ESO noob questions...please take pity on me

Adiathna · June 2017

Hey guys,
Brand new to the game, and googling/youtubing my head off on most things, but there are some things I can't seem to get a straight answer on, and was hoping someone could give me a VERY "general concept" answers that will NOT be right but will be at least "in the ballpark". Everything I have heard so far says "depends on skills you get, race you are, gear you wear, etc,....so there is no solid answer because of all those factors. SO, in answering the following, please pretend every race is equal, and there are no skills or stats or other factors in existence. I.E. looking for "general concept" answers that may be completely wrong once you also look at all the other factors. Thanks ahead of time...onto my questions:

Ok, the whole concept of Stamina vs Magicka...I think what I am reading is basically saying "figure out if the character you are going to play is primarily doing magic/staffs or physical weapon attacks and stamina based abilities"...and if you are primarily doing magic and staffs then put nothing into stamina ever...and if you are primarily doing physical weapon attacks and stamina based abilities then put nothing into magicka ever. I.E...do one or the other, but not both. Right, wrong, or "partially right" (meaning do put at least a few points into the attribute that isn't your primary focus.

Assuming the answer to the above is "yeah heavy one, little to nothing on the opposite one", what about health. What I seem to be seeing as a pattern on builds and youtubes and whatnot seems to be "put points into Health such that the total number of points in Health is somewhere in the 1/2 to 2/3rds of your primary attribute. For example, if your primary attribute (stamina or magicka) is say 12, then Health should be somewhere in the range of 6 to 9. Is that at least in the ballpark?...and again, I realize there is no solid answer and the answer depends on a bazillion other factors....but if those other factors did not exist, would that guideline at least be in the ballpark?

I know the system is WAAAAAAAAAAAAY more complicated than what I have it sounding like above...and that the answer varies wildly by tons of other things...but if we ignore those other factors...am I at least in the correct ballpark for a generic baseline?

Please forgive the ignorance here on my part...this game isn't like any other I have ever played, so I have a bit of a learning curve ahead of me. Thanks again.

Warraxx · June 2017

Simple answer for a much more complicated question. After you gear up, aim for 17k-23k max health, unless you are a tank. put the rest (or all) into stam or mag and not both.

Adiathna · June 2017

Thanks! I think one of the youtube videos suggested exactly what you said. What about the rest of the questions though? I think you kind of answered them a little.

I think you may have answered them in your edit. Thanks again!

Adiathna · June 2017

Another question....concerning probably addons...unless it is built into the game and I just haven't found it yet:

In the previous game I came from, I always used damage/heal meters to make sure I was pulling reasonable damage by seeing what everyone else was dishing out and then looking at mine to see if I was up to par or not. Never used them to judge others, just to judge myself, so I know I am at least pulling my own weight. There doesn't seem to exist that functionality in Recount on ESO (shows what you are doing, but not what others are doing...so you can't really tell if you are pulling your own weight or not). Is there a built in screen in the game that would show me that, or an addon that would show me that? Just knowing what I am putting out doesn't really tell me much...by seeing my numbers next to those of the others in the group, that gives me a better idea if I am underpar and need to work on gear/attributes/rotation/etc/...

So far from what I've seen, loving the game. Just want to make sure I'm not a deadweight my friends have to carry. Thanks again!

Warraxx · June 2017

There are some addons for PC that will do that; however, your other group members have to be running that addon too AND be opted in for sharing dps info. i use FTC (Foundry tactical combat) I rarely find other FTC using players that opt in for shared info.

Magdalina · June 2017

Basically what's been said above. 17-20k is perfectly enough for all of the game's content(unless you're a tank obviously), and given everything in the game being the same level now with you being scaled up this value doesn't really change depending on your level.

This value is with food by the way so you only need like 12k without food. If you're still in the low levels though battle leveling will be doing a lot of the job for you, just don't be surprised as your base health declines as you level up.

You can get health up with attribute points or health enchants on armor, there's also a very nice passive in the Undaunted tree that increases your stats by 2% per type of armor you wear. So for example if you're a magicka dps wearing 5 light 1 medium 1 heavy and having this passive maxed you will have 6% more health(also 6% more magicka and 6% more stamina). Also 2% from the heavy armor piece if you have its passives. That's for later in the game though, Undaunted takes a while to get(it's the group dungeon skill tree, leveled up by getting dungeon achievements and doing daily dungeons quests).

