Explaining PvP in ESO - Full Guide
In most MMO games PvP is just a separate part that does not affect the game itself. But in Elder Scrolls Online it is implemented into general game story as Alliance War. Three alliances are fighting between each other and you are the member of one of them. Your impact into world PvP helps your faction to win Alliance War and to control Imperial City. When your faction controls the Imperial City it is possible to challenge Molag Bal and his armies.
There are no Battlegrounds in ESO and developers are not going to add them in future. All player vs. player fights take place in Cyrodiil only. On the one hand that's not good but on the other such system allows to gather all PvP fighters in one location.
Cyrodiil
Cyrodiil is a huge province where all action of Alliance War takes place. Why Cyrodiil? Because the Ruby Throne is situated here. The faction that controls the throne rules in Tamriel.
Cyrodiil is the only area where you can fight against others in the game. PvP fights are not allowed in other zones and Cyrodiil is the only dedicated territory for this. Overall size of the province is as big as it was in TES IV: Oblivion and there is enough place for fighting and having fun. There are different towns, towers and castles for sieges.
Elder Scrolls Online does not force you to fight against others and you will not have to visit Ctrodiil in your quests. PvP is not an obligation and you can enjoy PvE content in other provinces without necessity to protect yourself. Nobody can attack you outside of Cyrodiil. There are no duels in the game and if you wish to fight against other players you will have to go to the dedicated zone.
The great thing about ESO is that Alliance War does not mean only fighting against other players. There are many familiar towns where you will be able to take different quests, there are public dungeons that you can visit, dark anchors that you can destroy, Mages Guild’s books, resources for crafting, and different places for exploration. You will meet a lot of NPCs who need your help.
How to take part in battles?
All you need to take part in AvA is to enter Cyrodiil. You can do this after reaching 10th level. All players between 20th and 50th level who enter the territory of Cyrodiil receive “battle-leveling” that temporarily enhances their attributes. Players with Battle levels do not have access to full class abilities, skills and perks. Character with battle level is not as strong as a character with real level, but anyway it's a good help.
If you wish to be useful for your party and alliance join PvP after you reach 50th level. That does not mean you should not visit Cyrodiil when you are not strong enough. You can enter the province, fight there and level up but you will not be the strongest person.
If your level is lower than 50th it will be difficult to survive in battle and you will be almost useless. Other players will not have any problems killing you. Characters with Veteran Rank 1 - 10 are more useful but are still not strong enough. You can really enjoy sieges and combat if you have maximum level: Veteran Rank 14.
Objectives
There are many different objectives in Cyrodiil: keeps, towns, villages, mines, outposts and fortresses. The general goal of the faction is to take under control and defend as many objectives as possible. Each object your faction controls boosts overall score of your faction and gives bonuses to all faction members. The score is used to determine the winner of Alliance War.
The core goal of the war is to take under control all castles around Imperial City. A faction that controls all 6 castles can crown Emperor! Emperor is the strongest warrior on the battlefield with special skill line and special powers.
There are several ways to help your faction to win. You can fight against enemies and capture objects or you can support the army by setting up siege weapons, reinforcing keeps, and upgrading guards. Supporting actions do not always require direct encounters.
How to understand where the general action is? It is not difficult. Just open your map and you will see everything there. If a keep is under attack it has a splash behind it. If there is a place where some kills takes place the place will be marked with two or three crossed swords (depending on how many alliances take part in the encounter). The size of the swords on the map depends on the size of the battle. The system will show you where the action takes place and where to.
Balance in Alliance War
The game has three playable factions: Aldmeri Dominion, Daggerfall Covenant and Ebonheart Pact. If one faction becomes too powerful representatives of other two can start working together against it to change the situation. The more objects your faction controls the more difficult it becomes to defend all these objects.
PvP Mechanics
Combat in Elder Scrolls Online is not rotation-based. Abilities do not have cooldowns and combat mechanics is based on resource management. There are three main pools: stamina, magicka and health. Each spell, skill or ability requires one of these resources.
Stamina management is very important for melee warriors because stamina pool is used for interrupting, blocking and stealth. Magicka management is important for mages, sorcerers, healers.
PvP mechanics is also based on your skill. The better you block, interrupt, react and use synergy the more experience points you receive and the quicker your ultimate bar recharges. Ultimate points allow to use Ultimate abilities. If you perform well in combat you recharge your Ultimate skills quicker and can use these skills more often. Player’s skill is a very important part of PvP mechanics in Elder Scrolls Online.
Best PvP class
Your performance in Alliance War depends not on your class. Everything depends on your mastery in using spells and abilities. A good PvP fighter knows pluses of every ability and can choose how to act in current situation. Every class is good in ESO.
