Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road Hands-on with Scribing and Q&A with Rich Lambert

05.04.2024 - 16:49 / wccftech.com / Alessio Palumbo

Earlier this year, ZeniMax revealed Elder Scrolls Online had registered over 24 million accounts since its launch. The game is also closing in on $2 billion in customer spending. It was nominated for a BAFTA award last year, and the studio says it is the largest cross-platform RPG on consoles.

As the game now celebrates its 10th anniversary with the addition to GeForce NOW and with a free play event live through April 9 on all platforms, ZeniMax Online also discussed the upcoming launch of the new Chapter, Gold Road, due on June 3 on PC and Mac and June 18 for PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

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As previously announced, it will include the usual set of features fans have come to expect:

• 30 hours of story content.
• The West Weald zone (comprised of three different-looking biomes: The Gold Road, the Valenwood Annexation, and the Colovian Highlands).
• The hub city of Skingrad, which Elder Scrolls buffs will remember from Oblivion
• The new Lucent Citadel 12-player endgame Trial. Similar in scope to the Sanity's Edge Trial added with Necrom, it is an ancient but recently rediscovered Daedric vault that houses a dangerous energy resource. Keshargo, a Khajiit member of the Scribes of Mora, will ask players to remove it. Rich Lambert said the team outdid themselves with Lucent Citadel, achieving things he didn't believe possible in the engine and introducing brand new mechanics.
• A new type of World Event
• Lots of new loot, achievements, and earnable cosmetics
• New Music

There are, however, two changes. The first is that the two new companions won't arrive with the Gold Road Chapter, having been moved to the Q4 update. The second is the big new feature of the Chapter, the Scribing system, a precursor to the fabled Spellcrafting that was promised shortly after the launch of Elder Scrolls Online.

The developers allowed press and the influencers to check out the new system by accessing a preview server where we could select a maxed-out character with Scribing already unlocked (you will have to get through a storyline first when playing on the live servers).

Scribing takes place at the altar of the Scholarium. Upon interacting with this crafting station, you'll be presented with a list of the Grimoires you have at your disposal. These are the base skills you are then able to tweak.

There's only one per weapon type. Dual Wield gets Traveling Knife, a thrown enchanted dagger with a range of 15 meters that returns to the player after a short delay, hitting additional enemies in its path. Vault is the Bow's skill, effectively a backflip executed after firing at your own feet. The healers' Restoration Staff