Dungeon · 4 players · Deshaan · Flames of Ambition (2021)
The Cauldron
VetChallengingHMHard
A Daedric mine and lava forge under Deshaan, run by the Waking Flame cult. Four bosses plus a wave gauntlet to free Lyranth. No secret bosses.
- Hard mode is a banner before Baron Zaudrus only (veteran), on your left as you enter the final arena. The other bosses have no HM.
- Lava everywhere on the Boiling Path and around the Molten Guardian. Watch where you dodge-roll.
- Molten Pillars (rock pillars blocking paths) each release an enemy when broken. Lyranth's Cold-Flame synergy breaks them safely and spawns a friendly atronach instead.
Oxblood the Depraved
Boss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Bludgeon (raises both arms, two-second wind-up): devastating hit in front of him. Only a blocking tank survives.
- Don't let him eat a red Gore Glob. He enrages and hits much harder. Kill gore globs before he reaches them.
Tank
- Hold him in the middle, facing away. Block Bludgeon and his punches.
- When enraged he can charge (Gore Rush). Interrupt it.
DPS
- After he vomits, globs land around the edge. Kill the red Gore Globs (they also shoot at you). Kill the green Bile Globs too, or he eats them to heal.
- Iron Maiden (vet): when he points at someone and drops a cage on them, break the cage to free them.
- Step out of the chain markers, three in a row, each explosion bigger than the last.
Healer
👁 Watch for
- A huge armored ogrim. Noxious Release: green poison clouds fanning out in five directions from him. Don't stand in them.
- Butcher: chains wrapped in green mist pop out of the ground.
More detail
Not fully confirmed:
- Gore-Glob enrage and the Iron Maiden come from UESP only. Xynode covers only the heavy and the poison clouds.
Taskmaster Viccia
Boss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Execute: she channels lightning at a stunned player. Interrupt it or they die.
- Chain pull through traps: if there's a Taskmaster Snare between you and her, the pull drags you through it. Keep a clear line to her, and block to cancel the pull.
- Discharge: big growing circle from a hammer slam, then the ground stays electrified. Get out and stay out.
Tank
- Block the Uppercut heavy. Blocking it staggers her.
- After each Discharge, step to the edge of the field and hold her there. Next time, go back.
- Pick up the Dremora that jump in from the camp (around 75 / 50 / 25%).
DPS
- Don't stand far away. She pulls distant players. Kill each add wave first. Many are ranged; interrupt casters and dodge archer sprays.
- Don't step in the snares (circles on the floor). Drathas clears them in groups over time.
Healer
👁 Watch for
- A big xivilai with a lightning hammer. Snares are circular lightning traps, 6 at a time on vet.
More detail
Traps can stack up from cast to cast. Positioning is the whole fight: stay close to her, keep a trap-free line to her, and don't scatter.
Molten Guardian
Boss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Annihilation Strike: fumes from its core, both hands up, then a huge fast shockwave over half the room. Dodge-roll or block. DPS and healer die if they eat it.
- Magmatic channel: it puts a hand on the ground and burns everyone each second. Interrupt it, unless your group has agreed to out-heal it.
Tank
- Block the heavy attack (it has a small front cleave). Keep it on you. It teleports (Deep Dive) to the edge often, so follow and re-taunt.
- Taunt the Molten Fiends it leaves behind. They stay where they spawn.
DPS
- Kill the Molten Fiends after every teleport. Below 25% it teleports a lot, so keep up.
- Dodge or block its fireballs. Each hit stacks a fire-damage-taken debuff.
- Step out of the Lava Slam pools and the Flame Mortar patches.
Healer
👁 Watch for
- A huge iron/lava atronach standing in the lava. Its core glows and smokes before Annihilation.
↯ Alternatives
- Advanced: spread out and out-heal the channel instead of interrupting it. That gives about 30s of free burn on a still boss.
More detail
Mostly a footwork fight. Debuff stacks from the fireballs are what usually wipe a group once Annihilation lands.
Free Lyranth (gauntlet)
Boss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Kill the Xivilai archers first. Their DoT ticks on the tank are huge.
- If the group wipes, the prison's progress resets.
- Stand clear of a destroyed Power Module. It overloads with electricity and stuns.
Tank
- Taunt the archers (they can't be chained), then the Daedroth. Face its fire breath away.
DPS
- Take Drathas's conductive oil synergy, walk to a Power Module, then run straight to the center. Lyranth ignites the trail and the module breaks.
- Each broken module = one add wave. Breaking two at once means two waves together.
- Priority: archers, then the Bone Colossus (meteor rain if it screams), then interrupt the Ogrims' chest-beat, then Daedroth / Titan.
- Storm Atronachs explode. Step away when they're about to blow.
Healer
👁 Watch for
- Lyranth sits in a lightning bubble on a central structure, with six Power Modules in pairs around her.
- Modules fire lightning lines along the ground. The burning oil trail and Lyranth's blue fire both hurt.
More detail
Not a boss but timed add waves. You usually only have time to oil one pair of modules per synergy. Pick a pace your group can handle.
Not fully confirmed:
- Waves get stronger as more modules break (UESP). The add mix per wave isn't confirmed.
Baron Zaudrus
Final boss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Ash Vent fire walls: he plants his hammer and walls of fire spin around the ring arena. If one touches you, you die. 2 walls normally (4 on HM, or at low HP per Xynode). Move with the gaps.
- Crush (overhead smash) one-shots non-tanks. Keep him on the tank.
- Galvanic Blow cone puts a shock field on whoever it hits. Don't stack with someone who has one.
- Disintegration: small, fast-growing circles that erupt randomly. They're lethal. Move out immediately.
Tank
- Face him away from the group at all times. Block Crush.
- During the walls, hug the inner edge of the ring (shortest loop) while keeping taunt.
DPS
- Cold-Flame synergy (from Lyranth's projection): take it, then light- or heavy-attack a Molten Pillar. It breaks in one hit and spawns a friendly Cold-Flame Atronach instead of an enemy.
- Pillars broken any other way (normal attacks, or the fire walls) spawn enemies and open extra portals.
- Kill Watchlings and Magma Daedroth (fire breath) before the boss.
Healer
- Fire geysers under players (from ~60%) leave a heavy burn. Keep people topped.
- Take the Cold-Flame synergy too when DPS are busy. The friendly atronachs make the fight much easier.
👁 Watch for
- A big havocrel (Valkynaz armor) with a lightning hammer. Molten Pillars are rock spires that rise after his Hammer Down.
- Fire walls shoot from the central structure and sweep around the ring. Each cast goes the opposite direction from the last.
Hard mode · veteran only
Activate: Banner on your left as you enter the final arena (veteran).
- More HP and damage.
- Four fire walls instead of two.
- Far more Molten Pillars and adds, so the Cold-Flame synergy matters even more.
- Metamorphic Inversion: a large eruption AoE that burns and slows. Get out before the walls come round.
- Magma Daedroth spawn.
More detail
Ring-shaped arena with no access to the center. Every add comes from pillars or portals. Turning pillars into friendly atronachs with the synergy is the whole fight. No DPS check.
Not fully confirmed:
- Wall count: UESP says 2 normally and 4 on HM. Xynode describes 2 mid-fight and 4 below 25% without tying it to HM.
- Xynode calls the synergy source a 'ghost khajiit'. UESP says it's Lyranth's Cold-Flame Infusion.