Brand New Player Thoroughly Confused

absurdious

Greetings and thank you for reading.

I am hoping someone could help out an old man who recently purchases ESO. The bulk of my gaming experience came during the days of simplistic rpg's with few buttons to press. So naturally, this game is thoroughly and utterly confusing.

I have been reading and watching as many different guides and tutorials as I can find over the last few days. The first problem I've noticed is that the vast majority of these are either: 1. Outdated or 2. Produced (whether consciously or subconsciously) with the assumption that the target audience has an understanding of the game, knowledge of end game gear, enchants, professions, etc., and/or end game content.

The few guides I have found that would seem to be geared towards new players with zero understanding of the game (such as myself) are, of course, guides which must be purchased.

What I am looking for is some advice on building the "right" character/class based on my goals of the game. I enjoy playing good old fashioned melee (either 2h or 1h/shield) characters. I have no preference as to either using melee abilities that cost magicka or melee abilities that cost stamina. My goals for the game are to simply enjoy the story and leveling process, questing and perhaps some pvp at the end. I do not plan on grouping, nor do I desire to have a spec that is wtfbbqpwn leet dps min/max'ed.

Remember, I'm an old dude and some times us old dudes need our hands held. So any advice that be broken down into level ranges (i.e. 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, etc.) would be invaluable. Proper allocation of attribute points per level range, and skill points per level range would be appreciated, as well as any other advice you think an old, frustrated gamer raised on Zelda on NES would need.

I thank you all in advanced. Cheers

ScottK1994

Honestly you don't need a guide. You get enough skill points so that you can have atleast two playstyles. So pick what you like and if you make the 'wrong' choice(there isn't one to be honest. Unless you're like tanking with a bow) you can fix it in a level or two

absurdious

ScottK1994 wrote: »

Honestly you don't need a guide. You get enough skill points so that you can have atleast two playstyles. So pick what you like and if you make the 'wrong' choice(there isn't one to be honest. Unless you're like tanking with a bow) you can fix it in a level or two

Thank you for your input.

ScottK1994

Attribute wise though look at your moves and if the ones you like are magicka go for that and if they're stamina then that's what you'll need. Again as long as you don't go full health and choose to never tank then you can't go properly wrong with attributes either

The goal of the game is that even though there is few classes, you can try lots of styles

Skinzz

You can go sword & board on one bar and 2hander on the othrr bar. Probaly stamplar or stam dk is what u wanna be.

absurdious

ScottK1994 wrote: »

Attribute wise though look at your moves and if the ones you like are magicka go for that and if they're stamina then that's what you'll need. Again as long as you don't go full health and choose to never tank then you can't go properly wrong with attributes either

The goal of the game is that even though there is few classes, you can try lots of styles

Interestiing, I'lll keep that in mind. Thanks.

KochDerDamonen

Honestly, if your goal is to quest you can do 90% whatever you want. If you fit a spell for damage and a spell to heal yourself, you'll be fine to use anything else for fun/flavor.

Recommendations:
pick magicka or stamina, at least to start. Being unfocused early is going to make picking things rough. I would say stamina since you like 2H and S&B, but magicka is fine. Put the majority of your attribute points in this until you're like level 20 and feeling comfortable.

Ask for advice on the crafting system in zone chat as you go, set gear goes a long way to making your character stronger and more intriguing and generally people will make you some provided the materials free of charge.

absurdious

xskinzcity wrote: »

You can go sword & board on one bar and 2hander on the othrr bar. Probaly stamplar or stam dk is what u wanna be.

Interesting you mention the DK as I thought it was primarily a tanking 'class' based on this information I've found:

Ardent Flame DOT and CC Line: Deals Fire Damage Over Time and stuns and immobilizes enemies in an area.
Draconic Power AOE and Tank Line: Deals AOE damage, immobilizes enemies and buffs resistances and armor of caster, stealing health and returning damage to enemies.
Earthen Heart Tank and CC Line: Reflects damage, increases mitigations and debuffs and immobilizes/stuns enemies.

