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Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset Isles Expansion Announced For May Release

Posted on March 22, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Bethesda and Zenimax Online Studios have taken the wraps off of the 2018 full expansion coming to The Elder Scrolls Online later this summer. Players will be heading to the home of the high elves, the Summerset Isles – Releasing on PC and Mac on May 21st and on Xbox One / PlayStation 4 on June 5th.

Lore wise Summerset Isles has Queen Ayreen opening up travel to the titular isles in order for them to help uncover a conspiracy that could spell doom for the entirety of Tamriel.

Prologue Quest

Like other add-on DLCs and full expansion releases The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset Isles has a prologue quest that will prepare players for adventures in the new zones on launch day. Grab the “Mage’s Message Stone” for free from the Crown Store to begin the prologue quest which is called “Through a Veil Darkly” and tasks players with traveling to each of the Mage’s Guilds in all of the capital cities around Tamriel.

Known Zones / Cities In The Summerset Isles

The following cities, areas of interest and dungeons have been revealed to be included in The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset Isles. Each area also has a small one paragraph blurb over on the expansion’s official website:

  • Alinor
  • Cloudresr
  • Crystal Tower
  • Lillandril
  • Rellenthel

New Skill Line: The Psijic Order

Summerset Isles comes complete with a brand new skill line for players to explore which takes place on the isle of Araeum. There players will learn about the 350 year old Psijic Order and begin harnessing new passive and active abilities as well as a very powerful ultimate ability.

Here are three known abilities from the Psijic skill line and their official descriptions:

Time Stop – Freeze the passage of time at a specific location. Should you catch your enemies within this ability, they’ll be slowed and eventually frozen in place, giving you the opportunity to make your move!

Meditate –  Focus your mind and body into a deep meditative state. While active, you will restore Health, Stamina, and Magicka over time. Perfect for those who want to reflect upon and recover from a tough fight.

Undo – Become a true master of time and step backwards into the past to instantly reset your Health, Magicka, and Stamina to what they were only four seconds ago. If the battle isn’t going your way, reset the board!

Physical Edition and Pre-Order Bonuses

Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset Isles will come in 4 different configuration depending on what ESO products players own and what content they want to experience.

Here’s a quick breakdown of all of the different configurations:

The Elder Scrolls Online Collection (All Platforms) –  For new players, includes ESO Gold Base Game, 5 DLC-Addons, Morrowind Expansion, Summerset Isles Expansion.

Digital Collector’s Edition – (New players and existing players) ESO base game for new players, Psijic Scrying Talismin (in-game item), Exclusive emotes, Fledgling Griffin Pet, Bloodshadow Wraith Steed Mount, Divine Prosecution Costume Set

Standard Edition – Available digitally only the Standard Edition includes access to the ESO base game for new players. Existing players get access to the Summerset Isles expansion upon release, access to the Morrowind Expansion right away, the Queen’s Bounty Pack and the Nightmare Senche Mount.

A special physical edition of The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset Isles will be made available in limited quantities. Not only does it include the base game, Morrowind expansion, all of the items mentioned above for the Digital Collector’s edition as well as a number of physical only goodies.

Here’s the official breakdown of the physical goodies that come with ESO: Summerset Isles from Zenimax’s official site:

  • Mephala Statue: A monument to the Daedric Prince Mephala, this 12″-tall replica was unearthed from a cultist shrine.
  • Razum-dar’s Journal: A spy’s report to Queen Ayrenn chronicling the knowledge collected during Razum-dar’s investigation of Summerset.
  • Map of Summerset: The home of the High Elves is open to foreign visitors for the first time in history. Let this map be your guide through previously uncharted lands.
  • Exclusive Steelbook Case: A limited edition metallic case, perfect for any collector’s shelf.

[Source]

 

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ESO Plus Free For All This Weekend, Extra Bonuses For Subscribers

Posted on January 11, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Zenimax Online’s subscription service ESO Plus for The Elder Scrolls Online is free until next Monday for everyone. Non-subscribed players can once again enjoy access to all of the existing DLC (minus Morrowind but it does include the recently released Clockwork City) for free for the next 72+ hours. As well as double the bank space and a global 10% experience bonus for all characters. 

Existing subscribers get a bonus goodies during the events – one free Flame Atronach Crown Crate for each day that they login from the 9th until the event ends on the 15th. Each individual “day” resets at 9:59AM each morning and players have to log-out completely – all the way to the main menu, not just to the character select screen – to qualify for the free crates. 

