Returning after some time, several years away.

Greywolf46 · April 2019

I am returning to ESO after a fairly long hiatus. I am pretty sure much has changed since I quit playing ESO. Is there a good way to get back into the game and learn quickly all that has change and remember all I have forgotten? I was thinking about a Guild, but I have found in the past most Guilds are not long suffering with returning Noob’s; who sometimes are more of a handicap that fresh noob’s

Any suggestions short of suicide would be appreciated.

Thanks

SantieClaws · April 2019

Firstly which platform and server are you on traveller?

Not all guilds are as unwelcoming as you think.

The best way to find what is new is to just set off and find it.

How can years of history be summarised in a short post? The world we live in is best discovered by walking through it.

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

Greywolf46 · April 2019

Thank you SantieClaws:

My platform is PC. And I appreciate your input. I was thinking about starting a new character to get the hang of the game again then revert to one om my more mature characters later. I have 6 characters at level 50 and at the time of my departure maxed out in each craft available. I think jewelry has been added since I left....not sure there.

SantieClaws · April 2019

Ah yes jewellery crafting - only if you have the Summerset chapter can you do this though.

Presently the system is a little flawed as it is very expensive and time consuming to do anything with it.

Still worth gradually levelling though in case changes are made - just ignore any master writs you get as the cost of the materials is far greater than the value of the rewards.

If you are on the EU server you are welcome to join Clan Claws. We are a very small guild but we have regular events on Saturday evenings designed to be fun and to help little travellers get skyshards and kill world bosses and things.

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

idk · April 2019

You are in good paws with SantieClaws.

Did not intend for that to rhyme but SantieClaws has a new jingle.

Vuron · April 2019

I came back the end of October after a 4 year break and had the same questions.

There were too many changes to be able to jump in and start playing one of my max level characters so I created an alt. Started in Summerset then did the AD questline. I hit 50 somewhere in Grahtwood and decided to keep play the alt and finished the main story, then silver and gold.

The biggest issue I had was not having access to the higher level mats in order to craft max level equipment. Max level was VR14 when I left, so I had to use gold to buy ancestor silk to make a set of Julianos when I hit CP.

If you want to make things easier, go ahead and assign whatever CP you have to a new alt.

Greywolf46 · April 2019

I have decided to do just that Vuron. But how do I determine what DLC packs I have and those that I do not have? Some seem to be part of the game at no extra charge while others like Summerset and Elsweyr require purchasing. I went to the game page and the list of added content is huge.

This would be a great help.

JKorr · April 2019

Iirc, going to the "collectibles" page and clicking on the icon for the dlc should show you what you have access to. You'll know whether you have the latest chapter or not if you start a new character; ending up in Summerset or Morrowind instead of the original story would let you know.

You didn't mention your server or platform; I know of more than a few guilds who are happy to help new or returning players with questions and have crafters who are helpful with gear and other items. If you're on pc/na I'd be happy to send invites.

tinythinker · April 2019

Good advice all around!

I concur with just leveling up again. You will quickly get a feel for the difference. Also, no need to rush to try to experience all of the things you haven't seen or done yet. Some returning players can feel overwhelmed with decision paralysis from too many options.

Depending just how long ago you left, here are a few of the things you might have missed (roughly in order):

addition of Craglorn (lower part then top part)
dye stations for armor (and then later weapons)
changes to class and weapon skill lines (weapon skill lines now have ultimate abilities), Fighters Guild and Mages Guild skill lines, and Werewolf and Undaunted skill lines
changes to racial passives
changes to dynamic ultimate point generation
addition of a cash shop/game went B2P with optional ESO+ sub
addition of a Champion System in place of Veteran Ranks for experience earned past 50
addition of undaunted quests for running dungeons and earning keys for gear
addition of One Tamriel level-scaling so you can go to any zone rather than just zones at or below your level -- you can go where you want
addition of a crafting bag for ESO+ (holds as many raw and refined crafting mats as you can find and is account-wide)
addition of Legerdemain, Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, and Psijic Order skill lines
addition of new arenas and dungeons and trials, including the single player Maelstrom Arena
addition daily overland area quests for Mages Guild, Fighters Guild, Undaunted, Thieves Guild, and Dark Brotherhood
addition of daily quests for many newer zones over the last couple of years
addition of Warden class
addition of crafting writ quests where you can earn crafting voucher rewards to spend as currency
addition of player housing with decorations and limited storage
addition of recipes for crafting housing items
addition of a system where dye stations became outfit stations that let you use the appearance of any motif you've unlocked account-wide on any character for some gold
upcoming addition of a Necromancer class
addition of *many* new zones and story lines

Not sure where you are on that list but that's a broad picture since PC launch.

Some of the purchasable zones get bundled into packages for those who want a "deal" for buying in bulk. Getting ESO+ would grant you instant access to most of what you missed if you want to try that a month to see the different areas.

As for help and friend, if you are PC-NA I know that @Casual_Ranger has a very active guild specifically for helping and encouraging new and returning players, as do many others.

tinythinker · April 2019

And, with the One Tamriel update you can go to do any over-land quests or storylines in any order you want, but in terms of release order if you are curious it would be:

tinythinker wrote: »

- your home alliance quest line + the main story ("five companions) + Cyrodiil questing hubs/random overland one-shot quests
- Craglorn + other two alliance quest lines
- Imperial City (DLC with medium zone)
- Orsinium (DLC with large zone)
- Thieves Guild (DLC with medium zone)
- Dark Brotherhood (DLC with medium zone)
- Morrowind (Chapter - large zone)
- Shadows of the Hist (DLC - dungeons only)
- Horns of the Reach (DLC - dungeons only)
- Clockwork City (DLC with medium zone)
- Dragon Bones (DLC - dungeons only)
- SUMMERSET (Chapter - large zone)
- Wolfhunter (DLC - dungeons only)
- Murkmire (DLC - medium zone)
- Wrathstone (DLC - dungeons only)

Craglorn and Imperial City are totally stand alone.

Orsinium is stand-alone but there is a very brief, very small hint about the Morrowind-Clockwork City-Summerset storyline at the end.

Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood are totally stand alone.

Morrowind, Clockwork City, and Summerset have their own stories but they form a larger, connected story.

Murkmire is totally stand alone.

Most of the dungeons-only DLC are stand alone, but Wrathstone (which is as of this date the latest content) is tied to all other content released in 2019.

The next content to be released in a chapter set in Elsweyr.

Greywolf46 · April 2019

Thanks for all the valuable input. I appreciate the time you all have taken to help me. Thanks and I pray I can help another in the future.

Good Hunting