Preparing for CoH 15-25

[Soulstrike - Fort Phoenix]

Well, it's obvious from the level range suggested that once you are going into CoH (Crypt of Hunters), to achieve a successful and clean run, it would be best to go in there with an average party make-up of level 20. This will help ensure your group will have a better chance of minimizing wipes depending on if your party consists of the right classes and builds. Here is a look at the central chamber in the Crypt of Hunters.



Anyhow, this is what those who are getting ready to go into ESO's first instance should do in preparation for CoH...

1) BUILD YOUR TOON! One of the most important things you can do to help yourself while playing ESO is to make sure you go with the right build when it comes to adding points to the Affinities that best suit your class as you level up.

*You can hit the "L" key at anytime in game to bring up the guide ESO provides. Next, click on Classes and view your chosen class description. Here you can find out which Affinities might be the most important to your class. You will receive 5 points every 5 levels that you can distribute into them so choose carefully. You should also check with the Class Discussion forum for more insight pertaining to your class.

2) GEAR UP! Get yourself geared up prior to queing up for CoH by either finding someone who can make you gear, looting gear off of fallen enemies, locating an NPC that can sell you gear, or with the proper Vocations you can learn from the trainers at Lvl 15.

*Again you can hit the "L" key at anytime in game to bring up the ESO in game guide. Then search for Vocations to find out who the trainers are that can help you. Then click "M" while in Pokari to bring up a list and "double-click" on the trainer's name you need to visit if you want to learn to make the gear yourself. This is the more popular choice and having these skills can be very lucrative.

• Mystics and Conjurers - Arcanecraft/Skinning
• Dragoons and Shamans - Guardiancraft/Mining
• Rogues and Shamans - Scoutcraft/Woodcutting

3) LEVEL UP! Work yourself up to a few levels above 15 so you can have a better impact on the outcome of the run while inside the instance. No one wants to carry around dead weight, as this is what you are most likely looked upon as at such a low level.

*ESO has plenty of ways for you to level up and grind while you wait for the right time to jump in there. Having more experience with your class will also give you a better chance of being added to another player's list so they can contact you later on down the line. You never know, you might just find a real good player and you can help eachother out many times in the future.

4) FIND HEALS! Try and set yourself up with at least 2 Healers, as this will help the party out greatly. Having 2 Healers is much more sensible than just one. As a Tank with a number of DDs (damage dealers) might seem appealing, it's really not the best make-up at the lower levels.

*To do this, you can attempt to contact a few healers and see if they'd like to join the CoH party prior to porting inside the instance. Hopefully, your healers will also be experienced and skilled in their class so they can keep everyone alive. Invite them to your party.

5) FIND A TANK! This is very important as well and the party definitely needs one. A decent Lvl 20+ Dragoon or Shaman with the proper stats and experience is ideal. If the Tank knows how to handle itself the party should do well.

*Once more attempt to find the next class that the party needs, which is a Tank this time, prior to porting inside the instance. Tanks are the workhorse of the group and will be taking the brunt of the enemies onslaught. Again, I must say that it would be in the group's best interest to find an experienced Tank that knows the role needing to be filled. Invite the Tank to join the party.

6) GRAB SOME DDs! Fill the remaining slots in the party with some decent DDs that are familiar with their class and can throw down some good damage without wiping the group.

*I know, I know, sounds like alot of work right? It's not as difficult as one might think. Just give it some time, never burn your bridges, and soon enough you'll be putting quality groups together almost instantly. Anyway, once you have the party together you will soon find yourself pressing on into the challenges that await. Invite the DDs.

7) STRATEGY! Once you are all inside the instance, I recommend that the party clears all the trash (guards) one mob at a time to ensure a smooth run. After the trash is cleared, the group can then prepare for the Boss encounters.

*Tanks and DDs should be the ones clearing the trash in the instance while the healers keep them topped off at all times. When the group is preparing for a Boss encounter, the DDs should allow the Tank a few seconds to build up some threat on the Bosses prior to jumping in with their DpS (damage per second). This will make the healing easier as the Bosses will focus their attacks on the Tank.

