Why do you play alts?

rpa

I'm altholist. But I tend to play one main character at time and when I get bored I brush up another char and switch. It's nice to have more than one character for writs and event dailies. Companion guild levelling is fast when done with several chars (but totally mind numbing).

jommerryrth

for tha mats and the gold and the extra exp boost from daily dungeons and extra boons from events...did i misss anything? ocd perhaps?

Nightowl_74

I like trying different classes and races, and I've never been fond of drastically changing my main character's appearance. I'm not sure why, I'm not into rp beyond just taking in the ambiance and enjoying the scenery as I do my thing.

vsrs_au

I had only 1 character from first starting ESO in April 2020 to a few months ago, but then realised the only way I'd **ever** get a reasonable amount of crafting materials (particularly the jewelry materials) is to have more crafters. So I created 7 crafting alts.

To keep things interesting: they're 7 different races and 4 different classes, and I base them all in the locations that sort of match their races, e.g. the dunmer lives and crafts in Davon's Watch, the orsimer in Orsinium, and so on.

A second reason I created the alts is to redo some of the quests and revisit places I enjoyed on the main character.

SeaGtGruff

I made my second character-- who is now my main-- because I felt like I'd messed up too badly on my first character. That's a typical strategy for me when playing an Elder Scrolls game for the first time-- I experiment on my first character to get a feel for the game, then before I get too far along I start all over on another character. But rather than deleting my first character, I kept it since there was no reason to "save on top of" my first game as in single-player TES games.

I made my third character primarily to fiddle around with the character creation process, because I'd been impressed with how much other players had done with it in creating their characters and I wanted to see what I could do. I also chose a different class than I'd used for my first two characters.

But for the longest time I barely played on my first and third characters. Eventually I did start to use them as mules for holding excess crafting materials, since I didn't have ESO Plus yet.

After Summerset was released and ZOS held the Summerset Pathfinder Achievement challenge, I created a character on the other server-- PC EU-- and decided to start playing daily on both servers. I also decided to create a number of alts on PC EU in order to claim the various inn rooms for free-- in Vulkhel Guard, Daggerfall, Ebonheart, Vivec City, and Alinor, so a total of five characters. I'd already bought most of them with gold on PC NA, but from Elsweyr on I usually created a new character just so I could play through the new tutorial and claim the free inn room that came with each new chapter.

Even though I still wasn't playing to any appreciable degree on my alts, I did try to make characters of a variety of races and classes. But I wasn't trying to make a character for every conceivable combination of race, class, and role; before Necrom I had only eight characters on my main server (PC NA) and seven characters on my alt server (PC EU). With Necrom and the new Arcanist class, I now have nine and eight.

For a time I was doing daily crafting writs on all of my characters, although I've stopped doing that because it takes up more of my playtime than I'd like. I do log in on each one every day, to get their hireling mails and check on their crafting research.

Khenarthi

I have many so that I can replay the quests, because I like questing. When I log in and wonder what I'll do for the night, I pick one of my characters and go work towards clearing a map. Otherwise, since I do not really do much group content, or push for scores, or pvp, or grind for stuff... I'run out of things to do.

FriedEggSandwich

I create alts to "collect" classes I don't have, even though I only really play one. But I continue to log on to those toons because daily writs on 8 characters is more lucrative than daily writs on one character. It's about 50k gold income per day, plus all of the mats (and surveys), plus it uses up my enlightenment. It's also a great way to collect master writs, which can be a big source of xp. Having multiple characters is also an outlet for spare costumes/styles/pets/mounts etc, which otherwise might not get seen. I'm a grown man, but I was always jealous of my sister's dolls house lol.

LannStone

Main reason for alts = millions in gold from the daily crafting writs

Dojohoda

Because one character doesn't usually do everything well enough in the game for it to be enjoyable. I am referring to the roles of Tank, Healer, and Damage Dealer.

Also, there are the differences in each of the classes to try to see what one enjoys the most.

Mesite

I also can't decide who is my new main so I created Alts to try out to help me decide. I think it's my sorcerer. Never thought I'd have a dunmer main.

Lugaldu

I started in 2018 and played my main as the only character until the release of the necromancer class. But then the new class appealed to me and a second character was added. Another 1.5 years later I wanted to have an Altmer in addition to Bosmer and Dunmer and created a third character. And this year I was really looking forward to the new arcanist class and to creating a fourth character as a vampire. Now, for me, the only incentive for a fifth character would be another class or a new race (preferably Maormer, but that doesn't seem likely).

