Elder Scrolls Online: Tips on Leveling in a Hurry
Company: Bethesda Softworks Product: Elder Scrolls Online
I like MMORPGs. I really do. I know that a lot of players talk about the "end game" and strive to get to high levels quickly, but I am not a social gamer, so I tend to work my way through the storylines, explore the environment, and work on a generally well-rounded character. It's fun, but it doesn't prepare you for playing in a group - nor does it prepare you for high-level content. When I needed to level quickly to try out Horns of the Reach, I desperately searched online for tips. I found something that works and wanted to share with the class. I'm not taking credit for this; I'm providing links to the source that helped me out; check it out for more detailed info.
You Can Do the Dolmen Shake: So, there are these things in Elder Scrolls Online called dolmen. They are places where a great evil from another realm can breach the fabric of reality and pour forth creatures to attack this realm. (Those familiar with the game Rift... think rifts.) These, in and of themselves, are high-experience encounters. Further, they attract a lot of players, so enemies... even big, mean, scary ones... typically get wasted in a few seconds, so there's not a whole lot of risk involved. Finally, when the encounter is over, a treasure chest appears with some sweet loot. Nice. Desert is Served... There are Dolmen in various places, but VanguardGamer pointed to three in the Alik'r Desert as being the most efficient and when I tried them out, I would have to agree. All three dolmen are close to a wayshrine, so you can pop in, ride over to the dolmen as you hear the horn blowing indicating that the event is starting, earn some XP, grab some loot, ride back to the wayshrine and the pop over to the next one. In my experience, the timing's nearly perfect that when you get to the next wayshrine, the event there is beginning. These events occur in a rotation at these three dolmen, so once you've established the order, you can just keep bouncing from one to the next, either clockwise or counter-clockwise (doesn't change during a given instance, but can be different if you log out and back in).
Join the Party... You'll also want to join a group when doing this to get an increase in XP. Don't know how to join a group or don't know who to ask? That's not going to be a problem, here. Simply switch over to talking to the entire zone (by typing /zone) and then type the letter x and hit enter. That's all you have to say, and the leader of the dolmen group will send you an invite. Well, unless the group's full. If it is, you'll see some chatter about it and you'll also see people typing "y" instead of "x." When the "x" group is full, people will make a "y" group. It's just that simple. It's easy to have over 20 people making this dolmen tour at the same time, in the same group. You can "group up" without being the least bit social. Trust me.
Remember Your Training Pants! There are lots of ways to increase your XP gaining rate, but many of them are expensive. One good way to eke out a bit more XP is to use items that have the TRAINING aspect in them. You might have an initial item from your character creation with this; I had a bow. Also, watch for drops from the dolmen loot to have this. It's not frequent, but it happens from time to time, and I don these items when I get my hands on them. I don't have a ring or amulet with Training, but I have Trainers in most other slots for running this circuit. Practice the Right Things: I should point out that, while your character will level, overall, there are also your skills to keep in mind. If you're leveling up to get your character to be able to play the role of Tank, you should use the appropriate weapons and maybe not a dagger or restoration staff. If you're hoping to be a better Healer, on the other hand, that restoration staff is looking like a better idea. In the end, I'm not trying to tell you what weapons or gear to use, other than to remind you that the skills you level up will be the ones you end up with. If you have light armor with Training on it, it will help you level your character faster, but if you want that character to use heavy armor when you've leveled up, you should be leveling up your skill in using heavy armor, instead. Anyway, use the link below for more tips, but the dolmen was especially good to me.
-Geck0, GameVortex Communications AKA Robert Perkins
Related Links: Level 1 to 50 in Four Hours ESO Best Level Grind Spots VanguardGamer on Youtube Our Elder Scrolls Coverage
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