It's that time of year again when you consider diving into an MMO like The Elder Scrolls Online (aka. TESO or ESO). In this video, Hack The Minotaur will help you decide whether you should play ESO in 2024.
Cost To Play
First, let's talk about what might be the most important factor for you when committing to an MMO – the cost.
The Elder Scrolls Online is not a free-to-play title. But one of the advantages of ESO is just how low the cost is to get started. Frequently, you can find this game on sale for as low as 5 USD, and the game is still included in Game Pass at the time of this video, which means your access could even be free. The game is always looking to grow its player base, so the barrier to entry is low to get you in and engaged.
Base Game Content
Getting in on the ground floor and purchasing the base game of ESO will unlock hundreds of hours of content, including multiple adventure zones, four powerful classes, amazing fully voice-acted quests and stories, solo content, group dungeons, 12-player Trials, and even the brand new Infinite Archive, which is a procedurally generated dungeon for one or two players with infinite content.
DLC and Expansions
ESO is entering its 10th year and has maintained quarterly DLC releases for most of its existence. A ton of DLC content can be added on, including story zones, dungeon packs, and Chapter releases, which is a larger expansion.
Each DLC has its own price, usually starting around 15 USD for a story zone or dungeon pack and around 40 USD for a Chapter expansion. Though the DLCs and even Chapters go on sale, you can choose which additional content you want to play based on your interests.
Optional Monthly Sub
Of course, there's also the optional ESO Plus subscription, which is 15 USD a month. That gives you access to all previous story zones and dungeon DLCs. It's quite a deal when you consider the ten years of content it now contains. The devs are even adding in those older Chapter expansions into ESO Plus, like Somerset, Blackwood, and so on, providing even more value.
Note that the newest Chapter will not be part of the ESO Plus subscription, meaning it must always be purchased separately.
The subscription also offers more value, such as the monthly allowance of the game's premium currency called Crowns, faster XP progression, faster research for crafting, and many more perks. But the biggest reason most people keep their ESO Plus subscription is for the limitless Craft Bag.
The Craft Bag allows you to store as many crafting supplies as you want and pull them out anytime you need. It is a huge timesaver and one of the most impactful things in the game.
Solo Content
As a massive multiplayer online RPG, The Elder Scrolls Online has a surprising amount of solo content. This is undoubtedly due to the game's place in the Elder Scrolls universe, which is dominated by popular single-player titles like Skyrim, Oblivion, and the Elder Scrolls 6.
ESO has the most solo-style content of any Elder Scrolls game. Zones like Morrowind, Cyrodiil, and Skyrim are all included as part of ESO, although the scale is different. However, if you're looking for new playable Elder Scrolls content, ESO is the only title currently doing that and has been consistently doing that for the last ten years.
You can solo many things in ESO, including the main stories, World Bosses, side quests, and even some group dungeons that can still be soloed if your build is good enough. ESO even added the option for Companions a few years ago to help players solo even more content without a god-tier build. With so many solo options, you never have to wait for your friends to log in.
As mentioned, ESO even recently added a new Infinite Archive dungeon, which provides repeated content with increasing difficulty that players can solo as much as they want.
Level Scaling Difficulty
Outside the Infinite Archive, most content intended for solo gameplay, such as Overland zones and story quests, is straight-up accessible mode and will never get more challenging, regardless of your level. In fact, your character stats are much higher the lower your level is due to level scaling.
The level scaling system was turned on several years ago to make grouping up for content easier, and it does exactly that, meaning a level 30 and a Champion Point 360 level character can group up and do the same dungeon without the level 30 getting instantly evaporated.
However, this system of level scaling does tend to take the challenge out of most of the solo content in ESO. Soloing in this game feels like a story mode difficulty in some titles. Many players would love to see more difficult solo instances or hard-mode content come to the game's stories and solo gameplay.
If you're playing the game solo, it's most likely not for the challenge of combat but for the story and the expansive world you're able to explore.
ESO has dozens of Overland zones, many of which are huge and will take several minutes to traverse from one end to the other. Most of these Overland zones have major towns and settlements and multiple mini-dungeons called Delves and Public dungeons. But the Crown Jewel in ESO's experience for soloists and role-players is the questing and the story content, especially the fully voice-acted NPCs.
There's also a ton of freedom regarding where and when you can go. Since none of the Overland zones are level-capped, every section of Tamriel will be open to you from the start of your adventure, as long as you own the required DLC.
Solo Rewards
In terms of rewarding adventuring soloists, it's important to remember that while you can play ESO like a single-player Elder Scrolls game if you want, the game's overall reward and itemization structure is still 100% based on an MMO.
