Summerset Chapter Topic, Chapter 2's Spoilery Discussion Options

[monkeyemoness]

Since ZOS placed a more lenient NDA on Summerset--restricting it entirely to the main quest past the first one--I figure it's okay to talk about what goes on in the land of the Altmer.

I couldn't save many screenshots because my antivirus program blocked the PTS from making screenshots, but I managed to save these two:

Jo'zira's favorite spot so far.
Many colors!

I took these in the southeastern corner of the island. Though I deeply detest how cowardly the Altmer's architecture designed, it's almost made up by how vibrant the rest of the island is, even the creatures!

Though the flora is mostly the same across the entire island, there's no shortage of different environments to explore. And holy hell, the island is actually pretty big! I was worried there wouldn't be enough of a tropical feel like Auridon (though its beaches did invoke that somewhat) but man, it was unfounded.

I haven't actually done many quests, mostly I just stuck to exploring and activating the Psijiic skill line. I also looked at jewelry crafting. It sure is...well, crafting I guess? People on the official forums have been saying that the nodes are really rare but I haven't had much trouble finding them, even on Summerset. I think the hardest part will be getting the new traits, especially at first.

Anyways, that's most of what I have to say right now. I'd say I'm pleasantly surprised, but tbh? This is pretty much my experience with ESO. The architecture is bad, but everything else is great. (No spoilers of that kind until May 1!)

This post has been edited by monkeyemoness: Apr 21 2018, 12:38 AM

[Acadian]

Wow, the pics look beautiful! I'm so tired of giant mushrooms and gray rock with lava. . . .

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Wow, the pics look beautiful! I'm so tired of giant mushrooms and gray rock with lava. . . .

Nice pics Monk! Jo looks quite at home there!

[monkeyemoness]

Wow, the pics look beautiful! I'm so tired of giant mushrooms and gray rock with lava. . . .

Summerset swaps them out for colorful trees and flowers and massive coral skeletons. Some even look like mushrooms themselves. :U
Even the water is a bright blue.

Nice pics Monk! Jo looks quite at home there!

He is! Even if he is fully aware of how...unwelcoming the majority of the Altmer there are. (I don't think this counts as a spoiler, because I think it's to be expected. Time to swap out "Outlander" for "Nebarra")

This post has been edited by monkeyemoness: Apr 21 2018, 07:49 PM

[monkeyemoness]

Oh nice! They're adding Jewelry stuff into the PTS templates now. (Surveys, master writs, etc). Gonna try those out in a bit, and check out the daily log-in rewards.

[ghastley]

Well that was annoying. They re-copied the PTS when they did the latest patch, and wiped out Minx. I had to start her again. She got started in Summerset, and I couldn't find anyone to certify her for crafting until she went back to the mainland. That could be a bug, of course.

[Acadian]

Do we know yet whether we can craft jewelry that is part of existing crafted sets (like Julianos, Seducers, etc)?

Because of the jewelry limitations, I feel obliged to run a crafted set and a dropped set to get two full sets. In some cases I would actually like to run two full crafted sets - but gotta be able to make the jewelry for the set to do that.

[ghastley]

Do we know yet whether we can craft jewelry that is part of existing crafted sets (like Julianos, Seducers, etc)?

Because of the jewelry limitations, I feel obliged to run a crafted set and a dropped set to get two full sets. In some cases I would actually like to run two full crafted sets - but gotta be able to make the jewelry for the set to do that.

I've only come across "standard" crafting stations, not attuned ones, so that's no hint. The existing dropped jewelry can't be deconstructed or improved at the stations, so the half-way situation seems to be ruled out (get a green drop and bump it up yourself). I'm guessing there will be more jewelry-only sets of less than five pieces, like the one- and two-piece sets from the level-ups, but I'm not far enough along to find out. There are new traits to learn for jewels only, and of course new materials to go with them.

There's too much new stuff for me, as I'm getting Morrowind exposure for the first time, too.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Apr 24 2018, 07:14 PM

[monkeyemoness]

Do we know yet whether we can craft jewelry that is part of existing crafted sets (like Julianos, Seducers, etc)?

