Another 'returning player' thread

The_Sadist

Hey everyone,

A little bit of back story, I guess! I played ESO at launch (NA server, Australian based player.. the ping is real) and left after burning myself out grinding for trophies (at the time it was trophies, fishing, or grinding alts). I've since jumped around from MMO to MMO but have always gravitate back towards ESO. I'm up to date in terms of purchasing content, but I never actually got back into the game. I log in once in a blue moon, play for a week and gave up due to the sheer amount of pressure I put on myself to catch up on everything I've missed. I plan on being extremely casual, but ultimately want ESO to be my main game again.

I know there are multiple 'returning player' threads and I have been actively reading them while doing my own research, but I have a few questions and would welcome any input from the community. I'll probably edit this list as I go, so bear with me!

1. What are some 'must have' add-ons? All of the old ones I used are out of date and as a result I've just been plucking up random ones. I use minion and I remember having quite a few quality of life add-ons that I can't seem to find.
   
2. In terms of approaching all the new content, is there a particular order I should slug it out? I was planning on tackling things systematically based on the initial date of release, but I feel it might be worth unlocking skill lines and whatnot in order to complete achievements as I go and level up the respective branches.
   
3. Are Alcast's build recommendations viable? I was a Sorcerer main before I went on hiatus and it looks like he has some builds up. I'm currently rocking a low budget minion master build, but I'm not really sure what's solo meta right now.
   
4. What does your typical ESO session look like? Before I left it was pretty much just spamming pledges at reset and attempting writs. I've read that there's so many more dailies now and I have no real clue where I should begun, or what I should try and do daily. I'm struggling to just jump in as I had so many goals I wanted to achieve before I left and there's now so much more to do.
   
5. How hard is it to grind CP? The cap has gone up significantly and I'm half afraid I'll never reach it! I've more inclined to quest over grind in order to have a nice white map, but realistically how many hours do you need to invest before you're somewhat ready for dungeons, raids and other competitive activities?
   
6. How hard is it do get a group going for raids and other endgame content? Speaking of raids, I remember reading that there's easy versions of them now, how does that go with PUGs?
   
7. How is the Guild scene? I was part of a close knit PvP / PvE League that has since died out. I've seen random people spamming chat for members, but how hard is it to find a decent group of reasonable players these days? On that note, would anyone who plays on the NA server be willing to act as a bounce buddy for me? Is that even still a thing? Or is there a practical way of moving stuff around now?

Thanks for taking the time to read this! As I said, I'll probably ask more questions as I go, so watch this space!

VaranisArano

1. My must have add-ons are:
Votans Minimap
Lazy Writ Crafter
Master Merchant or Tamriel Trade Center

2. Here are my thoughts on quest order and how all the current zones and DLCs connect to each other:https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/413807/what-order-should-i-do-esos-story-arcs-a-guide

3. Alcast is still a very solid build crafter, so yeah, I'd definitely recommend giving his builds a try. For solo questing, you can probably get away with just about anything though.

4. I quest, because I like to quest. I do writs or dailies only when I feel like it (I use the Lazy Writ Crafter add on to get them done quicker). Or I PVP regularly if I want to. I rarely do the pledges unless my IRL friends want to run them.

Point is, I'd say spend your time doing what you like. Most of the motifs you can gain from dailies you can get from the guild stores.

If you do want to try the dailies, I'd pick one or two to start out with rather than overwhelming yourself. Summerset is very easy to find groups for right now. The Mages and Fighter guild dailies are pretty quick and easy for base game dailies.

5. The Vet DLC dungeons have recently been moved up to CP 300 required to queue for them. So I'd hazard a guess that CP 300 is pretty good for most Vet Dungeons, since CP is very frontloaded with the early ones giving more bang for your buck in the CP trees. Normal dungeons are pretty easy though the DLC ones are harder, and those unlock progressively from level 10 to 45. So you should be fine on those.

I also mostly quested to get my CP and while I won't say it was the fastest method in the world, I was never bored while doing it.

To be dungeon ready, I'd practice a rotation for a damage dealer, get tank gear for a tank, or practice heals/DPS for a healer on easy content. If you want an idea of how you'll do in a dungeon, the World Bosses have about the same health as a dungeon boss so you can go help a group kill them and see how you do.

6. You can get groups by asking in zone, your guilds, or using the groupfinder. Just select your role and queue up. Tanks and healers get much faster queues.

Normals tend to be very easy to PUG, though DLC ones will require,some respect for the mechanics. Veteran dungeons are puggable, but I'd suggest learning the mechanics first, as a lot of mechanics hit harder or become one-shots.

7. There are a lot of guilds out there, so it may take some weeding through them to find what you are looking for. I'd suggest keeping an eye out for an advert that interested you or asking in zone chat or check out the guild page here on the forums. If you are looking for a specific PVP alliance, it might be worth it to specify. Bounce buddies are still a thing, I guess? I just use my IRL friends for that, LOL.

Hope this helps!

driosketch

1. I don't use a lot of add-one so I can't really help you here. I guess that means most of them are not absolutely necessary? I will say a map add-on for skyshards, lore books, resource nodes etc. is super convenient, as is a guild store pricing add-on.

