Imperial City 101 for Non-PVPers - An Event Guide
VaranisArano
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Imperial City 101 for Non-PVPers - An Event Guide
I dislike PVP. Imperial City is a PvPvE zone where players can kill each other. Why would I want to go there?
Because ESO is doing an Event - Whitestrake's Mayhem or the Year One Celebration - and there are a number of event rewards you can acquire only from the Imperial City like bonus loot from IC dailies, bonus loot from IC bosses, bonus Tel Var stone currency, and most importantly, an event ticket from turning in a District Daily Quest.
Now, it's 100% up to you to decide if those rewards are worth putting up with the risks of PvPvE gameplay.
The rest of this guide assumes that while you may not enjoy playing PvPvE Imperial City, you've nonetheless decided to accept the risks. So let's talk about how to make it easier to get the rewards you want.
Why is ZOS making me go to Imperial City for an event ticket when they know that me and bunch of players hate IC?
Because ZOS wants players to go in the Imperial City Districts (which is why they didn't let players do the IC Dungeons for a PVE-only option, like they have for past IC events).
Also because ZOS wants players who want to avoid IC but still want the event tickets to buy them from the Crown Store. Or bargain with another player to gift them to you.
Welcome to ZOS' wonderful world of events, where they get you to do all sorts of content in pursuit of shiny rewards or pay for them.
Seriously, why does PVP happen in the middle of my PVE questing in Imperial City? I just want the event tickets.
Because the Developers designed it that way from launch.
To quote ZOS: "The dangers of Imperial City and the Sewers below are best suited for small groups of adventurers, but highly skilled warriors have been known to strike out on their own. While exploring and fighting your way through the Imperial City, be prepared to face not only Molag Bal's forces, but also enemy players from the opposing alliances. Rewards that are unmatched in power await those who are brave enough to enter the Imperial City and claim them. Fight Molag Bal's personal guard, the elite Xivkyn, and other invaders from Coldharbour to win Tel Var Stones, the currency used to trade for mighty Veteran Rank 16 armor sets. But be on your guard—enemy Alliance members lurk around every corner throughout the Imperial Districts and Sewers. Should you fall to an enemy player, they can claim your hard-earned Tel Var Stones in their own quest for glory."
So, uh, its not like ZOS forgot that Imperial City is a PvPvE zone when they included it in the Year One Celebration as a requirement to get one event ticket. The Devs want it that way.
Okay, so how does the Imperial City really work?
The Imperial City has two main areas - the Sewers and the Districts. Both have a lot of PVE mobs, minibosses, and world bosses who can really mess up your day. You get Tel Var by killing them, and the more Tel Var you carry, the higher your multiplier becomes, making it easier to gain more Tel Var. Meanwhile, if you kill an enemy player (or are killed by an enemy player), you gain half of the Tel Var they were carrying. Tel Var amounts are split among the players who fought an enemy, so larger groups typically equal lower gains. The three alliances will try to capture the flags of the Districts in order to increase their Tel Var gains and control spawn points. Your alliance must own a District in order for you to spawn there when killed. Otherwise, you will have to respawn at your sewer base.
How do I get to the Imperial City?
Because Imperial City is a PvP-enabled zone, you'll have to queue up to enter. Navigate to your [Alliance War] tab and choose one of the available Imperial City campaigns.
Which campaign should I choose?
First, look at the population bars to the right of the campaign names. If you see that one faction is overrepresented on a certain campaign, that can help you avoid high concentrations of enemies or find allies. If you see that one campaign is very empty, again, that might be a good option.
Example: if you were AD and wanted a better chance to avoid enemies, you might pick Red Diamond as shown below.
Second, you may want to choose between CP and No CP campaigns. Unlike Cyrodiil, there is no "Below 50" campaign for Imperial City, so unfortunately low level players will have to battle it out with everyone else. If you are Below 50, I'd suggest going to the No CP campaign because that will be the most comparable experience. Beyond that, it's down to personal preference. I found that I preferred the CP campaigns because of the miniboss NPCs that are common in the Districts and Sewers, but your mileage may vary.
I've arrived in my Alliance's Sewer Base. What now??
There are a couple important locations to find.
1. The Banker - deposit your Tel Var stones if you want to keep them. The option to Deposit Currency will default to gold, but has a small drop down arrow that will let you change the type of currency you want to deposit. Make sure you do this if you've been accumulating them from other events or daily log in rewards. I once forgot and died with 10k Tel Var on me. Oops!
2. The General Tel Var Merchant - they sell the "Sigil of Imperial Retreat", which is a consumable item that allows you to teleport free back to the Sewer Base without losing Tel Var. It costs 10k AP, and may be useful if you don't intend to use one of the other options for how to return to your Sewer Base. If you buy it, make sure to equip it on your hotbar so you can use it quickly when you need to.
3. The door to the Sewers - each alliance's base opens into one area of the Sewers. If enemy players are hanging around right outside of this door, you'll need to use the next location, the ladders, to bypass the Sewer door and drop into the sewers from the District entrances.
4. The ladders to the Districts - there will be a room with six ladders which lead to the six districts. Climbing the ladder will take you up to a safe spawn tower in each district.
Check the state of the Districts to see which alliance owns them. The map might look something like this for an AD dominated Imperial City, though note that one District is being attacked. You can guess there will be enemy players near that district.
Finally, if you want to see if there are any groups of players doing the dailies, the Sewer Base is a safe spot to organize.
Where are the District Dailies?
You'll need to climb the ladders. Most of the daily quest givers will be on the spawn tower. If you want to grab more than one daily at a time, you'll need to go back through the trapdoor, climb another ladder, go back through the trapdoor, climb another ladder, six times. It's annoying, but I recommend picking up all the dailies. I found that having all the dailies made it easier for me to progress when I died and had to respawn in another district.
Please note that if you jump off the spawn tower, you cannot get back up without dying and respawning in that district. You'll have to get back to your sewer base by another method to talk to the quest giver again.
What are the District Dailies?
