Trial · 12 players · Summerset (Cloudrest) · Summerset Chapter (2018)
Cloudrest
VetModerateHMHard
A single-arena trial atop Cloudrest. Three optional Welkynar minibosses (Siroria, Relequen, Galenwe), each with a gryphon partner, guard the final boss Z'Maja. Hard mode is set by how many minis you leave alive (+0 to +3).
- Power creep: Cloudrest has held up best of the older trials. High DPS means fewer portals and mechanic cycles, but not skipping mechanics outright (Code65536). 0-portal +0 (no portal at all on Z'Maja) is now common; strong +3 groups report clears with a single portal. Flares, Overload and Hoarfrost still kill.
- Hard mode = minis left alive. Kill all three minis first for +0. Skip one, two or all three, and they join the Z'Maja fight as +1 / +2 / +3. Minis you kill stay dead.
- Each mini is a knight + gryphon pair. Kill both halves at about the same time. If one dies well before the other, Nocturnal Creepers spawn and root people.
- Shadow Realm portal (vet): a portal opens in the center. 3 players go down, break crystals to reveal Malevolent Cores, and wait. Each crystal spawns a golden spear upstairs; someone upstairs uses its synergy to send it down. Only then does a downstairs player pick up a core and bring it to the spear. Do it 3 times to close the portal.
- Portal rules: you can't re-enter within 2 minutes (Dark Contamination kills you), so run two portal teams. Never carry Hoarfrost into the portal. A failed portal spawns Yaghra Monstrosities, which usually wipe the group.
- Dead players (vet): a Shadow of the Fallen appears for each corpse. Kill the shadow, then rez. Rezzing first kills the rezzer.
Siroria & Silaeda
BossHow to spawn: Optional fire mini. Kill her before Z'Maja for a lower HM tier, or leave her alive.
☠ Wipe mechanic
- Roaring Flare: an orange circle on a player explodes after a few seconds. At least 3 players stack on it to split the damage. Fewer kills them. Don't run away from it.
- Fire Storm (vet, ~50%): she leaps and leaves fire tornadoes. A few ticks kill even tanks. Get clear.
- Battle Standard: her banner zone hits hard and buffs her. Get out, and the tank drags her off it.
Tank
- One tank per half (knight and gryphon), on opposite sides of the room. Face both away and block heavies.
- Drag Siroria out of her Battle Standard.
DPS
- Bring both halves low together before killing either one.
Healer
- Purge her root. Watch the gryphon tank's stacking bleed.
👁 Watch for
- Flare: a growing orange-yellow circle under one player.
- Standard: a Dragonknight-style flag planted with a fire zone around it.
- Gryphon takes flight: it goes airborne and stuns in bursts. Fan out and keep stamina to break free.
More detail
Siroria is the fire knight; her gryphon Silaeda carries the Roaring Flare. Her Flame Breath raises fire damage taken. If you leave her alive for Z'Maja HM, she joins at 75% on +3.
Not fully confirmed:
- Modern +0 groups kill the minis quickly; whether high DPS skips their portal is unconfirmed. Her mechanics still apply while up.
- Flare soakers: Fextralife says 2 on normal and 3 on vet. Xynode says 'at least 3' and Skycoach says the target plus 2 others.
Relequen & Belanaril
BossHow to spawn: Optional lightning mini. Kill him before Z'Maja for a lower HM tier, or leave him alive.
☠ Wipe mechanic
- Voltaic Overload: if you get the blue lightning circle, bar-swap right away and stay on that bar for 10s. Swapping back zaps everyone near you.
- Lightning Beams: a channel that puts spreading lightning AoEs on everyone. Interrupt Relequen to stop it.
- Staff flip: shock spreads across the floor and stuns. Step out of it.
Tank
- One tank per half, kept apart. Block or roll the wind-blast cone; it knocks you back.
DPS
- Interrupt the Lightning Beams channel. Bring both halves low together.
Healer
👁 Watch for
- Overload: a big blue beam / circle on you. Subtitles tell you it's coming, so plan which bar you'll land on.
- Lightning orbs drift around and stun on contact.
More detail
Relequen is the lightning knight; his gryphon Belanaril overcharges weapons (2 players on normal, up to 3 on vet). If you leave him alive, he joins Z'Maja at 50% on +3.
Not fully confirmed:
- Modern +0 groups kill the minis quickly; whether high DPS skips their portal is unconfirmed. His mechanics still apply while up.
- Overload rule: Xynode says stay on the new bar until the debuff clears. Fextralife and Skycoach both give 10s.
Galenwe & Falarielle
BossHow to spawn: Optional ice mini. Kill her before Z'Maja for a lower HM tier, or leave her alive.
☠ Wipe mechanic
- Comet Drop (vet): 3 players get comets. Each runs to an empty spot and blocks. Overlapping comets kill.
- Hoarfrost: if you get the frost debuff, hold it about 6s, then use the Shed Hoarfrost synergy away from the group. A different player picks it up each time. After the 3rd drop it goes away. Leaving it on the floor makes ice projectiles stronger.
