Should a brand new player learn the game solo or play with a group/groups?

RachelTheElf

Hi I wasn't sure whether to post this here or in looking for groups so apologies if this is in the wrong place. I'm brand new to ESO (currently level 16) figuring out the skills, crafting, gear etc. I tried the group finder and I got completely lost and overwhelmed trying to keep up with everyone and keep them healed. So is it a better idea to get comfortable with everything first before jumping into a group again or do I just need to get used to the fast pace?

etchedpixels

IMHO:
- If you like wandering around wondering what the hell is going on and enjoying the story and trying to work things out then I'd play solo until you hit CP160 or so
- If you are more interested in mastering group challenges, trading, and the like and don't mind sacrificing some of the mystery then join some guilds.

JKorr

First, welcome to the game. Second, take your time. There is no need to rush anything. Getting used to your character at first since this sounds like your first character is a good idea. Learning the game and leveling will help with the "keeping up with the group" thing.

Find a good guild that doesn't mind questions; usually there are helpful crafters too. Training gear, level appropriate food, enchants and stuff can make life easier. Crafted set gear can be helpful as well.

RachelTheElf

Thanks for the reply! I'll keep an eye out for beginner friendly guilds as I level up and learn more about the game

Fennwitty

You don't have to wait. There's a guild finder tool that lets you browse all guilds taking applicants.

You can be in *5* different player guilds at the same time in this game.

Note that NPC "guilds" aren't the same thing. Though you can also be in every single NPC "guild" at the same time too.

RachelTheElf

Thank you! That's good to know that I can try a few guilds out and see which ones fit me best.

El_Borracho

I would run around solo until you get to CP 160. The game is so big and it takes a while to figure out how to play it, how to build a character, what skills to run, etc. Normal base dungeons are very easy, so you could hit those after you get to Level 50. But I'd avoid trials and more difficult group content until you get to CP 300+. Plus, even though we have the sticker book now, sub-CP 160 gear is trash once you hit that level so its not worth gathering it until then.

But the biggest reason to run solo for as long as you can, once you get into group content, its very difficult to go back to questing. Not that solo content is not fun, I just find the group PVE content to be a lot more fun.

deejayvee

Also, don't stress out about skill point or attribute allocation. It can be changed later for a nominal amount of gold.

With crown tokens for changing race, etc. the only thing you can't change later is class. But that's what alts are for!

Amottica

Welcome to ESO.

There are a few things to consider.

It is your game and you should play as you want to, solo or with others.

However, you will learn more about the game, become a better player, and get more out of ESO, if you play with others. Especially if running with similar people. A lot of this comes from learning from each other but you will also find running content with friends you make in-game much more enjoyable and those players will be much more forgiving.

On top of that, if you start running dungeons a group of friends will more often than not lead to a much smoother run than if you ran with random strangers. They are likely to be better players (not even talking elite) than what a random GF group will provide and they are likely to run the dungeon the way others in the group want to. Just look at the forums and threads complaining about dungeon groups are complaining about the random group they got via the GF.

None of this takes away from enjoying doing questing solo. Most of my characters in any MMORPG were leveled playing solo.

So go out there and enjoy the game as you want to.

RachelTheElf

Thanks so much everyone! I've just been running around and questing in Daggerfall so far and starting to get used to the skills

Liccao

Hey first welcome to the game ESO is in my opinion a great game when you learn how the basics works. The only problem I find with the game is the ingame guidence for new players but it has gotten a lot better. here is in my opinion what you need to know as a new player.

1) First of all play your toon as you want it. No Guides just figure out how the game works. It gives in my opinion a lot of fun. The only thing i would suggest is to deside if you want to play stamina or magicka. Hybred is not a good way to go if you want to kill things. Also I will recommend you to play DPS until you begin to grind CP over lvl 300 just for speeding the killing on quests up but again this is my opinion someone would rather say you should play what you want.

2) I will also recommend you to find a "social guild" the game can offer alot of them. I can even suggest one if you want one im happy to be in. Else find a group of friends who want to do something with. we are playing an MMO after all. If you want and you play on PC EU you can add @Saliandros_Xeirseene because I will gladly help you.

