New Player Tips And Resources

This page is intended is filled quick tips and links for returning and current players of Elder Scrolls Online.

You can comment down the bottom of this page if you have found a resource or a tip that you would like to share.

Basics

What is ESO?

Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) is a big online game (MMORPG) set in Elder Scrolls lore. ESO was released for PC/Mac on April 4, 2010, by Zenimax Online Studios. ESO was released on XBox and PS4 on June 9 2015.

In case you don’t know a MMORPG is defined as an online role-playing video game in which a very large number of people participate simultaneously. ESO is very different to previous single player Elder Scrolls titles like Oblivion and Skyrim. Your account and characters are stored on a server located in either North America or Europe so you don’t have to “save” your game.

Elder Scrolls Online Site

Cost

Elder Scrolls Online uses a “buy-to-play” and “cash shop” business model. This means that you must make a one-time purchase of the game before you can play. From then on you can continue to play for free.

ESO offers downloadable content (DLC), cosmetic and convenience items in a cash shop called the Crown Store. To buy these items you must purchase Crown Packs using real world currency. ESO also offers ESO Plus, an optional membership subscription, which provides access to all DLC while active and grants several in-game perks.

ESO Buy Now Site

Account

When you buy the game, you must make an account to play in ESO. This is also where you can buy Crown Packs and manage any subscriptions you choose to have.

Account Page

About The Game

Class

Race & Alliance

All Skills

Game Mechanics

Quick Tips

Check out ESO FAQ and Game Mechanics for detailed responses and the chance to submit questions or answers!

Interface

• You can have 5 Abilities on your Action Bar at once. Check out your Abilities and spend Skill Points by going to your Skills Screen.
• You can display your Action Bar at all times by going to Settings>Interface and editing the the first drop down menu.
• Check out your Character Screen (‘C’) which displays your stats like Health, Magicka and Stamina as well as any active effects like food and buffs.
• Your Inventory (‘I’) can be increased at Bag Merchants in most capital cities in Tamriel however it costs more and more for each upgrade.
• Access the Guild Interface (‘G’) to see which Guilds you belong to, the members of those Guilds and any messages or notes.
• Access the Group Interface (‘P’) to view your current Group and access the Grouping Tools.
• Chat Commands:
  /s = Say – Can be seen near to your character.
  /tell <player name> = Private Message – Only sent to the specified player.
  /p = Group Chat – Can be seen by your current group.
  /g1/2 = Guild 1 Chat / Guild 2 Chat – Can be see by all members of your Guild.
  /y = Yell – Can be seen in a large radius around your character.
  /z = Zone Chat – Can be seen by the entire zone.
• You can turn on/off Chat Bubbles by going to Settings>Interface and scrolling down to Chat Bubbles.
• If your UI gets stuck or you are having problems you an type /reloadui and press enter to reload the user interface.

AddOns

• AddOns are awesome and can help perform a number of functions. AddOns are not created by, nor affiliated with, ZOS. ZOS provides the API so that developers can make AddOns and also provides options in-game to enable and disable individual AddOns. At the moment AddOns are only supported by PC/Mac clients.
• A great place to start with AddOns is ESOUI.
• Foundry Tactical Combat
  Displays damage numbers, tracks buffs, allows for damage statistics and provides custom Health/ Magicka / Stamina frames.
• ZAM’s Minion
  An AddOn manager allowing you to keep all of your AddOns organized and up to date.
• Advanced Filters
  Allows you to filter your Inventory into sub-categories which is very useful for Inventory management.
• There are a lot more great AddOns available and you should check out ESOUI for more!

General

• You can choose to skip the starting tutorial in Coldharbor however you will miss the chance to loot the containers in Coldharbor which can contain lockpicks and other useful items to begin the game with.
• You can travel around Tamriel using Wayshrines. Walking up to and using a Wayshrine will allow you travel for free! Alternatively if you are far from a Wayshrine you can still travel to one however this will cost a gold fee.
• A great way to travel for free is using the Travel to Player feature. Simply navigate to a Guild Roster (‘G’), your Friends List (‘O’) or your Group Screen (‘P’), right click on a player name in the location you would like to travel to and press “Travel to Player” and you will travel to the closest Wayshrine to that player for free!
• You can reassign your Skill Points by respeccing at a shrine located in the capital city of each Alliance.
• Check out How to Make Gold in ESO for some tips on making and saving gold.

Combat

• Check out Game Mechanics to learn about combat, damage, healing, stats, block, roll dodge and break free.
• At Level 15 you can equip two different weapons (or two of the same if you choose) and switch these whilst in combat (‘~’). Switching weapons also provides your character with access to a completely new Action Bar which can be filled with different Skills.
• When you switch Action Bars any active toggle Skills will deactivate unless you have that Skill on both bars.
• Food increases your base stats – Health, Magicka, Stamina – and drinks increases your regeneration in combat – Health Recovery, Magicka Recovery and Stamina Recovery.
• Potions can perform a number of functions such as restoring resources, granting temporary invisibility, granting immunity to disabling effects and increasing damage and critical strike chance.
• Potions have a cooldown timer which can be reduced with Passive Skills and Jewelry Enchantments.