Here’s a detailed beginner’s guide to ESO, designed to help new players ease into the game and enjoy their journey in Tamriel.

Starting Out: Race, Class, and Faction Choices

RACES

Races are divided into three alliances plus an additional Imperial race (available with the Imperial Edition). Each race has specific passive bonuses.

Aldmeri Dominion:

  • High Elf (Altmer)

Pros:

• Increased Max Magicka and Magicka Recovery. 

• Bonus to Elemental Damage (fire, frost, and shock).

• Restores Magicka after using a class ability.

Best For: Magicka-based DPS (e.g., Sorcerer, Templar, or Dragonknight).

Cons: Limited bonuses to survivability or Stamina, making it less versatile.

  • Wood Elf (Bosmer)

Pros:

• Increased Stamina Recovery and Max Stamina.

• Bonus to Stealth Detection and improved sneak speed.

• Disease resistance.

Best For: Stamina-based DPS (e.g., Nightblade, Warden, or Bow builds).

Cons: Weak in Magicka builds and tanking.

    • Khajiit

Pros:

• Bonuses to Critical Damage and healing.

• Increased Max Health, Stamina, and Magicka, offering versatility.

• Improved stealth capabilities.

Best For: DPS builds of all types (great for hybrids or critical-heavy builds).

Cons: Jack-of-all-trades bonuses, but not the best for tanking or group utility.

Daggerfall Covenant

    • Breton

Pros:

• Increased Magicka and Magicka Recovery.

• Reduced Magicka ability costs.

• Resistance to spell damage.

Best For: Magicka-based builds, especially healers and sustain-heavy roles.

Cons: Lacks Stamina or offensive physical bonuses.

    • Orc

Pros:

• Increased Health and Stamina.

• Bonus to melee attack speed and healing received.

• Sprinting speed and cost reduction.

Best For: Stamina-based DPS, tanks, and fast-paced gameplay.

Cons: Weak Magicka sustain and no stealth bonuses.

    • Redguard

Pros:

• Increased Stamina and Stamina Recovery.

• Reduced cost of weapon abilities.

• Bonus to sustain with Stamina restoration on attacks.

Best For: Stamina-based DPS and tanks.

Cons: Focused solely on Stamina builds, lacking versatility.

Ebonheart Pact

    • Nord

Pros:

• Increased Health and Stamina.

• Damage reduction via bonus resistances to physical and cold damage.

• Ultimate generation bonus.

Best For: Tanks and survivability-focused builds.

Cons: Minimal offensive bonuses.

    • Dark Elf (Dunmer)

Pros:

• Increased Magicka and Stamina, making them versatile.

• Bonus to fire damage and resistance.

Best For: Hybrid builds, Dragonknight fire-themed builds, and DPS roles.

Cons: No direct bonuses to healing or survivability.

    • Argonian

Pros:

• Increased Health and Magicka.

• Bonus to healing done and received.

• Restores Health, Magicka, and Stamina when consuming a potion.

Best For: Healers or support builds due to resource versatility and healing bonuses.

Cons: Limited DPS potential.

Other Races

    • Imperial

Pros:

• Increased Health and Stamina.

• Reduced cost of all abilities.

Best For: Tanks and sustain-heavy Stamina builds.

Cons: Lacks offensive bonuses.

CLASSES

Each class has three unique skill lines and is highly versatile. The playstyle depends on how you allocate points into Magicka, Stamina, or Health.

Dragonknight (DK)

Theme: Fire, poison, and heavy armor.

Strengths:

• Excellent tanks due to self-healing, crowd control, and damage absorption.

• Great for fire/poison-based DPS builds.

• Strong ultimate abilities with high damage and utility.

Weaknesses:

• Lacks mobility.

• Magicka sustain can be challenging without proper setup.

Skill Lines:

• Ardent Flame: Fire damage abilities and crowd control.

• Draconic Power: Defensive skills, shields, and healing.

• Earthen Heart: Utility, buffs, and stamina-based skills.

Sorcerer

Theme: Magic, lightning, and summoning.

Strengths:

• High mobility with teleportation skills.