Arboetum: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Historical_Accuracy
Arena District: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:The_Lifeblood_of_an_Empire
Elven Gardens: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Dousing_the_Fires_of_Industry
Memorial District: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Speaking_For_The_Dead
Nobles District: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Watch_Your_Step
Temple District: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Priceless_Treasures
When you finish the quest, you must return to your Sewer Base in order to turn it in.
I hate PVP. Which one is safest?
The Arena District Daily "The Lifeblood of an Empire" can be completed in safety...as long as you are willing to wait. This quest requires you to free Imperial citizens by killing daedra. Luckily, there's a point where the daedra and prisoners spawn that you can reach with ranged weaponry from the top of the spawn point.
If you want to be completely safe, you need to wait on the trapdoor leading downward and wait until nearby players kill enough daedra/free enough citizens. I've gotten credit for kills/freeing while stealthed out on the trapdoor, so it does work. However, its probably faster to stealth out to the catwalk around the tower and attack the daedra yourself when they spawn. However, be aware that enemy players can hit you in turn with ranged attacks. So don't afk out in the open or think that you can attack them with impunity because you are high up (I say, having gotten myself killed while doing exactly that.)
What about the others? Can I do any other daily safely?
Nope. All the others require you to jump off the tower and run around the districts, with the risk of running into enemy players.
My impressions of the other dailies from an earlier event are spoilered here:
What if I don't want to fight other players? Can I get them to leave me alone?
Not really. Remember that Imperial City is a PvPvE zone. You're a fair target, and players get both AP and often Tel Var from killing you. Sorry, but that's how the Devs designed it.
That being said, here's some things that might help.
- Remember that enemy players cannot see your zone chat. They can't tell the difference between a quester or a PVPer just by looking at you. For that matter, most PVPers are on high alert in Imperial City - "if its red, its dead" is a PVP joke, yes, but its also a true statement about our reflexes. If I see an enemy player with that blue or yellow shield above their head, I'm making a snap judgment of "Fight? Flight? Fight!" in a matter of seconds.
- Be sneaky. Your best bet is to avoid fights entirely and the best way to do that is to not be seen at all. Just be prepared that if you are seen, other players may assume you are a ganker and react accordingly.
- if you aren't stealthy, then be obviously on alert. Like, throwing your buffs and heals periodically so that any ganker knows you are watching and paying attention to your surroundings.
- Sometimes you can signal non-hostile intent by standing still and blocking. Not everyone knows what that means and not everyone cares, so don't get too upset if you do that and still get killed.
- If someone is whispering you toxic stuff that breaks the TOS, the best response is to report and then block them.
- I've never tried begging someone to let me by, so I can't really recommend it. However, I have had several very positive interactions with PVPers who killed me if I had something nice to say, like whispering them to compliment them on a punny name or noticing that their name was a movie reference, etc.
- If someone keeps killing you, I'd just move on to another area. There's not much sense in running into a wall over and over again, expecting them to stop killing you because you aren't fighting back. Its 100% your decision whether or not you are going to continue to feed them your AP and Tel Var or not - by the Devs' design, they get rewarded every time they kill you whether it was a "good fight" or not. Alternatively, call their location out in zone chat and hope that members of your alliance come to kill them.
Okay, I did it. How do I get back to my sewer base to turn in this Daily?
If you did the Arena daily and stayed up on the tower, go into the tower and use the trapdoor to climb back down into your Sewer Base.
Assuming you are elsewhere in the Imperial City, you have several options:
How do I leave the Imperial City?
Option 1: in one room of your Sewer Base, there's a door that leads to the sewers. Opposite that door is another door that will say [Exit] and that will take you back to whatever PVE zone you were last in.
The top red arrow is the exit to EP's base in the sewers.
Option 2: Queue up for a Cyrodiil Campaign, then use the wayshrine at the rear of the home base to head back to your choice of PVE zone.
What's your advice for players who might want to try out PVP during this Event?
Come prepared. Just like you would prepare for a tough bit of PvE content, prepare for the unique challenges of the Imperial City. Here's some specific ways:
What else is there to do in the Imperial City?
Main Quest
The Main Quest starts when you talk to the Drake of Blades in your Home Base and agree to help her uncover Molag Bal's plot. You will complete quests in each other six districts. Be prepared that only a few locations in buildings are safe areas while you talk to quest NPCs - most of the places you need to go are completely open for PvP. You will also need to return to the your Home Base after each quest, so its wise to buy Sigils of Imperial Retreat, or else brave the journey back through the districts/sewers.
In my opinion, this is an excellent quest that serves as a fitting end to the Planemeld arc.
Special Notes:
The Temple District quest has a daedric titan boss who may prove difficult to solo.
The Arena District quest has a multistage boss fight that may prove very difficult to solo. In addition, there is an achievement for killing enemy players within the Arena, so be prepared to deal with enemy players at the same time.
The Nobles District has four battles in set locations with an allied NPC screaming to everyone who can hear as the battle progresses, so there's a significant risk of interference from enemy players.
Alliance War Quests
You can pick up Scouting Quests in your Home Base that ask you to travel to the district and mark your symbol on the wall of your rally point and return. If you already own the district, its as easy as popping out at the respawn point, marking the wall, and then heading out to fight.
You can pick up Killing Quests in your Home Base that ask you to "Kill 20 Players" or "Kill 20 Nightblades" etc.
Defeat Molag Bal's Simulacrum within the deepest reaches of the Imperial City Sewers.
The Barathrum Centrata event in which your group summons and kills the Simulacrum of Molag Bal takes place at the center of the Sewers where all three Alliance paths converge. You will need to close portals, the final wave of which will summon more of the Coldharbor Elite Guard and then kill Molag Bal's Simulacrum.
You will want a group to do this with you as the portals do have a timer and enemy alliances will also be trying to defeat the Simulacrum to get tickets and the rewards.
Important Note: due to how ESO' loot rules work, only 12 players will get loot . From past events, players have found it doesn't matter how much DPS you do, as healers and tanks do still get loot. If there are more an 12 players present, be prepared that not all players will get loot rewards from the event. (Yes, this sucks. No, ZOS hasn't changed it.)
