The Elder Scrolls Onlinejust released DLC number 29 today, called Scribes of Fate, which includes two brand-new dungeons and a prologue quest that begins the Shadow Over Morrowind storyline told with the Necrom Chapter in June. These dungeons, called Bal Sunnar and Scrivener’s Hall, come with unique characters, boss encounters, and stories that in both cases tie into the new prologue quest for theNecrom expansion inESO, especially when it comes to their respective items: the Onix Glyphic and the Itinerant Staff.
Game Rant was able to spend one hour delving into the Scrivener’s Hall dungeon and talking to ZeniMax’s own Mike Finnigan, Jeremy Sera, and Rich Lambert about what makes this story special - as well as how each encounter is constructed. With solid mechanics that shake upThe Elder Scrolls Online’s gameplay loopin Scrivener’s Hall, combined with mesmerizing sections that let players explore the Scribes of Mora’s library, the Deadlands, and the Spiral Skein, the Scribes of Fate DLC seems to be a great addition to the game ahead of the Necrom Chapter.
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The dungeon takes place in the southern portion ofESO’s The Rift area, bordering Craglorn, and players get to meet a Khajiit character called Keshargo, who is the previous leader of the Scribes of Mora and is concerned about the direction the new leader is taking the group into. Soon enough, players also make the acquaintance of a character that goes by the name of Zilipif, the master lockpicker of the Scribes of Mora, who will help players throughout the dungeon. Keshargo explains that the Scribes of Mora were always dedicated to charting the maps of the Daedric planes, but the new leader, Valinna, wants to transform the order into a military force, and the Khajiit wants to stop that in its tracks.
This shows because there are multiple fights occurring throughout Scrivener’s Hall where disciples of the Scribes of Mora use their abilities to attack players. This also acts as a preview of whatThe Elder Scrolls Online’s Arcanist classwill be able to do as of June, and players may recognize three specific abilities that belong to the class thanks to their green magical aura and tentacle attacks. Keshargo explains that Valinna currently doesn’t have a key piece to rule over the Scribes of Mora, the artifact called Itinerant Staff, which the former leader wants to retrieve with the help of the group. After players progress through the first few areas of the dungeon, they will see Valinna talking to the person who runs the library - Riftmaster Naqri.
Riftmaster Naqri is the first boss encountered in Scrivener’s Hall, and he uses a mix ofThe Elder Scrolls Online’s telegraphed abilities, like book tornadoes, as well as summoning abilities that create phantoms next to the player. These include three different books and specters, each associated with a specific color. The red book will summon a phantom next to the player that needs to be interrupted, the green book will summon a phantom that creates a growing AoE under the player, which they should dodge-roll out of, and then the white book summons a specter that uses a blockable attack. When the books appear, they will fire a projectile into the library where rogue books are found, and one player needs to find them and put them back in place in order to stop that ability.
This matters because Naqri will otherwise keep stacking books and summons that will eventually rack up the damage so much that players will be defeated. The projectile fired off the book tells players where in the library the book is, and one of the bookshelves will have a glow that matches the color of the book summoned by Naqri. That’s where the rogue book should be placed, providing players with some room to breathe, and canceling the ability until it’s cast once more. Like other bosses in both of theseThe Elder Scrolls Onlinedungeons, Riftmaster Naqri has a banner stand that players can interact with to make the fight more difficult. The Normal version of Scrivener’s Hall is definitely manageable, but the developers remarked that this is not the case for the Veteran version of the dungeon.
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Once Naqri is defeated, players escort Keshargo to a portal, but the group is attacked and the former Scribes of Mora leader realizes he can’t keep going. This is where one of his loyalists comes into play - Mazandi. Keshargo asks Mazandi to find and retrieve the Itinerant Staff, and so the group departs through the portal for the Deadlands, where players can see a new area that exudes inspirations fromThe Elder Scrolls Oblivionas well asThe Elder Scrolls Online’s own Blackwood Chapter. Lava pools, Magma Frogs, and Iron Atronachs are all common sights.
