Elder Scrolls Online Is About to Get Even Bigger.
Bethesda have announced the newest DLC in ESO’s Dark Heart of Skyrim storyline, Stonethorn, and with it two brand new dungeons.
Like the rest of the storyline, both dungeons are situated in the Skyrim region. In Castle Thorn your allies fight through an army of vampires to take down their master, Lady Thorn, while Stone Gardens tasks you with infiltrating a twisted alchemist’s laboratory deep within Blackreach.
While details are still relatively thin on the ground, the expansion pack also promises new item packs and new quest lines to expand on this year’s gothic saga. Another new feature teased is group mounts- for the first time in ESO you can share your ride with your party member, something that’s been used in MMO’s like World of Warcraft for some time. While we don’t know what forms these mounts will take, we do know that they’ll be dropping alongside the DLC.
Alongside the DLC, Bethesda are dropping Update 27, like improvements to certain item sets, balancing, and an improved memory management system to make sure your adventuring is smoother than ever before.
The most exciting aspect of Update 27 is the introduction of pathing to your homestead, letting you control every aspect of its inhabitants movements, from the path they walk to their walking speed. It’s no secret that every NPC in Oblivion followed a strict schedule, whether that was just opening their stores at a certain time or sneaking out of the house they shared with their wife to sleep with another woman, and now you can make your homestead more alive than ever before. You can even choose whether they follow a strict routine or walk their path randomly- just be sure not to leave it alone with your friends, or they might hide your assistants somewhere you’d never find them.
Stonethorn drops on August 24th, but PC and Mac players can check it out on the Player Test Server next week: just open the launcher, go to settings, and click the Show Player Test Environment button. Once it’s ready, just download the client and you’re ready to play.
What do you think of the news? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, or the comments below.