Veteran Falkreath Hold has (almost) been soloed!

LioraValkyrie · October 2017

Attached is video footage showing my focussed attempt to solo vet Falkreath Hold over the past week. I managed to defeat all bosses except Domihaus, who I reduced to 14% health before deciding it is probably impossible to solo him in the current patch. My reasons for believing this are explained below the video. With enough time and determination, I could probably eek him down to 10% or so, but I am content that I gave it the Old College Try without inflicting excessive massochism on myself! For all other videos, I provide a brief explanation of my tactics.

First boss: Morrigh Bullblood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBYdigTVgJk&index=1&list=PL34secqbv-lRG3IxFCUn4CofSOrApeXIe

Completed in approximately 20 attempts. Morrigh, herself, is not overly difficult. Stay out of the red (a feat I fail at spectacularly!) and nuke her down at whatever pace you see fit. What is troublesome is her minotaur companion, whose Clobber attack - a downward swing of the axe- does around 60k damage to an unwitting victim. As you can see, the key was to send in my pets first, to keep him occupied for just long enough to even the field of play and focus him down. I believe this fight would be possible using a tank, although it would take a very long time, or a 'roly-poly' type stamina dd. Magicka users other than petsorcs would probably have a hard time.

Second boss: Siege Mammoth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Mz4rGtdyc&index=2&list=PL34secqbv-lRG3IxFCUn4CofSOrApeXIe

Completed on the first attempt. The Siege Mammoth will alternate between attacking me and my pets, but he is slow enough to kite when he decides to come after me. I found this fight really fun, and would recommend you give it a try sometime! Shield and block when he does his stomp attack, try to avoid the red, and give him hell. Should be completable by all classes, magicka and stamina.

Third boss: Cernunnon and Honour Bound

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6HuSzNqmC0&list=PL34secqbv-lRG3IxFCUn4CofSOrApeXIe&index=3

Completed in approximately 50 attempts. This is guerilla warfare at its finest! If you have been fortunate enough to run this dungeon with a good tank, you may not know that Tuecille can deliver blows in excess of 100k to the unwitting sqishy! These are indicated by a full-force swing of his axe, and some squiggly lines, and must be dodged. Cernunnon's heavy attack, which deals about 90k, must be dodged ONLY when he reaches the top of his upswing. It took me about 30 attempts to figure this out, and was somewhat puzzled as to why I kept dying to his 1-shot despite the fact that I was dodging and 20 metres away from him! Besides these notable facts, just keep your shields up, be alert, and learn the mechanics. Should be completable by all classes, magicka and stamina - though stamina users will be insta-killed if they find themselves hit by an Engulf attack, which will make it substantially more difficult for them.

Fourth boss: Deathlord Bjarfrud Skjoralmor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z96WOxTDVlI&list=PL34secqbv-lRG3IxFCUn4CofSOrApeXIe&index=4

Completed in approximately 300 attempts. This was the fight of my life, which tested my skill and build to the extreme. Anyone who says PvE is easy needs to try this! I got him to below 5% health on 5 occassions, before finally putting this dirty draugr down. Those who have run with good tanks might be unaware that the Deathlord deals frequent instakill attacks with his axe- indicated by a full swing with squiggly lines- and a DoT that must be shield-spammed through for about 10 seconds to survive- indicated by him raising his weapon into the air. Both of these attacks must be dodged if you hope to survive. I believe it is probably only possible using a Sorcerer- unless you have insane mobility and manage to cleanse every corpse every cycle- as I relied on stacking shields to 50k to withstand the corpse explosion. Also, the AI of the archer ads seems to tell them to attack whoever does not hold aggro on the boss. Consequently, they spend most of the time attacking my Twilight of their own accord. I attempted this fight using the clannfear to tank the boss, but died in short shrift from unyielding Quick Strikes and Taking Aims. When I switched back to the imp, the archers went back to attacking the Twilight.

