ESO Quick Mechanics
Dungeon · 4 players · Northern Elsweyr (Tenmar Borderlands) · Scalebreaker (2019)

Moongrave Fane

VetChallengingHMHard

Khajiiti jungle ruins held by Hollowfang vampires draining a captive dragon. Four boss encounters, then the final fight with an empowered Grundwulf. Two dungeon-wide tools: Hemo Helots (blood orbs) and Sliding Stones.

01

Risen Ruins

Boss
☠ Wipe mechanic
  • Boulder Shield: when he curls up and glows gold, he's invulnerable and hurls boulders. Block them, and launch Hemo Helots into him to break the shield (2 on veteran, 1 on normal).
  • Make the Helots before the shield phase. Sacrificing Health mid-phase while boulders fly is how people die.
Tank
  • Pick up the Hollowfang adds as they arrive. Some need interrupts.
DPS
  • Two players own the two sigils next to the boss. Pre-make a Helot each, then heavy attack it at him when he shields.
  • Vampire adds run in from the side. Clear them between shield phases so they don't stack up.
Healer
    👁 Watch for
    • A huge stone atronach on legs. Big Quake: he lifts up and jackhammers the floor. Back away from him.
    • Hemo Helot: a floating red blood orb above a glowing sigil.
    More detail

    Every phase is the same: adds, quake, shield. Shield damage is the dangerous part, so the faster the Helots land, the less the group takes.

    Not fully confirmed:
    • Charge: Fextralife warns of a lethal charge after each shield phase. UESP says that charge (Rockslide) was disabled in Patch 8.3.5. Stay out of his front anyway.
    02

    Dro'zakar

    Boss
    ☠ Wipe mechanic
    • Sacrificial Helots run to the corner sigils and make Hemo Helots. Break each Helot (any attack) before Dro'zakar drinks it. If he feeds, he hits the whole group very hard.
    • Red Breath: a blood cone that hits hard and stuns. Never stand in front of him.
    Tank
    • Face him away from the group at all times.
    • Blood Mist: he turns into a blood pool that chases his target and heals him. Block it or keep moving.
    DPS
    • Sangiin Shield: after a Helot phase he shields and pulses damage at everyone's feet. Burn the shield fast; the ticks ramp up.
    • Spread a little during the shield. The foot AoEs stack if you're on top of each other.
    Healer
    • Shield phase is a heal check. Pre-HoT and keep everyone up until the shield breaks.
    👁 Watch for
    • Sacrificial Helots: small cultists sprinting to a glowing corner sigil, which turns into a red blood orb.
    • Blood Mist: Dro'zakar vanishes into a swirling red pool that slides along the floor.
    More detail

    A Pahmar-raht vampire with a battle axe. More Hollowfang adds join over time. Killing the Sacrificial Helots on the way in is possible but slower than just breaking the orbs.

    03

    Kujo Kethba

    Boss
    ☠ Wipe mechanic
    • Fanning the Flames: he leaps, lands and pounds the floor. Stop all damage. He's immune and reflects damage back at you.
    • Geysers open in the corners and fire homing molten rocks. Push a Sliding Stone onto each active geyser to plug it.
    Tank
    • Face him away from the group. His wing beats send two fire cones forward.
    • Block his overhead smash.
    DPS
    • Each DPS owns one side's Sliding Stone. Later in the fight more geysers open, so be ready to move the stone between them.
    • Kill the archer adds. Their cone covers a lot of ground.
    Healer
      👁 Watch for
      • A flaming Khajiiti gargoyle in a courtyard with cracked, lava-lit floor.
      • Spit Fire: a circle telegraph where a fireball will land and leave a burning pool. Move out.
      More detail

      After the first Fanning the Flames, his swipes add a fire wave and he starts spitting fireballs. The phase ends on its own after a while, but unplugged geysers hurt the whole time.

