Classes in Elder Scrolls Online

If you are looking for THE FASTEST WAY to reach the level cap with any class, this is a definite must have! There is nothing that comes even close in regards to level of detail and overall quality.

Most MMO games require you to choose a class for your character. This choice is always very important because it sets a lot of restrictions for your future experience. Elder Scrolls Online also has a class system, but it is not so strict. Classes in ESO determine your basic skills. Does not matter what class you choose, you can use all weapons and armour types anyway. It is your choice what type of armour to use: heavy, light or medium leather. The same applies to weapons, you can wield any weapon and fight as you wish. So classes in ESO do not restrict you to only using a limited set of gear. They just set the general direction of your future development.

Class Skill Trees
Templar Aedric Spear Dawn's Wrath Resroring Light
Dragon Knight Ardent Flame Draconic Power Earthen Heart
Sorcerer Storm Calling Dark Magic Daedric Summoning
Nightblade Assassination Shadow Siphoning

Why it’s important to select a proper class? Because this choice determines your Class Skills and this choice is permanent. Templar, Nightblade, Sorcerer and Dragon Knight have different abilities and you will not be able to jump from Nightblade to Sorcerer.

What about archetypes? You can be Tank, Damage Dealer or Healer with any class! It’s one of the most important features of ESO. That’s because there are a lot of other skill lines: Weapon and Armor skills, Werewolf, Vampire and so on. Every player can use any weapon type and any armor. If you want to be a Tank you need to take Sword and Shield. This skill line has special abilities for increasing defense and survivability.

Don’t forget that there are also Champion Points for making your character ever more focused. For example Champion Points allow to increase defense, survivability and resistance even more and you will become much better tank.

Roles

Any Class in ESO is great for any role! That’s because there are a lot of other skill lines: Weapon and Armor skills, Werewolf, Vampire and so on. But each Class has its abilities and these abilities also have specialization. The list below demonstrates best classes for different archetypes if we don’t take into account weapon skills, armor skills and so on.

  • Melee Damage Dealer – Dragonknight, Nightblade, Templar
  • Ranged Damage Dealer – Nightblade (with bow) or Sorcerer (with staff)
  • Tank – Dragonknight or Templar
  • Healer – Templar
  • Rogue – Nightblade
  • Summoner – Sorcerer

Once again: any class can play any role! Recommendations above can make your gameplay easier and probably more enjoyable in the beginning. But these variants are not the only possible!

The tradition of all TES games is to allow the player to level up weapon mastery for any weapon type. ESO has the same system. As you level your weapon you will get new skills that will increase their efficiency. These skills will level independently from your normal class skills, and will change depending on the weapon you are currently using.

Health, Magicka and Stamina trees can also be found in ESO. All these pools depend on how you spend your attribute points. You can choose to Max out one attribute or balance several attributes. You are free to develop your own “build”. Such a system allows you to create a truly personal character with unique point distribution depending on your will and playing experience. Imagine the ability to create an axe wielding healer or stealth based mage. ESO opens up some interesting possibilities.

Your gameplay will most likely be affected by the way in which you spend your skill points. For example if you spend most of your points to increase Health you are developing your protagonist as a warrior or tank. If you prefer Stamina you will be a damage dealer. But the distribution is not strict and you can decide how to develop your character. For instance, if you are an avid PvP player you may wish to invest a lot of points in Health.

Is it possible to change your character’s class?

It isn't possible. You can't change the class. Your race, class and faction choices are permanent.

