The Elder Scrolls Online: High Isle added more than just a new region to explore – it also introduced Tamriel to Tales of Tribute, a new competitive card game. Along with an in-depth questline, you’ll be able to challenge other players to a round, making it a fun way to take a break between dungeon runs.
Tales of Tribute is an easy game to learn, although you’ll need to complete a very specific quest to gain access to the new content. Here’s what you need to know about unlocking Tales of Tribute in ESO and how to play the innovative card game.
Unlocking Tales of Tribute in ESO
Before you can start playing Tales of Tribute, you’ll first need to unlock it. Thankfully, the quest that unlocks the game also serves as a tutorial. Here’s how to get started.
Step 1: Head to Gonfalon Bay in High Isle.
Step 2: Once in the city, look for the southernmost building. This is the Gonfalon Gaming Hall.
Step 3: Head toward the Gonfalon Gaming Hall. Right before you cross the bridge, look for a small flyer – it’ll be highlighted as a quest on your compass.
Step 4: Interact with the flyer to acquire the Tales of Tribute quest.
Step 5: Speak with Brahgas, located just outside the Gonfalon Gaming Hall, to continue the quest.
Step 6: From there, simply follow the markers on your map to meet a few important faces in the world of Tales of Tribute and learn the basics of the game.
Tales of Tribute: Basic rules and guidelines
While the tutorial does a good job of running you through the basics, you might need a quick refresher on how the game works before jumping into your first official match. There are a lot of nuances to the game (and plenty of in-depth strategies to learn as you play), but here are the basic rules to get you started.
- Before the match begins, each player will select two Patrons to preside over the match. These Patrons offer unique abilities that can swing the tide of battle. Also note that winning the favor of all Patrons will immediately result in a victory. Favor is won by performing very specific in-game actions.
- Decks corresponding to these Patrons will then be combined to create one shared deck. Cards from this will be drawn and placed in the center of the table, known as the Tavern. On each player's turn, they’ll be able to spend Gold to acquire these Tavern cards and add them to their private draw pile.
- On your turn, you’ll need to monitor three different resources – Gold, Power, and Prestige. Gold allows you to purchase cards from the Tavern and add them to your hand. Prestige is the most important resource, as earning 40 will result in a victory. Power can be used to attack opposing cards (more on that later), and any leftover Power is turned into Prestige at the end of each turn.
- Each turn starts with cards from your draw pile being dealt into your hand. You’ll use these cards to build up Power and Gold before using them to purchase cards from the Tavern or attack enemy Agents. Agents are cards that remain in play until defeated and perform tasks such as granting additional Gold per turn or preventing the enemy from converting Power into Prestige. You can use your Power to attack these cards — if you reduce their health to zero, they’ll be removed from the field.
- All Gold is lost at the end of each turn, and Power is converted into Prestige.
- Your opponent will then go through their turn. This will continue until someone hits 40 Prestige or swings all Patrons in their Favor.
Where to play Tales of Tribute
Once you’ve got your head around the basics and wrapped up the Tales of Tribute quest, you can start playing real matches against NPCs and other real players. You’ll need to look in different locations depending on who you want to play, but finding a match is simple.
- If you’d like to compete with NPCs, head to the Gonfalon Gaming Hall and look for NPCs that are at your current skill level. For novices, these will likely be located upstairs. You’ll also find Tribute Players at taverns throughout Tamriel.
- If you’d like to compete against other real players, you have multiple game modes to choose from. The first is Ranked, which sees you fighting to raise your seasonal standing. The next is unranked, which has no impact on your ranking and pits you against a random opponent. It does, however, offer rewards and progress your Tales of Tribute daily performance. These game modes can be found in the Activity finder menu. You can also play a Friendly match, which offers no rewards and won’t advance quests.
Tales of Tribute leaderboards
Although it’s a mini-game, Tales of Tribute has a robust leaderboard system that tracks your progress. After completing five placement matches, you’ll be ranked in one of four different tiers. As you win or lose subsequent matches, this ranking will change. At the end of the season, you’ll earn exclusive rewards based on your rank.
Finding new Tales of Tribute decks
After wrapping up the tutorial, you’ll be given four Tales of Tribute decks. You can unlock four more by exploring Tamriel and completing a variety of quests. You can also find upgraded cards for existing decks, which changes how they perform during matches. Keep in mind that earning new decks won’t give you a distinct advantage, and both your and your opponent's decks are combined into one shared pile.
