The Legacy Of The Bretons year-long adventure kicks off in 2022 with the Ascending Tide DLC and Update 33, including two new dungeons, a variety of new and updated item sets, feature improvements including a new assistant and Dynamic Stat Scaling which makes hybrid builds incredibly powerful! Read on for all the juicy details!
The Elder Scrolls Online: Ascending Tide arrives on PC/Mac and Stadia* March 14, and Xbox and PlayStation consoles March 29. You can get access to this new dungeon DLC via ESO Plus™ membership or via purchase with crowns from the in-game Crown Store.
Ascending Tide Dungeons
The Elder Scrolls Online Ascending Tide DLC includes two new dungeons for players to conquer: Coral Aerie and Shipwright’s Regret. Both dungeons are quite impressive and also offer a variety of unique encounters and item sets.
The first dungeon is called Coral Aerie and can be found on the northern coast of Summerset. Coral Aerie’s theme fits in well with the rest of Summerset with lots of colorful caverns and ruined Elven structures. Coral Aerie also serves as a base of operations for the new Ascendant Order Faction which is going to be one of this year’s main story enemies.
Coral Aerie includes the following new set drops for ESO:
- Maligalig’s Maelstrom – Light
- Gryphon’s Reprisal – Medium
- Glacial Guardian – Heavy
- Kargaeda – Monster Set
The second dungeon is called Shipwright’s Regret and this one is located in the zone Rivenspire. This new dungeon has a ton of lore behind it which is pretty interesting as it’s apparently one of the shipyards that was responsible for building the All Flags Navy which went to war against the Sloads back in the First Era of Tamriel’s history. The shipyard has since fallen into decay and its workers turned into Ghosts and Zombies. We’ll also see the return of Zaji the Khajiit here as he looks for some upgrades to his own ship, The Perfect Pounce. I played this one as well and the haunted theme of this one is very well done!
Shipwright’s Regret includes the following new set drops for ESO:
- Storm-Cursed’s Revenge – Light
- Spriggan’s Vigor – Medium
- Turning Tide – Heavy
- Nazaray – Monster Set
Ascending Tide PVP Rewards
In addition to the PVE content we just reviewed there are some new PVP rewards coming with Update 33 as part of the base-game update, so these rewards can be earned by all players regardless of whether or not you purchase the DLC. These rewards include 3 new Rewards Of The Worthy PVP Sets, 3 new Imperial City Monster Sets and a new PVP Style called Dragonguard Berserker.
Rewards Of The Worthy Sets
These new sets can be obtained any time a player receives a Rewards Of The Worthy mail in game and include:
- Rallying Cry – Light
- Hew And Sunder – Medium
- Enervating Aura – Heavy
Imperial City Monster Sets
The following new Monster Sets can be earned from defeating bosses in Imperial City:
- Nunatak
- Lady Malydga
- Baron Thirsk
Dragonguard Berserker Style
Pages for the new Dragonguard Berserker Style can be purchased using Tel Var Stones in Imperial City. Also keep in mind that Dragonguard Berserker Style Pages are not tradable and players must be at or above Alliance War Rank 20 in order to purchase them with Tel Var Stones.
Class Changes
Much like any patch in ESO, Update 33 is going to bring about some potentially significant changes for you and your build, especially for certain Classes.
Dragonknight
Let’s start with the Dragonknight Class which is going to see a nice buff to Burning Embers. This skill now heals for 100% of the damage done any time the skill deals damage which means Dragonknights get healing on the initial damage from casting the ability as well as each subsequent tick of the DOT effect. Basically this turns the skill into a huge heal over time! Also, with the dynamic scaling changes we will talk about later in this review, even Stamina Dragonknights can use this skill now for reliable self-healing!
Nightblade
Nightblade’s got a buff to the Strife skill and Funnel Health morph increasing their damage done by about 6%.
Sorcerer
The Sorcerer Class got a nice buff in duration to both Hurricane and Boundless Storm in Update 33. Hurricane will now last 20 seconds instead of 15 and Boundless Storm will now last 30 seconds.
Templar
Templar’s got a big batch of updates with Piercing Javelin and it’s morphs now ignoring block, Biting Jabs now granting Major Sorcery and Brutality, Sun Fire granting both Major Prophecy and Major Savagery and Radiant Ward getting a stronger shield.
Warden
Wardens got some nice updates particularly when it comes to healing as Fungal Growth and its morphs now heal for 12.5% more, and Lotus Flower now costs less as well as grants both Prophecy and Savagery. The Lotus Blossom morph also increased to a 60 second duration!
Necromancer
Unfortunately Necromancers did not see any real buffs this patch and only got a few minor bug fixes.
More detailed explanations of all Class changes for Update 33 can be found in the video below.
