The Elder Scrolls Online: Quick Tips & Tricks to Thrive in Tamriel

The old leather of this journal feels worn, softened by the desert winds of Elsweyr and dampened by the mists of Black Marsh. Its pages are filled with sketches of Daedric ruins, notes on alchemy, and the hard-won wisdom of a thousand battles. I’ve walked every corner of Tamriel, from the snowy peaks of Skyrim to the sun-drenched shores of Summerset. Now, I pass this knowledge to you, a new adventurer stepping into the vast world of The Elder Scrolls Online.

This is not a rulebook. Tamriel is a land of freedom, a place to forge your own legend. This journal is a map, a collection of signposts to guide your journey. 🗺️ Within these pages, you will find the secrets to mastering combat, the keys to unlocking immense wealth, and the hidden paths that veteran adventurers tread. Whether you wish to be a noble knight, a cunning thief, a powerful mage, or a simple crafter living a life of peace, this guide will help you achieve your destiny in The Elder Scrolls Online. Your story begins now. ✨

Chapter I: Forging Your Legend – Character Creation & First Steps in The Elder Scrolls Online

Your legend begins with a single choice. Before you take your first step, you must decide who you are. This chapter will guide you through the crucial decisions of character creation and the essential first actions to set you on a path to success.

Your First Choices: Alliance, Race, and Class

The character creator in The Elder Scrolls Online offers immense freedom, which can feel overwhelming. Do not worry. There are no truly “wrong” choices, only different starting points for your grand adventure.

Choose Your Alliance, But Don’t Stress It. 🛡️ Your choice of the Daggerfall Covenant, Aldmeri Dominion, or Ebonheart Pact primarily determines your starting zone and your team in the large-scale Player vs. Player (PvP) zone of Cyrodiil.
You Can Play With Friends Regardless of Alliance. 🤝 For all Player vs. Environment (PvE) content, such as quests, dungeons, and trials, your alliance does not matter. You can group up and adventure with anyone.
Pick a Race for Fun or for Power. 🎭 Every race in Tamriel can play any class. However, each race has unique passive abilities that provide bonuses to certain playstyles.
For a First Character, Pick What Looks Coolest. 😎 The racial bonuses provide an edge, but they only become critical for top-tier endgame content. Your enjoyment is more important.
Understand the “Flavor” of Each Race. Nords are hardy warriors from Skyrim, High Elves are master mages from Summerset, and Khajiit are cunning feline rogues from Elsweyr. Choose a race that resonates with you.
For Optimization, Match Race to Role. 📈 If you want to maximize your character’s potential, choose a race whose passives support your intended role (Magicka damage, Stamina damage, Tank, or Healer).
- High Elves (Altmer) are Masters of Magicka. 🧙 They have passives that boost their Max Magicka and Spell Damage, making them ideal for Magicka-based damage dealers.
- Dark Elves (Dunmer) are Versatile Hybrids. 🔥 They have balanced passives for both Max Magicka and Max Stamina, as well as Weapon and Spell Damage. This makes them a top choice for any damage dealer role.
- Orcs (Orsimer) are Powerful Stamina Warriors. 💪 Their passives provide bonuses to Max Stamina, Weapon Damage, and even sprint speed, making them excellent Stamina-based damage dealers.
- Nords are Resilient Tanks. 🛡️ They boast increased Max Health, Health Recovery, and Physical and Spell Resistance, making them the premier choice for a tank.
- Bretons are Sustainable Mages. 💧 They excel in Magicka sustain due to passives that reduce the cost of their Magicka abilities and boost Magicka Recovery. They are great for both healers and Magicka damage dealers.
- Redguards are Stamina Sustain Specialists. ⚔️ Similar to Bretons, their passives focus on reducing the cost of Stamina abilities and restoring Stamina, making them fantastic for Stamina-based roles.
- Khajiit are Critical Damage Experts. 😼 This feline race has passives that increase their critical damage and healing, as well as their overall resource pools, making them a strong choice for any damage-focused build.
- Argonians are Superb Healers and Tanks. 🦎 Their passives increase their Max Health and healing done. A unique passive also restores resources whenever they drink a potion, giving them incredible sustain.
- Wood Elves (Bosmer) are Agile Archers. 🏹 They have passives that boost their Max Stamina, movement speed, and proficiency with bows.
- Imperials are Resourceful Tanks. 🏛️ This race (which requires a separate purchase) has bonuses to Max Health and Max Stamina, as well as cost reduction on all abilities.
You Can Change Your Race Later. 🔄 If you decide you want to optimize later, you can purchase a Race Change Token from the Crown Store. Your initial choice is not a permanent lock.

Race Passive Summary 📜

To help you decide, consult this adventurer’s summary of each race’s strengths.

Race	Optimal Role(s)	Key Passive Summary
High Elf (Altmer)	Magicka DPS	Increases Max Magicka, Spell Damage, and restores Magicka when using abilities.
Wood Elf (Bosmer)	Stamina DPS	Increases Max Stamina, Stamina Recovery, movement speed, and bow damage.
Khajiit	Magicka/Stamina DPS	Increases Critical Damage and Healing, and boosts all resource pools (Health, Magicka, Stamina).
Argonian	Healer, Tank	Increases Max Health and healing done. Restores all resources when you drink a potion.
Dark Elf (Dunmer)	Magicka/Stamina DPS	Increases Max Magicka and Stamina, as well as Weapon and Spell Damage.
Nord	Tank	Increases Max Health, Health Recovery, and Physical and Spell Resistance. Generates Ultimate when taking damage.
Breton	Healer, Magicka DPS	Increases Max Magicka, Magicka Recovery, and reduces the cost of Magicka abilities.
Redguard	Stamina DPS	Increases Max Stamina, reduces the cost of weapon abilities, and restores Stamina on melee hits.
Orc (Orsimer)	Stamina DPS	Increases Max Stamina, Weapon and Spell Damage, and movement speed while sprinting.
Imperial	Tank, Stamina DPS	Increases Max Health and Stamina, and reduces the cost of all abilities, including Ultimates.

Choose Your Class Theme. 🧙 Your class determines your three unique skill lines. While any class can fill any role, each has a distinct theme. Dragonknights wield fire and earth, Sorcerers command lightning and Daedra, Nightblades use shadows and blood magic, Templars call upon the power of the sun, Wardens summon animals and frost, Necromancers raise the dead, and Arcanists manipulate cosmic horrors.
Embrace Class Flexibility. 🎭 A Templar can be a valiant healer or a fierce damage dealer. A Dragonknight can be a fire-breathing attacker or an immovable tank. The Elder Scrolls Online allows you to build your character your way.
Don’t Fear a “Bad” Combination. 👍 A High Elf Nightblade or an Orc Sorcerer can be perfectly viable and fun to play, especially while questing and exploring Tamriel.

Your First Hour in Tamriel ☀️

Once your character is created, you will arrive in a starting zone. Your first actions can set you up for massive long-term success.

