Raice's Starters' Guide: A new Player getting the most out of a new Character!

Raice · April 2014

GENERAL TIPS

1. GO-TO THE STARTER ISLAND

Yes, I know the game plops you at the start of the first Open World city of your faction. For Ebonheart, it will be Morrowind. For Daggerfall... it will be Daggerfall. I can't think of what the other is, but you get the picture. Before you do anything else... walk out of the house you start in, walk immediately toward the person who gives you the quest to go back to the starter island, and then go immediately to the starter island. No if's, and's, or but's. Just do it.

People seem to want to skip these areas because of popular word of mouth about them being bad... but they really aren't. They're very directed and very tutorial-like - yes. This is for your benefit. You will have plenty of free-roaming after you do yourself this favor. And besides that... they aren't that bad. In fact... they're actually very good from an MMO standpoint. The only reason why these areas get a bad rap is because they were comparing the Open World vibe against a Single Player Elder Scrolls game. Just relax, expect it to be as good as any other MMO, and you'll be alright.

This is so necessary, I even recommend this for veteran players. Why? Because the first time through, you're going to spend about 10 hours in these first few zones - give or take. You'll be learning the game, and trying to concentrate on the stories and exploring, etc. When you go through the area a second time - those 10 hours suddenly become maybe 2-3 hours. And it's easy XP.

2. GET SOME ARMOR

No matter what class you are playing; no matter what race you are playing; no matter what build you have in mind - until you reach level 10-20 (or so)... you should be wearing the absolute best armor you can find, regardless of what it is. If you know later on that you want to wear light armor - then it's okay to wear three or four pieces of it just so your skill will advance enough to invest in some passives. But the rest of your armor should be providing you with the best defense you can get your hands on.

Don't worry about the numbers. All of them are too small to matter a great deal at these early stages. You'll have plenty of time to get into the fine-tuning later.

I'll have more specific information about Armor further down.

3. DON'T NEGLECT YOUR ATTRIBUTES - ESPECIALLY STAMINA

This one is key. No matter what class you are playing; no matter what race you are playing; no matter what build you have in mind - until you reach level 10-20 (or so)... you should be trying your best to keep at least 2 stats at an equal level, with a third about half that. I suggest Magicka and Stamina on near equal level, with more emphasis on Stamina if you had to pick. These two Attributes directly affect your ability to use your Attacks: Magicka affects Spells and Staves, Stamina affects Martial Weapons.

Even if you want a Magicka build later on. Even if you are using mostly Spells. Put points into Stamina and keep it equal. You can change this stuff later if you want to. But right now... you just need to survive long enough to get your feet on the ground.

Moreover, I would argue that Stamina is the most important Attribute, ESPECIALLY in the early game. With it, you can: Sprint, Dodge, Block, Interrupt, and use Weapon Abilities. Because you will be using the best armor you can get your hands on at this point, Health can be the odd-ball for now. Focus on Magicka and Stamina, but mainly Stamina.

4. DON'T FEEL PRESSURED TO GET A LOT OF ACTIVES - SPREAD THE SP LOVE

You have 5 Abilities and 1 Ultimate from beginning to end in this game. What does this tell you? Having a large number of Active Skills isn't that important. What IS important is having a few really good Skills, and knowing how to use them.

For starters, you won't be getting an Ultimate until around lvl 9. So don't even worry about it. Each one of your Class' Starter Spells will more than likely be the most useful Spell in that Line. It will be your bread and butter. Whichever line you want, get it, and then immediately after, get a Weapon Skill.

Immediately after this - start focusing on some Passive abilities in Armor. It doesn't hurt to put some points in all of them. You don't have to go nuts, but I would say at least 1 point in all 3. Focus on the ones that affect Regeneration. I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but it isn't. You'll be glad you did later on - trust me.

You are not limited to wearing one kind of armor in this game like you are in other MMO's. Use this to your advantage. I know - you want to be a Tank. Why would you wear Light Armor at all? Because, a Tank is only a Tank, because a Tank has a Spell that makes him a Tank. With a few pieces of Light armor, you can put some points into Light Armor Skill and upgrade your Magicka - thus making you a better Tank. Essentially, this little boost to your Magicka will outweigh a few extra points of Armor. There's all sorts of ways to look at this.

Remember, later on - you may want to be more specialized. And that's okay. For right now... you need to be a Jack-of-All-Trades. Your first respec will be 1200g. By the time you start feeling like you need a respec to be more exact in the expression of your character - you'll have the cash to do that, easily.

5. LEARN TO CONTROL YOUR ACTIONS

The Starter Islands are great for this, which is the primary reason why I suggest going to them first, no matter what. The enemies are pretty simple, they aren't usually in big groups, and you can learn to control your actions and learn to identify situations when you need to dodge or interrupt or something. In essence... learn to play.