PrimeSeptim

To be different races, a male/female, different backstory, see the world through another's eyes I guess and more reason to furnish/buy more homes for each... Also for using different pets, styles and mounts. Nowadays it's more to do with using different characters to replay certain zones. My main is the "Vestige" crafter Imperial master race dude, second is a sneaky nightblade thief/assassin Hlaalu who is quite appealing to look at as well , my Vampire antiquitist mage and then everyone else are just minor alts I use for different zones. Just nice to have options. If I were to only play one character I'd have quit already since there's nothing left to do except replay stuff I've already done long ago or fish or furnish homes.

boi_anachronism_

ixthUA wrote: »

I started in 2017 and still don't have a single alt.
Sometimes i make a lowbie alt, but very quickly i realize how much of new "work" i made for myself this way, and delete it.
All quests and character management get multiplied with each alt. On top of that, all races and classes can do the same thing in PvE, outside of score pushing.

I've been thinking about an arcanist class alt.
Firstly, the best race for arcanists are orcs (stamina, weapon damage, health), despite being quite far from magic knowledge and spells. Also they are ugly.
Second, arcanists need daggers (melee weapons), which is bad during tough fights. Ranged survivability is better.
Third, heavy attack builds can do all that, while staying ranged and being any race. There is AOE nerf, but most of the time i am killing 1 target with heavy attacks.
Fourth, arcanists are likely to be nerfed in 1 year time.

So what makes you play alts, and how do you deal with associated problems?

I run a dark elf arc in high end content, hm, trifecta progs ect. I use a bow on front bar and a staff on back bar for ranged content like vas and cloud rest. Its perfectly viable in most content actually. Yes you want to have daggers but you definitely to not need them in all content. It really depends

As far as nerfs? All classes go through them. Its normal and cyclical. Nightblade was king prior to elswyer and then it recieved huge nerfs. They get buffed eventually. Its now possible to hit 130k with them on the super high end. Dont let the fear of it dissuade you. Arcs are fun to play and they are great as a dps, tank and healer. Its good to have multiple toons so you always have something to fall back on should your main class recieve a substantial nerf.

I have my main which is a nb and i started when they were considered a less viable class who ive put many moons of work into and is my favorite but i also have a sorc, a necro, a warden, and an arc. My necro is utility for buffing my team in raids, a warden healer, my sorc who has both 1 and 2 bar builds, and my arc that i use in 4 man and also a lot of raid content which is my second favorite and I intend to keep playing him buff or nerf just like with my blade simply because i enjoy playing it.

SkaiFaith

I have 3 CP characters created in 2017 because quests aren't repeatable and I wanted to play through them solo, and with 2 friends separately - can be messy to play through Bleackrock a second time with someone who still needs to clear it but you have already...

During 2XP event I am leveling 7 alts. I have 1 for each race, made them mostly to do writs (easy money), to have 200 inventory slots each (unlike IRL, I'm a hoarder, I have everything maxed out and full), and to utilize rare cool Motifs I obtained that would otherwise be "wasted".

Honestly, I don't know why I bother to level them, because even if I'll take them to CP, there are too many other things they would need: dark brotherhood maxed for passive; mages guild books, psijic order, Undaunted... It's really too much to level on everyone and I don't want to spend a gozillion of Crowns to skip the grind. So, yeah, I don't know why I'm leveling them, probably just FOMO for the 2XP event, since my CPs are almost 2.000 and I don't really need any more.

If you don't really feel the need, 1 char of your beloved class is the way to go. I think it makes the game more enjoyable to not have to manage so much, imo.

TybaltKaine

Because variety is the spice of life.

I_killed_Vivec

I started about three characters before deciding on my main. I kept the others as mules (it was before ESO+ so no craft bag), then decided I could at least do crafting writs with them. That needed some time playing each to build up the skill points and exp.

I now have 10, all master crafters, all fully horse trained. I used them to get an appreciation of the other classes, with some interesting (to me) results: I don't like nightblade, warden or necro; magsorc (with or without pets) is easy mode; magplar was a revelation, just the way I want to play, gap closer, AoE, in yer face jabs... I could even be a healer! But that was a long time ago, it's changed now and just doesn't feel the same. Stamsorc was fun to play, and gave me some ideas for my stamDK main.

I mainly play on my main now, rarely the others at all. I used to log in to do crafting writs on all my characters, and felt compelled to do so or I might miss out on surveys, master writs, etc. but now I've weaned myself off the busy-work, job-like aspects of ESO. And to be honest don't miss it at all

M0ntie

I'd feel I was missing out on a lot of the game NOT having alts. Everyone I know has heaps of alt characters.
The different classes and races bring different things to the game. I mainly do trials so having different classes and roles are very useful for building optimal teams, and also providing variety to my experience of the game.

