Soloing dungeons to learn mechanics

robertlabrie · March 7

Been soloing normal 4 person dungeons lately so I can learn the boss mechanics better and explore the environment at my own pace. Using the "lazy 1-bar sorc" build but I'm sure many other viable builds exist. Highly recommend playing this way.

Also why is Terran Arminus talking about her cat through White-Gold Tower? It's some seriously jarring and distracting nonsense.
Arminus: "When one has spent a good deal of one's life staring unblinkingly into the cosmic beyond, all but the strongest connections seems ... ephemeral"
Me: Whoah. Deep
Arminus: "And she yelled at my cat once"
Me: <attempts heavy attack>

Seriously........

AcadianPaladin · March 7

I can solo about a dozen of the alliance zone normal dungeons and it is probably my fave activity in the game. Go at your own pace, carefully plan your own advancing and strategies, pay attention to the dialogue, enjoy the wonderful sights and sounds at your leisure. Immerse into that spooky feel of carefully skulking through a dungeon - untarnished by other players racing through. This is why I'd love the option to select a 'solo' option when entering a delve - that would greatly expand the number of places to enjoy this feeling.

Frayton · March 7

This is the way if you want to quest and explore. It's great to see someone do this instead of complaining about speed runners and asking ZOS to punish them.

AlnilamE · March 7

Hey, the dialogue in WGT is hilarious. I never get tired of it.

madman65 · March 7

Just to let you know that some dungeons have a way of stopping you if you are soloing them. take for example Fungal Grotto II, Gamyne Bandu will split herself into four and tie you down. the way I beat her is to use AOE`s and DOTs to kill them. So just keep that in mind.

LootAllTheStuff · March 7

madman65 wrote: »

Just to let you know that some dungeons have a way of stopping you if you are soloing them. take for example Fungal Grotto II, Gamyne Bandu will split herself into four and tie you down. the way I beat her is to use AOE`s and DOTs to kill them. So just keep that in mind.

There are several that have awkward mechanics like that. Some of the unbreakable CC's you can escape if your have the Psijic ultimate morph Precognition available, otherwise it's real pain. Nerien'eth in Crypt of Hearts 2 also wields the ebony blade to lethal effect, and Captain Blackheart in Blackheart Haven can be fatal if you miss the very small window to use Precognition. Then there are ones like There'Ulguna Soul-Reaver in Vaults of Madness where you can survive even without Precognition, but the fight just becomes tiresome.

Erickson9610 · March 7

LootAllTheStuff wrote: »

Captain Blackheart in Blackheart Haven can be fatal if you miss the very small window to use Precognition.

This mechanic is skipped entirely if you are in Werewolf form.

Orbital78 · March 7

Just tanking in general, I noticed more of the mechanics. Soloing as well, but the fights take way too long. Simply not worth the time to me.

SeaGtGruff · March 8

LootAllTheStuff wrote: »

madman65 wrote: »

Just to let you know that some dungeons have a way of stopping you if you are soloing them. take for example Fungal Grotto II, Gamyne Bandu will split herself into four and tie you down. the way I beat her is to use AOE`s and DOTs to kill them. So just keep that in mind.

There are several that have awkward mechanics like that. Some of the unbreakable CC's you can escape if your have the Psijic ultimate morph Precognition available, otherwise it's real pain. Nerien'eth in Crypt of Hearts 2 also wields the ebony blade to lethal effect, and Captain Blackheart in Blackheart Haven can be fatal if you miss the very small window to use Precognition. Then there are ones like There'Ulguna Soul-Reaver in Vaults of Madness where you can survive even without Precognition, but the fight just becomes tiresome.

I've never been able to successfully use Precognition against Captain Blackheart. When is this "very small window"?

As for Ulguna, I fight the fight oddly relaxing. I hit her with two or three DOT skills, whack her a few times with direct damage skills, then try to refresh as many of the DOTs as I can just before she lifts me up. Then I play Solitaire on my tablet while I'm immobilized, letting the DOTs slowly eat away at her health. As soon as she sets me down, I attack her again with DOT and direct damage skills until she lifts me up again, then go back to Solitaire. It takes a while for her to die, but I'm busy playing Solitaire, so I don't care.

