How do you build your characters? 😊 fun positive post.

Recent · March 2020

I'm very curious to learn about how you build your characters and the process you undertake while doing so.

You can start at character creation if you like or jump straight into how you level and the questlines or rep you work on.
You dont need to give away all your secrets but please share your quirks 😆
Hope to hear from; rpers, pvers and pvpers and others 😊
What are the most important areas you work on when building your character ( keep in mind that I am referring to the whole process of levelling and then playing that character)

Thank you so much for participating and I hope you all stay healthy and strong...sending well wishes around the globe at this difficult time. United we stand❤💜💛💚💙

Danikat · March 2020

For me it starts before I even hit create. I take the reason I want a new character and imagine what kind of person they would be, then use that to decide all the other things I have to pick. For example: I want a sorcerer, and I want them to be a race I've not already got - that's my starting point.

Options are orc, redguard, altmer, dunmer or nord. I want a fairly typical sorcerer, so lets say a mer, but altmer sorc is a bit of a cliche so lets go dunmer. Oh, but I'm going to make him (apparently I see him as male, I'll need to remember that for later) part of the Dominion because I like to keep an even split between alliances. Why would a dunmer sorcerer join the Dominion? Well, one of the finest magic schools in Tamriel is in Summerset, and if he had been there a while he'd probably get integrated into their way of life and political views. So he's an older guy. But then why does he end up involved in world events now? Well, a lot of it is being orchestrated by the Worm Cult and the Psijic Order are opposed to necromancy, maybe he thinks he's the guy to go and sort them out? So he's also a bit naive, probably spends far too much time wrapped up in studying and doesn't actually pay much attention to the world - so he'd be skinny, probably a bit too skinny, like someone who forgets to eat unless prompted. And if his own research is mainly theoretical that would explain why he's starting fron scratch with combat spells.

Oh, and I need a name. I don't know much about dark elf names and the lists on UESP don't do anything for me, but some of them remind me of Welsh, so I look up Welsh names and after some reading around I find Ilorwerth, an old variant of Iorwerth (meaning 'fair lord'). Bonus: the nickname is Iolo - pronounced Yolo. He'd hate that, and I can already imagine the look on his face and the tone as he corrects someone.

So, by the time I hit the character creator I have a fairly good idea of what I'm doing. Male, Dominion, Dunmer sorcerer called Ilorwerth. Skinny, older guy. I'll play around with the other options to see what fits, maybe something will surprise me (like I decide to give him a tattoo, a reminder of a wilder youth), but a lot of things just slot into place and feel right.

I already know he's going to use both destruction and restoration staves, and magicka but I don't worry too much about the skills (especially since this is my first sorc), I'll level all the class skills, the weapons I've chosen and any other skill lines which appeal to me and see which skills fit as I'm going along. I always level slowly by questing anyway, so I've got plenty of time to figure it out. The end choices will be a combination of which skills I like using and which ones I think fit his personality. His personality will determine quest choices as well.

Thanks to One Tamriel I can also go through areas of the game in the order which I think makes most sense for him, for example maybe after doing the Dominion zones he'll go to Summerset to help out the Psijic Order...or maybe I'll go there first because his backstory means it would make sense for him to have the Psijic skill line. And maybe as we're going along the experiences in the game will change his personality a bit, and therefore change the skills he's using, which helps keep it interesting.

StormeReigns · March 2020

Around the Hat. Always around the hat.

Sylvermynx · March 2020

Mine start with a name. It usually just pops into my mind, along with what race, what class, and often even a sketchy backstory. By the time I'm done with chargen, I generally know what "look" I want for them (though sometimes it takes a while to get there).

Because my connection isn't marvelous, I don't really jump into zone quests right away. In fact, I just started the Glenumbra zone on my second girl on my first account - at CP317 (which means she actually lived over cleaning up the Wyrd Tree corruption.... she would not have done so summer of 2018 on the much worse satellite than I have now, and with me knowing nothing much about how the game worked at that point). That quest line was fun and actually easy today. I remember trying to save Emeric from the assassin when she was level 20; even as a warden with the bear, she was down to about 100 hp when he finally bit the dust.

