Totally New Newb....

P3ZZL3 · January 2015

Hey Everyone...

So, yeah, as the title says, I'm TOTALLY new to Elder Scrolls. I've played a number of FPS over the years and more recently League and Smite (still play a lot of Smite)....but a friend said it's worth getting, so I searched around, paid for a couple of months and the game. I'm still downloading it, so it'll be another 10hrs until that's done

But I thought I would take the opportunity to ask the community how best to start I guess.

What Character type should I consider?
Is there a big difference to the types of character types?
Whats a good starting point?
What should I consider when starting?
How toxic is the community compared to others?
Anything in particular I should look out for? Consider?

So yeah, hope to meet some of you on my travels in a positive way and thanks for reading

Cheers
Pez
p.s. I'm one of those old farts I read about in another thread....

Jitterbug · January 2015

Hey man, welcome.

Your questions are a little hard to answer without you telling a bit more about what you are interested in, what type of gameplay you think you'll like and so on.

You can pretty much build and play all the classes anyway you like when levelling, and there is much general advice to be given.

A cool trick though is to put at least one of each armor type on so you, fx, have 5 light 1 medium 1 heavy, and also put a weapon skill from your primary weapon on until level 15 to level that as well.

Please, ask away.

Ers?

P3ZZL3 · January 2015

Hi Jitter, thanks for your response.

ERS? New one to me. Please elaborate

As for types of character, I'm thinking either Sorcerer or Templar. I like the support function as I'm not the best in terms of quick reactions, knowing the build lines and all that stuff (learning in it though) but seems like either can be built out quite tanky as well, but mainline in Magicka?...

Just my thoughts from what I've read so far

Pez

Jitterbug · January 2015

Yeah, they both can, and so can nightblade.

If you go magicka nightblade and use the siphoning tree you will get a leech tank caster. Not saying you should do that, just trying to illustrate how you can utilize the various skills in the class lines.

Ers was a bad inside joke to someone else on this forum :-P nvm

As to support try and look at what skills the classes have that effect the rest of your party. Like Dragonknights have molten weapons, templars obviously have heals and so on.

If you are on EU you can add @Jitterbug‌ in game and we can talk

P3ZZL3 · January 2015

I will when it gets downloaded

A few hours yet alas as internet is not great due to where I live.

The ERS thing, now worries

One day, I might understand it..lol

I'm erring on the side of Sorcerer simply as I like the Magic side of Smite and the style of character it is.

There's only a couple of us at this point, so as I know my mate is likely to go more rogue/stealth/attack, seems like a reasonable choice?

What's the deal with races. Are there any that are better than others to go down the magicka/mage/sorcerer route?

Jitterbug · January 2015

Yes there absolutely is with Altmer being destructive, Breton being resource friendly and Dunmer being bad arse.

Check out their passives.

A Dragonknight is probably the best "fire-mage" if that's the kind of thing you're into, a Sorcerer is more blink and blow things up style play, and Nightblade is more leech self heal type play, but they can all be "mages".
I don't know much about Templars.

P3ZZL3 · January 2015

Could you suggest a good resource site/information portal to look at them all and maybe compare?

Ourorboros · January 2015

ERS refers to a frequent forum poster. Look for his advice.

Breton and Altmer best for magicka builds based on racial skills and passives.

Right now, sorcerer is most under-powered in game, especially at end game. DPS is average at best, only healing is through Restoration weapons skill, that are available to everyone. May get better with up-coming patch. BTW, my only playing toon is a VR14 socerer, so not prejudice, just realistic.

If you plan to learn crafting, start asap. Those of us who have been here since beta have just recently finished learning all original craft traits, just from game mechanics. Enchanting takes a long time, don't wait to start. Hard to say about provisioning as a major change is expected. Alchemy is easy. The key to advancing crafting is deconstructing items from OTHERS.

Don' buy from NPC vendors, all over-priced. Don't repair armor, make new or use drops. Save your gold for bank, bag, and horse upgrades. Most experience and gold comes from questing in early game. Join a guild or 5, both for trading and playing, and game advice.

