So, you love the Elder Scrolls games, and have fond memories of Morrowind. When you saw you could now adventure in Morrowind with your friends, you purchased the game and dove right in. Then you realized that some things didn't quite make sense, and came here to the forums for guidance.

First of all...WELCOME! The Elder Scrolls Online has the most friendly, co-operative, helpful, articulate, and adult playerbase I have found in over twenty years of playing MMO's. The only other game where I met as many adult, married couples who played together was Lord of the Rings Online. To me that's an indicator of the health and maturity of the community.

Be forewarned, that healthy, robust community is not always reflected in the forums. If people are having fun playing the game, and have no complaints, concerns, or questions, they play the game, not the forums. That is, unless they're at work, and killing a little time over lunch to think about their hobby. (Ahem!). So, there is a disproportionate amount of complaining, whining, griping, criticism, etcetera here, and some partisan bickering. I've contributed to it myself. Rest assured that, /zone chat aside, the social world of the game is far more varied and positive.

Now, on to some of the things that may have brought you here:


Do I level my skills by using them, just like in an Elder Scrolls game?

Yes and no. While ESO replicates the lore and the aesthetic of an Elder Scrolls game, and many of the priorities (like encouraging wandering off the beaten path), it also has many of the conventions of an MMO. You do have a class, so not every skill in the game is available to every character. BUT, in true Elder Scrolls fashion, you can use any weapon and any armor type on any character.

The game tracks which skills you have on your bar, and which items you have equipped, when you earn XP to determine which skill lines and skills increase. Unless you are grinding (something I've never had to do in three years of playing), you will get a lot more XP from quests than from fighting, so - once you hit level 15 and have a second experience bar - you may want to keep skills that you hope to level on your second bar, and swap to that bar before you turn in a quest. Regardless, try to keep one weapon skill, and one skill from each of your class lines, on your bar at all times. It's also generally a good idea to wear at least one piece from each armor type.


Can I use all of my character's skills at any time?

No. Your skill bar can only have five skills, and one "Ultimate" up at a time. After level 15, you can have toggle between two skill bars (and two different weapon types, if you like). Many folks keep buffs and damage-over-time abilities on one bar, and their primary attacks on the other. Swapping back and forth between bars during a fight is something you should anticipate doing a lot!


What is this about "Stamina builds" versus "Magicka builds?"

Every class has skills that draw on your stamina pool, and others that draw on your magicka pool. Sometimes you need to level up a skill enough to "morph" (change it to one of two variants) it to be able to choose a stamina or magicka variant.

Most people choose to build their character around either stamina or magicka, with the understanding that some races are better suited to one or the other. Light armor passives generally benefit magicka builds. Medium armor passives generally benefit stamina builds. Heavy armor passives generally support your health.

Heavy attacks with melee weapons and bows will restore stamina. Heavy attacks with staves will restore magicka.


Can I build my character any way I want, and play any way I want?

Yes, no, and sort-of. Yes, you can. Whether or not you should depends on what you want to get out of Elder Scrolls Online. If you simply want to replicate the Elder Scrolls experience, but with friends, then yes. The game will allow you to try a wide variety of combinations of armor, weapons, and skills, and succeed. My "maybe" caveat" is that there needs to be some logical coherence to your build. For instance, while leveling, I didn't use AoE. I used crowd control and focused damage on one target at a time. This wasn't a common approach, and it may have been slower, but it was viable because it had a coherent logic.

On the other hand, if you want to participate in the most challenging group content and trials ("veteran" content in ESO terminology), or if you want to engage in player-versus-player combat, you will find that only certain builds and rotations are viable. This content is optimized to make it as challenging as possible. Personally, I've had a blast - for years - playing ESO without participating in either. If you like well-written quests and exploration, there's plenty to do. But if you want "end-game" challenges, you'll need to optimize your build.

If you want to change your skills point allocation or morphs, simply visit a shrine in any capital city (Elden Root, Deshaan, or Wayrest - see here) to reset them.


I never seem to have enough skill points!

Don't worry, you will. Every "delve" (a soloable dungeon, marked by a torch on your map) has a skyshard in it, as well as a boss whom you should kill while you are visiting. Three skyshards will give you a skillpoint. In addition, the appropriately named "Skyshards" add-on (see below) can point you to the countless skyshards scattered around Tamriel. You'll also get skill points for completing the main quest line in each zone, and for defeating the group boss in the otherwise-soloable public dungeons (not to be confused with delves).