Switch to Third-Person View. 🎥 Press ‘V’ on PC or down on the D-pad on console to toggle your camera. Third-person view provides much better awareness of your surroundings in combat.
Loot Everything in the Tutorial. 🎒 The initial tutorial area is filled with containers. Loot every barrel, crate, and backpack. You can find useful starting gear, lockpicks, and valuable crafting recipes. This loot is a one-time bonus for your account.
Find the Main City Immediately. 🏙️ Your first major goal is to reach the main city of your starting alliance’s first zone (Vulkhel Guard in Auridon, Daggerfall in Glenumbra, or Davon’s Watch in Stonefalls).
Join the Fighters Guild. ⚔️ Find the Fighters Guild hall in the main city and speak to the NPC inside to join. This unlocks the Fighters Guild skill line.
Join the Mages Guild. 🧙 Find the Mages Guild and join to unlock their skill line.
Why Join Guilds Early? 🤔 These skill lines level up passively. The Fighters Guild gains experience whenever you defeat Undead, Daedra, or Werewolves. The Mages Guild gains experience whenever you find and read a special “Lorebook” (glowing blue books) in the world. Starting early means you level them up naturally as you quest.
Find the Undaunted. 💪 Look for a group of boisterous adventurers in the main tavern of your city. Speaking with them will unlock the Undaunted skill line, which levels up by completing dungeon achievements.
Visit the Stable Master Every Day. 🐴 This is one of the most important tips for a new player. Find the stables (horse icon on your map) and pay a small fee to upgrade your Riding Skill.
Prioritize Mount Speed First. 💨 You can upgrade Speed, Stamina (for sprinting), or Carry Capacity once every 20 hours. Always upgrade Speed first until it is maxed out. A fast mount will save you hundreds of hours over your playtime.
This is a Time-Gated Mechanic. ⏳ You cannot speed up mount training. Starting on day one is a massive advantage.
Equip a Mix of Armor Types. 👕 When you start, try to equip at least one piece of Light, one Medium, and one Heavy armor. Wearing three pieces of a single type will unlock that armor’s skill line.
Try Every Weapon Type. 🏹 Find or buy a basic version of each weapon type (Two-Handed, One Hand and Shield, Dual Wield, Bow, Destruction Staff, Restoration Staff). Getting a single kill with a weapon unlocks its skill line forever.
Slot Skills to Level Skill Lines. 📈 A skill line only gains experience if you have one of its abilities on your active skill bar when you gain XP.
Activate Your First Wayshrine. ✨ These glowing structures are your fast travel points. Interacting with one allows you to travel to it from anywhere on the map for a gold fee, or travel between any two activated Wayshrines for free.
Travel to a Friend for a Free Taxi. 🚕 You can travel to any player in your friends list or guilds for free, instantly teleporting you to the nearest Wayshrine to their location. This is a great way to explore new zones early.
Eat Some Food! 🍗 Find or craft some basic food. Eating food provides a significant buff to your maximum Health, Magicka, or Stamina for a long duration. Always have a food buff active.
Unlock Your First Companion. 🙋 If you own the Blackwood, High Isle, or Necrom Chapters, start the quest to unlock a companion early. They will help you in combat and level up alongside you.

Chapter II: The Path to Power – A Leveling Guide for The Elder Scrolls Online

Leveling in The Elder Scrolls Online is a journey, not a race. However, understanding the most efficient ways to gain power will make that journey smoother and more rewarding. This chapter covers leveling from 1 to 50 and the Champion Point system that follows.

Maximizing Your Experience Gain ✨

Gaining experience points (XP) is the core of leveling. You can significantly increase the amount of XP you earn by using several buffs that stack together.

Wear Armor with the “Training” Trait. 🎓 This is the single most important XP buff. Each piece of armor with the Training trait increases your XP gains from kills. A full set can provide a massive boost.
Ask a Crafter for a Training Set. 🙏 Ask in a guild or in zone chat if a crafter can make you a low-level set of Training gear. Many veteran players are happy to help new adventurers.
The Training Trait Only Boosts Kill XP. It does not increase the XP you get from quests. Keep this in mind when choosing your leveling activities.
Use Experience Scrolls or Ambrosia Drinks. 📜 These consumables provide a 50%, 100%, or 150% boost to all XP gains for a limited time.
Get Free Scrolls from Daily Login Rewards. 🎁 The game frequently gives away Crown Experience Scrolls just for logging in. Save them for when you plan to do a long session of grinding or questing.
Subscribe to ESO Plus. 👑 An active ESO Plus subscription grants a permanent 10% bonus to all XP gains.
Adventure with a Partner. 🤝 Being in a group of two provides a 10% XP bonus.
Participate in XP Events. 🎉 Several times a year, The Elder Scrolls Online hosts events that grant a 100% bonus to all XP gains. This is the absolute best time to level new characters.
Get Married in-game. 💍 Pledging your devotion to another player with a Pledge of Mara grants a 10% XP bonus when you are grouped together.

The Best Ways to Level Up 🚀

There are three primary methods for leveling in The Elder Scrolls Online. The best strategy is a hybrid approach that combines all three for a balance of speed, skill points, and fun.

Do Your Daily Random Dungeon. 👹 Once you reach level 10, you can use the Group & Activity Finder to queue for a random Normal Dungeon. The first one you complete each day rewards a massive amount of XP, often enough for a full level or more.
Do Your Daily Random Battleground. ⚔️ Also at level 10, you can queue for a random Battleground. Finishing in first or second place will grant another huge daily XP bonus.
Quest While You Wait. ⏳ If you are a damage dealer (DPS), queue times for dungeons can be long. Use this time to complete quests in the zone you are in. Don’t just stand around waiting.
Follow the Main Story and Zone Stories. 🗺️ Questing is a slower but highly rewarding way to level. The main story (involving the Prophet) and the main questline of each zone award skill points.
Grind Mobs for Pure Speed. 🏃 If your only goal is to gain levels as fast as possible, find a location with a high density of enemies that respawn quickly and kill them repeatedly.
- A Top Grinding Spot: Spellscar. Located in the zone of Craglorn, Spellscar is a popular outdoor area with large groups of easily defeated enemies.
- Another Top Spot: The Alik’r Desert Dolmen Loop. In the Alik’r Desert, players form large groups that travel between the three Dolmen (Dark Anchor) locations. These world events spawn many enemies and are completed very quickly with a group, providing excellent XP.
- Grind in a Public Dungeon. Public Dungeons are large, instanced delves with many groups of enemies. Find one and run a loop through it.
- Consider Blackrose Prison Arena. On normal difficulty, the first arena of this 4-player content from the Murkmire DLC is one of the fastest XP grinds in the game if you have a partner to run it with.
The Hybrid Approach is Best. 👍 Start your play session by queuing for your daily dungeon and battleground. While waiting, do quests. Once your dailies are done, you can choose to continue questing for skill points or find a grind spot for raw XP.

Acquiring Skill Points: The True Source of Power 💪

Your level is just a number. Your real power comes from the skills you unlock with Skill Points. You will need hundreds of them.

You Get a Skill Point Every Level. From level 1 to 50, you gain one skill point per level.
You Also Get Points at Key CP Milestones. After level 50, you will occasionally earn skill points as you gain Champion Points.
Hunt for Skyshards. ✨ For every three Skyshards you find and absorb in the world, you gain one Skill Point.
Use an Addon for Skyshards. 💻 If you are on PC/Mac, download an addon like “Skyshards” to display all their locations on your map.
Complete the Main Story. Every quest in the main harborage questline awards a skill point.
Complete Zone Story Arcs. The main story questline in each of the game’s zones awards skill points at key moments, often granting 3 or more per zone.
Complete Dungeon Questlines. The first time you complete any dungeon, an NPC inside will give you a quest. Completing this quest awards a skill point.
Defeat Public Dungeon Group Events. Each Public Dungeon has a challenging “Group Event” boss. Defeating it for the first time awards a skill point.
Rank Up in PvP. You earn skill points for reaching certain ranks in the Alliance War.

Life After Level 50: Champion Points 🌟

Once you hit level 50, your progression changes. You stop earning levels and start earning Champion Points (CP).

