This is a bit of a long read, a collection of thoughts with a little storytelling expose sprinkled in.
With the focus of many threads lately on negativity, doom-saying about U35, etc I wanted to share some positive personal in-game awesomeness because I know the ESO fam will understand.

That's all this thread is about, just some stories about awesome stuff that I was fortunate to get to experience a couple weeks ago.


Well all get them. Every so often one of those days happens where everything in the game just clicks, RNG hits the mark, a cool thing is acquired, complete a tough challenge, etc.
Recently I had an entire WEEK of wins, day after day and with the kinds of things that I had to stop and think "Did I dream that?"

I LOVE soloing dungeons and world bosses, that plus housing is my end game content.
Some dungeons I accept I'll never solo due to built-in mechanics where you NEED other humans.
But I'm always trying new ones because dungeons IMO are some of the best designed content in ESO and all kinds of FUN! The specific stories and quests for them are very cool, the overall design and ambiance of dungeons is beautiful, or terrifying depending on the story mood lol.

Also soloing things lets me relax and not worry that I'm annoying other group members because I really like to take my time. I game to relax and experience content, not speed run through it.
So I go down every corridor and poke my head into and behind everything where it will fit, reading every book or scrap of paper, opening every container.

The other week I had a few days off so I decided to see if I could improve some things with my stamden main's DPS.
With the upcoming U35 changes I honestly wasn't sure how badly they'd affect my ability to solo dungeons, WBs etc. or even if I'd notice a difference.
So my logic (if not the most sound) was, maybe if I can improve a lot now, then after the upcoming DPS nerfs if I feel like I've lost a lot of power I'd be right back to where I was pre-patch which is "ok-tier" levels of DPS

I spent a day playing around adjusting mundus, CP, armour traits and enchants, skills slotted and then largely worked on rotation, sustain and getting more comfortable with weaving.
The first few tests I was thrilled. I was hitting in the 30k-50K range with around 40K+ average and while that prolly doesn't seem like much to many experienced players, for me it was HUGE, literally game-changing. 50k-60k was even now within reach as long as I continue to refine my skills.

After a couple shockingly easy base game dungeon runs I thought, lets really test this, test myself.
I had a bucket list of dungeons that either I'd tried (and failed) to complete or that sounded like they were beyond my skill so I hadn't bothered an attempt. But I felt I was in the right frame of mind to handle it if I got my butt beat again and I really wanted to push myself a bit anyway.

So what follows are the experiences I had in several dungeons done over the course of about 6 days.
All of these were done on normal and with a CP 1600+ Breton Stamden, 2H\Bow, with Briar and Hundings, RotPO, support from Mr. Bear(Warden Ult) and either Ember or Mirri. I also have 2 sets of Hundings I used depending on need, one medium(deal more DPS) and one heavy(take less DPS).
Later in 2 specific cases I'm running as WW and using a third loadout with heavy Alessian and Briar, but the majority was done in non werewoof form.


Shipwright's Regret

This wasn't my first attempt. I'd tried not too long after the content first released and found it fun and I almost completed it first run.
I made it to Captain Numirril and he was challenging, but predictable and it took some time but I'd gotten him down to under 20k...
Then made a dumb mistake and wiped.
SO close it hurt >.<

I decided to take a short break which turned into a couple days break. When I decided to return the following week I was harshly reminded that dungeon progress will RESET, even if you have an active quest for it.
That was it I thought, I"m not doing that all over again, deleted the quest and moved on.

Many weeks later now I returned, this time with a stronger build.
This time the trash mobs melted stupid-fast which surprised me. They went down fairly quickly before, but this felt much faster.
The mid bosses still kept me in check and took some effort, (especially Nazaray UGH)
But finally got to Numirril and this time I was ready and knew what to expect. I fell into a dance-like pattern, just focusing on maintaining damage and sustain without worrying too much what his health was, etc. After what seemed like a few minutes he suddenly dropped dead.
What? It's over?
What changed? Then I realized my first important lesson.