Final boss: Domihaus the Bloody-Horned

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xta0D39DFY&index=5&list=PL34secqbv-lRG3IxFCUn4CofSOrApeXIe

About 40 attempts before conceding. In the current environment of ESO, is possible to either a) mitigate a massive amount of damage for a short time, using dodge rolls, blocking, armour, shields, healing, etc. or b) deal a massive amount of damage for a short time, using ultimate abilities and a tight rotation but it is not possible to c) mitigate a massive amount of damage while dealing a massive amount of damage, because dodging, rolling, blocking, shielding, etc. prevents maintaining a tight rotation. There is also the significant matter of resource management while attempting to both deal and mitigate damage. This principle is clearly demonstrated in my fight against Dealthlord Bjarlfrud Skjoralmor, where the urgency to mitigate and deal damage is separated in time, allowing me succeed by alternating between these modes of play. It also dictates that, during Domihaus' enrage, I am unable to sustain the resources necessary to mitigate and deal massive damage simultaneously, whereby the time taken to kill each subsequent wave of elementals increases, causing waves to overlap and damage taken to eventually become unmitigatable. The fact that I can't beat Domihaus solo, and believe it is probably not possible, at least shows that the PvE environment is somewhat balanced, and that all key roles have their place.

If you've made it this far, you might be thinking of taking on Veteran Falkreath Hold yourself! If so, and you're on PC/EU, feel free to mail or whisper me in game, @petalpower. In the words of Deathlord Bjarfrud himself, "What are you waiting for, coward...?"

Merlin13KAGL · October 2017

What was the total bill at the end of all this, in repair, pots, therapy?

Feanor · October 2017

Fun stuff. Gz on the effort!

LioraValkyrie · October 2017

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

What was the total bill at the end of all this, in repair, pots, therapy?

In the region of 100 repair kits, 800 pots, 4-5 CP respecs, 8 kutas, 3 morph respecs. After killing the Deathlord, I was so hyped I didn't really care if I beat Domihaus or not! No therapy required

*Edited for incorrect kuta quotage- I remembered I re-enchanted my jewellry, too!*

Merlin13KAGL · October 2017

Well, kudos. Last time I was in there (solo), it seemed like everything in the place completely ignored pet taunt.

I do think the continuous atro waves < 20% will prevent it from being soloable.

Did you try drawing everything to the middle and dropping Negate? At least then the atro's would potentially leave you alone to DPS the boss?

LioraValkyrie · October 2017

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

Well, kudos. Last time I was in there (solo), it seemed like everything in the place completely ignored pet taunt.

I do think the continuous atro waves < 20% will prevent it from being soloable.

Did you try drawing everything to the middle and dropping Negate? At least then the atro's would potentially leave you alone to DPS the boss?

Yep, I tried negate. Unfortunately, it only silences the storm and frost atro, who are the nastiest anyway. The damage output worked out about the same as with the destro ulti, since I didn't have to shield spam as much. Unfortunately, I was completely resource drained after defeating one wave of ads either way. The only way to prevent this would be to use a recovery build, which deals less damage. Catch 22.

Tasear · October 2017

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

Well, kudos. Last time I was in there (solo), it seemed like everything in the place completely ignored pet taunt.

I do think the continuous atro waves < 20% will prevent it from being soloable.

Did you try drawing everything to the middle and dropping Negate? At least then the atro's would potentially leave you alone to DPS the boss?

Wait, the annotachs can't be stunned in the negate? It would be nice if it was, but I believe I already tried.

SnowTheMadDog · October 2017

U play realy good, cant deny that, i'm impressed.

But come on, that's another proof that sorc need...to be looked at ^^

Feanor · October 2017

Nothing to do with Sorc as a class. It’s only that pets help with the mechanics.

Valve · October 2017

SnowTheMadDog wrote: »

U play realy good, cant deny that, i'm impressed.

But come on, that's another proof that sorc need...to be looked at ^^

What you've done is actually really impressive; couldn't really imagine doing it on any of my characters!

LioraValkyrie · October 2017

Valve wrote: »

What you've done is actually really impressive; couldn't really imagine doing it on any of my characters!

Thanks!

P.S. Thanks to anyone who gives compliments or kudos, makes me feel warm and fuzzy haha! I won't get to reply to everyone, especially not after today, so this is for everybody who watched and commented

GreenhaloX · October 2017

LioraValkyrie wrote: »

Valve wrote: »

What you've done is actually really impressive; couldn't really imagine doing it on any of my characters!

Thanks!

P.S. Thanks to anyone who gives compliments or kudos, makes me feel warm and fuzzy haha! I won't get to reply to everyone, especially not after today, so this is for everybody who watched and commented

Well, I thought this would have been another Voah clip.. ha ha, but are you two related? Sure, give you kudos for persistent.

SnowTheMadDog wrote: »

U play realy good, cant deny that, i'm impressed.

Sure, the OP plays good, but, there's not really any skill (player) needed for a sorc; particularly if you have a clannfear tanking for you. You want skill.. try it with a stam toon. Well.. in hindsight, if sorc gets nerfed and shredded as stam toon have, it's the red line for me for this game. I had given up on stam toon and really, sorc is what's still keeping me in this game. Nerfing.. what a load of *beep*.

