Any way to “power level” to a max level or high level account?

Roco32373 · January 2018

I realize the fun is the journey to max level. I’m just wondering if it’s available.

Taleof2Cities · January 2018

There are several ways, yes, just do a search in the forums here.

VaranisArano · January 2018

The two easiest ways to power-level or grind to level 50 or high CP is to:
A. join a dolmen farming group (Alikr Desert is almost always running) and get exp while running a circuit around the dolmens and killing things
B. Hire someone to take you through Skyreach (an instanced dungeon normally done with a group) who can gather up all the mobs together and kill them for very quick and massive amounts of exp
Caveat Emptor: neither method will teach you very much about how to play your character effectively or in any way prepare you for group content

Other Methods:
Find a grinding spot with lots of enemies and kill them by yourself or with a partner. Most grinding spots are fairly well-known, hence part of why people prefer the instanced Skyreach.
Create a tank or a healer and level using the Groupfinder to do random dungeons. The dungeons are unlocked as you level so you should be able to complete every dungeon you end up in. Not recommended for DPS due to long queue times, but an excellent way to level a tank or healer character.
Explore Tamriel to grab Skyshards and Lorebooks, increasing your skill points at the same time you're killing a bunch of enemies.

All methods of power-leveling will be enhanced by the use of various experience bonuses that can be bought in-game (various strength exp potions), bought from the crown store (various strength exp scrolls), or earned in-game (reward for a Clockwork City quest). Because of this, power-leveling with exp potions or scrolls is often most effective for players who are leveling their 2nd-14th alternate characters because those players have the gold to buy or the recipe to make exp potions. If you are fortunate, you can take advantage of a Festival where experience gained is often increased for the duration, such as the recent New Life Festival.

In my personal experience, I've never done Skyreach (I mean, I've done the quest, but not as an exp grind) and the couple of hours I did dolmens in the Alikr Desert to quickly raise my Fighters Guild on my 6th character were boring beyond belief. Round and round and round. I really enjoyed leveling my MagWarden healer as a healer by running through lots of random dungeons and my healer leveled fast doing that during a double exp festival. This method also had the benefit of preparing my healer very well for hitting CP 690 and being able to do all sorts of group content well.

FrancisCrawford · January 2018

Please note that there are multiple things to level:

Basic character level. This is leveled via gaining XP at any time.
CP (Character points). Once per account. This is also leveled via gaining XP on any of your Level 50 characters at any time.
Particular (active) skills. These are leveled by having them equipped at the moment you gain XP. That's automatic for the most important skills on your principal skill bar, but can require some more maneuvering otherwise.
Skill lines. Class, weapon, armor and a couple of other skills lines level much as active skills do; you level based on which active skills -- and where relevant gear -- you have equipped at the moment you gain XP. Other skill lines level in very different ways.
Total number of skill points. Skill points are obtained by leveling to 50, by completing group dungeons (specifically the quest there, one time per dungeon), by doing the "group event" at public dungeons, by activating skyshards, by gaining ranks in PvP, and by doing certain "skill point quests" in overland PvE.

My main "maneuvering" trick to level particular skills and skill lines is to make sure that I have the right things equipped at the moment I turn in a quest. I also try to consume my daily ration of "enlightenment", to the extent possible, with quest turn-ins rather than generic combat.

Also, at dolmens I try to flip to my "back" weapon bar after the last boss is killed but before somebody pulls the last pinion.

Nestor · January 2018

Roco32373 wrote: »

I realize the fun is the journey to max level. I’m just wondering if it’s available.

You can get to L50 quite quickly. You will have a useless L50 though.

150 Skill Points is what you really need. You can get by with a little less, but 150 to 180 means a character you can do something with.

Thing is, it's going to take 20 to 30 hours to get to that Skill Point Goal, no matter if you take the time to get to L50 first or get to L50 while chasing the Skyshards.

So, like most shortcuts in life, you end up spending more time using the shortcut than putting in the work.

