Brand new player - Requesting help please

Wraitheus

Hi!

As a new player (2 days old ) I've spent most of my time reading trying to learn about all the crazy cool things this game has to offer. If you don't mind I have a couple of questions that I really appreciate if you could share your knowledge and experience please!

Brand new

I think I want to play a healer (end game - in a previous world I played a healer pushing mythic keys) - but I have to get there first

• Do you recommend not playing a healer as the first character (I want to be able to solo lots of cool stuff, explore, learn etc)?
• Does it take a long time to level your first character?
• Can I level as a stamina build then respec to a magicka build? Is it faster to do that?
• I "think" I want to play a Warden or Templar. Are they both wanted in the end game? Assuming equal gearing and that not all healers are created equal I'm guessing, are those good choices?
• If I want to switch to dps in the future are the above 2 classes good choices, or do I start up a new character?
• Guild: Is there a place to go to sign up and join an active guild that doesn't mind a couple of newbie questions?
• Last one, I promise. For crafting. There are only so many skill points. Do I have a main (for dungeons/trials) and one for crafting? I can't have everyone on one character right?

Thank you very much for all your help!

miawmiaw1337

-solo content as a healer is gonna be very slow, tank even worse. Overland is balanced around dd with no self heals.
-yes it takes a few weeks or months depending on your schedule and lots of grinding for skills and mount training.
-you can respec stamina to magicka and reverse but it does take a few weeks to level the skills and grind the gear
-currently theres a lot of magdk in endgame raids but next patches it will change, hard to know when your class will be nerfed to the ground or buffed. Usually the newest classes and gear are more op than the old classes. You can do any veteran hard mode trials with any classes. But if you are going after achievments like godslayer or gryphonheart, some specific group setups are required and your class might not be wanted.
-i played veteran trials with awesome warden or templar healers and both seemed really good healers but i dont heal veteran trials so unsure wich one of the 2 is better. I think templar is slightly better healer.
-both warden and templar dps are in a good place currently with templar a bit better but you never know what the future will be.
-some people player multiple characters but personnaly i only play one.
-the forums or zone chat or in game guild finder is a good place to find guilds.
-i do everything on one character, you can get more skill points by finding skyshards, the skyshard addon can help you with that.

miawmiaw1337

also in endgame guilds most content is done with 3 dd and 1 tank. Only some specific content requires a healer. In most content, having a healer in the group actually makes content harder because the group dps is lower. In easy normal donjons you dont need a healer and you want to finish it faster so 3 dd 1 tank is better. In most hard content like veteran hardmode fang lair, everything one shots you healers are useless. But some content is not doable whitout healers like veteran cloudrest or veteran moongrave fang. And as a healer or tank you will not be able to do malestrom arean because there are dps checks. The game is a lot more enjoyable and accessible as a damage dealer. Because of these reasons, we are lacking a healers and tanks for content that require them. Switching between these roles is currently not easy at all. You need to change everything, skills, champions points, gear, mundus stones, potions so usually one characters specializes in one specific role and then you even have different setups for pve and pvp.

miawmiaw1337

you should try every role and see what you like best. In normal donjons and overland, any build is fine. do what you find the most enjoyable. Also read this guide:
https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/g9i6uz/how_to_improve_your_4_man_dungeon_game_role_by/

and check https://alcasthq.com/ for builds, but keep in mind that alcast builds are not the absolute best for every content and sometimes you need to make changes, but its a good starting point.

miawmiaw1337

and check beginner guide: https://alcasthq.com/eso-beginner-guides/

VaranisArano

1. Most healers in group content heal, buff, AND deal damage. Overland content is a lot easier if you can deal damage. So, definitely play a healer since that's what you want, but maybe don't go with a pure healer.

2. Leveling speed depends on how you play. You'll only be new once, so I recommend enjoying the experience.

3. Yes, you can. However, healers have very good overlap with magicka damage dealers.

4. Templars and Wardens are both good choices for end game healers.

5. Okay, so every class can do good DPS, depending on the skill of the player, and ZOS changes the meta frequently. So I highly recommend picking a class that you think you'll enjoy playing. If you pick it because its currently the meta, chances are ZOS will change that meta and then you'll be left like "great, now I gotta level a different class."

6. Guilds advertise in zone chat, the Guildfinder, and on the forums.

7. You can have everything on one character, as long as you are willing to get a lot of skill points and skyshards. My main is my crafter, a PVE tank, and a PVP Healer, so she uses a lot of skill trees. Its doable with effort.

Welcome to ESO!

Wraitheus

Thank you all kindly for taking the time to share your insights. Definitely helps to clear up a lot of my confusion! Thinking the smarter '1st' choice is to focus on a DD and spend the time learning and experiencing.

