With every mainline installment in The Elder Scrolls franchise, more features continue to be dropped for the sake of accessibility. While this does benefit the games in a lot of ways, it also creates a feeling of missed opportunity to expand upon what has worked in the past. With The Elder Scrolls 6, players should hope to see some features from older games making a return so Bethesda can take advantage of modern console power.
One of the biggest features that could make a comeback is The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind's huge arsenal of weapons. While The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim's arsenal was nothing to laugh at, some definitely felt that tools like spears would have been a welcome addition. The Elder Scrolls 6 should aim to bring many of Morrowind's discarded weapons back.
The Elder Scrolls' Potential Weapon Arsenal
One of Skyrim's biggest justifications for having fewer weapon classes is that each of its existing weapons were supported by the perk system. Axes and swords played differently, both in terms of functionality and what perks they would receive. Despite that, its arsenal of weapons was meager compared to a game like Morrowind, which supplemented swords, shields, and axes with weapons like spears, halberds, throwing stars, and more. The Elder Scrolls 6 has the opportunity to revamp this old system and make it better than the original iteration.
One boon would be allowing players to access more build types. If each weapon were to have its own perks like in Skyrim, this would allow for a greater degree of freedom with something like a spear-user having a greater range than a sword-user, separating the two in terms of gameplay. A perk that would help differentiate the two would be granting the spear-user some armor piercing. This, along with something like spellcrafting in The Elder Scrolls 6, would go a long way in terms of revitalizing combat.
It would also lend itself to one of The Elder Scrolls' strengths: roleplaying. When many players create a character, they tend to think about what kind of person they want their character to be, whether a sneaky rogue who deals with daggers or a master of the arcane arts. Adding more weapons to The Elder Scrolls 6 would grant more freedom over what kind of person they want their character to be, such as a ninja character who utilizes poisoned throwing stars, or a martial arts master who makes use of bo staffs to ward of their enemies. This also enhances the potential for The Elder Scrolls 6's endgame to create a variety of archetypes.
Most satisfying of all, the return of Morrowind's weapons would also be a return to form. With The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, many of these weapons disappeared, so bringing them back would be a callback to the game that quite literally "saved the company," according to Todd Howard. After over a decade of waiting, the return of mainline Elder Scrolls games will have to be big - possibly even bigger than Skyrim. While there are other great ways to lead into The Elder Scrolls 6, bringing back some of Morrowind's weapons back would be among the best directions for Bethesda.
As of this writing, little is known about what kind of direction The Elder Scrolls 6 is taking. With that said, the potential of The Elder Scrolls 6 changing up the game's weapons is something that would add a lot to the next entry. Hopefully it's something fans can look forward to.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is currently in development.