Introductory tidbits and other doodads
This guide is written from my experiences thus far in Cyrodiil, adapted from my playstyle and skills in my toolbox. It may or may not work well for you. But, I’m hoping it will be informative or at least entertaining to the reader. It won’t keep an arrow out of your knee, but it may help you in your adventures. I also do not claim to be a master, just someone who likes to have fun, and share what I know with other like minded people.
Cyrodiil is probably the most dynamic gameplay in all of Elder Scrolls Online because it involves the actions of other players working with or against your goals. That alone is one of the most interesting things about it for me, because you never know what to expect. Surprises and serendipity are around every corner for the abled explorer.
My character that I spend most of my time in Cyrodiil with is Zatani, a vet14 templar khajiit, so a lot of my toolbox is built around that. I tend to play alone, not in a group. Some may disagree with me on that, but its my preferred playstyle. I also like to focus on keep defense, and occasionally keep attacks if I can find one in progress. The focus on map objectives also heavily influences my character’s gear and skills. If I were doing something else, like 1v1, I would have a totally different build, with a focus on burst damage.
This information is also based on my experiences in ESO v1.5, it will change a lot in 1.6.
Cyrodiil Campaigns (North America server - Ebonheart Pact)
Thornblade is usually the most populated, and you are almost always going to find something to do in that campaign. Haderus is picking up momentum too and I’ve been meaning to check it out.
But, both of those are not really viable until you are about vet10+ unless you have a very specific setup to complement a group makeup. Not to say that you can’t venture in even at level 10, just don’t expect to survive very long. The battle leveling doesn’t really help, just the way it is.
If you are below level 50, I highly recommend you try out Blackwater Blade. It is by far the most balanced campaign and allows you to get your bearings without having a vet14 come along and stomp on you.
If you are below vet10, you can still have a lot of fun. Grab some siege equipment and find a safe point in a keep that is under attack and keep our foes at bay. Travel with a group, even if you are not in the group. Learn when to engage and when not to engage.
Things you will need in Cyrodiil
First thing you will want to have is a fast horse. Not the fastest, but reasonably fast. You want as much in speed as you can but still have enough stamina on the horse to survive one hit without the horse dropping you. Cyrodiil is huge and learning to get around in a timely fashion is the first challenge. I would recommend you spend some time in a campaign that has very little population just to explore, pick up quests and skyshards. Do the delves in Cyrodiil. That way you can get a feel for the layout of the land without much risk.
Food buffs are a must. Being effective in late level content in ESO is all about resource management, so a good set of purple tri-stat food buffs will help a long way. A blue dual stat is good too, choose one that does heath+whatever your main stat is.
Grand soul gems and lots of them. One of the most effective things you can do in a keep battle is using a soul gem to revive a fallen comrade. But, do not go out of your way to put yourself at risk to revive someone. Only do it if the risk is not too great. If a foe sees you reviving someone, you will become their next target. You can also buy filled grand soul gems for alliance points at the southern Morrowind Gate.
Potions. I pick up a ton of the vet5 health/magicka/stamina potions while questing so I never buy them. I just put the one on my quick slot depending on what I am currently doing. For example, if I am traveling alone, I will quickslot the heath ones so I can recover in an emergency. If I’m being an archer on a keep wall, I will quickslot the stamina ones. If I am being a healer I will quickslot the magicka ones. Generally I try not to rely on potions, only use them as an emergency when I mismanaged a resource.
A purge or cleanse skill of some kind. Nothing is worse than having a bunch of negative effects stacked on you, so you want to have a way of removing them quickly. If you are with a group and someone has purge, then you are fine. If you are solo like I usually am, I use purifying ritual on the templar restoring light line. Plus anyone who is inside the circle can purify themselves for for free.
The general all-purpose guidelines for Cyrodiil
Khajiit sneak plus medium armor passives for sneaking are overpowered, but please don’t nerf them ZOS. This is my main survivability tool because no one can attack something they do not see. Plus opening up an attack from stealth will critical strike, which is a nice bonus, but my primary use for it is to be able to watch, observe and study a potential foe with minimal risk, which brings me to my next few points below.
Watch for signs of being baited. If you see someone parading around holding block on their shield, obviously trying to get attention, it is probably a trap. If you choose to engage, there is probably four nightblades in the bushes who will give you a free trip to the nearest unflagged keep.
Know when to attack, and when not to attack. My rule is any battle you can ride away from is a good one, since my primary objective is keeps, scrolls and transit lines. Battles are a byproduct of those actions, so sometimes the best choice is to stay hidden and not engage. I will try to avoid combat unless I know I have support nearby or I need to defend myself.
Use the terrain. Controlling access to you via terrain, getting a better line of sight or having something to break your foe’s line of sight nearby is extremely valuable. Since I’m primarily an archer, I usually try to have a terrain advantage where I can fire arrows down but its difficult to get to me for melee range.
Sound cues are your friend. A subtle change in music will often let you know that there are foes nearby, long before you have been spotted. That means its time to dismount, stealth and take a look around. The sound of siege weapons will let you find the attacker's position on a keep fast. Any battle also has its own unique sounds that you will learn to tell you what is going on around you.
