reason to do quests to level up over spamming dungeon finder?

Nocturne Saint · October 2023

So is there a reason to do quests to level up, over just endless dungeon finder runs?

KlauthWarthog · October 2023

Depends on whether or not you intend to do the quests at all.
If you are already going to do the quests, then there is no reason to not use them to level up.

Nocturne Saint · October 2023

are there any perks to doing quests over dungeon finder?

metheglyn · October 2023

Many of the main quests of each zone award you skill points on completion.

For me the perks of doing quests are that I enjoy the stories and the landscapes of the world. If you're just looking to level really fast, I honestly don't know which is the better route.

tincanman · October 2023

Voice acting everywhere, a decent narrative (if you can work it out or reference* something that shows the right order of play) particularly the main quest.

Gold, xp, set items from various zones so sticker book completion of overland. Main and zone quests completion have decent xp.

Skill points (4-5 per zone, I think; been a while). And skyshards for more skill points. Unlocking zone maps (more xp)/wayshrines, poi etc.

Depends on if you want to explore a bit while levelling or prefer grinding(although there are faster ways to grind levels/skills than dunegons).

edit: * A CLEAR STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO PLAYING ESO IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER - not sure if it's been updated but if you add later chapters zone by date of release you should be good to go.

Danikat · October 2023

The best way to level up is doing things you enjoy. There isn't one right answer that works for everyone.

If you just want quick XP and you like doing dungeons then that's a better choice than doing quests. But if you like doing quests and plan to do them on that character there's no reason to wait to get started.

(I think the fastest way to get XP is still doing dolmens in a group, especially if you can stack up a few XP boosts.)

Zodiarkslayer · October 2023

I reckon, I need about 180 skill points for a complete, playable character build.

Most players think of Levelling up as getting to lv50 as fast as possible. And when they hit lv50 and have to cope with their meager 64 ability points, they will start doing their quests and dungeons and skyshard hunting anyway.
So why not doing that while below lv50?

Power levelling is for players who do not understand the game that they play.

And at that point we haven't even talked about levelling skill lines, abilities, crafting, unlocking companions, etc.
Or any other unfun grind that the game offers.

Number_51 · October 2023

With close to 60 level 50 characters I've leveled just about every way imaginable. My personal preference is doing the quests and leveling naturally. But that's just me, I like the stories, exploration aspect, and side benefits like skill points and skyshards.

I've done the Alik'r dolmen circuit. This has to be, for me, the worst way to level. It's fast XP but after you've done a dolmen once you get less experience for doing it again (unless things have changed since I did it). Honestly doing all three dolmens in all 15 base game zones (and maybe the Cyrodiil dolmens too, I don't recall), just once, took me from 20 something to 50 on one character (includes exploration XP from riding to each dolmen in each zone).

Dungeon finder is a nice, quick way to level, and since it's random dungeons doesn't feel grindy. But the way I leveled my most recent character was faster than any other method I've used. Running nBRP with one other person (you can each use a companion you want to level up as well) and all the XP buffs you can possibly use (eso+, potions, training gear, marriage, etc) got me from 10 to 50 in just a few hours over two days. It is grindy since it's the same thing over and over though.

Amottica · October 2023

Nocturne Saint wrote: »

are there any perks to doing quests over dungeon finder?

Skill points directly from completing quest lines as well as easy-to-get sky shards along the way.

I have seen players grind to level up a character fast then they run around getting skill points which time-wise seems to indicate the grinding was not the best use of time.

blktauna · October 2023

I like ding dolmen runs, but I just enjoy the crazy and i use them to collect jewelry mats. Running endless dungeons is tedious to me. I have done some hilarity with a high level cohort in Skyreach and will do some Forgotton Crypts or Cath Bedreau once in a while.
Doing some quests is pretty efficient, especially if new.

Vynera · October 2023

Most of my chars never did any quests, not even the main quest for skill points. Did everything on my main and don't enjoy to do all this boring Singleplayer content again on a twink.

We currently have 50+ dungeons which offer a skillpoint on quest completion and 30+ public dungeons with a skyshard + boss for a skillpoint. So spamming randoms gets you a good amount of skill points and exp.
If your in a full "social guild" and have BeamMeUp addon, you dont even have to walk into the public dungeons and can port from dungeon to dungeon since most of the time someone is in any of these.
Then collect some easy skyshards near wayshrines and you have enough for a solid build. A few more skyshards on zones to get all crafting up.

LunaFlora · October 2023

zone story quests give you skill points.

group dungeon quests, public dungeon quests, skyshards, and some side stories like the naryu and sun-in-shadow quests in vvardenfell give skill points too.

skill points are quite useful

boi_anachronism_ · October 2023

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

I reckon, I need about 180 skill points for a complete, playable character build.

Most players think of Levelling up as getting to lv50 as fast as possible. And when they hit lv50 and have to cope with their meager 64 ability points, they will start doing their quests and dungeons and skyshard hunting anyway.
So why not doing that while below lv50?

Power levelling is for players who do not understand the game that they play.

And at that point we haven't even talked about levelling skill lines, abilities, crafting, unlocking companions, etc.
Or any other unfun grind that the game offers.

That depends. Id never suggest a new player power level but as a vet best believe i can have a toon from zero to raid ready in 2 shakes if i need, skill points and all.

phaneub17_ESO · October 2023

ADD behavior, I can pick up a quest, progress half of it, go away for a day, a week, or a month later and complete it. People don't like it when I drop mid dungeon because I'm no longer interested in completing it at that specified time. Ooh Squirrel!

Nocturne Saint · October 2023

So I skipped out on questing and went straight for dungeons as soon as i could.
For Ebonheart Pact, what city starts the main questline?

metheglyn · October 2023

Bleakrock Isle is the start of the Ebonheart Pact main questline.

The guide that Tincanman linked is very helpful, too.

SilverBride · October 2023

I prefer questing to level up because I enjoy the story. Doing nothing but running the same dungeons over and over is tedious and I get burned out on that very fast.

SeaGtGruff · October 2023

I find daily repeatable quests to be a great way to earn XP. I'm not so much concerned with leveling up as with using up all of my daily Enlightenment. Even if I hardly did anything for 3 days and have a large amount of Enlightenment to burn up, I can go do the 6 daily district quests in IC, plus some town dailies in Cyrodiil, and burn up all of my accumulated Enlightenment very easily. Of course, any dailies will do; they certainly don't need to be in IC or Cyrodiil. The advantage (for me) of doing them in IC and Cyrodiil is the TV and AP they give.

El_Borracho · October 2023

Random daily normal dungeon
Dungeons for skill point
Main storyline quest
Individual zone main quests
Skyshards
The intro quest in Cyrodiil, aka the tutorial. DO NOT SKIP IT.
Try to do all of this during an event, like this one, where you have an XP boost.
Use XP scrolls

Those are the things I focus on when leveling a new character. Multiple random dailies on one day are good at the beginning when you have a strong chance of getting a dungeon you have not done, so you kill 2 birds with extra XP and a skill point. But once you have done the majority of dungeons, the returns are diminishing.

I avoid most sidequests, unless they are parallel to the main quest I am doing. Dolmens are meh, feel like they are a waste of time. The Mages Guild and Fighter's Guild storyline quests have surprisingly low XP.

zaria · October 2023

I prefer to just have new alts stay in town and do daily RND, once level 50 they have an better mount and can use ring of wild hunt. Now I do skyshards. Yes I might start doing main quest.

The DLC zone quests gives plenty of skillpoints as in 6-9.