3) In your topic you told us that you have experianced "Group Finder" and how one of the outcomes can be overwhelming for new players. its one of ESO bigger problems but in my opinion you have to live with the speedrunning in Random Normals because veteran player will do it as fast a poseble to safe time for raiding. I will still recommend you to go into the dungeons for the exp and skill points.

4) I will recommend you to play the game at your own pace I know dungeons can be tricky to do so but Guilds and other players can go in party with you and join and if they truely want to help you they let you leed. Also with a samll group of friends you can begin to take down World Bosses, dolmens, dragons etc.

5) set yourself some goals. ESO is a big game and it can sometimes feel overwhelming for new players. When I was new my goal was to clear the map for content.

RachelTheElf

Thanks that's a lot of help. I'll try and figure out how to add you haha

JKorr

RachelTheElf wrote: »

Thanks so much everyone! I've just been running around and questing in Daggerfall so far and starting to get used to the skills

My sympathy and condolences on running around and questing in Daggerfall/Daggerfall Covenant. Yes, that is being snarky. I have issues with Emeric the waffle-won't-make-a-decision king. After clearing out the thousandth vampire problem, I got really tired of Emeric's grab-a-random-adventurer-wandering-by method to solve the problems. Your mileage may vary.

FeedbackOnly

I started healing six years ago at lvl 8 for groups. Now one of best healers in game.

Practice makes perfect

RachelTheElf

JKorr wrote: »

RachelTheElf wrote: »

Thanks so much everyone! I've just been running around and questing in Daggerfall so far and starting to get used to the skills

My sympathy and condolences on running around and questing in Daggerfall/Daggerfall Covenant. Yes, that is being snarky. I have issues with Emeric the waffle-won't-make-a-decision king. After clearing out the thousandth vampire problem, I got really tired of Emeric's grab-a-random-adventurer-wandering-by method to solve the problems. Your mileage may vary.

Haha I finished all the Glenumbra quests at the weekend and really enjoyed it, now I'm in Stormhaven so we'll see if its still fun!

FeedbackOnly wrote: »

I started healing six years ago at lvl 8 for groups. Now one of best healers in game.

Practice makes perfect

Thanks, I did some reading on here about what the healing skills do and when to use them and practised them a little over the weekend in the dungeon finder. It's all starting to make a bit more sense now. And thankfully I found some groups that took their time through the dungeons too

Fennwitty

Either way can be great fun.

This is not to scare you away, but be aware that solo questing is different in many ways from group dungeons and trials.

Lots of players have been here so long they forget what it's like being new, and may expect a lot of mechanical knowledge and know-how you won't have gained yet.

I always found it helps to let groups know in the beginning when you're new to the game, or your chosen role, or the dungeon etc. People are typically very nice when they know up front.

I've been here almost 3 years but I always note when it's my first time in a new dungeon or trial, so nobody assumes I know everything there is to know there.

RachelTheElf

etchedpixels wrote: »

IMHO:
- If you like wandering around wondering what the hell is going on and enjoying the story and trying to work things out then I'd play solo until you hit CP160 or so
- If you are more interested in mastering group challenges, trading, and the like and don't mind sacrificing some of the mystery then join some guilds.

Thanks for replying! I'm pretty much going for the 1st option right now with a little bit of reading on the new player guides to help figure things out

Seminolegirl1992

Welcome to the game! Definitely get comfortable first. I remember how overwhelmed I was when I first joined. I didn't do much group content back then, but I did make friends quickly, and there were several experienced players that showed me the ropes and helped craft things for me. Beginner friendly guilds are a great place to start. They can help you get gear, explain crafting, and answer any other questions you may have. If you have a friend that plays this game, I would recommend playing quests with them. It *greatly* enhances the game experience when you have friends to play with

RachelTheElf

Seminolegirl1992 wrote: »

