Elder Scrolls Online

[shmity72]

I had only played one MMO before this one, and it left a bad taste in my mouth, so I was a bit hesitant at first to try ESO. But I have played a bit now and I think ESO is a great game, far better than the other MMO I played. I love how any player, new or veteran, can go almost anywhere and do almost anything with anyone. Enemy difficulty somehow scales very well; it almost seems magical to me that a high level veteran player can partner up with a low level beginner and they can go after the same enemies and both contribute about equally. I am still learning the ropes, but I am enjoying myself a lot so far.

i have plus or minus 20k hours in the game as a guild master since launch week 1. shoot me a question and I'm super stoked you're finding a relatively non toxic mature themed MMO. anti will attest. I don't play the quests much. I've kind of 'done all the stuff' but I have a group of friends that we get together once a week now casually for a weekly trial and I keep up on my guild once a day while I make ESO movies with my wife. Again, glad you found healthy entertainment.

 

[Antimatter]

Over the last month, I built up a new character, a stamina Dragonknight nord. She even managed to get into the Top 100 Deathmatch table this week, which marked the last week in ESO with 4x4x4 Battlegrounds. A patch will be released soon that will change how Battlegrounds work, and there will be only 4x4 (and 8x8) games there.

This past week confirmed my initial fears when I just heard about the upcoming change, as "the last chance" brought many pro PvP players from Cyrodiil and Imperial City to Battlegrounds "to have the last hurrah". In many games, we - PUG (pick-up-group) players had literally no chance versus organized groups of PvP players and the only fun (and actual target) was competing for the 2nd spot, as the first position was already decided. With the upcoming change, there won't be any incentive to play when there are only 2 groups and one steamrolls the other. 500-0 and the like. And I expect many players would quit when it becomes ~200-0.

The week also showed there are many more players than just 100 who are interested in Battlegrounds in the EU server. It will make the upcoming competitive games highly challenging.

The Dragonknight class itself is very fun and a total joy to play as. I'd been holding off creating a DK until I got a nice visual theme for her in my head. My sales in the trading guild finally allowed me to get some gold, and I bought the Sai Sahan jack style page. Here is she:

There are so many sorcs, arcanists and nightblades in PvP these days, so it's a bit of a challenge to play in melee against them. I'll see if I use the DK or the Warden once the competitive Battlegrounds launch to even have a shot at a Top 100 place.

 

[Antimatter]

I spent this weekend grinding out for the new Competitive Top 100 Battleground List (which closed early this morning). It took me around 12 hours to get ~90k points, which was enough. What can I say about new Battlegrounds in ESO? In short, they are very bad.

- New competitive maps are very small, uninspired, and lack any variety in landscape/setup/traversing
- Almost all games are lopsided. 500-0 or something similar
- Almost no way to influence the score as an individual character, it all depends on the group setup/power vs enemy group setup/power
- No tactical challenge, no depth. Extra layers of strategy the 4v4v4 setup had are now gone
- Almost all games are decided in the first 30-60 seconds
- Two flag maps don't make sense, as the team that got the early lead (e.g., 16 vs. 8) has almost no way to lose this lead, just running from one flag to another ad infinitum
- I asked 3 of my in-game friends who frequently did BGs before, and all of them said the previous setup worked better; ESO lost its special feature of 3-teams BGs and became closer to Overwatch and Team Fortress 2 in this regard, but there are just not enough players for the matchmaking to work
- The instance is created even before all 8 players are ready which leads to wait times of 5 minutes without any gameplay (a great way to spend your precious golden food)
- Sometimes these games don't even start so after 5 minutes of waiting you have to search again
- Users leave when the result becomes clear
- Users troll by not respawning/standing at the spawn point
- The new Competitive Top 100 Battleground List is still based on medals, not MMR, so effectively you can get there without even winning
- For a "big" PvP update, this is certainly underwhelming and just plain bad

I hope the devs will reconsider and bring back the previous system. Once there are no longer 3 teams competing, combat suffers greatly, and fights become lopsided. Previous maps were better, had variety in traversing, and offered lots of options to surprise your opponents.