AlterBlika · March 8

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

I've never been able to successfully use Precognition against Captain Blackheart. When is this "very small window"?

You need to use precog once he stuns you and then go away from him (the crucial part) before he finishes the attack. Precog doesn't break the transformation but you being out of his reach does

SeaGtGruff · March 8

AlterBlika wrote: »

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

I've never been able to successfully use Precognition against Captain Blackheart. When is this "very small window"?

You need to use precog once he stuns you and then go away from him (the crucial part) before he finishes the attack. Precog doesn't break the transformation but you being out of his reach does

Ah, so the very small window of opportunity must be refering to going away from him after using Precognition and before he finishes his attack. That must be where I kept failing, because I was confused that Precognition didn't transform me back and didn't run away from him until too late. Thank you for explaining it!

robertlabrie · March 8

Frayton wrote: »

This is the way if you want to quest and explore. It's great to see someone do this instead of complaining about speed runners and asking ZOS to punish them.

100%. Honestly if I wanted @ZOS_Kevin team to do anything it would be to detect solo players in these instances and disable certain mechanics (like the sheep thing in RPB or the pressure plates in direfrost).

mdjessup4906 · March 8

Greetings fellow solo dungeoneer:D

Agreed 100%. I got my start in hard group content by soloing dungeons. Being able to go at my own pace and seeing that I could complete content intended for more than one person gave me the confidence to even try group stuff. If we couldn't solo dungeons id probably have quit ages ago after getting bored wirh just overland. Take notes, zos <_<

LootAllTheStuff · March 9

robertlabrie wrote: »

Frayton wrote: »

This is the way if you want to quest and explore. It's great to see someone do this instead of complaining about speed runners and asking ZOS to punish them.

100%. Honestly if I wanted @ZOS_Kevin team to do anything it would be to detect solo players in these instances and disable certain mechanics (like the sheep thing in RPB or the pressure plates in direfrost).

Direfrost I know about (and use the NB teleport skill to get around), but what is "the sheep thing in RPB"?

Hmm.. I know this topic has come up before, but is there a curated list of dungeons for solo runs?

Xarc · March 9

Frayton wrote: »

This is the way if you want to quest and explore. It's great to see someone do this instead of complaining about speed runners and asking ZOS to punish them.

Yes, to some extent.
Not everyone is capable of soloing a dungeon, even if the level of some basic dungeons is really low.

And still,
I remain convinced by the good old quartet: 1 tank, 2 damage dealers, 1 healer.

And against speedrunners, fake tanks, fake whatever you want to call them, and toxic players, there's always the option of playing in a guild or with people from your friends list.

we shouldn't forget that this is an MMORPG; the idea is to play with others, fundamentally.

In addition, all dungeons are designed for this quartet.
Some mechanics are impossible to perform solo (if you are stunned and need to be freed by a teammate).

AcadianPaladin · March 9

I thought the idea was to play how you want?

LootAllTheStuff · March 9

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

I thought the idea was to play how you want?

I generally group up with me, myself, and I

Guild mates are great too, though.

Bobargus · March 9

I wish the same thing was possible with Trials too.

AcadianPaladin · March 9

My elf is a big grouper as well. Herself, Mirri the tank, Summoned bear for dps, Nyxad pet for commentary/advice.

Delimber · March 9

Doing some of the DLC dungeons solo also helps you find some of the hidden content. It adds to the quest in those dungeons and is a nice touch in most cases.

Granted, some of the DLC dungeons need 4 players to unlock the extra content.

Now if we could just make our companions stand on the pressure plate in Direfrost Keep and Naj lol.

robertlabrie · March 9

LootAllTheStuff wrote: »

Direfrost I know about (and use the NB teleport skill to get around), but what is "the sheep thing in RPB"?

In red petal bastion the first boss changes you into a sheep and you have to eat sweet rolls to change back. If someone has a workaround for this I'd love to hear it.

LootAllTheStuff · March 9

robertlabrie wrote: »

LootAllTheStuff wrote: »

Direfrost I know about (and use the NB teleport skill to get around), but what is "the sheep thing in RPB"?

In red petal bastion the first boss changes you into a sheep and you have to eat sweet rolls to change back. If someone has a workaround for this I'd love to hear it.

Well that's baaaaad for solo players...

