WITHenimax announces the next chapter for the MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online revealing Blackwood, plus next DLC Flames of Ambition plus more.
Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood Unveiled as Next Chapter; Gates of Oblivion Year Long Adventure
During the global announcement, live stream Zenimax Online Studios announced the next big chapter for the Elder Scrolls Online, Blackwood which will be releasing on June 1st for PC and on Playstation and Xbox on June 8th. This year will follow the Gates of Oblivion, in a year long adventure. This isn’t the only content that’s been announced as a new dungeon DLC called Flames of Ambition will be releasing on March 8th for PC, Mac, and Stadia, as well as consoles on March 16th.
Elder Scrolls Online Blackwood
This year’s chapter gets a major story, following the schemes of the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon. This takes place 800 years before the events of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Blackwood promises 30 hours of new main storyline, an abundance of side quests, new quality of features, and a major new feature Companions. This expansion introduces Companions who will go on adventures with you.
This will be an interesting feature as this means questing doesn’t have to be done alone, as you’ll have a sort of side-kick. Each character comes with skills you can level up, customisable gear and combat abilities. What’s interesting to note if they also have behaviors. Whether this will be Dragon’s Dogma style, or if they are given more simpler AI tasks similar to the merchant assistants will be interesting to find out.
This chapter will take players to the Imperial City of Leyawiin, which was first featured in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. But it will be in the mysterious region of Blackwood where players will unravel the Daedric plot. In addition to a new questline, there will be a new Rockgrove Trial, Oblivion Portal World Events, unique Chapter-specific rewards and more.
Official Features for ESO: Blackwood:
- A new zone: Blackwood
- A fiendish main storyline that ties into the Gates of Oblivion adventure
- The new Companions system
- A new 12-player Trial: Rockgrove
- New world events: Oblivion Portals
- New delves, public dungeons, world bosses, and stand-alone quests
- Updates and quality-of-life improvements
Flames of Ambition DLC – March 2021
To kick of the year of Gates of Oblivion, a DLC dungeon pack will be releasing on March 8th called Flames of Ambition for PC, Mac and Stadia. Consoles will be getting the DLC on March 16th. This comes with new dungeons The Cauldron and Black Drake Villa, which will unveil the threat of Mehrunes Dagon, and invites players into the Blackwood chapter which releases in June.
To end the year long story, a DLC will be released in Q3, setting players into the Deadlands, Mehrunes Dagon’s personal realm of Oblivion. More details will be revealed in future for this DLC.
- You can check out the outline of the upcoming content below:
Flames of Ambition (March 8 for PC/Mac and Stadia* and March 16 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4) - Blackwood (June 1 for PC/Mac and Stadia* and June 8 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4)
- Unannounced Q3 DLC dungeon pack (date TBD)
- Unannounced Q4 DLC story zone (date TBD)
If you’re interested to find out more, be sure to check out our Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood preview article to learn more about what’s coming to the game this year.
Update 29 Major Changes
The Champion System is finally getting a revamp, with the new level cap now being raised to 3600 CP. The system also is changing with having a twelve passive system, with 3 sub-constellations under each constellation. You can freely swap in and out these passives, as long as you’re not in combat, you have the freedom to interchange them. You also try out the new system with the PTS which goes live tomorrow.
Gear is also getting some changes, with heavy, medium and light, which will reflect “how it feels to wear” them. Light armor for example will get more magic resistance with the number of pieces you wear. They will also counteract with the different types of armor pieces you wear, for an example a mix of light and heavy. This means players will need to think further about these armor types when building their character.
Pre-Order Editions
You can pre-purchase The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood right now to receive unique pre-purchase rewards at launch AND get immediate access to the game and both the Nagahide Welwa Ravager mount and Nightmare Bear Cub pet.
The Nightmare Bear Cub is a limited-time only pre-purchase reward, only available until March 17th, so if you want to snag this pet be sure to do so before that date.
Other items that will be available as a pre-purchase reward are as follows:
- Dremora Kynreeve Outfit
- Deadlands Wamasu Pet
- 1× Iron Atronach Crate
- 3× Blackwood Treasure Maps
- 2× Experience Scrolls
If you’re looking to get both the base game, the previous released chapter and Blackwood, you can pick up either The Elder Scrolls Online Collection: Blackwood or The Elder Scrolls Online Collection: Blackwood CE. These also include all previous chapters (Morrowind, Summerset, Elsweyr, and Greymoor).
If you’re an existing player, the upgrade editions will be suitable for those who already own the base game and previous Chapters. There is The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood Upgrade or The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood Upgrade Collector’s Edition which only contain the Blackwood chapter.
If you pre-purchase Blackwood you get even more! The Nagahide Welwa Ravager Mount, Dremora Kynreeve Outfit, Deadlands Wamasu Pet, and more could all be yours. pic.twitter.com/LL6ijcNMXv
— The Elder Scrolls Online (@TESOnline) January 26, 2021
- The Elder Scrolls Online Collection: Blackwood $59.99
- The Elder Scrolls Online Collection: Blackwood CE $79.99
- The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood Upgrade
- The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood Upgrade Collector’s Edition
Elders Scrolls Online Blackwood will be releasing on June 1st for PC and on Playstation and Xbox on June 8th. The next DLC Flames of Ambition will release on March 8th for PC, Mac and Stadia, as well as consoles on March 16th.
Be sure to drop by our Elder Scrolls Online wiki for all your adventuring needs as well as our Elder Scrolls Online Guides .
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