I have my first character (night blade), master crafter and do mostly solo stuff character on her.
Then I have a templar and warden healer. I'm making an arcanist healer.
Then I have some dps characters - DK, sorc, arcanist.
And a DK tank. I have a necro who has been a dps and healer. And a few stam characters that I made and who don't do much except get to tier 1 in Cyro for transmutes. I hear bow bow templars may be good next patch, so my stamplar may get played more then.

I have purposely have at least 1 character of each class so when ZoS nerfs one into the ground, then I can play the others.

I start them all in full training gear, and they do some starter zone quests, and daily random dungeons and they get levelled up without too much effort.

1) You don't have to make your arcanist an orc. Usually there is only a tiny difference in the benefit of one race over others. If you really don't like orcs (and I'm not a fan of them myself), play another race. I made mine a dunmer.
2) Playing a melee character opens up another aspect of the game. I started out always playing ranged, but now find melee lots of fun.
3) HA builds do have a lot of advantages, but again you're missing out on a lot of fun only playing the one type of build. I think you can do a HA arcanist build if you really want. Arcanists are a lot of fun to play! They also do a lot of beaming, which is like heavy attacking, so I think the arcanist would be a great next character to make after a HA sorc.

Supreme_Atromancer

This will sound wanky, I know, but... "Tamriel is the main character".

The world and geography tells a fascinating story. Bretons of the Iliac Bay are high and pompous, but what about the ones living close to Skyrim, in the cold, distant lands? Falkreath was once part of Colovia; what sort of character tells this tale? Are there subtle differences between the Old Eastern Nords and Western Nords? We know what normal, volcano-humping Dunmer look like already; are the Redoran from Blacklight, on the borders of frigid Skyrim different?

DRAGONSTAR is one of the most FASCINATING places in all of Tamriel to me. Both the Redguards and the Nords have HIGHLY distinct and characteristic aesthetics. Partly due to their drastically different environments. But what does a Redguard city in Hammerfell look like when its sitting right in the snowy passes of Skyrim? How much of its flair does it keep, and what gets adapted for that environment? Although we've already seen ESO's answer to that, Sai Sahan's dialogue suggests a stronger Redguard heritage must have been associated with this place, so perhaps ruins of an ancient Redguard city might be buried under the modern Nordic settlement.

So long story, short: I make characters inspired by the fascinating parts of the world. Its probably why I'm a stickler for world-building detail. Some of these places have a deep history in the lore, and some of us have imagined seeing these places for years. Unlike some of the other story-type people here, I don't really play them that much once I've made them. I've had a "main" since I started playing in 2014, on whom I do all story content, and who represents my "canon playthrough". They are a sorcerer from Evermore, with lots of crowy-type themes. That character is a classic high- Breton, with an affinity for magic, but descendent from old old Reach blood that I suspect a considerable minority of Evermore must have.

None of the others get much of an ongoing story really, they're just expressions of my fascination with the interesting places of the world. They may "exist" in my main's story, but none of their heroics actually "happened", because my main did those things. If that makes sense.

BoraxFlux

To better understand what opponents are up to in PvP, I have a character of each class and as far as one account allowes a stamina and a magica version.
I came to like the same variation in PvE.

There is one Mastercrafter for the benefit of all the characters in my toolbox. The only craftngskills most character share are Provisioning and Alchemy, because of beneficial passives.

When leveling a new character, I use every xp-scroll I've accumulated (daily login rewards etc) and speed-level via Alik'r Dolmen and Spellscar (area in Craglorn).

I've bought Aliance Changes for nearly all my non-EP characters. My former AD Mastercrafter can excavate EP Lancers now, a PvP-siege engine only available trough Antiquities skilline.
Bought Any Race Any Alliance bundle to be able to play EP almost exclusively on every race.
Still keep at least one character of every alliance around to be able to Cyro-PvP with friends on occasion.

Bought a race change when it fitted the build better. Respec-shrine is regularly prayed at, with devotion :P
To keep track of the characteristics of every alt, here are a few handy addons available, some of theose:
-Unknown Tracker for which character knows which motifs/furnishings/recepies,
-Inventory Insight to easily search for all goods in every storage I own.

A few good sets are exchanged between characters depending on the goal, or the stickerbook is used to create new sets for new set-ups. Armory station is ideal to change from healer to DPS, to tank in a heartbeat.

When updates change, I gradually change builds where needed.

