ESO Chronological Timeline Guide - Best Way to Play the Story

Welcome to the Chronological Timeline Guide for ESO! If you ever wanted to know how to play ESO in chronological order, you can find the information here!

Table of contents

21 Chapters

Welcome to the Chronological Timeline Guide for ESO (Elder Scrolls Online). Here you will find all the information you need to know in order to play ESO in a chronological order. Since the One Tamriel update in 2016, players can now explore the game in whichever way they like, but some players would also enjoy playing the game in chronological order. The game doesn’t necessarily teach you this and leaves you all the options to enjoy it whichever way you like.

In this Chronological Timeline Guide for ESO we will show you exactly how to play ESO the way it was released, which makes a lot of sense in the long run, as some NPCs will respond to you in ways which you would not have experienced if you didn’t do it in a chronological order.

Remember that at any point you can decide you no longer want to follow this Chronological Timeline Guide for ESO and switch it up, or explore Tamriel with your friends. You are at no time bound to this and if you decide that you want to explore new things, you always can.

Also, you do not always have to travel to a specific location in order to start a quest, or a DLC quest. You can also get them from your Collection tab, but we suggest you try to find the NPC, as this has a bigger immersion factor.

The numbers you see below are the order in which you would visit these places if you were to play them chronologically!

Aldmeri Dominion Zone
1 Kenarthi's Roost
2 Auridon
3 Grahtwood
4 Greenshade
5 Malabal Tor
6 Reaper's March
Ebonheart Pact Zone
1 Bleakrock Island & Bal Foyen
2 Stonefalls
3 Deshaan
4 Shadowfen
5 Eastmarch
6 The Rift
Daggerfall Covenant Zone
1a & 1b Stros M'Kai and Betnikh
2 Glenumbra
3 Stormhaven
4 Rivenspire
5 Alik'r Desert
6 Bangkorai
Number DLC Zone
X Base Game Coldharbour
7 Base Game Craglorn
8 Base Game Imperial City
9 Orsinium Wrothgar
10 Thieves Guild Hew's Bane
11 Dark Brotherhood Gold Coast
12 Morrowind Vvardenfell
13 Clockwork City Clockwork City
14 Summerset Summerset
15 Murkmire Murkmire
16 Elsweyr Nothern Elsweyr
17 Dragonhold Southern Elsweyr
18 Greymoor Western Skyrim & Blackreach
19 Markarth The Reach & Blackreach
20 Blackwood Blackwood
21 Deadlands Deadlands
22 High Isle High Isel & Amenos
23 Necrom Apocrypha & Telvanni Peninsula

You can also pick up Zone DLC and Chapter story quests from your Collections tab in stories. Oftentimes it isn't necessary, sometimes it's a bit hard finding the NPC in the game, which is why you might pick it up directly from the tab.

Achievements related to this guide

3 Achievements
Soul Shriven Style Master icon

Soul Shriven Style Master

Learn the Soul Shriven style book, found by completing Cadwell's Silver.
Soul Shriven in Coldharbour icon

Soul Shriven in Coldharbour

Complete Main Quest Chapter 1.
The Harborage icon

The Harborage

Complete Main Quest Chapter 1.5.

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