Tel Var Farming
Many players focus on farming Tel Var during the Imperial City Celebration since Tel Var gains are doubled. There's no one way to go about it, only whatever way you think best.
Farming in districts you own grants a 33% bonus to Tel Var drops.
NPCs and Players split their stones between the attacking group. Groups are good for protection, but the larger the group, the less Tel Var each individual will get.
Gankers and Bombers will often focus on groups capturing the District Flags, since the risk/reward is very much in their favor even if they die.
If someone keeps killing you, move to another area. Sending toxic messages or begging them to leave you alone doesn't usually help. If you want to improve, asking them for advice sometimes works.
Sigils of Imperial Retreat are amazing if you don't want to carry your gains through the sewers each time you want to return to base.
In general, I would recommend that inexperienced players group up and return to the home base often to bank their rewards.
Traveling Manually to the Imperial City PVE dungeons
Traveling to the dungeons and entering manually, such as one might in order to run the dungeons prior to level 45
With minimal risk of PVP, White Gold Tower can be reached manually. Simply queue for an IC campaign, and immediately after you leave your home base there will be a side tunnel leading to the entrance of White Gold Tower. If you need to, look at the maps of the sewer regions mentioned here: https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Online:White-Gold_Tower
Imperial City Prison is more dangerous to reach requiring you to enter the Memorial District via your home base, then run to the middle of the outer wall to reach the entrance. https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Memorial_District
Killing Patrolling Horrors and Coldharbor Elite Guard
Each of the Imperial City Districts has a patrolling boss called a Patrolling Horror with a difficultly equal to or greater than a base game World Boss. There are two specific to each district, but only one will patrol at a time in that district. As with many world boss types, the difficulty varies. Unlike world bosses, the Patrolling Horrors are not leashed, so if one begins chasing you, you cannot escape by outrunning it (though you can have great fun by aggroing the Patrolling Horror and leading it to a large group of enemy players). They are designed to be defeated by groups, but of course players can solo them. During non-Celebration gameplay, its typical to tackle them in a rotation through the districts, but in my experience that goes out the window during events. As always, be prepared for enemy players. Note that if you die and then the boss dies, its possible to still get loot credit and you can respawn, run back, and loot the boss.
List of Patrolling Horrors: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Patrolling_Horrors
The Sewers have their own version of wandering, unleashed bosses in the form of the Coldharbor Elite Guard. These are Xivkyn Generals of Molag Bal who wear large Blue or Red banners on their backs and can suppress stealth in their vicinity. Blue banners indicate stamina-based generals, while Red banners are the more powerful magicka-based generals. They are about the same difficulty at the Patrolling Horrors. There are 9 generals up at any one time, 3 in each alliance territory. Be prepared to fight these generals in very close quarters in the sewer tunnels. they've got some nasty AOEs, so if possible, try to drag them into an open area so you have more room to manuever.
List of the Coldharbor Elite Guard and their Locations: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Coldharbour_Elite_Guard
Map of the Sewers:
Special Note:The Patrolling Horrors and the Coldharbor Elite Guard split their large Tel Var reward between everyone who attacked them, just like every other mob in IC. So if you've jumped in to "help" someone fighting one of the bosses and they get angry with you, understand that its because now the Tel Var reward is split between you. Now, I'm of the opinion that during an Event, people jumping in to kill the bosses is to be expected, but not everyone may feel that way. So if someone does get angry, at least you know why.
Final Note:
I like PvP. I like PvE. I like PvPvE. I also recognize that learning to PvP or PvPvE is a steep learning curve that doesn't appeal to every player. Not every player is going to enjoy the Imperial City and that's okay.
If you know that the Imperial City is content that frustrates you, my advice to you is that you conquer the "Fear of Missing Out" that ZOS constantly leverages with these events and give the Imperial City portion of the Celebration a miss. If you are able, just don't subject yourself to something you don't enjoy in pursuit of some fleeting rewards. If you show up anyway and complain, I'm going to ask exactly what result you expected from forcing yourself to do content you know you dislike.
On the other hand, it you aren't sure or you think you might enjoy Imperial City, give it a shot! The best thing you can do is come prepared for PvPvE, accept that you will die along with the rest of us and that's okay, and do your best to have fun as you experience what a busy, active Imperial City is like when its full of players!
I hope this helps players have fun in the Imperial City and to prepare for PvPvE!
And as always, if you spot an error or a correction that needs to be made, let me know!
Edited by VaranisArano on 26 August 2021 21:12 I dislike PVP. Imperial City is a PvPvE zone where players can kill each other. Why would I want to go there?
Because ESO is doing an Event - Whitestrake's Mayhem or the Year One Celebration - and there are a number of event rewards you can acquire only from the Imperial City like bonus loot from IC dailies, bonus loot from IC bosses, bonus Tel Var stone currency, and most importantly, an event ticket from turning in a District Daily Quest.
Now, it's 100% up to you to decide if those rewards are worth putting up with the risks of PvPvE gameplay.
The rest of this guide assumes that while you may not enjoy playing PvPvE Imperial City, you've nonetheless decided to accept the risks. So let's talk about how to make it easier to get the rewards you want.
Why is ZOS making me go to Imperial City for an event ticket when they know that me and bunch of players hate IC?
Because ZOS wants players to go in the Imperial City Districts (which is why they didn't let players do the IC Dungeons for a PVE-only option, like they have for past IC events).
Also because ZOS wants players who want to avoid IC but still want the event tickets to buy them from the Crown Store. Or bargain with another player to gift them to you.
Welcome to ZOS' wonderful world of events, where they get you to do all sorts of content in pursuit of shiny rewards or pay for them.
Seriously, why does PVP happen in the middle of my PVE questing in Imperial City? I just want the event tickets.
Because the Developers designed it that way from launch.
