Dungeon · 4 players · Imperial City (Northern Memorial District) · Imperial City (2015)
Imperial City Prison
VetModerateHMChallenging
Daedra-overrun Imperial prison. Four main bosses plus two minibosses (Gravelight Sentry, Lord Warden's Council). Final boss Lord Warden Dusk is a portal-dodging dance fight.
- Hard mode is on the final boss only (veteran): burn the Warden's Tome near Lord Warden Dusk before pulling. A wipe resets it, so burn it again.
- Vigilant Watchers (floating eyes) spot you and call adds. Avoid their sight lines or kill them.
- Flesh Atronachs show up in several fights. They enrage if left alive too long and then can one-shot anyone. Always kill them fast.
Overfiend
Boss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Flurry: a rapid frontal cone. Only the tank stands in front, and the tank must block and must not turn the boss during it.
- Harvester (joins around half health, he shouts for the Lord Warden): her ground AoEs fire twice in quick succession. If the first one hits you, dodge out immediately.
Tank
- Hold him still with his back to the portal. Never spin him toward the group.
- Block the jump/heavy slam on you (knockdown, big damage).
- Grab the Harvester as soon as she arrives and stack her on the boss.
DPS
- Adds first, boss second. Adds come in waves triggered by his health, so don't push him faster than you can clear them.
- Save ultimates for the Harvester and kill her fast. Interrupt casters among the adds.
Healer
👁 Watch for
- Curse circles on the ground under players: step out. One older guide describes them as donut rings you stand in the hollow center of.
- The Harvester is a female winged Daedra that comes out of the portal behind the boss.
More detail
Not fully confirmed:
- Harvester timing: xynode says at 50%, Fextralife says about 40%.
- Fextralife says the Circle of Corruption is interruptible (red sparks) and the tank should interrupt it. xynode just says to step out of it.
Ibomez the Flesh Sculptor
Boss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Tenderize: he pins a random player to the ground and winds up a finisher. Interrupt (bash) him before it lands or that player dies.
- Flesh Atronachs: inmates that reach the central sludge pool become Atronachs. Kill each one fast. If they enrage they one-shot players, tanks included.
Tank
- Hold him still and never drop taunt. Block his uppercut heavy.
- Grab every Flesh Atronach and stack it on the boss.
DPS
- When he goes immune and runs to the pool, kill the inmates running in from the doors before they reach it. Use AoE.
- Priority: Atronachs, then the boss.
Healer
- The Tenderize target takes heavy damage while pinned. Be ready to save them once he's interrupted.
👁 Watch for
- A bloated flesh-sculptor Daedra by a green sludge pool in the middle of the room, with doors on both sides where inmates run in.
- Spray: a narrow poison cone. Step sideways out of it. Don't stand in the pool either.
↯ Alternatives
- Splitting to the four sides of the room during the inmate phase makes it easier to catch them all.
More detail
He cycles: fight, immune pool phase with inmates, then Tenderize as he comes out. Fewer Atronachs means an easy fight. Several Atronachs at once with low DPS usually means a wipe.
Not fully confirmed:
- xynode says you can pick up green goo piles (synergy) and throw them at inmates. No other source mentions this.
- A 2015 guide says only a bash frees the Tenderize target. xynode says any interrupt works.
Gravelight Sentry
Miniboss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Poison water around the island hurts a lot. Get out of it fast if you're knocked in.
Tank
- Hold him in the center of the island. His spin/explosion knocks everyone back, often into the poison.
- Block the three green beams he aims at you (they stun if unblocked).
DPS
- Kill or interrupt the necromancers around the room. Every missed interrupt brings an extra skeleton.
- Melee stay near the center so the knockback doesn't throw you into the water.
Healer
👁 Watch for
- Poison bombs: splashes from the pool land as ground AoEs that stun. Block them (cheaper than rolling).
More detail
A Watcher-type eye monster on a small island. Mobile, but low threat if the necromancers are handled.
