The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road, set to launch for PC and consoles in June 2024, is a new chapter of TESO that owes much to its past – a revisit of the lands first explored in Oblivion, with plenty of tweaks to make the road feel less travelled.
This new expansion follows the discovery of a new Daedric Prince, with players working towards uncovering their trail in a zone known as the West Weald, an autumn-hued plain with somewhat familiar towns, like Skingrad.
“Somewhat” only because Skingrad is now bordered by a dangerous jungle, which has seemingly sprung up over night. In Gold Road, you’ll begin to unravel the mysteries of this circumstance, and how it all involves that mysterious Daedric Prince.
Here’s everything you need to know about The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road – Plot
As detailed, Gold Road follows directly on from the events of The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom. A mysterious new Daedric Prince known as Ithelia has been found – and in a prologue chapter, players will discover that this Prince has escaped from prison, and is now loose on the world.
Players arrive at the West Weald to find the locale in chaos, as plants have grown wild in the region. At the same time, players will discover a splinter group of Wood Elves called the “Recollection” who have a connection to Ithelia.
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After escaping imprisonment, Ithelia wanders through the West Weald aimlessly, having lost memories and powers during her period of isolation. You’ll find her in your quest, and eventually help to unlock her truth, while uncovering a new threat to the hierarchy of the Daedric Princes.
New Zone: West Weald
The West Weald is a new zone in The Elder Scrolls Online that will be homey to players of Oblivion. It’s between Cyrodiil, Gold Coast, Reaper’s March, and Craglorn.
The zone contains three separate biomes:
- The Gold Road, which is a forest of autumn colours.
- Valenwood Annexation, which is a jungle rainforest.
- Colovian Highlands, which is rocky, hilly, and also autumn-themed.
In an early preview of the game, these biomes looked stunning, with the new autumn theme making them stand out against other biomes in the game. The area’s architecture is also particularly lovely, with medieval-style castles, towns, and farmsteads popping up as you quest.
New Feature: Scribing
In addition to introducing a new world and plot, The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road also contains a new feature known as Scribing – a precursor to spell crafting. Scribing requires three ingredients: a Grimoire (skill), a Script (a buff), and an Ink (a consumable reagent).
With these items, you’ll be able to create new, more powerful versions of spells with additional effects. For example, using Scribing, you can transform a basic skill into a Venomous one with poisoning abilities.
Using this process, players will be able to unlock a whole array of new spells for the game, and easily customise combat. You’ll also be able to pick new “Styles” for your spells, allocating colours for the visual effects.
During an early preview, we were able to get hands-on with the Scribing introductory questline, and found a very compelling “dark magical academy” style kick-off involving a talking crow, and other magical beasties to help along the way. While only brief, our foray into the world of Scribing hinted at a very neat new system that should allow a greater depth of personalisation as you roam the world of Gold Road.
There’ll be plenty more to say about The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road when it arrives later this year. It’s currently set to launch on 3 June 2024 for PC and Mac, and on 18 June 2024 for Xbox and PlayStation.
