VATESHRAN HOLLOWS
ABOUT
Vateshran Hollows is a single player arena that consists of 3 "stages" behind 3 portals. In these stages you will face 2 primary bosses and an optional 3rd boss. Once these 3 stages are complete a 4th portal will open giving you access to face the final boss. There are also special abilities and powerups your character will gain as you progress through the arena.
Vateshran Hollows is part of the Greymoor Chapter - Markarth DLC
LOCATION
The entrance is located in the Southern area of the area zone: The Reach.
UNDERSTANDING PORTALS
Because the completion on one stage (Portal) unlocks a necessary item to obtain the buff from another stage, you will only be able to acquire 2 of the available buffs before facing the last boss. As such, getting the best buffs for your build before battling the final boss will require completing the prior stages in a specific order
BLUE - THE WOUNDING
Inside The Wounding you will find a BLUE buff that will significantly increase your Max Magicka. In order to obtain this buff, you must first have completed the green portal - Hunter's Grotto to gain access to the Grappling Hook allowing you to cross great distances.
GREEN - HUNTER'S GROTTO
Inside The Hunter's Grotto you will find a GREEN buff that will significantly increase your Max Stamina. In order to obtain this buff, you must first have completed the Red Portal - Brimstone Den to gain access to the Brimstone Orb allowing you to walk across lava.
RED - BRIMSTONE DEN
Inside The Brimstone Den you will find a RED buff that will significantly increase your Max Health. In order to obtain this buff, you must first have completed the Blue Portal - The Wounding to gain access to use Portals, transporting you to unreachable areas.
Because you need to clear a portal to get access to its special ability (Grappling Hook, Brimstone Orbs, and Portals) you will end up with two buffs. Ideally you want the buffs to be your primary resource (Stamina or Magicka) plus Health.
These buffs are very significant and will greatly increase your damage and survivability. As you clear a portal, the remaining portals become even harder. You will face an Easy, Medium, and then Hard version of whichever portal order you choose so you want all the assistance you can get.
Due to the nature of one portals Special Ability allowing you access to a different portals Buff, there is an advised order of what portals you should take, depending on your build:
UNDERSTANDING BUFFS
BLUE BUFF: ESSENCE OF MYSTICISM
The Blue Buff (Essence of Mysticism) will increase your Magicka by 5,000.
There are also smaller Blue Buffs called Mysticism Remnants which can be found throughout the Blue Portal, after you have gotten the Essence of Mysticism buff. You can collect up to 5 total Mysticism Remnants giving you a potential additional 5,000 Magicka.
Total Possible Additional Magicka: 10,000.
IMPORTANT: You must clear the Green Portal beforehand to obtain this buff as it is only reached via the Grappling Hook.
GREEN BUFF - ESSENCE OF ENDURANCE
The Green Buff (Essence of Endurance) will increase your Stamina by 5,000.
There are also smaller Green Buffs called Endurance Remnants which can be found throughout the Green Portal, after you have gotten the Essence of Endurance buff. You can collect up to 5 total Endurance Remnants giving you a potential additional 5,000 Stamina.
Total Possible Additional Stamina: 10,000.
IMPORTANT: You must clear the RED Portal beforehand to obtain this buff as it is only reached via the Brimstone Orb and walking across lava.
RED BUFF- ESSENCE OF FORTITUDE
The Red Buff (Essence of Fortitude) will increase your Health by 5,000.
There are also smaller Red Buffs called Fortitude Remnants which can be found throughout the Red Portal, after you have gotten the Essence of Fortitude buff. You can collect up to 5 total Fortitude Remnants giving you a potential additional 5,000 Health.
Total Possible Additional Health: 10,000.
IMPORTANT: You must clear the Blue Portal to obtain this buff as it is only reached via Portals.
REMNANTS TRICK:
The smaller Remnant Buffs are hidden throughout the zone in sometimes very clever out of sight locations that you can walk right by and not notice.