It's sad. I'm very unhappy as Battlegrounds were my favorite type of gameplay in this game.

Here are a few threads about the same topic, seems like I'm not the only disappointed person.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.c...you-think-4v4-is-good-competitive-bg-gameplay

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.c...ase-get-actual-top-pvpers-for-pvp-development











The only consolation is that my new Nightblade build that I worked for (based on the new Infinite Archive set for the class) is really fun to play. No stealth, pure brawler play. And the set gives neat effects visually.

 

[shmity72]

I used to enjoy BG too my friend. It's still fun just a mess for the time being. maybe they'll give us bigger maps for crowns...oh shit that could actually happen lol

 

[Antimatter]

This month, I got access to the Tsaesci Style. I've always liked that vibe in every setting, from Faerun (Kara-Tur) to TES (Akavir). The temptation to try this new style out was just too much. I quickly developed a concept: poison, snakes, and a katana. Meet my new Dragonknight:

I slowed down in ESO a bit between November-December, but now, with this character and an upcoming Pan-Tamriel Celebration Event, I'll be back!

 

[shmity72]

that looks cool!

 

[Xzarloxara]

Been playing ESO quite heavily for a while now, and I just now discovered how fun the card game is. I am still learning the ropes a bit, but I win most of the time I play... against the novice level NPCs anyway... I have a few favorite patrons to use already, namely Almalexia and Druid King...

I don't actually have too many patrons unlocked besides the starters. I think it is just the above two and Hermaeus Mora as well. I would appreciate some tips on strategy and which patrons I should aim for unlocking.

I am told that @shmity72 is an expert player, so I would appreciate his advice on this.

 

[shmity72]

Been playing ESO quite heavily for a while now, and I just now discovered how fun the card game is. I am still learning the ropes a bit, but I win most of the time I play... against the novice level NPCs anyway... I have a few favorite patrons to use already, namely Almalexia and Druid King...

I don't actually have too many patrons unlocked besides the starters. I think it is just the above two and Hermaeus Mora as well. I would appreciate some tips on strategy and which patrons I should aim for unlocking.

I am told that @shmity72 is an expert player, so I would appreciate his advice on this.

Greetings. talels of tribute is a great fun game. Almalexia is my bane lol I'm soo poor with it. kudos to you for understanding how it works just so. I usually play liar and hundings. I would suggest doing what's 'fun' for you. also let's say you have 3 gold left and there's a 2 gold card that doesn't match the type you are going for but it's all the gold you have left? just don't pick it up and end your turn sometimes i end my turn with 4 or 5 gold left just because the value ratio of what I may 'pick' against what may show up for my opponent is not ..umm good. stick with a few decks and get good at them. have fun.

 

[Xzarloxara]

One thing I often wonder about the game is what decides who goes first? I notice the NPCs always seem to go first for picking patrons, which gives the human player the advantage I guess (?) by allowing them to adapt to the choices. I also wonder what decides who gets the first turn. I noticed that whoever goes second seems to be given an extra gold as compensation, but I really don’t know which is preferable. I guess it depends on the cards in play.

I used the Hermaeus Mora deck once, during my very first match, and maybe I am missing something, but I didn’t like the whole setbacks thing much and can’t see the advantage when other decks don’t have setbacks and seem to work just as well.

I wonder if any of the starting decks are actually any good. I kinda like Pelin, he seems to have strong cards, but some of them can be kind of annoying in certain circumstances, like how his starting card gives 1 power instead of 1 gold, which can screw you up if you get it at the wrong time at the beginning of the game. I haven’t payed much attention to the other starting decks really. The Psijic deck seems focused on knowing what you are about to get next and manipulating the future hand to your favor (fits the theme well I guess). The Hlaalu deck seems focused on gold and acquisition of new cards I guess. I can’t really figure out what the Crow deck is supposed to be good at, their bonuses seem to be all over the place…

Other than that, the AI seems really dumb on the novice level. I noticed one match the AI could have had a patron win, but chose to do something else for no real reason.