Welcome to the game! Definitely get comfortable first. I remember how overwhelmed I was when I first joined. I didn't do much group content back then, but I did make friends quickly, and there were several experienced players that showed me the ropes and helped craft things for me. Beginner friendly guilds are a great place to start. They can help you get gear, explain crafting, and answer any other questions you may have. If you have a friend that plays this game, I would recommend playing quests with them. It *greatly* enhances the game experience when you have friends to play with

Thank you! I've got my character to level 50 now and I'm feeling much more comfortable. I'm using the group finder and doing dungeons with people that I've met and starting to get the hang of things. All the guides on here have been really helpful so my next step is figuring out champion points and maybe joining a guild

Seminolegirl1992

RachelTheElf wrote: »

Seminolegirl1992 wrote: »

Welcome to the game! Definitely get comfortable first. I remember how overwhelmed I was when I first joined. I didn't do much group content back then, but I did make friends quickly, and there were several experienced players that showed me the ropes and helped craft things for me. Beginner friendly guilds are a great place to start. They can help you get gear, explain crafting, and answer any other questions you may have. If you have a friend that plays this game, I would recommend playing quests with them. It *greatly* enhances the game experience when you have friends to play with

Thank you! I've got my character to level 50 now and I'm feeling much more comfortable. I'm using the group finder and doing dungeons with people that I've met and starting to get the hang of things. All the guides on here have been really helpful so my next step is figuring out champion points and maybe joining a guild

I'm so glad to hear that!

Anumaril

This is an interesting question. I think that looking back on my experience in every game I've played, there's something magical about discovering the unknown, and learning things on my own. If it makes sense, I'd kinda feel like the game is being "spoiled" (that's the closest word I can think to describe the feeling ) if everything is just told to me by someone.

That being said, a lot of a game, especially MMOs, is built around systems that can be annoying to learn the hard way. My sister recently started playing ESO and she had a lot of questions about if mounts were account-wide, if mount upgrades were account wide, how the LFG system worked, etc. I think clearing those kind of things up for a newbie is great, but I wouldn't be making builds for them, or telling them which sets are best, telling them which quest zones to do, etc. All that they can discover on their own and at their own pace.

Of course, if you're playing the game with a friend who has also never played it before, then that's great. You both don't know what you're doing so you can quest, do dungeons, and have fun together. The only trouble might be if you suddenly find yourself with a lot of free time, and they are busy (or vice versa), because then you'll want to play while they can't and there'll be a gap in where you both are in the game. But that's something that you can definitely overcome, especially with One Tamriel's level scaling.

JKorr

Finding a guild that doesn't mind ignoring you when you want to solo and explore but has people who will answer questions, help with crafting, and when you are completely at the end of your patience and sanity, show up to help kill things if you ask them to is a very good idea.

RachelTheElf

Anumaril wrote: »

That being said, a lot of a game, especially MMOs, is built around systems that can be annoying to learn the hard way. My sister recently started playing ESO and she had a lot of questions about if mounts were account-wide, if mount upgrades were account wide, how the LFG system worked, etc. I think clearing those kind of things up for a newbie is great, but I wouldn't be making builds for them, or telling them which sets are best, telling them which quest zones to do, etc. All that they can discover on their own and at their own pace.

There's definitely a lot of things in this game that I never would've figured out if I hadn't read about them in guides but thankfully those guides have never contained any story spoilers so far

JKorr wrote: »

Finding a guild that doesn't mind ignoring you when you want to solo and explore but has people who will answer questions, help with crafting, and when you are completely at the end of your patience and sanity, show up to help kill things if you ask them to is a very good idea.

I think I've found a good guild like that. There are usually people on to talk to and inviting people to do dungeons so I'm happy

Thanks for all the help everyon!

Hentmereb

I would sat that keep using the group finder. You learn from mistakes, everyone makes them, and if you start thinking you should achieve some particular level before participating, you might just end up putting the bar for participating higher and higher and end up a soloer who never gets to do dungeons. Just drop in, and if some people complain if you do mistakes, they will have done plenty of mistakes before they learned the ropes themselves.