KochDerDamonen

absurdious wrote: »

xskinzcity wrote: »

You can go sword & board on one bar and 2hander on the othrr bar. Probaly stamplar or stam dk is what u wanna be.

Interesting you mention the DK as I thought it was primarily a tanking 'class' based on this information I've found:

Ardent Flame DOT and CC Line: Deals Fire Damage Over Time and stuns and immobilizes enemies in an area.
Draconic Power AOE and Tank Line: Deals AOE damage, immobilizes enemies and buffs resistances and armor of caster, stealing health and returning damage to enemies.
Earthen Heart Tank and CC Line: Reflects damage, increases mitigations and debuffs and immobilizes/stuns enemies.

You can play any class as tanky, healer or damage dealer. In fact, stamina DK has some of the highest sustained damage potential right now

absurdious

KochDerDamonen wrote: »

Honestly, if your goal is to quest you can do 90% whatever you want. If you fit a spell for damage and a spell to heal yourself, you'll be fine to use anything else for fun/flavor.

Recommendations:
pick magicka or stamina, at least to start. Being unfocused early is going to make picking things rough. I would say stamina since you like 2H and S&B, but magicka is fine. Put the majority of your attribute points in this until you're like level 20 and feeling comfortable.

Ask for advice on the crafting system in zone chat as you go, set gear goes a long way to making your character stronger and more intriguing and generally people will make you some provided the materials free of charge.

My plan had been to have a good mix of abilities hotbar'ed for damage, heal, cc/stun, range based simply on how 'cool' I thought those abilities were. However, I began reading where people were encountering situations in which they were having a difficult time killing mobs which were at the same level as them. The reason being given was that they had 'screwed up' their ability choices...hence my concern about building my character properly as I level.

newtinmpls

Hello.

ESO is my first MMO(RPG) as well, and some of the mechanics that are basic (to someone who has overlearned such gaming) are new to me such as "don't stand in red" (damage) and to generally keep moving as you fight.

I would second others who have encouraged you to just play around with things and explore at low levels. Find what you like - and then - realize that it won't stay the same.

Things that are 'the best' now, won't be in a few patches. Same for armor, traits, everything.

Find a few good guilds.

Say 'hi' in zone

absurdious

KochDerDamonen wrote: »

absurdious wrote: »

xskinzcity wrote: »

You can go sword & board on one bar and 2hander on the othrr bar. Probaly stamplar or stam dk is what u wanna be.

Interesting you mention the DK as I thought it was primarily a tanking 'class' based on this information I've found:

Ardent Flame DOT and CC Line: Deals Fire Damage Over Time and stuns and immobilizes enemies in an area.
Draconic Power AOE and Tank Line: Deals AOE damage, immobilizes enemies and buffs resistances and armor of caster, stealing health and returning damage to enemies.
Earthen Heart Tank and CC Line: Reflects damage, increases mitigations and debuffs and immobilizes/stuns enemies.

You can play any class as tanky, healer or damage dealer. In fact, stamina DK has some of the highest sustained damage potential right now

Lol. See. There is the root of my confusion. Information that shows the DK to be tank based, and yet information that also shows them to be very good at dps. I wonder if I'm simply suffering from a WoW mindset...hmm.

absurdious

newtinmpls wrote: »

Hello.

ESO is my first MMO(RPG) as well, and some of the mechanics that are basic (to someone who has overlearned such gaming) are new to me such as "don't stand in red" (damage) and to generally keep moving as you fight.

I would second others who have encouraged you to just play around with things and explore at low levels. Find what you like - and then - realize that it won't stay the same.

Things that are 'the best' now, won't be in a few patches. Same for armor, traits, everything.

Find a few good guilds.

Say 'hi' in zone

My buddy who has always been big into mmo's and single player rpg's is always telling me: 'Dude, just relax and play. Quit overthinking it so much.' I suppose I should just let go and follow his advice for once.

