ESO's Difficulty Level (or lack thereof?)

Azarin71 · February 2016

Hi folks,

I'm relatively new to the game. I'm currently playing a level 11 nightblade in Auridon, running Mages Guild, Fighters Guild, main story and side quests. I've been having a great time exploring Tamriel, but I do have a question about the game's difficulty so far. I realize I'm only lvl 11, but at what point will the game's difficulty level ramp up? I was really hoping for the combat to offer more of a challenge, but so far I've been able to breeze through almost every encounter with relative ease, which is starting to get dull. I've found that mindlessly spamming my skills if very effective. Is it safe to assume this will change soon? I didn't think to much of it up until I was level 10, as I chalked it up to the first 10 levels being in a tutorial mode. A quest of equal level to mine should require at least some tactics, rather than being able to wander into a group of mobs without concern.

Having said all of that however, I can say I'm enjoying the game (so far). I appreciate the story based quests, which are a nice departure from the standard "collect 10 blah blah blah's" of most other MMOs. I just hope the difficulty ramps up a bit.

Thanks in advance for any replies!

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO · February 2016

I dont think level 11 stuff is supposed to be super hard. You have until lvl 50 plus 16 full vet ranks. Dont worry things do get more difficult later.

Brrrofski · February 2016

I think they honestly get easier.

The hardest part is with no weapon swap or lack of skills...

Are there difficult moments? Sure. With no CP, group dungeons and some world bosses may be hard. Quests though... faceroll

Shunravi · February 2016

Eveything outside of group comtent will be rather easy. If you are looking for challenge, you likely wont find it for a while. especially when you get more skill access with weapon swap, and start getting gear sets. But i like doing group instances and would recomend them. Also there is pvp, which you can access over level 10.

Didgerion · February 2016

Long time ago when I adventured into Tamriel with my first character I noticed a shift in difficulty at VR1 - for VR content.

But at levels 1-50 I challenged the zones bosses - most of them are quite challenging. You can try to solo an anchor too it is challenging as well. Quests and regular mobs are not challenging at all.

Flak · February 2016

Sadly Leveling-/Questingcontent is very easy in this game, on endgame the difficulty is nice, at least for the Trials/IC-Dungeons. I'd also like to have the normal content harder, you can go to V16 without knowing anything about the combat system, no wonder ppl get rekt in endgame and cry for nerfs.

Thybrinena · February 2016

I suspect you'll find VR content tougher but even that has been nerfed with VR mobs not hurting so much now and dying quicker. Also, I suspect you're levelling magicka and levelling magicka is easier than stamina IMHO. I'm sure you'll agree that it gets tougher...whether it becomes tough...well that's another discussion.

Azarin71 · February 2016

Thanks for the responses guys. Gotta admit they're disheartening to read, however. I was hoping for more of a rewarding experience, without having to seek out specialized encounters (dark anchors, group instances, etc).

Volkodav · February 2016

Azarin71 wrote: »

Thanks for the responses guys. Gotta admit they're disheartening to read, however. I was hoping for more of a rewarding experience, without having to seek out specialized encounters (dark anchors, group instances, etc).

Dark Anchors and Group instances are all over in the game.No need to seek them out.You'll run across them as it is. :}

Flynch · February 2016

Head to IC (pre-vet) or Wrothgar where you'll have PvE but be scaled up to deal with it - it's still pretty face-roll but there's more of a challenge than with the 'mainland' stuff.

Frawr · February 2016

As others have said, the solo questing experience is basically easy. It doesn't get hard.

Group dungeons are harder if you're with 4 people of similar level and development. They're also faceroll easy if you're with vets alts though.

Endgame gets harder.

I would savour and enjoy the stories because that's the interesting part rather than the actual defeating of mobs.

You're a good example to zos @ZOS_GinaBruno because Zenimax takes the view that casual players want it to be easy.

It is nice to see new players who also think that it isn't hard enough.

Azarin71 · February 2016

Thanks. I've come to the realization that ESO actually makes me want to play Skyrim, so I went ahead and reinstalled it. What a great game. Right from the get go, that game makes you have to think about what you're doing. You can very easily die (in Skyrim) if you aren't careful. That's what I want for ESO. Breezing through combat without even having to worry about whether or not you're paying attention is no fun for those of us that come to ESO primarily for the PvE content, ESPECIALLY those of us that want to group with friends! As easy as it is solo, it's that much easier in a group.

I've made @ZOS_GinaBruno aware of this thread so she can respond.

Thanks again guys!