Elder Scrolls Online Greymoor: ESO’s new chapter is dripping with Gothic atmosphere

Elder Scrolls Online has continued to grow continuously since launching way back in 2014. Regular updates and multiple expansions have seen the game go from strength to strength and build a large, thriving online community. Now, the latest new chapter, Elder Scrolls Online Greymoor, is just around the corner. 

In ESO Greymoor players get the chance to continue the Dark Heart of Skyrim storyline which got started in February’s Harrowstorm DLC. It’s aptly named too – taking players into a darkly Gothic setting and narrative, featuring vampires, werewolves and much more.

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In the new chapter, players gain access to Western Skyrim, which will feel equal parts familiar and different from those who enjoyed Bethesda’s renowned offline RPG, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Our Greymoor hub tells you everything you need to know about ESO’s new chapter including its release date, how you can order it and what Greymoor adds to the base ESO game.

What is Elder Scrolls Online Greymoor?

Greymoor is the latest chapter of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Elder Scrolls Online. It adds a huge new territory (Western Skyrim) to the game alongside a wide range of new characters, quests, activities and loot.

When is Elder Scrolls Online Greymoor released?

The “Dark Heart of Skyrim” storyline began this February with ESO’s Harrowstorm DLC and continues with the all-new Chapter, Greymoor.

Greymoor is arriving on PC and Mac on May 18 and Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on June 2.

How to order Elder Scrolls Online Greymoor

ESO Greymoor is already available for pre-order. Follow the applicable link below to pre-order for your platform.

• New players: Pre-order ESO Greymoor for Xbox One now
• Existing players: Pre-order ESO Greymoor for Xbox One now
• New and existing players: Pre-order ESO Greymoor for PS4 now
• New and existing players: Pre-order ESO Greymoor for PC/Mac now

What’s new in ESO Greymoor?

The Antiquities System

This offers players the chance to explore Skyrim in a whole new way. Hunt down valuable antiquities using map exploration and a series of mini-games. Players will be rewarded with some interesting new gear and loot.

Zenimax Online Creative Director, Rich Lambert, told Trusted Reviews: “One of the things that our players have told us over and over and over is that they love exploring the world and they love the lore of Elder Scrolls. So we wanted to kind of come up with a system that allowed players to do that in a more focused way. That was kind of the beginnings of the antiquities system.

“I really wanted this to be not just more of the same. Not questing, not killing, we’ve got a lot of that in the game, so how can we come up with a system – kind of like what housing was – where it’s a completely different activity to keep people interested in the game and find new ways to play the game while still hitting those notes of exploration and lore and that’s what we came up with.”

Upgraded Vampire and Werewolf skill lines

Players who take on the role of a vampire or werewolf in-game will notice that their skill-lines have been remodelled in Greymoor.

New upgrades to animations and skill trees are meant to make the vampire and werewolf paths in the game more immersive. Players will feel more like they are playing as feared, ferocious monsters, rather than merely bagging a couple of extra skills.

New experiences and loot

Greymoor adds new single-player ‘‘delves”, which are quite like a traditional offline Elder Scrolls dungeon dive – you can invite friends if you want too.

Also, there’s an all-new 12-player trial, called Kyne’s Aegis. This trial sees players venture to a remote island to take on sea giants who have fallen under the control of a vampire lord.

The underground caverns of Blackreach, which players got to explore in the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, returns with a vengeance in Greymoor. They’re bigger than ever and hide more perils and prizes.

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What do the developers say?

Rich Lambert explained that the game would take players to interesting settings that mix exciting exploration with series familiarity. He stresses that Greymoor is more accessible than ever too, while still offering a challenge to veteran ESO players.

He said: “Looking at the entire chapter in and of itself – it’s a very familiar location. It’s Skyrim, and it’s going to feel like Skyrim, but it’s also got more of a traditional fantasy feel in the game and the storyline. So, it’s going to feel a little bit more inviting than say a really high-fantasy title or a weird Morrowind fantasy. If you don’t know what Morrowind is and understand what it is, it’s kind of hard to understand in terms of these weird alien creatures and weird mushrooms and things like that. Whereas Skyrim is yep, it’s ice and snow, and big mountains and people just get that, and they understand that.”

Do I need to have played ESO before to play Greymoor?

No, players can jump into Greymoor as their very first exposure to the ESO universe. The developers have encouraged players to do just that, with a new tutorial and a system which means players of any level can enjoy the game together.

Lambert explained that the game is more accessible than many MMO titles. This, he says, is largely down to “How ESO is built – It’s super new player accessible and friendly. We battle level players to the content, so the content’s all kind of one level and then players come in and they get battle levelled to that so that they can participate in that content and that allows us to do things like – you can always play with your friends. There’s no level separation, there’s no alliance separation, you can just go in and play and then whenever you want to you can play with your friends.

“If you’d been playing for four years and I just started today, we could play together and make meaningful progress towards our characters and that’s a huge, huge thing in terms of making the community more tight-knit and making people feel like they’re never behind.”