To quote ZOS: "The dangers of Imperial City and the Sewers below are best suited for small groups of adventurers, but highly skilled warriors have been known to strike out on their own. While exploring and fighting your way through the Imperial City, be prepared to face not only Molag Bal's forces, but also enemy players from the opposing alliances. Rewards that are unmatched in power await those who are brave enough to enter the Imperial City and claim them. Fight Molag Bal's personal guard, the elite Xivkyn, and other invaders from Coldharbour to win Tel Var Stones, the currency used to trade for mighty Veteran Rank 16 armor sets. But be on your guard—enemy Alliance members lurk around every corner throughout the Imperial Districts and Sewers. Should you fall to an enemy player, they can claim your hard-earned Tel Var Stones in their own quest for glory."
So, uh, its not like ZOS forgot that Imperial City is a PvPvE zone when they included it in the Year One Celebration as a requirement to get one event ticket. The Devs want it that way.
Okay, so how does the Imperial City really work?
The Imperial City has two main areas - the Sewers and the Districts. Both have a lot of PVE mobs, minibosses, and world bosses who can really mess up your day. You get Tel Var by killing them, and the more Tel Var you carry, the higher your multiplier becomes, making it easier to gain more Tel Var. Meanwhile, if you kill an enemy player (or are killed by an enemy player), you gain half of the Tel Var they were carrying. Tel Var amounts are split among the players who fought an enemy, so larger groups typically equal lower gains. The three alliances will try to capture the flags of the Districts in order to increase their Tel Var gains and control spawn points. Your alliance must own a District in order for you to spawn there when killed. Otherwise, you will have to respawn at your sewer base.
How do I get to the Imperial City?
Because Imperial City is a PvP-enabled zone, you'll have to queue up to enter. Navigate to your [Alliance War] tab and choose one of the available Imperial City campaigns.
Which campaign should I choose?
First, look at the population bars to the right of the campaign names. If you see that one faction is overrepresented on a certain campaign, that can help you avoid high concentrations of enemies or find allies. If you see that one campaign is very empty, again, that might be a good option.
Example: if you were AD and wanted a better chance to avoid enemies, you might pick Red Diamond as shown below.
Second, you may want to choose between CP and No CP campaigns. Unlike Cyrodiil, there is no "Below 50" campaign for Imperial City, so unfortunately low level players will have to battle it out with everyone else. If you are Below 50, I'd suggest going to the No CP campaign because that will be the most comparable experience. Beyond that, it's down to personal preference. I found that I preferred the CP campaigns because of the miniboss NPCs that are common in the Districts and Sewers, but your mileage may vary.
I've arrived in my Alliance's Sewer Base. What now??
There are a couple important locations to find.
1. The Banker - deposit your Tel Var stones if you want to keep them. The option to Deposit Currency will default to gold, but has a small drop down arrow that will let you change the type of currency you want to deposit. Make sure you do this if you've been accumulating them from other events or daily log in rewards. I once forgot and died with 10k Tel Var on me. Oops!
2. The General Tel Var Merchant - they sell the "Sigil of Imperial Retreat", which is a consumable item that allows you to teleport free back to the Sewer Base without losing Tel Var. It costs 10k AP, and may be useful if you don't intend to use one of the other options for how to return to your Sewer Base. If you buy it, make sure to equip it on your hotbar so you can use it quickly when you need to.
3. The door to the Sewers - each alliance's base opens into one area of the Sewers. If enemy players are hanging around right outside of this door, you'll need to use the next location, the ladders, to bypass the Sewer door and drop into the sewers from the District entrances.
4. The ladders to the Districts - there will be a room with six ladders which lead to the six districts. Climbing the ladder will take you up to a safe spawn tower in each district.
Check the state of the Districts to see which alliance owns them. The map might look something like this for an AD dominated Imperial City, though note that one District is being attacked. You can guess there will be enemy players near that district.
Finally, if you want to see if there are any groups of players doing the dailies, the Sewer Base is a safe spot to organize.
Where are the District Dailies?
You'll need to climb the ladders. Most of the daily quest givers will be on the spawn tower. If you want to grab more than one daily at a time, you'll need to go back through the trapdoor, climb another ladder, go back through the trapdoor, climb another ladder, six times. It's annoying, but I recommend picking up all the dailies. I found that having all the dailies made it easier for me to progress when I died and had to respawn in another district.
Please note that if you jump off the spawn tower, you cannot get back up without dying and respawning in that district. You'll have to get back to your sewer base by another method to talk to the quest giver again.
What are the District Dailies?
Arboetum: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Historical_Accuracy
Arena District: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:The_Lifeblood_of_an_Empire
Elven Gardens: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Dousing_the_Fires_of_Industry
Memorial District: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Speaking_For_The_Dead
Nobles District: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Watch_Your_Step
Temple District: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Priceless_Treasures
When you finish the quest, you must return to your Sewer Base in order to turn it in.
I hate PVP. Which one is safest?
The Arena District Daily "The Lifeblood of an Empire" can be completed in safety...as long as you are willing to wait. This quest requires you to free Imperial citizens by killing daedra. Luckily, there's a point where the daedra and prisoners spawn that you can reach with ranged weaponry from the top of the spawn point.
If you want to be completely safe, you need to wait on the trapdoor leading downward and wait until nearby players kill enough daedra/free enough citizens. I've gotten credit for kills/freeing while stealthed out on the trapdoor, so it does work. However, its probably faster to stealth out to the catwalk around the tower and attack the daedra yourself when they spawn. However, be aware that enemy players can hit you in turn with ranged attacks. So don't afk out in the open or think that you can attack them with impunity because you are high up (I say, having gotten myself killed while doing exactly that.)
What about the others? Can I do any other daily safely?
Nope. All the others require you to jump off the tower and run around the districts, with the risk of running into enemy players.
My impressions of the other dailies from an earlier event are spoilered here:
Arboretum: I completed this one in stages, killing a few daedra, dying to players, coming back later and killing a few more. The Daedroths are more common around the edges of the district near the pillars and doors near big piles of burning books.