• Can summon pets for sustained damage and tanking.

• Excellent ranged DPS (Magicka) or Stamina builds (bow or dual-wield).

Weaknesses:

• Reliant on Magicka for sustain.

• Squishy if caught without shields.

Skill Lines:

• Dark Magic: Crowd control and damage-over-time abilities.

• Daedric Summoning: Summons and defensive skills.

• Storm Calling: Lightning-themed damage skills.

Nightblade

Theme: Stealth, assassination, and shadow magic.

Strengths:

• High burst damage (great for DPS builds).

• Strong stealth capabilities.

• Self-healing via damage abilities.

Weaknesses:

• Requires precise timing and positioning.

• Low survivability in prolonged fights.

Skill Lines:

• Assassination: High single-target burst damage.

• Shadow: Stealth, crowd control, and debuffs.

• Siphoning: Magicka sustain and healing.

Templar

Theme: Holy magic, healing, and light-based attacks.

Strengths:

• Best class for healing.

• Versatile: good Magicka or Stamina DPS and tanking potential.

• Easy for beginners due to simple yet powerful abilities.

Weaknesses:

• Limited mobility.

• Healing playstyle can feel stationary.

Skill Lines:

• Aedric Spear: High damage, crowd control, and utility.

• Dawn’s Wrath: Damage-over-time and debuffs.

• Restoring Light: Healing and support skills.

Warden (DLC Required)

Theme: Nature magic, frost, and animal companions.

Strengths:

• Great for tanks with frost-based crowd control.

• Unique healing style with nature-based abilities.

• Good Stamina DPS with animal companions.

Weaknesses:

• Requires balancing multiple skill lines for optimal performance.

• Companion reliance may feel restrictive.

Skill Lines:

• Animal Companions: Damage-dealing skills with pets.

• Green Balance: Healing and support.

• Winter’s Embrace: Defensive and crowd-control abilities.

Necromancer (DLC Required)

Theme: Death magic, summoning undead, and siphoning life.

Strengths:

• Strong in all roles: DPS, healing, and tanking.

• Unique mechanics like corpse-based abilities.

• Excellent group utility with buffs and debuffs.

Weaknesses:

• Corpse management requires planning.

• Some abilities can trigger hostility from NPCs.

Skill Lines:

• Grave Lord: Damage-dealing abilities using undead.

• Bone Tyrant: Tanking and survivability skills.

• Living Death: Healing and support.

Arcanist (Necrom Chapter)

Theme: Cosmic Knowledge, Forbidden Power, and Crux System

Strengths:

• Strong in all roles: DPS, healing, and tanking.

• Unique playstyle.

• Resource efficiency.

• AoE Damage, great for group content.

• Survivability with built in shields and self-healing abilities.

Weaknesses:

• Crux management.

• Complexity, more advanced class.

• Skill costs, difficult without proper resource management.

• Dependence on synergy.

Skill Lines:

• Herald of the Tome: Damage dealing with runes and otherworldly energy.

• Apocryphal Soldier: Tanking with crowd control, defense, and taunting.

• Curative Runeforms: Focused on healing and providing buffs using eldritch magic.

How to Choose?

For Tanks:

• Dragonknight, Warden, or Necromancer.

• Best Races: Nord, Imperial, or Orc.

For Magicka DPS:

• Sorcerer, Templar, or Dragonknight.

• Best Races: High Elf, Breton, or Dark Elf.

For Stamina DPS:

• Nightblade, Warden, or Dragonknight.

• Best Races: Orc, Wood Elf, or Redguard.

For Healing:

• Templar, Warden, or Necromancer.

• Best Races: Argonian, Breton, or High Elf.

Final Tip on choosing Races & Classes

Focus on a playstyle you enjoy—ESO allows flexibility, so no choice is “wrong.” You can optimize later.

Early Game Tips

• Do the Tutorial: It introduces essential mechanics, and you’ll start with basic gear.

• Focus on Storylines: Begin with the base game’s main story and then tackle DLCs as they come. This keeps the game structured.

• Join a Guild Early: Players’ guilds often provide free crafting services, advice, and help with dungeons. Look for beginner-friendly or trading guilds.

