The Elder Scrolls Online
In The Elder Scrolls Online, you will find plenty of Elves! Four versions of this race are playable, but there are a few more in the game world. This is because Elves are among the first races of the land and have adapted to various habitats over the millennia.
What Elves are there in ESO?
In the Elder Scrolls world Tamriel, there are many Elves who refer to themselves as “Mer”. Originally, the Mer arrived as Aldmer from the West to the Summerset Isles. From there, the Elves spread in various waves of emigration across the continent.
High Elves: The descendants of the Aldmer call themselves Altmer and are known as High Elves. They are arrogant and obsessed with perfection. Therefore, they have little patience for the blundering of “lesser races” and mostly live in isolation on the beautiful Summerset Isles.
Wood Elves: The “Bosmer”, cousins of the High Elves, have settled in Valenwood and have become wild over the centuries. They are smaller than their relatives and sometimes even have horns! They follow the “Green Pact”, an agreement with Yffre, the goddess of the forest.
The pact forbids them to eat anything other than meat and never harm a plant. Additionally, they must never let the flesh of fallen creatures decay.
As a result, Wood Elves eagerly devour the remains of their opponents and often fast before major battles to avoid breaking the pact after a victory.
Dark Elves: These Elves, known as “Dunmer”, arose from the “Chimer” due to a great sin. They have dark skin and red eyes and excel in damage magic.
Their society is divided into narrowly knit clans, and they worship either the Daedra or the three living gods of the Tribunal.
Orcs: Yes, in the ESO world, Orcs are also Elves, known as “Orsimer”. However, unlike their cousins from other Elven races, the Orsimer are rather ugly and appear crude and barbaric.
This is said to be due to their origin story, where their once noble god Trinimac was devoured and digested by the Daedric Prince Boethiah. What was eventually expelled by the Daedra was the new, deformed Daedric Prince Malacath, and his people resemble him in form.
Bretons: The human race of Bretons can roughly also be counted as “Mer”, as they are the descendants of Elves and humans. Therefore, they are sometimes referred to as “Manmer”. The name “Breton” comes from the Elvish language and means something like “half”.
What is special about the ESO Elves?
In addition to these four playable Elven races, there are more Elves in ESO, including the seafaring pirates of the Maomer or the extinct Steampunk craftsmen of the Dwemer.
You regularly encounter the remnants of the Ayleids, another ancient Elf race that has long disappeared.
The world of ESO is therefore thoroughly “elfed”, and the pointed ears are a solid part of the extremely extensive lore. The importance of Elves for ESO is also reflected in the fact that both major expansions released so far took place in the homelands of an Elven race. Morrowind led to the Dark Elves, Summerset to the High Elves.
Elves have bonuses: When playing as an Elf in ESO, you receive specific bonuses based on your race. High and Dark Elves as well as Bretons have good magic attributes, Wood Elves are skilled archers, and Orcs are strong and resilient.
Especially for Mage builds, the Altmer, Dunmer, or Bretons are often a no-brainer.
After the Orc-Elves, page 3 continues with much cuter beings – Take a look at them