Arena: This was my easiest daily, as it just required running around until I found 12 citizens to release. This would have been pretty easy to camp a particular location, if one were willing to wait for respawn. See above for the completely safe method to do this daily.
Elven Gardens: I struggled with getting lost on this one during Midyear Mayhem. The most notable areas of the Elven Gardens are the Foundry/Forge area and the staging ground where Legion Zero is firing catapults at the walls. During MYM, I was like "Destroy ballista? Okay, it'll be by the siege area, right?" Haha, no, the ballista to be destroyed were on the other side of the district from the catapults. This time I got tripped up by the Xivkyn boss who wanders around the Foundry area. I wasn't paying attention when I ran in, pulled him and six mobs while trying to destroy the forge and, not gonna lie, Kazarvel Scathe-Knight messed me up. Had to try a second time.
Memorial: This one felt very exposed since most of the action takes place near the center of the district. Fortunately, its just kill two Xivkyn and activate four skeletal laborers. If not for feeling exposed, this would have been the easiest.
Nobles: the Ogre traps were spaced out in the four corners of the district, so I really felt the benefit of being able to run fast. I died a bunch of times trying to get back to my last ogre trap because a group of enemy players were taking the district flag. After a couple tries, I gave up trying to get past them and ran the long way around the district and got the trap.
Temple: This one had me hunting in interiors and then finding a specific altar. While I had it easier going before the event, I think I'd definitely bring detect pots for gankers on this one during the event or skip it altogether.
Arena: This was my easiest daily, as it just required running around until I found 12 citizens to release. This would have been pretty easy to camp a particular location, if one were willing to wait for respawn. See above for the completely safe method to do this daily.
Elven Gardens: I struggled with getting lost on this one during Midyear Mayhem. The most notable areas of the Elven Gardens are the Foundry/Forge area and the staging ground where Legion Zero is firing catapults at the walls. During MYM, I was like "Destroy ballista? Okay, it'll be by the siege area, right?" Haha, no, the ballista to be destroyed were on the other side of the district from the catapults. This time I got tripped up by the Xivkyn boss who wanders around the Foundry area. I wasn't paying attention when I ran in, pulled him and six mobs while trying to destroy the forge and, not gonna lie, Kazarvel Scathe-Knight messed me up. Had to try a second time.
Memorial: This one felt very exposed since most of the action takes place near the center of the district. Fortunately, its just kill two Xivkyn and activate four skeletal laborers. If not for feeling exposed, this would have been the easiest.
Nobles: the Ogre traps were spaced out in the four corners of the district, so I really felt the benefit of being able to run fast. I died a bunch of times trying to get back to my last ogre trap because a group of enemy players were taking the district flag. After a couple tries, I gave up trying to get past them and ran the long way around the district and got the trap.
Temple: This one had me hunting in interiors and then finding a specific altar. While I had it easier going before the event, I think I'd definitely bring detect pots for gankers on this one during the event or skip it altogether.
What if I don't want to fight other players? Can I get them to leave me alone?
Not really. Remember that Imperial City is a PvPvE zone. You're a fair target, and players get both AP and often Tel Var from killing you. Sorry, but that's how the Devs designed it.
That being said, here's some things that might help.
- Remember that enemy players cannot see your zone chat. They can't tell the difference between a quester or a PVPer just by looking at you. For that matter, most PVPers are on high alert in Imperial City - "if its red, its dead" is a PVP joke, yes, but its also a true statement about our reflexes. If I see an enemy player with that blue or yellow shield above their head, I'm making a snap judgment of "Fight? Flight? Fight!" in a matter of seconds.
- Be sneaky. Your best bet is to avoid fights entirely and the best way to do that is to not be seen at all. Just be prepared that if you are seen, other players may assume you are a ganker and react accordingly.
- if you aren't stealthy, then be obviously on alert. Like, throwing your buffs and heals periodically so that any ganker knows you are watching and paying attention to your surroundings.
- Sometimes you can signal non-hostile intent by standing still and blocking. Not everyone knows what that means and not everyone cares, so don't get too upset if you do that and still get killed.
- If someone is whispering you toxic stuff that breaks the TOS, the best response is to report and then block them.
- I've never tried begging someone to let me by, so I can't really recommend it. However, I have had several very positive interactions with PVPers who killed me if I had something nice to say, like whispering them to compliment them on a punny name or noticing that their name was a movie reference, etc.
- If someone keeps killing you, I'd just move on to another area. There's not much sense in running into a wall over and over again, expecting them to stop killing you because you aren't fighting back. Its 100% your decision whether or not you are going to continue to feed them your AP and Tel Var or not - by the Devs' design, they get rewarded every time they kill you whether it was a "good fight" or not. Alternatively, call their location out in zone chat and hope that members of your alliance come to kill them.
Okay, I did it. How do I get back to my sewer base to turn in this Daily?
If you did the Arena daily and stayed up on the tower, go into the tower and use the trapdoor to climb back down into your Sewer Base.
Assuming you are elsewhere in the Imperial City, you have several options:
- Use the Sigil of Imperial Retreat you bought before you left the Sewer Base. This will consume the sigil. I recommend stealthing out and going to a hidden area so you don't get attacked during the teleport animation.
- Die. This will cost half your Tel Var. You can respawn at your base or at any owned District, and then climb through the trapdoor in the spawn tower.
- Find an entrance to the Sewers and make your way back to your base. Its worth knowing the nearest Districts to your Home Base.
AD - Temple, Arboretum https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Irrigation_Tunnels
DC - Elven Gardens (much closer), Nobles District https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Lambent_Passage
EP - Arena, Memorial https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Harena_Hypogeum - Navigate to your Alliance War tab and queue for a Cyrodiil campaign. When in Cyrodiil, queue up for any Imperial City campaign to return to the Sewer Base and turn in the quest.
How do I leave the Imperial City?
Option 1: in one room of your Sewer Base, there's a door that leads to the sewers. Opposite that door is another door that will say [Exit] and that will take you back to whatever PVE zone you were last in.
The top red arrow is the exit to EP's base in the sewers.
