Getting Into Group Dungeons (Basic Advice For Those New To This Part Of ESO)

tinythinker

If you haven't tried a group dungeon yet, or you did once or twice but it didn't work out, I'd like to offer some encouragement and a few suggestions. There are many players (like me) who come to ESO without much of an MMO background, so I offer what I've learned so far on this topic and invite others to do the same.

Of course, you should feel free to scroll down and skip to whichever sections sound relevant to you.

If you aren't sure what I'm talking about here, group dungeons are the four-person group events you encounter for the first time in the initial zone after the starter islands for each Alliance. The first ones you will probably encounter are Banished Cells in Auridon for those playing in the Aldmeri Dominion, Spindleclutch in Glenumbra for those in the Daggerfall Covenant, and Fungal Grotto for members of the Ebonheart Pact.

Oh, and if you didn't know, you can go to all three of those no matter which Alliance you are in. You won't be able to do anything else in the territory of other Alliances until you finish the main quest, but you can complete their group dungeons.


Reasons To Try Group Dungeons

A few reasons to give group dungeons a try:

• They each have interesting stories that start in the normal (level 1-49) version part I and which are completed in the veteran (level 50) version.
• They offer fun challenges.
• Completion rewards a skill point and unlocks an achievement.
• They raise your rank in the Undaunted skill line.
• They offer unique drops and keys for loot chests.

Anxiety About Joining a Pick-Up Group

Pick-up groups, which are often referred to by the acronym "PUG", are a common feature of MMOs. The term pug is sometimes used derisively, but no insult is intended here. The simplest way to avoid this is to join a guild with members of the levels you are playing at and who are interested in completing group content. Otherwise, you will need to make or join a pick-up group.

Finding or making or staying in a dungeon group with unknown, random players can be intimidating for some people, or simply frustrating when there aren't enough players also looking to do the same dungeon to fill the group.

I've had some really fun pick-up groups where everyone had the time, patience, and interest to figure out a dungeon and work through it while having a great time, even though we got utterly destroyed in a giant flaming wipe out multiple times. I've also been in some where we lost members every other fight and couldn't make it to the end, with the shortest lasting under five minutes.

There are many reasons why some players aren't trying to complete or finishing content that requires grouping. They include:

• Group events not seen as necessary or interesting.
• Insecurity ("Am I good enough?")
• Impatience (quitting after dying a couple of times)
• Playing at off hours (not enough other players around who still need/want to complete that dungeon)
• Limited playing time (would rather not take the time to get a group together or the delays of getting through the learning curve for those new to a particular dungeon)
• A bad experience with a pick-up group or guild.

Do any of those sound familiar?

Many of them described me when I first tried group dungeons. In fact, my first experience with pick-up groups was prior to the release of ESO, in of the "free" MMOs that I tried out for a briefly in order to learn something about this genre of game. I had one really nice group experience, and one where I was directly insulted before a player quit the group. I have yet to be treated in such a rude manner so far in ESO

It is simply the case that you will have good and not as good experiences with pick-up groups, but if you are patient with yourself and others you can find or create a decent experience. And if you do find people who are fun to play with, consider adding them to your friends list, joining their guild (if they offer), or starting a guild with them.

You can do quite a bit to make the experience of grouped content more comfortable, reliable, and enjoyable. It doesn't always have to be done through random pick-ups.


Finding a Group

If you have guildmates or friends in your Alliance with characters at the proper level, finding a group to explore the group dungeons isn't likely an issue for you. I didn't belong to a guild for the first few months I played the game, so asking guildmates to go with me wasn't an option. I had to reply on pick-up groups.

Finding a pick-up group is accomplished three ways:

1) Putting out a call ("LFG Fungal Grotto", that is "Looking For Group for Fungal Grotto") in zone chat.

2) Responding to such a call put out by someone else.

3) Using the Group Finder tool.

If you put out a call, don't underestimate how shy some players can be, especially newer players at lower levels.

I once was outside of the entrance to Arx Corinium in Shadowfen with my second character, putting out a call for the dungeon. There were two characters standing near me. Neither had responded to my zone-wide call for players to do the dungeon, so I switched to "say" and asked them by name if they were looking for a group to do the dungeon. They both said yes. I added them to the group (right click one someone's name in the chat window to see the option to do this), we got one more who replied from somewhere else in the zone, and we had a great time.

To use the Group Finder tool, press "P".

This will list your group members, their class, their character level, and the role they prefer in group content (tank, healer, and/or damage dealer). If you are starting from scratch, look at the upper right corner of the Group screen and click on the magnifying glass icon.

