I have a problem and I need some help - character related.

Knowledge

I love this game dearly but there's something I have trouble with each time I've come back to it. I plan on staying this time for a long while. At any rate, I can never figure out what to play as and I feel wedged into one role on each character I make. I am not fond of making other characters because I am just a one character person but I have.

So, my main which is built up to a good degree is a DK, has a large amount of skillpoints, vampire leveled up, even assault/support fully leveled, and is a PVE tank. I have tanked most Veteran HM dungeons with him and I do like tanking.

I wanted to PVP for a bit so I converted him to a Stam DK but realized I needed him to be my tank to farm pledges and that Stam DK isn't really that great right now in PVP. So, I converted him back to a PVE tank and now, I want to make one of my other characters a PVP character.

I have a Sorc and a Warden. I really prefer ranged characters for PVP OR a tank type of setup but I don't know where to begin. The old school magicka DK tank in Cyrodil as cheesy as it was is more of my style but it's no longer viable. I don't want to be a regular melee DPS I like to be tanky so Stamden isn't for me. A Tanky Templar would probably be up my alley but that's another character to level. Sorc is ranged but I feel like it needs to be in very skilled hands. Not saying I can't get to that but I'm not sure I want to with MagBlade looking so nice.

So then, what should I do?

Nestor

TBH, bite the bullet and level a character in each class. You don't need one for Stamina and Magic, unless you want, as you can always respec Morphs and Attributes if you need to.

Yes, any class can do any role, this is a hallmark of this game. But, you can't tank a dungeon then immediately go and run a solo delve (unless you like having 5 minute trash mob fights).

Nice thing is you only have to get to L50 and find a few zones worth of Skyhards to have a viable and flexible character.

Best Practice Leveling Guide:

Let me give you an example of what I did with my last two leveling characters.

1. I collected all the Skyshards in the zone. I avoided any and all quests other than those that show up in the delves that have skyshards. These quests do not give set items for rewards so no loss there.
2. I would farm the dolmens a few times to get set jewelry that helped my character
3. I would do the Public Dungeons including all the bosses
4. Then I would move to the next zone.

In doing this, I could fully gear up my character with level appropriate stuff, and it was helpful gear. May not have been the best, but you don't need the best while leveling. Any gear I farmed from Dolmens or PD's is repeatable, so I can get it at CP160 by just repeating. Then, I had all the content quests left for me once I reached CP160 as those can give you sweet Set Drops in good traits you want. And, Quest Experience is huge for gaining CPs once your past CP160. Kind of a waste before that.

In about 8 zones, I would be fully leveled in Mages, Fighters, Class, 3 Armors and Weapon Skills. Leaving only Undaunted to level, although I would get to almost 3 in that from Dungeon Achievements.For most efficient Lore Book collecting, stick to one Alliance's zones for the first 5, then farm other zones.

Anyway, this game is really made for Alts, if you want to do different kinds of roles and or content.

geonsocal

this is probably going to be a poopy answer, and, something you may not want to do - but - i'd really recommend going through fexelea's eso wiki and spend some time reading through the different skills of the classes, different racial benefits and go through the different armor sets...

http://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Elder+Scrolls+Online+Wiki

i can't even begin to count the number of hours i've spent going through all the different aspects of a build on that site...

although i'm much less inclined to suggest this - you can also look at the different build guides that are out there - much easier, quicker - but, a lot less fun...

Edit: if you already have an idea of the type of character you'd like to create and play - chances are very good you'll be able to fill in the blanks by doing some research there...

then you can ask some more specific questions here to fine tune your build and playstyle...

cool to hear you want to get in to pvp - be careful - it's super addictive

Marginis

My advice? Pick a race you think is cool. Pick a class that fits your playstyle. Decide what content you want to run. Find a way to make it work.

The meta will always change, while characters tend not to get deleted and remade every patch, so you shouldn't factor the current meta into character creation. Some things will therefore be suboptimal, however, everything should at least work. For example, if you want to make a nightblade tank, it won't be able to do what a dragonknight blade can (which, in the current meta, is arguably better), but it should still be able to run most content effectively.

If you want to hug the meta, prepare to put in the work of keeping up with it, remaking and rebuilding characters with every big patch, and not playing how you want in order to be "good".