The DLC package Dragon Bones for The Elder Scrolls Online, released on February 13, 2018, brings two new dungeons. One of them, the Scalebreaker, we have already played together with the devs. And let me tell you, it was a tough ride!
The Elder Scrolls Online has always impressed with lovingly designed and vibrant instances. They were usually not particularly difficult. Anyone with a decent team could get through most dungeons without much effort.
The Scalebreaker – Same Story, Different Level
So I didn’t think anything bad when the Zenimax employees Richard Lambert (Creative Director), Michael Finnigan (Lead Dungeon Designer), and Jeremy Sera (Lead Content Designer) invited me on a trip to the new dungeon “Scalebreaker”.
And it really started harmlessly. Even at the entrance of the dungeon, the three posed extensively and bragged about the new outfits from the Outfit System. Little did I know what horrors awaited me inside the Sanctum.
Skull Obelisks and Skeleton Mobiles!
In the Scalebreaker, necromancers have settled in and are conducting gruesome magical experiments. Bones are lying everywhere, we often encounter eerie obelisks adorned with skulls, and we repeatedly come across bizarre “necro art,” such as a morbid skeleton mobile.
This creepy decoration particularly fascinated me, and I asked the developers if the necro cult’s interior design would also be available for housing. “A good idea,” they said. They would consider it.
Finally a Real Challenge for Heroes
The followers of the Over-Necromancer and their undead are the most common enemies in the Scalebreaker. I already notice that the difficulty level has increased significantly with them. Time and again, the enemies manage to take down my hero despite top-notch equipment.
And that was just the trash mob! The bosses are much worse!
The Bosses: Worse than Each Other
The first boss is still relatively easy; it’s a kind of trap for intruders. Permanently installed ghosts regularly summon undead to attack us in waves. After some difficulties, we can defeat the revenants.
Later, we encounter a vast cave filled with animal skeletons. “The Cadaver Menagerie!” announces one of my teammates ominously. There awaits us a tough fight against an undead bear, a tiger, a lizard creature that bizarrely still spits poison, and a pack of wolves.
By the way, the wolves explode and respawn repeatedly. So typical wolf behavior. Additionally, the creatures look extremely creepy. Decayed tendons and muscle remnants hang from pale bones. And constantly, either the tiger is on my back or the lizard monster is blasting me with its poison spit. I survive all this. But then the wolves literally fly around my ears, and it’s all over again.
Heroes like Us?
Next, we come across clues about the fate of a lost adventurer group. Three wannabe heroes had tried to plunder the Sanctum years before us and met a gruesome end. The necromancers enslaved their souls and created further boss monsters.
One of them is an elf mage who casts extremely powerful area attacks as a kind of “lich” and keeps us busy. I am hit by such an effect. Suddenly, lightning constantly arcs around me. No matter where I go, I bring death and destruction to all my nearby companions.
I have to keep my distance, where no one can heal me, and die a miserable death there. Luckily, my teammates thought ahead and had enough filled soulstones for revival.
The Ghost Tag Team
The undead mage was just the first of three dead heroes. The next two come right after in a tag team. One figure is a huge draugr skeleton, the other a gruesome spirit. While the skeleton monster lands heavy blows, the spirit occasionally casts chains that grab one of us and drag them steadily across the ground towards it.
It looks pretty creepy at first, but it gets worse. If the unfortunate one is not quickly freed by their teammates, they will be devoured by the spirit and die a horrible death! Guess who that happened to…
After some deaths, we also manage to defeat these two bosses and free their souls. In return, they help us and later open doors in the dungeon or clear obstacles from our path. In this way, we finally reach the deepest point of the Scalebreaker.
Plus point: Those who already know the ghosts’ conversations and don’t want to hear them anymore can simply run past and don’t have to wait for the ghostly gossip. Ideal for speed runs.
The Final Battle against the Dragon
At the deepest point of the Scalebreaker lie the bones of the dragon Thurvokun, who once perished here. When we arrive there, the Over-Necromancer finally appears and brings the bones to life. It was obvious!
What follows is an epic battle against the skeleton dragon, which crawls menacingly across the ground and snaps at us. Luckily, it can no longer fly with its skeletal wings.
In addition, all sorts of nasty magic effects, like necro shockwaves, hit us hard if we don’t take cover behind special barriers. By the time I realize where the cover should be, I’m already down again.
In the end, the necromancer even merges with the dragon, and we have a doubly dangerous foe.
The Sweet Reward for the Efforts!
In the end, we are finally able to take down the bone creature after many deaths and collect the well-deserved loot. With a bit of luck, Thurvokun leaves items from a new dungeon set. In any case, we get an exclusive dragon skull trophy that we can hang in our house.
But the best part at the end of the dungeon is the great feeling of having survived a truly tough battle. Because the victory was hard-earned due to the challenging difficulty. I am certainly looking forward to experiencing the dungeon on the live server of The Elder Scrolls Online. Without the heavily skilled devs, the whole thing should become even tougher.
By the way, according to the developers, I died a thousand deaths in the normal story mode of the dungeon. The veteran mode should be even tougher.
The Scalebreaker is just a cool new instance that came to the ESO servers on February 13, 2018. Read here everything about the DLC Dragon Bones and the Update 17 for The Elder Scrolls Online.
