So... how is PvP?

Saphayla

For the longest time, whenever I tried to do anything PvP-related (usually to unlock some ability), I had next to no fun and kept getting frustrated over not knowing what is going on and being generally incapable of doing anything. I understand the objectives in PvP (how capturing keeps works, etc.), but when it comes to fighting other players, I am as clueless as someone who's just installed the game (even though I recently passed the 2000 hour milestone).
Because of this, I've been ignoring PvP and not thinking of it when crafting my characters, but lately I've been getting bored of PvE content and keep having a strange craving to try some PvP in a serious manner (get a semi-decent build with proper traits, and such). My problem, however, is that I don't follow the meta and choose combinations of races/classes/roles that are sub-optimal, to say the least (for example, most of my playtime is on a Khajiit Sorcerer Healer). This is fine in PvE for the most part, as the enemies are driven by less-than-capable AI that can't exploit my weaknesses, but I imagine PvP is a completely different story.
I am not willing (or able, honestly) to sink hundreds of hours into trying to perfect my gameplay (I'm pretty much the opposite of the guy singing the Pokemon theme song); I'm more interested in casual, semi-competent gameplay, and above all, having fun. So my question is: What's in store for casual PvP players? Is it enjoyable, or is it not really viable and you have to get as good as possible or else you just won't amount to much?

Saphayla

Oh, and while we're at it: What tips could you give to someone trying to sink their claws into Cyrodiil?

Rungar

4x befoul weapon
3x damage health
3x poison weapon
Skull damage health.

i think thats reasonably accurate.

Saphayla

Rungar wrote: »

i think thats reasonably accurate.

Perhaps, but what I can say is that it's completely meaningless to someone who doesn't play PvP...

ayu_fever

first off: i have never enjoyed any form of pvp in video games.
EVER.
i just dont understand how it is enjoyable.
BUT there are lots who do, and they have a blast.

with that said, in ESO i suffered through just enough silly pvp nonsense to get those particular skills (vigor, warhorn, barrier, caltrops, purge) and never went back.

Saphayla

ayu_fever wrote: »

first off: i have never enjoyed any form of pvp in video games.

Quite the opposite for me, actually, as some of my most played video games are mainly about PvP (Call of Duty 4 and Team Fortress 2, probably over 4000 hours combined), and I still regularly fire up TF2 and have tons of fun. So I'm not entirely sure why my stance on ESO's PvP for the longest time has been "It's completely unbearable ***"

MalagenR

Saphayla wrote: »

For the longest time, whenever I tried to do anything PvP-related (usually to unlock some ability), I had next to no fun and kept getting frustrated over not knowing what is going on and being generally incapable of doing anything. I understand the objectives in PvP (how capturing keeps works, etc.), but when it comes to fighting other players, I am as clueless as someone who's just installed the game (even though I recently passed the 2000 hour milestone).
Because of this, I've been ignoring PvP and not thinking of it when crafting my characters, but lately I've been getting bored of PvE content and keep having a strange craving to try some PvP in a serious manner (get a semi-decent build with proper traits, and such). My problem, however, is that I don't follow the meta and choose combinations of races/classes/roles that are sub-optimal, to say the least (for example, most of my playtime is on a Khajiit Sorcerer Healer). This is fine in PvE for the most part, as the enemies are driven by less-than-capable AI that can't exploit my weaknesses, but I imagine PvP is a completely different story.
I am not willing (or able, honestly) to sink hundreds of hours into trying to perfect my gameplay (I'm pretty much the opposite of the guy singing the Pokemon theme song); I'm more interested in casual, semi-competent gameplay, and above all, having fun. So my question is: What's in store for casual PvP players? Is it enjoyable, or is it not really viable and you have to get as good as possible or else you just won't amount to much?

What system do you play on?

Crixus8000

The meta atm is basically proccing enchants. It makes for very unbalanced and boring play for many.

But if you don't care about that and just want to play casual then some advice I would give is:

Start with a build that has more survivability and sustain. Damage won't mean much if your running out of resources all the time or dying in 2 seconds.

Look at some guides on your prefered gamestyle and class ect, to give you a decent understanding of how to play it.

Join a group aor follow a zerg and stick to mainly keep seiges, at least this way you will have many players around you fighting too so you will get more combat and less just focusing you.

Don't worry about dying. See how you died if you can and see what you can do better.

And remember your useful not matter how good you are. Control the enemy, heal your allies, and help siege and the more you play the more you will learn.

Saphayla

MalagenR wrote: »

What system do you play on?

I play on a PC, European server.

danno8

People have gravitated to the next broken/op thing this patch has brought.

This time it is DW enchants firing on 1s cool downs resulting in 5k damage per second of free damage

Jolipinator

Enchanting.

That's how PC players are describing it.

Zer0oo

Solo open world pvp is no officially dead.

Cyro:
Zerg or get zerg.
Or play a ganker



Battlegrounds are a proc and enchantment massacre.

Swomp23

Hello @Saphayla ,

When I first played the game 2 years ago, I was in he same boat as you. I prefered stam chars, but having to farm vigor and caltrops on my char was really a chore. I was a complete potato having absolutely no idea what was going on. It was basically 2-5 mins of horse simulator, than dying in 3 secs with no clue on what just happened. I hated it.

