The PvP in The Elder Scrolls Online differs significantly from what many players are used to in other MMORPGs, and many find themselves puzzled at the gates of Cyrodiil. We answer the most pressing questions, provide initial tips, and offer a rough orientation.
The Easy Start
Where do I go to get to Cyrodiil?
For some players, this is the first hurdle. They look for a location, want to reach it on horseback, or keep their eyes open for battle masters. None of this is necessary.
- Step 1: Reach level 10
- Step 2: Press the “L” key
- Step 3: Choose one of 10 campaigns
- Step 4: Go to the campaign and declare it as your home campaign with “R”
- Step 5: Hover over the campaign and press “E”
- Step 6: Wait a moment for the invitation to the campaign to appear, then go to the message and press “E” twice
- Step 7: There is no step 7, that’s it, you are in Cyrodiil
What is a campaign, can you eat that, and which one is right for me?
A campaign is an existing instance of the PvP zone Cyrodiil. This means there is a hallway with 10 doors, behind each door is always the same thing, but when you go through one, you are in this instance of the usually same room … and um. Okay, that’s really hard to explain: Just like in other games with raids or IDs.
Brutalities with Friends
There are ten different campaigns. A player can declare one as their home campaign. Preferably one where friends or the guild play. As a rule of thumb: The higher a campaign is on the list, the fuller it is; the player’s faction is represented by a color: yellow for the Aldmeri, red for the Daggerfall Covenant, and blue for the Ebonheart Pact.
It is rare for one faction to completely dominate a campaign. Later, it will certainly happen that “large” guilds of one faction, which have a significant influence on the outcome of a campaign, decide to play together in one campaign for three months. Then it can easily happen that a campaign “flips”.
The campaign can later be changed. However, this costs 15,000 Alliance Points. Additionally, the bonus points that have already been collected and that provide special rewards at the end of a campaign are lost.
Rewards? Who mentioned rewards here?
At the end of a 90-day campaign, each player receives a relatively high amount of gold, depending on how their faction performed and in which “reward” tier they find themselves. In the reward tier, one ranks up through regular participation in the campaign. There is also a high score list that offers rewards as well. That always takes 90 days.
Skill Points in Cyrodiil
For each rank you ascend, you receive one skill point. Additionally, green items regularly appear in the mail as long as you actively participate in PvP. Green or blue mystery items can be purchased from merchants.
In Cyrodiil, 45 soul shards are hidden that must be captured. Some of them are underground. Don’t forget: every 3 shards grants one skill point.
That means there are 65 skill points to earn in the PvP area of Cyrodiil.
Okay, now I’m curious: Ranks?
Yes, just as you level up in PvE, you level up in PvP through ranks. There are a total of 50 ranks, and for each rank-up, you receive a skill point that you can distribute freely.
Every two ranks, you also receive a new title and an achievement. The title can even be displayed and is represented by a yellow symbol next to the name. Neat, right?
What should I do first in Cyrodiil?
Pick up the quests available in the base camp. There is always a quest where you must kill 20 players. These are refreshed daily and should be manageable. Other quests involve capturing a castle or a mine or even an Elder Scroll – you won’t be able to complete that every day.
I already knew that, tell me something new!
Alright.
No Room for Rambo, Lone Wolves, and Heroes
Basically, you need to let go of the idea that you play your character in The Elder Scrolls Online as a one-man demolition company. In the game, you are part of the faction and a larger army. While there is also something for lone wolves to do, such as intercepting supplies behind enemy lines, in this position, you are extremely vulnerable, need a lot of patience, and will rarely be successful. You shouldn’t move with fewer than 4 people (a normal group size).
With 4 people (or women, or cats, or lizards), you can start stalking stragglers or launching flanking attacks. When several groups combine, such as 8, 12, or 16 players, they can easily attack individual resources and draw the attention of the opponents. With a full raid group of 24 players, coordinated attacks against much larger player masses can be conducted: Because a quarter of them are sleeping, half are running, and the rest are dying. And with 2 full raid groups, totaling 48 players, it should be possible to defend or take a fortress safely.
The key to success is teamwork, communication, and correctly operating siege weapons.
Anyone who wants to engage in “serious” PvP will not be able to avoid joining a PvP guild in The Elder Scrolls Online.
This can also be very rewarding: Coordinated action in a team is a highlight for many players in any MMORPG. The thrill you get when you attack and slaughter a Zerg with supposed fewer numbers is a great triumph. By the way, “Zerg” refers to a large number of uncoordinated players.
But for such triumphs, some key skills are necessary:
The Map Awareness: Where am I, and if so, how many?
It is important to understand the map and comprehend your role. When you are out with just 4 people, then a frontal attack on a fortified position is not a brilliant idea. On the other hand, it would also be senseless to lie in wait with 200 people until someone dares to venture out of a fortress.
It is important to anticipate and exploit player flows. When your faction attacks an enemy fortress, players from the opposing faction will try to reach and defend that fortress as quickly as possible (and defenders in a castle are incredibly annoying).
They teleport to neighboring fortresses and ride along a particular path. They often do this as an elongated trailer – it “drizzles.” These players can be specifically targeted and farmed. Smaller groups of 4 to 12 players are ideal for this. If there are more people, a bridge or a gate area can also be occupied. Some players may then face an unwelcome surprise.