However, if you listen closely, you can hear them in the general area you are in. They sound sort of like a Sci-Fi reactor from a spaceship.
Listen to this short clip for an example:
MAPS
THE WOUNDING
BOSS #1
ZAKURYN THE SCUPLTOR
START: This fight begins when you engage Zakuryn. He will summon a huge Flesh Abomination.
SHIELD: At some point in the fight Zakuryn will gain a shield and no longer be able to be damaged. You break the shield by bringing the Abomination to Zakuryn and wait for it to do its large aoe blast on the ground (Pulverize). When Zakuryn is hit by the blast, the shield will break.
PULVERIZE: This is the Abominations massive aoe smash. If it hits you, you will die. You can also bait the smash on top of other enemies in this fight to do additional damage to them.
PORTALS: Summons small adds which are not very threatening but don't let them build up over time.
DAEDRIC SWELL: Zakuryn will start to channel an attack on you that will constantly hit you for very large damage. Its important to interrupt it asap.
ENRAGE: When you kill either Zakuryn or the Abomination, the other enrages, heals for half of their health and deals much more damage. By dpsing both of them equally and having them die close together, you minimize the amount of time one is enraged.
END: Once both Zakuryn and the Abomination are dead you are rewarded with the Portals mechanic, a chest of loot, and a portal to port out of the zone should you choose.
TIPS FOR SPEED:
•If you have strong dps, you can easily dps Zakuryn very quickly and take him out of the fight right at the start.
•Use the Abominations Pulverize to damage other enemies.
EXAMPLE: DAEDRIC SWELL
EXAMPLE: PULVERIZE
EXAMPLE: USING PULVERIZE TO HIT ADDS
PORTALS
Once you take a portal your character will glow bright blue and you will get a 20 second debuff called Wounding Portal. If you do not make it to the end of the path in that time and pull the chain on the machine, you will be teleported back to the portal to start over.
Along the way there are bright glowing pillars of light (Amplifying Sigil) you can interact with that will refresh Wounding Portal debuff giving you more time. If you do make it, a new bridge will be formed giving you access to a new area. After a small series of portals, chains, and new paths, you will be brought to the next boss.
Note: Every mob here can and should be skipped (there is nothing to gain from killing them, only a loss of time). Equip a speed altering ability and sprint through all the gauntlets. This also applies to the large floating Sentinels shining a light on you. They will put a debuff on you that will fall off once you run past them a short distance.
Doing this saves a significant amount of time when going for the Spirit Slayer Trifecta achievement.
PORTAL EXAMPLE: WOUNDING PORTAL DEBUFF
PORTAL EXAMPLE: AMPLIFYING SIGIL
PORTAL EXAMPLE: END OF PATH CHAIN
BOSS #2
LOZUZZUNETH
START: This fight begins when you engage Lozuzzuneth.
WATCHERS: Above the arena in a floating ring are where Watchers will spawn and shoot you with lasers. Occasionally a portal will spawn at the arena's entrance giving you twenty seconds on the floating ring to kill as many watchers as you can.
SENTINELS: Occasionally a large floating Sentinel will spawn. They debuff you with various debuffs making the fight more difficult. By standing in front of them, baiting Lozuzzuneth's ground based attack at the Sentinel, then moving out of the way so you aren't hit, it will take the Sentinel instantly to execute range for dps.
END: Once Lozuzzuneth is dead you are rewarded with a chest of loot and a portal back to the inner portal chamber to begin a new portal.
TIPS FOR SPEED:
•If you have strong dps and self heals, you can skip all of the mechanics of the fight kiting in a circle around Lozuzzuneth. This is your fastest clear potential as you will have 100% dps uptime on Lozuzzuneth.
EXAMPLE: WATCHER LASER
EXAMPLE: UPPER RING
EXAMPLE: BAITING GROUND ATTACK TO HIT SENTINEL
HUNTER'S GROTTO
BOSS #1
SHADE OF THE GROVE
START: This fight begins when you kill the three Spriggans in the center of the chamber.
