New ESO Player Here - Came from SWTOR

Solarsaenz

As the title says, I'm new to ESO. The only MMO I have significant experience with is SWTOR, which I played (had a subscription) from the Spring of 2012 until I cancelled early last month (If you've played SWTOR recently, then you understand why I left SWTOR). I bought the ESO digital game gold edition this weekend. I started a High Elf Templar, and I am only like level 6 right now.
Did I make a good choice coming to this game? I installed and played like 10 minute of Black Desert Online, but I just didn't feel like it was for me, the same with FFXIV.
So far, I like what I am seeing in ESO; I am really glad I can just make a 1 time purchase for the game and keep playing it and buy when I choose to expansions/DLCs.

I could really use some help in really getting into this game.
Supposedly, I have a mount, but I don't know how to access/use it.
Is there a minimap I can put in my UI instead of having to press m for the big map every few minutes to make sure I'm going in the right direction?
How can I buy a stronghold/house?

If you're a SWTOR veteran too, please let me know how you feel ESO compares to SWTOR, particularly in regards to crafting, gearing, and end game content. I know I still have a long way to go before reaching max level. However, one of my gripes with SWTOR was stale end game content (there haven't been new raids/operations, daily missions/area, flashpoints/dungeons in SWTOR for like over 2 years). Does ESO regularly release new end game contents and truly expand on the game instead of reinventing the wheel like SWTOR does?

Even if you're not a SWTOR veteran, feel free to chime in on what you think about the things I mentioned.
Believe it or not, I never really played WoW. I tried it for like 10 minutes, but I couldn't get passed the graphics. I'm sure it is a great game, but it just felt like it wasn't my cup of tea.
Thanks for your responses/feedback.

freedom3128

Good morning and welcome to ESO. I have not played other MMOs before because of subscription fees. I feel like ESO is the best fit for me because I cannot play hardcore due to life obligations. As for assistance let me answer some of your questions.

You can access your mount by going to your options menu. Go to collections and click on mount and select one to be your main. If you are playing on console, you cannot have a mini map on your screen. For PC, I am not sure but you can download extra add ons to help track your buffs, debuffs, damage output, heals, and other stats. Currently, houses are only available on PC which you can get a free house by completing a quest and then you can purchase one with in game gold or crowns purchased online. On average, ESO drops new dlc or free add on's every few months. In the span of last year we have had thieves guild, dark brotherhood, and one Tamriel.

As for questing, the entire world is scaled to your level. No matter where you go the enemies will not be above or below your current level. You can wonder into any territory you want to and not worry about being in the wrong zone. As far as character, you can play the game however you want. People are always testing out new theories and builds. At any point you can purchase a class change token or race change token to configure whatever you want.

Hope this helps

iamkeebler

My biggest suggestion is more on how to get immersed in the game. I'm a long time elder scrolls franchise fan and part of the allure of this world for me is the lore, the many thousands of books you find in the world are pretty helpful and can sometimes lead you to quests, more skill points, and more lore knowledge. I also suggest finding a good guild or two to become a part of. There are many skilled players who love nothing more than to team up and help you level faster and learn the ins and outs of the game mechanics.

As for updates, what I love about ESO is that they just keep expanding the world and bringing in some of the lore you read about into actual playable content. There have been a few releases and updates that really have evolved the game and made it better. The other thing I like is that you can tell the game creators really watch these forums and implement many suggestions that the fans ask for. I've been around since the game came out on PS4 and I've seen many fan suggestions become reality in the game.

Sigtric

A few things to get you started

You mentioned your mount:
Press U to open your collections screen, find the mounts tab and make the mount you have active (this is effectively like equipping it) - then whenever you want to mount, the default key is H

I'm sure you've noticed this game is quite a bit different in terms of combat from SWTOR. You'll only ever have 12 skills available to you at any given time during combat, 5 regular plus 1 ultimate skill, and at level 15 you get your weapon swap to open up the second bar.

At this level my big suggestions are this:
1. Don't rush leveling (do the quests, not grinding)
2. try to keep at least one skill from each of your 3 class lines on your hotbar plus your weapon
3. join mages and fighters guilds as soon as you find them, so you can start earning XP towards them
4. Try to always wear at least one piece of each weight of armor, to level those skill lines (light, medium, heavy)

Violynne

I'm on XB1, so I can't help you with any advice on add-ins which may alter the game for you, such as a mini-map.

But for the rest...

Oh, where are my manners! Here, have a fishy stick (you'll eventually get the reference). Welcome to ESO.

Since you really are brand new, here are some things you need to know:
- You can access your mount from the menu, under Mounts. If memory serves, you get one mount. Other horses you can buy in the game for gold, but others require Crown store purchases, like the bear you may have seen a few billion times.