With a press of “M”, larger and smaller skirmishes are displayed. For smaller groups, it can be worthwhile to intervene in the battles of the two opposing factions. Scouts who proceed in stealth and scout where the weaknesses of an army lie are a good idea. It can be fun and rewarding to join a fight between the two other factions by attacking the besieging army from behind and disrupting them.
But beware: If you try this as a lone player, you have the survival chance of a snowball in hell. And when the two opposing factions fight for the Elder Scrolls, perhaps their fortresses around Cyrodiil will be unguarded …
The Communication
Generally, too many people talk in the /zone chat. Announcements should be made by people who have a few followers listening to them. So guild or raid group leaders: If five people in the chat announce eight different targets, contradict each other, and cross language barriers, it benefits no one.
If you have a fixed raid group (either in the guild or random), most of the communication will take place over TS. In an environment like Cyrodiil, it is important not that everyone does the “right” thing, but that everyone does the same thing. If 40 players launch a strategically correct attack, but 60 make a strategically wrong retreat, it helps no one.
It’s better if everyone does the wrong thing than if half do the right thing.
The Elder Sieges Online
Every player should have a selection of siege weapons with them.
There are some simple rules: Trebuchets fire slowly, have a huge arc, and can stand far back. Ballistae have a low arc and fire quickly. Catapults are somewhere in the middle.
If you want to attack a fortress, bringing a ballista that shoots from relatively far away, where there are trebuchets everywhere at the front, doesn’t help at all. If someone only has one siege weapon and sets it up even if they can’t do anything with it, it just hurts the situation. Because space for siege weapons is precious and limited.
In general, stone ammunition is good against fortification walls and incendiary ammunition is good against the opponent’s siege weapons. In a strong siege or defense, various batteries should shoot at the same spot at the same time so that no grass grows there. If every player shoots at some target, the opponents can heal or repair the damage, and it drags on forever.
As a last line of defense, oil works wonders, which can be poured from buckets down below. However, if the opponent builds their trebuchets at max range behind barricades, it does not help at all.
So: Engage with the siege weapons, have a selection of them in your backpack, and only deploy them if they offer some benefit. Stone catapults, for example, are not very effective in a defense situation, and with ballistae, it is difficult to shoot upwards. Make sure to apply pressure on targets that are already under duress from other defenses. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself in a standoff for hours.
If there is no more room for more weapons: Don’t sulk, but support your own defenses. This is best done with healing spells, but repair kits are also a great thing. Those people who are messing around on the battlements trying to hit someone with an underskilled bow or something: Difficult.
Of course, if you play a Dragon Knight and master “grabbing” with the fire chains, you can have fun here. Otherwise, it might be more sensible to make a sortie or to attack individual unprotected siege weapons from the side or behind.
Death Suits Him Well
Death in Cyrodiil really hurts because, in critical situations, it is not possible to return directly to the battleground. Therefore: Better to play cautiously than to take risks. Sticking your head out again at 40% HP won’t do anything. The same goes for the pursuit and escape runs of opponents.
The problem will mainly be in an uncoordinated Zerg: 200 people can be on your side, but if they are attacked by 50, a flight reflex will kick in. If you feel like nothing is moving, you are not getting anywhere, or your sixth sense signals fear of an attack: Better to retreat right away. You don’t want to be the last one in a panic fleeing chain of players. The last one gets bitten by the dogs.
If you, as many will, are determined to be uncoordinated and somehow try to leech a few kills and do your own thing: Please play as cowardly as possible.
The Highest Goals
There are two major goals that the “realm” strives for. One is the conquest of the opposing Elder Scrolls. For that, key fortresses of the opponent must be captured and then the temples seized.
The other goal is to simultaneously capture the “outer” fortresses of both opponents, which surround the imperial city. If a realm succeeds in this, it becomes the Emperor. The Emperor will then be the player with the most Alliance Points. For most of us, the concept of the Emperor should be so far away that we won’t go into it in detail here.
The Most Important Things Summarized
The most important thing should simply be to have fun. If you want to engage in PvP successfully, there is hardly a way around a guild or a raid group with TeamSpeak, Mumble, or Skype.
Everyone should practice with siege weapons until they master the basics. That takes about two hours of work to understand the individual trajectories of the projectiles, and then it lasts a lifetime. Even more valuable are the supporters of siege weapons (with the protective dome and repair kits), but that’s a thankless job.
Secret Tip: It is almost mandatory to have seen the following movies to be able to recite individual lines from them as needed: Braveheart and 300.
Hardly a battle goes by without someone quoting William Wallace or King Leonidas with utmost conviction. Here, it’s essential to at least be informed about the basic shouts (also in different languages) and to stay updated.
By the way, those who respond with “For Sparta!” to “For Frau Merkel” have earned a bonus point.
Tip 2: Rumor has it that vampires burn quite well. So a fire ballista should always be on hand!
At the moment, PvP and the directions it is developing in are really exciting.
What experiences have you had in PvP so far? Are you having fun? Do you feel lost? Do you have any tips for us? Let us know!
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