ScottK1994

In world of warcraft terms imagine that all classes can be tanks healers and dps, the "talent" tree for those are weapon based.
(Equip restoration staff to level healing. One hand and shield for tanking obviously)

absurdious

ScottK1994 wrote: »

In world of warcraft terms imagine that all classes can be tanks healers and dps, the "talent" tree for those are weapon based.
(Equip restoration staff to level healing. One hand and shield for tanking obviously)

Ahhh...Ok. That makes sense. Thanks to everyone's posts so far I think I am starting to see how to build up my character to my play style and goals.

Curragraigue

This one is an old one but the basic mechanics should still be the same and it is geared towards new players like yourself

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/173871/guide-travlers-guide-to-tamriel-eso-strategy-guide

radiostar

Jump in, and by the time you escape the prison you have the basics to roam around. Follow your heart and go on an adventure.

smacx250

When you make a character you're locked into class and race (at least for now) - everything else can (or will soon be able to be) changed, so don't sweat those things. Even the old stuff on the web will give you a feel for what the various classes are designed around, though the skill descriptions may be somewhat out of date. The classes have evolved so that, barring competitive end-game play, any class is viable for any play style. Note that other than staff weapons (which it sounds like might not be your preference), the weapons skills are mostly stamina based. The current design of the game is that it is most easy to focus on either magicka or stamina, and not split your stats between the two. It sounds like you might therefore prefer a stamina build.

Do you like to sneak? If so, maybe a nightblade. More in-your-face? Maybe a DK? Templars are great healers, but if you're solo and stamina focused that might not be what your are looking for (though if you love the class skills don't let that stop you). Opinions on Sorcs are kind of hit-or-miss right now (though I main one and love to play it), but I hear that stamina sorcs are pretty good right now - not sure if that will last or not. But that could be said of any class!

Either pick a race because that is what you want to play, or pick a class and then pick a race that has good synergy with the class (there are racial passives that can be better or not depending - like stamina vs. magicka bonuses).

Most importantly - have fun!

absurdious

Curragraigue wrote: »

This one is an old one but the basic mechanics should still be the same and it is geared towards new players like yourself

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/173871/guide-travlers-guide-to-tamriel-eso-strategy-guide

ScottK1994

absurdious wrote: »

ScottK1994 wrote: »

In world of warcraft terms imagine that all classes can be tanks healers and dps, the "talent" tree for those are weapon based.
(Equip restoration staff to level healing. One hand and shield for tanking obviously)

Ahhh...Ok. That makes sense. Thanks to everyone's posts so far I think I am starting to see how to build up my character to my play style and goals.

It seems like you could even have a blast with every other elder scrolls games too

absurdious

smacx250 wrote: »

When you make a character you're locked into class and race (at least for now) - everything else can (or will soon be able to be) changed, so don't sweat those things. Even the old stuff on the web will give you a feel for what the various classes are designed around, though the skill descriptions may be somewhat out of date. The classes have evolved so that, barring competitive end-game play, any class is viable for any play style. Note that other than staff weapons (which it sounds like might not be your preference), the weapons skills are mostly stamina based. The current design of the game is that it is most easy to focus on either magicka or stamina, and not split your stats between the two. It sounds like you might therefore prefer a stamina build.

Do you like to sneak? If so, maybe a nightblade. More in-your-face? Maybe a DK? Templars are great healers, but if you're solo and stamina focused that might not be what your are looking for (though if you love the class skills don't let that stop you). Opinions on Sorcs are kind of hit-or-miss right now (though I main one and love to play it), but I hear that stamina sorcs are pretty good right now - not sure if that will last or not. But that could be said of any class!

Either pick a race because that is what you want to play, or pick a class and then pick a race that has good synergy with the class (there are racial passives that can be better or not depending - like stamina vs. magicka bonuses).