The main story questline in The Elder Scrolls Online is not only rich in lore but also offers significant gameplay benefits, particularly for new players. 

Here’s a detailed breakdown of why you should complete it and what you gain, including the skill points it provides;

1. Skill Points

Completing the main story questline grants 11 skill points in total. Skill points are crucial as they allow you to unlock and upgrade active abilities, passives, and crafting skills. These extra points are invaluable for fleshing out your build.

2. Access to the Fighter’s and Mage’s Guild

Early in the main quest, you’re introduced to the Fighter’s Guild and Mage’s Guild, unlocking additional questlines and unique skill lines.

3. Unlocking the Soul Magic Skill Line

During the main quest, you unlock the Soul Magic skill line, which provides useful abilities like:

• Soul Trap: Deals damage and refills Soul Gems when an enemy dies.

• Soul Summons: Allows you to revive without a Soul Gem once per hour.

• Soul Lock: Passively fills empty Soul Gems when you kill enemies.

4. Experience and Leveling

The main storyline grants substantial experience. Completing it while leveling ensures your character progresses efficiently and remains well-geared for future challenges.

5. Legendary Items and Gear Rewards

The main questline often rewards unique and powerful items, including gear and crafting materials that can be helpful for a new character.

6. Unlocking Cadwell’s Silver and Gold

Completing the main questline opens access to Cadwell’s Silver and Gold, which allow you to explore the main zones of the other two alliances. This expands the world’s content and grants more skill points, lorebooks, and exploration opportunities.

7. Engaging Lore and Worldbuilding

The storyline revolves around reclaiming your soul from Molag Bal, featuring iconic characters like Lyris Titanborn, Abnur Tharn, and Sai Sahan. It’s an integral part of ESO’s overarching narrative.

Tips for Completing the Main Storyline;

1. Complete It While Leveling

The main quest scales to your level, so it’s best to complete it gradually while leveling to maximize the rewards.

2. Save Skill Points for Important Abilities

Use the skill points you earn wisely, prioritizing your active skills, passives, and crafting skills based on your playstyle.

3. Use Wayshrines to Travel

The quest often sends you across the map. Using Wayshrines for fast travel can save time.

4. Keep Up With Your Gear

Enemies can be tough if you’re undergeared. Ensure you’re using up-to-date weapons and armor.

5. Enjoy the Story

Take your time to follow the dialogue and lore. It’s an immersive introduction to ESO’s universe and its rich storytelling.

Final Thoughts on the Main Story line

Completing the main storyline is highly beneficial, especially for new players, as it provides essential skill points, gear, and a deeper understanding of the world. With 11 skill points up for grabs and access to new skill lines like Soul Magic, it’s a must-do for anyone starting out in ESO!

Leveling Up Efficiently

Questing Is Key: Quests provide XP and skill points while letting you explore the world. 

Prioritize:

• Zone quests (marked by storyline icons).

• Delve and world boss quests.

    •     Skyshards and Skill Points:

• Collect Skyshards (3 shards = 1 skill point). Look for them in the open world and delves.

• Use online maps for easy tracking since we don't have add-ons like PC players.

Train Mount Skills Daily:

• Visit the stable master to increase mount speed, stamina, and carrying capacity. Even if you don’t use a mount yet, train daily.

    •     Equip All Types of Gear: While leveling, try wearing a mix of light, medium, and heavy armor to unlock passives for each armor type.

Managing Skills

Skill Progression:

• Use skills from different skill lines to level them up. For example, slot a healing skill to level Restoration Staff, even if you’re not a healer.

Unlock new skill lines by performing related activities:

    •     Use a destruction staff to unlock Destruction Staff skills.

    •     Join the Fighters Guild by killing undead/daedra.

    •     Focus on Skill Morphs: As you level, skills can be “morphed” into more powerful versions. Morph skills to align with your playstyle (e.g., Magicka vs. Stamina).

Combat Tips

Light and Heavy Attacks:

• Light attacks deal damage and build resources for ultimate abilities.

• Heavy attacks restore Stamina or Magicka, depending on the weapon type.

