Buffy had a fabulous experience today that did wonders for her confidence as a fledgling healer.

She ran six dungeons with Bubba. Bubba is mALX’s specialized crafter and, therefore, least capable fighter. Buffy’s mission was to protectively provide overwatch as he led them through the dungeons to get the skyshards he needed to help round out his craftibits skills. It was her first experience as a healer where someone was actually relying on her skill to survive. A magplar is a very flexible healer so Buffy was ready to tank, spank and heal as required – and extremely nervous about not failing Bubba.

Turns out they both did very well and things went very smoothly. Not only did Bubba get his skyshards, but Buffy got a massive shot of confidence that she was able to help and be effective in the healing/support role that seems to so suit her in ESO.

Thank you, mALX!

Hey! Buffy the Spiritcatcher! Mazul can use a healer on her current quest!!

Though I suspect the last bit is going to be solo no matter what - it's the last one in the Wrothgarian MQ.

But Mazul just can't get past the two shield wives first - they keep running her health down faster than she can damage them. It doesn't help that one heals the other as soon as she gets so low . . .

If I re-spec Mazul, I might put her points into her Magicka so she can heal faster . . .

Eeep! I hope Mazul made it through. I know she's pretty tough. Dont' know Daggerfall but I do recall one Dominion quest where you had to fight two ladies who could heal each other amazingly well. It was very scary and challenging to beat them.

Edit: Oh, and love the current crop of seasonal pix in your siggie!

This post has been edited by Acadian: Dec 5 2016, 03:28 AM

If you had seen Bubba fight on his way to Buffy today, you would clearly see how much help Buffy was to him!

And he was actually much stronger today due to me staying up all night nabbing every skyshard available to sink into him so he wasn't completely useless.

He managed to come out of last night with a few spells (that Buffy saw him use) and a bit stronger than he was yesterday - but still, he was dying on his way to meet her today still, so Buffy did an amazing job !!!!

We had a blast with Buffy today!


** Ooh, Haute - great screens in your siggie!





This post has been edited by mALX: Dec 5 2016, 04:33 AM

@mALX: thanks! We went all over for those screenies. More to come!

Today has been the best day I have ever had in ESO.

Alise finished the Pact storyline in Stonefalls successfully without too much trouble (unlike Mazul and Julian in Glenumbra). I must be on to something with this build. Then we had a wonderful meeting with Buffy Ms. Spiritcatcher. It was the most delightful time, as Alise so rarely gets to talk "girl talk." She was the one who loved that costume, and she is the one I got it for (and a future character to come). I have to say she wears it very well. As she told Buffy, she is looking forward to using it in Blackmarsh, as she thinks it will be perfect for that environment. It is also perfect for sunning on the docks . . .

After dinner, I went back into Stonefalls with Alise, mainly to clear some dungeons, world bosses, and other miscellaneous that she bypassed while pursuing the Pact storyline. She is now at the point where she is ready to move onto Deshaan (I think - it's the plague next). She happened on a pair of players at one of the bosses and provided assistance. As a result they asked her to group with them. As we both had time, sure, why not?

This has turned out to be the best grouping choice we have ever made. One is a Level 143 Orc Templar (I think), while the other is Lvl 47, also Templar (judging by the spells they used in combat). They were both considerate of this "young" toon, and we got to clear some dungeons, world bosses and sky shards that would other wise be difficult to do solo. As Buffy and Bubba discovered, teamwork really makes all the difference. After completing a quest that both the Lvl 47 and I happened to share (the Monsters of Stonefalls), they invited me to join them in Wrothgar for daily quests. I had never done those, so I asked what are they? And the Champion said We Will Show You (his words). So I said Mazul is in Wrothgar, would love the opportunity to learn some new things. Ended up adding two new friends alongside Acadian and mALX to my list and Mazul got to vent her frustrations out on some Dwemer stuff. We went up to the Dwemer public dungeon and completed the quest there, cleared a few other places, and found some more artifacts for the museum. Mazul is much happier now. We'll probably be meeting up tomorrow for some more fun . . .

So I probably experienced the best of ESO right there - being able to meet and socialize with others, and on my own level, no less. Face to face conversations are difficult for me because of my deafness, speech-reading only does so much. And it's exhausting to speech read all day, so when I'm off from work, I don't want to do any! But conversations via text are so easy, and so enjoyable, because there is less risk of miscommunication. I know what you said (though I may not always know what you meant), and it's much easier for me to keep up with conversations this way. That is one of the reasons why I love forums like Chorrol. And now I'm discovering that ESO has the potential for the same kind of experience.

Aww, that is so nice that you had a great day in ESO-land. That makes perfect sense how the in-game text chat would work well for you.

Some groups and guilds use microphones to enable actually talking to each other in game. That sounds like it would be a step in the wrong direction for you.