6. CRAFT... CRAFT EVERYTHING...

Why craft? Because your character sucks. It just does... for now. You need protection, and you need weapons. It's just that simple. And not just anything will do. No... you need the best stuff you can get your hands on. And the only way to get that in any kind of a guarantee is to craft.

Craft everything. Craft Heavy Armor. Craft Light Armor. Craft Medium Armor. Craft Weapons, Staves, and Bows, and Shields too. Craft Alchemy. Craft Provisioning. Craft Enchantments. Craft all of it. For the moment, you don't need to put very many Skill Points in any of this. You can do that later when it really requires you to. It's not a bad point spent to get the Spotter Skills, but until you know what your character is really going to need... save your investments.

Break down ALL of your loot that you don't use. DO NOT SELL IT. Break it down. Collect mats out in the field. Store it. Craft craft craft! Even if you hate crafting - do it anyway. It's easy. Plus... it's pretty fun. And I say that as someone who HATES to craft in MMO's. This game makes it awesome. And it's necessary.

Research... ehhh... Research can be tricky. You COULD start researching, but I would wait until you get a little bit more understanding under your belt. There's a reason why. The most important of which has to do with the time investment, and right now, you might not have a concrete idea of what exactly your character is going to be doing or how. I would hold off on Research until around lvl 8-10 or so.

So, why craft? Because aside from everything else that you character is lacking - the number 1 thing they are lacking is money. You won't be able to afford most of the vendor stuff. Just craft. You're welcome.

7. IF YOU HAVE AN IMPERIAL HORSE - FEED IT OATS

Feed your horse Oats. Every time you do, you increase your own carrying capacity by 1 point. If I'm not mistaken... it caps at 50. But just think about how much extra loot that is...

8. YOU ARE NOT A SPECIALIST, YET. RIGHT NOW, YOU ARE A JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES.

Don't let this guide make you feel like you aren't playing what you want to play, specifically. These are just general tips to help you get an understanding of how you can get your character off on a good track. Keep things loose, and don't put all your eggs in one basket. You need to diversify your build a little from what your ultimate goal is in order to get the ball rolling.

THESE 8 SIMPLE STEPS ALONE WILL MAKE YOUR CHARACTER BETTER AT THE START, NO MATTER WHAT CLASS OR RACE OR BUILD YOU ARE PLAYING.

[To be continued...]

Raice · April 2014

WEAPON TIPS

Racial Weapon Affinities:

So, I play a Redguard as my main. Redgaurds have a Shield Affinity as a Passive. Other Races have similar affinities with various things - Nords with 2 Handed Weapons Affinity, for instance. But here's the catch... none of that really has any affect on the power of one's character. Why not? Because all it does is increase the XP gain with whatever weapon affinity the race has. In the grand scheme of things... frankly... this doesn't matter.

The only things that matter to Weapons are your Magicka and your Stamina. Your Race can have a lot to go with these, on the other hand, but for the most part, that is a more advanced thing that I will get to later.

The point I am making here is that you don't have to limit your Race choice because you want to use a specific Weapon. You also don't have to pick your Race because of your Class, but I'll get to that later as well.

Melee Weapons:

All Melee Weapon Skills run off the Stamina Attribute. What this means, generally speaking without going into specifics, is that the higher your Stamina is, the better your Melee Weapon Skills perform. This, in conjunction with the rest of the things that Stamina does, is why I say Stamina is the most important Stat when you are starting out, followed by Magicka. If you do not use Melee Weapons (or a Bow), Magicka and Stamina are more or less on equal grounds as far as importance is concerned.

Keep in mind that if you pick a Melee Weapon, they're all going to mean similar things to the rest of your build: you're going to be in fisti-cuffs with enemies, so you need to plan your build accordingly. In other words, you need to think about your Armor. In fact, your Armor is important to everything. But I digress...

Ranged Weapons:

For Ranged Weapons, the most important thing to remember is that whatever it is you do when you first attack a target... that attack is going to be a Sneak Attack. I don't care - NO! It WILL be a Sneak Attack! There's no reason not to do it. All you have to do is press CTRL and wait 1.5 seconds. It's that simple. When you open with a Sneak Attack - half your troubles are GONE.

Bows: For the most part, a Bow functions exactly like a Melee Weapon. As a result - you need to plan the rest of your build accordingly. Remember: it's not about the Weapon... it's about the Attribute it runs off of. And for Bows... that's Stamina.

