The new chapter High Isle for the MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online has been live on the servers for PC since June 6, 2022. With the new chapter, a new raid for 12 players has also been added. MeinMMO author MiezeMelli faced the “Grauenssegelriff” in Veteran mode and shares her experience with you here.
What kind of raid is this? The new raid “Grauenssegelriff” is located in the new area of High Isle and is a trial for 12 players. The name describes it quite well, as you will find a pile of shipwrecks in this reef, but also some dangerous enemies.
The new chapter High Isle has been available on the ESO servers for PC since June 6, 2022. In addition to the new raid, the chapter also includes a completely new area: The Hochinsel and Amenos. There is also a lot of story content and the two companions Funke and Isobel.
If you want more information about the content of the new chapter, then visit here:
Who played? MeinMMO author MiezeMelli, along with parts of her raid group “Joghurt Intolerant” from her guild “Legenden in vier Wänden” and a few other players from the group’s circle of acquaintances.
A confusing labyrinth of levers, whirlpools, and ships
The entrance to the new raid is truly eye-catching. When you enter the raid, you climb out of the cabin of a powerful ship, and your path begins with a deep jump into the sea. Overall, the instance is designed very openly. While I find that pretty, sometimes a navigation tool wouldn’t hurt for every player with less sense of direction.
And be careful! Because the add groups are tough. I also had to realize again: Always keep your distance and don’t stand behind the tank.
What does the first boss look like? You encounter the twin bosses “Lylanar & Turlassil” first. When we jumped onto the boss platform, half the group went down because the abyss was wider than expected. This led to collective laughter.
The boss fight itself is still relatively easy and we managed after a few wipes, even without really understanding the mechanics. So it’s rather unspectacular.
After defeating the twin bosses, we proceed through a wooden door and another jump into the water. Down there, I was pleased with the whirlpool mechanic, which also impressed me in the preview of the new dungeons from Ascending Tide.
But unfortunately, right after that, we encounter the most annoying thing in the entire raid: levers! Constantly a passage is blocked, and multiple players have to split up to operate several levers simultaneously. This greatly disrupts the flow of play, and you actually have to assign levers in advance.
Otherwise, during the announcement, no one feels directly addressed or is (like me!) a bit overwhelmed, directionless, and prefers to stay with the group rather than have their character get lost for eternity.
Really, I wonder who in the development team thinks various levers are exciting or fun.
What can you expect from the first miniboss? The minibosses are more comparable to “big adds”. The “Bogenbrecher” is a huge turtle, or better said, a Haj-Mota. It storms from right to left every now and then and fell within 51 seconds, even though I unleashed my Dragon Knight Standard just as it was about to escape.
Behind the next door, more adds and levers await…
How did the 2nd boss go? The reef guardian packs a punch and has the most notable mechanic in the entire raid. It repeatedly summons images and at certain intervals, players must jump into the abyss to play a mechanic. During this, I encounter my beloved whirlpools, which I already enjoyed in the Krallenhorst.
However, when my group kept talking about portals, I had absolutely no idea what could be meant. From the raids Wolkenruh and Felshain, I was used to “portals” being glowing, highly visible mechanics. Therefore, my portal partner had to play the mechanic alone for 3 tries in a row, while I was either dead or confused, searching for my idea of portals.
Fortunately, in the subsequent run, I understood that the portals referred to the abyss in the middle of the boss map, and I could then view the action from below. That went quite well.
Overall, however, we had quite a problem with the positioning of the group. Somehow, no one really knew where to put their own feet. Therefore, the group was scattered, like a flock of startled chickens, and players were often sequentially executed by the many lightning strikes or poison areas.
Once, when I was on my way to the abyss, a lightning strike even one-hit me for about 22.6k damage. So a lot is really coming down on the group and the healers have a tough job.
And then it’s back to… levers…
What can you expect from the 2nd miniboss? The Sailbreaker is, like the Bogenbrecher, not particularly noteworthy. Here we encounter a Coralhorn mechanic again. Namely from the 1st boss, from Maligalig. An area appears under a player that needs to be placed slightly further away in a circular area.
I’m always happy when I recognize mechanics from other areas. It gives a bit of orientation, even if it’s your first time in a raid.
A particularly nasty add group before the final boss
The add group before the final boss has really wiped our group every time. It is quite fierce, and in the 2nd run, it simply felt harder than the subsequent final boss fight.
This final boss awaits you! The “Tidesborn Taleria” is a massive storm atronach. It looks quite impressive. However, it is much easier than the reef guardian. I find that a bit disappointing, as the final boss should actually present a special challenge.
However, when thinking about other raids, such as Felshain (from Blackwood) or the Halls of Manufacture (from Morrowind), that is generally a phenomenon that players frequently witness in ESO.
The mechanics are somewhat familiar from the final boss fight of the Coralhorn. Here, we also encounter the “Tidal Force”. This can, however, be relatively easily countered with a dodge role, provided you are within the red area that signals the large AOE.
Conclusion: Despite annoying little things, the new ESO raid is still a real eye-catcher!
Every year, ESO releases a new raid for 12 players. Of course, the first thing I look at is: How difficult is the raid? Is it a challenge that can keep me occupied for a whole year? And it is!
But also new mechanics and those we know since the release of Ascending Tide are completely convincing! Especially the whirlpool mechanic, which is also from the 1st boss in the Coralhorn dungeon, is an absolute highlight for me. It is simply too much fun.
I am already looking forward to the countless hours I will spend in the raid to get all the achievements!
MiezeMelli
Author at MeinMMO
What are your impressions of the new chapter High Isle? Have you checked out the new raid yet or not? Let us know in the comments. If you are interested in events in and around ESO, feel free to check out our ESO event ticker .
