Dungeon · 4 players · Summerset (islet off the north coast) · Ascending Tide (2022)

Coral Aerie

VetHardHMVery hard

Island caves and Aldmeri ruins held by the Ascendant Order and their gryphons. Three main bosses, each with its own hard mode banner, plus three optional ice guardians and a secret final boss, Z'Baza, after the last boss.

Hard mode banners unlock in order. Sarydil HM needs a Maligalig HM kill first, and Varallion HM needs HM kills on both earlier bosses.
Secret guardians: the Coral Cavern has three sections, each entered from a different part of the dungeon. Each holds one guardian (Sword, Staff, Shield). Killing a guardian gives a buff: friendly tendrils that sometimes strike your enemies.
Z'Baza only appears if you killed all three guardians. After Varallion, a portal opens. It's on HM if you did every HM.
Don't bother with the Coral Crabs. They aren't needed for anything.

Sword Guardian

Secret boss

How to spawn: First Coral Cavern entrance, before Maligalig. Inside, dispel the Arcane Ward to wake the guardian.

☠ Wipe mechanic

Lucent Charge: after a cleave, each player gets a thin shock ring around them for 30s. Don't walk into anyone else's ring. Crossing one hits hard and stuns.

Tank

Block the big sword combo (Upthrust and Swordfall).

DPS

Healer

👁 Watch for

A tall frozen armored knight. Radiant Shower: golden projectiles rain down in circles, more the longer it channels.

↯ Alternatives

Put one player on each corner of the square floor pad and stay there. Nobody's rings overlap, and everyone still reaches the boss.

More detail

Buff: Z'Baza's projection appears and grants Abyssal Knowing (tendrils that help you for the rest of the run).

Not fully confirmed:

How to dispel the ward isn't documented in the sources. The guardians' lines ('Supplicants insufficient') hint the whole group must stand on platforms.

Maligalig

Boss

☠ Wipe mechanic

Storm Cell: a big storm circle follows you. Find the doughnut-shaped ring nearby and put your circle inside the hole. If you don't, you die.
Bomber bugs: bugs with a target marker chase the player with the same marker. Dodge-roll when they explode. Blocking may still kill you on HM.
Heavy (Double Strike): tank blocks. Anyone else dodges.

Tank

Face him away. Group stands behind in a loose triangle.
Whirlpool: jump out onto each platform first, then taunt the adds.

DPS

Whirlpool (70% and 40%): the room floods and sweeps you around. Use the Surging Waters synergy to jump onto each of 3 platforms and kill the adds. Focus the Ripple of Maligalig and the rest die with it.
The yellow two-legged Striders wind up a huge heavy. Dodge it.

Healer

👁 Watch for

A huge yaghra monstrosity. Storm Cell: big circle on you; the cure is a larger ring with an empty center.
Whirlpool: the arena turns into a spinning water channel with geysers by each platform.

↯ Alternatives

Before 70% and 40%, stand clockwise from the tank so the tank lands first.
A Storm Cell disappears when the whirlpool starts, so near a threshold, keep position instead of chasing a doughnut.

Hard mode · veteran only

Activate: Banner before the boss (veteran).

Static Discharge on the platforms: every 2s you take unmitigable damage that grows each tick. Jump back into the water to reset it (about 8s clean), then jump onto the next platform.
The water now does damage over time. Healers put HoTs on everyone before jumping in.
More HP and damage; bugs more aggressive.

More detail

Larvae and poppers spawn from whirlpools in the arena all fight. Being in the whirlpool water itself doesn't hurt on veteran.

Not fully confirmed:

Whirlpool thresholds: UESP and code65536 say 70% / 40%. Xynode says 65% / 35%.

Staff Guardian

Secret boss

How to spawn: Second Coral Cavern entrance, between Maligalig and Sarydil. Dispel the Arcane Ward to wake the guardian.

☠ Wipe mechanic

Pulsing orbs fill most of the arena. Stand in the clear spot. At 75%, 50% and 25% it teleports to the edge and refills the whole arena except under itself. Move the group to it.

Easy fight. Block the heavies.

Tank

DPS

Healer

👁 Watch for

An ice construct with a staff. Big overlapping pulsing circles cover the floor.

More detail

Same square floor pad as the Sword Guardian.

S'zarzo the Bulwark

Miniboss

☠ Wipe mechanic

Popcorn: three AoEs pop under each player. Stand still and block. Running or dodging doesn't help; getting hit launches you.

Tank

He drops a banner around half health. Pull him out of it (it buffs him and hurts you).
Chain the 4 adds onto him. Interrupt the archers.

DPS

Healer

More detail

A Khajiit sword-and-board miniboss. He's a preview of the shield adds in the Sarydil fight.

Sarydil

Boss

☠ Wipe mechanic

Tank: your first cast is a taunt. Her opening Teleport Strike can one-shot whoever she lands on.
Marked: one player drops a trail of mines. Walk backwards to an unused corner, then come back. Standing still stacks them and kills you.
Shadows: she splits into many clones along the edge, all channeling. Hit them (clones die in one hit) until you find the real one, or they all fire at one player.
Flame Wave: after her spinning backflip bombs, a huge circle expands fast. Block or dodge.

Tank

Slot a ranged interrupt and chains. Interrupt her dagger channel as soon as she lands after a dash.
If she dashes to the entrance or exit, don't follow. Interrupt from range and she returns to you.