Comments ()

  1. Dillon Looney 16 december 2013, 23:02 # 0
    What would be the overall best class to go for strenght??? I want raw strength and defense.
    1. Duelist 17 december 2013, 06:29 # +1
      On my opinion Dragon Knight or Templar is a very good choice for any Tank. But if you want raw strength and defense I recommend Dragon Knight with “One Hand and Shield” and “Earthen Heart” primary skill lines. Earthen Heart has several sweet abilities for limiting and absorbing incoming damage.
    2. DV Pasavut 05 january 2014, 18:48 # 0
      Is it possible to play as monk using fist to take down enemies?
      1. Duelist 06 january 2014, 01:58 # 0
        Every weapon type in ESO has its own skill line. You make your weapon stronger when you progress within the skill line. But there is no any skill line allowing you to fight with your fists. Maybe it is possible (I don’t know) but it will not deal sufficient damage. That’s why “monk” style is not the best idea to win.
        1. Dorgaria 21 february 2014, 20:30 # 0
          The closest I could see to playing an unarmed monk style would be to use dual wield daggers for the speed & short reach plus medium armor for movement & stamina bonuses. As Duelist said, there is no dedicated «Unarmed» line.
        2. Justin Marshall 14 january 2014, 04:39 # 0
          i was thing for an effective dps would be archer with dragon knight specking in to the draconic powers would you agree.
          1. Dorgaria 21 february 2014, 20:48 # 0
            It really depends on what your playstyle is. So many of the skill synergize with each other between class skills, weapons, & even weapon skills that you can do most any combination & be effective. Remember, just because you have Draconic line powers doesn't mean you can't pick skills from Earthen Heart or Ardent Flame. While you only have access to skills you unlock, those skills still increase that tree as you use them.
            Building a class in ESO is definitely going to be a long term deck-building style because of the limited number of skill points we will have access to. It will take time to earn access to higher ranked skills. Of course the faster way to earn XP in that line will be to use more skills from that line, in turn using more of your precious skill points. By my last count, I only added around 150 points for all your active, passive, armor, morphs, racial, crafting, etc. So while it might SOUND like a lot, they will disappear quickly.
          2. Justin Marshall 14 january 2014, 04:41 # 0
            and its nice to see that u have a really good website for peop;e who wanna know all there is to know about eso i have said they should do this since i got home and played it on the midnight release thank you
            1. Manuel González Díez 03 february 2014, 17:24 # 0
              I was thinking to try and make a hexblade/spellsword. Any idea of which class and race would be better for it? I would like to combine it with either a Breton or an Imperial, though. What is your advice guys?
              1. Aleksandar Zahorjanski 04 february 2014, 20:25 # 0
                How came no one is pissed about the classes, if i want to be a dragonknight i will join the Dragonknights, or templar, i will join templars, sorcerer, don't know sorcerer's enclave, nightblade, Nightcommandos? Why shave this to my trout, what if i, like in other ESO's i want a shamanistic barbarian whit no ties to templars, nightblades, sorcerers or dragonknights, this is ruining it for me…
                1. Dubstep Blocks 05 february 2014, 17:47 # 0
                  The game is coming 4 days later than my birthday i hope to get it the same day im going to sleep in the car to get it just for the day then taking a shower and playing it :) this game is legend and i cant wait to play it the only thing is that I really wanted to play just with my friends I dont like to play with people i dont know in real life I hope it has a setting or game add-on to play solo,invite only and online lol
                  1. Dan Tomic 07 february 2014, 06:07 # 0
                    is there any good combination for sneaking and archery, like woodelf nightblade with bow instead of daggers?
                    1. Ambuaz 07 february 2014, 11:49 # 0
                      Everything depends on how you distribute your skills. There are different skill categories in ESO and you will have access to many of them from the beginning. So you need to choose how to distribute skills.

                      Any class in ESO can sneak, but Nighblade can also use temproary invisibility. Nightblade has a lot of great melee abilities. If you are planning to fight in the center of battle – this may help. But if you are planning to kite a lot then you need probably focus on Bow skills.