As well, thank you for the links! More reading ;-)

Ilsabet

For overland quest content and normal 4-man dungeons, which I'd venture to say will be your main activities as you're leveling (presuming you're not trying to powerlevel via grinding), it's very easy to mix and match healing and damage skills and be effective at either soloing or working with groups without having to swap out CP and gear. You might have a more healing-oriented gear set and a more damage-oriented gear set and switch between those as needed, but you can also choose sets that more generally boost a magicka build and have benefits for either. If you're not doing the most challenging endgame stuff yet, you have more flexibility.

I actually still do that with my magicka warden, who I use for questing and non-DLC normal and vet dungeons (as a healer). I basically have a heal bar (resto staff) and a damage bar (destro staff), and I can add more class healing skills to the destro bar if a dungeon group needs more help staying alive. Otherwise I can toss out some damage to help things move faster.

If you choose a warden or templar and go for a magicka build, you can level both healing and damage skills as you go and then have them available to decide how to most effectively set up your bars for any given activity.

Destai

Wraitheus wrote: »

Hi!

As a new player (2 days old ) I've spent most of my time reading trying to learn about all the crazy cool things this game has to offer. If you don't mind I have a couple of questions that I really appreciate if you could share your knowledge and experience please!

Brand new

I think I want to play a healer (end game - in a previous world I played a healer pushing mythic keys) - but I have to get there first

• Do you recommend not playing a healer as the first character (I want to be able to solo lots of cool stuff, explore, learn etc)?
• Does it take a long time to level your first character?
• Can I level as a stamina build then respec to a magicka build? Is it faster to do that?
• I "think" I want to play a Warden or Templar. Are they both wanted in the end game? Assuming equal gearing and that not all healers are created equal I'm guessing, are those good choices?
• If I want to switch to dps in the future are the above 2 classes good choices, or do I start up a new character?
• Guild: Is there a place to go to sign up and join an active guild that doesn't mind a couple of newbie questions?
• Last one, I promise. For crafting. There are only so many skill points. Do I have a main (for dungeons/trials) and one for crafting? I can't have everyone on one character right?

Thank you very much for all your help!

Your first character, being new to the game, shouldn't be rushed to max level. Please, please, please don't feel any rush to level up quick. Enjoy the game. Read the quests, walk around, get lost, and take screenshots. There'll be a lot of special moments. Check this thread for details on the order of the quests:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/525351/a-clear-step-by-step-guide-to-playing-eso-in-chronological-order#latest

You can level as a stamina or magicka, your pick! Stamina's focused on bows, swords (dual wield and 2 handed) and sword and shield. Magicka is just your staff skill lines. You can respec your character and you get some scrolls as you level to help you do that. My recommendation is to pick stamina or magicka and level up each weapon skill line before trying out the other resource type. While you're leveling, deconstruct the gear you find to level up those crafting skills.

I have both a warden and a templar. I've played templars as mainly magicka characters and they're a good, forgiving first class. You have a lot of strong heals and rock solid options no matter if you're stamina or magicka. My warden is a stamina-based ranger-esque vibe, but the heals look like fun! I recommend just picking whatever fantasy you want to bring to life with your character and follow that. You won't be gated from content if you're magicka or stamina. So like you can still play Mages Guild if you're stamina.

You can level as a healer if you want to level through dungeon finder really quickly. I did this on a few magicka based characters during the XP events and it's pretty quick. If you're big on soloing, it will be slower on a healer though as your damage is lower.

Get to know the big names in the game like Alcast, Xynode, HackTheMinotaur. There's some really talented content creators that give a lot of guidance.

Lastly, check out the guild finder under the social tab in game and try out a few. There's loads. Welcome to the game and best of luck!

SydneyGrey

For solo play, you'd have to have a destruction staff (fire, lightning or ice) on your front bar and a restoration staff on the back bar (unlocked after level 15 I think), because a healer's restoration staff by itself is going to be terrible at killing monsters. It does less damage than a destruction staff does.

Templars and wardens are both great.

I wouldn't do a stamina build first if you're going to just switch it to magicka later on anyway, because then you won't be leveling up the magicka skills you'll need later. It works fine to start off as magicka with a destruction staff.

Watchdog

@Wraitheus - as for the guilds, it would be quite helpful if you could give us your platform and server.

I would definitely recommend joining a good social guild. It will make your life in ESO so much more enjoyable.

In case you (or anyone else reading this ) are on PC-EU, feel free to follow the link in my signature. We are a social guild, with all types of players, from newbies to veterans, from soloers to dedicated veteran trial players, from roleplayers to home decorators, from PvEers to PvPers. We just want have some fun and no drama.