I'm finding the 'other real people' aspect of ESO fun but challenging in a way. I find it tends to pull me deeper and longer into playing sessions than my real world chores and commitments should really permit. No problem, just not used to it and finding myself often having to back out of or decline group invites and such so things like eating, housework, the care and feeding of Mrs Acadian don't suffer. I'm spoiled by single player's ability to save, exit and walk away whenever I want or need to. Generally I like frequent but fairly short play sessions and that usually doesn't mesh up with grouping. What seems to work best for me when doing joint stuff is generally random. Doing a dungeon and just so happen to run into another player doing the same and usually just informally help each other through. This is when Buffy's templar healing more resembles 'random acts of kindness'. We enjoy doing the same with dolmans and outdoor world bosses. Dunno if all that makes sense.

Actually, all that makes absolutely perfect sense! That is exactly what I've been doing all along in ESO.

But grouping like this let me (and Alise/Mazul) knock a few things off our to-do lists. I was glad of the timing, as I am off today so being up late last night wasn't a big deal. In fact thanks to our Champion, Mazul was able to find a few relics for the Orsimer Museum! Stuff that would have taken her ages to find as they are rather low on her list of priorities.

And hopefully she'll level up enough to get better armor . . .

No, she hasn't finished that Kill the King quest yet.

I just love hearing tales of friends getting together and random strangers turning out to be awesome.

I have a mic now (and have not had time to use it), but I've found that for me there is a big difference between talking to players and having my characters talk to other characters. In the difficult group content it would be a huge help to have verbal communication with the other players (while we are all getting slaughtered), but Jerric is not going to use my voice to say anything. I suspect that most of our communication will stay text. I've figured out how to use my phone as a keyboard for the PS4 which helps with the typing.

I'm in a similar situation to Acadian as far as having shorter stretches of play time with breaks in between. It's hard to plan anything in advance because stuff happens and I have to go deal with it. That makes me reluctant to try anything that you have to queue up in a group to access. On the plus side, the folks I've met who spend whole days off camped in ESO (and their days at work messaging guildies on the PSN app, lol) have been very forgiving when I say no or have to abruptly leave. I'm just careful that I don't commit to something that they need all players to complete.

Sharing dailies is a nice way to hook up with people. I do this in the Gold Coast a lot. If you plan it right you can each get a quest and then share it, so you double your rewards. By their nature the quests are fairly short with a natural break at the end. It's a good way to play together and still give each other space.

I agree with Grits - always cool to hear about friends adventuring together. You PC folks should make yourselves a guild, if you haven't got one already.

My main issue with talking to people online is that I'm on the EU server - about half of everyone I meet speaks french or german I usually communicate via emote if a random player decides to come and 'help'. It's usually Ciri that gets any attention. I wonder why...

This post has been edited by hazmick: Dec 5 2016, 07:37 PM

I have trouble reading the chat box in game, so prefer the TeamSpeak whenever possible; though in grouping with others the TeamSpeak is usually used strictly for strategy and tactics; planning and commands or calls for help rather than roleplay.

Aussie and I used to have a private Teamspeak and when we went to Cyrodiil together we used it just to talk to each other as friends while we went through Cyrodiil gathering skyshards; and many times we stayed on it and talked even long after the game was shut off - as if we were talking on the telephone, but without the high long distance charges since she lives in Tasmania.

Well, we don't have that private TeamSpeak anymore, and using the ones from the guild means you might be talking over someone else who needs combat strategies, so we have gone back to not chatting together unless we are able to find a private "room" for talking to each other. We normally do that while we are doing our writs or playing with each other. If I'm doing quests I prefer the silence, and turn off TeamSpeak so I can concentrate on the quest or fighting for my life, lol.

I do agree with grouping causing you to stay a lot longer than you may be comfortable doing in one session. I have had to learn to say no sometimes; and hope there are no hard feelings.

Mazul and I had another great marathon session in Wrothgar today. Again we met up with the same group from last night, and were able to get the last of the sky shards, clear the western end of the map, and our Champion also gave Mazul some pretty high end armor that is far beyond what she is able to craft (one of his toons knowns nine traits). She now has Level 46 armor that is a mixture of Hunding's Rage (chest, helm), Song of Lamae (shoulders, hands, legs, feet and girdle) and Veiled Inheritance (necklace, both rings). It has really boosted her stats and looks awesome on her.

We cleared Old Orsinium and picked up a few relics from that end of the map, gathered the last three of the Wrothgar sky shards, battled another WB (the Nursery), and cleared a few delves. In the meantime, Mazul leveled up to 46 and was able to switch to the new armor. Fell in love with it immediately. Headed back to Orsinium to take on the Shield Wives and was able to dispatch them handily on her own. Then the Champion and Mazul teamed up again to take on the last stage of the Rebuilding Orsinium quest line. We have just five relics left to complete the museum collection, three side quests in Wrothgar, and two more dungeons/WB to clear. AAAAnd we now have not one, but TWO titles!