Plenty more to say, but don't want to write a book.

Gyudan · January 2015

P3ZZL3 wrote: »

Could you suggest a good resource site/information portal to look at them all and maybe compare?

Many things have changed since launch and are likely to change again.
I think that the most effective way for you to discover each class would be to watch youtube videos of players actually using them in PVP and PVE situations.

When you start playing, try going to level 15 with a first setup, then try another class (in the same alliance), until you find something that you really like.

For now, pick your favorite alliance

P3ZZL3 · January 2015

Hi Gyudan,

I was just looking at that. I'm thinking going Breton right now. Seems to be a good mix of what I'd like to experience within the game.

Any opinions on that?

Cheers
Pez

Jitterbug · January 2015

Breton is a good strong choice for a magic user.

P3ZZL3 · January 2015

Could 2 magic users from Breton survive ok?

In terms of initial entry into the game and exploring?

Gyudan · January 2015

P3ZZL3 wrote: »

Could 2 magic users from Breton survive ok?

In terms of initial entry into the game and exploring?

The race matters for a few passives (more details here) but mostly for the lore and character aspect/style attached to it. A breton magicka user will be able to do quests easily, just as a khajiit or a nord would.

The passives amount for about 15% of 1 or 2 stats and allow you to be a bit more efficient in one role but they do not determine how well you will perform in the game, and especially not at the very beginning.

Pick your alliance carefully because it is the one that you will support in the Alliance War (PVP in Cyrodiil) and you'll spend about 50 hours questing in its regions before reaching Veteran levels. The content of the other alliances will be available after you complete the main quest, around level 50.

If you want to take a look at the landscapes of each alliance, check The Mesmerizing Tamriel. You can cross-reference the zone names with the interactive map of Tamriel.

Ourorboros · January 2015

P3ZZL3 wrote: »

Could 2 magic users from Breton survive ok?

In terms of initial entry into the game and exploring?

If you are playing with another, it will make little difference what you play as, you won't have any problems. Before end game, most everything can be done solo, so a team will make it easy.

P3ZZL3 · January 2015

Thanks for all the feedback so far. Please do keep it coming.

I promised my mate I'd wait for him, so I've set up my character with look, feel, name, race, etc.

I went for Breton and Mage/Sorcerer

Question: Can you have multiple characters to your account? It seems as though you can?

Ourorboros · January 2015

Question: Can you have multiple characters to your account? It seems as though you can?

Up to eight alts. It's pretty common to make multiple alts to use as mules since bank and bag space is somewhat limited.

Jitterbug · January 2015

A know another guy gave this advice earlier but I think it can be repeated... Do a craft!
If your buddy does provisioning, and you do alchemy you can help each other out with food / pots and make a little gold come level 50. Might help you a lot in the long run.

Also, get a horse early and feed it everyday with apples (speed buff). I have a level 50 character right now with a level 16 horse and it's beyond frustrating trying to keep up in Cyrodiil :-P

Jitterbug · January 2015

Oh, and also, if it's not too late, once you spawn in the first major city, get on the boat to the starter islands. The first zone is of a little higher level than you and can prove frustrating to a new player.

P3ZZL3 · January 2015

I assume we both have to individually get out of the cell/prison first before we can meet up?

tinythinker · January 2015

Hello and welcome, @P3ZZL3‌. This comment might offer some assistance. Good luck.

Nestor · January 2015

P3ZZL3 wrote: »

What Character type should I consider?

Is there a big difference to the types of character types?

Whats a good starting point?

What should I consider when starting?

How toxic is the community compared to others?

Anything in particular I should look out for? Consider?

Your going to want an Alt at some point, maybe 2 or 3. Mostly to serve as Mules to hold excess inventory, but also for another reason, Crafting. You can't really be a competent crafter and be good at combat at the same time until you are way up in levels. A good way to build a crafter is to get them to L15 or L20, then respec most of their skill points into crafting with a couple in the more powerful combat skills that you use all the time. Then you can take them out on farming runs.

