Hello, levelling, crafting and others

sabretalon · September 2017

Hi, I've had the game since it came out on XboxOne but did not really play. Got a few characters to the heady heights of level 10!

Morrowind came out and I decided to purchase in recent sale.

So find myself back in game.

I have a Warden started but found getting craft items and other stuff in general pretty slow. I built a new NB and went to Stonefells, I am falling over stuff. Collect runes to find ore under it.

My own issue is focus, as I tend to get distracted. I've tried to resist as much as I can and seem to be earning money as I increase my level. Now level 15.

I also purchased eso+ which is great even if only for the craft bag. I just have a few questions

If levelling crafting is it better to just keep deconing like I am and not craft anything. Save all mats and then spend some time later just working on writs to level up. Or craft as I go along? I don't seem to be finding many weapons with traits I really want, so not done much research.

I have been in a guild, some random one sent invite in game. Yet in game they never responded to text or voice chat. So more about getting numbers in but not really helping. So I left. I don't want to join a guild with fees as still no idea how to make enough money and level.

There is still so much I don't know.

I am guessing I should just focus on getting this character levelled up through the story and collect as many side quests for skill points etc... and the rest will come with time. I have lurked on here a while but most advice tends to be get this add on etc... which on console is not an answer. Although why they don't allow them on console when they do in Skyrim or fallout on console I don't know.

I'm a little random in my build as I don't follow any cookie guides but find that sometimes the build does struggle and is ok 1-2-1 but multi it lacks. Building dual wield with bow back up.

I have been lurking on this site for a while and I still have loads to read. Any advice on what to prioritise would be appreciated

Magdalina · September 2017

Welcome (back) to the game

Crafting wise, deconstructing gives you the most experience, crafting gives very very little. You can also deconstruct things made by other players or evnoten your alts but deconstructing things made by character A on character A will yield very little xp.

I'd strongly advise getting started on research as it takes forever and some more. Research all the traits - you may never use most of them but there're useful sets that you can craft if you know N traits (N varying from 2 to 9). It's also pretty common for players to craft stuff to research for one another, friends and guildies for free, randoms for a modest fee(I'm not sure how console chat works - can you just type "lf X trait, will tip" in zchat or something?).

You're getting scaled at low levels a lot so gear isn't that important, it is however extremely important to have gear close to your level because otherwise scaling gets a lot weaker(for example a level 20 in level 18 gear will be doing just fine but level 20 in level 8 gear will be weaker a LOT). You can come upon some set pieces just questing in the world and those will totally do for now. You can also craft for yourself or have someone craft for you - then you can choose the set and looks you prefer but again, remember that you'll want to update this gear every few levels basically.

I cannot say much for console guilds but I imagine there should still be plenty of social friendly guilds who are happy to help new players. Perhaps check guild recruitment section on these forums?

Side quests actually don't give skillpoints

Main quests do(the main story itself and main quests for each zone), skyshards do(3 skyshards=1 skillpoint), group challenges in public dungeons give a skillpoint each, dungeon quests give s skillpoint, PvP ranks give you a skillpoint each time you rank up(a little life hack - you can go to Cyrodiil and do the tutorial to get to rank 2 and get 2 free skillpoints without actually doing any PvP).

I'd say just play around, see what you like the most and move in that direction. There's a lot of questing and exploring to do, there's PvP, there're dungeons, trials, housing...it's all up to you

I can't give you specific build advices because I don't have a stamblade, but a few generic things...firstly, DW and bow actually sounds really good, it's a setup a lot of people use in endgame as well. Secondly, skills costing stamina scale with your max stamina, weapon damage, weapon crit and physical penetration whereas skills costing magicka scale with max magicka, spelldamage/crit and spell penetration. That implies you generally want to choose a side and stick to it, and if you choose stamina then you generally don't want magicka skills other than for utility - they will hit like a wet noodle for you. That also implies you want sets buffing your max stamina, weapon damage, etc. You also want a food, at higher levels at least(your base stats will drop as you level up and it will be up to you to replenish them), ideally one buffing your max stamina+max health, or max stamina+max health+stamina regeneration.

Skills wise, like I said I can't name you exact skills but basically you want some single target spammable, some aoes for multiple enemies and some dots(damage over time) skills to keep your damage up while you do your spammable. You'll also want some heal, I believe one of DW skills has one, and there's a great stamina heal called Vigor in Alliance War skill tree(you'd have to PvP some to get it).

I hope this should clear things up a bit, feel free to ask if you have any more questions

DiteHart · September 2017

If you're on the NA server and you're looking for a social guild to help, Obsidian Guard is good: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/190758/looking-for-a-casually-active-guild-the-obsidian-guard-wants-you-na-xb1/p1

You can post there that you're interested, or just let me know and I'll send you an invite. A lot of members are willing to answer questions and help out, and they have daily events (none are mandatory). They also have a Discord channel, so even if you aren't in-game (or not many others are), you can chat and ask questions and/or for help.

