Guide to Dolmen Leveling - Max Efficiency

rteezy

why would u dolmen grind when u can do it solo 3-50 in less time(4 hours)...or 2 hours during the xp event...

people just need to embrace this thing called Google search...1 simple search will show you tons of guides on HOW to level in 4 hours...

Dolmen grind takes longer...theres more moving around...and u make less gold....THE ONLY plus side is the fact that it is Lazy mode when it comes to combat....

no cp or cp farming it is the slowest way of doing (unless we are talking about questing..that doesnt level you at all...)

jaws343

I do a far more rewarding dolmen grind to level new characters. Start in your home zone and walk to each dolmen, looting nodes and chests and getting skyshards/books along the way. Sell all of the non purple gear you pick up to the vendor. Hit up the public dungeon for the skyshard and the group event skillpoint. Do this for every dolmen/public dungeon in every zone. Save Malabal Tor, Bangkori, and Rivenspire for last. You should hit level 50 right before you get to those zones with xp pots, training gear and double xp. Then, while doing those zones, you have the opportunity to loot valuable gear.

It is a less boring grind. It requires you to actually fight and learn how your skills work. You often end up soloing dolmens. You get the first completion xp every time. You get a ton of mats since you are running everywhere. By the time I finish one of these grinds I've probably made 100K+ in just vendoring gear.

Tommy_The_Gun

rteezy wrote: »

why would u dolmen grind when u can do it solo 3-50 in less time(4 hours)

Where exactly can I level solo from level 3 to 50, with no group, no food buffs, exp potion /scrolls buffs, with crappy gear in approximately 4 hours other than dolmen grinding or questing ? ? ? If you could tell me - that would be great...

Joy_Division

If you actually want a useful level 50 character with skillpoints, mage's guild, undaunted, etc., all done, I would not follow the OP's advice.

Getting XP is so so so much ridiculously easier now in ESO than at launch, there is little need to mindlessly "grind."

badmojo

Jolipinator wrote: »

badmojo wrote: »

Jolipinator wrote: »

I prefer quests. They give me skill points and don't cause my game to lag/crash.

After you've done those exact same quests more than say... 4 or 5 times, you'll understand why a lot of people choose dolmen grinding.

After I have done one dolmen once, you'll predict the end of this sentence.

Could say the same about killing an NPC, point is that some of us have tried literally every way to level up our alts and dolmens just work best for multiple reasons.

Where else can a person craft level 15 training armor and wear it until CP160? Where else can a person slot entirely support skills and still get xp at a fast rate? Where else can you swap out weapons constantly without spending skill points? All of that while playing solo and never spending any resources other than maybe xp drinks or scrolls and repairing your level 15 training gear every time you vendor a full inventory of gear.

I guess there are places you can do those things but they all rely on somebody carrying specifically you. At dolmen, the grinders carry each other, for free, any time of the day for 5minutes or 5hours.

It might not be the fastest way to gain xp, but its the cheapest and easiest that I have tried. During this new life festival I plan on leveling up my last 4 below 50 characters, to go along with the 10 I already have.

josiahva

Pointless. Without the skyshards and associated skillpoints getting to lvl50 is worthless. The most efficient way to get a USABLE lvl50 toon is to simply level up as you collect all the skyshards and lorebooks. This way, you have all the skillpoints you will ever need, get your mages guild skill line to 10 and not be lacking anything. Does it take longer? sure, but its not the "grind" to 50 that takes time in this game, its the grind for materials and gear

badmojo

What if you are in a zone like Bangkorai collecting skyshards and lorebooks and come across a chest and find a purple spriggan ring? If you are a lowly level 15 you might be able to sell it for some profit. But, if you were over CP160 and that happened you could turn that ring into 30k+ pretty quickly, or keep it becauae its end game gear.

Also, time spent playing a sub50 character is time you are not contributing towards the real grind, champion points.

Takes-No-Prisoner

ADarklore wrote: »

Honestly, I love Dolemen grinding... I don't know why, it's just a lot of fun. Plus, as others noted, fastest way to level Fighters Guild skill line and also acquire the General Executioner achievement in the process. Although, I Dolemen grind in Auridon, not Alik'r.

I do mine in Deshaan. The more people that join in, the merrier, since more daemora spawn. I was able to get FG10 in 2 days doing just Dolmens and I hit lv50 2 hours before I got FG10. Very useful for a stamina toon going to PvP.

I really recommend dolmen grinding. Only down side, honestly is once you hit 50, no more skill points. So there is some extra time spent getting skill points.

Bevik

badmojo wrote: »

Jolipinator wrote: »

badmojo wrote: »

Jolipinator wrote: »

I prefer quests. They give me skill points and don't cause my game to lag/crash.

After you've done those exact same quests more than say... 4 or 5 times, you'll understand why a lot of people choose dolmen grinding.

After I have done one dolmen once, you'll predict the end of this sentence.

Could say the same about killing an NPC, point is that some of us have tried literally every way to level up our alts and dolmens just work best for multiple reasons.

