PvP Guide Preparing for War

Deltia

If you’ve been watching my stream, you know I have been playing PvP in Elder Scrolls Online non-stop (North American Server Thornblade Campaign). It’s a part of the game that I haven’t dedicated enough time to and as part of my things to do prior to patch 1.6, it was time to jump in. I wanted to come out with some posts about what I’ve been learning and number one is being preparing for combat with the right equipment, skills and siege.

If you’re brand new to Player vs. Player (PvP) in Elder Scrolls Online, you might want to check out Party Pyro’s articles prior to jumping into this. Cyrodiil can be considered a hostile war ground and you should treat it as such. When I was in the military, we did a combat kit check prior to going “outside the wire.” We can implement the same type of practice for Cyrodiil to maximize our success. My basic Combat Kit is listed below with details on how I use this equipment.

Siege

It takes Alliance Points (AP) to make AP. When I was brand new to PvP, I often said “screw it I’m not spending my AP to siege keeps.” That is a terrible attitude because one Flaming Oil, one Meatbag or repair kit might be the difference in a 5,000 AP defensive or offensive tick (reward). For more information on how to use these, check out Party Pyro’s Siege Guide, but here’s a list of my general load-out. Keep in mind, this is what I use for a typical two to three hour game play session. You’ll need more or less depending on your allotted game time.



2x Flaming Oil | 800 AP each
Keep Defenses
+ Huge damage on personnel
– Can’t be used on flat surface

These should be setup above a breach location during a siege defense for massive damage when the enemy is breaking through. This can make or break a defense and one person can operator two at a time thus at least two is needed on your combat kit.


2x Dominion Ballista | 1,800 AP each
Keep assault
+ Massive damage on keeps
– High AP cost

I like to double fire these while attacking a keep so setting up two close to each other like oil pots. The faster you get that keep down, the faster you can setup a defense. A good substitute if you don’t have any AP is Dominion Fire Ballista for $450 gold each. About half the damage though it’s nice for those new to PvP without AP.



2x Dominion Meatbag Catapult | 1,200 AP each
Destroying personnel (tons of usage)
+ Get artillery if you don’t want to get into the fray
– Prepare to be targeted

I truly had zero idea how powerful a well placed Meatbag can be. Deploy these early and often in open fields, on defensive (yes they fit inside keeps) any opportunity for massive zerg, drop and pop these. It’s the zerg killer siege weapon.



2X Dominion Stone Trebuchet | 1,800 AP each
Keep assault (inner wall)
+ Range
– Long reload

If you want to flip or take over a keep fast, having Stone Trebuchet on the outer wall while you’re raining down stones on the inner is the pro move. Make sure to grab a couple of these for fast flips where speed is key like an unprotected keep deep in enemy territory.



1x Dominion Battering Ram | 1,800 AP each
Keep assault
+ Massive damage on front door
– Easily countered

Rarely do you see the Battering Ram coming out in Cyrodiil these days but you should consider keeping one in your pack. A couple of tricks is one, you can still cast spells while operating the ram. Just stand on top of it and spam healing. Two, you can still combine this with Dominion Ballista. So don’t just ram the door, get more siege on it.



Keep Wall Masonry Repair Kit 100x | $90 gold or 300 AP
Repairing keeps
+ Great AP after a flip
– Can rack up gold cost

Until recently, after we took control of an enemy keep (flip) I would just stand around waiting for the next thing to do. Now I immediately rush to repair the outer wall first then the inner. Essentially every repair is work 25 AP or so and costing $90 gold each. It’s a decent exchange and plus you help your alliance so bring a ton of these.



Keep Door Woodworker Repair Kit 50x | $90 gold or 200 AP
Repairs doors
+ Easy AP
– Often doors aren’t breached

Bring a few of these in your pack in case the enemy uses a battering ram trick to speed cap a keep. Similar in effect as the Masonry kits, don’t just stand around repair!

Optional – There are some additional options and more complex siege strategies. I honestly don’t know how to implement them effectively yet, so I’m not going to recommend them until I gain a better understanding. Please leave me a comment if you know of some tricks!

Consumables

Get ready to spend tons of gold for top end PvP consumables. These truly make or break your character’s performance and can change the tide of the battle. Downside it takes a lot of time farming materials or money to continue using these supplies. If you want to be on top, you need to be prepared and this separates the good from the great.



Panacea of Health 100x
Defensive potions called Tri-Pots
Generally $13,000 gold per 100 (stack)
Recipe Bugloss + Columbine + Mountain Flower + Water (Clouded Mist VR 5)

This potion is a PvP equivalent to a intravenous shot of adrenaline. Every 30 seconds or so, I’m chugging these things down in the middle of a zerg to get back all three resources. Potions do no good in your bank or while you’re dead. Use these early and often to get an advantage.



Panacea of Spell Power 50x
Offensive for magicka based builds (weapon one exist too)
Generally $11,000 gold per 100
Recipe Cornflower + Lady’s Smock + Water Hyacinth + Water (Clouded Mist VR 5)

When on the offensive, make sure to switch out to a spell or weapon power potion. Seems like overkill to have some many options, but trust me, the best defensive is a good ol’ Impulse spamming ball of flame. Chugging one of these and push the zerg back screaming “for the Queen” can break the zerg line.



