Noob dungeon grouping question

Huzya · December 2017

Hi all,
First time poster (new to the forums). I recently started playing ESO and am really enjoying it. I leveled a pet sorceror up to level 50 and am sitting just shy of 160CP. Up until now, I've done everything solo (apart from sometimes tagging along with others in public dungeons). That being said, I'm thinking about trying my hand at the group finder.

Can anyone shed some advice on groups in ESO (as a DPS class)? Are the basic dungeon groups fairly easy to do.... especially with less than perfect gear? As far as talent goes, I can't really say. I've MMO'ed ever since the early Everquest days... but I'm sure I still have a lot to learn in ESO before considering myself good enough to start trying out guilds, vetern dungeons, raids, etc.

I just want to get an idea if it's safe to try the basic dungeon finder groups and not wind up accidentally gimping them. As much as I'm looking forward to grinding out great gear... I want to make sure I'm earning it rather than leeching off of others.

Any advice would be graciously appreciated. Thanks in advance and have a great day!

Hurtfan · December 2017

Do normal dungeons and learn the mechanics. You're definitely high enough level that you shouldn't have too much trouble with any of them. You can also google the dungeon ahead of time and read up on the boss mechanics so there are no surprises.

In my opinion the best way to learn is jump right in and figure it out as you go.

Huzya · December 2017

Hurtfan wrote: »

Do normal dungeons and learn the mechanics. You're definitely high enough level that you shouldn't have too much trouble with any of them. You can also google the dungeon ahead of time and read up on the boss mechanics so there are no surprises.

In my opinion the best way to learn is jump right in and figure it out as you go.

Much appreciated! I'm all for jumping right into stuff (and not being bothered if things go poorly and I wind up dirtnapping repeatedly). I just wanted to make sure I could pull my share of the DPS at my level and whatnot. DPS in most games is fairly straight forward.... blow stuff up and don't take aggro away from the tank. Thanks for taking the time to reply!

static_recharge · December 2017

My advice would be to get into a casual guild that helps its members learn the ropes. Other than that yes it should be 100% safe to try the dungeon finder if you want to roll the dice. There's a couple factors that could make your experience great or really challenging when using the dungeon finder:

Did everyone Que up as the appropriate role? It's not needed for every dungeon but a dps Queing up as a tank will usually spell disaster for your dungeon run. Same goes for a healer not being an actual healer.
If you have any of the DLC unlocked or are an ESO+ subscriber you will have access to the DLC dungeons, which are level locked, but you're above 50 so they'll all be available to you. This is important because the DLC dungeons, even on normal, are generally harder than the base game dungeons due to increased mechanics.
Some people in the dungeon finder aren't willing to teach on the fly or are just in a hurry.

That all being said I hope you have the best experience and if you're looking for a helpful guild on PC NA come check out Grievance.

As far as just some general grouping tips:

Use food that boosts your health at the very least. Not dying is going to mean more fun for you and your group. 17k health with food is considered an acceptable minimum. (I would shoot for 20k until you're more comfortable)
Use damage shields in intense fights. You don't know what kind of group you have.
Make sure you have an AOE and hard hitting single target ability at the very least. Lightning Splash / Wall of Elements and Force Shock are good choices.
Remember that heavy attacks restore resources. (staff restores magicka and other weapons stamina). Resources will usually be a problem for first time dungeon runners.

Hope this helps!

TheDarkShadow · December 2017

For normal dungeons 10k dps and around 17k health is enough to pull your own weight. 15k dps is better, in case you get a DLC dungeon or the other dps only spam light attack.

jaws343 · December 2017

Yeah, start with normals and don't be discouraged if you end up in any dungeons from the DLC or that have a II at the end. Those are harder than the rest.

Also, gear wise, try to at least have one full set of gear that benefits your class from regular zone drops. Traits don't really matter and it doesn't have to be BIS gear when you are just starting out, but level appropriate gear with the 2, 3, 4 and 5 piece bonus goes a long way. Even if the gear is different levels, it will work much better than having gear pieces from a multitude of sets that don't synergize with one another.

jaschacasadiob16_ESO · December 2017

In normal dungeons you won't reall learn the mechanics. Fro two reasons:

Way to many max level people burining everything down quickly.
The mechanics are not there or if they are are so little you wont notice. AoEs won't kill you.

Check guides on youtube. There are people showing the mechanics of veteran dungeons and trials.

SirAndy · December 2017

Pet Sorc is by far the easiest class to do this as a beginner, so you lucked out there. As mentioned above, use (blue) food to buff your health and magicka, make sure your shield(s) are up and weave in heavy attacks to keep your resources from running out.