Mazul is a very happy girl tonight.

That armor is gorgeous!

Mazul looks fantastic! I love that armor on her. Congratulations, Hero of Wrothgar! Sounds like a very fun night.

Such fun to get a peek under Mazul's hood via her character screen! That armor does look great and sounds fabulous. I can see why she's so happy with it. Aww, what a nice tusky smile!

Wow, Mazul looks great! Congrats on the title!

Wrothgar is definitely something that would be easier to clear with friends - some of those World Bosses are difficult even with a group. I loved the museum stuff, it was pretty cool to see what sort of things Orsimer consider display-worthy.

I've been slowly (in 20 minute increments, lol) getting Jerric's crafters started on my laptop. The plan was for the Crown supply to buy stuff for Jerric and eventually Lil while the crafters shut up and did their daily work in Vulkhel Guard. The Nord lass has been so far amenable, only asking for one dress and the opportunity to fight at the local dolmen when that anchor drops. Also she likes the things I bought for Jerric, so she borrowed the horse (Kip) and an armor costume.

The Dunmeri maiden, however, requires her own stuff. When I set the adorable bantam guar as her pet, she showed me this. "I'm having the snake." So she bought the sep adder and named it Slither Lynn. The gorgeous palomino horse was "too Nordish." The dress I bought is "all right for big girls," meaning the strapping Nord lass Elke. Lleduri wants her own gown, to be chosen later. None of the gazillion hairstyles in the vanilla pack were good enough, so she bought a separate one and declared it her style. With all of this trouble, she'd better be an excellent Alchemist and Enchantress!

Grits, your struggles with your PC toons had me laughing! Elke sounds easy, but Lleduri sounds an awful lot like a certain lavender-eyed Dunmeri lass on a certain frozen island . . .

She is not alone in liking the sep adder, though. Julian likes that one. Unfortunately, the pet she really wants is not available - one of the Alik'r racing skinks. Those are adorable! In the meantime, she loves Bezo, her Northern Lynx, and won't give him up. Yet.

Alise thinks the Bantam Guar is cute. She actually has two, the Freckled Guar S'wit who hangs around Davon's Watch, and the little Bantam whom she named F'lah!. Of course, she has the Kagouti, N'wah! (natch) as well.

Mazul still refuses to ride Paint, and Spangles the Abacean Ratter is still her constant uninterested companion. In fact, after a knock-down drag out fight, before Mazul has a chance to catch her breath and shake off the shakes, Spangles will meow for dinner. Mazul just tells the cat to help herself, there's plenty of fresh meat to go around.

I'm glad in terms of wardrobes all my ladies are cool with whatever they can find/craft/receive. Though Alise has fallen in love with the Graht Climber's Active Wear (the halter and short wrap skirt combo). It suits her long, lean frame perfectly. Mazul likes the Regalia of the Orsimer King, but will save that for formal occasions. She prefers the new armor her fellow Orc Adventurer gave her yesterday.

Oh, and I love your Winter Camp screenie of the month!

Grits, good luck getting everyone settled in to PC NA. Let me know when Jerric would like his life time supply of bait delivered by a little blond elf. Oh noes! Don’t eat the bantam guar!

Rider, I’ve been meaning to ask you about the Abecean Ratter. I have the white spotted cat and the problem is that it ever so frequently gets stuck in a running animation. It will follow Buffy and when Buffy stops, the cat will stop and continue its running animation in place. It looks horribly goofy and happens enough to disqualify the cat. Do you have the same problem with the brown one? Buffy likes the snake as well but when it jumps up to grab a bug the skittish elf thinks someone is attacking and instinctively responds – too distracting. The little winged pixie nixad is neat as well with loads of personality but hovers distractingly right in Buffy’s firing line too often. Kitune the Fennic Fox is not in jeopardy – she is always there, totally unobtrusive and the only sounds she makes are adorable little squeaks. As much as I like many of the pets, Kitsune’s the keeper.

Buffy loves the costumes as well and really likes that she can dye them - I think that is an ESO+ perk. The real beauty of the costumes is they all fit in a magical wardrobe of unlimited size! Woot! Also really like the ability (via the crown hair pack) to change hairstyles as easily as outfits.

Mazul looks so brute and mean too . . . not a woman someone would want to mess with. I love her outfit. And all of you guys are lucky to ride beasts and have animal companions. Sandor and Irvana need their own too feet to get from point A to point B. I am so glad they aren't cripples.

Speaking of which Sandor walked the entire Morrowind to get to Skyrim because there were no easy options of fast travel transportation to use. But fortunate for him he made it to level 10 and well, was able to explore Cyrodiil quite a bit . . . and get into impossible confrontations with level five-hundred million players!!

Bubba just got owned there by a bunch of Ebonheart Pact players, lol.