Stealth Detection
Utility for preventing gankers
Generally $4,000 gold per 100
Recipe Cornflower + Wormwood + Water (any can be used, same effect)

If you’re like me and stream PvP, you will inevitable acquire a “fan club,” also known as stream snipers. Yes people will watch your stream just to find where you and attempt to kill you at inopportune times. Put them on the defensive with some stealth detect potions .



Food
Attributes buff (provisioning craft)
Generally $10,000 gold per 100
Recipe – Honey Comb, Pinguis, Salt, Garlic, Pepper

I highly recommend tri-stat food for PvP. You need massive amounts of stamina regardless if you’re a magicka based build. One extra dodge roll, one extra burst of sprinting and one CC break might make or break a fight. Generally, I like 3,000 health, 2,500 main stat (magicka or stamina depending on your build) and 1,500 off stat.



Soul Gems
For resurrecting allies
Generally $10,000 gold per 100
Buy from vendors or found

Don’t be the derp who yolo’s in and dies right away (me). If you are, hopefully your friendly alliance brings some Soul Gems. Remember, no Forward Camps so everyone needs to pitch in on resurrections.

Equipment



Disguise
You look like an awesome Nord
Only thing that shows is your shoulder and or head
Found from drunken soldier under a bridge near Fort Amol in Eastmarch (EP faction)

I can’t stress enough how important it is to wear a disguises. Yes, showing off your Over Powered (OP) min maxed legendary gear is great for your ego, but fighting an enemy with no idea of your build is better. Take every advantage you can get and find a unique outfit that fits your character. Some others are a Goblin and Skeleton costume though I hate the sounds so I don’t use them.



Impenetrable Gear

Craftable gear
Requires Diamond armor trait
Recommend 4-6 pieces of gear with this

Don’t go into Cyrodiil expecting to light the world on fire with no impenetrable (impen) gear on. This increases your resistance to critical hits. You should really try a mix of crafted and drop sets to take advantage of this trait. Yes you’ll be missing 5 to 10 health or magicka here and there, but you’ll be saved from 2k Snipes to the face.



Two-Piece Undaunted
Full Undaunted guide here
Best I’ve found is Blood Spawn’s Guise

Try a 2 (head shoulders)/5 (armor)/3 (jewelry) setup with a Master Weapon

Ultimate is the name of the game in ESO Patch 1.5. That might all change in 1.6, but for right now, you can’t go wrong with using a proc piece like the one above. That can be found in Spindleclutch the first boss. Great place to practice your PvE DPS and get one of the best sets in the game.

Addons

For my full list of addons and setup, check out my YouTube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxwbKO68ck0&feature=youtu.be

Below are two addons I can’t live without in PvP.

Greymind Quick Slot Bar by bsrealm



The main problem with ESO’s default UI setup is the inability to quickly swapping in and out consumables or equipment. Thank you bsrealm for making this addon helping us quickly swappping between potions, siege, anything that can go in your quickslots.

It’s very customizable, but what I like is setting keybinds for the six most common quickslot items: defensive potion, offensive potion, stealth detect, food, Dominion Ballista, and Masonry Repair Kit. I use a Razor mouse and I set these as 7,8,9, 0, -, = though the possibilities are near endless. You can tailor this to your style and or game-play and use this outside of Cyrodiil as well. Now when that key flips over, bang with one key stroke you’re repairing.

Kill Counter by mikethecoder4



A great man once told me, “you only get what you measure.” Yes another cliche I know, but it makes sense. By default, ESO doesn’t really have any means to judge your performance. Another amazing community addon is Kill Counter by mikethecoder4. I downloaded this on my editing computer so it’s all zeros, however, it will record a running total for your entire PvP history. So, it’s a great way to judge if you’re improving daily, monthly or by campaign.

The key numbers I pay attention to are kills/deaths (K/D), killing blows (KP) and AP gained. Though these are pretty obvious let me explain.

• K/D ratio – This number is a bit skewed if you’re healing as you get credit for the kills your party members provide. On a good night with a well coordinated group, I usually hover around 10:1 (10 kills to one death). While playing solo, a good ratio for me is 6:1. A lot of this depends on your class, ability, gear, and the amount of hours you’ve played that character. Either way, pay attention and try to improve this.
• KB – Some of my builds (Frag Out specifically) are killing blow machines. While doing mindless amounts of damage is great, finishing off enemies and being the teams executioner is just as important. Ask yourself, am I actually killing things? Well now you can know with Kill Counter. On my Dragonknight, I average a lowly 1:10 or something. My job is to get people’s attention and AoE, cause tons of chaos for my snipers in the rear. It’s a decent average. On a good night with my Sorcerer, I can average a 1:4 ratio. That is very hard to achieve but will help you focus in the weak targets begging to die.
• AP gained – Keeping an eye AP/per hour produces urgency. Are you in stealth sneaking around for 40 minutes just to get one kill and 400 AP? Are you pushing the battle holding a keep deep in enemy territory 20 vs 100 (Decible Guild showed me this)? We are at war people, get some urgency and AP is a good way to see if you’re actively contributing.

Final Checks

Now I got everything setup it’s time to do my final checks.