At lower levels, all my characters spend a lot of time doing minor quests, daily writs, lots of exploring, trying to stay out of trouble.

No matter what though, I have a great deal of fun in this game. Pve only I should mention....

ArchMikem · March 2020

I never have a plan setting out from the start, I'm trial and error. I read descriptions of different sets, decide if the bonuses would benefit my character and my general playstyle with them, THEN I acquire the gear, whether it be Trader bought, crafted (rarely is anymore), or grinded in Dungeons (which is usually ever is). Thank God I never have a burning need for any Trial sets.

For my StamBlade I wanted high Max Stam in the 40k that allowed me to spam abilities, while also having my Weapon Damage at least reaching 3k unbuffed, and a Weapon Crit chance of at least 50% unbuffed. Khajiit need to Crit more often than not to make use of the new Crit Damage racial.

So for her, she's wearing Hundings Rage and Hulking Draugr, with one Nirnhoned Dagger and one Precise Axe, and a ton of Assassination skills on the bar just to get my crit chance literally at 50.9% unbuffed, with 44k Max Stam and 3,200 Weapon dmg.

Lixiviant · March 2020

When I want to try something new, I have a good idea on the class and race that will work for me. Then I'll look at some of the websites that show tested builds and see if that rotation/style works for me. At that point, I'll build a character.

Iskiab · March 2020

I never have a plan besides race. I just play with abilities and use the ones I like.

I typically go max stat, then if I feel I’m squishy I add more healing, if my damage sucks I try and add more damage abilities and figure out how to combine things for burst.

I tend to mess around with abilities a lot and change my skill loadouts all the time. I also ask for advice a lot, there are lots of helpful people and just ignore the try hards. Good advice usually goes: I tried this, I use abilities like this. Try hard advice goes: you must do this, this is better.

Like recently I’ve been playing my magsorc with no shields in pvp and it’s working well. There are hundreds of try hards who will tell you that is not possible.

Kittytravel · March 2020

While leveling a toon up every single skill gets put on the bar atleast once while I'm leveling until I can morph it. This includes skills that I may not even plan on using but will want to morph anyway.
So if I make my toon with magicka in mind I still level 2-hand/dual wield/bow just in case.
You don't have to keep the weapon actively slotted for this, just put the ability on your bar and it will gain points for it.
(So if you are using a Destro Staff for example it doesn't stop you from slotting let's say Flurry onto your front bar, you just can't use Flurry but it will still gain XP for you in both DW and for Flurry.)
And then I don't morph anything I just keep leveling it. That's all I do for new toons, nothing specific about how I level it or where. I typically don't level new toons outside of festivals for EXP boosts.

HailstoSithis · March 2020

The day the imperial city went to $#@!..
https://imgur.com/wRHjsP5
EDIT: The image function, in all ways, won't work properly for me. I'm not sure why. lol.

tomofhyrule · March 2020

Planning out epic stories.

I can't play any Elder Scrolls games until I get my character a full backstory...and I go into detail. Hardest part is a name (thanks UESP!) - I usually know what race/weapon style I want to play, but then I need to figure out who the character is and, in the case of a character in an odd place (like my Pact Orc), I need to also see how they got there. My main has about 5 pages worth of his backstory written out, and I'm sure that's short.

After that, it's also planning what I want them to do. Are they moral or not? What costumes make sense? Mounts? Pets? Would they do all of the questlines? Would they contract vampirism or lycanthropy? Who do they have relationships with? How do I get them from place to place? And the most fun part of that is to start them in one direction and see where they end up going from there - characters do tend to develop themselves a bit based on their interactions. And as much as I hate pairing couples (I'm one of those people who think many stories can be improved by removing useless romantic subplots), I like to see when things happen organically. As an example, my main just finished in Deshaan. I never thought to pair him up with anyone, but I like the flirty banter between him and Naryu - not that they'll end up together, but the banter made them both really interesting - can't wait to see them meet back up. I also have another character in planning that I didn't really know what to do with since she was going to be my Mages Guild/Daedric War storyline, but then I got the idea that she'd be involved with Darien (since he's important in Summerset) and all of a sudden I really got excited to see where her story would go.

