Ever since I saw the first character gen video I've had my heart set on a pot-bellied Argonian mage with blue feathers called He-Knows. Or maybe Picks-His-Nose. Either way he will have narrow shoulders, ample thighs, and a mead gut. I haven't read enough about classes and whatnot to predict anything else.
What are your ideas? What characters have you already made?
How about Scratches-His-Privates for a name? Or Rubs-His-Butt
Why not Polishes-His-Spear?
Itch-Under-His-Tail
Always-He-Scratches
Love the Argonian names
Well I will not be playing ESO, or certainly not for a long time, but ever since I saw the weight-slider for the character gen that actually affected fatness and not muscle-mass or boob size (I'm looking at you Skyrim) I have been inspired to make a plump, pompous Imperial noble wanna be adventurer.
He would be the plump and witless second son of a rich Imperial, possibly a count, driven by a lust for adventure and fame. He would be short and round, wielding a two-handed sword and wearing the most elaborate plate armour he could find. He would have absolutely no magical talent whatsoever and would also lack any crafting skills, despite being well-educated. He would also be hopeless in combat and run-away a lot.
Only two problems:
1. I can't imagine deliberately making a character who sucks at everything in an MMO with PvP etc.
2. Can you play as an Imperial????
You can play an Imperial if you pre-purchase the Imperial edition. Also that gets you a pet crab, a white horse, a book that I want more than the game, and some other stuff.
I’ve watched some videos and so far creating the characters looks like the most fun. The game looks very… game-y. But it looks like my mage Sits-When-He-Pees (thanks, Jerric! ) should be a Sorcerer so he can summon that cute clannfear. Although it seemed that you can’t pick up weapons and staves and robes from dead NPCs? Maybe that’s an MMO thing or maybe the players I watched didn’t want that stuff. Who knows.
I might also just buy some colored pencils, draw my dinosaur mage, and then spent the rest of the money on a road trip.
I’d love to hear about character building if anyone cares to share. I haven’t gotten very far reading on other forums before gagging on the terminology, but it seems that the Nightblade class is recommended for solo play? Turned into a Nightbow, perhaps.
I am wondering if multi-classing is possible? I find the four classes to be very restrictive, being able to branch out into a second class would be helpful.
Buffy needs bow, stealth and some magicks to compensate for no melee. From casually studying the build possibilities on paper I see a couple possibilities:
Bosmer of course for both RP and bow value.
Then I'm considering nightblade, which has plenty of stealth and what seems like illusion - but enough to avoid melee entirely?
The other class I'm considering is sorcerer. Probably conjuration to back up the bow. The concern here is that the Bosmer's stealth (without nightblade help) would be stealthy enough.
The nightblade gets some nice melee boosts that would be a total waste. The sorcerer's other boosts like utility magicks otoh would be helpful.
My gut says Bosmer sorceress to build my mystic archer but I'm not sure.
I am in a similar boat with the two characters I would want to play most, Persephone and Teresa.
Persephone is first and foremost a melee fighter with a greatsword. So the Dragonknight seems most suitable, as that is the main melee tank class. But she also summons her undead Darryl friends. I could go Conjurer instead. She could still use a greatsword and fight in melee. She would just lose out on all the fighter-specific buffs, and thusly not be a very good fighter. Worse, I would be forced to summon Daedra. Persephone would never do that, she only summons undead, because she is undead. The Darryls are her old friends, literally. So Persephone is just unworkable as an ESO character.
Teresa is in a similar boat. She could go Conjurer instead of a more combat/stealth oriented class. But again, Teresa does not summon Daedra. She summons animals. They are her friends. So she is unworkable as an ESO character.
I’d like to play Channah as a Nightblade. I saw some Redguard hair I like. It’s all about the hair.
I think that summoning would be important backup for the solo stealth character. Thankfully the clannfears are cute. I’m amazed that there’s no undead summoning. What the heck! Isn’t Mannimarco a big player in one of this game’s conflicts?
I will say I was happy and excited to hear you could summon clannfears. Luv them!
That would be kind of my first (ignorant) cut at Buffy: Bosmeri archer with sorcerer class who conjures Spike the clannfear. My concern is would she be stealthy enough. I'd think (hope) so.
It’s taking me forever to learn about character building. I think that Jerric is versatile enough that I could play him as anything with a ranged magic attack and a shield, but I wouldn’t bring him to ESO unless I knew he could really inhabit the world. I mean, the man needs to sleep. Funny how the oddest things can be the deal-breaker.
I also haven’t seen any talk about frost magic for players. Maybe that’s in a future expansion along with the missing player necromancy.
I think my chubby Saxhleel librarian will work as a Sorcerer. It seems that you really can play any race with any class, it’s just not discussed much due to the typical optimized/viable/PvP /min-max MMO player focus.
My first guess at Lil is Nightblade who doesn’t use blades and runs away a lot. She turns her back every time the ESO subject comes up, which is no surprise. It took her years to come to Skyrim. Illusion spells are the deal-breaker for her. Also I still don’t know how stealth works. Is it a skill tree that becomes available if you sneak, or are stealth skills tied to a class?
I think the stealth skills are all exclusive to the Nightblade class. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Shadow. Looking at http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Skills, the only other sneaky thing I see is http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Legerdemain. Anyone can take those. It looks more like you get them as rewards for stealing and the like, rather than actually assigning ranks when you level up.
That’s a great link for skills, thank you!
There’s a Summon Shade ability in the Nightblade’s Shadow tree, which is the only non-Daedric, non-Sorcerer summoning I’ve found so far. Good news for Nightbows.
One thing I do like about ESO is how the characters look. Bethesda seems to have a tradition of intentionally trying to make our characters ugly. In Oblivion the face textures were all blotchy, and your Redguard character inevitably wound up with green skin somewhere. In Skyrim everyone had a square checkerboard pattern on their face, not to mention the elves with the way out of whack proportions. Then with Dawnguard they decided that everyone's vampire character looked too good, and they made them all have buttcrack faces. Except of course for Serana, the flagship vampire NPC who Bethesda wanted everyone to like. They made sure she looked good by making her a different race!
But now that Bethesda is not making the game, we can actually create a decent looking character without using mods. http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/90128/a-comprehensive-character-creation-guide gives some good examples of what you can do. Seriously, why couldn't we make a character that looks like http://s27.postimg.org/yqhs4ap5v/Final.png in Skyrim? Or a High Elf who looks like http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/o492/narostel/4mouth_zps89e46ff1.png
The thing I don't like is that from what I have read, once you have created your character, you can never go back and change their appearance. Not even their hairstyle or lipstick. Given that in every video game ever made your characters never look the same in the game as they do in the character generation, this is really annoying. I have already ranted about having to restart my Mass Effect 1 character dozens of times and sit through that game's interminable opening cinematics. So if you do not like how your character looks you will have to delete the character and start over from scratch.
And I wonder how long the game holds on to your old name after you delete a character before it allows it to be used again? Is it available instantly? Or does it take time for the server to update and realize the name is no longer in use? I guess if I am playing Persephone The 14th Dead, you will know I had to create her fourteen times.
Grits, it looks like if you take the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Destruction_Staff, you can do either frost, fire, or shock damage. But there is a different staff for each. So if you have a Frost Staff you can only do frost damage, and so on. I am not sure how you get the staves. Maybe you can pick one at character generation if you take the skill?
Here is an interesting article on character builds:
EDIT: Oh crap, it is an ad, sorry.
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Okay, here are some links, I hope they work but if they don't (let me know and I'll copy the page and paste it on here):
Solo Gameplay:
If you solo, you will want to allocate your skills a little more wisely. Solo players usually level more quickly then group players but it will not be easy in Cyrodiil if you PvE.
Solo players will also have a tougher experience in dungeons, more time & more deaths. These issues can be overcome as long as your skills are used properly.
** As you level your weapon you will achieve new skills that will increase your weapon’s efficiency.
Stamina Trees, Health and Magicka are also found in Elder Scrolls Online. It’s your choice how to use points. You can use them to increase several attributes or use them all for only one.
You are able to develop your own build which allows you to create a unique character with a unique distribution of your points depending on how you play.
The Elder Scrolls Online Classes combine with many options to allow for really interesting build possibilities.
Class Abilities & Skills:
Each of the classes have abilities & skills. You can select up to six for use at any given time and they can be changed on the fly to adapt to different situations. Unique selections of ESO class skills and abilities are obviously the way you will set your character apart from others within your class.
Armor:
You can use any combination of armor when equipping your character, regardless of which of the four classes you decide to go with.
Light Armor: Provides bonuses to spell damage and magicka regeneration.
Medium Armor: Improves stamina based abilities like sprinting, dodging and sneaking.
