Add’l answers:

Skill points: I don’t think there’s a set amount. The game is so big now that you can pretty much get sky shards for all needed points as you find you require them. Spend them freely...you can unlock everything you’d ever want to use. My stamblade dabbles in resto staff for no known reason.

Meta: alcasthq.com maintains current build guides and is a good resource for that sort of info.

Cyrodiil: it has been busy since the shut in crisis. It’s a bit different than it was when the game was newer...people are prone to running in circles now on my server, rather than any real strategy. I still have fun with it.

Must have skills: again, I’d refer you to Alcast for current builds, and it early depends on what you decide to run. The line you might look into is psijic...there are some decent skills in there that are used in various meta builds.

Must have weapons: many builds still use a master weapon...there are special weapons in maelstrom arena, halls of fabrication and dragon star arena. However, the necessity for these has fallen off a little since they changed 2h weapons to count as two items in the slot, meaning you can do a 5-5-2 setup with two complete sets and a complete monster mask set. This offers so many variations that I think most builds can find ways around master weapons.


Crafting

For alts? Crafting writs are still a really efficient source of income. If you’re going to use crafting alts, then hirelings will add some value. However, I only advise it if you’re subscribing and have a craft bag...inventory management is a pain without the craft bag. (I say this as someone who turns my sub off every other month since I don’t play every day any more).

Farming: you get ore, cloth, Wood, runes and alchemy items from nodes. Quick tip: under the current system, your character will see two “levels” of materials for the equipment mat nodes. One type is determined by their character level, the other by the number of skill points spent in the first passive of that line. In other words, if you spend 0 points in blacksmith, ore nodes will be iron half the time. If you spend one point, you get steel. The other half the time the type is decided by character level, so if you are a level fifty you see rubedite. Farming and refining can still be profitable if you enjoy doing that.

Subbing: the sub doesn’t open all zones. You get all DLC zones while your sub is active. You don’t get all of the chapter zones...chapters are Morrowind, summerset, north Elseweyr and the upcoming Greymoor. I think maybe the early chapters unlock with a sub now...it’s listed on the crown store page for ESO+ in game whether some are or not. Before you spend on a lot of chapters, check out the expansion pages for the various chapters. Paying for some of the chapters unlocks others, depending on which edition you buy. Like when I bought Summerset, it unlocked Morrowind for free.

Jewelry crafting: this is available ONLY when you unlock the Summerset chapter. Jewelry crafting is totally disabled for you pr characters until you have access to this. However, you can wear jewelry made/upgraded for you by other players. Likewise, the Warden class unlocks if you own Morrowind, and Necromancer if you own Elseweyr. I guess the Psijic skill line requires Summerset.

Making cash: farming mats is a good source of income. Also, the birthday event is coming. You can play the heck out of that event and collect as many motif pages as possible...then sell them on a guild store over the summer. Some cash making tips:

Lower level mats can be worth more. Like mid-level cloth is worth a fortune...things like linen. Do some research in guild stores and then consider spending the right number of skill points on your farm toon so you’re picking up the more valuable mats.

I make a fortune on daily provisioning writs, which are great because I can load alts up with stacks of the food and they’re good for months. However, top level writs aren’t the most valuable. I make a fortune by spending fewer than the max skill points (six?) in provisioning, and doing lower level writs. The reason this pays off is because the market is flooded with the recipes that max level writs reward, while the lower level ones are quite valuable. I sell purple recipes easily for $10k each, and blues for $3k. (I trash greens).

There are a ton of dailies all over the dlcs now that reward motifs. Some motifs are pretty valuable, some not so much. Find a list of motifs and where they come from, then check your guild stores and see which dailies are profitable to run. This is a great way to make cash and grind the champion points. For me...I stop on kvatch every time I grind to see if I get Roar of the Crowds, a world boss that usually takes four minutes.


And stamblades are still good. Thee have been ups and downs, but they’re still lethal AF.