The Curtain is Closing on the Dark Heart of Skyrim
In what has been an impressive year-long event, The Dark Heart of Skyrim is coming to a close with the finale, Markarth. Over the weekend, Bethesda showed off this grand exit with a 20-odd minute presentation, outlining what is coming and what can players can expect as they close out their adventure in Skyrim.
Some of the notable new details are a brand new Markarth storyline (the prologue of which can be accessed right now) a new in-game event called Lost Treasures of Skyrim which uses the antiquing system introduced in Greymoor and a brand new solo arena that will test players of all levels.
I am particularly excited about the solo arena as I am primarily a solo ESO player, something that ESO caters for better than any other MMO. The chance to go through some arenas, get unique armour loadouts and slay some baddies. After all who doesn’t love the arena section in an RPG?
Also, there is good news for console players. It has been confirmed that ESO will be backwards compatible at launch for both the Xbox Series X/S and the PS5 with a free upgrade to take advantage of the extra power coming at a later date.
In all it is a pretty good time to be an ESO player, Bethesda has taken an MMO that struggled at launch and turned it into (in my mind at least) the premier MMO on the market. If you are keen to check it out, make sure you watch the presentation below and read all the info straight from the press release.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Markarth
The Dark Heart of Skyrim epic concludes with The Elder Scrolls Online: Markarth. Explore a dangerous new zone with the Reach, gather a band of unlikely allies, and confront a Vampire Lord and his ancient army. Markarth also introduces a new solo arena, Vateshran Hollows, designed to test the strength, wits, and resolve of players with challenging bosses, multiple unlockable paths, and powerful, hidden secrets.
Markarth will release on November 2 for PC, Mac, and November 10 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and it will be available free as part of an ESO Plus membership or available from the in-game Crown Store.
This new DLC will be coming to the Public Test Server this Monday, September 21, and we’ll be previewing more of Markarth in the weeks to come.
Markarth Prologue Quest Now Live
Players can begin the Markarth Prologue questline right now completely free! These quests will take players on an adventure that leads directly into the main storyline of the Markarth DLC and the conclusion to the year-long story.
To jump in, simply visit the in-game Crown Store and pick up the quest starter. Anyone who owns the ESO base-game can experience this new adventure for free.
Lost Treasures of Skyrim in-game event
Beginning next week, the Lost Treasures of Skyrim event challenges the ESO community to unlock three tiers of collectible rewards that include new cosmetics, a pet, a new house, and the first of a new type of collectible: houseguests.
Players unlock these rewards by digging up Tamriel’s lost treasures by using the Antiquities system. The more treasures players unearth, the quicker fellow Greymoor players will unlock the goods.
In addition to this challenge, the event also brings bonus rewards to all players who adventure and complete daily quests in Western Skyrim. For more on the Lost Treasures of Skyrim and these bonus rewards, check out our announcement article and web page.
Here’s the lineup and dates (note that some dates may shift) for all of the year’s remaining in-game events:
- Lost Treasures of Skyrim (September 23 – October 5)
- Witches Festival (October 22 – November 3)
- Undaunted Celebration (November 25 – December 12)
- New Life Festival (December 21 – January 2, 2021)
ESO’s annual end-of-year promotion: #TamrielTogether
Finally, we announced our end-of-year promotion, #TamrielTogether. This promotion will include an amazing sweepstakes to enter, a guild-based contest, and more, so keep an eye out on elderscrollsonline.com for more information in the coming weeks.