Option 2: Queue up for a Cyrodiil Campaign, then use the wayshrine at the rear of the home base to head back to your choice of PVE zone.
What's your advice for players who might want to try out PVP during this Event?
Come prepared. Just like you would prepare for a tough bit of PvE content, prepare for the unique challenges of the Imperial City. Here's some specific ways:
- DO NOT assume or hope that enemy players will let you pass unharmed. Imperial City is a Player v Player v Environment zone and you are a fair target, just like they are a fair target to their enemy alliances. There is NO safe conduct for anyone in the Imperial City. Treat it like the War Zone that it is. You must be prepared for enemy players (or you must accept that by not preparing, you are preparing to die miserably.) Expect no mercy.
- Team up with other members of your alliance. There is strength in numbers. - fortunately, Imperial City is very busy during double Tel Var events, so you should be able to find other members of your alliance. Options for finding groups include: forming your own group before you queue for IC, ask if your guilds are running an IC group, asking in zone chat within your home base, or asking in zone chat in the sewers or districts. Having other players around makes you a less likely target for gankers or small groups and gives you a better chance of defeating the larger groups that come to farm the bosses or Molag Bal.
- Read up on the mechanics and maps of the Districts and Sewers beforehand like you would prepare for a new dungeon or trial. Going in blind can make for a great challenge, but it also makes things a lot harder than they need to be. If you need to refresh your memory, find an out of the way spot and sneak before you check your map.
- Build Tanky and Heal Proactively. Its tempting to build for the sort of PVE DPS you need to take on the bosses, but in reality, the enemy players are the greatest danger you will face. Building tanky will make you less of an obviously weak target for gankers and make fights more forgiving when you make mistakes. Healing proactively keeps you out of execute range. If you can, a cheap set of impenetrable gear can help against critical attacks and it will keep your gear repair needs low.
- If players are camping the Sewer exit from your base, use the ladders inside your base to head up to the districts, then drop into the sewers from a different location.
- Go as quick as you can. Less time spent in PVP, the less danger to you. Run or cloak past non-essential enemies if you can. Snare/root removal or immunity skills are really useful.
- If you are helping to capture a flag, hold block and be alert for bombers.
- If you are just standing around or need to check your map or bags, sneak and find an out of the way spot first.
- If a player keeps killing you or you see a large group coming, moving to a different area is often the better part of valor, unless you really like banging your head against a wall.
- Keep a close eye on the District flags. You can sometimes guess when your current district is about to become captured by enemies, such as if an alliance is capturing districts moving counterclockwise/clockwise. Oftentimes the enemy will sweep a district as they take over, so hurry up or get out as you can.
- Bring Invisibility Potions. If you can't fight the enemy, the best thing to do is sneak by them.
- Bring Detect Potions. Detecting a ganker or a bomber can give you precious reaction time in a fight.
- Bring Repair Kits. Your armor won't take damage from PvP deaths, but you'll fight enough daedra that your armor will get battered. Remember, you need to return to your home base to find an NPC who can repair it otherwise.
- Clear your inventory of unnecessary stuff. When I farm Tel Var, I pick up a bunch of useless junk in the process of killing NPCs, and its dangerous to have to stop in the middle of farming to clear space in my inventory if I decide "Oh, I actually want that motif I just got with a chest."
- Bank your Tel Var BEFORE you go into the Districts or Sewers to preserve your gains.
- Buy Sigils of Imperial Retreat. Especially if you want to farm Tel Var, Sigils are crucial to making it back to your base without having to run a gauntlet of hunters in the sewer. They can also be amazing for escaping a zerg of enemy players sweeping through a district - just duck into a building out of sight and use the Sigil.
- For further general PvP tips, I have yet to find a better guide than Joy_Division 's https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/427360/joys-2018-advice-for-midyear-mayhem-event PVP has moved on from 2018, but the general tips for magicka and stamina players are still pretty good.
What else is there to do in the Imperial City?
Main Quest
The Main Quest starts when you talk to the Drake of Blades in your Home Base and agree to help her uncover Molag Bal's plot. You will complete quests in each other six districts. Be prepared that only a few locations in buildings are safe areas while you talk to quest NPCs - most of the places you need to go are completely open for PvP. You will also need to return to the your Home Base after each quest, so its wise to buy Sigils of Imperial Retreat, or else brave the journey back through the districts/sewers.
In my opinion, this is an excellent quest that serves as a fitting end to the Planemeld arc.
Special Notes:
The Temple District quest has a daedric titan boss who may prove difficult to solo.
The Arena District quest has a multistage boss fight that may prove very difficult to solo. In addition, there is an achievement for killing enemy players within the Arena, so be prepared to deal with enemy players at the same time.
The Nobles District has four battles in set locations with an allied NPC screaming to everyone who can hear as the battle progresses, so there's a significant risk of interference from enemy players.
Alliance War Quests
You can pick up Scouting Quests in your Home Base that ask you to travel to the district and mark your symbol on the wall of your rally point and return. If you already own the district, its as easy as popping out at the respawn point, marking the wall, and then heading out to fight.
You can pick up Killing Quests in your Home Base that ask you to "Kill 20 Players" or "Kill 20 Nightblades" etc.
Defeat Molag Bal's Simulacrum within the deepest reaches of the Imperial City Sewers.
The Barathrum Centrata event in which your group summons and kills the Simulacrum of Molag Bal takes place at the center of the Sewers where all three Alliance paths converge. You will need to close portals, the final wave of which will summon more of the Coldharbor Elite Guard and then kill Molag Bal's Simulacrum.
You will want a group to do this with you as the portals do have a timer and enemy alliances will also be trying to defeat the Simulacrum to get tickets and the rewards.
Important Note: due to how ESO' loot rules work, only 12 players will get loot . From past events, players have found it doesn't matter how much DPS you do, as healers and tanks do still get loot. If there are more an 12 players present, be prepared that not all players will get loot rewards from the event. (Yes, this sucks. No, ZOS hasn't changed it.)
