Last time, we provided you a detailed strategy guide for The Elder Scrolls: Legends, but as we explained in the first guide, this is a game so deep that we needed to break it down into two parts. But before anything else, let’s bring you up to speed and tell you what this game is about. This is a new iOS title from Bethesda, which, of course, brought us the Elder Scrolls series for PC and console platforms. But since the mobile platform and in-depth RPG gaming don’t always play nice with each other, Bethesda has gone with a mechanic that does often play nice, and that’s collectible card/trading card gaming. If you’re a gamer who enjoys these CCGs and TCGs, and is also quite familiar with Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls series through PC and/or console, this game should be perfect for you.
That’s how we’d best describe this new game in a nutshell, and when we gave you the first part of our guide, we talked about topics and mechanics such as lanes, runes, and keywords. But that’s far from everything you need to learn about this game, and we shall be talking about attributes, deck building, and the game’s Arena modes in this second part of our The Elder Scrolls: Legends strategy guide. Read on if you’re looking for more tips and tricks that can help you win most, if not all of the card battles in this game, while having the perfect deck to boot!
1. A Backgrounder On Attributes
Once you’re close to completing the story mode in Elder Scrolls: Legends, you should, at that point, have several versatile decks that you can use for two purposes – first, as your primary deck for use in battle, and second, for providing cards which you can use when you’re experimenting and playing around, seeing which cards work and which cards don’t. You will also observe that each of your cards have a colored icon or two that designates their card type, or Attribute. When building your deck, you can use a maximum of two Attributes, which won’t include any Neutral cards that are designated by a white circle surrounding a black dot.
2. What’s In It For You With These Attributes?
Now that you know what Attributes are and what the deal is with them when it comes to building your deck, it’s time to explain what these Attributes are about.
Agility, for starters, is similar to speed in a traditional CCG or TCG environment. Agility cards can move from one lane to another, and can be quick enough to destroy wounded enemy creatures. They can also make extra attacks, and use curses or poison to further get an edge against the enemy. There are even some Agility cards that can get buffs when attacking an opponent’s avatar. You’ll know Agility cards from the green circle with an arrow inside.
Endurance cards are designated by an anvil within a purple circle, and these are essentially your tank-type cards. Their main strengths are their size and durability, and while you can’t really rely too much on them for offense, they have special healing effects, could boost your Magicka cap, and also may come with Drain abilities.
Intelligence cards can be identified by the book within the light blue circle, and these creatures’ cards are the ones that typically cast a lot of spells against the enemy. Creatures with the Intelligence attribute can also block damage or provide some posthumous buffs, if you can call them that, through the Last Gasp feature.
Strength cards come with a flexed bicep inside an orange circle, and as the term suggests, these cards are the best cards to use if you favor an offensive approach. They’re distinguishable as well through their high power, and typically come with the Charge keyword and the Breakthrough ability, which allows you to deal damage through Guards. They can also wield special items to make themselves even more powerful in battle.
Lastly, Willpower cards are identified by their lion’s head within the yellow circle, and these are the cards you want if you want to have that proverbial “strength in numbers.” These cards can produce a good number of smaller creatures that could throw an opponent off their guard. This Attribute also can be found on a lot of cards with the Guard keyword, and cards with it can cast a number of spells to deal with aggressive opponents’ creatures.
3. An Interesting Fact About Legendary Creatures
Need a pro-tip about creatures and their Attributes? Here goes – there are some Legendary creatures that have two attributes at the same time. That may sound all well and good, but you can only play them in decks that have both of those specific attributes. You could use them as the go-to cards on your deck, so it may do you better to start out with them and build based on those cards, instead of the other way around.
4. The Basics Of Deck Building
When talking about deck building, there are so many things to discuss that we could probably create a specific strategy guide for that topic alone. But we can give you more than a few pointers on this topic, including this basic overview of the whole deck building thing in The Elder Scrolls: Legends. If you take into account the fact that there are five Attributes and two maximum Attributes per deck, that means you have at least ten combinations for you to build your decks on. It’s your call if you want to build decks with a singular color, decks with two colors, or decks with one color and a lot of Neutral cards.
5. Copy Decks If You’re A Beginner
If you’re just starting out in Elder Scrolls: Legends, one thing you can do when building decks is to copy any decks you win in Story mode, and use those decks as a base for experimentation. Replace the cards in that deck with new ones, and do so one at a time as you gain more cards. Sometimes, the best way to come up with the perfect deck is to keep experimenting, but you wouldn’t want to make those changes too drastic in the meantime.
