Battleground from butchery to utter incomprehension, the worst PVP experience ever...

Alharion

So frankly, I've played all sorts of PVP games and MMORPGs too, of course, but this mode is quite frankly the worst thing probably ever seen in the world of video games.

The more the years go by in TESO and the more the pvp no CP goes from butchery to incomprehension, the more it goes and the more, it's difficult, even impossible to play in battlegrond with dignity, frankly incomprehensible duels and sometimes very weird dead, even with well-prepared equipment more and more often now life melts exponentially without having time to understand what's going on.

Having your back to the enemy seems to be forbidden, because you take even more damage, even if it's not a nihghblade...

I don't know what TESO's trying to do with this PVP mode, but at the moment it's an inordinate butchery that's getting worse all the time. It's really time to get serious about this part of the game, because it's getting ridiculous and increasingly unplayable...

Brakkish

I enjoy it immensely. I've just learned to adapt to things I wasn't able to control.

Calastir

I agree with OP, and lots of times it feels like some teams have some kind of cheat or hack they use near the end whenever battle isn't going their way.

After 15 minutes suddenly it's like night vs. day, others have noticed this too. This cheating (if it proves true) is breaking the game.

Kartalin

A lot of people wander into battlegrounds wanting to run around and do their own thing. They're completely surprised when they repeatedly run into 3-4 members of other teams who kill them easily. Some teams realize as the match goes on that the only way to earn some kills is to stay together and this leads to some big turnarounds in score as they start moving as a group.

The team that stays together slays together. Stop running around like a chicken with its head cut off. This is group pvp in a nutshell, especially as your MMR increases.

Calastir

Kartalin wrote: »

A lot of...[snipped for brevity]..MMR increases.

Like I've explained, the change comes abrubtly after we've already been playing for 15 minutes doing all the things you describe. It's so sudden that it feels like a hack or cheat.

Jierdanit

Calastir wrote: »

Kartalin wrote: »

A lot of...[snipped for brevity]..MMR increases.

Like I've explained, the change comes abrubtly after we've already been playing for 15 minutes doing all the things you describe. It's so sudden that it feels like a hack or cheat.

"I am dying so they must be cheating"

Always fun to see.

Calastir

Jierdanit wrote: »

"I am dying so they must be cheating"

Always fun to see.

Some are easily amused. But please do show me those topics, since that means others have noticed some suspicious things going on as well.

CameraBeardThePirate

Alharion wrote: »

Having your back to the enemy seems to be forbidden, because you take even more damage, even if it's not a nihghblade...

This isn't even true, and I'm not entirely sure where you're getting this idea from.

Nightblades can technically deal more damage from behind, yes, but it's only 3k pen - around 5% more damage.

Outside of nightblades, I can assure you that no one is dealing more damage to you from behind. There's a CP that does that, but CP is disabled in BGs. There are 2 sets that do that, but you'd be very hard pressed to find anyone using either of those sets in BGs.

El_Borracho

Kartalin wrote: »

The team that stays together slays together. Stop running around like a chicken with its head cut off. This is group pvp in a nutshell, especially as your MMR increases.

This is the one thing players who lose consistently in BGs ignore. "Oh, I'm just going to capture this relic by myself." Or, "It will be better if all 4 of us try to capture flags in Domination or Crazy King by ourselves." Nope. While you can split up into teams of 2 and have success, if you know what you are doing, more times than not the team of 4 that runs together will win.

OBJnoob

El_Borracho wrote: »

Kartalin wrote: »

The team that stays together slays together. Stop running around like a chicken with its head cut off. This is group pvp in a nutshell, especially as your MMR increases.

This is the one thing players who lose consistently in BGs ignore. "Oh, I'm just going to capture this relic by myself." Or, "It will be better if all 4 of us try to capture flags in Domination or Crazy King by ourselves." Nope. While you can split up into teams of 2 and have success, if you know what you are doing, more times than not the team of 4 that runs together will win.

In my experience it's kinda half and half. Highly dependent on what the other teams are doing, and of course whether or not your team is the best at killing. It's best to stay fluid, I think, and you may have to operate one way for half the match and another for the other half.

If you're trying the spread-out strategy and the other team competing for the win is balling up then honestly balling up yourself is only the right answer if you can win that fight. If you can't, then ideally your best/trolliest/tankiest player should take it upon themselves to try and stall the ball-team. A big sacrifice because you'll earn some deaths this way-- but the ball-teams ARE normally hungry for kills, so the strategy is sound, because you CAN distract them at least a little. The other 3 can ball up themselves and hopefully be faster than the other team, or you can stay spread out.

What you don't want is to lock in an endless 4v4 and 3 minutes later realize the 3rd place team is now winning.

If the 3rd team is kinda poopy then having 2 groups of 2 is probably best. One group should probably be following the path of the ball-team so they never have more than 1 flag at a time

El_Borracho

@OBJnoob totally agree. There are some arenas where you can kind of get away with one player splitting off to get a flag, like Mor Khazgur where you can jump down a level to steal a flag that is hard for other teams to get to, then split. Or Eld Angavar where you can have one tanky player harass 2 others guarding a flag while the other 3 pillage. But those are typically experienced players, not the ones running around getting wrecked. Unless you have a proven 1vX build in BGs, you're probably better of hanging with the group

OBJnoob

@El_Borracho I agree with you too actually, I was just taking the chance to delve into details. I solo que-- so my team (or the others for that matter,) aren't guaranteed to stay together or have any strategy at all for that matter. So I often take it upon myself to be the guy that does what needs to be done, for better or worse.

But that doesn't mean I have a proven Xing build, lol, or that kind of talent. I'm generally placed in high mmr matches and, in that context, I'm scarcely better than average. I normally have a good K:D... Like 4-0 or 9-4 for random example... But it's more about situational awareness than raw talent or power. I've just been playing a long time.

