Imperial city,the solo way.

zatohonour · September 2015

So several people including on youtube have said imperial city is doable solo,that you can get your modifier up really high and do your dailys etc...

So i broke down and gave ZoS money for this dlc which after 6 hours i'm definitely regretting.

I do these dailies and most of them are near impossible alone,i play dc on ps4 EU so AD and EP have all the servers pretty much sown up,with dc only faction capped on azuras and scourge,but the kicker is even on those 2 where dc have a presence they are also fac capped by both AD and EP.This quest,defend the doors?Impossible,always EP or AD there,arena?Took hours of hiding before enough DC came by that i could gol in with.

I spent 2 hours running around the stupid sewers killing the mobs for pitiful loot,and only managed to get my modifier up to 3.something(oh,i also solo killed about 15 enemies too)Eventually i got killed twice which put me right back to x2 modifier,so there's an hour or two gone(nvm the couple k telvar stones i had)Not like i can bank them or it resets my effing modifier.

Oh also twice i helped kill molag bal and put out good damage but there was like 40 fricking people there so i didn't get in top 12 for loot from that.

I'm a NB and understand how to hide like a scared wee puppy from the big bad zergs etc,but it doesn't much matter,it's such close quarters i eventually bump into some enemy also in stealth and then 6 more appear and gank you.Half the people in there are also running detect pots and marks.

So yeah,after these 6 hours i'm sitting on x2 modifier with only 2 telvar bags to show for my trouble and about 700 in the bank.Absolutely frustrating,i'm actually seething with anger at this horrible dlc now.

How are you supposed to get that modifier up and get a decent amount of stones on your own if you can't do half of these dailies and don't have a zerg to hold your hand?Grinding isn't doing it at all.

*Went on a bit of a semi rant there but damnit it's like i fritted away 6 hours for absolutely nothing.

CGPsaint · September 2015

After everything that I've read on the forums, I decided not to bother with this DLC, and I still got screwed by the update with insanely long load screens, constant disconnects, and the intermittent loss of ability to loot corpses or containers... just to name a few of the many new "features."

MrGigglypants · September 2015

you dont need a 3x modifier I'd say never risk more than 10% treat it like an investment. so if you dont have 10k + stones dont walk around with more than 1k and so forth I was banking every 500 for a while now 1k. bank and withdraw 100 to stay at 2x.

I feel like in reality most peoples goal is 50k stones which is essentially 5 days of grinding or roughly 50 hours of play depending on your goal.

zatohonour · September 2015

Oh ffs,i waited 15 mins at one of the doors to defend,was sure no one was about,started quest and 5 EP NBs immediately jumped me.Modifier down to 1 and stones at 13 lmao.Thanks ZoS.

Mate,don't start me on those bloody loads either...gah.

This DLC was made for the bottom feeders from what i can see.

MrGigglypants wrote: »

you dont need a 3x modifier I'd say never risk more than 10% treat it like an investment. so if you dont have 10k + stones dont walk around with more than 1k and so forth I was banking every 500 for a while now 1k. bank and withdraw 100 to stay at 2x.

I feel like in reality most peoples goal is 50k stones which is essentially 5 days of grinding or roughly 50 hours of play depending on your goal.

50k?Surely you'd need hundreds of thousands of them to actually get decent traits on gear from gambling on the lockboxes?

SG_Celerrimus · September 2015

You can bank TV stones I believe (as I have several in the bank)

firstdecan · September 2015

zatohonour wrote: »

Oh ffs,i waited 15 mins at one of the doors to defend,was sure no one was about,started quest and 5 EP NBs immediately jumped me.Modifier down to 1 and stones at 13 lmao.Thanks ZoS.

Mate,don't start me on those bloody loads either...gah.

This DLC was made for the bottom feeders from what i can see.

This has been ZoS' entire philosophy in regards to PvP. This is why there's no dueling.

zatohonour · September 2015

SG_Celerrimus wrote: »

You can bank TV stones I believe (as I have several in the bank)

Yes i did that the first time,banked 700 stones but it wiped out my modifier,resetting it.

MrGigglypants · September 2015

zatohonour wrote: »

Oh ffs,i waited 15 mins at one of the doors to defend,was sure no one was about,started quest and 5 EP NBs immediately jumped me.Modifier down to 1 and stones at 13 lmao.Thanks ZoS.

