Best and worst designed dungeon in ESO

akl77 · September 2016

In my opinion, vaults of madness is the best designed dungeon, you get dragon, lava guy, platforms to jump, cool effects at last boss, just a pleasant run, never gets old, enjoyable.

Worst is vet Mazzatun, stupid machanics, insane boss health, endless long fights, pointless maze, I mean who actually enjoy this dungeon?? It is nothing fun about it, like Cradle of shadow last boss at least is funny. Vet Mazzatun just a ruin point for this game in my opinion. It ruins the group dungeon fun factor, ruins group cooperation. ESO should adjust it to make it less machnical and more focused on player skills.

What's yours?

Qbiken · September 2016

You do realise that mechanical=skills, right?? Otherwise it´s just a dps race and that doesn´t really require much skill to be honest. Haven´t beaten vMazzatun yet, just need to find a decent group in my guild to practice with first.

Dubhliam · September 2016

Design =/= difficulty.

I believe RoM is beautifully designed.

And I also agree with @Qbiken in saying skills = overcoming mechanical obstacles.

Tyrion87 · September 2016

Vet Mazzatun is great! Definitely one of the most interesting and challenging mechanics.

My personal best though are Vaults of Madness and White-Gold Tower.

I hate Volenfell (I'm always confused where to go...) and Blessed Crucible (everything in this dungeon is boring...).

akl77 · September 2016

Qbiken wrote: »

You do realise that mechanical=skills, right?? Otherwise it´s just a dps race and that doesn´t really require much skill to be honest. Haven´t beaten vMazzatun yet, just need to find a decent group in my guild to practice with first.

I disagree, skill is like rolling and dodging, and right timing for button click. Machanics is the know, like spam portal in wgt, that doesn't require any skill, just the knowing of the machnicas.

That's why my favourite game of all time is dark souls and bloodborne, no machnicas, pure skills, and I got platinum trophy cos it's just that worth it.

akl77 · September 2016

You see, dark souls and bloodborne group boss fights doesn't test everyone's know how, but test everyone 's skills, that is rolling, dodging, attack at the right time, watch boss's every move and react. Not some stupid machanics that some player when playing first time don't know, and the whole group experience got dragged down, it's just bad dungeon design, I'm sorry.

susmitds · September 2016

If you want skill, try playing Kingdom Hearts 2 FM. The extra bosses can push you to you edge.

Luigi_Vampa · September 2016

Vet Fungal Grotto. Lets add spambushing Nightblades between bosses, because everyone loves that. Why, ZOS, why!?

subtlezeroub17_ESO · September 2016

Dark souls = roll around and enjoy invin frames to prevent a boss or any mob from 1-shotting you. Beat Ds2 and ds3. That's essentially the vame.

Bleh

akl77 · September 2016

subtlezeroub17_ESO wrote: »

Dark souls = roll around and enjoy invin frames to prevent a boss or any mob from 1-shotting you. Beat Ds2 and ds3. That's essentially the vame.

Bleh

Ds2 and ds3 is bad, only ds1 and bloodborne worth playing. Much different.

CasNation · September 2016

God this is a hard question...I like most of the dungeons...

I guess normal Banished cells is my least favorite. I have gotten sick of mundane subterranean elven architecture at this point. Seen it for too long.

Vaults, blackheads haven, and selenes Web are all great ones.

I guess another least favorite is are corinium. Just don't like it for some reason.

LadyNalcarya · September 2016

akl77 wrote: »

You see, dark souls and bloodborne group boss fights doesn't test everyone's know how, but test everyone 's skills, that is rolling, dodging, attack at the right time, watch boss's every move and react. Not some stupid machanics that some player when playing first time don't know, and the whole group experience got dragged down, it's just bad dungeon design, I'm sorry.

Thats... Not truth XD
Theres a lot of posts on steam forums for example, asking "how do I kill %bossname%"?
And there are tricks that new players usually dont know XD For example, killing Taurus by jumping on him from the tower. Or parrying Gwyn. Or that Seath is actually blind.
As an avid sunbro, Ive helped a lot of new players, and yeah, there is a difference between a newbie and a player who knows the fight (even if he/she isnt very skilled). Its like this in any game that requires some skills.

Back to the topic, I like vMoL even if it doesnt count as a dungeon.
Ruins and CoS are a bit weird as there are huge difficulty gaps between trash pulls and bosses, it just feels weird imo.
Also I love Vaults of Madness' design. It just looks really cool.

My least favourite is vet Spindle because of "over here, its Mereel" and other dialogue parts. Thats just because I asissted too many Bloodspawn tests. XD

Ch4mpTW · September 2016

The best designed dungeon in my opinion would have to be Blackheart Haven. I always have fun in that dungeon, and the vibe always makes me feel warm and fuzzy. I also feel like an actual adventurer whenever I set foot into it. The boss mechanics are pretty interesting and fun to learn, and just the overall experience and atmosphere there is entertaining to me. Even the story is rather amusing.

