The Elder Scrolls Online The Elder Scrolls Online , also known as The Elder Scrolls Online : Tamriel Unlimited , and commonly abbreviated as " ESO " , is a massively multiplayer online ( MMORPG ) that was announced in May 2012 and was released for PC and Mac on April 4th , 2014 . It is the eighth game in " The Elder Scrolls " series . On June 9th , 2015 , the game was released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One . Developed by the team at ZeniMax Online Studios , " The Elder Scrolls Online " merges the unmatched exploration of rich worlds that the franchise is known for with the scale and social aspects of a massively multiplayer online role - playing game . " The Elder Scrolls Online " features a Buy - to - Play model similar to previous " Elder Scrolls " titles , where one purchases the game for a flat fee and can play it for free afterwards , but there is also an optional membership program , ESO Plus , which grants bonuses such as increased XP gain and free access to all DLC Packs . The game has an in - game cash shop , the Crown Store , where things such as vanity items and cosmetic mounts are sold for a premium currency called Crowns , but nothing that gives players a significant advantage over another will be sold . Buying the Imperial Edition gives players the option to play as an Imperial , craft Imperial gear , convert existing gear into the Imperial style , gives an Imperial horse with standard stats , a mudcrab vanity pet and the Pledge of Mara , which allows players to marry . As of February 2018 , the base game is no longer available for purchase on the Steam store , and is instead bundled with , a major expansion . According to Matt Firor , additional content development of " The Elder Scrolls Online " is set to continue until at least 2020 . Setting . The game is set on Tamriel in 2E 582 during the Interregnum , a period of time between the assassination of the Last Potentate , Savirien - Chorak , and the rise of Tiber Septim , where there was chaos , bloodshed , and no Emperor on the Ruby Throne . Several years prior , the Cyrodilic Emperor Varen Aquilarios desired to become Dragonborn in order to light the Dragonfires in the Imperial City , thus legitimizing his claim to the Ruby Throne . The sorcerer Mannimarco was able to convince him that he knew a ritual that could accomplish this , but that it required the Amulet of Kings . Along with the leader of the Dragonguard Sai Sahan , the half - giant Lyris Titanborn and the High Chancellor of the Elder Council , Abnur Tharn , they became the Five Companions . They were able to retrieve the Amulet of Kings and begin the ritual in 2E 578 . At that moment when the ritual began , Mannimarco used his dark magic to immobilize the others and reveal his true intentions : he was an agent of Molag Bal , and the ritual in fact destroyed the barriers between Nirn and Oblivion in an event known as the Soulburst . This event allowed Molag Bal to initiate the Planemeld , a forceful merging of worlds . Once the ritual was completed , aftershocks were swept across every corner of Nirn . Mages died or went mad , Red Mountain trembled in Morrowind , earthquakes shook Skyrim , and heavy storms devastated the coastlines of Elsweyr and Valenwood . The constellation of the Serpent grew so large that it seemed to threaten every star sign at once . The Tharn family , rulers of Cyrodiil through Empress Regent Clivia Tharn , made a pact with Mannimarco , the King of Worms , who agreed to supplement the Imperial ' s forces by resurrecting their soldiers , except for Clivia ' s father Abnur , who opposes Mannimarco . Molag Bal is harvesting the souls of mortals for more power . The hero , known as the Vestige , is an adventurer whose soul has been taken , which allows them to constantly return to life . The player is killed by Mannimarco in a sacrificial ritual and they are brought to Coldharbour , where they awaken to find a mysterious man known as the Prophet , who , with the help of Lyris Titanborn , helps the Vestige escape Coldharbour , freeing the Prophet , but also imprisoning Lyris within Coldharbour . Once the Vestige escapes Coldharbour , they awaken in Tamriel and are let loose upon the dangerous world . Alliances . In the game , there are three major playable factions fighting against one another in the conflict known as the Alliance War . Those factions , made up of the different races found throughout Tamriel , are the Aldmeri Dominion , the Daggerfall Covenant , and the Ebonheart Pact . Other factions . Other factions in the game include : Exploration . " The Elder Scrolls Online " spans across all of the continent of Tamriel . From the dry desert wastes of Hammerfell to the tropical jungles of Valenwood , a huge variety of environments can be explored . All of the provinces of Tamriel are explorable to a fairly large degree . Cyrodiil is accessible once the character reaches level 10 . The dark realm of Coldharbour is accessible once the Vestige completes The Weight of Three Crowns . However , most provinces are only able to be traveled to in a limited capacity . In fact , the only provinces explorable in their entireties are Valenwood and High Rock . Over time , new areas will be released to the game