over 500 skyshards in the game, are they really all needed?

Nocturne Saint · October 2023

I have just noticed there are around 520 skyshards in the game. that equates to about 173 skill points.
is it really necessary to collect all these in the game?

ESO_CenturionPlayer · October 2023

i’ve gotten every one of them.

no. not at all. i have ample skill points left over at all times with the ability to swap builds.

Baertram · October 2023

Depends on if you want to do everyhting with 1 character, e.g. be master carfter of all professions, be a Vampire or Werewolve too, Scrying and Psijic and all the other skill lines like PVP levelled too.

In the end I guess you will have some spare to distribute so you will not need all of them, but you can get close to the max if you want to

TheImperfect · October 2023

I like my shiny skyshards - need more power!

Danikat · October 2023

No, you do not need all of them.

There are (far) more than needed because that way players can choose which ones they want to get. You can pick them up while going through whichever zones you want to play first rather than having to go out of your way to visit the places which have them and if an individual skyshard or an entire zone is too much trouble you can safely skip it and get them from somewhere else.

I have to admit I don't know if there's enough skill points available to unlock and morph every single skill a character can have, but that's because it's never come up for me. I know there's more than enough to unlocked everything required for multiple builds - for example one character can have all the crafting skills, all their class skills and enough other stuff to swap between 2-3 builds whenever they want without getting all the skyshards in the game.

LunaFlora · October 2023

they are very useful for unlocking skills.
the only skill lines you might not be able to unlock are the weapons, i tend to choose 1-3 of those for my builds.

AcadianPaladin · October 2023

When I was new, it looked pretty daunting to me when players would say you could fully develop a combat character who could also be your full crafter - that there were plenty of skillpoints in the game for that. Sure enough, my full combat/full crafter is there - and sitting on almost 100 unused skill points. Though I think she probably has most or all skyshards, she certainly doesn't have many of the skill points you get from DLC group dungeons and/or trials.

Tommy_The_Gun · October 2023

Yes, if you want to have all skills & passives unlocked & have a room for the new skill lines that most likely will be added to the game with future updates.

Zodiarkslayer · October 2023

Any reasonable character build has 150 to 180 Skill points required. Mind you, not just a combat build. A character build.
And well, Skyshards provide a way to gain Skill Points without having to go into group content.

You'd be surprised how many players do not wish to do Dungeons and Trials, because of ... reasons, I guess.

Necrotech_Master · October 2023

Danikat wrote: »

No, you do not need all of them.

There are (far) more than needed because that way players can choose which ones they want to get. You can pick them up while going through whichever zones you want to play first rather than having to go out of your way to visit the places which have them and if an individual skyshard or an entire zone is too much trouble you can safely skip it and get them from somewhere else.

I have to admit I don't know if there's enough skill points available to unlock and morph every single skill a character can have, but that's because it's never come up for me. I know there's more than enough to unlocked everything required for multiple builds - for example one character can have all the crafting skills, all their class skills and enough other stuff to swap between 2-3 builds whenever they want without getting all the skyshards in the game.

i tried to do that near launch with my main and we definitely did not have enough skill pts to do it at that point in the game

but im not sure since they have added a significant number of skill pts in the form of dlc dungeons, dlc public dungeon group events, dlc skyshards, dlc quests that it might be more feasible now

edit: did some research on it, the best i could tell, the maximum number of skill pts available in the game is 541 as of necrom chapter

calculating out:

-20 skill pts per class skill line (60 total for all 3)
-22 pts per weapon skill line (132 total for all 6)
-13 pts per armor line (39 total for all 3)
-20 for legerdemain
-9 for soul magic
-21 for werewolf (if you dont reclaim them before curing)
-21 for vampire (if you dont reclaim before curing)
-15 for scrying
-12 excavation
-16 per alliance war skill line (32 total for both assault and support)
-9 for racial passives
-11 thieves guild
-11 dark brotherhood
-19 fighters guild
-19 mages guild
-14 undaunted
-19 psijic
-20 alchemy craft
-25 smithing craft
-25 clothing craft
-25 woodworking craft
-23 provisioning craft
-21 enchanting craft
-17 jewelry crafting

adding all of that up would be 619 skill pts to be able to put a skill pt in every passive skill and every slottable skill, and morph every slottable skill (including WW and vampire if you did not respec before curing)

if you exclude WW and vamp, you would only need 577 skill pts

so the maximum number of skill pts available in the game is now very close to being able to slot every passive, and morph every skill

the hardest/most time consuming skill pts to obtain are probably the 50 from pvp

Giraffon · October 2023

But they are shiny! I must touch them all!

Amottica · October 2023

How many skill points a player needs is entirely dependent on how many points they want to spend.

Daoin · October 2023

i have found even with all shards and as many points possible from other content its never enough

DivadSesom · October 2023

I enjoy Skyshard hunting - the fact you also get skill points with them is just a bonus.

KlauthWarthog · October 2023

The armory system exists, so no, you do not need to collect them all.