• Bio – Make sure to empty that bladder. I know it sounds funny, but every second counts and we want to maximize our time and concentration.
• Repair Your Gear – If you’ve been doing some PvE prior, hit a vendor and repair quick.
• Mic Check – Are you on TeamSpeak3? You should be if you’re in a group.
• Start Recording – You don’t want to miss your epic 1vX kills so start recording! I use Xsplit Gamecaster and GeForce Experience to capture my videos.
• Walk Dogs – If you know me, my dogs love to make appearances in my streams. Shepard (my huge lab/Dane mix) will not stop until he gets what he wants. So I make sure to give him a long 30 minute walk prior.
• Offline Mode – Yes, I even set myself to offline mode when seriously PvPing. I love talking to people in the community, but sometimes I want full concentration and PvP is one of them.
• DUBSTEP MUSIC – Lastly we need some epic motivation. Dubstep is my favorite and I have my own mix on YouTube here if you want to listen to it.

I can’t stress enough how much I’m enjoying PvP. I’m learning a lot more every day thanks to a lot of friendly and helpful community members. Whether you’re blue, yellow, or red, get in there and enjoy this. Nothing like ESO Cyrodiil, truly. Time to go for Emperor soon in 2015.

Galalin

Deltia wrote: »

If you’ve been watching my stream, you know I have been playing PvP in Elder Scrolls Online non-stop (North American Server Thornblade Campaign). It’s a part of the game that I haven’t dedicated enough time to and as part of my things to do prior to patch 1.6, it was time to jump in. I wanted to come out with some posts about what I’ve been learning and number one is being preparing for combat with the right equipment, skills and siege.

If you’re brand new to Player vs. Player (PvP) in Elder Scrolls Online, you might want to check out Party Pyro’s articles prior to jumping into this. Cyrodiil can be considered a hostile war ground and you should treat it as such. When I was in the military, we did a combat kit check prior to going “outside the wire.” We can implement the same type of practice for Cyrodiil to maximize our success. My basic Combat Kit is listed below with details on how I use this equipment.

Siege

It takes Alliance Points (AP) to make AP. When I was brand new to PvP, I often said “screw it I’m not spending my AP to siege keeps.” That is a terrible attitude because one Flaming Oil, one Meatbag or repair kit might be the difference in a 5,000 AP defensive or offensive tick (reward). For more information on how to use these, check out Party Pyro’s Siege Guide, but here’s a list of my general load-out. Keep in mind, this is what I use for a typical two to three hour game play session. You’ll need more or less depending on your allotted game time.



2x Flaming Oil | 800 AP each
Keep Defenses
+ Huge damage on personnel
– Can’t be used on flat surface

These should be setup above a breach location during a siege defense for massive damage when the enemy is breaking through. This can make or break a defense and one person can operator two at a time thus at least two is needed on your combat kit.


2x Dominion Ballista | 1,800 AP each
Keep assault
+ Massive damage on keeps
– High AP cost

I like to double fire these while attacking a keep so setting up two close to each other like oil pots. The faster you get that keep down, the faster you can setup a defense. A good substitute if you don’t have any AP is Dominion Fire Ballista for $450 gold each. About half the damage though it’s nice for those new to PvP without AP.



2x Dominion Meatbag Catapult | 1,200 AP each
Destroying personnel (tons of usage)
+ Get artillery if you don’t want to get into the fray
– Prepare to be targeted

I truly had zero idea how powerful a well placed Meatbag can be. Deploy these early and often in open fields, on defensive (yes they fit inside keeps) any opportunity for massive zerg, drop and pop these. It’s the zerg killer siege weapon.



2X Dominion Stone Trebuchet | 1,800 AP each
Keep assault (inner wall)
+ Range
– Long reload

If you want to flip or take over a keep fast, having Stone Trebuchet on the outer wall while you’re raining down stones on the inner is the pro move. Make sure to grab a couple of these for fast flips where speed is key like an unprotected keep deep in enemy territory.



1x Dominion Battering Ram | 1,800 AP each
Keep assault
+ Massive damage on front door
– Easily countered

Rarely do you see the Battering Ram coming out in Cyrodiil these days but you should consider keeping one in your pack. A couple of tricks is one, you can still cast spells while operating the ram. Just stand on top of it and spam healing. Two, you can still combine this with Dominion Ballista. So don’t just ram the door, get more siege on it.



Keep Wall Masonry Repair Kit 100x | $90 gold or 300 AP
Repairing keeps
+ Great AP after a flip
– Can rack up gold cost

Until recently, after we took control of an enemy keep (flip) I would just stand around waiting for the next thing to do. Now I immediately rush to repair the outer wall first then the inner. Essentially every repair is work 25 AP or so and costing $90 gold each. It’s a decent exchange and plus you help your alliance so bring a ton of these.



Keep Door Woodworker Repair Kit 50x | $90 gold or 200 AP
Repairs doors
+ Easy AP
– Often doors aren’t breached

Bring a few of these in your pack in case the enemy uses a battering ram trick to speed cap a keep. Similar in effect as the Masonry kits, don’t just stand around repair!

Optional – There are some additional options and more complex siege strategies. I honestly don’t know how to implement them effectively yet, so I’m not going to recommend them until I gain a better understanding. Please leave me a comment if you know of some tricks!

Consumables

Get ready to spend tons of gold for top end PvP consumables. These truly make or break your character’s performance and can change the tide of the battle. Downside it takes a lot of time farming materials or money to continue using these supplies. If you want to be on top, you need to be prepared and this separates the good from the great.



