The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road - A New Chapter

Introduction to Gold Road

The Elder Scrolls Online's latest chapter, Gold Road, is coming in June, ZeniMax Online Studios has announced, and with it a major new addition to the Elder Scrolls universe: a never-before-seen Daedric Prince.

ZeniMax Online wanted to Gold Road to provide some colorful contrast compared to last year's Necrom chapter.

Ithelia is the prince's name, and the story of Gold Road will revolve around her unexpected awakening. ESO creative director Rich Lambert shared details about the upcoming chapter during a media briefing ahead of its official reveal, and described the story of the chapter as a race to figure out who freed Ithelia and to find her before others with a more nefarious purpose do.

Players will search for Ithelia in the West Weald area of Tamriel, a location familiar to Elder Scrolls fans from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The team wanted to provide a much different experience from last year's Necrom, and opted for the Gold Road, where the team could focus on fall colors and forests instead of cosmic horror.

The New Game System: Scribing

While last year's Necrom introduced a new class, the Arcanist, Gold Road will instead add an entirely new game system--Scribing. Lore-wise, the system is a 'precursor' to Spellcrafting as seen in other Elder Scrolls titles. Players will find Grimoires, which grant new customizable abilities in specific skill lines. At launch, Scribing skills will only be found in weapon and world skill lines. Once acquired, Grimoires can then be further modified using up to three different Scripts, which augment the ability in different ways.

Styling, another new system tied to Scribing, gives players the ability to customize the look of the Grimoire ability. The Valenwood Annexation, a magical rainforest that appeared in the West Weald almost overnight, is one of the new regions introduced in Gold Road. Aside from Scribing, Gold Road will include all the features ESO players have come to expect from a new chapter, including a new storyline to play through, new Public Dungeons, Delves, a new world event, and new 12-man Trial.

The Valenwood Annexation is a magical rainforest that appeared in the West Weald almost overnight.

10th Anniversary Celebrations and Future Plans

2024 marks ESO's 10th anniversary, and fans can expect celebrations and events over the course of the next year and into 2025, including an in-person event in Amsterdam later this year and another event next year in North America. For those waiting for the next single-player entry in the franchise, The Elder Scrolls VI is officially in pre-production. In the meantime, fans have other ways to scratch their Elder Scrolls itch, including ESO and the recently announced The Elder Scrolls: Castles, a mobile game similar to 2015's Fallout Shelter.

Updates introducing a new player housing feature and various quality-of-life improvements are also coming later this year. This long-awaited chapter is sure to excite fans and bring a fresh experience to the Elder Scrolls Online universe.