Suggestions for Returning Player (Years)

Quinz128ub17_ESO · May 24

Hello fellows,

I am considering getting more into ESO again as I have touched and went every so often but always feel a bit dishearted because of a few issues. As a bit of background, I played quite a bit before the Morrowind Expansion and quit shortly after that. I have kept my eye on the game without dedication time to it for a while and occasionally made a new character every so often to fiddle around, but that is really the problem. See I have several level 50s in my stable, I have a Dragonknight, Two Nightblade, Two Sorcerors and a Templar at 50 with another Templar mid 40s. Specifically designed them as a MagDPS DK, Tank NB, StamBlade, StamSorc, MagDPS Sorc and Tank-Templar as the 50s.

Now, the issue comes with trying to play any of my high-level characters... ALL of their skillpoints were completely refunded. It seems like there were massive changes that made it so the favorites of the bunch: TankBlade and StamSorc had the moves I remember almost completely changed. So I tried reading a bit more and just feel like it's more headache than it's worth and end up making a new character, especially since you may be able to hide a bit of crappiness in groups for dungeons as a DPS, but I always feel guilty not pulling my weight and you need to have enough confidence in what you're doing to play Tank IMO.

So, I made a character and went through the tutorial just to refamiliarize myself with the basics, and they give you a choice on where to go. Perfect, that's nice, but then I thought I'd adjust some things and go with a different class... Sooo I reroll, skip the tutorial and it spits me out without any choice at the start of Necrom... Now, personally, I want to not just skip the crapton of DLC I missed onward from Morrowind so that is frustrating as you get thrown without any money so I can't even just wayshrine to a different zone so I can go "Know what, I'll do the Three Banners War from start-to-finish again. It's been a few years". So I have to go through the tutorial to even choose to start at the base game.

I then remembered that you could just do the starting zones as a character you already have and since the ones I have are max level I can just go ahead and start from the beginning... But, then the problem comes up, again, that I have no idea about the abilities I have unlocked and how they changed so am not sure where to even start again. I could just go with a few abilities, but I know I need to keep the gear up, as well, as enemies level with you due to the nature of the scaling in this game.

All that massive explanation aside I was hoping some veterans - or even people who were like me, lost a few years, come back to the balance changes and even some radically different way some powers work (Like Daedric armor... It's... not a armor-skin replacement that buffs anymore? Can you even get this style back?) and how folks coped and developed their skills back could give some advice on what you think it the best to squeeze back into the game. I have characters I loved and loved playing, but I come back from so long and it is not like a bicycle anymore. Powers are changed, balances different, some of the things are unfamiliar. Some powers are added. I believe I get the basics of how the buffs work - rather than just raw numbers, they have actually unstackable buffs that are named. (Minor/Major Savagery, Protection, Etc)

TL:DR: Old player during Beta through to Morrowind Expansion having trouble getting back into the game and seeking advice due how drastic some changes are. Advice requested of methods, where to start and coping with changes on 50-leveled characters that seem foreign upon return.

Thanks folks!

Also will post this on the steam forums just as a way to get some possible other perspectives.

fred4 · May 27

Do one class in one type of content at a time. I've been playing for 9 years without breaks and even I don't know all classes equally well, or at least not in all roles. Nor do I want to. The game is a sandbox. You choose what you want to do on any given day to have fun. You don't have to deal with the 3 banners war. You don't have to do any particular tutorial nor any particular expansion. You don't have to wear trial sets. You don't even have to be good at combat, if all you do is questing and normal and/or base game content.

That said, since you mentioned nightblade tanking, I have talked about that in this thread:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8098405

I've played that build some more, since I made that post, and it's solid. It requires no investment in terms of set farming, although you may need some gold for Cyrodiil's Crest.

Necrotech_Master · May 28

there was a lot of skill rebalancing done in the past, probably around the time of the cp2.0 introduction in which they refunded all skill pts for all players

like fred suggested i would probably start with 1 character at a time

tinythinker · May 31

One thing that hasn't changed is that you only get 10 regular abilities and two ultimates, so you don't have to learn all of the updated or new skills at once. It can seem overwhelming, but once you get going it will be fine. Plenty of really basic builds for new players out there, so I also concur with Fred about picking a single character to start with. Even though you aren't totally new, it's close enough that a new player easy build would be appropriate and also easier to put together.

Once you get used to the 10 + 2 abilities you started with, you can occasionally try to swap out temporarily for a new one to see how it feels and works. Like a flex slot on your bar. If you eventually get bored or want different functionality, look up other builds for ideas. Even if you don't use a build, those who publish them often tell you why they recommend a certain ability for each bar slot, so it's a good way to learn what skills are good for in addition to reading the tool tips just trying stuff out to see what happens.

And as was already mentioned, few players can recite all of the abilities and what they do and what buffs or debuffs they might offer. Honestly, many players just wing it and go by trial and error while learning. As for tanking, anyone who has enough mitigation and knows how to slot a taunt will be a super-tank in normal non-dlc dungeons, as often people just queue up as a tank for base-game normal dungeons even if they aren't specced for it. Might be a good way to start adjusting to the current era of gameplay?

All of that aside, welcome back and have fun!