Staves: I don't suggest these as a starting weapons for any class or race, or any build, unless you are a veteran, pro. And even then... The reason for this is because Staves run off of Magicka. The trouble here is your Spells also run off of Magicka. When you're at the lower levels... you simply don't have enough of any Stat - especially Magicka or Stamina.

When you start the game with a Staff, you'll be getting Skills associated with it. You will also be getting Skills from your Class. This means you're going to have a Hotbar full of Magicka eating Abilities. Unfortunately, you don't have a very large pool to begin with, you won't be able to regen it fast enough, and you won't be able to do enough damage... you're just kind of screwed. You'll be filling in the gaps with an unordinately large amount of Light LMB attacks, while doing your best to kite the grizzlies, because you're probably a tea-cup when it comes to taking a hit. I've seen it happen too many times...

While a staff build from the beginning is certainly manageable when you know exactly what you're doing... when you're first starting out - this can be extraordinarily frustrating. You'll die a lot, and you'll think the game is too hard. This sort of build works really great in later levels. But your character isn't there yet.

Even if you know you want to do this later on... the best bet is to just respec into it as a primary weapon, AFTER you have picked it up as a secondary. I'd say around level 20-25 is a good time for a respec. But for the moment, until you get try your best to have a Hotbar of Abilities that draw from both Magicka and Stamina. This means you'll have both Spells and either a Melee Weapon or a Bow.

[To be continued...]

Raice · April 2014

ARMOR TIPS

Before we get started - there is only 1 question you have to ask yourself: "Do I want more Spells on my Hotbar or do I want more Martial Weapons on my Hotbar?"

Why is this question important? Because nothing else matters. Your Class, Your Race, your Build... none of that matters at this point. It will matter later when you respec into a specialty. For now, we need to get you there. All that matters is what you want on your Hotbar.

You have 5 Slots. I recommend a 2-3 Split. That means you'll have 2 of one kind, and 3 of another. Ultimates don't really matter...

3 Spells, 2 Martials

3 Pieces of Light Armor, 2 Pieces of Medium Armor, 2 Pieces of Heavy Armor.

2 Spells, 3 Martials

2 Pieces of Light Armor, 3 Pieces of Medium Armor, 2 Pieces of Heavy Armor.

At no time before you respec into a more specialized roll should you be wearing less than at least 2 Pieces of every kind of Armor. This is what you're going to be wearing for the next 20 or so levels. Get comfortable, and try to keep your character looking awesome

Oh... I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Hey, I want my set bonus, which means I need at least 5 of any type I want. Also, the more pieces I have, the better my Armor Passives work!"

And you know what? All of that is true. But read on, grass hopper.

Light Armor:

Here, the most important and immediate thing you want is Recovery. No, not Evocation. You want Recovery. You can get Evocation later. But right now, you NEED to Regenerate your Magicka more than you need to have less costly Spells. Why?

Because your character, no matter what build or class you are playing... it is starving for Regen Stats. You gotta get these going, pronto! Don't worry about Prodigy. You need Light Armor lvl 35 to get that. You aren't getting that until you're at least Character Level 20-25 - just in time for a respec. That's a long time from now. Until then - you NEED Recovery.

Think about it, with 3 pieces of Light Armor - that's an automatic 6% Regen. BAM! Add to this if you're a Sorcerer and get one rank in Capacitor - suddenly you're at 11%. It gets better. Consider if you're a High Elf... BAM! Another 3%, and you have 14% Recovery before you're even at level 6. See how you still have

But think about if you have none of that. You're a Nord Dragonknight, and you have 3 Spells on your Hotbar, very little Magicka, and you aren't wearing ANY Light Armor. Suddenly... you're going to have some PROBLEMS. But... a Nord Dragonknight with only 3 pieces of Light Armor can still pick up an easy 6% Regen bonus if they are Spells heavy on their Hotbar. And what do they lose? About 15 points of Armor? Pfff....

Even if you are a Sorcerer/Storm-Caller and picked up Capacitor, which I recommend if this is the case, you still want to get Recovery while wearing some Light Armor. Magicka Regen is what is going to keep you going in battle. Get this as soon as it becomes available. It won't take but a few levels.

Medium Armor:

Same deal, here. You want to get Wind Walker - first thing. Don't even bother with Dexterity until you have Wind Walker. In fact, because I know you're going to be using Medium Armor... I would say you need this even before you need Recovery. Even as a Sorcerer, you need Wind Walker first. Why? Because Sorcerer has a built in Magicka Regen Passive from Storm Caller, AND as I've said, Stamina is the most important Attribute. You REALLY NEED to make sure you always have a good flow of Stamina.

Heavy Armor:

Same thing here. You're going to get Constitution for the same reasons as the other Armors. Even though you will be focusing less on Health as an Attribute, this still isn't going to hurt.