Panacea of Health 100x
Defensive potions called Tri-Pots
Generally $13,000 gold per 100 (stack)
Recipe Bugloss + Columbine + Mountain Flower + Water (Clouded Mist VR 5)

This potion is a PvP equivalent to a intravenous shot of adrenaline. Every 30 seconds or so, I’m chugging these things down in the middle of a zerg to get back all three resources. Potions do no good in your bank or while you’re dead. Use these early and often to get an advantage.



Panacea of Spell Power 50x
Offensive for magicka based builds (weapon one exist too)
Generally $11,000 gold per 100
Recipe Cornflower + Lady’s Smock + Water Hyacinth + Water (Clouded Mist VR 5)

When on the offensive, make sure to switch out to a spell or weapon power potion. Seems like overkill to have some many options, but trust me, the best defensive is a good ol’ Impulse spamming ball of flame. Chugging one of these and push the zerg back screaming “for the Queen” can break the zerg line.



Stealth Detection
Utility for preventing gankers
Generally $4,000 gold per 100
Recipe Cornflower + Wormwood + Water (any can be used, same effect)

If you’re like me and stream PvP, you will inevitable acquire a “fan club,” also known as stream snipers. Yes people will watch your stream just to find where you and attempt to kill you at inopportune times. Put them on the defensive with some stealth detect potions .



Food
Attributes buff (provisioning craft)
Generally $10,000 gold per 100
Recipe – Honey Comb, Pinguis, Salt, Garlic, Pepper

I highly recommend tri-stat food for PvP. You need massive amounts of stamina regardless if you’re a magicka based build. One extra dodge roll, one extra burst of sprinting and one CC break might make or break a fight. Generally, I like 3,000 health, 2,500 main stat (magicka or stamina depending on your build) and 1,500 off stat.



Soul Gems
For resurrecting allies
Generally $10,000 gold per 100
Buy from vendors or found

Don’t be the derp who yolo’s in and dies right away (me). If you are, hopefully your friendly alliance brings some Soul Gems. Remember, no Forward Camps so everyone needs to pitch in on resurrections.

Equipment



Disguise
You look like an awesome Nord
Only thing that shows is your shoulder and or head
Found from drunken soldier under a bridge near Fort Amol in Eastmarch (EP faction)

I can’t stress enough how important it is to wear a disguises. Yes, showing off your Over Powered (OP) min maxed legendary gear is great for your ego, but fighting an enemy with no idea of your build is better. Take every advantage you can get and find a unique outfit that fits your character. Some others are a Goblin and Skeleton costume though I hate the sounds so I don’t use them.



Impenetrable Gear

Craftable gear
Requires Diamond armor trait
Recommend 4-6 pieces of gear with this

Don’t go into Cyrodiil expecting to light the world on fire with no impenetrable (impen) gear on. This increases your resistance to critical hits. You should really try a mix of crafted and drop sets to take advantage of this trait. Yes you’ll be missing 5 to 10 health or magicka here and there, but you’ll be saved from 2k Snipes to the face.



Two-Piece Undaunted
Full Undaunted guide here
Best I’ve found is Blood Spawn’s Guise

Try a 2 (head shoulders)/5 (armor)/3 (jewelry) setup with a Master Weapon

Ultimate is the name of the game in ESO Patch 1.5. That might all change in 1.6, but for right now, you can’t go wrong with using a proc piece like the one above. That can be found in Spindleclutch the first boss. Great place to practice your PvE DPS and get one of the best sets in the game.

Addons

For my full list of addons and setup, check out my YouTube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxwbKO68ck0&feature=youtu.be

Below are two addons I can’t live without in PvP.

Greymind Quick Slot Bar by bsrealm



The main problem with ESO’s default UI setup is the inability to quickly swapping in and out consumables or equipment. Thank you bsrealm for making this addon helping us quickly swappping between potions, siege, anything that can go in your quickslots.

It’s very customizable, but what I like is setting keybinds for the six most common quickslot items: defensive potion, offensive potion, stealth detect, food, Dominion Ballista, and Masonry Repair Kit. I use a Razor mouse and I set these as 7,8,9, 0, -, = though the possibilities are near endless. You can tailor this to your style and or game-play and use this outside of Cyrodiil as well. Now when that key flips over, bang with one key stroke you’re repairing.

Kill Counter by mikethecoder4



A great man once told me, “you only get what you measure.” Yes another cliche I know, but it makes sense. By default, ESO doesn’t really have any means to judge your performance. Another amazing community addon is Kill Counter by mikethecoder4. I downloaded this on my editing computer so it’s all zeros, however, it will record a running total for your entire PvP history. So, it’s a great way to judge if you’re improving daily, monthly or by campaign.

The key numbers I pay attention to are kills/deaths (K/D), killing blows (KP) and AP gained. Though these are pretty obvious let me explain.

• K/D ratio – This number is a bit skewed if you’re healing as you get credit for the kills your party members provide. On a good night with a well coordinated group, I usually hover around 10:1 (10 kills to one death). While playing solo, a good ratio for me is 6:1. A lot of this depends on your class, ability, gear, and the amount of hours you’ve played that character. Either way, pay attention and try to improve this.
• KB – Some of my builds (Frag Out specifically) are killing blow machines. While doing mindless amounts of damage is great, finishing off enemies and being the teams executioner is just as important. Ask yourself, am I actually killing things? Well now you can know with Kill Counter. On my Dragonknight, I average a lowly 1:10 or something. My job is to get people’s attention and AoE, cause tons of chaos for my snipers in the rear. It’s a decent average. On a good night with my Sorcerer, I can average a 1:4 ratio. That is very hard to achieve but will help you focus in the weak targets begging to die.
• AP gained – Keeping an eye AP/per hour produces urgency. Are you in stealth sneaking around for 40 minutes just to get one kill and 400 AP? Are you pushing the battle holding a keep deep in enemy territory 20 vs 100 (Decible Guild showed me this)? We are at war people, get some urgency and AP is a good way to see if you’re actively contributing.