Below is a link to a great Pet Sorc build, don't worry about getting the exact same gear etc, just use it as a baseline for your build and you won't have any trouble.
https://alcasthq.com/eso-magicka-sorcerer-pet-build-pve/

I use a modified version of that build (more sustain focused) on my Pet Sorc and he can solo most veteran group dungeons.

Huzya · December 2017

SirAndy wrote: »

Pet Sorc is by far the easiest class to do this as a beginner, so you lucked out there. As mentioned above, use (blue) food to buff your health and magicka, make sure your shield(s) are up and weave in heavy attacks to keep your resources from running out.

Below is a link to a great Pet Sorc build, don't worry about getting the exact same gear etc, just use it as a baseline for your build and you won't have any trouble.
https://alcasthq.com/eso-magicka-sorcerer-pet-build-pve/

I use a modified version of that build (more sustain focused) on my Pet Sorc and he can solo most veteran group dungeons.

Thanks all for taking the time to share your advice. I feel quite a bit more confident. I'll have to check my health, but I think my DPS is in the 6-8k range for normal unbuffed questing. Guessing it'll go up quite a bit once I'm doing concentrated dungeon encounters (and get my Meteor).

As far as the suggested build goes... that's the exact one I'm using, so nice! Just waiting on hitting 160CP before I craft my Julianos staff and upgrade it to yellow. I still have some research to do in Clothing before I can craft those pieces.... though I may just buy some off the auctions if I have the cash for it. I'm sitting at about 200k gold but I'm guessing that it's probably not much at all compared to more experienced players.

Nestor · December 2017

Huzya wrote: »

As far as the suggested build goes... that's the exact one I'm using, so nice! Just waiting on hitting 160CP before I craft my Julianos staff and upgrade it to yellow. I still have some research to do in Clothing before I can craft those pieces.... though I may just buy some off the auctions if I have the cash for it. I'm sitting at about 200k gold but I'm guessing that it's probably not much at all compared to more experienced players.

Are you in a Guild? If so, you can probably find someone to craft the gear for you if you provide the mats. It takes approx 1000 mats to make a full set of armor. Also, give the crafter a nice tip. Most crafters are swimming in Trait gems, other than Nirn of course. And unless you want a rare style, they may have those too. But if it is rare style, try to scare up those mats from the guild stores. Also, provide them with 11 to 12 Kuta's and Repora's so they can make you some Glyphs for the armor if you dont' have Enchant leveled enough.

Also, don't be in a rush to get most gear to Gold or Legendary unless you know it's what you want for your build. That being said, Julianos is a good base set for any caster and mixes well with other 5 piece sets, so taking that to Legendary right away is not a bad thing. But, the difference between Purple and Gold armor stat wise is depressingly small. Weapons, yes, you want those to be Legendary.

In the meantime, since your a Pet Sorcerer, go to Rivenspire and farm the Necropotence Set (rings and necklace from Dolmens and small armor pieces from Delves) Necro is awesome for Pet based play. It will also help you grind out your last few champ points. Note, for the small pieces, focus on Belt or Gloves or Shoes for the Necro. Eventually, once you start running dungeons, your going to pick up a Molag Kena shoulder and that is an awesome piece of gear for a caster and it does not really need both pieces of the Monster Set, just the shoulder (one piece bonus gives Spell Damage boost) YOu can fill in the rest of the pieces (4 armors and your Staves) with Julianos

zaria · December 2017

Huzya wrote: »

SirAndy wrote: »

Pet Sorc is by far the easiest class to do this as a beginner, so you lucked out there. As mentioned above, use (blue) food to buff your health and magicka, make sure your shield(s) are up and weave in heavy attacks to keep your resources from running out.

Below is a link to a great Pet Sorc build, don't worry about getting the exact same gear etc, just use it as a baseline for your build and you won't have any trouble.
https://alcasthq.com/eso-magicka-sorcerer-pet-build-pve/

I use a modified version of that build (more sustain focused) on my Pet Sorc and he can solo most veteran group dungeons.

Thanks all for taking the time to share your advice. I feel quite a bit more confident. I'll have to check my health, but I think my DPS is in the 6-8k range for normal unbuffed questing. Guessing it'll go up quite a bit once I'm doing concentrated dungeon encounters (and get my Meteor).

As far as the suggested build goes... that's the exact one I'm using, so nice! Just waiting on hitting 160CP before I craft my Julianos staff and upgrade it to yellow. I still have some research to do in Clothing before I can craft those pieces.... though I may just buy some off the auctions if I have the cash for it. I'm sitting at about 200k gold but I'm guessing that it's probably not much at all compared to more experienced players.

Get in an guild and pay some to craft it for you cheaper and you can select style

Julianos and necro is an good combination for pet sorcerer

vyndral13preub18_ESO · December 2017

If you are on PC NA (sorry I didn’t see if you mentioned it) hit up @vamp_emily and the Friendly Dungeon Runners for an invite. The guild name is exactly what they are.

