Can someone ELI5 how crafting appearances works and how to 'collect' them?

Buddy_Bradley · February 2020

So I just got a really nice-looking robe at the end of the main Clockwork City questline, and I'd love to hang on to it to see if I want to make it part of my endgame outfit. If this was WoW, I would be able to transmog anything else to look like it because I've collected the 'appearance' - but I don't really understand how ESO's outfits, appearances and motifs work.

Will I be able to use this appearance in the future? Does it correspond to some motif somewhere that I need to acquire and learn? Or is the only option to hang on to it in a box somewhere forever?

Raisin · February 2020

Whether it corresponds with an existing style is hard to say without a picture/the name of the item. But if you look at the item ingame, I believe it's the top left side of the info box that tells you what style the item is in. You can then use that information to figure out if it's an available motif style or not.

That said, having owned this item in no way allows you to use the style on something else. You don't need to keep it or hang onto it, just figure out what style it is.
To actually make use of the style, you would need to learn that motif -- either a single page (In this case, Chests, since you like the robe), or a book that contains all pages. Motifs come as consumable items that you can use on a character to learn that crafting and outfit style. When your character learns the style, two things happen. For one thing, that character can now craft items in that style (provided you have the required style material). But that only works for crafted items. What probably matters more to you is that your account now has that specific style unlocked. So any of your characters can now go to an Outfit Station and select that style as an outfit style, overriding the appearance of the gear you're wearing.
How the motifs are acquired depends completely on which style it is you're looking for.

Edit: Is it Apostle? Would be likely coming from CWC. If it is, then the motif pages have a chance to drop when you complete dailies in CWC, or you can check for Apostle Chests selling at guild traders.

mague · February 2020

There is a fashion website with gallery and hints where the motif pages are.
https://eso.mmo-fashion.com/

Buddy_Bradley · February 2020

Raisin wrote: »

Edit: Is it Apostle? Would be likely coming from CWC. If it is, then the motif pages have a chance to drop when you complete dailies in CWC, or you can check for Apostle Chests selling at guild traders.

Thanks for the detailed summary - yes, think it was that chest piece. What's the drop rate like on motifs - judging by the prices on guild stores, they must be pretty rare?

VaranisArano · February 2020

Buddy_Bradley wrote: »

Raisin wrote: »

Edit: Is it Apostle? Would be likely coming from CWC. If it is, then the motif pages have a chance to drop when you complete dailies in CWC, or you can check for Apostle Chests selling at guild traders.

Thanks for the detailed summary - yes, think it was that chest piece. What's the drop rate like on motifs - judging by the prices on guild stores, they must be pretty rare?

The drop rate is reasonably okay, but not many people grind out the Clockwork City dailies these days just because the content is older. So the supply isn't huge.

Good times to buy motifs for cheap:
After the Anniversary Event in April: the rewards include most of the motifs in the game, so motif prices plummet in general.
After that DLC's event: many DLC events give double rewards for doing daily quests, so that region's motif prices usually plummet. Example: Midyear Mayhem just happened, so the Imperial City motifs (Ebonheart Pact, Aldmeri Dominion, Daggerfall Covenant) are cheaper than usual.

Raisin · February 2020

Buddy_Bradley wrote: »

Raisin wrote: »

Edit: Is it Apostle? Would be likely coming from CWC. If it is, then the motif pages have a chance to drop when you complete dailies in CWC, or you can check for Apostle Chests selling at guild traders.

Thanks for the detailed summary - yes, think it was that chest piece. What's the drop rate like on motifs - judging by the prices on guild stores, they must be pretty rare?

As mentioned above, drop rates are okay. A little rare, but not too much. Chest motifs tend to run more expensive for a lot of styles, and Apostle may be a bit niche bit is generally a fairly desirable motif, so that all reflects in the price. People do joke about fashion being endgame for a reason.

All of the above advice is also great. I personally think that if you want a specific page and don't care much for the others of the style... Farm the dailies. And if you don't drop the one you want while accumulating the other motifs, sell those unwanted ones and buy the one you like. That way it doesn't quite feel like you're just buying it. :P I'll say it's nice to give the farming a shot for fun, but stop when you start realizing you hate it

Buddy_Bradley · February 2020

Raisin wrote: »

People do joke about fashion being endgame for a reason.

