ESO Skills are the many abilities that players have. Skills in Elder Scrolls Online are divided into three core categoryes: Ultimate Abilities, Active Abilities and Passive Abilities. As the game aims to give build flexibility to the player, skills are determined by several factors: Race, Class, Weapon, Guild, Alliance and World. A player can have 1 Ultimate Skill, 5 Active Skills and as many Passive Skills as they wish equipped at one time. Players may also rank up each skill to further increase its effectiveness to a max level of 4, and in some cases morph them into new abilities. Players obtain skill points from leveling up, completing certain quests, and acquiring Skyshards from across Tamriel.
Experience works differently than in other MMOs. When a player gains experience while a skill of a particular skill line is equipped on their hotbar, that skill gains experience along with the skill line it belongs to. In this manner, it is entirely possible to rank up skills you never use, or in some cases, cannot. Ranks in the Armor skill lines are obtained via wearing at least one piece of that armor type. It is possible to rank up all types simultaneously by wearing one piece of each type (though wearing more pieces of each type does increase the speed in which armor skills level).
Best Skills in ESO
The best skills in the game are often related to your playstyle and objectives. PvE players use different Sets and Builds than PvP players, and Trial players would focus on gear for group encounters rather than solo burst. For this reason, you should consider your Race, Class, Sets and the Activities you plan to do
Some very useful skills for any player are:
- Shadow Rider: -50% detection rate when mounted
- Rapid Maneuver: +30% mount speed for 30 seconds
- Locksmith: Up to +70% better force lock chances
- Undaunted Mettle: Up to +2% max attributes based on your armor
To find the best skills for your build, visit each Class page and check out the recommendations.
ESO Skills Advisor
Added with a free patch alongside the Dragon Bones DLC, this new system makes recommendations on how to spend skill points based on the build you select. You can use this system to mold your character as you’re leveling up, or to help you re-specialize your build after reaching max level. To support this system, UI has been adjusted:
- The Skill menu has been modified to accommodate the Skill Advisor system. Abilities and morphs will now be listed as recommended based on the build selected.
- Morphed abilities will now display their base ability name in their tooltips.
- Note that the Skill Advisor can be toggled off at any point.
- For detailed beginner's guide, please see this article.
ESO Skills Guide - All Skills in Elder Scrolls Online

Racial Skills
These are the Passive Skills that your chosen race begins with. Each race is different and their bonuses are minimal, yet important to min/maxers. Some races are more aligned towards certain class types than others. There are ten races in Elder Scrolls Online and they are: Breton, Redguard, Orsimer (Orc), Nord, Dunmer (Dark Elf), Argonian, Altmer (High Elf), Bosmer (Wood Elf), Khajiit and Imperial (only available if you buy the Imperial Edition).

Class Skills
These are the skills of your chosen class: Templar, Dragon Knight, Nightblade, Sorcerer, Warden, Necromancer and Arcanist. Each class has 3 skills lines to choose from that specialize in different aspects of their class. For instance the Templar class has a DPS line, buffing line and healing line. You can mix and match equipped skills from each line, but it is necessary to unlock the skills to be able to use them. Once unlocked they will remain so no matter which skills you use.

Weapon Skills
These are the skills that come paired with the weapon type you are using. The weapon styles are: Two-Handed, One-Handed and Shield , Dual Wield, Bow, Destruction Staff and Restoration Staff. You can use any weapons you wish in Elder Scrolls Online, so feel free to experiment with what you like best.

Armor Skills
Skills that depend on the type of armor you have equipped, granting you bonuses for having more of one type. The Armor types are: Light Armor, Medium Armor and Heavy Armor. You can use any combination of armors that you wish, so get creative.

Guild Skills
Through out your travels in Tamriel, you will undoubtedly come across a guild or two that you wish to join. The Fighters Guild, Mage's Guild and Undaunted have their own set of skills and you can mix and match them into your arsenal as well. The Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood and Psijic Order Skills were added with DLC and Chapters.

World Skills
These skills lines are Soul Magic, Scrying, Excavation , Vampire , Werewolf and Legerdemain. The Vampire and Werewolf Lines are acquired from another player at the specified ritual site or from being infected with enemies carrying Vampirism or Lycanthropy. Soul Magic is acquired from completing the introduction.

Alliance War Skills
These are skills obtained by participating in The Alliance War and have mostly PvP benefits. They are: Assault and Support. One can also become Emperor and gain Passive Skills of that line (most of which give some benefit after your reign as Emperor is over.

Trade Skills
These are the skills that allow a player to craft weapons, armor, runes and potions. These skills are selected by the player when leveling up. He or she may put points into any of the the crafting professions, but will only have enough points available to max out 2 of them. These skills points are shared with combat skill points. The professions are: Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Clothier, Enchanting, Jewelry Crafting, Provisioning and Woodworking.

Companion Skills
Companion Skills in Elder Scroll Online (ESO) is a new feature added with the Blackwood Chapter (Release June 2021). You can pick multiple skills for your Companions, make them more powerful and helpful in your adventures. Like your character, companion skills can be categorized as Class Skills, Weapon Skills, Armor Skills, Guild Skills, and Racial Skills. They can slot 5 normal skills and 1 Ultimate skill.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
After update 29 there is just so much incorrect information on this site now to the point that it is nearly unusable. Weapon, Armor, Racial, and Guild trees have all been changed.
- Anonymous
Update Dragonknight sklills. Stonefist work in different way now.
- Anonymous
I'm just trying skills advisor for the first time. It shows me an upgrade but I can't get it to work. A note appears at the bottom of the skill panel that starts "Respec to purchase ….". I tried to upgrade a skill set but that note pops up on the existing skill i'm trying to upgrade. Help!
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Do I need to equip and Alliance War skill whilst I'm in Cyrodil for it to increase?
- Anonymous
I’m wondering why my damage shield went from 9 seconds to 5 seconds what is causing the duration to decrease
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
When reading through skills I see the damage as [x] or [y]. Is there a legend anywhere for what that is? I know it has something to do with damage scaling.
- Anonymous
Have they even tried to explain passive skills how to know there active how to tell how to get the most out of our passive abilities do we need to have skills slotted from each tree or are they just always active unless specified u need skills slotted I mean really seems basic but not nearly ad basic as putting this information IN THE GODDAMN GAME ITSELF YOU GODDAMN CHILDREN
- Anonymous
Where are the arcanist skills?
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