New. When to Start Group Content?

Miragent · January 2020

Hi, I'm new, level 24 sorcerer, currently solo skyriming in Glenumbra but mostly managing inventory and travelling back and forth to Daggerfall craft stations to deconstruct gear. I'm wondering, when can/should I start doing group content - group dungeons, PVP, Cyrodiil? How do I even get to Cyrodiil? I found out the hard/fun way that swimming towards the Gold-White tower in the distance is not an option. As for dungeons - when and how should I join groups for those? Without being a too much of a carry which I sure would be, seeing how I'm so new and newb).

Kelces · January 2020

When you feel, you are bored fighting against overland mob groups or even bosses. Then you are probably good to start.

Miragent · January 2020

I mean, what is the "appropriate" level? Or any other minimum requirements (gear, preparation, being in appropriate guilds)? How/where do I start?

Taemiru · January 2020

You can already start with doing some normal dungeons, random daily gives you nice amount of xp and they are really easy to complete for low lvls.
If you press L you will see different Cyrodiil campaigns, try joining the below lvl 50 one and you will be teleported there.
The gear that you have doesn't really matter below 160cp, but if you want to be a bit sweaty try to find someone who can craft you a decent set with training trait. Or try to find some noob friendly guild, there is a lot of them with some nice peeps that can teach you about the game (you can find guildfinder by pressing G)

VaranisArano · January 2020

PVP

To get to Cyrodiil, open your Alliance War tab and choose the campaign you want to enter. The Below 50 campaign might be a good start, though the No CP campaign may be busier.

Choosing one of the Imperial City campaigns will take you to the Imperial City. As a new player, the No CP option will put you on better par with the PVPers there. However, be aware that Imperial City has a lot of miniboss and boss monsters roaming around so it is more difficult than most overland questing.

Battlegrounds has a Below 50 option with a variety of 4v4v4 (when the queue is working, anyway) game mode options. You'll fight other below 50 characters, though the actual players may quite experienced.

If you want to start PVP, go ahead!
A couple recommendations:
1. Go to Cyrodiil and complete the introductory quest, which will unlock the first of the Alliance War skills: Rapid Manuevers. This is an incredibly useful skill because Cyrodiil is a huge zone and having a faster horse is a good thing. Stay on top of your mount speed and stamina upgrades.
2. If you want to jump right into fighting, Below 50 Battlegrounds can be great fun and you'll make good AP. Just be aware that when you hit Level 50, you'll jump into the main BG bracket with the CP 160 players with max level gear. That can be a jarring experience if you aren't prepared for the sudden difficulty spike.
3. If you can, get Impenetrable trait gear for PVP. It'll help keep you from bursting like an overripe tomato when someone hits you with a critical attack.

Hope this helps!

Miragent · January 2020

Taemiru wrote: »

The gear that you have doesn't really matter below 160cp, but if you want to be a bit sweaty try to find someone who can craft you a decent set with training trait.

I've been reading some guides, doing craft writs and crafted myself a training gear and both staves, missing only chest piece (where do people get so many training gems anyway?).

What are the "random dailies" you're referring to? Not Undaunted pledges - from which I'm still weeks away?

VaranisArano wrote: »

PVP
...

Hope this helps!

Yes, heaps, thank you so much!

VaranisArano · January 2020

Dungeons

Roles - generally Groupfinder will assign 1 tank, 1 healer, and 2 Damage Dealers to a dungeon.
Tank - the basics are: equip a taunt, hold boss aggro, and don't die. Crowd control, debuffing enemies, and group buffs are good.
Healer - the basics are: keep the group alive with healing. Extra DPS and group buffs are good.
Damage Dealer - do damage and kill the mobs and bosses. Having self-heals is good. It's helpful to know your own DPS, which you can find out with an addon like Combat Metrics if on PC or by using a training dummy on PC and Console. Many guilds will have access to training dummies in their guild house since its a little expensive to buy as a new player.

I'm not going to recommend a level to start off with, since most of this comes down to what you feel comfortable with, so I'll just talk about the difficulty spikes.
Dungeons will unlock for Groupfinder at specific intervals allowing you to queue for specific or random dungeons. You can queue for those dungeons manually before they unlock in groupfinder if you really want to.

Normal Dungeons below Level 45
Below level 45, dungeons will unlock progressively according to difficulty. New and leveling players should be able to keep pace pretty well.

Level 45
At this point, all the Dungeon II and (if you own them or ESO+) the DLC dungeons. The DLC Dungeons are a difficulty spike with harder mechanics and/or DPS checks. If you don't know the mechanics, it's totally fine to ask your groupmates.
You can also begin running Undaunted Pledges.

Level 50
Most Veteran dungeons will unlock. These are the same dungeons as you did in normal, except the enemies are beefier and mechanics hit a lot harder. Undaunted Pledges will have an optional hard mode that adds extra health or an extra challenge mechanic to the final boss.

CP 160
All non-DLC Vet Dungeons are unlocked. IIRC, only vet City of Ash 2 and Crypt of Hearts 2 are the two that unlock here, due to the DPS check and the group mechanics required, respectively.

CP 300
DLC Vet Dungeons you own will unlock.

Trials
Trials are 12-player content that don't have a groupfinder. Most trial groups will form up through guilds or in zone chat, particularly in Craglorn. They come in Normal and Vet variety just like dungeons, with the newer Vet trials like Sunspire being the hardest group content in the game.

Hope this helps!

Nestor · January 2020

Miragent wrote: »

I mean, what is the "appropriate" level? Or any other minimum requirements (gear, preparation, being in appropriate guilds)? How/where do I start?