                      Your question is very difficult to answer because only you know your playing style and strategy. We are going to launch forums soon where you'll be able to discus your potential build in details.
                    2. Adrian Cederberg 08 february 2014, 08:07 # 0
                      why isn't there a class based around bow/grossbow and javilins? all i've seen is that everyone is capable of using a bow, but no skills for it… why is that?
                      1. Ambuaz 08 february 2014, 10:58 # 0
                        No skills for bow? Are you serious? There is a special skill line dedicated to bow. You can use only these skills and progress in this line.
                      2. Cerberos 10 february 2014, 14:06 # 0
                        Hello, is it possible to change skill tree, once you pick one? I haven't found something like that in beta yet. Ty in advance!
                        1. Ambuaz 10 february 2014, 14:40 # 0
                          I am not sure that I understand your question. Do you mean changing class? If yes, then it is impossible. You can’t change your class.
                          1. Cerberos 10 february 2014, 14:50 # 0
                            Hello, no, i read that u cant change classes above. Let me rephrase it to be more understandable.

                            Someone starts the game, and choose to be a Sorcerer. Then he chooses the Dark Magic path and start building it, to understand later that omg..i don't like that, can i re-locate my points for Storm Calling?

                            That's the question, and i assume many will want to change that, or the only option is: start again?
                            1. Ambuaz 10 february 2014, 15:51 # 0
                              Developers said that it will be possible to re-locate points. You will have to pay for that. I didn't find such option in Beta but final version will contain it.
                        2. Patrick Boucher 26 february 2014, 17:54 # 0
                          I wanna be the ultimat DD(domage dealer)I love range attack.what would be the best classes?
                          1. Ambuaz 26 february 2014, 19:28 # 0
                            There are 5 active abilities in Bow skill line and you can use all 5 or mix Bow skills with your Class skills. I think it’s difficult to advice you something because every player has his own playing style. I think that each class can be pretty good RDD.
                          2. Jacob Hopkison 12 march 2014, 15:52 # 0
                            I want to play a character with a bow, but I want to be able to kill enemys that are close with my abilites.
                            I would also like to use two handed weapons but not sure weather its a dagger or a sword or mace. But really I want to do range with abilites to help at close range any ideas?
                            1. Ambuaz 12 march 2014, 18:04 # 0
                              You can combine Bow Skills with Class Skills of any class. All classes in ESO have skills for face to face combat, so everything depends on the class you like more. I think it’s possible to create a lot of good builds that will meet your requirements.

                              If I want to create such build I would probably look at Nightblade class. But that's because I like Nightblades :)
                              1. Jacob Hopkison 12 march 2014, 21:50 # 0
                                Oh k
                                So say i go nightblade what race would be best and what skills would i level into
                                1. Ambuaz 14 march 2014, 07:08 # 0
                                  When I said “I would go with Nightblade” it was not a recommendation. It was only my opinion. You should explore class skills and decide yourself what class to choose. There is a great page with class skill and filters: Class Skills