Heavy Armor: Provides bonuses to healing received and damage absorption.
Skill lines:
Selecting the best combinations of ESO Skills and Abilities to build your character:
With so many choices and combinations, knowing each skill tree is imperative! You’ll first want to decide on your Race and Class as these will be the backbone of your character’s skills.
Each of the four classes offer 3 unique skill lines that cannot be acquired unless that class is chosen.
All ten races also retain their own unique set of Racial Bonuses which also cannot be obtained any other way.
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Players will need to explore Tamriel to unlock the world, alliance and crafting skills.
Joining a guild is the only way to acquire guild skills.
You can select any of the six weapons skill lines and any armor regardless of your chosen class/race.
The character creation process is time consuming and can be confusing as all options must be considered if you are to create a well preforming character to suit your specific tastes.
There are literally millions of different potential builds, so try to leave no stone unturned when considering skill lines.
TIP:
Active abilities must be placed on (and can only be activated from) the hotbar and require an ‘action’ by the player to be activated. There is no ‘action’ required for passive abilities. Put skill point into a passive ability and you will receive the eternal benefits of those abilities automatically!
Races:
Race Builds:
http://www.esouniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Racial-Comparison.jpg
Here is the pages of individual races I'm linking to, if they don't work let me know and I'll copy paste the info here:
http://www.esouniverse.com/skill-lines/races/
Classes:
Sorcerer/Sorceress:
The Sorcerer is the one class in ESO that can be great at almost anything! The versatile Sorc can be built to heal, tank, DPS and take down single targets easily and is definitely a favorite for both PvE and PvP! Sorcerers with a top notch build have amazing speed, well ranged abilities, high weapon damage and use magic spells and skills to control, weaken & destroy their enemies.
If you enjoy playing the mage play style, the Elder Scrolls Online Sorcerer is the one for you! The Sorcerer skill lines are Dark Magic, Daedric Summoning and Storm Calling.
Dark Magic is primarily used in a support role providing crowd control and debuffs which allows others to deal the damage and finish off the enemy. There are a few damage dealing spells in the Dark Magic tree.
Daedric Summoning skills allow you to call in different creatures and minions to come help deal damage and curse the enemies for you.
Storm Calling is the offensive, damage dealing skill tree giving you the power of lightening to inflict massive damage!
Gearing up your Sorcerer in Elder Scrolls Online:
You need to select, combine, test and tweak your skills and weapons/armor until you’ve come up with a unique and viable build. The good thing about having so many options is that we CAN come up with a build that no other player has.
Destruction Staves are a favorite weapon of ESO Sorcerer builds; but many builds use a bow and various weapons are used on swap.
Light armor and medium armor is the choice for most builds since the Sorcerer relies heavily on Magicka regeneration and spell damage but other playstyle builds use medium and heavy armor.
Increasing your Magicka is where most of your points will go to fuel your spell casting. many builds will require points in Stamina and health as well. Some skills in the Dark Magic tree will help you will keeping your health pool bigger.
Use only light armor and a staff if you’re strictly a spell caster. If you’re going to use weapons and spells you might want to throw in some medium armor.
Heavy armor (and a couple light pieces) and shield is for those who want to tank. Heavy armor helps out with health so you’re able to withstand a bit more damage.
Templar:
Whether you’re planning your ESO Templar build as a God-like healer, a heavy tank, optimized for max DPS or a good Templar leveling build; you'll need to choose all the right skills, skill rotations, armor.
The combinations and options seem endless, but if you spend a lot of time testing and tweaking your build choices, it will pay off with a strong character that will allow you to max up your DPS potential or be the healer your group can’t play without!
It takes patience and time to develop a perfect Templar build for your play style.
Templar Leveling Builds:
Leveling builds are designed to use ranged AoE attacks, efficiently utilizing both Stamina and Magicka for damage dealing, self healing and farming. Many builds use the Sun Fire skill line for the DoT, range and snare which is very effective.
Reflective Light Morph can eliminate most mobs before they give you trouble. Others prefer to use a variety of other skills.
A mix of weapons are used such as bows, destruction and restoration staffs, 2 handed, bows, etc. Medium and heavy armor are mostly used with leveling builds for Templar.
Templar Healing Builds:
Templar healers can take advantage of the many healing abilities from the Restoration skill line and will need an enormous amount of Magicka! 2 handed sword, bow and staffs are all good weapons so it’s just a matter of personal preference.
Many top healing builds use a sword or bow! Rapid Regen, Breath of Life and Lingering Ritual are great skills of healing yourself and allies.
Templar DPS Builds:
Templars have strong self healing capabilities, even without the restoration staff and surviving should be your first base to cover when building a High DPS Templar character.
The next issue you’ll want to tackle is sustaining enough Magicka. Since most of Templar’s abilities cost Magicka, if you’re in long battles or need to burst out lots of damage, you will need to sustain Magicka regeneration or you can’t sustain DPS.
Most skills for DPS builds are from the Aedric’s Spear skill tree and some from Dawn’s Wrath. 2 Handed, bows & sword and shield are all good weapons for this play-style.
Creating top level ESO Templar builds takes time, trial & error - and sometimes frustration.
Templar is the best healing ESO class due to the fact that they are the only one of the four classes with healing skills built in. The other three must use healing staff which is less effective. But that is not their only strength.
Templars have devastating DPS and most of it is either AoE or can be morphed to AoE which makes them great for PvP and PvE.
Templar’s ability to instantly self-heal AND the Aedric Spear passive (increases block amount vs melee attacks) makes them perfect Tanks.
They can have all 3 at once and lose very little effectiveness in any of the three. However, you should not use all 3 at once since it will use up all of your resources.
The best races for Templar are Bretons, Orc, High Elves, Argonians, Dunmer, Nords and Imperials.
Templar is best when using One-Hand and Shield, Dual Wield, Bow and restoration staff as weapon selections.
Light or Heavy armor is best for use with the Templar.
Dragon Knight:
This class is chosen by players for a variety of roles. Most players build a melee DPS or heavy tank using the Dragonknight, although Dragonknights can also be very effective as ranged damage dealers and support/healing
roles.
The Dragonknight is loaded with tanking skills which allows for a huge variety of strong builds. Creating the ultimate Dragonknight build isn’t easy, even if you’re familiar with the class skills!
Elder Scrolls Online Dragonknight Builds:
Most Dragonknights take advantage of heavy armor for solid protection from enemy spells & attacks. If you have a Veteran Rank build in mind that requires the use of light and/or medium armor, of course do that but if you’re going for a good tanking build stick with heavy armor.
Use Helpful Tanking Passives for Dragonknight and use as many as you can afford.
It may be difficult creating and/or optimizing your Dragonknight; it takes to build, test and optimize a Dragonknight. You may have to stop playing to adjust and test your build till you find the perfect fit.
For tank builds, many players choose 1 handed weapon and shield. As a tank, you will need a shield for blocking and mitigating damage. Many tank builds also use 2 handed weapons, check out all the weapon skills. If you’re role will be a ranged caster or support, staffs are preferred.
Tanks should be focusing their skill points on Stamina and Health. If you plan to be a more offensive character, you’ll need more Magicka.
Tanks with need to dodge, block and evade some a large supply of Stamina is very important.
The Best Two-Handed DPS + Leveling ESO Dragonknight Build? You can use any weapons you want, even for a tank build but the 2 handed works very well with any tanking build and you can quickly switch weapons to allow your DK to play between higher DPS and tanking.
Building a strong Dragonknight that can successfully fill their role isn’t quick or easy. If you’re not leveling as fast as you think you should be; are under-powered; finding it difficult to gain skill points or keep your resource pools full = any of these are signs your build might need tweaking.
Nightblade:
The Nightblade is the ultimate stealth/assassin class. It has a wide spectrum of skills and abilities ranging from:
The Assassination skill tree (which provides the Nightblade with many offensive abilities allowing you to deal heavy damage to enemies);
The Siphoning tree (used for sucking power, speed and health from enemies);
And the Shadow skill tree (for stealth and ranged attacks).
Regardless of which play style you choose for your ESO nightblade build, your build effects how well and how fast you level; if you’re able to kill groups of mobs; and how much help you will be in dungeons.
Nightblade Healing Builds:
Strong potions abilities coupled with several of the healing abilities from the Siphoning skill tree enhances and maxes out the effects.
Siphoning is for taking the Magicka, Health, Stamina and speed from your enemies and using it for yourself.
Magicka & Stamina regeneration along with bonuses for using medium armor will help enhance your Nightblade healing build.
