The MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) has an incredible amount of PvE content, but the PvP is also very versatile. We spoke with two players who mainly play PvP in ESO and asked for their opinion.
The Elder Scrolls Online is by no means a classic MMORPG. The game from the Elder Scrolls universe relies not only on group content but also on solo play and is among the best MMOs for solo players on the market.
It was released in April 2014 for PC and in June 2015 for the consoles PS4 and Xbox One, with Stadia added in June 2020. We at MeinMMO often highlight the PvE aspect of this MMORPG, and the PvP gets a bit overlooked. Therefore, we asked two PvP players what they think about it in ESO. Additionally, there are some tips for beginners and anecdotes about toxic players.
Who are we even talking to?
For this interview, we found two players from the community who describe themselves as true PvP fans. One is Basti, and the other is Bajinga, who first told us a bit more about themselves.
When did you start with ESO and what has been your journey?
Basti started ESO in 2016 on PS4. At that time, he was still an MMO beginner and in a very small beginner guild. So he worked hard to achieve everything up to the PvE endgame content himself, then eventually started raiding or farming skins over time. At the beginning of 2018, his interest in PvP grew stronger: “I wanted to test and build character builds.” With this interest, Basti joined a progress PvP guild with which he also started runs for the Emperor title. This Emperor is also one of the hardest trophies in ESO. In 2019, Basti switched to PC to continue playing ESO with better performance.
Basti also says: “I have paused ESO several times; the reasons were often the bugs and poor performance. You tolerate it for a while, but eventually, the frustration builds up so much that you want to play something else.” His longest pause was almost a year, and he spent it in WoW.
Bajinga started with ESO in mid-2017. Initially, he focused only on leveling, explored the maps, and tried to soak up as much information about ESO as possible. This was necessary because, in his opinion, ESO is quite complex. Even though he has paused occasionally and tested other games along with others, his path always led him back to ESO.
Did you start with ESO because of the PvP or what sparked your interest?
Basti’s interest in PvP came first from boredom in PvE: “I found it interesting not to be bound by any meta when you want to keep up with the big ones. In PvP, you can play how you want, as long as you have fun.” Exceptions include small group PvP like Small Scale, where you should coordinate with each other to present a stronger team.
The decision to start ESO was very spontaneous for Basti: “At that time, I was talking about MMOs with a colleague at work, and he recommended ESO to me; once I started, it didn’t let me go anymore.”
Bajinga had only a limited entry and through leveling via PvE. He actually came to ESO because of the PvP:
A friend (2StronK/Vita) told me about the big PvP map. I wanted to experience that live and found it so good that I’m still here today.
Bajinga
Do you primarily play PvP in ESO, or do you also regularly engage with PvE content?
Although Basti came to ESO through PvE, he spends 80% of his time in ESO in PvP. He only plays PvE when he must or is asked if he can help out somewhere. He doesn’t care which PvE content he plays, as anything is possible for him.
Bajinga, on the other hand, also has a few favorite activities in PvE, even though he is mainly found in PvP. He is a fashion hunter: “I really like aesthetic things in games, as you can design yourself more individually, so I farm skins, titles, and colors.” He also likes to try out new sets when the meta changes, as they don’t farm themselves. As a helpful player, he is also active in his guild “Tamriels Freunde” and helps out there with dungeons and raids.
And now to the core – to PvP itself
Which character do you prefer to play in PvP?
Basti’s main character and top favorite is the StamSorc (Stamina Sorcerer) as an Orc: “This class combines the strongest mobility skill in the game (the lightning strike from the Sorcerer) with the high stamina and speed of a stamina character.”
Bajinga brings seven pure PvP characters, making it hard for him to name his favorite class: “But I’ll go with the Dragon Knight and from the race Nord, I just enjoy the gameplay the most.” And that’s what matters in PvP.
What do you like best about PvP in ESO?
Basti says: “What I like most about PvP is the variety of building and optimizing your character without being bound to a fixed meta. You can play what and how you want, as long as you have fun.” He especially enjoys building characters and optimizing them: “Playing successfully 1vsX after such optimizations gives me an incredibly good feeling.” Otherwise, he loves being in open-world PvP in Cyrodiil, and since the removal of all the proc sets, he loves it even more. He also likes that in PvP, he has the freedom to choose whether to be in a group or solo.