Here’s a breakdown of all of the benefits of the ESO Plus trial weekend: 

  • Access to Clockwork City DLC 
  • Access to Dark Brotherhood DLC 
  • Access to Imperial City DLC 
  • Access to Thieves Guild DLC 
  • Unlimited “crafting bag” storage that persists after the trial ends (just new items can’t be deposited into it) 
  • Double personal inventory space 
  • Double bank space 
  • Access to dye stations 
  • 10% global EXP bonus 

Personally, I use these ESO+ free weekends to load up as many crafting items as I can to sell in my Trade Guilds. I used to subscribe to ESO+ until I had enough Crowns to buy all of the existing DLC (BTW Clockwork is excellent). Last time a free trial weekend rolled around I had enough crafting items stored to fuel my sales for almost an entire month! 

 [Images and info via Bethesda]

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The Elder Scrolls Online Will Get New Expansion and 3 DLC Add-Ons In 2018

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Great news for the thousands of residents of the online-only version of Tamriel – your world is about to get a lot bigger with the announcement of 5 new pieces of add-on content coming next year.

Over on the official Elder Scrolls Online website, game director Matt Firor posted his yearly letter to the community. Most of the letter is a retrospective of major content drops that took place in 2017 – The Horns of Reach DLC, Clockwork City DLC and of course the Morrowind Expansion as well as mentions of the New Life Celebration, Mid-Year Mayhem and Witches Festival events.

What is probably the most interesting to veteran players like myself is the last section of the letter, “Looking Forward to 2018”.Mr.Firor surprises us with a tantalizing look at what is to come in the next 12 months: 3 add-on DLCs and a fully new “chapter” (read: expansion). In early 2018 Zenimax will lift the veil of secrecy surrounding “Dragon Bones”, a Nord themed dungeon DLC add-on pack. Along with the two new dungeons, we’re also due for several quality of life updates including “one often requested feature”.

Dragon Bones as they appeared in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [Source: Nexus Mods]

Here’s the full quote about what is to come:

“I’m very happy to say that you can expect three more DLCs and a full new Chapter for ESO in 2018. We’re not slowing down, at all. There’s so much to do and explore in Tamriel, and we are very excited to take you to some highly-requested areas next year.

We’ll officially announce the first DLC of 2018 just after the first of the year, but here’s a small preview: It’s a dungeon-based DLC called The Elder Scrolls Online: Dragon Bones. As the name implies, it is Nord-based in theme, with each of the two dungeons expanding upon the lore of that region.

Coming with Dragon Bones is an update full of quality-of-life improvements and additions, including at least one long-awaited feature that everyone who cares about their characters’ appearance will love and the Homestead storage items I talked about earlier. We’ll give you more details on this update when it launches on the PTS early (very early) next year.

It’s not always about new content, of course—we’ll be spending some time adding more improvements and fixing any outstanding issues and bugs. Stay tuned for the PTS patch notes for updates on those and, obviously, keep your comments coming on the forums and elsewhere. We value your feedback and take it very seriously.“

Where do you think 2018 will take our adventuring characters across Tamriel? Could we possibly revisit Cyrodil from TES IV? Perhaps Western Skyrim will be added to the game finally, joining the existing Earmarch province. Considering that we got both Eastern and Western Skyrim Scout outfits this past year and the new add-on DLC is called “Dragon Bones”… Hmmmmm….

That last part is pure speculation on my part, we won’t know anything official until Zennimax Online announces more details sometime in 2018. Leave your comments below, I’d love to hear other player’s speculation about where the game is going next.

[Source]

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The Witches Festival Spooks Up Some Fun In ESO For The Next Week

Posted on October 23, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Denizens of the online version of Tamriel can spend the next week collecting time limited epic loot to celebrate All Hallow’s Eve with The Witches Festival in-game event. After picking up a free “Crows Caller” memento item from the Crown Store players can begin a special holiday quest. Completing the quest will reward players with a Witchemother’s Whistle and Witchemother’s Cauldron Memento items. While players can keep these items, their XP granting powers will only work until the event ends. 

Defeating World Bosses and Delves bosses will award players with a “Plundered Skull” which is a time-limited item that will provide with special Witches Festival recipes, housing items, and even armor motifs!

