Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr Review
Watch the skies traveler.
Elsweyr marks the third expansion for The Elder Scrolls Online, a game already teeming with content. The first expansion, released around The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind’s 15th anniversary, had us return to the Dunmer holy land of Vvardenfell, an adventure that tapped into the nostalgia of the game that helped put The Elder Scrolls on the map. The story of ESO Morrowind tied into events that would happen in The Elder Scrolls III, and started a storyline that would be continued in the Clockwork City DLC, and the following year’s expansion, Summerset. ESO Summerset took us to the land of the High Elves, had us join the Psijic Order, and brought an end to the story that Zenimax started a year prior. With the story of the Daedric War
To say that Elsweyr has a lot going for it would be an understatement. The third expansion to the popular MMO introduced the new Necromancer class, the Northern half of Elsweyr, dragons, a new questline, and much more. It is possibly the largest expansion that Zenimax Online has ever produced, and the new class adds several new ways to play a game that many of us already have hundreds of hours in. With everything that was accomplished in Elsweyr, it’s hard to pick a starting point of what to speak to first. But I’ve always loved a good story, so let’s start there.
The Story
The Elsweyr expansion marks one of four major content drops for 2019, dubbed the Season of the Dragon by Zenimax. Elsweyr picks up where the Wrathstone Dungeon DLC, and Elsweyr prologue quest left off, with dragons unleashed upon the unsuspecting and unprepared Khajiiti homeland. Within the first quest of ESO Elsweyr, several conflicts are introduced. The dragon threat, the usurper queen Euraxia Tharn, and an unknown villain of the Khajiit known as the Betrayer. I was able to complete the expansion’s main story in just short of eight hours, dealing with each of these threats and encountering twists and turns along the way. While I enjoyed the story, it almost felt like it went by too quickly. With all the conflicts that were established, and characters introduced, I found myself wanting more character development and to really experience these stories more. I enjoyed the number of plots and adversaries established in the expansion, but I almost wished that we had more time to draw out these stories.
In the end, I realize the story isn’t the main focus, and that having too long of a main questline can hurt the expansion in the long run. Sure, a longer story sounds fun for the first play through, but when running through the story across multiple characters, having something a little bit more manageable makes for a more balanced experience. For many players they will play through the expansion and truly pay attention to everything the story has to offer once, or maybe twice, and then after that it’s simply something they will need to get through on their alternate characters.
If anything, the fact that I want more story is probably a testament to the world that has been established in ESO. Compared to the other expansions out so far, I think Elsweyr’s story ranks above Morrowind, but below Summerset. The reason for this is that I loved the story in the Summerset expansion, as well as the characters, and conclusion to the Daedric War storyline which had been going on for the past year in-game. Elsweyr seems to act as the starting point for a storyline that might be built upon through content drops even after the Season of the Dragon. Should this be the starting point for a long story arc, I have to say that they’re off to a strong start.
The Necromancer Class
The Necromancer player class is the second new class added to the game, with the first being the Druid-inspired Warden that was released back with Morrowind. A long-awaited class, the Necromancer gives players a chance to create a character whose abilities are frowned upon, and even flat out illegal to perform while in cities. Part of creating the Necromancer class meant lots of different overhauls in how the game handled bodies and NPCs, making the development of the new class even more daunting. To balance a new class around existing content and its competing classes is always a tricky feat. In the case of the Warden, many found the class to feel underwhelming in its first year, and even now it still seems to be one of the lesser-played classes due to that initial reaction. I’ve always loved the Warden class, and think that it’s in a really good place right now.
Because of the growing pains with the Warden, Zenimax wanted to make sure that the Necromancer felt powerful upon release. Rather than release an underwhelming class at its launch, Zenimax opted to release a class that might feel overpowered at times, and scale back from there. To me it’s a really smart idea, it gives both veterans and newcomers a chance to feel really powerful as they learn the ins and outs of their new characters. As the Necromancer is scaled back in line with the other classes, those who have been playing will already know what skills they like, what gear they use, and can adjust accordingly from there. It will be a more gradual change, and hopefully one that won’t affect the class too much. In its current state the Necromancer is a lot of fun, I’ve nearly leveled a Stamina DPS Necromancer to level 50 at this point, mostly through natural leveling rather than grinding for experience. The Magicka DPS side could still use some work, but both Healers and Tanks are loving their new abilities. It’ll be interesting to see the breakdown of how many players are making their Necromancers their main, and I’m sure things will look very different a few months down the line.