Weaving:

• Alternate abilities with light attacks (called “light attack weaving”) for better damage output.

Learn to Block, Dodge, and Interrupt:

• Blocking: Reduces damage from heavy attacks and stuns enemies.

• Dodging: Avoids AoE attacks and reduces incoming damage.

• Interrupting: Stop enemies from casting abilities by bashing them (hold block + light attack).

Gold and Inventory Management

Save Gold Early:

• Don’t waste gold on unnecessary gear upgrades early; you’ll outlevel your gear quickly.

• Invest gold in bag space (visit pack merchants in cities) and bank upgrades.

Pick Up Everything:

• Materials like wood, ore, and herbs are invaluable for crafting. Use your bank to store materials, as it shares space across all your characters.

Use Quickslot Items:

• Place potions, food, or siege weapons in your quickslot for fast use in combat.

Managing your inventory in ESO without the benefits of ESO Plus can be challenging due to limited space. Here’s a detailed guide with tips and tricks to make the most of your storage capacity.

Understand Your Inventory Limits;

• Default Bag Space: Starts at 60 slots.

• Bank Space: Starts at 60 slots, shared across all characters.

Storage Options:

• You can increase bag and bank space over time (see below).

• Utilize additional storage chests and coffers from housing.

Expand Your Inventory:

• Upgrade Bag Space:

• Visit a Pack Merchant in major cities.

• Each upgrade costs increasing amounts of gold (up to 200 slots).

• Prioritize bag space upgrades early since your character uses this most.

Upgrade Bank Space:

• Visit a Banker NPC and purchase upgrades for your bank.

• Bank space can be increased to 240 slots.

Buy Housing Storage:

• Storage chests and coffers (furniture items) can be purchased with gold, Crowns, writ vouchers, or earned from events.

• Coffers: 30 slots.

    •      Chests: 60 slots.

• Storage is account-wide but only accessible via your house.

Utilize Specialized Inventory;

Without ESO Plus, you don’t get the crafting materials bag, but you can optimize how you store crafting items.

Crafting Material Storage Tips:

1. Deposit in Bank:

• Banks have a shared inventory across characters, making them perfect for crafting materials.

2. Use Alternate Characters:

• Create “mule” characters to hold excess crafting materials. Each new character starts with 60 slots.

3. Refine Raw Materials:

• Refine raw materials into usable items to save space (but beware of RNG giving you more items than you started with).

Inventory Prioritization;

You’ll often need to decide what to keep, sell, or discard. Here’s how to prioritize:

What to Keep:

Crafting Materials:

• Focus on Blacksmithing, Clothing, Woodworking, Alchemy, and Enchanting materials.

• Rare materials like Tempering Alloys or Dreugh Wax should always be stored.

Set Gear:

• Save useful gear from sets that suit your build. Deconstruct gear you don’t need.

• Only keep gear that’s your level or for endgame farming (CP 160).

Food and Potions:

• Always keep crafted or looted food, drink, and potions. They provide critical buffs.

Treasure Maps:

• Store these for later if you’re not exploring the specific zone. They don’t take up much space.

What to Sell or Deconstruct;

Trash Items:

• Items marked as “Trash” are vendor fodder. Sell them immediately.

Non-Set Gear:

• Sell or deconstruct items that don’t belong to sets, especially if they’re common.

Duplicated Materials:

• If you have multiple stacks of low-tier crafting materials (like iron ore), sell them.

Efficient Crafting Management;

Crafting can clutter your inventory quickly. Use these strategies to avoid getting overwhelmed:

Use Crafting Stations Regularly:

• Deconstruct weapons, armor, and jewelry to gain materials and save space.

• Refine raw materials into usable forms.

Research Traits:

• Researching traits destroys items, freeing space and progressing your crafting skills.

• Always keep trait-unknown items for research, especially if they’re green or blue quality.

Stack Similar Items:

• Combine partial stacks of materials to save slots.

• Vendors and crafting stations automatically stack items when deposited.

Vendor and Merchant Tips;

Vendors can be useful for clearing out inventory while earning gold.

• Sell Unneeded Items: Trash items and gear you don’t need should be sold to merchants.