EldarOfSuburbia · March 9

Soloing dungeons is a fun activity especially when you come across bosses and it's like, "they have mechanics?!".
The other day I did FG1 Vet Solo HM No-Death, and that felt good!
Another that is hard/impossible to solo is Wayrest II, the first boss will pin the player and after a while one-shot them. I am not sure the Psijic rollback will work on that either.
I have got through Nerieneth in Crypt II solo, took a couple of goes but eventually if you get lucky you can make it.
It's also my favorite way of filling out sticker books; no queueing for PUGs, just rotate a couple of dungeons to allow the instances to reset.

frogthroat · March 11

EldarOfSuburbia wrote: »

Another that is hard/impossible to solo is Wayrest II, the first boss will pin the player and after a while one-shot them. I am not sure the Psijic rollback will work on that either.

It used to be that you just go to the room where Slimecraw is in Wayrest I and the boss stays at the door and does not pin you. You can then just parse the boss.

However, that has been fixed so if you go to that room, you just get "joining the encounter in progress" and tp to the boss room.

I heard there is another method how you can do now but I don't know what it is.

But hey, try FG2. Once you figure out the pin at the first boss, the spider boss becomes a bit tricky. It sends you to the cave and when that happens, the boss resets. It is possible to avoid going to the cave, but it's very tricky. So FG2 is soloable, but it's surprisingly challenging.

Frayton · March 11

Bobargus wrote: »

I wish the same thing was possible with Trials too.

Please no. I know ESO is a casual game and getting more casual, but solo versions of trials are a bit too much.

Some of the easier trial bosses can already be soloed such as the first AA boss. It takes a long time, but it's possible if you're skilled enough.

Frayton · March 11

frogthroat wrote: »

EldarOfSuburbia wrote: »

It used to be that you just go to the room where Slimecraw is in Wayrest I and the boss stays at the door and does not pin you. You can then just parse the boss.

However, that has been fixed so if you go to that room, you just get "joining the encounter in progress" and tp to the boss room.

Some people have said it's possible with a tanky companion that holds aggro and can survive, while you stand as far back up the stairs as possible and attack to avoid the pin. I tried, but I couldn't find the right spot.

mdjessup4906 · March 12

"Fixed".

frogthroat · March 12

Frayton wrote: »

frogthroat wrote: »

EldarOfSuburbia wrote: »

It used to be that you just go to the room where Slimecraw is in Wayrest I and the boss stays at the door and does not pin you. You can then just parse the boss.

However, that has been fixed so if you go to that room, you just get "joining the encounter in progress" and tp to the boss room.

Some people have said it's possible with a tanky companion that holds aggro and can survive, while you stand as far back up the stairs as possible and attack to avoid the pin. I tried, but I couldn't find the right spot.

I wouldn't be doing that with a companion. That would defeat my purpose of challenging myself. But no matter, I rarely solo base games anyway. Only if there is some "kill dungeon boss, receive goodies" event going on or pledges if no one is online.

BretonMage · March 12

frogthroat wrote: »

Frayton wrote: »

frogthroat wrote: »

EldarOfSuburbia wrote: »

It used to be that you just go to the room where Slimecraw is in Wayrest I and the boss stays at the door and does not pin you. You can then just parse the boss.

However, that has been fixed so if you go to that room, you just get "joining the encounter in progress" and tp to the boss room.

Some people have said it's possible with a tanky companion that holds aggro and can survive, while you stand as far back up the stairs as possible and attack to avoid the pin. I tried, but I couldn't find the right spot.

I wouldn't be doing that with a companion. That would defeat my purpose of challenging myself. But no matter, I rarely solo base games anyway. Only if there is some "kill dungeon boss, receive goodies" event going on or pledges if no one is online.

One of the woodworking crafting table leads drops with the final boss of WS2, so I had to farm it. Was able to do it with my petsorc, hanging back somewhere unreachable, stepping forward every now and again to drop the atro ulti.

benzenexz · March 12

For those who would like to solo dungeons, I wrote a full list of solo method last year for all anti-solo dungeon parts.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/677938/solo-group-dungeon-tricks-for-solo-unfriendly-mechanics-normal-mode-companion-allowed/p1?new=1

For those conspiracy lovers, please keep the secret secret.