Next, click on your preferred role(s), then select the kind of activity you are looking for (World, Alliance War, Dungeon, Veteran Dungeon, Trial) and which location you want to do. So if you want help doing the Aldmeri Dominion group dungeon for level 12-15 characters, Banished Cells, select "Dungeon" from the activity list on the left and you will see Banished Cells listed under the Location list on the right.

If you already have a group of 2 or 3, you can still use the Group Finder to fill up the rest of the group.


Playing a Group Dungeon

So, you've decided to give group dungeons a(nother) try, and you've found three other people to play with. Congratulations!

There is no way to summarize here all of the possible group compositions or their potential playstyles, not to mention specific approaches to particular dungeons.

However, I can offer some tips that may be of use to those new to these types of group instances.

For combat:

Block. Even if you aren't a tank, don't forget you can mitigate damage by blocking at key times, especially when you can't move out of the way of an attack or interrupt it.

Dodge. Even if you are a tank, you don't have to stand in every red cone and circle. You can move while blocking or even double-tap for a dodge roll.

Interrupt. Everyone needs to do this. Keep and eye out for bow users and spellcasters. Interrupting them when they are powering up for special attacks can reduce the damage you or other players have to deal with and disorient the attacker, opening the way for a knockdown and possibly making them more vulnerable to extra damage based on class and weapon abilities (passive and active).

Self-Heal. Don't put everything on the healer. It's a group effort, after all.

Eliminate adds. "Adds", or "add-ons", are the weaker mobs that are close to/summoned by bosses. Sometimes there will be an explicit group strategy for certain players to focus on eliminating the adds quickly, but even if there isn't one leaving them in play increases the distractions you face while dealing with the boss as well as the damage the group takes in the fight. There may be some exceptions to the "adds" first rule, but when in doubt take them out.

These tips may seem obvious to some people but when you are new to the game or to the pace of group dungeons it's easy to forget or neglect such things.

For group interaction:

Be patient. With yourself and others in your group. Group dungeons are meant to be difficult, and there is a learning curve. You won't be able to beat every fight in every dungeon on the first try, especially if you are playing with a pick-up group that hasn't fought together before.

Be considerate. The people you play with will have different levels of experience and skill with this type of game. They may not understand what to do in certain situations. I am betting they would appreciate some friendly, non-judgmental pointers.

Be receptive. On the other side of that exchange, if someone is trying to offer you helpful suggestions, don't automatically become defensive. Everyone is learning the game, and even the best players get tips or insights from others when they are trying new content.

OK, this is long enough, but I hope it contained something that might encourage you or aid you in getting into group dungeons. See you out there.

Workerdroid7

Thank you for this. I am one of those players new to MMOs who has been trying to figure out how to get into the "group dungeon scene", and this post was enlightening.

tinythinker

Good to hear it was useful.

I did forget to add, if you want to do the group dungeons in other Alliances at normal difficulty while you are leveling 1-49, you should join the Undaunted Guild. You can do so at the tavern in the major city of a zone (except the starter island areas). The tavern had a mug or stein for a symbol when you are in the city.

Each zone has Undaunted members in a tavern in the major city of each zone who can tell you about places to find danger, and that is how you get the group dungeons from your own and other alliances added to your map. To travel to them, open the relevant zone on the map while at a wayshrine and click on the dungeon itself. You will go directly there.

With Update 5, the Undaunted in the capital city of each Alliance will hang out in their own enclave, a tented area on the outskirts, but the same principles will apply for finding group dungeons as the members who used to be in the local tavern still give the same dialogue options.

keto3000

@tinythinker‌ I just want to say Bravo! to you on this awesome and well rounded article on this subject. I completely relate to almost everything and all the situations you've described above. As a new MMOer, I've only played ( and still do) Neverwinter Online prior to playing ESO in beta and still am very "new" to combat and good playing techniques so everything feels like a learning experience for me. Dungeons are simply...FUN! I get a real charge (pun intended) by playing with 3 other random players who come together in good spirit to take on a dungeon. It really helps you hone your overall skills to play on a 4 person team. Sure, there will be times when some players get frustrated with us noob gamers, but, taking it on the chin and learning from it is what I appreciate about PUGs. I have met so many fine people by jumping into dungeon play since beta and continue to keep in touch and play with many of them from time to time. Again, THANK YOU for this post... I will continue to share it with other new players!

katkat42

Thank you for an excellent post! As another player new to MMOs myself, but who has watched the spousal unit play in several, I can add three four main rules for group dungeon crawls.