- Mounts require training, which is 250 gold per day. There are three training arcs: speed, capacity, and stamina. Each takes 20 hours to learn and only 1 per day, which means a minimum of 180 days to fully train your mount. DO THIS! Having a strong mount when you're done going through the different story arcs will be extremely helpful. I also recommend doing them in order, top to bottom. At level 20 of each, your mount will get free visual items, like bags, harness, and wrappings. Rather cool, I think.

- I've not played SWTOR, so I can't compare, but if you've played any Elder Scroll/Fallout game, combat is very similar in execution. The only difference is you now have skills to manage, and you can't use them all at once. You have to select the ones which fit your style of play. However, it's best you level them all because you'll discover some skills work together rather than as individual attacks.

- At level 15, you unlock a second weapon. However, you do not need to make it a different weapon. The skill bar will open another set and you can mix/match as you please. The great thing about skills are you don't necessarily have to match them to the weapon. For example, you can place Liquid Lightning in a slot while dual wielding (which is exceptionally fun, I might add).

- The most challenging element to the game is the grind, and yes, you *will* grind. it's inevitable, because you're going to want to craft your own weapons and armor, and those take materials found within the game world. Space will be extremely limited early, but as you amass gold, you can buy additional space for both your bag and the bank.

- DO NOT rush to break down/sell every weapon/armor you find. Many weapons contain traits, and you must learn them before you can apply them. I do know PC players have management tools which allow you to keep track of the traits you've learned/need to learn, so be sure to install one. As you learn a trait, every trait afterwards "doubles" in time to learn it, the last being a staggering 30 days (for basic - high end traits take even longer). Therefore, take your time and manage well.

- I don't agree with the three armors advice. Two at most, because this will give you the flexibility of wearing armors with enhancements or traits which may suit your overall design. 3 is pushing it, especially with the time it takes to learn. If you desire a third set of armor, there's plenty of time to do so once you harness the two you desire more.

- I do agree with the advice do not rush the game. Take your time, and learn the basics. You'll make some mistakes, but that's part of the experience. I'm on my third character and I'm playing as though I just hit the beach in Auridon for the first time. The game will seem like a challenge while you learn, but don't fret over the difficulty. Trust me: it does get easier as you learn to use the skills you unlock and the weapons you feel work best for you. Variety! This game definitely has it.

- If you know anyone who plays the game, ask if they're in a guild and ask to join. Some guilds require a "fee" to join (as to share/run a store), but most don't. Early on, I'd stick with guilds which don't require a fee. The benefits of a guild are you can buy/sell items to other guildmates, which helps in removing some of the grind. However, note prices will shock you due to the insane abundant amount of gold the game throws at you.

Well, that's basically it for my primer. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

So, did you like the Fishy Stick?

saucefarb16_ESO

Swtor is a completely different experience, sure ESO might be a better looker but when it comes to storylines Bioware flexes with more than 20 years of experience and it shows in the end. Elder scrolls has always been a popular franchise just like Star Wars, but ESO does not give us anything new or groundbreaking. except for maybe the loot system which i actually like a lot.

Its the pve where SWTOR really does it for me, you can do the entire storyline including heroics and flashpoints alone if you so desire at your own pace most of the time you won't see other players unless you choose to party with some.

In ESO that is simply not possible, they not so long ago changed it so that you can no longer solo a lot of the world content if you're a new player, it's not really a great experience to level up in ESO as it should be, beautiful areas certainly, just horrible execution of content in it. Books which they like to call lore and skyshards scattered without meaning across each map forcing you to explore most of it, if you want the extra skillpoints. They merged factions so they all see eachother and are in the same instance, this may sound like a great idea but it really isn't. Players are attacking eachother's target like you weren't right next to them, looting objects is instanced so you have your own which is great atleast. You will spend quite a bit of time waiting for world events and such, for me this was not a huge problem but i am a patient man. Overall i wasn't amazed or even remotely impressed other than by the beautiful areas.

Now as for in-game stores, both have mostly cosmetics. IN SWTOR you can get weapons and armor but they are without modifications so it's just like picking up a any other empty weapon except for the look, it's the modifications that gives the stats. You don't pay for expansions in SWTOR if you're a subscriber at all, where in ESO you do pay for expansions like Morrowind. I won't go into great detail who's more money hungry than the other. figure it out.

The most important difference for me in the stores is that you can buy everything, yes i said everything for credits/gold in swtor even boxed crates, this makes it fair for those that don't have or want to spend a fortune on the cartel market and can do it with in-game currency instead. In eso would it would be like buying wild hunt crates for gold, you think that will ever happen ? :P

exeeter702

I am EXTREMELY seasoned in swtor. Unfortunately that is almost entire revolving around pvp so im not sure how much help ill be here.

