It is a difficult one. I like a lot of them for 1 reason or another.

Aetherian Archive = because you can power through it and get it done really quick. Just something fun about that.
Sunspire = Who doesn't like Dragons in your Homeland?
Halls of Fabrication = The OG true test of a players skill (TTT). Has a special place in many hearts.
Dreadsail Reef = It's difficult and I like a challenge.

If I’m healing, CR. If I’m dpsing, DSR. MoL and SS hold special places in my heart.

This was a hard one. I was on the edge of voting either Sunspire, Kyne's Aegis, Cloudrest, Maw of Lorkhaj or Dreadsail Reef. All of them are fun in their own way.

In Maw of Lorkhaj, the twins fight is the highlight of the trial. It also has a rather relaxing portal mechanic on Rakkhat, and doing the two chains pull makes my damage dealing heart smile. It was also my first vet trial prog.

For sunspire (hardmode), the highlights for me as the fights are Lokkestiiz and Nahvintaas portal. It took some figuring out to beat Lokkestiiz HM consistently, but once it clicked it felt satisfying to do. I still remember our formations for the shock pulse dot, the tombs gave some time to breath as a dd. I remember how we cheered after we managed to get the portal add down the first time. It was a sign for us that we can do it, and actually is one of the achievements I am most proud of currently (to be a portal dd in vSS HM and to get the clear as such).

In Kyne's Aegis, Falgravn HM was fun, and it had really great atmosphere. The first time after a res, I really got jumpscared several times from the ghost booms. The whole "lights went out" really amplified the horror-like feeling the fight gave me.

Cloudrest was fun to learn, since you could always practice the mechanics that gave the most trouble. It made the progression from vCR+0 to vCR+3 feel good. The mechanics were quite simple once learned, but it still required everyone to know what they were doing.

Dreadsail Reefs veteran mode was the first time I got to do a DLC trial on vet at launch. It took us a couple of weeks of progression to finally get it done. Twins were the most fun, and it kinda reminded me of the Maw of Lorkhaj twins in a good way. The telegraphs were clear, and it felt good to find out and to be able to explain for what to look for. The last two bosses had enjoyable portal mechanics, and the poison and shock of Reef Guardian gave a nice dance like pace for the fight.

After pondering the question, I managed to rule out three of the five trials I mentioned. I crossed Cloudrest out, since it was short, like only a singular fight. I ruled out Kyne's Aegis, because the first two fights were mostly just parsing. The last three were the hardest to choose from. I ended up choosing Dreadsail Reefs, because it had no stand-and-parse fights. Plus it was a bubble party at a private island with some sprinkler dancing with the island owner.

I know, I'm weird.

But yes, this was the first trial I ever did with my old guild, and it's where I started to learn trial mechanics. Besides, I love the Skyrim aesthetic, so this one was right up my alley, even if the vampire stuff isn't exactly my favorite.

I know that a lot of DPS players also hate this one because there are very few mechanics for them to deal with here - it's mostly a bunch of parse fights and blocking everything and prioritizing adds surrounded by obnoxious trash pulls. And then you get to the final boss which is unnecessarily long and again isn't much fun unless you're doing the HM mechanics... which is about 0% fun on the bottom floor with placing those puddles. By that time we're all getting tired and if I mess up once it devolves into chaos. We've had some messy runs there and a lot of failures on that bottom floor, but when we can save it...

But most of all, this trial's HM has what I consider the best title in the game, and the most appropriate for my main. I've wanted to go for this one for ages, and I finally managed it a few months ago. I really felt like a damn hero after that one.


Now yes, Kyne's is mostly because it holds a special place in my heart. Of the others...

• Crags: they're honestly a bit boring now unless you're specifically doing something silly with them. But silly runs are a lot of fun.
• MoL: I really like Maw. The twins fight there is a lot of fun to do, especially if everyone does it flawlessly.
• HoF: I like it, I just want to run that more. That's the one trial I feel I haven't done as much and I still would like more practice on the mechanics.
• AS: I don't like mini-trials. There is something I like about moving through an area and doing the add pulls, and AS is really just 'go here kill boss(es) the end.' Plus it doesn't have sets or motifs, only the weapons.
• CR: I have a mental block on this one. I was new (and really bad) when learning this one, and a single mistake on the tank's part can wipe the group. I got judged kinda harshly and that really just makes me scared of it. I can do it now no problem, but I just still have baggage from it. Also don't like mini-trials in the first place, so it was never gonna rank high with me anyway.
• SS: I do like Sunspire, but I just think it's a little overdone sometimes. Still, nothing beats starting down a dragon in the face.
• RG: It's okay. I don't run it much, but I don't really have any problems with it. I do remember the first time through here with a group though and then Xalvakka just ran off and we were all like 'wut?' and then it happened. That was hysterical.
• DSR: That was very high-level at first. I'm used to it now and like it more than I did, but definitely the first fight was in 'mechanics overload' level and took a bit to get down.

My favorite is Cloudrest because I think the mechanics are good/fun and interactive for all roles, especially for tanks; I hate when 99% of what a tank does in a fight is block hold the boss when DDs get to do fun, dynamic stuff like portal in SS, backyard in MOL, upstairs in HOF, etc. The vibe is also cool and I kind of prefer the trials without traditional trash pulls.

My second favorite is MOL. The sound design throughout is so cool and underrated. Each boss has a dynamic-feeling mechanic (1: hide behind walls, 2: respond to the colors, 3: backyard).

My other favorites are all the Craglorn ones. Power creep has made them kind of forgotten I think, but the environment designs of all of them are spot on. They really feel like trials, like you're progressing through a real place and fighting. They actually feel epic, for lack of a less cringey word. I feel like a lot of trials now, while challenging and visually beautiful, don't have the same epic adventurey spark as the Craglorn ones. I'll never get sick of HRC.