The game unlocks the Group Finder at L10, so there you can start. If your leveling an Alt that you can craft gear for, you could manually do dungeons earlier.

The issue might be with PUGs is other players perceptions of your abilities. Although the lower end Dungeons are not all that difficult.

A guild would be a good place to find low level groups and get your feet under you.

VaranisArano · January 2020

Miragent wrote: »

Taemiru wrote: »

The gear that you have doesn't really matter below 160cp, but if you want to be a bit sweaty try to find someone who can craft you a decent set with training trait.

I've been reading some guides, doing craft writs and crafted myself a training gear and both staves, missing only chest piece (where do people get so many training gems anyway?).

What are the "random dailies" you're referring to? Not Undaunted pledges - from which I'm still weeks away?

VaranisArano wrote: »

PVP
...

Hope this helps!

Yes, heaps, thank you so much!

You can run Random Dungeons using Groupfinder. It will select from the pool of dungeons you currently have unlocked for your level. You can set the Normal or Veteran difficulty as well once Vet unlocks.

The first time you run a Random Normal/Vet dungeon each day you get a large exp reward and better rewards in the mail. After that, you can continue to run random dungeons for smaller, but still decent exp and rewards.

redgreensunset · January 2020

Just don't do vet dungeons (or vet content at all, there are also trials) until you're at least 160cp and you should be fine. Just let people know you're new to things and most are helpful and patient. Yes there is the occasional doucheweed, but those are present in any game unfortunately.

Taemiru · January 2020

Miragent wrote: »

I've been reading some guides, doing craft writs and crafted myself a training gear and both staves, missing only chest piece (where do people get so many training gems anyway?).

What are the "random dailies" you're referring to? Not Undaunted pledges - from which I'm still weeks away?

You can deconstruct items you find, they can drop craft materials, upgrade materials and trait items, also you can get all those things by farming and refining materials.

There is feature named "dungeon finder", basically it puts you in a team with 3 randoms to do a dungeon. There is an option to go for specific dungeon or for random, the random will give you extra xp in the end and some small but nice loot in mail. Tho be prepared for long waiting time if you play as a DD.

Miragent · January 2020

Thank you everyone again.

How are rewards, drops and loot distributed and handled? I want to make sure I accidentally don't do something that is frowned upon or worse.

Miragent · January 2020

Also, does it matter, what level the other group members are? Anyone can group with anyone, as long as the group has the right role set up?

Nestor · January 2020

Miragent wrote: »

Thank you everyone again.

How are rewards, drops and loot distributed and handled? I want to make sure I accidentally don't do something that is frowned upon or worse.

In Group Dungeons, you can share your boss loot with others in the group. However, if your low level, no one will want the stuff. As for Chests and Heavy Sacks, those are lootable by all in the group.

Delves that you can enter Solo, chests and heavy sacks are first come, so its good to alternate looting those with your group.

There is no kill or loot stealing in this game, get a hit in on the mob or boss and you get loot and exp.

Just don't snake a harvest node or chest when another player is fighting a mob. Wait to see if they pick up or move on

VaranisArano · January 2020

Miragent wrote: »

Also, does it matter, what level the other group members are? Anyone can group with anyone, as long as the group has the right role set up?

If using groupfinder, it will match members of the appropriate level for the dungeon.

So normal Fungal Grotto 1, the first dungeon to unlock, will see a huge mix of Level 10 players all the way up to CP 810.
Normal White Gold Tower, a DLC dungeon, will see a mix of players from level 45 to CP 810.

Grianasteri · January 2020

Miragent wrote: »

Hi, I'm new, level 24 sorcerer, currently solo skyriming in Glenumbra but mostly managing inventory and travelling back and forth to Daggerfall craft stations to deconstruct gear. I'm wondering, when can/should I start doing group content - group dungeons, PVP, Cyrodiil? How do I even get to Cyrodiil? I found out the hard/fun way that swimming towards the Gold-White tower in the distance is not an option. As for dungeons - when and how should I join groups for those? Without being a too much of a carry which I sure would be, seeing how I'm so new and newb).

Welcome to ESO! Long may you play

My advice would be to start participating in Normal dungeon group content ASAP, there is literally no benefit to waiting and much to gain from taking part. Normal dungeons drop you a wide range of useful, viable, enjoyable sets for your armour/weapons, and they are fun. They also provide skill points when completed for the first time, which is absolutely something you want as you are levelling and improving your character.

Until you gain in experience and have a good, settled, tried and tested build, I would stay clear of veteran dungeon content. Often you will find you are kicked from the group at such a low level anyway.

As for pvp/cyrodiil, again you can just crack on as you wish to. There is an under level 50 campaign for Cyrodiil and Battlegrounds will only queue into under level 50 matches. So again just get stuck in and start gaining experience. Cyrodiil is its own beast and I would encourage you to ask in area chat to group up with some folk who can show you the ropes.

Note, very importantly, PVP builds are very different from PVE builds. If you take a PVE build into PVP, and come up against an average or high skill optimised PVP player, two things will happen - you will die in seconds and your attacks will do hardly any damage. You need to look into this with online guides etc if you want to investigate further. (this issue is not as pronounced for under level 50 pvp).

Happy gaming!

ps, to get into Cyrodiil, you have to be a certain level, then go to "campaigns" from your options menu, then "join campaign", and set this as "home". You can then rejoin any time you like. Note that to leave you use the wayshrine in one of your home bases, but any time you wish to rejoin, you have to go through the same process above.