1. If you are not the tank, walk behind the tank, and wait for the tank to attack before attacking. It's easier for the tank to grab enemies themselves than to distract enemies from you. If you are the tank, try to stay ahead of the group, and wait until the group seems ready before attacking.

2. Don't stand in the "boss poop". That's the red circle/triangle on the ground.

3. If other members of your group are in combat, go help them. Don't go picking flowers, mining ore, etc. If you want to slow down to collect resources, let your group members know. If you did and they don't want to slow down, let it go. One mining node isn't going to make or break you. (This last one can be tough for compulsive solo flower-pickers like me, but remember, group play is a different animal.)

4. I thought of one more. If you accidentally draw a boss or a large mob before your group is ready, and you're likely to die, then die where you stand. Do NOT run back to your group with the boss on your tail just so they can be wiped out too.

Nestor

tinythinker wrote: »

To travel to them, open the relevant zone on the map while at a wayshrine and click on the dungeon itself.

Nice post TT, this is helpful. I just want to dd this:

One thing to consider, when you travel to a group dungeon like this, you are placed inside the dungeon and sometimes have to fight to make your way to the entrance. Most of the time, the mobs you come across are not that tough or numerous, or there is a way to sneak past them. Sometimes there is not.

And, if you are traveling to a dungeon that is not in your alliance, then you can't actually go out the front door, you will be placed back in your alliance if you do so.

There is usually a way to get past the mobs to get to the entrance area, but I would recommend that you be grouped already before traveling to a Group Dungeon in another zone so you show up with help. Also, since you can't stand outside the dungeon in another alliance, then you can't ask in that zone's chat for a PUG.

So, if the group you just ran a dungeon with is good for you and you had fun, then ask them if they want to do other group dungeons in other zones. You can also create a group in the zone you are in to go to another alliances public dungeon. Once you clear a group dungeon in your alliance, then the other group dungeons at the same level appear on the map for the other alliance zones. To see them, Right Click on your Map a couple of times until you get the Continent View and you will see the other Group Dungeons. And, if you have never been to that zone, it will be the only map marker you may see on that map.

BTW, you can chat with your group by using the /group or /g in the chat window, then you are talking only to the people in your group.

Cogo

Outstandingly well put guide to "real" dungeons!

You could add that doing all these dungeons with all players around the dungeon level is critical. Dungeon scaling works fine, but it just takes ONE Vet rank player to make these dungeons to easy, no loot or exp for all members. (Except bosses)

It might feel fast and fun to have a Vet rank player "boost" someone in a Dungeon. But all they do is NOT helping the player who simply get robbed of learning Dungeons.

Any players who does these dungeons, as OP suggests, will be well prepared for the higher level events.

It still is amazingly many Vet Rank 14 players, who do not BLOCK or interupt!

Kodus for this guide!

Morshire

I appreciate the time it takes to put this together. I think people forget that a lot of the ES fans that come here are use to the solo experience and can use good guides to help them transition to MMO style gameplay. Thanks for this, and I actually learned a thing or two myself.....So how do you block again?

tinythinker

Thanks to everyone who has expressed appreciation for the effort or added more to it. Glad it has been useful in some way.

WebFeat

A very helpful guide for group dungeons, @tinythinker ...thank you!

AH93

Thank you for this.

Today I tanked my first three dungeons: Spindleclutch twice, Fungal Grotto and Banished Cells once each, all runs went smoothly without incident.
Was a great experience.

phreatophile

I have a question about dungeon scaling and non vet/vet dungeons.

I haven't run any since scaling was added. Before that, I had only soloed lower level dungeons for skill points.

Is it possible to do the pre - vet content with a vet character now that scaling has been implemented?

It sounds like there's 2 skill points available per dungeon 1 non vet and 1 vet. Have I counted myself out of the non vet points because I ignored dungeons completely up to VR14?

Emma_Overload

phreatophile wrote: »

I have a question about dungeon scaling and non vet/vet dungeons.

I haven't run any since scaling was added. Before that, I had only soloed lower level dungeons for skill points.

Is it possible to do the pre - vet content with a vet character now that scaling has been implemented?

It sounds like there's 2 skill points available per dungeon 1 non vet and 1 vet. Have I counted myself out of the non vet points because I ignored dungeons completely up to VR14?