Any thoughts on any of this?

 

[shmity72]

One thing I often wonder about the game is what decides who goes first? I notice the NPCs always seem to go first for picking patrons, which gives the human player the advantage I guess (?) by allowing them to adapt to the choices. I also wonder what decides who gets the first turn. I noticed that whoever goes second seems to be given an extra gold as compensation, but I really don’t know which is preferable. I guess it depends on the cards in play.

I used the Hermaeus Mora deck once, during my very first match, and maybe I am missing something, but I didn’t like the whole setbacks thing much and can’t see the advantage when other decks don’t have setbacks and seem to work just as well.

I wonder if any of the starting decks are actually any good. I kinda like Pelin, he seems to have strong cards, but some of them can be kind of annoying in certain circumstances, like how his starting card gives 1 power instead of 1 gold, which can screw you up if you get it at the wrong time at the beginning of the game. I haven’t payed much attention to the other starting decks really. The Psijic deck seems focused on knowing what you are about to get next and manipulating the future hand to your favor (fits the theme well I guess). The Hlaalu deck seems focused on gold and acquisition of new cards I guess. I can’t really figure out what the Crow deck is supposed to be good at, their bonuses seem to be all over the place…

Other than that, the AI seems really dumb on the novice level. I noticed one match the AI could have had a patron win, but chose to do something else for no real reason.

Any thoughts on any of this?

Hi Xzarloxara,

Yes I wonder too if it’s just rng that picks who goes first or not.
I’m not sure which is preferable either but…I like to go first.

Hermaeus Mora deck has probably the largest single output of power with like 4 or 5 cards so if you acquire just a few and you get them to ‘line up’ with say: psyjic or hundings? You can bam! hit for like 20 power or so. That’s the allure of the Mora deck. Not my favorite but I can appreciate its nuance.

The one power card instead of 1 gold can be useful information. For example, if you see the board has a 6 gold card and you left click on your opponents draw pile you can see what they have coming just not in which particular order though they may have too many ‘power’ cards to pick up that REALLY nice 6 or 8 gold card that’s on the board so one may adjust their strategy accordingly.
The crow deck is very much fun. It takes some skill but I hate it lol. I do not have the bandwidth of short term memory at end game to make full use of All the card drawing that proceeds with a full hand of crow cards.

I do not play vs. the AI.

P.S. if you left click your opponents discard pile you may see what they have in that stack as well.

I hope that gives insight to some of your statements.

 

[Antimatter]

Whitestrake's Mayhem just ended. Very fun couple of weeks. After taking a break from ESO I was glad to be back and participate in PvP activities.

Managed to get two characters into Battlegrounds' Top 100 this week, to get the missing 2 pages of the Galeskirmish Gladiator Style I needed.

When you play so many BG matches, you learn to know the majority of other Top 100 characters and interact with those of them who behave and play nicely.

And what ESO post can go without a new look for my character?

 

[Antimatter]

It's not even been a full month (since my last update), but so much has happened.

I finally found a build I'm happy with for my Bosmer sorcerer archer (PvP). After getting myself acquainted with the magicka sorc meta, I found a way to make a stamina sorc almost unkillable (or probably add even more survivability).

Update 45 got released, and it buffed the Soulcleaver set from the Infinite Archive for Nightblades. That's why I decided to create another option for my nightblade. Tested it, and it works wonderfully, both solo in the Imperial City and in 4-person groups in Battlegrounds. Extra rewards for the style look.

I found a way to continue using my Redguard templar. She was my first PvP character and provided a lot of learning experience when I was just a newbie (~1 year ago). I turned her ... into a healer (so that Redguards' passive for lower cost of "weapon" abilities could at least be somewhat utilized) - when you wield a restoration staff (and I have a Perfected Maelstrom Restoration staff), you use exactly them - "weapon" abilities (to heal).

Honestly, with the new Battlegrounds, healers get it so cheaply. They get medals/points too easily and can get into the Top 100 much faster than any damage dealer.

