What Order Should I Do ESO's Story Arcs? - A Guide

VaranisArano · May 2018

Since One Tamriel, players have been able to go anywhere and do anything in Tamriel. This makes for an awesome open-world sandbox style adventure in the vein of past Elder Scrolls games, but also messes with quest and storyline continuity something fierce.

Add to this post-One Tamriel world zones from DLCs and Chapters, and the world gets very confusing for anyone who wants a coherent, cohesive, immersive storyline that spans the entire continent.

This write-up is aimed towards new players wondering "Where do I begin so I can experience the great stories that ZOS wrote into ESO without being completely lost?" I'll try to avoid spoilers as much as possible while explaining the rationale for quest order. If you just want a list of quests in order, I highly recommend this resource: http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Quests

Starting Tutorial: ESO has a new starting tutorial that begins in the Isle of Balfiera and ends by letting you choose which Chapter zone or Starter Island you want to start in. All previous Chapter tutorials are no longer available.

Your Choices are:
Stros Mkai - Daggerfall Covenant storyline
Bleakrock Isle - Ebonheart Pact storyline
Khenarthi's Roost - Aldmeri Dominion storyline
Vvardenfell - Part 1 of the Daedric Wars story arc
Summerset - Part 3 of the Daedric Wars story arc
Elsweyr - Part 2 of the Year of the Dragon
Greymoor - Part 2 of the Dark Heart of Skyrim
Blackwood - Part 2 of the Gates of Oblivion
High Isle - Part 2 of the Legacy of the Bretons
Necrom - Part 2 of Shadow Over Morrowind
Note: None of these choices let you start with the Main Quest If you want to start the main quest right away, you'll want to find a wayshrine and travel to any major city where a mysterious Hooded Figure will approach you with the first of the main quests.

Getting Started

The Vestige
The Player beins the Main Quest and becomes the Vestige in "The Hooded Figure" quest, obtained from the mysterious character who'll approach you in any major city.

Important Spoiler Below for The Hooded Figure Quest

The Player Character becomes a soul-shriven Vestige with no soul in The Hooded Figure.

Many quests in the base game zones and some quests in the Daedric Wars zones will acknowledge you as the Vestige, and the quest explains some gameplay mechanics like why you want to find skyshards, why you don't die, etc. Therefore, I highly recommend that you complete this quest as soon as possible after starting a new character. You will need to wayshrine to the starter city of your alliance or any major city, talk to the Hooded Figure and complete the Coldharbor part so you can get started on that portion of the Main Quest. Starter Cities available at wayshrines are: Davon's Watch, Stonefalls for the Ebonheart Pact; Vulkhel Guard, Auridon for the Aldmeri Dominion; Daggerfall, Glenumbra for the Daggerfall Covenant. The Hooded Figure will direct you to the appropriate starter city for your alliance.

What if I want to roleplay a vampire/werewolf?
The shrines for vampire and werewolf are found in the Rift, Reaper's March, and Bangkorai. You can hunt for NPC mobs of werewolves and bloodfiends or you can do what I did and ask for a bite in zone chat. Many players will give a bite for free. I got mine quickly by offering to pay for it. If you want to cure this affliction, there is an NPC in the Mages Guild in Riften, Evermore, or Rawl'kha in those zones who will cure you for about 600 gold.

Story Arcs
From there you have a choice of four major Story Arcs: Molag Bal's Planemeld or the Daedric Wars, the Season of the Dragon, the Dark Heart of Skyrim, Gates of Oblivion, Legacy of the Bretons, or the most recent "Shadow over Morrowind" storyline.

Molag Bal's Planemeld
This arc takes up the majority of the base game zones and the Main Quest. It precedes all the other story arcs chronologically.

The Daedric Wars
This arc takes up Morrowind ->Clockwork City -> Summerset Isles, though each is designed to be able to be a standalone story. This arc is after the Planemeld chronologically but can be completed beforehand with minimal immersion problems due to alternate dialogue

Season of the Dragon
This arc chronologically begins with the two Wrathstone group dungeons: Frostvault and Depths of Malatar. It continues with the Elsweyr Prologue quest, Elsweyr Chapter, Dragonhold Prologue, and the Dragonhold DLC. The Scalebreaker DLC dungeons take place sometime after the Elsweyr prologue. It takes place after the Main Quest due to featuring several Main Quest NPCs in major roles. Note that there is a final quest to complete the storyline which requires finishing the Main Quest of both Elsweyr and Dragonhold.

