Direfrost Keep is the fourth 4-man group dungeon for the Ebonheart Pact in Elder Scrolls Online, and is located in southeastern Eastmarch. The bosses in the dungeon are level 37, and the normal mode of the dungeon is tuned to players between level 35 and 36.
The other alliances can get inVolenfell after first completing their own level 35-36 dungeons: Tempest Island and Volenfell.
This guide explains the boss fights of Direfrost Keep in detail, and provides strategies for defeating the bosses.
Direfrost Keep Overview
Direfrost Keep is an old Nordic keep with various different beasts and draugr. If you ever played Skyrim, you should feel right at home in this dungeon.
Direfrost Keep has its own story which is driven by a quest. Completing the quest rewards the player with a skill point.
Recommended Group setup
The standard tank + healer + 2 dps setup is recommended. There’s lots of damage flying around.
Normal Mode
Bosses
- Teethnasher the Frostbound (miniboss)
- Guardian of the Flame
- Drodda’s Dreadlord (miniboss)
- Iceheart
- Drodda of Icereach
Teethnasher the Frostbound
Level: 37
Health: 14,440
Teethnasher the Frostbound is the first miniboss in Direfrost Keep. Even though the frost troll only has 14k Health and is a miniboss, he’s the most lethal boss in the entire dungeon, especially if you don’t know how to deal with him.
Boss mechanics
- Teethnasher the Frostbound has an aura around him marked with a red circle which deals a lot of damage and applies a heavy snare. If he targets you and reaches you, you’re probably dead – that’s how much damage he deals. To get a clean kill, you need to kite him.
- Teethnasher periodically charges at the tank. If the tank is constantly moving, he should be able to avoid the charge easily. After Teethnasher has charged, he stops for a second or two which allows the tank and melee dps to hit him a few times without risking getting caught in the snare effect.
- The Undaunted skill Inner Fire, which is a taunt, is highly useful here because it allows the tank to keep Teethnasher’s aggro without getting in melee range.
Guardian of the Flame
Level: 37
Health: 25,992
Guardian of the Flame is the second boss in Direfrost Keep. He’s very tame comparing to Teethnasher.
Boss mechanics
- Guardian of the Flame likes to charge at random targets. The charge deals AOE damage near the charge target. It’s a good idea to stay apart.
- Guardian of the Flame has a frontal cone breath attack.
- The boss has a heavy melee attack which the tank should block.
- Guardian of the Flame also casts patches of lightning at random targets. Just get out of the area of effect asap.
Drodda’s Dreadlord
Level: 37
Health: 25,270
Drodda’s Dreadlord is the third boss in Direfrost Keep. He’s a miniboss and doesn’t have many abilities. However, the frigid banekin are what makes this fight interesting.
Drodda’s Dreadlord is surrounded by three frigid banekin. They’ll run after random targets and explode for massive AOE damage. Two of them will most likely kill you. If you make sure none of these reach the group, this fight is very easy.
Boss mechanics
- A frigid banekin will spawn throughout the fight at the original location of the boss. To get as much distant between your group and the frigid banekin, you should drag Drodda’s Deathlord away from his original location. This will give your DPS time to take the banekin down before they reach the group and blow up.
- Drodda’s Deathlord stops to wave his axe over his head, dealing damage to anyone in the radius. Just step away from the melee range when you see this happen.
- Drodda’s Deathlord also has a heavy melee attack which should be blocked.
Iceheart
Level: 37
Health: 25,992
Iceheart is the fourth boss in Direfrost Keep. He’s a giant frost atronach, and is very annoying if you’re a melee player.
Boss mechanics
- Iceheart has a frontal cone attack aimed at the tank which can and should be blocked.
- Iceheart places a red circle beneath him which expands quickly in size. The AOE deals lots of damage after a few seconds. It’s very difficult to get out of it in time if you’re in melee range. In fact, I would either just not bother getting out of it at all or just stay out of melee range instead. As long as you have decent heals you can be topped up easily in between the AOE attacks.
- Iceheart stops to smash the ground with his fist, creating four red circles, one on each player’s location. Staying in the circle will knock you back and deal a moderate amount of damage. A Draugr will also spawn from each of the circle. They don’t have much health and should be taken down quickly.
Drodda of Icereach
Level: 37
Health: 25,992
Drodda of Icereach is the fifth and final boss in Direfrost Keep. She’s a frost mage and can’t be tanked efficiently.
Boss mechanics
- Drodda periodically stuns the player closest to her, mostly the tank. She doesn’t do anything whilst the stun cast is being channeled, so there’s no reason to break out of the stun. It’s essentially spare time for the rest of your group to deal damage.
- Drodda blinks to a random player’s location, kneels down and casts a frost AOE attack near her. When you see the blink animation, just run.
- Around 50% Health, Drodda spawns to Ice Wraiths with 600 Health. They should be taken down quickly because they have an annoying charge ability.