Originally published May 31, 2016. The original article can be found here.
We're excited to welcome our PC and Mac players to the latest exhilarating DLC for The Elder Scrolls Online—Dark Brotherhood. If you play ESO on console, your chance to join some of the most feared killers in Tamriel is right around the corner—Dark Brotherhood comes to Xbox One and PlayStation®4 in just two weeks on June 14th. To commemorate the Dark Brotherhood launch, Creative Director Rich Lambert has a special message to share with everyone:
- It seems like just yesterday that we were outlining our initial plans for ESO DLC… and now we're already on our fourth update! How time flies! It's been incredible watching all of you take your first steps into each new area, meet new characters and form new memories.
- The Dark Brotherhood has always been special for Elder Scrolls fans, including many of us here, and we are excited to finally be able to bring it to Elder Scrolls Online. The Dark Brotherhood DLC game pack introduces the Gold Coast zone, where you can explore the towns of Anvil, Kvatch, and the landscape between them. This DLC is jam-packed with fun new quests, a new skill line, new delves, group bosses and all new ways to murder NPCs with executions and poisons.
- As always, this update isn't solely focused on the DLC. We've added in a ton of new base-game features and improvements for everyone. Veteran Ranks have finally been removed, which simplifies and unifies leveling into one system. In addition to Veteran Rank removal, we've added in a number of new systems and improvements, including things like:
- Quality-of-Life: Nameplates, Item Locking, Repair warnings, Enchanting updates, Class balance adjustments, Trait Improvements, Poison making, Hats and Personalities
- Grouping Tool/Activity Finder: Vote to Kick, Ready Check, and Deserter Debuffs
- PVP: Cyrodiil latency improvements, Imperial City district capture, and new vendors with scaled gear
- I'd also like to take a quick moment to specifically single out all of our ESO Plus Members – your support and dedication has been amazing over the years. With the Dark Brotherhood DLC, we've added a new exclusive feature for you all - the Craft bag. It's a nearly limitless storage bag for your crafting supplies and it is our way of saying thank you for your continued support.
- Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who's taken the time to jump onto the PTS to give feedback and submit bugs for this update. Your feedback has had a large impact on this DLC and helped us immensely to improve the overall quality.
- What's next? Stay tuned for the Bethesda E3 Showcase on June 12th!
- —Rich
Get your blood pumping with this assassination trailer featuring Blade of Woe kills, courtesy of the Dark Brotherhood:
The Elder Scrolls Online: Dark Brotherhood – Blood Will Flow Trailer
ContentEdit
Welcome to the Dark BrotherhoodEdit
A merciless guild of assassins rises to power in Tamriel, and your murderous talents make you a prime recruit. Explore the Gold Coast and discover if you have what it takes to become one of Tamriel's master assassins in the Dark Brotherhood DLC game pack. From the bustling port city of Anvil to the Great Cathedral of Kvatch, the business of the Brotherhood consists of murder and mayhem—and business is good! Join the Brotherhood, enter the Sanctuary, and accept your first contract from the mysterious Speaker. Kill well, assassin!
As with our previous DLC game packs, Dark Brotherhood comes in two parts: the DLC game pack and the base-game patch. The base-game patch is available to everyone who owns ESO. The DLC game pack conveniently downloads with the base-game patch, giving you instant access to the new content upon purchase or activation of an ESO Plus membership. When you purchase the Dark Brotherhood DLC game pack, you get full access to the Gold Coast in western Cyrodiil, the cities of Anvil and Kvatch, and all of the following:
- Access to join the Dark Brotherhood and become an assassin-for-hire
- The Gold Coast, available to characters of all levels, where you can explore Anvil and Kvatch for the first time since The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- A new passive skill line, exclusive to Dark Brotherhood members
- Hours of exciting story content and quests that allow you to revisit your favorite regions of Tamriel
- New repeatable activities, including:
- Bounty Quests: The Dark Brotherhood is not the only group on the Gold Coast that offers gold for martial expertise. Daily bounties await in the cities of Anvil and Kvatch
- Take on these quests to conquer delves, battle in the Kvatch Arena, or vanquish a monstrous minotaur!