There are (at least) 5 people I see regularly that are hands down better than me. I was playing a BG recently-- forget the mode-- but I was doing very well. But there was this warden on the other team that was just DEMOLISHING everybody. Like he could come up from behind me but I'd already know who it was just because of how instantly I was on defense. I won't lie. I flat out ran from him at least 3 times. Which is cowardly I suppose. But if I can farm 7 other players, on my own, and capture objectives while doing it... Why would I want to stand around dueling the one guy I know is gonna wreck me?

Returning to topic... There are a lot of strategies you can employ in OBJ BGs... It's why I enjoy them. There isn't much strategy to solo que DM, to me, and I feel like in group que the strategy is largely done beforehand. Group synergy gear and skills... Class composition, that kinda thing. It's a no-brainer that you're gonna all 4 stick together. In OBJ modes you might see nobody else is defending your relic... So you decide to bite the bullet and do it. Sometimes it's boring. Sometimes your hands are VERY full.

Calastir

After months of losing my way all the way up to level 9 in the Alliance War skill line I'd been looking forward to my Stam Warden Frost Bite PVP build. Finally I got my top quality impenetrable Shield Breaker set, Velidreth helmet, Molag Kena arm cops, Spriggan Thorn bows and jewelry, all my skills maxxed out like the instructions said. "Finally I'm going to have some fun doing PVP!"

...only to experience every single opponent still ripping through me like I wasn't even there or just level 1. Same as ever.
And because of some bug any kills I definitely got and fought hard for weren't even credited to me.
So does anyone still wonder why I've come to expect this game to fail me by now?

Alharion

The problem with Zenimax's balancing vision is that it always attacks the same class to make it more and more unplayable. At the moment, it's the assassin who's being ruined by an excessive focus on all his special features, while for years the two-handed weapon has been too strong and too dominant in builds, but that doesn't shock them...

And let's not forget the templar, who is currently too powerful with his finisher, with which it's easy to steal someone else's kill and can act at -50% health...

And more recently, the arcanist, who destroys any possibility of a viable build because of his infamous immobilisation system and his death ray in NO CP, is a class that completely unbalances the game and any possible build for the other classes...

The problem with MMORPGs is that too much favouritism towards one class and too much hatred towards another is all too often felt on the part of MMORPG developers, and this is sadly how it always turns out in practically all MMORPGs...

gariondavey

Calastir wrote: »

After months of losing my way all the way up to level 9 in the Alliance War skill line I'd been looking forward to my Stam Warden Frost Bite PVP build. Finally I got my top quality impenetrable Shield Breaker set, Velidreth helmet, Molag Kena arm cops, Spriggan Thorn bows and jewelry, all my skills maxxed out like the instructions said. "Finally I'm going to have some fun doing PVP!"

...only to experience every single opponent still ripping through me like I wasn't even there or just level 1. Same as ever.
And because of some bug any kills I definitely got and fought hard for weren't even credited to me.
So does anyone still wonder why I've come to expect this game to fail me by now?

No offense but that set up is not setting you up for success. Try something like 5pc back bar wretched, 5 pc front bar orders wrath, 2 balorgh, 1 death dealers fete/sea serpents coil mythic, and 1 trainee.
64 points in hp, all infused or bloodthirsty with damage enchants on jewels, all gear tri stats. Can use a regen mundas and sugar skulls.
You should have plenty of sustain, over 40k hp, good weapon damage and good penetration and decent crit and crit damage.
Ele sus back bar with frost staff, front bar can be 2h or dw. Use stam beetles as you get major breach from ele sus.

ketsparrowhawk

my comment was edited and lost all of its original meaning so i'm just deleting it

Starlight_Knight

i think thats where you're going wrong, you're trying to take it seriously, but ESO pvp isnt an E-sport. its janky, weird and full of cheese.
It "could" have been the best thing since slice bread at one stage, but that time has passed and i think the trick now is to just take it for what it is.

moo_2021

Calastir wrote: »

After months of losing my way all the way up to level 9 in the Alliance War skill line I'd been looking forward to my Stam Warden Frost Bite PVP build. Finally I got my top quality impenetrable Shield Breaker set, Velidreth helmet, Molag Kena arm cops, Spriggan Thorn bows and jewelry, all my skills maxxed out like the instructions said. "Finally I'm going to have some fun doing PVP!"

...only to experience every single opponent still ripping through me like I wasn't even there or just level 1. Same as ever.
And because of some bug any kills I definitely got and fought hard for weren't even credited to me.
So does anyone still wonder why I've come to expect this game to fail me by now?

How frustrating can it be?

I learned the most important thing is to NOT get into any 1-on-1. I started to follow my group, heal them and charge whomever they're attacking and run away whenever they lose. Occasionally I throw AoE attacks into mess fight and then get out asap. Whenever I'm alone, I run to my group. Often we're able to kill some hard, seemly pros by 3 vs 1 or 4 vs 1.

Since it's hard to keep melee pressure, I reverted back to the nerfed unleashed set, which sometimes does 1/3 of the damage. The other set is either Coward's or Adept, for escaping, and vampire stage 4. And I have the oakensoul ring which helps a lot. Gameplay is really simple with this setup. I don't even have CC except the unreliable poison, but it's fun and I don't die a lot like before (solo BG of course, so full of PVEers)

SandandStars

If youre new to bgs…

build tankier than you think is neccesary

stay close to your group at all times

as you get more confident add dmg/pen, take more risks

bgs can be a lot of fun when a team synergizes and slowly comes back and wins

sometimes youre just on a weak team and get slaughtered by a strong one, & thats ok 😉