As any Argonian will tell you, something at the heart of the “Puzzle City” is terribly wrong and deeply disturbing at a basic, almost organic level. Erect the spines of warning!
Ruins of Mazzatun 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. Ruins of Mazzatun can be accessed at Level 45. 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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Ruins of Mazzatun Location
The Ruins of Mazzatun is located in the northwestern region of Shadowfen. Travel northwest from the Stillrise Wayshrine to reach Ruins of Mazzatun. You can also access Ruins of Mazzatun specifically by using the Dungeon Finder.
Inside Ruins of Mazzatun
Ruins of Mazzatun is a one-level dungeon with four bosses and one quest. The enemies in this dungeon include Xit-Xaht warriors, mudcrabs, argonian shellbinders, and kotu gavas.
Banishing The Banished
The first time you enter the Banished Cells I dungeon, you will find Keeper Cirion fighting banekins. After the battle is completed, he tells you the dungeon has been overrun by daedra. The daedra have also freed the High Kinlord Rilis who has great magical power. Keeper Cirion asks that you locate the other three keepers and ultimately help imprison High Kinlord Rilis.
Completing Banished the Banished
After defeating High Kinlord Rilis, all four keepers gather with crystals and capture Rilis inside a binding crystal. Speak to Finagaenion to complete this quest. Completing this quest will reward you with gold, a skill point, and the Erthas’ Sunderflame Bow, part of the Sunderflame armor set.
Ruins of Mazzatun Boss Mechanics
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Zatzu
This boss is a borderline “burn fest” he is not difficult at all but does have some very important basic mechanics which will help you with the Stone Shapers in the remainder of the dungeon. Get your tank to hold the boss as still as possible while turning him away from the group. The key point for this boss, however, is that running around in circles will do nothing. So focus, plant your feet, and move when you NEED to, not just because you think it looks cool (spoiler: it doesn’t)
Heavy Attack – The boss has an uppercut attack and will hit whoever has agro (should be the tank) this must be blocked or you will be knocked down.
Teleport Slam – The boss will raise his hand in the air and jump up into the sky! He will then land on whoever has aggro with a huge aoe splash. You need to avoid this and stay out of it, but when he lands there will also be rocks that fly across the floor OUTSIDE of the AOE. Even if you are out of the aoe, be sure to block when he lands.
Flying Rocks – During the fight the boss will stop attacking and channel a casting ability. This will make rocks appear in the air and attack the group over and over until the channeling is over. During this phase you must block else you will be knocked down. These deal moderate damage but while knocked down if another hits you while you are down (too slow to react) you can end up dead. EXACTLY the same as the 75% and under phases on the second boss in Aetherian Archive.
Mighty Chudan
This boss can be extremely simple if the mechanics are followed but many think that they have to run around in circles and all will be ok…WRONG. This room is massive, so the more you run around the harder it is to keep people alive and control things. The boss needs to taunt the boss and keep it faced away from the group at all times. The hitbox of the boss can be a little tricky so dps MAY want to highlight/tab target the boss.
Spit (heavy attack mechanic) – During the fight Chudan will wind up a heavy attack. This is unlike the regular kind. You do need to block as much of the damage as possible but she will spit at the target (should be the tank) multiple times in a very short period of time causing MASSIVE damage and laying aoes on the ground. Everyone must stay out of the aoes and the tank must not spin the boss around.
Note: If you are a Dragonknight with wings or as a tank you have a defensive stance or spell wall, this will reflect the spit at the boss…this will take timing. You can also dodge roll it to some extent but timing again is key. Above all, be sure to block it and the healer needs to focus on you.
Note: If you are a dps and this is on you, you need to dodge roll 3 times, once a second(which will kill your resources) else you are dead…basically for the tank…DON’T drop the boss!!
Haj-Mota Adds – During the fight there will be haj-mota adds spawning two at a time. They are smaller than the regular ones in the dungeon but it helps if you can get rid of these else you can get overwhelmed quickly especially when they start diving at the group!
