How difficult are new dungeons (Icereach and Unhallowed Grave) on VETERAN non-HM mode for you?

Paramedicus · February 2020

How hard are new dungeons for you? Do you think they are too easy or too difficult to complete? Keep in mind that poll is about veteran versions but without hard mode activated. And also, it is not about how cool (or not) they are.

In comments try to answer also:
Do you think that setting their difficulty on current level was good move from devs? Do you think that their difficulty is justified by their entertainment value?

Carespanker · February 2020

Did it blind and hm'd both in a couple of attempts, then farmed both for hours for gear with pugs and it was still easy... I was kinda disappointed ngl

code65536 · February 2020

Compared to last year's dungeons, both are easier. This applies to both HM and non-HM.

Whether or not "easier than previous dungeons" means "too easy" is a judgement call that depends on your perspective. I think it's good for the game as a whole that content is more accessible to more people, but for my own personal entertainment value, their ease is disappointing.

karekiz · February 2020

Yes they are easier.

However remember, they did retool the title for challenger. Challenger itself gives you Cheezement points, but doing the all in one actually gives you the title. So in the end the difficulty comes from doing the full HM/No Death/Speed run now to get the prize.

I welcome easier base vet clears for people. I 100% hated Lair of Trash with low DPS.

AndyMac · February 2020

Icereach is too easy - not really like other DLC vets at all. The boss mechanics are very simple. No obvious pug killer boss - more like a normal dungeon than vet.

I cleared and then did a speed run helping a friend farm Day 1. Just lol

Unhallowed Grave is great in terms of mechanics - I’ve cleared it and the 3 mini bosses. Fun mechanics that will defeat players and groups who don’t play them correctly. So I think it’s OK for normal vet content. Tbh it does lack a touch of the lethality that has been common in vet DLCs. Maybe it could use a buff.

ZOS has been doing very well with DLC dungeons - very doable normal vet with a much harder HM.

These are quite close - UG more than Icereach -but probably under where they should be.

Raisin · February 2020

Both are very easy. I would like them to be more difficult and I think Icereach especially does not qualify for what a vet dungeon should be, but I think healthiest for the game to have this difficulty available while offering another difficulty level to players. At the very least the HMs should be more challenging. I think Unhallowed Grave has a very good level of difficulty and mechanic for a lot of the playerbase because it manages to be engaging. The mechanics exist outside of difficulty and I think are enjoyable for people to perform. I do wish one of them was more on the level of vMgF, but vUG is definitely a step in the right direction... vLoM was just tedious for a lot of groups. If the aim with vIR and vUG was to make one easier and one more difficult, I don't think that was well executed (IR should be on UG level and UG a little higher), but I'm also not sure that was something they were trying to do.
In the end I think that at this point in time, vet DLC dungeons are trying to please two groups of players with an ever-widening gap. IMO attempting to please both of these groups with the same content is not going to result in much good for either one of them and that concept needs to change. As far as trying to consolidate these two goes, I think vUG did almost about as good as you can.

VDoom1 · February 2020

I have only done Unhallowed Grave on veteran so far, so I can't speak for Icereach yet. It takes a lot for me to call a veteran dungeon "too" easy. Compared to normal it did feel a bit too easy.

When it comes to Unhallowed Grave non-hm vs HM, I believe it presents a challenge if your group doesn't have the best dps. Also if you are not completely familiar with the mechanics yet. If you compare normal to veteran, all other bosses are very easy.

A good example is the second boss Keeper of the Kiln. On normal this boss takes a little effort, the mechanics themselves are not difficult. But if you don't know the mechanics it's tricky. However on veteran I expected Keeper of the Kiln to hit a lot harder (I went on my tank). My group got that boss down easy peasy first pull. I dreaded that boss thinking "crap, this is gonna hurt! x.x". It was a total breeze.

All bosses were quite simple and did not hurt so bad, with the exception of the third boss Eternal Aegis. That boss did hurt if you didn't stand correctly. I have to say Unhallowed Grave feels like a quite simple veteran DLC dungeon compared to others. Though one aspect Unhallowed Grave has which is a lot of fun, the secrets!