Here is the full rundown of items available from the Plundered Skulls: 

  • Hallow Jack Crafting Motifs 
  • Sweet Sanguine Apples (Recipe) 
  • Crunchy Spider Skewers (Recipe) 
  • Pumpkin Snack Skewer (Recipe) 
  • Ghastly Eye Bowl (Recipe) 
  • Frosted Brains (Recipe) 
  • Witchmother’s Potent Brew (Recipe) 
  • Witchmother’s Party Punch (Recipe) 
  • Double Bloody Mara (Recipe) 
  • Pumpkin Mask (Runebox) 
  • Scarecrow Specter Mask (Runebox) 
  • Spooky Housing Items (Housing – Various) 

Bethesda and Zenimax Online Studios have also included seven different achievements for The Witches Festival. Unlike other achievements completing them won’t give you access to exclusive dyes but if you manage to complete all seven you’ll be granted the unique title: “Sun Dusk’s Reaper”. 

I spent the majority of my evening farming delve and world bosses to get my hands on some of the Plundered Skulls. In combination with the several Plundered Skulls that I collected this evening and the gold I had on my main character I was able to afford the Hallow Jack style pages for my feet, chest, and gloves. I’m only missing shield, sword, shoulders, and helm and I’ll have the complete set. World bosses seem pretty generous when it comes to the Amber needed to craft any of the Hallow Jack styles that you may learn.  

Stock up on these items now because in a week they’ll be gone. More information on The Witches Festival is available at the source link below. 

[Source]

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Clockwork City DLC Now Available On Elder Scrolls Online Public Test Realm

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

A world of interlocking gears, steam power, golden metal, and robots might sound like a steampunk paradise envisioned by the wildest visionaries of the Victorian age of sci-fi but I’m actually describing the broad aesthetics of The Elder Scrolls Online‘s next major expansion known as The Clockwork City. Owners of The Elder Scrolls Online willing to install the near 80GB Public Test Region’s in-development client can accept the quest to explore the weirdly wonderful world of the Clockwork God,  Sotha Sil. 

Here is Bethesda’s brief description of this new DLC zone and how players can accept the introductory quest:

Clockwork City.
Venture to the bizarre realm of Sotha Sil, the Clockwork God and the third member of the Dunmer Tribunal! The machine world is rife with frightening and alien dangers lurking beneath its metallic deserts and artificial trees, where only tiny pockets of citizens are able to carve out a quasi-religious society that values enlightenment and experimentation in emulation of its detached benefactor. A dark conspiracy threatens the integrity of the Clockwork City and signs of a powerful Daedric relic manifesting within that realm draw all interested eyes toward Sotha Sil’s domain.

  • To visit the Clockwork City, you can acquire the quest to take you there by accepting it from the Collectibles/Stories interface, or by visiting the Mages Guild in Mournhold.
  • Additionally, the supplied Character Template will bring you directly to the questline to begin your Clockwork City journey

Clockwork City brings brand new World Bosses and explorable Delves for all adventurers to test their mettle. Sotha Sil’s work on The Imperfect God, a terrifying mechanized weapon of death that is always improving is never ending but players will be able to take it on. Players can choose to venture either into the inner-gears and workings of the Clockwork City in The Shadow Cleft delve or explore an artificial environment that has broken down for an unknown reason in the Halls of Regulation Delve. 

Here are Zenimax Online’s official descriptions:  

The Clockwork City is a treacherous place with dangers both native and invasive.

  • World Bosses
    • The Sanctuary of Verification: Sotha Sil is a distant ruler, and his experiments are often left for hundreds of years at a time until a new idea occurs to him. In the case of the frightening war machine known as the Imperfect, the Clockwork God has set the storage facility itself to continually tweak and make improvements to the dangerous construct. For what purpose was it built, and even more chilling to ask, how many of them are there?
    • The Exarchs’ Egress: An unknown Daedric force creeps through the shadows of the Clockwork City, bringing with it a new type of Daedric monster – the Wraith-of-Crows. Through a mysterious, remote gate, you can travel to the Daedric realm that houses these malignant monsters and battle a triumvirate of these creatures.
  • Delves
    • The Halls of Regulation: As an artificial environment, the Clockwork City requires breathable air, potable water, and the processing of waste. The Halls of Regulation do all of this, crewed by enigmatic automated machine-people known as Factotums located in the eastern half of Clockwork City. Unfortunately, the facility has broken down for reasons unknown. Have the Factotums malfunctioned, or is this a case of sabotage?
    • The Shadow Cleft: Another dark artery winding its way into Clockwork City can be found in the Shadow Cleft toward the western half of the zone. Nightmare creatures and things that go bump in the night all lurk in this strange place, where several enterprising Clockwork Apostles disappeared attempting to discern its true masters.
  • Repeatable Bounties: The Clockwork Facilitator and Novice Holli, both residing in the eastern portion of the Brass Fortress, each offer daily bounties to investigate and overcome dangers at these locations.