How to win?
ESO is a game where you need to master your class in order to achieve good results. That means you should know when and how to act, when to use ultimate spells, how to manage your main pools (magicka and stamina) and many more. The variety of possible enemies’ builds makes each battle unique. The key to success is quick reaction and understanding of game mechanics.
FAQ
Is it possible to level up through PvP?
Yes, it is possible. Each player receives experience in PvP fights for killing players from other factions, for completing PvP quests, for capturing the keeps and many more. It is possible to enter Cyrodiil and level up there, but it's not the fastest way. Moreover, if you are low level character you will be killed often and this will not allow you to receive enough experience. Leveling in Cyrodiil is difficult in general.
Is it possible to loot someone’s corps?
No, it is impossible to look the corpse of your enemy in PvP. You can not take someone’s gear and nobody can take your gear or your money. When you kill an enemy you can loot his corpse to receive alliance points.
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in my opinion there should be, in all types of battle this would make casting area of effect abilities more strategic maybe buffs could be kept to allies only depending on what they are but heal spells and destruction magic should hit anybody in the area or it's just not realistic. This would cause players to communicate and move as one unit to be able to use aoe's
I hope they make a separate PVP server with looting turned on for killing your fellow players. I would play this game in heartbeat then.
Separate the wolves from the sheep (above people who responded).
The whole point of looting players is to kill them and impose your will on them, force them to join your clan so you grow in power or deny them resources. From this point guild politics play a huge role and real alliances between player guilds begin to form. But the average carebear from world of ****craft would never understand this.
Elder Scrolls is a title that has (up until now) been a solo game. It only makes sense to create a world that can ease people into multi-player and PVP. The design of the game is meant to allow for both solo players and guilds to play and interact with each other without obligation.
Calling people sheep for wanting to avoid conflict is both harsh and unnecessary. People aren't sheep because they don't want to be eaten by wolves, people are sheep when they do something they don't have a reason to just because everyone else is doing it.
Nick, from what I've read after you die in PVP you are graciously and harmoniously resurrected right where you die. Then you and your enemy sit down on summoned chairs with a summoned table with a pot of hot tea waiting for you. Don't worry, no one else can attack you since you and your enemy get a generated bubble around you. You guys can chat about the fight you just had and discuss the best places for raiding an acquiring gear that has a 0.0000002% chance of dropping.
The nice thing about ESO PVP is that you can go afk because you're not risking the loss of anything so who cares? Go grab a pot of coffee. If you die, you lose nothing. It's just like WOW, PVP doesn't matter since there is no risk of loss.
You want PvP looting? Go play Mortal Online, where ppl run around naked so they don't lose their precious gear. There are rewards for PvP, it's a ranking system. Everyone will be able to see the top of each class, which I can assure won't be either of you since you can barely throw together a full sentence, let alone comprehend how to effectively use your skills in PvP.
Also, where do you get your information Luzarius the wise? «You graciously and harmoniously resurrected right where you die.» No. Just, no. Chalk that under another one of your ignorant claims that's been fabricated from, oh… I don't know, someone like Adam with the uncanny intellectual wit that prevents him from using a single period in the jumble of words that he calls a paragraph.
In other words, go do some damn research before you start complaining about features that have been completely fabricated by your own superior intelligence.
If you like really competitive, very skillbased pvp where loot matters (full loot), but people arent going on naked all the time either (cause you really cant do shit like that usually :P) and you really can have some true adrenaline rushing through you when you win a really close fight and get to loot EVERYTHING (full loot) from the enemy players you should turn to Darkfall: Unholy Wars the best mmo sandbox (and mmo) ive played ever.
Would do alot if there was loot/items/resources/gold/special stuff available in cyrodiil pvp area that you would leave on your corpse if you died. In Age of Conan the system on hardcore servers was kinda nice hybrid where all inventory stuff you looted etc remained on the corpse and you also had a slight chance to drop an item you wear when you die. Also Lineage 2 had a nice system where pk players with karma and over 5 kills on overall record of their character stats had also a chance to drop equipped items.