If you decide to tank, base health is a bit harder, I'd say definitely above 25k, and attributes points placement doesn't matter so much because you aren't supposed to be specced for max damage anyway and you likely will be using skills that cost both magicka and stamina(even as a full magicka tank you still be using stamina to block/dodge/bash/breakfree, and even as a full stamina tank you still will be using magicka for utility such as cc).

Don't hesitate to ask if you have any other questions:)

Adiathna · June 2017

sooooo many thanks all...sooooo many thanks. Most of the youtubes and googling I have seen have been very non-committal due to the bazillion other factors that heavily come into play. This at least gives me a baseline. Thanks again!!!

Warraxx · June 2017

Thanks Magdalina! i forgot to mention food/drink.

Nestor · June 2017

Adiathna wrote: »

Thanks! I think one of the youtube videos suggested exactly what you said. What about the rest of the questions though? I think you kind of answered them a little.

I think you may have answered them in your edit. Thanks again!

Remember, that Health level is after a food buff, so you can be at 12K to 15K unbuffed, and, your character just has to exist to have that much health.

As far as Attributes goes, on all 13 of my characters, only one has 10 points into Health, and another has 2 points just to get them over 15K unbuffed*. Other than that, all my attributes are either in Magic or Stamina. And, on those characters, all skill morphs are picked so that they are either Magic or Stamina as the attributes are specced. Then, all the gear I use on those characters are either for Magic or Stamina with regards to the set bonuses and enchanting glyphs.

This is what is known as going all in on one attribute pool or another.

*Note, my Tank character is at 46K Health, but that is a different animal all together.

And, this is a good a time as any to post my starter guides, it has been a few weeks since the last one

Leveling Strategy:

While leveling you should be preparing your self for the future, not your build (as that will change). So:

1. While leveling, have one class skill from each class on your bars at all times. Classes level the slowest, so get them done now.
2. Have at least one weapon skill on your bar at all times
3. Have a flex or support skill you want to level at all times
4. Once the skill gets to the Morph stage, then put another one on the bar to level that rather than take the morph.

Your not going to have the best DPS now, but you will have the most flexibility later. You can apply this to both bars equally or some other way, but this is the best method while leveling 1 to 50. Reason, the game handicaps you right now to make you stronger than you really are. So, take advantage of that. You don't need the optimal skill load out, you need the optimal leveling load out.

Also, try to wear at least one of each weight of armor to get all those lines leveled.

Once you get up to or near 50, you should have all the skills that matter at Morph stage, your armors at 50 and most important, your classes at 50. Then, you can optimize your build.

Combat Basics:

Combat in this game comes down to Skill Rotations, with Light or Heavy Attacks interspersed. So, it's more like 1,2,3,4,1,2,3 dead. Pick your skill rotations so that one skill will set up or buff another skill. For example, use a skill that Snares, then a skill that gives Damage over Time to an area so the snared mobs spend longer in pain, then use a spam damage skill. This is just one example.

Once you learn a good rotation, then you can weave in light or heavy attacks between the skills to extend the resource pool you play from. So it's more like 1, LMB, 2, LMB,3, LMB, 4, LMB, 1 Dead. Then once you learn how to weave attacks, then you can start animation canceling to up your DPS.

So, attacks are not just a spam of the Left Mouse Button, but an application of your skills and weapon attacks.

You add in Blocking (reduce damage), Bashing (interrupting a caster or heavy attack wind up), Dodge Rolling (double click on a WASD key to avoid damage and get out of red quickly). Throw in some terrain advantage, and your basically a Mobile, Agile and Hostile wrecking machine.

As for Gear, well, while leveling, gear does not matter as long as you have something. It does not have to be best in slot, or even all that good. Also, we have lots of dropped set pieces so if you spend any time in a zone, you will more than likely pick up a set or two to wear. Each zone has a Magic, a Stamina and a Health or Tank set. Since everything scales, you can use this gear longer than you would think from the levels. It is only once you reach CP160 that you really want to worry about the gear, and by then you will have a good idea of what to use and where to farm for it.

