When the Daedra-worshiping Ayleids were driven from Cyrodiil after Alessia’s Slave Rebellion, many of the Wild Elf clans took refuge in Valenwood. One of the foremost of those clans was granted the right to excavate dwelling-halls under Elden Root itself.
Elden Hollow I 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. Elden Hollow I can be accessed at Level 14. 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
Need specific info? Click these quick links to go directly to each section.
Elden Hollow I Location
Elden Hollow I is located in the central region of Grahtwood. Travel north from the Elden Root Wayshrine to reach the Elden Hollow I and II. You can also access Elden Hollow I specifically by using the Dungeon Finder.
Inside Elden Hollow I
Elden Hollow I is a one-level dungeon with six bosses and one quest. The enemies in this dungeon include strangers, Darkfern warriors, and Thlmor Justiciars.
Ancient Remains
A tribe of Wood Orcs is protecting Canonreeve Oraneth in Elden Hollow. Bakkhara, a member of the Mages Guild, wants to stop them, but can’t attack the Orcs directly due to their association with Canonreeve Oraneth, who is a member of the Thalmor.
Completing Ancient Remains
You must clear a path for Bakkhara and the mages then defeat Canonreeve Oraneth. After speaking with Bakkhara, use the portal. Speak with Speaks-With-Lights to complete the quest. Completing this quest will reward you with gold, a skill point, and the Light Speaker’s Last Gift, part of the Light Speaker armor set.
Elden Hollow I Boss Mechanics
Need specific info? Click these quick links to go directly to each section.
Akash gra-Mal
This boss is very simple as far as mechanics go. So long as the tank can block when required to, hold a taunt, and keep the boss facing AWAY from the group, everything should be fine. Healers and dps should stand behind the boss at all times and stay close. DO NOT run around the room like a headless chicken it will not help.
Cleave – She will cleave in a frontal AOE in the shape of a cone, the tank should block this and hold her still making sure she does NOT face the group with this attack. It knocks back and can make things messy.
Whirlwind – Occasionally the boss will spin her weapon around her head making a whirlwind like AOE and anyone caught in this small damage circle will take damage per tick. Simply stay out of the circle and everything will be fine. No need for sprinting around, just get your feet out of it. The tank can stand in it if blocking but there is really no need, simply hold a taunt and keep her still. This ability by the way is usually followed by a heavy attack/uppercut which can and SHOULD be blocked.
Jump – IF you decide to start running around the room for no good reason, once someone gets too far from her she will randomly JUMP at players and land on their heads. Do not run around, stay close to her and this mechanic will never happen. It is designed to keep up group coordination, and messy groups will have a problem with her.
Ancient Spriggan
This boss is not really of any threat whatsoever and is funny to be even considered as a boss due to its low damage and low health, however, it is one nonetheless and of course, we will go over it.
Minions – As you enter the room you will notice that she will have 3 minions with her (smaller spriggans) these should be pulled together on top of the boss and turned away from the group. There are a few basic light attacks that they attempt to pull off and the odd heal which can be interrupted, however, these can be killed VERY fast with even the lowest AOE damage.
HEAL – She will occasionally try to heal herself or her minions (if they last that long) and this is a channeled effect that is easily spotted by her raising her hands and can be interrupted to prevent her from doing so.
Apart from the above she has very weak light attacks and should be turned away from the group and burnt down on the spot. Some of the trash enemies can be considered harder than this boss…Until Elden Hollow II that is when we meet the darker version of her!
Chokethorn
This boss has some of the simplest and most obvious mechanics but can be SO messy in groups that do not focus on them. The tank should be taunting the boss at all times and turn the boss away from the group. The group should then circle fairly spread neatly around the boss but CLOSE to it. The tank needs to make sure that he/she blocks the heavy attacks which come occasionally during the fight to avoid being knocked down.
Vine Pull – This Mechanic is very simple, IF you are too far away from the boss, it will chain you in and you are somewhat stuck for a second or so, this does minimal damage but is a pain and should be avoided if possible. This followed by the burst AOE mechanic can be a problem so do NOT run around the room, stay close unless mechanics mean you have to move.
Burst – In very few seconds Chokethorn will bury his head in the ground and a very large AOE will spread from the center of the room. This is your time to pay attention and get OUT of it. As soon as it is over, get back in close again. This is a very high damage ability and to a NON-blocking NON shielded dps or healer, this will take around 90% of your max health from you, and if unlucky can one-shot people as well. Simple mechanics, get out when it spreads, get back in when it is gone. If you are a tank caught in this, there is a low chance of dying but it WILL knock you down.
Healing Stranglers – Throughout the fight small stranglers will spawn around the room and attach a healing beam to the boss, healing for small amounts. These can be either interrupted or killed, but be sure to get back in position once you kill one to prevent the boss from pulling you in with vines. With a LOW dps group if you don’t kill them or stay on interrupts then you can get overwhelmed with these and it becomes very hard to kill the boss due to the amount of stacking heals. So be sure to prioritize these targets.
Nenesh gro-Mal
This boss is sometimes hard to see, he is in a LARGE group of enemies with multiple melee, ranged, and healer types. The tank should look for this guy first off and hold him on the spot facing away from the group. Then while holding the boss, try to pull in as many of the others as possible on top of him in order for the group to AOE to damage the adds. DO NOT run around the room, let the tank control the targets before they get out of hand.
Heavy Attack – A simple uppercut that should be blocked or else you will get knocked down. This is fine for even a dps to block as it does barely any damage.
Lightning Form – Just like the sorcerer player’s ability, he is in the form of lightning, and standing too close to him will zap players every second with shock damage, but the damage is VERY small. This shouldn’t cause much of a problem.