Final Checks

Now I got everything setup it’s time to do my final checks.

• Bio – Make sure to empty that bladder. I know it sounds funny, but every second counts and we want to maximize our time and concentration.
• Repair Your Gear – If you’ve been doing some PvE prior, hit a vendor and repair quick.
• Mic Check – Are you on TeamSpeak3? You should be if you’re in a group.
• Start Recording – You don’t want to miss your epic 1vX kills so start recording! I use Xsplit Gamecaster and GeForce Experience to capture my videos.
• Walk Dogs – If you know me, my dogs love to make appearances in my streams. Shepard (my huge lab/Dane mix) will not stop until he gets what he wants. So I make sure to give him a long 30 minute walk prior.
• Offline Mode – Yes, I even set myself to offline mode when seriously PvPing. I love talking to people in the community, but sometimes I want full concentration and PvP is one of them.
• DUBSTEP MUSIC – Lastly we need some epic motivation. Dubstep is my favorite and I have my own mix on YouTube here if you want to listen to it.

I can’t stress enough how much I’m enjoying PvP. I’m learning a lot more every day thanks to a lot of friendly and helpful community members. Whether you’re blue, yellow, or red, get in there and enjoy this. Nothing like ESO Cyrodiil, truly. Time to go for Emperor soon in 2015.

Very long but very well done. A must read for the new ppl coming into PvP A+++ from this DK Scrub and i can't choose between insightful or awesome... leta go with awesome

KBKB

You forgot get ready for waves of Q.Q

hammayolettuce

I appreciate you. Thank you for taking the time to make this post.
Dubstep though? Come on, breh. This is the only thing to listen to in pvp.

pmn100b16_ESO

Galalin wrote: »

Deltia wrote: »

If you’ve been watching my stream, you know I have been playing PvP in Elder Scrolls Online non-stop (North American Server Thornblade Campaign). It’s a part of the game that I haven’t dedicated enough time to and as part of my things to do prior to patch 1.6, it was time to jump in. I wanted to come out with some posts about what I’ve been learning and number one is being preparing for combat with the right equipment, skills and siege.

If you’re brand new to Player vs. Player (PvP) in Elder Scrolls Online, you might want to check out Party Pyro’s articles prior to jumping into this. Cyrodiil can be considered a hostile war ground and you should treat it as such. When I was in the military, we did a combat kit check prior to going “outside the wire.” We can implement the same type of practice for Cyrodiil to maximize our success. My basic Combat Kit is listed below with details on how I use this equipment.

Siege

It takes Alliance Points (AP) to make AP. When I was brand new to PvP, I often said “screw it I’m not spending my AP to siege keeps.” That is a terrible attitude because one Flaming Oil, one Meatbag or repair kit might be the difference in a 5,000 AP defensive or offensive tick (reward). For more information on how to use these, check out Party Pyro’s Siege Guide, but here’s a list of my general load-out. Keep in mind, this is what I use for a typical two to three hour game play session. You’ll need more or less depending on your allotted game time.



2x Flaming Oil | 800 AP each
Keep Defenses
+ Huge damage on personnel
– Can’t be used on flat surface

These should be setup above a breach location during a siege defense for massive damage when the enemy is breaking through. This can make or break a defense and one person can operator two at a time thus at least two is needed on your combat kit.


2x Dominion Ballista | 1,800 AP each
Keep assault
+ Massive damage on keeps
– High AP cost

I like to double fire these while attacking a keep so setting up two close to each other like oil pots. The faster you get that keep down, the faster you can setup a defense. A good substitute if you don’t have any AP is Dominion Fire Ballista for $450 gold each. About half the damage though it’s nice for those new to PvP without AP.



2x Dominion Meatbag Catapult | 1,200 AP each
Destroying personnel (tons of usage)
+ Get artillery if you don’t want to get into the fray
– Prepare to be targeted

I truly had zero idea how powerful a well placed Meatbag can be. Deploy these early and often in open fields, on defensive (yes they fit inside keeps) any opportunity for massive zerg, drop and pop these. It’s the zerg killer siege weapon.



2X Dominion Stone Trebuchet | 1,800 AP each
Keep assault (inner wall)
+ Range
– Long reload

If you want to flip or take over a keep fast, having Stone Trebuchet on the outer wall while you’re raining down stones on the inner is the pro move. Make sure to grab a couple of these for fast flips where speed is key like an unprotected keep deep in enemy territory.



1x Dominion Battering Ram | 1,800 AP each
Keep assault
+ Massive damage on front door
– Easily countered

Rarely do you see the Battering Ram coming out in Cyrodiil these days but you should consider keeping one in your pack. A couple of tricks is one, you can still cast spells while operating the ram. Just stand on top of it and spam healing. Two, you can still combine this with Dominion Ballista. So don’t just ram the door, get more siege on it.