Eso is very horizontal in that contrary to swtor, the more you play eso the more options you gain in how you want yo approach whatever content you decide to do as opposed to swtor which is heavily styled in the wow format of incremental ilvl increases over time. For pve, to be brutaly honest, there is not much more of a robust offering in true end game compared to swtor. Trials in eso are farily straight forward and quick compared to swtors raids. Likewise you are not constantly chasing ilvl upgrades here.

Over time, ive found that eso offers a bit more engagement in a causal log in / play session where you can make actual progress with your time that yeilds a measurable return, wether its farming mats, doing writs, making some rounds in a zone for a set you want to try or doing a few pledges. Swtor has made recent changes (many would say for the worse) but ultimately asks more for more of your time.

Pvp is where i will not chamge my stance, having played pvp in mmos for over 14 years in functionality and feature, swtor pvp is leaps and bounds above eso. I will aegue that stance until im blue in the face as i have given the subject A LOT of though over the years. And i have been pvping here since beta.

Malic

The best advice you are going to get is as follows:

I played ESO for almost 3 years before I came to the official forums. Log out, and dont return to the forums for a minimum of 6 months, years if you can swing it and just play the game. Most of it, is actually pretty good.

The forums? Well Obi Wan accurately describes it below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0znNiN0lYAQ

SantieClaws

Many greetings and this one is most pleased to see you here.

Advice from Khajiit:

Pick and gather everything - even small flowers have some value.

The town guards are immortal - don't even try it

Go where your paws take you and do as you feel like. Don't feel obliged to do anything. Every quest will still be there to go back to if you say no today.

Really don't bother trying to get any decent armour or anything until you are beyond level 50. You will outlevel it very fast indeed.

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

Arbitrator

Been playing SWTOR since beta and I have not stopped subscribing since. However, I also play ESO in downtime when things on SWTOR start to slow down.

Biggest thing SWTOR has on ESO is class/game balance. SWTOR is easily the best mmo out for PvP simply because of the way the classes are designed. You have counters, and anti counters, and everything just meshes real well together. It's fast, fluid, fun, and you always have a fighting chance.

Of course this is not to say that some classes don't excel above others, like for the past months on SWTOR Commando/Mercenaries have been overperforming. This happens in any mmo that experiences nerfs/buffs but SWTOR class design STILL allows you to use your abilities properly to have a fighting chance. You will NOT get a fighting chance in ESO, especially if you play a Templar.

PvE, same thing. SWTOR is still more fun (coming from a tank role standpoint) because I have the tools I need to perform my role effectively which in turn allows me to have fun doing so. ESO on the other hand, I can't say the same. As a Templar tank I don't have the tools available to me to do what a DragonKnight can do much more effectively. Plus tanking in this game is more about controlling the enemies since we don't have AoE taunts. This is why Templars are the worst tank class because they don't have any AoE CC.

In SWTOR the roles are balanced between the classes. In ESO, each class has a... I don't want to say specific, but it's like each class was only designed for 1 role, (despite them claiming otherwise).

DragonKnights are clearly Tank oriented.
Templars are clearly supposed to be Healer oriented.
Sorcerors are more about AoE damage.
Nightblades are more about single target damage.
And the new Warden is second in tanking only to the dk and shares same prowess with healing as the Templar, if not better.

That's NOT saying you can't perform each role in the trinity on each class. It's just that some classes are clearly better at certain roles than others. On SWTOR this difference is not as widespread. Every tank, healer and dps has all the tools available to them to perform their role effectively.

Anyways, welcome to ESO and I hope you can find enjoyment in the game. It's a really fun and well built game but the class design just isn't up to par with other games I have played. The art team on here is second to none. The game is breathtakingly beautiful and the story keeps you engaged. The only issue with me is combat/class design. After all, it doesn't matter how pretty a game is when you don't have fun playing your character/class. Keeping the game "fun" is what keeps people playing and paying. Once the "fun" goes away that's when people start looking for alternatives.