Nightblade Tanking Builds:
Tanks need great AoE attacks and must take full advantage of Nightblade’s stealthy Shadowing skills. You will need lots of stamina and be readily able to replenish health and Stamina.
You will use all or mostly heavy armor unless you are VR and have unlocked all your skills, where, if built right, you could actually use all light armor as a tank!
Lotus Fan, Blur, Surprise Attack, Refreshing Path & Dark Shades are just some of the great Nightblade skills used for tanking builds. What could make a better tank than a tank who never runs out of resources?
Nightblade DPS Builds:
The Assassin and Siphon skill lines will be the source of a DPS Nightblade’s damage. Nightblades can first use abilities from the Siphon line to damage and weaken enemies before using Assassin abilities to finish the job. Some of the best Siphoning skills for a great Nightblade
DPS build are Strife, Drain Power, Soul Shred and Agony. Haste and Death Stroke from Assassination line are amazing skills as is Assassin’s Blades’ Mark Target!
Nightblade strategies and builds, spell rotations, skill lines, abilities, and morphs.
Here is gear suggestions to help aid the Player:
http://www.esomasteryguides.com/best-veteran-rank-gear/
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Wow, thanks mALX! Lots to consider when making a character it seems.
So weapon skills are separate from class skills and stuff? That's a relief. I was worried that I'd get locked into being a staff-wielding, robe-wearing mage just so I could use conjuration summoning.
Looks like Haa-Rei will fit into ESO just fine
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Okay, here are the race special abilities:
Imperial:
SHIELD AFFINITY = Increases experience gain with One-handed/Shield skill line
RED DIAMOND = Melee attacks have chance to restore health
CONDITIONING = Increases max stamina
TOUGH = Increases maximum health
Templar and Dragonknight are the best classes for Imperial builds!
Nord:
2 HANDED EXPERTISE = Increases the experience gain with the Two-Handed Weapon skill line.
ROBUST = Increases Health regeneration while in combat.
RESIST FROST = Increases Cold Resistance. Increases maximum health.
RUGGED = Increases Armor
Dragonknight & Templar are the best classes for Nord builds!
Bosmer:
ARCHERY EXPERTISE = Increases experience gain with the Bow Skill line
VIGOR = Increases Stamina recovery while in combat
RESIST AFFLICTION = Increases poison & disease resistance and Increases max Stamina
STEALTHY = Improves Stealth radius and Increases damage done while in Stealth
Nightblade and Dragonknight are the two best classes for Bosmer Builds!
Argonian:
RESTORATION EXPERTISE = Increases experience gain with the Restoration Skill line.
AMPHIBIOUS = Increases swimming speed by 50% and the effectiveness of potions.
ARGONIAN RESISTANCE = Increases maximum Health by 1% and Poison & Disease resistance.
QUICK TO MEND = Increases healing received.
Templar, Nightblade and Dragonknight are the best classes for Argonian Builds!
Altmer:
DESTRUCTION TALENT = Increases experience gain with the Destruction Staff skill line
SPELLCHARGE = Increases Magicka recovery while in combat
GIFT OF MAGNUS = Increases maximum Magicka
ELEMENTAL TALENT = Increases damage with Cold, Fire or Shock effects
Sorcerer and Templar are considered the best classes for High Elves!
Breton:
LIGHT ARMOR AFFINITY = Increases experience gain with Light Armor
GIFT OF MAGNUS = Increases max Magicka
SPELL RESISTANCE = Increase spell resistance
MAGICKA MASTERY = Reduces Magicka cost of spells
The Best Classes For ESO Breton Builds are Sorcerer and Templar
Khajiit:
MED ARMOR EXPERTISE = Increases experience gain with Medium Armor Skill line
ROBUST = Increases Health regeneration while in combat
STEALTHY = Improves Stealth radius. Increases damage done while Stealthed
CARNAGE = Increases Critical rating for melee attacks and damage done by successful Critical Hits
The Best Classes For Khajiit Builds Are The Sorcerer & The Nightblade
Redguard:
SHIELD AFFINITY = Increases experience gain with One-Handed/Shield skill line
VIGOR = Increases Stamina recovery while in combat
CONDITIONING = Increases maximum Stamina
ADRENALINE RUSH = Restores 1 Stamina when damaging an enemy with Melee attack
The Best Classes for Redguard builds are Dragonknight and Nightblade
Dunmer:
AMBIDEXTERITY = Increases experience gain with the Dual Wield skill line
DYNAMIC = Increases max Magicka and Stamina
RESIST FLAME = Increases Fire Resistance and Increases max Magicka
FLAME TALENT = Increases Spell Power with fire effects
Recommended Best Classes for ESO Dunmer builds are Sorcerer and Dragonknight
Orc:
HVY ARMOR EXPERTISE = Increases experience gain with Heavy Armor Skill line
BRAWNY = Increases max Health and Stamina
ROBUST = Increases Health regeneration while in combat
SWIFT = Reduces Sprint cost & increase Sprint speed
Best Classes For Orc Builds Are Templar & Dragonknight
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Here are the spells available by Class (that are selected while leveling up) and their descriptions if that will help in choosing which class will best suit your character's needs:
http://elderscrollsonline.info/templar
http://elderscrollsonline.info/sorcerer
http://elderscrollsonline.info/dragon-knight
http://elderscrollsonline.info/nightblade
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I've been wondering too about whether you can buy spells that are not a part of your class via the Mages Guild or traders?
The answer is YES!
Q: Will spells only be tied to staves and classes, or will we see fireballs, ebonyflesh, illusions, and other spells given to us through the Mages Guild or other skill lines? – By Taylor Montgomery
A: You will definitely get spells from places other than just the class skill lines.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT !!!!
Here is that Q & A session:
http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/2013/08/26/ask-us-anything-variety-pack-6
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Mages Guild spells:
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Mages_Guild_(Online)
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That was very helpful, mALX! I see now that the nightblade magicks are fairly robust. Heavy on stealth, illusion and with just a touch of conjuration. Sounds good!
Thank you very much, mALX! This is a treasure trove of useful information.
I still like the Nightblade class for my Redguard ranger. There is probably some overlap with the bow skill line/tree/whatever they’re calling it, so I need to do some more reading. I think I saw somewhere that you can reallocate points if you change your mind, but I don’t remember the cost or the mechanism.
The Backlash ability from the Templar class Dawn’s Wrath skill line finally got Jerric’s attention. A quote from http://elderscrollsonline.info/backlash:
“Backlash is Templar’s ability that can be learned in Dawn’s Wrath school. When a Templar activates the spell all damage he receives stores up. After the effect ends enemies takes additional damage.
The ability works great when you get attacked by several opponents. You should try to receive more damage in order to return received damage to enemies. It may seem a little crazy, but your goal after casting Backslash is to take as many damage as you can. Just don’t forget to restore health.”
OK, I watched a Bosmer character creation video this morning and they look great. I think I’m going to be able to create the best Lildereth aspect yet, maybe even good enough to coax her into exploring with me.
Oh hey Grits - would you mind posting that Bosmer creation vid?
Oh, she really does a good job with that vid and covers so much about how the char gen works!
** Speaking of being able to change appearances later on in game: Yes, it is coming but I don't know if it is here yet. Here is the article about it:
http://skyrimfansite.com/change-your-appearance-in-eso-how-it-might-go-down/
I am in love with the Bosmer ears.
I watched the last half of that vid and things look very good. Easy to work with and good choices/options.
Specifically, I saw that you can do big ears, blond ponytail, blue eyes, some bling, skinny, short petite. What else does a Bosmeri lass need?
Edited by Buffy.
http://i.imgur.com/jrSbNV8.jpg.
I wonder how many flies he swallowed filming that.
http://www.hotflick.net/flicks/1994_Legends_of_the_Fall/994LOF_Brad_Pitt_080.jpg
I think we need a new thread https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-YXHNq2gUvVw/U3CMp7dl5wI/AAAAAAAABdI/x8UmoWO5qAw/s512/Long%2520Hairstyle%2520Ideas%2520For%2520Men%252029.JPG because http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/298/6/1/sephiroth__s_loreal_advert_by_ignore56-d31hwj8.jpg
C'mon, folks. Let's please try to keep this thread close to the topic of ESO character building.
The Everything thread is available for just such off-topic forays.
General Leveling Tips:
Buy items with Training or Exploration on them from Fighters Guild, Mages Guild, Market Districts, or Guild Traders. You should then research Training and Exploration on all your gear pieces so you can keep crafting new items as you level.
Buy Neck and Rings from Mages Guild.
Don’t repair your broken items just craft new gear as you level, this will save you a ton of gold because repairing costs much more than crafting new gear.
Reading book shelves will level your skills up very quickly so go to Mages Guild in every new town you come to and read all the shelves.