Most importantly - have fun!

I am thinking I am going to try out a stamina DK, stamina NB, and magicka Templar. Alternate between the 3 and get a feel for things.

absurdious

I want to thank everyone who has given me feedback in this thread. I really do appreciate it. It helps more than you think. I am going to put my 3 year old son to bed now and start outlining how I want to create my characters. Cheers all!

ArchMikem

Good ol'fashioned melee sword play would mean you should choose either a Dragonknight, or a Nightblade, depending on if you like to either be a chunky character that takes hits, or a character that gets up in the enemy's face doing a ton of damage quickly. However, since you're new, I should stress the importance of a Self Heal ability, and there's really only two ways to go. Go into the PvP zone and grind out the Alliance Points needed to unlock the Ability "Vigor", which is a Healing spell you can find under the Assault skill line, that costs Stamina, or, go with the Templar class and use the "Breath of Life" ability. Self Heals are you're very best friend.

2Handed + 1H/Shield would be your best combo, but you don't get your second weapon bar until level 15, so you'll need to choose which one you want to play with first. Either works, but 2Handed has some pretty good abilities you may want to work on first.

Once you get into the main Questing, focus on a few things.

1. Expand your Inventory space as much as possible as you go. You're going to need the space. You can do this either by finding a Pack Merchant and buying an upgrade that gives ten slots, but keep in mind each upgrade costs exponentially more gold each time. Or you can also buy one slot every twenty hours for 250g at a Stable if you own a Mount.
2. Loot EVERYTHING. Every time your inventory gets full, go back to a main city and deconstruct all of the clothing, armor, and weapons you've picked up at the Crafting Stations. You're gonna need those Crafting Skills leveled up as you go.
3. Sell the rest. Anything that has a gold value and you don't need, sell it to a merchant of any kind, you'll need to mass as much gold as you can before reaching the end game. Things get real expensive.
4. Try to Craft your own gear. Relying on armor and weapons you find in the world isn't that feasible. In order to craft this gear though you'll need to make a choice, between scouring the countryside for Crafting materials like Jute or Iron for example, or simply buying stacks of the stuff from Guild Traders that other players are selling. The latter method is easier, though you'll become a big spender to do it.

Daveheart

My personal recommendation is to try a magic-based templar first. The first ability in the spear line is melee, does area damage, and the magic morph will heal you. The Dawn's Wrath skill line has some good ranged abilities, and there's and entire skill line devoted to healing. You can place all of your attribute points into magicka (if you feel like you're having trouble surviving, alternate points in magic and health).

Early on, puncturing strike->sweeps in the spear line, sun fire->reflective light in Dawn's Wrath, and rushed ceremony->honor the dead in restoring light are really the only skills you'd need equipped. That allows a lot of room to play around with your other skill points as you get them.

My suggestion to try a magic templar early stems from their early access to heals that aren't based on equipping a restoration staff. Magic nightblade can also be relatively survivable as a beginner with a nice mix of melee and ranged abilities. Generally speaking many of the heals for stamina classes are earned later in the leveling process, so I don't recommend them often to beginners.

In order to get started in crafting it'll be helpful to get in game help from someone. If you post which server and faction you end up choosing, you'll almost always find someone from the forum who'll hop in to explain some things in game and craft you some gear.

Stovahkiin

Do you happen to play on PC on the North American server? If so, I'm an officer in a great guild that has plenty of other people that are new to the game and we answer questions and help people out in any way we can all the time. So if you are on PC NA then you could contact me/message me in-game @ "stovahkiin135"

Cheers

DemonDruaga

I'm on the way and only at my mobile but:
If you want to be melee only i'd recomend you to use either 5 piece medium/ one light / one heavy or you go 5 heavy/ one medium/ one light. Depending on your optical needs i would say, for the quests and expierencing the story it won't matter, but with this way you'll level all armors up and can profit in the late game due to passives from the undaunted gild line and the armors itself.