Account Wide Achievements
Another HUGE change coming in Update 33 has to do with ESO’s Achievements System which will make most Achievements account-wide moving forward. This means that most achievements that you’ve earned on your main character will also be considered completed on any other characters that you have as part of your account including new characters you create. For example:
- Titles are now account-wide, meaning any titles you’ve earned on one character, you’ll be able to use on all characters.
- You’ll be able to purchase items and Antiquity Leads that require Achievement completion, so long as at least one character has completed that Achievement.
Keep in mind that some things that are commonly tracked via Achievements are still tracked on an individual character basis. This includes:
- Enchanting Rune knowledge Achievements (and the knowledge of Runes in general)
- Motif Crafting knowledge
- Lorebooks read, including in Eidetic Memory and Shalidor’s Library
- Skyshards obtained by a character
- Public Dungeon Group Event achievements
- Dragonguard Sanctum daily achievements
The most important thing here: Once Update 33 launches you will need to log in on each of your characters to register their Achievements and Titles (and if you delete a character before logging in as them, their achievement data will be lost!)
Undaunted Progression
This leads us into our next major update which has to do with the Undaunted Skill Line and how players can level up that skill now in Update 33. If you are familiar with this skill you probably know that in order to level it up players need to earn Undaunted Guild Reputation points which typically came through Achievements. With the switch over to account-wide achievements what they have done instead is move around the amount of Reputation Points players would normally get from those same Achievements and instead tie them to other things like dungeon quests and Pledges.
You can see the new breakdown of Undaunted Reputation points below, but essentially the things that you would normally do in ESO like Normal or Veteran Pledges will now level up your Undaunted Skill line faster.
The following activities will level up your Undaunted Reputation in The Elder Scrolls Online:
- Daily Delve Quest: 10 Points
- Dungeon Quest: 25 Points
- Normal Pledge: 25 Points
- Veteran Pledge: 50 Points
- Veteran Hard Mode: 100 Points
- Normal Trial Quest: 50 Points
- Veteran Trial Quest: 100 Points
Further explanation for the Undaunted Skill changes can be seen below.
New Deconstruction Assistant
Also coming as part of Update 33 and arriving after the base-game patch’s launch (this item is tentatively scheduled to hit the Crown Store on March 29), the Deconstruction Assistant Giladil the Ragpicker will be available for purchase for 5000 Crowns, similar to other assistants in ESO.
The Deconstruction Assistant allows you to deconstruct Weapons, Armor, Jewelry, and Glyphs into their component materials, without needing to stop at a Crafting Station.
Multi-Rider Mounts In ESO
Multi-Rider mounts will also be available in the Crown Store coming in Update 33! This includes the Duo-Dynamo Dwarven Spider and the Grand Pillion Draft Horse. Mount up with a friend or your Companion and get moving!
Hybrid Changes Coming In Update 33
Finally, we have to talk about the Hybrid Updates coming to the base-game in Update 33. These changes are literally some of the biggest ever in ESO’s history when it comes to increasing build diversity and improving the viability of unique and hybrid builds across the entire game, including beginner and solo builds as well as end game PVE and PVP content. This comes in two parts, one being hybridization of buffs and two being dynamic stat scaling.
Hybrid Buffs
This change is pretty simple but it does make a big difference. Starting in Update 33, skills like Camouflaged Hunter for example which generally were best for Stamina Builds because they gave a Stamina Buff, namely Major Savagery, will now give both versions of the buff so Major Savagery and Major Prophecy. This means a skill like Camo Hunter will be great for Stamina Builds, Magicka Builds and Hybrid Builds.
Other great examples of these improved buffs that you’ll want to think about adding to your build include Degeneration from the Mage’s Guild skill line which now gives both Major Sorcery and Major Brutality and Rally or Forward Momentum from the Two Handed skill line which will also give Major Sorcery and Major Brutality. There are many,, many more examples of these hybridized buffs but in general it’s going to open up many more possibilities for builds in the future.
For more examples of the Hybrid Buffs coming to ESO review the video below.
Dynamic Stat Scaling
This change is the big one and it completely shakes up build options in The Elder Scrolls Online. Going forward in Update 33, all offensive and healing skills in the game will now scale with your highest offensive stats. This means that Stamina Builds can use skills that cost Magicka and those skills will be just as powerful as a Stamina skill. Obviously this works the other way as well with Magicka builds being able to effectively use Stamina Skills. The options that this opens up for builds in ESO is truly mind-blowing. Some examples might include a Magicka Templar using a Two Handed weapon with Rally for Major Sorcery or a Stamina Nightblade Bow Build using Impale for a ranged execute skill. The possibilites here are endless and I am greatly looking forward to creating new and interesting builds now and in the future.
For more examples of Dynamic Stat Scaling check out our video explanation below.
