Tried this dungeon out today for the very first time with three different characters - all newly made and with low levels: a 4-level Dunmer rogue warrior with a sword, light shield and crossbow, a 4-level Altmer mage/archer and a 3-level Imperial two-hander fighter with heavy armor. Before I go any further here, I just want to say I levelled up a lot in this place and I did beat the end boss with the Dunmer and the Altmer, but the mighty warrior had a hard time and eventually had to flee from the final battle after a few death incidents.
Because this dungeon comes with some high-level enemies, that's for sure, so I want to say that at once. If you decide to venture into this forgotten tomb, be ready to either run away or come prepared unless you have the levels to bring on your own. I'll try to explain it a bit without spoiling too much. The very first chamber we enter is a huge underground cave. It's dark, but also with some gleaming points of light, so the atmosphere is there for sure. This goes for the whole dungeon actually - lots of dark nooks and corners, but still with well-placed light to create some wonderful eerieness. This is when playing with light mods and using an ENB adapted for darker dungeons at least. Beautifully done!
But back to that first cave... The "guardian" of this room is something with the word "epic" in it's name and that alone should tell you, it's not something you can handle in close combat with a low-level character. Well, I couldn't at least, since my melee warrior had to rush through this room and into a more narrow corridor in which the guardian creature couldn't fit. I'm going to assume that's for a reason by the mod author and if so, good call! It allowed me to continue deeper into the dark without having to face that first monster. Both my two elves managed to bring it down though through range attacks.
The continuation of the dungeon is a both hectic and well-made creation. There are waypoints when you think it's going to be too much to handle, but I did prevail against everything the place threw at me with both a rogue, a mage and a warrior. In some occasions it got really stressful and the panic was closing in, but in the end these fights were very fun and kept you on your toes. I had to retreat and use tactics with the rogue and the mage, I could slaughter my way through hordes of undead with my battleaxe, yet still being strategic about it or else I'd chew more than I could swallow. I liked the whole progress throughout the old tomb and the darkness and the different passages made the exploration fun. You didn't know what could be waiting and after seeing the guardian in the first chamber as well as some massive riots from the undead, you never knew what to expect which gave the place some nerve.
Wonderful use of depth in the level desgin with some high walkways and tight corners. Some rooms are harder to find and for some you need lockpicks, but you could always find your way through to the boss chamber. I actually ended up taking different paths during my three playthroughs which I didn't realise until afterwards, because the first character took the longest way, but that also gave her more loot.
The dungeon ends the same way it starts with a beautifully created massive natural cave with lots of wonderfully placed light sources. It's a very atmospheric cavern in which the end boss - Nekros himself - sits on his throne. Just as with the guardian in the first chamber, Nekros is very strong and powerful. I'm sure he's easily dispatched with some grand adventure hero with tons of fancy stuff, but I came here with three "beginners" more or less. Still, some of the treasures I had found on my way to Nekros forgotten tomb made it possible for me to defeat him...at least with two characters. Like I've said, my Imperial fighter had to run away and thankfully the author has placed the exit close by so that you can flee if needed. My warrior did after being cruely disintegrated several times when approaching Nekros. He just didn't have the equipment for the job.
My Dunmer rogue tried many things to break the necromancer down and eventually found a solution that weakened him. Some of these items she found inside the dungeon, so I assume the author placed them there for a reason. She found some of them behind locked doors though, so it's not certain any character will gain access to them. She did though and used them wisely, but she also had a scroll of Blizzard that saved her day along with a few potions that stole Magicka from the victim once being hit by her weapon. That disabled Nekros enough to bring he rvictory, even if she too died a few times before having success.
The one having the easiest time was my Altmer mage/archer, but it wasn't her magic that helped her the most. Instead she used a sniper tactic to sneak shoot the necromancer and luckily she had found some pretty good arrows on her travels to the tomb. They were magically imbued with Shock or Fire and her bow had Frost enchantments, so the bad guy got a big dose of all kinds of Destruction magic. That said, she had to let 20-30 arrows fly and hit him, most of them with a sneak attack bonus of x2 before he went down. She died once when Nekros found her in her hiding spot, but the second time she remained hidden and could finish him off.
In my experience, the middle part was the most fun, because it was best balanced, but also gave opportunities of surprise and massive undead attacks that got the blood pumping. The first and the last chamber had too overpowered enemies, although for the first, you could get around and for the last there's a possibility to escape without entering a fight, so that's a good decision by the author. Nekros is really strong, so you need to have the right skills or some good extra equipment to bring him down. I'd say for a melee fighter at this low level, he's pretty hellish, but maybe with a companion or two? I did beat him though with a rogue and a mage/archer - legit even - and I understand I probably should've been a bit higher in level when entering this place. The loot you get from Nekros includes a few new - and very powerful summoning spells - so perhaps my fighter was better off running away anyway...
My rogue Dunmer had Faendal with her and he couldn't get pass a few passages here and there, so I had to teleport him towards me, especially in that final cave chamber for some reason. That's about the only flaw I found.
All that included, I had fun and it's a great dungeon design! Good work!