In Elder Scrolls Online, players can obtain armor set pieces from any boss in the current zone. These pieces provide stacking bonuses when two, three, or four pieces are equipped, as well as a unique five-piece bonus. However, since Overland content in ESO is not particularly challenging, most of the set bonuses obtained from it are not particularly powerful. For example, completing a 10-hour story quest will likely only provide a basic five-piece set item rather than an impactful weapon or unique armor piece. This is a concern that many players hope ESO will address in the future by ensuring that the rewards for solo and story content match the effort put in by the player.
It's worth noting that ESO has made some positive changes to its Achievement System, as well as to the mounts, pets, and cosmetics in 2023. However, the most powerful weapons and armor are still obtained by repeatedly farming gear drops in group dungeons and Trials.
Group Content
The Elder Scrolls Online shines even brighter as you start getting into the more challenging content of the game, such as the four-player dungeons and 12-player Trials. You can group up in ESO at any time and for any content.
ESO's dungeons are handcrafted experiences designed for groups of four players. They are more than just combat challenges, and they have stories that tie back into the larger lore of Tamriel.
Each dungeon is unique, featuring distinct themes and enemy types. Newer dungeons often include puzzles, secret areas, and hidden bosses, providing plenty of incentive to replay them.
Unlike the Overland and the story content, Dungeons, and Trials have different difficulty instances, including normal, veteran, and some hard-mode difficulty settings for certain bosses. The different difficulties allow groups of players to tailor their dungeon experience to better fit the group's experience level while also improving the rewards that you get.
Trials in ESO are similar to Raids and are intended for large groups of 12 players. These represent the most advanced group content in the game, featuring the toughest and most intricate challenges that can take groups weeks or even months to master.
Trials are not only about battling stronger foes. They encompass more complex mechanics that necessitate the efficient participation of every member of the team. This involves managing the group's positioning, handling specific mechanics for bosses' dynamic changes during encounters, etc.
Speaking of group roles, ESO lives by the tried-and-true holy trinity of MMO roles: damage dealing (DPS), healing, and tanking.
Generally speaking, if you want an easier style of play, you can play as a damage dealer, though perfecting your rotation can be a challenge. Healer and Tank builds tend to be a bit more challenging as well because those will be more reactive and require more knowledge of each encounter and specific mechanic.
Group rewards
Group content is the most challenging in the game, so you'll also get the best rewards from these activities, including the best sets with the best bonuses for your build. The Monster sets, which recreate the effects of a unique boss, are pretty interesting. Trial sets are the best, with the most powerful offensive and defensive buffs you can't find anywhere else.
Group content also has a larger percentage of Achievement-based rewards, such as unique skins, mounts, and personalities. This kind of reward can further customize your character and incentivize you to complete this more difficult content.
Is ESO Pay To Win
The Elder Scrolls Online has an extensive cash shop containing basic consumables, Quality of Life upgrades, Cosmetics, DLCs, and Chapter releases. Most of these items don't directly make ESO players more powerful but provide convenience or utility. So, while the Crown Store may not be blatantly paid-to-win, it's not great for players either, especially for new players.
Usually, you might be prompted at times to purchase something on sale that you didn't know you could already get for free in-game without spending real-world money, like respecting your character, buying food or drink buffs, or getting experience scrolls to level faster. In many cases, there are plenty of free alternatives, and getting them takes only a little bit more time. Therefore, be sure to do some research before buying anything, especially if you don't want to waste your Crowns.
The Crown Store can be a tempting place for some players to splurge money on Loot Crates. If you have your heart set on a particular item, such as an apex mount, you might spend hundreds of dollars on random crates in the hopes of getting what you want. This can quickly become a costly addiction for some players.
However, some systems make things more "fair", such as the Crown Gem and the Endeavor systems. The Crown Gem system allows you to trade in unwanted items that you got from crates or gems to buy what you want. The Endeavor system lets you earn your way towards the same premium mounts and other rewards by completing in-game challenges, although it will take months.
Microtransactions are a significant aspect of ESO, and it's important to be mindful of their presence, whether you choose to engage with them or not.
Power Creep
Additionally, the issue of paid DLC content potentially being pay-to-win is a relevant concern. This is especially true when considering that the most powerful item sets often come from new paid content, such as the Chapters that are not included in the ESO Plus subscription. A prime example is Mythic items, powerful one-piece sets that give significant stat bonuses or allow you to play differently but usually require a few DLCs to unlock. This was particularly evident about two years ago with the release of a Mythic item called the Oakensoul Ring, which provided players with many powerful buffs and had to be nerfed because it was too good.
Balance Patches
The game developers have improved the balancing of the game a lot over the past year, but not without some difficulties. Being an MMO with frequent content releases, ESO has balance patches that can modify the way your preferred class performs. Some abilities may be enhanced while others may be weakened. Even your favorite item set, which you spent a lot of time farming to complete, may differ in a future patch as it didn't fit into the overall balance the developers were aiming for.