Champion Points are Account-Wide. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Any CP you earn on one character can be spent by all of your characters, even those below level 50.
CP Provides Passive Bonuses. You spend these points in three constellations (Warfare, Fitness, Craft) to unlock powerful passive buffs, like increased damage, better defenses, or faster gathering.
Wait Until CP 160 for Gear. 👕 The maximum level for gear in The Elder Scrolls Online is Champion Point 160.
Do Not Spend a Lot of Gold on Gear Before CP 160. Any gear you get before this point will be quickly out-leveled and replaced. Save your gold.
Deconstruct All Pre-CP 160 Gear. Use all the gear you find while leveling to raise your crafting skill lines by deconstructing it.
The “Enlightened” State Boosts CP Gain. 💡 Each day, your account becomes Enlightened, which grants you a massive bonus to the rate at which you earn Champion Points. This bonus applies to your first 400,000 XP earned each day.
Use Your Enlightenment. This system encourages logging in each day to earn your “Enlightened” CP, rather than grinding for many hours at a time.
Leveling Alternate Characters is Fast. 🚀 Once you have a high CP level, you can create a new character, assign all your Champion Points to them, and they will be incredibly powerful from level 1, making leveling much faster.
Slot a “Dead” Skill to Level It. 🧠 Want to level your Two-Handed skill line while using a bow? Slot one Two-Handed ability on your bow’s skill bar. You won’t be able to use the skill, but the skill line will gain XP as you do. This is a fantastic way to prepare for a future build.

Chapter III: The Art of War – Mastering Combat in The Elder Scrolls Online

Combat in The Elder Scrolls Online is dynamic and action-oriented. It is more than just pressing buttons; it is a rhythm of attacks, blocks, and abilities. Mastering this rhythm is the key to defeating Tamriel’s greatest threats.

The Core Actions of Combat ⚔️

Every fight, from a simple mudcrab to a world-ending dragon, is built on these fundamental actions.

Use Light Attacks Constantly. A Light Attack is a quick tap of the attack button. It does modest damage but is your primary source of filler damage between skills.
Use Heavy Attacks to Restore Resources. A Heavy Attack is performed by holding the attack button. It is slower but deals significant damage. Crucially, a fully charged Heavy Attack restores a large amount of either Magicka (if using a staff) or Stamina (if using any other weapon).
Master the Heavy Attack for Sustain. 💪 If you are low on resources, a few well-timed Heavy Attacks will get you back in the fight. This is a core mechanic for resource management, not just a damage tool.
Block to Survive. 🛡️ Holding the block button reduces incoming damage at the cost of Stamina.
Block Enemy Heavy Attacks. When an enemy winds up a Heavy Attack, you will see bright golden lines radiating from them. Blocking this attack will not only mitigate the damage but will also stun the enemy, setting them “Off Balance” and opening them up to a counter-attack.
Interrupt Dangerous Spells. 🤫 When an enemy channels an ability, you will see bright red lines radiating from them. You can interrupt this by using your “Bash” ability (pressing the Light Attack and Block buttons simultaneously). This stuns the enemy and stops their cast.
Dodge Roll to Avoid Big Attacks. 🤸 You can double-tap a movement key or use the dedicated keybind to perform a dodge roll. This makes you briefly immune to damage and is the primary way to get out of dangerous red Area of Effect (AoE) circles on the ground.
Dodge Rolling Costs Stamina. Be mindful of your Stamina pool. If you dodge roll too much, you won’t have the resources to block or break free from crowd control.
Break Free from Stuns. ✨ If an enemy stuns or incapacitates you, an on-screen prompt will appear. Press both attack buttons (Light and Heavy) to “Break Free” at the cost of Stamina.
Don’t Stand in the Red! 🔴 This is the golden rule of group content. If a red circle or cone appears on the ground, move out of it immediately. It indicates an incoming high-damage attack.
Change the Color of Enemy AoEs. 🎨 In the game’s settings, you can change the color of hostile AoEs. Many players change it to a bright, obnoxious pink to make it impossible to miss.
Build and Use Your Ultimate. 💥 As you use Light and Heavy Attacks, you generate “Ultimate.” Once your Ultimate meter is full, you can unleash a powerful Ultimate ability. Don’t save it for the perfect moment; use it frequently.

The Secret to High Damage: Weaving and Animation Canceling ⚡

The difference between an average player and a great player in The Elder Scrolls Online comes down to one core concept: efficiency. Animation canceling, specifically through Light Attack weaving, is the key to that efficiency. This is not a bug or an exploit; it is the intended, high-skill way to play the game.

Understand the Global Cooldown (GCD). ⏳ After you use any ability, there is a roughly one-second cooldown before you can use another ability.
Light Attacks are “Off the GCD.” Light Attacks do not trigger this one-second cooldown. This means you can—and should—fit a Light Attack into the “dead time” between every single ability cast.
This is “Light Attack Weaving.” 🎶 The rhythm of high-level combat is: Light Attack -> Skill -> Light Attack -> Skill -> Light Attack -> Skill.
Weaving is a Massive Damage Increase. 📈 A well-executed weave can add 15-20% more damage to your total output. It is essentially “free” damage.
Weaving Generates Ultimate Faster. Weaving Generates Ultimate Faster. Light attacks are a primary source of Ultimate generation. If you are not weaving, you are severely slowing down how often you can use your most powerful abilities.
How Animation Canceling Works. When you perform a Light Attack and immediately activate a skill, the skill’s animation overrides and “cancels” the end of the Light Attack’s animation. The Light Attack damage still registers, but you waste no time on its full animation.
Practice the Rhythm Slowly. Go to a target dummy. Practice a simple two-beat rhythm: tap-TAP… tap-TAP… tap-TAP. The first tap is your Light Attack, the second TAP is your skill, followed by a brief pause.
Muscle Memory is Key. 💪 At first, it will feel clunky. With practice, it will become second nature, like a heartbeat driving your combat rotation.
You Can Cancel Skills, Too. Certain actions can cancel the animation of your skills. These are higher-priority actions.
- Bar Swap Canceling. Immediately after activating a skill (especially one with a long animation like Endless Hail), you can swap to your other weapon bar. This cancels the skill’s animation, allowing you to start casting abilities from your other bar sooner.
- Block Canceling. Tapping the block button can cancel the animation of a skill. This is useful in PvP to quickly transition from offense to defense.
- Dodge Roll Canceling. A dodge roll can also cancel a skill’s animation, allowing you to deal damage while simultaneously avoiding an incoming attack. This is a very common technique in PvP.
- Bash Canceling. Using your interrupt can also cancel skill animations, squeezing in a tiny bit of extra damage. This is a very advanced technique primarily used by top-tier players to optimize their damage.
Focus on Light Attack Weaving First. For 99% of content, mastering Light Attack weaving is the most important animation cancel to learn. It provides the biggest return on your practice time.

Chapter IV: The Crafter’s Compendium – A Guide to All Professions in The Elder Scrolls Online

Crafting is the economic and gear-customization backbone of The Elder Scrolls Online. It is a deep and rewarding system that allows you to create everything from powerful armor to life-saving potions and delicious food. Dedication to crafting will make you self-sufficient and wealthy.

Universal Crafting Principles 🔨

These rules apply to nearly all seven crafting disciplines and are essential for any aspiring artisan.

Get Certified Early. 📜 At level 6, you can find NPCs in major cities who will certify you in each crafting profession. This unlocks daily crafting quests called Writs.
Do Your Crafting Writs Every Day. 💰 Writs are your single best source of consistent gold, crafting materials, and valuable rewards.
Deconstruction is the Best Way to Level. ♻️ You gain far more crafting experience (called “Inspiration”) by deconstructing items than by creating them.
Deconstruct Everything You Don’t Need. As you level up, deconstruct every piece of gear you aren’t using. This is the primary way to level Blacksmithing, Clothing, and Woodworking.
Deconstructing Items from Other Players is Best. 🤝 You get a massive Inspiration bonus for deconstructing items crafted by another player.
Find a Crafting Buddy. Partner with a friend. You craft 100 daggers, they craft 100 daggers. Trade your stacks and deconstruct what they made. This is the fastest way to power-level equipment crafting.
Your Own Alts Count as “Other Players.” 👨‍👩‍👧 You can craft items on one of your characters, place them in your shared bank, and deconstruct them on another character for the bonus Inspiration.
Prioritize Research. 🔬 For Blacksmithing, Clothing, and Woodworking, you must “research” traits from existing items to learn how to craft gear with those traits.
Research is Time-Gated and Takes Months. ⏳ The first trait on an item takes 6 hours to research. The second takes 12 hours, the third 24 hours, and so on, doubling each time. The ninth and final trait on a single item takes over 60 real-world days.
Keep Your Research Slots Full 24/7. This is the longest grind in the game. Start it on day one and never let your research slots sit empty.
Invest Skill Points in Research Passives. 📚 Each of the three gear-crafting skill lines has a passive that reduces research time and allows you to research up to three items simultaneously. Max these out as soon as possible.
Loot Intricate Items. ✨ Gear with the “Intricate” trait provides a large bonus to Inspiration when deconstructed.
Sell Ornate Items. 💰 Gear with the “Ornate” trait sells to NPC vendors for significantly more gold. Always sell these; the deconstruction Inspiration is not worth the lost gold.
Use Your Bank for Materials. 🏦 You can craft using materials stored in your personal bank without needing to carry them in your inventory.
ESO Plus Grants a Craft Bag. 🛍️ A subscription to ESO Plus gives you a bottomless Craft Bag that automatically stores all your crafting materials, freeing up all your inventory and bank space. This is the single biggest quality-of-life feature in the game.
Create a Dedicated “Crafting Mule.” 🐴 Because crafting requires a large number of skill points, many players dedicate one character to be their master crafter. This character learns all the motifs and recipes and holds all the crafting skill points, leaving their other characters free to focus on combat skills.
Hirelings Bring You Free Materials. 💌 Each crafting skill line has a “Hireling” passive. Put a point in this, and an NPC will mail you a package of free materials once or twice a day.

Blacksmithing, Clothing, and Woodworking 🔨🧵🪵

These three skills are for crafting metal armor and weapons (Blacksmithing), cloth and leather armor (Clothing), and bows, shields, and staves (Woodworking).

Start Researching Divines and Training Immediately. For armor, these are two of the most useful traits.
Research Precise and Sharpened for Weapons. These are critical traits for damage-dealing weapons.
Learn Crafting Motifs. 🎨 To craft in a specific racial or cultural style (e.g., Elven, Orcish, Daedric), you must first learn the corresponding “Motif.”
Motifs are Account-Wide. Once one character learns a motif chapter, all characters on your account can craft in that style.
Use Style Materials. Crafting in a specific style requires a unique Style Material. For example, crafting in the Breton style requires Molybdenum.
Refine Raw Materials for Tempers. ✨ When you refine raw ore, wood, or fibers, you have a chance to get green, blue, purple, or gold “Tempers” (e.g., Honing Stone, Dwarven Oil, Grain Solvent, Tempering Alloy).
Tempers are for Upgrading Gear. These materials are used to improve the quality of gear from white to green, green to blue, blue to purple, and purple to legendary gold.
Max Out the Extraction Passive First. Do not refine large quantities of raw materials until you have maxed out the passive skill that improves your extraction rates. This will dramatically increase your chances of getting valuable gold tempers.
Crafted Sets are Powerful. 💪 All across Tamriel are special crafting stations where you can craft gear with powerful set bonuses.
Crafted Sets Have Trait Requirements. To craft a piece of a set, you must have researched a specific number of traits for that gear slot. For example, the popular set Hunding’s Rage requires you to have researched 6 traits for any piece you wish to craft.

Alchemy 🧪

Alchemy allows you to brew powerful potions and deadly poisons.

Discover Traits by Experimenting. 🔬 Each alchemy reagent has four hidden traits. You discover them by combining two or three reagents at an Alchemy station. If two reagents share a trait, you will create a potion with that effect and learn the trait on both.
Use an Addon or Online Tool. 💻 To avoid wasting materials, use an online alchemy calculator or a PC addon to see all possible combinations.
Leveling is Based on the Solvent. The amount of Inspiration you gain is determined by the level of the “Solvent” (water) you use, not the reagents. Always use the highest-level solvent you can.
Crafting Potions is the Only Way to Level. Unlike gear crafting, you can only level Alchemy by creating potions/poisons.
The “Medicinal Use” Passive is Essential. ⏳ This passive in the Alchemy skill line increases the duration of any potion you drink. At max rank, it is a massive boost to your combat effectiveness. Every character should have this.
Corn Flower, Lady’s Smock, and Water Hyacinth are Valuable. 💰 These three reagents can be combined to make the most powerful spell power potions in the game.

Provisioning 🍲

Provisioning is the art of cooking food and brewing drinks that provide long-lasting buffs.

Every Character Needs Food or Drink. 🍗 Always have a food or drink buff active. Food increases your maximum stats, while drinks increase your resource recovery.
You Must Learn Recipes First. 📜 You can find recipes in containers all over the world, or buy them from guild traders.
Leveling is About Volume. 📈 To level Provisioning, you simply need to craft a large number of recipes. The level of the recipe determines the Inspiration gain.
A Simple Leveling Path. Craft the highest level green-quality recipe you can make until you unlock the next tier of recipes, then switch to the new highest-level recipe.
Loot Every Crate and Barrel. 📦 These containers are the best source of free Provisioning ingredients.
The “Gourmand” and “Connoisseur” Passives are Great. These passives increase the duration of any food and drink you consume by up to 20 minutes.

Enchanting 💍

Enchanting allows you to create Glyphs, which are used to enchant armor, weapons, and jewelry.

Enchanting is the Hardest Craft to Level. 😫 The Inspiration gains from creating glyphs are tiny.
Deconstructing Glyphs is the Only Way. Similar to gear crafting, deconstruction is the key.
The “Trade Glyphs” Method is Essential. You get almost no Inspiration for deconstructing your own glyphs. You MUST deconstruct glyphs made by other players.
Find an Enchanting Partner. 🤝 One person crafts a batch of the highest-level glyphs they can make, trades them to the other, who deconstructs them. Then, they switch roles.
Runes Determine the Glyph. A glyph is made from three types of runes: a Potency rune (determines level), an Essence rune (determines effect, e.g., Fire, Health, Magicka), and an Aspect rune (determines quality/color).
You Can Apply Glyphs Anywhere. You don’t need to be at an Enchanting table to apply a glyph to an item. You can do it directly from your inventory.
Weapon Glyphs Need Recharging. 🔋 Enchantments on weapons have a limited number of charges and must be recharged using filled Soul Gems.

Jewelry Crafting 💎

This skill, which requires the Summerset chapter, allows you to craft rings and necklaces.

Jewelry Crafting is a Slow Grind. Similar to Enchanting, it levels very slowly. You must deconstruct large amounts of jewelry.
Farm Dolmens for Jewelry. 💀 The chest that appears after completing a Dolmen world event is guaranteed to contain a ring or necklace. The Alik’r Desert Dolmen loop is the best place to farm these.
Upgrading Jewelry is Extremely Expensive. 💰 The materials needed to upgrade jewelry from purple to gold quality (Chromium Plating) are incredibly rare and expensive.
Only Upgrade Your Final, Best-in-Slot Jewelry. Do not waste valuable platings on temporary gear.
Research Jewelry Traits. 🔬 Like other gear, you must research traits to craft jewelry sets. There is only one research slot for jewelry, so it is a very long process. Start immediately.
The “Bloodthirsty” Trait is Highly Sought After. This trait, which increases your damage against low-health enemies, is a top choice for damage dealers.

Chapter V: Tamriel’s Treasures – Making Gold in The Elder Scrolls Online

Gold makes the world of Tamriel go ’round. 💰 It buys you better gear, stylish houses, and rare crafting materials. While you can buy gold with real money via Crown exchange, earning it yourself is a rewarding part of the game.

The Foundations of Wealth 🏦

These methods are reliable, consistent, and accessible to every player.

Do Your Daily Crafting Writs. This is the most reliable daily income in the game. On a level 50 character with maxed crafting skills, completing all seven writs takes about five minutes and rewards over 5,000 gold.
Make Multiple “Writ Characters.” 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 The real money comes from doing writs on multiple characters every day. With nine characters, you can earn over 45,000 gold daily in just under an hour.
Sell Your Valuable Writ Rewards. Writs can reward valuable gold upgrade materials (Dreugh Wax, Tempering Alloy) and Master Writs, which can be sold to other players for a high price.
Farm and Sell Raw Materials. 🌿 Find a route in a zone with lots of crafting nodes (like starter zones or Craglorn) and run it repeatedly. Sell the raw, unrefined materials in stacks of 200.
Why Sell Raw Materials? Many endgame players would rather pay gold for materials than spend time farming them. You are essentially selling your time to them.
Certain Alchemy Reagents are Gold. 💰 Flowers like Columbine, Corn Flower, and Bugloss are always in high demand for potion crafting and sell for a high price.
Join a Trading Guild. 🤝 There is no central Auction House in The Elder Scrolls Online. To sell items to other players, you must join a player-run guild that has secured a Guild Trader NPC in a major city.
You Can Join Up to Five Guilds. Join at least one or two dedicated trading guilds to get access to their traders.
Location Matters. Guilds with traders in high-traffic cities like Vivec City, Mournhold, or Wayrest will have more sales but may require a weekly sales quota or dues.
Use Tamriel Trade Centre. 📈 This website and companion addon scans guild store listings, allowing you to check the going price for any item in the game. Never post an item for sale without checking its price first.
Steal Everything. 🤫 In any major city, you can sneak into private homes and shops to steal treasure. These items can be sold to a Fence in any Outlaws Refuge.
Level Your Legerdemain Skill Line. This skill line, leveled by stealing and laundering items, has passives that improve your chances of success and allow you to sell more stolen items per day.

Advanced Gold-Making Strategies 🤑

Once you have a steady income, you can explore more lucrative, but riskier, methods.

Complete Daily Quests in DLC Zones. Many DLC zones have daily quests that reward motif pages or valuable style materials unique to that zone. These can be sold for a high price.
Farm Public Dungeons for Motifs. Certain Public Dungeons have a chance to drop very rare and valuable motif pages from their bosses.
Flip Items on Guild Traders. 📈 This involves buying items that are listed for a low price and relisting them for a higher price. This requires significant market knowledge and carries the risk of the item not selling.
Sell Master Writ Vouchers. 📜 Completing Master Writs earns you Writ Vouchers. You can use this currency to buy items from a special vendor, such as crafting stations for player homes, which can then be sold for a large amount of gold.
Sell Carries for Difficult Content. If you are a skilled endgame player, you can offer to “carry” other players through difficult dungeons or arenas for a fee.
Sell Crafted Gear. If you have researched the necessary traits, you can craft and sell popular gear sets in desirable traits.

Chapter VI: Band of Heroes – Excelling in Dungeons & Trials

Group content is at the heart of the endgame experience in The Elder Scrolls Online. From 4-player dungeons to 12-player trials, teamwork and understanding your role are paramount.

The Three Roles: Tank, Healer, DPS 🛡️❤️⚔️

Every successful group is built on this “holy trinity” of roles.

The Tank’s Job is Control. The Tank’s primary responsibility is to get the attention of all dangerous enemies (especially bosses) and keep it. They use “taunt” abilities to force enemies to attack them.
The Tank’s Second Job is Survival. Tanks build for high Health and resistances, using shields and self-heals to absorb massive amounts of damage.
The Tank Positions the Boss. A good tank will hold the boss still and face it away from the group, so that other players are not hit by frontal “cleave” attacks.
The Healer’s Job is to Keep Everyone Alive. The Healer is responsible for monitoring the group’s health and providing healing.
Healers Also Provide Buffs. Many healing abilities also provide powerful group buffs that increase damage and defenses.
The Damage Dealer’s (DPS) Job is to Kill Things. The DPS role is focused purely on dealing as much damage as possible, as quickly as possible.
Good DPS Also Knows How to Survive. While they are focused on damage, a good DPS player knows how to avoid taking unnecessary damage by blocking, dodging, and staying out of red AoEs.

Dungeon and Trial Etiquette 👍

Following these simple rules will make you a valued member of any group.

Let the Tank Pull. Do not run into a group of enemies ahead of the tank. Let them initiate combat and gather the enemies together.
Stay With the Group. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Do not lag behind or run off on your own. Sticking together allows the healer to heal everyone efficiently.
Stack Behind the Boss. In most fights, the DPS and Healer should stand in a loose stack behind the boss. This keeps them safe from frontal attacks and allows the healer to cover everyone with ground-based healing spells.
Focus on Priority Targets. 🎯 In groups of enemies, always kill the most dangerous ones first. This usually means healers, archers, and mages.
Resurrect Fallen Teammates. If a player dies, the closest person (usually another DPS or the healer, if the tank is busy) should resurrect them.
Communicate. 💬 If you are new to a dungeon, say so at the start. Most groups are happy to explain mechanics.
Do Not Blame the Healer if You Die in a Red Circle. 🔴 If you stand in a high-damage AoE, it is your fault, not the healer’s.
Thank Your Group at the End. A simple “tyfg” (thank you for group) is common courtesy.

Understanding Basic Mechanics ⚙️

Dungeons and trials use a shared language of mechanics. Here are some common ones, using the base-game dungeon Fungal Grotto I as an example.

Adds: “Adds” are the additional, weaker enemies that accompany a boss. In the Tazkad the Packmaster fight, the tank must group up the adds so the DPS can kill them with AoE damage.
Heavy Attacks: Many bosses have powerful heavy attacks that must be blocked. Warchief Ozozai has a delayed heavy attack that will knock the tank across the room if it is not blocked.
Interrupts: Some bosses, like Angata the Clannfear Handler, will channel abilities that can and should be interrupted.
Ground AoEs: The final boss, Kra’gh, has a massive lightning field AoE that will kill any non-tank player instantly. The only mechanic is to get out of it.
Stack or Spread: Some mechanics require the group to stack together to share damage, while others, like Warchief Ozozai’s “Daedric Blast,” will target one player with an AoE that they must take away from the group before it explodes.
“Hard Mode”: Most veteran dungeons and trials have an optional “Hard Mode” for the final boss, activated in a specific way, which makes the fight significantly harder but offers better rewards.

Chapter VII: The Alliance War – A Beginner’s Guide to PvP in The Elder Scrolls Online

Player vs. Player (PvP) combat in The Elder Scrolls Online is a thrilling and challenging experience. It requires a different mindset, a different build, and a different set of skills than PvE.

Getting Started in PvP ⚔️

You can jump into PvP as early as level 10.

Enter Cyrodiil. This is the large, open-world PvP zone where the three alliances battle for control of keeps, resources, and the title of Emperor. You can enter by opening the Alliance War menu.
Do the Cyrodiil Intro Quest. This short tutorial quest will teach you the basics of siege warfare and reward you with skill points.
Unlock “Continuous Attack.” 🚀 Completing the intro quest will also give you enough Alliance Points (AP) to unlock the first few passives in the Assault skill line. The most important of these is “Continuous Attack,” which grants a permanent 30% boost to your mount speed. This buff works everywhere in the game, not just in PvP.
Unlock This Passive on Every Character. It is highly recommended to do the Cyrodiil intro on every single character you make, just for this massive quality-of-life speed boost.
Try Battlegrounds. 🤺 These are small-scale, 4v4v4 arena matches with various objectives like Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, or Domination. They are a great way to learn PvP combat in a more controlled environment.

The Art of PvP Survival ❤️‍🩹

In PvP, staying alive is your first priority. You can’t do damage if you’re dead.

PvP Builds are Different. You cannot take a build designed for PvE trials into PvP and expect to succeed. PvP builds need a balance of damage, healing, and survivability.
Slot a Heal. Every PvP build must have at least one reliable self-heal.
Get “Major Resolve.” This is a crucial defensive buff that grants a large amount of Physical and Spell Resistance. Most armor skill lines have an ability that provides it.
Impenetrable is the Most Important Trait. For PvP armor, the “Impenetrable” trait is king. It reduces the bonus damage you take from critical hits from other players. Aim to have this on most of your armor pieces.
Keep Moving. 🏃 A stationary target is an easy target. Always be moving to make it harder for enemies to hit you with their abilities.
Use Line of Sight (LoS). 🌳 This is the most important survival tactic. If you are being attacked, duck behind a tree, a rock, a wall, or any other object. If the enemy cannot see you, they cannot target you with most abilities.
“Hug the Wall.” Use LoS to give yourself a moment to heal, restore resources, and re-apply your buffs before re-engaging.
Manage Your Stamina. Stamina is your lifeblood in PvP. It is used for blocking, dodge rolling, and breaking free from stuns. If you run out of Stamina, you are vulnerable.
Burst Damage is King. 💥 Because players can heal effectively, the best way to secure a kill is with “burst” damage—unleashing several high-damage abilities in a very short window to overwhelm their ability to heal.
Don’t Be Afraid to Die. 💀 You will die a lot when you are learning PvP. Don’t get discouraged. Each death is a lesson in what went wrong and how you can improve.

Cyrodiil Siege Warfare 🏰

Large-scale combat in Cyrodiil revolves around capturing and defending keeps.

Buy Siege Weapons. 💣 You can purchase siege weapons like trebuchets, catapults, and ballistae from merchants at your alliance’s main gates using Alliance Points.
Use Ballistae and Trebuchets on Walls. These are effective at breaking down keep walls and doors from a distance.
Use Catapults on Players. Meatbag catapults are excellent for dealing damage to large groups of enemy players.
Use Rams on Doors. Battering rams are the most effective way to break down a keep’s main gate, but they require multiple players to operate.
Use Boiling Oil for Defense. 🔥 If you are defending a keep, pouring boiling oil from the ramparts above a door is a devastating way to repel attackers.
Repair Damaged Walls and Doors. You can buy repair kits to fix damaged structures. Keeping your keep in good repair is essential for a successful defense.
Join a Group. 🤝 Cyrodiil is best experienced in a group. Look in zone chat for a group leader (“crown” 👑) advertising a group, and type “x” in chat to ask for an invite.

Chapter VIII: Secrets of Nirn – Hidden Mechanics & Expert Tricks for The Elder Scrolls Online

True mastery of The Elder Scrolls Online comes from learning the hundreds of small tricks and hidden features that make your life easier. These are the secrets that veterans use to save time, reduce frustration, and play more efficiently.

Quality of Life and UI Tricks ⚙️

Reload Your UI. 🔄 If your user interface ever gets stuck or bugged, type /reloadui in the chat box to refresh it without having to log out.
Prevent Attacking Innocents. 🙏 In the Gameplay settings, turn on “Prevent Attacking Innocents.” This will stop you from accidentally hitting a civilian with an AoE and racking up a bounty.
Turn on Ability Timers. ⏳ In the Combat settings, enable ability timers so you can see exactly how long is left on your buffs and damage-over-time effects.
Add Notes to Your Friends List. 📝 You can add a personal note to each person on your friends list to remember where you met them or what character they usually play.
Set Your Name Preference to UserID. In the Social settings, you can choose to display players’ unique @UserID instead of their character name. This makes it much easier to recognize your friends and guildmates when they are on alternate characters.
Bind a Key to Toggle the UI. 📸 In the keybinding settings, you can set a key to hide your entire user interface. This is essential for taking beautiful screenshots.
Quickslot More Than Just Potions. 퀵 You can add almost any collectible to your quickslot wheel, including your banker or merchant assistants, mementos, and pets.
Set a Personal Waypoint. 📍 On the map screen, you can click anywhere to set a personal waypoint that will appear on your compass.
Set a Group Waypoint. While in a group, you can Shift-click on the map to set a waypoint that everyone in your group can see.
Customize Chat Tabs. 💬 You can create new chat tabs and filter them to only show specific channels, like your guild chat or whispers.
Link Items in Chat. Shift-click on any item in your inventory to create a link to it in the chat box.
Link Achievements and Collectibles. You can do the same for achievements, collectibles, and even quest locations.
Change Guild Colors. 🎨 In the Guild menu, you can assign a unique color to each of your guilds’ chat text, making it easy to tell them apart.
Check Your Time Played. 🕰️ Type /played in the chat to see how many hours you have spent on your current character.

Travel and Inventory Management ✈️🎒

Travel to Your House for Free. 🏡 You can fast travel to any player house you own from anywhere in the world for free. This is a great way to get to a city with a Wayshrine without paying a fee.
Get the Free Inn Room. Every player can get a small inn room for free in the first major city of each alliance. Claim all three for more free travel points.
Check Mail Instantly in a New Zone. 💌 The mail system has a slight delay. However, the first time you open your mail after zoning into a new area (including entering a delve or public dungeon), it will check for new mail instantly.
Reset a Dungeon Instance. 🔄 To get a fresh version of a dungeon, the group leader can leave the instance, switch the group difficulty from Normal to Veteran (or vice versa) and then back again. This will remove everyone from the old instance and create a new one.
Upgrade Your Bank Space. 🏦 Visit a banker in any major city to purchase upgrades for your shared bank storage.
Upgrade Your Bag Space. Visit a Pack Merchant to purchase upgrades for your personal inventory space.
Create “Mule” Characters for Storage. 🐴 You can create new characters and use their personal inventory as extra storage space. Simply deposit items in the bank with your main character and withdraw them with your “mule.”

Hidden Gameplay Mechanics & Fun Facts 🤫

Spin Your Character on the Login Screen. 😵 If you rapidly spin your character model on the character selection screen, they will get dizzy and perform a unique emote.
Find M’aiq the Liar. 🐱 This recurring Khajiit character from previous Elder Scrolls games can be found in many zones, offering cryptic and often humorous commentary on the game.
Listen for Pop Culture References. Many NPCs, especially guards, have dialogue that references famous movies and memes.
Training Trait Requires the Killing Blow. The XP bonus from the Training trait on your gear only applies if you are the one who lands the final hit on an enemy. In a group, this bonus is often wasted.
Bounties Decay Over Time. 💰 If you have a bounty, a small amount will disappear automatically every few minutes that you are online.
Bounties Also Decay While Offline. A larger chunk of your bounty will decay when you are logged out.
Learn Breton Motif for Writs. When doing crafting writs, the game defaults to the first style in the list. If you learn the Breton motif, it will be the default, saving you a few clicks every time.
Purchase Writ Recipes from Chefs. 🧑‍🍳 The specific food and drink recipes required for Provisioning writs can all be purchased cheaply from the Chef and Brewer NPCs in taverns.
You Can Survive Any Fall. 🤸 Fall damage is calculated based on a direct vertical drop. If you can slide down a sloped surface, like the side of a mountain, you can survive a fall from any height.
Hide Your Helmet. You can hide your equipped helmet in the Collections menu under “Hats” or at an Outfit Station.

Chapter IX: Exploring New Horizons – Tips for Every Elder Scrolls Online DLC

The Elder Scrolls Online is an ever-expanding world. Each year, new Chapters and DLCs add new zones to explore, stories to experience, and often, brand-new gameplay systems that add more depth to your adventures. This chapter provides key tips for the unique systems introduced in each major expansion.

