Dolmens. Why even quest?

Integral1900

Used to grind charecters, I stopped because firstly it’s soul crushingly boring, and secondly I just don’t connect with the charecter, I need to go through their stories to get attached to them. In the end all the ones I did via dolmens end up retired... yes that means I’m deleting maxed out charecters. If you like grinding then fine but don’t bother with dolmens, they nerfed those things into the ground. Just find a bunch of trash mobs in a quiet corner, get a freind along and run round in circles, you’ll triple the xp from the anchors and their massive Zerg groups

swippy

zaria wrote: »

swippy wrote: »

Slick_007 wrote: »

haygrubb wrote: »

For fun. Dolmen grinding gets brain numbing after a couple hours

a couple of hours? it takes that long for you?

are you misunderstanding that statement as a claim that a single dolmen takes hours? you missed the point.

dolmens are too easy, and therefore boring. plus, if you're contrasting them with questing, you get infinitely less skill points, in the literal sense.

if it's fun for you to stack only some of the least combat-useful of numbers in repitition by themselves, then by all means, have a ball.

Dolmens is nice if you want to level lots of new skills like, tanking or switching between magic and stamina as you can level up both bars fast without any skill, yes this can be done with back bar on cashing in quests but is slower.

yeah, that's true. there are specific situations where just booming stuff out quick is preferable. i'm guilty of responding just as much to the Original Poster as to the poster i quoted. that's my bad. it's gotta be something quick, though; i maintain that dolmens are just boring.

Sting864

Vhozek wrote: »

A dolmen in Alik'r Desert is done in a bit over a minute while providing 2.5k exp and a chest.
There are an incredible amount of quests in the game that take around 5-7 minutes to finish and provide below 1k exp plus 1 item.
Why would you waste your time?

Where's the fire??
Please continue to do dolmens... It will keep you outta the way of actual ESO gamers...

Ilithyania

nothing wrong with wanting quick XP.

I quest because dialog can be funny. Different zones have different feels to them. many areas are so beautiful, combined with the music, sometimes i just stop and take the world in. You also get achievemnts that unlock furniture/dyes etc.

DarcyMardin

I grind dolmens for a few levels, sure. But why do quests? For fun, the story, and most importantly, for skill points.

Nestor

Vhozek wrote: »

Why would you waste your time?

Doing Dolmens? I still don't know why people think this is the best way to level a character.

Sure, you get to L50 in short order, but you don't have the skill points to make a character that can do anything. You still have to get the Skyshards and Lore Books. And, if you go out and get all the Skyshards and Lore Books, you would level your character to 50 anyway.

So, the real waste of time is doing Dolmens to Level your Character.

Here is how you level your character efficiently:

1. Collect all the Skyshards in the zone. Avoid 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. Farm the dolmens a few times to get set jewelry that help your character
3. Do the Public Dungeons including all the bosses and the Group Event
4. 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. Note to get the farthest in the least number of zones for Mages, concentrate on one Alliance for the first 5 zones. Then you only need a few more zones. Now you have only Undaunted to level, although I would get to almost 3 in that from Dungeon Achievements.

huntgod_ESO

Dolmens are zero effort and zero risk. They are not the most efficient, but they require no concentration or effort, so it's something you can do while watching TV or doing other stuff. When you are leveling toon 2+ it is just easier, but not quickest, just requires the least effort.

I appreciate this option is in there...

Elsonso

ShadowMonarch wrote: »

Ardan147 wrote: »

Because you also need skill points, and doing the same thing over and over again gets mind-numbingly boring.

Almost every quest IS the same thing over and over again.
Skyshards are the same old thing over and over.
Lorebooks are the same old thing over and over.
Farming gear in dungeons is the same thing over and over when you have to run it 30times to get 5 peices you need.

Every part of progression in this game is the same old thing over and over, its a grinding game. Saying because its the same thing over and over isn't a strong argument.

Repetition over time is the difference. Dolmens are the same thing, varying only in the fine details, every couple of minutes.

Quests may have one of a handful of objectives, but each one is different, and the repetition is spread out over time.

Each Skyshard and Lorebook location is different, and the repetition is spread out over a lot of time.

Farming gear in dungeons is, I will admit, the closest to the mind numbing Dolmens as it gets in your list.

Few things in this game are more boring that Dolmens, and watching people dash between them so they don't miss one is amazing. It is like watching Lemmings running over a cliff.

Integral1900 wrote: »

Used to grind charecters, I stopped because firstly it’s soul crushingly boring, and secondly I just don’t connect with the charecter, I need to go through their stories to get attached to them. In the end all the ones I did via dolmens end up retired... yes that means I’m deleting maxed out charecters.

I agree. The characters that go through all the quests and all the stories are the ones that I keep playing. The ones that bypass most of that using Holidays, Dolmens, etc, are the ones that I tend to set aside. If I can't look at a Level 50 and think, "wow, I can't believe how much the character has changed" then I leveled too fast.