Within the heart of The Clockwork City sits a place known as The Brass Fortress. In this center of power priests and zealous inventors dedicate themselves to Sotha Sil and aim to replace the flesh & blood parts of their bodies with machine replacement parts. The Brass Fortress is also home to those not loyal to the whims of Sotha Sil, these outcasts have become known as The Tarnished. 

The Brass FortressGoing to the Clockwork City will eventually lead you to the Brass Fortress, the center of the city itself and the one place that the Clockwork Apostles, dedicated priests, and inventors, work to improve their bodies and minds – sometimes with dubious “replacement” parts! Here, you can find the usual services and commodities. 

The Tarnished: Not everyone in the Clockwork City pledges themselves to Sotha Sil. He is a benevolent god, in his own way, and allows them to remain regardless of their lack of devotion. This sub-society of outcasts, transients, and vagabonds are known collectively as the Tarnished, and have made themselves a valuable part of the city even if the Apostles themselves do not always appreciate it. Razgurug, the “mayor” of these downtrodden folk, offers what recompense he can in exchange for assistance to support the society that the distant Apostles will not. 

More information about other changes that will be introduced in patch 3.2.0 including new collectibles, new item sets, new furniture, new crafting motifs and updates to the base game & ESO: Morrowind are available in the PTR patch notes. We don’t have a solid release date or price point for Clockwork City just yet but given the fact that Zenimax Online is ready for players to test it, it can’t be more than a few weeks out. 

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Elder Scrolls Online Gets 5 Day Login Campaign With Bonuses For All

Posted on July 4, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Zenimax Online Studios will launch a log-in campaign for The Elder Scrolls Online that includes bonuses for both existing subscribers and users who chose to play without a recurring monthly free. Starting tomorrow at 7 AM PST non-subscribers can gain access to a 5-day trial that will give them all of the benefits of the ESO + subscription. Current ESO+ subscribers will be given 1 free Dwarven loot box (valued at approximately $5 USD per) for each of the five days of the promotion, provided that they sign into the game. ESO’s log-in campaign will come to a close on July 10th at 7 AM PST.

Here is a rundown of the benefits of ESO+, which is available for a number of different price points depending on the # of months purchased in advance:

  • Full access to all DLC game packs, including Imperial City, Orsinium, Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, and Shadows of the Hist – that’s a bunch of new zones, hours and hours of new quests, additional dungeons, and more!
  • 1,500 Crowns per month to spend on the in-game store (paid members only – the Free Trial will not reward 1,500 Crowns)
  • Unlimited storage for crafting materials
  • Double bank space for your account
  • A 10% increase to Experience and Gold acquisition, Crafting Inspiration, and Trait Research
  • Double Furnishings and Collectibles space in player housing
  • Exclusive ability to dye costumes

Dwarven Crown Crates contain a number of exclusive items such as themed costumes, bonus experience scrolls, riding training scrolls, crafting boost and of course the ever coveted epically rare mounts. ESO’s Crates are much more expensive than other buy to play (B2P) games – CS GO’s crates are given out as rare round rewards for free put require keys that sell for as little as $2.50 USD on the community market. Overwatch also charges for additional loot boxes starting at $0.99 USD per or earned for free by playing the game and earning levels.

As an avid player of The Elder Scrolls Online I think the ESO+ log-in campaign is an excellent idea. ESO’s base game contains access to 10 provinces, multiple guilds and almost 1,500 fully voiced quests that could keep players entertained for hundreds of hours – there is a lot of content to be had. That being said ESO+ provides access to the add-on DLC that adds Elder Scrolls staples like the thieves guild, the Imperial City and a fully PVE focused questing zone. ESO is perhaps one of the best deals around in terms of dollars per hour of content – check out my full review if you’d like to hear more of my thoughts on the base game.

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