Gold Road Chapter: Scribing ✨

The Gold Road chapter introduces Scribing, a powerful system that allows you to customize your own skills.

Unlock Scribing for Free. The quest to unlock Scribing can be claimed for free from the Crown Store. You must own the Gold Road chapter to access the system.
Scribing Lets You Create Skills. You start with a base skill called a “Grimoire” and then modify it with three “Scripts.”
- Focus Scripts Define the Core Function. The Focus Script determines the skill’s primary effect (e.g., damage, healing, crowd control) and what resource it costs (Magicka or Stamina).
- Signature Scripts Add a Unique Effect. The Signature Script adds a secondary mechanic, such as restoring resources or applying a damage shield.
- Affix Scripts Add Buffs and Debuffs. The Affix Script adds a Major or Minor buff to yourself or a debuff to the enemy.
Luminous Ink is the Scribing Currency. You need Luminous Ink to create or modify a Scribed skill. This ink can be found from defeated enemies and resource nodes after completing parts of the Scribing questline.
Unlock Scripts Through Gameplay. You can find new Scripts by completing daily quests for various guilds, participating in PvP, and exploring the world.
Experiment Freely. 🧪 Scribing is designed for experimentation. You can create a skill that pulls an enemy to you and applies a damage-over-time effect, or a shield that also grants you a speed boost. Mix and match to fill gaps in your build.

High Isle Chapter: Tales of Tribute 🃏

The High Isle chapter introduced a new tavern game, the deck-building card game Tales of Tribute.

Tales of Tribute is a Full-Fledged Game. It has its own leveling system, daily quests, and a ranked leaderboard.
Unlock New Decks by Playing. You unlock the four starting decks through the introductory questline. You can find and unlock four more decks by completing various achievements throughout Tamriel.
Play Against NPCs to Learn. You can challenge most tavern-dwelling NPCs to a game of Tribute. This is a great way to practice and complete daily quests.
Focus on Combos. The key to winning is to use cards from the same deck Patron to trigger powerful combo effects.
Don’t Neglect Prestige. While buying cards and building your deck is important, you win by reaching 40 Prestige and holding it, or by gaining the favor of all four Patrons.

Blackwood Chapter: Companions 🙋‍♂️

The Blackwood chapter added Companions, NPC allies who can fight alongside you.

Companions are for Solo and Small-Group Play. They are a great help when questing or tackling world bosses alone.
Companions Cannot Be Used in PvP. They are not available in Cyrodiil or Battlegrounds.
They Can Fill a Role in Dungeons. If your 4-player group is missing a person, you can summon a companion to fill the empty slot, but they are not as effective as a real player in difficult content.
Unlock Companions Through Quests. Each companion has a specific quest you must complete to unlock them. Mirri is in Blackwood, Bastian is in Blackwood, Ember is on High Isle, and Isobel is on High Isle. Azandar and Sharp-as-Night are in the Necrom chapter zone.
Level Up Your Companion. Your companion gains experience as you do. As they level up, they unlock more of their class skills.
Equip Your Companion. Companions have their own gear slots. They can wear special companion gear, which drops from enemies when your companion is active.
Set Their Skills and Role. You can assign their skill points and choose their abilities for their skill bar, effectively setting them up as a Tank, Healer, or DPS.
Build Rapport. ❤️ Each companion has a unique personality and a rapport system. Performing actions they like (e.g., Mirri likes when you excavate antiquities) increases your rapport, unlocking personal quests. Actions they dislike will lower it.

Greymoor Chapter: Antiquities 🏺

The Greymoor chapter brought the Antiquities system, a way to become a treasure-hunting archaeologist.

Unlock Antiquities in Solitude. Visit the Antiquarian’s Circle in the city of Solitude (Western Skyrim) to unlock the Scrying and Excavation skill lines.
Scrying is the First Minigame. You use the Scrying tool to pinpoint a dig site location within a zone.
Excavation is the Second Minigame. ⛏️ Once you find the dig site, you use brushes and tools to carefully excavate the treasure.
Find “Leads” to Start a Hunt. You can find leads for new antiquities from a huge variety of sources, including treasure chests, bosses, and even random monsters.
Antiquities are the Source of Mythic Items. These are powerful, one-piece sets that can dramatically alter a build. To get a Mythic, you must find and excavate five different leads for it across all of Tamriel.
Level Your Antiquities Skills. The passives in the Scrying and Excavation skill lines make finding and digging up treasures much easier.

Elsweyr Chapter: Necromancer Class 💀

The Elsweyr chapter introduced the Necromancer, a class that uses corpses as a resource.

Using Certain Skills is a Crime. 👮 Casting some Necromancer abilities, like Blastbones, in front of a town guard is a criminal act and will give you a bounty.
Corpses Empower Your Skills. Some Necromancer abilities can only be used when a corpse is nearby, while others gain a powerful bonus effect if you consume a corpse when casting them.
You Can Create Your Own Corpses. If there are no bodies around, some Necromancer skills will summon a temporary skeleton that immediately dies, leaving a corpse for you to use.

Summerset Chapter: Jewelry Crafting and Psijic Order ✨

The Summerset chapter is essential for crafters and those seeking to manipulate time.

Jewelry Crafting is Unlocked in Summerset. You must own this chapter and visit the city of Alinor to get certified in Jewelry Crafting.
Join the Psijic Order. This chapter allows you to join the mysterious Psijic Order and unlock their skill line by completing a series of quests across Tamriel.
The Psijic Skill Line is a Grind. ⏳ Unlocking the full skill line requires a significant amount of questing and travel.
“Channeled Acceleration” is a Key Skill. This Psijic ability is a common source of the “Minor Force” buff, which increases critical damage.
The Ultimate Lets You Rewind Time. ⏪ The Psijic Ultimate, “Undo,” is a powerful ability that reverts your Health, Magicka, and Stamina to what they were four seconds ago, effectively acting as a massive emergency heal.

Orsinium DLC: Maelstrom Arena 🔥

The Orsinium DLC is home to the first and most iconic solo arena in The Elder Scrolls Online.

Maelstrom Arena is a Solo Challenge. It is a 9-stage arena where you must fight waves of enemies and difficult bosses entirely on your own.
It Comes in Normal and Veteran Difficulty. Normal is a good place to learn the mechanics, but the best rewards come from Veteran.
Maelstrom Weapons are Game-Changers. Completing the arena on Veteran difficulty rewards you with a “Maelstrom Weapon.” These powerful weapons have unique enchantments that can define a build, such as the Maelstrom’s Inferno Staff and Maelstrom’s Bow.

Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood DLCs 🤫

These two DLCs introduce skill lines and gameplay focused on the shadier side of Tamriel.

Join the Thieves Guild in Hew’s Bane. This DLC introduces Thieves Troves, special hidden caches that can be found throughout the world.
Join the Dark Brotherhood on the Gold Coast. 🗡️ This DLC unlocks the “Blade of Woe,” a special synergy that allows you to instantly assassinate unsuspecting humanoid NPCs from stealth.
These Skill Lines Have Useful Passives. Even if you are not a dedicated thief or assassin, the passives that reduce your bounty and detection radius are incredibly useful for any character.

Even More Tips and Tricks for The Elder Scrolls Online ✨

As my journal fills, so does my knowledge. Here are more scattered thoughts and essential pieces of wisdom gathered over a lifetime of adventure.

