Endless Archive last boss

seventhirtyseven_

Hello. I'm having a reeeeeeeeeeeeally hard time with the final boss in Arc 4.
I'm someone who enjoys solo challenges; I've done countless solo dungeon runs both veteran and normal, Maelstrom and Vateshran trifectas on many characters, but this is just taking a toll on me! I need some tips!
I am playing on an arcanist and running heavy Ancient Dragonguard (Not sure about this set, there's most likely better ones out there but I liked the weapon damage it provides and resistances), Deadly Strike, one piece Velidreth and recently, after many people told me, I farmed Pale Order and am now using it as well. I have everything gold with bloodthirsty on the jewelry. My stats look like this (with Zenas' Empowering Disc and Unbreakable Fate activated). Yesterday I decided to allocate all my points into health but It's still not enough. I haven't been getting any health visions either which is annoying.
Now, I have absolutely no problem with the first 3 Tho'at Shards, but the dragon... I MUST be doing something wrong, there's no way around it. Today was the fourh run in a row I've lost to this boss. One time I had 3 lives when I got to him and still lost. What's killing me is the aoe attack he throws at me. It doesn't stop! I try to run, jump, shield, but it never stops and the other shards keep attacking me. I can't bash them and just end up dying. Today I got very close and sadly died with the boss at like 30% health. Today I had 3 visions that made my shields last longer, which gave my Sanctum of the Abyssal Sea a whopping 40 seconds of duration. I thought for sure this was enough but still wasn't, because even if I tank the first one, the second kills me after. I'm so tired of this because I can only run this once a day. It already takes too long to reach that stage and to die there 4 times in a row just makes me believe I must be doing something wrong.
So, what am I supposed to do on this boss, exactly?
And also, I always lose one Thread to the Marauder Gothmau. I managed to kill him ONCE in Arc 2 but he's been spawning in Arcs 3 and 4 lately which just demolishes me.
Sorry for the long post and thank you in advance!

CGPsaint

I haven't had much of an issue so long as I kite one way or the other around the outside of the ring, and prioritize the Tho'at Shard adds. If you let them channel, they will kill you.

• Keep your buffs/heals up and shields as needed.
• Keep moving and using ranged attacks/DOTs.

It's not a DPS race. If needed, go with a tankier build for this fight. Use Barrier for your ultimate for when things get really hairy and you just need to breathe for a second.

If you're on Xbox/NA, holler at me if you need a hand.

AlterBlika

I sometimes just run from these aoes so they don't hit me. But in Arc 4 you can try to dodge/outheal them.

fred4

Are you killing or interrupting the little slime blobs? Those are always the first priority, dragon or not. I don't find the dragon particularly hard, but damaging him is always at the bottom of the priority list. Slime blobs and survival / avoiding ground AOE always comes first. I don't recall whether I even block the breath. It just doesn't seem to do that much damage on it's own.

It also seems like you are not specifically built for the archive. I focused on my magplar rather than my arcanist, but I've written about what makes archive builds tick here:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8008524#Comment_8008524

Rowjoh

As @Fred4 says, look at specific EA builds, and then as I always advise, look at one of the many EA boss mechanic guides

patricknl76

I used this build for my arc to get solo to arc 5. It really easy to use .
https://www.thegameroom.tv/post/arcanist-endless-archive-v-3-changes

seventhirtyseven_

Nevermind guys, I did it today. It really wasn't that hard now, I don't know what happened the other times. Maybe I had better luck with visions now! Thanks for all the answers!

haelgaan

seventhirtyseven_ wrote: »

I try to run, jump, shield, but it never stops and the other shards keep attacking me. I can't bash them and just end up dying.

Kill the tho'ats in order of appearance. Humanoid, then Atronach, then Salamander thing, then Dragon. By the time you get to smacking on the Dragon, nothing else should be left up. Keep moving around the outside, to stay ahead of the ground AOE. You've got a very large room and a long perimeter on the dragon's circle - use it!

Glad to hear that you got it on your latest try - congratz!

seventhirtyseven_

haelgaan wrote: »

Kill the tho'ats in order of appearance. Humanoid, then Atronach, then Salamander thing, then Dragon. By the time you get to smacking on the Dragon, nothing else should be left up.

Yes, I always did it! I was talking about the shard blobs that constantly shoot at you! I was having trouble seeing them in all the chaos and bashing them. Sometimes the NPC would be fighting them alone far away and I would just die with 100k damage done to me because the shard blob was attacking me from a distance. Very annoying!

Necrotech_Master

seventhirtyseven_ wrote: »

haelgaan wrote: »

Kill the tho'ats in order of appearance. Humanoid, then Atronach, then Salamander thing, then Dragon. By the time you get to smacking on the Dragon, nothing else should be left up.

Yes, I always did it! I was talking about the shard blobs that constantly shoot at you! I was having trouble seeing them in all the chaos and bashing them. Sometimes the NPC would be fighting them alone far away and I would just die with 100k damage done to me because the shard blob was attacking me from a distance. Very annoying!

the warden makes those easier to deal with, just pop crystallized slab and that stuns them which stops them from channeling

if they are closer, you can use the necromancer beckoning armor to pull them to you, which also interrupts their channels

neither effect requires any aiming on your part