Grinding/Leveling

Mhylton44142

I understand that grinding is the most effective way to level a character, but does it make sense to do the quests/quest-lines in each zone that provide skill points as a reward along with grinding? I started a magicka sorcerer on the DC and hit level 10 within 2/12 hours with the main quest line in Stros M'Kai and then grinding in Betnikh. With the XP boost and plus membership, was taking me about 35-40 minutes for each level, I don't have access to Psijiiic Ambrosia potion from anyone in my guild to help level up faster, so that isn't an option for now. Currently, , I',m at level 11 working on the Faolchi questline and then the Lion Guard questline for the skill points. After that, I plan on grinding to level 16 or 17 and then do the Dolmens, dungeons, and skyshards before heading into Stormhaven. Anyone have any thoughts other than "do whatever you wan"t? I'm wondering if anyone else has leveled their characters like this. I'm looking to level up somewhat quickly, but still enjoy some of the stories/quests in the zones. Thanks.

Eshelmen

Honestly man, just finish the story. There is so much crap you'll see and do just by completing the story.

I only say this because the adventure side of it can be fun. This is an mmo obviously and I see no reason why people feel they need to have best gear or top level over night. Enjoy the game for what it is, it's not going anywhere. You'll level up fine with just going through the story and doing a few extra missions here and there.

You could farm skyshards as there are plenty in every zone.But at your level, you really don't need a crap ton of skill points.

You've got a nice long road ahead, but when you shortcut something in an MMO, it usually has repercussions as well. Grind to VR 16? You sure can do it without touching the main quests. But eventually you'll have to finish those quests .

Take your time, enjoy exploring and leveling up at your own pace. That's my two cents. I know a lot of others will disagree with me. But that's how I play my first toon on any new MMO I've tried.

At VR16(all gold sets) for the past 6 months or so now, and I can tell you that I already miss that urge/need/wonder/excitement of needing to progress more. And it's just not the same awe and adventurous feel from leveling alt toons.

Elsonso

The quest XP is the biggest single action event in the game. Depending on how efficient the grind is, it may or may not be faster than than grinding, but it is a varied task rather than a repetitive one. I don't think grinding can be avoided.

TheDarkShadow

After a couple characters you would know which quest is in the main quest chain of a zone. I usually only do those quests. world bosses, dolmens and delves if they're on the way. If the next quest in the chain out level me about +5 level, and my attacks keep missing, I'll start to grind a bit to catch up. Usually it only matter if you are non-vet. In vet zone the level gap is closer and you can just keep doing quest for skill points, or grind if you have a good spot and do the quest when the grind spot is too crowded.

Keep_Door

hit lvl 10, enter cyrodiil , never leave


ps. have over 400 CP

Ilterendi

Eshelmen wrote: »

Honestly man, just finish the story. There is so much crap you'll see and do just by completing the story.

I only say this because the adventure side of it can be fun. This is an mmo obviously and I see no reason why people feel they need to have best gear or top level over night. Enjoy the game for what it is, it's not going anywhere. You'll level up fine with just going through the story and doing a few extra missions here and there.

You could farm skyshards as there are plenty in every zone.But at your level, you really don't need a crap ton of skill points.

You've got a nice long road ahead, but when you shortcut something in an MMO, it usually has repercussions as well. Grind to VR 16? You sure can do it without touching the main quests. But eventually you'll have to finish those quests .

Take your time, enjoy exploring and leveling up at your own pace. That's my two cents. I know a lot of others will disagree with me. But that's how I play my first toon on any new MMO I've tried.

At VR16(all gold sets) for the past 6 months or so now, and I can tell you that I already miss that urge/need/wonder/excitement of needing to progress more. And it's just not the same awe and adventurous feel from leveling alt toons.

This.

If anything, save your grinding until vet levels in Cadwell's Silver and Gold, while completing the requirements of his main quests.

I tried grinding my DK. It sucked and I noticed that questing was far far faster pre-vet AND you get skill points to use along the way. Besides, questing nets you enough xp to out level the zone quite quickly which means you're able to either bypass mobs and go right to the objective or you can run right to the objective while gathering the mobs and mow them down. Remember to craft yourself some blue quality gear every 10 levels or so.

Moonshadow66

I still don't understand why apparently many players want to reach max level so quickly. What's the point? What are you planning to do when you get there?
That's like doing a sight-seeing tour through a city by sitting in a jet fighter.

Rex-Umbra

Enjoy the game and story.

Volkodav

I do everything that is in each zone as it is opened for me.Every quest,every skyshard,every delve,and every dungeon.I start at the bottom of each area,and make sure everything is done before I go on to the next.For instance,I get to the point in my guild lines that I must go to Grahtwood from Auridon.I have quite a bit of the map to cover before I go,so I hold off on it until I am done.
Why miss all that is open just to go for the grind? Besides,it isnt a grind unless that is what you want it to be.Gather mats,do crits,etc.It's neverending.
As Moonshadow66 said,what are you going to do when you get there?
Dont be in the "Endgame" crowd.You'll miss so much.