You Can Own Multiple Houses. 🏡 There is no limit to the number of player houses you can own.
Preview Houses Before You Buy. You can enter a “preview” version of any house, furnished or unfurnished, from the Crown Store or Collections menu.
The Armory Station is a Free and Essential Item. 🪆 Claim the free Armory Station from the Crown Store. Placing it in your house allows you to save and swap entire character builds—including skills, gear, Champion Points, and even your curse (Vampire/Werewolf)—with the press of a button.
Save an “Empty” Slot in the Armory. Save one slot with no gear or skills equipped. This makes it easy to do a full respec of your character without having to pay gold at a shrine.
You Can Be a Vampire or a Werewolf. 🧛‍♂️🐺 These “curses” grant you a unique, powerful skill line but also come with drawbacks. Vampire players take more fire damage, while Werewolf players are vulnerable to poison.
Players Can Bite You. Other players who have the appropriate passives can grant you Vampirism or Lycanthropy at special shrines.
Fishing is a Relaxing Pastime. 🎣 You can fish at fishing holes all over Tamriel. Different types of bait are needed for different water types (ocean, lake, river, foul).
Fillet Fish for a Chance at a Perfect Roe. This rare Provisioning ingredient, used in valuable recipes, can sometimes be found when filleting the fish you catch.
Use Addons on PC/Mac. 💻 The PC version of The Elder Scrolls Online supports a massive library of community-made addons that can dramatically improve your experience. Popular addons include tools for maps, combat, trading, and crafting.
Minion is a Popular Addon Manager. This program makes it easy to find, install, and update your addons.
Read Bookshelves. 📚 Interacting with a bookshelf will often grant you a random point in one of your skill lines.
The “Intimidate” and “Persuade” Passives are Useful. The Fighters Guild and Mages Guild skill lines have passives that unlock special dialogue options in quests, sometimes allowing you to skip entire steps.
You Can Dye Your Armor. 🎨 At an Outfit Station, you can apply colors to your armor slots. You unlock new dyes by completing achievements.
You Can Create Outfits. The Outfit System allows you to override the appearance of your equipped gear with any style you have learned. You can look however you want, regardless of the gear you are wearing.
Lock Items to Prevent Deconstruction. 🔒 In your inventory, you can “lock” a piece of gear. This will prevent you from accidentally selling or deconstructing it.
Repair Your Gear. 🛠️ Your armor takes durability damage when you die. You can repair it at any merchant or with repair kits. If an item’s durability reaches zero, you will no longer receive its stats.
Level Up Your Back Bar. At level 15, you unlock a second weapon bar. Skills on your inactive bar do not gain XP. Remember to swap to your back bar before turning in quests to ensure it gets experience.
Potions and Poisons Share a Cooldown. You cannot drink a potion and apply a poison at the same time. Choose which is more important for your build.
Manage Your Buffs and Debuffs. A huge part of combat is maintaining your “uptime.” This means keeping your beneficial buffs on yourself and your damage-over-time debuffs on the enemy active as close to 100% of the time as possible.
Some Sets are Found in Specific Places. Overland sets drop in specific zones, dungeon sets drop in specific dungeons, and trial sets drop in specific trials.
The “Curated” Loot System Helps You Collect Sets. 🎁 When a set piece drops, the game prioritizes giving you a piece you have not yet added to your “Stickerbook” (your set collection).
You Can Reconstruct Set Pieces. Once you have collected enough pieces of a set, you can recreate any piece from that set at a Transmute Station for a cost of Transmute Crystals.
Transmute Crystals Come from Group Activities. You earn these crystals from completing random dungeons, PvP, and other group content.
You Can Change a Gear’s Trait. The Transmute Station also allows you to change the trait of a piece of gear, provided you have researched that trait.
Don’t Ignore Public Dungeons. These are larger than delves and contain multiple bosses, a skyshard, and a group event for a skill point. They are excellent for XP and loot.
Check Your Mail for Hireling Rewards. 💌 If you have points in the hireling passives, don’t forget to check your in-game mail each day for your free materials.
Join a Player Guild. 🤝 Beyond just trading, joining a social guild is the best way to find people to play with, ask questions, and learn the game. The Elder Scrolls Online community is famously helpful.
Participate in Zone Chat. Don’t be afraid to ask for help in the public zone chat. Whether you need help with a world boss or have a simple question, other players are often willing to assist.
Synergies are Group-Buffs. ✨ In combat, you will sometimes see a prompt to activate a “Synergy.” These are powerful bonus effects from another player’s ability. Always activate them.
You Have a Bank for a Reason. 🏦 Don’t let your inventory get cluttered. Make regular trips to a banker to deposit materials, gear you want to save, and other valuables.
You Can Access Your Housing Storage from Your Bank. If you have storage coffers in your player home, you can access them directly from any banker NPC.
Start the Main Quest from Your Faction’s First Major City. While the game now lets you start in the newest chapter, you can always travel to your alliance’s starting city to find the “Hooded Figure” who will begin the original main story.
Use the Group Finder for Dungeons. The Activity Finder is the easiest way to find a group for a specific dungeon or a random daily one.
If You are a Tank or Healer, You Will Get Instant Queues. 🚀 These roles are in high demand, so your queue times for dungeons will be practically nonexistent.
Damage Shields are a Powerful Defense. Many classes have access to abilities that grant a damage shield, which absorbs a certain amount of damage before your health is touched. These are a key part of survival.
Crowd Control (CC) is Important. 🥶 Abilities that stun, immobilize, or disorient enemies are crucial for controlling dangerous groups of mobs.
Some Enemies are Immune to CC. Bosses and other powerful enemies will have a swirling effect at their feet, indicating they are temporarily immune to crowd control effects.
Pay Attention to Enemy Animations. Veteran players learn to recognize the animations for specific enemy attacks, allowing them to react by blocking or dodging before the red indicator even appears.
You Can Respec Your Skills and Attributes. At the major city for each alliance, you can find “Rededication Shrines” that allow you to reset your Skill Points, Attribute Points, and Skill Morphs for a gold fee.
Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment. 🧪 Thanks to the Armory and respec shrines, nothing in your build is permanent. Try new skills, new gear, and new playstyles.
Read Quest Dialogue and Listen to Voice Acting. 🎧 The Elder Scrolls Online is famous for its high-quality storytelling. Don’t just rush through quests by skipping all the dialogue; you’ll miss out on some of the best content the game has to offer.
Explore Off the Beaten Path. 🗺️ Some of the most interesting locations, quests, and secrets are hidden away where the main quest doesn’t send you. Pick a direction and run.
Each Zone Has its Own Story. While there are overarching narratives, every zone in the game has its own self-contained and satisfying main story.
DLC Dungeons are Harder. 💀 The dungeons released as part of a DLC pack are generally more mechanically complex and difficult than the base game dungeons.
Look Up Mechanics for Veteran Content. 🤓 Before attempting a Veteran DLC dungeon or a Trial, it is a good idea to watch a short video or read a guide on the boss mechanics.
The Game is Constantly Evolving. 📈 The Elder Scrolls Online receives four major updates every year, adding new content, new systems, and balance changes. The game you play today will be even bigger and better tomorrow.
Take Breaks. ☕ This is a massive game. It is a marathon, not a sprint. If you feel burned out, take a few days off. Tamriel will be waiting for you when you return.
The Most Important Tip: Have Fun! 😄 There is no right or wrong way to play The Elder Scrolls Online. Find what you enjoy—be it questing, PvP, crafting, housing, or simply exploring—and do that. It is your adventure.

Your Endless Journey 🌅

This journal is now full. The ink is dry, the pages are worn. But your journey is just beginning. Take this knowledge, adventurer, and use it to write your own story in the annals of Tamriel. May your blade stay sharp, your spells be true, and your path be filled with adventure. The world of The Elder Scrolls Online is yours to discover. Go forth and forge your legend.

Disclaimer: This is an unofficial fan work, all trademarks and copyrights for The Elder Scrolls Online belong to the developer Bethesda Softworks.

Find the game here! https://store.steampowered.com/app/306130/The_Elder_Scrolls_Online/