Elder Scrolls Online: Challenge Difficulty Guide
Challenge Difficulty in The Elder Scrolls Online lets players choose how punishing the overworld experience in the game is. The higher the difficulty, the less damage you'll do, and the more damage you'll take. In exchange, you can get up to 100% bonus XP and 200% more Gold compared to the usual difficulty. There are some small but important details regarding how Challenge Difficulty in ESO works, though, so here's a breakdown covering all the important things you need to know about this system.
How to Change Difficulty in ESO
To adjust your Challenge Difficulty setting, open the Character screen, then check the window on the left side. There's a small icon there that leads to the Challenge Difficulty options. From there, you can pick any difficulty setting you like, and you can do this at any time you want.
Difficulty is saved on a per-character basis, and you can crank up the difficulty as soon as you start the game. Just keep in mind that the hardest difficulty setting is designed for group play.
ESO Difficulty Options
| Difficulty | Effect | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Adventurer | Vanilla ESO experience | None |
| Seasoned | Increased damage taken by 100% Reduced damage dealt by 50% | 20% increased XP gain 50% increased Gold gain |
| Master | Increased damage taken by 300% Reduced damage dealt by 65% | 75% increased XP gain 100% increased Gold gain |
| Vestige | Increased damage taken by 600% Reduced damage dealt by 80% | 100% increased XP gain 200% increased Gold gain |
As mentioned earlier, Vestige difficulty is reserved for players who want to explore ESO's open world as a group. You'll take six times more damage than usual and deal significantly less damage against enemies. Vestige mode isn't impossible for solo players, but it absolutely requires mastery of your chosen class as well as a very good build that can keep you alive against multiple enemies.
The XP bonuses provided by Challenge Difficulty settings stack with XP boosting effects from other sources.
Are Higher Difficulties Worth It?
Yes, but this is purely up to personal preference. The increased XP and Gold gains are nice, but if you want to make money or level up fast in ESO, there are better ways to do so. If raising the difficulty leads to a sharp increase in your overall time to clear overworld encounters, then it may not be worth doing.
If you think the game is too easy, then I recommend bumping the difficulty up to at least Seasoned. Here, even groups of three or four regular enemies can take you down. You'll have to put a conscious effort into keeping yourself alive while playing on Seasoned difficulty, making the game more engaging.
Challenge Difficulty Restrictions
Modifiers imposed by Challenge Difficulty settings only apply to you, and they only work on the open world and the public spaces within it. Instanced dungeons are not affected by Challenge Difficulty settings, but public dungeons are. Difficulty modifiers only affect you, and not other players.
-
OpenCritic Reviews - Top Critic Avg: 71/100 Critics Rec: 39%
- Released
- April 4, 2014
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Developer(s)
- ZeniMax Online Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda
WHERE TO PLAY
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- The Elder Scrolls
- Number of Players
- 1-4 (Co-Op)
- Genre(s)
- MMORPG
- Platform(s)
- Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, macOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
- How Long To Beat
- 160+ Hours
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
Source link