Previously I would focus too much on a boss's HP; How much is left? How close are they to death?? OMG why do they have so much yet?! etc.
It created a ton of stress and took my focus off of what I SHOULD have been paying more attention to.
Me.
My rotation, my skill timings, positioning, etc.
I'd paid attention to those things before sure, but I was also too focused on other things that didn't matter as much.
By focusing on my skills I was more synced to what was going on with my character. Suddenly uptimes, healing and damage were consistent and it really feels like a dance to me. You know your moves and where to step. You don't need to focus so much on where the boss's HP are, focus on consistency and flowing with the patterns and suddenly you'll find yourself at the end.

Darkshade Caverns 2

I felt pretty good after after Shipwright's so thought why not see what else I can knock-out.
The Engine Guardian had been holding out on me for a very long time, the last lead I needed for the mythic Ebon Wolf Mount.
I'd made it to the end several times before, but this had become one of THOSE leads, the ones that just will not drop.
And it wasn't even the EG boss fight that I was dreading, it was the two major bosses before it: The Hive Lord and Grobull the mega Netch
So grinding for that lead had become a painful process because there was no way around those two, no short-cutting it.

Performance at the Hive Lord this time was VERY different, surprisingly stronger. For one I was keeping DoTs up more consistently which made a huge difference. Healing too, I remember having a lot harder time once he began his ground slam attack. This time healing was a non issue and I passed him with little difficulty.

Grobull, ok he's still a huge pain. I did well keeping consistent dmg on him and the smaller netch adds melted quickly, but something about this fight, it just still felt like it drags on foooorever even though this time I felt stronger during the fight.

On from there to the guardian's army which also took little effort this time and then the Engine Guardian itself felt quite easy. Heals were always spot on, even during it's poison gas phase. I'd take out the adds when they got in the way but with consistent DoTs on the boss it fell with little difficulty.
AND finally it dropped the lead I wanted!!

I figured maybe this was the time to try for another hard-to-get lead...

Blackheart Haven
The first time I met the dear captain I was after a mythic lead, the last one in fact to complete the Torc of Tonal Constancy. Another curious mythic that I'd been anxious to claim and try.
Our first meeting ended how you would expect. Blackheart and his wonderful Skelemoprh power turned me into something less deadly than a Skeever.
A second attempt met the same result, there was no way around that for me.
Feeling a bit crushed as the dungeon had been fun up until that point but I did not see a way to mitigate his ability as a solo player. I decided that was it and I wrote it off as one of the things I would never solo.

Some time later something quite unexpected happened one night in Bangkorai while farming nodes. After trading blows with a couple werewolves I noticed I'd been afflicted.
Lycanthropy? UGH!
I knew it existed of course but it was never in my plans as something I wanted to bother with. Mostly because I didn't understand how it worked(it's not really the hindrance I'd thought it was).
So my first reaction was "Where can I cure this?" (I hate having anything done to my character that I don't plan lol)
Then I thought about it.
I love wolves. I had a couple wolf pets and mounts, my character has other wolf-themed things, even her last name, "Wolf"
It was ironically PERFECT.

So I worked hard to improve my gift and as time went on I found some research regarding Blackheart's morphing ability. So that week I decided to return to his sanctuary to see for myself if the rumor was true.

And gods was it GLORIOUS! Against werewolves his power was useless! Nothing he could do, nothing, could stop me and I spent several minutes laughing as I methodically and joyfully tore him apart.
But alas, as the battle ended and I searched his ruined corpse I found no lead, he refused to reveal it to me as his laughter faded into the sounds of the water lapping against the shore.

That's alright I thought. I will return tomorrow and you my immortal captain, you will too...
The next day, and the next and the next you and I will meet until you decide to give me what I desire.

