Confused about how exactly the champion point system works on the account level and character level in terms of maximum and contributions. I use the term champion point and level interchangeably.
So is the maximum "effective" level a character can be champion 160 to represent veteran rank 160. This is also the maximum contribution one character can have to your account wide level.
However you can spend up to about ~560 champion points (acquired account wide) on 1 character (assuming you have multiple champion rank characters who's collective levels add up to that account wide number, maximum 160 per character).
Finally champion points are capped at 160 for potion, food and equipment purposes?
Best Answer
You're confusing a few things here:
Characters in The Elder Scrolls Online all may gain up to 50 levels by collecting experience in various ways.
Once your first character hits level 50 you'll unlock the champion system, which is basically a reward system where you can gain small additional benefits by continuing to play characters on max level.
In addition, characters with level 50 have access to veteran content (harder/advanced dungeons, other alliances, etc.).
When gaining experience for the champion system you'll obtain champion points working similar to skill points. There is no maximum or cap on the number of obtainable champion points. Also these points are account wide, so it doesn't matter which character obtained them. The amount of experience required scales with the amount of points on your account.
Every character is able to spend all points on your account individually up to a specific cap. As of time of this writing, each and every character might use up to 531 champion points to unlock passive bonuses from the champion system . This call is increased over time.
The first 160 champion points on your account unlock further progression/items and are usually just referred to as "Champion #". This system is essentially a compromise after they've removed the former veteran ranks, which added slower/harder progression on top the first 50 levels previously.
Once you've obtained Champion 160 using any combination of your characters (or any lower rank) your future characters may skip these equipment levels straight away once they hit level 50.