      04

      Nisaazda and Grundwulf

      Boss
      ☠ Wipe mechanic
      • Summon Sangiin's Thirst: when Nisaazda channels far away (a red hexagram sigil), launch a Hemo Helot into her to stop it. Otherwise a big blood gargoyle joins the fight.
      • Blood Swirl: a big swirling blood pool in the middle. Get out, and pull both bosses out; it empowers anything inside.
      Tank
      • Nisaazda teleports a lot. Re-taunt her each time and drag Grundwulf over so DPS can cleave both.
      • Face Grundwulf away. Unrelenting Force is a long, wide line shout that knocks people back.
      DPS
      • Interrupt Corpuscle Cannonade (Nisaazda raises her staff and fires a stream of blood bolts).
      • Assign one player to the Helot. Save it for her summon. If she's next to the Hemonculi, one Helot hits both.
      Healer
        👁 Watch for
        • Hemonculi: small ghostly blood adds with a shield. They can't be hurt until a Helot breaks the shield.
        More detail

        The fight ends when Nisaazda dies; Grundwulf retreats to the dragon. On veteran, Nisaazda can use Blood Ties to equalize their Health. Keeping both at similar Health prevents it ('Failed Transfusion' achievement).

        05

        Grundwulf

        Final boss

        How to spawn: First you clear waves of adds (Coagulants from the dragon's fireballs, Hollowfangs, then Moongrave Sentinels) while Grundwulf drinks from Sahrotnax. The waves don't repeat if you wipe on the boss.

        ☠ Wipe mechanic
        • Dying Breath: Grundwulf teleports behind the Sliding Stone as the dragon prepares fire. One heavy attack on the stone to shove it away so the fire hits him. If you fail, the fire spreads across the room.
        • Move Stone: later he flings the stone across the arena. Don't stand where it lands. It kills.
        • Blood Spike (Shackle): a red spike erupts and tethers you, draining Health and blocking heals. Run into the green circle around the spike to clear it.
        Tank
        • Hold him near the center, facing away, within reach of the Helot sigil.
        • Pull Coagulants and Hemonculi onto the boss for cleave.
        • Dire-Maws spawn at several Health thresholds. Taunt and face them away.
        • 'Gaan!' puts a DoT on you. Purging it splashes minor damage on the group.
        DPS
        • Assign one player to the stone. Use a heavy attack, not light attacks, and hit it only once per Dying Breath.
        Healer
        • Shackled players take reduced healing. Watch them until they reach the spike circle.
        👁 Watch for
        • Unrelenting Force: now leaves swirling blood pools along the line that spawn Hemonculi.
        • 'Su!': his sword gets a faint white mist. His heavy attacks wind up much faster for a while.
        • The dragon's fireballs leave big lingering patches that split into more patches. Watch your feet.
        Hard mode · veteran only

        Activate: Veteran only. Use the special Sangiin Hemo Helot just inside the arena entrance (on the left) before engaging.

        • Ghastly Wound: a big heal absorb (heals fill it before your Health), plus -90% healing done and much weaker shields. It doesn't expire; you heal through it.
        • You get Ghastly Wound from hitting the stone outside Dying Breath, using the Sangiin Sacrifice synergy, or a Ravenous Hoarvor bite. A second stack adds a strong DoT.
        • The healer must never get Ghastly Wound. They never touch the stone, never make a Helot, never get bitten.
        • Breaking a Helot spawns a Ravenous Hoarvor. It's top kill priority.
        • Devouring Megabat: marks a non-tank and slowly follows them. It one-shots. It's shielded; break a Helot next to it and it dies instantly. The marked player kites it around the tank.
        • Save Helots for the Megabat. Tank holds the Hemonculi until a bat spawns, then one Helot clears bat and shields together.
        • More blood spikes over time (up to all four players), 3 Hemonculi per shout, and more dragon fireballs.
        • More than double the HP, and everything hits harder.
        More detail

        Sahrotnax is trying to kill Grundwulf, not you, but his fire hits whoever is in the way. Dire-Maws spawn at roughly 70/50/35/20/10% boss Health (per code65536).

        Not fully confirmed:
        • The HM Helot's exact position ('to the left of the entrance') comes from Fextralife only. UESP just calls it the Sangiin Hemo Helot.
        • Some HM numbers (heal absorb size, Megabat health) come from a 2019 PTS guide by code65536. They may have been retuned since.
        Sources · last checked 2026-11-09