So began a daily ritual of visiting Blackheart's Haven, kicking in his door and destroying everything in my path.
Everything up to his inner sanctuary met it's end by my sword and bow, but always I saved my special gift just for him.
Our daily meetings turned to bloody debate with claw and fang, blade and bone ending in prize-less ruined, rotting tatters and fading empty laughter that only heralded a repeat of the day anon.
Then on our sixth meeting as he fell and his ruined form began to sink into the sand, his skeletal hand opened to reveal a scrap of parchment; the lead!
"Take it. Take it and leave me, never return."

I did and have not returned since.

This was a very fun dungeon but has a significant drawback of the end boss's special ability and a solo player being unlikely to survive without werewolf form or perhaps extremely high DPS. I understand that dungeons by design are meant to be done with a group. But for an unaware player getting to the end only to learn they are unlikely to be able to complete it is a truly sucky feeling.

Lair of Maarselok
By this point I'm feeling it, I was on a roll and getting braver.
This was my first time doing LoM and going in mostly blind. I'd read a little bit about it like a year+ ago after I'd acquired the Hall of the Lunar Champion home but the review I read made it sound quite beyond me and likely not soloable.
I knew I needed to finish both it and Moongrave Fane to unlock the final area of my home. I'd tried Moongrave a few times in the past but never made it through the first boss, that blasted walking pile of rocks. I died repeatedly every time and left in failure.

But I decided try my attempt at getting the final tablet starting with LoM.
It was both the hardest dungeon I ever attempted to solo at that point but also the absolute coolest and most FUN!
(Side note: If you have not done Selene's Web before LoM, please do. It's a much easier dungeon and the story in that one ties right into LoM's story, very cool!)

This is a dungeon where boss mechanics really start to come into play. The first Boss(es) green bear and spider are pretty straightforward.
The lurcher boss that comes after also wasn't too terrible.

The third, the Azureblight Cancroid, was a bit of a struggle because I didn't understand the mechanic at first.
Mostly because in order to reach the shielded tree in the center that you need to destroy you had to run into a nasty damage AoE to get close enough to disable it's shield, so it was counterintuitive to me; I was trying to avoid the damage field. After a bit of trial and error (and roll-dodging to reach the center quickly) I figured it out and found my way through.

The fourth boss, Maarselok, this one took a loooong time and is where I almost gave up.
I wasn't dying constantly, it was the fact that there is actually a lot going on in this battle that at first look seems like too much for one player.
I wasn't able to keep the bugs away from Selene long enough so they didn't break her concentration and while also destroying stranglers fast enough to give her spiders a chance to climb up to damage Maarselok so he'd drop to the ground so HE could actually be damaged. (Must be nice to have the high ground and auto-win fights)

The first time he did drop down it was for such a short period of time I wasn't able to do much damage at all compared to his total health bar (so I thought).
This sequence happened a couple times and I remember thinking based on Maarselok's health bar (old bad habit again!) that it would take me hours to get him to zero. So that is where I considered bailing, I'd thought I'd encountered a battle that need multiple high DPS players to finish successfully.

Then IIRC it was something one of the NPCs shouted that I finally heard, about just getting near the bugs would cause them to explode before reaching Selene and distracting her.
There it was, a perfect solution for a high stam character, I started sprinting.
Run right by the bugs as they spawn which caused them to explode, all the while maintaining damage on any stranglers that popped up near the wall. It began working. Maarselok began coming to ground a third time, a fourth, his health was dropping finally!
Then he got to about 60% of what he started with and... suddenly flew away!?
It was over?

Lesson again, stop looking at the bloody boss health all the time, all it can do is psyche you out. In the case of Maarselok what I later realized is you are technically fighting him during several boss battles until the end. Taking a portion of his total health each time with each victory. Unexpected but very cool way to design it.
However by looking at his total health in the battle I described above I was frustrating myself almost to the point where I gave up I didn't need to do as much damage as it appeared.
Glad I didn't give up.