• Repair Kits: Buy repair kits instead of repairing at merchants to avoid carrying extra damaged gear.

Utilize the Collections System;

Your Collections menu (accessed from the main menu) can store certain types of items, effectively freeing up space:

• Costumes, Pets, and Mounts: Don’t take up inventory space and are always accessible.

• Mementos and Quest Items: Automatically stored in your Collections and don’t use inventory space.

Daily Habits for Inventory Management;

Adopting these habits can save you time and space:

Log in Daily:

• Even if you don’t play, logging in daily can grant useful consumables like Crown Repair Kits or XP scrolls.

Deposit Crafting Materials:

• After each session, deposit all crafting materials into your bank or mule characters.

Clear Your Inventory After Each Zone:

• Visit a merchant or crafting station after completing a zone to sell, deconstruct, or deposit loot.

Smart Use of Consumables;

Food and Drink:

• Focus on keeping only the most relevant foods for your build. Discard low-tier or outdated food items.

Potions:

• Looted potions (like basic health, Magicka, or Stamina potions) can be replaced with crafted potions later.

Long-Term Goals;

• Purchase a House: Even without ESO Plus, housing storage can significantly increase your capacity.

• Consider ESO Plus During Events: If you’re feeling overwhelmed, ESO Plus offers unlimited crafting storage and a doubled bank size. Subscribing even temporarily during crafting-heavy events can be worthwhile.

Final Tip on Inventory Management: Declutter Regularly

Inventory management requires regular upkeep. Sell, deconstruct, or store items frequently to avoid hitting your inventory limit during crucial moments. Prioritizing what you truly need will keep your inventory under control!

Crafting and Economy

Learn All Crafting Professions:

• Even if you don’t plan to craft extensively, research traits in blacksmithing, woodworking, and clothing early. Research takes time and unlocks better gear.

• Provisioning (Cooking): Make or buy food/drinks that enhance health, magicka, or stamina.

• Alchemy: Create potions and poisons. Simple potions are often better than store-bought ones.

Sell to Guild Traders:

• Once you join a trading guild, sell materials like crafting resources and rare items to make gold. Check our How To Trade guide for more info!

Exploring the World

Use Wayshrines:

• These teleportation points let you travel for free if visited on foot. Fast travel from anywhere costs gold.

Don’t Ignore Delves:

• These small, instanced dungeons contain bosses, lore books, and Skyshards.

Join Public Dungeons:

• They’re tougher but have good rewards and group-friendly mechanics.

Little-Known Tricks

Auto-Loot and Inventory Tips:

• Turn on auto-loot in settings to save time.

• Sell trash items to merchants or deconstruct gear for crafting materials.

Free Skill Lines:

• Join the Mages Guild and Fighters Guild at any major city to unlock their skill lines. Later, join the Undaunted (for dungeon-based skills).

Bank Is Account-Wide:

• Your bank is shared across all characters, so use it to store materials or gear.

Free Room and Mount:

• Complete the quest “Room to Spare” in a starter city for a free house. Also, buy the cheapest mount from the stable when you have enough gold.

Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed

Play at Your Own Pace:

• ESO’s content is not going anywhere. Don’t rush to endgame; enjoy the story and zones.

Set Small Goals:

• Focus on one or two things at a time: leveling, collecting Skyshards, or completing a zone.

Ask Questions:

• The ESO community is generally friendly. Don’t hesitate to ask for advice in chat or forums.

Transition to Endgame

Hit Level 50:

• After level 50, you earn Champion Points (CP), which improve your character further.

Gear Up:

• Endgame gear comes from dungeons, trials, or crafted sets. Don’t worry about farming until CP 160, as gear stops scaling at that level.

Try Group Content:

• Dungeons, PvP, and trials are fun and rewarding ways to improve your character.

Final Thought

ESO is about enjoying the journey, not rushing to the end. Explore, experiment, and immerse yourself in the rich world of Tamriel.

First, we will share how to check prices of items. You can waypoint to all major cities and check traders manually for the item you're searching. i.e. Mournhold, Elden Root, Vivec City and Stormhold, to name a few. 