Mate,don't start me on those bloody loads either...gah.

This DLC was made for the bottom feeders from what i can see.

MrGigglypants wrote: »

you dont need a 3x modifier I'd say never risk more than 10% treat it like an investment. so if you dont have 10k + stones dont walk around with more than 1k and so forth I was banking every 500 for a while now 1k. bank and withdraw 100 to stay at 2x.

I feel like in reality most peoples goal is 50k stones which is essentially 5 days of grinding or roughly 50 hours of play depending on your goal.

50k?Surely you'd need hundreds of thousands of them to actually get decent traits on gear from gambling on the lockboxes?

The games about progression and variation. 5k gets you vr15 set you might want 50k vr 16 and from there you roll for what you know you want but if youre expecting godly status (perfect gear/traits etc) in a week, then stay away from MMO's.

SG_Celerrimus · September 2015

zatohonour wrote: »

SG_Celerrimus wrote: »

You can bank TV stones I believe (as I have several in the bank)

Yes i did that the first time,banked 700 stones but it wiped out my modifier,resetting it.

Something you just gotta deal with, that is how the system works. I recommend getting 500 then banking, and repeating.

Teiji · September 2015

It's possible to get 3-5k stones per hour solo.

It's not obvious how at first, but once you figure out how it's amusing as it's so simple. So you can get loads of stones for mats, potency runes and so on in a very short space of time, I was able to get 2k stones the other day in 18 minutes solo, so it's doable and I don't have v16 gear yet.

RustedValor · September 2015

You can definatelly bank your stones whenever. If you want to up your modifier just withdraw stones from your bank and the modifier goes up accordingly. L2P. In IC rolling with a group and farming TROPHIES is the name of the game. Telvar stones are a nice bonus for buying crafting materials, but should not be the main focus. At VR15 you just break down all the gear from IC and Dungeons to get crafting mats. Best gear from IC is dropped in White gold Tower and The Prison, also Bind on Pickup. The telvar gear sets are situationally usefull at best, definatelly not best in slot compared to the other VR16 sets dropped of Vet Dungeon Bosses from the new dungeons. I too play DC on PC and the situation is the same as on consol, I get plenty of TV stones and kill all kinds of EP and AD. If you really want to farm stones, Level an alt on the dominant faction for your megaserver and use them to farm stones in IC safely and easily and then spend the stones on gear for your main.

The Jewlery is only obtainable with trophies and is the best in slot for jewlery sets for any build. 3 pc Agility for stam, Willpower for Magic, Endurance for tanks (Agility might even be better for tanks if you have enough HP and Stam Regen). 5 or 4 pc Armor Set, 2 piece undaunted, 3 piece jewlery, and a Master weapon or Crafted weapons for a 2 piece set should be your focus for endgame build.

TheShadowScout · September 2015

Always remember, fu... uhm... forget the modifier.
Its such a gankfest that only those proud of their massive PvPness may get away with holding on to their stones... which is what the modifer is all about, it depends on how many stones you carry with you (and thus risk to loose)
Everyone else, as soon as you have any halfway decent amount of stones grabbed, bloodport back to base, bank and go back for more.
That way I have banked about 4000 stones in my few IC visits so far, with roughly another 2000 lost to gankings... which seems a pretty reasonable ratio from all I see.

IC districts is better then sewers btw, since up there you can sometimes get away from enemies. Dodge, streak, cloak, run through mobs, just get enough distance that the killing blow will come from a mob and not from a player, and your stone loss will only be 10% instead of dropping 80% in your killers lap. And when you "release" after, you'll be right next to the shortcut hatch to your base, all the better to bank your stones...

Also, running with the zergs may be safer, but is also a lot lower on the reward scale. If I go solo, I may get ganked, but will make at least two or three times the stones I get when i run with a zerg, despite the zerging way killing way more mobs. (might be better for expees though...)

Best result may be going with a few good friends... especially if you want to do the arena or temple district missions.

Also, the "50K stones" is what you need for five pieces of one of those nifty new purple V16 sets... which is why the number pops up again and again. Some get there quick, some (like me) get there slow... but eventually, everyone can reach that with a bit of preservance...