Until then, the most important thing with gear is to wear a mix of it (light/medium/heavy) so they all level up somewhat equally. Also, have one skill from each of the 3 class skill lines on your bar at all times, and at least one weapon skill. For the 5th, it can be another weapon or attack skill or a support skill or some skill you want to level.

Skill Point Investment and First Character Leveling:

First leveling character? Forget about Builds right now. No need, your handicapped anyway by the game so you are way more powerful than you need to be. Instead take advantage of this buff to properly level your character so you can be deadly when it matters later on when you are not buffed by the level scaling. In other words, you can create a rotation that makes you think your all that and a biscuit because of the scaling buffs, then get a rude awakening come Champ Ranks when you are on your own.

In other words, right now if your wearing any gear, the mobs will die.

1. Have one class skill on your bar at all times, swapping them out once the skill reaches Morph stage. Worry about your Morphs later.
2. Have one weapon skill on your bar at all times, again until Morph stage
3. Wear a mix of all 3 armor types so they all level about equally
4. From L1 to L20, invest in attack skills and actives
5. From L20 to L35 start investing in Passives and Support Skills
6. From L35 to L50 start investing in Morphs (but only if all your class skills are at the Morph Stage), Passives and Crafting Skills
7 From CP10 to CP160 try out dropped sets to see which ones fit your playstyle, don't worry about traits right now, fill in passives and actives you may have missed
8. Grind on Dolmens to level your Fighters Guild, or find the Lore Books to level Mages Guild
9. Do some stealing to level Legerdemain, best source for money in the game
10. Decon every piece of gear you get that you are not going to use immediately to level equipment crafting, no need to invest skills points until Champ Ranks.

Adiathna · June 2017

oh...buffs. I forgot to ask...how do you tell what ones are on you? I don't see anything on my screen anywhere when I eat or drink stuff. I would have thought they would have been on the screen somewhere so you know when they have worn off and need refreshed.

Lavennin · June 2017

Having all stats in Stamina/Magicka + food buff, you'll likely be a little below 17k depending on passives, so people usually get some +health armor glyph or Healthy trait jewelry, or if the set they wear has health bonus (like Kagrenec's Hope), that's good too.

A lot of builds have ~6 points in Health, but it's just a lot easier and more manageable with all points in a single attribute and adjust with enchants and gear. At least that's the advice people gave me.

NBrookus · June 2017

Adiathna wrote: »

oh...buffs. I forgot to ask...how do you tell what ones are on you? I don't see anything on my screen anywhere when I eat or drink stuff. I would have thought they would have been on the screen somewhere so you know when they have worn off and need refreshed.

If you are on console, you are getting a buff tracker with MW.

If you are on PC, you can use the built-in buff tracker or an add-on buff tracker. I like S'rendarr.

Adiathna · June 2017

Am on a pc....where do I find the built-in buff tracker? I assume somewhere in settings maybe? Lots of stuff in there.

added edit: disregard...found it.

THEDKEXPERIENCE · June 2017

Lots of good info so far. 64-0-0 is the way to go for about 99% of quality builds. You can determine if magic, stamina or, yes, even all health is the way to go. All health is primarily a PVP build however.

Also, take note that many late game builds use gear and skills that multiply what they always have. For example I get 2% additional magic for each Mage Guild ability, 5% more magic from Inner Light, 8% more health from Structured Entropy and 4% extra magic from Grace of the Ancients gear. Stuff like these is how you get into the bizarro stat category.

Adiathna · June 2017

Thanks again everyone. That gets me going. Just awesome all...thanks so much.

Astarana · June 2017

Adiathna wrote: »

oh...buffs. I forgot to ask...how do you tell what ones are on you? I don't see anything on my screen anywhere when I eat or drink stuff. I would have thought they would have been on the screen somewhere so you know when they have worn off and need refreshed.

That info is on your "Character" tab. Together with you sign buff (Tower, Thief, etc), if you got one.

Mystrius_Archaion · June 2017

Here is how I build:

1) Any race will do. You won't even have the points to fill out the racial passives for most of the leveling anyway.

