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New Tutorial Still Doesn't Teach Combat Skills and a Potential Solution
oterWitz
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I just filled up my final character slot with my ninth ESO character and completed the new tutorial in Balfiera. It was better expected given the PTS threads, but there is still one issue that I had anticipated and found in the tutorial. It never actually makes you use any combat skills. See, ever since the original Coldharbor tutorial, the combat training has been reskins of the same basic things:
You get skill points and *can* use them to unlock abilities, if you as a new player are not too distracted and/or overwhelmed by experiencing the game for the first time. But when/if a combat ability makes it to the skill bar the game has no instruction on activating it. If anything, the way the tutorial is laid out, it teaches you to light attack until an enemy is able to be exploited with a heavy attack and that's it, welcome to Elder Scrolls Online.
My fix to this longstanding shortcoming of the tutorial is the following: What if, at level 10 when the dungeon finder opens up and the game "teaches" you about it with the quest to talk to Bogrul in Stonefalls/Glenumbra/Auridon, there was a proper skill and dungeon tutorial prior to the quest to enter FG1? I suggest that the player and a couple undaunted NPCs go through a trapdoor to the basement of that very tavern to a solo instance to fight rats or similar basic enemies. There are four rooms in a linear layout, and prior to entering the first, the NPC companions instruct you to try and deal some damage, offering you a leveled bow or flame staff and one skill point. Then the game puts a quest marker on the screen to to instruct the player to unlock and slot the first skill of either skill line if you haven't already. If you have, it's a free skill point. The first room teaches use of that skill from the skill bar, as well as basics like avoiding red AoEs while still standing in range of the healer (one of the undaunted NPCs would play healer and the other tank). And maybe a voice line or instruction similar to the loading screen "You can light attack before activating a skill to deal more damage" as an introduction to LA weaving, but nothing too complicated lest it be overwhelming.
The second room would be similar to the first, but this time the undaunted NPCs want to see how you are as a healer. They give you a healing staff and one skill point, the game directs you to slot the first skill, and the healer NPC moves over to a DD role with you expected to heal and perhaps also teaching about buff/debuff conditions via a boss mechanic. The third room would be more of the same: you receive a sword, shield, and skill point, and are expected to tank for the undaunted NPCs. You would learn about taunting, interrupts, synergies, and potentially encouraged to gather mobs for the damage dealer. Prior to the fourth and final room, you would be asked your role preference, and the game would tell you how to assign it in the group finder. Once you and the NPCs take down that boss, you would return to Bogrul above, and only then receive the quest to enter FG1.
I emphasize that this is a tutorial targeted at new players, and experienced players could more or less rush through it for 3 free skill points (they would need to be used for the quest but could be reassigned with the free scroll the game provides during leveling), or skip it entirely if they can't be bothered. What do you all think? I'd be especially interested to hear from people who are newer to the game whether something like this would have been helpful as they learned the ropes.
I wish you all a continued smooth launch day and an equally smooth one on console next week
- LA and HA.
- Block.
- Break free.
- Interrupt and exploit with HA.
- Roll dodge out of AoE.
You get skill points and *can* use them to unlock abilities, if you as a new player are not too distracted and/or overwhelmed by experiencing the game for the first time. But when/if a combat ability makes it to the skill bar the game has no instruction on activating it. If anything, the way the tutorial is laid out, it teaches you to light attack until an enemy is able to be exploited with a heavy attack and that's it, welcome to Elder Scrolls Online.
My fix to this longstanding shortcoming of the tutorial is the following: What if, at level 10 when the dungeon finder opens up and the game "teaches" you about it with the quest to talk to Bogrul in Stonefalls/Glenumbra/Auridon, there was a proper skill and dungeon tutorial prior to the quest to enter FG1? I suggest that the player and a couple undaunted NPCs go through a trapdoor to the basement of that very tavern to a solo instance to fight rats or similar basic enemies. There are four rooms in a linear layout, and prior to entering the first, the NPC companions instruct you to try and deal some damage, offering you a leveled bow or flame staff and one skill point. Then the game puts a quest marker on the screen to to instruct the player to unlock and slot the first skill of either skill line if you haven't already. If you have, it's a free skill point. The first room teaches use of that skill from the skill bar, as well as basics like avoiding red AoEs while still standing in range of the healer (one of the undaunted NPCs would play healer and the other tank). And maybe a voice line or instruction similar to the loading screen "You can light attack before activating a skill to deal more damage" as an introduction to LA weaving, but nothing too complicated lest it be overwhelming.
The second room would be similar to the first, but this time the undaunted NPCs want to see how you are as a healer. They give you a healing staff and one skill point, the game directs you to slot the first skill, and the healer NPC moves over to a DD role with you expected to heal and perhaps also teaching about buff/debuff conditions via a boss mechanic. The third room would be more of the same: you receive a sword, shield, and skill point, and are expected to tank for the undaunted NPCs. You would learn about taunting, interrupts, synergies, and potentially encouraged to gather mobs for the damage dealer. Prior to the fourth and final room, you would be asked your role preference, and the game would tell you how to assign it in the group finder. Once you and the NPCs take down that boss, you would return to Bogrul above, and only then receive the quest to enter FG1.
I emphasize that this is a tutorial targeted at new players, and experienced players could more or less rush through it for 3 free skill points (they would need to be used for the quest but could be reassigned with the free scroll the game provides during leveling), or skip it entirely if they can't be bothered. What do you all think? I'd be especially interested to hear from people who are newer to the game whether something like this would have been helpful as they learned the ropes.
I wish you all a continued smooth launch day and an equally smooth one on console next week
PC NA
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