EnglishDragon17 · September 2015

Also on EU as PS4. I have to say being AD i completed main quest in 2 days. being dc however u dont have a hope.

amatic · September 2015

zatohonour wrote: »

So several people including on youtube have said imperial city is doable solo,that you can get your modifier up really high and do your dailys etc...

So i broke down and gave ZoS money for this dlc which after 6 hours i'm definitely regretting.

I do these dailies and most of them are near impossible alone,i play dc on ps4 EU so AD and EP have all the servers pretty much sown up,with dc only faction capped on azuras and scourge,but the kicker is even on those 2 where dc have a presence they are also fac capped by both AD and EP.This quest,defend the doors?Impossible,always EP or AD there,arena?Took hours of hiding before enough DC came by that i could gol in with.

I spent 2 hours running around the stupid sewers killing the mobs for pitiful loot,and only managed to get my modifier up to 3.something(oh,i also solo killed about 15 enemies too)Eventually i got killed twice which put me right back to x2 modifier,so there's an hour or two gone(nvm the couple k telvar stones i had)Not like i can bank them or it resets my effing modifier.

Oh also twice i helped kill molag bal and put out good damage but there was like 40 fricking people there so i didn't get in top 12 for loot from that.

I'm a NB and understand how to hide like a scared wee puppy from the big bad zergs etc,but it doesn't much matter,it's such close quarters i eventually bump into some enemy also in stealth and then 6 more appear and gank you.Half the people in there are also running detect pots and marks.

So yeah,after these 6 hours i'm sitting on x2 modifier with only 2 telvar bags to show for my trouble and about 700 in the bank.Absolutely frustrating,i'm actually seething with anger at this horrible dlc now.

How are you supposed to get that modifier up and get a decent amount of stones on your own if you can't do half of these dailies and don't have a zerg to hold your hand?Grinding isn't doing it at all.

*Went on a bit of a semi rant there but damnit it's like i fritted away 6 hours for absolutely nothing.

I feel for you being dc...ad have the place sewn up(i play ad

).
You really have to join a decent guild to get the most out of this dlc...running round in group of 4-8 is amazing fun...solo..not so much.

zatohonour · September 2015

I didn't realise the amount of stones carried affected your modifier,that makes it all slightly more bearable i guess.

*Or what i meant was,i didn't realise taking stones out of the bank would up the modifier again.

Darlgon · September 2015

zatohonour wrote: »

So several people including on youtube have said imperial city is doable solo,that you can get your modifier up really high and do your dailys etc...

Your first mistake.listening to elite players who post on youtube. The rest of us huddling masses who are not superior players would never post our vids on youtube to be laughed at. Its like Mario Andretti saying anyone can drive in the Indianapolis 500. Sure, CAN..

ZoS version:

ZoS wrote:

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.

http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/2015/07/15/imperial-city-launch-details

Darlgon · September 2015

zatohonour wrote: »

I didn't realise the amount of stones carried affected your modifier,that makes it all slightly more bearable i guess.

*Or what i meant was,i didn't realise taking stones out of the bank would up the modifier again.

Sigh.,...

Research...This stuff has been out on the main website since July 31, 2015.

ZoS wrote:

The UI will show you the amount of Tel Var Stones you carry, as well as your current Tel Var Stone gain multiplier. The multiplier rewards you for taking a risk and carrying all those stones with you. The multiplier increases the amount of stones you get from monsters (but not player characters.) It's based on the amount of Tel Var Stones you carry. Here's a rough break-down of how it works:

When you carry more than 100 Tel Var Stones but less than 1,000, the amount of stones you get from monsters in the Imperial City is doubled.
When you carry more than 1,000 Tel Var Stones but less than 10,000, the amount of stones you get from monsters in the Imperial City is tripled.
When you carry more than 10,000 Tel Var Stones, you will get four stones instead of one for every stone you loot from a dead monster! You crazy risk-taker, you.

Going back to the example above: If you kill a boss monster worth 500 Tel Var Stones with a group of four friends, and you are already carrying 4,000 stones, while your friends have 600, 100, and 10 respectively, you will earn 375 stones, while your friends will get 250, 250, and 125.

http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/2015/07/31/imperial-city-guide-tel-var-stones

NDwarf · September 2015

ESO plus was a good deal here. Got to try the DLC and still have 1500 crowns to use towards the next DLC which is SUPPOSE to be more solo and PVE friendly. I got nothing against PVP or PVE I'm mediocre at both but this DLC...it's way, way to grindy for my taste.

