LartenCrepsley wrote: »

for my first playthru should i download the addons that list all skyshards / lorebooks in your opinion? does it ruin the game if i do

I made the mistake of being 100% resistant to addons on my first play through, so I didn't use a skyshards addon. I ended up regretting it because I had to retrace my steps so much to collect them all.

Many addons that people recommend on the forums are nice to have but far from essential, especially when you are learning the game. But skyshards and the skill points you get from them have such a large impact on your character progression that this is one addon personally I couldn't live without.

Don't rush to 50, there's a pretty grim veteran grind awaiting you. If you think you'd like to do some PvP then head off to Cyrodiil as soon as you can. The non veteran PvP campaign, which you can do until level 49, is MUCH more balanced and fun than the veteran PvP campaigns. Everyone is boosted regardless of level and gear, so it's possible to be reasonably competitive even at low level. So get stuck in early.

Agree with all the comments about not installing a load of addons at this point.
I only joined 5 mths ago and took my time to v1 - enjoying the story and such.

As someone else pointed out, it's worth having the SKyshard and Lorebook addon but keep it turned off.

I checked my journal last night and I'm not even half way to all the lore books to read!!!

Plus, I've got 5 skyshards left to get - 2 deep in AD and 3 deep in EP Not quite sure how I'm going to get those..lol

LartenCrepsley wrote: »

like the title says. is there any tips/must know tricks that i should know to help me get started

Add-ons my friend! In my opinion they'll greatly improve your experience in ESO as the base game UI is very simplistic, that is unless you prefer the minimalistic appeal. ESOUI link. I'll list some you should consider getting

Skyshards by Garkin

LoreBooks by Garkin

Treasure Maps by TheCrazyDutchGuy

Foundry Tactical Combat by Atropos

...and more so check it out!

I'd also advise deciding what kind of build you want to play in advance, healer, tank, magicka/stamina dps and check out some guides. Also try to equip at least one piece of each armor so you level all 3 at once!

Step 1 - if you're seeking advice read ZOS's guides
Step 2 - go to the players guides section in the forum
Step 3 - read player guides that interest you
Step 4 - read patch notes in the patch notes forums
Step 5 - realize none of the above really matters but is good to know for later on


Go play and have fun. Be nice to others

Another note on the use of addons. I've stated this , as well as others about not using any in the start. While I agree wholeheartedly about adding anything or not adding anything, rather. While the tell additions are useful to a select few, they can be nothing short of a spoiler for me.

In fact, I go to the means of using addons to remove 90% of all the cluttered information on the screen. The game allows for a lot of this, already. Things like enemy bars over everyone and all of the glowing enemies.

The only thong that is on my screen is a single neon green pixel, as a crosshair.
The compass is completely stripped to only showing direction and even then it is reduced in size by 80%. By stripped, I mean you only see a small letter. No bar or markers of any kind.
No floating pins over NPCs.
My map is a completely blank parchment. Basically implementing a map cloud overlay that mimics drawing the map as you move along.
I also have AOs that will allow me to place custom map markers of any type any color and a custom description.

Granted this is a niche playstyle but I was spoiled with custom mods like Gopher's iHUD for Skyrim. I play ESO the exact same way. Not everyone wants to play this way but I play very slow and want to play the gameworld and not constantly track little blinking things on the screen.

Hopefully this will help someone looking to make the game look and feel differently.

Oh, and I can't believe I didn't mention this when I first replied to this thread yesterday:

Make sure you do the starter zones!

When you first awaken in Tamriel after completing the tutorial/introduction in the Wailing Prison, you'll be inside a house (if you're Daggerfall Covenant or Ebonheart Pact) or a ship (if you're Aldmeri Dominion) in the first full zone of your alliance (Glenumbra for DC, Stonefalls for EP, Auridon for AD). When you go outside there'll be a quest giver nearby (there'll be an arrow over his head) who will give you a quest to go find a boat. Do this quest before you start questing in the zone where you woke up!

If you want to, you can go to the Fighters Guild and the Mages Guild in the city where you wake up and do the "join the guild" mini-quests first (just the ones that make you a recruit - don't do the quests that the guild masters give you yet), but aside from those, I'd strongly recommend against doing anything else in that zone until after you've completed the starter zones.

The starter zones (Stros M'kai and Betnikh for DC, Bleak Rock and Bal Foyen for EP, and Khenarthi's Roost for AD - AD only has one starter zone, but it's bigger than the others) are designed to teach you how to go about questing and exploring in ESO. They introduce you to some characters who will come up again through your alliance's storyline, they introduce you to some common questing mechanics (such as using disguises), and they give you valuable experience. By the time you complete them you'll likely be level 8.

Make sure that you explore the starter zones well (and the later zones too), as there are numerous places on them that are worth going to, but which you won't find if you only follow your quest markers. By exploring you'll find areas of interest and such that give you exploration XP just for discovering them, you'll find quest givers who you wouldn't have come across otherwise, you'll find treasure chests, you'll find sky shards to collect, etc.

By the time you've done everything there is to do in the starter zones you'll have much better equipment, more skill points, more levels, and more practical experience on how to play the game. You'll just generally be a lot better prepared to take on the zone that you woke up in.

Take you time because we wont see any new content until...

After Console(TM)

Here are a few new players videos I put together enjoy

Ley wrote: »

I agree about a full blow hybrid but it's note worthy that if you go magica, it's useful to have at least 1 stamina skill on one of your bars and vice-versa. It lets you take advantage of an otherwise untapped resource.

I reserve my stamina for roll dodging and sprinting solely for my magica Templar. Both bars nothing but magica skills, ZERO attribute points in stam.