Ten things to know when you start playing

Serge · April 2014

Hi everyone,

As part of my contemplation on how I'm gonna play my first day in Elder Scrolls Online, and later as a collaborative effort of the ESO reddit community, a list of things you need to think of when you start playing was created. I already posted it on our website http://teso.mmorpg-life.com/first-things-early-access-starts/ but here's the complete list for those that like to stay on the forum (and so we can discuss and expand it). FYI this is not list of tips for casual players.

You will have three skill points once you complete the tutorial. Invest them in one skill from each class skill line and slot all three abilities. This way you will have a variety of skills to use and you will level up all three class skill lines. This might prove beneficial later when you definitely decide on your gameplay style and build because no skill line will be severely gimped. Also - Put Soul Trap in your skill bars (as suggested by Feroc on reddit)
Try and loot some urns and chests in the prison level at the beginning of the game and loot nightstands in inns and houses in the cities to get some free lockpicks and crafting style stones.
If you really need to have a few extra skill points within the first 10 levels you might want to consider visiting starter islands. These islands are optional content you can visit via an NPC in the starting city and they each contain 3 skyshards, which results in 2 skill points. You can just go and pick up skyshards or even level there where is less crowded and easier to find resources. It takes about 4 hours to go through both islands.
If you prefer PvP you want to get to level 10 and join AvA campaign in Cyrodiil. You will get both PvP and PvE levels by doing stuff in Cyrodiil and there are skyshards and lorebooks to be found as well.
PvE fans should find some friends that know how to do group content and start doing group dungeons at level 12. Completing dungeons provides great XP and nice loot and you get a skill point for each completed dungeon quest. You can also try your luck with the group finder and a PUG
Research traits immediately! Whether you plan on crafting or not I suggest you use the first item you get that has a trait on it for research. In the crafting panel you can pick to research traits from existing items. This will destroy the item, but provide you with the ability to craft an item with that trait. The trick is that researching these traits takes exponentially more time for each additional trait on that item type. This means that you will be level 50 and still not have all traits researched for a single item. Start right away or time's a wastin'.
If you do decide to do crafting do not pick up every crafting material in the world. Focus on your primary professions or you'll spend so much time, inventory slots and gold on leveling all professions that you will always be in the red. This does not apply to dedicated crafters ofc.
Buy a couple of soul gems from vendors as soon as you can. There is nothing worse than having to run from a far away wayshrine to your previous destination.
Check every bookshelf you come across in the starting city. These contain random books, but sometimes they give you a free level up for one of your skill lines. You can find a lot of these in Mages Guild houses and castles.
In the leveling up process I found that buying enchants from Enchanting vendor is easier than trying to collect materials and create your own enchants. Unless you want to be a dedicated enchanter sell or store your enchanting mats and buy already available enchants from a vendor

Bonus tips

Wear at least one piece of each armor type to level all armor types. (as suggested by MeetSnowmaker on reddit)
Immediately after leaving the tutorial area join Mages Guild, Fighters Guild and Undaunted (in the inn of your main city) to get and start leveling up those skill lines (as suggested by Thalur on reddit)
take small breaks every now and then. Remember to hydrate and remember that without sustenance you can't play either (as suggested by Etoscv on reddit)

Serge · April 2014

There is also a more casual gaming friendly version of tips and tricks, but it is very long (something like 40 tips), so here's a link to it 'cause I really can't write and format all that text again

http://teso.mmorpg-life.com/eso-tips-tricks/

Lal · April 2014

You just gave away ALL my secrets!! J/K . This is very good advice to beginners. Good work. I'd like to add two pieces of advice.

1) I've started some banker alts and chose to run them through Coldharbour tutorial zone to gather items. Activating auto-loot makes it go much faster, and I loot EVERYTHING. The reason for bank alts is that your bank is shared account wide.

2) You cannot send mail between alts, so make an agreement with a friend that when they receive mail from you with RETURN in the subject line they will simply click the return button. This works because, like the bank, mail is shared account wide also. There is a Mail mod that will auto return mail. It's called Wykkyd's Mail Return Bot.

Good hunting!

Chirru · April 2014

sorry.... my opinion is to pick up everything and destroy things that can not be sold. Need the coin to buy Bank and inventory slots.

yodased · April 2014

Something that I've noticed too is its very beneficial to explore every inch of the map. This isn't like most MMO's where its completely linear and exploring usually is a waste of time.

If you find yourself underleveled at any point in this game its because you haven't explored enough. Get every point on the map "completed" and you will be fine to proceed.

Another thing is how to leave Cyrodil, you have to use a wayshrine and warp out. Just right click your map from the wayshrine and choose another location in your alliance's area.

yodased · April 2014

stupid double post

Budnick · April 2014

depends on if you use mostly magic on what gear. as a pure mage I wouldn't wear any stam. gear. but that's just me