Then, I decided to grind for Pyrebrand, an armor set that can be obtained in Infinite Archive by Dragonknights. The reason? Getting killed a few times in BGs by DKs having this set. Even while I had 2 PvP DKs, I never had them wearing egoistic solo sets, always preferring something for 4-person groups, e.g, a rare Powerful Assault set purchased for Tel Var. So, 36k Infinite Archive currency later, I managed to get all the needed pieces. Crafted and equipped it finally. That's the current meta for PvP DKs.

She turned out well.

But that's not all!

I can't stop singing praises to the ESO character customization.

Welcome my first Arcanist.

What do you think of his look? Can you guess his race?

Spoiler

He's an Argonian!

Spoiler

I understand why the class became such a success (among players). It's a very fresh feeling for people who spent 3k+ hours playing other classes, hah.

 

[Antimatter]

Playing an Arcanist has been a joy, both in PvE and PvP. But turned out it was my swansong in ESO. Zenimax's showcase of an upcoming update to ESO on April 10 left me disappointed, frustrated, angry, and just outright negative.

I canceled my subscription. I don't agree with the subclassing approach and think it will destroy the very core, the main feature that kept me in the game for so long - finding ways to use the unique strengths of each class. That's why I advanced every class in the game to lvl 50 and tried it. Now all I can see is a combo of certain skills on almost every character.

Imagine if in BG3 or other RPGs with class systems we got something like that... it wouldn't make sense, and kill the whole system. Multiclassing in D&D always worked with downsides, here, it's just pure powergaming.

Not even talking about PvE group content here, toxicity would require everyone to follow the meta formula, and it will get much worse than it currently is, where people still had to bear with non-ideal choices for roles (e.g. Nightblade for PvE damage dealer, or Templar for PvE tank).

The new zone doesn't seem interesting enough and might be a rehash of old ideas (dating back to 2011), instead of new, fresh approach in West Weald with new TES lore etc.

New monetization practices are not something I can agree with either.

So yeah, it's time to move on.

To further illustrate my opinion, I can point to these discussions:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.c...homogenous-game-as-evidenced-by-hybridization



Specifically, I'd like to praise all the answers from the Reddit thread above.

And the new PTS Patch Notes confirm what I and many other players feared. Nerfs everywhere. Non-pet PvP socrs? Totally nerfed. Fatecarver? Cost increased by 40%. Templar's beam? Nerfed. Warden's ultimate? Nerfed. Sustain on many classes? Nerfed. Banner scribed ability? Nerfed. Ulfsild's scribed ability? Nerfed. This list can go on forever.



Players are getting penalized for not wanting to mess around with subclassing. Everyone will have to use it, as there is no alternative anymore.

And it'll only continue from here. Once the patch hits live in June, people will be able to find and use builds that make all the content trivial, so more abilities will be nerfed.

My current sub will run until the end of the current anniversary event, so less than a week left. That, and also the previous decisions (what they did with BGs by removing 4v4v4, 4v4 never became really good just as I predicted; and their plans for Cyrodiil which I consider to be totally anti-ESO) which weren't aligned with my interests. I might still try their subclassing, but without ESO+. No more money from me. I will check myself how it really feels when the patch is released.

 

[Antimatter]

Yesterday, Zenimax held an AMA on Reddit.



Out of all the questions asked, they only directly answered one about Battlegrounds or PvP. We even had a Tavern member post their own PvP question, but it was completely ignored.

I’m not surprised. If you want a list of questions that should’ve actually been answered, just sort by unanswered.

Everything else felt like PR speak: vague, upbeat promises with no real commitment, and most changes pushed “next year” or beyond. Here’s the short list of what they mentioned:

• Working on cross-play
• Adding difficulty levels for overland content
• Investigating companion romances
• Increasing player housing limits

This is verbatim what they said about PvP and Battlegrounds:

“Vengeance is the engine right now for testing out performance and systems to get the best experience for PvP in massive warfare. We still have some tests to go, but when those are concluded, we’ll be able to get more into the longer plans with that data.
We have chatted about templates in IC or BG’s and right now… we’re leaning more towards IC being true bedlam and you can have all your gear/abilities/passives etc. as perf in those zones (the Districts and Sewers) are quite good. For battlegrounds… we’re still talking about all that.”

