After my near 24 hour play session on day one, it was time to take a brief rest and get back into the game. Yesterday was the second day in the campaign and fatigue was settling in. I hovered around fourth place and tried to gain on the leaders. Here’s what happened in Chasing the Crown Day V Second Day.
After the initial rush to the first Emperor, the scores started to work out. This is where you can start seeing how people become Emperor through legit means and some illegitimate.
The legit route requires you to be very skilled and durable. I thought dedicating 12 hours a day was a reasonable amount of time but I was completely wrong. The people above me on the leader boards are playing around 20 hours a day in game. Playing this much day one caused me to become so tired and crabby I began questioning my chase and my determination. But like all things, this past and I started having fun again kept going. I believe you truly need to be playing around 18 hours a day for one week to achieve the crown
The second part of obtaining Emperor the right way is to play with a well coordinated group. I’m not talking about throwing a few friends together in a gaggle and picking off people, I’m talking about the groups we fight, the fully leveled Veteran Rank 14 players with Alliance Rank 10, legendary gear and skill to boot. Having people that understand PvP mechanics in great detail, listen and play together as a single unit is a huge advantage. Imagine going from wiping three to four enemies at a time to wiping 20 to 30? The AP gains are massive in comparison and that combined with time in game is the legit way to get Emperor. But this isn’t something that can happen over night so give it time for people to come together. Form your group synergy prior to an Emperor run. Sounds obvious, but very important.
Yesterday we witness the illegeitamte way of getting Emperor. A member of our team saw some repeatedly killing the same character over and over and reported to ZOS immediately. We were suspicious when this player stepped into the campaign on the second day and gained 150,000 Alliance Point in a few hours and a low population server. I don’t know if it will be resolved by campaigns end, but a very frustrating example for sure. Don’t worry, he’s not in first at the moment and the person in the number one spot does deserve the throne.
The best part of yesterday was having Party Pyro lead our group. I could focus on being a player and earning AP rather than leading. Optimizing my time to game and earning as much AP as possible is a big part of Emperor. That means healing other players, ganking stragglers, soloing resources, repairing anything generates massive AP. Leading a scroll grab is fun, amazing and great for the campaign but terrible for your AP generation. Another flaw in the system I believe. The point I’m trying to make is, focus on your one job earning AP not leading thus gaining more per hour. Leading, learning, testing builds and time are the reasons I’m not ahead in the leader board.
Regarding learning, I’m also getting a sense of how good teams generate massive AP. The typical strategy is to out muscle opponents with area damage and tight coordination. The problem with me leading is I try to out muscle the opposing team. I’m so determined that I won’t stop until it’s done. The trick to beating them is not playing their game, but use siege and defending as tools rather than the typical massive AoE clumps Impulse monsters. Another thing that the good teams excel at is using meatbags. Giving a massive area healing debuff, I saw six reds kill 30 yellows. They meatbag a group, one Dragonknight talons rooting them all in place with a well timed Negate and they all died. This experience has given me many new ideas for PvP guides. I’m still chasing that crown like crazy, but my level of understanding has sky rocketed in just a few days. I can’t image what it will be like in a month or a year.
The great thing about PvP in this game is your character matters. Whether you’re level 10 or VR 14, in the top PvP guild or solo, you can change the outcome of a battle. Mounting a oil pot on a breach, shooting a meatbag at a zerg, some small action in the huge land of Cyrodiil is what tips the battle. I have nothing but respect for my opponents in Cyrodiil so far and enjoy fighting them everyday. I’m really understanding the Emperor chase at a much greater level and still have a good chance of getting it. I have a funeral tomorrow morning so I have to play a long time tonight, but no excuses when you want to be on top. Thanks for reading and I look forward to seeing you in Cyrodiil (unless you’re a filthy red or a smurf).