Dark Heart of Skyrim
This arc features the Harrowstorm dungeons Icereach Coven and Unhallowed Grave, the Greymoor Prologue, the Greymoor Chapter, the Stonethorn dungeons "Stone Garden" and "Castle Thorn", the Markarth Prologue, and the Markarth DLC. Due to the presence of Main Quest NPC Lyris Titanborn, this story also takes place after you've started the Main Quest. Due to the presence of Count Verandis, the Markarth DLC takes place after the base game Rivenspire zone. Please note that there is a final quest for the Dark Heart of Skyrim that requires completing both Greymoor and Markarth's main quests in order to access the end of the storyline.

Gates of Oblivion
This arc kicks off with the dungeon DLC "Flames of Ambition", with "The Cauldron" and "Black Drake Villa." The Blackwood Prologue and Chapter: Blackwood launch in Q2. The "Waking Flame" Dungeon DLC, Deadlands Prologue, and "The Deadlands" DLC complete the arc. There's an epilogue that requires completing the Chapter & Zone's main quests in order to wrap up the storyline. Chronologically, the presence of recurring NPCs places this after completing the Coldharbor zone and the Orsinium DLC.

Legacy of the Bretons
This arc begins with the dungeon DLC "Ascending Tide" featuring two dungeons Coral Aerie and Shipwright's Regret, continues with the High Isle Prologue and Chapter, the Lost Depths dungeon DLC with two dungeons Earthen Root Enclave and Graven Deep, and the final Firesong Prologue and DLC. As with the other year-long storylines, there will be an epilogue that requires completing the main quest from the High Isle Chapter and Firesong DLC.

Shadow Over Morrowind
This arc begins with the dungeon DLC "Scribes of Fate" featuring the two dungeons Bal Sunnar and Scrivener's Hall. It continues with the Necrom Prologue and Necrom Chapter.

Story Arc Descriptions

Shadow Over Morrowind
Since its the most recent content, let's deal with this first. "Shadow Over Morrowind" is a planned multiyear story arc that begins in Necrom, Apocrypha, and the Telvanni Peninsula of Morrowind. You'll join forces with Hermaeus Mora to defeat a mysterious threat to reality.

If you want to know what's happened prior to Necrom before you start:
Spoilers for "Bal Sunnar"

Saresea of the Psijic Order (you can join the Order in Summerset) is attempting to regain control of a temporal anomaly being manipulated by Matriarch Lladi Telvanni

Spoilers for "Scrivener's Hall"

A rogue scribe usurps the title of Magnastylus and control of the Scribes of Mora. You assist in regaining the Itinerant Staff and allow them to return to their normal status as Observers. The Umber Glyphic is sent away for safekeeping.

Spoilers for Necrom Prologue "Eye of Fate"

Hermaeus Mora's cultists are being betrayed and killed. You unmask the traitor, obtain three Glyphics for Hermaeus Mora, and sign a contract with him that you'll save Apocrypha and Nirn, and he won't harm you for the duration of the threat

If you want to meet Hermaeus Mora in ESO prior to these adventures, ZOS put together a nice list here: https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/64049

Legacy of the Bretons
"Legacy of the Bretons" takes place in the Systres region off the coast of Tamriel and deals with the political intirgue surrounding an attempt to end the Alliance war, as well as the rise of mysterious political force in the Ascendant Order.

Chronologically, it features the leaders of each of the three alliances, and a number of characters from the main alliance questlines. Due to ZOS' habit of starting new players in the Chapter zone, if you want to know what's happened prior to High Isle before you start:
Spoilers for "Coral Aerie"

Captain Kaleen and Jakarn (from the Daggerfall covenant zones) were hired to retrieve a medallion, and foil a plot by the Ascendent Order to train wild gryphons for battle.

Spoilers for "Shipwright's Regret"

Captain Za'ji (from the Dragonhold DLC) is searching for ship plans from the All Flags Navy to create his new ship.

Spoilers for the High Isle Prologues

The plans for holding peace talks between the Alliance leaders are not going particularly well, since the medallions meant as their invitations have gone missing. With Jakarn and Lady Arabelle, you recover them, discover they've been cursed, and foil the plot to murder High King Emeric by the Ascendent Magus and their champion.

The Legacy of the Bretons builds off a lot of previous content in the Daggerfall Covenant zones and the relationship you build with the other Alliance leaders in the Dominion and Pact zones. If you want pre-existing relationships with NPCs, I recommend doing those zones first. Additionally, High Isle has dialogue where you can reference previous adventures with old friends, if you've had them.

Gates of Oblivion
"Gates of Oblivion" takes place in regions of Cyrodiil, featuring a bargain with Mehrunes Dagon made by the Longhouse Emperors (the short-lived dynasty of three Reachmen Emperors who were overthrown by Emperor Varen from the Main Quest).