I also do enjoy a mockery and a flaunt anywhere in Tamriel, of mine and that of others, keeping cosmetics around to accomodate every character change.

Have fun building your characters, glad to see you want to taste and know more about different playstyles 👍

Snamyap

Frankly, because I can. Redoing some stuff is indeed tedious, but there is also plenty of fun stuff to repeat.

menedhyn

I don’t have lots of alts… anymore. Contrary to some others, I found having an abundance of characters to be a distraction to the way I want to experience ESO. With the limited time I have available for gaming and other interests, I felt like I needed to revisit my original pre-release ideas and plans.

I now have just two characters. This simplified, stripped-back approach gives me all the variety I need. I don’t suffer from boredom, the game doesn’t feel stale or repetitive, and I have saved a small fortune in gold - and time - by not having to obtain lots of sets of gear.

I won’t make the same alt-laden mistake again.

Snamyap

Snamyap wrote: »

Frankly, because I can. Redoing some stuff is indeed tedious, but there is also plenty of fun stuff to repeat.

Addendum: for collecting some stuff, like motifs that come from quests once per day per account, it's quite handy to have multiple characters to run them. Increases the odds that you can get it daily, and duplicates are a nice source of income.

LittlePinkDot

ixthUA wrote: »

I started in 2017 and still don't have a single alt.
Sometimes i make a lowbie alt, but very quickly i realize how much of new "work" i made for myself this way, and delete it.
All quests and character management get multiplied with each alt. On top of that, all races and classes can do the same thing in PvE, outside of score pushing.

I've been thinking about an arcanist class alt.
Firstly, the best race for arcanists are orcs (stamina, weapon damage, health), despite being quite far from magic knowledge and spells. Also they are ugly.
Second, arcanists need daggers (melee weapons), which is bad during tough fights. Ranged survivability is better.
Third, heavy attack builds can do all that, while staying ranged and being any race. There is AOE nerf, but most of the time i am killing 1 target with heavy attacks.
Fourth, arcanists are likely to be nerfed in 1 year time.

So what makes you play alts, and how do you deal with associated problems?

I have a character for every race. Most of them are PvP characters.

I don't waste my time completing every unnecessary quest, achievement and skill line if I'm not planning on using those skills.
I just power level the Character to 50 with training gear, Alikr Dolmens and Normal dungeons with experience scrolls.

SilverBride

I like to have one character of each class for the diversity. The only class I don't have is Warden because I don't want a huge bear following me around. I did recently roll a second Sorcerer but she is for PvP and plays very differently than my other Sorcerer.

I know new characters are a lot of work and I love every second of it. I find it fun to level them and raise their crafting etc.. The only things I don't enjoy about it are the 6 months of remembering to go to the Stablemaster every day and leveling Antiquities.

KlauthWarthog

Writs. A gigantic pile of writs.

MJ202

ixthUA wrote: »

Second, arcanists need daggers (melee weapons), which is bad during tough fights.

So what makes you play alts, and how do you deal with associated problems?

I like to mix things up from time to time. I also enjoy building characters. I'm not sure what you are referring to as associated problems though.

As for arcanists being weak up close, my stamina, dual wield, arcanists does very well up close. If I need range, there are arcanist skills I can slot for that.

Onomog

TaSheen wrote: »

Kirawolfe wrote: »

but most importantly... because they haunt my brain until I make them.

"haunt my brain" describes it EXACTLY!

This. I create, and play, alts, because I hear their voices asking to be born and their story to be told.

(edit for spelling)

Sarannah

Alts are just fun and a change of pace from the previously played characters. For this reason I do not have a real main either, I just play any of my 20 characters when I feel like playing them. You are not missing out on anything if you do something on another character than your main, so there is no reason not to play alts.

When I get an idea for a new character I create it, and due to that also feel like playing it. Everything I want to have on characters I slowly unlock when I feel like it.

For me unlocking and maxing a character's crafting skills is my motivation, and I slowly work towards that goal on each character. I have more goals that keep me playing, like finishing cadwell's gold on every character, but all of those are very longterm projects.

This is an MMO so take it slow, eventually you will get where you want to go. No matter what character you are playing, or why.

PS: The advantage of multiple characters is you can pick any character to play any role, any build, or in any place. Can even make some for specific events.
PPS: We need many more character slots, atleast 50!

ixthUA

I created an alt just to waste time on it when i have nothing better to do. I hope Rosie Palmer is not a forbidden character name.

Wolfkeks

I like playing different classes and different roles so I have lots of alts - also makes it easier to help out in raids if someone needs a healer or tank (or a DD in a specific setup) 😁