Burst/Mages Fury – This is a channeled attack that bursts lightning once in a small AOE. It does minimal damage BUT it can be interrupted. So if the team is on point with interrupts, this mechanic will not be a problem at all.
Leafseether
This boss is the big brother of the Alits in the dungeon. A big dinosaur-looking boss with some very simple mechanics. He has one friend with him and the tank should taunt both the regular Alit and the boss and simply hold them together facing away from the group. The group should stay behind the boss at all times.
Bite – An extremely weak attack that the tank can withstand without even blocking however can be problematic if too many hit a dps or healer, keep the boss turned away from the group and on the tank to prevent anyone from being bitten.
Jump – Just like the other enemies of this kind, he will JUMP in the air and slam onto the target he has aggro too (hopefully the tank). This is basically his heavy attack and MUST be blocked. A tank, dps, or healer will live through this with a simple block BUT if not blocked it can do quite a lot of damage and knockdown. Be sure the tank is taunting and blocking during this mechanic to save any issues. IF the boss is loose on a dps or healer however they should BLOCK and NOT run around the room. No need to run.
Breathe and Bite – This is a breathe IN animation followed by a pretty nasty bite. This should be kept facing the tank, do NOT spin the boss around because it is a cone-shaped AOE and can hit more than one person. This can be blocked but also, while it is casting you can actually just step out of it and then once it is over, step back in again.
Canonreeve Oraneth
The final boss in this dungeon can be quite challenging. She has a lot of health and does a LOT of damage if people don’t pay attention. She can be taunted and held on the spot but a lot of mechanics will individually target other members of the group so coordination is key. Your tank should hold the boss in the center of the room and your remaining group members should stand in a triangle formation having their OWN space just like in Spindleclucth fighting the whisperer. Do NOT run around the room. Find your spot and only move from it when you HAVE to.
Frost – Very much like lightning form (but without the visual) she will spawn a frost ability which will do very small damage over time to people very close to her, this is weak but indicates her next mechanic is coming (the poison bolt).
Poison Bolt – This s the reason you must stay in formation. Although the tank can hold a taunt on her for the whole fight, THIS mechanic is random and she will cast it on whoever she wants. She will physically turn and face the target she has chosen, wind up a channeled ability, and fire a poison bolt at the player. If this is YOU, you NEED to dodge roll as she casts it. Doing so will mean you completely avoid the damage. BUT if you miss the timing you will be hit with the bolt and take a LOT of damage alongside having small damage over time on you also. This can kill most dps/healer types if they are not paying attention. Once you have dodged the mechanic, get back in position ASAP. Don’t sprint around the room.
Stun – This is a very easy-to-spot mechanic, she will place a rather small AOE on the ground on a player of her choice, or NEAR a player. Hands will come out of the ground and pull the player into the hole stunning them in place. The simple resolution to this mechanic is “don’t stand in it”.
Skeletons – Another small AOE similar to the one above but this one actually spawns 4x skeleton enemies. These should be killed quickly with AOE damage and the tank should try to grab them and put them with the boss (chains,range taunts, don’t run around the room). These if controlled will not cause much of a problem BUT if you run around the room panicking you are going to distract the group from the rest of the mechanics and risk wiping everyone out. Keep coordinated and don’t panic. If they are on you, just block until the tank can grab them, or kill them fast, whichever works best for your group. They do heavy attacks though so look out for those.
BLAST – This HUGE obvious growing AOE is very simple. Get out of it or die. When you see it spreading, move backward until you are out of it, and then when it is gone get back in again. A tank can withstand the damage if they are chunky enough but will get knocked back. A dps or healer will die in one-shot. Pay attention and once it is gone, get back into your assigned position. Again running around is going to make things a MESS, so find your spot and only move when you have to, then get back where you were.
Elden Hollow I Dungeon Loot
Below is a list of all the loot you can expect to find in Elden Hollow I.
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 Elden Hollow Coffer or it could be in her mystery coffer. You can learn more about the Undaunted in the Undaunted Guide.
- Barkskin
- Light Speaker
- Undaunted Bastion
- Chokethorn (monster helm from vet only)
Builds That Use Elden Hollow I Gear
Elden Hollow I Achievements
Canonreeve Reaver
Defeat Canonreeve Oraneth in Veteran Elden Hollow I, after invoking the Scroll of Glorious Battle.
Elden Hollow I Assassin
Defeat Akash gra-Mal, the Ancient Spriggan, Chokethorn, Nenesh gro-Mal, Leafseether, and Canonreeve Oraneth in Veteran Elden Hollow I within twenty minutes of starting the dungeon. Timer starts when players engage the first group of Thalmor.
Elden Hollow I Conqueror
Defeat Cell Haunter, Shadowrend, Angata the Clannfear Handler, the Skeletal Destroyer, and High Kinlord Rilis in Veteran Banished Cells I.
Elden Hollow I Survivor
Defeat Akash gra-Mal, the Ancient Spriggan, Chokethorn, Nenesh gro-Mal, Leafseether, and Canonreeve Oraneth in Veteran Elden Hollow I, without suffering a group member death.
Elden Hollow I Vanquisher
Defeat Akash gra-Mal, Chokethorn, and Canonreeve Oraneth in Elden Hollow I.
Veteran Alit Slayer
Defeat 100 Alit in Veteran Elden Hollow I.
Veteran Darkfern Orc Slayer
Defeat 400 Darkfern Orcs in Veteran Elden Hollow I.
Elden Hollow I Leads
The following antiquity leads can be acquired in the Elden Hollow I.
The Face of the Serpent is part of the Ring of the Wild Hunt mythic item.
The dig zone for this lead is found in Grahtwood.
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…
