The Morrowind addon for The Elder Scrolls Online is substantial. In addition to the Vvardenfell island and the Warden class, there is also a new PvP feature: the Battlegrounds. These allow structured PvP combat with three teams of four players each.
The Elder Scrolls Online finally gets structured arena PvP on June 6, 2017! On this day, the big ESO addon Morrowind will be released, and developer ZeniMax aims to offer something new to PvP fans as well. The PvP front has been rather quiet in recent years, as aside from the large-scale battles in the central region of Cyrodiil and the voluntary duels that were more of a fun feature, not much has changed in player versus player combat.
No to Faction Lock!
The Battlegrounds aim to change this. In these small arenas, only 12 players fight, divided into three teams of four fighters each. You participate in the battles via a special PvP browser. The team division is not bound to the three existing PvP factions. This prevents ESO from unnecessarily blocking available players, for example, if a large portion of the present characters belonged to the Ebonheart Pact or the Daggerfall Covenant, but only a few to the Aldmeri Dominion.
Matt Firor, the head of The Elder Scrolls Online, explained during our studio visit: “Three is always better than two.” Because when two teams fight against each other, the better team almost always wins, even if it is only slightly superior. In a three-way scenario, the disadvantaged teams can temporarily ally against the better team, giving underdogs a chance. This principle has already proven to work well in Firor’s previous work, Dark Age of Camelot.
Role Hunting or Knocking Heads?
In the Battlegrounds, you can choose between two game modes. In Team Deathmatch, things are not very subtle. Here, only kills count, and whoever has enough by the end of a round wins the match. If you prefer more tactics and strategy, you start in the game mode “Capture the Scroll”.
In this mode, it’s less about killing, and kills yield significantly fewer points. Instead, you need to find and capture the coveted “Scrolls of the Ancients” on the map, which are named after the series. So it’s Capture the Flag with mystical scrolls that can blind you while reading. A cool detail: if you leave the combat early, you receive no rewards; however, those who stay can look forward to experience points, gold, and PvP resources.
From Quarry to Spooky Ruins
At the launch of The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind, there will be three different maps for the Battlegrounds. These vary greatly in layout and thus require different tactics and strategies. The individual maps and their characteristics are:
- Quarry: This map lies at the foot of the Vvardenfell volcano and is a vast, open area. Here, ranged fighters are especially powerful, and tactical skills can only be used effectively in a few places.
- Dwemer Ruins: The structures of the old steampunk elves are designed vertically, so battles take place on multiple levels. Therefore, you must position your team well to cover all possibilities.
- Daedra Ruins: In the north of Vvardenfell lie these dark and bizarre structures. In the Daedra map, everything revolves around the central tower. This can only be captured in brutal close-range fights. Here, especially the new hero “Warden” should be effective.
In addition to these three maps, the developers plan to add more maps after the launch of Morrowind.
Jürgen says: I am not a big fan of PvP, and I dislike mass PvP like in Guild Wars 2 or ESO. Arena PvP suits me much better, so I am pleased that such a feature will finally be available in ESO. It has been a long time coming after over two years, after all, this feature has been announced for ages. I just hope that the maps are well balanced, and that the trio setup works in the arena as well.
