires empowered by dragon blood and in the other a dragon and it's corruption.

Personally I found them both really good! They both had unique and interesting mechanics. Visually they are both stunning.

Moongrave Fane offers vampires and a unique mechanic with the box which is actually kinda fun. Also a new way to defeat enemies, where you need to sacrifice some of your own health to empower a blood orb. I can imagine that is something you need to be careful with on Veteran.

In Lair of Maarselok you really feel like there is a corruption there, and as expected it only gets worse and worse even effecting you the player. Another part of the immersive nature of this dungeon is that further in it's bad to walk in the corruption. Walk around in it to much and you will be stunned, which gives us the mechanic from Selene to cleanse ourselves.

For me I have to pick Lair of Maarselok. For one because the last boss is a dragon, hehe. I also just liked it more, the visuals and the design as well the quest and story in it. I love how Maarselok doesn't just relax in his cave until we march up to him. But he actually tries to defend it from the first boss all the way to the top. Plus I like that Selene got her freedom after she helped us, she kept her part of the bargain.

As for Moongrave Fane, I know Dragons are pretty much the enemy in this expansion. However I never liked killing them, so I felt sorry for that dragon. It was a bit amusing how the dragon described the last boss as a bloated tick hehe.

Now it comes down to it. Which one do you like the most? And why? Do you think ZoS did a good job with these two new dungeons?

Odovacar

Haven't done them yet

I'm looking forward to running these once we get a chance to. Which one do you find more difficult?

VDoom1

Lair of Maarselok

Odovacar wrote: »

I'm looking forward to running these once we get a chance to. Which one do you find more difficult?

Moongrave Fane took a little bit more figuring out, especially on one boss where there was a trick to defeating him. Lair of Maarselok also had a few tricky parts. Hmmm...I think Lair of Maarselok is a bit more difficult. However I have only done them on normal so far.

Aliyavana

Moongrave Fane

Moongrave fane for the lore

code65536

Lair of Maarselok

Positive: LoM HM is more fun and mechanically interesting.

Negative: LoM in general is too drawn out and repetitive. Especially that final stretch between the 4th and 5th boss encounters.

Jeremy

Lair of Maarselok

I liked the one where you have to fight the Dragon at the end.

The other one had some annoying mechanics and seemed to lag pretty bad as well.

Tipsy

Other

love em both about equally

max_only

Moongrave Fane

Faster and more fun. The Lair took too long to do. I love Bosmer so you’d think I’d be excited for it but No.

ArchMikem

Haven't done them yet

Can't. On Console.

magictucktuck

Lair of Maarselok

I like maar more. But I found on both dungeons the last boss (not hardmode) was a lot easier than some of the previous bosses. My group without knowing mechanics never wiped on either last boss but did on earlier bosses a few times. But overall I really liked them both

Nemesis7884

Moongrave Fane

i like them visually both...lair is certainly a bit more eye popping... but the boss fights are a bit more boring and the dungein imo is a tad too long...should be a bit shorter...

And why are both dragons blue? would have made the moongrave dragon a different color...

bluebird

Moongrave Fane

I really didn't like how obviously they're recycling Chapter content for their other DLCs now. Both the environment and the enemies in MF could have easily been found in an Elsweyr Delve or Public dungeon. Same Khajiit stone colours everywhere, same ruins, cats, dragons... and that's also mostly true for LoM. The repetition stood out too much.

I'd prefer them dedicating a DLC to a specific theme (e.g. to Werewolves in Wolfhunter, could have done the same for Vampires for this DLC). When I walk into dungeons I want them to feel special. Not 'overgrown Khajiiti ruin Number 7' or whatever. I found this DLC to be quite lazy to be honest and way less interesting than March of Sacrifices for example.

The mechanics themselves were fine though. Most fights were interesting and there were some unique things in there! Lair of Maarselok felt like it dragged out forever and ever. I also wasn't a fan of the third and fourth bossfights (though some unfortunate pugs may have had to do with that). Still, I found Moongrave Fane to be more palatable, I'd rather run that one again in the future.

Orjix

Haven't done them yet

don't plan to either, I hate running dungeons

Sporvan

Moongrave Fane

Even though the mechanics of the fights of Maarselok are more straightforward it seems to be the more frustrating of the two to do with a PUG.

The third boss is a huge dps check to see if it can be done within 3 attack phases on the tree because the stranglers will overwhelm you. Most PUGs I've been in fail here.

The fourth boss can just go on indefinitely if the group doesn't center on protecting Selene and one dps cleans out stranglers before they get out of control. This can make the fight feel like it's going on _forever_.

Add to this strange lag spikes and glitches with ressing, the seed explosion sound making you freeze up in the third boss fight, etc and this dungeon is probably the buggiest I've run in a long time.

Moongrave Fane however seems shorter and even though the mechanics are more tricky they're fun and allow the group a sense of accomplishment, instead of just triumphing over frustration.

Ufretin

Moongrave Fane

Both have well-written stories and it's worthwhile to actually read through dialogues. I love anything "Imperial" so I'm biased towards Moongrave.
Maarselok gets somewhat drawn out and repetitive towards the end.
I've only done them on normal so far so I don't have much of an opinion on combat mechanics yet.

Aznarb

Moongrave Fane

Moongrave fan by far, very well designed and funny mechanic, love it.
The story is good (save dragon !) and all the land, mountain and temple are beautiful.

Lair is a bit harder but very boring imho, I'll probably chase success and never do it again.

tpanisiakb16_ESO

Moongrave Fane

I'm surprised Moongrave Fane and Lair are so close together in the pole. In my opinion LoM is too boring, long, and there are far too many of the never fun add-management-type fights. LoM has always felt like a slog and I'm not excited to do anchovy point runs in it. Moongrave is a bit better, but not by much. It's less ... unfun comparatively.