Your weapon is approximately as important as all your armor put together. Also, it doesn’t take damage. If you invest in any gear, invest in your weapon first, jewelry second, and armor last.
Grinding:
For the most part grinding XP is faster than questing. Questing can be much FASTER if done efficiently. But you can Efficiently Grind XP For Speed Leveling.
* You can gain more XP while grinding as a duo, rather than alone.
* AoE is required to get the most out of grinding.
* The amount of XP you get is based on the mob’s level.
* You only gain full XP from mobs that are above or below you by 5 levels.
*** Efficiently Do Quests So You Can Level Faster Than Grinding:
Main Factors That Make Questing Slow:
Most quests waste a lot of time and give little XP reward
Some quests take a lot of time to figure out where to go or what to do - Questing wastes a lot of time on traveling.
* Try to catch all the quests in one area at once; finish them before leaving the area.
* Take on multiple quests at one time, and complete them in the order that cuts down on back and forth traveling.
I love long hair but my main ESO character is going to be bald, buff bearded and tattooed. EIther an Imperial or Breton in the Daggerfall Covenant. I'll be rolling khajiit too.
Jerric has the most neatly styled hair of his life. It’s pretty funny. I’m really not a fan of the male hair. He’s in an iron cuirass and belt (?) right now along with his prison trousers and sandals. Is light armor not just clothing? I’d like to find him a few pieces of light to get that tree going. He has a mace (ugh) and a very small shield. Stuff is expensive so he’s going to have to use what he finds for a while.
He’s a Nord Templar. Having fun with the spear spell.
I saw some people using their Dragonknight spell with the chain while still in the beginning part, so I knew I had to get some Aedric light going on or be ashamed, lol. I don’t care what people think about what I’m doing, but Jerric’s rep is on the line! Of course if it’s my PSN id floating over his head instead of his name I’ll feel better about my newbish antics. Also I had to quit so I could figure out how to switch to third person and sheath the weapon. Running around with a weapon equipped is not happening.
He picked up a couple of staves including a frost one, so next I think he’ll get that skill on his bar. I can see why people rush to level up.
I opened the urn and got a bow and a piece of medium armor, but no soul. Was something supposed to happen to get my soul back? Yikes.
Jerric is still wearing his prison shirt around town because it shows off his hairy chest. He got scars instead of tats. Most of the body paint just looks silly.
Regarding a Templar ‘Jerric’ build:
I’ve taken Puncturing Strikes and Sun Fire thinking that I needed to open the individual skill branches, but now I wonder if it even works that way. I want to get Backlash from the Dawn’s Wrath line, so I guess I need to keep Sun Fire on my bar until I get that skill leveled up enough? I don’t have a good picture of what leads to what within the skills.
I did the same thing with an ability from the Shield and One-Handed line and one from the Heavy Armor line. Then I got a passive ability that said I would not need to have it on the bar to work, but I thought I read elsewhere that passive abilities had their own bar. Maybe it’s changed or maybe there are two kinds of passive abilities.
For attributes I put points into health for not dying and into stamina for weapon damage, since Jerric is as much about dealing it out as taking it. I suppose this will make him weak at both for groups and unsuitable for PvP. We’ll see. *shrugs*
We just morphed Puncturing Strikes to Puncturing Sweep (Aedric Spear tree), so now Jerric has a self-healing ability. Woo!
Yeah, a lot of the body paint looks tribal. That Puncturing Strike is a powerful weapon, saved me big time against the undead.
I was kind of hoping to get Misa tough enough to tank if needed, but not to actually play her as a tank, if that makes sense.
I read that the passive ones had their own bar for 4 passive abilities, but I can't find it - I hope that hasn't changed, urk.
. .
Yeah, I didn't read up on how to handle that points distribution till after I distributed mine, and I put one in each category so she would be well balanced. I mean, she will need magic for those spells, and health to not die, and stamina because she is alone in battle most of the time. So I kind of think I did okay since I'm playing solo.
For people playing in a group, you decide what role your character will play and sink your stats into that role - Example: if your character is going to be the healer in the group you would sink your stats into magicka and the healing skill set; if your character is going to be a "tank" for your group you would sink your points into endurance and heavy armor, etc.
Well, since I'm playing solo I figure Misa has to do it all, so I've been dividing them equally as much as possible - but I think the ceiling for leveling up skills is 300 points to distribute per game; so if you sink any into crafting they won't be there to be used for combat skills - so I've held off building any of those skills except enchanting. Next I'll probably try to make armor; only things I'll need for combat.
I'm hoping to learn what I'll need to do with this character so when I start a new one I'll be able to have a better plan right from the start.
http://i.imgur.com/Kdsq0Xn.png
As you can see, we decided to go with the sorcerer class. Focusing on the daedric summoning. Oooooh boy is he glad we went with that. The summoned Scamp and Clannfear are superb at drawing enemy attention and blocking pesky melee attackers from getting to close. Haa-Rei can happily launch arrows into the fray while the summon takes all the heat.
Decided to focus our crafting efforts on woodworking and clothing so Haa-Rei can keep making new bows and medium armour. Love the Argonian style gear, all aztec-y and gorgeous. That said, I want to learn how to craft other race styles. Apparently there are books for that so if anyone finds one give me a heads up on the location so we can go get it
http://i.imgur.com/YBj88tc.png
http://i.imgur.com/eOSGfNN.png
Gosh, Haa ReiESO looks great indeed!
Haa-Rei looks great! I love his feathers, and it looks like he’s smiling! Aw, he’s playing the lute for his clannfear.
So now that the initial shock of a new game has worn off, I’m finding it’s possible to roleplay in this game after all. The breakthrough moment was in the inventory screen, funnily enough. Jerric had picked up some spoiled food somewhere, and the description of the item indicated clearly that it was disgusting, spoiled food. So Jerric ate it. And promptly threw up while still in the inventory screen. It was hilarious, and only Jerric would have actually eaten that spoiled food. I wonder if the other people who were milling around saw him barf or if it just looked like he was digging through his backpack.
Also Jerric figured out how to cook the fish that he caught. First you ‘use’ them in the inventory menu to clean them into the ‘fish’ ingredient, then you can cook them if you know a recipe. This is important to Jerric because the only things he knows how to cook are corn, some drink with comberries, and fishy sticks. It was killing him to have all of this fish in his bag yet still not available to him. Now he’s going to spend all of his time digging for worms and fishing.
Provisioning (cooking) and alchemy are the only crafts that Jerric is interested in, which is not surprising. When he saw that he could buy glyphs for enchanting he sold every bit of enchanting material he had gathered. He held on to some stuff to make clothing (light armor), but he is not spending any time studying the craft. Same thing with blacksmithing. He made a sword because he couldn’t find one, but somehow it’s too high a level for him to actually use. So he flung it into storage and kept his clunky mace. (Which is frost-enchanted and looks mistily cool I might mention, but he’s a bit sour on the subject of weapons right now so I won’t.)
In other news, the dye station started working, woo! I wonder if there’s a level requirement or if it just didn’t quite make the PS4 release date. Either way Jerric is happy that his gauntlets are no longer bright green. He might buy that ugly green shirt back and dye it a different color (grey) now that he knows how. He liked it because it was plain apart from the bright color, and most of the stuff he finds has fur sticking out all over. Jerric has enough of that going on without adding it to the clothing.
Haa-Rei has several tea recipes, but inventory space is incredibly limited due to clothing and woodworking supplies. Need to find a merchant who can expand the inventory.
Then he wants to save up for a horse, just so he has one for an emergency. He doesn't want to be one of those people who gallops through towns and rushes around all the time - you know the type.
Had some issues with lag, as expected, and with invisible NPC's, but there was an update yesterday which apparently fixed it so everywhere is full of people again.
Used a dying station before, but most of the dyes were locked behind achievements which Haa Rei needs to go out and achieve. He just wants some nice green highlights for his fancy hide armor - is that too much to ask?
Dying station? Eeep, that sounds positively morbid!
The color Jerric favors is called ‘Soul Shriven Grey.’ Charming. Acadian, that’s going to be Jerric’s new battle cry: “Welcome to the dying station!” *crunch*
I saw a lot of folks running and galloping through town today. I finally figured out the sprint toggle and realized how they are moving so fast.
All the MMOs I've played always have really pricey horses. I remember after playing Lord of the Rings online for a year I still couldn't afford one
As for repairing, you can pay a merchant to do it or do it yourself, but you'll need a repair kit (available from all standard merchants).