As for the most poorly designed dungeon, I would definitely have to say either Cradle of Shadows or White-Gold Tower. Those 2 dungeons just feel long and drawn-out for no apparent reason. The mechanics are "so-so" to learn, and ultimately I feel bored in those 2 dungeons. The places feel rushed, and as though the developers threw in "damage sponge" adds to make the content appear challenging and difficult.

akl77 · September 2016

KoshkaMurka wrote: »

akl77 wrote: »

You see, dark souls and bloodborne group boss fights doesn't test everyone's know how, but test everyone 's skills, that is rolling, dodging, attack at the right time, watch boss's every move and react. Not some stupid machanics that some player when playing first time don't know, and the whole group experience got dragged down, it's just bad dungeon design, I'm sorry.

Thats... Not truth XD
Theres a lot of posts on steam forums for example, asking "how do I kill %bossname%"?
And there are tricks that new players usually dont know XD For example, killing Taurus by jumping on him from the tower. Or parrying Gwyn. Or that Seath is actually blind.
As an avid sunbro, Ive helped a lot of new players, and yeah, there is a difference between a newbie and a player who knows the fight (even if he/she isnt very skilled). Its like this in any game that requires some skills.

Those are fighting tactics, not machanics like closing what portal or run behind the lighting guy, what's the logic of those machanics? What's it got to do with the actual boss fight. Dark souls parrying is a skill that have to be learned from practice of watching the attacker and time your response, not any guy who knows the how can do. It requires skills.

akl77 · September 2016

Ch4mpTW wrote: »

The best designed dungeon in my opinion would have to be Blackheart Haven. I always have fun in that dungeon, and the vibe always makes me feel warm and fuzzy. I also feel like an actual adventurer whenever I set foot into it. The boss mechanics are pretty interesting and fun to learn, and just the overall experience and atmosphere there is entertaining to me. Even the story is rather amusing.

As for the most poorly designed dungeon, I would definitely have to say either Cradle of Shadows or White-Gold Tower. Those 2 dungeons just feel long and drawn-out for no apparent reason. The mechanics are "so-so" to learn, and ultimately I feel bored in those 2 dungeons. They places feel rushed, and as though the developers threw in "damage sponge" adds to make the content appear challenging and difficult.

I agree. I remember the first time when I played through Blackheart, it's a paradise within, surprise surprise.
Hate stupid meaningless machanics in pinion as well.

akl77 · September 2016

Tyrion87 wrote: »

Vet Mazzatun is great! Definitely one of the most interesting and challenging mechanics.

My personal best though are Vaults of Madness and White-Gold Tower.

I hate Volenfell (I'm always confused where to go...) and Blessed Crucible (everything in this dungeon is boring...).

Maybe they should have arrows on the floor or signs of which way to go in volenfell for you, lol. Always turn left is the way.

Preyfar · September 2016

I like Mazzatun except for Xal Nur. The voice acting is just terrible. And he doesn't shut up. Ever. Argonians have that unique raspy voice, but Xal just sounds like a cartoon caricature.

AlnilamE · September 2016

Vaults of Madness is my favourite normal dungeon, followed closely by Blessed Crucible and White Gold Tower.

Least favourite are Selene's Web and Tempest Island, but it's more because of the oppressive atmosphere than the mechanics.

lockator · September 2016

I like the designs of Vaults of madness and Haven. Vaults just feels different and blackheart is a unique instance.
Actual playing-wise - WGT and Cradle - as mechanically interesting but not too long.

Volenfell is my pet hate. I am yet to do a run where i don't get lost. The place is a bloody maze. Also not a fan of Banished Cells - feels very similar to all the delves out there.

On a side note my favourite fight in a dungeon is the Atronach in vWGT - I like how it lets you discover how aware your group is and get's you to deal with a couple of mechanics

Dark_Aether · September 2016

Best 3 - design, aesthetics and over all fun

- Vault of Madness
- White Gold Tower
- Crypts of Heart

Worst 3 - boring, grindy and feel like a chore

- Blessed Crucible
- Ruins of Mazzatun
- Imperial City Prison

akl77 · September 2016

Supersnake_Lx wrote: »

Best 3 - design, aesthetics and over all fun

- Vault of Madness
- White Gold Tower
- Crypts of Heart

Worst 3 - boring, grindy and feel like a chore

- Blessed Crucible
- Ruins of Mazzatun
- Imperial City Prison

Agree.

Asardes · September 2016

Badly designed from a graphical PoV or mechanics? Because there are very different:
- Vaults of Madness sure looks grand, but the mechanics are really simple, and even if they added more health to mobs there without actually adding new mechanics - they did just that for the "veteran" and "hard mode" in One Tamriel - it's still dull from a game play PoV. Same goes for most dungeons in the vanilla game with or without "veteran" and "hard" modes. Not to mention that at least one of them was nerfed into the ground a few months ago - they went full frontal lobotomy on Skoria and his buddies in DB

- IC dungeons are way better because some mechanics there actually require group cohesion and situational awareness (Ibomez flesh grenades, planar inhibitor), even at trash pulls (ex. harvesters and hoarvors in VICP).
- SotH dungeons go one step further with the boss invulnerability, multiple add spawns and necessity to interrupt the bosses and mobs (ex. sludge slingers).

IMO the most relevant criterion that separates good from bad dungeons is that the former actually require a tank and healer to finish, especially if those are required to do more than taunt & perma-block and spam BoL respectively. If you can complete a dungeon with 4 DDs and no more than "stack & burn" for tactics it's badly designed.