Quick Links
- Character Creation
- Classes
- Combat
- Group Content: Dungeons, PVP, Raids, And Trials
- Stats And Gear
After many years, or perhaps even a few months, of playing World Of Warcraft, you may be considering transitioning to The Elder Scrolls Online. The differences in the games are close enough to be enjoyable but vary enough to be a fun and exciting new adventure.
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World Of Warcraft has been out for quite some time now, and it may be time for a new MMORPG palate cleanser. With great content regarding PVP and PVE, The Elder Scrolls Online has a lot of potential to be any WoW player's new favorite MMORPG.
Character Creation
A huge difference between WoW and ESO is Character Creation. In WoW, your character's race is tied to your faction with both Horde and Alliance each having specific races for you to choose, and you can't break this rule. However, ESO has three factions, and you can choose to be any race in any faction. The best part is that you can do a lot of content with friends who are in a different faction, with the only restriction coming in when you play the PVP modes of Imperial City and Cyrodiil. These are ESO's two huge player PVP game modes, that will make WoW's Epic Battlegrounds look small. Since these modes are broken up by faction, if your plan is to play this with friends make sure to choose the same as them. But overall, it means no more being unable to not play with your friends because you like Night Elves and they like Blood Elves, ESO allows for more playability and ease of access to play with friends.
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In ESO, your starting zone will be determined by your faction choice. Each of the faction's starting zones is equally fun, and the game is pretty alt friendly when it comes to leveling multiple characters, so each starting zone is definitely worth a playthrough. You will find that the character customization is much more detailed and more customizable in ESO, and you may even find yourself tweaking and editing a character for hours before playing the game. The graphics will undoubtedly catch your eye and may make you never want to turn back.
There aren't as many races to choose from in ESO, but the best part is they are all playable right away. Each race has its own racial abilities much like WoW, but unlike that game, they are all passive abilities. This makes things a bit less complicated when it comes to choosing race and class, as well as managing your action bars. Once you have created your character and finished the tutorial, the world is yours. The exploration and freedom to choose where you wish to travel and level is entirely up to you, and while the number of quests may seem daunting at first, it really does lead to endless adventure. The main story quest is even fantastic after you hit max level, and it may still feel challenging.
Classes
Classes in ESO are less in quantity than WoW, but they are certainly more in quality, vastly customizable, and may seem overwhelming with the number of options and morphs available. Much like WoW, ESO has three typical roles, Tank, DPS, and Healer, but unlike WoW in non-game content, these roles aren't required for various group content. Each class will have multiple options to fill at least two of these roles, and depending on how you build, you can almost be whatever role you want with whatever class and race you want. The freedom of character creation in ESO is vast and incredibly creative.
WoW players may notice at the end game, that the unlocking of something called the Champion Point system is revealed. This is akin to WoW's base class and subclass talent trees. As you level, you will have choices to make on abilities and morphs, but this is where the more detailed class creation really deepens. This may seem overwhelming at first, but with an idea of how you want to play and with some tinkering, you'll be able to find the perfect placement for your Champion Points to make your character play the way you want. These Champion Points are like an end-game leveling system, so the more you play, the more Champion Points you will receive.
Combat
The first difference that WoW players may notice, as far as gameplay goes, is the combat system. Unlike WoW's tab targeting system ESO is a real-time action combat system. This will require you to use your mouse to face your enemies and, for the most part, aim your attacks, ranged or melee. There is more to combat than just that in ESO. You will need to learn how to use your dodge/roll mechanic, use your mouse to do light and heavy attacks, and swap between two weapons that change your five-button action bar.
The action bar system may seem like a relief for many WoW players. Your ability choices and weapons will determine the action bar, and with the push of a button will switch to your other weapon and change your action bar. The five-button action bars will feel like a lot less to handle, giving you the ability to really focus on combat and positioning to a much more manageable degree. Making sure you have the best weapons, especially ones that play off each other, for your class may be a learning curve, but in the end, ESO combat is fun, simple, and extremely enjoyable.
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Group Content: Dungeons, PVP, Raids, And Trials
Both ESO and WoW share some types of content, but the way they play, and their name is quite different. Unlike WoW, ESO's dungeons are four-man groups, and pre-endgame dungeons don't always require a full role check, meaning you can have a group of four DPS if you'd like! This will be up to you and your party choice, but if you are confident in your skills you can certainly run a dungeon with four DPS.
In WoW, you have Mythic+ Dungeons, and the ESO equivalent here is Veteran Dungeons. These Veteran Dungeons are available at max level and not as precarious with Affixes and timers like WoW's counterpart. That being said, these Veteran Dungeons are extremely fun, story-driven, and can undoubtedly be quite challenging. It will be the perfect practice place for you to get ready for ESO's Raid equivalent, Trials.
Trials are ESO's competitor with WoW's Raids. These will be a 12-person group instead of a 10 to 30-person group. Overall, it is fewer people to manage and can make it a bit more enjoyable and easier to coordinate. They play a bit differently from Raids in WoW, but don't let the lesser group size fool you, these are pretty challenging.
While WoW has Battlegrounds, Arenas, and Epic Battlegrounds, ESO has Battlegrounds, Imperial City, and Cyrodiil. The Battlegrounds in ESO will differ from WoW in the sense of the objectives played and that there are a total of three teams instead of two. There are no arenas in ESO, but instead, you have Imperial City and Cyrodiil. These will make WoW's Epic Battlegrounds look small, with sometimes well over a thousand people in Cyrodiil. Imperial City is just the smaller and more compact version of this.
Stats And Gear
ESO's stat list is much vaster than WoW's, allowing for much more creativity. It may be overwhelming at first, but in the end, the possibilities are endless. Much like WoW, the stats will arise from your choice of equipment and gear, and you can mix gear for specific passive abilities and stack the stats you need to deal the most damage.
If you are a theory crafter type of player, then ESO may be your new favorite game. With tons of options for gear, ability, and stat stacking, the amount of combinations and options you can make is almost overwhelming and mind-blowing. The best part is that some PVP gear will be unlockable from dungeons, the overworld, or various quests. You don't have to grind that honor and conquest to be the best in PVP. What a relief!
ESO can be pretty refreshing for WoW players, with just enough similarities and differences to create a new, fun, and exciting experience.