Bajinga enjoys the variety that PvP in ESO has to offer: “Whether it’s Cyrodiil, the Imperial City, or Battlegrounds, the tactics are always different.” But the selection of various sets that you can combine is also incredibly vast. Bajinga describes himself as a passionate theorycrafter, which means he’s a fan of mathematical calculations in video games.
This diversity includes that you can fight either solo or as a duo or in groups in PvP. Additionally, Bajinga states that the competitive aspect in a game is much more present in PvP than in PvE.
And even though it sounds weird, seeing about 100 players fighting over a castle is nice to watch.
Bajinga
Would you recommend the PvP in ESO to others, and do you have tips for beginners?
Basti would recommend the PvP in ESO to anyone who enjoys changing their character and trying out new things. He also has a few tips for beginners:
The starting point is hard; the best tip I can give is to choose a class and learn how to play it. PvP is significantly more skill-oriented than PvE; it’s important to know your character’s strengths and weaknesses and play them well – and Cyrodiil Rule No. 1: Don’t stand in the oil!
Basti
Bajinga gives a clear recommendation for the PvP in ESO. However, he also says that you should not let yourself be discouraged at the beginning because there will always be someone who is simply better than you. It can help to talk to experienced players: “I created a small guide for our guild, for example, and a low-cost but solid beginner build.”
Otherwise, you should inform yourself; Bajinga looks at many builds online and has seen almost every PvP build from the last years. However, all this reading doesn’t help if you don’t try things out because you have to find your own playstyle.
PvP is becoming more toxic?
How do you feel that the PvP in ESO has changed over the years?
Bajinga says that he has enjoyed PvP equally for years; he finds nothing better or worse. Due to changes to the sets, classes, and skills, or the addition of new sets, something is constantly changing in PvP, and that provides long-term motivation for him.
However, Basti has had so many issues with sets: “I think PvP has developed negatively in recent years; more and more proc sets have come into play that carry every player through PvP without real skill.” Additionally, according to Basti, the player base is becoming increasingly toxic; insults and teabagging have become normal in a PvP player’s everyday life. In general, the so-called ‘teabagging’ in MMOs is a common practice, as described by MeinMMO author Leya Jankowski.
Basti finds it very good that these sets are being removed from Cyrodiil and disappearing from his death recap. This removes the element of chance, and no probabilities of a proc decide victory or defeat:
PvP has now become what it should have been from the beginning: your character, your stats, your skill! That’s how PvP should be; the only thing that should be able to kill you in PvP are the skills of other players and not the sets they farmed. This makes dying much more enjoyable; you know exactly that the other player was simply better than you and didn’t just carry a stronger set that ultimately killed you.
Basti
What annoys you the most about PvP in ESO?
Apart from the already mentioned problem with proc sets that overlook the skill of players, Basti is also greatly annoyed by one thing: “Additionally, the increasing toxic behavior of many players is right at the top of the negative list. As soon as your opponent doesn’t like what and how you play, you will be insulted and teabagged endlessly.”
This has now reached the point where he knows many players who go offline when they enter PvP: “You have to wonder if this is still normal? And the answer is: Yes! That’s the normal everyday life of a PvP player.” He even has a story from personal experience:
It was particularly severe for me when I switched to PC and was out and about with the guild banner of a PvP guild (where really nice people were) in Cyrodiil. Just because of the name of this guild, I was massively insulted by two completely unfamiliar players and, wherever we met, was teabagged to a ridiculous extent.
Basti
Afterward, Basti rightfully questioned how such behavior could occur; the two guilds were indeed at odds with each other, but such behavior should not happen. And that just because of the name of a guild. Fortunately, this extreme example also remained an isolated case, but Basti states that such behavior has increased over the years: “It’s enough to have used a skill multiple times, and you will be insulted.”
This is a very difficult topic, as Basti admits, resulting in his conclusion that PvP players need thick skin not to take anything personally. Thus, passionate PvP players lose some of their enthusiasm for PvP in ESO. Basti has also noticed that the number of players engaging in PvP in ESO is decreasing, which he understands.
Bajinga is most annoyed by the server performance: “Having to press a skill five times during prime time before anything happens is quite taxing.” The issue with toxic players seems to bother him less, or he is good at ignoring such troublemakers.
At least the lasting problems of poor server performance should change with the new Champion System in ESO; have you already experienced this? Feel free to let us know in the comments, as well as what you think about PvP in ESO.
