Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited beginner’s guide. Helping you get started with ESO and understand the basic concepts of how gameplay works and provide an overview of the many tools available to make your experience easier, and has been updated in July 2017 to include DLC and the Morrowind Chapter.

 

1. Choosing a Race, a Faction, and building your character in ESO

Elder Scrolls Online provides the player with many choices. You can be any one of several races, but unless you have purchased specific bundles you will be limited to a faction that the race belongs to. There are 10 available races and three factions as follows:

1. Imperial Race = You must purchase this specifically. Its a wildcard race available to any faction.
2. Aldmeri Dominion: Altmer, Bosmer, Khajiit.
3. Ebonheart Pact: Nord, Dunmer, Argonian
4. Daggerfall Covenant: Breton, Redguard, Orc.

How does the faction affect your experience?
Even if you can select any race for any faction, your choice will determine your starting area and your quest progression, and limit your PvP campaign to only the faction you have chosen. You may join a guild in another faction, but you will only PvP for your faction. You may also join other factions for Group Dungeons, and thanks to the uptdate “One Tamriel“, you can travel to and experience all factions and zones right from the get-go. If you follow the normal path, you’ll eventually get to other zones via Cadwell’s Silver.

There are five available Classes in Elder Scrolls Online: Dragonknight, Sorcerer, Templar, Nightblade and the Warden (introduced with the Morrowind chapter and only available if you own it). Since you may chose whichever weapon and armor you wish, all classes are versatile in regards to roles.

How does the race affect your build?
Racial Bonuses are special innate abilities of the races. While every class can do pretty much any role, some races are more beneficial for specific builds. Altmers, for example, have Magicka & Destruction Staff bonuses that benefit casters. Check the wiki for detailed skills of all races.

 

2. ESO Tutorial & Questing

Elder Scrolls Online has a tutorial that you may opt out of for your second character. During this tutorial, you escape Coldharbour and are then transported to a specific starting island, where you are introduced to the basic questing mechanics and the story start of your faction. A full list of all 1000+ quests is available in our Quests Page, make sure to check it out if you are wondering what you haven’t done if you are after the questing achievements. If you own Morrowind, you can do a special tutorial in Vvardenfell.

Of special note is the Justice System. This aspect of the game was introduced long after original release, and added more depth to town mechanics. Through thievery, you may obtain special skills and trophy items, but you risk high penalties in gold and confrontations with guards in otherwise safe zones.

Are there permanent Consequences?
Besides some minor changes to surviving parties in quests, and the effects of the Justice System, none of your quest choices impact the main story nor your faction’s story, so don’t paralize yourself for too long.
Are there daily repeatable objectives?
ESO has many types of dailies. Crafting has writs, Regular questing has Dungeons, Veteran questing has Pledges, and PvP has Bounties and Battlegrounds quests.

 

3. ESO Mounts, Transport

Elder Scrolls Online takes place in several regions of Tamriel. This vast world is filled with danger, adventure, and exploration objectives. You will discover ruins, hunt for Skyshards, locate dangerous elite enemies, and deal with convoluted plots. To go through it all, you will need to use a mount, that can be purchased from the stable master or the Crown Store in varying speeds and looks. Mounts can also be customized after purchase to provide more speed (pvp), stamina (pvp) and inventory space (crafters use this). You can increase your mount’s stats once every 20 hours, so log in daily!

How do I fast travel in ESO?
The world has several Wayshrines that you must discover and allow you to fast travel from one place to the other at no cost. Alternatively, you can recall to any wayshrine for a sum of gold at any given time, except when in Cyrodiil. You may also fast-travel to any member in your group or guild, which is very convenient for visiting dungeons and places that you have not yet discovered.

 

4. ESO Inventory & Mail

Inventory management is an integral part of most MMOs, but the Elder Scrolls series in particular needs attention to this. You have a certain inventory by default, that is enough to hold some gear and materials. As soon as you take on crafting, however, you will want more – particularly if you plan on doing Provisioning. You may increase your inventory by purchasing expensive bags at a Bag Vendor (available in all large cities), upgrading your mount at the stablemaster (1 space every 20 hours), or utilizing your Bank and Guild Bank. Your bank is accessed via he vault at most large cities – simply find the chest icon on your map and interact with the banker – you will be able to purchase extra bank storage here, so use your gold wisely. You may also have access to a guild bank when you have 10 players in your guild. This is an excellent way to share materials with friends and alt characters. Mail is also used to deliver crafting materials prepared to you by your crafting hireling.

It is still not enough!
Mailing items to your friends and having them return the mail to you is a way to increase your temporary storage while you’re out on the field. This way, you don’t have to miss out on loot!
Eso Plus members also enjoy the Craft Bag: a magical bottomless box that automatically houses all of your crafting materials for as long as you’re subscribed. Additionally, they also get double bank space, making having many alts easy.

 

5. ESO Crafting, Crafting Stations & Writs

Crafting is a complex and deep aspect of Elder Scrolls Online. You will be able to gather materials for all crafting, but only process those in which you have spent points into. Typically, a player will master up to three crafts, but the biggest barrier to true completion are the Crafted Set requirements. Crafting Stations are special places where an experienced crafter may create sets with special attributes. In order to be able to use them, you must research Traits of your profession, which require an item with the trait and consume real-world hours, sometimes up to 30 days!. A full list of the traits, and research mechanisms is found in the wiki page here.

