1. Short Description
2. Requirements & Installation
3. Getting Started
4. Feature Overview
5. G.R.E.E.D Survival Guide
6. FAQ





1. Short Description

A completely new and independent dungeon-crawl with unique design, new enemies, rewards, custom events and a very memorable and challenging boss fight. The dungeon takes place in a "dream world" and is thus compatible with just about any load order.


2. Requirements & Installation

Dawnguard & Dragonborn are required. Drag & Drop the bsa + esp in the data folder and tick the mod to play, or use the mod manager of your choice.



3. Getting Started

Once the mod is installed and you have at least 50,000 gold in your inventory, the next time you sleep you will have a dream about a golden land and a golden door. You are then asked whether you want to go through that door or not. If you choose no: no problem, you will sleep as normal and the dream will reoccur another time. If you choose yes the quest will begin. DO NOT COME UNPREPARED and keep a save from before entering the golden land, because at this point there is only one way out. While there are some puzzles, the focus of this dungeon is on combat, particularly boss mechanics.


4. Feature Overview

• uniquely designed dungeon with hours of content placed in a dreamworld for maximum compatibility
• loads of custom enemies, events and spells
• 4 mini bosses with custom mechanics make for a challenging experience
• custom boss battle music
• a highly customized and memorable boss battle with epic atmosphere and advanced boss mechanics that will prove a challenge even to the best of Dovahkiins
• a unique weapon as a reward in addition to valuable souvenirs in the form of statuettes
  

Differences between this version and the Molag Bal's Inferno version:

• severely reduced enemy count
• lowered overall difficulty: enemies are now way less spongy
• improved overall stability: fixed a number of issues that led to CTDs for SOME people with certain setups
• improved boss fight: lowered difficulty and improved mechanics (script efficiency), the boss fight is still tough though, so be warned
• the 'Greed Shades' now drop health potions (not in the inventory, they literally 'drop' them) to help with the boss fight
• Followers can accompany you, though you'll need a follower mod (AFT etc.) that supports teleporting
  

5. G.R.E.E.D Survival Guide

General Tips:

• Fus-Ro-Dah is your friend: often times the dungeon design allows for enemies to fall to their doom. Use it to your advantage.
• Some enemies are weak to fire and strong against ice or vice versa, exploit their weaknesses accordingly.
• COME PREPARED: Bring health potions/spells, resist potions, poisons etc., for such resources are scarce in a dreamland
• Followers can be helpful in this version, especially in the mini boss fights
  

Mini Boss 1: The Grand Gold Spriggan
 

The Grand Gold Spriggan uses disorientation as a weapon and will hurl blinding projectiles at you, trap you, and summon illusions. Do not despair. Keep close to the edges of the platform where you cannot be trapped and take out the (weak) illusions, should they be summoned. Proceed to attack the Grand Gold Spriggan with ranged weapons or spells to avoid being trapped. An illusionist he might be, but not a durable one.


Mini Boss 2: The Grand Gold Spider

This one is more tricky. First of all, try to avoid the golden egg sacks along the walls, as they will spawn gold spiderlings when you get too close. Keep this in mind while chasing the Grand Gold Spider teleporting around the room. Also, the Grand Gold Spider's projectile will spawn venomous spiderlings occasionally. Poison resistance on potions or armor could prove an invaluable asset in this fight. 


Mini Boss 3: Treasure Guardian

Not a Mini Boss per se, the Treasure Guardian is no weakling either. He is strong, but sluggish. Avoid his melee attack, as it does not only cause loads of physical damage, but also occasionally summon a firestorm. Keep moving and hit the giant Guardian while dodging and you'll be 'golden'. Just like him!


Mini Boss 4: The Grand Gold Dragon

The Grand Gold Dragon will repeatedly disappear and restore its health, so be prepared for a tough fight. Just like in any other dragon fight, stay clear of its breath weapon and melee attack. Be aware of its summons and Armageddon special attacks. Stay close to the edges of the platform to avoid the latter. Just keep in mind that every time the Grand Gold Dragon disappears you are in for one of its special attacks, and react accordingly.


The Big Boss: GREED

If I had the hardware, I would record a video of how to deal with this guy. It surely isn't easy, but it definitely can be done, and here is how:

First of all, if you think you can just melee him like one of Bethesda's high level draugr "bosses" you are in for a world of hurt. The key is to keep moving and dodge Greed's powerful, but slow attacks. Keep in mind, his sideways attack will hurl a frost projectile at you, his forward power attack will ragdoll you, and his most common standing power attack will cause a firestorm. Now, the firestorm may hit you even if Greed's melee attack misses. The trick is to use the surroundings to your advantage and quickly hide behind a pillar or some of the rubble lying around. 

The shout 'Become Ethereal' could prove invaluable, because it allows you to effectively dodge not only Greed's melee attacks, but also his Armageddon style magic attacks. Other than that, keep in mind to use the surroundings to your advantage. Whenever Greed casts one of his Armageddon spells, take cover behind a pillar, stay close to the edges of the arena, or cover behind some rubble. 

Resist Potions, especially Resist Fire, could be useful against both Greed's Armageddon Fire Rain and his fire storm attack.

If you get hit by Greed's firestorm attack, keep moving as it will set the ground on fire. Walking through the flames will cause you to suffer additional damage, so don't just stand there.

Make an effort to take out Greed's summons as fast as possible. Keep in mind that in this version, the 'Greed Shades' he summons drop health potions to help with the fight.

Also, sacrificing all your gold at one of the gold shrines near Greed's throne will grant you 25% bonus damage in the fight.

If all of that does not work, remember: Skyrim gives you the option to lower the difficulty. Make use of it, if you have to.



6. FAQ

Q: Is it lore friendly?
A: Depends on your definition. The way I have set it up it all happens in the Dovahkiin's dreams, so, if you ask me, anything goes. It is not confirmed Bethesda content, if that is what you want to know.


Q: How do I start it?
A: Use a bed while having 50,000 or more gold in your inventory. Be warned: if you accept the quest there is no turning back. Come prepared or prepare to suffer.

Q: Is it compatible with X?
A: More than likely yes. The dungeon is not placed anywhere in Skyrim, but happens in a dreamworld, so there should be close to no conflicts.


Q: What level do you recommend?
A: Depends on a huge number of things. I'd say either a high level or a high level of skill is required. Some run-of-the-mill level 15 Dovahkiin with a steel broadsword will have a hard time, while an ultra modded level 15 Dovahkiin could be doing just fine. It's all relative. If you can beat Alduin, you have a good shot at beating Greed.

Q: The explosions are annoying, is there anything I can do?
A: Type "set mbi_noexplosionsglobal to 1" in the console. This will reduce the amount of enemy explosions significantly, but take away from the dramatic effect of some enemy entries.


Q: Why make Greed standalone? Was there a falling out with the Molag Bal's Inferno crew?
A: Not at all. I wanted to make it standalone for a number of reasons. For starters, for people, who, like me, are not a fan of huge quests, but rather want compact questing/dungeon-crawling experiences. Also, while Molag Bal's Inferno is a great mod, keep in mind that we were all pretty much making our dungeons independently. Some are rather short, while Greed is rather long, there are differences in style etc. This contributed to a, let's say, Frankenstein-ish feel. With Greed being standalone, it is one style, one design philosophy, without anything feeling out of place. Lastly, this allows me to update it easily. I can not afford to download and upload a huge file like Molag Bal's Inferno for updates all the time.