Haa Rei update: We decided to switch out the sword and shield (which was his back-up weapon set) for a restoration staff. Bow is still primary but the staff is pretty handy in a tight spot. Haa Rei had to craft some staffs (staves?) for a woodworking writ and decided that they looked nice
Also, while exploring some Dwemer ruins, we found the Dwemer swords racial motif so once Haa Rei hits level 9 in one of the crafting skill lines he should be able to make some Dwemer weapons! He's incredibly excited, did a little dance when he found it.
Finally: We decided to go ahead and use the crowns you start the game with to buy the Aldmeri Dominion racial motifs from the crown store. Haa Rei can now craft Altmer, Bosmer and Khajiit gear as well as Argonian. Wouldn't have paid money for it but since it was free it seemed rude not to.
Jerric made a sword and then deconstructed it, and he got no materials back. I don’t know if a higher level skill or perks would change that. Also it was not as good a sword as the level 8 one he made, so maybe certain clothing or foods temporarily increase your crafting abilities. For now I have no idea.
He found a Breton style book in the last dungeon he explored. I think he’s going to read it and see if they have better boots and shirts. Jerric’s style is more Gold Coast than Nordic.
I don’t think lockpicks can be crafted. Jerric bought some from an innkeeper and found some in the ruins. He has to pass by a lot of chests right now because he doesn’t have enough picks.
hazmick, congrats on the Dwemer motif find! Woo!
Hmmm so http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Restoration_Staff has revealed that the restoration staff drains enemy health and gives you magicka, which is handy.
As for the deconstructing thing - I'm guessing it gets better as you level up the skill line. One of the passive abilities says something about 'extracting materials' but I'm not sure if that means 'via deconstruction' or just 'from raw materials'.
Jerric just got Rushed Ceremony from the Templar Restoring Light skill line. He has a Restoration staff but he's using Rushed Ceremony on his active bar to heal himself and the occasional hurt random person. It makes a huge difference in combat.
So after spending those not-so-hard-earned crowns on the Dominion race stuff Haa Rei finds the Altmer style book in a random jar. *sigh*
It looks like all the restoration staff abilities are aimed at healing other people, which is nice and all but only seems useful if you're doing group activities.
Anyway, we've just arrived in the region of Shadowfen. In my fanfic headcanon it's the region where Haa Rei was born, which is quite exciting. Already seen our first official Black Marsh Hist tree What a time to be alive
So here's some crafting stats that mALX asked to see. Haa Rei is level 26, and his clothing and woodworking skills are both level 11.
For light armor he can use jute, flax, and cotton. For medium armor he can use rawhide, hide, and leather.
Top end gear would be something like a medium armor Leather Jacket which has a base armor stat of 908, level requirement of 34, and a value of 36. A top end light armor would be the Cotton Robe, with an armor stat of 316, level req of 34 and value of 36.
With woodworking he can use maple, oak, and beech.
Top bow here would be the Beech Bow. Base damage of 584, level 34, value 48.
Top restoration staff would be Beech Restoration Staff. Damage 584, level 34, value 48.
Top shield would (again) be Beech. Armor 740, level 34, value 30.
Haa Rei can use Redguard, Argonian, Altmer, Bosmer, and Khajiit styles at the moment. He can't read his Dwemer weapon style book until he gets a crafting skill to level 40 and has all of the base passive skills for it(which determine which materials you can use.)
The weapons and gear he can craft are better than most you can find or get from quests. Currently equipped are: Cotton Hat, armor rating of 220. Leather Boots, armor 626. Leather Bracers, armor 358. Leather leg, armor 626. Leather shoulders, armor 626. Leather Belt, armor 250. All Level 26. Our Chest armor is the only thing he has that he didn't craft - Hide Jacket Of Health, level 25, armor 788, enchanted to add +297 Max Health.
All of this gear can be upgraded of course, but upgrade materials are uncoomon and if you fail an upgrade attempt the item in question is destroyed. A big risk.
If you have any specific questions about different armor sets or whatever feel free to ask
hazmick, it must be just magical to visit the site of Haa Rei’s hatching after all of these years imagining it. Thanks for those crafting stats. Jerric has played around a little and made himself a non-horned Breton helmet which is as good as what he finds, but the other armor he can make is much lower. It’s great to know that with some dedication, crafting is worth it.
Jerric is spending a lot of time on battlefields lately. He’s getting pretty handy with the combat healing. I think he’s going to use his carefully hoarded skill point to get Healing Ritual. It’s tough to tell if he should morph Rushed Ceremony into Breath of Life instead, though. Thus the hoarding. He is really in his element when stuff starts blowing up all over the place. He gets focused and methodical out of nowhere but still reacts quickly when unexpected things occur. He’s always called himself a battlefield healer but until now has never been able to shine in that capacity in the actual games. Magicka is still his least available resource, so he has to use it well. Originally I didn’t think he’d do much with the Templar’s Restoring Light skill tree. It’s been a lot of fun.
In his travels he found a spot where different people were summoning some big fiery daedric creature and subsequently getting killed by it. So he stood by to heal them, since he wasn’t sure of the implications if he pitched in to directly help with the fight. One Bosmer took three of his healings to get through her battle, but in the end she prevailed.
Lots of things have been setting him on fire. He’s having fun battling clannfear at melee range, but he does not ever want to close with a scamp. Or see another one, really. Nasty little firebugs. Maybe there’s something to those armor enchantments after all. Next town he finds, he’s going to see about some anti-fire glyphs.
Jerric loves the Argonians. He has not yet met a mean one, and he trusts their wisdom (especially the women). Their sayings make him grin. One guy fondly called him “moist one.” Saxhleel love.
General question, do you think we could use a “Today In” thread, or should we just use this one for both character builds and updates? At this point they kind of blend together for me, but I’m probably talking more about Jerric and less about things that will be useful to other players down the road.
I think this thread works fine for both.
Crafting is definitely worth it, and Haa Rei is having lots of fun with it. The only issue is material gathering for clothing - leather scraps can only be found on creatures level 26+ so he's been hunting level 30 giant snakes and alligators through the swamps all day
Has Jerric had a look at The Undaunted? They're like a fighters guild which focuses less on guild stuff and more on fighting Their skill line has a skill that aids with battlefield healing, and the other skills seem pretty handy for combat and support.
I'm glad that you and Jerric appreciate Argonians. Morrowind isn't a good place for them to be sometimes Black Marsh is much more accommodating (and damp).
The staff in that screen was a level 26 Oak Restoration Staff. I think the base damage was around 460, but I'd upgraded it.
Since my last post Haa Rei hit level 28 so his gear is all the next tier up. Unfortunately that means he also had to use all of his hard earned materials.
You got it, with alchemy to make a potion the only new thing is the solvent (water). Otherwise it’s just like Skyrim where you have to combine two ingredients/reagents with the same effect to make a potion. You can discover the first effect by eating the reagent, then the rest of the effects are discovered when you combine like reagents. Jerric’s “Best Simple Potions” on his notebook page are all potions with two reagents that produce an extra effect.
Also I think I just figured out negative effects. There are no poisons to be made, so negative traits just mess up your potions. Unless you add an ingredient with the same effect as the negative only positive to cancel the negative out. Then I think you get a usable potion of whatever effect you were going for.
Once Jerric gets some more experience he will add a list of those potions to his notebook. They are more complicated having three reagents but still might yield a potion with a single effect. He uses magicka potions most, so if this lets him make more of those he will be happy to sacrifice the third reagent.
With all of the crafting you can use materials that are stored in your bank, they automatically come into the menus when you use a station. The “needs ten” in red sounds like refining where you need ten of something like iron ore to refine into materials you can use. You may have used ten ore to make your ingots, and if you stayed in that menu it would think you were still trying to refine ore but only had six left. If you are trying to make an item be sure you back out of the refining menu and go into the Creation menu. I’ve only ever needed one of each material to create an item, but I haven’t made many things yet.
Introducing Haa Rei's Handy Crafting Guide - So easy, even a hatchling could do it!
I'll go through some woodworking. Hope it helps.
First, Refine: Raw materials. You'll need a lot. 10 pieces of raw wood, such as Rough Maple, can be refined into anywhere between 7 and 10 pieces of Sanded wood. That might be where you're losing some.
Second, Creation - Type: Select what you want to create.
Third, Creation - Material: Choose what material you wish to use. You can use more wood to increase the damage, level, and value. A Maple Restoration Staff requires a minimum of 3 pieces of Sanded Maple, but can use a maximum of 9. The choice of material will also change the appearance of the end product, with higher level materials producing fancier looking items.
Fourth, Creation - Style: Select a style. You can't craft anything without a style ingredient such as Flint or Corundum. You can also only use styles which you have learned from style books, except the style you start with which is determined by your race.