Chronologically, "Flames of Ambition" features Eveli Sharp-Arrow, who first appears in the Orsinium DLC as a major supporting NPC. The Blackwood Prologue features Lyranth, who first appears in Shadowfen, Coldharbor, and the Imperial City Prison as a supporting NPC. Both of them have different dialogue if you've met them before.

Due to ZOS' habit of starting new players in the Chapter zone, its impossible to play the story arc in chronological order on a new character. If you are starting off in Blackwood and want to know what happened in the arc's earlier content:
Spoilers for "The Cauldron"

Lyranth has dedicated herself to destroying the associates of Mehrunes Dagon. To that end, she seeks your help in recovering a lockbox from a cult.

Spoilers for "Black Drake Villa"

Eveli is hired to bring a book (possibly the Mysterium Xarxes) to Farrel Lupus from the Grand Archive under the home of the Black Drake, first of the Longhouse Emperors, except that the True-Sworn cultists would much rather the whole place burned to the ground instead. You and Eveli recover the book.

Spoilers for the Blackwood Prologue

Lyranth and Eveli are tracking the Dagonist Cult of the Waking Flame. In the end, you uncover a ciphered letter from Emperor Leovic, which hints that his steward Farrel Lupus intends to make the "Four Ambitions" a reality in accordance with the bargain his grandfather made with Mehrunes Dagon.

Dark Heart of Skyrim
Chronologically, the Dark Heart of Skyrim begins after you've started the Main Quest, due to the presence of Lyris Titanborn.

The Dark Heart of Skyrim begins with the two Harrowstorm dungeons: Icereach Coven and Unhallowed Grave, which introduce the dark forces threatening Skyrim. The Greymoor Prologue and Greymoor Chapter continue the story. As with all year-long stories, new players who start in the new Greymoor tutorial will not be able to experience the story in chronological order.

If you are just starting off in Greymoor and want to know what happened in the arc's earlier content:
Spoilers for Icereach Coven

You help Lyris Titanborn stop the storm-summoning ritual performed by the Icereach Coven, figuring out that the coven has a plan and a mysterious ally. This leads directly into the Greymoor Prologue.

Spoilers for Unhallowed Grave

You help Pyre Watch sentinel Shelaria and vampire Fennorian investigate the break-in by the necromancer Draugrkin at the Unhallowed Grave, used to,guard the remains of a bunch of undead. Fennorian intends to investigate what the Draugrkin's mysterious patron wanted with the stolen remains of the Gray Host.

Spoilers for Greymoor Prologue

You work with Lyris Titanborn to investigate the connections between the Icereach Coven and vampires. You'll discover the location of Blackreach, the creation of Harrowfiends, and foil an assassination attempt on Skald-king Jorunn. Evidence suggests that the Coven is interested in Haafingar in Western Skyrim.

Greymoor's Story builds off a lot of previous content in the Main Quest, Ebonheart Pact zones, and Daggerfall Covenant zones (particularly Rivenspire and Alik'r Desert.) If you want pre-existing relationships with NPCs, I recommend doing those zones first.
Markarth's Prologue and Main Quest also builds very heavily on Rivenspire, Alik'r Desert, and Greymoor. I highly recommend doing at least Rivenspire for the pre-existing relationship with two major characters: Count Verandis Ravenwatch and Gwendis.

Season of the Dragon
Chronologically, the Season of the Dragon happens after the player has completed the Main Quest of the Molag Bal's Planemeld Arc, due to the presence of certain Main Quest NPCs. Due to bugs with the Elsweyr Prologue quests conflicting with the Main Quest, I highly recommend completing either the MQ or the prologue first. If you can't find Abnur than where he's supposed to be, see below for the bug note.

Technically, it won't be necessary to run either Wrathstone or the Elsweyr Prologue to know what's going on in Elsweyr. I found the Elsweyr Prologue to be a good lead-in to Elsweyr, but the Wrathstone dungeons are just background information for the Prologue, so if you don't want to run group dungeons, you aren't missing out on much.

If you are starting off in Elsweyr and just want to know what's going on and why there are dragons, here's spoilers for the story in the Wrathstone dungeons and the Prologue.
Spoilers for Wrathstone

In each dungeon, you and your merry band of adventurers help Tharayya and her husband recover the two halves of the Wrathstone tablet.

Spoilers for Elsweyr Prologue

Abnur Tharn uses to the Wrathstone tablet to track down a "Demon Weapon" he hopes to use to make all sides negotiate an end to the Three Banners War. Unfortunately, his half-sister Euraxia gets wind of this, and while you, Abnur, and a khajiit agent Khamira beat Euraxia to the Halls of Colossus with the tablet, the Wrathstone opens the seal that was trapping some dragons inside. Oops. Now dragons are rampaging through Elsweyr, and its all your fault.

