Videogaming: Playing in a team in Elder Scrolls Online

If you enjoy this guide, do check out my other guides to Elder Scrolls Online:

• Beginning playing in Elder Scrolls Online
• Roles & Classes in Elder Scrolls Online
• Beginning PvP in Elder Scrolls Online
• Buying DLC in Elder Scrolls Online

Although Elder Scrolls Online is perfectly playable as a solo game, there is nothing more fun than playing together with a team of friends. Here are some tips for the best ways to do that.

Team Roles

In general, teams in ESO are based around the classic formation of 1 Tank, 1 Healer, and the rest (usually 2 others) doing damage. It’s good to know which role you are aiming for before you join a team, and have your character set up to do that job as well as you can. Tanks should have lots of Health, be wearing mainly Heavy armor and have at least one Taunt skill equipped. Healers should have lots of Magicka, be using a Restoration Staff, and wear mainly Light armor. Damage dealers should… be able to do lots of damage :-)

Synergy Skills

An important part of playing as a successful team in ESO is making sure each player has skills that help out the whole team, not just themselves. Particularly important as skills which have Synergies — these skills provide secondary effects that can be triggered by the other members of your group. You can find a list of these skills here. Each class has at least a couple of Synergy skills, and the Undaunted skill line is entirely composed of skills with Synergies, so there are quite a few to choose from.

In a good team every player should have at least one or two Synergy skills in their bar in order to boost the entire team’s capabilities. In particular at least one member of your team (usually the Healer or Tank) should have the Undaunted skill Blood Altar unlocked and on their skill bar — it provides great healing for a group.

Companions

If you don’t have exactly the right number of people in your party for group content that needs it (e.g Dungeons or Trials) in many cases you can make up the numbers by using an NPC Companion. They won’t be anywhere near as good as a real player, but they are better than nothing. Note that in some Trials you must have real players and substituting Companions simply will not work. To get a Companion go to Collections — Allies — Companions and click on one to start the questline to acquire them. Also note that they are tied to various DLC chapters so you won’t have access to them if you just have the base game.

Group Content

Most of the quests in Tamriel are designed for solo play, and although you can do most quests as a team, once you have more than a couple of people doing them they become far too easy. But there are lots of other options for groups…

For a group of 2–3 Players

Delves

These are small public mini-dungeons scattered all over Tamriel, usually 2-3 per zone. The Undaunted guild provide a special quest to do a random one of these each day — check in the Undaunted Enclave just outside Wayrest city gates.

Public Dungeons

There’s at least one of these in most overland zones, and there’s no limit to how many people can enter at the same time. Most of the bosses can be handled easily by one or two people, but each one has a group boss where you might need some help (but does give you an extra free skill point!). The Mages Guild give a daily quest to go to a random Public Dungeon so that’s worth picking up and sharing to give extra rewards.

Infinite Archive

This is a special 2 player dungeon that features random groups of enemies and bosses in a never-ending dungeon crawl. Very fun if you like lots of combat and want to play with your special friend. To access it, zoom out to the highest level of the map, click on Apocrypha, and select the Infinite Archive icon.

For a group of 4 Players / Companions

Group Dungeons

You can get to these using the Activity Finder. You can either pick a particular dungeon you have unlocked, or choose a random one. If you aren’t already in a team, the Dungeon Finder will find a place in a team for you, so this can be a great way of getting to know new people. Note that the first time you choose a random dungeon each day you get a massive XP bonus, so if you want to level up fast, do this every day. Make sure you have set your role correctly in the Activity Finder window — you can choose either Tank, Healer, or Damage (DPS). Each dungeon team must be composed of 1 Tank, 1 Healer, and 2 DPS.

Craglorn

Lots of high level 4 player content, including all of the side quests. If you haven’t discovered the Craglorn zone already, you can get there instantly by taking the cart parked directly opposite Wayrest stables.

Arenas

There are currently two 4-person Arenas in the game: Dragonstar Arena in Craglorn and Blackrose Prison Arena (part of the Murkmire DLC). These are tough (and long) challenges that see your team fighting multiple waves of enemies. Tons of fun if you like wading through rivers of enemy blood :-)

For a group of more than 4 Players

If you add more than 4 people to a Group in ESO it becomes a Large Group. This means that you can no longer enter normal dungeons, but you can go to nearly everywhere else. Here are some suggestions for large group fun:

Public Dungeons

See above. You can enter these as a Large Group, but you will probably find they are pretty easy. But a fun way of levelling a bunch of new characters in a team.

Dolmens / Dark Anchors

These are large multiplayer battles versus Daedra in practically every zone in the base game. There 3 of them in each zone — look for a little circular icon on the map. The Fighters Guild gives a daily quest to conquer all 3 Dark Anchors in a randomly chosen zone, so check in your local Fighters Guild HQ. Since their difficulty scales to the amount of players, they can be really fun with a large group — great if you just want a quick challenge. There are equivalent types of open world group content in some of the other DLC zones too.

Dragons

You can find these in the Elsweyr chapter and in the Dragonhold DLC bundle. Dragons are tough and are a serious challenge to even a large high-level group. But really enjoyable, if you don’t mind dying a lot :-)

Cyrodil & Imperial City

These zones are designed for large-scale PvPvE groups, so they ideal if you have 5 or more people who want to adventure together. Get there by pressing L to go to the Campaign Finder. Note that Imperial City can get really difficult, so don’t go there without a good high-level team. Note that you don’t have to PvP in these zones if you don’t want to, there are also lots of PvE quests and delves you can do — just make sure to avoid the areas where the fighting is ;-)

For 12 Players (and sometimes with Companions)

Trials

These are very difficult dungeons that usually require a full 12 person team. Not for the faint of heart, but a lot of fun if you like a challenge! There are three Trials located in Craglorn, and thus unlocked for all players; plus there are several others located in various DLC zones. Best way to experience these is with a Guild team, but if you don’t have that option, go to Craglorn and ask in chat, there are often teams forming there who will take random people.

Current Trials in rough order of difficulty:

Base Game Trials (Craglorn)

• Aetherian Archive — Craglorn (requires 12 Players exactly)
• Hel Ra Citadel — Craglorn (minimum 9 Players, can add 3 Companions)
• Sanctum Ophidia — Craglorn

DLC

• Sunspire — Northern Elsweyr
• Cloudrest — Summerset
• Rockgrove — Blackwood
• Dreadsail Reef — High Isle
• Halls of Fabrication — Morrowind
• Maw of Lorkhaj — Thieves Guild
• Asylum Sanctorium — Clockwork City
• Kyne’s Aegis — Greymoor