These kinds of situations are not unique to ESO. As an MMO player, you should probably expect some regular balance patches to hit any type of live service game or just know that the "Meta" or the flavor-of-month build is pretty fragile and tends to change in almost every patch.
Therefore, if you're interested in always having the best gear or the best-performing build with the highest DPS, you will need to adapt to the game as it changes and updates. But for a lot of ESO players who just play the game the way they want, those kinds of "Meta" shifts don't affect them that much. But it is something to keep in mind, especially if you're pushing for competitive endgame scores.
Builds
With over 500 different sets of items, hundreds of skills, and seven classes, the possibilities for creating your dream build in the game are endless. Whether you enjoy playing solo or in a group, focusing on PvE or PvP, or taking on different roles within a team, the game provides endless possibilities for you to explore and enjoy.
ESO even created a built-in Armory system, letting players store and customize their own builds to instantly re-spec. This is perfect for some players who just want to have one character as their main but can still switch to different play styles.
Leveling
While leveling up new characters, unlocking new abilities and play styles through the skill trees is a dynamic and fast process.
In ESO, the basic level cap is 50, and you can achieve it in just a few weeks or days if you play frequently. However, reaching level 50 does not indicate the end of your character's progress, as you will then earn Champion Points that unlock additional power.
The maximum Champion Point level is 3,600, so you won't hit that cap soon. But your Champion Point levels are account-based, not character-based. That means if your main character is CP level 500, and you decide to create a new character, the new character can immediately go into the Champion Point system and use all the 500 CP levels for more power. This feature makes it much easier to level up a new character even faster.
Gear Caps
Gear drop for you at your current level, up to the gear level cap – Champion 160. So, there is no point in farming gear before CP 160. Ideally, you want your gear to reach the gear cap for the best stat bonuses. Therefore, using whatever random pieces you pick up before that point is recommended, as you will throw them away once your character reaches the cap and can use the max-level gear.
Combat
Combat is something that quickly turns off some new players. If you come to ESO from single-player games like Skyrim, you will find that ESO's combat is very different. The game's combat is also different from other MMOs, which tend to be more tab-target-focused, with lots of abilities, long cooldowns, etc. ESO is different. It is very skill-based. Your character will have access to dozens of different abilities at the endgame, but you can only use two skill bars at a time, so careful selection of your skills is crucial. To be successful in ESO, you must strategize and choose your abilities wisely.
In The Elder Scrolls Online, each skill can be morphed into one of two additional options, adding more depth to the system. Moreover, your skills cost resources to cast, and they don't have cooldowns. The cost is either Magicka or Stamina, depending on the skill. So, resource management also comes into play. This is the most challenging aspect of combat, especially for new players. For example, running out of Stamina means you can no longer get up if knocked down and running out of Magicka might mean you can't use any defensive or healing skills anymore. Without balancing your sustain of those resource pools, your character becomes pretty much dead in the water.
There is also a big learning curve to combat. If you're playing solo or quest content, you shouldn't have any issues because enemies are not that challenging in the Overland. But there is a huge difficulty spike if you then try to get into those veteran dungeons or Trials. Since there's not a lot of middle ground or training opportunities to help bridge that skill gap, the social aspects of ESO become very important. Plus, some of the game's most advanced and difficult content requires a group. So, if you plan to play everything in this game, you'll want to start making friends and join a Guild as soon as possible.
Social Aspects
The ESO community is full of great people who will gladly teach you how to improve your build or survive the most challenging dungeon mechanics. There is even an in-game Guild-finder tool to help you get started, letting you search for the exact type of Guild you're looking for, and you can join more than one.
The game also introduced a new in-game activity finder, which makes connecting with groups of people even easier. One of the best things about ESO is the community. So, make that effort to connect with other players, and you won't be disappointed.
What's Coming Next
The final question you might ask is what is next for ESO in 2024. 2024 is the 10th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls Online, and people expect to see something big. The game just finished its Necrom Chapter expansion, which abstracted players returning to some popular locations in the Elder Scrolls lore, including Morrowwind and the Daedric Plain of Apocrypha.
But players were also promised that the Necrom story isn't quite finished yet. In fact, Necrom was just part one of a multi-year story arc that's set to shake things up in terms of story and narrative for the world of Tamriel.
Maybe people will see a change in zone geography or a change in the time period to finally move the game forward into a new era. You might also see a new playable Race or the concept of Spellcrafting.
Will you be playing ESO in 2024? If you are, what are you looking forward to next? Please leave your comments under Hack The Minotaur's video.
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