What is the fastest way to grind to CP160?

ShadowMole25 · August 2017

I've been playing this game for almost two and a half years, but with a lot of time off due to life and computer issues. My main character hit lvl 50 two years back when veteran ranks were still a thing. Anyway, I've slowly gaining CP in between making new alts to play in Kyne, but DCs quest line and zones have made me lose interest in playing this character. I'm at CP82 at the moment and have new armor, but what is the fastest way to reach CP160 that is also enjoyable?

IcyDeadPeople · August 2017

A lot of XP buffs available in this game:

All training armor/weapons up to 88% XP boost
XP scrolls/potions 50% - 150%
Pledge of mara 10%
ESO Plus 10%
Grouped with 1 other person 10%
Cyrodiil base XP bonus 25%
Cyrodiil Enemy Keep bonus up to 15%

Cracked Wood Cave is perhaps the fastest if your faction has some enemy keep bonuses, but other good spots include Al'ikr desert (beach, necropolis), Skyreach, few spots in Coldharbour, almost any public dungeon, Imperial City sewers

As for enjoyable, I'd say these days you can level fast enough in PVP or quests that there is really no need to grind anymore unless you are trying to farm a specific set item. Only takes about a week to reach level 50 just playing the game normally. Grinding is always going to be extremely boring, but if you want to grind you can level up in a few hours.

Malic · August 2017

"enjoyable" Thats subjective. I'll give a few options.

1. keep questing: Thats going to net you great XP but can be a slog if you've leveled chars before
2. Dolmen grinds: Go to audiron or alikir desert and jump on the dolmen train, chug an XP pot. Thats great XP.
3. undaunted dailes: they give excellent XP, do the randoms too.

If you dont enjoy any of those three, you can do what I do in times when I am unsure of how to proceed. I hope for the best.

ShadowMole25 · August 2017

I guess I will just keep questing for now.

Megabear · August 2017

ShadowMole25 wrote: »

I guess I will just keep questing for now.

Ignore side quests, they give you very little xp. You CAN knock those out if it happens to overlap with the one you are doing, but even then it's barely worth it. Rule of thumb is only stick to quests that turn black icon to white icon. Also do daily dungeons for sure.

Nestor · August 2017

Here's the thing, just getting to CP160 is good for gear, but if you want to do something with the character, you need 130/140 Skillpoints minimum and that is for a one weapon PvE character who can't craft and does not do much with the NPC Guilds. Your only going to get 64 SP's grinding to CP160.

You really want a useful character, the real question is, how do I get to 160 to 200 skill points so I have something worth playing?

ShadowMole25 · August 2017

CP160 is my current goal, not because of my main character but due to my alts. My main character is has skill points all over the place, but my 5-6 sub-50 alts were all designed before I started playing them. Those builds may change as I grow to understand skills and how the characters play, but not by much. If I can get to CP160, my alts can get top level crafted at least to start off with and I won't have to worry about making or buying lower level gear.

As far as I can tell, skill points are a little easier to get as long as you play the main quest lines and gather skyshards.

zaria · August 2017

ShadowMole25 wrote: »

CP160 is my current goal, not because of my main character but due to my alts. My main character is has skill points all over the place, but my 5-6 sub-50 alts were all designed before I started playing them. Those builds may change as I grow to understand skills and how the characters play, but not by much. If I can get to CP160, my alts can get top level crafted at least to start off with and I won't have to worry about making or buying lower level gear.

As far as I can tell, skill points are a little easier to get as long as you play the main quest lines and gather skyshards.

Yes, do the main quests, they give skillpoints and lots of xp.
Do the public dungeons they give skillpoints, they can also be grinded effectively for xp

Random normal dungeons, selecting random dungeon gives an huge xp pool 100K at cp160, the dungeon quest also give lots of xp, also pick up the undaunted dungeon quests, they give more xp and keys for unlocking monster sets who you can use at cp160.

davey1107 · August 2017

Enlightenment will help you...if you only play through your daily enlightenment, you'll be cp1-160 in about three weeks. So don't worry, it won't be a horrible grind.

I like to combine xp gain with things that are profitable for my character. So when I grind a toon to vet, or was doing CPs:

- the public dungeons each have a skill point and sky shard. Do all of these, and complete the 1-2 quests in each as you go. These are good for psijic runs...just plan which 2-3 you're going to hit during your buff.

- you have nightblades, awesome. Lol. I liked running a little loop of dailies I personally found enjoyable, which require thieves and dark bro dlc. I'd grab the kvatch world boss daily, slam it out (so many people do these you're looking at 5 minutes for 100k enlightened xp), then do the dark brotherhood murder daily and then the thieves guild heist. I can usually run all three in a half hour, and they reward valuable motifs...I clear $150k/week in motifs from these.

- likewise, the world boss dailies elsewhere pay big xp. I used to run wrothgar. You can only pick up one daily each day, but you can group and ask for shares to do each boss one time per day. Go to the boss then ask for the quest via zone chat.

- the 18 craglorn delves pay decent xp, almost as good as public dungeons. And the sky shards are helpful.

- for just brainless mass xp, the alikr dolmen Zerg is serving up infinite loops, leaving every thirty seconds from an Alikr wayshrine next to a dolmen. These are good for psijics too. And make sure to slot any and every AOE you have...hit everything.

- the fighters guild, made guild and undaunted dailies are a quick delve run. When you add up the daily xp reward, delve clear reward and general xp, they're not bad.

Wear some green or blue training gear. When you hit c160, you might want to craft a permanent set of training gear for cp grinding. It really helps.

You might also push some of those alts to vet. Using psijic and doing some of the above, you're only looking at 6-8 hours to get a level 25 to vet. After that, any xp they earn goes into the bucket. It might not sound like it, but multiple vet toons really help. You can then double up on the easier, faster xp. For example, my friend and I maxed our CPs with three vets. We could log on each day, grab a kvatch daily, complete it, get the second daily, do it, log into the second vet group, repeat. Or even just exploring or doing writs with them helps work toward CPs.