This year, The Elder Scrolls Online kicked off the Season of the Dragon by letting players collect the two halves of the Wrathstone. Reuniting the halves unleashed the fury of dragons upon Tamriel. Players were later brought into Elsweyr to help fight back the plague they brought into the Khajiit homeland.

Now, players must contend with the repercussions of allowing dragons to once again roam free across Tamriel in Scalebreaker. Players must square off against Maarselok, whose corruption is quite catching, as well a vampire who believes true power lies within the heart…of a dragon.

These epic dungeons breathe more life into the Season of the Dragon event. Tamriel comes alive. Dragons roam free once more. The fight continues on. Though, this epic adventure’s conclusion is on the horizon.

Lair of Maarselok

This dungeon is a fantastic example of how The Elder Scrolls Online makes all of Tamriel feel as if it is alive. The Lair of Maarselok takes players to the mountains in Grahtwood, in the Aldmeri Dominion. The Elswyer DLC kept players, and dragons, focused on the new zone. This DLC really shows how the story can span all of Tamriel.

Players must make their way through a land of corruption to face off against Maarselok. When players helped reunite the halves of the Wrathstone, this beast was awoken. Needless to say, this was highly regarded by many in Tamriel as a very bad idea.

When players arrive at the lair, it is evident that things are not quite as they seem. There is an eery, unnatural look to the area. Even though it is a sight to behold, it is caused by the influence of Maarselok. Maarselok’s corruption allows him to protect himself as the players make their though the beautiful, albeit deadly, dungeon.

This dragon is quite clever making it the road a difficult one for players. The dungeon, like Moongrave Fane and other dungeon DLCs of the past, is intended for a four-player party. Maarselok’s corruption ensures that reaching him is no easy feat. Players will need to work together to fight the bosses under the thrall of the dragon.

When players successfully defeat Maarselok’s minions, they must face Maarselok himself. As was proven in the Elsweyr DLC, players are not the Dragonborn, and these aren’t your 2011 Skyrim dragons. Beings like Maarselok are clever and quite powerful. Success is not easy, but a party in sync will be able to bring Maarselok’s corruption to an end.

Moongrave Fane

Last month, I sat down with a few developers as they graciously escorted me through Moongrave Fane. I was given a thrilling tour of the dungeon by Dungeon Lead Mike Finnigan, Lead Content Designer Jeremy Sera, and Lead UI Designer Bobby Weir. These three provided wonderful insight into the creation of the Moongrave Fane. They also kept my Level 9 Necromancer from dying too often. Friendly reminder that these are four-player dungeons for a reason.

When arriving at the dungeon, we found ourselves in front of the ruins of a Khajitti temple. The Hollowfang Clan has taken residence inside the ruins and is holding a felled dragon captive. One member, Grundwulf, is a former member of the Dragonguard. Grundwulf believes that drinking the blood of the dragon will make him more powerful than people could imagine.

Inside the ruins, we came across some members of the Hollowfang Clan playing with a massive block. The members were able to strike the block and send it sliding across the ground. This block movement is actually one of the core mechanics to solving puzzles and defeating enemies in the Moongrave Fane DLC. Having this mechanic introduced early in a relatively safe environment and subsequently utilized through the rest of the dungeon made it feel quite natural.

Moving through the dungeon, I couldn’t help but be taken back by the design. The structures were artfully done, the enemies were unique, and the overall feel of the dungeon was fantastic. The focus on world-building through proper dungeon design is quite clear. I marveled at everything so often that I did, in fact, die I couple more times than intended.

It was brought to my attention that much of the construction for Moongrave Fane was translated fantastically from the concept art. The final boss area was a perfect rendition of the concept art they had drawn up. Everything in the dungeon felt like it needed to be there. The statues in the ruined temple make it feel like an actual place of worship that fell apart. The focus on detail in the dungeon is quite remarkable and the world-builders did a fine job.

When coming to the end of the dungeon, we had to face off against a couple more bosses (there are five bosses total in Moongrave Fane) before going toe to toe with Grundwulf. We made our way down to where they were holding the dragon captive and faced off against the former Dragonguard. The fight was great fun. Using what we learned about moving the blocks and how they work in combat situations made for quite a memorable battle. With some help from the felled dragon, we were able to take down Grundwulf.

Scalebreaker is a wonderful expansion to the Season of the Dragon event, as well as to The Elder Scrolls Online as a whole. The DLC is now available on all platforms and is available for 1,500 crowns. A collector’s bundle, which includes the DLC as well as five Crown Experience Scrolls, the Ancient Dragon Hunter Horse mount, and the Ancient Dragon Hunter Wolf pet, is available for 4,000 crowns.

The Scalebreaker DLC was also accompanied by Update 23. This is a quality-of-life update that should bring great improvements, certain mechanics. More information on Update 23 for those interested can be found here.

If you are interested in trying The Elder Scrolls Online, the game is free to play until Monday, September 2nd. More information on that here.

I would like to thank Mike Finnigan, Jeremy Sera, and Bobby Weir once more for taking me through Moongrave Fane. It was a wonderful experience, gorgeous to gawk at, and an absolute blast to play.