As for starting the game, a good guide I tend to look at is Sunshine Daydream's Guide: http://www.sunshine-daydream.us/ESO

I highly recommend going to the Start page ("...Guide to Starting Out in ESO") first to make sure you get any information you may have forgotten or overlooked.

For that, your steps will probably be:
Establishing Your Basic Setup - The controls may be different, but if you haven't, go ahead and take a look at your settings and make sure things are how you'd like them. Get a feel for what some of the settings do so that you can get information you need, hide what you don't, and even just know stuff for later .
Essential Addons - We can't do since we're on Xbox, so just skip it.
Attributes & Skills - This one you'll want to pay attention to. If you don't think having too many skill lines would be overwhelming, I'd suggest unlocking as many as you can. Some things like joining the Mages and Fighters Guilds (if you haven't) would be highly beneficial. They each have abilities early on that can help you skip some legwork and/or get some aid in quests.

The Build page is nice to read, and has some good tips that aren't necessary, but are beneficial (for example, the Armor-based skills has some nice advice on leveling up all three armor skills while staying as defensible as possible) and are good to read through when you feel like it.

The Play section lets you know the order and essential quests for the different questlines. You can complete the questlines in any order, so you can pick a questline you like (or even a region) and just go. But, if you want it to make more sense, you'll want to do the Main quest before doing the questlines for your non-factions (as it sort've explains why everyone's not trying to kill you).

The Crafting section probably isn't too important right away, especially if you have friends/guildies that can help you out with armor.
But, the biggest thing is to start your research ASAP and try to keep up with it, if you think you even might want to start crafting later on. Research is something of a set-it-and-forget-it. You decide to research something and then X hours/days later, it's complete and you can start another item.
While it starts off as just 5 or so hours, it eventually ramps up to 27 days per item (with time-reducing passives and ESO+). Other than the nirnhoned items, it's not expensive. There's even a "Plan" on the Traits page that gives you general priorities.You can also read the notes to kinda get more in-depth orders (such as researching Powered on a Resto Staff earlier than others)

That's all I can think of to start with. Sorry if this whole thing seems like a talk-up for OG and that guide, but I honestly think that they're both good sources for a starting person. A nice online guide to reference and a group to help you with the rest.

davey1107 · September 2017

Happy to help answer those. If I miss anything, reply to this with @davey1107 and the system will flag me so I can come back and expand on anything.

Signature: for this forum you might want to put your platform and/or characters in your signature. Sometimes that's helpful...like you ask about guilds, if viewers know which server you're on they might have advice. To add a signature, click the gear next to your profile name at the top of the page, then edit profile, then signatures.

Leveling crafting: deconstructing items is your best bet. You will find SO MUCH junk in delves and while adventuring that you won't really need to grind these lines. How fast you want to level is up to you, but remember - how much inspiration (craft line xp) you earn is based on the item level you're deconstructing, and what you pick up is based on your character level. You could level smithing to 50 by deconning iron items, but it would take forever. A rubedite sword is woth about as much xp as 100 iron swords, so for efficiency wait until you're character is a bit higher level to grind these.

Enchanting is a bit different. Glyphs are rare enough that it's a long grind to get to 50 based on items you find. You might want to grind this line, but DO NOT make and decon glyphs with the same character...the xp is way nerfed when you tear apart your own stuff. Instead, use two characters as partners. One makes glyphs, bank them, decon with another. You might be able to find mats for cheap enough in guild stores to make blue quality glyphs...that's what I use for grinding.

Crafting writs are decent inspiration, and return valuable items. Feel free to do these at any level if you like. They're well worth the mats they cost.

Do research as you can if you think you'll be a crafter down the road. The easiest way to get traits is to make a friend who can send you an entire line at a time. For example, they send you every cloth item in infused and you workmthrough that then ask for every item in divines.

Guilds

There are all sorts of guilds in the game. Random invites are a bit of a shot in the dark...a better bet might be to visit the guild recruitment pages in these forums.

If you want a guild to make gold, you want one that keeps a weekly trader in a good spot. The best spots are Mpurhold, Wayrest, Elden Root and Rawlkha. But traders are expensive...be prepared to pay "rent" in guilds that maintain traders. On my server, $5k/week for okay spots and $10k/week for the ones I listed are common.

It sounds like a lot, but it's not really. Keeping a store stocked in a good spot will make you rich. You just need to earn stuff to sell to warrant the rent...consider it an investment. Your best bets are (IMO) gold mats or motifs. Do craft writs, and selling two gold mats a week earns your rent easily.

Or even better, there are a dozen motifs where the chapters sell for $20k+. Learn where these drop and a route that's fun for you and helpful for Your character, then once a week spend 30 minutes earning your rent. I'll get you started, consider these motifs: Minotaur, order hour, abahs watch, thieves guild, dark brotherhood, draugr, malacath, Trinimac. Here's my favorite mega-route for nightblades, once practiced it takes less than an hour and yields tons of motifs: grab a thieves guild repeatable pickpocket or chest quest, run that, go to kvatch and run a world boss daily, run to the dark brotherhood and do the daily, port to the thieves guild and turn in your steal quest then grab the daily. With practice you can get all perfects, and that's a shot at four valuable motifs.

