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Short Zone Guide For New Players 2020
vivapadomay
✭✭✭
ESO has a lot of zones, and you can travel anywhere. If you're looking for a story experience you can get a lot out of ESO but it can be disorienting and overwhelming to start out.
So! You've got questions, I've got answers, but first, let's color and number the zones in "canonical" order (yes, there's a canonical order):
The Base Game:
Q: Isn't showing me this order a spoiler?
A: Unfortunately, doing the zones out of order is going to spoil you more than this guide. See below for why.
Q: Why are there multiple 1s, 2s, etc.?
A: When the game launched, you used to be locked inside a set color (blue, yellow, or red) depending on your race. Furthermore you had to finish each numbered "zone questline" in order to unlock the next, with the Main Quest popping up once in each zone to add a through-line to your adventure. That's no longer the case. Everything scales to your level. You can go anywhere...
Q: Great! I love a sandbox!
A: Me too, but ESO is less friendly towards sandboxing than other Elder Scrolls games. The world just isn't as responsive. You will be reminded often that you're doing things "out of order." My advice is to make your (first) character with this numbered track in mind, then teleport to any city in your respective color as soon as you're able, talk to "the hooded figure" and let the story unfold as it was originally intended. The first part of the main quest explains so much about what's going on in the world, that delaying it is like watching the second half of a movie first. I'm speaking from experience.
Q: So... I can't do the zones in any order?
A: You absolutely can, I'm just warning you that it will hiccup now and then. The zones offer their own individual stories, but major NPCs are recurring. Skipping zones is safer than going backwards - NPCs can die then re-appear if you do zones backwards. That kind of thing. That's what I mean by hiccup.
Q: What about bouncing between colors?
A: I tried that. It's very whiplash-ey. Each alliance has its own cast of characters, not to mention Fighter's Guild etc. storylines... it quickly becomes too much to juggle without making spreadsheets. You're sent on missions to kill your own countrymen, or assumed to be a race that you are not. Either way, it's not very immersive.
Q: Why does one of the zones say 6/7?
A: There's one less zone in the yellow alliance. I wrote it that way so yellow players know to look for number 8 when we continue beyond the main quest....
Every Zone 2020:
Q: The colors represent different story arcs?
A: Yes, and starting with Zone 8, characters from all alliances become united on the same story track. Recurring NPCs' progress zone-by-zone from 1 to 13. Again, skipping is less of a headache than backtracking.
Q: What about the zones without numbers?
A: These are true open world areas. They can be enjoyed at any time without hiccup. Any character cross-over is seamlessly integrated into any zone order -- even before starting the main quest! The orange zones are all DLC I would heartily recommend, and they are Orsinium, Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, and Murkmire. The green zone is intended as endgame group content, tough as nails and not for newbies (but story-wise it can be placed anywhere).
Q: The Standard Edition started me in Zone 8!/I bought Greymoor and started in Zone 13!
A: That's both good and bad. The non-vanilla tutorials are less dramatic than the original opening, but they don't force you into the role of The Main Character, which is certainly better if you make a second character. For what it's worth, Zone 8 has an epic story and it's the zone I personally call home. If you never leave you'll still have a whole game's worth of fun in Vvardenfell. If you DO leave, however, you'll get the same sort of hiccups I described earlier.
Q: Why do you recommend having two characters?
A: I don't -- I recommend having eight characters lol. There are several benefits of having multiple toons, not the least of which is you can share resources between them with the Bank. (My crafting character always updates the others with the best gear!) You'll want a dedicated character for PvP, as it requires a whole different approach to the game. Story and zone-wise, if you did want to jump into Greymoor or Summerset right away, a second character is my recommended way to dive into zones you've skipped. It's a lot easier on the imagination to make a "prequel" character than to do Billy Pilgrim mental backflips when your favorite NPCs fail to recognize you/come back from the dead. As always, the orange zones are fair game.
Final Thoughts
Just knowing that this is the intended order is both a blessing and a curse. It becomes harder to suspend disbelief when your open world game is revealed to be not-so-open after all. The blessing is that if you do decide to forego this guide and explore in your own order, you'll be prepared to understand why the characters are inconsistent and insane. If you are interested in a longer and more thorough storyline guide (which includes where to find the quests to start each zone) this reddit post is invaluable:
https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/a3kvnc/eso_storyline_order_and_location_guide/
Good luck and welcome to Tamriel!
So! You've got questions, I've got answers, but first, let's color and number the zones in "canonical" order (yes, there's a canonical order):
The Base Game:
Q: Isn't showing me this order a spoiler?
A: Unfortunately, doing the zones out of order is going to spoil you more than this guide. See below for why.
Q: Why are there multiple 1s, 2s, etc.?
A: When the game launched, you used to be locked inside a set color (blue, yellow, or red) depending on your race. Furthermore you had to finish each numbered "zone questline" in order to unlock the next, with the Main Quest popping up once in each zone to add a through-line to your adventure. That's no longer the case. Everything scales to your level. You can go anywhere...
Q: Great! I love a sandbox!
A: Me too, but ESO is less friendly towards sandboxing than other Elder Scrolls games. The world just isn't as responsive. You will be reminded often that you're doing things "out of order." My advice is to make your (first) character with this numbered track in mind, then teleport to any city in your respective color as soon as you're able, talk to "the hooded figure" and let the story unfold as it was originally intended. The first part of the main quest explains so much about what's going on in the world, that delaying it is like watching the second half of a movie first. I'm speaking from experience.
Q: So... I can't do the zones in any order?
A: You absolutely can, I'm just warning you that it will hiccup now and then. The zones offer their own individual stories, but major NPCs are recurring. Skipping zones is safer than going backwards - NPCs can die then re-appear if you do zones backwards. That kind of thing. That's what I mean by hiccup.
