AsThe Elder Scrolls Onlineapproaches its 10th anniversary this year, the 2024 ESO Global Reveal came with a fitting announcement: the game’s latest major Chapter, Gold Road. As expected, this latest chapter ofThe Elder Scrolls Onlineintroduces a new zone with several distinct biomes and plenty of quests, dungeons, delves, and world bosses to tackle.
The Gold Road chapter takes place in the West Weald zone to the west of Cyrodiil and is situated in the space between the Gold Coast, Reaper’s March, and Craglorn. Those who have played TheElder Scrolls 4: Oblivionwill probably already be familiar with this region and its central hub city, Skingrad. It’s also worth noting that there is an additional series of “capper quests” available for players who complete boththe Necrom chapterand Gold Road. Though Bethesda says that like most ESO chapters, Gold Road still works as a standalone story and doesn’t necessarily require playing through Necrom to follow.
The key feature arriving with this expansion is something players have been speculating on for years: crafting spells with Scribing. It’s important to temper expectations, however, since the Scribing system is meant to be a “precursor” forOblivion’s spell craftingand won’t be quite as freeform and potentially game-breaking. Initially, Scribing will allowESOplayers to customize skills from weapon and world skill lines with a combination of up to three modifiers, and there are plans to expand on this further down the line.
Though players can’t create a custom spell from the ground up, this system allows for a huge number of permutations, and it’ll be interesting to see how Scribing impactscharacter builds inThe Elder Scrolls Online. This also comes side by side with a new Styling mechanic which will allow players to modify the visual effects of their abilities. 22 styles will be available at launch, and Bethesda mentioned that styles can be earned through regular gameplay.
Zenimax has also laid out a roadmap for much of the year’s planned content:
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Experience an ever-expanding story across all of Tamriel in The Elder Scrolls Online, an award-winning fantasy RPG. Explore a rich, living world with friends or embark upon a solo adventure.Ultimate freedom—Create your ultimate RPG character, play solo or adventure with friends, and determine your fate in an ever-expanding world. With no level restrictions, go anywhere at any time in a truly open world.Choose your adventure—Begin your adventure where you like: emerge from Coldharbour in the Base Game, battle Dragons in the Elsweyr Chapter, or get ready to face the Prince of Destruction, Mehrunes Dagon, in Blackwood. All content is accessible for new players, and you may switch adventures whenever you like.