- Never take Hoarfrost into the portal.
Tank
- One tank per half, kept apart. Block the gryphon's cone and slam.
DPS
- Interrupt Frost Spikes. Assign a Hoarfrost rotation so nobody picks it up twice.
Healer
👁 Watch for
- Hoarfrost: a small spinning icy whirlwind on a player. The gryphon rears up and flashes white just before.
- Comets: large circles on 3 players.
More detail
Galenwe is the ice knight; her gryphon Falarielle carries Hoarfrost. Her Frost Ring stacks damage on anyone who stays in it. If you leave her alive, she joins Z'Maja at 25% on +3.
Not fully confirmed:
- Modern +0 groups kill the minis quickly; whether high DPS skips their portal is unconfirmed. Her mechanics still apply while up.
- Hoarfrost hold time: 6s per Xynode and Fextralife; Skycoach says 7s in one place and 6s in another.
Z'Maja
Final boss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Dark Orbs (top priority): groups of 3 drift toward her. Kill them before they touch anything. If they reach a player, the boss or each other, they burst into Sinister Beads that stun and can't be blocked.
- Crushing Darkness: a dark beam on the tank and the farthest player becomes a void that chases them. Kite it in a circle away from the group.
- Nocturnal's Favor: a ranged dark orb at the tank. Block it, don't dodge. It kills non-tanks.
- Portal cones (below ~60%, only while a portal is open): wedge-shaped AoEs come from the center portal. Stepping in pulls you into the Shadow Realm; a second hit kills.
- Z'Maja portal (if one opens): the tank goes in first and taunts the Shade of Z'Maja, or it one-shots DPS and healers. Use the Winds of the Welkynar pads to jump onto ledges for her big AoE, then come back down. More fake crystals, but still 3 cores.
- Dead minis' mechanics continue. Flares, Overload and Hoarfrost keep coming even on +0.
» Burn strat
DPS check 138k Vet per DPS · 0-portal kill (+0)
- Skip the Shadow Realm portal on +0: kill the minis, then push Z'Maja before the first portal (~50s in, UESP).
- Orbs, creepers and mini mechanics still come.
Tank
- MT: she teleports constantly. Follow her, keep taunt, and face her away (her Mind Blast is a frontal cleave).
- OT / portal tank: goes down first for the Z'Maja portal. On HM, pull each mini away from Z'Maja and hold it while DPS kill it.
DPS
- Priority: Dark Orbs > Creepers (from 40%) > Shadows of the Fallen > boss.
- Split into two stacks (one each side) so each Roaring Flare has soakers.
Healer
- One healer usually kites Crushing Darkness as the far player.
- Execute: Baneful Mark hits 6 players and keeps healing them down until they're back at 100%. Burst-heal the marked players.
👁 Watch for
- Dark Orbs: small purple-black spheres floating toward the boss.
- Crushing Darkness: a dark beam onto a player, then a black pool that follows them.
- Creepers: dark tentacles in the floor that root and silence.
- Portal cones: dark wedges fanning out from the swirling center portal.
- Shade of Z'Maja: a ghostly, darker copy of Z'Maja.
↯ Alternatives
- Low DPS fallback: portal rotation. If a portal opens, run two portal teams as in the notes. Each extra portal adds adds and risk; most HM groups and slower +0 groups still see several.
- Mini skip in execute (top HM groups): kite the joining minis instead of killing them while the group burns Z'Maja. Needs a dedicated kiter or third tank.
- HM spawns: +1 joins at 50%; +2 at ~65% and ~35%; +3 Siroria at 75%, Relequen at 50%, Galenwe at 25%.
- Simplest HM approach: one tank holds Z'Maja while the group kills each joining mini off to the side.
- HM, high DPS: kill each joining mini fast to skip portals.
Hard mode · veteran only
Activate: Leave 1, 2 or 3 minis alive before engaging Z'Maja (+1 / +2 / +3). +3 is the full hard mode.
- Live minis join the fight at set health thresholds with their gryphon mechanics. The gryphons themselves aren't targets.
- Each extra mini adds stacking pressure: more Dark Orb DoT stacks, and at execute you face two sets of Siroria's flare and Galenwe's Hoarfrost. Keep the two-group split.
- A mini left alive heals and enrages if it isn't dead before the next one arrives.
More detail
At about 10% she cracks her amulet and her Shade joins at full health. It's effectively a second fight, not a quick execute. Split into two groups either side of her tail and keep killing orbs and creepers. Baneful Mark comes about every 22s on the 6 closest players (including the tank).
Not fully confirmed:
- 0-portal DPS: one forum post (2025) suggests at least 5 DPS with 90–100k potential for a no-portal run on normal; no guide gives a figure. Whether execute itself stops portals is unconfirmed.
- +2 spawn points: Xynode says 65% / 35%, Fextralife says 66% / 33%, Skycoach says 65% / 35%.
- Baneful Mark: Fextralife says it drops marked players to 40% (20% on vet); Xynode says about 50%.
- Most of these sources are a few years old (Fextralife last edited 2021). UESP and Alcast blocked automated fetches.