Add ons

Totally unnecessary. But if you'd like some resource assistance, here's my recommendations.

Sites: ESO Academy for basic guides. Elderscrollsonline wiki for quests, maps, etc. ESO fashion to see motifs, furnishings. Sunshine Daydream's guide to crafting in ESO for the best craft guides, period.

Apps: I use these iOS/android apps on my iPad. The ESO app has awesome maps of all areas AND dungeons that show shards, lore books, bosses, etc. I also use ESO Workbench, which mainly tracks trait research then also has a potion and enchant builder.

Focus

All of that said, for now just focus on what you like playing. If you like crafting, do it. If it's a chore, skip it and decide later if it's worth it. If you like pvp, play it. If it seems horrible, skip it.

As a low level character under level 20, I'd say your primary task is just learning the basic mechanics of the game. Learn your abilities and how they work. What buffs do they offer in addition to damage? Learn the skill lines. And justmgo fight whatever seems fun to fight.

sabretalon · September 2017

Thanks for all the replies.

I am focusing mainly on levelling at a steady pace to absorb the gameplay and environments. I am trying to keep my provisioning up. Spotting cheap recipes and using them to level. Having food and drink available is helping. I think I need to look at alchemy for potions as I have relied on drops as my source up to now. I'm too used to playing games that using a potion was frowned upon!

Now level 18 I have most of the skills for my skill bar so aim to boost my crafting skills.

I do find the original areas much more new starter friendly, lots of mats, lighter and logical in its progression. Morrowind I struggled with the crafting certification just to find the mats. Great if you have loads from previous characters but not when starting with nothing.

As with all these types of game, I don't aim for end game content or pvp. I tend to level, find equipment and just play rather than focus on getting that extra .001% damage. I also develop lots of alts to try new play styles as well.

If it is better to decon at higher level equipment I guess in these early stages it is better to just sell?

Need to check out some of those apps certainly if any help with alchemy.

Glockcoma725 · September 2017

You may already know this, it's early here and I'm half awake, but here's my two cents;

If you can afford a skill point in whatever crafting deconstruction skill you use most to get more mats, it'll help out in the long run. For instance in Metalworking, deconstructing a bound of green and blue items nets me a nice handful of Dwarven Oils and Honing stones, which I believe you can sell dwarven oils 10 for 700 or so. Same with woodworking or what-have-you.

I'm assuming you farm runestones, they sometimes drop yellow "Kuta" stones. Those are good for a couple grand to the right people.

Theres always fishing too, helps unwind after a long day of grinding. You can sell the fish outright. or play the TAMRIEL LOTTERY!!! Theres like a .01% chance for Perfect roe, which sell for 7-11k depending on who you talk to.

And if you're not doing writs, you should. Especially for Provisioning. Those spare ingrediants they reward you with are super helpful

DiteHart · September 2017

You should still get decent inspiration (crafting experience) by deconning lower equipment. You'll still want to sell any Ornate gear you find, but definitely still decon any Intricate gear you get. Any other items, it's up to you. If you're getting low on gold, you can sell them if you need to. Otherwise, it'd be better to decon them as you'll usually get some materials back.

Alchemy will be helpful, but it's not fully necessary until later levels. If you find you're running out of health or magicka/stamina, dropped pots aren't bad for leveling. And alchemy is one of the crafting skill lines that you can grind pretty quickly if you end up waiting until later on.
Of course, again if you need the gold, it could be good to make potions with the items you have and sell the dropped potions to a merchant.

IcyDeadPeople · September 2017

If levelling crafting is it better to just keep deconing like I am and not craft anything.
You don't get very much crafting XP from deconstructing level 15 stuff. Once you get up to level 40-50, you will get a lot more from deconstructed items. I would just sell anything lower level.

Save all mats and then spend some time later just working on writs to level up. Or craft as I go along?
If you enjoy crafting stuff for yourself then go for it. Whenever you have gold you can buy all the stuff you need to level any crafting skill to 50 in about 5-10 minutes or so. Also when you reach higher level you can easily get a lot of high level loot for deconstruction.

I don't seem to be finding many weapons with traits I really want, so not done much research.
I would start researching right now because it takes a long time to learn all the traits. Just pay somebody gold, buy item from guild trader or join a guild and make some friends who can craft it for you if you can't find traits you want to research.

Any advice on what to prioritise would be appreciated
While you are leveling up, doing quests and overland PVE stuff, your build doesn't matter too much. You can get by with whatever random gear you find.

When you want to try your hand at PVP or 4-man instanced dungeons, however, then you need to research a bit and figure out a more specific build. You can do it with crafted and inexpensive gear, but you will need either gold to pay a crafter or help from guild mates / friends to make the items.