Because of the jewelry limitations, I feel obliged to run a crafted set and a dropped set to get two full sets. In some cases I would actually like to run two full crafted sets - but gotta be able to make the jewelry for the set to do that.

I've only come across "standard" crafting stations, not attuned ones, so that's no hint. The existing dropped jewelry can't be deconstructed or improved at the stations, so the half-way situation seems to be ruled out (get a green drop and bump it up yourself). I'm guessing there will be more jewelry-only sets of less than five pieces, like the one- and two-piece sets from the level-ups, but I'm not far enough along to find out. There are new traits to learn for jewels only, and of course new materials to go with them.

You totally can craft jewelry from existing sets, and new stations have been added in every set crafting station (I visited the Alik'r Song of Lamae site myself to fulfil one of the Master Jewelry Writs I mentioned earlier). I can also confirm that attuneable stations exist. You get them from the new lady next to the mastercraft merchant. Same rules apply as with armor and weapons as far as trait research goes.

I can also confirm that you can improve existing jewelry, but I confess that I haven't attempted it with set jewelry yet. It does work with jewelry dropped from quests, like the necklace from the end of the main quest and the first half of Craglorn, but those predate the implementation of overland sets.

=

Anyways, neat thing about the Jewelry Surveys:


That aside, has anyone on live managed to start the Summerset preview quest from the Auridon mages guild instead of using the Crown Store? Jo'zira did it on live, but in the PTS it seems that no one can unless they're in the Aldmeri Dominion. (I tried it with Lucius, and Vanus showed up, but he didn't show when I tried with Hates or Dravean, both being in the Ebonheart Pact)

It's something I'll have to try myself later, but it is curious.

[ghastley]

My failure to improve may have been lack of materials, but of course that's partly down to not being able to deconstruct much.

I did not go back to check the existing areas to see if the attuned stations had been added. Guildhall is just too convenient! I was just trying to find one on Summerset itself, without knowing where to look.

Same rules apply as with armor and weapons as far as trait research goes.

You'll be starting that research from scratch, of course. So the time to nine traits will be just as bad.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Apr 24 2018, 07:48 PM

[Acadian]

Oh that's good news that you can craft jewelry for existing sets! Thanks for the info/update!

[ghastley]

Some more details of jewel crafting are starting to make sense.

Any jewelry you have now can't be deconstructed, but drops after it goes live will all be deconstructible. I.e a new item will replace the old one in the spawn list, but not in your inventory/bank. That will be independent of whether you personally have the Summerset chapter, so you can get a (new) ring, pass it to a guild-mate who has "the power" and they'll be able to extract it. And they can make you a set piece ring, even if you can't.

I believe the stations will be there all over the map for everyone, but players without the chapter just won't be able to activate them. That's hard to test, of course. Places with all three equipment stations should be getting the extra one (attuned or not), I gather, but there may be exceptions, intentional or otherwise.

It appears that jewel crafting cannot be a character's first skill, but I forgot to test if you need to have all the other skill lines or just one of them. I couldn't find Mellinith or Danel Telleno on Summerset, but others claim they're there. They may appear at some character level, or be gated by reading a note, or something. It's totally unclear, and I couldn't find it in the patch notes.

I couldn't put a Jewel station into the inn room using the housing editor (all the rest are available), so they could be voucher-only. The patch notes imply that, but don't say it that way There's a new NPC (Faustina Curio) who provides them - 125 vouchers normal, 250 attunable.

I haven't looked to see if Felarion - the NPC who certifies you for jewel writs - is in the same cities as Mellinith and Danel. The reverse did not seem to be true for me, so he'll likely be in Alinor only.

[monkeyemoness]

You have to reach level 6 before you can start the base game Crafting Writs, so Millenith and Danel won't show up until then. Not sure if the same is true for Jewelry Writs, but you DO have to go to Alinor to activate them through whatshisface Felarion. Otherwise it's the same as any other skill: activating the crafting table will enable the skill line.

Also I completely forgot the guildhall is in the PTS, too lol

Anyways, I confirmed that you only ever get Vanus to appear and offer you the Summerset preview quest if you're in the Aldmeri Dominion, both on live and the PTS. I'm guessing it's because the Summerset questline is heavily AD-based? Odd, considering Wrothgar made it a point to have the questline be neutral while Vvardenfell didn't seem to say one way or another.