2) I always go 32 points in Health and 32 points in either Magicka or Stamina.
Personally, I always go magicka because the majority of skills are magicka based. I wish we could pick any weapon and have it buff all our abilities and restore the resources we need, but they designed completely different than the single player games to restrict us from playing how we like to look. I want a big axe I can use to cut open the sky on enemies with magic.

3) Class is mostly irrelevant as they all have varied skills that do similar things.
I look for skills that do the same things for all my characters of all classes to make it easy to switch between them and get relatively the same performance. I would really love to be able to just take all the same skills for each class and have the class differences only be visuals for the skills, like purple or red magic and smokey or light-ray animations.
You can use the weapon skill lines to augment any skill choices that the class itself really doesn't have, like sorcerer has no easy instant heal without restoration staff.

4) Armor type is all open choice.
I tend to flip flop between heavy and light armor, mostly heavy, for either easier passive resource regain with light or easier active resource regain(heavy attacks) with heavy armor and more defense with heavy versus more attack with light. The differences are small enough to not really matter though if you learn to work with it.
You can change enchantments however you want. The only things that can't change are the set bonuses and the trait, but those you can pick whatever you want through crafting and most non-crafted gear thankfully has a comparable option in another armor weight(except medium which is pretty much stamina focused).

With these guidelines, I have been able to solo public dungeons and even some world bosses, depending on skill choices, without too much trouble. Everything else, you will likely have group members to help compensate for trouble.

Betsararie · June 2017

Mystrius_Archaion wrote: »

Here is how I build:

1) Any race will do. You won't even have the points to fill out the racial passives for most of the leveling anyway.

With all due respect race is an incredibly important factor in this game and one of the most important factors in building a character.

OP, in your journey of trying to learn the game you will inevitably run into posts saying the race you pick doesn't matter. Ignore those posts , they're ridiculous drivel.

Race is incredibly important in ESO and you should always pick the race that is best suited for the build you are going for. Unless you just want to quest and light attack mobs in the woods .

Lavennin · June 2017

Natually, class is irrelevant when farming world bosses and running public dungeons. And race irrelevant too. Having points in all 3 attributes actually help you in that regard...but I doubt that's the kind of builds mentioned in OP were made for.

If however, we are only talking about overland questing, then do whatever you enjoy. You can't go wrong with a hybrid soloer and no one can kick you from the group.

Adiathna · June 2017

Tossing out another question here on "how does x work?" It is my understanding that only skills you have listed in your action bar improve. I understand that eventually (level 15 I think) you get a second action bar you can swap with your first action bar (for weapon switch). How does skill improvement work with those bars? Do you have to use the bar in order for the skills on that bar to actually improve?...or does it just improve skills on the bar that was active at start of fight or at end of fight?

Maybe an example might make what I am asking more clear. Suppose I have a primary bar that is mostly heal skills with a couple of attack skills, and I have a secondary bar that is mostly attack skills with a couple of heal skills. If I fight an entire fight with only the primary bar active, do the skills on the secondary bar improve too?...or just those on the primary bar? Suppose I go through another fight where I flip bars 2 or 3 times between the fight....same question...do the skills on both bars improve or just those on one bar (possibly the starting bar or the ending bar)?

Thanks!

The above is based around combat xp rewards, but I have a followup to that question regarding questing...I see on another thread that the active bar when you turn in a quest is the one that gets improved...so you have to alternate bars between turn ins in order to continually improve both bars via questing...is that right?

Reading those posts further it SOUNDS like "at the instant xp is awarded, whether kills, quests, or other source of xp, the active bar at THAT instant in time that xp is awarded is the one that gets skill improvement, and the other bar gets nothing, even if you used it more than the bar that was active at xp award time". Is that right?

Nestor · June 2017

You get Experience for leveling your character and your skills from Killing Mobs and Turning in Quests or finishing Quest Stages. There are other sources of Exp, but these are the big ones. Only skills that are on your active bar when you earn Exp get leveled.

Ideally you should level all your skills in your classes to at least the Morph stage, as that is when most of them get interesting. Also, you should do the same with your primary weapon skills too. Not so much to use the skills now, but in the future and also to make sure you level the overall categories for the Passives as that is where your real power comes from.

So, this means you will be leveling skills you don't like to use or have no use for now, but might be useful later. Of course the second bar is to allow you to swap weapons or have more skills to use in a fight. But, for most PvE Mobs and Content, you can get by with one skill bar just fine.