ColoursYouHave

To the people who wonder why people want to reach level cap so quickly, say things like "enjoy the adventure, the exploring, etc.", remember that a lot of people already have multiple VR16 characters, they've gone through the story several times, and just want to hurry up and get their new character to VR16 for PVP/Trials/Dungeons, whatever it is they want to do.

As far as grinding compared to quests with skill points, I usually just do the Cadwells quests for each zone (they tend to grant the most XP and skill points), grab all the skyshards, and grind till I go to the next zone. I find that to be the quickest way to level up and gather lots of skill points.

Lenikus

do the quests, then grind in the last 'grind spot' in that zone 'til you're in a nice level for the next zone, then do the main quests on that zone, and so on.

Volkodav

Lenikus wrote: »

do the quests, then grind in the last 'grind spot' in that zone 'til you're in a nice level for the next zone, then do the main quests on that zone, and so on.

That's not a bad suggestion. :}

Eshelmen

ColoursYouHave wrote: »

To the people who wonder why people want to reach level cap so quickly, say things like "enjoy the adventure, the exploring, etc.", remember that a lot of people already have multiple VR16 characters, they've gone through the story several times, and just want to hurry up and get their new character to VR16 for PVP/Trials/Dungeons, whatever it is they want to do.

As far as grinding compared to quests with skill points, I usually just do the Cadwells quests for each zone (they tend to grant the most XP and skill points), grab all the skyshards, and grind till I go to the next zone. I find that to be the quickest way to level up and gather lots of skill points.

I understand that completely. But as your first toon? These questions OP is asking is clearly an indicator that in fact this is his/hers first. No reason to rush for your first toon. No reason at all.

Kaktus

I spend the time and do everything as it pops up. My first character is a level 27 Argonian Nightblade that I use to play with my brother. I did some PvP and main quests, and I'm currently overleveled with a number of quests left to go before finishing Deshaan. I made the mistake of doing the PvP for a while and now most battles are trivial (save for group bosses and public dungeons). My secondary character is a level 35 Khajiit Dragonknight that I use for soloing- I just hit Malabar Tor at level 35 and I'm a few levels above everything so far but there's still plenty of challenge.

I say do everything as it comes up and you'll level just fine. If you try to grind or do PvP too early you might end up overleveled and trivializing the game for a while. Enjoy the ride

IcyDeadPeople

Grinding is extremely boring, and certainly wouldn't recommend it for your first character. If you are determined to reach V16 as quickly as possible, however, stopping to do quests does slow you down.

Try using an XP meter add-on like MXPV. Whenever you take a break from grinding to do quests, you'll notice your overall XP per hour drops way down even if you do high XP quests. Quests require a lot of down time traveling from place to place during which you are gaining zero XP. Sometimes you need a break from the boredom though.

Moonshadow66 wrote: »

I still don't understand why apparently many players want to reach max level so quickly. What's the point? What are you planning to do when you get there?
That's like doing a sight-seeing tour through a city by sitting in a jet fighter.

Different people enjoy different aspects of the game. Some of us only play ESO for the endgame PVP experience. Currently, if you want to equip this kind of gear on your alt characters and figure out a build by testing it in PVP, you need to level them to V14 or V16, depending on the gear set.

When I started playing on the PTS before launch, I had a very different approach. I played ESO pretty much like Skyrim, just wandering around and exploring the world with zero interest in min/maxing, no intention of ever reaching veteran ranks or max level. After some time I had a chance to try the alliance war experience in Cyrodiil and got hooked. Then I started learning about some of the math behind the game, practicing in PVP with different build ideas. Now I avoid PVE content and just grind each character as quickly as possible.
.

Volkodav

IcyDeadPeople wrote: »

Grinding is extremely boring, and certainly wouldn't recommend it for your first character. If you are determined to reach V16 as quickly as possible, however, stopping to do quests only slows you down.

Try using an XP meter add-on like MXPV. When you stop to do quests, you'll notice your overall XP per hour drops way down because there is a lot of down time traveling from place to place.

Moonshadow66 wrote: »

I still don't understand why apparently many players want to reach max level so quickly. What's the point? What are you planning to do when you get there?
That's like doing a sight-seeing tour through a city by sitting in a jet fighter.

Some of us only play ESO for the endgame PVP experience. Currently, if you want to equip this kind of gear on your alt characters and figure out a build by testing it in PVP, you need to level them to V14 or V16, depending on the gear set.

When I started playing on the PTS before launch, I felt the same way. I had multiple characters and played this game pretty much like Skyrim, just wandering around and exploring the world with no intention of ever reaching veteran ranks or max level. After some time I had a chance to try the alliance war experience in Cyrodiil and got hooked. For me Cyrodiil is the most fun part of the game. Now I avoid PVE content and grind each character as quickly as possible.

Such a waste of content and money if you do just that.Sad,..but it IS your choice.

IcyDeadPeople

Volkodav wrote: »

Such a waste of content and money if you do just that.Sad,..but it IS your choice.

