Every year Tamriel gets a little bigger as The Elder Scrolls Online receives its major content expansion. It’s become a regular June occurrence and a good enough reason to dive back into the MMO. The seventh expansion, Necrom, takes place in eastern Morrowind with two new areas. As with the previous expansions, Necrom builds upon the existing MMO world but adds a variety of content. Necrom introduces a new character class, the Arcanist, along with new companions. Approximately thirty hours of new story content is provided along with additional multiplayer content. So without further ado let’s get into what all this new content entails and whether or not it’s a worthy addition to The Elder Scrolls Online.
The tale of Necrom begins with our protagonist getting entwined with the Daedric Prince Hermaeus Mora, the Prince of Secrets. The nature of this meeting involves confronting some mysterious threat that poses a potential problem to both Oblivion and Nirn. Of course, anyone familiar with Daedric Princes knows that things may not always be initially revealed, but that just leads to more interesting twists and turns. The world of The Elder Scrolls has always placed a tremendous emphasis on storytelling and lore and the story presenting in Necrom doesn’t disappoint. This was actually one of the more satisfying stories to playthrough in ESO, so we won’t delve too much into the details lest we spoil anything, but the story is one of the strong points of this DLC.
Out of the several additions with Necrom, the new playable class of Arcanist was the one that was most intriguing. As is tradition, the Arcanist has skills that can mold them in healers, tanks or heavy DPS dealers. The arcanist has an interesting resource mechanic called the Crux System. In a nutshell, this system causes some spells to generate Crux which can be spent on other spells. The Arcanist’s versatility made it a joy to play as their powerful area of effect spells were useful in both group and solo play. Whether it was dealing damage or healing and shielding companions, the Arcanist was a force to be reckoned with. The emphasis on the color green for spell effects was an interesting design choice, but was one that worked well.
The companion system was introduced a couple years ago which allows the recruitment of helpful NPC companions, similar to what was found in single player Elder Scrolls games. The two new companions are Redguard Arcanist Azander Al- Cybiades and Argonian warden Sharp-As-Night. These companions can be recruited by completing their respective quests, which can take about twenty to thirty minutes. Azaner is hiding in Apocrypha and Sharp-As-Night is in the Telvanni Penninsula. In addition to being helpful in battles each of these characters adds depth to the world by having their own backstories and motives for getting involved with the player. Their utilitarian benefits may be reason enough to want to recruit one of the companions, but delving into their stories and learning about the characters is what makes getting them worthwhile.
The two new areas were quite the sight to behold. The Telvannia Penninsula was filled with gigantic mushrooms, much like Vvardenfell from one of the previous DLC chapters. It’s clear that these are just environmental occurrences in certain parts of Morrowind, but it’s difficult not to imagine a Dovahkiin helmet-clad Mario jumping across the massive mushroom towers in the background. The architecture in Apocrypha was appropriate for its name as books were the building blocks of just about every structure.
There have been areas in Elder Scrolls games that look like generic fantasy settings, but that cannot be said about the new locations in Necrom. The creative visual designs of these areas enhanced the desire for exploration because the design created such a fantastical environment. Along with new areas to explore there’s a new 12 player battle called Sanity’s Edge that takes place inside a mage’s mind where reality is twisted into nightmarish abominations. For player’s who enjoy smaller groups there are world events for up to four players called Bastion Nymic, which involve some of the most closely-guarded Daedric secrets.
By now most Elder Scrolls Online players have grown to expect a new chapter every June. And with each new chapter there’s an expectation of a sizeable amount of new story content along with various other additions to keep revitalizing the almost decade old game. Necrom does an admirable job of meeting and possibly exceeding player expectations for the annual update. The arcanist is a versatile class that can be built into a tank, DPS or healer role with magicka spells that are enchanting to behold. Daedric princes are generally interesting characters, and the role Hermaeus Mora plays in the narrative has a lot to do with what makes the story so captivating. Every aspect of Necrom fits together perfectly in a way that creates a great new chapter for the franchise. From the new characters to the unique environmental designs Necrom is a memorable chapter in the franchise and a perfect excuse for anyone who’s taken a break from this MMO to make a return.
Closing Comments:
The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom checks all the boxes of what players would want from their annual expansion and then some. The new arcanist class was a joy to play and helped make the nine-year-old game feel new again. Storytelling is an area where The Elder Scrolls generally has no deficiencies, but even so Necrom’s story goes above and beyond in weaving an unpredictable and memorable tale where it’s impossible not to become emotionally invested. The new areas and companions were masterfully crafted in such a way where it’s easy to lose oneself in exploring the new landscapes and learning the backstories of the new characters. The Elder Scrolls Online has gone through several evolutions since its launch and Necrom shows that there’s still a lot great adventures to be had in Tamriel.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom
