Update 44 in ESO (The Elder Scrolls Online) is a free base-game update focusing on Battlegrounds, Imperial City item set improvements and adding new features & collectibles. Players have been asking for more short term PvP content and ESO will deliver that with the new Battleground focused update!
Update 44 will be releasing October 28 for PC and November 13 for Consoles. Players can jump on the PTS next Monday, September 16 to test all the new features.
New Two-sided Battlegrounds added to ESO
On the ESO Livestream, Lead Combat & PvP Designer Brian Wheeler revealed that the two-sided battlegrounds being released with U44 have been in the making for two and a half years. Three-sided (4v4v4) Battlegrounds are being replaced with 4v4 and 8v8 Battlegrounds for now, but the three-sided fights might come back at some point.
4v4 Battlegrounds are considered competitive as 8v8 battlegrounds are more relaxed and a great way to tip your toes to the PvP scene. The 4v4v4 mode was considered a bit too brutal as when you would make a mistake, you would have to wait for a long a respawn timer.
- 4v4 matches are a competitive mode between two teams of four
- 8v8 matches are the standard mode featuring powerups and two teams of eight
ESO U44 Battleground features listed
- 7 new custom built maps with unique features (4 of them are for 8v8 only).
- New Maps shown on stream: Port Dufort, Gothni Glemmni, Huntsmans Fortress and Mota-Ka.
- Remaining teams will be Fire Drakes and Pit Daemons.
- Four different queues: Solo Random Battleground, 4 vs 4 Competitive, 8 vs 8 Standard and Group Random Battleground.
- New "Competitive" -Leaderboard replaces all old battleground leaderboards. Leaderboard is only available on 4 vs 4 Competitive matches.
- In 8v8 Chaosball, there will be three Chaosballs with each having an unique buff. Buffs mentioned on the stream were Werewolf Behemoth and Vampire Lord transformations. Their skills have been highly edited and tuned for PvP.
- In Deathmatches, you will now have lives you use to respawn and once you're out of lives, you can no longer respawn. (Kinda like in Mario).
- You will be able to spectate your teammates once you've run out lives.
- Deathmatches will have three rounds like in Streetfighter or other similar games. You need to win two rounds to win.
- You can no longer afk in your teams base, as the game will kick you into the game map after some time.
- 4v4 Competitive will not have Chaosball or Capture The Relic game modes.
- Battlegrounds will remain No-CP and allow all item sets.
- Level 10-49 Battlegrounds will only be 8v8.
- Matchmaking Rating (MMR) is reworked and will be wiped more often.
New Battleground Rewards
6 New Battleground sets will be added to ESO. Brian Wheeler showcased two of the new sets on the stream.
- Tracker's Lash Set
- Netch Oil Set
Battleground powerups are returning to ESO
When Battlegrounds were first introduced, we had powerup Sigils that boosted damage which is now being reimplemented with the 8v8 battlegrounds (not available for 4v4). Keep in mind that sigils activate in an area which means all buffs go to enemies and friends alike.
Sigils shown on stream:
- Sigil of Speed (Speed buff).
- Sigil of Ultimate (500 ultimate instantly).
- Red axe Sigil, (effect not mentioned).
- Blue Shield Sigil (effect not mentioned).
Update 44 Base Game Features
- 10% Increase on Tel Var and Alliance Point gain with ESO Plus Subscription
- Updates to tutorial and the main quest. Update 44 reinstates the first chapter of ESO’s main questline as the game’s primary tutorial.
- High Dynamic Range (HDR) for PC
- 2 New Companions (more below)
- Furnishing materials will drop more frequently (like Mundane Rune and Heartwood)
- New Homes: Kthendral Deep Mines located in Blackreach: Greymoor Caverns. Grand Gallery of Tamriel located in Rift-Cyrodiil border. Both are notable sized homes.
- New Furnishing: Minecart Tracks and New Blacksmithing Station (comes with Kthendral Deep Mine)
- Imperial City vault keys are converted to a new currency to help free inventory space
- Imperial City item sourcing improvements: Replacing vault chests with vendors that sell 8 new item sets for Tel Var or Key Fragments
- All Imperial City item sets are now curated (coffers will only drop the set pieces you don’t own).
- Imperial City vendors will have better organization and grouping of similar items
- New Weekly rotating vendor in the Imperial City
Golden Pursuits
A new limited-time activity and reward system found in the Group & Activity Finder. There will be curated activities that reward you with collectibles, items, in-game currencies and more in addition to having a special capstone reward.
Scribing changes and additions
- New Grimoire: Banner Bearer in the Alliance War Support skill line. Toggleable AOE skill that affects your whole party with the scripts effects you have chosen. As an example: Minor Heroism buff will be applied to all allies.
- Additional Support for 14 Focus Scripts.
- More frost and other damage script support.
- Vault can use the bleed script.
- Smash can use the poison script.
- Elemental Explosion can use the Physical Damage script.
4 new skill styles
All four new skill styles in U44 are sourced through gameplay. The Molten and Wildburn Skill Styles are not just styles, they have brand new special effects and are the first of their kind in ESO.
- Psijic Ultimate: Undo - Purple.
- Psijic: Accelerate - Purple.
- One-handed and shield: Puncture - Molten (not just a color, a new special effect).
- Destruction Staff: Force Shock - Wildburn (not just a color, a new special effect).
2 New Companions
ESO's 2 New Companions Zerith and Tanlorin can either be bought with Crowns from the Crown Store or unlocked permanently with an ESO Plus Subscription by claiming them from the Crown Store.
Tanlorin
Once unlocked from the Crown Store, you can recruit Tanlorin from Auridon.
Brash and energetic, Tanlorin finds themselves in a plot that could change the course of the Aldmeri Dominion.
- ESO's first non-binary High Elf.
- Uses Medium Armor, Dagger and Dragonknight & Soul Magic Hybrid skills.
- Perk: benefits to lockpicking: increased duration time to pick a lock and a higher chance to force lock. Reduces your chance to lose a lockpick on fail to pick a lock.
- Voiced by: Vico Ortiz
Zerith-Var
Once unlocked from the Crown Store, you can recruit Zerith-Var from Reaper's March
Zerith-Var is a member of an ancient order of Khajiit priests, harnessing necromancy to redeem fallen souls
- A Necromancer Khajiit that uses two-handers and heavy armor.
- A spirit cat will guide you through his story.
- Perk: Keen-Eye heavy sack. Heavy Sacks will glow and have small paw prints from the spirit cat.
- Voiced by: Darin De Paul
Fallen Leaves of West Weald Event
With the new Fallen Leaves of West Weald Event we will have another community goal to get some rewards. The more West Weald dailies we as a community do the better rewards we get.
West Weald Community Event Milestone Rewards from stream:
- 33% Vineyard Voriplasm pet
- 66% Aether-Traveled Varla Stone memento
- 100% Russet Brekka mount and Tree-sap legion Arms Pack
The Fallen Leaves of West Weald will run from September 26 to October 8.
Read our guide for the new Fallen Leaves of West Event to see all the other new rewards we get!
We hope you enjoyed reading this article! You can read more news in the ESO-Hub News section.
