Best ESO weapons

[Claudius Aetius]

Hi All
I'm trying to figure out the most effective weapon for the first levels of ESO.
I mean, the most resourceful one. For instance, I guess the bow is too weak to levels 1 to 20 perhaps?
Above 30th level are the two hand weapons the best?
Thanks for any help

[Naravolian]

It doesn't matter which weapon you use. Just use the weapon you want to use for endgame, as that will help you level up the skill line for that weapon.

[Crowkeeper]

You want to be using whatever weapons you plan on using for your build....

Bows are fine to start with.

Stamina builds want to use bows and dual weapons (daggers or axes), and 2 handers if you plan on pvping.

Tanks want to focus on sword and shield, 2 handers, and sometimes destruction staffs (ice staffs increase block iirc, and they can taunt).

Magica dps want to use destruction staffs. Restoration staffs can be good to learn too for some solo content (like some vMA builds).

[ADEC Inc]

Dual wielding and Inferno staves are single target dps. Twohanders and Lightning staves are for large groups. Shields and Frost staves for tanking.

Bows are mainly for added dps on the back bar, or for pvp sniping.

[rasabt]

bow is one of the most important skill lines.
kinda mandatory in most cases for stam-dps and even quite good on some tank builds to dps-tank.

[Requimatic]

If you're playing Stamina, you have some choices.

1. Dual Wield - the most min/max builds right now use a combination of Dual Wield (DW) and Bow.. so yes, despite how weak it is starting out, Bow is mandatory later on. The notable skills you want from each tree are: (DW) Twin Slashes/Rending Slashes, Whirlwind/Whirling Blades; (Bow) Volley/Endless Hail, Poison Arrow/Poison Injection.

Both the DW and Bow ultimates are pretty good as well. The morphs of them, Rend (DW) and Ballista (Bow) are both fairly good for certain content and worth having.

2. Bow - see above. In order to efficiently level Bow, just randomly kill things with the Bow after you've weakened them, and every so often do quest turn-ins with the Bow equipped on your second bar.

3. Two Handed (2H) - While not as min/maxy effective as DW, 2H is also in a good place in the game right now. It's as close to DW as it's ever been, and the differences can even be closed with certain builds. 2H is also the go-to for a lot of PvP builds, because some classes don't have their own class-based Execute, and the 2H tree offers one.

Notable skills here include: Uppercut & its morphs (Wrecking Blow (PvE), Dizzying Swing (PvP)), Cleave & its morphs (both morphs have PvE and PvP uses; I personally use Carve for PvE and it's wonderful), Reverse Slice and both morphs. (Executioner is better single target damage, best in PvP and some PvE fights, and Reverse Slice adds AoE damage to the execute, which makes trash packs in dungeons/trials trivial at best.)


However.. there are some exceptions to this!

There are some builds that utilize a Bow/Bow setup, and are quite effective.. however these kinds of builds require very specific equipment to work well. Thankfully, most of these sets aren't terribly hard to get. The biggest set that Bow/Bow users want, that I know of, is Warband.. and it comes from a dungeon, and can be easily farmed with a decent group.

The reason that set is important is the Minor Force buff; a +10% Critical Damage buff. Normally, for Stamina DPS, this comes from a Fighter's Guild ability, Rearming Trap. However, since the object of Bow/Bow is to stay at maximum distance to utilize the Bow passives for maximum damage.. you can't be running in to melee range, lowering your damage, just to lay a trap.

So that set GIVES you the Minor Force buff simply for dealing damage.

But! You also have another option. The Psijic Order skill line (requires the Summerset chapter) has a skill that can be used at any distance that offers Minor Force for a massive 30+ seconds. I think it has another benefit as well, that doesn't last quite as long (Major Expedition? (movement speed buff), I forget), but I don't remember.

If you're willing to sacrifice an ability slot on one of your bars, this is a very valid option as well.. and opens up new gear set possibilities for you.


So, basically, you need to figure out what you really want to play.. Stamina (melee or ranged?), or Magicka (there's also a melee Magicka class, Dragon Knight), and go from there.

If you intend to tank or heal at all, I very highly suggest leveling up as DPS until at least CP160, then resetting your attribute points and leveling the other skill lines you want. Leveling from 1 to 50, then CP160, as a tank or healer would be.. tiresome, to say the least.

[Claudius Aetius]

Thank you very much! I'll try to follow your tips. 😀