How do you access challenging solo content?

[Guluarag_Prognathus]

In the story missions it seems like nothing can kill me.

[kaki_gamet]

Maelstrom Arena (in Wrothgar) or Vateshran Hollows (in The Reach). Everything else are self imposed handicaps (like doing group content alone).

[Thomas D.]

Soloing world bosses (for example dragons 😁). They are not explicitly group content.

[pepoma6inata]

somehow by dificulty: base game public dungeons > world bosses(WB), dolmens, Craglorn zone > base game normal group dungeons, dlc WB > arenas > vet base game group dungeons and dlc normal dungeons...

most group dungeons are soloable (entering in dungeon directly or through the map after discovered)

there is list at the end
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/guides/dungeonsguide

easy starters - Fungal Grotto 1 or Volenfell,
if you want surprise - drop at Darkshade Caverns 2

[Thomas D.]

Why surprise in dark shade caverns 2? I already had to solo it on a tank 🤣, because the group DPS was < 20k, while I did provide 5-10k myself 🤔. And one DD as the healer just left seeing that they couldnt handle it.

Just swapped one of my Tank sets with a DD set (I think it was yolna to bahsei) and put on some damage skills and let's do it with something between 20-40k DPS.

Funny thing was that another DD and healer just joined at the end of the netch fight and after that fight I said: "let's switch back to tank" and the healer said that it looked like I would be a fake tank and was about to kick me 🤣

[pepoma6inata]

it was just for example. if you forgot it, put yourself in the shoes of someone who has never been in dungeon, enter it solo and step a bit inside 🤣 .

[Thomas D.]

Yeah I can imagine, same for banished cells 2.

Funny thing is that a few hours ago here was a thread of someone asking how to do banished cells 1 and if he have just to level up (he didn't knew it was a group dungeon). Probably he deleted it after I told him that it is a group dungeon and not meant to be soloed.

But I think banished cells 2 is a funnier surprise 🤣

[Guluarag_Prognathus]

Thanks for the replies guys, I think I will try the first two suggestions.

[Bad2ThaBone]

yeah, in ESO challenging and solo tends to be an oxymoron, except in the case of the two arenas. Craglorn used to be difficult back in the day but years of power creep and no updates to vanilla overland content by the devs has made almost everything overland hilariously ez

[Guluarag_Prognathus]

It's so jarring that I avoid mobs because theyre pathetically easy and have no self preservation instinct.

[Thomas D.]

Mirri even taunts them for not haveing any self preservation instinct 🤣

[WildCat]

Originally posted by Guluarag_Prognathus:

In the story missions it seems like nothing can kill me.

Take all your gear off, unequip your skills and engage them in fisticuffs.

[Guluarag_Prognathus]

Originally posted by WildCat:

Originally posted by Guluarag_Prognathus:

In the story missions it seems like nothing can kill me.

Take all your gear off, unequip your skills and engage them in fisticuffs.

Then I make zero progress and receive little reward.

[Donauwelle]

Originally posted by Guluarag_Prognathus:

It's so jarring that I avoid mobs because theyre pathetically easy and have no self preservation instinct.

You have to live with that im afraid, years ago when ZoS introduced levelscaling they nuked the difficulty of solo content aswell.

And since then it got worse and worse, with the players doing a lot more dps then back then while also beeing a lot more tanky/healy then "back then".

Solo difficulty is non existant at this point, even in solo arenas.
Even vet dngs are totally soloable unless there are mechanics wich need 2-3-4 players to work out.
Most player intentionally downgrade their chars when questing a new DLC, as its totally goofy to oneshoot yet another World-ending, super-evil, nealry Godlike threat to all of tamriel...

Thats why since summerset in story endboss- fights there are this annoying "mechaincs" where you have to wait for a npc doing some stuff or the boss ending some "look at me im flying" BS...
Zos integrated this artificial "phases" so player dont oneshoot them anymore...

DLC dng/Trial Hardmodes are sometimes still challenging (depends on dlc/trial age) but even there the game is heavily lacking updates...
Old stuff is even on HM just pathetic.

I recently helped a friends new trial group with vMol (they lacked a tank). They just wanted to do regular vet...
I was like "wtf if you clear 2nd boss you clear HM with ease"
And thats what happend.... whole group was like: "wow that HM was a lot easier then 2nd boss mechanic lmao"
Few days later i helped them with vHof... same story... you clear graveyard? then Hm is freeloot!

Doesnt go for every HM tho, vKA hm is still quite toasty for new groups as the fight takes quite long without top-notch dps and involves a lot of hillarious mechs wich are totally different from non HM like the ressurection teleport or then Cageadds in last phase...

Then on the other side... with todays dps Top notch grps melt the boss while often just ignoring mechanics...

The cage-adds in last phase can for example ignored when you have nuff DPS/HPS
In VSS HM you can offtank the statues and ignore them with nuff dps to nuke the adds, and so on and so on

[WildCat]

Originally posted by Guluarag_Prognathus:

Originally posted by WildCat:

Take all your gear off, unequip your skills and engage them in fisticuffs.

Then I make zero progress and receive little reward.

Which means it always remains challenging solo content. Progress leads to being powerful or even OP and that makes it a less challenge. Go naked, never have to worry about that.

[Space is the Place]

What all this post mean is: paying.

Because everyone is telling you to do the hard content go here or there, but few are telling you that "here and there" are paid content pieces you have to pay on crown store.

Doing blind runs of the latest DLC dungeon/trial/arena on vet HMs is the only challenge you will encounter. Once you learn the mechanics of said content generally you would stop considering the content hard and rather think 99% of players you encounter in that content have no idea how to play it. But the "challenge" generally resides in understanding mech, rather than the game being actually "difficult".