Beginner's Guide to the Elder Scrolls Online

Steam Community guide by Komineiro.

Which side should you pick?

Three Banners War is a central conflict between the three alliances vying for control over the Ruby Throne in the Imperial City. Each faction has its own motivations and objectives in the war:
Aldmeri Dominion
Leader: Queen Ayrenn
Races: Altmer (High Elves), Bosmer (Wood Elves), Khajiit
Objective: Restore order and stability to Tamriel by uniting it under Elven rule. The Aldmeri Dominion believes they are best suited to lead due to their ancient wisdom and long lifespans. They seek to safeguard Tamriel from the chaos that the human empires have brought.
Daggerfall Covenant
Leader: High King Emeric
Races: Bretons, Orcs, Redguards
Objective: Reclaim the Ruby Throne and restore a prosperous and just rule over Tamriel. The Covenant values trade, military strength, and the rule of law, believing that their diverse alliance can bring stability and economic prosperity.
Ebonheart Pact
Leader: Jorunn the Skald-King
Races: Nords, Dunmer (Dark Elves), Argonians
Objective: Maintain their independence from Imperial control and defend their homelands. The Pact is an uneasy alliance born of necessity, seeking to prevent the other factions from ruling over them while ensuring the freedom and security of their people.

Each faction fights for dominance over the Imperial City and the Ruby Throne, seeking to control the Empire for their own vision of Tamriel’s future.

Where to start?

If this is your first time playing ESO, my advice is to start in your faction's original starting area. Each faction has its own unique starting experience that introduces you to the game’s lore and storylines. Playing through your faction's questlines will help immerse you in the world of Tamriel, as the developers originally intended. Here’s where each faction begins:

• Aldmeri Dominion: Starts in Khenarthi's Roost.
• Daggerfall Covenant: Starts in Stros M’Kai.
• Ebonheart Pact: Starts in Bleakrock Isle.
  Following the storyline will give you a great sense of direction, lore, and purpose in the world of ESO. You’ll also get a feel for how different zones are laid out, which will help you later on when you're ready to explore freely.
  Here’s the chronological order of the DLCs and Chapters, to help you play through the story as it unfolds:
• The Imperial City (2015) – Introduces the Imperial City PvP zone and the first major expansion of the base game.
• Orsinium (2015) – Focuses on the homeland of the Orcs, with a new zone, Wrothgar, and the Maelstrom Arena.
• Thieves Guild (2016) – Takes you to Hew’s Bane, focusing on stealth gameplay and heists.
• Dark Brotherhood (2016) – Set in the Gold Coast, this DLC focuses on assassination contracts and the Dark Brotherhood.
• Shadows of the Hist (2016) – Adds two new dungeons, Ruins of Mazzatun and Cradle of Shadows.
• Morrowind (Chapter) (2017) – A full expansion that returns to the island of Vvardenfell, with a brand-new class (the Warden).
• Horns of the Reach (2017) – Adds two dungeons: Bloodroot Forge and Falkreath Hold.
• Clockwork City (2017) – A story-driven expansion set in the mechanical world of Sotha Sil’s Clockwork City.
• Dragon Bones (2018) – Introduces two dungeons: Scalecaller Peak and Fang Lair.
• Summerset (Chapter) (2018) – Focuses on the High Elves and their homeland, the Summerset Isles, with the Psijic Order skill line.
• Wolfhunter (2018) – Two dungeons based on werewolf lore: Moon Hunter Keep and March of Sacrifices.
• Murkmire (2018) – Delve into Argonian culture in the swamps of Black Marsh.
• Wrathstone (2019) – Two dungeons: Frostvault and Depths of Malatar, setting up the year-long “Season of the Dragon” story.
• Elsweyr (Chapter) (2019) – The homeland of the Khajiit, featuring dragons and a new Necromancer class.
• Scalebreaker (2019) – Two dungeons that continue the dragon story: Moongrave Fane and Lair of Maarselok.
• Dragonhold (2019) – Concludes the Season of the Dragon storyline in Southern Elsweyr.
• Harrowstorm (2020) – Two dungeons that set up the Greymoor storyline: Icereach and Unhallowed Grave.
• Greymoor (Chapter) (2020) – Focuses on Skyrim and the Dark Heart of Skyrim story arc, with a vampire-themed plot.
• Stonethorn (2020) – Two dungeons, Castle Thorn and Stone Garden.
• Markarth (2020) – Concludes the Dark Heart of Skyrim story in the Reach.
• Flames of Ambition (2021) – Two dungeons: The Cauldron and Black Drake Villa, setting up the Gates of Oblivion storyline.
• Blackwood (Chapter) (2021) – Takes you to the region of Blackwood, where the Gates of Oblivion story begins.
• Waking Flame (2021) – Two dungeons: Red Petal Bastion and Dread Cellar.
• Deadlands (2021) – Concludes the Gates of Oblivion storyline, taking you into Mehrunes Dagon's realm.
• Ascending Tide (2022) – Two dungeons: Coral Aerie and Shipwright's Regret, kicking off the Legacy of the Bretons saga.
• High Isle (Chapter) (2022) – The main story of the Legacy of the Bretons, featuring political intrigue in the Systres Archipelago.
• Lost Depths (2022) – Two dungeons: Earthen Root Enclave and Graven Deep.
• Firesong (2022) – Concludes the Legacy of the Bretons story.
• Scribes of Fate (2023) – Two dungeons: Scrivener's Hall and Bal Sunnar, part of the Shadow Over Morrowind story arc.
• Necrom (Chapter) (2023) – Explores the Telvanni Peninsula and Apocrypha, introducing the new Arcanist class.
• Gold Road (Chapter) (2024) - Explores West Weald.