Joke, because clearly the real endgame is interior design...

Taleof2Cities · February 2020

Agree, @Buddy_Bradley, it’s a nice-looking robe ... good find.

Dagoth_Rac · February 2020

Wearing an item will not give you that style option. You need to learn the crafting motif. If it is one particular piece you like, it is probably quicker and easier to buy that page (I am assuming this is the Apostle style chest) from a guild trader. Once you learn that, you can go to any outfit station and apply that Apostle chest style to whatever chest item you are currently wearing.

Note that while the ability to craft it unlocks the outfit style "transmog", you do not need to actually craft anything. And the style is persistent once applied. If you give yourself the Apostle chest style at an outfit station, you can change your underlying chest piece all you want and it will still look like Apostle chest. You apply the outfit style to your character, not the piece of gear.

If you want to collect the entire style (head, chest, shields, feet, daggers, staves, bows, etc., etc.), then it is probably best to crank through the daily quests in Clockwork City. You will likely get a motif page every few days. There are 2 motifs in Clockwork City, Apostle and Ebonshadow. And you will end up getting duplicate pages. But you can sell the duplicates and buy pages you need to fill in the gaps. You can also run the dailies on multiple characters. When a motif is newly released, I usually run the quests that drop it on 2 or 3 characters per day, to speed up acquiring it

Nestor · February 2020

Buddy_Bradley wrote: »

Raisin wrote: »

Edit: Is it Apostle? Would be likely coming from CWC. If it is, then the motif pages have a chance to drop when you complete dailies in CWC, or you can check for Apostle Chests selling at guild traders.

Thanks for the detailed summary - yes, think it was that chest piece. What's the drop rate like on motifs - judging by the prices on guild stores, they must be pretty rare?

While the Outfit Station when knowing the Motif is best, you could also ask someone who knows the motif to make the gear for you. Just be cool and supply materials and style materials in some cases.

As for Outfit Styles, if any Alt knows the Motif, any Alt can use the Outfit Station for that piece. With Crafting, only the Alt who knows the Style can make gear in that style.

So, the take away is, pick one character to learn all the motifs. Then you can sell extra motifs or use extra motifs on an alt.

Jayne_Doe · February 2020

VaranisArano wrote: »

Buddy_Bradley wrote: »

Raisin wrote: »

Edit: Is it Apostle? Would be likely coming from CWC. If it is, then the motif pages have a chance to drop when you complete dailies in CWC, or you can check for Apostle Chests selling at guild traders.

Thanks for the detailed summary - yes, think it was that chest piece. What's the drop rate like on motifs - judging by the prices on guild stores, they must be pretty rare?

The drop rate is reasonably okay, but not many people grind out the Clockwork City dailies these days just because the content is older. So the supply isn't huge.

Good times to buy motifs for cheap:
After the Anniversary Event in April: the rewards include most of the motifs in the game, so motif prices plummet in general.
After that DLC's event: many DLC events give double rewards for doing daily quests, so that region's motif prices usually plummet. Example: Midyear Mayhem just happened, so the Imperial City motifs (Ebonheart Pact, Aldmeri Dominion, Daggerfall Covenant) are cheaper than usual.

This is great advice to fill in pages you're missing or really want, but I also recommend participating in the events themselves. So, during the upcoming Anniversary event in April, ANY daily will yield an Anniversary box, which has a chance of dropping almost any motif (Militant Ordinator will presumably be excluded again) that drops in-game. And, if you do the dailies for CWC during the event, you also have a chance of the motif dropping from the regular daily rewards. This coming April will be a good time to farm motifs and buy them on the cheap. It's the best time all year for most all motifs. On the PTS, I tested the event and one of my boxes contained a Moongrave Fane motif page, so even the most recent dungeon motifs are included.

katanagirl1 · February 2020

The anniversary event is awesome, a good time for both sellers and buyers, and those who participate (who might be in one or both groups)