Elder Scrolls Online review

Also, a quirk of using the mouse to aim your attacks rather than using a target locking system means that you're all too often left staring at screen-filling obstructions. If your opponent is standing on higher ground, on the arch of a bridge say, then by aiming at them the camera will find itself ensconced in the grass behind you. Likewise, when battling in a dungeon, beware of stalactites when aiming at smaller foes at your feet.

"But what about the first-person camera?" you may be inclined to ask. Well, about that... It's great for getting a close look at the world, but as an alternative viewpoint for combat it's almost essential not to use it. To be effective in a fight you need a wide view of the battlefield - especially true when grouping up with friends.

The more you delve into TESO, and the more you play with your character, the more rewarding combat becomes. Skills are tied to all kinds of things, from the race you choose, the class you plump for and the weapon you happen to be wielding at any given time. Our main character is a Nightblade with a skillset based on dual-wielded daggers. We unlocked abilities which allowed us to teleport over to foes, deal devastating damage to those with low HP and even to siphon the energy from them to fill our own, often ailing, health bar.


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A little later, we'd tweaked ourselves into a light armour-wearing archer, with a fiery bow charged with Soul Gem energy. We learned how to pepper enemies from afar, dealing huge damage while our heavily armoured chums took the brunt on the front lines.

Later still, we found another calling. With a powerful staff looted from a dungeon run, we could lay down walls of fire before ramming foes into the air and then nailing them with our previously learned health-sapping skills. The sheer variety on offer is glorious, especially once you get to level 15 and unlock two weapon sets which are interchangeable, along with their skill bars.

It might have been unwieldy, but crafting in Skyrim was still a huge part of the game for many. An axe you put together yourself was easier to become attached to. In TESO you can still build your own gear, but now you're able to keep hold of it for longer, thanks to an improvement system that rewards you for delving into its intricacies. Using the materials that you find through adventuring, you're able to research new traits and upgrades for weapons.

There's an element to crafting that we don't like, however. Unlocking skills, whether those be crafting or combat, eats up your skill point resource, which stocks up upon levelling or by discovering Skyshards in the world. Having both crafting and combat tied to the same points pool means you'll often have to pick one over the other.

As such, many of the useful skills that crafters will enjoy using, being able to see nodes in the world more easily, for example, won't get picked until you're well into the game. That said, you're able to re-spec all of your skills once you make it to your faction's main city, so this isn't necessarily a deal breaker in the long run.