For me, the pinnacle of dungeons is Wrathstone and Wolfhunter, with Wrathstone having the most fun and most fair HMs. Compared to Wolfhunter, I felt HMs there were a bit too long-winded, especially in vMHK. vMHK has a lot of RNG factors that stacks against you in no-deaths and just feel punishing and not really challenging. Alternate to that, March of Sacrifices feels too easy, but just long. Scalecaller Peak and Fang Lair are easy, with their hardmodes having too much room for everything to go wrong and not be able to recover.

MaleAmazon

Lair of Maarselok

I honestly think the new dungeons are nothing special. Solid, yes, and possibly much more fun on vet (I just tested the waters on PUG normal), but nothing special.

Really, the top moment is to be able to continue the story from Selene´s web (I always hated that ending, especially since you have no RP choice, something they have at least ameliorated in dungeons like March of Sacrifices).

I guess since you spoiled the ending in the OP.. It was joyful to see some justice served.

Elwendryll

Moongrave Fane

The main villain in Moongrave Fane is now my favorite boss. We tried in HM first before finally just clearing it it non-HM after wiping for almost 2 hours.

Figuring out the mechanics was fun. And

seeing an humanoid using Unrelenting Force (A.k.a Fus Roh Dah) made me feel pure hype, he also uses an equivalent of crushing weapons. The whole concept of an immortal learning various skills like that, a psijic ability and a shout, it's awesome. I can't wait to be able to clear that HM, I want the title Chevalier

CoronHR

Lair of Maarselok

i didn't like moongrave fane as much because i wasn't crazy about moving those large boxes around. they were sort of hard to move and it was a bit of a pain. a nice idea, but bad execution. also, in the end, you have a dragon before you, yet you're not fighting it. in lair of maarselok, on the other hand, you are fighting a dragon. i also thought LOM was more beautiful and magical-looking, so i enjoyed it more all around.

DovahkiinHeart

Lair of Maarselok

LoM because I like it when they give these ferocious beasts some kind of personality because it adds an extra dimension to them. Like how one of the npc's warned you not to fall for Maarselok's 'playful bravado' and the dragon seems to enjoy teasing Selene and your group until the end. Only other dragon so far that is very memorable is Lokkestiiz, for his epic lines 'You want stand shoulder to shoulder with a God? Here. I. Am!' that sent chills down my spine almost every time I hear it.

jainiadral

Other

Solo player, so I'll probably never do them.

gepe87

Haven't done them yet

Simply not interested

SirPilky

Lair of Maarselok

So although I picked Lair of Maarselok, there is one thing that I liked more in Moongrave Fane though, mechanics, that was fun :-D.
I preferred the design of LoM, looks awesome, seriously, and after the events of Selene's Web, seeing that smug arsehole Warlock Carindon not getting what he wanted at the end of the dungeon was pretty damn sweet XD
Though it has to be said, was pretty underwhelmed with the difficulty of both dungeons in vet (non-HM), seems really dialed down compared to Wrathstone dungeons (especially Frostvault), although the healer would disagree with me on vMF, she said she had quite a hard time in there.....
After all said and done they were a fun experience overall and the pet and dye are nice rewards!

labambao

Other

Both boring and not interesting.
Also maarselok is 90% about trashpacs

daemonios

Lair of Maarselok

I like the story in Moongrave Fane, but it relies too heavily on mechanics that get boring very fast, namely the crates and the blood sacrifice orbs. It feels less varied than Lair of Maarselok. Also, the fact that Maarselok butts in during boss fights and tries to mess things up for us is pretty cool.

Romo

Moongrave Fane

Fane didn't bug out.

Maars did. On two out of 4 runs.

bmnoble

Other

Didn't mind either of them, mechanics seemed straight forward with less insta kill gimmics that some of the other DLC dungeons have had.

Only negative point, they share with the other DLC dungeons is how long they are. Would prefer more dungeons with the same length as the base game ones.

Don't see why we need to go on a long hike in a dungeon, especially with these two, there was plenty of walking/taking in the scenery with far fewer trash mobs than I was expecting to encounter.

Just seemed to add artificial length to the dungeons.

TigressCreed

Moongrave Fane

Maarselok is the most drawn out dungeon ever. Stunning graphics and motif but it’s a pain to do. Avoid at all costs

FierceSam

Other

A while after....

I like both of them. They look great, have some nice challenges, but also some weaknesses. Moongrave looked like the “one they spent time on”, while LoM looked like the “one that had been in a drawer for a while”.

The best thing about them is that neither has come with its own array of special bugs as Frostvault did (and still does).

Moongrave had 2 new mechanics, the blood spheres and the blocks, LoM had the pick up seed and infection thing.

Both are very linear and feel like there are too many unnecessary ad pulls. LoM especially could do without about half the ad pulls. They don’t add much to the story, nor are they necessary for ultimate regen. They are just there to make the dungeon feel long. And boy does LoM feel long. And with LoM you could also argue that the two dragonfights are both overlong and drearily complicated. The perceived length of both, rather than any difficulty, is what puts off most people I ask from playing them.

I didn’t feel that either dungeon had been developed in conjunction with the Year of the Dragon storyline or that either of them added to it. But I didn’t feel that detracted from the minimal storylines in them.

I really didn’t like the trend of indicating heavy AoEs with very subtle outlines (as with the lurches in LoM or dragons in general). That goes alongside one-shotting as a low grade design trick.


I did enjoy most of the boss fights, especially once the actual mechanics became clear (eg having to hit the stone atronarch Boss in Moongrave twice rather than just once). And I liked the way the blood sphere/shield shattering mechanic was introduced and used.

Brandathorbel

ArchMikem wrote: »

Can't. On Console.

they have been out for months on console