through DLC . Each zone is roughly 3 square kilometers in size and Cyrodiil is 27 square kilometers in size , and there are over 20 zones , meaning the explorable game world in " Online " is significantly larger than the previous three installments in the franchise . Prior to the " One Tamriel " update in 2016 , exploration throughout the game ' s zones was restricted based on your level — zones were not locked ( with the exception of DLC areas ) , but if you ventured to areas beyond your level , they would become difficult to the point of impossibility . However , this changed with the One Tamriel update , meaning you can explore any zone you want to regardless of your level . Level scaling was introduced , so that the whole game world has one linear difficulty for all players , similar to the other games in " The Elder Scrolls " franchise . Travelling . The game world can be explored by foot or by mount . There are a variety of mounts that can be ridden — horses , wolves , bears , Guar and Senche . All start out with the same base stats but mounts can be trained to become faster , have more stamina and to be able to increase the player ' s inventory capacity . They can be fed 1 of 3 types of food per day to train their attributes or training books can also be bought from the Crown Store and used at will . Fast Traveling is also available . Instead of fast travel in the previous games , where one could fast travel to any location , players must travel via Wayshrines . You can teleport to a Wayshrine when using another Wayshrine to teleport for free , or you can travel to the Wayshrine from the wild , but you must pay a sum of gold if it is done in this way . Fast Travel in Cyrodiil is different from the rest of the zones . Instead of Wayshrines , characters can travel to keeps and outposts that their alliance controls via the Transitus network . Players can not fast travel to anywhere without using a Transitus shrine at a keep or alliance base camp , nor can players travel directly to resources . To fast - travel to another keep using the Transitus , that keep must be linked to the keep the player is traveling from - for example , if Blue Road Keep is owned by the Pact but Chalman Keep and Drakelowe Keep are owned by the Covenant , Pact players cannot travel to Blue Road Keep via Transitus . Players cannot use Transitus shrines at outposts , although they can travel to outposts from the shrines . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > There are 10 races in the game if one purchases the Imperial Edition . Imperials have their own racial passives as well . Combat and gameplay . Character stats and progression . There are three primary stats : And six secondary stats : As your character levels up , they will be given one point to place in the Health , Magicka , or Stamina stats , similar to the system in Skyrim . Secondary Stats can be affected by numerous factors , such as armor traits , enchantments , buffs and Mundus Stone – which are used to give special passive abilities , similar to the Standing Stones found in and have the same names , but they give different boons . A maximum of 64 points can be earned to put into your Primary Attributes . You can change how your attribute points are distributed by visiting a Shrine of Akatosh , Auri - El or Kyne in your faction ' s capital city ( Wayrest , Elden Root and Mournhold , respectively ) and paying a sum of gold , or purchasing an Attribute Respecification Scroll from the Crown Store for 700 Crowns . Levels . The game has 50 levels that are attained by earning XP from questing , exploring , killing enemies , PvP and almost all other activities . Prior to the Dark Brotherhood update on May 31st 2016 , after a player reached Level 50 , they unlocked Veteran Ranks . Veteran Ranks were used to progress in all content after Level 50 , such as Craglorn , and they acted just like normal levels — XP was earned to increase them just like normal levels , and there were 16 Veteran Ranks in total . When the Dark Brotherhood update launched , Veteran Ranks were removed entirely and the maximum level was set at 50 , with character progression now based on Champion Points ( " see below " ) . Champion Points . Once the player ' s first character reaches level 50 , they will unlock Champion Points , which can be spent across three constellations - Warrior , Mage and Thief , with each having a certain " theme " - Warrior passives are based around reducing the damage you take and protecting your character , Thief passives are based around reducing how much Stamina / Magicka you use and how fast your resources recharge , and Mage passives are based around increasing your damage output . Each constellation has 3 separate trees , with 8 passive abilities in each . 4 of these passives can be leveled up by Champion Points , up to a maximum of 100 per passive , and the other 4 are unlocked depending on how much points have been spent in the sub - constellation e . g . 