User:XT-8147/Guide to Getting the Hang of Dungeons

Dungeons are already explained in great detail on this wiki, but to me one piece of critical information is missing: Ranking according to overall difficulty. Some dungeons are much longer than others, some have many more hazards than others, etc. Getting started can feel daunting when you are at the point where you walk into a dungeon and die a horrible death shortly thereafter. That's where this guide comes in.

10 Rules to live by in dungeons

 * 1) Do your research
 * 2) *Read the dungeon's article here. Look at its walkthrough for anything important.
 * 3) *Then scroll down to the list of enemies and go through each one's skills. Knowing what you're up against is very important.
 * 4) *Take note of whether or not enemies are fleshy, or if they have monster skills that need to be interrupted, or if they have regular skills to be wary of.
 * 5) Light of Deldrimor is neat but in no way required
 * 6) *The Dwarven Warrior allies can be very useful, especially if backed up with decent hero/henchman healers or competent player healers.
 * 7) *The Hidden Treasures generally aren't worth the time it takes to find them.
 * 8) *Secret Levers are also revealed, but I haven't done a dungeon with one yet.
 * 9) Don't forget the dungeon's quest
 * 10) *Sometimes it's given by an NPC standing right outside the dungeon, but others you'll have to look up where to get the quest. Fortunately, this is a wiki, and there is a search box...
 * 11) *If you don't have the quest you won't be able to progress past the first room of the dungeon.
 * 12) Plan the safest route to the dungeon entrance
 * 13) *The area around some dungeon entrances is way more treacherous than others.
 * 14) *Go and try to clear your way to the entrance a few times, approaching it from different angles and see which one works best for you.
 * 15) *If all else fails, get some party-wide death penalty-removing consumables and clean your party of death penalty once inside the dungeon.
 * 16) Plan a route through the dungeon
 * 17) *Dungeons often have multiple paths, some may be much harder than others.
 * 18) *If your goal is simply to get through the dungeon, you'll want to take a route that lets you sail on through.
 * 19) *Likewise, if you're up for a challenge, you'll want to be able to plan accordingly.
 * 20) *Your route should include a stop at the Area Map if there is one in the level.
 * 21) Take the bounty from the Beacon of Droknar
 * 22) *Every 25 kills you get a random bonus, and a hefty 7% morale boost.
 * 23) *This morale boost will help greatly in getting rid of death penalty should you acquire any.
 * 24) *Also, talking to each Beacon of Droknar you come across in the dungeon after the first in the level will get you points for your Dwarven reputation title, assuming you've killed enough enemies.
 * 25) Pull enemies
 * 26) *Enemies that are close to one another may not aggro together.
 * 27) *If you can fight enemies on your terms rather than theirs, you increase your odds of survival.
 * 28) *Carry a flatbow for pulling. You don't have to meet its requirement and it doesn't need to deal any real amount of damage.
 * 29) *Make extensive use of flagging if you have heroes and/or henchmen.
 * 30) *For best results pulling with heroes and henchmen, flag them out of your aggro circle.
 * 31) *Pulling is difficult with summoning stone allies or the dwarven warrior allies present.
 * 32) Eliminate the biggest threat in each group first
 * 33) *This will make the rest of the fight easier.
 * 34) *Depending on the dungeon, the biggest threat in a group may not be a boss.
 * 35) Pace yourself
 * 36) *Rushing will get you killed. Take your time.
 * 37) *Let energy and health replenish between fights.
 * 38) *Where applicable, let skills recharge as well.
 * 39) *When in doubt, err on the side of caution.
 * 40) Don't get frustrated
 * 41) *Try to figure out why you died if you die.
 * 42) *Over-aggro is a very common cause of death.
 * 43) *Dungeons can also have pops, just like regular explorable zones, so stay alert even when your radar shows no enemies in the vicinity.
 * 44) *Everyone gets run over by a rock at some point. Learn where the rocks are and where the safe spots are.
 * 45) *Try to avoid or disarm traps whenever possible. Use flagging to safely maneuver heroes and henchmen around them.

Fronis Irontoe's Lair
Possibly the easiest dungeon in the game, since you basically can't die and you have a specialized skill set. Talk to Kilroy Stonekin in Gunnar's Hold if you haven't done this one. He has an entire Dwarven Boxing quest line, and completing it unlocks some of the Dwarven PvE skills.

Heart of the Shiverpeaks
This one is required in order to complete the story of Eye of the North.

Ooze Pit
Levels: 1

This is one of the easiest dungeons to get to. Just a little way east of Longeye's Ledge is a Siege Devourer. The Siege Devourer will aggro at approximately spirit range, so it's possible to pull it alone. Weaken it, kill the Charr that pops out, and take it for your own. Congratulations, the rest of the route to the dungeon entrance is now a breeze.

Once in the dungeon and all set up with your blessing from the Beacon of Droknar, you'll want to obey the simple rule of killing the Earthbound Ooze(s) in each group first, even before that Ancient Ooze warrior boss. Earthbound Oozes have powerful area of effect skills that can quickly drain your party's health. Interrupt Ooze Division if you see it being used.

You generally won't have to worry about getting an Unstable Gelatinous Mass to blow up a wall. They drop fairly commonly, so just keep killing Oozes and you'll be able to blow up that wall in no time. There aren't very many walls to blow up, and the number of unstable masses will easily outnumber them, so if you're a melee class you might consider picking one up, gaining aggro, and then dropping it.

The rocks here are generally easily avoidable. There is one point towards the end where they can approach from behind you, so watch out for that.

There are traps after the first pressure plate door, but they don't seem to be active.

Technically if you take a longer route the second pressure plate door doesn't have to be opened. You can get the boss key and reach the boss lock without it.

Kill the Prismatic Oozes at the end one by one. Treat them like Titans since they follow the same "more enemies spawn on death" pattern. Try to interrupt Gelatinous Absorption. If you can't it's not the end of the world, it will end eventually. Plan a wise retreat when a Prismatic Ooze is close to death (having degen helps with this). Let the Hulking Volatile Oozes self-detonate when you're out of range, and then pull the lesser Oozes separately and kill them off at your leisure. Then repeat the process with the next Prismatic Ooze.

Overall, this dungeon is a good place to get started doing dungeons. It's not too difficult, but death will still follow if you make too big a mistake. You may want to repeat this dungeon once or twice after initially completing it, just to do better at that one part you messed up on last time or whatever. When you can do it reliably with no deaths (not even rock deaths), it's time to move on.

This is the only non-special/non-story dungeon I've done thus far. More to come as I do them.