To have real feelings of success via your gameplay skills needs to have some real insentive when you kill a player, not just some «pvp currency». Usually that means a total new approach on the game item creation and aquiring mechanics as well. Just like in Darkfall UW, items degrade over time, but the top ranked items give you more power and protection and are more expensive to acquire witch makes it worth while wearing them, loosing them or looting them. All items in DFUW are player made and it drives the economy to be playerbased totally. Constant degrading and loosing stuff also puts you to a position where getting materials to make stuff feels like you actually HAVE something. Something worth a value you can have weighted in gold to sell, trade, get to be the richest guy in the server or what ever. Some players just do some pve or harvesting just to trade and get gold to buy gear for pvp. Sandbox, true sandbox ;D
Just my honest opinion tho, sorry if my message is too messed Im quite tired and just wanted to post something to your message fast :)
Hope you like ESO and I think I would also like it for atleast month or maybe even two, but as the initial price is so high atm I have to wait a bit.
Cheers!
For those who play world of warcraft let me define conflict for you:
;strong disagreement between people, groups, etc., that results in often angry argument
Now let's review:
I started a controversial topic that resulted in «conflict». There is «conflict between me and Adam, but then we had another person named BRUCE address both me and Adam as if he was going to rise above us. That is a threat.
Normally in a real MMO (darkfall, uo, ac darktide, shadowbane) I would immediately appeal to Adam with a private message:
Adam, let's put our differences aside and slaughter Bruce and any one of his clan mates, let's bring them to their knees for trying to intercept a conflict between us.
If Adam agrees then Bruce you are now severely outnumbered, what will you do?
**… The above is what REAL mmorpgs are all about with players serving roles as „guard“, „bandit“, „king“, „captain“, „resource gatherer“, etc. **
Do you see how fun this can be? MMORPGS died a long time ago, now there are just massive multiplayer single player games like WOW, Everquest, WOW, EVerquest and WOW of course and don't foroget WOW!
Have fun collecting 10 sacks of grain for 100 exp. Have fun maxing out to level 50 then quitting the game. Have fun grinding for a 0.00000000000000000004% chance of getting that epic loot.
What are you going to do them? Take their stuff? First rule of free looting is to only wear what you are prepared to lose.
Blacklist their characters? Usually griefing is done on alt characters or accounts and they simply delete those and create new ones once their reputation becomes a handicap.
It is only fun for the griefer and they never take on anything where the odds are not vastly in their favor.
Player serving the role of guard? Wow, how exciting. I'll just stand around all day… guarding.
Resource gatherer? How stimulating.
Bandit? Suppose it is fun for those drawn to it.
King? There can be only a few. Good luck becoming the king. And what does he do? Orders guards and captains around?
Captain? What? Lets go chase down that pesky bothersome bandits squad!
Yes, you are right, that sounds so much more exciting *rolls eyes*. Go play darkfall if it is so great.
Forgive the uber-late reply, but I think there is a mismatch between the realism you like about PvP and the realism that is not emulated in these games that would counter your playstyle to a large extent. IRL states/cities have taxes to pay for things like guards and bounties and whatnot. It is much simpler to grief people by yourself and live off their loot than it is to set up a simple government. That these mundane activities are less exciting is another barrier to realism. Automating the boring parts would go a long way to making «guard» and other positions more fun to play. It would also help to have in-game systems for things that are commonly needed, like collecting money from citizens/group members, reporting threats, and other organizational tools that governments would use (from large to small).
If you want realism then you have to have people paying taxes to an authority who will pay guards and bounty hunters to keep you away from their citizens. Since it is a game we're talking about there should probably be integrated systems in place for facilitating these things. Guard players would get reports of bandits when players report them (an in-game automated dispatch system, who wants to spend their time messaging guard players directly). A larger city would just obliterate camping griefers anywhere near their borders, so the wild-west type of play that you get in PvP would only be possible in remote locations (as it should be).
First off, going for high realism lets say you have to get any looted armor re-tailored to fit your character, and that armor is severely damaged upon the looted player's death. You could even «break» some or all of the armor to make it unusable until repaired. If you personally aren't a crafter you will have a difficult time getting it repaired, and if you are then the bounties on your head in populated areas will make it a risky business. The guards could have a «wanted vision» ability to see a player's wanted level, and more serious crimes like murdering travelers will max that out. You'd of course have to ban any interaction between alternate accounts to make this work, but you're hardcore, right? The «armor doesn't magically fit you» and «killing someone damages/breaks their armor» mechanics would also give crafters more interesting gameplay: do I work for the city and secretly craft supplies for bandits in exchange for rare items/more gold on the side? You also have the issue where a bank would have nothing to do with keeping all your loot safe when you're a known criminal. So much for running on backup gear while you take other people's good stuff.