And then the quests. I can't wait to play my Covenant character, but I'm still ironing a few wrinkles out of his backstory (He's Skaal, but leaves with a scholar and ends up somehow in Stros). But I want him to become a werewolf with the Camlorn questline since that would play really well with his background as a Skaal and the history there...especially since I want him to be a bit indifferent to the All-Maker in the first place and he'll really get seduced by the power of the wolf.

EDIT: Ooh, and I can't forget how they would interact with each other! I'm imagining all of the alliance storyline characters meeting at Stirk and going to the final confrontation together. Have a feeling my Orc and Nord are going to be really good friends - they both are outsiders in their alliance, and then they start to like each other. Could even lead to them going to join the Companions together...after all, the Orc's a master smith who'd love to work the Skyforge, and the companions did turn to lycanthropy in the 2nd era...

Hapexamendios · March 2020

🎯

zvavi · March 2020

Make a sorc. Make it high elf. Call it bigus magicus. Done.

Sylvermynx · March 2020

tomofhyrule wrote: »

Planning out epic stories.

I can't play any Elder Scrolls games until I get my character a full backstory...and I go into detail. Hardest part is a name (thanks UESP!) - I usually know what race/weapon style I want to play, but then I need to figure out who the character is and, in the case of a character in an odd place (like my Pact Orc), I need to also see how they got there. My main has about 5 pages worth of his backstory written out, and I'm sure that's short.

After that, it's also planning what I want them to do. Are they moral or not? What costumes make sense? Mounts? Pets? Would they do all of the questlines? Would they contract vampirism or lycanthropy? Who do they have relationships with? How do I get them from place to place? And the most fun part of that is to start them in one direction and see where they end up going from there - characters do tend to develop themselves a bit based on their interactions. And as much as I hate pairing couples (I'm one of those people who think many stories can be improved by removing useless romantic subplots), I like to see when things happen organically. As an example, my main just finished in Deshaan. I never thought to pair him up with anyone, but I like the flirty banter between him and Naryu - not that they'll end up together, but the banter made them both really interesting - can't wait to see them meet back up. I also have another character in planning that I didn't really know what to do with since she was going to be my Mages Guild/Daedric War storyline, but then I got the idea that she'd be involved with Darien (since he's important in Summerset) and all of a sudden I really got excited to see where her story would go.

And then the quests. I can't wait to play my Covenant character, but I'm still ironing a few wrinkles out of his backstory (He's Skaal, but leaves with a scholar and ends up somehow in Stros). But I want him to become a werewolf with the Camlorn questline since that would play really well with his background as a Skaal and the history there...especially since I want him to be a bit indifferent to the All-Maker in the first place and he'll really get seduced by the power of the wolf.

EDIT: Ooh, and I can't forget how they would interact with each other! I'm imagining all of the alliance storyline characters meeting at Stirk and going to the final confrontation together. Have a feeling my Orc and Nord are going to be really good friends - they both are outsiders in their alliance, and then they start to like each other. Could even lead to them going to join the Companions together...after all, the Orc's a master smith who'd love to work the Skyforge, and the companions did turn to lycanthropy in the 2nd era...

I can identify with that. I wrote three books about my Skyrim characters in and around Morthal. Serious. That was almost more fun than the game!

RefLiberty · March 2020

Well the process for me is not so RP based.
First I click on female symbol, then I drag the chest full and adjust the behind sliders, and then work on the rest.
Done.

TheShadowScout · March 2020

I always start with an character idea. Often with a base for what the idea could be...

