Cloud Ruler Temple as a PvP Trial

JD2013 wrote: »

Come on, Zenimax. It's just begging to be a 6 - 12 man dungeon/trial/raid with hordes of Daedra ...

You know you want to!

--from https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/154325/cloud-ruler-temple-in-cyrodiil

I still like this idea if it is done well.

Basics: An eighteen player trial with three starting points for three groups of six and places where the paths of each group intersect. If you stop to ambush you might get an advantage unless you lose or the other groups already went by. Once a group leaves a spot where the paths intersect enemy players can't follow. Choose your strategy but be prepared.

Details: The reason for groups of six is to make it easier to get a group together. It could also be set to three sets of four players to make a group even easier to put together, as this is key. You need to have three different groups going in together so getting in without huge queues is a must.

The idea of a PvP trial is essentially an elaborate battleground in which each team has a path they have to follow. There are options as you proceed in terms of diverging paths and different obstacles along the alternatives. These also offer different buffs or scenarios that are used where the paths of different teams cross. So it isn't just a PvE/PvP mixer with incongruous elements thrown in. The focus is PvP, and the PvE elements are there to support that. The choices you make in the PvE sections directly affect how PvP plays out when you meet one or both of the other teams.

The PvE element adds strategy and tactics by giving an advantage to those teams that synergize their strengths/weaknesses with the options presented, yet in the end the rock-paper-scissors element of those PvE choices add some unpredictability as well. The story involves trying to be the first to reach some lore-based MacGuffin that could turn the tide of the war for the Alliance possessing it. Teams who reach certain checkpoints have members spawn at those locations when they die. Some are unique to each path, some are open to any team (first come, first to claim, but claiming takes time while the flag is capped...).

Overall the trial design emphasizes constant action that directly involves PvP or bolsters the team for the PvP action waiting right around the corner (some boons involve resource management, others focus on speed, so choose wisely). The trial can be very short if you successfully attempt all of the shortcuts and aren't thwarted by a rival group. The unique rewards (with useful PvP traits like Impen!), the shifting map (certain passageways open while others close at different times), and the multi-elevation cross-path areas with lots of cover designed for small-group battles are the big draw, as well as fun and funny achievements for the completionists.

A vitality bonus is added at the end of the run to the winning team. Other teams still get some XP and a lesser reward, but the winning team's loot is far superior, with the second place team still doing better than third place. Thus you don't waste your time if you don't come in first, but, there is a big incentive to practice and get a good team together for the big prizes.

Sample: Your team is to reach some room in CRT. But the planemeld is shifting things, so that CRT keeps changing and is bigger somehow than it looks from the outside. Your team reaches a check point and can take time to use controls to move a bridge or seal a door to slow another team, but if they have already gone by it's a waste. In this case your team would need to fight poison spewing mobs to reach two different rooms and activate a control in each. You decide to skip it.

In other areas the paths intersect, so you can set up your ambush or race ahead. You enter a series of maze-like tunnels where the map doesn't work, where it's pitch black (even if you adjust the settings on your PC/console), and only flashes of light from abilities briefly give any visual images. Do you want to fight the other teams here or try to get out quickly? You decide to wait and take them out, sending them back to a checkpoint.

Your team reaches the end and there is a huge boss filling up the screen, with floating rock platforms in front of it. Other teams have access to different floating rocks, which initially are separated too much to fight each other. So all three teams try to out-DPS each other while needing to tank massive mini-boss adds. Every so often the boss rages, knocking platforms around and allowing the option for the teams to PvP each other before being separated again. The mechanics allow different strategies. How long do you want to cooperate with the other teams? Should you knock them out/slow them down early or wait until the boss is nearly defeated.


Cloud Ruler Temple as a PvP Battleground

This has a similar set-up to the Trial version, except there aren't intersecting paths to follow, no bosses to fight for buffs along the way, and so on. The story for this version is to try to claim Cloud Ruler Temple itself, yet mobs still keep spawning and there are environmental hazards as you make your way to the heart of the structure from your spawn point. There is a capture the flag mechanic that gives points the longer a flag is held, and there are also points awarded per enemy kill.

After a flag has been fully captured NPC guards spawn. Some of the flags are in interesting locations that are hard to get to and hard to defend, so teams must choose where to make their stands. Again, the structure is laid out in a multi-level fashion, so access to some flags may require moving up and down stairs. The area is still large, but not as larger as the Trial version, which is warped because of Daedric influence from Coldhabour. Each run of the Battleground is timer-based, with winners having the best score when time expires.

The group size for this version could either be twelve players, for a three-way total of thirty-six per instance, or eight players, for a total of twenty four per instance. Dead players must respawn at the fixed starting location where they entered at the start of the instance. There are buff icons that become available in random locations that function similar to Maelstrom Arena, but not nearly as powerful. Because the area is multi-elevation, boiling oil can be used on level spots near edges, some of which are over flags below...

Rewards are similar in distribution to the Trials version.