Casual Guide to ESO

GothicDrub14_ESO

So I've seen alot of people struggling in game, and thought I'd offer my insight to a wider audience. If anyone has any other tips, please feel free to post below. My background is, I have been playing MMOs since Ultima Online, and use to previously be a hardcore gamer. I've beta tested everything from Wow to ESO. Unfortunately time concerns have forced me to adopt a more casual interest in mmos. As for Elder Scrolls, I've been playing since Daggerfall (though I have gone back and played Arena).

First, its important to know this is really a 'hardcore' game, built with the illusion of being casual. Its actually pretty clever. For 90% of the game is basically a 'raid' which is tons of players, usually 5-10 taking on pve content, so yes, its one big raid. Often you wont notice the difficulty until you attempt one of the solo only dungeons, or even a private dungeon.

So what I've noticed is most people with their crappy builds gets put into a solo only dungeon and wonder why are they getting destroyed by bosses like Doshia and others. Some even get crushed trying to solo those bandit spawns like the Red Rooks and such, and this is where this guide was born.

Firstly let me say if you want a easy time, akin to World of Warcrafts "Easy mode" Paladin, roll a Templar. Between the healing ability and the platemail, if you stick to a Paladin ideal, you'll have a great beginner char for soloing. Other mention is the nightblade, but focus on Bows, do NOT melee with a nightblade until you understand how the game works.

So tips.

1. Do the starter islands, dont skip them! They are vitally important to setting up the storyline for your faction and getting you use to the game. I cant stress this enough to people who struggle, my first question is always "Did you do the starter island?" And the answer is always no. I really hate they did this kneejerk change.

2. While on the above mentioned starter island, decide what you want to do with your toon. Like the single player Elder Scroll games, its very possible to screw yourself over with bad builds. If you want to be a tank, focus on options that will help you do that, like taking Dragon Knights Earthen line which has heals, and taking options that bolster your defense. Do NOT go picking skills willy nilly. While it doesnt matter for most overworld questing since you'll always have players backing you up, you'll never ever get through the solo content with bad builds.

3. If your going to do a tradeskill, never sell old items or unable items from it, always break them down, you get more mats and crafting xp that way. So if your going blacksmith always break down those weapons and armor you dont use. Sell everything else, and you'll make gold in no time.

4. Poke your nose everywhere, explore! You'll find so many quests and get so much XP just going to every spot on the map, even if it does not look like anything is there. They hid so many quests around in this game, its incredible how out of the way they are.

5. If your having a hard time with a quest, especially the solo ones, theres no shame in outleveling it and coming back. Get 2-3 levels and come back to it, and remember to kite. It works wonders, especially with a bow. Root and stuns are your friend! You can solo level 40 enemies at 20 even if you use those stuns and roots to 'fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee."

Khazaad

on skills: don't be afraid to sit on a couple of unused skill points if you're not sure where to put them. Most of the time you'll organically figure out the best place for them if you allow yourself to be challenged for a short while without them.

jezuitxb14_ESO

Also, it doesn't take much to get provisioning up, and those status buffs get better as you find new recipes. You can turn trash you pick up into useful buffs.

Glurin

I wouldn't worry overmuch about making the "best" tank build or healing build or whatever. Just do what works for you. If you need more damage, invest in damage stuff. If you need more survivability, get a couple pieces of heavy armor and/or some tank skills.

The game is very flexible when it comes to character builds, though you do want to be careful not to just splatter your points all over creation. It's just as important to decide what you don't want or can do without as it is to decide what to take.

remyrw

The other big tip I found is to use BOTH magic and stamina for damage output. Don't limit yourself to just one and expect to do well on tougher fights. You need to balance between them or you're giving up a big chunk of your available output. Using both doesn't just give you a larger total pool, but gives each pool time to recharge a bit while the other is being used.
To do this right requires a little planning on skills but isn't tough. For example, as a Templar you'd want to make sure to reserve a chunk of your magicka for heals so you treat your stamina pool as the primary DPS source and magicka as the support pool.
Opening a fight with a heavy attack can help too. There's little or no lag between that heavy attack and your first special, so why not? My Nightblade's opening move on random mobs is a heavy attack immediate followed by a poison arrow. With no significant delay it's like I got a free extra hit in to start the fight.