See this (open the spoiler) for the most efficient way to level to End Game

1. I collected all the Skyshards in the zone. I avoided any and all quests other than those that show up in the delves that have skyshards. These quests do not give set items for rewards so no loss there.
2. I would farm the dolmens a few times to get set jewelry that helped my character
3. I would do the Public Dungeons including all the bosses
4. Then I would move to the next zone.

In doing this, I could fully gear up my character with level appropriate stuff, and it was helpful gear. May not have been the best, but you don't need the best while leveling. Any gear I farmed from Dolmens or PD's is repeatable, so I can get it at CP160 by just repeating. Then, I had all the content quests left for me once I reached CP160 as those can give you sweet Set Drops in good traits you want. And, Quest Experience is huge for gaining CPs once your past CP160. Kind of a waste before that.

In about 8 zones, I would be fully leveled in Mages, Fighters, Class, 3 Armors and Weapon Skills. Leaving only Undaunted to level, although I would get to almost 3 in that from Dungeon Achievements.For most efficient Lore Book collecting, stick to one Alliance's zones for the first 5, then farm other zones.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · January 2018

Nestor wrote: »

Roco32373 wrote: »

I realize the fun is the journey to max level. I’m just wondering if it’s available.

You can get to L50 quite quickly. You will have a useless L50 though.

150 Skill Points is what you really need. You can get by with a little less, but 150 to 180 means a character you can do something with.

Thing is, it's going to take 20 to 30 hours to get to that Skill Point Goal, no matter if you take the time to get to L50 first or get to L50 while chasing the Skyshards.

So, like most shortcuts in life, you end up spending more time using the shortcut than putting in the work.

See this (open the spoiler) for the most efficient way to level to End Game
1. I collected all the Skyshards in the zone. I avoided any and all quests other than those that show up in the delves that have skyshards. These quests do not give set items for rewards so no loss there.
2. I would farm the dolmens a few times to get set jewelry that helped my character
3. I would do the Public Dungeons including all the bosses
4. Then I would move to the next zone.

In doing this, I could fully gear up my character with level appropriate stuff, and it was helpful gear. May not have been the best, but you don't need the best while leveling. Any gear I farmed from Dolmens or PD's is repeatable, so I can get it at CP160 by just repeating. Then, I had all the content quests left for me once I reached CP160 as those can give you sweet Set Drops in good traits you want. And, Quest Experience is huge for gaining CPs once your past CP160. Kind of a waste before that.

In about 8 zones, I would be fully leveled in Mages, Fighters, Class, 3 Armors and Weapon Skills. Leaving only Undaunted to level, although I would get to almost 3 in that from Dungeon Achievements.For most efficient Lore Book collecting, stick to one Alliance's zones for the first 5, then farm other zones.

This is pretty accurate. When I level a new toon, I typically make sure to at least clear all the skyshards in my faction, and usually end up doing it in some of the smaller zones (same number of shards) for the other factions. If your goal is a race to level 50, it can be done very fast, but you probably will have a lot of skills that still need leveled and you wont have the skill points for more than a very narrow build.

As others have said, play the game your first time around. On your second (or 14th) toon, feel free to cut some corners. One thing I will say is that one of the best reasons for alts is Hirelings and Master Writs on multiple toons, which takes a lot of skill points.

Now if you are really just looking to grind some CP, I get it. People have got to the CP cap pretty fast. Someone recently posted that they got to the cap in 254 hours of playtime, which is really nothing in an MMO.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/4721821#Comment_4721821

I also have a buddy that may or may not have had to level a new account for one reason or another. He hit the cap in about 2.5 weeks, but that was two summers ago when the cap was lower and he got a fair amount of assistance from his guild mates (training gear, XP pots, grind buddies).

Roco32373 · January 2018

Thank you, guys.

Jarryzzt · January 2018

Nestor wrote: »

150 Skill Points is what you really need. You can get by with a little less, but 150 to 180 means a character you can do something with.

...

Thing is, it's going to take 20 to 30 hours to get to that Skill Point Goal

I completely disagree with both these statements.

One - how many skill points does one need to run a build?

- Two bars, let's assume 6 skills per bar with no overlap. That's 12 skills, 12 morphs, let's say plus 5 more "basic" skills to start leveling each line (3 class & 2 weapon). 12 + 12 + 5 = 29 - this gets you your "actives". Some builds will have fewer, e.g. ones using pets, Mage Light/Hunter or the same ultimate on both bars.