Anunakis

Solarsaenz wrote: »

As the title says, I'm new to ESO. The only MMO I have significant experience with is SWTOR, which I played (had a subscription) from the Spring of 2012 until I cancelled early last month (If you've played SWTOR recently, then you understand why I left SWTOR). I bought the ESO digital game gold edition this weekend. I started a High Elf Templar, and I am only like level 6 right now.
Did I make a good choice coming to this game? I installed and played like 10 minute of Black Desert Online, but I just didn't feel like it was for me, the same with FFXIV.
So far, I like what I am seeing in ESO; I am really glad I can just make a 1 time purchase for the game and keep playing it and buy when I choose to expansions/DLCs.

so far for me since 2013 eso is only mmo that I play , eve online time to time as supercaps pilot, and i droped swtor just when i got key for eso beta

Solarsaenz wrote: »

I could really use some help in really getting into this game.
Supposedly, I have a mount, but I don't know how to access/use it.
Is there a minimap I can put in my UI instead of having to press m for the big map every few minutes to make sure I'm going in the right direction?
How can I buy a stronghold/house?

mounts are in collectibles "U" pick one u like and then call it with "H" key,
without adons here watch your compass , or use minimap addon like votans minimap , for editing your ui - azurah ,
buing house in eso requires completed quest for housing, achievements and tons of gold , however cheapest is a inn room, most expensive are manors about 4M gold,
there is no guildhalls yet or anything like strongholds but if you in pvp guild you can conquer some keep on cyrodiil and defend it if you like

Solarsaenz wrote: »

If you're a SWTOR veteran too, please let me know how you feel ESO compares to SWTOR, particularly in regards to crafting, gearing, and end game content. I know I still have a long way to go before reaching max level. However, one of my gripes with SWTOR was stale end game content (there haven't been new raids/operations, daily missions/area, flashpoints/dungeons in SWTOR for like over 2 years). Does ESO regularly release new end game contents and truly expand on the game instead of reinventing the wheel like SWTOR does?

what i liked most when i started playing eso is just few skill to use , while playing swtor i played marauder mostly and often to use it most effectively it was about like 40 skills to use , here is just 12 on both bars + ligh, heavy attack, roll dodge, block and bash (which you will activate.use just with your mouse and its tutorial how to do that at the very begining ),
eso mostly is about lore and story ,
for endgame :
PVE : vet dungeons on hard modes , vet trials (its like raid just for 12 ppl not 24) on hard mode ,
pve dailies : undaunted pledges (they have enclave outside of capital to each alliance), daily quests on craglorn, from the guild : fighters, mages, thieves and dark botherhood,
pvp : cyrodill , imperial city/sewers , morrowinds battlegrounds (its arena 4v4v4)
since 2014 eso had few major updates like craglorn, imperial city,orsinium, thieves guild , dark brother hood, housing and now morrowind + major changes in game mechanics

crafting system :
ESO has 5 skilllines in crafting : provisioning , alchemy, clothing, woodworking, blacksmithing, enchanting , each category has own hirelings (its like swtor companions sent for gathering resources but those you just unlock with passives and you passively gain their work in the mailbox) besides that there are crafting stations (sets) , each set to be crafted requires some knowledge about crafting not only level in crafting but knowledge of item traits too, there are 9 traits ,
furnishing could be next category of crafting but its just for crafting house items
for me swtor crafting was just boring , eso crafting system is more advanced and fun

ESO is like democracy not the best but best known in the current mmo market , if you liked collecting datacrons in SWTOR you will like also collecting achievements in eso and its plenty of them :d, while you just started playing eso there are months of playtime before you,

jircris11

Solarsaenz wrote: »

As the title says, I'm new to ESO. The only MMO I have significant experience with is SWTOR, which I played (had a subscription) from the Spring of 2012 until I cancelled early last month (If you've played SWTOR recently, then you understand why I left SWTOR). I bought the ESO digital game gold edition this weekend. I started a High Elf Templar, and I am only like level 6 right now.
Did I make a good choice coming to this game? I installed and played like 10 minute of Black Desert Online, but I just didn't feel like it was for me, the same with FFXIV.
So far, I like what I am seeing in ESO; I am really glad I can just make a 1 time purchase for the game and keep playing it and buy when I choose to expansions/DLCs.

I could really use some help in really getting into this game.
Supposedly, I have a mount, but I don't know how to access/use it.
Is there a minimap I can put in my UI instead of having to press m for the big map every few minutes to make sure I'm going in the right direction?
How can I buy a stronghold/house?

If you're a SWTOR veteran too, please let me know how you feel ESO compares to SWTOR, particularly in regards to crafting, gearing, and end game content. I know I still have a long way to go before reaching max level. However, one of my gripes with SWTOR was stale end game content (there haven't been new raids/operations, daily missions/area, flashpoints/dungeons in SWTOR for like over 2 years). Does ESO regularly release new end game contents and truly expand on the game instead of reinventing the wheel like SWTOR does?

Even if you're not a SWTOR veteran, feel free to chime in on what you think about the things I mentioned.
Believe it or not, I never really played WoW. I tried it for like 10 minutes, but I couldn't get passed the graphics. I'm sure it is a great game, but it just felt like it wasn't my cup of tea.
Thanks for your responses/feedback.

if you are on pc/NA feel free to add me @jircris11 i would be willing to answer any questions ingame.