Keep Wall Masonry Repair Kit 100x | $90 gold or 300 AP
Repairing keeps
+ Great AP after a flip
– Can rack up gold cost

Until recently, after we took control of an enemy keep (flip) I would just stand around waiting for the next thing to do. Now I immediately rush to repair the outer wall first then the inner. Essentially every repair is work 25 AP or so and costing $90 gold each. It’s a decent exchange and plus you help your alliance so bring a ton of these.



Keep Door Woodworker Repair Kit 50x | $90 gold or 200 AP
Repairs doors
+ Easy AP
– Often doors aren’t breached

Bring a few of these in your pack in case the enemy uses a battering ram trick to speed cap a keep. Similar in effect as the Masonry kits, don’t just stand around repair!

Optional – There are some additional options and more complex siege strategies. I honestly don’t know how to implement them effectively yet, so I’m not going to recommend them until I gain a better understanding. Please leave me a comment if you know of some tricks!

Consumables

Get ready to spend tons of gold for top end PvP consumables. These truly make or break your character’s performance and can change the tide of the battle. Downside it takes a lot of time farming materials or money to continue using these supplies. If you want to be on top, you need to be prepared and this separates the good from the great.



Panacea of Health 100x
Defensive potions called Tri-Pots
Generally $13,000 gold per 100 (stack)
Recipe Bugloss + Columbine + Mountain Flower + Water (Clouded Mist VR 5)

This potion is a PvP equivalent to a intravenous shot of adrenaline. Every 30 seconds or so, I’m chugging these things down in the middle of a zerg to get back all three resources. Potions do no good in your bank or while you’re dead. Use these early and often to get an advantage.



Panacea of Spell Power 50x
Offensive for magicka based builds (weapon one exist too)
Generally $11,000 gold per 100
Recipe Cornflower + Lady’s Smock + Water Hyacinth + Water (Clouded Mist VR 5)

When on the offensive, make sure to switch out to a spell or weapon power potion. Seems like overkill to have some many options, but trust me, the best defensive is a good ol’ Impulse spamming ball of flame. Chugging one of these and push the zerg back screaming “for the Queen” can break the zerg line.



Stealth Detection
Utility for preventing gankers
Generally $4,000 gold per 100
Recipe Cornflower + Wormwood + Water (any can be used, same effect)

If you’re like me and stream PvP, you will inevitable acquire a “fan club,” also known as stream snipers. Yes people will watch your stream just to find where you and attempt to kill you at inopportune times. Put them on the defensive with some stealth detect potions .



Food
Attributes buff (provisioning craft)
Generally $10,000 gold per 100
Recipe – Honey Comb, Pinguis, Salt, Garlic, Pepper

I highly recommend tri-stat food for PvP. You need massive amounts of stamina regardless if you’re a magicka based build. One extra dodge roll, one extra burst of sprinting and one CC break might make or break a fight. Generally, I like 3,000 health, 2,500 main stat (magicka or stamina depending on your build) and 1,500 off stat.



Soul Gems
For resurrecting allies
Generally $10,000 gold per 100
Buy from vendors or found

Don’t be the derp who yolo’s in and dies right away (me). If you are, hopefully your friendly alliance brings some Soul Gems. Remember, no Forward Camps so everyone needs to pitch in on resurrections.

Equipment



Disguise
You look like an awesome Nord
Only thing that shows is your shoulder and or head
Found from drunken soldier under a bridge near Fort Amol in Eastmarch (EP faction)

I can’t stress enough how important it is to wear a disguises. Yes, showing off your Over Powered (OP) min maxed legendary gear is great for your ego, but fighting an enemy with no idea of your build is better. Take every advantage you can get and find a unique outfit that fits your character. Some others are a Goblin and Skeleton costume though I hate the sounds so I don’t use them.



Impenetrable Gear

Craftable gear
Requires Diamond armor trait
Recommend 4-6 pieces of gear with this

Don’t go into Cyrodiil expecting to light the world on fire with no impenetrable (impen) gear on. This increases your resistance to critical hits. You should really try a mix of crafted and drop sets to take advantage of this trait. Yes you’ll be missing 5 to 10 health or magicka here and there, but you’ll be saved from 2k Snipes to the face.



Two-Piece Undaunted
Full Undaunted guide here
Best I’ve found is Blood Spawn’s Guise

Try a 2 (head shoulders)/5 (armor)/3 (jewelry) setup with a Master Weapon

Ultimate is the name of the game in ESO Patch 1.5. That might all change in 1.6, but for right now, you can’t go wrong with using a proc piece like the one above. That can be found in Spindleclutch the first boss. Great place to practice your PvE DPS and get one of the best sets in the game.

Addons

For my full list of addons and setup, check out my YouTube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxwbKO68ck0&feature=youtu.be

Below are two addons I can’t live without in PvP.

Greymind Quick Slot Bar by bsrealm



The main problem with ESO’s default UI setup is the inability to quickly swapping in and out consumables or equipment. Thank you bsrealm for making this addon helping us quickly swappping between potions, siege, anything that can go in your quickslots.

It’s very customizable, but what I like is setting keybinds for the six most common quickslot items: defensive potion, offensive potion, stealth detect, food, Dominion Ballista, and Masonry Repair Kit. I use a Razor mouse and I set these as 7,8,9, 0, -, = though the possibilities are near endless. You can tailor this to your style and or game-play and use this outside of Cyrodiil as well. Now when that key flips over, bang with one key stroke you’re repairing.