You will want to craft armor at least, and perhaps weapons. Most other things can be bought or found as loot.

So, using the Alt theory, you spend some time in the game learning the ropes on your first character, then you use that character to support your next character. It will make things much easier for you. Once I had a crafter to make stuff for my low level alts, the early game got real easy.

Cuyler · January 2015

Did you get a chance to read forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/75939/tips-you-wish-youd-known-from-the-start @P3ZZL3?

It's a good amount of tips for starting out.

Also I play a v14 Altmer Sorcerer if you have any questions regarding the class or builds. Feel free to shoot me a message anytime.

Cuyler · January 2015

P3ZZL3 wrote: »

I assume we both have to individually get out of the cell/prison first before we can meet up?

I don't think so. You should be able to group right from the onset of the game.

Cuyler · January 2015

Something I feel wasn't mentioned here is getting a hold of some very useful addons. They will make leveling much easier. The first that come to mind are:

1. "skyshards" - this will put a pin on your map/compass showing all the "secret" locations of skyshards. Collecting 3 skyshards will give your character 1 skill point. They add up quick and can give you the edge you need early on.
2. "lorebooks" - as a mage you'll want to level your mages guild skill line. If you don't have it yet, visit the mages guild in you starter city to join the mages guild which will give you and additional skill line (can also be done for fighters guild). Collecting lorebooks increases your mages guild skill line. The addon will again put a pin on your map/compass. A higher level skill in the line called "equilibrium" is used a lot by sorcerers later on so start early and collect them along the way so you don't have to go back and waste time.

Nestor · January 2015

Cuyler wrote: »

P3ZZL3 wrote: »

I assume we both have to individually get out of the cell/prison first before we can meet up?

I don't think so. You should be able to group right from the onset of the game.

I think you have to go through the Wailing Prison once before you can skip the tutorials on your Alts. I don't know if you can group, nor do you need to, while in the prison. It would certainly be limited to the instance you are in. So, no one who as gotten past the prison would be able to go back to help out. Only those who are in there with you.

Now, you should be able to chat with anyone from the get go, but I was not paying attention to chat back then. And, none of my characters but the first has done the WP.

Cuyler · January 2015

Nestor wrote: »

Cuyler wrote: »

P3ZZL3 wrote: »

I assume we both have to individually get out of the cell/prison first before we can meet up?

I don't think so. You should be able to group right from the onset of the game.

I think you have to go through the Wailing Prison once before you can skip the tutorials on your Alts. I don't know if you can group, nor do you need to, while in the prison. It would certainly be limited to the instance you are in. So, no one who as gotten past the prison would be able to go back to help out. Only those who are in there with you.

Now, you should be able to chat with anyone from the get go, but I was not paying attention to chat back then. And, none of my characters but the first has done the WP.

I guess that what I was referring to. That there are others in the prison with you and if your friend is there as well, you should be able to "group" up. Maybe not in a legitimate group but at least fight side by side. As I said though, I'm not sure.

Lynx7386 · January 2015

What Character type should I consider?
There are, essentially, three different roles you can gear towards: Damage, Tanking, and Healing. If there's one of these you really like, it will help narrow down your class selection.

Damage dealing is pretty straight forward, obviously. There's two ways you can set up a character for damage - spellcasting (ranged damage, mage style), or melee (up close, fighter/rogue style). For a spellcaster damage dealer, you'll probably want to pick either Sorceror or Dragonknight as your class. Sorceror is easier to play early on, and most of the sorceror's spells are long range, while the dragonknight is more of a close range area damage dealer. For melee damage, your best bet is nightblade, though templars do pretty well late-game.

Tanking is essentially being tough to kill and forcing enemies to attack you instead of allies so that your group doesnt get killed. A tank gears for survivability and toughness, and should be using a sword and shield setup (or axe and shield or mace and shield or dagger and shield, whatever you prefer). Currently the two best tanking classes in the game are the dragonknight and the templar. The dragonknight tank does a little more damage and has more control over enemies, while the templar tank can achieve better survivability and has healing spells to keep himself alive easier.

