How many skills to start with so as not to spread points to thin!

Clarebear · April 2015

Just wondering How many Crafts I can safely invest in without worrying about spreading myself to think on Skill Points while Leveling? Also if any suggestions as to what Crafts I am a NB atm so thinking of doing Clothing, Blacksmithing, and Provisioning so that I can make my own Food and also make my own armor. Plus I will be able to make some of my weapons as I want to dual wield as well as use a Bow.

Surrepo · April 2015

If you take the time to go to the PvP zone to collect skyshards, do each of the 3 dungeons available when entering a new zone and collect all skyshards in each zone as you level then you should have plenty of points to keep up as many of the crafting skills as you want as you level. I am working on all the trade skills on my character as I like to only play one and I have been able to keep them all to the point where my crafting writs are using the same material that I can currently harvest. I have hirelings for each and some points into other things such as researching bonus slot/lowered time. I don't feel underpowered with my character, I am still able to put points into both my weapons and the class skills that I want to use and will eventually get them all. I have put points into the other misc. stuff as well such as werewolf, ledgermain, etc...

It's really up to you to decide, what you want. There are plenty of skill points out there to get if you take the time to get them to keep everything at a comfortable level both crafting and adventuring wise.

fromtesonlineb16_ESO · April 2015

One thing I do on new characters these days is, once they're out of the intro (level 5 nowadays) I take them to get all the over-world Skyshards from the faction's zones. Most are reachable with care avoiding mobs (at level 5 'sneak' really doesn't do much but it's useful at times), a few can be 'iffy' with nearby mobs and one or two may not be possible unless players are around killing them.

By doing this I reckon on getting maybe 12 skill points (3 per zone if you get all 9 shards) and you'll also get a couple of levels from Exploration meaning 2 more (likely a third level if you can get a crafted set of gear laden with Exploration).

This takes a few hours, but then exploration in general is one of my great loves and I'm in no rush, I prefer having a nice pool of SPs to be able to unlock skills as soon as they become available so I can get them morphable.

Cenion · April 2015

Here is a build I have been meaning to make (except for the crafts, I have a crafter for that)
It is a magicka NB, but I doubt the amount of skills required would change much for you.

http://esohead.com/calculator/skills#1.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

I have put points to all crafting related skills that I consider mandatory, but left some out. (only 2 points to keen eye, none to enchanting keen eye)

Only one armor skill line and have not put points to all skills, just the ones I think I would need. Also only 1 point in werewolf, so I can bite others.

It comes to 268 skill points in total. The game has something like 340 skill points if I remember correctly, so it would be doable but difficult.

If you were to go with this, you would likely find your leveling experience a little.. lacking as you would need to prioritise crafting skills (so you don't drown in materials. You need to be able to spend them while leveling) so your passives and maybe even skill morphs would be behind someone who played without so many crafts.

If you plan on going with just the three crafts you mentioned, you will be able to do that easily

SpAEkus · April 2015

If you follow the "get all the skyshards first plan", you can have 23+ Skillpoints in DC, 18+ in AD and 16+ in EP.

With most builds now you can level 1-50 with only one primary killing skill and one healing skill on your bar. With that many starting skill points you can easily fill an initial skill bar and start several crafts.

That's all before you even start the main zone and story quests.

If you apply your questing and leveling skill points equally to fighting and crafts, you should have no problem with both while L1-50. As soon as you get to Vr1, you get that first other alliance zone and another free set of skillpoints from shards, plus another whole set of questing skillpoints.

Love_Chunks · April 2015

Its best to do blacksmithing wood working and clothing on one character. That way you only need to learn one set of motifs and have access to all of the crafting locations and all of your crafting abilities without having to switch toons.

pareidolon · April 2015

Keep in mind that one thing you can do is take them all, but leave off all the skills that do nothing but gain or save you resources (such as keen eye, hireling, chef). Also keep in mind that you can trade or ask other people to craft for you. In the end it's more about how many perks you take than how many crafts. However, each craft you want to keep up to date will cost you time and resources. You may not want to have to worry about finding new recipes and new ingredients every 5 levels. Or maybe you enjoy that more than fighting. The three you've chosen, in any case, are pretty solid.

In general, the first things you should focus your skill points on are your active skills. After that, balance your passive skills with your crafting skills. And you can always keep crafts on the back burners for later when you have the points, deconstructing and researching traits.