Kill Counter by mikethecoder4



A great man once told me, “you only get what you measure.” Yes another cliche I know, but it makes sense. By default, ESO doesn’t really have any means to judge your performance. Another amazing community addon is Kill Counter by mikethecoder4. I downloaded this on my editing computer so it’s all zeros, however, it will record a running total for your entire PvP history. So, it’s a great way to judge if you’re improving daily, monthly or by campaign.

The key numbers I pay attention to are kills/deaths (K/D), killing blows (KP) and AP gained. Though these are pretty obvious let me explain.

• K/D ratio – This number is a bit skewed if you’re healing as you get credit for the kills your party members provide. On a good night with a well coordinated group, I usually hover around 10:1 (10 kills to one death). While playing solo, a good ratio for me is 6:1. A lot of this depends on your class, ability, gear, and the amount of hours you’ve played that character. Either way, pay attention and try to improve this.
• KB – Some of my builds (Frag Out specifically) are killing blow machines. While doing mindless amounts of damage is great, finishing off enemies and being the teams executioner is just as important. Ask yourself, am I actually killing things? Well now you can know with Kill Counter. On my Dragonknight, I average a lowly 1:10 or something. My job is to get people’s attention and AoE, cause tons of chaos for my snipers in the rear. It’s a decent average. On a good night with my Sorcerer, I can average a 1:4 ratio. That is very hard to achieve but will help you focus in the weak targets begging to die.
• AP gained – Keeping an eye AP/per hour produces urgency. Are you in stealth sneaking around for 40 minutes just to get one kill and 400 AP? Are you pushing the battle holding a keep deep in enemy territory 20 vs 100 (Decible Guild showed me this)? We are at war people, get some urgency and AP is a good way to see if you’re actively contributing.

Final Checks

Now I got everything setup it’s time to do my final checks.

• Bio – Make sure to empty that bladder. I know it sounds funny, but every second counts and we want to maximize our time and concentration.
• Repair Your Gear – If you’ve been doing some PvE prior, hit a vendor and repair quick.
• Mic Check – Are you on TeamSpeak3? You should be if you’re in a group.
• Start Recording – You don’t want to miss your epic 1vX kills so start recording! I use Xsplit Gamecaster and GeForce Experience to capture my videos.
• Walk Dogs – If you know me, my dogs love to make appearances in my streams. Shepard (my huge lab/Dane mix) will not stop until he gets what he wants. So I make sure to give him a long 30 minute walk prior.
• Offline Mode – Yes, I even set myself to offline mode when seriously PvPing. I love talking to people in the community, but sometimes I want full concentration and PvP is one of them.
• DUBSTEP MUSIC – Lastly we need some epic motivation. Dubstep is my favorite and I have my own mix on YouTube here if you want to listen to it.

I can’t stress enough how much I’m enjoying PvP. I’m learning a lot more every day thanks to a lot of friendly and helpful community members. Whether you’re blue, yellow, or red, get in there and enjoy this. Nothing like ESO Cyrodiil, truly. Time to go for Emperor soon in 2015.

Very long but very well done. A must read for the new ppl coming into PvP A+++ from this DK Scrub and i can't choose between insightful or awesome... leta go with awesome

So long you decided to quote the whole thing again.

Nice guide OP

ToRelax

Deltia wrote: »

• DUBSTEP MUSIC – Lastly we need some epic motivation. Dubstep is my favorite and I have my own mix on YouTube here if you want to listen to it.

Ingame music is great to realize someone is trying to snipe gank and avoid 1,8k dmg with a quick dodge roll in my experience.

DDuke

Deltia wrote: »

Don’t go into Cyrodiil expecting to light the world on fire with no impenetrable (impen) gear on. This increases your resistance to critical hits. You should really try a mix of crafted and drop sets to take advantage of this trait. Yes you’ll be missing 5 to 10 health or magicka here and there, but you’ll be saved from 2k Snipes to the face.

Impenetrable doesn't help against the initial stealth attack, which rarely crits above 1.5k (you'll need to stack different gear bonuses, combat prayer, potion, warhorn, aggressive maneuvers etc to get it to 2k mark).

The follow-up snipes rarely crit above 1k (if unblocked) and if blocked, usually crit around 400-500.

Just thought I'd let this out there, given that there is enough "omgomgsnipeopnerfnerf" out there already, while the skill is actually garbage compared to what it used to be.

SLy_Kyti

Holy Bat Shiet This post is MOST Most awesome!
Concise, Intelligently well-written and most importantly SPOT on!

As Counselor in a PvP guild...that no one has heard of lol... that has seen a lot of people leave the game (and guild since November '13) I find it important to those that want meaningful PvP to encourage, train and respect those that want to join us. I thank the author for his thoughts and taking the time to share them...music yes...dub step though?

P.S. perhaps joining a guild thats runs in Cyrodiil or at least getting invited to their TS server and running with them (respectfully) will help newbs and those with unrecognized characters in PVP be more successful as well. Good fighting to all.

ToRelax

DDuke wrote: »

Deltia wrote: »

Don’t go into Cyrodiil expecting to light the world on fire with no impenetrable (impen) gear on. This increases your resistance to critical hits. You should really try a mix of crafted and drop sets to take advantage of this trait. Yes you’ll be missing 5 to 10 health or magicka here and there, but you’ll be saved from 2k Snipes to the face.

