Bethesda started off the year announcing the next major chapter expansion for Elder Scrolls Online, titled Greymoor. With the pre-order packages now up for sale, it appears to offer both long-time players, returning players and new players a lot of incentives to make the purchase, especially in purchasing it before release in a few months.
It is an especially good time for new and returning players to jump in to Elder Scrolls Online, given the amount of content Greymoor offers players, as well as how well Elder Scrolls Online has aged, overall, since its bumpy launch back in 2014.
What is Greymoor?
The Greymoor chapter expansion will take players back to western Skyrim, known as "The Dark Heart of Skyrim." At present, Elder Scrolls Online offers players the ability to explore eastern Skyrim, known as Bleakrock and the Rift.
The Greymoor expansion's western Skyrim will offer players the ability to explore both its surface and the underground subterranean world of Blackreach. The Greymoor expansion promises a gothic-themed story that will be among Elder Scrolls Online's darkest yet, with vampires posing a threat to Nordic region, and it will also offer players a revamped Vampire skill-line.
While the Greymoor expansion does not release until May 18 for PC and Mac, and June 2 for Playstation 4 and Xbox One, as well as Stadia at an undisclosed date in the coming months, fans can get an early start to the year-long Dark Heart of Skyrim storyline by separately purchasing the Harrowstorm dungeon mini-DLC pack. It comes out on February 24 for PC and Mac, and March 10 for Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Greymoor will release on Stadia sometime in the coming months. For those who subscribe to the ESO Plus monthly subscription service, the Harrowstorm DLC pack will be free.
To clarify that all, and the way in which Elder Scrolls Online releases expansion content, the Dark Heart of Skyrim is the overall name of this year-long storyline. Greymoor is its main Chapter expansion, providing access to the new region as well, but accompanying the Dark Heart of Skyrim storyline will also include three more mini-DLC packs, including Harrowstorm. However, for a casual player, the Greymoor chapter expansion DLC will provide plenty of content , storytelling and gameplay by itself and satisfy most players among Elder Scrolls Online's millions of players.
Although, the final DLC pack promises a story zone, which can be fairly packed in size. In the past, some of Elder Scrolls Online's mini-DLC packs have proven to be extremely large in size and scope, especially for their low price point, such as the Murkmire DLC pack. Murkmire was a fairly large zone to explore on its own with a main story. Its region consisted of the south-central coast of Black Marsh, the homeland of the Argonian lizard creatures.
Greymoor Pre-Order Content
For most players, the Standard edition of Greymoor should be plenty sufficient. There is one matter that returning or even long-time players need to be careful of, in that the Upgrade version of Greymoor does not come with the previous major Elder Scrolls Online expansions of Morrowind, Summerset Isle, and Elsweyr, which all have their own unique regions and main stories.
If a player has any interest in traversing these large chapter expansions released in previous years, the $20 price increase between the Standard Edition for $59.99, and Upgrade Edition of Greymoor for $39.99 is well worth the price increase for many. For many, it may be its most enticing inclusion for many players to purchase the Standard Edition, even if one already owns the base game of Elder Scrolls Online.
Pre-purchasing the Standard Digital edition of Greymoor also gives players the Holdbreaker Warhorse mount, the Sacrificial Pocket Mammoth pet, a Jarl Finery and Crown, a Nightfall Preview Crate which comes with a collection of unspecified items, three Western Skyrim Treasure Maps which usually provide fairly worthwhile items or gear of sorts, two Crown Experience scrolls which is great for leveling up particularly quick.
While the Standard Upgrade edition provides those pre-order items as well, again, missing out on the previous major expansions could be a deal breaker for many, if they do not already own those expansions already. The more expensive Collectors Edition, at $79.99 (or $49.99 for the Collectors Edition Upgrade) comes with additional items, including a Crypt Warden Death hound, a Death Hound pet, a Swordthane outfit style conversion, a Skyrime-themed emote pack, and the exclusive Orb of Magnus memento.
For those who want to go all-in, and already own the base game and major expansions, the physical version of the Collector's EditionUpgrade comes with an additional four Collector's Edition physical coins, a physical Greymoor map, a physical Greymoor steel book, and a physical Vampire Lord Statue. However, again, it is important to note that this version will not include the previous chapter expansions, despite its price, and there is no regular Greymoor Collector's Edition option available, only the Upgrade. There is a full version of the digital version of the Greymoor Collector's Edition, however.
All Past Chapter DLC Expansions
As mentioned above, the full versions of the Greymoor expansion may prove to be the most enticing way to purchase Greymoor, even for returning players who have been absent for a few years. The three major expansions, Morrowind, Summerset and Elsweyr, make it a great time for both absent players and new players to join Elder Scrolls Online and begin the adventure immediately, before Greymoor even releases.
For fans of the original Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Elder Scrolls Online's first major expansion, Morrowind, allows players to return to the island of Vvardenfell set 700 years before the third game, with a drawn out storyline in which players must help Vivic by stopping a meteor from smashing down onto Vivec City.
The expansion of Summerset allows players to explore the ancient homeplace of the High Elves on the island of Summerset. It offers an epic and long storyline in which players must solve a conspiracy that may endanger all of Tamriel involving Daedra.
On the island, players will traverse "shining cities, vibrant forests, tropical lagoons, coral caves, mysterious ruins, and more", as detailed on Elder Scrolls Online's official website. Finally, the Elsweyr expansion will take players to the Khajiti homeland to investigate why dragons have returned.
In addition to a gigantic new region to explore, Elseweyr offers players epic fights with gigantic dragons, the new Necromancer class, and more
ESO Has Aged Well
Finally, Elder Scrolls Online's devs have listened closely to fans, and if lots of content, stories and gameplay alone in a massive online world are not enough to entice new and returning fans of Elder Scrolls, the biggest incentive in purchasing Elder Scrolls Online's Greymoor expansion and returning to Tamriel may be the simple reasoning of the game having aged very well.
While it had a bumpy start in 2014, Elder Scrolls Online has cleaned up much of the bugs and shortcomings that plagued its launch, amassed millions of players, offers arguably some of the best dungeons among MMORPG's, still looks graphically impressive, and has a massive end-game content system which allows for players to continue to evolve and build their character after reaching level 50.
Elder Scrolls Online appears to have a bright future ahead of it without any slowdown as well. It may also be just the antidote many players may desire while patiently waiting for Elder Scrolls 6, given that so much of Tamriel can be explored.
Furthermore, Elder Scrolls Online is very inclusive to different types of players, including those who may not have a lot of time to invest in building a character. The daily extra Experience Points given to players on their first-run through a dungeon in a 24 hour period can make leveling up fairly quickly, even for those with a busy schedule.
Since Elder Scrolls Online's rough launch, casual players can now level up fairly quick just by doing quick run-throughs of dungeons. Activate a Crown Experience scroll in addition to the daily Experience Point rewards, and the gains can be multiplied and massive. One can easily level up a few times, with only an hour of time invested in running dungeons at times.
Whether doing battle in Elder Scrolls Online's PvP, grinding, epic stories, exclusively running dungeons, or simply exploring beautiful landscapes and regions is the itch in which a player is looking for, Elder Scrolls Online offers something for everyone. With Greymoor's release date still a few months a way, there is strong reason for interested players to pre-purchase the expansion ahead of time and begin enjoying Elder Scrolls Online's world of Tamriel immediately, especially if they are new players or returning from a long absence.
Elder Scrolls Online is currently available for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.