DPS

At 75% and 45% she jumps up and sends adds. Stack them and kill them. The second wave has an Ascendant Bulwark.
Bulwark: when he braces his shield, direct damage on him triggers 3 stun hits on you. Block them, or stop hitting him.

Healer

👁 Watch for

Dash: she glows pink and dashes across the room, leaving lingering mine pools.
Marked: marker over your head; mines drop where you walk.

↯ Alternatives

Stay in the middle of the room. The edges get boxed in by mines.

Hard mode · veteran only

Activate: Banner before the boss (veteran). You must have killed Maligalig on HM first.

Every player is marked in the add phases. Stack the adds, stand in a circle, all walk backwards to drop mines, then step back in.
From around 60%, two mages spawn at the entrance and exit. Don't kill them (they respawn). Interrupt their channels with a ranged interrupt.

More detail

Big room with lots of movement. Watch your feet more than the boss.

Not fully confirmed:

Add phases: UESP says 75% and 45%, Xynode 75% and ~40%.

Shield Guardian

Secret boss

How to spawn: Third Coral Cavern entrance, between Sarydil and Varallion. Dispel the Arcane Ward to wake the guardian.

Easy fight. Hold it in the middle, one player per corner.

Tank

Block Shield Slam (a spinning bash that knocks you away).

DPS

At 75% and 25% it bubbles itself. Kill the three Reflections channeling into the bubble. Their whirlwinds hurt more the longer you stand in them (screen frosts over).

Healer

👁 Watch for

An ice construct with mace and shield. During the bubble, three ghostly figures beam ice into it.

More detail

After this one, Z'Baza grants her last gift and the portal to her opens after Varallion.

Not fully confirmed:

Bubble thresholds: UESP says 75% / 25%; Xynode says around 55–60%, repeating at low health.

Varallion

Final boss

☠ Wipe mechanic

Obliterate (big two-handed uppercut): tank must block, never dodge. If it misses, everyone else gets knocked back.
Crashing Waves: telegraphed areas on the floor, three times per cast. Step out. Being inside when the wave spawns kills.
Sea Orb: an orb rises from the water and drifts toward a marked player. The target pops it by running into it while blocking (or rolling through). Warn others nearby, the splash is big.
Coalescing Shadows: dark circle under your feet. Run to an empty spot to drop the pool. Pools hurt more each tick you stand in them.

Tank

Taunt each gryphon as it lands. Keep its frontal cone off the group.

DPS

Gryphons first. One lands at roughly 95%, 80% and 60% (random order). Don't push the boss so fast that two gryphons are up.
Iliata (lightning): a big storm circle follows a player. That player kites it away from the group.
Mafremare (wind): two whirlwinds orbit it. Hug it or stay at range.

Healer

Ofallo puts a heal-absorb on the tank (it reduces the tank's own healing by 90%). Your heals and HoTs break it.
Keep heals on whoever has a shadow pool on them while they run out.

👁 Watch for

Arena is an island in a lagoon. Leaving it brings slaughterfish.
Gryphons: they fly in and land at the edge of the arena.

Hard mode · veteran only

Activate: Banner before the boss (veteran). You must have killed Maligalig and Sarydil on HM first.

Mind Link: two players are tethered for ~30s. If either dies or anyone touches the tether, both die (plus whoever touched it). Never cross a link.
Two sets of waves at once. Find the gap.
Every player gets Coalescing Shadows.
Kargaeda at 30%: a fourth, huge gryphon. The boss is invulnerable until it dies. Lightning lines rotate around the room from the center: either fight it in the middle and rotate with the gaps, or hold it still and block/roll the lines.

More detail

Each avoidable damage source stacks a debuff, so take as few ticks as possible from pools, Mafremare's winds and Iliata's storm.

Not fully confirmed:

Mind Link range: code65536 says there's no distance penalty. Xynode says damage rises with distance. Keep it short either way.
Gryphon timings: UESP says 95% / 80% / 60%; Xynode says 90% / 80% / 50%.

Z'Baza

Secret boss

How to spawn: Kill all three ice guardians before beating Varallion. Afterwards a portal opens; go through and have all players stand on the platforms around her prison. She takes back her buffs and attacks.

☠ Wipe mechanic

Mind Blast: she blasts anyone she can see in front of her. Only the tank stands in front. Face her away.
Big ground AoEs explode when she finishes a teleport. Stay out of them.

Tank

Use the portal she leaves behind after teleporting; it takes you to her.

DPS

Kill the tendrils. While they live, they keep dropping AoEs on players.
Shield (around 55% and 25%): she teleports to a tendril and bubbles. Kill that tendril to drop it. Heals are needed inside the frozen bubble.

Healer

👁 Watch for

A big Sea Sload, like Z'Maja in Cloudrest. Tentacles sprout around the arena.

↯ Alternatives

Marked players get chasing orbs (pearls). Kite them, or block next to them to pop them.

Hard mode · veteran only

Activate: Automatic if you completed every main-boss HM and all three guardians.

More HP, more orbs (they move faster), more AoEs, more Mind Blasts. Adds (Yaghra) spawn with her tendrils.

More detail

The dungeon is technically finished at Varallion. Z'Baza is extra and drops one item (plus a Mythic lead).

Not fully confirmed:

The automatic HM trigger comes from Xynode. UESP lists the HM changes but not the trigger.

Sources · last checked 2026-11-09