So, here is what you can do. Set up one bar to be the skills you use all the time or skills you want to level and use. Then use the back bar to set up skills you want to level but don't have a use for right now. Then, use the main bar for the mobs while doing quests, then swap to the back bar when turning in the quests. You can even level skills you do not have a weapon equipped for. As an example, you can level Restoration Staff just having the skills slotted but no Resto staff equipped.

Adiathna · June 2017

Awesome. Thanks. Last question on that...once you hit 50 you stop earning xp I think (true? not true?). If that is true, do skills on your action bar improve anymore, or are they locked in to whatever level they were before you hit 50?

i.e. can you start working on new skills or improve existing skills once you hit level cap?

Draqone · June 2017

Adiathna wrote: »

Awesome. Thanks. Last question on that...once you hit 50 you stop earning xp I think (true? not true?). If that is true, do skills on your action bar improve anymore, or are they locked in to whatever level they were before you hit 50?

i.e. can you start working on new skills or improve existing skills once you hit level cap?

You don't stop earning XP after level 50. Actually, you never do.

After 50 you have mini levels where you gain Champion Points that are pretty easy to get. The gear cap is 160 CP (equivalent to more less "level 66" ) but it's possible to distribute up to 630 champion points.

That said you can start attempting even the hardest high end content around 300 CP.

Adiathna · June 2017

Thanks. THat covers me for now I think...thanks again everyone...no longer swimming in a fog.

TerraDewBerry · June 2017

Hey, looks like everyone has you covered for your questions, but I just wanted to welcome you to the game! I think you're going to have a blast!

Draqone · June 2017

Also, 2 things you didn't ask about but you probably want to know:

Food or drinks are very important in this game, they'll make leveling much easier. I actually advise getting your hands on some Witchmother's Brew for magicka or Camoran Throne for Stamina, these are great AND they scale with your level so you never have to look for new consumables.

Your skill's scale with your max_stat/10 and damage stat.
So for magicka skills: magicka / 10 + spell damage/crit
And or stamina skills: stamina / 10 + weapon damage/crit

Your light and heavy attacks scale similar but with the max stat / 40.

Adiathna · June 2017

Ahnastashia wrote: »

Hey, looks like everyone has you covered for your questions, but I just wanted to welcome you to the game! I think you're going to have a blast!

Have been. I just came out of the death spiral never ending grind without reward that wow has become. Walked away after 7 years. Ground out like 7-14 legendaries in each expansion from mops on, but it became sooooooooo painful in legion that even an ocd like me had to bail.

TerraDewBerry · June 2017

Adiathna wrote: »

Have been. I just came out of the death spiral never ending grind without reward that wow has become. Walked away after 7 years. Ground out like 7-14 legendaries in each expansion from mops on, but it became sooooooooo painful in legion that even an ocd like me had to bail.

I myself am a WOW refugee... although, Elder Scrolls: Arena was the first video game that I ever played.. I'm very happy I gave up on WOW and landed here. It's not a perfect game, but at least for me, definitely a better option.

Adiathna · June 2017

Draqone wrote: »

Also, 2 things you didn't ask about but you probably want to know:

Thanks....ocd with a drive for perfectionism...so all info is good info to me. All good stuff to know.

Adiathna · June 2017

Ahnastashia wrote: »

I myself am a WOW refugee... although, Elder Scrolls: Arena was the first video game that I ever played.. I'm very happy I gave up on WOW and landed here. It's not a perfect game, but at least for me, definitely a better option.

I have a copy of all the Elder Scrolls games all the way back to and including Arena....unfortunately all still in the cellophane. I have downloaded all patches and everything else for them, but never had a chance to install them. vp of a small business....and if you don't do something yourself, it doesn't get done...so I've never had time to install and play any of them. lol...in fact, I have two 8ft tall bookcases full of "games still in the cellophane, with downloads and patches for all of them" that I've never had time to play yet. Wow stole what little free time I did have when things started to slow down due to hiring more people. Guess I have to wait until I retire to start playing them all...lol. At least I still have machines and operating systems to support them all...everything from 386's on up and DOS3.3 on up through every version of windows (except Windows 8...avoided that like the plague).