For example, when I got three more slots for necromancers, I had two ideas right away - "banshee" and "death knight". So I made an altmer magica necromancer and made her for the "banshee" idea, and a imperial stamina necro in heavy armor who is going for the "cursed knight" shtick. Then I thought a little about the third, before am idea for an albino argonian grave robber popped into my head... so I made that.

With most of my alts, its just like this - one simple idea I then expand from. Be it a "drunk nord mountain man" or a "argonain dragon-fangirl" or a "redguard desert bandit" or a "busmer tree-hugger gal" or a " breton vampire waif" or a "khajiit clockwork kitty" - usually that is the seed my characters always grow from, one short idea to set the stage of their being, so to speak. And the rest I choose according to that idea... often determined by the idea. Like the "nord mountain man" of course would start with a big 2H axe, because... nord. Medium armor, naturally, because self-caught and worked furs and leathers. Then there was a lot of thinking about the secondary weapon... both "bow" and "hatchet & dagger" would have fit, one for the "hunter" and one for the "woodrunner" setup... but "bow" made more sense for the idea, so that is what he got. (and yes, it vexes me greatly that magica characters have so little choice... as if that was not clear from the things I sometimes post...)

With my mains... I get into a LOT more detail. Sooner or later. I mean, I -always- know how I start the first two... I -always- go with one sneaky "assassin" type and one physically weak but mystically powerful "spellcaster" type. Depending on how the game is set up of course (in scifi games, the former is the "agent" type, and the latter is the "biotic/forceuser/psionic/science officer gandget trickster" type depending on what the setting has to offer).

But I really love to think up backstories before I make the characters, and then reflect them in the characters appearance, skill/guild selection and gear setup...
...like, take Leskandera, my main sneak-stabby girl. I made her with a burned face, because I had the first notions of her somewhat rough backstory... loosing her family to war and almost getting killed herself as plot towards a somewhat ruthless personality, and I later added more misfortune to explain why she would fall in with the shady side of Tamriel, as well as more fluff that her skills and weapon choices are based of...
...or Kelasendar, who I always knew was going to be a "shy goth boy mage", one part Raistlin Majere (pre-evil), one part Luna Lovegood, one part Severus Snape, one part Ozzy Osborne... and went from there. And never was I happier when we got the dye system to color his robes as black as I could... or the scholar personality (Now if ONLY I could cast my spells from a big ole spellbook instead of shaking a staff...)
...another example is Kes dre-Lana. She actually started with a different name, as just another classic orc amazon mercenary blacksmith girl... but she kinda grew on me. So I started thinking about who she could be some more... and came up with the "paladin-wannabe" backstory, changed her name (Normally orc girls have "gra" but I wanted something different that also fit my anagram naming system, so I went with "dre" and pretend that its a sign of banishment from her clan because she just wouldn't do as the chief told her to and worship mauloch!), and her gear, even her weapon choices a bit... (as paladin wannabe, she needed a shield option after all, though I kept the two-handed that was always her main attack)

(Anyone wants to read up on them, go here...)

Wandering_Immigrant · March 2020

I like leveling through quests. Each character takes their own path, some will go through their alliance quests, some start with coldharbour, some start in a specific DLC, or doing the questline for a specific guild. I don't mind so much when their paths overlap and I end up repeating quests because by that point they've usually developed a sort of personality that lets me see things from a different perspective, and so I pick up on bits of the story and lore that I may have not payed much mind to the first time around.

One querk, or guidline I give myself when picking their path is I avoid doing quests outside their alliance zones. I like the enemy alliance zones to feel like hostile territory, and the closest I can get to that is for those outlier towns and villages that are overrun by raiders and bandits and things to remain that way, and since I don't like starting a zone and not finishing it I just don't touch them at all.