Logging in to get stones so I can get better equipment to..er get more stones? I can walk around in a suit of armor made from these damn stone, with dual wield stone swords, a stone bow, and eating stone food but that 18 yo kid with cat like reflexes will still wreck me haha.

Also, stones are pieces of the White Gold Tower chipped away by Deadra? What? Hows that damn tower even standing? That's like killing terrorist and looting pieces of the World Trade Center off them.

zatohonour wrote: »

So several people including on youtube have said imperial city is doable solo,that you can get your modifier up really high and do your dailys etc...

stuff

*Went on a bit of a semi rant there but damnit it's like i fritted away 6 hours for absolutely nothing.

So here's how to solo farm stones in safety and it's SURE as hell going to get nerfed because screw players having fun. Go to the Arena, on your safe faction server, help the zerg kill the arena bosses, loot chest, follow the zerg outside to a gate down the block. Fight at the gate, loot chest, return to arena. Repeat 14 billion times until you have enough stones to retire to your own private island made from stones you dumped into the ocean.

Strider_Roshin · September 2015

I've been seeing a lot of these complaints about not being able to solo imperial city. I'll try to make a video tonight on how to solo the sewers as a stamina Nightblade, and post it on here.

Strider_Roshin · September 2015

And here you go. Hope this is helpful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=305C2va8IR8

AshTal · September 2015

I suspect the only people who can solo IC are the same ones who can kill a raid solo. IC is meant for loot farming and Zerg style PvP when it does change it will just become a ghost town and still impossible to do quests

Personofsecrets · September 2015

@ZOS_RichLambert @ZOS_MattFiror

I thought you all didn't want players to feel like the put big time investments into the game, but those investments end up being wasted.

It seems like everything implemented in this game would point to you not caring about players time investment. Should us players just assume that opposite of what ZOS claims now?

Nebthet78 · September 2015

zatohonour wrote: »

SG_Celerrimus wrote: »

You can bank TV stones I believe (as I have several in the bank)

Yes i did that the first time,banked 700 stones but it wiped out my modifier,resetting it.

Here's the problem. You are relying on the modifier to earn stones. DON'T. Ignore the modifiers and every 200-500 stones bank.. Do small safe runs. To be honest with you, this zone was not made to solo. It was made for a group of 4-12 players. It is obvious in it's entire design.

So bank those stones frequently and don't take any with you when you go to the districts and also do not initially take any with you when you join a large group to make a run for the centre to kill Molag Bal. If you earn stones great... But always go with the mindset that you are not earning stones. Hide the little counter if you can, then if you get zerged it won't matter as much and if you come back full with stones, all the better.

Always factor in a 10% loss of stones and suicide to mobs once you reach a certain amount.

The Initial Story quest line is not really meant to be soloed either.

The actual Daily Quests you get after completion of the initial District Scouting Quest Lines are easily soloable if you take your time. Again, don't take modifier stones with you and if someone kills you in the middle of doing something, just hit release and try again.

Heck when there is a zerg going on I will constantly jump down from the safe point and let them kill me over and over and over again for the giggles of it.. they aren't gaining any stones from it and aren't earning AP either as I had already been killed a few seconds earlier.

But you have to realize, IC was not made for solo game play. You want to earn and keep more stones, you need to find people to play with and learn to stay safe.

Just by doing this, I have upgraded the gear on my two end game characters already so I now have no further use for IC and will only go there now to do PVP night and Pledge night with my guild mates.

phairdon · September 2015

Lets face it. Not all of us possess the skill required to solo group content. Safer, more common sense way is to play with a group, IMO.

Sausage · September 2015

I find that sewers/ic are quite refreshing. I soloed like 4k stones today. Then went to ganking and boy it sucks alone. Too many monsters, too tough players, no target locking etc.

eliisra · September 2015

AshTal wrote: »

I suspect the only people who can solo IC are the same ones who can kill a raid solo. IC is meant for loot farming and Zerg style PvP when it does change it will just become a ghost town and still impossible to do quests

Districts are pretty solo friendly. When IC launched on PC, we did have zergs in districts running around trying to kill those doing quests, camping spawn and being annoying, I admit. But now it's usually empty, almost boring. Only a handful of questers sneaking around and occasionally some small scale skirmish. Easy to do daily bounty quests solo.

