What are my options if I just want to do combat? (No listening to story etc)

Glorious_Platypus · July 20

So kinda wild but I've played for 6 months I think and I haven't finished the story. Well, I completed Summerset on one character, like I 100%'d the zone. Huge achievement for me, loved every second of it, it's my favorite zone so far. But everything else, all my other characters, they are all at varying levels of story completion.

My mage for example just made it to Grahtwood. I did Grahtwood on my elf like 2 years ago so I'm going through Dominion quests again.

Anyway the point is that right now, for this session anyway, and maybe for future ones, I don't want to do pay attention to story. I want to pretend it's Diablo 2 and turn my brain off and just cast Blizzards and Frozen Orbs everywhere while doing baal runs and get that slap of dopamine when a high rune drops. Different games, I'm not trying to turn ESO into D2 here - it's an analogy.

Now I've heard of other game modes, like the Infinity Archive... ? Is that something to where I just go in like a minigame and see how deep into it I can go?

The problem with actual dungeons is that if they are the single player kind of dungeon, then I have to travel to it. Or it's already been defeated on my map and no reason to go to it.
The problem with group dungeons is that I don't want to do group dungeons. I've tried them before in ESO and the other players always go way too fast for me. Maybe after a few more years I will become like them and want to do that, but not right now.

Suggestions?

propertyOfUndefined · July 20

Infinite Archive sounds like what you're looking for. There are also the new "solo dungeons" coming next patch, but not sure when that will drop given the layoff situation. Original schedule was supposed to be 8/31 if I'm not mistaken.

DoofusMax · July 20

propertyOfUndefined wrote: »

Infinite Archive sounds like what you're looking for. There are also the new "solo dungeons" coming next patch, but not sure when that will drop given the layoff situation. Original schedule was supposed to be 8/31 if I'm not mistaken.

Considering their placement on the 2026 roadmap, they're coming in Season Two. Most of that content will get loaded with Update 51, which is currently slated to go live on 31 August (subject to change due to recent circumstances), but wouldn't be live until Season Two starts. If Season One change-over is a guide, then Season One ends at 10am (EDT) on 21 October and Season Two starts at 1pm. So solo dungeons would be at or after that and my bet would be "sometime after."

katanagirl1 · July 20

I don’t know if you like fighting other players, but going solo in Cyrodiil might be something to try. A lot of people say don’t do it but I prefer not having to follow a group around and go where I feel I can help most.

Glorious_Platypus · July 20

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I don’t know if you like fighting other players, but going solo in Cyrodiil might be something to try. A lot of people say don’t do it but I prefer not having to follow a group around and go where I feel I can help most.

If there are gathering nodes in cyrodiil then i can imagine spending an hour or so doing that. that'd be fun

@DoofusMax - If update 51 doesn't have an area 51 joke about aliens ... /s. Also sidenote, you actually write dates CORRECTLY which practically no one else does so thank you for that.

Feels weird to skip Necrom expansion and just do the infinite archive, though

SilverBride · July 20

Besides the Infinite Archive there are Bastian Nymics, too. All of the arenas and public dungeons offer a lot of combat. Go around the zones and fight all the World Bosses, and Harrowstorms and Vents and all those types of zone events.

Soarora · July 20

Sounds like you should do Infinite Archive. There’s also two solo arenas: Maelstrom Arena & Vateshran Hollows. You can also bump up your challenge difficulty and go clear delve/group dungeon/etc bosses (ignoring the quests). Could even try soloing 4-man dungeons.

Sluggy · July 20

Glorious_Platypus wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I don’t know if you like fighting other players, but going solo in Cyrodiil might be something to try. A lot of people say don’t do it but I prefer not having to follow a group around and go where I feel I can help most.

If there are gathering nodes in cyrodiil then i can imagine spending an hour or so doing that. that'd be fun

There are, but I would advice caution. They are very wide-spread so you're not going to get much monetary value. Further, the one and only active campaign, Greyhost, usually has a queue to get in for dedicated PvP action so it would be quite rude to take up that slot just to do some sight-seeing and resource collection while others are waiting to get in to have fights, help out their alliance, and join friends. As an alternative you could do that in Blackreach or Vengeance and it wouldn't be an issue since they are never busy.