Flesh Abomination
Boss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Hoarvors: never let two be alive at once. Their poison pools stack and kill in seconds.
- Kamikaze Hoarvors: when he walks to the center, Hoarvors run at each player and explode. Spread out to separate corners and dodge or block.
- Poison ring: one player gets a ground AoE with a pulsing outer ring. Stay inside it and don't touch the ring.
Tank
- Tank him at the cliff edge and hold him there. His heavies knock you back, so keep re-planting.
- Stand behind him if you're not the tank. Everything he does splashes forward.
DPS
- Kill Hoarvors as soon as they spawn, then the zombies from the poison circles, then the boss.
Healer
👁 Watch for
- Red circles follow players and explode with a knockdown. Block to avoid it.
- During the ring mechanic his arms are dug into the ground and he stops hitting the tank.
Lord Warden's Council
Miniboss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Ghosts: each guard comes back as an untargetable ghost after dying and keeps using its moves. You can't block ghost attacks. Walk out of the charge and the spin.
Tank
- Pull all four together, stack them, and keep the melee ones facing away from the group.
DPS
- Kill the Necromancer's totem/crystal immediately if it spawns. While it's up, everything takes almost no damage.
- Keep the healer guard interrupted the whole fight.
Healer
👁 Watch for
- Four guards: a Knight (charge knockdown), a Berserker (dual wield, Steel Tornado), a Necromancer (skeletons, totem) and a healer (Templar).
More detail
Kill order matters because the dead ones keep fighting as ghosts. A ghost healer can't be interrupted, which is why one guide kills it last.
Not fully confirmed:
- Kill order: xynode says Necromancer first, healer last. A 2015 guide says Templar healer first, Necromancer second. Fextralife says nothing.
Lord Warden Dusk
Final boss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Darklight (he flies high to the side of the arena and flaps): this one-shots the room. Jump into a portal before it lands, then use the synergy on the way down to survive the fall.
- Portals hold two players each. Never step into one by accident. If someone does, have a teammate use up that portal too so a fresh one spawns.
- Shadow barrage (he joins his hands and fires at a player): the target hides directly behind the tank, who blocks. It's line of sight. Peek out and you die.
Tank
- Keep aggro at all times. Block the teleport jump (break free from the stun, then block).
- Body-block the barrage for its target.
- Shades (around 65% and 35%): taunt all four fast so they shoot you, not the group. Only the solid one can be damaged.
DPS
- Split into two portal teams (tank + DPS, healer + DPS) before the pull.
- During shades, kill the solid one, then the next as they swap.
Healer
- Pair with one DPS for portals; tank pairs with the other.
- Damage spikes when the barrage or several shades hit one player. Shield whoever is targeted.
👁 Watch for
- Drain bubbles: blue orbs he pulls from the ground. Stand clear. They snare and drain health and magicka. More appear as the fight goes on.
- Meteors land on random players. Block (avoids the stun) rather than rolling.
- Darklight Burst: a red AoE on your spot. Step out.
- Portals are two glowing pools on the floor.
↯ Alternatives
- Very high DPS can push him through the 65% and 35% shade phases before a portal phase ever comes.
Hard mode · veteran only
Activate: Veteran only. Burn the Warden's Tome in the boss area before pulling. Re-burn it after a wipe.
- He hits harder. Sources describe no new mechanics.
More detail
A twilight gargoyle. Mechanics stack the longer the fight lasts, so pace ultimates for the shade phases. The achievement Darklight Dancer requires no one to be hit by a Darklight Burst.
Not fully confirmed:
- Shade thresholds: xynode says 65% / 35%, Fextralife says 60% / 30%.
- HM: search results quoting UESP say damage only, same HP. No source lists new HM mechanics.
- A 2015 guide describes the flight as taking everyone to 5% instead of killing. That's likely the old version. Current guides say it one-shots without a portal.