You can also use Tamriel Savings Co website. Which pulls trader data from the Xbox Megaserver. This web app tracks trending data in the market. Even though it is the Xbox market this can still give us a sense of what’s popular and trending on console markets since they are very close to mirroring each other. PS market prices are typically 10-20% less than Xbox. 

This is much easier than waypointing all over Tamriel and searching in the traders, while that is the tride and true way, this gives us a quick glimpse.

This is the same data you pull in the price checker from TSC discord bot, NOT the Dwemer bot, as the Dwemer bot pulls data from PC markets, and PC markets are hyper inflated in comparison to console. 

Trader Basics

Instead of a centralized auction house, ESO has multiple guild-based traders. These allow guild members to list and purchase items internally on our trader. However, for our trader’s items to be seen and purchased by players outside the guild, each week we must bid on (and win) one of the 190+ trader locations throughout Tamriel. These cost the guild several million per week!

Seller Interface

To sell an item in the guild store, talk to our trader or any banker (not moneylenders) and bring up the guild interface. Go to the ‘sell tab’, click your item, and click ‘list item’. There is a 1% listing fee that is refunded if the item sells; sold items incur a 7% commission (3.5% to the guild, 3.5% gold sink to ZOS). When a player purchases your item, the gold is sent to you via in-game mail. You can view items for a particular guild (and cancel items if desired) on the “listing” tab.

Basic trader recommendation:

- Price items optimally based on item desirability, trader location, and overall market conditions

- Keep your 30 slots full. Use farmed or crafted filler items to supplement your more expensive offerings.

- Keep things fresh. If the market price has changed, or if it’s been more than a week, you may want to repost the item.

- Wait until you have a good-sized stack of white mats to list them (#50, 100, 200). Blue/Purple/Gold sell well in multiples of the numbers needed for crafting (blue 2, purple 3, gold 4) – or individually if more expensive.

- Don’t waste shelf space for something less than 100g total in value as a starting trader. As you level up, that minimum threshold should increase with you. 

- Things to avoid listing (if you have better items): white non-research gear, green recipes not used in daily writs, white/green/blue glyphs, unpopular low-value furniture (nord, imperial, dark elf, orc, etc), lockpicks. 

- Flipping is a fine way to make gold. But give yourself at least a 20% cushion, to account for the 7% trader commission, market swings, and potentially having to relist your items.

These are our go to websites from respectable ESO community members for build ideas and guides. The credit goes to the respective website host and owner of the site.

Simply click on the hyperlinks below

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Deltias Gaming for a variety of guides 

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Hack the Minotaur for a variety of guides 

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Skinny cheeks for DPS builds 

⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

Hyperioxes for Tank builds

⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

Healers Haven for Healer builds 

What Is a Good Farming Location?

A good farming location should be:

•   Easily accessible and easy to navigate

•   Filled with nodes that are close together

•   Little to no adds for minimum distraction

A good material farming location should be easily accessible and have plenty of nodes that are all in close proximity to one another.

What Makes a Route Efficient?

An efficient route should have:

•   No adds/hardly any adds

•   No lakes or rivers to cross

•   Node-dense area

•   Flat terrain

•   Bonus: chest/World Bosses/World events in the area

 To make the farming more efficient, you need a great route. You can also increase efficiency by wearing specific gear. The Ring of the Wild Hunt is a good choice because it alone increases your movement speed, allowing you to harvest more nodes. 

Useful Farming Sets

Below are some more great sets that can help you farm more efficiently:

•   Coward's Gear (Major Expedition while Sprinting)

•   Jail Breaker (Minor Expedition at all times)

•   Fiord's Legacy (unique 15% speed bonus + Sprint cost reduction)

•   Skooma Smuggler (Major Expedition after using a potion)

 Useful Champion Point Nodes

 While farming materials, be sure to slot the Plentiful Harvest and Master Gatherer nodes from the Craft Champion Point tree for a chance to get double the yield and reduce the amount of time it takes to harvest.

Take note: when refining material, ensure you have meticulous disassembly slotted on the green tree and you refine on Saturdays in major city’s like Elden Root.