SnowTheMadDog · October 2017

Feanor wrote: »

Nothing to do with Sorc as a class. It’s only that pets help with the mechanics.

Pet is part of the sorc.

No class should be able to solo that kind of content. None.

Doctordarkspawn · October 2017

SnowTheMadDog wrote: »

U play realy good, cant deny that, i'm impressed.

But come on, that's another proof that sorc need...to be looked at ^^

This is exactly why threads like this should not exist.

Stop bragging, you actively damage the game.

LioraValkyrie · October 2017

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

SnowTheMadDog wrote: »

U play realy good, cant deny that, i'm impressed.

But come on, that's another proof that sorc need...to be looked at ^^

This is exactly why threads like this should not exist.

Stop bragging, you actively damage the game.

I'm proud of my achievement, and I want to tell people. Wouldn't you be, if you worked hard at something and thought you did a good job? That's the whole point of titles, dyes and achievements in an MMO. There's no title for what I did, so I put a record of my achievement here. If ZoS thinks my achievement should not be achieveable, maybe they will Nerf Sorc.

Or...

Maybe threads like this will inspire them to introduce an Epic difficulty level above Veteran... Or give all classes a (decent) stackable damage shield... Or give a commandable Summon Skeleton/Spirit skill in the soul magic line... Or change Equillibrium to be a universal version of Dark Exchange.

Lots of options besides Nerf Sorc.

ccfeeling · October 2017

Sorc needs some real buffs

Kneighbors · October 2017

Was really a waste to try it. You could ask me before and I'd tell you that the critical moment will be when boss under 20%. It would be really impressive if you'd get to 7%. But to pass him? Nah...

It's funny when you join as substitute vFH and players tell you "we got him easily till 15% but then wiped, almost did it". The fight actually starts after 25%. Everything before is just a warm up session.

Brutusmax1mus · October 2017

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

SnowTheMadDog wrote: »

U play realy good, cant deny that, i'm impressed.

But come on, that's another proof that sorc need...to be looked at ^^

This is exactly why threads like this should not exist.

Stop bragging, you actively damage the game.

I think you're right, since he is on a damage build. But don't be such an ass.

Feanor · October 2017

The call for nerfs based on the achievements of exceptional players is so silly. @Vaoh soloed most stuff on his Stam toons too. If you want to prevent such dungeons being soloed, introduce proper mechanics (like in Bloodroot Forge, where you need to interrupt to overcome the pin - the clanfear won’t do that).

Baconlad · October 2017

it would be a *** sorc...

i'm on board with the removal of hardened ward, the buffing of crit curge, and a 40-50% buff to annulment. gaarbage that it's the one armor skill thats effected by battle spirit. leaving magplar, DK out of being able to use shields. no clue WTF to do with warden in this case...the buff to annulment would effect them possitively and they don't need the buff i don't think...

all stamina players, wardens, sorcs, nightblades are able to build for max damage in cyrodil...but *** if i decide to roll a three damage set magplar i get crapped on instantly in cyrodil.

"make Annulment great again"

LioraValkyrie · October 2017

Just for the record, it seems some people are assuming I used a clannfear to tank. I took aggro on all bosses myself - I am using volatile familiar throughout, not clannfear. The familiar holds no aggro whatsoever, and the Twilight only holds aggro randomly and intermittently. I use Command Pet twice across the five videos - at the beginning of the first and second bosses. In both cases, the Twilight loses taunt within seconds. I don't bother sending in the pets after that. From the third boss onwards, the 'tanking' is done by timing dodge rolls.

Doctordarkspawn · October 2017

LioraValkyrie wrote: »

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

SnowTheMadDog wrote: »

U play realy good, cant deny that, i'm impressed.

But come on, that's another proof that sorc need...to be looked at ^^

This is exactly why threads like this should not exist.

Stop bragging, you actively damage the game.

I'm proud of my achievement, and I want to tell people. Wouldn't you be, if you worked hard at something and thought you did a good job? That's the whole point of titles, dyes and achievements in an MMO. There's no title for what I did, so I put a record of my achievement here. If ZoS thinks my achievement should not be achieveable, maybe they will Nerf Sorc.

Or...

Maybe threads like this will inspire them to introduce an Epic difficulty level above Veteran... Or give all classes a (decent) stackable damage shield... Or give a commandable Summon Skeleton/Spirit skill in the soul magic line... Or change Equillibrium to be a universal version of Dark Exchange.