Fifth, Creation - Trait: Traits add special effects to items, such as increased experience or damage. You must research a trait before using it. (To research a trait you go to the 'Research' tab in the crafting menu and there you can destroy enchanted equipment to receive the trait.) ** If you have no traits, make sure the 'no trait' option is selected otherwise you won't be able to craft the item. **
Sixth - Click 'Craft', and you're done!
Oh, this page shows all the traits; so I can kind of think of the potions I want to make in advance and hunt for those ingredients; then try crafting potions I need that way. Maybe I can sell potions too, can you make good money selling hand crafted potions?
http://tamrieljournal.com/crafting-and-professions/alchemy/
I just found this article and thought it would be good to post it here where I can find it again; it goes into explicit detail on every aspect of Blacksmithing; but does so in an orderly fashion and in laymen's terms so even I can understand it:
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/60885/myrrons-guide-to-eso-blacksmithing
Jerric has no head for enchanting, so he buys his glyphs from a merchant. As far as he can tell there are weapon, armor, and jewelry enchantment glyphs. He thinks this because he bought a glyph and tried to use it on everything he owned to no avail until he finally found a necklace. You enchant from the item’s entry in the inventory menu, not from the enchanting station.
The enchanting station is where you combine the glowy runes that you find in the wild to craft a glyph which you can then use to enchant an item. You discover the different rune properties much the same way that you discover alchemy reagent properties. You can also deconstruct glyphs, but that sort of nonsense is for elves and Bretons (says the Nord).
mALX, Jerric’s potions still sell for 1 gold each. He has made more money and gotten some good benefits by completing supply writs for Alchemy. He even got three nirnroot as a reward, and he hasn’t found any nirnroot in the wild yet. So at low levels I’d say supply writs are the way to earn. And also keep making potions that you use for practice.
hazmick, thanks to Haa Rei’s excellent Handy Crafting Guide, Jerric figured out how he made that one good sword that he couldn’t use yet but then everything else was crap. I must have bumped the number of ingots up while figuring the controls out. Now that he knows how to make better iron gear he can make a few new items to wear and boost his armor rating. Thank you!
I’ve read somewhere that green is the right level quest for you, yellow is still OK but will be harder, and the ones that go grey are too low so you will get the reward but not get the experience from it. Jerric has been following his green quests and doing the yellow ones he comes across as he passes, and his results are consistent with the advice he was given. He’s only had one quest go grey on him, and he still got the reward for it. Some gold and an item that he sold so he could feed his horse.
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/132612/journal-quest-colors about the quest colors. That info is from the fall, so I would go with what you have observed in your own game. Also the PC and console UIs are different, so my grey might be white to you for visibility on the PC screen.
I always just do a quest as soon as I receive it, otherwise I'll probably forget about it and only remember once it's gone old and grey
All Haa Rei's current quests are yellow, though we had a red one before. Completed it anyway since it didn't require any combat.
Oh by the way mALX, if you're looking for race stones to do more crafting then all crafting merchants (woodworkers, carpenters, blacksmiths etc.) will sell them. They'll usually be hanging around near crafting stations.
Glad my guide was helpful
I’ve started pacing myself with the quests by doing crafting writs in between. There’s less sense of rushing around this way. Using the wayshrines to travel back and forth to the bank also helps. I rarely fast travel in the real TES games, but in this one it helps make the world feel less cramped.
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Right from the start I had wanted to try out every Class and every Alliance to see which one I like best so I can make an informed choice for one ultimate character to play through the whole game with).
So far I've tried the Templar (in Ebonheart Pact), and the Nightblade (in the Daggerfall Covenant).
So last night I made a new character to test out the Aldmeri Dominion; and chose the Sorcerer Class to test next.
(Have not tried the Dragon Knight yet, but will).
The Classes in the order I liked them from best to worst:
#1 = The Nightblade was my favorite of all. He has died the least of all my characters, and has been in the highest level dungeons of any of my characters.
He was cleaning house with enemies way above his level right from the start. Many of them he can kill before they can even reach him unless they are using long range spells.
His main weapon is the very first spell he got in Coldharbour (with one morph now). It syphons 30% health from the enemy and gives it to the Player at 25% (after morph it ups to 33% healing on Player or you can choose to still heal at 25% and also heal your Allies).
That is usually the only weapon he needs, but in case it isn't he uses Duel Wield; which from what I've seen has the best spells to make it the deadliest melee attack in game.
** A side note: I haven't scoped all the spells available for every weapon in game yet; but my Templar has used a great spell for the bow that poisons the arrows and morphed is extremely deadly. She also has used a couple decent spells for two-handed weapons; making her a very versatile melee fighter as well as having her Templar combat magic.
#2 = The Templar - 2nd most powerful in combat.
She went into level 10-12 dungeons at level 7 and survived and even completed some very tough quests at those levels, though not without dying several times. She is very good in combat, but not as good as the Nightblade.
# Last so far = The Sorcerer. So far the Sorcerer is the weakest character I've had in combat. She is at level 6; her spells are at level 11 and she still can't beat enemies at her own level - or even some at lower levels than she is.
In writing, her spells look to be extremely powerful, but the enemies seem to take little or no damage from them at all! (sort of like the Experimental Fat Man in Fallout 3 that shot out 8 mini-nukes at once - but everyone was still walking in full health when the explosions cleared).
The Sorcerer's spells look spectacular visually when cast (though they are very slow to cast compared to the Templar or Nightblade); but they use a ton of magicka, meaning that after shooting off two spells her combat ends up being melee rather than sorcery - go figure!) - but the spells just don't seem to do the damage to the enemy that their stat numbers state should be happening.
I deliberately chose a High Elf for the Sorcerer because they start out with 10% more base Magicka and 9% more base magicka regeneration.
** (based on this ESO Race Guide):
http://elderscrollsonline.info/races
The familiars at this early level do minimal damage (32 DR against enemies that are doing 392 DR).
You really have to wear light armor or a robe to regenerate magicka properly, which leaves you virtually unprotected; so even if you sink all your level points into magicka to be able to cast more spells before running out, you will die anyway because your health base level is so low.
Which means you also have to sink skill points into armor and melee fighting skills; which negates the whole reason you chose to be a sorcerer (I would think).
I'm really disappointed in the Sorcerer when compared to and after the Templar and Nightblade; but I have seen so many people with Sorcerers (you can tell by the familiars they travel with); and I can't imagine they would be so popular if they couldn't own a dungeon even at their own level.
So really just not sure what is not working about my Sorcerer, but I'm all but at the point of dumping her off in the bank to use for storage and test out the Aldmeri with a Dragon Knight instead, lol.
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I know what you mean about the sorcerer. It doesn't seem to pack the punch the other classes do. If Haa-Rei didn't have his summoned creatures he'd never have made it this far, and even then he has a bow and medium armor for combat. A pure mage build would be tricky. It wasn't an issue at lower levels, but he's at Veteran 4 now and he can't do public dungeons or group levels at all.
It wasn't too noticeable until I brought Trivea into ESO,. It was immediately obvious that her Nightblade skills were powerful, and once she levels up and morphs them I wouldn't be surprised if she can solo most things.
Weapons also play a huge part in things of course.
Bows and dual-wielding seem to dish out a nice amount of damage, and the latter also has a good speed.
I've found one handed & shield to be a bit disappointing - it does less damage than two handed weapons, but doesn't make up for it with speed like dual wielding does. The shield also doesn't block much damage so it's just dead weight.
Restoration staff is good for a mage, since heavy attacks refill your magicka, and they seem to do a fair amount of damage. The healing spells are a bit weak (at least in my experience) and would only really come in handy in a PvP support role.
I used a destruction staff once, for about 10 minutes, and it felt quite powerful. However it was ponderously slow to do heavy attacks.
i'm pretty sure i've given coin to beggars before just through dialogue, but i can't remember where. They're certainly not as common as they are in Oblivion and Skyrim.
Darnand is a pure mage, and he has indeed been a bit tricky. There is a huge learning curve with all of the abilities, equipment enchantments, equipment traits, and elemental effects that are available to build your character, and many of them are designed to fill a group-role need rather than serve the solo player.
Darnand needs space and magicka to win fights, since he has only light armor and no melee skills. So I’ve put his points mostly into magicka with only two so far into health and none in stamina. He needs to control the battlefield and not waste magicka or get hit, so his flavor of sorcerer is all about precision. He uses his familiar to distract while he attacks, since they’re sturdy but don’t deal much damage. (Although Darnand’s clannfear Duchess occasionally gets the killing blow in with her tail whip. )
Some of the Sorcerer abilities are useless unless they’re put to their specialized purpose. For example if you use Mage’s Fury (the first shock spell in the Storm Calling line) on an enemy with full health, you use up a bunch of magicka and do very little damage. However if you hit an enemy with it when they have low health it triggers an explosion that can sometimes kill nearby enemies as well as the target. In Stros M’Kai Darnand was getting ripped to shreds by the wolves. He would get in a fight with two who would then howl and call three more. Then he learned to use his Shards spell from the Dark Magic line on one wolf and then hit the same wolf with Mage’s Fury as soon as they called their buddies. The resulting explosion would kill all of the wolves.