10 points , 30 points , and the 4th is unlocked after 120 points . The system is similar to ' s skill trees . Champion Points are shared across all characters on a player ' s account - i . e . if your main character has 200 Champion Points , any new characters you make will have 200 Champion Points as well which can be spent at any level , not just 50 . However , any additional Champion Points you earn on your main character will not carry over to your new character . The maximum number of Champion Points you can spend is 167 points per tree , with this number changing with certain updates . Some post - level 50 equipment is locked based on your number of Champion Points , up to 160 . Player vs . Player ( PvP ) . Player vs . Player combat is available after level 10 . In Cyrodiil , the Alliance War revolves around the capturing of Keeps , their surrounding supply lines , and outposts . If a keep isn ' t defended well ( which is unlikely - there are players defending their faction ' s keeps everywhere in Cyrodiil . ) a keep can be taken by a small group of players . If it is heavily defended , a much larger force with more siege weapons and a lot of co - ordination is required . Sometimes , individual battles can last for hours . Campaigns . Hundreds of players from all three factions can be in Cyrodiil ( Which is roughly 27 square kilometers in size , not including the many areas such as dungeons , Ayleid ruins , houses , caves etc . ) at a time per campaign , a kind of " sub - server " to mitigate overpopulation . There are several different campaigns on each platform . You can join two campaigns at once - one home campaign and one guest campaign . A guest campaign is usually for when there is a long queue for your home campaign or if you wish to play with a friend who is in the guest campaign , but you cannot increase your leaderboard ranking while in a guest campaign - you may only increase your leaderboard ranking in your home campaign . Each campaign has a duration , e . g . 30 days for Campaign A , 2 weeks for Campaign B , and so on . Once the duration is up , the faction leaderboards reset and whatever faction was at the top of the leaderboards wins the campaign , and the winners receive a large sum of gold . The runners - up will also receive a smaller amount of gold , and this reward is increased based on your contribution to the campaign which is determined by your Reward Tier , which goes up to Level 3 and is increased the more you PvP . Once the campaign resets , keep and Elder Scroll ownership does not change , the only thing that happens is a reset of the faction and player leaderboards , and the war resumes once again . Some campaigns have certain rules - e . g . in some campaigns Champion Point bonuses are disabled . Siege Weapons . Siege Weapons such as Ballistae and Catapults are used to attack and defend keeps in Cyrodiil . Each siege weapon is suited to a particular role in PvP combat e . g . Trebuchets are for destroying structures , ballistas are used to take out enemy siege weapons , and so on . Siege weapons can be purchased for a varying amount of Alliance Points , the PvP currency , from quartermasters in keeps , and there are 5 types of siege weapons - Flaming Oil , Battering Rams , Ballistae , Catapults and Trebuchets . Ballistae , Catapults and Trebuchets each have variations with special effects , such as Fire Trebuchets and Scattershot Catapults which give enemy players various damaging effects depending on what sort of siege weapon they were hit with . Fire - based siege weapons are very powerful and are capable of breaking up large groups . Alliance Ranks . Alliance Ranks are an alternative advancement system , with 50 ranks . Each rank will give a new title , a skill point , sometimes a new armor dye and a new alliance icon on a player ' s name tag , similar to faction ranks in and . They take a very long time to earn , and Grand Warlord is the highest alliance rank available . Increasing your alliance rank will also increase your Assault and Support skill lines and will allow you to unlock new abilities such as Magicka Detonation and Vigor . Alliance Ranks are similar to combat ranks found in the multiplayer components of various first - person shooter games . Emperorship . You are able to become the Emperor of Cyrodiil . To crown an Emperor , your faction must be in control of the 6 keeps surrounding the Imperial City ( Chalman , Blue Road , Alessia , Roebeck , Ash and Aleswell ) simultaneously . Once this is done , the player at the top of your alliance ' s leaderboards will become the Emperor . The Emperor receives a variety of extremely powerful bonuses and if your alliance has crowned an Emperor , everyone in your alliance will receive + 2500 extra health as long as the Emperor reigns . The Emperor will also get a title and a special set of cosmetic armor . Emperors are deposed once their respective faction loses control of all 6 keeps - however , holding on to even 1 keep is enough to retain their status if they have already been crowned , but if that 1 keep is lost the 6 " Imperial Keeps " must be reclaimed once again to crown an Emperor again . Player vs . Environment ( PvE ) . Player vs . Environment ( PvE ) is any form of content that isn ' t battling other players . Player Housing . At launch the game featured no player housing as in previous Elder Scrolls games , but it was released in February 2017 for all platforms . Players can purchase 39 different houses with either Gold or Crowns , though