Some questions from a new player

Skulbow

I started this game last week and I am really enjoying it. I have come from LOTRO and Guild Wars 2 but I am finding this game a lot more interesting.....I love the crafting system and the exploration in this game.

My character is Level 16 but when I craft armour or weapons I am limited to L14 gear. How do I get the right resources to get better gear as I can only see Iron ore, maple and flax plants for example.
Also is it possible to reset your skill points?
Is there anyway you can see how many hours you have played on a character or been in game?
And can anyone simply explain or point me to a good link which explains the use of soul gems and the best way to use them?

Thankyou for any responses.

Orchish

As you advance to the next zone you will find higher quality ore which will allow you to craft higher level gear.

You can reset your skills yes, there is a respec shrine for each alliance, i only know the location of DC's which is in the city of Wayrest in Stormhaven. It cost 100 gold per attribute point and 100 gold per skill. the earlier you reset the cheaper it is.

Soul gems are used to revive your self on the spot when you die, or to revive other players in PvP. To fill a empty soul gem you slot the soul trap skill into your bar under soul magic tree. Cast it on an enemy kill him quickly and you trap the soul thus filling the gem.

NorthernFury

Ill do my best:

When crafting gear, you can click the 'plus' sign to add an extra resource (i.e. iron, quicksilver, etc) to add a level to the piece you are making.

You can reset your skill points at the shrine ...I think it's Stendarr/Auriel to reset skill and stat allocations.

Soul gems let you rez yourself and/or rez another player.

not sure about your /played question.

Hope that helps some.

nerevarine1138

And just to clarify, you will also need to level up the relevant crafting passive in order to craft higher level gear. So if you're doing Blacksmithing, you need to put points in to the first passive (Blacksmithing) in order to craft the next tiers of gear and use those resources you find in the next zone.

Audigy

Soul Gems:

You can find those charged if you kill bosses like in dungeons or the open world. Uncharged soul gems are usually in chest´s or on general mobs. I honestly vendor those, as I find enough from the bosses.

There is a skill however that lets you charge those, either by casting a specific spell or killing a mob and afterwards having a small chance that the soul will be trapped.

You do use Soul Gems to recharge your weapons and to resurrect yourself or other players.

To recharge an item just right click on it to revive you will get a message on screen that requires you to hit a button, on my end its E.

Crafting

In order to be able to use higher tiers of crafting materials you need to invest skill points.
L14 is the first tier, so you must invest skill points into the second tier now. You can find those in your skill book under crafting. Just look for blacksmithing, the skill you need should be right on top of the list to your right. Also note that you must advance into a new zone to find new things.


Skill Reset

Yes you can reset them, but I have not done this yet. I believe it costs a lot of gold, so only use it if really necessary. Morphs cost the most gold I think.

Playtime

Just enter /played

theyancey

Welcome to the game! In addition to leveling your character's adventure points you will need to level your craft points. You will also need to put a few skill points into the craft. Exploring higher level areas will get you higher level mats. It all works together. Adventure, craft, have fun, and growth will follow.

Let me add that joining a good craft guild will help immensely. Check out the ESO forums devoted both to guilds and to crafting.