I like to somewhat take my time, letting myself get a feel for each class at it's most base form while I level. That means no CP, no interrupting their quests with grinding out skill lines or hunting skyshards, when I want to take a break from questing to do that sort of thing I'll switch to a character who is already 50 and has plenty of work of their own they need done. I do unlock their additional skill lines and I'll keep an eye out for lorebooks and skyshards as I go, most of the time I'll know when there's one in my general vacinitey from having gotten it on other characters so I'm not going to intentionally avoid them. I'll also take advantage of the daily dungeon exp bonus to keep things moving along, and sometimes when running past a dolmen or WB I'll stop to give it a solo just to see how well the character handles it, but my under 50s are mostly treated as a sort of narative tour guide through the world.

I give them crafted gear, and I try to be creative with it, giving them gear that I wouldn't normally bother with, because hey, I'm just questing right, don't need to be a world beater. So let's see what this set does! But mostly I default to the standard juliano's/hundings with shacklebreaker combo and either recovery or attack power in the weapons because I'm too weak willed to allow myself to be the weak link in my daily dungeon.

Once they hit 50 they finish up whatever storyline they were on and then the real fun begins of expanding their toolkit and testing the limits of the playstyle they've developed. But I do enjoy the leveling process a lot and try to take my time with it as much as possible. Part of why I have a lot of characters is because I don't like to respek them to fit into whatever content I want to run, instead I try to keep them to the general theme and personality they've developed through the leveling process and let each one do whatever they're best at. Since they share CP and gear and collections and every other resource that maters I view them as a sort of hive-mind post-50 where each one has their own job to do to benefit the whole. Some are good in a group and get us dungeon gear, others are efficient soloers and will take on world bosses for overland gear, some are most at home roaming Cyrodill and the IC to keep our coffers full of AP and tel-var.

But pre-50 they're individuals just trying to find where they'll fit in, hoping to make the team, and there's something sort of poetic about that divide to me.

dazee · March 2020

While how it starts varies, by the time I finish creating a character I have some idea of how they are going to be like, in both build and concept.

I will then build according to that concept, whether or not it is achievable with meta. if it's not, I will do my best to make it perform well with what it has.

worrallj · March 2020

In the past I would always take them to their alliance starter zone. Everytime I start a toon I think they're gonna be my new main so I want them to have all the quests.

But I'm done with that. Almost done with murkmire and everything previous with my actual main and it has taken forever. I'm never doing that again. From now on just running dungeons/pvp to level alts. Maybe the odd questline here or there. Probably main story since it has so many skill points.and stupid psijic when needed. Not very RP friendly but lordy it's a lot of content.

Lysette · March 2020

As i do mainly solo PvE my characters don't fit the MMO roles - they are neither healer nor tank nor damage dealer - instead they are built to survive. i hate to die, so pvp in this game is not for me - i couldn't stand to die several times per hour - just rarely within a year is more like I want it. Everything else is build around this main goal -survival.

Overall I want to be independent from others - and i am - i never sell anything at a guild store and live from doing crafting writs with my 14 characters - it is a quite enjoyable life and i have to bow to no one. i'm self-sufficient and like it like that.

Kiyakotari · March 2020

I build my characters based on RP identities and then (secondary) playability. Since I run so many (very, very many - see signature) active characters, the question of which are "meta" never even comes into the picture. Meta is a constantly shifting goalpost, and my characters move in and out of it, but with so many, I'm not generally bothered.

mague · March 2020

My main is the result of "organic" growth. My first char was a Nightblade Bosmer because i wanted to have a wood elf. It was quite challenging in 2015 and so i gave up on the NB very fast and made aTemplar. He was main till Warden was released. I replayed all on the Warden and he now is and remains main.

My alts are all different classes because i wanted to see how they are. I still quest with them once in a while but since they only craft and quest they have weird builds because they are fun to play. I have a sneaky stamblade Khajiit but rather a hybrid. I have a dual wielding Samurai mag sorc Nord and a Bosmer Necro tank who never uses evil spells. I have a copy of my main just in a different faction who only crafts and an imperial DK i dont know what to do with. Not yet...

