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ESO Preview: Update 18’s PvP Additions & Improvements

By Delia Woolf2018-04-20

Update 18 will come free as a base-game update to PlayStation®4 and Xbox One on June 5 with PC/Mac early access on May 21. This free update will arrive alongside The Elder Scrolls Online's next Chapter, Summerset.

Those who brave the open-world combat of the Alliance War or the fast-paced skirmishes of the Battlegrounds will find all-new rewards and improvements with Update 18. Check out this preview article for the latest scouting reports on what is coming to ESO's PvP!

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NEW AVA-EXCLUSIVE QUESTS & LOOT

The Three Banners War might seem like a chaotic struggle without end, but now veteran soldiers have another reason to enter Cyrodiil and fight for their faction: all-new daily quests!

The new quests, acquired at the new Conquest boards (found in the Easter Elswyr Gate, Northern Morrowind Gate, and Southern Highrock Gate) will feature one of the following tasks:

•Capture three keeps

•Capture nine resources (mines, farms, or lumbermills)

•Kill 40 enemy players

•Capture the three towns

Unlike the repeatable Cyrodiil quests, you can only complete each unique quest once per day per character, though you can do all four in that time period by returning to the new board once complete to pick up the next.

“With the new daily quests, our goal was to give players a new activity that supports what they're already doing in Cyrodiil," says The Elder Scrolls Online's Lead PvP Designer, Brian Wheeler. “We designed them so that even if you have control of the Emperor ring and all of the Elder Scrolls, so long as there are at least three keeps up for grabs, you can do something."

Of course, fighting for your Alliance will bring you great honor, but if your reasons for fighting are a little more mercenary, these new quests come with all-new rewards: Gladiator's Rucksacks.

 

 

These new bags contain sacks of crafting materials (including Jewelry Crafting materials if you have ESO: Summerset), and rare Treasure Maps for the DLC or Chapter zones. Also, once per day, the rucksacks are guaranteed to contain a “Gladiator's Proof." Once you have collected 20 of these new items, you can purchase a Gladiator's Recognition from the War Researcher vendor and use it to combine your proofs into a tradeable runebox that contains the fearsome Arena Gladiator helmet costume piece! To save your time and energy, maybe you need to buy some ESO Items to enjoy the game more.

“With these new daily rewards, we're giving AvA players something unobtainable anywhere else in the game that has to be sourced from the Alliance War," explains Wheeler. “Not only does it give them a unique look, but also something valuable and rare they can sell."

 

GET THE HONORS YOU DESERVE

Fighting in Cyrodiil is a dangerous affair, so with Update 18, we've updated the way you receive Alliance Points and Experience for both offensive and defensive actions.

Now, when you perform an action (fighting, capturing, healing etc.) around an objective, be it a keep, resource, or outpost, you'll be added to its reward credit list. When the objective “ticks" and distributes Alliance Points and Experience, you'll receive them regardless of where you are at the time. You'll no longer need to wait for the tick, and you can freely move around, fight enemy players, or even capture other nearby resources!

“Say you're defending Castle Alessia and you've pushed the enemy off or recaptured the resources around it," explains Wheeler. “Those resources and their parent keep will now keep you on their reward list as you roam."

 

 

In addition to the objective list changes, we've changed who actually earns rewards for a defense.

“You can't just earn free Alliance Points by walking into an area and getting a defensive reward. You actually need to participate in some way. Any activity will get you on the list, but if you just walk in, you won't get anything."

Finally, we've increased the amount of Alliance Points you receive for defending a keep by tying the amount you are rewarded to a multiplier associated with the keep's lowest level resource. This increases the overall amount of Alliance Points earned by those fighting to control Cyrodiil.

Now, when you battle in the Alliance War, you'll get the glory and rewards you deserve!

 

THE ALLIANCE WAR EVOLVES

In addition to the massive changes above, we've made a few smaller changes to Cyrodiil with Update 18. For example, we've improved the effectiveness of catapults so that their damaging area of effect stays active for longer, making them much more useful in comparison to ballistae and trebuchets.

“This change makes catapults the tool for area denial that we've always wanted them to be," explains Wheeler. “This alters how people siege, because if you see a line of trebuchets, you can place catapults and deny them the use of their own siege weapons."

 

 

We've also upped the strength of the monsters and guards in Champion Point-enabled campaigns, making some areas harder, though not impossible, for solo or small groups to contend with, and we've allowed keep defenders to have up to 30 siege weapons if your keep is at level five for ore and wood. Hang on to those resources!

Finally, we've changed the way under-population and underdog evaluations happen, so that scoring adjustments are applied and changed more frequently, making for an overall fairer experience for all.

 

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS

With Update 18, we've made a host of performance improvements on both the server and client side. These improvements include refactoring the implementation of a number of ability passive effects so they are less taxing on the server.

“These improvements will have an impact on performance," says Wheeler. “But it should specifically help out issues related to latency regarding button presses that some players have experienced."

Update 18 also increases the amount of CPU cores used by the game client, meaning high-end PCs will enjoy a boost to framerate, and consoles will enjoy improvements to character load times and fewer framerate spikes overall. We'll be monitoring the impact of these changes in Cyrodiil and continue to investigate additional improvements.

 

NEW BLOOD ENTERS THE BATTLEGROUNDS

If you love the fast-paced action of the Battlegrounds, Update 18 will gives you even more reasons to take part in the 4v4v4 arena game mode. For starters, we're moving Battlegrounds to the ESO base game, meaning everybody who owns The Elder Scrolls Online will now be able to play this PvP game mode. Get ready to face new Battlegrounds players!

In addition to opening it up to all, when you queue for a random Battleground match and place first or second, you will receive a Battlemaster Rivyn's Reward Box. These new reward boxes will always contain Soul Gems, a Transmutation geode, a PvP area style item, and a Battlegrounds set weapon. However, they also have a rare chance to include bind-on-pickup Outfit Style Pages for the brand-new Fang Lair Victor and Horned Dragon styles, too. These new styles can only be obtained from the Battlegrounds!

 

 

If you want to play a specific type of Battlegrounds match (maybe you're trying to reach the top of one of the leaderboards), Update 18 will allow you to select which game type you'd like to queue for (Deathmatch, Flag Games, and Land Grab). Note that when you queue for specific game types, you are not eligible to receive a daily reward.

 

If you don’t have plenty of time to boost your level, you can use Elder Scrolls Online Gold to purchase not only gear and weapons, but also marvelous ESO Items in the game. MmoGah.com is certainly one of the best ESO Gold suppliers nowadays. If you are a rookie, read this guide to how to buy cheap ESO Gold safely first, then you will find why MmoGah is the best choice! Whenever you want to buy ESO Gold or ESO Items, our Live Chat is 24/7 online.

 

Helpful Links:

The ESO: Summerset Live on PTS on April 16

The Elder Scrolls Online Summerset & Update 18 Preview

The Elder Scrolls Online Tips for Beginners

10 Recommended Addons For The ESO

 


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