To me, that reads like:

1. They’ll keep building “Vengeance” as a PvP testbed, and then migrate Cyrodiil to it.
2. Imperial City stays unchanged.
3. Battlegrounds? No concrete ideas, and it's been a long time like that.

Combat & PvP Director Brian Wheeler chimed in with his personal build:

“Right now I’m back on my Templar and just doing a heavy attack build with Sgt, Deadly and Oaken when PvE’ing. I toyed with Sorc and Arcanist mixed in with it too grinding away in Blackwood to get my Orioles Orange unlocked. PvP I’m back to Templar as well, but way more on the survival/distraction side of life with Hist, Mara, Oaken, one piece Troll King and heavy armor.”

So, a one-bar build for PvE and PvP, great... And even decided for himself against the heavily pushed subclassing feature. This is the same person who didn’t realize heavy attacks restore resources in that infamous livestream. At this point, how do you signal “I know nothing about PvP” more clearly?

When asked about veteran players, they said they’re targeting more players generally, and only plan to give veterans difficulty settings, for now. Everything else is “we’ll look into it later" as they focus on bringing more players in.

A friend asked if I’d return to ESO. Given their current monetization model and these half-baked answers, I’d only invest more money if Zenimax actually made decisions I care about. This AMA confirmed that even new leadership won’t fix the things I want.

 

[Antimatter]

HEAR YE, HEAR YE! Bishop Alexander was slain by seagulls! Culprits still at large!

Heh, a wrong game, but still. I returned to ESO. More news at 11.

But speaking more seriously, there have been some good bits of info coming from Zenimax over the last 2 months. They made me positive and optimistic, and I decided to give it another chance.

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/t...to-have-a-shot-at-reaching-that-30-year-mark/

https://wccftech.com/elder-scrolls-online-zenimax-interview-free-content-battle-pass/

They’ve basically announced everything I’d been hoping for: three‑sided battlegrounds, higher furnishing limits, stronger class identity, a wave of QoL improvements, and less FOMO thanks to changes in daily and weekly endeavors and event ticket caps. Communication has also improved a lot, and the new leadership genuinely feels like it understands what the game needs. The upcoming DK adjustments look promising, and I’m hoping the other classes get the attention they deserve too.

I wrapped up Zerith‑var’s storyline, he's an ancient First Era necromancer and easily one of the best companions in the game, right up there with Garrus (Sharp‑as‑Night). He fits perfectly with my necromancer main. His questline was packed with great ESO lore, some moral choices, and a really satisfying conclusion. Plus, I got to pet a cat, which is always a win.

After that, I moved on to Southern Elsweyr and finished the post‑story that ties together both Northern and Southern Elsweyr. It’s been a few years since I played through Northern Elsweyr, so returning to familiar characters was a nice bit of nostalgia. I enjoyed the side quests, and hearing a few lines from Zerith‑var sprinkled in was a pleasant surprise.

On the grinding side of things, I put together new builds using Infinite Archive sets for both my warden and necromancer: Aerie’s Cry and Corpseburster. The power boost (and the glow) has been a lot of fun to play with.

Spoiler

 

[BelgarathMTH]

At first this post made me think, "Oh, yes, good old ESO, I might enjoy playing that again." But then I re-read some of your posts from earlier last year. While I don't care about anything PvP, as that's not my cup of tea, the killing of distinct character classes is an absolute deal-breaker to me, so I won't be playing it again unless they change that back to what it was. I also remembered that another deal-breaker to me was the triviality of combat during overland questing, so it would also take increased overland difficulty to get me back into it. I'm glad you're having fun with it again, though.