The taxes also pay crafters, who will make the best gear they can afford to for the city's guard, so large cities will be much better at destroying harmful players. Small cities could have something like old-west sheriffs, and the larger empire/group of cities could fund rangers who hunt down notorious criminals no matter where they run. Gov't-related roles would have to pay well enough to disincentivize abuse by malicious players, and perhaps city guard gear would lose effectiveness if not maintained by city crafters. To avoid boring guard duties the city could buy and equip NPC guards to keep order in areas where criminal activity is unlikely, while using human players to hunt down bandit camps, escort trading convoys, and other more quest-like gameplay.
This could even lead to exciting content, like a criminal refuge camp where the criminals band together out of common interest (but much less trust). Perhaps there is a criminal bank, but can you really trust a bunch of thieves? Maybe this bank will cost money to use, and your epic stolen gear might get robbed while you're out in your expendable gear. Upstanding players could be persuaded to aid the criminals by repairing gear and supplying the camp. If such treachery is suspected the city might put a detective on the case to make the risk/reward an entertaining trade-off. The city could even create quests for high-level adventurers to do/get things that are in the city's best interests.
This mechanic could also be used to fund wars, which would strain the city's income and perhaps make it easier for criminals to do their thing. Maybe one city will secretly supply weapons to outlaws to attack another city. There is so much interesting gameplay in a system that simply accounts for the reality that I'm not buying a game to be a tax collector or to stand around the market all day waiting for someone to steal stuff or commit murder. I'd say this hypothetical game is more hardcore, more fun, and much more realistic than the stupid PvP everywhere nonsense where you just run around killing people for sport without realistic consequences. You just need the game to admit it is a game, so boring and repetitive activities are highly automated, and there are in-game systems for setting up governments that would exist in any real world.
Your «realistic» PvP is just a lie to cover up that you like to give other players pain to get your enjoyment out of the game. The real world sets up systems to give that style of «play» severe consequences.
*drops mic
Yes, it would take lots of organizational effort, but it COULD be done.
Faction A hates faction B. Faction B hates Faction C. Faction C hates faction A, but hates faction B even more, what's stopping the leaders of these factions (C and A) from forming an alliance and crushing faction B? The players. Only the players.
And you want REAL? Well, real can only be simulated to an extent. If you wanted REAL, well… the devs could impliment a «real» training system (leveling system) where you stand around and spar with your guildmates all day long, day in, day out and shoot arrows at targets to gain your experience. Because that's what warriors did (and still do) to train for combat. But how lame would that be? Instead, they offer a way to at least have fun while your training (leveling) to become a great warrior in the form of quest. Makes sense if you ask me.
Fun? Only if you are part of the controlling group.
Just as in real life, safety is in numbers. So, stick with groups of ppl… or, stay hidden. It's simple. No guild members/friends on? Simple, stay out of the hostile areas orrrr risk your life.
Simply put, in a PvP allowed game, you choose to risk your characters life when you wonder into areas that allow PvP. No amount of tears will change that. If that is too much for you, Skyrim is that way --->
And if your virtual nuts are big enough, I'll see you on the battle field.
Of all things ESO did right they dropped the ball with their loot system. If there was any MMO out there that should have been what u see is what u FREAKING GET is ESO. Since they have a whole 4 previous games that worked that way.
1. With the crafting system the game has; 2. The enchant system I do not see why «what u see is what u get» is not possible. And I have to kill a «mud crab» and get a %^*& great Axe off the corpse I mean really!!!
No I want to be able to run into a guy in full ebony and pry it off his dead fingers, bank it and have an extra set for when I die.
And no I would not run around naked; cause its very freaking simple you kill more than you die and you have sets upon sets of gear waiting for you. The extra crap u do not use, well sell it and make millions.
Baddies can stay in the none pvp area or go farm iron to make yet another set for me to add to my collection of rez bags. Also that would so help with the endless respawn and run back to the keep before it goes down. If u die u basically die and well now u have to find a bank and put on gear and get back and well lil more realistic lil more TES like screw hard core screw pvp its the way TES was in TES 1-2-3-4 now they sell out and make it «mud crabs» with great axe for loot. Really form where their ass!!?!?!?!? if u find a way to realistically put a great axe in a mud crab u answer this comment if not agree with the undeniable. FULL LOOT would not only bring more TES to ESO and FAR FAR More players.
And notice what he said make a server true pvp he did not ask to be placed with the care bears who do not like to pvp he asked for a whole new server with like minded people and trust me you would join it after the reviews. After what gets out from the true alliances and politics and the actual mature community that is the PVPer.
By the way MAGIC bane runs better than SB EMU for all you who still love the good old SB!!! And ESO could kill that if ESO placed a few lines a code and a server.
Why is it that „the old days were better“ when we have no AH?
We do you know — many of us where there.
No AH? I was part of Albion in UO 14 odd years ago and we made a permanent (almost) player run auction house because the demand in that game was so great for it.