While this isn't as "must have" as the other two, it is still very important. In fact, it might seem Heavy Armor isn't all that important so far. But it is VERY important. It is the cog that makes everything work. It picks up the slack. It gives you that safety net. In this stage of your character's development - it is precisely what gives you the edge. And... it's super cheap.

The point with Heavy armor is that it provides you with the AC which soaks damage. You don't need much, because ideally, your targets will be dead before you need to worry about this too much. And if you really get into trouble, you should always be carrying a couple of Health Pots in the first place. But, in my experience... those are just panic buttons.

Generally speaking, you can relax on Constitution for a little while, but I would get it at some point - sooner rather than later.

[To be continued...]

Raice · April 2014

A WORD ABOUT ENCHANTMENTS

When you hit lvl 10-12, you're going to want the next obvious upgrade in power. Skill points will be coming in slower now, but the enemies will be a little tougher. You've crafted the best gear you can for the moment, and you can't afford the vendor stuff. You HAVE been crafting... right? We did discuss this, didn't we?

Go to the Enchanter! They sell basic utility Enchantments, and they're pretty cheap. The only Enchantments you'll get for Armor will be either Magicka, Stamina, or Health upgrades. This is where you can make your first steps in deciding your journey into a more specialized roll. It isn't much, but it's like a soft specialization.

The thing to consider here is that each piece of Armor provides you with different ratings on Enchantments. The Helmet, Chest, Legs, and Boots all should give you the maximum Enchantment rating, I believe. That means that if the Enchantment says it will give you 10 extra Stamina... then putting it on one of these Armor pieces will give you 10 Stamina. The Shoulders, Hands, and Belt, will give you a fraction of that. So take this into account.

You'll be needing some Enchantments for all 3 Attributes. Just be smart about divying this up. By now, you should have a really good idea about which Attributes need a little more love. Also, this is a great time to boost your Health Stat if you've been neglecting it.

You have 7 pieces. I recommend:

Spell Heavy Build:

Major Armor: 2 Magicka, 1 Stamina, 1 Health
Minor Armor: 1 Magicka, 1 Stamina, 1 Health

Martial Heavy Build:

Major Armor: 1 Magicka, 2 Stamina, 1 Health
Minor Armor: 1 Magicka, 1 Stamina, 1 Health

[To be continued...]

Raice · April 2014

FINAL REMARKS

Remember, these are just tips. They are general recommendations to help you get started. These are here to help you have SOMETHING to sink your teeth into - something to think about. You can absolutely deviate from this all you want. There's no way I can account for every minor detail. But... this is a good place to start, where nothing is really wasted.

For closing statements, I will offer a bit of testimony for my own character.

Simply put... my character wrecks $hit. That's all I can say. And I haven't done anything outside of the principals I have written here. My brother plays ESO with me, and he is constantly getting his butt kicked. He has front loaded all of this abilities into a very focused build... and he is always saying how he needs a specific Ability or whatever for his idea build to work. I know there are lots of you out there who are in the same boat as him.

No kidding - he was trying to kill this Hag Witch, once. It killed him at least 10 times. He simply couldn't kill her. And he just started getting mad. And since I'm on TS with him, I know - this sounds all too familiar. He finally got me to help - as usual. So I ran over to him (I had the same quest) and told him not to help me kill her. I just HAD to see how difficult this Hag Witch actually was.

Remember, he was slaughtered by her at least 10 times. I went up to her, and she was dead in about 15 seconds. I laughed my butt off for a good 5 minutes after that. It was simply ridiculous to see how much more powerful I was than he was.

And my character isn't even "powerful." These principles aren't not min/maxed. idealist concepts. They're just sensible solutions to common issues.

Things might change later on once he gets his clutch abilities in line. And that's fine. My character will change too once I get my own clutch abilities in line. The difference is... he will be struggling and frustrated the whole way. I on the other hand will continue to wreck $hit.

I hope this helps you in your journies, friend. And welcome to Elder Scrolls Online

Raice

Jiskoot · April 2014

Great guide! Thanks alot

Sindane · April 2014

I really like this. I came to a few of these conclusions myself through trial and error, but you've got more, in better detail.

So thanks!

Aerieth · April 2014

Very nice guide for new players, I hope this gets sticky! Good job

tarkak · April 2014

Great guide Raice. I couldn't agree more about being very general in the beginning and waiting until the endgame to find your specific niche. I didn't think about the armor combos; I was just running around with at least one piece of each type of armor to ensure they were all getting leveled.

Raice · April 2014

I'm glad that my guide has helped you gals and guys out. Hopefully soon, I will be adding some more to this. I also want to revise this just a little for clarity's sake.

Until then - happy adventures! I am having a BLAST!