If you really want some sense of tension though, I'd suggest Imperial City. There is a much greater abundance of valuables to be gathered there including the PvP currency Tel-Var. There are also a lot more NPCs around and because it is much smaller than Cyrodiil, there is more of a chance of coming across the odd other player looking to take you out and steal your tel-var (or maybe run from you as fast as they can if they are just farming themselves).

katanagirl1 · July 20

Sluggy wrote: »

Glorious_Platypus wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I don’t know if you like fighting other players, but going solo in Cyrodiil might be something to try. A lot of people say don’t do it but I prefer not having to follow a group around and go where I feel I can help most.

If there are gathering nodes in cyrodiil then i can imagine spending an hour or so doing that. that'd be fun

There are, but I would advice caution. They are very wide-spread so you're not going to get much monetary value. Further, the one and only active campaign, Greyhost, usually has a queue to get in for dedicated PvP action so it would be quite rude to take up that slot just to do some sight-seeing and resource collection while others are waiting to get in to have fights, help out their alliance, and join friends. As an alternative you could do that in Blackreach or Vengeance and it wouldn't be an issue since they are never busy.

If you really want some sense of tension though, I'd suggest Imperial City. There is a much greater abundance of valuables to be gathered there including the PvP currency Tel-Var. There are also a lot more NPCs around and because it is much smaller than Cyrodiil, there is more of a chance of coming across the odd other player looking to take you out and steal your tel-var (or maybe run from you as fast as they can if they are just farming themselves).

There are some PvE things to do in Cyrodiil too, like delves and skyshards and town quests. Just don’t go to Gray Host to do those either.

SkaiFaith · July 20

1 thing you could do and it would help in your specific case is use an addon to auto-skip dialogues. Then put the overland difficulty to a higher setting if you feel like you want more of a challenge instead of steamrolling. Be aware that World Bosses and World Events on Vestige Difficulty will be kinda impossible to solo.

The other thing is Infinite Archive but your experience with it will depends on many factors: if your character is not super strong you may enjoy fighting through Arc 1 and maybe Arc 2. If your character is overpowered, you'll see no challenge in Arcs 1 and 2 but you'll still be forced to play those every time before getting to higher Arcs, and that will take 30 minutes. So it will also depend on the time you are willing to invest, since long runs of IA can last 6+ hours, without any save option, straight from start to finish.

If you never played Arenas you can try all of those. Yes, there are solo arenas and group arenas, but both are doable in solo, depending on your level.

Which takes me to the last thing: you can try clearing group dungeons in solo (you can always take a Companion if it's your thing). Yes, it is doable, both base game and DLCs. Only problem is in some Group Dungeons (not many) there are mechanics that FORCE to have a group of players.

In the end I think you can be safe that ESO has many solutions to your problem - you can enjoy combat in many ways, luckily

barney2525 · July 20

Just immerse yourself in all the Events. There is so much going on in this game you don't even have to look at ANY of the Mainline quest or the subsets (Alliance, Mage Guild, Fighter Guild)

Clear zones for achievements. Just look at all the achievements and decide which ones you would enjoy doing.

If you haven't found anything other than the main questlines, you haven't been looking very hard.

Glorious_Platypus · July 21

Wait so I have to have Necrom to access the infinite archive, and I don't get Necrom included with my ESO+ membership?

Sluggy · July 21

Glorious_Platypus wrote: »

Wait so I have to have Necrom to access the infinite archive, and I don't get Necrom included with my ESO+ membership?

You do not need Necrom for IA. You can teleport there directly from the map.

Glorious_Platypus · July 21

@Sluggy Thanks! Not sure I want to skip Necrom and just go straight to the IA, seems like I wouldn't know what is going on.

So... random question. I just started that fancy new thieves guild quest for season 1 on my thief character and... is this a limited time quest? Like will it disapear from my quest log if I take time to go finish the original theives guild quest line?

It is telling me it takes place after that quest line and might have spoilers. But I know if I were to do that main thieves guild quest line it would take me another 3 months probably

DoofusMax · July 21

Glorious_Platypus wrote: »

Wait so I have to have Necrom to access the infinite archive, and I don't get Necrom included with my ESO+ membership?

No. Infinite Archive is located on the Apocrypha zone map, but you don't need Necom to access it. It's pretty much the same deal as with dungeon packs. If you can access the dungeon because you got the dungeon pack, then it doesn't matter which zone the dungeon is in unless you feel you absolutely must enter by the front door.

theskymoves · July 21

Glorious_Platypus wrote: »

So... random question. I just started that fancy new thieves guild quest for season 1 on my thief character and... is this a limited time quest? Like will it disapear from my quest log if I take time to go finish the original theives guild quest line?

