The Elder Scrolls Online – Finally with dragons
This is what it’s about: Actually, there shouldn’t be any dragons on Tamriel during the time of the MMORPG The Elder Scrolls: Online. They actually only come much later with the appearance of the world-devouring Alduin in the solo RPG Skyrim. Before that, there were supposedly no scaled beasts in the world.
But with the ESO expansion Elsweyr, dragons suddenly reappeared. What is behind this?
What role do dragons play in ESO?
Dragons in ESO lore are mystical ancient beings that supposedly descend from Akatosh, the dragon god of time. They once ruled over the mortal races with their dragon priests. However, after their slaves successfully rebelled against the dragons, many of them died and were scarcely seen thereafter.
Therefore, there have been hardly any or any dragons in the games series, except for Skyrim. If they do appear, they are filled with rage towards the inferior mortal races in their eyes.
How do they affect gameplay?
This is why dragons are in ESO: With the Elsweyr expansion, the dragons return to the TES MMO. There, they act as dynamic world bosses that regularly appear in the Elsweyr region.
They fly around for a while, eventually landing. There you can finally fight them. But be warned, the giant lizards are clearly a job for larger player groups. They use not only their fire breath but also claws, tail strikes, and even magic to crush entire groups of players instantly. For dragons utilize the power of their voice to summon magic.
And these are just the normal creatures. Throughout the game, you will encounter special dragons, and in the raid Sunspire and in the dungeon “Hoard of Maarselok”, they are even especially impressive bosses with particularly tricky mechanics.
The story behind the appearance of dragons in Elsweyr
This is behind the dragon appearance: When the developers at ZeniMax announced the dragons as part of Elsweyr and even declared the entire year 2019 as the season of the dragon, some fans were grumpy. After all, there should hardly be any dragons during the time of ESO.
However, that’s not entirely true: According to Creative Director Rich Lambert, an obscure book can be found in the Elder Scrolls game Oblivion that reports on a dragon event that is said to have taken place in Elsweyr.
It is quite possible that the events from the ESO expansion Elsweyr were meant. And since the time in which ESO takes place is extremely turbulent – after all, demonic anchors regularly fall from the sky – the short appearance of dragons in the ESO era could have indeed been forgotten over the centuries.
This is why dragons exist in ESO: But how did the dragons come to Elsweyr? That’s the fault of you, the players! For the Imperial Chancellor Abnur Tharn accidentally frees the monsters from the Colossi Halls, but this only happens because he possesses an artifact known as the “Stone of Grudge”.
And countless ESO players retrieved and handed over this artifact to Tharn in the two dungeons from the Wrathstone DLC early in 2019. Tharn wanted to find a mystical weapon with the Stone of Grudge to end the Three Banners War and restore the supremacy of the Empire.
But instead, the stone released countless dragons from the Colossi Halls, which then attacked the completely unprepared Khajiit in Elsweyr. This mess must be undone in the DLCs and the expansion of the season of the dragon.
Are these even “real” dragons?
This is how the dragons look: At first glance, the dragons in ESO resemble the typical lizard monsters that one knows from many games. They are large, scaly, horned, breathe fire, and have wings.
However, one detail stands out: Unlike most dragons in other works, ESO dragons only have 2 legs. The front limbs are both legs and wings at the same time. However, most dragons in the fantasy genre have 4 legs and additional wings.
Thus, the ESO dragons are actually just “wyverns”, as such beings are generally called. Therefore, some players even refuse to call them dragons. On the other hand, the dragons in the fantasy epic Game of Thrones are also anatomically very similar to the ESO dragon.
And in terms of combat power and destruction potential, they can also rival most other creatures in the genre.
Fun Fact: In the dungeon “Moongrab-Temple City”, a dragon fights alongside you in the final battle against a vampire!
On the next page, a game awaits you in which dragons play a very important role.
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