One of the key features of WoW was dedicated none PvE servers.
How many games have tried to be PvP focussed at launch — and failed — because there aren't the numbers and you „super hard“ (laughs) PvP guys to make it viable. And why is that? Well in my experience you mostly turn out to be gankers, griefers and in-game bullys. A hard core of you that drive other players away in droves… „coz you're so hard-case“ lol
You see… We do get it — we just don't like PvP. It's that simple.
Making a derogatory term for it like „care bear“.
Gosh — you know what? — That's shamed me into wanting to sit and play a game on my PC like a „real man“ — one of your macho, hard, „Bud swillin' “ „leg of lamb on the bone“ gnawing „real men“.
When I move my mouse and press the „W“ key I want to feel macho like you full loot PvP lovers with your reinforced steel keyboards.
I want to sit there like you guys, bashing the keyboard with a huge iron mallet, all while carving tattoos on my arms with a pen knife while I play.
That mentality is like saying
»I'm an Alpha male and you're not because I watch WWE and you watch the news".
Pushing such a fallacious idea as hard as some of you do suggests to me you are all mouth and no trousers.
It's a PC game folks — people wanna play how people wanna play there's nothing «tough guy» about any of it… at all… EVER — no matter how you play.
If you think the way you play a game validates you, or think the way others prefer to play makes you better than them? Seriously? You are so far away from reality you need a telescope attached to a microscope on the end of a pair of binoculars just to see realities outline.
CARE BEAR AND PROUD OF IT.
What u just said just does not compute. We dont belive we are superior to any one that shit will get u killed. We just want a freaking game challenges player vs player ability. GOD ULTIMATE AI vs GODS ULTIMATE AI. Not some dumb ass mob I can stuck on a corner or wait 3 seconds while he rages and then have some dude taunt him and bash on it and try to get the hiest DPS and jizz jizz all over my keyboard about doing 300 more DPS than the other Guy. SO yea PVE Carebears u are as hard core with ur stupid iron mallet as we are but we want to do it right not against a freaking NPC that is predictable and never changeing.
You can play 30 games in 3yrs and get mabe 3 awsome PVE fights out of each. thats like say mabe 100 awsome fights in 3 yrs. DUMBASS thats my weekend… stop wasting ur time on dumb AI made by men and Play VS the ultimate AI made by GOD.
That is what pvp is!!! Griefers as just dumb noobs who suck at pvp and take it out on lower lvl toons. You will never ever see me doing that; as a mater of fact if I kill u and u use a freaking stone to rez ill emote u a wave and know that I conquered yet another AWSOME god Made equally challenged BOSS of the game.
If you attack me again and want a rematch ill show u who is boss 2x over and try to shame you but dont confuce the griefing Carebear who cant pvp players their own lvl with us PVPers who play for the freaking awsomeness that is to go VS the best BOSS in any game. 10-20-30 times a day and every time diferent. — See more at: elderscrollsonline.info/pvp#_=_
Anyways to clarify some things. In pvp games there is many diferent players some pvp, some like to pvp, some hate to pvp, and some suck at pvp and grief.
To say that we pvpers ruin the game is the most oximoronic thing to ever been said. Why??? most games are actually after realism and to tell you the truth even in a Roleplaying server… I would still rolplay that ass hole bandit after ur credits. Because thats real.
We do not live in a merypopins world or the matrix where u have agents possessing boddies and insta killing offenders.
If u wana play that type of game with out pvpers griefers etc. I suggest any of many medieval action Barbie games. You can dress em and fashion shows god knows what else; I dont know mabe u can have a blast in a pasarella on a tavern with some drunken dwarfs and the worst that can happen there, is smak talk about ur design.
Other than that well. the reason we ask for full loot… is that we want to spend the largest amount of time doing what we like pvp. just like u wana spend ur largest amount of time next to that anvil, furnace what ever it is that makes u pixels, credits, gold gets u a woody. Anyway
If we spend all of our game time pvping we need a income to get our better gear from you guys. See how that works. Because to us sitting in front of a pc hitting a node for iron, to then go to some furnace to smelt it, and then make a helmet is AWFULFUKEN BORING.
Also there is alot of people who do enjoy to go out and pick a fight see how good they have become with this new gear they got from u guys see how that works.
And Finally to tell you the truth I enjoy more beeing killed. Than beating on some one that does not fight back. O.O ur probly saying what!!! Thats BS no one likes to get killed and loose all their shit… bla bla… well
If I never get beat, my brain never gets to do any work as to how to work around what just happend. And thus I never ever ever will get better. If I join a game and I fight scrubbs all day trust me that is not gona be fun at all, AT ALL!!!