It is telling me it takes place after that quest line and might have spoilers. But I know if I were to do that main thieves guild quest line it would take me another 3 months probably

The new Daggerfall Thieves guild content is not time limited, it's permanent content.

SeaGtGruff · July 21

If all you want to do is fight stuff, my recommendation would be to just run around all of the zones fighting stuff.

The mobs are generally very easy to clear, unless your DPS is low or you're playing on a higher Challenge Difficulty setting, so they won't stop you from just running around wherever you feel like going.

And the world bosses in most of the zones can be challenging for a lot of players, especially the world bosses in the DLC and chapter zones.

You can also dash into every delve and public dungeon you come across, and kill all of the mobs and bosses in those, too.

And, of course, there are a lot of group dungeons in the game, many of which can be cleared solo, especially on Normal.

That way you can explore the many interesting and scenic locations in the game, collect skyshards, earn skill points, etc.

BretonMage · July 21

Glorious_Platypus wrote: »

Wait so I have to have Necrom to access the infinite archive, and I don't get Necrom included with my ESO+ membership?

I'm pretty sure Necrom should be included while ESO+ is active. Expansions usually open up to ESO+ members a year after release.

SeaGtGruff · July 21

As far as the Thieves Guild questlines, the old questline in Hew's Bane can be done pretty quickly, in a matter of a few days if you just plow through it. And the new questline can also be completed within a few days. Both questlines are very well done, in my opinion.

The main reason I hesitate to recommend the Infinite Archive is because in your first post you sounded like you don't see any reason to fight your way through delves and other types of sites if you've already cleared them once. Well, Infinite Archive is pretty dull as far as a place to go and fight stuff, in my opinion, because there isn't a lot of variation in the areas you have to fight through-- the mobs and bosses may vary (although after a while the mobs can seem like the same kinds of enemies over and over again), but the locations are repeated ad nauseum. So if you feel like going through a delve, ruin, public dungeon, or other location would be pointless if you've already cleared them once, then I don't understand why you'd enjoy the monotony of the Infinite Archive.

SilverBride · July 21

But the Infinite Archive has currency we earn that we can use to purchase patterns and leads and gear and other useful items.

frogthroat · July 21

Infinite Archive is exactly that. Just combat combat combat until you die enough times.

There's also solo versions of two group dungeons coming in the next update.

But... did you know you can do many of the group dungeons solo? Just go there manually or port there if you have been there once.

Soloable group dungeons are plenty. Easier to list what you can't solo.

Base Game:

Blackheart Haven (unless you nuke the last boss before you turn into a skeleton)
Fungal Grotto 2 (unless you find the trick at Spawn of Mephala - requires extremely precise timing)
Direfrost Keep (can be done with some tricks)
Wayrest Sewers 2 (used to be soloable until they "fixed" it)

DLC dungeons:

Imperial City Prison (the council requires two levers)
Depths of Malatar (the first boss grabs you and someone needs to interrupt)
Red Petal Bastion (I suppose if you survive the goat stage it can be otherwise soloed)
Naj-Caldeesh (unless you use Sorc Streak ... or maybe vamp teleport or Arcanist portal? I've only jumped over it with Streak)

Hm. Is that all? I think I may have forgotten some. But anyway, everything else can be soloed. My first solo group dungeon was at CP270 when I just tried if I can get through nBC1. I did. And started to solo a lot more.

There are many DLC dungeons that are just incredibly difficult to solo, but technically not impossible. Like Stone Garden HM - good luck with that. ERE 1st boss on HM is also ridiculously difficult. I have not seen anyone solo Shipwright's Regret on HM, but I have seen a duo trifecta.

Oh, also, some trials like Asylum Sanctorium can be soloed.

Here's Lucht's absolutely insane sub 10 minute Scalecaller Peak solo trifecta:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf0YOl_1iTA

Usureki · July 21

BGs.

Ordinator199 · July 21

maelstrom arena, vateshran hollows, if doing infinite archive do look up specific build for it/watch others clear it/research visions (gets very fun if you are properly doing it and slicing through bosses fast).

Glorious_Platypus · July 22

I've now done 2 bosses and I think 6 waves of the IA. I think I will like this lol.

So far so good, anyway.