The final encounter with Maarselok himself was nothing short of EPIC, the battle felt godlike!
I've fought plenty of dragons in overland Elsweyr. Maarselok isn't quite as tough, but felt pretty close and the battle definitely demanded you stay on your game, watch surroundings, etc He also had a few of the same abilities that the overland ones have so having that experience helped me a lot.
So I kept damage on him but focused more on survival and longevity, not trying to rush, watching my resource use, staying consistent. And again, after a time the end came, I'd won.
Holy heck I'd won! It didn't feel real?

The ending of the LoM story was also satisfying. And I'd completed the first of two dungeons I needed to unlock the final room in my home.

Moongrave Fane, that old nemesis of a dungeon now loomed, the second of two I needed to claim the tablet. But I was determined and after LoM and my previous success streak I actually believed I could get it, so I began my preparations to attempt what was before, impossible.

Side thoughts: Carindon really needs to die in a fire, slowly, over many many days.

Moongrave Fane
Finally I came to it.
In retrospect I think I'd been subconsciously building towards this because now as I stood before those ancient doors listening to Grundwulf and Renald blather back and forth all I could think about is how many times I'd heard this, several at least. And how many times I'd left in failure.

I entered and the mobs went down easily, this drove me on being reminded of all I'd accomplished up til now. All the victories.

I got to the first boss, Risen Ruins and opened up with everything I had.
It went into shield phase and I remembered the orbs and what had to be done so I quickly activated the first one and heavy attacked it...
...while not mitigating incoming damage. I died as the first shield ended.

And again a second attempt and second death. What was I missing!? I hadn't caught on yet and frustration was building.
Finally I noticed it: My health. In my defense I was taking constant damage and from multiple sources so it was easy to miss as a novice to the dungeon.
But the orb would take nearly half my health with each synergy activation so by the time I tried to launch a heavy attack on it I was already too low on health.
Once I understood that and was paying attention I was able to plan ahead with timing and healing already active it was repetition after that and the ruins finally dropped.
FINALLY.
Stupid rubble.

The next two bosses I didn't find terribly difficult. They were a challenge but as long as you paid attention to what was going on you were fine.
Dro’Zakar was fairly straightforward hack and slash and I made sure to interrupt his healing whenever he ran to an orb.
Kujo Kethba was a bit more of a challenge only because of a mechanic where you have to knock those familiar cubes to block lava geysers. It was sometimes difficult to aim or line up the cubes to go where you wanted. All while the boss was trying to pound on me made this a bit challenging.
But I completed both and proceeded towards the fourth boss encounter.

Nisaazda & Grundwulf...
Holy carp.
I'm glad I hadn't read up on these two before hand, because if I had and knew what I was in for I likely would have given up.
Or maybe not, credit where due and I'd made it this far but this is honestly where I thought it would end for me.

I died, repeatedly and constantly. I lost count as I got to a point where I didn't even care anymore.
My main thought at that point was having gotten so far, only to not be able to pass these two. I was trying not to dwell and let frustration take over but omg this was NOT a forgiving fight.

Biggest issues I had was trying to avoid Grundwulf and the Imps while focusing on Nisaazda and all her BS and she has several tricks she loves. Trying to focus on too many things while taking nearly constant damage.
Slowly I started catching on, noticing her tells, figuring out what I could interrupt and trying to be there in time to stop it as she is constantly moving from one spot to another.
But it wasn't enough, if only I was faster, stronger, if I only had...
claws.
(duh)

I built up enough ultimate to transform. The wolf's gift still wasn't enough, not right away. But the fight was lasting longer, each time learning more patterns, setting up orbs to interrupt Nisaazda ahead of time, getting to her before she hit me with fireball spam. Then it happened, it finally all clicked into place, the dance. Patterns, repeating and falling into a rhythm. WW heavy attacks also hit faster than winding up a 2H sword so I was able to hit the orbs before Grundwulf and the Imps mobbed me and got in the way.