Nestor wrote: »

Quest Experience is huge for gaining CPs once your past CP160. Kind of a waste before that.

Quoted to make sure people see this. While I am sure there are other ways to get CP, I find this much more entertaining.

SBC

I can't do dolmens more than 10 minutes before I get sick of it. I go right back to dungeons and quests.

GreenhaloX

haygrubb wrote: »

For fun. Dolmen grinding gets brain numbing after a couple hours

Hats off for you to make it that long. Tried it, but about half an hour is all I can take. This include grinding for anything else. Hey, it's a functional part of the game, however; much as grinding for Skyreach, bears, wolves, zombies and whatever else. Those that can grind for hours and hours on end, you go.. do your thing..

Anotherone773

ShadowMonarch wrote: »

Ardan147 wrote: »

Because you also need skill points, and doing the same thing over and over again gets mind-numbingly boring.

Almost every quest IS the same thing over and over again.
Skyshards are the same old thing over and over.
Lorebooks are the same old thing over and over.
Farming gear in dungeons is the same thing over and over when you have to run it 30times to get 5 peices you need.

Every part of progression in this game is the same old thing over and over, its a grinding game. Saying because its the same thing over and over isn't a strong argument.

It is all in how you look at it. This is the least grindy mmo i have ever played. And grinding gear is not even close to a normal mmo grind. You think running a dungeon 30 times to get the gear you need is bad? Try running something 300 times to get the gear and having no craftable option that is worth using. Here all content is doable in craftable gear. In most games crafted items arent worth the time to craft little lone the material.

Quests are pretty limited in what they can offer. Do this go here kill that. Pretty much the same in every game. No two skyshards or lore books are in the same place and if you dont cheat and use addons hunting for them can be kind of fun.

Get out and enjoy the world and stop turning everything in a chore/job that you must do.

TheCyberDruid

I'm just 'grinding' a new character to be a crafter and I find that the best ratio between XP, skill points and finding gear is just running through the zones from skyshard to skyshard and delve to delve. You even find some lore books just by doing that. I'd dare to say that grinding dolmen just for the XP and then getting the skyshards later is more of waste of time than just doing it both together. Completing the main quest line in each zone gives you some extra skill points, but it does indeed slow you down.

lardvader

Because of skillpoints and variation. Some like the story as well. But if dolmens work for you why not?

I did a lot of dolmens last week to push my second account to cp 160. Worked great but in the end boring af as everything in my book if you do it too much.

RANKK7

I do them with new characters to reach level 10 (it takes very short time for that level) to get Rapid immediately.

Then I continue to run them until the chars are level 14-ish to get the jewelry set.
In the meantime I unlock some basic skills, after that I craft blue sets and send them to dungeons for all the skill points from those quests, so I stop dolmens at that level.

I redo dolmens at level 22-ish, some runs (depending on drops) to "update" the 3 pieces of jewelry to current level.

Same at 30-ish, some runs for jewels.

CP characters, I did dolmens to unlock skills of resto or 2h I needed for pvp and it was quite fast, so occasionally I can run for that if the char is in a hurry on a specific skill line.

Randirkithdhrosrane

haygrubb wrote: »

For fun. Dolmen grinding gets brain numbing after a couple hours

You have the patience of a saint.

Sting864

ShadowMonarch wrote: »

Ardan147 wrote: »

Because you also need skill points, and doing the same thing over and over again gets mind-numbingly boring.

Almost every quest IS the same thing over and over again.
Skyshards are the same old thing over and over.
Lorebooks are the same old thing over and over.
Farming gear in dungeons is the same thing over and over when you have to run it 30times to get 5 peices you need.

Every part of progression in this game is the same old thing over and over, its a grinding game. Saying because its the same thing over and over isn't a strong argument.

Spoken as an "instant gratification" rushin' who likes dolmens because there's no dialogue or other content to skip... SMH

RDMyers65b14_ESO

I absolutely LOATHE dolman groups. They make it where you can't get the dolmans for the achievement. I avoid the Alik'r because of them. They are so very cringe worthy.

Graydon

JamieAubrey wrote: »

Graydon wrote: »

Vhozek wrote: »

A dolmen in Alik'r Desert is done in a bit over a minute while providing 2.5k exp and a chest.
There are an incredible amount of quests in the game that take around 5-7 minutes to finish and provide below 1k exp plus 1 item.
Why would you waste your time?

What’s the rush?

Its gets tedious when its your 3rd 4th 5th or 20th character...

I recommend going outside. Check it out.

JKorr

Vhozek wrote: »

A dolmen in Alik'r Desert is done in a bit over a minute while providing 2.5k exp and a chest.
There are an incredible amount of quests in the game that take around 5-7 minutes to finish and provide below 1k exp plus 1 item.
Why would you waste your time?

Because running in circles like mindless lemmings is rather ridiculous, imo.

