The community of the MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) is discussing whether the dungeons in the game are too easy. Let’s take a closer look.
How do Dungeons work in ESO? Dungeons are available to you in two difficulty levels: Normal and Veteran. Up to level 30, you complete the normal dungeons as part of the story. Starting from level 45, you can access the harder dungeons of the ESO DLCs. And from level 50, you can tackle the veteran versions. These are the same dungeons as before, but significantly more challenging.
In general, the gameplay in ESO works similarly to other MMORPGs: You follow the story, which leads you to various dungeons. These are balanced in such a way that you can essentially complete them “in flow”. Later, you can focus on the special DLC dungeons or face a greater challenge in Veteran mode. There are also hardmodes for the bosses, which further increase the difficulty.
That’s why ESO dungeons are quite easy at the beginning
Are dungeons too easy? In normal mode, the dungeons you complete as part of the story do not pose significant problems. This doesn’t mean that all of them are a walk in the park. There are differences here too. For example, the Mushroom Cave I in Stonefalls is a very easy dungeon and designed specifically for beginners. The Mushroom Cave II, on the other hand, which you will visit later, is much more challenging.
However, the consensus in the community is that the dungeons in normal mode are too easy. But there is a reason for this. The dungeons are designed so that during the first run, when players experience the story, they do not lead to frustration. Additionally, the normal mode is intended as a form of training.
This means: If you are playing ESO for the first time, most normal dungeons will not present you with significant challenges. This creates a good flow of gameplay, allowing you to experience the story at a comfortable pace.
If you later want to tackle the veteran dungeons, they will definitely get you sweating. To be well-prepared, you can practice in the normal version of the respective dungeon beforehand.
What does the community think? The community is discussing this topic. A question arose on reddit: “Do dungeons ever become challenging?”
Player supershimadabro reveals that his group masters the dungeons without a tank and many players attempt them solo as well.
Here are some responses that show that while he is correct, there are reasons for this:
- jtzako writes on reddit: “In normal mode, most dungeons are not hard. They are basically training dungeons. When you do DLC dungeons or veteran dungeons, they become harder.”
- gobio poses an interesting question (via reddit): “My counter question is, should dungeons (during the leveling phase) even be challenging? You breeze through solo quests with relative ease, even without needing to engage with anyone. At a certain point, you are incentivized to complete dungeons with others. Should that really be harder compared to the solo content?”
- palemoth explains (via reddit): “Dungeons on normal difficulty are all pretty easy and designed so that casual players can have some fun, I assume. There are some DLC dungeons that are hard even on Normal due to the mechanics – for example, I feel that the Moon Hunter Javelin is hell on Earth. Only in vet dungeons does the fun really begin.”
How hard should it be?
Fundamentally, this discussion raises an intriguing question: How difficult should dungeons be? Here, opinions often differ. A good example is the so-called Soulsborne games like Dark Souls or Bloodborne. These titles are designed to present players with significant challenges. This can certainly lead to frustration when the hero dies at the end of a section and has to redo everything.
This gameplay principle and the high difficulty level are not to everyone’s taste. There are even requests for Soulsborne games to receive an easy mode. Gamers who love such challenges oppose this.
It is similar with MMORPGs. Some find dungeons too easy, others too hard. Finding a middle ground is not easy. If developers make the dungeons too tough, they alienate part of the player base. If they make them too easy, then veterans feel unchallenged.
Therefore, the path that ESO takes is quite clever. Initially, the dungeons are relatively easy to master. The flow of gameplay is not hindered by frustration because players don’t get stuck in a dungeon and can’t progress.
Later on, it becomes possible to face the greater challenges of the DLC dungeons and the veteran mode.
So we can say: Yes, the dungeons in ESO are – at the beginning – easy, but that’s a good thing.
Have you ever wondered: Why do dungeon groups in MMORPGs consist of 5 people? We’ll explain this to you.