LURCHERS: One of the inactive lurchers will become possessed and glow yellow. Recognizing this yellow glow is an important aspect to the fight. Once you dps the Lurcher's health down to 80% you can see this yellow glow leave the lurcher, travel across the ground, and start to posses a new Lurcher, leaving the previous one inactive. All 3 lurchers share the same health pool.
From this point a new Lurcher will become possessed every twenty seconds. After their health reaches 50%, two Lurchers will be active, but only one can take damage, the one with the yellow glow. At 20% health, all three Lurchers will be active. Make sure you are swapping to the new Lurcher that comes possessed as the fight progresses.
SPRIGGANS: There will be Spriggans along the outside edge of the chamber. Occasionally one will channel you with a yellow beam attempting to remove your Blessing of the Grove buff you have during the fight, allowing you to attack the Lurchers. You must interrupt the Spriggan asap or it will remove the buff and you will not be able to attack the Lurchers until you kill a Spriggan. These aren't like the Spriggans at the start of the fight. These have a ton of HP and can make the fight messy if you are forced to kill one at a bad time.
DIRE WOLVES: Occasionally a few wolves will spawn. They aren't very threatening but can cause problems if you let them build up. Make sure you are killing them as they spawn.
END: Once the Lurcher's are dead you are rewarded with a Grappling Hook to adventure further in the zone, a chest of loot, and an optional Green portal to port out of the zone should you choose.
TIPS FOR SPEED:
•Make sure you are interrupting the Spriggan beams quickly.
•Most of the adds will die in your AOEs, keep focus on the Lurchers.
•Stand face to face directly in front of the Lurcher you are attacking on the final 20% as the other Lurchers can body block your attacks wasting dps time.
•Drop ground dots before the yellow aura fully posses a Lurcher to get a jump start.
EXAMPLE: YELLOW AURA
EXAMPLE: SPRIGGAN BEAM
EXAMPLE: DIRE WOLVES
GRAPPLING HOOK
The Grappling Hook is automatically and passively equipped to your character. When facing one of the poles on the walls or floor with a faint yellow glow, you will get an option to interact with it. By pressing your interact key, your character will grapple over to the selected pole. You can either then turn and re-grapple mid air to a new pole, or fall safely to the landing pads just below. The poles are marked with a red arrow and the landing pads with a green arrow in the image to the right..
BOSS #2
RAHDGARAK
START: This fight begins once you engage Rahdgarak. This fight takes place on 4 platforms: Two blue and two red.
GRAPPLE HOOK: Towards the beginning of the fight Rahdgarak will leap to a different platform. This is to introduce the grapple mechanic into the fight. You grapple from platform to platform in the same way that you did previously in this stage.
COLOR CHANGE: At 80% health Rahdgarak will change color to the color of platform that you are on. He cannot take damage when he is the same color as the platform he is standing on. You must kite him to an opposite color platform via the grappling hook. He will then change colors roughly every thirty seconds. When he changes colors he spawns 2 adds on the platform he is on. They aren't very threatening but can get distracting over time. Its best to try to kill some as you make your way around the fight.
CHANNELERS: On the inner corners of each platform is a Ghost Channeler. Once Rahdgarak's health reaches 65% they will all begin channeling a spell for twenty seconds. If they are not interrupted in time, they will cover the opposite platform they are facing in fire that cannot be healed through. When learning the fight, its best to interrupt 3 of them. The 4th is not necessary. This mechanic will continually happen throughout the fight.
END: Once you kill Rahdgarak you are rewarded with a chest of loot and a portal back to the inner portal chamber to start a new portal.
TIPS FOR SPEED:
•Only interrupt 1-2 Channelers. I if you can time it with Rahdgarak's color change you only need one, otherwise interrupt 2 to be safe. If it isn't timed correctly you may end up with Rahdgarak the same color at the platform, unable to take damage, and the other 3 platforms on fire. This is a huge time loss.
