General:The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road & Update 42 Now Live on PC/Mac
< General: Elderscrollsonline.com ArchiveOriginally published June 3, 2024. The original article can be found here.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road is now live on PC/Mac, Steam, and Epic Game Store. This new Chapter for The Elder Scrolls Online introduces a new zone to explore, West Weald, along with a new system to master called Scribing. It also concludes the story of Ithelia, the Forgotten Prince, which began with 2023’s Shadows Over Morrowind saga.
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In addition to the Chapter, this release also includes the U42 base-game patch, introducing a host of bug fixes, balance changes, and other improvements free for all ESO players. You can view the full patch notes for Gold Road and Update 42 on our official forums.
Gold Road ChapterEdit
In The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road you can venture into the heart of Colovian Imperial culture as you unravel the mystery of the return of a never-before-seen Daedric Prince—Ithelia. While Gold Road continues (and concludes) the Shadow Over Morrowind narrative that began in 2023, you can experience and enjoy the latest Chapter’s storyline without having to play any of the game’s previous content.
West Weald ZoneEdit
Located along Cyrodiil’s southwest border and neighboring Valenwood and the Gold Coast, this new Chapter allows you to explore West Weald, a wealthy Imperial province thrown into chaos. Home to the proud and cosmopolitan Colovians, West Weald has found itself besieged by mysterious unknown Daedra. Even worse, a large part of the region has seemingly overnight become overgrown by the vast jungles of Valenwood, resulting in the migration of local Wood Elves.
(In article there is link to video "Peril in West Weald")
Within this new zone, you can explore the city of Skingrad in addition to both the Gold Road region and emergent Dawnwood, where you’ll discover a multitude of new side quests, world bosses, delves, public dungeons, and more. Discover more about the zone in this preview blog.
Scribing SystemEdit
An all-new system introduced with Gold Road, Scribing grants you the ability to craft and customize your own handmade abilities. With Scribing, you can select a base Grimoire and tailor it with scripts to create an ability that perfectly fits your playstyle and build.
(In article there is link to Scribing video)
With this new system, you’ll discover a robust questline that has you restore an ancient Scholarium while diving deep into the mysteries of magicka in Tamriel. Whether you’re looking for greater power, versatility, or roleplaying opportunities, Scribing introduces a powerful new way to tailor your builds and play your way.
Group ActivitiesEdit
In addition to the zone’s multiple world bosses, delves, and public dungeons, Gold Road also introduces two new group activities to challenge you and your allies: the Lucent Citadel and Mirrormoor Incursions.
In the Lucent Citadel Trial, you and your large group (12 players total) must venture into a long-forgotten Daedric vault within the realm of Fargrave, contend with its unique boss encounters, and seek out the mysterious Arcane Knot.
Mirrormoor Incursions are a new type of world event plaguing West Weald and threatening to overwhelm the region with the minions of Ithelia. You can discover more about both activities in this preview blog.
New RewardsEdit
In addition to a new zone to explore, stories to experience, and challenges to overcome, the Gold Road Chapter is full of new Achievements, items, and collectibles for you to loot and earn.
Specifically, West Weald features 10 powerful item sets to loot and craft in addition to three unique Mythic items to uncover using the Antiquities system. Completing Achievements can also earn you a wide range of collectibles, such as style pages for King Nantharion’s Royal Armor or even the Wildburn Lynx mount.
Rewards also include fragments for the all-new Tales of Tribute patron and deck, Saint Alessia, in addition to a new type of collectible, called Skill Styles. Skill Styles are cosmetic collectibles that allow you to change the visuals for your existing abilities. With Gold Road and Update 42, there are 22 Skill Styles for you to unlock and apply from various sources, including quest rewards, public dungeons, and other activities.
Finally, Gold Road and Update 42 also introduces the Adventurer Across a Decade Achievement, celebrating ESO’s 10-Year Anniversary by granting you the Fractured Glory skin for having completed the game’s story content (including Gold Road) throughout its long history.
Purchase Details & RequirementsEdit
The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road is available to buy now, with four editions:
- The Elder Scrolls Online Deluxe Collection: Gold Road
- The Elder Scrolls Online Collection: Gold Road
- The Elder Scrolls Online Deluxe Upgrade: Gold Road
- The Elder Scrolls Online: Upgrade: Gold Road
If you are a brand-new or lapsed player, both Collection editions include the base game, the Gold Road Chapter, and ALL previous Chapters. If you already own ESO and its previous Chapters, both Upgrade editions grant access to the Gold Road Chapter. Note that to run Gold Road on PC/Mac, your machine needs to meet the game's requirements here: PC, Mac.
In addition to the game, both versions of Gold Road are also available in Deluxe editions, which feature a unique mount, pet, memento, outfit style, and emotes.
To find out more about Gold Road and its editions, check out this blog.
Getting Started in Gold RoadEdit
Ready to venture into West Weald? You can travel to the new zone and begin your adventure in the following ways:
- Via Wayshrine
You can teleport directly to the zone by accessing your map, selecting Gold Road, and then selecting the automatically unlocked Skingrad Vineyards Wayshrine.
- Via the Gold Road Main Quest
You can have the game lead you to West Weald by picking up the Chapter’s first main story quest, “Paths of Chaos.” You can find it by navigating to your Collections and then viewing Stories, selecting Chapter, and then Gold Road.
- Via the Tutorial
You can also travel to West Weald by creating a new character and completing the tutorial. At the end of the tutorial experience, you can select the zone as your destination and begin.
Note that there are no level or story requirements for the Gold Road Chapter, allowing you to jump right in with any of your characters—existing or brand new!
Update 42Edit
Launching in tandem with Gold Road is Update 42, a free base-game patch for all ESO players. Update 42 introduces a series of balance changes, fixes, and additions with no purchase required (beyond access to the game itself).
- Improvements to In-game Mail
With Update 42, we’ve made a series of improvements to in-game mail, focusing on its interface and notifications. This includes the addition of categories (player mail, system mail, and system alerts), improved sorting, attachment preview, and inventory space display.
This update also adds a “Delete After Claim” option (helping you keep inboxes under control), a “Take All” function, and notifications for mail with attachments. In addition, messages received from your Hirelings will now be automatically recorded in the Lore Library under “Hireling Correspondence.”
Finally, as part of the team’s efforts to improve server performance and stability, Update 42’s mail changes also include reduced expiration times based on the mail types.
- Environment Sustainability Features
With this update, we’re joining Team Xbox in reducing our game’s environmental impact with the following new features:
- Reduced GPU use during periods of inactivity for PC/Mac, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.
- Reducing resolution and imposing a framerate cap during inactivity.
- Screen dimming during periods of inactivity on PC/Mac.
- Note that this already occurs on consoles.
- Reduced GPU use in Contextual Menus for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.
- When viewing most menus on consoles, the framerate is capped.
Note that the improvements to Xbox and PlayStation consoles won’t occur until Update 42 launches on those platforms on June 18.
For more on Xbox’s sustainability efforts, visit this page.
For everything changing and coming with Update 42, be sure to check out the patch notes on the official forums.
Forgotten No MoreEdit
The Forgotten Prince walks Tamriel, and chaos follows in her wake. Investigate the emergence of Ithelia and confront her scions, explore the Colovian region of West Weald, and unlock and customize new abilities with the Scribing System in The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road. Tell us if you’re excited to dive deep into this new Chapter via X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road is now live on PC/Mac and arrives June 18 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.