The Bosses of the Crypt

Blackbear Sovereign



This is the first Boss seen when you enter CoH. He is located around the first bend once you enter the instance and will have 2 guards forming a barricade in front of him. These guards will support Blackbear when the party attacks him, and vice versa. The best way to go about this Boss encounter is to pull the 2 guards away from B. Sovereign and dispose of them on the far side of the room. This way, the Tank will be able to handle Blackbear alone and there will be less confusion while fighting the Boss. These guards can be handled along with the trash in the early stages while clearing the instance if preferred. As said before, allow the Tank a few moments to build up sufficient threat on the Boss before sending in the DDs. Doing this, along with making sure the healers are dropping heals on the Tank without hesitation, will give your party the best chance to down Blackbear. This is a very simple fight, after all, and a good introduction for those new to ESO.

Buffalero Magistrate



This will be the second Boss encounter you will face inside CoH. He can be found just past Blackbear's cavern, down the tunnel towards the largest expanse in the instance, and inside the next cavern to the right . At the entrance to Buffalero's cavern you will see 4 guards protecting the entrance, with Buffalero stationed at the back of the cavern alone. These guards will pose no threat as long as the Tank, DDs, and Healers are all on the same page. Also, these guards can be cleared along with the trash just like Blackbear's guards can if the party chooses to. This will leave B. Magistrate with no defense, aside from his own. The party should handle this encounter the same way they handled Blackbear. Allow the Tank to aggro, keep heals on the Tank, and then send in the DDs. Once again, a very simple fight.

Baahu Magebane



This is the final Boss found in CoH. He will be located down the tunnel, which is found directly across the large expanse from Buffalero's cavern, and around the bend inside the final cavern. Although, standing outside of Magebane's cavern you will find a host of guards ready to protect Baahu. These guards can be cleared with the other trash when the party first enters CoH as well. Once your party is ready to down Magebane, take a moment to go over the strategy of this fight with the group, and the Tank especially. Reason being, Baahu has an AoE (area of effect) attack that will cause severe damage to anyone who is located in front of him that he cast a few times throughout the encounter. The Tank's objectives in this fight will be to aggro Baahu, and then turn the Boss away from the other members of the party by positioning on the other side of him. If this is accomplished, and everyone does their job, then Baahu Magebane will fall and your group will have conquered CoH.

Now you and your party are ready to throw down and turn CoH inside out multiple times if wanted. You will also not likely lose that ever so precious XP you have earned if you take the time to organize a successfull party. Well, good luck all and thanks for reading Preparing for CoH 15-25.

Edit: The NPC you need to visit in order to Queue up for CoH, and other instances in ESO, is Chauncey - Adventure Dispatch. Chauncey can be found in Pokari.

[Vitality - Fort Phoenix]

I did the run yesterday too and about 3 people were around lvl 15 range. Me and my friend were lvl 22 but we did it thanks to the help of a high level tank.
The leader was a lvl 15 shaman that didnt even do high healing and he kicks me out on the second run. I am also a rogue but anyway thanks for the guide! I'll probably do the run again when I find better people.

[Magicast - Fort Phoenix]

Thx for the guide again Soul!

Nice revisions on this one and I need to level up so I can check this place out. Do alot of good things drop inside there?

[Soulstrike - Fort Phoenix]

Yes, Magicast, a good amount of useful items drop in COH, as well as any of the other instances. Most of the loot can be sold or vended for profit and sometimes you'll get a drop that you yourself could use personally. It's a good deal to say the least, but, you'll just want to make sure you aren't setting yourself up for failure once you can go in there. Losing XP isn't very fun. Other than that, have at it and enjoy!

[Lillian - Ancestral Ruins]

you know what really sux? it's finding the party that stinks....
i rarely find the right party for what i need...mostly it's hard to find the two mystics i suppose and avilable ....

on another note....soloing it for item drop is good also in CoH....

i would suggest lv. 20 and you go in and solo thsoe regular guards without touching the bosses, the point? well...you can get drops and silvers....
drops consist of some decent lv. 15 gear/green ones and receipes for making some green ones....and weapon also at times....soloing is best cause you can get all the loot....around lv. 20 you should be ideal for soloing because as you level higher lower/less the drop

[Soulstrike - Fort Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Lillian - Ancestral Ruins

you know what really sux? it's finding the party that stinks....
i rarely find the right party for what i need...mostly it's hard to find the two mystics i suppose and avilable ....

Yes, I've heard it can be quite gruesome trying to put together a decent party. Hopefully, like previously mentioned on another post, there might be an advanced party finding system implemented in the future or more players will broadcast that they are looking for a group or are forming a group and need a few certain classes to complete it via chat. It's all about communication if you ask me.