Take unconventional routes if you suspect trouble in the path. Gankers are a common thing in Cyrodiil. I don’t really mind being caught by gankers since its a valid tactic to control the support lines, but I try my best to not feed them by taking a less direct approach.
Practice, practice, practice. Yes, you will get killed, many times over. Don’t worry about it. Evaluate, learn, adapt. Other than a minor travel time penalty death is meaningless in Cyrodiil. Find out what works and what doesn’t work. It took me nearly a year to get to the point where I feel like I can write a guide that might even be remotely useful. The game is so beautiful I find riding on horseback in Cyrodiil alone to be a lot of fun.
And this is the most important -- It is just a game. The goal is to have fun. Sure you will occasionally get knocked off your horse and then sent back to the nearest unflagged keep, but the point is to learn from that and be better the next time.
Things I do to help the Pact in Cyrodiil
Scouting reports. If you see a group of foes moving, report it in the zone chat. Hopefully others will note it and move to intercept. This is especially important if a keep comes under siege because there is a time window when people can get there before transit is cut off if they know about an attack before hand.
Reviving people at a flagged keep. Once a keep is flagged, no one can respawn there or use the transitus network to get there. Only on foot or hooves. If someone falls and you can do it safely, revive them to get them back into the battle.
Countersiege. If a keep is under siege, setup some counter siege to take out their siege weapons. Fire ballistas work really well for that. You can also do a pretty effective area denial with oil, firepot trebuchets, or meatbag catapults.
Protecting fellow Siege operators. If there isn’t enough room or a good spot for some siege equipment, the next best thing you can do is defend the folks running the siege equipment. When running siege you are completely vulnerable, so having someone around keeping nightblades at bay or healing is a huge blessing.
Act as a decoy / distraction. I only do this occasionally, and for specific cases, but it plays on the fact that your foes are easily distracted and will often pursue those who are attacking them for quite some time. I’ve used this on cases where we were trying to push into the scroll temple behind the Gate of Altadoon. Since I could respawn at Castle Black Boot and get back quickly thanks to a speedy steed, I choose to pull scroll defenders off of the main path and keep them occupied. Just survive as long as I could and drag them away from the fight so the pact could grab the scroll and get out of there.
Zatani’s Cyrodiil toolbox and combat techniques
Zatani is a vet14 khajiit templar. When roaming Cyrodiil by myself I go full medium armor and a greatsword and a bow. On my greatsword bar I have brawler (cleave morph), executioner (reverse slash morph) and stampede (critical charge morph). Then I have blazing spear (spear shards morph) and blazing shield (sun shield morph). For the ultimate I have flawless dawnbreaker. Not as an ultimate, but for the passive weapon damage buff having it slotted does.
On Zatani’s bow bar is venom arrow (poison arrow morph) and lethal arrow (snipe morph). Then I have purifying ritual (cleansing ritual morph), repentance (restoring aura morph) and Honor the Dead (rushed ceremony morph). Ultimate is Solar Disturbance (Nova morph) but I will sometimes put practiced incantation (Rite of passage morph) or Empowering Sweep (Radial Sweep morph) depending on what might be needed.
The primary design goal for Zatan’s Cyrodiil gear is to augment regeneration of all three resources, stamina, magicka and heath. Since the major constraint in Cyrodiil is resource management, I feel that being able to recover resources quickly makes me more effective in battle. As such, I run her with a five piece willows path set and a three piece seducer set, and jewelry that adds to health and magicka recovery. Along with the atronach stone and a reduce spell cost ring, I can keep blazing shield and Honor the Dead at my fingertips when I need it. Stamina regeneration comes from the werewolf passive, medium armor passive, and having repentance slotted on the bow bar.
If I decide to engage, I try to keep distance and use lethal arrow from stealth to open, then weave venom arrow, light and heavy bow attacks. If I take arrows from another archer, I will purify then hit honor the dead if my health is low. Lethal arrows have a heal debuff, so always purify, then heal if need be. Venom arrows are also the best thing for dealing with Sorcs since the cast time on crystal shards gives you an opportunity to interrupt and stun.
If I need to get close, I will focus on the target with the tab key and then put on blazing shield. Then I will use stampede to close the gap, brawler to get a damage shield, throw some spear shards to stun them again, heavy attack to get back stamina. Hopefully before they have a chance to attack back I will roll dodge backwards and repeat the whole process.
I always keep enough stamina around to roll dodge. Zatani is an athletic khajiit and that is her major damage avoidance tactic, to roll out of harms way. Being in medium armor really helps with roll dodging costs too, I’ve been known to roll-dodge my way across a whole field of caltrops unharmed.
If you must go one on one with someone, the best thing you can do is try to keep them on the defensive as much as possible. I will often use stampede and roll dodge backwards over and over for the sole purpose of making them take up a defensive stance without much opportunity for them to attack back. Thanks to the awesome templar self healing, Zatani can take a lot of abuse but recover quickly. I suspect I’ve frustrated a few people that way because they take me down to 30% heath then in the blink of an eye back to 90% heath with an honor the dead cast. That is usually about the time they bust out the Soul Assault ultimate.