Yes, it's possible to solo the normal, non-veteran dungeons, but it's VERY difficult, and you have to build for it. Techniques you used successfully to solo the public delves may not work in the group dungeons. These "glass cannon" DPS builds you see everyone talking about will totally FAIL if you bring them into a group dungeon by yourself. You need to be able to mitigate lots of damage AND deal AOE damage to the "trash" mobs at the same time. When you get to the bosses, you need to be able to heal yourself at a much higher rate than normal. Lately, I've been using a "tankish" magicka build with Sword & Board on one bar and Resto staff on the other. I do damage very slowly, but I survive. Good luck!

phreatophile

I think I was unclear. I'm not really talking about soloing them now. I'm pretty interested in doing the group dungeons with a group, but am totally new to group content. If by wanting to do the pre vet content now, I'm asking 3 other people to waste their time, I won't bother asking.

Also.

I'm wondering if I can still get the non-VR skill points and achievements now that I'm VR14.

HeWhoCaresNot

When someone asks for your dps just lol over 9000

When you get invited, insult any players who have less then 20k health (even if you dont have 20k health either, just explain this is an alt)

If you are dying (especially constantly), IMMEDIATELY start to say wtf healer??? etc to draw all the attention to the heals.

If it starts to look like your group is about to disband, call everyone newbs in group chat and leave party before they can respond to your intelligent feedback.

At this point, you can either put the players on ignore before they can message you about how great you were in the dungeon, or allow them to express themselves in messages and zone chat while you alt tab and watch some netflix.

Do these things, and 90% of the time, you will win every time.

newtinmpls

Pretty much if want to annoy the Heck out of folks, then follow the advice of HeWhoCaresNot

on the actual suggestions front:

1-try to stay fairly near others in group while fighting; this makes it MUCH easier on novice healers.

2-if something is going well (or badly) use group chat if you can swing it (hit 'enter', that will enable chat, then type /p or /group and your group chat should be visible in gold - unless you have been resetting the default colors).

Communication - and thanks at the end - are really important.

MethTheMadman

Here's a question:

I'm currently level 26...

If I want to do Fungal Grove, does that dungeon scale to me/my group? Or is it a level 12 dungeon permanently?

tinythinker

Sorry, my computer has been out of commission since 3/29 so I haven't been in the game or keeping a close eye on the forums. I have some information for those who left questions, and if you've already learned what you needed to know hopefully the answers can still help someone else reading this thread who is wondering the same things.

phreatophile wrote: »

I think I was unclear. I'm not really talking about soloing them now. I'm pretty interested in doing the group dungeons with a group, but am totally new to group content. If by wanting to do the pre vet content now, I'm asking 3 other people to waste their time, I won't bother asking.

The non-vet or "normal" or "regular" mode (you will see it described all three ways) is open to vets and non-vets. In fact, the Undaunted (the NPC Guild that likes to hang out in taverns) starts offering you rewards for completing both non-vet and vet guilds once you reach level 45. Plenty of VR14s are running non-vet dungeons every day to level up their Undaunted skill line. All dungeons will scale up to whoever is set as group leader when the first member of the group enters a dungeon. You can reset the scaling by having everyone in the dungeon leave and selecting a new leader before anyone goes back in.

As for wasting people's time, it is less likely to happen for non-vet versions of dungeons since people won't be farming them for drops and since the mechanics are simpler even though the damage is scaled. You can also go with people who are lower level than you in which case you will be much more effective. It's easier to find people who are patient in a guild, but I've run with many nice pick-up groups, too.

phreatophile wrote: »

I'm wondering if I can still get the non-VR skill points and achievements now that I'm VR14.

Yes.

MethTheMadman wrote: »

Here's a question:

I'm currently level 26...

If I want to do Fungal Grove, does that dungeon scale to me/my group? Or is it a level 12 dungeon permanently?

All dungeons will scale up to whoever is set as group leader when the first member of the group enters a dungeon, all the way up to VR14. You can reset the scaling by having everyone in the dungeon leave and selecting a new leader before anyone goes back in. However, the ecounters will not scale down beyond the minimum level needed to enter/run a particular dungeon.

Paramanza

Hi there, just wanted to add a point, I was playing with a PUG the other day and we wanted to reset the level of the dungeon, we tried leaving, changing boss and then going in again and it didn't work. We had to completely ungroup and then regroup to get it to reset. I wonder if it was because we had accepted the mission already but we tried quitting it and that didn't work either. Maybe this was a glitch. Anyway we sorted it and had a great time. Great post BTW. I was a late starter at group dungeons for exactly the reasons you state, I've since taken to building specifically for group play. One more tip I'd add is about soulgems. Always take plenty of them for yourself, but also its useful to have some of a higher level in your pocket, so if you end up playing with a higher level player than yourself you can still res them when needed!

Windy_Leaf

Thank you for the post.