•As you grapple to another platform, turn mid air and drop AOEs where Rahdgarak will land to get a jump start.
•Dont grapple unnecessarily. This can end up being a large time sink.
EXAMPLE: BOSS SAME COLOR AS PLATFORM.
EXAMPLE: PLATFORM ON FIRE
EXAMPLE: CHANNELER CAST ANIMATION
BRIMSTONE DEN
BOSS #1
MAGMA QUEEN
START: This fight begins once you engage the Magma Queen.
PORTALS: Throughout the fight small portals on the outer edge of the arena will open releasing small adds. They are a significant source of damage and should not be allowed to grow too large in numbers. Placing your AOEs on top of the portal will help with this task.
ATRONACHS: Occasionally a large Atronach will spawn. Once it dies it will drop a flaming rock on the ground. Also, Occasionally the Magma Queen will teleport to a different area of the arena opening a flame geyser that will constantly spew lava at you. You can activate a synergy on the flaming rock left by the Atronach and throw it into the geyser to close it for good. This series of mechanics will happen continuously throughout the fight.
FIRE WALLS: Once the Magma Queen is under half health she will summon fire walls that move across the arena. Try to avoid them but don't panic if you get hit, their damage isn't threatening.
END: Once you kill the Magma Queen you are rewarded with a chest of loot, the Brimstone Orb mechanic and an optional portal to port out of the zone should you choose.
TIPS FOR SPEED:
•When the Magma Queen is near a portal, place your AOEs through her into the small adds.
•Constantly group adds on top of the boss as often as you can to keep up with killing them while facing the boss.
•If you have strong self heals you can ignore the geyser synergy mechanic.
•If you have strong dps and self heals, once the Magma Queen is in execute phase, you can ignore all mechanics and focus her down.
EXAMPLE: SMALL PORTALS
EXAMPLE: GROUPING ENEMIES IN AOE
EXAMPLE: CLOSING A GEYSER
BRIMSTONE ORB
The Brimstone Orb is a very simple one. Simply stand near it and use 1 heavy attack on it. It will explode coating you with a protective barrier allowing you to run great distances across lava.
BOSS #2
THE PYRELORD
START: This fight begins when you engage The Pyrelord.
FIRE SPRIAL: Occasionally, The Pyrelord will spout 3 flame lines from him and they will begin to spin in a circle while he attacks you with a separate ranged fire attack. You can either spin around with the fire lines if you are melee to keep up dps time or you can just attack him from ranged and ignore if you are ranged.
COLOSSUS: The Pyrelord will open one of the two portals out in the lava once his health reaches 70% and 35%. A giant Colossus will join the fight that attacks with fire aoes and summons smaller skeletons. During this time it can be intense and its a good idea to save your ultimate for these times while you are learning the fight.
FIRE FLOOR: Occasionally The Pyrelord will kneel and slam his sword into the floor which will cover the entire arena with fire. In one of the corners is a Brimstone Orb that you use to negate this damage. Keep an eye out for these orbs spawning and pre-position yourself in the area. It makes this mechanic a lot less hectic.
END: Once you kill The Pyrelord you are rewarded with a chest of loot and a portal back to the inner portal chamber to start a new portal.
TIPS FOR SPEED:
•Other than the Fire Spiral, most of his attacks can be healed through while standing flat footed if you have strong self heals which will help with potentially higher dps numbers.
•Pre-position to Brimstone Orbs.
•If you have an AOE based ultimate, save it and use it on the first Colossus once it is grouped with the boss.
• If you have strong dps you can skip the second colossus and just dps the boss down quickly after moving him to the far side of the arena from where the Colossus spawns.