Race and Class

Each class can be played in different ways—Mage, Warrior, or Rogue/Assassin—thanks to the game's flexibility. This means you can play any class as a Magicka or Stamina build, depending on your personal preference.
Mage Playstyle: Focuses on casting spells and using Magicka-based abilities. If you enjoy standing at a distance and unleashing powerful magic, this is the playstyle for you. Classes like the Sorcerer and Magicka Templar are particularly strong in this role.
Warrior Playstyle: Utilizes Stamina-based abilities for melee combat, usually with weapons like swords, axes, or bows. If you enjoy tanking or dealing close-combat damage, consider playing Dragonknight, Stamina Templar, or Stamina Warden.
Rogue/Assassin Playstyle: Also based on Stamina, but focuses on stealth, speed, and burst damage. Nightblades excel in this playstyle, especially with races like Khajiit or Wood Elf for stealth bonuses.
In ESO, you can choose from 10 different races, each belonging to one of the three alliances: Aldmeri Dominion, Daggerfall Covenant, and Ebonheart Pact. While any race can play any class, each race has unique racial passives that make them slightly better suited to certain roles or playstyles. Here’s a breakdown:
Stamina vs. Magicka Builds:

• Magicka Builds: Altmer (High Elf), Breton, and Dunmer (Dark Elf) – great for magicka regeneration and spell damage boosts
• Stamina Builds: Bosmer (Wood Elf), Orc, and Redguard – good for stamina-based skills and weapon damage.
• Hybrid Builds: Khajiit and Dunmer – offer bonuses to both magicka and stamina, making them flexible for hybrid builds.
  Best Races for Each Class:
  Dragonknight (DK):
• Dark Elf (Dunmer): Bonus to both Stamina and Magicka.
• Breton: Reduced Magicka cost, great for sustain.
• High Elf (Altmer): Increased damage with Magicka abilities.Best races for Stamina DK (for melee, tanking, or stamina DPS):
• Orc: Boost to Stamina, health recovery, and damage.
• Redguard: Stamina recovery, perfect for sustained DPS.
• Nord: Great for tanking with extra resistances and health.
  Best races for Magicka Nightblade (for spell casting and stealthy magicka assassins):
• Breton: Amazing Magicka sustain and spell resistance.
• High Elf: Increased Magicka recovery and spell damage.
  Best races for Stamina Nightblade (for stealthy melee DPS and stamina assassins):
• Wood Elf (Bosmer): Stealth bonuses and high Stamina recovery.
• Khajiit: Crit bonuses make them perfect for sneaky burst DPS.
• Dark Elf: Versatile with bonuses to both Magicka and Stamina.
  Best races for Magicka Templar (for healing and spell casting):
• High Elf: Excellent for spell-based damage dealers and healers.
• Breton: Best for sustain and healing-focused builds.
  Best races for Stamina Templar (for melee DPS or tanks):
• Imperial: Extra health and stamina make them great tanks.
• Orc: Great for stamina-based Templar DPS.
  Best races for Magicka Necromancer (for undead summoning and spell damage):
• Breton: Reduced Magicka costs help sustain the demanding abilities of Necromancers.
• High Elf: Strong offensive Magicka bonuses.
  Best races for Stamina Necromancer (for undead summons and tanking):
• Nord: Best suited for tanking due to high health and resistances.
• Redguard: Provides great stamina regeneration for sustained combat.
  Best races for Magicka Warden (for nature-based magic and healing):
• High Elf: Best for casting spells and boosting damage.
• Breton: Perfect for Magicka management and healing.
  Best races for Stamina Warden (for animal companions and stamina-based combat):
• Orc: Strong for stamina-based damage builds.
• Wood Elf: Stealth and stamina recovery make them ideal for DPS builds.
  Best race for Healer
• Argonian:The best, nothing is better than them