Impenetrable doesn't help against the initial stealth attack, which rarely crits above 1.5k (you'll need to stack different gear bonuses, combat prayer, potion, warhorn, aggressive maneuvers etc to get it to 2k mark).

The follow-up snipes rarely crit above 1k (if unblocked) and if blocked, usually crit around 400-500.

Just thought I'd let this out there, given that there is enough "omgomgsnipeopnerfnerf" out there already, while the skill is actually garbage compared to what it used to be.

I am not sure how stealth crits really work, but certain snipers manage to hit me with 2 of them. Idk, might be that they both go off before first snipe hits, usage of cloak or simply high latency. Once i am stunned with a stealth crit and get hit with another one right after i am usually dead.

DDuke

ToRelax wrote: »

DDuke wrote: »

Deltia wrote: »

Don’t go into Cyrodiil expecting to light the world on fire with no impenetrable (impen) gear on. This increases your resistance to critical hits. You should really try a mix of crafted and drop sets to take advantage of this trait. Yes you’ll be missing 5 to 10 health or magicka here and there, but you’ll be saved from 2k Snipes to the face.

Impenetrable doesn't help against the initial stealth attack, which rarely crits above 1.5k (you'll need to stack different gear bonuses, combat prayer, potion, warhorn, aggressive maneuvers etc to get it to 2k mark).

The follow-up snipes rarely crit above 1k (if unblocked) and if blocked, usually crit around 400-500.

Just thought I'd let this out there, given that there is enough "omgomgsnipeopnerfnerf" out there already, while the skill is actually garbage compared to what it used to be.

I am not sure how stealth crits really work, but certain snipers manage to hit me with 2 of them. Idk, might be that they both go off before first snipe hits, usage of cloak or simply high latency. Once i am stunned with a stealth crit and get hit with another one right after i am usually dead.

You can restealth after the the initial Snipe hits, this takes around 2 seconds, during which you can cast another Snipe to get another stealth attack.

Keep in mind, this takes first 1 second (while the initial snipe is traveling), then 1,3 seconds while casting the second snipe (you have to start stealthing after the first snipe hits) and another 1 second while the snipe travels.

The time it takes to pull off this combo (for 2-3k~ total damage): 2,3 seconds.

Most decent players are already blocking & spamming dmg shields/heals before second snipe lands.

Let's take a look at another combo not focused on snipe spamming: Incapacitate (for 13% more dmg on heavy attacks)->Snipe->charge heavy attack while it's traveling->[snipe lands for 1k-1,5k]heavy attack(400-1k)->Lethal Injection(300-500+DoT) - 1,8-2,8k instant damage+powerful DoT.

If target is lightly armoured, has less than 3k health, no impenetrable & no dmg shield up (a rarity these days), chances are you'll kill him.

Note: numbers are based on targets with low armour.
Note 2: you can deal same burst or more with multiple magicka based combos as well

Fivefivesix

Tag for later. Deltia you da man, see you on the battlefield

Roechacca

Start your ignore list early .

Stop often to rehydrate N have a sammich on standby

Log out of Team Speak the moment the obscenities start

Keep a picture of your RL loved one (Dog/Husband/cat/Wife ect) near the monitor . Don't forget they really do exist .

Log out at least N hour before bed time . That way you don't have dreams your dead N players are camping your body while you sleep .

Go straight to work or school . Don't log in real quick to check the map to see how the alliance is doing . Get your butt straight to work or school .

Oughash

roechacca wrote: »

Log out at least N hour before bed time . That way you don't have dreams your dead N players are camping your body while you sleep .

I have actually done this. Had the dreams, I mean. They are scary.

HeroOfNone

You forgot the stamina and weapon crit pots use melee/bow users use, especially with said snipe runs and with Nightblade ambush attacks =3

Huntler

ugh dubstep

Jitterbug

As always, you're like crazy thorough.
GJ.

Jitterbug

Ishammael wrote: »

roechacca wrote: »

Log out at least N hour before bed time . That way you don't have dreams your dead N players are camping your body while you sleep .

I have actually done this. Had the dreams, I mean. They are scary.

Less so in 1920x1080p though... :-P

Rylana

I liked this guide all the way up until you mentioned dubcrap. -.-

Kartalin

You mentioned Fire Ballista as an alternative to normal Ballista (Dominion or otherwise) but they are actually good countersiege when you're defending from a group still trying to take down your outer wall/door. You definitely need oil and meat, but if you have 3 or 4 people concentrating their fire ballista on a target, you can take down an opposing ballista quickly and delay their entry to the keep. Also it sets people on fire. Having been on the receiving end of that and no one around to purge it, I can say I learned a lot from that experience and wish to share it with my foes.

Cody

You don't need impenetrable gear to survive snipe attacks, I constantly thwart snipe stealth attacks on me and I wear all well-fitted

Roselle

Nice pvp guide.

Another thing often overlooked is leveling alchemy for the 3/3 Medicinal Use passive.

I pop potions like candy so this is definitely helpful for me.

ThyIronFist

Great guide and great effort was put into it, just a shame about the dubstep. I would rather listen to Mozart for 10 hours on repeat than listen to 1 minute of dubstep.

WRX

Very well written, good job man.

My only critique, its Decibel