The Dark Anchor Generals Myth

SheepdogPaladin

Till this very day, some players actually believe in the following myth and they will literally get angry if you don't play along:

MYTH: Always wait to destroy all four anchor pinions at the dolmens (dark anchors) until all waves of mobs are killed first. Doing so will increase the chance of a general to spawn.

Ladies and gentlemen, this has always been a myth and I present official evidence from ZOS:

https://www.twitch.tv/zenimaxonlinestudios/v/13275883
Go to 39:49 mark.

Someone asked, "What does clicking on a pinion at a dark anchor actually do? Does it just heal you? Do you get a buff? People seem to think not clicking on them until everything dies gives you better loot... and/or a better chance at generals spawning... is that true?"

Official reply: "I love urban legends that come up from games. They're great. So, we have an answer for you. Interacting with a pinion gives you a buff that boosts damage of all participants by 10 percent for 30 seconds, also restoring resources to full... so your health, your stamina, your magicka. Once all four pinions are interacted, the next stage in the event is triggered. Generals are random, with zones doctored in, in some, and not based on how many monsters you kill. So... urban legend squashed... sorry. But, now you know."

OP Note: In the above quote from the official reply, the text that says, "with zones doctored in, in some" is obsolete as of this writing, because with the implementation of One Tamriel, any general now has the chance to spawn at any dark anchor in Tamriel. Prior to 1T, certain generals would only spawn in certain zones. But now that 1T is out, any general can spawn at any dolmen. Killing all the dark anchor generals awards the in-game achievement General Executioner, which gives a new dye color Daedric Red and a coveted title "Daedric Lord Slayer."

Once in a while, I come across a lone player actively fighting a remote dolmen. Don't know exactly why, but this "know-it-all" lone player usually has very high champion points. As soon as I engage, the player would "instruct" me not to touch any of the pinions. Based on my experience, when you inform the player that it is just a myth and that a ZOS rep has actually dispelled the myth, they get angry and call you a profane name.


Coming up, I'll discuss next week's myth: While there is a thunderstorm happening in-game, all world bosses can be soloed.

Mic1007

People will believe ANYTHING to avoid dealing with RNG. But yeah, sometimes you just have to accept that it's random, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Berenhir

I have had the same argument OP described. Made me want to teabag that guy alive.

Gonna bookmark this thread for further encounters, thanks a lot.

SanderBuraas

Why care about someone who gets upset because you don't do as they say?

starkerealm

SheepdogPaladin wrote: »

Till this very day, some players actually believe in the following myth and they will literally get angry if you don't play along:

MYTH: Always wait to destroy all four anchor pinions at the dolmens (dark anchors) until all waves of mobs are killed first. Doing so will increase the chance of a general to spawn.

My impression is, this started out as a troll, then the base game mechanics changed, and it became possible to satisfy the conditions.

If I remember correctly, back at launch, dolmens wouldn't stop spawning enemies until you activated the pinions, so the whole, "just keep fighting enemies until a general appears," would work to troll newbies. It got patched out very early on, so the Daedra would stop spawning, eventually.

That said, I never heard about this myth until around 1.4 or 1.5, long after the infinite spawning was gone. So it's possible this one popped up later.

starkerealm

Smepic wrote: »

Why care about someone who gets upset because you don't do as they say?

Getting yelled at by 12 angry year olds is annoying?

redspecter23

Smepic wrote: »

Why care about someone who gets upset because you don't do as they say?

Because sharing knowledge of proper game mechanics should be seen as helpful.

runningtings

There is an achievement based on the number of pinions activated, that will be why they tell you not to touch them...

WhiteCoatSyndrome

SheepdogPaladin wrote: »

Based on my experience, when you inform the player that it is just a myth and that a ZOS rep has actually dispelled the myth, they get angry and call you a profane name.

At which point you report them so their ignorance will be removed from Tamriel, at least for a time.

P3ZZL3

Could you please revisit the Myth that I've heard that one time, many moons ago, a patch was released and there were NO required bug fixes or breaks that happened.