What are Writs?
Writs are special quests introduced to give players an option to gain “inspiration” (crafting xp) on a daily basis. Most of your crafting xp is acquired via deconstructions of items that you have either found or that have been given to you by other players, but you may opt to do these simple quests that grant xp and some special materials. At high levels, unique legendary materials for creating legendary quality items are obtained this way.
Master Writs are random rewards from completing writs that give you a unique opportunity to create specialized gear in exchange for Writ Vouchers, that are then used to purchase housing and other customizations.

 

6. ESO Skills & Character Development

Elder Scrolls Online takes a unique approach to character development. You may chose to fight with whatever weapon you wish, wear any armor you want, and be a heavy armored battlemage with an axe if you so wish. You can find your attribute and skillpoint allocation in your character panel, and select your starting points. You will then be able to develop specific skills further if you have them slotted on your bar, and you can have two separate weapons on a “quickswap” with a specific bar after level 15. For example, a Destruction Staff (dps) equipped with skills aligned to that, and a Restoration Staff to swap to with healing setup. There are also special skill lines associated with the Fighter’s Guild and the Mage’s Guild, and the Undaunted association, besides the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood. Complete their quests and requirements to unlock.

Mixing and matching your skill and gear to comply with hard caps is an interesting aspect, and you can expect to make mistakes or decisions you regret. However worry not, for you can approach a Rededication Shrine and reset your skills for a gold fee.

Make sure to hunt for Skyshards, as they give extra skillpoints to improve your character with. The wiki has detailed locations of Skyshards here.

How about higher levels?
The Champion System is a special post-50 development line, that allows you to obtain valuable passives for your character’s further development. Read about it on the wiki page.

 

7. ESO PvP

Player-vs-Player battles in The Elder Scrolls Online are continuous as part of The Alliance War. You will have to travel to Cyrodiil, which necessitates you select a “Home Campaign” to be part of. Campaigns last days or weeks, and the three factions will battle it out to capture farms, keeps and Elder Scrolls. Once you have selected a campaign and accessed Cyrodiil, you must finish a set of starter quests that then allow you to begin the daily bounties. These bounties and participation in large battles and takeovers are what increases your PvP rank and grants you the PvP currency: Alliance Points, used to buy PvP Gear. This is also the way to reach Emperor status, so look into this if you are wanting to get the Platinum Trophy. A very detailed guide on defending keeps is found here. Additional PvP content and modes were added as DLC with the Imperial City and Morrowind’s Battlegrounds.

• Captured Farms: Makes NPCs in your keeps stronger
• Captured Quarries: Makes walls stronger
• Captured Lumbermills: Makes doors stronger

How do I travel in Cyrodiil?
Within the PvP zone, you will find fast-travel is limited. You will have to use the transit network that connects you to keeps your faction has ownership over if the connection to them is uninterrupted. You cannot fast travel behind enemy lines or to a keep of yours whose walls are under 50% health. If you wish to leave the region, you may use the Wayshrine available at your faction’s main hub. You cannot port to other players when in Cyrodiil.

 

8. ESO Guilds & Player Trade

Guilds in Elder Scrolls Online are versatile cooperative groups of players. You can join and be a member of up to 5 Guilds and may create your own guild if you wish. Guilds are associated with a specific faction and have their own progression, unlocking a special Guild Bank with 500 spaces at 10 members, and the possibility to recruit a Guild Trader at 50 members. Members are counted per account, not per character. You can find player guilds or add your own on this page.

So what’s the point?
Being part of a guild gives you access to easy chat and tracking features for your friends, and the Guild Master may set special ranks and permissions for members, or design custom heraldry that members may wear to fight. You can also become part of trade guilds to access their Guild Trader and be able to post your auctions within them, helping you make in-game gold and collaborate with other players to obtain rare crafting materials or organize group content.

 

9. ESO Fashion & Customization

Elder Scrolls Online gifts players with abundant Crafting Styles, that must be found throughout the world and learned by the crafter in order to produce the specific output. These styles affect armor of all kinds and weapons, giving variety that aligns with the racial traits they convey. You may also buy fancy outfits from the Crown Store, or obtain special costumes from your questing. Specific sets and monster sets also have their special looks, so look out for rewards after level 50 from doing Pledge Bosses.

I want to customize more!
Then the Dyes are for you. You can create some wonderful variations by unlocking the dyes through in-game completion of assignments.
You can also enjoy the newly added Player Housing feature, that allows you to buy and decorate a private residence, combining crafting and socializing in a great and fun way.

 

10. Optimizing Your Character in ESO

Our final tip refers to Sets. This is where the game shines in variety and customization the most. Combinations of Crafted, PvP and Monster sets are sure to keep you entertained for a long time, and the availability of these throughout your leveling experience is also a contributor to your progression. Check out the Builds page to find ideas, or add your own.

How do I get specific sets?
Most sets are random drops from enemies in specific zones. There’s nothing for you to do except farm or trade, unless you are after a specific PvP or Monster set, in which case you will need to get the right amount of points or defeat a specific boss.

 

Even with these 10 tips, this guide is just scratching the surface of what Elder Scrolls Online has to offer. We’ll keep working on more tips to make your experience as smooth as possible!

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