Where else can a person craft level 15 training armor and wear it until CP160? Where else can a person slot entirely support skills and still get xp at a fast rate? Where else can you swap out weapons constantly without spending skill points? All of that while playing solo and never spending any resources other than maybe xp drinks or scrolls and repairing your level 15 training gear every time you vendor a full inventory of gear.

I guess there are places you can do those things but they all rely on somebody carrying specifically you. At dolmen, the grinders carry each other, for free, any time of the day for 5minutes or 5hours.

It might not be the fastest way to gain xp, but its the cheapest and easiest that I have tried. During this new life festival I plan on leveling up my last 4 below 50 characters, to go along with the 10 I already have.

This sums up the whole thing. I'm always leveling toons with dolmens in Alik'r till level 15 atleast or till I get the desired skill up enough to be able to do random normal dungeons properly. (yes you need a basic knowledge of the dungeons, build to know what to level up)
You can do it with the lowest gear you can craft so even with level 1 gear or 4 is the next i think. Skip the tutorial, you are already level 3, unlock the 3 class specific skill lines, unlock the weapon skill lines by killing 1 mob (goat, mudcrab, whatever), go do dolmens till level 10, time to Cyro skip the training there, free skill points, back to dolmens, do random normal, I think for low chars it's like 3-4 dungeons now so that's extra skill points + level also.
Not to mention it's a lot better and easier to do questing or any open world thing above level 50. Plus more rewarding.
You can just leech the dolmens, use the pots, scrolls you get from events and that's it. If you find it too boring start killing so you get more XP.
Yes you still have to grind skyshards, lorebooks but well you will always come to that point when you need skyshards, so along with skyshards you can grab the nearby lorebooks, do delves, dolmens around, world bosses, public dungeons and eventually you will have everything what you need. More peaceful to collect skyshards and lorebooks if you already have the level. You can spend 10 mins to grab 3 skyshards or some hours your choice.

Beardimus

Wow

Or just play the game...

leeux

@Fischblut,

Fischblut wrote: »

<snip>Like when I was enjoying rare opportunity to solo a dolmen, and suddenly wild CP 690 joins... light attacking mobs and then boss with bow, not doing anything else
<snip>

Just offering a different perspective here... keep in mind that some people (like me) hold off going full berserk mode when there's another person fighting around.

Several reasons for that... most importantly, mobs disintegrate WAY too fast for out current full DPS builds, like... 1.5 secs from max health to 0, and that almost never gives a chance to other people to tag the mobs before they die.

Other reason, less important but still there... you never know if the person that was there before appreciate the help or not... so is better to not jump in and destroy everything

IMO, of course.

One_ofMany

Why Alik'r desert...
Is it more exp or closer Dolman's etc?

bhagwad

One_ofMany wrote: »

Why Alik'r desert...
Is it more exp or closer Dolman's etc?

Closer to wayshrines, and it's always moving. Unlike Auridon for example, where the Dolmens are sometimes empty.

Kesef

kargen27 wrote: »

My advice is ignore the OP advice. Sure you might get to level 50 quick but you still need to find skyshards and a myriad of other things before you have a viable character.

If you are DPS do the random as DPS so you can work on your skills and rotations. While waiting in queue explore, kill mobs find lore books and skyshards. Kill everything you see and gather anything you can. You can sell that stuff for gold or use it later. Many builds require skills and passives from the mages guild and just popping dolmen doesn't work for that.

If you are in a guild you can use the travel to player option to discover a lot of wayshrines quickly giving you XP and access to other places to explore. Get out and about in the world and enjoy it. Level 50 will come soon enough and when it does your character will be better prepared for what is next.

While you are out and about of course hit any dolmen you get near but no need to just run the circle doing nothing but dolmen. Hit the delves as you pass also. Some have an easy and short quest associated with them so you get XP for doing the delve and the quest.

Don't turn the game into a grind. Have fun.

Skyshards and such are just as easy to find at level 50 as they are earlier on. You still have CP to grind out to get to "max level" equipment.

If you have not hit lvl 50, there is a good chance you do not even have all of your skills available to practice your skills and rotations in full.

The way I found the most enjoyment, was grinding quick, so that my character could be competitive and what-have-you, then went and enjoyed the rest of it. Of course, I did not just grind for hours and days straight. I took a break and did a questline or two and took a chance to get roflstomped on in PvP . You will still be grinding to try and get higher CP levels and specific dungeons for sets you want. One way or the other, you will end up grinding in one activity or another. I prefer to get a lot of it out of the way up front .

That being said, you as your own person should decide how you want to go about it and how you will best enjoy the game. This guide simply gives you some options.

iAmLife

Hahahah all these fools bashing the OP on the guide, if you hate it then don't bother commenting, end of the day it's up to the players what they want to do, this guide is 100% useful and perfect for those looking to level up their toons with minimal effort. You butthurt ppl, when you make your 6th toon, please don't be a hypocrite and farm its level, grind the way you've suggested, but I bet yous don't. Bloody hypocrites ahaha.

WoppaBoem

Good setup, you run to lvl50. Needs to be done