I mean, I find it hard to believe....but myths are myths....

method__01

u get the achiv at about 180-210 anchors,there is no way generals to spawn earlier that this
doesnt matter if u destroy all pinions or none

Mic1007

method__01 wrote: »

u get the achiv at about 180-210 anchors,there is no way generals to spawn earlier that this
doesnt matter if u destroy all pinions or none

It's RNG completely now in One Tamriel.

Dymence

Mic1007 wrote: »

method__01 wrote: »

u get the achiv at about 180-210 anchors,there is no way generals to spawn earlier that this
doesnt matter if u destroy all pinions or none

It's RNG completely now in One Tamriel.

One RNG.

method__01

good to know but i did it a while ago,2 days only closing dolmens to get the achiv
fun times

Asardes

I play for a year and never hear that myth until now. I have seen some strange things though, but there are probably due to RNG clustering. For example for a time the Bruma dolmen seemed to have a much higher chance of spawning generals. I did like 10 iteration and got 4 generals, 3 of them that I hadn't killed before. But that was just luck. I actually got Enemy of Coldharbour achievement (250 dolmens cleared) with one general to go, and farmed that in The Rift - back then the spawns were indeed linked to the alliance zones and was one of the last group of 4.

Asardes

method__01 wrote: »

u get the achiv at about 180-210 anchors,there is no way generals to spawn earlier that this
doesnt matter if u destroy all pinions or none

Nope, it actually doesn't matter. It didn't matter before. When alliance zones were instanced no generals spawned in the 1st alliance zones, one of the first 4 could spawn in the 2nd zones, one of the next 4 could spawn in the 3rd zones etc. And in silver & gold areas in Cyrodiil it has always been purely random, like it is now everywhere. I actually got 15/16 generals by the time I had cleared my 250th anchor that grants the title Enemy of Coldharbour and cleared all anchor locations in Tamriel, which grants the title Savior of Nirn.

Mettaricana

Went I get called a name for saying pinilns don't matter I pull the pinion anyway may seem dickish but no need for names

itehache

Now that you mention this topic, I have been doing the dailies from the fighter's guild since 1T launch and I have not yet fought a general I have some of the achievements previous 1T but you made me think about it. I can't believe I am THAT unlucky hahaha

Lord_Wrath

Arent we glad zos said this the first time around? Oh wait, nvm!

CapnPhoton

If you do it 100 times you get a dark purple dye...

Junipus

With the changes to dolmens in 1T it's now supposedly easier to get your missing General achievement. Have myself gotten the last two missing Generals within about 10 minutes of each other not long after the patch so if one farms the dolmens enough they should also get any missing Generals fairly quickly.

SheepdogPaladin

Smepic wrote: »

Why care about someone who gets upset because you don't do as they say?

Information is a very powerful tool and was the main purpose of the OP.

Beardimus

starkerealm wrote: »

Smepic wrote: »

Why care about someone who gets upset because you don't do as they say?

Getting yelled at by 12 angry year olds is annoying?

I'm not sure what's worse actually the thought of one angry 12 year old or 12 angry year olds

Nestor

We have always had a 10% chance to get a General Spawn, and experience in the game supports that.

There is a new factor in the General Spawns now. According to the patch notes, the game takes note of the Generals you have done and will spawn a general you have not done. What I don't know is, how does this work with multiple players. If there are several players, and each have their own group of generals they have cleared, how does the game determine which general is going to spawn? It is no stretch to say that across the population of players at a dolmen, all generals could have been cleared. So, what happens then? No Generals or a spawn of some random one? I think soloing the dolmens, this mechanic would work much better.

I wonder if this new mechanic will actually lower the general spawn rate due to this confusion if there are lots of players at the dolmen.

Abeille

method__01 wrote: »

u get the achiv at about 180-210 anchors,there is no way generals to spawn earlier that this
doesnt matter if u destroy all pinions or none

I got the achievement for the Generals waaaaaay before the one for destroying that many anchors.
But it was before One Tamriel and I hunt the generals on the low level areas instead of on the veteran areas.