- Each class line has a maximum of 8 points in passives, each weapon has 10 points, armour (one type) has 11, racial passives are at 9. If you take everything, which is not applicable for many builds (e.g. Stamsorc is highly unlikely to be using any Dark Magic passives), that's 8 * 3 + 10 + 11 + 9 = 24 + 10 + 11 + 9 = 54 - this sets up your passives.

- Let's throw in a further 10 skill points for utility passives. Soul magic, et cetera. Total is 29 + 54 + 10 = 93. 93 =/= "150 Skill Points is what you really need."

Now - can one hypothetically imagine a build that requires more? Of course one can (e.g. invest in all three armour types). But I guarantee you that a high number of decent-to-good PVE and PVP combat builds, e.g. the Alcast ones that typically dominate Google search results on ESO builds, will run at 100 SPs or less. Sometimes much less if you only utilize some of the class lines and passives (again, Stamsorc).

Anything beyond that is crafting, stealing, assassinating, having 2-3 different skill setups for different situation. I.e. "extras". Which can be leveled later, if at all. Which makes one wonder at the statement "150 to 180 means a character you can do something with" - what is this something, precisely?

How long will it take to get 100 SPs.

The first...is it 64? Those you get from leveling from 1 to 50, and there are different ways of doing this. Including some hardcore methods on Youtube to do it in an hour (turn in a ludicrous amount of writs with XP potions on), but suffice it to say an experienced player with ample resources should be able to figure out how to go from 1 to 50 in somewhere under 10 hours, especially with training gear, potions/scrolls, friends, et cetera.

The question is where to get another 40. Some, at least, can be very quickly picked up with shards (assuming one has the ShardMap add-on installed). Certain quests also provide skill points - story quests, for instance, many of which can be rushed through (picking up shards on the way but ignoring side quests), as well as the Five Companions line and the early Thieves' Guild/Dark Brotherhood ones (before you have to start grinding dailies for the next one to pop). Dungeons, of course, also provide quest points the first time you do them, but can take longer to do than just rushing the main story (e.g. 30 minute run for one skill point vs. speeding through an entire region worth of story quests in that same time).

My point is that, of course, it is possible to spend 20-30 hours or more gathering the requisite SPs to fully flesh out a build. Or one can do it in under 10. Or anywhere in-between - depending, in part, on the methods chosen, whether one likes to read/listen to the quest dialogue, et cetera. The real grind - in the 20-30-300 hour range - comes in once you try and get the next 100 SPs and max the CPs.

To assert, however, that "it's going to take 20 to 30 hours", especially in a thread where the OP asks about powerleveling is...bizarre.

Back to the OP. Is there a way to powerlevel to 50? Plenty of them. Search Youtube, for example. Is there a way to powerlevel to CP690? That's a bit more complicated because you need a metric ton more XP to do so. Even the guides generally involve hours and hours and hours of grinding a particular "sweet spot" (e.g. the last few hundred CPs generally come in at the rate of 1-2 per hour, depending on setup/potions/etc., so that's a lot of hours).

Personally, I am trying to figure out for myself the odds of ESO eventually emulating, err, some other virtually unknown game, and putting "level 50" potions in the Crown Store. There is money in it, but it does break the content flow a bloody lot. So who knows...

VaranisArano · January 2018

I needed about 110 skill points to make my stam warden for PVP. That was with only the necessary skills unlocked, all class armor racial and weapon passives unlocked, only medium armor unlocked, Fighter's Guild passives + Dawnbreaker, Assault Line Alliance War skills and passives unlocked, and the Alchemy skill line for the extended duration passive. So my stam warden really has the bare minimum unlocked for what I need her to do.

Fortunately I had most of the skill points I needed and only needed to hunt a few skyshards because I leveled her as a magwarden healer and got a bunch of group dungeon quests done while leveling.