Archers – During the fight, there will be long-ranged archers in the room. If the tank can manage to it helps to have these chained into the boss (careful not to spin the boss). These spawn over and over and if you do not kill them fast they will overwhelm the group!
Lightning Shield – During the fight, there is an argonian with a large lightning shield over it. This target cannot be attacked by players but will hit the group constantly with lightning attacks while it is alive…more below.
CHARGE!! – The boss will pick a random player and a big fast spreading aoe under their feet will start to spread…Don’t try to run away from it, it is on YOU! Remember the lightning guy above? Well, THIS is how you stop him. Take that aoe and stand in front of him. Once the AOE hits peek…Chudan will take a massive underground dive at YOU. Just before it reaches you, you need to dodge roll. Chudan will go straight past and destroy the lightning guy and his shield. From here on out it is rinse and repeat until it happens again, new Haj-motas, new archers, etc.
Xal-Nur The Slayer
This boss is all about coordination and focus as a group. The tank should hold the boss as close to the middle of the room as possible to prevent any long runs for the group(coming up). He doesn’t hit particularly hard but there are some mechanics which can overwhelm the group quickly.
Roar – The boss will roar occasionally with a fairly large aoe around him, this does tiny interrupts/knockbacks while doing high damage over time. Do not stand in this intentionally unless you are the tank.
Charge – the boss will pick one person at random to charge at. Now, this TECHNICALLY is and looks like a heavy attack (white sparks). The target chosen should block so they don’t get run over by him BUT…if the group is fast enough, as soon as he starts running (note he must have started moving, the channeling before doesn’t count) you CAN interrupt it. This will take practice, but the timing makes this mechanic very easy.
Archers – During the fight archers will be added to the room, they will do nasty long-ranged attacks and “take aim” abilities which Can one-shot a dps. if they start channeling a take aim they must be killed.
Trolls – As well as archers, each phase will have a troll added to the room. These must be controlled by the tank and if possible killed fast(focus adds not the boss, the boss is on health timers anyway). These can deal high damage and do regular ground stomping aoes. Don’t let the trolls live if you can help it.
Stomp – Exactly the same as the behemoth in Maelstrom Arena, the boss will occasionally stomp the ground and rocks will fire across the floor around the room and if caught in the path it will deal moderate damage and interrupt/small knockback.
Wamasu Slavers – During the fight the boss will go Immune to all damage. This will happen based on his max health 3 times the lower he goes (although if you have crazy damage these can overlap and sometimes even skip the last phase). During these phases, trolls will come into the room and ONE slaver needs to be killed so they release their Wamasu to help run around killing the adds for you. Be sure that you assign one member of your group to release the Wamasus ONCE per immune phase.
Spit/Mudcrabs – During the immune phase the boss will spit on the floor. DO NOT stand in it yet. Look around the room, there are two corners to focus on. One of them with have a geyser of water firing from it, THAT is the direction you need to be headed towards. So once your goal/direction is determined, that is when one member from the group (not the tank) needs to run through the spit and go straight to the geyser. The longer you have the goo you just picked up the slower you will move, you have 0 resources and you will take damage from adds throwing stray attacks at you, you will be chased by mudcrabs and yes the boss can choose to charge you during this stage. Get as close as you can to the geyser and then drop it. Let another member pick it up and finish the job. It helps if someone is healing you along the way because most die on the run. Once the geyser is plugged, the boss with go into a roar mechanic and he can take damage again.
As stated above, this will happen 3 times during the fight. During these times you must have your tank grab as many adds as possible without dropping the boss. Throwing ultimates after he is no longer immune helps push him to the next phase AND deal with adds fast. But the choice is yours.
NOTE: As mentioned above, the boss has mechanics based on health amount. SO the faster you burn it, the more mechanics will happen at once and possibly overlap. So to play it safe, take your time! Focus on the adds and empty the room and THEN focus on the boss. Rinse repeat!