                                  Read description of races and their racial abilities and make decision yourself. It’s your character and you will be playing it. I can just advice: if you are going to rely on magicka choose a race with good magicka regeneration. If you are going to spend mostly stamina – choose race with stamina regen passive. Racial Skills
                            2. Chesney Boor 14 march 2014, 06:52 # 0
                              I was thinking of going a battle Mage sorcerer, dark magic for its CC ,with medium armor and specialized in dual wielding daggers. Sort of like the battle Mage in the cinematic trailer. Thoughts on this build? It sounds bad ass but I'm not sure how well it will do in pvp. Suggestions? Fingers crossed!!
                              1. MikVin 18 march 2014, 19:53 # +1
                                Hey Chesney!
                                I've done that build during the beta and I'm all pleased with it. However, I went Heavy Armor and all three class-trees. The strength with this was that I could deal some real ranged damage by first casting Crystal Fragments and knock-down the foe, casting it another time while it's down. Then when back on its feet and running towards me usually, one Endless Fury was enough. Otherwise it's a sweet thing with that skill — once the foe is low in health it explodes dealing good damage to additional foes. This weekends beta I unlocked the dual-wield skill Flurry. Really cool! If the foe actually survived all of the above and continued charging it was met by a quick pow-pow-pow x 5 stabbing by the twin daggers.
                                I'll definitely go for this build in the final as well!
                                1. Chesney Boor 20 march 2014, 09:45 # +1
                                  Yes that is definitely a great combo! I can't believe how well it worked, i absolutely loved it when i played that build this last beta weekend. Only problem i had was dealing with multiple targets. However, it was great single target damage. Thinking about getting my fire staff leveled up so i can swap it at level 15 for great area damage. In other words, i cant wait to play early access and start leveling my character again.
                                  1. MikVin 20 march 2014, 09:52 # 0
                                    Yeah, thinking of leveling up the destruction staff to get the dark magic boosting, passive skills. Multiple targets was an issue, if they were high level… But on the other hand, I'm planning to go for Encase and especially Bolt Escape to get some distance if it gets to crowded.
                                    Another really lingering thought is to go for some AoE snare and Summon Storm Atronach, whilst chugging away Dark Magic and Storm Calling.
                                    Yep, I'm in for the early access as well :)
                              2. Preston Roberts 28 march 2014, 20:43 # 0
                                What is going to be the best «battle mage» class?
                                1. X 29 march 2014, 02:48 # 0
                                  Going for a Templar full healer here. since i love supporting a team the most and don't mind doing little damage.
                                  1. Kazuto Kirigaya 03 april 2014, 16:03 # 0
                                    What would be a class good for a kirito character you know dual wielding power dealer
                                    1. Alex Kinter 14 may 2014, 04:15 # 0
                                      When regarding armor. how much would wearing heavy armor affect someone who wanted to use a bow?
                                      1. Ambuaz 14 may 2014, 05:33 # 0
                                        Everything depends on the combination of skills you are going to use and on the general effect you expect to get from the armor.

                                        For example if you are wearing a bow and rely on weapon skills a lot you may want to have extra stamina regeneration and increased critical strike chance. Medium armor will give you this (if you master all the passives in medium armor skill tree).

                                        Heavy armor will give you more passive defense. It increases armor and spell resistance, health regeneration, healing received and so on.

                                        I recommend you to launch the game and to read the description of each armor skill. Everything is written there and you will be able to make a decision.

                                        Don’t forget that you can combine different pieces of armor: for example 2 heavy and 5 medium.
                                      2. Noah Leduc 14 february 2015, 19:42 # 0
                                        What would be a good class and skill line for a dual wielder dagger and and bow user that is a Dark Elf Vampire? ive seen people use dragonknight with it but im not sure if thats what i should use.
                                        1. Funk 19 june 2015, 21:50 # 0
                                          I think that sounds like a Nightblade to me
                                        2. LadySpade 23 march 2015, 04:05 # 0
                                          What is a good way to build a physical ranged DPS class. Dragon Knight or Nightblade?
                                          1. Funk 19 june 2015, 21:39 # 0
                                            I basically want to create a Archer Rogue DPS. Utilising stealth and dealing damage from afar. I originally thought nightblade, but I dont like all the skills on offer. The shadow only goes invis for 2.5 seconds, is that helpful? I mainly want to get involved in PvP, so gearing stuff around that.

                                            I'm a Wood Elf, and I have been playing around with a few ideas, what do you think of going:
                                            Wood Elf Sorceror, Bow primary Weapon, magic is a back up when stamina runs dry?

                                            Wood elfs have great racial bonuses to stealth, so does medium armor

                                            Thoughts people?
                                            1. Anthony 06 august 2015, 01:57 # 0
                                              How do I level up my support class?
                                              1. Ambuaz 09 august 2015, 12:10 # 0
                                                You can have only one main class per every character. But you can switch between 2 weapon and skill sets. This may become your support class.
                                              2. Mils 30 january 2021, 18:12 # 0
                                                fdsf

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