Insandros · January 2018

No offence man, but if you need to post as to know how to power-lvl a toon, you still need to play it normaly and discover some stuff on your own or what would or cna be useful to lvl fast and to learn to play your toons as to lvl it fast. They are so many tools also outside of game and personaly, even if i'd have the best way ever to power-lvl, last place i would reply to you about it is the official game forums as, it's like going in a police station and asking them which bank as the least security to make a hold-up, you can be sure to get that place closed.

kylewwefan · January 2018

When you say “max level” is that standard level 50 or CP690? Grinding out CP may be a bit different. You can run around spellscar killing mobs. Run skyreach carries. If you have several different toons, you can run random daily on them all.

VaranisArano · January 2018

DRAGON_KILLER_HUNTER wrote: »

Zombie personality was similar to the way bloodfiends behave, but I would like an actual “vampire” personality, something refined and cunning. A neck biting emote would be pretty cool too.

@DRAGON_KILLER_HUNTER

This seems like an insightful comment that missed its thread. I'd hate for it to get left out of the discussion it was meant for.

Edited to add: Never mind, you're just copy-pasting other people's thoughts. Original Commenter: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/4748619#Comment_4748619

Nestor · January 2018

Jarryzzt wrote: »

Anything beyond that is crafting, stealing, assassinating, having 2-3 different skill setups for different situation. I.e. "extras". Which can be leveled later, if at all. Which makes one wonder at the statement "150 to 180 means a character you can do something with" - what is this something, precisely?

Here is a character with no crafting, minimal guild skills, no alliance skills, no active armor skills, and two weapons, 152 Skill Points

http://www.esohead.com/calculator/skills#1.mMkz9s85bL7JIkLu6cdoQr6MdoQC6MdoQF6MdoQJ6MdoQK8T7rMrqAi6MrqAZ6crqLw8e7HIaqk6Iaqq6IaqT6Iaqj6IaqS6Mi4bD6Mi4bU6Mi4bX6Mi4b16Mi4b48v7HAanQ6LanS6AanU6AanW6AanX6Mhy3D6Mhx0n6Mhx0y6Mhx0l6Mhx0B8H7JIzfQ6Izf26IzwM6Izwc6Nzwm6NbHm6MNieh6MNieA6MNieT6MNiey8J7JIziB6IziD6IziO6IziX6IziY6IziZ6MNUIz6MNUIc6MNUIi6MNUIN8K7JIkg6Izuu6IzuI6IzuN6Izuj6Izun6MANRQ6MANRU6MANRW6MANRZ8O7aIkP6IdeB6qdeF6zAZqS6MA3FN8P7zzLp4d8U7MIrWv837kMy4Wg6My41N847pzxLCe6cxLDm6cxLDo6cxLDs8zf7ozNbo6INbk6MDVRE6MDVRH8zu7zzHfYE6zHfZd8zG7zzHQ3F8zI7zzJIoX6zJIkL8zN7zzJZcY8zA7zzKpUN8zL7zzK4EX

Not sure if I would want to strip it down any more than that but I probably could. Sure, take out 20 points for not having two weapons, but what else? Only run one armor type? No casters do that, except maybe healers. Yes, Medium Armor can get by with one armor skill line so 7 points less (as you only run the first 3 passives on off armor) So, that is 125 to 150 skill points no matter how you slice it to have a character that is using the minimal skills to be effective.

As for the other 65 to 85 skill points it takes to reach the minimum I recommend, there are 311 easily reached skyshards in the game if you sub or have DLC's, that is 103 skill points right there. At an hour or two per zone to collect them, there is your 20 to 30 hours to gain the needed skill points. Note I am leaving out whole zones worth of skyshards here.

As for the 150 to 180 skill points in order to have a character that I can do something with, you play the same game I do. You know it takes that many SPs for the Assault and Support Lines if you PvP, then some of the Crafting passive to extend potion and food effectiveness and allow armor upgrades without blowing your temper budge out of the water. If your a Stamina Character, your going to drop some points in the FG.

Not so bizarre is it?

Prof_Bawbag · January 2018

Just collecting skyshards and doing point orientated quests/delves gets you a much better character to work with once you reach lvl 50. You'll hit lvl 50 well before you've even made a dent in all that skyshard collecting.