Elder Scrolls Online’s update 18 adds PvP dailies and buffs, tackles PvP latency

Even if you’re not buying Summerset at launch like some kind of crazed loon, you’re still going to want to keep an eye on the free stuff going into The Elder Scrolls Online when the chapter launches. That goes double for PvP players, who will see a load of improvements come Update 18 next month.

For starters, you’re getting new PvP daily quests to cap a set number of keeps, towns, resources, and players, with pretty decent loot that’s normally available only through alliance wars. Catapults, NPCs, and underdog algorithms are also due for an update. How you’re rewarded in Cyrodiil is changing too.

“Now, when you perform an action (fighting, capturing, healing etc.) around an objective, be it a keep, resource, or outpost, you’ll be added to its reward credit list. When the objective ‘ticks’ and distributes Alliance Points and Experience, you’ll receive them regardless of where you are at the time. You’ll no longer need to wait for the tick, and you can freely move around, fight enemy players, or even capture other nearby resources!”

Still frustrated by the lag monster? ZeniMax says it’s improving server and client performance as well as latency. “Update 18 also increases the amount of CPU cores used by the game client, meaning high-end PCs will enjoy a boost to framerate, and consoles will enjoy improvements to character load times and fewer framerate spikes overall.”

Finally, as previously announced, the Morrowind battlegrounds will be switched over to base-game access, so you won’t need to own it to play them.