EXAMPLE: FIRE SPIRAL
EXAMPLE: BRIMSTONE ORB
EXAMPLE: GROUPING COLOSSUS WITH BOSS
THE FINAL PORTAL
ONCE YOU HAVE CLEARED ALL THREE (BLUE, GREEN, AND RED) PORTALS, MAKE YOUR WAY BACK TO THE INNER CHAMBER WHERE A NEW FLOOR PORTAL IS NOW ACCESSABLE LEADING YOU TO THE FINAL BOSS: MAEBROOGHA
START: This fight begins immediately after you take the center ground portal.
LESSER ADDS: Maebroogha will continuously spawn a slime, an archer, and a mage throughout the fight. They are not very threatening but should be killed when able so adds do not pile up and become overwhelming.
TETHERED SHADES: Occasionally, Maebroogha will summon a ring of green tethered shades that slow march towards the center closing the circle. If you touch the tether, you die. You must kill one of the shades to break the tether and create a hole to run through. This is the big dps check for the fight. If you are not capable of killing a shade before the ring closes, you will not be able to complete the fight as you will have to complete this task several times throughout the cource of the encounter. At this point you potentially need to gain more CP, a bit better gear, practice your dps rotation (parsing) on a target dummy, and/or evaluate your build to ensure it is optimal.
Note: There are 3 skips to this mechanic. A sorcerer can streak through the tethers and a Nightblade can either Shadow Image Teleport through the tether or Ambush teleport a Colossus on the other side of the tether.
MAJOR ADDS: On the outer edge of the arena are chained up Shade Colossus. Maebroogha will occasionally summon them adding them to the fight. You can also manually break the chains if you accidentally hit them. Watch where you are casting abilities, especially when on the outer edges.
VOID ERRUPTION: At 10% health, Maebroogha will cover the entire arena in a channeled explosion. If you are caught inside, you will die. You need to run to one of the outer platforms (Blue, Green, or Red), grapple to it, and then take the portal out of the main arena.
IMPORTANT: While you are outside of the main arena, Maebroogha will be regenerating health. It is important to kill the main add inside these portals as quickly as you can and take the portal back out to stop her health regeneration. Once you are back out, the exact same process repeats again of dealing with the same adds plus new mechanics for each portal you clear. Once you have cleared all 3 portals, you enter the final phase of the fight.
BLUE PORTAL: Inside the blue portal will be a Void Chillfiend that is easily killed relative to the other portals. Dps the Chillfiend down quickly and escape through the portal you came in.
NEW MECHANIC: Once the Blue Portal is cleared, Maebroogha gained an aoe lightning attack she will begin using for the rest of the fight both in the main arena and inside portals.
GREEN PORTAL: Inside the Green Portal is a bull and a ghost bull which casts fire aoes on you. This portal is arguably as "easy" as the blue portal and very straight forward. Kill the bull and escape out of the portal.
NEW MECHANIC: Once the Green Portal is clear, the ghost bull will continually spawn casting flame aoes on you for the rest of the fight. The ghost bull cannot be targeted or take damage.
RED PORTAL: Inside the Red Portal is a Void Dremora which is a clone of the Pyrelord with the same Flame Spiral ability. He also spawns with a Void Flameshaper. The flame shaper should be targeted and killed asap. They die quickly but also channeled a continuous attack on you that will likely result in death if it is not interrupted. Once the Flameshaper is down, finish off the Pyrelord clone and escape out of the portal.
NEW MECHANIC: Flameshapers will now spawn throughout the rest of the fight casting their channeled attack needing to be interrupted and killed.
PORTAL ORDER: This is something that will solely depend on you, your ability, and your comfort level. Some players say "never ever do red last, it takes too long and you will have a rough final phase after the boss has healed for a large amount while you were in the portal." I disagree and always do the red portal last in which I completed the Spirit Slayer Trifecta achievement in this manner.
I personally think dealing with the stress and time sink of the Flamershapers channeled attacks the entire fight is more taxing and difficult than leaving the red portal for last. Others clear the fight very quickly doing Red Portal first, the exact opposite of what I am comfortable with. You will have to try it a few times and get a feel for it. There is no "best" option, but the experience in the fight varies largely depending on your choice.