Tree-Minder Ka-Nesh
This boss is every P.U.G’s nightmare because of what i generally call “execute panic!”. Basically what I mean is, people look at the boss’s health and assume it is almost dead so ignore all mechanics…THAT will get you killed here. You must focus on mechanics at all times, ESPECIALLY during execute. Get your tank to hold the boss still and taunt as you would with any other boss fight and the dps in a semi-circle behind her. And get ready to focus on whatever happens next. This will require a confident or at least competent tank!
Heavy Attack – Easy to see this one, dual-wield heavy attack! You see this winding up, you block it! Tank or not. This has a big knock back but if you are blocking it will barely scratch you.
Totem – The boss will spawn a totem from the ground during the fight. When this appears the tank needs to apply a debuff to it if possible (piece armor) and stack the boss on top of it. The group needs to 100% focus this as soon as possible. During its lifetime it will drain players of all their resources in a very short period of time until nothing is left and then keep you at 0. This MUST be killed, there will be one every phase (unless you skip phases with high damage). The start of the fight being phase one.
Spirit Phase – at 70% and 50% she will hide in her cage and be immune to all damage while summoning a spirit of a previous boss to fight you. First, at 70% it will be Chudan. Be sure that your tank is WIDE awake for this since she will spawn heavy attacking and if the tank doesn’t taunt fast enough you will lose a player to a one-shot. In this phase, you can kill it fast and get back on with the boss OR you can take your time and build ultimate up. The choice is yours. Once the boss is dead she will leave the cage and the fight continues. This will happen again at 50% but this time you will fight Xal Nur again instead.
Adds – IF you have low damage these can spawn before she goes into the cage at 70% however if you have avoided them spawning they WILL spawn afterward when she leaves her cage at 70% and 50%. These adds consist of close-range and long-range squishies and also one of the nastiest of them all, the “Stone Shapers”. Remember the mechanics for these guys. They must be focused and they must be blocked if rocks are in the air! The tank should grab as many adds as possible INCLUDING the Stone Shaper (in fact he is more important) and stack them all with the boss and root them. Don’t let the adds run off and power up in the amber plasm pools.
While the adds are up you are very likely to get a totem. So if that happens, stack EVERYTHING including the boss on top of the totem and the group needs to kill it asap or you are likely to wipe. You need a lot of aoe for this so keep your dots down while the adds are in the room. If you get agro from any adds, and you are not the tank, do NOT run away. If you run around in circles you WILL get hit in the back of the head, you WILL make a mess of it all and you WILL die…FOCUS!
Statues – When the boss spirits are killed and she is released 70%/50% she will curse ONE member of the group. They will have their screen go into some rather funky dream-like colors and they will have all of their abilities changed to the same skill (no heals no damage, no buffs just one spammable). The group can see which statue around the room is lit up. SO the cursed one needs to let the group know they are cursed, and the group should all move TOGETHER to the correct statue so the one who is cursed can attack the correct statue. Breaking the statue will remove the curse. This will take serious coordination. You can reveal it for your teammate via a synergy but running together taking the boss and adds with you is much safer. This phase will also happen at 30% and below when she goes into an enraged state, so you must focus here. This mechanic will happen as mentioned above a total of 3 times 70% after the spirit, 50% after the spirit and 30% and below at execute.
Special Note: So long as the tank has a taunt on the boss she will NOT curse them. So be sure to taunt the boss before she leaves the cage, or else things get messy fast.
Execute – The final phase is what I call “execute panic” people see disco lights and go crazy jumping around, do NOT do this. The boss at 30% and below will go into enraged mode and do a disco light type spinning aoe effect which will shoot roots at the players doing damage and slowing them down. You can technically wiggle a little bit to get in the gaps but so much is going on it is safer to just focus on your job. Keep her taunted at all times, keep the heals coming, and keep the damage and rotations up and it is a lot more relaxed than it looks.
KEY points: Kill and control all adds.
Kill the totem at all costs
Cleanse the final curse
If you follow the above, relax, don’t run around in circles and work together as a team, the execution is easy. BUT if you start panicking and running around the room, it is all over. You MUST focus on this final phase no matter how long it takes you. The aoe effects “look scary” but they are not as bad as they look.