- Contract Kill Quests: Elam Drals, the dry-humored Dark Elf assassin who maintains the Dark Brotherhood's contracts, diligently keeps a ledger of targets marked for death and paid for with gold
- Travel across the length and breadth of Tamriel to assassinate marked targets or engage in bloody murder sprees at the behest of the Dark Brotherhood
- Sacrament Quests: Speaker Terenus, an agent of the Black Hand, haunts the Gold Coast Sanctuary to offer the most sacred missions to Dark Brotherhood assassins
- Break into secured subterranean locations to slaughter targets invoked by the performance of the Black Sacrament. Avoid guards, disable traps, and complete bonus objectives to achieve the highest levels of prestige and the greatest rewards.
- Bounty Quests: The Dark Brotherhood is not the only group on the Gold Coast that offers gold for martial expertise. Daily bounties await in the cities of Anvil and Kvatch
- The Litany of Blood, a Dark Brotherhood kill mission targeting victims around the world
- Two new delves, Hrota Cave and Garlas Agea, featuring brand new challenges and exciting rewards
- Two new world boss encounters: The Kvatch Arena and Limenauruus the Minotaur, who guards Tribune's Folly
- Powerful new gear, unique crafting styles, and other rewards inspired by the deadly Dark Brotherhood
- The new Assassin personality
- Three new crafted item sets
- Three new item sets available in the Gold Coast
- Two new costumes awarded for completing quests in the Gold Coast
- Two new Mementos and one new Polymorph for earning specific achievements in the Gold Coast
- The new Viridian Venom Dye, for completing a specific achievement
- The Assassins League crafting style
- A brand new in-game musical score, inspired by the Dark Brotherhood and Gold Coast
Purchase DetailsEdit
Anyone who has purchased The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited and has an active ESO Plus membership automatically receives access to the Dark Brotherhood DLC game pack. If your ESO Plus membership ends or lapses, you will no longer have access to the Dark Brotherhood DLC game pack content and areas, but you will still retain any items you earned while you had access, including the Assassin Personality.
Dark Brotherhood: Assassin Personality (ESRB)
If you don't have an active ESO Plus membership, you can purchase the Dark Brotherhood DLC game pack for 2,000 crowns. Simply press the “," key (the default Crown Store key) or click the Crown Store icon on the menu bar to open the Crown Store, navigate to the DLC section, and purchase the Dark Brotherhood DLC game pack.
The Dark Brotherhood Collector's Bundle contains a selection of exotic and useful items straight from the Gold Coast merchants. In addition to the Dark Brotherhood DLC game pack, the bundle includes the Highland Wolf mount, Sylvan Nixad pet, and five Crown Experience Scrolls—a value of 5,500 crowns for just 4,000 crowns, it's a killer deal! Look for the Dark Brotherhood Collector's Bundle in the Crown Store “Featured" section.
Access DetailsEdit
Once you purchase the Dark Brotherhood DLC game pack or activate your ESO Plus membership, you're just a few steps away from beginning your life as one of Tamriel's most feared killers.
Enter any Outlaws Refuge and approach an assassin by the name of Amelie Crowe. Speak to her to begin the “Voices in the Dark" quest. Progress through the events of the quest—they'll lead you to Anvil and put you on the path as a Dark Brotherhood initiate. (You can also accept the “Voices in the Dark" quest by purchasing the DLC and navigating to the DLC tab in your Collections menu.)
After you purchase the Dark Brotherhood DLC game pack, you can also use the Wayshrine network to fast travel to Anvil on the Gold Coast. Amelie Crowe, the Dark Brotherhood main quest bestower, will be waiting for you in the Outlaws Refuge there.
Guides & Deep-Dive ArticlesEdit
Whether you've helped us test Dark Brotherhood on the PTS, or are taking your first steps toward becoming their latest initiate, these handy guides and deep-dive articles will help prepare you for life as a master assassin:
Guides
Deep-Dive Articles
Dark Brotherhood Crown Store OfferingsEdit
With the launch of Dark Brotherhood, you'll find two new Crown Store offerings straight from the Gold Coast: The Highland Wolf mount and the Sylvan Nixad pet.
New Forum AvatarsEdit
In celebration of the Dark Brotherhood launch on PC and Mac, we've added a collection of new Dark Brotherhood-themed avatars to the official ESO forums. Show your loyalty to the Dark Brotherhood with one of these new icons!
The Dark Brotherhood grows strong, leaving a blood-soaked trail of bodies wherever they go. Do you hear the call of the Night Mother? Do you long for her cold embrace? Then seek out the Dark Brotherhood, if you dare.