How to obtain the materials | Woodworking ESO guide, tips
Last update: 11 May 2016
The main, and to some extent the easiest, way to obtain wood is to simply extract them from a source (in a same manner as you do with ore nodes and fibrous plants) - doing so, you will get from 3 to 4 pieces of rough wood every time. It is the simplest, yet at the same time the most time-consuming process - to be able to make even the lowest items from Woodworking, you will need from several to over a dozen pieces of sanded wood, meaning that if you want to create a single item, you will have to find and extract rough wood from at least a few sources. Collecting wood in this manner is profitable only during the early, lower levels, when you have little to none access to items, which can be used in the deconstruction process.
A lot more efficient method is the mentioned deconstruction. After going through several levels of experience (when the enemies start to drop items made from Beech or Hickory), you will start to collect a simply absurd number of items. Most of them, obviously, will be way weaker than the ones you will have equipped at the time, so you will have to get rid of them, one way or the other.
It is worth doing so in the process of deconstruction, as you will earn insane amounts of experience corresponding to Woodworking skill tree (which will be further explained later on). By destroying an item, you have a chance to get from 1 to 3 pieces of sanded wood (according to the quality of the item), as well as a Resin, a component needed in order to craft an item in a certain style, or a material required to make an item with a given Trait.
The sole process of deconstruction is fairly simple - to get a desired sanded wood, you must destroy an item made from that certain material. If you want to get Sanded Ash, you have to destroy items made from Sanded Ash, and so on. If you want to get a specific material required to make an item with a certain Trait (for instance, a Sapphire, required in order to make an item enhancing the effects of Mundus Stones), you will have to destroy an item with that Trait.
Below you will find a table representing the places (for all 3 fractions), in which you can find specific rough wood:
Rough Wood | Aldmeri Dominion | Daggerfall Covenant | Ebonheart Pact |
Rough Maple | Khenarthi's Roost and Auridon | Stros M'Kai, Betnikh and Glenumbra | Bleakrock Isle, Bal Foyen and Stonefalls |
Rough Oak | Grahtwood | Stormhaven | Deshaan |
Rough Beech | Grahtwood, Greenshade and Malabal Tor | Stormhaven, Rivenspire and Alik'r Desert | Deshaan, Shadowfen and Eastmarch |
Rough Hickory | Greenshade and Malabal Tor | Rivenspire and Alik'r Desert | Shadowfen, Eastmarch and The Rift |
Rough Yew | Reaper's March, Coldharbour and Cyrodiil | Bangkorai, Coldharbour and Cyrodiil | The Rift, Coldharbour and Cyrodil |
Rough Birch | Cyrodiil, Stonefalls and Deshaan | Cyrodiil, Auridon and Grahtwood | Cyrodil and Glenumbra |
Rough Ash | Shadowfen, East March and The Rift | Greenshade, Malabal Tor and Reaper's March | Rivenspire, Alik'r Desert and Bangkorai |
Rough Mahogany | Glenumbra and Stormhaven | Stonefalls and Deshaan | Aurodon and Grahtwood |
Rough Nigthwood | Rivenspire, Alik'r Desert and Bangkorai | Shadowfen, Eastmarch and The Rift | Greenshade, Malabal Tor and Reaper's March |