Zenimax Online Studios recently teased us with a video showing off the assassins that players will soon be able to take the role of in their latest update, “Dark Brotherhood“. This is all of the information we’ve been able to dig up on this dark addition to Elder Scrolls Online.
Release Date & Price
Dark Brotherhood will be released on May 31st for PC/Mac, and June 14th for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Similar to earlier updates to the game, there will be two parts to this release. The first is the DLC game pack, which will be free for players with an active ESO Plus membership, or roughly twenty dollars if you are not.
There will also be a Collector’s Bundle priced at roughly forty dollars. I say roughly, since the only way to purchase these bundles are with the game’s currency crowns, which only come in values of either fifteen or twenty-five dollars, meaning you’re going to spend a little more no matter what you choose.
The Collector’s Edition
The 4,000 crown bundle comes with everything you’d normally receive in the Dark Brotherhood DLC pack, five Crown Experience Scrolls which allow players to earn extra experience to help you level your new skill tree faster, a Highland Wolf Mount as pictured majestically above, and a Sylvan Nixad pet.
Considering how I mentioned you’re going to have to spend extra money anyway, this bundle is probably worth it, since at forty dollars (the only single purchase crown pack that has enough to afford this) you also gain an additional 1,500 crowns to save towards the next expansion.
New Features
Naturally, the biggest feature is going to be the addition of the Dark Brotherhood guild. Joining this guild allows players to take on the role of an assassin for hire, killing for money.
There will also be a new zone added in, called the Gold Coast. Fans of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion probably remember this zone as the Western-most region of the accessible world. Elder Scrolls: Online is bringing back this area as well as a few key places in it for the first time since the third installment in the series. If anything it will be neat to be able to visit these areas with updated graphics.
Also included will be a new skill line for players who join the Dark Brotherhood. These include new passives such as the Blade of Woe, which allow your character to potentially dispatch your target in a single blow when attacking from behind. They also enjoy benefits that make them much harder to detect, or simply harder to catch.
Examples are the new Scales of Pitiless Justice passive that reduces any bounties when your murder is witnessed, or their Padomaic Sprint, which grants bonus movement speed after dispatching a citizen.
Finally, there will also be the addition of new repeatable quest chains for the members of the Brotherhood involving stealth assassinations and fulfillment of bounties to hunt down giant monsters and victory in arenas.
Updates to the Game
Finally, there will also be a base-game patch added to the game which has no cost to any players. These are balance changes that will affect you whether or not you feel the need to pledge loyalty to the dark assassins of the Brotherhood. These include things such as the addition of Poison-Making as a profession to further enhance the lethality of your weapons.
Several item sets and user interface options have been updated as well, including a much needed up date to the game’s Grouping Tool which now features an updated queue timer and vote-to-kick system.
The Elder Scrolls: Online will be hosting several pre-launch events as well hyping up the release of their game. You can check out some of their new footage on their Twitch channel, or check out their website for guides related to the update.