You can also see from far when or if a bigger enemy groups is coming. Many buildings to hide, kite and avoid them. Risk of dying to the roaming boss is way bigger than to enemy players

Your own factions part of the sewer is also kind of solo friendly. As long as you dont push past middle boss, you wont encounter that many enemy players.

What's not soloable however is enemy factions part of sewers. I wouldn't bother going there unless in a group or if good escape artist = playing NB. Kind of sucks when it's the enemy that has the good trophy farm spots *waves to DC*.

Huggalump · September 2015

I play at pretty goofy hours, so I often run with 1000 stones on me. I can pick up 1000+ more stones in roughly an hour, more or less. I've never timed it, but I'm pretty sure it's usually less.

I always run solo

zatohonour · September 2015

Yes well,i woke up at 3am,decided to jump back on TES for an hour or two,the AD zergs were gone,got everything done in a decent amount of time and joined a motley group of 8 different nationalities where we had a load of running fights in IC against fairly equal numbers,actually had some fun.

So that's the secret then,i have to completely forego sleep in the wee hours of the morning to enjoy IC

Alcast · September 2015

zatohonour wrote: »

So several people including on youtube have said imperial city is doable solo,that you can get your modifier up really high and do your dailys etc...

So i broke down and gave ZoS money for this dlc which after 6 hours i'm definitely regretting.

I do these dailies and most of them are near impossible alone,i play dc on ps4 EU so AD and EP have all the servers pretty much sown up,with dc only faction capped on azuras and scourge,but the kicker is even on those 2 where dc have a presence they are also fac capped by both AD and EP.This quest,defend the doors?Impossible,always EP or AD there,arena?Took hours of hiding before enough DC came by that i could gol in with.

I spent 2 hours running around the stupid sewers killing the mobs for pitiful loot,and only managed to get my modifier up to 3.something(oh,i also solo killed about 15 enemies too)Eventually i got killed twice which put me right back to x2 modifier,so there's an hour or two gone(nvm the couple k telvar stones i had)Not like i can bank them or it resets my effing modifier.

Oh also twice i helped kill molag bal and put out good damage but there was like 40 fricking people there so i didn't get in top 12 for loot from that.

I'm a NB and understand how to hide like a scared wee puppy from the big bad zergs etc,but it doesn't much matter,it's such close quarters i eventually bump into some enemy also in stealth and then 6 more appear and gank you.Half the people in there are also running detect pots and marks.

So yeah,after these 6 hours i'm sitting on x2 modifier with only 2 telvar bags to show for my trouble and about 700 in the bank.Absolutely frustrating,i'm actually seething with anger at this horrible dlc now.

How are you supposed to get that modifier up and get a decent amount of stones on your own if you can't do half of these dailies and don't have a zerg to hold your hand?Grinding isn't doing it at all.

*Went on a bit of a semi rant there but damnit it's like i fritted away 6 hours for absolutely nothing.

If you are playing early then run around with 1k+. If you play to rushhours then go with 100 Stones and return stones as soon as you have 500-1k.

https://youtu.be/9Y5-BJYtVC4

Darlgon · September 2015

zatohonour wrote: »

Yes well,i woke up at 3am,decided to jump back on TES for an hour or two,the AD zergs were gone,got everything done in a decent amount of time and joined a motley group of 8 different nationalities where we had a load of running fights in IC against fairly equal numbers,actually had some fun.

So that's the secret then,i have to completely forego sleep in the wee hours of the morning to enjoy IC

Just bear in mind, not just you, but everyone, that ESO is a worldwide game. 3 AM in St Louis, MO, USA is 6PM Melbourne, Australia and the start of the Aussie prime time.

ThePonzzz · September 2015

I can definitely solo the dailies in the IC and wander around the sewers. I don't feel I'm very effective by myself, and I will die every now and then, losing 10% of my stones. There are sections of the IC that are more solo friendly though. Stay out of the Noble, Memorial, or Arena since that's going to be the biggest area of PvP conflict. That's where the majority of groups tend to be, so you'll get mowed down. Sewers, just stay near your base, you'll generally have a lot of traffic to keep you safer. You'll find the IC to be a little better on treasure though.