Important Main Quest Bug! If you have either Elsweyr Prologue quest "The Demon Weapon" or "The Halls of Colossus" active in your quest journal, it will break the Main Quest "The Tharn Speaks" because of Abnur Tharn's presence in both quests. You need to either drop or complete the Prologue quests in order to progress the Main Quest.

If you want to play all the arc's content in order:
1. Reach Level 45 in order to queue for the normal DLC dungeons Frostvault and Depths of Malatar. You can manually travel there at lower levels. Its not necessary to do the Wrathstone dungeons to understand the story, as they mostly give some background history to the Elsweyr Prologue.
2. Meet Abnur Tharn in your Starter City to do the Elsweyr Prologue quest.
3. Start Elsweyr Chapter.
4. Start the Dragonhold Prologue and Dragonhold, doing the Scalebreaker dungeons at any time.

If you want to have a pre-existing relationship with major NPCs:
Tharayya & Quintus in Frostvault and Depths of Malatar: Tharayya's story is told in the delves of the Alik'r Desert and the Group Dungeon Volenfell.
Abnur Tharn in Elsweyr Prologue: Abnur Tharn's story is told in the Main Quest
Sir Cadwell in Elsweyr: Main Quest
Sai Sahan in Dragonhold: Main Quest

Daedric Wars: Morrowind, Clockwork City, Summerset Isles
Chronologically, the Daedric Wars happens after the player has completed the Main Quest of the Molag Bal's Planemeld Arc. It also happens after the Orsinium DLC, which has an easter egg from the end of the Coldharbor questline and another easter egg foreshadowing events in Clockwork City. Nevertheless, players can experience the Daedric Wars arc without having completed the Planemeld or Orsinium.

Summerset features an NPC who is present in the Daggerfall Covenant quests and Coldharbor. If you haven't done those, you get alternate dialogue acknowledging this.

Morrowind, Clockwork City and Summerset Isles are designed to be standalone. I think they are better in their chronological order. Morrowind serves as an extended prologue to the events of Clockwork City. Summerset is a rousing finale and features an NPC you assisted in Clockwork City.

Molag Bal's Planemeld: Alliance Zones, Coldharbor, Fighter's Guild, Mages Guild, and the Main Quest

The Main Quest starts in the starter city of your alliance when you talk to the Hooded Figure and you'll experience the original Coldharbor tutorial. This will dump you on your alliance's starter island(s). Starter Cities are Davon's Watch, Stonefalls for the Ebonheart Pact; Vulkhel Guard, Auridon for the Aldmeri Dominion; Daggerfall, Glenumbra for the Daggerfall Covenant.

From there, the pre-One Tamriel order goes like this:
Starter Island(s)
1st Zone (start fighters and mages guild, start Haborage quests for Main Quest, writ certifications, etc.)
2nd-5th zone, doing fighters guild, mages guild, and Main quests as you level up, until you've finished your alliance, guilds, and stopped getting Main Quests.
When you get the "Messages Across Tamriel" quest, you'll gather the 3 faction leaders and prepare to assault Coldharbor
Do the Coldharbor quests. These are prerequisites for completing the Main Quest.
Complete the Main Quest
Talk to Cadwell about doing Cadwell's Silver and Cadwell's Gold which are the other faction's questlines.

Alliance Zone Order

Ebonheart Pact has a fairly fragmented storyline, but there are a few events that will only make sense if done in order (technically Deshaan and Shadowfen could probably swap around without a problem).
Chronological Order: Bleakrock Isle -> Bal Foyen -> Stonefalls -> Deshaan -> Shadowfen -> Eastmarch -> The Rift

Daggerfall Covenant is also fairly fragmented, but has more characters that carry through from zone to zone. (Technically, Alik'r Desert could be done at any time after Stormhaven, story wise.)
Chronological Order: Stros M'Kai ->Betnikh -> Glenumbra -> Stormhaven -> Rivenspire -> Alik'r Desert -> Bangkorai

Aldmeri Dominion has a very coherent and cohesive storyline with tons of recurring characters. Please do this questline in order or you will be very confused.
Chronological Order: Khenarthi's Roost -> Auridon -> Grahtwood -> Greenshade -> Malabal Tor -> Reaper's March

DLC and Other Zones:

Cyrodiil: Cyrodiil is a PVP zone, where the quests are very simplistic and have little to no story, due to the risk of fighting enemy players. It happens concurrently with the Planemeld and before the White Gold Tower dungeon.
Imperial City: the Imperial City is a PVP zone with a PVE/PVP main quest. The main quest will involve questing in PVP-enabled areas with lots of miniboss NPCs. White Gold Tower dungeon makes a nice conclusion to the IC main quest (though that dark anchor still doesn't close.)
Craglorn: Craglorn is part of the base game but has its own problems apart from the Daedra. Several parts of the quests strongly advise getting a group of players together to complete them.
Dungeons and Dungeon DLC: aside from White Gold Tower, the two Wrathstone dungeons, and Harrowstorm, none of the dungeons have any impact on the storyline as a whole. Wrathstone is the lead-in to the Elsweyr Prologue quest, establishing the backstory of the Wrathstone. Scalebreaker takes place after the Elsweyr prologue due to the presence of dragons, and after the Selene's Web dungeon. Harrowstorm is the lead-in for Greymoor.
Gold Coast: Gold Coast happens after the Planemeld and has recurring characters from all three Alliance storylines
Hew's Bane: happens after the Planemeld, I don't believe it has recurring characters from the alliance storylines?
Orsinium: happens after the Planemeld and before the Daedric Wars Arc. This has an easter egg for something at the end of Coldharbor and an easter egg foreshadowing Clockwork City and coming after the end of the Main Quest. I highly recommend doing Orsinium after doing the Daggerfall Covenant questlines as there are a couple recurring characters and the DC quests give a better understanding of the history of the region.
Murkmire: I don't believe it has recurring characters from the alliance storylines, but if you want a recurring relationship with Cyrodiilic Collections, the Prologue quest is worth doing.
Dragonhold - follows chronologically after Elsweyr
Markarth - follows chronologically after Greymoor
Deadlands - follows chronologically after Blackwood
Firesong - follows chronologically after High Isle

So what if I really miss or want to have the pre-One Tamriel Questing Experience?

1. Start a new character and wayshrine to your Alliance's Starter City
2. Accept the Main Quest from the Hooded Figure
3. Complete your Alliance's Main quest in order alongside the Fighters and Mages guild quests for that zone, and the Harborage quests for the Main Questline. Originally the Main Quest progressed at every 5 levels, but now its not necessary to wait.
4. Coldharbor Questline is the prerequisite for completing the Main Questline.
5. Having completed the Main Questline, accept Cadwell's Silver and Gold to experience the other Alliance questlines.
6. Experience the Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, Imperial City, Orsinium, and Murkmire DLCs and Craglorn, in whatever order you want.
7. Begin the Daedric Wars plotline with Morrowind -> Clockwork City-> Summerset.
8. Do the two Wrathstone dungeons, the Elsweyr Prologue quest, Elsweyr, the two Scalebreaker dungeons, Dragonhold Prologue, and then Dragonhold.
9. Do the two Harrowstorm dungeons, the Greymoor Prologue quest, Greymoor, the two Stonethorn dungeons, the Markarth Prologue, and then Markarth.
10. Do the two Flames of Ambition dungeons and the Blackwood Prologue. Chapter: Blackwood in Q2, the two Waking Flames dungeons, and the Deadlands prologue/ DLC.
11. Do the two Ascending Tide Dungeons, High Isle Prologues, Chapter: High Isle, the two Lost Depths dungeons, the Firesong Prologue/DLC, and the Epilogue quest.
12. Do the two Scribes of Fate Dungeons, Necrom Prologue, Chapter: Necrom.

Its entirely possible to have a great and fullfilling questing experience running around doing everything in whatever order you want. Its an Elder Scrolls game in that regard. If, on the other hand, you want to experience the coherent, cohesive, immersive storyline of the Elder Scrolls Online that spans the entire continent for the first time since TES: Arena, following the chronology of the original pre-One Tamriel ESO through the threat of the Planemeld, into the rising threat of the Daedric Wars, facing the rage of dragons, exploring the dark heart of Skyrim, returning to Cyrodiil to deal with Oblivion Gates (again, for you TES IV Oblivion fans), exploring the Systres as you investigate the Ascendant Order, and now delving into the depths of Necrom and Apocrypha is one of the best ways to do so.

I hope you have fun questing through ESO's story arcs!

Additional Guide for "What Order Should I Play ESO?
This is far from an exhaustive list of useful guides, but here's a great guide to ESO's content that I think is fantastic and provides a very useful alternative to the storyarc-centric approach that I took here in my guide. If mine doesn't give you quite what you need, hopefully you get great info from this one!

A CLEAR STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO PLAYING ESO IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER by @NeoGriz - If you'd like a more specific guide to how the individual quests all tie together in chronological order, this guide walks you through it.

White wabbit · May 2018

Or just go to Alkir Dolmens

Joxer61 · May 2018

That was/is very awesome and helpful info!! Just what a returning player needed. I had completed the quest lines up to Caldwell's Gold before leaving game and was wondering where to start again, or do I need to start again? Thanks heaps!