6. Keep It Simple And Stick With 50 Cards For Your Deck
Although you are allowed to have decks that feature 50 to 70 cards, you shouldn’t strain yourself building beyond the minimum of 50. You may actually want to stick to that minimum, unless there’s a very good reason for you to go beyond that. If you stick with only 50 cards, you will most likely be sticking to the cards you plan to use in battles. But if you try to build a larger one, you may end up with a lot of cards that you won’t be needing after all. Legends also doesn’t have any “burning off” mechanic for your cards, so you can just stick to the minimum 50; chances are you won’t be using all of those cards in one battle anyway.
7. About Duplicate Cards
Each deck can carry a maximum of three duplicates of the same card. However, there is one exception to the rule that you should be aware of. That would be the fact that there are some unique cards, which you can identify by the gem at the bottom. As such, these cards can only have one of their kind in your deck.
Meanwhile, you have no limit as to the number of decks you build that have the same cards, which simply means all you would normally be needing are three duplicates of any card. But you will inevitably run into a situation where you have more than three copies. You don’t need to fret, though, as there’s a feature that allows you to recycle these extra copies and turn them into Soul Gems. These can then be used to craft cards which you don’t presently have. Any card can be crafted by means of these Soul Gems – there’s no need for additional materials in Legends’ crafting system.
8. Rely On The Available Information
And when we say available information, there is a lot of it, and it’s surprisingly easy to view it when you’re in the deck building screen. The game will allow you to view an overview on your deck’s composition – simply tap-and-hold on the tiny graph icon on the bottom right of your screen. You will then be able to view the number of creatures, as well as the number of actions, Prophecy cards, items, and supports you currently have. You’ll also be given an overview of the Magicka card that your deck has – that means the number of cards you have that would cost a certain amount of Magicka to play.
As a bonus tip, you can also find that very same information by tapping on the deck name in the upper right of the screen. Doing this would allow you to change the icon affiliated with the deck in question, change its name, copy the deck, or delete the deck completely.
9. The Cost Of Magicka In Building Your Deck
Now here’s where this classic card battle mechanic comes into play – you want to have a balanced deck in terms of Magicka costs. That would entail having the right number of low-cost Magicka cards (ideally less) and the right number of high-cost ones (ideally less). That would allow you to make sure you aren’t playing useless cards during the first few turns, with the exception being if you’re building your deck with the purpose of getting Magicka faster or reducing card cost. For that exception, it would be fine to have a few high-cost Magicka cards on your deck.
10. The Difference Between Solo And VS Arena
We’re now in the home stretch of the second part of our strategy guide, so let’s move on now to Arena mode – or should we say, Arena modes. There are actually two modes of this kind in the game, starting with Solo Arena, where you can compete against eight AI opponents before facing off against another AI enemy in a boss battle. The Versus Arena, on the other hand, is where you will be tested against real players. You will face off against human opponents, with these opponents selected by the game through its matchmaking system – your opponents will have similar decks to yours, so there’s no need to worry about facing someone who’s got a far better deck than yours.
11. How To Win In Arena Mode – The Basics
Regardless whether you prefer AI or human opponents, your objective will be the same – win as many battles as you could before losing three. More wins mean better rewards, which can be claimed once you’ve been defeated, or when you’ve beaten the boss in Solo Arena mode. These rewards may include gold, card packs, and in some cases, Epic or Legendary cards. This may sound like a good way to grind for rewards, specifically cards which you can use to strengthen your deck, but there are, of course, a few catches, which we shall explain below.
12. You Need To Choose One Attribute In Arena Mode
It’s not as simple as that, but you get the idea – when starting an Arena battle, you have to pick one attribute out of only three attribute choices. You will then be asked to select one card out of a group of three, with each of your choices being of the same rarity. You’ll keep on getting sets of three cards until you’ve gotten all 30 cards required for Arena mode. But that’s not just it, should you be playing Solo Arena mode; if you win a battle in that mode, you will have to add one extra card to your deck. That adds another layer of strategy, but then again, adds to the options you have once you’re in a boss fight.
13. You Need Gold Or Tickets For Arena Battles
Each Arena run will cost you 150 gold each, but it’s going to be worth the expense, and that 150 gold will pay for itself and then some. You’ll always be rewarded with at least one card pack, and that would apply even if you lose three straight duels. Of course, you can expect to get much better rewards if you rack up a winning streak during your run. Likewise, you can buy or win Arena Tickets, which you can use in both Arena modes as an alternative to paying coins.
There you have it! This list of tips and tricks completes our strategy guide for The Elder Scrolls: Legends. In case you know additional hints for the game, feel free to let us know in the comment section!