The High Elves live long lives and have a talent for magic. Sometimes an Altmer’s pursuit of magical power leads to tampering with forbidden knowledge and illicit dealings with evil Daedra. It was to confine such trespassers that the Banished Cells were created.
Banished Cells II is a four-person dungeon in the game The Elder Scrolls Online. The dungeon consists of various rooms and corridors, each with its own challenges and enemies. Banished Cells II can be accessed at Level 41. In this guide, I shall explain the mechanics as well as what you should and shouldn’t do while facing the dungeon’s bosses.
Table of Contents
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Banished Cells I Location
Banished Cells I is located in the northern region of Auridon. Travel north from the Firsthold Wayshrine to reach the Banished Cells I and II. You can also access Banished Cells I specifically by using the Dungeon Finder.
Inside Banished Cells II
Banished Cells II is a one-level dungeon with six bosses and one quest. The enemies in this dungeon include banekins, scamps, clannfears, and banished soldiers.
The Plan
The first time you enter the Banished Cells II dungeon, you will speak with Keerp Cirion. He explains the other keepers have become servants to Rilis and there are binding stones that must be destroyed. You agree to help.
Completing The Plan
After defeating High Kinlord Rilis, all four keepers are released from eternal service. You also find that Keeper Cirion has sacrificed himself. Checking Keeper Cirion’s body completes this quest. Completing this quest will reward you with gold, a skill point, and the Cirion’s Last Stand of the Tormentor. This item is part of the Tormentor’s armor set.
Banished Cells II Boss Mechanics
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Keeper Areldur
This is the first mini-boss encounter of the dungeon, she has relativity low health but can pack a serious punch if you are not careful. She has two flame atronachs which will need to be dealt with quickly or else they will cause a problem. The tank should grab the two adds and the boss and turn all 3 away from the group. Aoe damage should be enough to KILL the atronachs but when they die, do NOT stand in their place because they explode. Then it is about dealing with the boss.
Flame AOE – Occasionally throughout the fight she will cast her staff into the air and throw a mortar-type effect out which will explode on the floor, this then leaves a small flame aoe on the ground usually in the direction of the tank (or whoever has agro) as a dps/healer avoid this at all costs because it REALLY hurts.
Flame Wheel – This mechanic you may have seen before in blessed crucible and i like to call it “the wheel”. The boss will crouch and start channeling and during this time she will cast flames across the floor repeatedly in a kind of bird’s eye view wagon wheel type shape/effect. You MUST avoid this, it will one-shot a dps or healer so your footwork is key here. As soon as you see her crouching, move back as far as you can and when the flames come to you, simply move side to side to avoid them.
Maw of the Infernal (aka Mega Jeff)
The MEGA JEFF!! (sorry stream joke, you will have to watch to catch up). This boss is ultra-awesome but also SO dangerous to people who run around in circles. This boss fight requires you to FOCUS. Hold the boss still, as the tank, and stand behind the boss as a dps and/or healer.
Flame Breath – The flame breath is a large cone effect in the form of a flame thrower/breath! This will be aimed at a random player so when this happens, simply stand OUT of it until it is over.
Bite (flames of death!) – The boss will bite the person with agro and then stun them to the ground, when this happens they will be affected with fire damage over time affect. This DOT will drop fire on the ground in a small circle every 2 seconds until the dot has gone…BUT this dot will never leave the ground until the boss is dead…THIS means that if you move around the room you will constantly place fire all over the floor and the room will be eventually filled with fire!
The trick to this is for your tank to “grow a pair!”… basically stand still, and hold the boss for as long as you can in one spot while taking heals. This will of course mean that each fire drop will increase the damage to your tank, but try to stand still as long as you possibly can before you HAVE to move. If you do have to move because it gets too much, simple move to the side slightly and start dropping a new aoe in an empty space and your stand-still phase basically starts again. DO NOT! run around the room!
Swipe – This is a basic attack, the boss will hit the person with agro for moderate damage usually after the bite. Blocking will prevent this from dealing a lot of damage and isn’t really that much to deal with.
Keeper Voranil
The Boss is very but CAN wipe a group if you are not paying attention to BASIC mechanics of the game. The tank should turn the boss away from the group and hold on to the two adds while the group burns the adds with aoe damage.