Crafting seems complicated

Yes, that takes some getting used to. Basically, you need both skill and skill points to create an item of a particular level. Skill level comes primarily from deconstructing items, which is more efficient than gaining it through creating them. Intricate items will give you significant boosts in "inspiration" (essentially crafting xp). Skill points come from leveling, questing, skyshards, and other means. No matter how high your skill level, you will still need to spend skill points in the appropriate skill (usually the first one listed in the tree for that profession) to be able to craft higher-levell items.

You need to have researched any trait you want to put on that item. Researching traits takes time. Each additional trait on an item type takes twice as long as the previous one. The ninth trait will take, at a minimum, 27 days. The number of traits you know for an item also determines which sets you can craft in that item.

If you plan on crafting, plan on subscribing to get the ESO Plus craft bag, which is shared across all your characters, and gives you unlimited storage of crafting components.

In the starter zone for each faction (see below) you can find a person in the Mage's Guild to introduce you to three of the crafts (related to consumables), and a person in the Fighter's Guild to introduce you to the other three (for weapons and armor). You may want to pop over and do these intro quests immediately, since they open up useful crafting dailies. The recipes for the provisioning dailies can be found at your nearest Chef and Brewer, in your local tavern.

If you start today, researching all 9 traits on all items will take you, at a minimum, in the neighborhood of nine months, so you might want to start on that now too.


Where do I go?

Start with Vvardenfel. Once you've completed the island, try exploring one of the "starter" zones for one of the three factions. You can go anywhere and do anything, but - dating from a time when zones had level requirements and you had to complete one faction at a time - there's a logical order for completing the zones (if you care about narrative continuity).

Here's a list for you:

Aldmeri Dominion

1. Khenarthi's Roost
2. Auridon
3. Grahtwood
4. Greenshade
5. Malabal Tor
6. Reaper's March

Ebonheart Pact

1. Bleakrock Isle
2. Bal Foyen
3. Stonefalls
4. Deshaan
5. Shadowfen
6. Eastmarch
7. The Rift

Daggerfall Covenant

1. Stros M'Kai
2. Betnikh
3. Glenumbra
4. Stormhaven
5. Rivenspire
6. Alik'r Desert
7. Bangkorai

If you don't have a wayshrine for a zone, you can travel to any friend or guildmember who is currently in that zone. If you don't know anyone who is there presently, try asking for a ride in /zone chat. You can also hop a ride to a new zone on any number of boats found, unsurprisingly, in harbors towns.


Is there an auction house?

No. You will need to be in a guild with a guild trader to sell your goods, and you will need to visit a number of guild traders to be able to find items you want to buy. It can be a bit of a time sink. This site can help.


I have a mount. Why do I go so slowly?

Just having a mount does not give you much of a speed increase. You'll need to train your riding skills (speed, stamina - which keeps you from being knocked off, or bag space) every day. You can spend 250g at a stablemaster in any city or town to increment one of the skills every 20 hours. That means it will take 180 days and 45,000 gold to get your riding skills to maximum.


I keep running out of inventory space!

You can buy more bag space for your character at a bag merchant in most town. Purchases are in increments of ten, and the first 20 are very inexpensive.

You can also buy "saddlebags" for your mount, in increments of one, at a rate of one every 20 hours, for 250g each.

You can buy additional bank slots from the banker.

Bank slots, bag space, and saddlebags can all also be purchased with crowns. (Micro-transactions keep the lights on at ZOS.)

In addition, the biggest space saver is to subscribe to ESO Plus and get double bank space as well as the much-loved crafting bag. The crafting bag has infinite storage for crafting materials, and is shared across all of your characters.


Why do people keep stealing my kills?

They aren't. As long as you do even a small amount of damage, you and everyone else (grouped with you or not) will get xp, credit (if the kill is part of a quest), and loot. Feel free to help out others, and let them do the same for you.


Are there must-have addons?

If you're on a PC, check out:

- Awesome Guild Store
- Master Merchant
- Skyshards
- Lorebooks
- Destinations
- CraftStore
- AI Research Grid