VileIntent · May 2018

White wabbit wrote: »

Or just go to Alkir Dolmens

Doing this makes you miss an extreme amount of skill points. Besides being absolutely boring.

Lakhitia · May 2018

Wonderful guide, immensely helpful. Thanks!

SkyIsTheLimit1206 · May 2018

VileIntent wrote: »

White wabbit wrote: »

Or just go to Alkir Dolmens

Doing this makes you miss an extreme amount of skill points. Besides being absolutely boring.

r/woooosh

NewbieOKS · May 2018

Thanks to @VaranisArano ...

Can you also make a new thread in the ESO reddit community and ESO steam community forums (as a guide)? Copyright and the credits should be yours of course

VaranisArano · May 2018

I don't have a Reddit account, but you are welcome to go ahead and post it with credit if you think it would be helpful.

NewbieOKS · May 2018

VaranisArano wrote: »

I don't have a Reddit account, but you are welcome to go ahead and post it with credit if you think it would be helpful.

You can make one, its easy.... r/elderscrollsonline

Ashnarug · May 2018

Starting a new character and wayshrining to a starting city will make the crafting certifications available at level 3.

Cannot find Felarian however for the jewelry crafting certification. Hope he can be found elsewhere than Alinor.

VaranisArano · May 2018

I believe crafting writs can't be done until level 6 though.

PrayingSeraph · May 2018

I do remember from Morrowind launch that apparently ZoS said that Morrowind takes place before planemeld on new starting characters, but after planemeld on existing characters. Which at the time made sense as the it makes little sense for your new tutorial character to travel on a trip to morrowind as talked about by a letter you get, meet Naryu....then teleport off morrowind to meet a stranger...

They also have that DC high elf dwemer expert guy who leads the quest in Morrowinds dwemer public dungeon. Nurano or something? Anyways at the end of his Morrowind quest, his assistant says they are heading to Bthzark next, which is his story area in Stros Mkai. This seems to allude that Morrowind happens before planemeld...

Its confusing...

VaranisArano · May 2018

PrayingSeraph wrote: »

I do remember from Morrowind launch that apparently ZoS said that Morrowind takes place before planemeld on new starting characters, but after planemeld on existing characters. Which at the time made sense as the it makes little sense for your new tutorial character to travel on a trip to morrowind as talked about by a letter you get, meet Naryu....then teleport off morrowind to meet a stranger...

They also have that DC high elf dwemer expert guy who leads the quest in Morrowinds dwemer public dungeon. Nurano or something? Anyways at the end of his Morrowind quest, his assistant says they are heading to Bthzark next, which is his story area in Stros Mkai. This seems to allude that Morrowind happens before planemeld...

Its confusing...

There's a fairly major reason why Summerset happens after the Planemeld. Serious Spoilers below, but I won't go into detail.

Darien Gautier reappears in Summerset, having "died" at the end of the Coldharbor zone quests, and being hinted at being in the Colored Rooms of Meridia in Orsinium.

As for Morrowind, yeah, the whole continuity with Naryu gets all messed up if you do Morrowind before you do the Pact quests.

Kesarai · June 2018

omgosh, I just found this and thank you for putting it all together!!

I am one of those types that need to do at one of each faction from start to finish in the order it is intended. I have been searching for something/anything that would tell me where to go after main story (in character/quest progression) and with all the various DLC's and added content, along with the ability to do any of them at any time made things confusing to me.

Again, thank you tons for taking the time to put all this together!

Tandor · June 2018

Brilliant guide, thanks for putting so much thought and time into it. Shame I can't give it both an "Insightful" and an "Awesome"

!

Justwondering · July 2018

Hi, I wonder if you could help please, I have checked my quest list and none of my quests states "main quest" just a list of areas with quest names below them.

I am wanting to play the story but I am totally unsure which are side quests and which are main quests.

I have all the main expansions up to Morrowind, I do not have the ones released after Morrowind.

VaranisArano · July 2018

Justwondering wrote: »

Hi, I wonder if you could help please, I have checked my quest list and none of my quests states "main quest" just a list of areas with quest names below them.

I am wanting to play the story but I am totally unsure which are side quests and which are main quests.

I have all the main expansions up to Morrowind, I do not have the ones released after Morrowind.

So, I'm just a touch confused about your question, so I tried to answer both commonly asked questions.

Many people get co fused,about the,progression of the game's Main Quest, so here's the link to the main quest if you just need a reference: http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Main_Quest

But for a more organic way of finding it, with spoilers.

If you haven't started the main quest at all by talking to the Hooded Figure, go to your Starter City for your alliance (Davons Watch, Vulkhel Guard, or Daggerfall) and talk to the Hooded Figure.

you'll be sacrificed to Molag Bal and wind up in Coldharbor, becoming the Vestige.