Whirlwind – Every so often the boss will spin his weapon around his head in a small aoe damaging people inside of the circle. This is a very simple mechanic, stand out of it and you will not be harmed.
Heavy Attack – The simplest mechanic in the game for a tank to put into practice…This heavy attack requires you to BLOCK. If you do not block you are dead! The wind up to this heavy attack can actually hit JUST before the attack connects so be sure to look out for this and block early.
A tank, dps, or healer can block this and it will do hardly any damage whatsoever, but if you fail to block it is a guaranteed one-shot! Pay attention!
Keeper Imiril
This Boss is the PUG killer of the dungeon and people struggle a lot with this so pay close attention to what is going on in the room. Running around in circles will kill you! The tank should hold the boss as still as possible while the group applies their damage/heals. There are 3 important phases to keep an eye on as well as killing the boss.
Blue Balls and Burst – Every few seconds the boss will jump into a blue orb and disappear, during this phase one of the 3 add phases will spawn (explained below) and she will after a few seconds come back out again. Every time this happens 2 new orbs appear in the room which you must avoid! They jump around and they do a lot of damage, so watch your feet. Do not run away as such, just be careful where you stand. Each time she comes out of the ball/portal she will do a LARGE spreading burst aoe affect that you must either step out of or BLOCK to avoid as much damage as possible.
Phase 1: Banekins – A small spawn of Banekins will come out of the portal/ball as the boss jumps inside of it, these MUST be killed fast and controlled before she comes out again else you will have to deal with them while she is in the room.
Phase 2: Twilights – A small spawn of Twightlights (x4) will come out of the portal/ball as the boss jumps inside of it, these MUST be killed fast and controlled before she comes out again else you will have to deal with them while she is in the room.
Phase 3: Clannfears – A small spawn of 3 Clanfears will come out of the portal/ball as the boss jumps inside of it, these MUST be killed fast and controlled before she comes out again else you will have to deal with them while she is in the room. These jump, stun, knockdown, and all sorts so they MUST be killed fast, be sure to save your ultimates for this phase.
Note each phase you do not successfully kill will stay with you per phase until they are dead. Deal with the and focus them or else you will be overwhelmed with multiple enemies…after phase 3, it starts from 1 again.
Siser Vera & Sister Sihna
These two bosses are a lot simpler than they look but there are some mechanics to keep an eye on. The tank should keep both bosses taunted at all times and face them away from the group. There is a trick to taunting these effectively, however. They are both ranged so will NOT move to the tank. So you taunt the furthest away boss and run into the corner, it will come closer (in fact on top almost of the other boss) Once she is there, come back in again and hold them both together. ALWAYS facing the tank NOT the group.
Feasts – Every few seconds a feast (healing orb) will spawn (4x) kill these before they reach the boss and they will not heal.
Damage Shields – Every few seconds one boss will shield the other with a damage shield. This is your opportunity to focus on the OTHER boss rather than the one with the shield. Always hit the weaker one while doing aoe damage to both.
Frontal AOE – The bosses will channel an effect that will force a frontal aoe and knock back whoever is hit, be sure to interrupt this to avoid the mechanic from happening. This can happen sometimes as fast as every 5 seconds.
High Kinlord Rilis
The final boss in banished cells can be a NIGHTMARE, especially if aiming for hardmode. Rilis is no longer melee, he is ranged, which means taunting him and keeping him in one place(especially since he teleports too) makes this pretty difficult. There are many complex mechanics that need to be executed/understood in order to complete this challenge.
Feasts/Deadroths (Jeffs) – Every 45 seconds One Deardroth and two Feasts will spawn from the bosses starting point. The feast MUST be killed fast else if they reach the boss they will heal him a STUPID amount! The Deadroths on the other hand, fire projectile flames that knock back members of the group and then place a flame aoe on the ground. If this hits you, break free fast, failing that you can block or dodge roll it if you see it coming. The tank needs to hold the Deadroths at all times. Also they have flame breaths and a stomp ability which can be and SHOULD be interrupted.
