New player - DLC

SimpleTea

I have a general question. As I have said previously, I am relatively new to ESO and this is my first experience with an MMORPG. With that said, so far I am thoroughly enjoying playing ESO. My question concerns DLC. Is it worthwhile or necessary to obtain the DLC(s) for full story immersion and understanding?

VaranisArano

Depends on which story arcs you want to experience.

The Main Quest is entirely Base Game.
The Daedric Wars arc is Morrowind, Clockwork City, and Summerset DLCs.
The Season of the Dragon is Elsweyr and Dragonhold. Wrathstone is peripherally connected.
The Dark Heart of Skyrim will be Greymoor and the Q4 DLC. Harrowstorm introduces some characters.

Imperial City (free), Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, Orsinium, Murkmire, and most of the Dungeon DLC are standalone stories.

SimpleTea

I should have mentioned that I purchased the Greymoor expansion as my way into ESO. So, I am mainly referring to Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild, Orsinium DLCs, etc. (e.g,. the ones you listed).

old_scopie1945

This guy has a step by step guide in how to play eso in the right order:- https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/525351/a-clear-step-by-step-guide-to-playing-eso-in-chronological-order

Danikat

Most DLC has a stand-alone storyline. Some NPCs from other stories will reappear, but the events are unconnected to anything before or after. Therefore you do not need to buy DLC to understand or complete the content you already have, only to gain access to new stories when and if you want more to do (and other things, like the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild skill lines).

There are 3 exceptions to that, where DLC and chapters tie together:
Morrowind, Clockwork City and Summerset. Morrowind and Summerset (which you will have got with Greymoor) do work as stand-alone stories but to get the full experience you need to play Morrowind, then the Clockwork City DLC, then Summerset.

Wrathstone, Elseweyr and Dragonhold. The Wrathstone DLC is a pair of dungeons, so it's a very short story but it does serve as an introduction to Elseweyr. The story then continues in the Dragonhold DLC.

Harrowstorm, Greymoor and as-yet unannounced DLC later in the year. Like Wrathstone the Harrowstorm DLC is just a couple of dungeons but it starts the story off, then Greymoor will continue it and there will be a follow up released later this year.

So if you're specifically asking about Orsinium, Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood then no, you don't need them. If you're asking about which DLCs to prioritise from the whole list then the answer is Clockwork City and Dragonhold, and maybe Wrathstone and Harrowstorm as well.

SimpleTea

Thanks to all for the replies. They are VERY helpful! I will definitely take advantage of the sequencing advice and am looking forward to my continued exploration of all Tamreil has to offer.

Nestor

SimpleTea wrote: »

So, I am mainly referring to Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild, Orsinium DLCs, etc. (e.g,. the ones you listed).

All the DLCs have great stories.

However, Thieves Guild and to an extent Dark Brotherhood have some passives and goodies that will help you if you want to do some crime in the world of Tamriel. So, even if you are not ready to fully invest in the stories, at least start the DB to get a certain dagger, and then start the Thieves and grind on some job board dailies to unlock some skills that you may want to use for Larceny. Once you get the job board opened up early on, you can gain some rep without doing the story.


Note, for Thieves, Countess Jobs are easiest to do.

SimpleTea

Another good piece of advice. Thank you. Based on the feedback I will probably do most, if not all, of the DLCs.

tinythinker

Also, the optional subscription let's you play all DLC without purchasing them. I think it's around $15 or $16 per month, so for that amount you can try the ones you think you might like before buying them (or if you stayed subbed you don't have to purchase them).

All new major content is DLC except for "the big one" in Q2, the Chapter for each year. After a new Chapter comes out, the most recent chapter becomes "DLC" in terms of subscription access.