Healing typically goes hand in hand with a spellcaster play style, since you cant heal enemies to death while you're soloing. Right now templars make the best healers because they've got some extra class-based heals that the other classes dont have access to, but any of the four classes can heal well. Sorceror healers pretty much never run out of magic and can do more damage when soloing, nightblade healers use more damage-over-time and heal-over-time effects, and dragonknight healers have a lot of group support abilities like shields and debuffs.

Is there a big difference to the types of character types?
Each class has it's own flavor, but the bigger difference comes in which role you focus on (explained above). Dragonknights are all about fire and earth magic, sorcerors are all about lightning and summoning, nightblades are all about lifedrain abilities and stealth/invisibility, and templars are all about light/holy magic. These differences are mostly aesthetic flavor.

Whats a good starting point?
Not sure what you mean by this, I assume level 1 =P

What should I consider when starting?
Some of the most important things to do as a new character:
1. Put your first 3 skill points into the 3 different class trees, and put all of those abilities on your ability bar. This helps level up all of your class skills.
2. Activate every bookcase you find, as many bookcases will level up your skills.
3. Enjoy the storyline, dont rush your way to max level, and try to ignore all the negative comments on these forums, it'll make your game time much more enjoyable.

How toxic is the community compared to others?
MMORPG communities are always pretty rife with doomsayers and complainers. That said, this game's community does seem a little bit more tolerable than most.

AlexDougherty · January 2015

P3ZZL3 wrote: »

What Character type should I consider?

Is there a big difference to the types of character types?

Whats a good starting point?

What should I consider when starting?

How toxic is the community compared to others?

Anything in particular I should look out for? Consider?

Took a while for me to come up with an answer, and @Lynx7386 got there first, but my answers are slightly different, So;

What Character type should I consider?
Well it depends on how you play.
Templars are good healers
DragonKnights are good melee fighters
Nightblades are supposed to be sneaky (but cloak is bugged) but have turned out to be great dpsers, difference is Dragonknight is quick to kill while Nightblade has draining abilities.
Sorcerors are supposed to be ranged damage, but at veteran levels I ended up going with thundering presence and critical surge, which is a melee set up.

Is there a big difference to the types of character types?

Yes, Templars have light spells and healing, but have magicka management issues, managable issues but they are there.

DragonKnights are fire and melee orientated, with dragonstandard and molten weapons for supporting other characters, and firebreath, fiery chains and Dragonblood(essential) for melee.

Nightblades are set up for stealth and draining, half the passives seem to revolve around stealth and invisibility. But the primary stealth ability is bugged into uselessness. They also have excellent draining abilities (siphon health, Restoring path, draining weapons), and can easily hold their own as DPSers and Tanks.

Sorcerors have two set ups, summoner and DPSer, you can be a healer, a good healer, but that involves non-class abilities, and I'm just talking about how the class is set up.
For the DPSer you have abilities like Thundering pressence and an ability that electirifies your weapon for a brief period. To make this work you will need to use weapon abilities for early levels.
For the summoner you have unstable familiar, winged Twilight and deadric armour. This is excellent for low levels, especially if you add a destruction staff and first ability (with fire staffs knocks the mopbs away). But this struggles at later levels, although 1.6 is going to buff the summons.

Whats a good starting point?
Read up on the abilities of the classes, decide whether you're going to be DPS/Tank/Healer but remember you need some each for leveling. Decide what crafts you want for that character, and start researching as soon as you can, provisioning is a must for all characters.

Oh and do the starter islands (stros m'kai, Kenarthis roost, etc)

What should I consider when starting?

What crafts you want, what sets you want to craft (or have crafted for you if your lucky). Carry a piece of each armour type, that way when you get to VR levels (or whatever they will be called) you can change armour if you want.

How toxic is the community compared to others?

It varies, on the whole it's quite nice, but occassionally you can't find anyone to do a boss with.