Coming back after a few years

Xaxinian · March 2023

As the title states I am coming back after a few years hiatus. I am a bit confused as to where and how I jump back into the game. I have recovered my account and am downloading the client. My account says I have Tamriel Unlimited (PC). Do I need to buy something else? Is there a different version? I scoured the web but the info was spotty. Do I need to sub or buy expacs? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Or maybe direct me to somewhere that can clear up the confusion. Thanks in advance.

Narvuntien · March 2023

Nope, you can just start playing once it is downloaded.

You will be locked out of some places due to expansions being paywalled. The subscription gives you access to some extra zones and gives you the craft bag and a lot of extra dungeons.

Just get your feet again and then decide if you'll like to buy some expansions or get the subscription

rpa · March 2023

Make a new character and play trough the base game story, that should get you back into game. If you decide to stick in it, suggest getting the full game with latest chapter from sale before release of the next chapter for your existing account. That way you get all previous chapters and acces to warden and necromancer classes. For small zone and dungeon dlc you can pick eso+ when you want get there.
Remember to do the riding skill and the crafting trait research every day you log in, those two are the longest timegates in the gaem.

Anumaril · March 2023

Base game
Gives access to base zones, which do NOT include those added by DLC or Chapters. However, apparently the Morrowind Chapter is just part of the base game, including its Warden class.

ESO+
Gives access to a bunch of quality of life perks, and also access to ALL DLCs in the game, including their zones.

Chapter(s)
I would NOT buy the current Chapter, High Isle, as Necrom will be releasing later this year. Once a Chapter releases, the old Chapter instantly becomes a DLC, meaning it's content is unlockable via the ESO+ subscription.

So if I were you I'd check out what Necrom has to offer, and then buy that if you're interested. Otherwise, ESO+ will get you access to the rest of the game's content. That being said, according to this Reddit post, accessing past Chapters' content via ESO+ doesn't grant access to the classes they add (such as Necromancer for Elsweyr). So if you're interested in playing a Necromancer you'd have to buy the class directly, which I think you can do in the Crown Store.

MaleAmazon · March 2023

As the title states I am coming back after a few years hiatus. I am a bit confused as to where and how I jump back into the game. I have recovered my account and am downloading the client. My account says I have Tamriel Unlimited (PC). Do I need to buy something else? Is there a different version? I scoured the web but the info was spotty. Do I need to sub or buy expacs? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Or maybe direct me to somewhere that can clear up the confusion. Thanks in advance.

Do you have ESO+ ? I´d highly recommend it otherwise.

I´d recommend starting a new character, the latest tutorial should be the one where you get to choose between a number of portals that exist as gateways, like so:

As for where to go...

If you want to level up your character, you will want to pick up all guilds; fighters, mages and undaunted like before, but also the Psijic guild. In order to get it you need to play through the Summerset questline until you get to Artaeum, then talk to loremaster Celarus once you get to the tower there. Once you have closed the rifts on Summerset Isle you will acquire the Psijic skilline. This is kind of important since without having it, time rifts (which contain really useful stuff) won´t show up. Then, do whatever you want.

I recommend using Minion and getting addons like Map Pins and Writ Crafter, unless you really feel like doing 'manual chores'.

When I start a new character, I do this:

1. Fix all the settings and hotkeys, since for some inexplicable reason they are not copied from your previous character(s).

2. Assign champion points (the champion system has been revamped and is a bit more confusing now, go to UESP and read up).

3. Get Lover mundus stone. Get FG, MG, undaunted and speedrun Summerset to get Psijic. This sets up the character.

4. Start the Main Quest (the 'newbie island' zones can safely be skipped, though you might want to get the skyshards).

5. Play around how I feel; play some MQ and Zone Quests, mix it up with Vvardenfell, Battlegrounds, Cyrodiil, dailies etc etc. I have the Antiquities skillines on one character, but you do not need it to acquire leads (only to actually dig).

There is a ton of content and it can be overwhelming, so I´d take it slow at first. Just get acquainted with the game. And welcome back!

You can jump around all you want in the game at the moment. You can go to the Rift and do the Zone quests there even if you have done nothing else and are in the 'wrong' alliance, for exemple.

I think that´s all. I might be forgetting something. Ask if you want.

ESO+
Gives access to a bunch of quality of life perks, and also access to ALL DLCs in the game, including their zones.

Sadly, this is not true (and you pointed this out later in your post, just clearing up any confusion). I do not get High Isle. You do get stuff that previously was 'chapter' DLC only though (and some stuff like IC was DLC and is now base game I believe). I am 'behind' in story quests played, so I do not mind it. But you do not get everything.

Danikat · March 2023

I agree with the suggestion to just log in and play. Maybe make a new character and play through the tutorial and then see where you go from there, rather than trying to pick up where you left off right away (although once you're more familiar with the game you could go back to your existing characters).

If you decide you want to stick with it and do more than the base game you can look at buying chapters and DLC or maybe subscribing to get tempoary access, but there's no need to do that right away, or worry about the most efficent way to optimise playing so you can clear everything as fast as possible. That can come later if you want to approach it that way, but for now I think it's best just to play the game again and see what you want to do.

Bat · March 2023

Unless you plan on crafting a lot, like professionally, I would not say the craftbag is necessary for your experience. Materials abound, and while some are worth hanging onto, others are pretty much useless to be honest. It might be convenient for you to never have to manage your inventory for materials however. If you're on PC, there are addons that can help you weed out the useless junk materials and delete the lot of it automatically for you.

All content can be purchased for permanent account access to it, ESO+ is not necessary to access neither DLC dungeons nor DLC zones. I'm sure the previous posters did not mean to deliberately mislead you on this, but their replies have nonetheless been slightly misleading on this account.

Again, if crafting a whole bunch is something you want to do then ESO+ might be worth it for you. Just be aware you are not required to subscribe in order to gain access to DLCs, these can be unlocked for your account for Crowns in the Crown Store.

I'd also suggest playing the basegame for now. You'll have content for months just in that. I'd recommend the basegame zones first, and then you can move to the DLC zone Vvardenfell (which is included in the basegame since some years for Steam purchases, and through a "free purchase" of the zone in the Crown Store for others since more recently). The reason for this suggestion is, you'll have enough content to last you until the new chapter drops, possibly longer meaning you could wait with buying that until it's on sale (usually they go on sale a few months after launch), if you are looking for a budget friendly alternative in upgrading your game. You'd want to purchase an Upgrade version of the newest chapter, by the way, this would grant you permanent access to all previous chapters released to date.

Xaxinian · March 2023

I know I put a good year into a character I already have at 50, but I am hearing from several people that I should instead roll a new toon. Is there a way to at least kinda find out where I left off and what would be next with my existing toon?
Sounds like ESO+ is a no brainier to see how I like it coming back, but starting from scratch takes the wind out of my sails a bit.

ZOS_Icy · March 2023

Greetings,

After further review we have decided to move this thread to a category we think is more appropriate for this topic.

Thank you for your understanding.

Xaxinian · March 2023

ZOS_Icy wrote: »

Greetings,

After further review we have decided to move this thread to a category we think is more appropriate for this topic.

Thank you for your understanding.

Where will it be moved, sorry I assumed I was posting in the right place

ZOS_Bill · March 2023

@Xaxinian

You may find the link below helpful in answering some of your questions after returning to ESO once more.

COMMUNITY GUIDES—NEW PLAYER GUIDES 2023