Plus when I finally fight some one good I will get so freaking PWNED that im gona feel like WTF man. And basically u learn nothing form that eather most the time cause when u get OWNED that hard u cant really figure out where u went wrong.
Last but not least. We make it so people actually have to go back and rework their way up that stak of iron or what ever; making their game experience longer before the dull ass end game.
We actually make the games life span longer. To tell you more the only games that have lasted ages decades. UO EVE SB(even comes back with the eye sore of graphics)!!! so the common denominator are all full to partial loot games. Everything else is crap that last 4-6mo goes free to play aka pay to win. and DEAD.
To get with me in game have a awsome fight or what ever "@necrash" thats my user im in the dominion derp im a rogue and the ominion kinda owns on that and no im not gona move my race to another freaking alliance that is so cheap.
A brief introduction:I have played Dark Age of Camelot for almost 10 years and I still love that MMO, even if graphics is outdated and game mechanics didn't change much during these years, its basic concepts are solid and enjoyable for both noobs and veterans.
I preordered ESO because i believe it will be THE MMO for next years and I'm happy that many DAoC concepts were integrated in ESO gameplay, expecially for PvP. Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim have been my favourite off-line single player games during the past decade and I can't wait to play the game that seems to be the fusion of those two worlds, plus some good Diablo III-style ability selection management.
Back to topic:
Will ESO support any kind of solo-PvP environment, i.e. areas in which grouping is forbidden and thus duels between opposite Alliances members may take place without the risk of getting added or zerged by a train of enemies passing through that zone?
For example, I'd like to see instanced dungeons in which a player may enter only ungrouped and within that dungeon he will face mobs and, if available, one or two PCs, each from a rival Alliace.
That would create environments in which solo-oriented PvP playes may challenge similar threats from rival Alliances, eliminating the frustrating disparity of large groups instant-killing single players that adventure PvP areas.
Limitations might be introduced to avoid PCs of too different levels to face in those solo-PvP instanced dungeons and suitable rewards should be available for the last player standing. The place of a killed enemy might also be taken by another member of the same Alliance, in order to give continuity to the instanced dungeon, not requiring the winning player to exit and getting back in after winning the previous battle (duel).
It's just an example, but I would really like that solo-PvP oriented playes may find places that support that playstyle. Of course anybody may decide to adventure Cyrodil by their own, but that usually equals to waiting for a looong time before another ungrouped enemy is found, with the risk of getting zerged by a large group of enemies passing through.
Main PvP gameplay, with massive battles for resources and keeps is an aspect of the game, but I'd really like that small-scale PvP is somehow supported and encouraged.
I also don’t like the idea that there are no areas for small group PvP. Very often a small group has to fight against 1 player or to escape from large group. Both variants are not interesting at all.
In the mean time, I have one more reason to go for a stealthy Nightblade, at least they have a chance of soloing in PvP, or at least getting out of trouble!
The whole point of the blacksmithing system with the hidden smiths and bonuses coupled with the enchanting mechanics is to provide value to the both professions while simultaneously making the recruiting and defending of crafters important. (I.E. Potentially having to get high value items into Cyrodil to shift battle flow) I will concede the point on one side being op'd after launch, but imo that's a simple fix with some careful strength scaling.
Bethesda seems to want to inspire people to group up rather than force them, and a full loot system with free-roam PVP would destroy that right off the bat if any group was smart enough to run a sheer numbers monopoly from the start. The game does have many PVE moments that are impossible to defeat without a party, and the game Emperor is obviously only gonna come from the highest ranked guild on the server so PVE, conquering objectives, and PVP are all going to have to be major guild objectives.
Besides the looting and grouping aspects, the other big argument seems to be about the quality of PVP battles. Besides the guy who self admittedly is pretty conveniently is a rogue in the most op'd faction on his server, the argument basically boils down to «I'm so good at games that I totally know no one is ever gonna be a challenge to me ever, and so with no fear of dying I have no fear of trying» which is not only convoluted, but wrong. The PVP here looks like it's designed to be done in groups against groups and most preferably by faction. If you are strong enough to run around and kill solo players, you're either ganking newbies who just wanna learn, or you're earning....honor points? Which let you get exclusive PVP gear that for the most part is better than the other game stuff? Arguably the distribution rate could be adjusted, but that's not incentive? Yeah defeating enemies and taking their stuff is awesome, but I like the idea fearlessly charging back into battle hoping to win, not fearing the loss of all my PVE stuff and spending days getting it back.
