Cradle of Shadows - Dranos

Peacatcher · July 2021

I was wondering if there is a way to solo this boss. I've made it as far as I can but hit a wall when the shadows pin me down and he one-shots me with his heavy attack.

I realise the obvious solution would be to run the dungeon with others but I'm trying to learn mechanics by myself so that I understand them and am not a burden to others.

For context I'm trying it on a magicka nightblade. Tried to layer some ground AOEs and keep dark shade up so I could kill the shadows while I'm pinned but the shade focuses the boss and the shadows seem to spawn away from my AOEs.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

El_Borracho · July 2021

Try slotting Silver Leash to pull the shades into the middle to burn together. Its going to have to be fast to avoid the pin. Other suggestion is bringing in a companion as a tank and hope Dranos pins him/her. You will have to watch out for the waves of death a little more than you would in a group.

EDIT: You might have a tough time on the last boss solo. Tanks take a beating from Velidreth and then there is that whole annoying banished phase. Good luck

Peacatcher · July 2021

Thanks for the suggestions. I might try taking Bastian in, he's been great for me so far on other dungeons but I haven't tried any DLCs with him yet. Seems like a really fast paced boss so I'm not sure I have the reflexes for the silver leash thing.

If all else fails I'll just try to recruit some guildies.

It's only the 3rd DLC I've tried so far (after Falkreath and Unhallowed) so I'm still learning techniques myself really. Fun though

jaws343 · July 2021

El_Borracho wrote: »

Try slotting Silver Leash to pull the shades into the middle to burn together. Its going to have to be fast to avoid the pin. Other suggestion is bringing in a companion as a tank and hope Dranos pins him/her. You will have to watch out for the waves of death a little more than you would in a group.

EDIT: You might have a tough time on the last boss solo. Tanks take a beating from Velidreth and then there is that whole annoying banished phase. Good luck

That last boss can definitely be soloed on normal. I had to do it for most of the fight once because my team couldn't make it out of the banished areas.

Dranos would be a difficult solo for sure though. I remember my first Vet clear of the dungeon, my team died with like 100K health left in Dranos, and I got pinned. But my ilambris procced, and the damage was enough to kill the shades and break the pin. So I suppose if you timed it right and dropped enough AOE right before you are pinned, you can kill them passively.

Jaimeh · July 2021

Does the morph of the undo ulti that frees you from CC work for the pin? Not sure, but it might be worh a try.

El_Borracho · July 2021

Peacatcher wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions. I might try taking Bastian in, he's been great for me so far on other dungeons but I haven't tried any DLCs with him yet. Seems like a really fast paced boss so I'm not sure I have the reflexes for the silver leash thing.

If all else fails I'll just try to recruit some guildies.

It's only the 3rd DLC I've tried so far (after Falkreath and Unhallowed) so I'm still learning techniques myself really. Fun though

Nice. Cradle of Shadows is one of the harder DLC dungeons to get used to mechanics in. It might be one of the hardest DLC dungeons, period. Even on normal, I still hate the last boss. Though I think Dranos is harder than Velidreth.

Definitely try out the other DLCs. Frostvault is great if you like mechanics.

Peacatcher · July 2021

Jaimeh wrote: »

Does the morph of the undo ulti that frees you from CC work for the pin? Not sure, but it might be worh a try.

Yeah I might give it a go actually. I don't think the auto-cc break CP passive (is it called slippery?) works, at least it hasn't in any of my attempts so far. Think I'd need the morph you can use while cc-ed and keep it on both bars to be safe.

Noldornir · July 2021

Dranos' skill is not an actual stun and cannot be break free so the CP won't work, I believe the immunity from psijic/DK wings won't either (but I haven't actually tested it) as the effect you get is not a standard CC but a consequence of Dranos' clones channeled ability which require a bash.

The companion-tank, on the opposite, should work (assuming he can survive) as that skill will always land on whoever has aggro.

Chaining the shades will not help much in this either as the skill is not casted during that phase but will help you if you are solo: chain the shades then kite dranos on them and you dont even have to kill those.

Tommy_The_Gun · July 2021

Maybe companion tank can help to take the blow, but I would not count on this. ZOS said when they introduced companions, that companions "don't know the mechanics". So it may work, but it may also mean that dungeon boss mechanics may be coded in a way so that it does not recognize a companion as other player, so it may always prioritize an actual player (similar how dungeon bosses tend to attack random player and not the tank that taunts them). Only way to know is to test it.

Anyway, this is a prime example of something that I call "unfair mechanics". I understand that it is a group dungeon and is meant to play in a group (in group this boss is quite easy tbh.).... but.... why am I allowed to enter group dungeon solo then ? Just to be eventually perma-stunned and one-shotted ? There is nothing you can do ? No counter-play ? ? ?

I guess I can beat earlier bosses and hope for a chest with a weapon so I can eventually get all dungeon sets I need, but making "cheap deathtrap" mechanics like this imho kinda means that devs don't how to make something difficult & challenging. If something is hard there is nothing wrong about it, as long as it is "fair" (I am looking at you, Dark Souls 1/2/3). Soloing group content is very rewarding, almost feels like a mini-trial tbh.

Anyway, if companion - tank won't work, the other way would be to maybe go full dps and slot a taunt (so that companion wont get hit) and roll-doge all dmg, and use companion with full dps setup, so you can maybe kill the boss before "stun" mechanics will start. I have seen this when I was doing this dungeon with a group. That boss literally melted.

Noldornir · July 2021

Bosses often has one (or more) "ignore taunt" skills (like whisperer spit) which can land on any player despite the aggro but it's not the case of Dranos' stun; that will 100% hits who has aggro (be it via taunt or via normal means).

Companion tank might ignore mechs BUT will use taunt on expire so you'll never be targeted by the stun: he will and you need to bash spirits.

It is possible to skip the mech with very high DPS (it's very hard but if it's just you and the poor dps companion) this is kinda hard to hit, maybe doable in normal-solo but you will need to hit hard and have some luck too with the boss skills enqueuing.