Huzya · December 2017

Nestor wrote: »

In the meantime, since your a Pet Sorcerer, go to Rivenspire and farm the Necropotence Set (rings and necklace from Dolmens and small armor pieces from Delves) Necro is awesome for Pet based play. It will also help you grind out your last few champ points. Note, for the small pieces, focus on Belt or Gloves or Shoes for the Necro. Eventually, once you start running dungeons, your going to pick up a Molag Kena shoulder and that is an awesome piece of gear for a caster and it does not really need both pieces of the Monster Set, just the shoulder (one piece bonus gives Spell Damage boost) YOu can fill in the rest of the pieces (4 armors and your Staves) with Julianos

Noob follow up question. Where can you pick up the Necro armor in the delves? Does it only drop off the elite mobs, or can it drop off anyone there? The Dolmens look fairly straight forward (for the jewelry).... though with the way the waves of players seem to come rushing in every time one appears, I'm guessing that there's a rotation that the Dolmen farming groups run.

So far, I just hit the Dolmens while I'm questing. I've heard that they're much better xp than questing... but since this is my first time through the game, I've just been enjoying the content

SirAndy · December 2017

Huzya wrote: »

Noob follow up question. Where can you pick up the Necro armor in the delves? Does it only drop off the elite mobs, or can it drop off anyone there?

Delve bosses have a higher chance and some drop named versions too. You can also get them from Treasure Chests, both in delves and in the zone.

Huzya · December 2017

Awesome! Thanks!

And as much as I hate to ask (as I've probably asked for too much already), do the Delve bosses respawn after a few minutes (like the rest of the delve mobs do)? Or do I have to bounce from delve to delve? I don't mind sitting around a boss spawn for a few hours to farm them. Being the father of a 10-year-old gamer means I wind up having to afk a lot to fix the various Rust and 7DTD and Arc Survival servers that I built and maintain for him and his friends.

Nothing but the best for the future gamers of the world.

Hurtfan · December 2017

Huzya wrote: »

Awesome! Thanks!

And as much as I hate to ask (as I've probably asked for too much already), do the Delve bosses respawn after a few minutes (like the rest of the delve mobs do)? Or do I have to bounce from delve to delve? I don't mind sitting around a boss spawn for a few hours to farm them. Being the father of a 10-year-old gamer means I wind up having to afk a lot to fix the various Rust and 7DTD and Arc Survival servers that I built and maintain for him and his friends.

Nothing but the best for the future gamers of the world.

Delve bosses spawn pretty quickly, I think I've waited 5 minutes at most for one to spawn, somewhere around there.

Nestor · December 2017

Delve Bosses usually respawn every 5 minutes. Some respawn quicker than that. In Rivenspire, there is a Delve near at least two of the Dolmens (Boralis has Erokii and Eyebright has Tribulation) so you can bounce between the two and get jewelry and armor

Stinkyremy · December 2017

Well to be honest you have kind of spoilt some of the fun for yourself. As you was leveling to 5o0 you should have been doing the random dungeons. A lot of people don't even know the mechanics to a lot of dungeons because they are too easy for the cp levels and easy too cheese, manipulate rather than doing the actual mechanics.
You aren't ready for vet dungeons and will be letting the team down but you are too OP for normal dungeons now unless you respec and don't spend your cp. So you have spoiled the challenge of the dungeons.

VaranisArano · December 2017

Stinkyremy wrote: »

Well to be honest you have kind of spoilt some of the fun for yourself. As you was leveling to 5o0 you should have been doing the random dungeons. A lot of people don't even know the mechanics to a lot of dungeons because they are too easy for the cp levels and easy too cheese, manipulate rather than doing the actual mechanics.
You aren't ready for vet dungeons and will be letting the team down but you are too OP for normal dungeons now unless you respec and don't spend your cp. So you have spoiled the challenge of the dungeons.

Um. No.

Any new dungeon is challenging when its the first time. Its new. You don't know the mechanics. You don't know what they boss does, you have to learn. You don't know all the mob pulls, you have to learn.

There's still plenty of challenge to be found in normal dungeons. A level 50 player might be better able to meet those challenges than a leveling player, but that doesn't diminish the potential fun and challenge of learning the mechanics.

FrancisCrawford · December 2017

Why would a noob start with queueing for random dungeons?

Assuming you queue for a PUG rather than going with a full guild (or zone chat) group, I'd suggest queueing for a particular list of dungeons, selecting them based on criteria like:

You've read online guides and perhaps even watched a video (I like Static's videos the best).
You know they're among the easier ones.
They're among the day's pledges.
You want to farm them for gear.