The Elder Scrolls Online has successfully transitioned from a subscription MMO to a buy-to-play model, and now it is ready to release its biggest expansion yet. Bethesda Softworks and Zenimax Online announced the Orsinium add-on Monday for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC that will take players to the homeland of the orcs.
The Orsinium DLC pack is launching today on the Elder Scrolls Online public test server for the PC, with a full launch scheduled for November 2. Consoles will have to wait a little longer. The Xbox One will receive the expansion on November 17 followed by the PlayStation 4 a day later.
Elder Scrolls Online players with an ESO Plus membership ($15 per month) will receive the second expansion to the game for free as part of their subscription. Those without the ESO Plus subscription can purchase Orsinium from the in-game Crown Store for 3,000 Crowns, which equals approximately $25.
As mentioned above, Orsinium contains the Orc homeland along with the mountains of Wrothgar and the Orc capital. This is the first time this area has made an appearance in an Elder Scrolls title since the release of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall in 1996.
In addition to opening up Wrothgar and the Orc capital, players can look forward to 20 hours of new story content centered on the rebuilding of the capital and the uniting of the Orc clans, according to Zenimax. There are new public dungeons to explore for solo and group adventurers along with new gear, styles, and rewards.
A new solo arena challenge titled Maelstrom is also added. This is a single-player progressive challenge mode available in different difficulties with special awards available with completion.
Those that do not purchase Orsinium will receive an update as well that adds tweaks and fixes to The Elder Scrolls Online base game. It includes support for gamepads on the PC, ability balancing, and increased drop rates.
The Imperial City DLC expansion released in August did much to further the enjoyment of The Elder Scrolls Onine , as the Inquisitr previously reported . The addition of a long unused area of Tamriel combined with hefty story content should continue that success.
Here’s the overview of what is being added to The Elder Scrolls Online with the purchase of Orsinium .
- Over 20 hours of captivating story content and quests
- A long-awaited exploration of the culture of Tamriel’s Orcs
- A colossal new zone available to characters of all levels
- A new single-player progressive challenge, The Maelstrom Arena
- Available in Normal and Veteran versions
- Grants special rewards only obtainable by completing arenas
- Includes class-specific leaderboards, so you can see how you match up against your fellow combatants
- Quests and objectives that contribute to rebuilding the city of Orsinium, returning it to its former glory
- Two large public dungeons, Old Orsinium and Rkindaleft, featuring all-new challenges for both solo and group play
- Special harvest nodes that scale to the most advanced material type your character can use for crafting
- Six all-new, challenging world bosses
- Powerful new gear, unique crafting styles, and other rewards inspired by the history and denizens of Wrothgar
- Four new Provisioner recipes, only available in Wrothgar
- 18 powerful new item sets including 6 ability-altering weapons, 9 sets obtained by participating in activities in Wrothgar, and 3 new craftable sets
- The Ancient Orc crafting style
- Six new collectible costumes only available in Wrothgar
- Over an hour of brand new in-game musical score
And here are the highlights of what is being added for all Elder Scrolls Online players with the patch being released alongside the Orsinium DLC.
- Gamepad support
- Subtitles
- LFG improvements – cross-alliance dungeons
- Champion Point cap & catch-up system
- Shield Dyeing
- Improvements to battle-leveling
- Akaviri crafting style
- Ability balance and bug fixes
- New ways to spend Alliance Points
- Increased item drop rates
- …and more!
[Images via The Elder Scrolls Online ]