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Bombomb's right: the Mages guild was dissolved soon after the Oblivion crisis, 200 years before ES V.
Winterhold College has little or no problem w/necromancers, if you listen to the Archmage there; the college only has issues w/mages who directly cause trouble for (steal from, interfere with experiments of, or injure) other college mages.
9 comments
Because this dungeon comes with some high-level enemies, that's for sure, so I want to say that at once. If you decide to venture into this forgotten tomb, be ready to either run away or come prepared unless you have the levels to bring on your own. I'll try to explain it a bit without spoiling too much. The very first chamber we enter is a huge underground cave. It's dark, but also with some gleaming points of light, so the atmosphere is there for sure. This goes for the whole dungeon actually - lots of dark nooks and corners, but still with well-placed light to create some wonderful eerieness. This is when playing with light mods and using an ENB adapted for darker dungeons at least. Beautifully done!
But back to that first cave... The "guardian" of this room is something with the word "epic" in it's name and that alone should tell you, it's not something you can handle in close combat with a low-level character. Well, I couldn't at least, since my melee warrior had to rush through this room and into a more narrow corridor in which the guardian creature couldn't fit. I'm going to assume that's for a reason by the mod author and if so, good call! It allowed me to continue deeper into the dark without having to face that first monster. Both my two elves managed to bring it down though through range attacks.
The continuation of the dungeon is a both hectic and well-made creation. There are waypoints when you think it's going to be too much to handle, but I did prevail against everything the place threw at me with both a rogue, a mage and a warrior. In some occasions it got really stressful and the panic was closing in, but in the end these fights were very fun and kept you on your toes. I had to retreat and use tactics with the rogue and the mage, I could slaughter my way through hordes of undead with my battleaxe, yet still being strategic about it or else I'd chew more than I could swallow. I liked the whole progress throughout the old tomb and the darkness and the different passages made the exploration fun. You didn't know what could be waiting and after seeing the guardian in the first chamber as well as some massive riots from the undead, you never knew what to expect which gave the place some nerve.
Wonderful use of depth in the level desgin with some high walkways and tight corners. Some rooms are harder to find and for some you need lockpicks, but you could always find your way through to the boss chamber. I actually ended up taking different paths during my three playthroughs which I didn't realise until afterwards, because the first character took the longest way, but that also gave her more loot.
The dungeon ends the same way it starts with a beautifully created massive natural cave with lots of wonderfully placed light sources. It's a very atmospheric cavern in which the end boss - Nekros himself - sits on his throne. Just as with the guardian in the first chamber, Nekros is very strong and powerful. I'm sure he's easily dispatched with some grand adventure hero with tons of fancy stuff, but I came here with three "beginners" more or less. Still, some of the treasures I had found on my way to Nekros forgotten tomb made it possible for me to defeat him...at least with two characters. Like I've said, my Imperial fighter had to run away and thankfully the author has placed the exit close by so that you can flee if needed. My warrior did after being cruely disintegrated several times when approaching Nekros. He just didn't have the equipment for the job.
My Dunmer rogue tried many things to break the necromancer down and eventually found a solution that weakened him. Some of these items she found inside the dungeon, so I assume the author placed them there for a reason. She found some of them behind locked doors though, so it's not certain any character will gain access to them. She did though and used them wisely, but she also had a scroll of Blizzard that saved her day along with a few potions that stole Magicka from the victim once being hit by her weapon. That disabled Nekros enough to bring he rvictory, even if she too died a few times before having success.
The one having the easiest time was my Altmer mage/archer, but it wasn't her magic that helped her the most. Instead she used a sniper tactic to sneak shoot the necromancer and luckily she had found some pretty good arrows on her travels to the tomb. They were magically imbued with Shock or Fire and her bow had Frost enchantments, so the bad guy got a big dose of all kinds of Destruction magic. That said, she had to let 20-30 arrows fly and hit him, most of them with a sneak attack bonus of x2 before he went down. She died once when Nekros found her in her hiding spot, but the second time she remained hidden and could finish him off.
In my experience, the middle part was the most fun, because it was best balanced, but also gave opportunities of surprise and massive undead attacks that got the blood pumping. The first and the last chamber had too overpowered enemies, although for the first, you could get around and for the last there's a possibility to escape without entering a fight, so that's a good decision by the author. Nekros is really strong, so you need to have the right skills or some good extra equipment to bring him down. I'd say for a melee fighter at this low level, he's pretty hellish, but maybe with a companion or two? I did beat him though with a rogue and a mage/archer - legit even - and I understand I probably should've been a bit higher in level when entering this place. The loot you get from Nekros includes a few new - and very powerful summoning spells - so perhaps my fighter was better off running away anyway...
My rogue Dunmer had Faendal with her and he couldn't get pass a few passages here and there, so I had to teleport him towards me, especially in that final cave chamber for some reason. That's about the only flaw I found.
All that included, I had fun and it's a great dungeon design! Good work!
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Winterhold College has little or no problem w/necromancers, if you listen to the Archmage there; the college only has issues w/mages who directly cause trouble for (steal from, interfere with experiments of, or injure) other college mages.