2. I believe story wise, if that's important to you, it goes Wrothgar, Vvardefall, Clockwork City, then Summerset.

3. If you need a starting place, that's as good a place as any. Keep in mind, build guides are designed around a certain play style and rotation as well. A few weeks ago there was someone on the forums asking for solo healing options for a solo spec. The build guide they were working off was designed to maximize dps, and burst down mobs, possibly in a group with a dedicated healer. They got a few substitution options, so you can always come back to the forums for some tweaking.

4. Feed horses, writs, and then depends on the day and time. I might do quests, do surveys and master writs, work on character builds, farm, or do an activity with one of my guilds.

5. CP has a catch up mechanic and the bonuses are front loaded. After 100 CP it can take several months of regular play to hit cap without grinding, but after that it's easy to keep above cap through regular play. I believe most DLC group content is designed around 300CP.

6. There is a normal version, vet version, and vet +hard mode. Newer trials also have 1-3/4 bosses you can stack in the final fight. Only the most dedicated guilds tackle the hardest modes. You can pug normal versions of almost any trial. The DLC trials, MoL, AS, & CR, require you to respect mechanics, especially for the final fights. HoF requires you to follow mechanics in pretty much every boss fight, and will be the hardest to pug. You can join pug runs through zone chat of the zones that contain a trial or the alliance capital, Wayrest, Eldenroot, or Mournhold.

7. Guilds are still a thing, and finding a good fit is the same as always. You can still bounce things off someone, but with bank assistants and double bank space on ESO +, I see it less often.

The_Sadist

Thanks for both your responses! They're both very insightful. I had today off from work so I got to spend a solid 8 hours trying to remember what's what and groaning about how many achievement points there are now. Also the motifs.. So many motifs.
I reconnected with some older players and rejoined a guild so having that stability in my life might keep me anchored. That being said, I started grinding the Dark Brotherhood content and I'm already feeling the burn, I guess getting rid of the worst first isn't a bad thing!

Some more questions:

1. Is it possible to have your 'main' also be your crafter? I have a crafting alt who I initially grinding motifs for alongside my main, but seeing how many motifs there are and how expensive everything is, I feel like condesening the two might solve a few problems. The major issue was the lack of skill points floating about, is there enough these days to justify fusing the two?
   
2. How hard is it to make gold? I was well off before I left, but apparently that's now chump change and houses looks crazy expensive. I never actively tried to make gold outside of a few cases, but it looks like you need coin to progress in specific areas now (I'm mostly talking about achievements). I was initially questing up alts (slower exp, but skill points and pretty white maps) and they would end up making enough gold through just playing to develop themselves.
   
3. Speaking of housing, is this basically 'the endgame' in terms of gold sink? I read somewhere that you can customise multiple houses and items are super expensive to buy. In GW2 the endgame was fashion, does the same sort of ring true for ESO?
   
4. How are Sorcerers from a PvE perspective? Prior to quitting Sorcerers were in a good spot as damage dealers, however I'm not sure where they sit currently. Are they still viable for trials and dungeons? Or has the meta shifted. I know most people will say 'all classes are viable', but from an 'elite' perspective, what's the preferred class : role? Not that I'll be grinding endgame content any time soon, it's just good to know.

I think that's all for now, I'll actively continue to read threads and whatnot to avoid asking overlapping stuff. I have about 20 tabs up currently, but I figure having a central information hub for me is a good idea!

VaranisArano

1. My main is my crafter, but I have all the base game skyshards and some PVP skills. I do need to get some of the DLC skyshards. I PVE and PVP with that character so skill points are tight until I do the DLC skyshards, but its doable.

2. I actively farm mats and sell them for my gold. Potion reagents, raw mats, and raw fish make up most of sales.

Questing will suffice for the basics. Its not hard to make a decent amount of gold, if you have the time to farm whatever you want to sell. But if you want to pursue housing achievements, I think you'll need to put some time and effort into making money. I tend to sit around 4 million gold myself, but if I buy a house I can easily spend a million decorating it to match my character's role play desires.

E. Housing and motifs are the end-game gold sink, yeah. Housing has very little practical purpose outside of owning your crafting stations and training dummies (I use a guild hall for these) and extra storage. Storage is really the only important part of housing as you can buy up to 360 extra slots in chests for crowns, master writs, or Tel Var stones. I'm a hoarder in video games so those chests were worth it for me.

4. The meta shifts with every patch but MagSorcs have consistently been one of the better classes for trials. For dungeons, yeah, every class is viable since there's no pressure to compete efficiently for a score and sorcs will do fine.

driosketch

1. I have a main and a dedicated crafter. My main has Tamriel Skyshard hunter achievement, a moderate number of PvP ranks, and a few DLC skyshards. I have what I need to be proficient as a dps and healer in PvE and PvP, as well as 6 crafting professions. My crafter has most skyshards, plus a few ranks in PvP. He's proficient in 7 crafts, plus able to be a PvE dps and an off-tank. Yes you will be hunting down many skyshards, but there are enough skill points to fill multiple roles on one character.

2. Gold isn't too hard to earn if you keep at it. My main ways are doing daily writs, vendoring junk, and selling through guild traders. I spend some time once a week to farm mats.

3. While housing is a major gold sink, it's not a persistent one. Eventually there won't be any home you want that can bought for gold. The biggest persistent gold sink currently is guild trader bids, followed by trader sales and the new outfit system I guess.

4. Magicka NBs seem to be the PvE meta currently. Still mag sorcs are probably second tier, and are consistently strong through updates.