Lots of options besides Nerf Sorc.

I guarentee that no new difficulties will be added. Trust me, I've been -advocating- additional difficulties for at least a year.

And ZOS has never been a good judge of what is good for they're game. The infamous Wrobel quote about tanks comes to mind.

Be proud all you like, but the more you shout it to the heavens the more likely they are to rain hail on all of us. You are not the first person I have told this to. You will not be the last.

Doctordarkspawn · October 2017

Brutusmax1mus wrote: »

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

SnowTheMadDog wrote: »

U play realy good, cant deny that, i'm impressed.

But come on, that's another proof that sorc need...to be looked at ^^

This is exactly why threads like this should not exist.

Stop bragging, you actively damage the game.

I think you're right, since he is on a damage build. But don't be such an ass.

Being nice isn't going to get the message across.

Muttsmutt · October 2017

is it a sorc
yes it's a sorc
okay bye

RouDeR · October 2017

I am going to dissapoint u buddy but , my health warden can also solo those bosses without dying once i may have 8-9k dps but i do have 60k health with permablock ^^, except the final boss i cannot solo cuz i run out of pillars

code65536 · October 2017

Very impressive! I wouldn't dare try soloing this on vet, and if I did, I'd probably want to come on a speced-for-damage heavy armor saptank; the trash mob minotaurs can 1-shot DDs even on normal.

(Also, threads like this are not complete without someone saying "nerf sorc" and Doctordarkspawn unloading his usual bag of salt. Unfortunately, I was not disappointed.)

rotaugen454 · October 2017

Yes, they better nerf sorc because it can perform well in the very specific instance of soloing dungeons. Nevermind that it can be out DPSed, out healed and out tanked...

code65536 · October 2017

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

SnowTheMadDog wrote: »

U play realy good, cant deny that, i'm impressed.

But come on, that's another proof that sorc need...to be looked at ^^

This is exactly why threads like this should not exist.

Stop bragging, you actively damage the game.

If you had bothered to read the OP, you'd see that some bosses took countless tries to get. Yay, someone soloed it--after using 500 soul gems. Most reasonable people would think, "If it takes someone that much effort to bypass the group-design of the content, then I guess the content is pretty well-designed around group-play!"

The OP also said a number of times that the biggest problem was not having a tank. Aside from salting every thread, you are also well-known for going on about how tanks are not important in this game. Most reasonable people, if they compare this struggle of a wipefest to the traditional groups with a tank and healer that speedrun this place in under 15 minutes, would likely come to the conclusion that the dungeon is well-designed in that it richly rewards traditional group compositions that don't skimp on the support roles.

But of course, you wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to pollute a thread with more of your salt, would you?

raviour · October 2017

@rotaugen454

rotaugen454 wrote: »

Yes, they better nerf sorc because it can perform well in the very specific instance of soloing dungeons. Nevermind that it can be out DPSed, out healed and out tanked...

Go to Cyrodiil. Then tell me that.

Wifeaggro13 · October 2017

LioraValkyrie wrote: »

Attached is video footage showing my focussed attempt to solo vet Falkreath Hold over the past week. I managed to defeat all bosses except Domihaus, who I reduced to 14% health before deciding it is probably impossible to solo him in the current patch. My reasons for believing this are explained below the video. With enough time and determination, I could probably eek him down to 10% or so, but I am content that I gave it the Old College Try without inflicting excessive massochism on myself! For all other videos, I provide a brief explanation of my tactics.

First boss: Morrigh Bullblood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBYdigTVgJk&index=1&list=PL34secqbv-lRG3IxFCUn4CofSOrApeXIe

Completed in approximately 20 attempts. Morrigh, herself, is not overly difficult. Stay out of the red (a feat I fail at spectacularly!) and nuke her down at whatever pace you see fit. What is troublesome is her minotaur companion, whose Clobber attack - a downward swing of the axe- does around 60k damage to an unwitting victim. As you can see, the key was to send in my pets first, to keep him occupied for just long enough to even the field of play and focus him down. I believe this fight would be possible using a tank, although it would take a very long time, or a 'roly-poly' type stamina dd. Magicka users other than petsorcs would probably have a hard time.

Second boss: Siege Mammoth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Mz4rGtdyc&index=2&list=PL34secqbv-lRG3IxFCUn4CofSOrApeXIe

Completed on the first attempt. The Siege Mammoth will alternate between attacking me and my pets, but he is slow enough to kite when he decides to come after me. I found this fight really fun, and would recommend you give it a try sometime! Shield and block when he does his stomp attack, try to avoid the red, and give him hell. Should be completable by all classes, magicka and stamina.