Gargath

Even on lower lvl (actually 30) I usually buy tens of lvl50 soul gems, which are now at fair price 40-50g/pc, to use in Cyrodill pvp, but it seems they are good in dungeons too . Lower lvl gems are cheaper and good to charge the weapons...

What I'd like to say, few days ago I was participating as lvl29 in one of my first dungeons with other 3 random people (Group Finder doesn't work fast enough), and I did manage to be an efficient healer even if this dungeon was scaled to our group leader who was about lvl 40. Yet after we won the final boss he admit we played 10 lvls higher than most of us, but because I died only once and they did not die at all, we unanimously confirmed it was a great and challenging evening . We also had a nice loot from minor mobs and very nice from bosses.
However later I played another dungeon with all players close to lvl30, and the loot was poor, about 5-10 gold from minor mobs and 30g/green gear from bosses. If not the experience points & extra skill point with much fun from playing in group, because of that poor loot it could be a waste of time .

Btw. can I repeat each dungeon with it's quest to get an extra skill point in some specified period of time, or every dungeon is offering the skill point and quest only once per character, so repeating it next day (if it's possible) will give only experience and loot but no skill point?

CJohnson81

This is a great help! Thank you! Now, I need to figure out how to get past the "You cannot communicate with this player" message I keep getting when trying to organize a PUG (on XBONE). I spent two gameless nights of quick chatting "group up?" and "yes" only to be unable to actually add people to my group or be added.

I've tried numerous things, but instead of pretending I tried everything, can someone give some pointers to getting through that issue?

Thanks!

tinythinker

Gargath wrote: »

Btw. can I repeat each dungeon with it's quest to get an extra skill point in some specified period of time, or every dungeon is offering the skill point and quest only once per character, so repeating it next day (if it's possible) will give only experience and loot but no skill point?

Once per character on each difficulty setting. Most group dungeons have had a separate "sequel" added to them that shows what happens after your first time through. These sequels are the veteran level versions. Some still only have the regular, non-vet version but will have vet versions released in the future.

CJohnson81 wrote: »

This is a great help! Thank you! Now, I need to figure out how to get past the "You cannot communicate with this player" message I keep getting when trying to organize a PUG (on XBONE). I spent two gameless nights of quick chatting "group up?" and "yes" only to be unable to actually add people to my group or be added.

I've tried numerous things, but instead of pretending I tried everything, can someone give some pointers to getting through that issue?

Thanks!

Sorry, I don't play on a console but maybe bumping this thread will help get your question noticed.

CJohnson81

[/quote]Sorry, I don't play on a console but maybe bumping this thread will help get your question noticed.
[/quote]

All good, I found another thread that someone just started. It's a known issue with privacy settings on the console. Now fixed.

tinythinker

Remember, the dungeons aren't just about grinding for keys/gear, they can actually be fun. Mistakes aren't the end of the world. Check out these videos...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1Fr5OwWsbQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zurn90p71E

NoMaassPliz

This is a great post. Thanks!

benjamino613

Hi, know this is an old thread but looking for help. Did a couple if dungeons and got grouped with a level 531 champ. The mobs come at level 160, im only lcl 23 but disnt die once and it looked like everything was levled accordinlgy. Someone told me lower lvls get bped stats to match the level of the leader is this true?

aquiella

Found this post and thank you for the advice! I did my first dungeon today and it was fun! I still need to readjust my High Elf Archer/Sorcerer, but did ok (I hope).

kessik221

I didnt really find this post helpful. It seems like it should be common sense that was covered in the opening tutorial. Nothing was mentioned about gearing, preparation such as food and potions or about group synergy. We should be teachong beginners this not what they should of already known by level 10.

LuciusEsox

You know what mate I know this post is from Oct 2014 but it is excellent.. I spent a lot of time playing WOW and it took me a long time to get the confidence together to do pugs and proper dungeon content but when I did finally start after a short while it really was a case of "what was I worried about". I have been playing ESO off and on since release and have been kinda put off by some of the experiences you describe but reading what you have put made me realise we are all the same and I think this post has given me the confidence to take the plunge again.

Thank you for taking the time to write this it is very helpful for both new and more experienced players who want partake in more of what ESO has to offer.

Lorajet

Thank you for an excellent, in-depth post. I just finished a PUG dungeon, and had the time of my life! I'm not the greatest player so normally stay away from these (other impatient players, which I totally understand) but today was an exception. So here I am, interested in how to do these and actually contribute to the overall experience. Did I know about roles? No.

Thanks again - this makes me want to make an effort to be a better player.