This time around we got a character with a clear allegiance to his alliance play a large role in the questline. At least as far as I played. Could be that he backs off as the Daedric Plot unfolds and the Psijiic Order is more prominent?

Morrowind spoilers


I've heard that this questline is "the best yet" more than once, so either way I can't wait to play all of it when it goes live. I do admit that the writing I've seen so far worries me, as it touches on what I talked about in the General Discussion topic. (That they seem to be writing these so that you can play them in any order, and barely account for you having done previous content.)

[monkeyemoness]

Mini update: more than a few of the vanilla voice actors returned and that makes me happy. :v

[ghastley]

You have to reach level 6 before you can start the base game Crafting Writs, so Millenith and Danel won't show up until then.

This was likely the issue. I'd created Minx before the latest patch and had to create her again, and probably forgot that it dropped her back down in levels, and I probably skipped things I'd done with the first incarnation, so she was lower level at the same point. I'd imagine that the trip back to the mainland added discovery experience sufficient to bump her past 6.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Apr 26 2018, 05:03 PM

[ghastley]

Making a note for myself.

I need to make a new greatsword for Unna, to see if the two-slot change works the way I expect. One of her current ones is a set piece, so I can quickly confirm if that remains one-slot as I expect. If I get Laurie to make her a jewelry+greatsword set I can find out how that runs.

What would be a good mix with her Hunding's armour?

[Grits]

ghastley, I have used Night Mother’s Gaze with a full set of Hunding’s for the 3 and 4 piece bonuses, but there might be a better choice for the 5 piece bonus. I haven’t gotten far enough in the process to look into two full crafted sets.

monkey, Darnand (DC) just started Through a Veil Darkly by talking to Vanus Galerion in the Daggerfall MG on the live server. Many thanks for mentioning that these quests can be started without using the Crown Store.

I created Anina on the PTS and got her to level 6, then picked up the quests to start crafting writs including jewelry in Alinor. Jewelry crafting looks like it’s going to be the mother of all grinds. Elke will start researching traits right away, but I suspect it will be a long time before she can do anything useful with it.

So far I love the landscape and critters. I’m saving the rest for when it goes live.

[monkeyemoness]

monkey, Darnand (DC) just started Through a Veil Darkly by talking to Vanus Galerion in the Daggerfall MG on the live server. Many thanks for mentioning that these quests can be started without using the Crown Store.

Ah! Of course! I didn't think to look in their own Alliance's MG hall. Good to know!

Also for those wondering, there doesn't seem to be a lead-up quest after Through a Veil Darkly that directs you to Summerset, at least currently. It seems that you're just supposed to get on a boat on your own without any handholding. :v

[ghastley]

monkey, Darnand (DC) just started Through a Veil Darkly by talking to Vanus Galerion in the Daggerfall MG on the live server. Many thanks for mentioning that these quests can be started without using the Crown Store.

I've also had that quest in Daggerfall with Laurie (DC). Could it be that it's only in your starting Alliance?

Night Mother's Gaze may be just the set Unna will try. We won't be able to have great jewelry, but the sword may make up for that. She has a full set of Sword Singer to compare against.

Edit: The problem is that we need to research six traits of jewelry before we can make those pieces. On two items, ring and amulet, and Laurie can only do one at her level. With the materials being a real grind, and no obvious supply of jewelry to deconstruct, it may take a while. She did make a greatsword for Unna, but the other three slots have to wait. The good news is that pre-Summerset set two-handers fill two slots. Unna had one, and got the benefit straight away.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Apr 27 2018, 04:04 AM

[monkeyemoness]

So one last thing about the story before May 1st, because I got as far as I'm going to want to get. I'm probably pushing my luck already so it's as vague as I can make it: I'm really, REALLY glad that the questline touches on a lot of the ideas I incorporated into the original "ending" of my group's story.

That ending was conceived before the Imperial City DLC was even announced, so things have changed a lot since then, but seeing them in-game is so...validating. (Disclaimer: I probably didn't even get halfway through the Chapter's main quest.)

This post has been edited by monkeyemoness: Apr 27 2018, 06:18 PM