As well as the diversity in the layout of the dungeon. It's not just follow a long tunnel, take a turn lalala. The grappling hook may be quite a minor feature, but adding this feature to the dungeon makes it stand out a bit more and makes it more fun to go through the dungeon. Having it in boss fights is certainly a fun and unique aspect.

Overall I have enjoyed both dungeons. Though on veteran it does feel simple, perhaps too simple.

MudcrabAttack · February 2020

The vet version of unhallowed grave was puggable with a good group of 3 CP 300s who were doing great pulling their weight + CP 810. None of us had done it before or read the manual, it was really fun figuring out the mechanics!

Paramedicus · February 2020

Like most ppl voting, I was surprised by their difficulty. It s true that UG is bit harder (mechanics) but still doesnt feel very vet. To my shock, even trash pulls felt like normal. Trash is deadly in older DLC like Falkreach, Bloodroot or RoM. Im not sure if new dungeons are even on level of ICP or WGT...

Dunno what to think about it. It is good that content is more accessible for wider population of players. But on other hand, won't it get boring fast if it's too easy? I didnt feel any accomplishment finishing them.

Alienoutlaw · February 2020

even easier than they was on PTS

code65536 · February 2020

Alienoutlaw wrote: »

even easier than they was on PTS

There weren't any nerfs to difficulty between PTS week 1 and Live (UHG HM was actually buffed slightly in difficulty).

If it feels easier on Live than on PTS, that's just the result of things being easier the second time you run it, when you aren't going in blind and know exactly what to expect.

VDoom1 · February 2020

A bit of an update.

Done Icereach on veteran now and just...wow. 0.0 Even with one wipe (didn't think the giant boss would do so much damage when enraged) and looting everything (so much to loot!) we got speed run. o.o It's not like we decided before starting to go for speed run or were super fast. It was not a premade group but pug. No one seemed to be doing the quest so no one talked to Lyris, and there is just SO much to loot so that slows you down a lot. xD I was so surprised that we got speed run. Oh and non HM, it was my first time there on veteran. I have a bit of a rule that I don't do hardmodes first time, wanna know the mechanics a bit better first.

So yah...holy moly these two dungeons seem quite easy. 0.o But fun, I like Icereach.

Though Unhallowed is more fun with the grappling hook and secrets.

Cage_Lizardman · February 2020

Unhallowed Grave was obviously awesome. A bit on the easy side for a vet dlc, but I'm ok with it.

But Icereach? I pugged this (on vet of course) and the other dd probably did less than 10k. We didn't know mechanics and had no trouble clearing. I think we wiped once on the blades boss, but it worked easily on the second try.

Not that I particularly wanted another death laser robot that takes 10 wipes to get past even with experienced players... but this feels a bit far in the other direction.

thadjarvis · March 2020

They're easier on non-HM and HM imo.

Normal:
both can be soloed without much mechanic work-arounds (unlike FV first boss)

Non-HM:
IR is good and UG is great in terms of fun-factor. Haven't taken enough through yet to get a full picture of how it effects players, but I would say both have been definitely smoother runs with various groups than LoM/FV. Not enough data on my end with how they compare to MGF, DoM, and MHK but each probably fall into that tier one level down from the top.

HM
Didn't refer to any guides and figured them out and got them practiced to clear with groups in about an hour. Same groups: few individuals have LoM or FV complete and I think most would say MGF is harder than the new one's. They are probably closer to DoM and MHK. Healer seems to make IR smoother, but less smooth for UG (as long as tank can self-sustain it).

They reached high with some last year, which is fine. I'm viewing the new dungeons in which the ND/SR/HMs are similar to the older HMs at release in terms group coordination, skill, and time but haven't done those runs yet to confirm. That focus is fine I guess too. To amp up more can always try 3 and 2 group runs to increase the challenge.

Bisbatron · March 2020

I pug'd Unhallowed for my random vet as a healer a few days ago, bearing in mind I normally never heal and only 1 of us had done it before, we almost got the no death, so i'd say it was one of the easier dlc's.

The Elder Scrolls Online

How difficult are new dungeons (Icereach and Unhallowed Grave) on VETERAN non-HM mode for you?

How difficult are new dungeons (Icereach and Unhallowed Grave) on VETERAN non-HM mode for you? 56 votes