If you are already the Vestige and are trying to find the next step after a Main Quest, go back to your Starter city and the Prophet should show up to give you the next part or return to the Harborage.

If you have

,recovered the amulet of kings

and it seems like they won't give you new main quests, you may be at the point of "Messages Across Tamriel" and "The Weight of Three Crowns". At this point, the Main Quest takes a brief break as you invade Coldharbor. You need to

finish the Coldharbor zone by ending the threat of the Planemeld.

Once you've finished Coldharbor, the final part of the Main Quest should kick in letting you

face off against Molag Bal to regain your soul.

Now if what you were asking is how to tell major zone quests from minor side quests in a zone, as far as I know there no way to simply tell that in game. There might be an add on, but I have no idea. However, there's a few methods that can help.
1. Check the zone achievements.there are often achievements associated with the major quests in a zone. Beware, those achievements sometimes contain spoilers.
2. If youve obtained Cadwell's Silver and Gold, you can check the list of those quests.
3. Refer to an outside,source like http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Quests which will point you to the major quests in each zone.

Personally, I tend to follow along whereever the major questline is pointing me, doing side quests along the way, which worked out really nicely for me when I did Summerset.

Hope that helps answer your question!

kadar · August 2018

@VaranisArano

Hey so on my main, I've done about half of the clockwork city questline (I think) before I took a break from the game for ~6months, and almost none of the morrowind. Do you think I should do morrowind before heading back to Clockwork?

VaranisArano · August 2018

Morrowind functions as an extended prologue to Clockwork City, but their plots don't intersect too much, so I think you'd be fine to do it in whatever order you like.

peppercats · August 2018

PrayingSeraph wrote: »

I do remember from Morrowind launch that apparently ZoS said that Morrowind takes place before planemeld on new starting characters, but after planemeld on existing characters. Which at the time made sense as the it makes little sense for your new tutorial character to travel on a trip to morrowind as talked about by a letter you get, meet Naryu....then teleport off morrowind to meet a stranger...

They also have that DC high elf dwemer expert guy who leads the quest in Morrowinds dwemer public dungeon. Nurano or something? Anyways at the end of his Morrowind quest, his assistant says they are heading to Bthzark next, which is his story area in Stros Mkai. This seems to allude that Morrowind happens before planemeld...

Its confusing...

Just wanted to point out that I did Morrowind first then the base EP story, and Naryu -- that is, Naryu during the EP story in Deshaan -- referenced having met her before.
Not sure when they added it, but I think that closes a hole in the story.

Interestingly, where does this place Morrowind now? Can it just float at any part of the ESO timeline prior to clockwork city?

Crapgame · August 2018

VaranisArano wrote: »

I highly recommend doing Orsinium after doing the Daggerfall Covenant questlines.

Can you expound on this? I'm at this crossroads.

VaranisArano · August 2018

Crapgame wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

I highly recommend doing Orsinium after doing the Daggerfall Covenant questlines.

Can you expound on this? I'm at this crossroads.

Sure. Orsinium takes place after the DC storyline in the timeline. But I recommend it for a couple of other reasons.

One, you'll meet a couple recurring characters, Neramo (met in Stros M'Kai and Betnikh. I don't think it matters which one you do first, but I think its nice to meet the characters in the storyline before you do the DLC. There's also the alchemist from Glenumbra, Alinon.

Two, Orsinium is all about establishing the Orc Kingdom of Orsinium and to a lesser degree, how the Orsimer view their new kingdom and the Bretons and the Redguards they are allied with now. Doing the DC quests first will help give a lot of context for the politics and history of the Covenant as it impacts the opinions of the Orsimer of Wrothgar, particularly Stormhaven.

Finally, there's a spoiler for another recurring character in the DC storyline

Near the end of the main quest you can find a note from Darien Gaultier explaining his post-Coldharbor experiences and Darien shows up a lot in the DC storyline.

So for most players, I would recommend playing through the Daggerfall Covenant zones before doing Orsinium. Its chronologically accurate and helps provide a lot of context for what's happening in Orsinium.

The exception would be if you wanted to roleplay a rather isoloated Orsimer from the clans of Wrothgar, where it could be an interesting story to do Wrothgar first, and then branch out into the wider world of the Daggerfall Covenant story line.

Hope that helps!

Crapgame · August 2018

That helps a lot. Thank you!

ShadowHvo · October 2018

Beautiful guide! But it makes me wish that we could choose our tutorial zone... Because I really do miss the original Coldharbour Prison.

I really think that the information in this guide is something that should be available ingame, since a lot of new players often seem rather confused of the continuity of the Planemeld, Daedric Wars and the "side" stories.