When i came back to the game 2 months ago, I discovered Battlegrounds. It didn't appeal at me at first, but when I discovered that you get 100k exp by the random daily, I decided to give it a shot. The experience there is completly different. First, your are matched with players of similar skills (ie : other potatoes). Second, when you die, you only have a short cooldown of a couple of seconds before you jump right back in action. You learn about pvp MUCH more faster like that.

I rolled a new stam toom this weekend and once I reached lvl 10 with it, I headed to Cyro to farm vigor. Even if I didnt yet have a heal, I discovered that I could hold my ground much better than 2 years ago. With a correct pvp build, I think I could even have fun in Cyro pretty soon.

TL:DR : Practice in battlegrounds before heading to Cyrodiil.

Rungar

Saphayla wrote: »

Rungar wrote: »

i think thats reasonably accurate.

Perhaps, but what I can say is that it's completely meaningless to someone who doesn't play PvP...

youll figure it out!

Veinblood1965

Swomp23 wrote: »

Hello @Saphayla ,

When I first played the game 2 years ago, I was in he same boat as you. I prefered stam chars, but having to farm vigor and caltrops on my char was really a chore. I was a complete potato having absolutely no idea what was going on. It was basically 2-5 mins of horse simulator, than dying in 3 secs with no clue on what just happened. I hated it.

When i came back to the game 2 months ago, I discovered Battlegrounds. It didn't appeal at me at first, but when I discovered that you get 100k exp by the random daily, I decided to give it a shot. The experience there is completly different. First, your are matched with players of similar skills (ie : other potatoes). Second, when you die, you only have a short cooldown of a couple of seconds before you jump right back in action. You learn about pvp MUCH more faster like that.

I rolled a new stam toom this weekend and once I reached lvl 10 with it, I headed to Cyro to farm vigor. Even if I didnt yet have a heal, I discovered that I could hold my ground much better than 2 years ago. With a correct pvp build, I think I could even have fun in Cyro pretty soon.

TL:DR : Practice in battlegrounds before heading to Cyrodiil.

I haven't PVP'ed yet but can see a time when I will try, this was helpful.

JimmyJuJu

I'm still out there encountering the regulars. I'm still earning AP. I'm still capturing and defending objectives. I'm still laying down heals and - on rare occasion - landing a killing blow.

There are a few notable changes. Bridges and mile gates are interesting. My death recap is very different - lots of enchant damage, which in a way is more interesting than the usual snipe + injection recap.

So, really it's kind of same-same for me personally. But I'm not a pee-vee-pee god who just got their meta handed to them. So, there you go.

OFFL1MIT

As you mentioned you have healer. So pick your sorc healer, join a pvp guild or in zone chat type lfg. Join a group , heal people and I bet you will have fun. When you're new to pvp stuff, I highly recommend not to solo it, you will be bored or frustrated always stay with some people around. When it comes to build, make resourceful tanky build even if you're dps stamina/magicka I would pick heavy until u find those combos, so you will have time to think before you get killed. and minimum health of 25k , 30k works the best. Should you follow meta or not? Not really you can make your own fitting your own playstyle

Banana

Torags pact, Sloads, Skoria. DW. Heavy if you like. Its a toilet.

Shantu

1. Don't worry much about dying, but try to make it a learning experience of how not to die, when you can.
2. Whether through gear, traits, or buffs, you have to put some thought into raising your resistances. You can't win battles if you're dead in 2 seconds (though at times that can't be helped either).
3. Ultimates are your friend. The faster you can generate and use them, the better.
4. Pick your battles carefully and play defensively.
5. Find a group to play with. Solo play is boring and won't get you far.

Don't worry about the whatever current meta is. It will get nerfed soon enough.

JumpmanLane

Saphayla wrote: »

For the longest time, whenever I tried to do anything PvP-related (usually to unlock some ability), I had next to no fun and kept getting frustrated over not knowing what is going on and being generally incapable of doing anything. I understand the objectives in PvP (how capturing keeps works, etc.), but when it comes to fighting other players, I am as clueless as someone who's just installed the game (even though I recently passed the 2000 hour milestone).
Because of this, I've been ignoring PvP and not thinking of it when crafting my characters, but lately I've been getting bored of PvE content and keep having a strange craving to try some PvP in a serious manner (get a semi-decent build with proper traits, and such). My problem, however, is that I don't follow the meta and choose combinations of races/classes/roles that are sub-optimal, to say the least (for example, most of my playtime is on a Khajiit Sorcerer Healer). This is fine in PvE for the most part, as the enemies are driven by less-than-capable AI that can't exploit my weaknesses, but I imagine PvP is a completely different story.
I am not willing (or able, honestly) to sink hundreds of hours into trying to perfect my gameplay (I'm pretty much the opposite of the guy singing the Pokemon theme song); I'm more interested in casual, semi-competent gameplay, and above all, having fun. So my question is: What's in store for casual PvP players? Is it enjoyable, or is it not really viable and you have to get as good as possible or else you just won't amount to much?