Third boss: Cernunnon and Honour Bound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6HuSzNqmC0&list=PL34secqbv-lRG3IxFCUn4CofSOrApeXIe&index=3

Completed in approximately 50 attempts. This is guerilla warfare at its finest! If you have been fortunate enough to run this dungeon with a good tank, you may not know that Tuecille can deliver blows in excess of 100k to the unwitting sqishy! These are indicated by a full-force swing of his axe, and some squiggly lines, and must be dodged. Cernunnon's heavy attack, which deals about 90k, must be dodged ONLY when he reaches the top of his upswing. It took me about 30 attempts to figure this out, and was somewhat puzzled as to why I kept dying to his 1-shot despite the fact that I was dodging and 20 metres away from him! Besides these notable facts, just keep your shields up, be alert, and learn the mechanics. Should be completable by all classes, magicka and stamina - though stamina users will be insta-killed if they find themselves hit by an Engulf attack, which will make it substantially more difficult for them.

Fourth boss: Deathlord Bjarfrud Skjoralmor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z96WOxTDVlI&list=PL34secqbv-lRG3IxFCUn4CofSOrApeXIe&index=4

Completed in approximately 300 attempts. This was the fight of my life, which tested my skill and build to the extreme. Anyone who says PvE is easy needs to try this! I got him to below 5% health on 5 occassions, before finally putting this dirty draugr down. Those who have run with good tanks might be unaware that the Deathlord deals frequent instakill attacks with his axe- indicated by a full swing with squiggly lines- and a DoT that must be shield-spammed through for about 10 seconds to survive- indicated by him raising his weapon into the air. Both of these attacks must be dodged if you hope to survive. I believe it is probably only possible using a Sorcerer- unless you have insane mobility and manage to cleanse every corpse every cycle- as I relied on stacking shields to 50k to withstand the corpse explosion. Also, the AI of the archer ads seems to tell them to attack whoever does not hold aggro on the boss. Consequently, they spend most of the time attacking my Twilight of their own accord. I attempted this fight using the clannfear to tank the boss, but died in short shrift from unyielding Quick Strikes and Taking Aims. When I switched back to the imp, the archers went back to attacking the Twilight.

Final boss: Domihaus the Bloody-Horned
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xta0D39DFY&index=5&list=PL34secqbv-lRG3IxFCUn4CofSOrApeXIe

About 40 attempts before conceding. In the current environment of ESO, is possible to either a) mitigate a massive amount of damage for a short time, using dodge rolls, blocking, armour, shields, healing, etc. or b) deal a massive amount of damage for a short time, using ultimate abilities and a tight rotation but it is not possible to c) mitigate a massive amount of damage while dealing a massive amount of damage, because dodging, rolling, blocking, shielding, etc. prevents maintaining a tight rotation. There is also the significant matter of resource management while attempting to both deal and mitigate damage. This principle is clearly demonstrated in my fight against Dealthlord Bjarlfrud Skjoralmor, where the urgency to mitigate and deal damage is separated in time, allowing me succeed by alternating between these modes of play. It also dictates that, during Domihaus' enrage, I am unable to sustain the resources necessary to mitigate and deal massive damage simultaneously, whereby the time taken to kill each subsequent wave of elementals increases, causing waves to overlap and damage taken to eventually become unmitigatable. The fact that I can't beat Domihaus solo, and believe it is probably not possible, at least shows that the PvE environment is somewhat balanced, and that all key roles have their place.

If you've made it this far, you might be thinking of taking on Veteran Falkreath Hold yourself! If so, and you're on PC/EU, feel free to mail or whisper me in game, @petalpower. In the words of Deathlord Bjarfrud himself, "What are you waiting for, coward...?"

this is why this game is screwed no offense to you OP. but here we are post a few weeks of new content released and the game has been so dumbed down that its top tier single group content is being solo'd. i remember when attorneyatlawl exposed some broken abilities in the DK , and Zos's answer was to nerf the hell out of the class though it was only one specific build that could accomplish it. the funny thing is it was not even the class or abilities that was broken. it was the imbalance of light armor caps on mitigation, and being able to have heavy armor mitigation in light armor. while retaining all the damage of a dps build. GG ZOS this is one of the reason your game has a churn based population and the end game community does not exist.

Feanor · October 2017

@code65536

The ironic thing is @Doctordarkspawn doesn’t even play the game anymore if my memory serves right...