All I know is that PVP is always a big part of MMO's for me, so with the title of Emperor sitting there for the taking with the possibility of making me a one man killing engine with unstoppable buffs for my team, I'll be focusing on achieving as much in game as I can to earn it. That means joining the best guild I can and doing the PVE parts a lot, but it also means that guild needs to have a heavy presence in Cyrodil, and so will I. I mean this is a pretty well polished bastardized conglomeration of a first person shooter and a third person mmorpg with a pretty unpredictable PVP element for when people really start flooding in, so it's pretty stupid to be so confident that this or that is gonna break the mechanics of the game. I'm fairly confident at the very least Bethesda will have it all covered anyways. Any way it goes down, I'll be in Cyrodil.
They should just do this kind of system with ESO in the open world and leave the «faction» battles for Cyrodiil. Obviously killing people from other factions would not be any offence. If a full looting system is too much for people, then they could make it a random piece of armour/weapon.
In UO it was never really necessary to be a part of a big guild or have protection. You could get around by yourself, you just had to know when to run/recall away! No one would camp because you get too much bad rep, if you can't enter town and bank/buy things like the spell reagents then it was pretty limiting so there weren't huge clans of murderers running around, very often at least.
I love PvP but I must say it is not something that bothers me a lot if there is or is not a full open loot system. But I do like the idea that I could randomly kill my fellow player at any point.
I would love to see a battleground system that would let you test/play your character in PVP with out worry of instant death by a veteran player after running 5 or so minutes. ( and then rinse and repeating )
I feel if there were battleground areas this would do two things.
1) Prevent people from rushing through quests. Allowing players to play casually between PVE and PVP on their own terms and truly soak up the PVE content. I think a lot of people want to play their characters against other real people on more of an equal playing field then the alliance war provides currently. DAOC battleground system would be the best example of this. Areas with a 10 level difference max and a central keep to take or something similar would be ideal for me personally. And of course the battlegrounds would have the feeling of being open which ESO is good at.
2) This would allow a lot of players to have a deeper relationship with ESO. Right now it is a joke to have a level 10 player or a level 20 or even a level 30 player venture into Cyrodill alone. And the fact that they might be riding with higher levels only means their novice horse will separate them from the higher levels eventually leaving them to get picked off by higher levels praying on stragglers.
I love the idea of the Alliance War and I wouldn't change a thing about that. But I would implement areas where people under 40 can participate in battlegrounds with players around their same level.
As of now, I personally feel that I'm just loosing a race and wonder when I will be able to compete in PVP. Of course I work full time but I still manage to play everyday. At level 1-40 I felt no real accomplishment. But ( I hate to make this comparison ) when I played DAOC I had a BLAST! on every battleground and I felt real accomplishment even through lower level PVP. As of now I am just not getting that satisfied feeling from ESO's PVP. I hope this will change soon. Because I feel that ESO has the most potential out of any MMO ever! Also just my opinion but they are getting close to a make or break moment for a lot of PVP fans.
Thanks for listening :)
As you can see in the video, it takes time to take the scroll. Maybe someone else had already started the process and that’s why you couldn’t take it…
«If your level is lower than 50th it will be difficult to survive in battle and you will be almost useless. Other players will not have any problems killing you. Characters with Veteran Rank 1 — 10 are more useful but are still not strong enough. You can really enjoy sieges and combat if you have maximum level: Veteran Rank 14.»
This is simply not true. I played ESO since release, and I've levelled up my different characters first on the non-vet server, and then on Azura's after hitting veteran levels. Obviously in a fight between two equally skilled and knowledgeable players, a vet character will most likely win. BUT *surprise* a substantial portion of players focus too much on stats and gear, and know very little of how to utilize class passive bonuses to make a strong, competitive build — or even worse, they do not understand how the enemy is killing them, because they don't spend sufficient time analyzing defeats and rather blame their lack of Legendary gear or lag or something else entirely.
A good low-level player that knows his status effects, his build, the skills available to him AND his foe, will easily slap around a VR16 character if that player is average or just bad.
In ESO, stuns, roots, knockdowns etc. are pretty much independent of your character's level. That means a level 10 character's Wrecking Blow will knock down a foe just as well as a VR16 character's wrecking blow. Ultimately it's the knockdown that messes up your foe, rather than the actual damage dealt — he wont be able to block or use skills/heal while on his back on the ground (or if knocked over the edge of a high building). If you center your build around CC'ing and disabling your foe before he can really get dangerous and generally play smart, you can be highly succesful at low levels. A low-level healer can use Purge to clean his group of nasty DOT's, eliminating the need for the kind of heavy healing a VR16 templar can deliver. A level 10 Nightblade can use Fear on an «unkillable» tank that is getting hammered on by 10 VR16's unable to break his block, and thus ensure an easy kill for the group.