Death, and a lot of it is what is in store for you. Yet, you can learn a lot by dying. PvP is fun, in and of itself once you kill way more people than kill you.

Duel: That’s the best way to get the hang of fighting people.

Kite: Always be moving. Just imagine wherever you are, you’re standing in the red.

Heal: Often forgotten in a tunnel vision rush to finish someone off.

YOLO (Go on the offensive): Most everyone is off balanced by a flurry of damage. (Not the head circles debuff lol).

Line of Sight: Always be mindful of where you are fighting. If they don’t have a clear view of you they can’t target you. Ducking around a rock or a tree, or running around a tower can be all you need to turn a fight around.

Snare removal: Immovables or some slotted ability. Most burst combos in Cyro involve stunning, rooting, snaring etc...so you’re stuck in their worst damage.

Cavedog

After today's patch, pvp is unplayable.

swippy

if you're used to playing a healer already, you can definitely have fun and be useful to groups of any size in PvP if you're willing to learn how the skills and tactics differ from what you're used to. if you run with a few enthusiastic scrub groups for just not too many hours you'll be able to figure out what you can do to use your preferred playstyle to provide excellent support to turn okay groups into strong ones, even when they're strangers. then you just go get your gear and move around a few CP, and if you're an agreeable human being you'll have no trouble finding people who will help you have fun while changing the map around.

JumpmanLane

I gave up after 10 minutes. Crash after crash. Gave up PvE after crashing in Dragonstar. I crashed the second I killed Kra’gh prior to that. The game is unplayable...well at least they fixed my craft stations.

Do they really expect us to keep playing much less buy anything?

alainjbrennanb16_ESO

pvp at mo, 24-30 on 1 person, macro users and cheat engine, lag, crashes, combat bug where you can't get on ur mount, mini load screens, the list goes on but it is fun

Mayrael

Rungar wrote: »

4x befoul weapon
3x damage health
3x poison weapon
Skull damage health.

i think thats reasonably accurate.

You forgotten about bleeds and spin2win.

Edit:
Oh and the moLAG and servers LOAD. Yesterday it took me like 4s to get on my horse while being in the mount up animation. Even NPCs are laging badly ROFL. I have a vid where flag guard tries 3 times to run up stairs to me but he's being pulled back xD

JasonWangTaiwan

It’s worse than before once you get attacked by DW spinner ,don’t heal because it’s no use , drain your stam and used all your defense skill still get killed.

dtsharples

If you plan to play your Khajiit Healer, I would try and get your hands on a set of 'Robes of Transmutation', as they are very helpful in any group, and even solo.
Another option would be the 'Sanctuary' set, but this is only really useful when you are grouped.

You'll want a heavy armour set for your other 5 pieces to help you stay alive. Don't be afraid of playing more Tanky, even as a healer.
Crafted Seducer is fine, in Impenetrable, and with so much magika regen it will be rare that you run out of magika. (Shacklebreaker could also work)
Seducer also means you can craft the perfect weapons without farming for them for weeks / paying thousands of gold for them.
I'd suggest (Powered) Resto Staff + (Defensive) Sword + Shield

Go for 3 Heavy Seducer Armour pieces and spec into the Heavy armour passives for more survival.
2 Heavy pieces of undaunted - (Easiest useful set to farm would probably be Troll King / Bloodspawn)
Light armour Transmutation belt + gloves, to gain even more magika regen + sustain.
3 Transmutation jewelry.

Skills I would use would probably be:
Mutagen, Efficient Purge, Healing Springs, Orbs, Ward Ally, Defensive posture, Panacea, Negate.
Then add in whichever Sorc Damage / defensive skills you prefer to use.

Tri-Stat (Purple) Food is a good idea if you can maintain resource regen, as it will allow you to break free etc.

Aznox

Don't give up on PvP.

Find other inexperienced friends to train against/with (Duels/BG)

Get advices from experienced players about effective/easy-to-use/easy-to-get builds.

Hang a smile on you face and get ready for some laugh, you are here to have fun.

Practice, practice, practice, practice.

Try to stay concentrated all the time, try to understand why things are happening like they are.
- Why is this guy taking no damage ? (block, dodge, shield, ultimate, etc...)
- What killed me ? Could i have done something to mitigate it ?
- Why did i get myself in a 1v2 ? Was in a bad spot ? Am i sticking to my team ?
- Etc...

Olupajmibanan

I enjoy PvP but not in this game.
Eso just proven that no mmoRPG can bring balanced PvP. Not a single one. It's caused by nature of RPGs because we don't start on equal footing.
*Just an example: I have acces to Asylum Sanctorium (a DLC trial) and clear it so I have Asylum two hander. Somebody may have the exact same build as I do, but has no Asylum two hander and has to use Agility two hander or whatever. We don't start on equal footing and I had an advantage before the fight even started*

If you want good balanced PvP, FPS and MOBA games are the way to go, however the community is EXTREMELY toxic there, especially in MOBAs.

Trancestor

Not a good time to start

swirve

Laggy and full of crybabies who try to get everything nerfed that kills them.