She collapsed into a tattered mess and with no time to celebrate I launched at Grundwulf, his head was MINE.
I laid into him hard. It was time, he was going to die by fang and claw and bloody primal fury of The Great White Wolf of Elsweyr, Goddess of Wolf and Moon, Guardian of the Sands and Destroyer of Dragons (suck it Khaleesi )
A blow to his head knocked him senseless as my claws cut through the air to remove his throat and with it, his life then-

He ran away...

WHAT.

Literally pulled a "NYAH NYAH I'm not gunna play wit you no mo." and FEKKIN. RAN. AWAY.

At that point I was feeling many emotions and demonstrated this to everyone within 4 city blocks "NO! GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE [snip]!" (And since I wear headphones I then got to later explain to those who share my flat why I'm yelling like a crazy person )

I'd thought that was the final battle, but no he had the Plot-Writer's Protection Spell and got to run away.

From that point until the actual final battle time was a blur, if there were mobs I tore right through them I honestly don't remember because everything was racing.
I could see the end, I was going to win, I could taste it and still I had a hard time believing it even as I drove forward.

When I reached the final battle, Grundwulf's speech as he absorbed the dragon's power, it didn't matter. I only saw death and charged as soon as I could and just kept pummeling him.

In retrospect this fight did not feel that difficult, ironically it was Nisaazda in the previous fight that was the biggest threat. Grundwulf on his own not so much.
What made it even better is discovering I could knock the crate out of the way he would hide behind during the dragon's breath weapon phase. Just watching the dragon melt his health was GLORIOUS!

The fight was over fairly quickly, I did not die, not once. Though considering how much I did in the previous fight between the duo I think I had a ton of credit built up.
But I had done what I'd personally thought impossible and pushed myself beyond. I was happy, proud and exhausted lol.

And a little hungry. (Tacos maybe?)


I think the biggest things that I took away from that whole week was my growth as a player.
Learning new skills sure, but also not giving in to frustration, not giving up. So to any newer players that are thinking about trying dungeons, go for it!

Consider this though to avoid frustration. With the standard story lines I feel we get a false sense of our own capability and are very under-prepared for more challenging content. I mean, in overland you can kill just almost anything if you toss something pointy in it's general direction.
But when a player who is used to that level of ease decides they want to try harder content like dungeons, it's a rude wake-up that can lead to discouragement. Overland does NOT prepare you for this. The only way to prepare, is to just try it. Go find the biggest, meanest thing you can and kick it, then deal with it.

Whether you read a review before or not I have another suggestion: don't take them too much to heart.
Each dungeon I complete I go back and find a good walk through of it to read, then save it in my collections.
What I notice often is certain reviewers tend to use unnecessarily dramatic language that paints a more intimidating picture than it should.
I recall reading about some boss fights where the terms "MASSIVE damage" and "potentially one-shot", to name a few, are used too much and when I think back on what they describe it wasn't that way at all for me.
Maybe for them it was, who knows? Drama sells clicks and subs.
But that is one of those things that is solely based on perspective. So try not to be too put off if you read\watch a review of a dungeon that sounds scary and too hard. If you want to try it, DO. Judge for yourself, you may find a gentler truth behind the drama.

Most dungeons I've done all tend to have their theme which usually has a mechanic or trick woven into the whole package. You need to watch for patterns, LISTEN to everything. Even a comment by an NPC could hold a clue that will help you. But expect you will wipe a few times, you are learning it. Doesn't make you a bad player or mean that the content is beyond you.
Keep going, persist and learn, then will come that moment when you feel it, you begin anticipating one step ahead of the battle. The floor is yours then, enjoy the dance until it ends.


After all that I earned a nice extended vacation, maybe explore some new fishing holes or work on a new home build.
Still... I recall last year I did have trouble completing Ruins of Mazzatun during the fight with Na-Kesh and I do believe she has something I want...

(BTW, that final area in the Hall of the Lunar Champion makes a wonderful bath house when you add a few furnishings )


Have fun y'all and enjoy the dance.

[Edited for Censor Bypass]