Dungeon · 4 players · Imperial City · Imperial City (2015)
White-Gold Tower
VetModerateHMChallenging
The top of the Imperial palace tower. Four main bosses: the Adjudicator, the Empress Regent's guard trio, the Planar Inhibitor and Molag Kena. The Planar Inhibitor is the famous group-killer.
- Hard mode is on the final boss only (veteran): read the Obelisk Tome (a scroll by Molag Kena's arena) and do what it says before pulling her.
- Shadow Realm portals (trash and bosses): when your screen turns grey and you have a dark aura, only you can hit the portals. Destroy them fast, before adds pour out.
- Bring a way out of a locked cell for the Adjudicator: lockpicks, a charge/gap-closer, or the Thieves Guild force-open option.
The Adjudicator
Boss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Flame waves: she turns to a random player and fires three waves of fire in a cone. Everyone moves to her sides. Two or three waves kill you.
- Cage: she throws a random player into a burning cell. Lockpick or force your way out, or have someone free you fast.
Tank
- Hold her at the bottom of the stairs, facing away. Don't let her stand on the stairs (she can get stuck).
- Never drop taunt.
DPS
- Kill the zombies that run at the group. Hold your ground and AoE them, don't run.
- Assign one player to break out whoever is caged (especially the healer).
Healer
- Ground heals (e.g. Healing Springs) reach players in the cells. Keep a HoT or shield on the caged player.
👁 Watch for
- Fire towers on both sides throw fire onto the floor. Stay out of the burning patches; they spread as the fight goes on.
- Four cages around the room. A caged player stands in fire behind bars.
More detail
Spread in a triangle behind her so you can see who she turns to. The cage is on a timer, not a health threshold.
Empress Regent's Guard
Boss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Fire wheel (Otho): he plants himself and casts spinning spokes of fire. Stand in the gaps. One or two hits kill, more so near a banner.
- Banners (Standard of Might): all three can drop them. Stay out.
Tank
- Taunt all three and stack them. They can be chained, rooted and stunned.
DPS
- Interrupt Otho's heals every time.
- Whoever gets Ambushed by Cordius: block, then block or roll the Steel Tornado that follows.
- Have a ranged option. Banners and AoEs often make melee unsafe.
Healer
👁 Watch for
- Micella Carlinus: sword and shield Dragonknight, chain pulls a random player.
- Otho Numida: fire-staff healer, teleports.
- Cordius Pontifio: dual-wield Nightblade.
More detail
Three Imperial guards, fought at once. Low health each, but heavy damage.
Not fully confirmed:
- Kill order: xynode says Micella, then Cordius, then Otho last (keep him interrupted). Fextralife says Otho first, then Cordius, then Micella.
The Planar Inhibitor
Boss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Blue flame phase: her blue aura snares and kills in a few ticks. Never let her touch anyone. Play keep-away with the pinion.
- Dive: she sinks into the ground and erupts with a big AoE. Walk or roll out.
Tank
- Taunts don't work. She only chases whoever last used the pinion in the center. Start with it and hold her still.
- In blue phase, lead her to the far side of the room, then swap the pinion so she turns back across.
DPS
- Grey screen = you're on portal duty. Find and kill the portals before adds come out. The pinion holder never gets portals.
- Burn any adds that escape the portals.
Healer
- The pinion holder takes a fire DoT that grows the longer they hold it. Heal them and swap holders.
- You can be picked for portals. Bring a ranged damage skill.
👁 Watch for
- Red flame phase: low danger, melee is fine.
- Blue flame phase: she's wreathed in blue fire. Every second dive turns her blue.
- Flame bursts: small fire AoEs on each player that grow and explode. Don't stack, or they overlap.
↯ Alternatives
- One player holding the pinion several times in a row stacks a debuff. Alternate between two or more players.
More detail
Pinion loop: the holder runs to the far edge, she follows; when she's about 10 m away, another player grabs the pinion from across the room, and she turns around. After a while she dives again and is stunned briefly. Reset positions and repeat.
More portals spawn as her health drops. Everything else repeats the same way.
Molag Kena
Final boss☠ Wipe mechanic
- Edges of the room are on fire and kill you. Stay close to the middle.
- Shield adds explode when they die. Don't stand at their feet when they drop. It one-shots, tanks included.
- Storm Atronach: it chases a random player and explodes on contact. If it's on you, run. Everyone else, kill it fast.
- Shield phases (about 60% and 30%): she leaps and knocks everyone back toward the fire. Hug the middle when she jumps. Get range for the lightning waves after.
Tank
- Hold her dead center. If she gets loose, the group gets pushed into the fire.
- Block her frontal wind cone to avoid the knockback.
DPS
- In shield phases, kill the four adds to drop her shield. Step away from each as it dies.
Healer
- Lightning wave hits leave a heavy DoT. Heal it off quickly and pre-shield before the waves.
👁 Watch for
- Lightning wall: a long strip of lightning across the room that rotates. Follow it around near the center. After the second shield phase there are two walls spinning opposite ways; roll through when they close in.
- Lightning sparks: small zigzagging lightning orbs on the floor. Avoid.
↯ Alternatives
- Block the lightning walls together and heal through with ground heals. It works even on HM, but split briefly when an Atronach spawns.
Hard mode · veteran only
Activate: Veteran only. Use the Obelisk Tome (a scroll near her arena) and complete its ritual before pulling.
- More HP and damage.
- Lightning walls rotate much faster (about twice as fast). Stay close to the middle so you have less distance to cover.
More detail
Not fully confirmed:
- Shield thresholds: Fextralife says 60% and 30%. xynode says roughly 50–60% and 25–30%.
- Exact HM ritual steps: the achievement says 'complete the ritual listed in the Obelisk Tome'. Fextralife says just read the scroll. No source gives more steps.