A level 10 Sorcerer that streaks and employs negate on a large group of enemies, while another level 10 character shoots at the group with a fire ballista or meatbag catapult is SO much more helpful to his own group/alliance than 10 VR16 archers with nirnhoned gear and monster helm drop sets firing poison arrows from sneak now and again. A lot of players do not understand this at all and focus solely on the stats — fortunately that goes for your enemy too. A lot of «traditional» MMO players see PVP as «end-game content», and will only enter Cyro after they've hit max level and gotten all their gear fixed up to Legendary — while at the same time the player behind the character have 0 experience of PVP and the current class metas. Take advantage of that as much as possible! People have terrible, terrible builds that only focus on damage output and DPS-counters — it should go without saying that of course a burst attack for 2 seconds delivering 15K dps do less overall damage than delivering 5K dps consistently for 10 seconds straight, although it might not be as much of an ego-booster or whatever. Be smart.
For good measure I'll also add that a level 10 player that consistently operates siege machines during sieges is of value to the group, contrary to a VR16 character just sitting there in sneak looking at other people doing the work. The amount of useless Khajiit or Bosmer Nightblades in AD speaks for itself. Sometimes the server population will be full, but the alliance still isn't able to siege a single keep because everyone is hiding in sneak, rather than putting up siege machines or protecting/keeping an eye out for the folks actually sieging. The fight is lost before it even begins when no one is sieging! A low level character can also use Caltrops, which makes it impossible for the enemy to sneak around and kill siegers. There are many very useful skills that can and will help the group a lot, no matter what your character level is. Carefully read the descriptions of all skills available to you, and you will end up with a strong understanding of the game. Also in PVP, generally speaking, utility morphs > damage morphs (the opposite is generally true for PVE).
ESO is generally balanced in a way so that player skill and knowledge > character level in PVP. Mind you that PVP is way different than PVE — the «play as you like» isn't really so in PVP, and you'll also quickly find that almost any build or strategy will be super effective in open-world PVE but simply not work against players with brains. Look up guides, take hints from builds found online, watch videos from good players (or even better: go die to the very best players over and over again), figure out their playstyle and choice of skills (and the thought process behind said choice), and copy and expand on it the way you prefer.
Also don't be afraid of dying. To a lot of players, death of their character seems the ultimate embarassment and they don't take any chances EVEN if they can instantly respawn 10 feet away from the conflict. This is a computer game, not real-life — respawn is your biggest asset, and if you don't utilize it, you are putting yourself and your alliance at a disadvantage overall. I think most semi-skilled and above PVP'ers tend to look down on the ones that don't try and thus don't die, rather than the ones that try and die.
So don't be afraid to invest your time in Cyro even at low levels — every death will teach you something, and consequently your build and personal skill will improve considerably from the experience gained. Just remember to be a team player and help out, and for the love of god DON'T GO AFK IN SNEAK AND TRY TO LEECH AP FROM OTHER PLAYERS' EFFORTS, YOU ARE SCREWING OVER EVERYONE INCLUDING YOURSELF, AS YOU ARE FAR MORE LIKELY TO FAIL IN YOUR ENDEAVOR!
Participate, help out, play smart, and have fun!
That's where the best of the best are, and they will gladly teach you their tricks or offer you enough fights to figure it out for yourself. You also get to test out different builds and strategies against the same players, giving you some form of benchmark you can use to see if your theorycrafting works out as intended and where you can improve your build and playstyle. Obviously some builds and classes are better suited for duels than others, and you need to focus on slightly different skills than when running with a group. Nevertheless, duelling is very much worthwhile no matter what your class/build is.
You also get the opportunity to enjoy 1v1's and «fair fights», but of course most of the strategical elements and outsmarting your enemy aren't in effect when duelling. I go duelling in off-hours, and participate in proper Alliance War during peak hours, it's a great addition to the MMO theme park, and it doesn't need to be enforced by game mechanics — in fact I'd argue that the level of sportsmanship increases when combat is based on gentleman agreements, rather than a developed interface / arena. Sore losers and players with a complete lack of grace are frozen out, people simply don't want to fight them — that luxury would not be possible if ESO had a ready-made arena. Usually duels will take place at one of the villages or close to a mundus stone where no one goes, and players present will resurrect one another after fights.
Colosseum and Arena are two of the big duelling guilds on EU-servers, Legend is a big duelling guild on NA-servers. You can easily find more info about these three guilds on the official ESO forum.