A CLEAR STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO PLAYING ESO IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

Caroloces · February 2023

I'm a returning player who's been away for a year's time. Prior to that, I had been playing the game since it's inception. I was looking for something that would reinspire me to get back into the lore, narrative, and atmosphere (I had left because ZOS had done away with character achievements.

This guide is amazing! It fits the bill for what I need to start playing and enjoy the game once again! Thank you, thank you, and THANK YOU for a great job in tying everything together.

One question I do have: There is no mention of the Undaunted progression. I'm wondering if this is because it's sort of a repetitive quest thing without any particular story to it??

Again, Thanks so much!

jle30303 · March 2023

Correct, Undaunted has no story.

Some of the Dungeons and Trials have connections to the story of individual zones though... and some don't. Really, Dungeons having a story that connected to the main storyline only seems to have started in the Elsweyr season with "Wrathstone": apart from the White-Gold Tower dungeon in Imperial City, three years earlier, previous dungeons never really had "ongoing story content" in them.

Although there's one weird exception in the base game, not linking with the Zone Story but a mini-story based on in-zone sidequests: three Delves in Dwemer dungeons across the Alik'r Desert, from west to east, lead into the 4-man Dungeon of Volenfell. If you do the three Delves and the Dungeon in the right order, you'll get a few small mini-quests that are basically "go to the next one in sequence for the next page in the NPC's journal": if you do any of them in the wrong order, you'll miss out on those quests (they simply won't start) and a tiny amount of experience, basically the equivalent of killing half a dozen trolls...

Also, some of the base-game dungeons have a "I" and "II" version, in which the same layout (sometimes with a few differences) is inhabited by different monsters with a different storyline, and sometimes a storyline connection between the two. In each case the "II" version is somewhat more difficult than the "I" (these were themselves originally the "normal" and "veteran" versions of each map, before they revamped how Normal and Veteran work, and now BOTH the "I" and "II" versions have a normal and a veteran version of their own.) Example: In Fungal Grotto I, you clear out a cave full of Goblins and Dreugh, on behalf of a bunch of Mephala cultists: the Mephala cult itself becomes the enemy in Fungal Grotto II...

Organic · April 2023

This is really fantastic. Thanks so much for this! I have several friends who have just started playing the game and they're overwhelmed with so many quest markers and having a dozen different storylines all able to be picked up at the same time.

Bombicz · June 2023

Thank you so much for this guide. This is a mastrpiece!

Uvi_AUT · June 2023

+1 And a thank you bump from me too

xSILVER_SHAMANx · October 2023

This is exactly what I was looking for.

Have recently returned to the game after a very long hiatus (I left just before Shadows of the Hist, popped in for a moment when Greymoor dropped, and now I've returned with Necrom.)
It would be a complete understatement to say that the game has changed a bit in my absence (I didn't really play Greymoor, I bought it with the intent to play but just never got around to it.) I have gone from Thieves Guild era ESO straight to the update 39 Necrom flavor and there is a LOT going on that I am clueless about.

Like another poster has said, I started a new character because I wanted to get back into the lore and immerse myself in the stories (despite what many say about it, I actually enjoy a lot of the storytelling in ESO), building a character from scratch in a different faction that I have not done the zone/alliance quests for, and immediately I was surprised!
[snip] was this new intro tutorial?
Where is Coldharbour?
Hold up now, what is this room of portals?
Hmmm, this seems like it could be a great idea, oh, hold up, what's that? I am never going to return here again? Well, that was a missed opportunity for story ideas.

Anyway...
So I complete the main quest and start on Cadwells Silver, but after that is done, what am I going to do?
I know about the Thieves Guild quests but I have already done them on my old character, so where to go next?
Sure there are NPC's all over the place yelling at me to start their quest lines, but who was here first?
What order should I do things in to maintain some form of chronological integrity?

Hold up.....
What is that I see up ahead?
Is that.....
Surely not.....
Oh sir, yes sir, oh yes sir, it IS sir! It's a highly polished and professional grade forum post detailing absolutely EVERYTHING that I need to know to assuage my appetite for understanding and knowledge on the very topic I seek enlightenment on the most!!!

PRAISE be to you my lord! I am but a mere mortal, a plaything in the hands of a god such as yourself!

You have my utmost respect and praise for this gargantuan task you have completed for us lowly mortals.

[edited for profanity bypass]

Reverb · November 2023

@xSILVER_SHAMANx you should note that many of the prologue and DLC questgivers were moved in the last major patch, and aren’t where this guide says anymore.

This is still a great resource for the order to do things and should be paired with the U40 patch note updates to find quest starters.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/645725/pc-mac-patch-notes-v9-2-5-update-40

xSILVER_SHAMANx · November 2023

Thanks @Reverb , much appreciated.

TweFoju · November 2023

Wow thank you for this, i was a day 1 player since Release, and i kinda stopped playing just before One Tamriel was introduced, then i play a bit again during Covid lockdown, but i didn't get much gameplay back then, and because of the Necrom hype and news, i have decided to start playing again..

It can be a bit overwhelming as i have tons of content and dlc to do, this guide definitely can bring be back on track as the last memory i had was AD faction quest!!

HuciturGuru · February 27

Hi there! Do you know if this incredible guide is going to be updated with the latest dlc's ie Necrom? @NeoGriz

Fares_B · March 27

Very good guide. Really excellent work. It has not been updated in almost 2 years now.

CoffinCuddles · March 29

Thank you so much for the guide! Although outdated now, but I was able to pick up afterwards with another guide similar I found somewhere on google. After the Arcanist came out, I decided to do everything in chronological order (Or at least the Main quests of each + some sides) and I'm fully caught up waiting for the next chapter. Doing ESO in Chrono order was a breath of fresh air