Currently it takes a solid week or two of grinding to reach V16, and then I can start "playing the game," by which I mean trying out various builds in endgame PVP, etc.

Was excited to learn all this will go away with Dark Brotherhood update - we will soon be able to level new alts to 50 in a day or so, equip endgame gear and be done with it, just enjoy the game and no longer worry about grinding that character.
.

DaveMoeDee

Ilterendi wrote: »

Eshelmen wrote: »

Honestly man, just finish the story. There is so much crap you'll see and do just by completing the story.

I only say this because the adventure side of it can be fun. This is an mmo obviously and I see no reason why people feel they need to have best gear or top level over night. Enjoy the game for what it is, it's not going anywhere. You'll level up fine with just going through the story and doing a few extra missions here and there.

You could farm skyshards as there are plenty in every zone.But at your level, you really don't need a crap ton of skill points.

You've got a nice long road ahead, but when you shortcut something in an MMO, it usually has repercussions as well. Grind to VR 16? You sure can do it without touching the main quests. But eventually you'll have to finish those quests .

Take your time, enjoy exploring and leveling up at your own pace. That's my two cents. I know a lot of others will disagree with me. But that's how I play my first toon on any new MMO I've tried.

At VR16(all gold sets) for the past 6 months or so now, and I can tell you that I already miss that urge/need/wonder/excitement of needing to progress more. And it's just not the same awe and adventurous feel from leveling alt toons.

This.

If anything, save your grinding until vet levels in Cadwell's Silver and Gold, while completing the requirements of his main quests.

I tried grinding my DK. It sucked and I noticed that questing was far far faster pre-vet AND you get skill points to use along the way. Besides, questing nets you enough xp to out level the zone quite quickly which means you're able to either bypass mobs and go right to the objective or you can run right to the objective while gathering the mobs and mow them down. Remember to craft yourself some blue quality gear every 10 levels or so.

Why even bother grinding Cadwell's the the first time through? Just doing the content will get you to v16 without grinding with the new leveling.

What do you mean by questing being faster? The speed of quests doesn't change. If you mean you level faster, apples and oranges. It would be absurd to have 40 more levels in Silver and 40 more levels in gold.

I can understand if people are motivated by gaining stats and not by narrative. In that case, might as well just to quests and other content that give sky shards and grind mobs. If people enjoy narrative, there is no point in grinding at all until you are on your second character repeating content. The game has been sufficiently adjusted that you can get to v16 now just playing content with no thought to increasing XP rate.

Eshelmen

IcyDeadPeople wrote: »

Grinding is extremely boring, and certainly wouldn't recommend it for your first character. If you are determined to reach V16 as quickly as possible, however, stopping to do quests does slow you down.

Try using an XP meter add-on like MXPV. Whenever you take a break from grinding to do quests, you'll notice your overall XP per hour drops way down even if you do high XP quests. Quests require a lot of down time traveling from place to place during which you are gaining zero XP. Sometimes you need a break from the boredom though.

Moonshadow66 wrote: »

I still don't understand why apparently many players want to reach max level so quickly. What's the point? What are you planning to do when you get there?
That's like doing a sight-seeing tour through a city by sitting in a jet fighter.

Different people enjoy different aspects of the game. Some of us only play ESO for the endgame PVP experience. Currently, if you want to equip this kind of gear on your alt characters and figure out a build by testing it in PVP, you need to level them to V14 or V16, depending on the gear set.

When I started playing on the PTS before launch, I had a very different approach. I played ESO pretty much like Skyrim, just wandering around and exploring the world with zero interest in min/maxing, no intention of ever reaching veteran ranks or max level. After some time I had a chance to try the alliance war experience in Cyrodiil and got hooked. Then I started learning about some of the math behind the game, practicing in PVP with different build ideas. Now I avoid PVE content and just grind each character as quickly as possible.
.

I guarantee you that noobies coming in to this game have no idea what end game is even like, let alone everything else this game offers.
With that being said, it makes no sense to seek something you're completely unaware of. That's like giving some random person off the street a CEO position. Chances are they will fail and fail pretty hard. So many things to figure out in this game it can be overwhelming first time around. At least with following the story, players get a sense of direction.... a guide if you will. MMO main quests are generally the tutorial for the game. Once you beat the story you are pretty much on your own for what to do.

And I'm personally not saying to stick only to the story.... I as well got bored of the repetitive fetch quests too(Landed in Cyrodiil at level 25 ish and was hooked), but the beauty of the game is there is so many different ways to playing the game, that it can be ridiculous to figure it all out at once.

aLi3nZ

Do the main story quests every 5 levels.
There is no reason not to do it.
What other quests give skill points besides undaunted dungeons?
There is a mages guild 1 with a crazy Demi god right?

I created a new character recently. At v5 now. Most of the leveling was at cwc tbh. IDid have a lot of fun with the crazy battle leveling on the non vet server and did a little bit of ic sewers non vet. There wasn't a single hanker to be found when I was there. I spend most of the time at ic Sewers at v5 now. Good way to level and make gold at the same time.