Day two of Chasing the Crown and becoming Cyrodiil’s Emperor is all about preparation.  Today I needed to start completing every little task to help improve my character’s chances of making it to the top.  It started out with a test run with the Emperor of the Thornblade campaign.  I was able to witness the sheer power of an Emperor in action, rallying the entire faction to defend his throne.  But there was so much more to do prior to Monday.

Chasing the Crown Gear Swapping Video here

With only 50 hours remaining, it’s crunch time.  I spent the better part of my Saturday morning running with Lazy Lewis’ Emperor group which was a big help.  After using nearly all of the legendary materials to fully min/max my character, testing it in a well coordinated group gave me the confidence I needed.  Additionally, it reenforced the mentality that I need to have, lead in the front and lead by example.  The previous night I was fortunate enough to run again with Decibel guild absolutely destroying reds.  Seeing a powerful Dragonknight leader (WRX) in action was welcoming.  With my gear and skills, I’m sitting at roughly 3,600 health, 2,400 magicka, and 1,600 stamina.  This should give me the front line durability needed to make a difference.

After that, the grinding of skills began.  Ana from Epic Synergy and I spent nearly four hours in Rkundzelft.  I was able to purchase a full respec (ouch), and remove any crafting skills and pick morphs specifically for PvP.  I don’t plan on running any PvE next week, so this was helpful.  However, those PvP specific skills (Turn Undead, Camo Hunter, Replenishing Barrier, etc) needed to be leveled.  It literally took me three hours to morph Replenishing Barrier and level it up to rank four.  But now I have an awesome group oriented ultimate that might come in handy while leading or following another group (mission semi accomplished).

Now back to RL (Real Life) and time to square away all those little pesky chores  that could get in my way of the ruby throne.  It started with the buzzing of my  hair or my “Emperor Hair Cut.”  I do not plan on cutting my hair until I reach my goal.  I do not want to look like Jesus with long hair, so hopefully this campaign goes well.  I know it will, as I visualize myself as Emperor. I think about what it’s going to sound like, feel like, and the memories I’ll make climbing the leader boards.  Even doing vacuuming, I had a sense of purpose or a mission; it’s game time.

Then I was off for more detail-oriented task like setting up various macros for specific PvP situations.  I’m not going to run just one “build” or even two, but many.  I plan on having my leadership standard Dragonknight build here.   However, with Wykkd’s Outfitter add-ons, I’ll be able to seamlessly switch to something more helpful while defending a keep.  My main bar will pretty much stay the same, but my back bar (and gear) will change with one press of a button.  To the right is something I plan on running while defending a keep.  This skill load-out combined with my Dominion’s bow and rings, will let me Snipe from 45 meters with nearly 100% critical chance.  I’ll even be setting up a “transit” bar for movement and anti-ganking.

After I setup some macros, it’s time to test them and pack up for Sunday fun day.  I’ll be playing some PvP yes, but making sure my equipment, mind, and body is ready to go for all day gaming bender.  I’ve received a lot of positive feedback and donations.  I really appreciate the support and plan on learning a lot.  The Elder Scrolls Online gives us the opportunity to transcended normal character progression.  To literally become Tamriel’s Emperor.  Something I’ve dreamed about back in my Morrowind days.   No it’s not a perfect system at deciding who’s the best, but every system has flaws.  Those that adapt, learn to maximize their performance can ascend to the throne.  And I plan on doing just that.