Furthermore, ESO is relatively new and I am sure the development team is looking into ways to improve the gameplay feverishly. I know I would. They have something great on their hands here so I doubt they are done tweaking what I would call one of the best games out there.

We'll see where it goes from here..

[Corwin - Ancestral Ruins]

yes thank you for the guide, a little too late for my level haha but maybe it will help the newer people that come through the CoH after me.

You might want to add that the squishies should send in their pets first. When I'm tanking, its better it seems that if the pets are sent in after I land the first few hits, if I do loose agro instead of switching to a player, it will start to attack pets next. This should give the players time to back off while their pet dies and let aggro return to me.

You should get a lvl by doing the tigero guard and burello guards or whatever quests that you get at lvl 16 i think. Also doing runs of these guards give great drops at these levels. I would concientrate on doing this at least once or twice a night to get good loot to sell or magic etherelics to improve your special gear.

all the same great guide, cept the tiny font in between paragraphs

[Shuan - Fort Phoenix]

Not so late, I went in at level 30. 8D *is a bit of a chicken* Even at this level the CoH quest still gets me 25% of the total exp, so it wasn't so bad.

While tanks were important, the DD is equally important, especially at lower levels, because if you can't deal damage fast enough, even the tanks won't be holding that long for you. In the long run, it gets too expensive and really not worth the shot anymore when the battle drags and you end up using too much pots/pet food whatnot. In fact, I think a good damage dealer + several healers work just as well as a team with tanks. We had a rogue as our main and 3 healers, it was a blast. : D

But overall...it'll be better for people to level up more before they go into the dungeon. It's so much better if you can wait till you are level 25 to go in and have fun without expending too much than going in below 20 and drag everyone else down. :/ If you need experience, CoH's quest's not the only one that will earn you huge chunks of it. Do events and other quests for a while and then come back. The dungeon's not gonna disappear or something. >>

^ *says the person who's wayyy too cautious to do anything without having 100% confidence*

[Soulstrike - Fort Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Corwin - Ancestral Ruins

yes thank you for the guide, a little too late for my level haha but maybe it will help the newer people that come through the CoH after me.

You might want to add that the squishies should send in their pets first. When I'm tanking, its better it seems that if the pets are sent in after I land the first few hits, if I do loose agro instead of switching to a player, it will start to attack pets next. This should give the players time to back off while their pet dies and let aggro return to me.

That sounds like an interesting strategy Corwin. I haven't thought of that or heard anyone bring it up before, but, I think you make a good point and it would seem like the best way to go given the way you stated that the pets would be the next in line after the Tank when it comes to aggro. My only question would be about how the aggro actually works here. I haven't been in as many instances, or seen this done as much as I'd like to, so I could get a real good idea of it yet.

I am assuming that if the casters in question, or even melee for that matter, sent their pets in first and then just attacked regularly then the pets would stay atop the aggro charts behind the Tank. Although, if the players send their pets in just the same, early, then start using some powerful spells would that overtake their pets aggro and make them next in line to get the brunt of the pounding after the Tank?

Also, do Tanks have decent enough abilities to hold aggro if others are using powerful spells, do others need to play it safe constantly, or have I just ran into lazy Tanks that aren't that up to speed on their role? I'd actually like to open up and throw down if you know what I mean.

[Volcanic - Fort Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Soulstrike - Fort Phoenix

I am assuming that if the casters in question, or even melee for that matter, sent their pets in first and then just attacked regularly then the pets would stay atop the aggro charts behind the Tank. Although, if the players send their pets in just the same, early, then start using some powerful spells would that overtake their pets aggro and make them next in line to get the brunt of the pounding after the Tank?

This. Unless the pet out-damages you, but that's HIGHLY unlikely.

Originally Posted by Soulstrike - Fort Phoenix

Also, do Tanks have decent enough abilities to hold aggro if others are using powerful spells, do others need to play it safe constantly, or have I just ran into lazy Tanks that aren't that up to speed on their role? I'd actually like to open up and throw down if you know what I mean.

From my experience, no. The only way the tank can hold aggro all the time is either;
a)he has a higher dps than his teammates or
b)everyone lets the tank attack the boss for a while (3/4, 1/2 HP) so the tank builds up enough aggro
Me being a Conjurer I almost never hold back and just spam my spells like there's no tommorow which always leads to me getting aggro and running like hell
(just to mention, if your pet keeps attacking the boss and you go out of it's reach while running, it'll attack the pet)