Tel Var Farming
Many players focus on farming Tel Var during the Imperial City Celebration since Tel Var gains are doubled. There's no one way to go about it, only whatever way you think best.
Farming in districts you own grants a 33% bonus to Tel Var drops.
NPCs and Players split their stones between the attacking group. Groups are good for protection, but the larger the group, the less Tel Var each individual will get.
Gankers and Bombers will often focus on groups capturing the District Flags, since the risk/reward is very much in their favor even if they die.
If someone keeps killing you, move to another area. Sending toxic messages or begging them to leave you alone doesn't usually help. If you want to improve, asking them for advice sometimes works.
Sigils of Imperial Retreat are amazing if you don't want to carry your gains through the sewers each time you want to return to base.
In general, I would recommend that inexperienced players group up and return to the home base often to bank their rewards.
Traveling Manually to the Imperial City PVE dungeons
Traveling to the dungeons and entering manually, such as one might in order to run the dungeons prior to level 45
With minimal risk of PVP, White Gold Tower can be reached manually. Simply queue for an IC campaign, and immediately after you leave your home base there will be a side tunnel leading to the entrance of White Gold Tower. If you need to, look at the maps of the sewer regions mentioned here: https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Online:White-Gold_Tower
Imperial City Prison is more dangerous to reach requiring you to enter the Memorial District via your home base, then run to the middle of the outer wall to reach the entrance. https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Memorial_District
Killing Patrolling Horrors and Coldharbor Elite Guard
Each of the Imperial City Districts has a patrolling boss called a Patrolling Horror with a difficultly equal to or greater than a base game World Boss. There are two specific to each district, but only one will patrol at a time in that district. As with many world boss types, the difficulty varies. Unlike world bosses, the Patrolling Horrors are not leashed, so if one begins chasing you, you cannot escape by outrunning it (though you can have great fun by aggroing the Patrolling Horror and leading it to a large group of enemy players). They are designed to be defeated by groups, but of course players can solo them. During non-Celebration gameplay, its typical to tackle them in a rotation through the districts, but in my experience that goes out the window during events. As always, be prepared for enemy players. Note that if you die and then the boss dies, its possible to still get loot credit and you can respawn, run back, and loot the boss.
List of Patrolling Horrors: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Patrolling_Horrors
The Sewers have their own version of wandering, unleashed bosses in the form of the Coldharbor Elite Guard. These are Xivkyn Generals of Molag Bal who wear large Blue or Red banners on their backs and can suppress stealth in their vicinity. Blue banners indicate stamina-based generals, while Red banners are the more powerful magicka-based generals. They are about the same difficulty at the Patrolling Horrors. There are 9 generals up at any one time, 3 in each alliance territory. Be prepared to fight these generals in very close quarters in the sewer tunnels. they've got some nasty AOEs, so if possible, try to drag them into an open area so you have more room to manuever.
List of the Coldharbor Elite Guard and their Locations: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Coldharbour_Elite_Guard
Map of the Sewers:
Special Note:The Patrolling Horrors and the Coldharbor Elite Guard split their large Tel Var reward between everyone who attacked them, just like every other mob in IC. So if you've jumped in to "help" someone fighting one of the bosses and they get angry with you, understand that its because now the Tel Var reward is split between you. Now, I'm of the opinion that during an Event, people jumping in to kill the bosses is to be expected, but not everyone may feel that way. So if someone does get angry, at least you know why.
Final Note:
I like PvP. I like PvE. I like PvPvE. I also recognize that learning to PvP or PvPvE is a steep learning curve that doesn't appeal to every player. Not every player is going to enjoy the Imperial City and that's okay.
If you know that the Imperial City is content that frustrates you, my advice to you is that you conquer the "Fear of Missing Out" that ZOS constantly leverages with these events and give the Imperial City portion of the Celebration a miss. If you are able, just don't subject yourself to something you don't enjoy in pursuit of some fleeting rewards. If you show up anyway and complain, I'm going to ask exactly what result you expected from forcing yourself to do content you know you dislike.
On the other hand, it you aren't sure or you think you might enjoy Imperial City, give it a shot! The best thing you can do is come prepared for PvPvE, accept that you will die along with the rest of us and that's okay, and do your best to have fun as you experience what a busy, active Imperial City is like when its full of players!
I hope this helps players have fun in the Imperial City and to prepare for PvPvE!
And as always, if you spot an error or a correction that needs to be made, let me know!
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OutLaw_Nynx✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭This might be worth your time to post in players helping other players as well. Have an insightful!1 -
Red_Feather✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭This is an honest question. Do players gank others in sewers before loading in. I ended up leaving because I'd be dead once my loading screen ended. It was only in the sewers it was happening and only during these events.0 -
Smitch_59✭✭✭✭✭Thanks OP, interesting read. My experience in IC is limited to the time before attunable crafting tables were a thing, so I'd sometimes have to venture there to do master writs. I quickly learned it's not my thing. So I'll take the advice in your "Final Note" and just give this portion of the event a pass. I can live without the IC tickets.By Azura, by Azura, by Azura!3 -
SeaGtGruff✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭This might seem too obvious to need explaining, but where you mention the Banker and the importance of depositing your Tel Var before leaving your base, it might not be a bad idea to show and tell how to switch between the different currencies when you're withdrawing from or depositing into your bank account. You'd be surprised how many new and not-so-new players don't know how to do that.Red_Feather wrote: »This is an honest question. Do players gank others in sewers before loading in. I ended up leaving because I'd be dead once my loading screen ended. It was only in the sewers it was happening and only during these events.
Your alliance base is safe territory, as are the elevated areas you start at when you enter a district or the sewers themselves (unless you enter the sewers from the door that lets you back into your base). You're also momentarily protected when you go from one district to another via the large doorways or gates, and the smaller doors in the corners take you to safe, elevated balconies in the next district. There should be a blue glow around you while you're safe, although it will wear off after a short period of time-- unless you're standing on the trap door that goes back down to your base.