YOU CAN kill them, but if you want hardmode to be completed, you will need to have 3 alive, when Rilis dies. So you can do one of two things. Let the tank hold them at the stairs while keeping a taunt on the boss and be sure you don’t overburn him before 3 come out….failing that you can kill every single one of them until the boss is low health…Then, STOP damage on the boss, until 3 Deadroths are out…then finish him:)
Bubbles! – there are two runes on the ground, one side of the room is red the other side is blue. When Rilis puts you in a levitation bubble, pay attention to the color of it…when you land you are cursed and will take LOTS of damage, as well as being snared. You need to get to the matching colored rune as fast as possible to remove the curse.
Flames – When the boss raises his staff he will select members of the group to cast flame ground-based aoes at. If you stand still these will kill you, so be sure to move around in a circle to place these on the ground until he has finished if you are the target.
Lightning Attack – IF you have agro on the boss, you will receive multiple light attacks from his shock staff, and this happens every couple of seconds. To dps this will kill you in about 3 hits, the tank MUST taunt the boss so this hits him/her instead. Note: absorb magicka skill does make this do nothing to the tank and instead heal from it.
Teleport – Roughly every 30 seconds Rilis will teleport to a new location, so time your ultimates. Don’t have him stand in one place for 20 seconds or so and THEN decide to drop them. Wait until he moves and use them when he is in his NEW location to make the most of them.
GOOD LUCK!
Banished Cells II Dungeon Loot
Below is a list of all the loot you can expect to find in Banished Cells II.
On normal the loot is blue and the boss does NOT drop a monster helmet, but on veteran difficulty all of the loot is purple and the final boss DOES drop a special monster helmet.
Note: in dungeons some individual bosses can drop a unique item but generally, the weapons and jewelry (non-named items) come from the last boss. HOWEVER the entire loot table can also drop from trash and chests, so loot everything! Got the gear in the wrong traits? Don’t worry! You can alter the traits by either transmuting or reconstruct the piece with a trait of your choice. For more information see the Introduction to Transmuting and Reconstructing article.
If you are looking for a matching shoulder monster piece, visit the Undaunted Pledge Master Maj al-Ragath at the nearest Undaunted enclave. She sells a 50/50 chance at the shoulder piece as part of the Banished Cells Coffer or it could be in her mystery coffer. You can learn more about the Undaunted in the Undaunted Guide.
- Tormentor
- Jail Breaker
- Sanctuary
- Maw of the Infernal (monster helm from vet only)
Builds That Use Banished Cells II Gear
Banished Cells II Achievements
Banished Cells II Assassin
Defeat Keepers Imiril, Areldur, and Voranil as well as the Maw of the Infernal and the Sisters Vera and Sihna before defeating High Kinlord Rilis in Veteran Banished Cells II, all within twenty minutes. Timer starts upon engaging the first group of Banished skeletons.
Banished Cells II Conqueror
Defeat the Maw of the Infernal, Keeper Imiril, and High Kinlord Rilis in Veteran Banished Cells II.
Banished Cells II Survivor
Defeat Keepers Imiril, Areldur, and Voranil, as well as the Maw of the Infernal and the Sisters Sihna and Vera, before defeating High Kinlord Rilis in Veteran Banished Cells II, without suffering a group member death.
Banished Cells II Vanquisher
Defeat Keeper Areldur, the Maw of the Infernal, Keeper Voranil, Keeper Imiril, Sister Sihna and Sister Vera, and High Kinlord Rilis in Banished Cells II.
Cursed Hero
In Veteran Banished Cells II, defeat High Kinlord Rilis while three or more Daedroth still alive.
Rilis Dremora Slayer
Defeat 300 Dremora in Veteran Banished Cells II.
Veteran Bonebreaker II
Defeat 120 Skeletons in Veteran Banished Cells II.
Banished Cells II Leads
The following antiquity leads can be acquired in the Banished Cells II.
The Ruinblood Coil is part of the Markyn Ring of Majesty mythic item.
The dig zone for this lead is found in Deadlands.
The Silverthread Stitching is part of the Syrabane’s Ward mythic item.
The dig zone for this lead is found in the Galen and Y’ffelon.
Final Note
Thank you for taking the time to watch the content and read this guide. Be sure on your travels to remember, although once you get very experienced you may make these dungeons much easier and faster… it starts from the ground up and it’s…
