The Elder Scrolls Online receives a new class, the Warden, with the new chapter expansion Morrowind. The developers at Zenimax have now explained how this came about and what its prerequisites were.
The Elder Scrolls Online will receive the first major chapter expansion Morrowind on June 6th. It features the new island of Vvardenfell, an exciting story about the god-king Vivec, PvP battlegrounds, and a new class called Warden.
The developers have now revealed how the Warden came into being in its current form and what the background of the new class is.
The Elder Scrolls Online Morrowind – “The Warden is intended to be new”
In an internal interview, Lead Combat Designer Eric Wrobel, Senior Animator Silvia Littlefield, and Lead VFX Artist Cambria Blaize spoke about the work on the new class. It was important to the developers from the beginning that the Warden becomes something new and unique. A nature class with pets was already a good start. The animations emphasized fluid, natural movements, and to ensure clear distinction, the Warden’s effects are teal and dark blue.
Many skills were considered for a long time and many were changed during development. For instance, the current tank tree “Winter’s Embrace” was originally intended to be responsible for damage. However, since the other two trees for animal companions and nature magic were not suitable for tanking, Winter’s Embrace was chosen while animal companions became the damage-dealing tree. According to Eric Wrobel, there came a point where there were simply no further skill ideas on the topic of “Mudcrab Armor”.
The Elder Scrolls Online Morrowind – Warden – Easy to learn, hard to master
The Elder Scrolls Online Morrowind can also be played by complete newcomers without prior knowledge of ESO. Therefore, the new class should not become a hero only for professionals but should also appeal to beginners. Thus, the Warden is suitable for all three roles: tank, damage dealer, and healer. The trick, according to Wrobel, is that the Warden can be easily learned, but skilled players will be able to get even more out of it.
To ensure that the Warden is neither too strong nor too weak, it is constantly monitored and player feedback is evaluated. This allows developers to quickly determine where there are inconsistencies and make changes. This was already done during the design process.
The Warden’s bear was just a boring follower without its own activated abilities; there was no team spirit with the shaggy creature. However, since the bear now has activatable skills, it deals more damage and genuinely feels like a loyal friend and companion.
Also interesting: Is The Elder Scrolls Online nerfing the Templar because of the Warden?
