Elder Scrolls Online is a massively multiplayer online role playing game that follows the same lore as Bethesda’s cult-following series, The Elder Scrolls. The first DLC released on August 31st marked the turning point for ESO, substantiating its role as a major player in the MMORPG genre.

The Imperial City DLC comes with two of the most challenging new dungeons complete with their own story line and unique set of drops that are considered by many as the best items in the game. The entrance to the new dungeons, Imperial City Prison and White Gold Tower can be found in the Sewers and from the Districts. With two available difficulty modes, Normal and Veteran, players can opt to have an easier time defeating enemies at the cost of dropped item levels (Normal drops V15 gear and Veteran drops V16 scaled gear). Both dungeons have their own unique item set drops as well as the much touted Head piece drops from both last bosses (only on Veteran mode). Currently, these two dungeons serve as the viable ‘end-game’ experiences for players offering intuitive, immersive gameplay coupled with a valuable reward system that leaves players begging for more. This guide will look into an in-depth analysis of one of the current end-game dungeons, White Gold Tower. Hopefully, by the end of this three-part guide you can be one of the few to have claimed victory in one of ESO’s toughest dungeons.

Group Setup
Before you commence your run, you need to go through the basic gear checks required before any legendary expedition. Make sure all your equipment is at full durability and that you are carrying at least 7 Grand Repair Kits. All members need to make sure that they have food, enough soul gems and fully charged weaponry. Ideally, the group setup should consist of 1 Tank, 2 Damage Dealers and 1 Healer – now which kind of characters you choose to fill those roles is very flexible. Many times have I seen a Nightblade successfully tank the entire instance or a Sorcerer who managed to keep the entire party alive so here I would suggest you pick party members for their awareness, character gear and ultimately damage. Once the group is formed up and ready to go head on inside prepared to face the toughest Elder Scrolls Online has to offer.

Introduction to White Gold Tower
The Imperial City Palace or White Gold Tower is the second toughest dungeon in ESO right now, the mobs you will encounter in there have their own set of unique abilities that the entire party needs to be aware of. Along with the dreaded mobs, players will be required to face 4 main bosses in a bid to put an end to the Deadric invasion on the Imperial City. The White Gold Tower instance can be completed by characters Veteran level 1 and above – where loot is scaled to the level of the party leader. The dungeon can be completed in two difficulty settings, Normal and Veteran mode – Normal mode only drops Vet 15 gear whereas Veteran difficulty rewards players with Vet 16 items. Defeating any of the four bosses on Veteran difficulty setting will also reward players with Deadric Embers – trophies rewarded for besting Deadric Commanders, once players collect 150 of these they gain one-time access to the trophy vault containing one, very valuable treasure chest.

General trash mobs
Even the trash mobs in veteran mode have an average of 500,000 Hitpoints and that should really tell you all you need to know about the dungeon. While most of the mobs are easy to kill, employing basic strategies for specific mobs always pays off in the long run. It would be worth your while to note that all trash mobs drop set items, even though the percentage is less, the frequency of their death makes for a rewarding outcome – personally 80% of the set items I have gotten have been for trash mobs. While you make your way to the bosses, make sure you watch out for the bigger mobs that come before them – certain groups of trash mobs will have one or two really powerful enemies that need to be dealt with. As a general rule, you need to be aware of Charged Heavy Attacks, ground AoE Spells and Red Casting Sparks to avoid unnecessary damage. Here are a few of the mobs you need to watch out for:

Xivkin Lacerator (Approx. 500,000 hitpoints) – The first enemy you will see as soon as you climb the ladder to the White Gold Tower is the Xivkin Lacerator. While this mob does not output much damage, he does drop AoE heals and single-cast heals that end up keeping the entire enemy group alive – quite annoying and thus must be focused and taken down first. If your tactic is a general Stack-and-Smack approach, be sure to interrupt his heals (you will see the RED casting sparks).

Iron-Swathed Glutton (Approx 1,225,000 hitpoints) – This mob is one of the most powerful enemies in the dungeon other than the boss. You need to be careful of this guy, while the tank can easy keep all aggro on himself, he needs to make sure that he is facing away from other members in the group. The Glutton also has an annoying AOE attack where he will smash his fist into the ground and cause small poison volcanoes to appear on the ground. The volcano initially appears at your original locations and follows you with 3 more eruptions. The best options is to dodge roll out of the initial attack (you will see red AoE on the ground) and slowly Kite the damage away from your party members. Note that all members of the party will have to Kite the damage individually.

Crematorial Guard (Approx. 1,115,000 hitpoints)- Some fans believe that this mob is a mini-boss in itself. The Crematorial Guard has the hardest hitting AoE spell in the game. The spell is denoted by a Fire-Breathing animation and causes MASSIVE damage to the tank. The only strategy for this mob is for the Tank to face him away from the party while the rest nuke him down as soon as possible. Once you have made your way past the initial trash mobs, enter the first hall and prepare to face the first boss, The Adjucator.