most require specific achievements to purchase . Expansion packs . Expansions for the game will be released quarterly – this means the game will receive 4 expansions per year . Each expansion will cost 2500 Crowns ( $ 20 ) but they are optional . They will add many hours of new content to the game as they are released . The Imperial City . was announced at a special press conference at Quakecon 2014 . It contains over 20 hours of story content , 4 new dungeons , 3 huge new zones ( City Isle , The Imperial City , The Imperial Sewers ) , 23 new item sets , the Tel Var Stone system , and more . It is centered around PvP and was released for PC / Mac on August 31st , 2015 , and on Xbox One and PS4 on September 15th and 16th , respectively . Orsinium . was announced alongside the Imperial City at Quakecon 2014 . It contains over 20 hours of story content , the Orsinium region , a new Trial , new dungeons , and more . It was released on November 2nd , 2015 for PC / Mac , November 17th , 2015 for Xbox One , and November 18th , 2015 for PS4 . The Thieves Guild . The expansion was announced alongside the " Dark Brotherhood " . It contains the Thieves Guild and takes place in Abah ' s Landing , Hew ' s Bane . It was released on March 7th , 2016 for PC and Mac , March 22nd for Xbox One , and March 23rd for PlayStation 4 . The Dark Brotherhood . The expansion was announced at an event at Quakecon 2015 . It contains the Dark Brotherhood guild , many hours of story content , a new skill line , the removal of Veteran Ranks , and many more features . It takes place on the Gold Coast , and was released on May 31st , 2016 for PC and Mac , and June 14th , 2016 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 . Shadows of the Hist . " Shadows of the Hist " is different from the other DLC packs in that it does not contain a new zone . Instead , it adds 2 new Argonian - themed dungeons to the game , with both normal and veteran modes . It also contains the Style Parlor system , a Crown - based customization system that allows players to change their appearance , changes to Trials , capturable towns in Cyrodiil , and other features . The update was released on August 1st 2016 for PC and Mac , and August 16th for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 . Morrowind . The " Morrowind " expansion was first teased on the official ESO Twitter account in January 2017 , and revealed in a 30 - minute Twitch Stream in February 2017 . The expansion was released on May 22nd , 2017 for PC and June 6th , 2017 and takes place on the island of Vvardenfell . It introduced a new class ( the Warden ) , 4v4v4 battlgrounds , and a new Trial ( Halls of Fabrication ) . Horns of the Reach . " Horns of the Reach " includes Falkreath Hold , two new dungeons , and a story based on the Forsworn . It was released on August 14 , 2017 for PC / Mac and August 29 , 2017 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 . The Clockwork City . The Clockwork City was teased after " Tamriel Unlimited " was announced , with previews of the city seen in an ESO Live stream . It was released on the PTS on September 18th , 2017 , but its full release occurred on October 23rd , 2017 for PC / Mac , and November 7th , 2017 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 . Dragon Bones . The " Dragon Bones " expansion contains two Nordic - themed dungeons , Fang Lair and Scalecaller Peak . It was released alongside Update 17 on February 12 , 2018 on PC / Mac , and February 27th on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 . Summerset . The " Summerset " expansion allows the player to travel to the islands of Summerset and Artaeum in the Summerset Isles . It will be released on May 21 , 2018 on PC / Mac , and June 5 , 2018 on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 . Mephala ' s Web . Mephala ' s Web was initially teased alongside the " Clockwork City " expansion . It will contain a new plane of Oblivion known as the Spiral Skein , but nothing else is known of it . < ref name = " ESOLive _ 1 / 21 / 15 " > ESO Live Episode 1 / 21 / 15 < / ref > Murkmire . Murkmire was announced alongside Orsinium at Quakecon 2014 . It will contain the adventure zone Murkmire , many hours of story content , new dungeons , and new Trials . Its release date and other features are not yet known . Editions . Imperial Edition . The Imperial Edition is a Collector ' s Edition for The " Elder Scrolls Online " . It is available for all platforms in both boxed and digital versions . Digital Imperial Edition . This edition includes : Gold Edition . The Gold Edition was announced on July 6 , 2016 with a pre - order price set at $ 59 . 99 ( USD ) , and was released for all platforms on September 9th , 2016 . It includes the following content : As of March 2018 , the " Gold Edition " is no longer available for direct purchase on the Steam store . However , it is still available on Steam through the " The Elder Scrolls Online : Collection " bundle , which also includes the two chapters and , as well as individually from the Bethesda Store . Guilds and Glory . The Guilds and Glory DLC pack was created for players who already own the base game , and is priced at 5 , 500 Crowns ( $ 39 . 99 ) . It includes the following content :