Bank, Inventory managment

Bank

• Shared Across Characters: The bank is shared between all your characters, meaning any item you place in the bank can be accessed by any of your characters.
• Bank Space: Initially, your bank has 60 slots, but you can increase this amount by purchasing additional space by visiting a banker , first upgrade costs 1000 gold, and the cost increases each time. You can maximize space to 240 slots.
• Accessing the Bank: You can access the bank by speaking to any Banker NPC in major cities.
• ESO Plus Subscription: If you subscribe to ESO Plus, you receive double the bank space. So, with ESO Plus, your maximum bank space would be 480 slots.
• Craft Bag: If you subscribe to ESO Plus, you also unlock the Craft Bag, an unlimited storage space for all crafting materials. This saves a lot of bank and inventory space.How Inventory Works:
  Starting Inventory: You start with 60 inventory slots. Each character has their own individual inventory.
  How to Increase Inventory Space:
• Certain DLCs and expansions give access to housing storage chests and bags that you can place in your house. These storage options add more space outside your bank or character inventory.
• Pack Merchants, found in most major cities, sell backpack upgrades that increase your inventory capacity for a price. Just like bank upgrades, the price increases with each purchase.
• You can also increase your mount’s carrying capacity by visiting a Stablemaster and upgrading your mount’s Carrying Capacity stat. This adds up to 60 additional inventory slots (1 per upgrade, up to 60).

Crafting and researching early

Daily crafting writs are repeatable quests that provide valuable resources and crafting experience.
Why You Should Start Daily Crafting Early:

• Free Gold and Materials: Completing daily writs rewards you with gold and raw crafting materials, which scale with your level.
• Crafting Experience: Writs help you level up your crafting skills quickly, allowing you to craft better gear and items.
• Survey Maps: Sometimes, writs reward you with Survey Maps, which lead you to high-yield resource nodes.
• Master Writs: At higher crafting levels, you’ll unlock Master Writs, which reward Writ Vouchers. These vouchers can be used to buy exclusive crafting items, motifs, and furniture.
  How to Start Daily Crafting Writs:
• Get Certified: Speak to a crafting trainer in any major city to get certified in crafting skills (Blacksmithing, Clothing, etc.).
• Pick Up Writs: Once certified, visit the Writ Boards in any city to collect daily writ quests.
• Complete the Writ: Craft the required items, deliver them, and collect your rewards.
• Starting writs early ensures a steady supply of resources, crafting experience, and useful rewards.
  Researching traits is a crucial part of crafting in ESO. It allows you to create customized gear with traits that fit your playstyle.
  What is Researching?
  Researching unlocks traits on weapons and armor that provide specific bonuses like increased damage, health, or improved enchantments.
  Once researched, you can craft gear with those traits, making your builds more powerful.
  How to Start Researching:
• Visit any Blacksmithing, Clothing, Woodworking, or Jewelry station.
• Choose the “Research” tab, select an item with the trait you want to research, and the item will be consumed.
• Researching times increase as you progress: The first trait takes 6 hours, but later traits can take up to 30 days!
  Why Researching is Important:
• Unlocks traits you need for crafting powerful gear.
• Allows you to craft high-level set pieces.
• Researching takes time, so starting early will help you unlock more traits in the long run.

Using the Player Market

In ESO, trading between players is handled primarily through Guild Traders:

• Guild Traders: You must be in a trading guild to use Guild Traders. Guilds can hire these NPCs to sell their members' items, which other players can buy.
• Listing Items: If you’re in a guild with a hired trader, you can list items for sale. There’s a small listing fee and tax deducted from each sale. You can list it from a banker too.
• Finding Items: Visit Guild Traders in major cities to browse what other players are selling. Search for gear, crafting materials, or style pages.
  Guild traders icon:
  

Group PvE Content

Group PvE content offers many ways to earn powerful gear, level up skills, and experience some of the game’s most exciting challenges. Here’s a guide on how group PvE content works, including item drops, collecting sets, dungeon and trial joining, and difficulty differences.

1. Types of Group PvE Content
   Dungeons: These are four-player instances designed for group play. Dungeons offer unique storylines, bosses, and set items.
   Trials: These are twelve-player raids with a high level of difficulty, designed for organized groups and guilds. They offer unique, high-quality set items and achievements.
2. Joining Dungeons and Trials

Dungeons

You can join dungeons in two main ways:

• Dungeon Finder: The in-game tool (found in the Group & Activity Finder menu) allows you to queue solo or with friends for a random dungeon. This tool pairs you with others across all servers and platforms in your alliance.
• Direct Entrance: If you have a pre-made group, you can head directly to the dungeon entrance, marked on the map. This allows you to enter without queuing.