This area also contains giant green tunnels where players can go off the beaten path and explore - possibly getting rewards worth their time. These are pieces of hidden content, secret side areas that will be available multiple times through Scrivener’s Hall. In the main tunnels, however, players will also encounter multiple little green bugs that look like baby Inferno - worm-like magma creatures encountered in the Blackwood expansion as well. These tiny fluorescent insects can be squashed by players when running over them, and this is important because it foreshadows the next boss encounter. According to the developers, they have what they call “core combat mechanics”, and they often lean into movement - so moving, running, dodge-rolling, blocking, and interacting - and that’s what inspired the (arguably very fun) bug-squashing mechanic.
Mazandi helps players during small fights along the way, but she also plays a key role in the second and finalboss fights inThe Elder Scrolls Online’s Scrivener’s Hall. The second boss is found in an arena called the Altar of Anguish, and it’s a big Inferno called Ozezan. Ozezan often creates big lava pools on the ground, then burrows into the ground to reappear somewhere else. The group’s tank needs to make sure they position in a way that when Ozezan creates the lava pools they don’t overwhelm the arena and take away fighting space. The Inferno will also shake off the green bugs from before, and when that happens, players need to squash those bugs. If they remain up, more monsters will appear and start attacking the party. Squashing the bugs gives players a speed boost, which makes the job easier, and it makes it requires less time.
The Inferno will also burrow underground and appear in the middle of the arena. When it does,The Elder Scrolls Onlineplayersshould run to the edge of the room, otherwise, they will be dragged to the center of the arena and get caught in firey explosions that deal a lot of damage. Mazandi is useful here because she uses her frost abilities to slow Ozezan and remove lava pools from the ground. At the end of the fight, Mazandi finally finds the Itinerant Staff and thus opens a portal back to Keshargo’s study to deliver it to him.
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Unfortunately, Keshargo is not there, and players keep pressing on to find him - this time, taking a portal to theSpiral Skein, Mephala’s Daedric plane. Keshargo is seen escorted by Valinna somewhere, and players find themselves in an entirely new area that bleeds Mephala’s inspirations left and right - big crystals and spiders are everywhere, and so are cobwebs and even more secret tunnels accessible by burning down spider webs.
Finally, after more small-scale battles, players reach the arena where they are supposed to fight a gargantuan spider by the name of Lamikhai. This is the final boss encounter, but Lamikhai is not the only major player that takes part in it - in fact, gamers will also take on the Scribes of Mora’s new leader, Valinna. The boss encounter is made of three separate phases, the first of which pits the players against Lamikhai on its own. The spider will enrage from time to time, which will make it more dangerous. Fortunately, Mazandi has the powers of herWarden-like frost abilitiesand the Itinerant Staff, and she can now cast frost traps on the ground to slow Lamikhai and even freeze it. As soon as players deal enough damage to the spider, it will crawl back up to the wall, and a new pathway will open via fire. Here, players will have to sprint to the next arena and ignore the spiders crawling out of their webs if they want to survive.
This is also where phase two begins, and this time it’s against Valinna herself. She has an ability that creates a tripwire, which, if crossed, causes a massive explosion that can heavily damage the players, making it imperative that they avoid the tripwire by jumping if they want to stay alive. Valinna eventually goes away and Lamikhai comes back down. When it does, it will spawn big spiders at the sides of the arena, and they will web somebody and start pulling those players toward them. These are possibly even more dangerous thanThe Elder Scrolls Skyrim’s spiders, too.
When Lamikhai is finally defeated, the webs behind the boss will burn down once more and open up a passage to the next area, which is where phase three starts. Any player who dies while sprinting to the next area will be resurrected by allies in the current area; this is to prevent people from getting stuck. The final phase is in a small arena, and Valinna will summon a big meteor. Unless the meteor is destroyed in time, it will knock every player back, and possibly out of the arena and to their deaths. When the Scribes of Mora leader is no more, Mazandi gives the Itinerant Staff back to Keshargo, making him the de facto leader once more. This completes the Scrivener’s Hall dungeon fromThe Elder Scrolls Online’s Scribes of Fate DLC. However, for those who don’t love spiders and other bugs, there’s another adventure involving time-traveling in the Bal Sunnar dungeon, instead.
The Elder Scrolls Onlineis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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