I'm not sure why you were dead as soon as your loading screen ended, unless you were in the process of being attacked just before you transported.I've fought mudcrabs more fearsome than me!1 -
six2fall✭✭✭✭My best advice for get tickets in ic for event do all the dailies (6) on enough characters to cover all dates of event so if able to turn in on 7th after reset but before event ends you'll need 13 dailies. Do all 13 now then each day just turn in 1 quest in ic & return to the non nightmare fun zones.3 -
FluffWit✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭I ran two Nightblades through the city today and did all the dailies. Think I'm good- 12 quests waiting to be cashed in.0 -
GenjiraX✭✭✭✭✭Great advice, thanks. Can’t believe I’d never considered going up and down the ladders to collect all six quests before embarking upon them.0
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Ippokrates✭✭✭✭✭Great job. And this quote about unmatched in power rewards make me chuckle ^^Red_Feather wrote: »This is an honest question. Do players gank others in sewers before loading in. I ended up leaving because I'd be dead once my loading screen ended. It was only in the sewers it was happening and only during these events.
Yeah, during last Mayhem some losers were standing in front of alliance base almost everyday and hunting for people coming back. Luckily people organize so it is good to read chat before entering.1 -
Warwolf✭
Thank you for showing more respect to players than Zenimax sales department ...
Guess iam gonna skip the ugly bird as if i do force my self either to play PVP or to PAY ..
It will make me ashamed if i gave into their questionable moral ethics .
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FluffWit✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Red_Feather wrote: »This is an honest question. Do players gank others in sewers before loading in. I ended up leaving because I'd be dead once my loading screen ended. It was only in the sewers it was happening and only during these events.
No. When you come up or down a ladder, or through a door between districts etc theres a blue hue on your character- you can't use any abilities and you're invulnerable to taking damage until you move.0 -
kringled_1✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Red_Feather asked about the sewers. There's no immunity when you use the doors between sections in the sewers, and it is possible to be ganked while loading there.2 -
SeaGtGruff✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭kringled_1 wrote: »Red_Feather asked about the sewers. There's no immunity when you use the doors between sections in the sewers, and it is possible to be ganked while loading there.
Also when using that ground-level door that lets you enter your base from the sewers, if I'm not mistaken.I've fought mudcrabs more fearsome than me!2 -
VaranisArano✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭SeaGtGruff wrote: »This might seem too obvious to need explaining, but where you mention the Banker and the importance of depositing your Tel Var before leaving your base, it might not be a bad idea to show and tell how to switch between the different currencies when you're withdrawing from or depositing into your bank account. You'd be surprised how many new and not-so-new players don't know how to do that.
Great idea!
Added:
1. The Banker - deposit your Tel Var stones if you want to keep them. The option to Deposit Currency will default to gold, but has a small drop down arrow that will let you change the type of currency you want to deposit. Make sure you do this if you've been accumulating them from other events or daily log in rewards. I once forgot and died with 10k Tel Var on me. Oops!0 -
markulrich1966✭✭✭✭✭
✭Note: defeating Molag Bal down in the sewers unlocks a very unique dye colour. Kind of dark purple with some gold in it.
It might be worth to use the event joining a group that attacks him just to get the dye, even if you avoid the sewers otherwise.2 -
VaranisArano✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Red_Feather wrote: »This is an honest question. Do players gank others in sewers before loading in. I ended up leaving because I'd be dead once my loading screen ended. It was only in the sewers it was happening and only during these events.
So...
The short answer is yes, you can die to other players while in loading screens.
The long answer is that when you leave your Sewer Base, it's supposed to be onto a raised platform that enemy players can't get to. Problem is, there are skills that let enemy players get up there. ZOS knows this and hasn't done anything about it, so yes, it's possible to get killed in loading screens.
If that's what's happening, and you want to get to the sewers, you'll need to use the ladders to the Districts. Then find the entrance to the Sewer in the District and drop down someplace else in the Sewers away from the camping players. To get back safely, use a Sigil of Imperial Retreat or queue for a Cyrodiil campaign.
I like to stealth before transitioning to a new District or Sewer regions in IC, but I'm not sure how much good it does. There was one time where I stealth loaded in right next to an enemy player. After a moment of "Well, that just happened," we both attacked. 1 -
Red_Feather✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Thank for the answers. I did not know if people knew what I was talking about. Some of you do and I appreciate the forthright answers. If I do go into IC it'll probably just be the upper districts.0 -
LashanW✭✭✭✭✭
✭You can also leave Imperial City by going to Memorial District and using the Imperial City Prison dungeon entrance there.
---No longer active in ESO---
Platform: PC-EU
CP: 2500+Trial Achievements
Godslayer, Gryphon Heart, Tick-Tock Tormentor, Immortal Redeemer, Dro-m'Athra Destroyer, vMoL no death
Arena Achievements
vMA Flawless, vVH Spirit Slayer
DLC Dungeon Trifectas
Scalecaller Peak, Fang Lair, Depths of Malatar, Icereach3 -
TwinStripeUK✭✭✭I might actually try the Arena district daily this evening, as avoiding (or rather, failing to avoid) the gank groups in Elven Gardens was really tiresome last night.0
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Kadraeus✭✭✭✭Red_Feather wrote: »This is an honest question. Do players gank others in sewers before loading in. I ended up leaving because I'd be dead once my loading screen ended. It was only in the sewers it was happening and only during these events.
I've luckily never been killed in loading screens. I usually get ganked when I try to run back to my base. I always use shadow cloak to avoid players, but every so often I'll run into two-three enemy players that can still see me when I'm invisible. I've never been able to survive at that point since I can't really fight back and can't run either.Edited by Kadraeus on 27 August 2021 14:590 -
cyclonus11✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭TwinStripeUK wrote: »I might actually try the Arena district daily this evening, as avoiding (or rather, failing to avoid) the gank groups in Elven Gardens was really tiresome last night.
Gankers roam all the districts and power changes constantly. Best to just open the map and go to a district your alliance controls, take the quest there, and try to find a group/zerg to follow.0