His weapon is of course a staff. That lets him keep fighting when his magicka runs out, but now with only one weapon skill bar it’s difficult to manage. Once he gets his second bar he can switch from a Destruction staff to a Restoration staff depending on the tide of the battle. The Restoration staff abilities are still a little unclear to me. At this point they seem designed for a mage in a support position and too weak to use solo. The Destruction staff abilities are neat. Darnand likes fire for the knockback/down effect. When he’s facing a group he can keep one knocked down, let Duchess the clannfear distract another, and then kill the closest one to him as fast as possible before they get in his face.
Darnand has not yet had to face multiple archers. He is going to need to find some kind of shield ability for that, hopefully a passive that he won’t have to cast.
So anyway I guess my point is that there are far too many variables in what the game provides as well as the ways I’m playing my different characters for me to compare the classes, but so far each class has had tools that pair well together with other class skills and with skills from the weapon lines to support solo play.
My biggest disappointment has been One-handed and Shield. It feels very much like a tank-only line, which makes it hard for Jerric to kill anything big by himself with a one-handed sword. He can do it, but it’s frustrating to spend ages wearing away half of the health bar only to have some Dragonknight kill it with one hit while they’re running by. As a result I’m putting a big focus on Stamina (points, enchantments, food, the works) to see if that helps. He’s been wearing five heavy armor with one each light and medium to level them all while he decides. I think he may switch to five medium with one each light and heavy and see if that makes a big difference, other than him dying faster.
Regarding beggars, Jerric gave a coin to one and then can’t get dialog from any of the others. Does the Achievement look like it’s for coins in different areas, or is it the number of coins or beggars that you need?
Well heavy armor has the best protection; and if you can get it built up to 22 the Ultimate opens up and it creates a circle of shield around the Player that makes the player nearly indestructible. But a Mage's magic regeneration is thwarted by heavy armor.
Medium armor is great for sneaking, and has some passive perks you can purchase with skill points that help not just with the sneaking and detection, but with the regen of health and magicka too.
Bubba had very few fights with wolves in Stros M’Kai; although they were everywhere there. Usually if it was just one or two together, he could run past with or without sneaking and they would give an initial snarl and charge and then go back to the carcass they were gnawing on.
If they got close enough to snap his heels (and Bubba is not a fast runner), one spell cast from Bubba would send them yelping back to their den.
The ones that howl and call in the whole pack are the larger/tougher/more aggressive wolves and I think they are probably the pack leaders. Those will fight to the death, and usually take their pack down with them.
Bubba loved Stros M’Kai, and is hoping to go back there to fish along the beaches. I got several screens of him enjoying them and those gorgeous Sultanish style towns.
Okay, this is all I could find out about the beggar achievement:
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/120810/exploration-achievements-crime-pays-give-to-the-poor-lightbringer
Tanking build hints from the Foundry:
http://tamrielfoundry.com/2014/03/tanking-primer/
Been a while, but Haa Rei is back in Tamriel. We tried to do the Imperial City DLC, but the PvE element is Veteran Level 16, and our Argonian friend is only Vet 5. The difference 11 million xp can make... The City itself looks pretty fun though, so we'll just have to grind until we get there. I still have more or less the whole Aldmeri Dominion questline to battle through, but it's fun so far. We're currently in Auridon, which is a Vet level 6 area.
In order to try and make it less mind-numbingly difficult I did a big overhaul on Haa Rei's skills. I realised that I'd been all but ignoring the fact that he's a sorcerer, so I opened up the Dark Magic skill tree.
The first spell you unlock - Crystal Blast - is really handy, and seems to have a good magic use to damage ratio. We've actually been using it in place of a weapon for the most part. We're trying to unlock the Dark Exchange ability, which trades stamina for health and magicka.
So Haa Rei's current skill set up is: Unstable Clannfear, Velocious Curse (soon to be replaced with Dark Exchange), Summon Twilight Matriarch, Bound Armaments, Crystal Blast.
He uses the Greater Storm Atronach and Pack Leader Werewolf ultimate abilities, and wields either a bow or a restoration staff. I plan to unlock more dark magic spells so I don't just have the same skill set when I switch weapons.
I'm also going to experiment with destruction staffs. Restoration staffs are nice and all, but all of its abilities are about healing other people, which is completely useless for a solo player. Up until now I've just been using res. staffs because Argonians get a boost in weapon xp for them.
After travelling a while with Ciyenna we have uncovered some memories from her past.
Ciyenna Mae has been a bow for hire since the age of 14, the age her mother died.
Her mother was constantly suffering physical abuse by Ciyenna's step father, and Ciyenna could do nothing, apart from hiding in her bedroom with her 10 year old sister Mahri.
The abuse was constant, and consistent for years, all though their four year marriage. Ciyenna had grew up knowing she was helpless to help her mother.
So she did something about it.
One day whilst cleaning the attic Ciyenna came across her birth fathers precious bow, a keepsake Ciyenna had assumed her mother had kept as a keep sake. A reminder of happier times.
The next time her step father would attack her mother would be the last. Once again her step father was savagely beating her mother, but instead of hiding out of fear, she drew the string of her fathers bow and threatened him a single time. Her step father said that 'a little girl like her couldn't hit air with a weapon like that.'
She shot him in the head. Her first kill, and she felt no remorse.
She immediately went to her mother, but unfortunately this last beating was the one that would kill her. Ciyenna held her mother in her arms, with her eyes tearful. 'If only i was stronger... if only i was braver...' Ciyenna said.
It was then she decided she didn't want this for anybody else. She wanted to help people in need. So after two years of marksman training and raising Mahri, under the guidance and adoption of an old bowman in their village named Jak, she became a successful, and locally renowned, bow-for-hire.
My long wished for (two years, according to the first post!) pear-shaped Argonian with blue feathers and a charming smile has finally hatched in the Ebonheart Pact. He is a Restoration Staff wielding Sorcerer, but his main focus is resource management and research. All I know so far is that he is quite young, free born, adventuresome, and it seems equally happy in sand, snow, and ash. He had a number of poetic names in mind for himself when he came of age, but the one that stuck was Stays-Up-Late. Stays made a last ditch effort to be known as Greets-the-Dawn instead, but the others felt that translation implied the virtue of early rising when instead Stays had been persistently naughty and ignored his bedtime.
Stays is still a bit naughty. He loves to steal things from the Dark Elves. Not because of the tension between the races based on generations of slavery, but because he thinks they sound funny when they get all uptight.
Stays-Up-Late is helping Jerric’s crew with their equipment research. Jerric and Lil both have many months’ worth of traits to study on items cluttering up their inventory. (Darnand only has two at the moment, and besides he is unwilling to admit that a Saxhleel teenager could do a better job keeping him organized than he can.) The plan is for young Stays to research their last traits as his first and then pass back easily identifiable items for them to hold on to for the weeks or months until they can research them. I’m sure there’s an Add-On that allows you to mark items in the PC game, but as far as I know we console players have to deal with the shuffle every time we enter the bank or merchant menus. Hopefully Stays will make this less of a pain.
I think I got a cute screenshot of him, but I won’t be able to tell until I get the sneakernet between PS4 and laptop sorted out. I am utterly charmed by the ESO Argonians.
Somehow I didn’t get that you can use gold at the shrines in the different capitals to respect skills and attributes. I thought you had to buy scrolls from the Crown store with real money. *palms face*
Yesterday Jerric (Templar, sword and shield with dual wielding backup) moved most of his points to Stamina. It was hard to decide between Stamina and Magicka. He loves the Templar spells, but he loves to bash with a shield even more. So he decided he’s a warrior with a side of mage rather than a mage who carries a shield around for some reason.
So far he hasn’t faced any bosses by himself, but the difference with the usual riffraff is amazing.
Lil respeced her skills and harvested a few points from Alchemy and the sillier-looking bow abilities that she dislikes. She put them into passives and changed one of her spell morphs to make damage scale from her Stamina (instead of Magicka). Hopefully she will be able to do some more exploring now. As a dedicated Stamina archer she is having the hardest time. The spells from her Nightblade class that I am counting on for her are still out of reach.