FINAL PHASE: Once you have cleared all 3 portals you can now kill Maebroogha. This phase is intense with a lot of moving pieces. You are now dealing with all of the mechanics at once. Stay relaxed, dont panic, breathe, and keep moving. There will be lots of aoe damage and mobs to aoe dps yourself. Grouping them up on the boss and getting as much extra damage on Maebroogha as you can will make it much easier. You got this! Dont give up, keep practicing!
END: Once you kill Maebroogha the final chest of loot drops with a Vateshran weapon and you can turn in the quest to the NPC in the arena to finish your Vateshran run. Congratulations!
TIPS FOR SPEED:
•Reapply AOEs in front of Tether Shades to help dps down other adds in the fight.
•Be careful not to aggro an extra Shade Colossus. It results in an unnecessary time sink, especially when timing execute phases.
•If you have strong dps, use your ultimate inside the portals. When you come out, Maebroogha can potentially be in execute phase or close to it. If she is, dps her down. You can ignore the Tether Shades and dps her while they are collapsing on you and they will disappear once she reaches 10%
•When inside the portals, back away from the main enemy and get as close to your entrance location as you can be to be able to exit portals asap. This is especially handy for ranged characters. This minimizes the amount Maebroogha will heal. On the same note, dont lose a sense of where you came in so you can be near that location before the exit portal spawns.
EXAMPLE: CHAINED COLOSSUS
EXAMPLE: GRAPPLE POINT (GREEN)
EXAMPLE: TETHER SHADES
I drew this silly image while doing a Vateshran Tutorial Stream and several people said it helped them and it got a few laughs, so here you go! (I am not taking art commissions at this time :P)
LOOT!
FINAL BOSS CHEST - SPECIAL WEAPONS (ABILITY ALTERING)
2 HAND WEAPONS:
STAMINA DPS
FRENZIED MOMENTUM (Normal)
PERFECTED FRENZIED MOMENTUM (Veteran)
1 HAND WEAPONS:
STAMINA DPS
EXECUTIONER'S BLADE (Normal)
PERFECTED EXECUTIONER'S BLADE (Veteran)
SWORD AND SHIELD:
TANK
VOID BASH (Normal)
PERFECTED VOID BASH (Veteran)
BOW:
STAMINA DPS
POINT BLANK SNIPE (Normal)
PERFECTED POINT BLANK SNIPE (Veteran)
DESTRUCTION STAFF:
MAGICKA DPS
WRATH OF ELEMENTS (Normal)
PERFECTED WRATH OF ELEMENTS (Veteran)
RESTORATION STAFF:
HEALER
FORCE OVERFLOW (Normal)
PERFECTED FORCE OVERFLOW (Veteran)
MORE LOOT!
ALL CHESTS - AMOR SETS (5 PIECE)
LIGHT ARMOR
MAGICKA DPS
MEDIUM ARMOR
STAMINA DPS
HEAVY ARMOR
STAMINA OR MAGICKA DPS
ADDITIONAL REWARDS
SKIN
VOID PATHOSES
A dark black skin
COMPLETE: The Vateshran Hollows Conqueror (Kill all bosses on Veteran difficulty)
VOID PITCH
DYE
A dark black dye
COMPLETE: Honor to the Spiritblood Achievement (A multi-achievement requirement)
TITLE
SPIRIT SLAYER
A title for your Character
COMPLETE: The Vateshran's Chosen Achievement (Trifecta: no death, speed run, and no use of sigils)
TITLE
SPIRITBLOOD CHAMPION
A title for your Character
COMPLETE: The Vateshran Hollows Conqueror (Kill all bosses on Veteran difficulty)
TITLE
OF THE UNDYING SONG
A title for your Character
COMPLETE: The Hero of the Undying Song Achievement (Finish every achievement in Vateshran)