My only "designed" char is on the other server. I cant twink him with the main. I play him unarmed and 1st person. He is learning all from the start, does research and plays all quests slow and, as said in 1st person.

korzybski · March 2020

I really like the idea of the Hist, so I play an Argonian. I've always like the idea of elemental-magic, so I play a sorcerer.

I'm new to ESO, so my ability-matrix is probably wonky.

I find my Fallout 3/4 "grab everything" tendency has carried over into ESO, so I spend a lot of time traveling on foot and collecting everything, except via theft. Why steal when the world provides so much homesteading opportunity?

Nerouyn · March 2020

Names are important.

After that I don't really put much thought into except when I'm playing something not me.

eg. I'm a tree hugger in real life so wardens feel natural (haha) to me. But I hate their design (mechanically, not visually) and don't enjoy them. Necromancers are the opposite. Thematically they have no appeal. I never play necromancers. But mechanically they're the best class in the game for me. I could only be happier with them if they had a perma tank pet.

First thing I did with them was make not necromancers by choice. I didn't use any class abilities in the Elsweyr tutorial. After finishing that I immediately took them to the Coldharbour tutorial. Which I also finished without learning or using any class abilities.

Then I treat their necromancy as an extension of soul magic - which we're able to do cos our soul got ripped out.

I haven't settled on which of my necros I'll main yet. But since I have Tel Galen my current thinking is to make them Telvanni - recruited by them after I finish the Telvanni quests - and using my position and residence to smuggle slaves to freedom.

Shaloknir · March 2020

RefLiberty wrote: »

Well the process for me is not so RP based.
First I click on female symbol, then I drag the chest full and adjust the behind sliders, and then work on the rest.
Done.

Haha lol 🤣 nice approach to building a character!

Recent · March 2020

@Danikat , what a brilliant reply thank you so much you have inspired me to include more detail when thinking about my next character creation.I imagine you are a seasoned roleplayer just by how you express yourself.

Thank you 😊❤

Recent · March 2020

@StormeReigns 😂😂😂🖒 Afcourse. It all,started with the sorting hat

alainjbrennanb16_ESO · March 2020

I spend 3 months in baby pvp with a new character or until level 40 then go take to dungeons, it helps with movement and understanding ur character

Recent · March 2020

Please note that all your comments are read and appreciated and I am working on replies to all. I am deeply moved by your amazing comments 😊

@Sylvermynx I also tend to start with a name usually and that seems to spark some ideas for me. Thank you for your comment very engaging😊❤.

@ArchMikem I admire your skill at seeing the numbers and how they work...im not that way inclined unfortunately. That is very usefull when creating your own build. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Im inspired to look at all my skills a little closer and my passives aswell as how things all come together to create a more personal build that works for what I want.
😊❤

@Lixiviant. Good way of finding a build that suits your playstyle. I appreciate your comment thank you 😊❤

rexagamemnon · March 2020

Ragardless of what ever playstyle or tactics i intend to use, there is always an element of Role-playing first and foremost before i make the build.

DocDova · March 2020

I very carefully select what class and race I would make next character, then my main craft training Armor for them, new toon go straight to vivek and around it kill till they reach level 4, then they put on training gear and go to alikr docks and kill till they reach level 6.

Then they come back to vivec city to join guilds and get certification for crafting.

After than I either level them up to 50 (by killing zombies and faking as tank in daily random dungeon) or I put them straight away on doing daily crafting writs without fail.

In the end, 16 out of my 18 characters think they were born to do crafting dailies for gold and surveys.

Recent · March 2020

@Iskiab I appreciate what you are saying; you definately lesrn a lot more via trial and error than by copying a build that is not to your playstyle and forcing yourself to adapt to it. Great point thank you 😊❤

@Kittytravel : Your comment piqued my interest and I must say i never thought of levelling say dw on a magicka character.
Thanks for sharing 😊❤

@HailstoSithis : That is a very evocative image indeed. No need for words really 😊❤