An easy pop-up while creating a new character would be awfully simple and fitting to fix this, plus it would give the player a choice.
---
Planemeld - Start at the very beginning of the Elder Scrolls Online and become the Vestige, the soulless hero condemned to daedric realm of Coldharbour.

Morrowind - Start upon the seas with your sails set forth for Vvardenfell, the strange volcanic island of the Dark Elves.
Set after the events of the Planemeld.

Summerset - Start your journey upon the Isles of Summerset, the mystical homeland of the High Elves.
Set after the events of the Morrowind.

*Choice of starting location does not impact available content or quests.

Starting in the Planemeld is advised for full canonical continuity.
---

I wish something like this was a thing, just to make it clear while still offering the player a choice.

GLP323b14_ESO · January 2019

This is perfect.

Exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks!

CMDR_Un1k0rn · February 2019

Just want to give my thanks for this.

FrancisCrawford · February 2019

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but my take on Orsinium/Wrothgar is:

King Kurog, a/the central character, has a backstory in Rivenspire. So ideally you do Rivenspire before Rivenspire.
There's at least one easter egg there timed for after you've done the main quest (Coldharbour, Molag Bal, etc.) but before both the Gold Coast and Summerset. But it's really minor.
The only recurring characters I recall are Kireth & Raynor Vanos, and Narsis Dren.

I'd note that there are a bunch of recurring characters in the game overall whose main function is to be involved with (and often give) side quests; examples include Kireth & Raynor Vanos, Narsis Dren, Neramo, Telenger, Lady Laurent & Stibbens, and more. It's not terribly practical or important to try to line up their quests in order. Generally the nature of these quests is either:

Aid them in their research.
Help them survive their research.

That said:

There are two natural starting points for Neramo: Stros M'Kai (regional main quest line) and Morrowind (public dungeon).
The most natural starting point for Lady Laurent & Stibbens is probably in Glenumbra.
The most natural starting point for the Vanos siblings IMO is probably in Wrothgar, but for them the order hardly matters.
Narsis Dren is actually introduced in the emails you get from your first blacksmithing hireling. But those might be even funnier if you'd already met him elsewhere in the game.
Neramo and the Vanos siblings are involved early in the Clockwork City main quest line.

FrancisCrawford · February 2019

And to be clear -- join the Fighters Guild as almost the first thing you do in the game!! You'll be killing a lot of things that advance your rank in the guild skill line, but they only count after you've actually joined the Guild.

VaranisArano · February 2019

FrancisCrawford wrote: »

And to be clear -- join the Fighters Guild as almost the first thing you do in the game!! You'll be killing a lot of things that advance your rank in the guild skill line, but they only count after you've actually joined the Guild.

Yep. From a purely story-telling perspective, the storyline of the Fighters Guild advances through your Alliance's base game zones starting with Auridon/Stonefalls/Glenumbra. However, you can gain Fighters Guild exp from killing daedra/undead and closing dolmens as soon as you join them which won't have any impact on the questline AFAIK. This exp is not retroactive, so it pays to join up as soon as possible. Morrowind, Summerset, and presumably the new stater zone with the Elsweyr chapter all have places to join the Fighters Guild.

The Mages Guild questline advances similarly, but the exp from finding lorebooks is retroactive, so there's not the same need to join up quickly.

FrancisCrawford · February 2019

VaranisArano wrote: »

FrancisCrawford wrote: »

And to be clear -- join the Fighters Guild as almost the first thing you do in the game!! You'll be killing a lot of things that advance your rank in the guild skill line, but they only count after you've actually joined the Guild.

Yep. From a purely story-telling perspective, the storyline of the Fighters Guild advances through your Alliance's base game zones starting with Auridon/Stonefalls/Glenumbra. However, you can gain Fighters Guild exp from killing daedra/undead and closing dolmens as soon as you join them which won't have any impact on the questline AFAIK. This exp is not retroactive, so it pays to join up as soon as possible. Morrowind, Summerset, and presumably the new stater zone with the Elsweyr chapter all have places to join the Fighters Guild.

The Mages Guild questline advances similarly, but the exp from finding lorebooks is retroactive, so there's not the same need to join up quickly.

Also to be clear: In both the Fighters and Mages Guilds, the quest chain has nothing to do with leveling the skill line. You just get the stories themselves from doing the quest, along with the quest rewards, of which the only notable one is the two skill points you optionally get at the end of the Mages Guild line.

Similarly, while the Psijic Guild skill line is indeed advanced through quests, those deviate at a very early stage from the main story quest line in the Psijic Guild, which gives you three skill points.

richo262 · February 2019

I hope they introduce this information, or something that guides the player like this, into the new UI system they have for quests. I've completed it all, in the correct order, but a mate of mine was totally confused when he started in Morrowind.