Q: What about bouncing between colors?
A: I tried that. It's very whiplash-ey. Each alliance has its own cast of characters, not to mention Fighter's Guild etc. storylines... it quickly becomes too much to juggle without making spreadsheets. You're sent on missions to kill your own countrymen, or assumed to be a race that you are not. Either way, it's not very immersive.
Q: Why does one of the zones say 6/7?
A: There's one less zone in the yellow alliance. I wrote it that way so yellow players know to look for number 8 when we continue beyond the main quest....
Every Zone 2020:
Q: The colors represent different story arcs?
A: Yes, and starting with Zone 8, characters from all alliances become united on the same story track. Recurring NPCs' progress zone-by-zone from 1 to 13. Again, skipping is less of a headache than backtracking.
Q: What about the zones without numbers?
A: These are true open world areas. They can be enjoyed at any time without hiccup. Any character cross-over is seamlessly integrated into any zone order -- even before starting the main quest! The orange zones are all DLC I would heartily recommend, and they are Orsinium, Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, and Murkmire. The green zone is intended as endgame group content, tough as nails and not for newbies (but story-wise it can be placed anywhere).
Q: The Standard Edition started me in Zone 8!/I bought Greymoor and started in Zone 13!
A: That's both good and bad. The non-vanilla tutorials are less dramatic than the original opening, but they don't force you into the role of The Main Character, which is certainly better if you make a second character. For what it's worth, Zone 8 has an epic story and it's the zone I personally call home. If you never leave you'll still have a whole game's worth of fun in Vvardenfell. If you DO leave, however, you'll get the same sort of hiccups I described earlier.
Q: Why do you recommend having two characters?
A: I don't -- I recommend having eight characters lol. There are several benefits of having multiple toons, not the least of which is you can share resources between them with the Bank. (My crafting character always updates the others with the best gear!) You'll want a dedicated character for PvP, as it requires a whole different approach to the game. Story and zone-wise, if you did want to jump into Greymoor or Summerset right away, a second character is my recommended way to dive into zones you've skipped. It's a lot easier on the imagination to make a "prequel" character than to do Billy Pilgrim mental backflips when your favorite NPCs fail to recognize you/come back from the dead. As always, the orange zones are fair game.
Final Thoughts
Just knowing that this is the intended order is both a blessing and a curse. It becomes harder to suspend disbelief when your open world game is revealed to be not-so-open after all. The blessing is that if you do decide to forego this guide and explore in your own order, you'll be prepared to understand why the characters are inconsistent and insane. If you are interested in a longer and more thorough storyline guide (which includes where to find the quests to start each zone) this reddit post is invaluable:
https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/a3kvnc/eso_storyline_order_and_location_guide/
Good luck and welcome to Tamriel!
Gwynauldynn. Crafter. Merchant. Guildmaster. Adventurer.
Uthastyan. Corporal of the Lion Guard, abroad for the glory of the Covenant.
Dra'arah. This one picks pockets.
Sleeps-With-The-Fishies. You want a soul gem filled? Pheh. My pleasure.
Vanyonah Telvanni. Born an ashlander. Destined for greatness.
PC NA
Uthastyan. Corporal of the Lion Guard, abroad for the glory of the Covenant.
Dra'arah. This one picks pockets.
Sleeps-With-The-Fishies. You want a soul gem filled? Pheh. My pleasure.
Vanyonah Telvanni. Born an ashlander. Destined for greatness.
PC NA
14
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Nairinhe✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭Epic guide! I'm going to use it to not get tangled in storylines when playing different characters1 -
Sylvermynx✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Wow. This would have helped immensely when I first started! Awesome @vivapadomay! The color coding alone makes so much more sense of it!Edited by Sylvermynx on July 18, 2020 1:25PM0 -
BisDasBlutGefriert✭✭✭✭✭Time to start another new character!! Thank you for taking the time to do this!~There’s a positive in every negative. Sometimes the positive is harder to find than other times, but there is ALWAYS one there~0 -
AcadianPaladin✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Short, simple, very clear and effective. Nicely done!
PC NA(no Steam), PvE, mostly solo1 -
SilverIce58✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭It's definitely a good guide, but I'd put Coldharbour as Zone 8, and then go up from there since Coldharbour is the climax to the main main story and to the main story of the alliance zones. It is a bit of a spoiler to tell about Coldharbour, but otherwise you'd have questions about what that weirdly shaped zone is on the outer world map.PC - NACP 1125
Veric Blackwood - Breton Magsorc DC
Xhiak-Qua'cthurus - Argonian Frost Warden EP
Kujata-qa - Khajiit Magplar AD
Suunleth-dar - Khajiit Stamblade AD
Teldryn Antharys - Dunmer Flame DK EP
Strikes-With-Venom - Argonian Poison DK EP
Rur'san-ra - Khajiit WW Stamsorc AD
Ilianos Solinar - Altmer Stamplar AD
Iscah Silver-Heart - Reachman Magden DC4 -
Syldras✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Great to see someone has done this! Having no order officially stated somewhere, I guess it's really confusing for new players. Or at least a pity if they play in a wrong order, because it ruins the consecutive story progression.SilverIce58 wrote: »It's definitely a good guide, but I'd put Coldharbour as Zone 8, and then go up from there since Coldharbour is the climax to the main main story and to the main story of the alliance zones.
I agree.
@Syldras | PC | EU
The forceful expression of will gives true honor to the Ancestors.
Sarayn Andrethi, Telvanni mage (Main)
Darvasa Andrethi, his "I'm NOT a Necromancer!" sister
Malacar Sunavarlas, Altmer Ayleid vampire0