 

[Antimatter]

At first this post made me think, "Oh, yes, good old ESO, I might enjoy playing that again." But then I re-read some of your posts from earlier last year. While I don't care about anything PvP, as that's not my cup of tea, the killing of distinct character classes is an absolute deal-breaker to me, so I won't be playing it again unless they change that back to what it was. I also remembered that another deal-breaker to me was the triviality of combat during overland questing, so it would also take increased overland difficulty to get me back into it. I'm glad you're having fun with it again, though.

That was my main complaint and concern in 2025, right. But they're addressing exactly this kind of complaint. It will take them around a year to fix all classes (as they started with Dragonknight), starting in March (when the patch goes live). I like and approve of all the language they used (to acknowledge the issue and provide a way forward). And they are working on overland difficulty as well, with the first options coming in March as well:

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/69039 - the overall concept for the class refresh
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/69219 - upcoming DK changes
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/69117 - ESO leadership message for end of year

 

[Antimatter]

And here you go, ZoS has just shown (in a livestream) new Class Mastery skill lines, which will give you access to a few passives (starting with 5), which will make pure class characters strong enough.

 

[Antimatter]

For a monthly update, I can say I've finally reached one of my long-term targets of getting the Dragonclaw Imperial Warbear mount. This mount was introduced 1 year ago, and to gain it, you'd need the following:

• Shattered Imperial Warbear Harness, bought with 100k Alliance Points and 30 Battlemaster Tokens (rewards for daily Battlegrounds quests)
• Shattered Imperial Warbear Armor, bought with 100k Tel Var (!) and 20 Siege of Cyrodiil Merits (rewards for daily Imperial City quests), that's quite a big amount of Tel Var
• Shattered Imperial Warbear Saddle, bought with 100k Alliance Points and 10 Arena Gladiator proofs (rewards for daily Cyrodiil quests, the ones that are harder than others)

The biggest obstacle was another requirement, Alliance Rank 29 - Brigadier, to purchase the Shattered Imperial Warbear Saddle. Considering I don't play in Cyrodiil much and prefer just to do Battlegrounds, getting my Alliance rank to 29 wasn't an easy task. Around 1 year ago, when I played Battlegrounds more or less regularly, my highest PVP character had the Alliance rank of Major (rank 21). The amount of Alliance Points to go from one rank to another increases exponentially.

But finally, after many months, and thanks to the events like Whitestrake's Mayhem (where there are bonuses of extra Alliance Points), it's finally done. Here, the bear in all its glory!

Spoiler

Among other things, I tweaked a few builds for my leading PvP characters, and I'm quite happy about the results. Even with subclassing, I still try to preserve the main class feel, and Infinite Archive (class-specific) sets are the ideal way to do that, even while I add a few Nightblade skills to a Templar, or Sorcerer skills to a Nightblade.

I created a "duelist" Templar based on the Aetheric Lancer set, and a magblade Nightblade based on the Soulcleaver set. Both characters are quite effective and feel different enough from the meta (I prefer to find fun and success with non-meta approaches). The Templar can hold her own against any enemy, and the Magblade usually has high kill numbers.

Now, in March, the Dragonknight class changes will finally come to the live version. That will be the time to tweak my PvP DKs (yes, I have 2 of them).

 

[Antimatter]

Update 49 launched two days ago, and I’d call it nothing short of a phenomenal success (especially if we consider where the game was headed towards just 1 year ago). The sheer number of QoL improvements has transformed many previously clunky systems into smooth, intuitive features. Faster research timers, quicker mount progression, stackable treasure maps, XP for the second bar while grinding... these changes add up fast. The whole game feels more refined, and the shift toward fixing long‑standing issues instead of chasing the next shiny feature is absolutely the right direction.

And then there’s the updated Dragonknight. I’ve been having a blast with it. Right now, it feels like the strongest PvP class in the game, and its PvE setups finally stand shoulder to shoulder with top-tier subclass/arcanist builds.

The new visual effects layered onto the rebalanced skills make it feel as if the game jumped forward a few years in a single patch. Playing DK genuinely feels fresh, modern, strong. The sound of the whip.

Here’s my Dragonknight, inspired by my love for Kingdom Come: Deliverance and historical aesthetics: