Share your tips for the Infinite Archive for our console friends!

NoxiousBlight · November 2023

Nebs wrote: »

I don't think I've seen anyone mention it yet, but you can Quick Slot the 1-time use Verses that you get after completing the Archive for the first time. You also earn them killing Marauders or by purchasing them from vendors. I like using the Quick Slotted consumable Verse when a Marauder appears, but you can only use one per Cycle, so you won't have a bonus Verse for Tho'at if you use one on the 5th Cycle. I like using a consumable Verse for Tho'at on Arc 3 and higher.

Yup. This has saved me many, many times. After Arc 3 whenever the marauder health bar appears I pop a bonus verse.

I have soloed my arc to the top 10 on the leaderboard and here is my advice:

S and A tier visions:

Any of the combo visions. These are the ones that you need 3/3. Ferocious Support stands out among them as it places a very nice DoT for just doing a heavy attack. DKs will prefer the fire visions and Wardens the ice ones, but all of them are nice for everyone, especially the support visions on these.

Focused Efforts - This is so, so nice on arcanist and DK especially. Increases status effect apply change by 12% and damage by 500%.

The vision that increases offensive pen by 37% (I forget the name) - I have had runs where I have had two stacks of this and runs where I had none. The runs where I have stacks of this always go much farther. With two of these you can get 12-14k pen before skills, which enables you to drop whatever pen skill you were using and use something better.

Dodge roll reduce cost/increase stam regen - After arc 4/5 you will be dodge rolling a lot, especially solo. These can help.

The ones that offer you just 2-3% damage increases are not that impactful and should only be chosen if there is nothing better. They do stack up to five times, which is cool, but that incremental increase isn't worth passing up something else many times.

As far as verses, a few that stick out in my mind as being S tier:

Exsanguinate - I pick every time without hesitation. With the right visions I have melted Tho'at in mere seconds when I get this.

Guardian of Pestilence - The initial damage is decent, but it is the lasting AoE that is really the big damage. Great for bosses and marauders if you can keep them in the AoE.

Magical Multitudes - Drop a ground AoE beneath a non-mobile boss and this verse will kill them in 10 seconds even on later Arcs.

Augmented Areas/Class Embodiment - If you are on an arcanist these should be instant picks as well. Unsure about other classes.

Beatdown - Good if you get this when you are about to face Tho'at.

The fire ring one (I forget the name) - great for big passive damage and clearing.

If you have completed one of the 3/3 visions and get the unique verse, ALWAYS pick that. Turns you into an absolute power fantasy exterminator. Getting one of these on a boss stage might as well be pressing the EASY button.

Everything else is situational. I find the offensive verses are almost always better than the others, especially on later arcs. All the mobs end up with so much HP you just can't get them down in decent time without the help.

Leighlaa · November 2023

I've been playing this pretty non-stop since it came out, both solo and duo (mostly with my husband, but some with companion) and here are my thoughts:

Solo:

Thus far, I've enjoyed sturdy magic builds best. Mag DK was difficult for resources when I needed a lot of healing, but had a lot of DPS. Fizzled out at later arcs.
Magden was great for shields and heals and the bear, but just not high enough damage to push certain mechs.
Nightblade I'm inexperienced with but even in an old meta build, easily got to arc 3. Healing was my issue, but I'm also noob.
Templar lacked damage, but other than that, was stellar due to the heals and shields. If I were better, it might be my go-to.
HA Sorc I've used the most, with the best success, but in later arcs, their damage just is NOT high enough.
Stamcanist/magcanist seem to do quite well, but I had some issues maintaining resources. Crazy good damage, heals, and shields though.
Necro I have yet to try solo.

Duo:

With an NPC companion, I've found I enjoy using a tank build best (I use Isobel, personally). DPS and heals are quite frankly useless to me in there, either because they die or do not offer enough in the way of support. A tank build with synergies is useful, to a point, but you must remember to heal them! It's sometimes worth rezzing them, but mostly it is not.
With my husband, he's tried a number of tanks with me on a DPS. Thus far, for us, him on a necro tank has been best, using ulti gen sets while slotting some skills (balls/blood fountain) that help keep me alive. He generally rocks rez + colo as ultis because I die (OR I slayyyy with damage, no in-between). The problem with running a necro tank is that chains are incredibly expensive. So he also sometimes runs DK, but we've found that unfortunately, I die, and rezzing me is considerably more difficult (though S/B ulti has proven useful). We're practicing with it though, the chains are much cheaper! I run a HA sorc atm but am looking to change to arcanist when it's ready!

General Tips:

Use the random verses on a boss round! It's ok to get a little extra help, and they only cost 200- so buy them when you need to!
Collect the 3 avatar visions! The transformation verses are 100% worth it!
Footwork is just as important as killing quickly! Sometimes it's better to go more slowly, but safely, to survive.
If a Marauder pops up, it'll always be in the first wave of mobs. Make sure you keep at least 1 mob alive from the 1st or 2nd wave as you fight it, so the 3rd, strongest wave, does not spawn, that'll be very difficult at once.
Firesong Druids NEED TO BE KILLED! They are like vKA bulwarks, and shield other mobs from damage.
Firecasters and Infusers NEED TO BE INTERRUPTED! Camp them and shield smack or run a ranged interrupt.
If you run with a partner, marking the big/priority targets is very helpful! While the tank rounds up the mobs, the DPS can mark the large targets using Tab.
KILL THE PILFERER IT HAS SWEET LOOT.

DinoZavr · November 2023

Minigames (portals to unknown)

What unlocks what:
achievement - minigames - upgrade

Hidden Prowess - Theater of War's (duelist) unlocks buying Vision strength upgrade
Ghostlight Gatherer - Echoing Den (souls) for buying Versus strength upgrade
Eye See You! - Filer's Wing (watcher) to buy the 3rd Vision choice upgrade
Kidding Around - Haefal's Butchery (goat) for purchase of the 3rd Verse upgrade
Mind over Magick - Treacherous Crossing (corridor) to buy movement speed upgrade

achievement awarded upon successfully completing the said minigame five times (and minigame difficulty increases with each successful completion)
upgrades are purchased with Archival Fortunes currency, they are permanent (you buy them only once) and all of them can be done solo

minigames hints
There are many ESO streams on Twitch, and Endless Archive is popular, so, you can watch how others do this.

Haefal's Butchery (goat). eat 3 sweetrolls, run towards butcher, use ultimate on him before he kills you. easy. clear from any stream you might watch

Treacherous Crossing (corridor). cross the corridor before it resets. approach each of the switches, see what area they affect, use in sequence from nearest to farthest, run
The issue is to do it fast enough. and, yes, there is the thread https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/646222/endless-archive-corridor-puzzles
and some good suggestions like recording the correct order in the chat box, using warden wings, roguish Escape Draught, Cowards gear, etc.
Not all of the players carry extra sets for specific tasks or even consider such opportunity

Theater of War (duelist). beat the wood elf girl before she beats you.
And yes, there is the thread: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/646270/aramril-someone-help-me-out-here
it is short, but gives a hint to deal with green crystal first. Watching Twitch streams also helps

Filer's Wing (watcher). eliminate all little tomeshells (up to four when you solo) in a maze not dying to the enemies.
it is confusing as players might have not checked them skill descriptions
thread https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/646599/endless-archive-watcher-quest-question-and-suggestion
so the suggestions to spam "All Seeing" and "Ink Spray" are useful

Echoing Den (souls). bring all glowing souls into the center of the room before time runs out.
The problem is to find and keep the appropriate movement speed, as if you move too fast, lights stop following you, and if you move too slow, you run out of time.
good thread with explanation and advises (move backwards, collect 3+3) https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/646780/endless-archive-is-anyone-else-having-trouble-with-the-ghostlights-activity

DinoZavr · November 2023

and not to edit the wall of text above:

the 6th upgrade is the extra life, it is also obtained via Portals to Unknown. Though it is a quest, not technically a minigame.
portal to unknown leads you into Destozuno's Library and the lady inside asks you to collect 5 books.
books spawn randomly in different maps inside archive, so look at the floor, or compass, or both for a quest markers.

after you collect them books, next portal brings you to the library again, you turn the quest in and receive another one, this time for the lockboxes. After you collect them too, again, portal, turn quest it, get the Word Waltzer achievement, which unlocks purchase of extra thread upgrade. it is permanent.

NoSoup · November 2023

So after running it solo 7 or 8 times now my biggest observation is to take in multiple sets. For Arcs 1 & 2 you want to be more dps focused, once you get to Arc 3 you'll want to switch to a more tanky setup (I've been finding warrior poet a good addition). The buffs from Arcs 1 & 2 are generally enough that you can swap out a dps set for a health/armor set and still maintain a similar dps.

Enemy-of-Coldharbour · November 2023

Where do you find the leads?

Jaraal · November 2023

Enemy-of-Coldharbour wrote: »

Where do you find the leads?

Leads drop from successful completion of the minigames, and a rotating stock of leads can be purchased from one of the filers in the entry room.

Enemy-of-Coldharbour · November 2023

Are there any guides for the mini-games? I can never figure them out. Thanks!

EdjeSwift · November 2023

The Mini-games change depending on if you're solo or duo.

For the ghost one, don't move too quickly, blocking to limit your speed can be helpful.

For the goat one, fall of ledges the butcher(s) have to go around.

For the crossing, Ring of the Wild Hunt or Steed is super useful, and so is checking which side of the switches has the back exit switch.

For the Filers: Use 5 to slow your enemies, 4 to stun them if head on, and be careful of going around corners.

For the Theatre of War: Refer to this https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/646779/about-endless-archive-one-big-problem#latest

USarmydrew09 · November 2023

Well I just got done With endless archives for the tenth time this week. You want some tips. One bar ring does not work properly. It keeps turning off and on inside the dungeon. Potions are not working correctly when you try to use them. Heavy attacks don't work correctly when you're trying to use them. Boss mechanics don't work properly. For sorcerers you can summon a pet and it would instantly disappear without taking damage. Sets in general tend to turn off and on at random. I have been playing this game since day one and most of these issues having gone on for 3 years plus. I have begged and pleaded for help. Resolve any issues and have gotten nowhere with zos I'm probably just this post away from getting permanently banned. But I thought coming to the forms Was there for you to get help but so far not one member has ever helped me with my issues. My tip for you Take care of your players and fix some. Body's issues that's been around for a long time. Because we cannot complete certain things like this. Endless archive with these broken things going on.

Necrotech_Master · November 2023

Enemy-of-Coldharbour wrote: »

Where do you find the leads?

anything in the archive that also drops archive currency:

cycle bosses
marauders
tho'at
gw the pilferer
bonus portals

Elvenheart · November 2023

This may be old news, or not even right, but for the Zhaj'hassa the Forgotten encounter people are saying the pillar that appears is bugged and disappears too soon. Well, it seems that what is really happening is that the pillar is very fragile and can be damaged by both the player and companions, so aoes too close to the pillar or a companion attacking the pillar (like Azandar did tonight!) will almost instantly destroy it after it appears before ZtF even starts the mechanic where he raises his weapon and it starts to pulse that will kill you. I dismissed Azandar, stopped attacking anything near the pillar, and the pillar survived until the end of the mechanic and I lived hiding behind it.

Oh, I read someone say you could continue attacking the boss through the pillar while you were behind it, but that didn’t seem correct, at least for me because one time I tried that before and the pillar broke before the mechanic ended. I attributed it to “the bug”. 😂

USarmydrew09 · December 2023

Last week before you guys did the shut down. I went through the endless archives on my dragon night level thirty eight. Had no problems getting through the first act. I don't know what you all have done. But I can't even get to the first boss right now. They're Hiting through my armor like I'm not wearing any. My Attacks aren't doing anywhere near the amount of damage. It was last week. At this point it's just really stupid. The only one I can get through any of the archives on now is my main character. And even he is struggling because of the brokenness. That's been part of this game for a long time.

Elvenheart · December 2023

If you like the furnishings from the leads that drop in the Archive and want multiples of the same furnishing don’t forget to dig them up between runs so you won’t miss out the next time it would drop.