Tales of Tribute is a two-player collectible card game included in The Elder Scrolls Online: High Isle Chapter, a part of Legacy of the Bretons 2022 Adventure.
Tales of Tribute Overview
Tales of Tribute is a two-player collectible card game that provides a fresh, new challenge for the heroes of Tamriel. Over the course of a Tribute match, players assemble decks from a shared pool of cards and attempt to "tell the greater tale" by combining those cards into a winning strategy. While players can participate in Tales of Tribute strictly for fun, sample rewards await those who relish a challenge! Find renown with Roister's Club daily quests, seek out hidden Founders, and climb the Tales of Tribute leaderboard to become a Tales of Tribute master!
How to Access
While any player can collect Tales of Tribute decks and card upgrades, Tales of Tribute matches are only accessible to players who have purchased the High Isle Chapter.
To begin your journey toward becoming a Tribute master, you must visit the Gonfalon Gaming Hall located in Gonfalon Bay on High Isle. There you will find Brahgas and Master Razhamad—friendly Tribute enthusiasts who will guide your training and furnish you with two starting decks.
Tales of Tribute progress and unlocks are shared between all characters on you account, and you need only complete the tutorial with one character to unlock matches on any other character. The full Tales of Tribute questline, however, remains accessible to all characters individually.
How to Play
At the start of a Tales of Tribute match, each player selects two decks they own to play with. The first player picks the first and last decks, while the second player picks the second and third decks. Once combined, these four decks create the Tavern - a shared collection of cards arrayed on the center of the mat.
Over the course of a match, players take turns acquiring cards from the Tavern, gaining the favor of deck Patrons, and accruing prestige—the resource that determines victory in the match. The player who reaches forty prestige or gains the favor of all four patrons wins.
Note that players must visit the Gonfalon Gaming Hall and complete their training with Brahgas and Master Razhamad before they can engage in Tales of Tribute play.
Decks and Cards
Players will encounter many decks in the inns and taverns of Tamriel. Every Tales of Tribute deck comprises an array of playing cards and a Patron. While decks initially consist of a starter card and standard cards, some of those cards are upgradeable. Unlocking the upgraded cards can substantially improve a deck.
Players begin with four decks gifted to them by Master Razhamad. They can acquire new decks by taking part in Tales of Tribute activities, earning certain achievements, and completing specific content on High Isle. These hints to upgrade cards can be found in the Collection menu.
To view which decks and cards you have unlocked, navigate to the Collections menu, then select the Tales of Tribute Patrons tab. This menu allows you to review each card and Patron's power, and displays any card-discovery clues you've acquired.
Turn Timer
Each player has 90 seconds to complete their turn. If 90 seconds elapse, the active player's turn ends automatically. However, if a player is idle for a full turn, meaning they do not activate any cards, their next turn will be 20 seconds long. If a player is Idle for 3 turns in a row they automatically forfeit the game.
Game Modes
There are several different ways of playing Tales of Tribute.
In RANKED play, players square off against other players to increase their tier and standing on the Tales of Tribute leaderboard. Players receive rewards for winning or losing, and these matches count toward advancing Tribute quests.
In CASUAL play, players challenge other players without increasing or decreasing their tier or standing on the Tales of Tribute leaderboard. Players receive rewards for winning or losing, and these matches count toward advancing Tribute quests.
NPC matches do not affect a player's tier or standing on the leaderboards, but players will earn rewards for winning or losing based on the challenged NPCs difficulty rating. Players can also make progress on quests when playing against NPCs.
FRIENDLY matches, where a specific player challenges another, are entirely for fun and confer no rewards and do not advance quests.
Starting a Match
Players can initiate a Tales of Tribute match in several ways.
Players can challenge other players through the Activity Finder. Select either RANKED or CASUAL play in the Tales of Tribute section of the Activity Finder to be paired off with an opponent of similar skill level.
Players can also challenge certain NPCs they encounter in world. You can preview an NPCs skill level before confirming the match.
Players can challenge any other player they encounter in the world by using the social interaction wheel and choosing the Tales of Tribute Match option. If the invited player accepts, the duel begins immediately.
You can also challenge any player in your friend or guild list to a match. If they accept, the duel begins immediately.
NOTE: In order to offer or accept Tales of Tribute match invitations, both players must own the High Isle Chapter and have completed the Tales of Tribute tutorial in Gonfalon Bay.
Leaderboard and Ranked Tiers
Competitive Tales of Tribute features four tiers of play and one leaderboard that resets every month.
At the beginning of each season, you must complete five placement matches. Victories and losses in these initial matches determine your starting tier. Players can also benefit from their previous season's tier - potentially earning up to four free placement match wins based on how far they progressed. Each ranked match will earn you points that increase your tier and you standing on the leaderboard.
After reaching Rubedite tier, players enter the Tales of Tribute leaderboard where placement is determined by win rate. At the end of the season, players receive rewards based on both tier and placement on the leaderboard, with the top 10% and 2% of the leaderboard earning special rewards.
Tips and Tricks
There are many useful skills you can develop to improve your Tales of Tribute play. Critical among them is deck management. Effectively curating your deck allows you to keep it lean, thus increasing your chances of drawing your more powerful cards every turn.
A common way to curate your deck in the early game is by trading your starting cards to the Treasury patron for a Writ of Coin card, which generates two gold when activated. You can also use the Destroy ability to remove cards from your deck, so you are more likely to draw your best cards.
Oust and Refresh abilities are also great ways of guaranteeing which cards you will draw every turn. Oust sends cards from your draw pile to your discard while Refresh pulls card from your cooldown and puts them on top of your play deck.
Another useful skill is understanding the order that combos are resolved. The order that you activate your cards every turn will trigger their effects and combos accordingly. When playing a card, its play effects are resolved first, followed by any combos on the card itself and then any combos on other cards that were triggered. Combos on other cards are resolved by their play order with cards that were played earlier being triggered first.
Before activating your cards, consider what abilities you wish to trigger first. For example, if you have an Oust and Draw ability, you may wish to activate the Oust first so you can choose what cards to discard before activating your Draw ability.
Card and Patron Types
Tales of Tribute cards come in a few types: Actions, Agents, Contract Actions, and Contract Agents. Actions are sent to your cooldown at the end of your turn, while Agents remain on the field until they are knocked out, either via your opponent's power or a card effect.
Contract cards are put into play as soon as they are acquired and never go to your cooldown. At the end of your turn, any played Contract Actions go to the Tavern's discard. Contract agents remain on the field until they are knocked out and then go to the Tavern's discard.
You may interact with Patrons once per turn if you meet their requirements. When you meet a Patron's requirements and call upon them, their state toward you shifts to neutral or favored. If you're already favored it cannot improve further. Having the favor of all patrons immediately results in victory.
Some Patrons abilities change depending on which state they are in. For example, the Duke of Crows will not let you interact with it when it favors you, but your opponent may still use it.
The Treasury Patron favors no one and does not affect Patron victory.