Dragons
Part of the Season of the Dragon is, you guessed it, Dragons. Zenimax Online has wanted to add dragons to the game for a long time now. I think it was inevitable, and it makes sense. The Elder Scrolls Online is a game that’s meant to show you all these different legends, enemies, and stories that we wouldn’t get in a singleplayer Elder Scrolls game. With each DLC and expansion they have to chance to explore more of the lore and universe, whether it be the technologically advanced Clockwork City, the swamps of Black Marsh, or the winged beasts that once plagued Tamriel. Adding dragons to ESO has given us some fun moments to the game, and a few different ways to encounter them, of varying difficulty. Through the expansion’s story we have the easiest dragon encounters, which makes sense as it’s meant to be something that can be done solo, and by players who are just starting off. Dragons also act as a recurring world boss of sorts, and can be found in the overworld at nearly any given time. In large groups the dragons are easily taken care of, but when only alongside a couple other players, you’ll find yourselves in for a tough fight. Last, but certainly not least, are the dragons encountered in the new 12-player trial, Sunspire. These are the hardest, but most fun dragon encounters in the game, and even on Normal difficulty can prove to be tricky. I’m still new to the Trials scene in ESO, but have been able to run through Sunspire with one of my Guilds a handful of times now. Running through Normal becomes easier as you get used to it, but the dragon fights, even when you know their mechanics, are a lot of fun.
The Zone
To me, one of the most important parts of an ESO expansion is the world. As someone who’s always loved exploring and questing, it’s what brings me back to the game day in and day out. In the past, Zenimax Online has been able to pull off really incredible, deep, cultural dives into the various races of Tamriel. Some great examples include Clockwork City and Murkmire. Clockwork City introduces us to some of the more obscure lore within game’s universe, having us explore and interact with the Elder Scrolls equivalent magical robots, cyborgs, and the class divides that comes with living in such an advanced city. Murkmire took us to the swamps of Black Marsh, and really let us learn more about the Argonians, their connection to the Hist, and of their complex tribal structures and the conflicts between different tribes. When Elsweyr was announced as the 2019 expansion, I was excited because I knew we would get a similar lore dive with the Khajiit.
This is where Elsweyr shines the most, its world, the lore, and the stories told throughout. While only covering the Northern part of Elsweyr, better known as Anequina, there is a lot touched upon through the various side quests. The small village of Hakoshae is home to the descendants of the Akaviri who once settled in Anequina. While Imperial in appearance, this still acts as a gateway to Akaviri culture and lore, something that many people always want to see more of in The Elder Scrolls games. The village of Riverhold plays home to a missing persons case with a charismatic investigator named Mizzik Thunderboots, a quest which touches upon Khajiit culture and the relationships between the different breeds of Khajiit. Many quests within Elsweyr act as a means to expand upon Khajiit culture, making them truly feel alive as a people.
The side quests in Elsweyr are some of the most fun, and best written ones in the game so far. With each expansion, Zenimax Online seems to step up their writing game, giving us characters and stories to care about, even in the course of a single quest.
In Conclusion
I’ve only gotten more into The Elder Scrolls Online within the past few months. Before that it was a game that I would pick up once in a while and play for a couple hours at a time. Lately it has been one of my go to games, and I’ve found myself enjoying learning more about the MMO mechanics, playstyle, and going through Dungeons and Trials with friends. Because of all this, Elsweyr is the first expansion that I’ve played start to finish in its first week out. While the game has already managed to keep my interest for the past few months, Elsweyr was a breath of fresh air, bringing new content, stories, and a really fun class.
One of the few criticisms that I can make with Elsweyr is that it feels very much more of the same. It’s enjoyable, and it’s something that I will play through time and time again, but I didn’t have any surprising moments or any twists that really caught me off guard or wondering what would come next. The story was an enjoyable one, one that I hope is built upon in the coming content drops, because I think it would be a shame for some of these characters’ stories to end right here.