Trials

Trials require a twelve-player group and are typically coordinated through guilds or player-organized groups. To join a trial:
Form or Join a Group: Assemble a group of twelve players or join a trial-specific guild where players regularly organize trial runs.Trial Entrance: Enter the trial directly through its entrance in the world, often located in DLC or expansion zones.
3. Item Drops and Collecting Sets in Dungeons and Trials
In dungeons and trials, bosses drop set pieces specific to that content. Here’s how it works:

• Set-Specific Drops: Each dungeon or trial has its own unique sets, which include weapons, armor, and jewelry. These sets are designed to fit specific playstyles, like damage, healing, or tanking.
• Boss-Specific Drops: Each boss in a dungeon or trial drops particular pieces of the set (e.g., main bosses might drop armor, while final bosses often drop weapons and jewelry).
• Normal vs. Veteran Quality: In Normal mode, sets drop in blue (rare) quality, while in Veteran mode, items drop in purple (epic) quality. Hard Mode (a more challenging version of Veteran) can yield even higher-quality rewards.
• Collecting Sets: To complete a set, you’ll need to repeatedly clear dungeons or trials, targeting specific bosses for missing pieces. You can also trade gear within your group to complete sets faster, as long as the gear dropped during that run.

4. Normal vs. Veteran Mode: Dungeons and Trials
   Both dungeons and trials have Normal and Veteran modes. Here’s the difference:

Normal Mode

Difficulty: Designed for players learning mechanics or leveling up, with easier-to-handle enemies and mechanics.
Rewards: Drops blue-quality items from dungeon or trial-specific sets. Normal mode allows you to learn the layout and mechanics of the content.
Goal: Ideal for players who want to collect set pieces and experience the story with a moderate challenge.

Veteran Mode

Difficulty: Much harder, with stronger enemies and additional mechanics that require coordination and skill.
Rewards: Veteran dungeons and trials drop purple-quality versions of the set pieces. Certain content also rewards exclusive items, collectibles, and achievements in Veteran mode.
Hard Mode Option: Some trials and veteran dungeons include a Hard Mode (often activated in the final boss fight) for even greater challenges and additional rewards.
Goal: Veteran mode is aimed at experienced players seeking challenging PvE content and higher-quality gear.
Summary: Key Tips for Group PvE Content
Use the Dungeon Finder to queue for dungeons, or join a guild for organized trials.
Familiarize yourself with set drop locations in each dungeon or trial to target the pieces you want.
Start with Normal Mode if you’re new, then progress to Veteran and Hard Mode as you become more experienced.
Coordinate and communicate with your group, especially in Veteran and Hard Mode, where mechanics are complex and teamwork is essential.
With this guide, you’ll be well-prepared to tackle ESO’s group PvE content and start collecting powerful gear!

PvP Content

PvP (Player vs. Player) content in The Elder Scrolls Online offers an exciting and competitive experience, and you can dive into it through Battlegrounds or Cyrodiil. Here’s how to join these PvP activities, plus tips for getting started.
1. Joining PvP Battlegrounds
Battlegrounds are fast-paced PvP matches that pit three teams of four players against each other in various game modes, such as Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Capture the Relic. Here’s how to join:

• Access the Activity Finder: Open your menu, go to the Group & Activity Finder, and select the Battlegrounds tab.
• Queue Up: Choose between a random or specific battleground mode. Selecting a random battleground will earn you a bonus reward, especially the first time you do it each day.
• Level Requirement: Battlegrounds are open to players at level 10 and above, and players are scaled to provide a fair experience.
• Rewards: Battlegrounds grant PvP experience points, Alliance Points (AP), and occasionally gear or reward boxes containing PvP-focused items.
  2. Joining PvP in Cyrodiil
  Cyrodiil is an open-world PvP zone that offers large-scale faction-based warfare where three alliances (Aldmeri Dominion, Daggerfall Covenant, and Ebonheart Pact) battle for control of keeps, resources, and Elder Scrolls.
• Enter the Campaign Menu: Open your menu, go to the Alliance War tab, and select
• Campaigns.
• Choose a Campaign: Each campaign represents a different version of Cyrodiil. Choose one by assigning it as your “Home” campaign (for regular play) or “Guest” campaign (if you want a secondary option). Campaigns may have different rules, such as standard or no-CP (no Champion Points).
• Fast Travel to Cyrodiil: Once you’ve assigned a campaign, select **Enter Ca