Good luck!!!
Ruins of Mazzatun Dungeon Loot
Below is a list of all the loot you can expect to find in Ruins of Mazzatun.
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 main 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 Urgarlag Chief-Bane at the nearest Undaunted enclave. She sells a 50/50 chance at the shoulder piece as part of the Shadows of the Hist Coffer or it could be in her mystery coffer. You can learn more about the Undaunted in the Undaunted Guide.
- Amber Plasm
- Aspect of Mazzatun
- Heem-Jas’ Retribution
- Mighty Chudan (monster helm from vet only)
Ruins of Mazzatun Achievements
Blind Luck
Defeat Tree-Minder Na-Kesh in Veteran Ruins of Mazzatun without any party members using the Reveal synergy to identify the real Avatar of the Hist.
Clean Freak
Defeat Xal-Nur the Slaver in Veteran Ruins of Mazzatun with only one party member cleansing the Swamp Spice. Other party members may still touch the Swamp Spice.
Haj Mota Matador
Defeat the Mighty Chudan in Veteran Ruins of Mazzatun without any party members being hit by Bog Rush.
Mazzatun Massacre
Defeat Tree-Minder Na-Kesh after first eliminating all other enemies in Ruins of Mazzatun.
Obedience Training
Defeat Xal-Nur the Slaver in Veteran Ruins of Mazzatun without unleashing any Wamasu to assist you.
Ruination
Defeat Zatzu the Spine-Breaker, The Mighty Chudan, Xal-Nur the Slaver, and Tree-Minder Na-Kesh in Veteran Ruins of Mazzatun within 30 minutes of starting the dungeon. Timer starts on passing through the first archway.
Ruins of Mazzatun Challenger
Complete the listed achievements for Veteran Ruins of Mazzatun.
Ruins of Mazzatun Conqueror
Defeat Zatzu the Spine-Breaker, The Mighty Chudan, Xal-Nur the Slaver, and Tree-Minder Na-Kesh in Veteran Ruins of Mazzatun.
Ruins of Mazzatun Vanquisher
Defeat Zatzu the Spine-Breaker, The Mighty Chudan, Xal-Nur the Slaver, and Tree-Minder Na-Kesh in the Ruins of Mazzatun.
Sapped Sludge Slingers
Complete Ruins of Mazzatun without ever allowing a Sludge Slinger to empower one of its allies with Amber Plasm.
Savior of the Su-Zahleel
Rescue all six of the Su-Zahleel Elders from the Ritual Chamber in Veteran Ruins of Mazzatun.
Shadows of the Hist Delver
Complete Veteran Cradle of Shadows and Veteran Ruins of Mazzatun.
Shadows of the Hist Explorer
Enter either the Ruins of Mazzatun or the Cradle of Shadows for the first time.
Sludge-Slinger Slayer
Defeat 50 Xit-Xaht Sludge-Slingers in Veteran Ruins of Mazzatun.
Sticky Situation Savvy
Defeat Tree-Minder Na-Kesh in Veteran Ruins of Mazzatun without any party members being struck by Blistering Amber.
Tree-Minder’s Mania
In Veteran Ruins of Mazzatun, defeat Tree-Minder Na-Kesh after enraging her by destroying her alchemical notes on Amber Plasm.
Unbowed
Defeat Zatzu the Spine-Breaker, The Mighty Chudan, Xal-Nur the Slaver, and Tree-Minder Na-Kesh in Veteran Ruins of Mazzatun without suffering a group member death.
Xit-Xaht Slayer
Defeat 600 members of the Xit-Xaht tribe in Veteran Ruins of Mazzatun.
Ruins of Mazzatun Leads
The following antiquity leads can be acquired in the Ruins of Mazzatun.
The Bog-Blue Jasper Fetish is part of the Harpooner’s Wading Kilt mythic item.
The dig zone for this lead is found in Blackwood.
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…