Oh, and the plan for Stays-Up-Late to help with trait research is working out beautifully. The level one items made by Stays are easy to see grouped together in inventory, so holding onto them for months is no problem.
Heh. Took me ages to figure out those shrines too.
Haa-Rei is a stamina build (Sorcerer, bow, 2H weapons) and the improvement over his previous magicka set-up was amazing. There are a few spells that let you use stamina to cast them instead of magicka, so it's worth looking in detail at all the abilities and their upgrades. Such is the case with the Thundering Presence spell (Increases physical and spell resistance, damage and movement speed and applies shock damage to nearby enemies).
One of the 2H weapons abilities acts as a healing spell, and with the recent addition of the Clannfear healing ability Haa-Rei's survivability has gone right up.
Ha! Jerric claims Thundering Presence as a Nord's birthright. (Others blame the cabbage biscuits.)
Silly question perhaps:
Does stamina increase bow damage?
Edit: Oh, and it seems that Buffy's bow quite a short range unless I'm missing something?
Yes, Stamina increases your bow damage and Magicka increases your staff damage, if you use one. That was a big adjustment for us.
The bow does have a short range. It gets a little better.
Gaah, I have to go right now! Good luck and good hunting!!!
As far as I know, bow range doesn't scale off anything and is the same for everyone. The Snipe skill has an increased range, and there are some passive bow skills and at least one item set that increase range a little bit too.
Bow range is short because it's an MMO with PvP. It would be beyond ridiculous if it used Skyrim range and let players attack each other from so far away with the game's soft lock targeting system. Once Buffy gets used to it, and used to using skills, you'll both be more comfortable with it.
Thanks, and I agree. Buffy's tended to rely on either illusion or conjuration to back up her bow. The NB's magicks are similar in ways to illusion whereas the sorc has conjuration. So without deleting NB Buffy, I've just created a Sorc Buffy and am nearly through the tutorial. Absolutely loving it so far.
Conjuration better suits her when forced into can't pause/skirmish archery (ESO) whereas illusion works great in support of the ultra range sniping that Skyrim offered. Between her tendency to panic when things get closer, her lack of skirmish instincts and my old slower fingers, I think conjuration will make for a better primary support skill for Buffy's bow. So far so good and ESO looks like a keeper!
As a Sorc Archer, Haa-Rei's scales have been saved more times than he can count by his summoned creatures.
Buffy might want to look into the other Sorcerer skill lines too - some really handy skills in there. For example: Encase and Dark Exchange from Dark Magic, and Lightning Form and Surge from Storm Calling. Some of them can be morphed at higher level to use stamina instead of magicka, so there'll be little or no need to put any attribute points into magicka.
Thanks! The new character is up and running now. She's swapped key things via the bank with her predecessor and is nearly to the same point now. Loving it so far. Yes, I'm using the dark magic tree also. Hadn't thought about the elemental tree since her bow is her damage dealer but I will take your advice and review those skills.
I even figured out how to move Superian from one char to another. And the summon has a big bonus I hadn't thought of - very handy for nuisance pests on the road while riding.
Those conjures are amazingly tough! I've played my son's Sorc and never lost one - took him into some heavy battles, too.
I tried to build a sorc on my own and didn't do well, so I won't try to give advice on that, lol.
Yes, already Buffy is feeling more. . . 'relaxes' and less panicky with something in front of her. So her skirmish efforts are focused on moving around to ensure the summon is engaged even as she's shooting, and then she can keep shooting instead of stopping shooting to fumble for spells. And there are some disabling, buffing and disabling magicks available to her as a sorc.
I’m glad to hear that the Sorcerer class is a good fit for Buffy! Darnand fights in a similar way only with his staff instead of a bow. He uses his clannfear’s healing ability (it’s one of the morphs) a lot.
Lil has high hopes for her NB Summon Shade ability, but she is still not very close to getting it. I’ve been trying out some of the melee/blade-y NB abilities with different characters, and they are great! Just not at all what Lil would ever do. It’s been rough going as an archer NB.
That’s great, mALX! Lil has been able to solo a few world bosses, but there’s no way she could kill an Undaunted boss by herself. Even dolmens are tough unless there’s someone there helping her. What does Misa use for healing? I’d love some tips, Lil is questing in an area right now that’s tough for her.
Thank you, mALX! Lil will put an Absorb Health glyph on her next bow. Darnand can make purple glyphs, but his Enchanting is at 49 with about half of the bar full, so maybe he'll be making the gold ones soon.
I'm digging through the crafted armor set descriptions for one that increases weapon damage for her. I’ve been using Tava’s Favor for both Jerric and Lil since it improves all attributes and gives you Ultimate when you dodge. They both need all attributes and dodge a lot, lol.
Kvatch Gladiator looks good, and Night Mother’s Gaze gives a weapon damage boost with only three items, so I might be able to use five Tava’s and three Night Mother. Or maybe five Hunding’s and three Night Mother. Hmm.
Hmm, too much of a newb to know so thought I'd ask for thoughts here.
I wonder if it would be a reasonable idea to have an additional 'tinker' character. One who focuses on the crafting skills and whose job would be to provision any other characters you have. This character would basically anchor in a city that has a bank and all crafting stations. Only a basic combat ability (to sometimes relocate to another city perhaps) would be necessary and gained by merely using a few combat skills but not dumping skill points into them. Materials would come from one's adventurer character(s) gathering and supplying them. The tinker would focus leveling and skill points into the crafting skills. Objective would be to have a character that could supply other ongoing or new characters. One question is can a high level tinker still craft lower level weapons/armor (like for newer characters)?
I guess this stems from the fact that Buffy will not be a particularly strong build and it seems she should really focus all her energy and skills into the more direct killing and surviving skills. We have always wished she could simply pay someone to provision her rather than breaking nails on a variety of work benches.
Trouble is I don't have enough ESO experience to know if this is a dumb or good idea.
mALX, Lil is using the Lord to make up for little health, but I think she’ll try the Steed to help in her many escapes. There’s a crafted set that removes the stealth movement penalty that I also want to try for her, but I can’t remember the details right now.
Acadian, that is a very good idea! Yes, a high level tinker can continue to make all of the lower level stuff. My Saxhleel lad Stays-Up-Late is training to become my crew’s sole equipment provider. Right now Jerric, Lil, and Darnand each handle two crafts. They will probably keep one craft each unless Stays has enough skill points to do it all. I picked an easy build for Stays (magicka only-staves-Sorcerer) and have had no problem with his combat when he has to get out in the world. He only has a few points invested in his class and weapon skills. The crafters do need to skyshard hunt and quest/level to get their skill points to use in the crafting skill lines, but that’s very doable especially if they do it while other players are around to help.
I’d consider two things with crafting.
One, it could be helpful to have two crafting characters if you’d like to do all six crafting skills. One could focus on the Consumable crafts (Alchemy, Enchanting, and Provisioning) while the other commits to the Equipment crafts (Blacksmithing, Woodworking, Clothing). That way their skill points won’t be spread so thin.
Two, if you become an ESO monthly subscriber, you get among other things the crafting bag. This is like cloud storage for your crafting materials. Without it Buffy has to find a bank to deposit her jute, flowers, ore, food, and the like so that your tinker can use them. With a crafting bag all materials go straight into the bag at harvest and never take up an inventory slot. Bagged materials are available from the crafting stations just liked banked materials. If inventory management is an issue (and for me it is!), this helps lots.
Thanks, Grits. I'm sure I will upgrade to ESO Plus before long. Regarding that crafting materials bag, if one char gathers something it goes in the bag. When you switch over to the tinker character and they go to a craft station, they have access to that same common bag. All correct? Oh, good point about skyshard hunting. Otherwise their skill points would be kinda thin and limited mostly to one with each level up I guess.
Another unrelated question. A summon dispels if their spell is removed from the five hotkeys. When I get to level 15 and have the ability to switch weapon setups, I figure the summon spell would need to be on that bar as well. Does an active summon survive the weapon switch as long as their spell is on both bars?
Acadian, that’s exactly how the crafting bag works. It’s shared between all of your characters.
Some quests reward a skill point when you complete them, so that's another source of points for the tinker.
My sorcs use the same button on both bars for their clannfears, both to keep them summoned during a weapon swap and to keep me from forgetting where they are on my controller.
In Nightblade news, Lildereth got Mark Target (a nice big heal when the target dies) this morning. It changed things for her immediately. She is a happy elf today.
She is also a naughty elf. She is in no shape for PvP, but she wants to go back to Cyrodiil and prank players by Marking them.
Oh, and here is a word of warning on the Undaunted Spider Webs spell - that spell is absolutely AWESOME, but the upgrade for it is crap. So if you get it, don't waste a skill point upgrading it.
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