I've never understood the mindset of the people who have to grind levels to be ultra uber as fast as possible, then *** moan and complain the game is empty and there's nothing to do and nothing is a challenge. People rushed through Morrowind and complained the game was empty; they missed so many lore/story threads that connected ESO Morrowind, and Beth's single player original Morrowind. If all people want to do is grind and pvp/end game content any game would work; there's no need to play one that has quests/world/lore/story in it.

Elsonso

Graydon wrote: »

JamieAubrey wrote: »

Graydon wrote: »

Vhozek wrote: »

A dolmen in Alik'r Desert is done in a bit over a minute while providing 2.5k exp and a chest.
There are an incredible amount of quests in the game that take around 5-7 minutes to finish and provide below 1k exp plus 1 item.
Why would you waste your time?

What’s the rush?

Its gets tedious when its your 3rd 4th 5th or 20th character...

I recommend going outside. Check it out.

It's radicals like you that scare new players away from the game!

JKorr wrote: »

I've never understood the mindset of the people who have to grind levels to be ultra uber as fast as possible, then *** moan and complain the game is empty and there's nothing to do and nothing is a challenge. People rushed through Morrowind and complained the game was empty; they missed so many lore/story threads that connected ESO Morrowind, and Beth's single player original Morrowind. If all people want to do is grind and pvp/end game content any game would work; there's no need to play one that has quests/world/lore/story in it.

Adrenaline rush? The need to be constantly entertained, rather than finding something entertaining to do? I have often wondered whether it was just the standard attention span issues that have been more prominent in the last couple of decades.

Betsararie

To take in the content of the quest or for achievements.

MLGProPlayer

Nestor wrote: »

Vhozek wrote: »

Why would you waste your time?

Doing Dolmens? I still don't know why people think this is the best way to level a character.

Sure, you get to L50 in short order, but you don't have the skill points to make a character that can do anything. You still have to get the Skyshards and Lore Books. And, if you go out and get all the Skyshards and Lore Books, you would level your character to 50 anyway.

So, the real waste of time is doing Dolmens to Level your Character.

Here is how you level your character efficiently:

1. Collect all the Skyshards in the zone. Avoid 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. Farm the dolmens a few times to get set jewelry that help your character
3. Do the Public Dungeons including all the bosses and the Group Event
4. 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. Note to get the farthest in the least number of zones for Mages, concentrate on one Alliance for the first 5 zones. Then you only need a few more zones. Now you have only Undaunted to level, although I would get to almost 3 in that from Dungeon Achievements.

You'll have 49 skill points when you reach level 50. That's plenty to create a build with.

Dolmen grinding is a waste of time because it's terribly inefficient. Overland mob grinding or Skyreach can get you from 1-50 in 5-10 hours with regular 50% pots (dolmen grinding takes over 25 hours).

You can then rush through the harborage and alliance stories for a few dozen more SP if you need them.

Sting864

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

You'll have 49 skill points when you reach level 50. That's plenty to create a build with.

Not to pick nits... but I had 64 skill points when I reached lvl 50... Further support for your point...

ADarklore

haygrubb wrote: »

For fun. Dolmen grinding gets brain numbing after a couple hours

I dunno, I actually enjoy Dolmen grinding for hours... it raises both your Fighters Guild skill line and offers several achievements along with the Daedric Lord Slayer title.

Sting864

ADarklore wrote: »

haygrubb wrote: »

For fun. Dolmen grinding gets brain numbing after a couple hours

I dunno, I actually enjoy Dolmen grinding for hours... it raises both your Fighters Guild skill line and offers several achievements along with the Daedric Lord Slayer title.

Go play in Cold Harbor.... More diverse than taping your mouse button down at an Alik'r Dolmen....

GimpyPorcupine

To L2P. Following a zerg around Alikir, dropping some AoEs on the dolmen, getting the XP and chest, then riding to the dolmen doesn't teach you jack about your toon or how to play it.

And of course the 3 skill points from quests that you're missing out on.

MLGProPlayer

Sting864 wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

You'll have 49 skill points when you reach level 50. That's plenty to create a build with.

Not to pick nits... but I had 64 skill points when I reached lvl 50... Further support for your point...

You're right. I forgot you get multiple skill points at certain levels.

AcadianPaladin

I have several CP720 chars. When I'm working on a new one, the last thing I want is for them to hit L50 and all of a sudden jump to 720 without having the variety of experiences necessary to represent the way I want my 720's to play. I find that growing up doing Alikr dolmens with 100 of my closest friends trying to get 3 light attacks in before the dolmen closes simply does not let me get myself fully attuned with the character's desired potential.

Slick_007

swippy wrote: »

are you misunderstanding that statement as a claim that a single dolmen takes hours? you missed the point.

the only misunderstanding is yours. i asked it takes that long for their brain to go numb.

dazee

Everyone plays the way they want to. That means people should neither feel forced into dolmens or questing. and as of now due to the advantages and disadvantages of both, it's pretty balanced and in a good place.