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Scribing is a system released with the Gold Road Chapter that is associated with the Mages Guild. The system allows players to collect, build and customize special skills to diversify your gameplay.
How to BeginEdit
Ownership of the Gold Road Chapter is required to have access to Scribing.[verification needed] The Scribing questline can be begun in one of three ways: (1) in the Collections/Collectibles/Update menu, right-click the Scribing icon to begin; (2) speak to Adept Irnard Rirnil, who is stood outside Mages Guild buildings; or (3) read the pamphlet entitled On Behalf of the Mages Guild of all Tamriel posted on the wall west of the Skingrad City Wayshrine. The first quest is called The Second Era of Scribing and requires a character to have reached at least level 30 (unless a player has access to the Champion Points system). Once one character has completed all of the scribing quests, subsequent characters need only complete the first quest to have access to most of the benefits obtained from the whole questline (drops of Luminous Ink and scripts, as well as the ability to purchase scripts from Chronicler Firandil in the Scholarium for gold and from Filer Ool in the Infinite Archive for Archival Fortunes).
Scribing QuestsEdit
There are six scribing quests in total. While a player's first character will need to complete all six quests to use the scribing system fully, subsequent characters need only complete the first quest.
†From Caal, a scamp achievement furnisher who can be found in the Scholarium
SkillsEdit
Scribed skills appear in your regular skill-trees and can be slotted on your skill bars in the same way as other active skills. Casting a scribed skill costs either Magicka or Stamina, depending on the particular combination of grimoire and scripts used to create it. At present, there are no scribed ultimate abilities available.[1]
Unlike regular skills, scribed skills do not require the investment of skill points, nor do they need to be levelled through the gaining of experience in their use. A scribed skill cannot be morphed, though the scribing system does allow it to be changed as often as you wish (each change of script costs one Luminous Ink).
Only one scribed skill for each grimoire learnt by a character is available for use in combat at any given time; other skills that have been previously scribed by that character using the same grimoire are stored in an archive within the interface accessed at the Scribing Altar in the Scholarium. As with any other active skill, though, it is possible to slot the same scribed skill on both the front and back bar.
Any passive skills belonging to the same skill-line as the grimoire used in a scribed skill are activated when it is slotted. The scribed weapon-skills require you to have the appropriate weapon(s) equipped.
With the exception of Restoration Staff scribed skills (which use the Mender's Bond grimoire), the particular name of a scribed skill is determined by which Focus script is chosen to be scribed onto its grimoire (though the icon for all skills derived from the same grimoire is identical). The visual appearance also changes depending on Focus script, and in some cases, the other two scripts may also alter the appearance.
Luminous InkEdit
Luminous Ink is the crafting material used when scribing skills. If you have an ESO Plus subscription, Luminous Ink is stored in the miscellaneous section of your Crafting Bag (which means that it doesn't take up space in your inventory and can be accessed by all characters). Crafting a new skill requires three luminous ink (one for each of the three scripts that will be scribed onto a grimoire). Modifying an existing scribed skill requires one ink per script changed.
Each of the quests in the Scribing questline rewards you with some ink. Beyond that, ink can be obtained from crafting nodes (after completing The Wing of the Netch) and from normal enemy drops (after completing The Wing of the Gryphon). Note that you only need to do these quests on one character for Luminous Ink to drop for all other characters. It is unclear whether it is worth doing those quests on subsequent characters for the guaranteed ink they provide or whether more ink would be obtained by harvesting nodes in the time the quests take to complete. The nodes harvested from surveys do not drop Luminous Ink. As of Chapter launch, ink is not dropping from all Bosses (it has dropped from those in public dungeons), though that will be addressed in a patch update shortly. The drop rate appears to be at about 0.5% chance per node/enemy.unconfirmed
It is also possible to receive drops of Luminous Ink by looting containers (such as backpacks, urns, and Dwemer pots). With Update 43 (due in the autumn of 2024), Luminous Ink will drop from treasure chests and heavy sacks as well.
ArchiveEdit
Once you have created a skill, it will appear in the Archive, which you can see at the Scribing altar in the Scholarium. This allows you to easily switch back to previous versions, though doing so will still consume 1-3 Luminous Ink depending on how many scripts differ between your current version of the skill and its archived version.
The Archive is not shared between different characters on your account, most likely since it is dependent upon scripts, which are also not shared.
If you're thinking about filling your archive with every possible combination, there are between 280 and 504 different allowed combinations for each Grimoire, for a total of 4,461 potential skills. (There would be more, but some Script combinations are disallowed.)
GrimoiresEdit
Grimoires are books which can be used to add new skills to several skill lines. There are currently 12 of them in total. Each need only be purchased from Chronicler Firandil in the Scholarium once per character. Once purchased, you need to learn it (by selecting "use" in your inventory) to add it to your available Grimoires in the Scribing interface (accessed via the Scribing Altar in the Scholarium). Most Grimoires require an achievement in order to unlock them. The Grimoires are as follows:
ScriptsEdit
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To scribe a skill, a character needs to have learned three scripts: a Focus Script, a Signature Script, and an Affix Script. You cannot craft a skill without knowing one of each of compatible types. Scripts are learned by a character when used from within the player's inventory. The scribing system allows more than 4,000 possible combinations of grimoires with focus, signature, and affix scripts.
Scripts are scribed onto grimoires at the Scribing Altar in the Scholarium. Once the player has selected a grimoire from those that the character has learnt, the focus scripts, signature scripts, and affix scripts that are compatible with that grimoire are listed. There is a checkbox at the top of the menu entitled "Usable"—when this is ticked, only scripts known by the character will appear; when unticked, all compatible scripts are shown (allowing the player to see the specific effects of combinations of scripts that the character has not yet learnt).
Sources of ScriptsEdit
It is possible for all players to receive unbound, tradable scripts when looting enemies, regardless of access to the Gold Road Chapter or completion of any of the scribing quests—though the chance of doing so is very low.
Some bound, untradable scripts are obtained as rewards for the scribing quests, some are made available for free at certain Mages Guilds in the base-game zones (once the Sigil of the Luminary Dragon has been obtained), and the rest are obtained as rewards from particular daily quests and game activities or through purchase from two specialized script vendors. Thanks to the rotating stock of scripts that the vendors offer, it is possible to purchase all of the scripts that come from reward coffers without completing the activities that earn them, with the exception of the Class Mastery Signature Script (which requires the player to collect and use fifty Class Script Scraps before it may be purchased from Chronicler Firandil).
Though not tradable with other players, these scripts can be banked (or placed in housing storage) and learnt by other characters on the same account. Identical scripts do not stack in a player's inventory, bank, or housing storage.
Curation ProcessEdit
The scripts that drop from reward coffers are curated until all scripts of the type rewarded (either focus, signature, or affix) by its particular source have been learnt (curation also takes into account any scripts that are unlearnt but which are currently in the character's inventory) — after which, a script drops at random.
For those coffers that are delivered to the player in their mailbox, the way in which curation works depends on the source of the script: for the Affix scripts that come from Premium Undaunted Exploration Supplies (received as a reward for the first random daily dungeon completed by each character), curation relates to the character that earned the coffer, not that which opens it (this is because the script comes as an attachment to the mail in which those Supplies are delivered); for the Focus scripts that come from the Rewards for the Worthy, curation relates to the character that opens the container, not necessarily that which earned it (since it delivered within the container, rather than as an independent attachment). As with the curation for all other reward containers, the curation process takes into account both the scripts that the current character has learnt and the scripts that the character currently has in their inventory unlearnt.
Scribing Quest RewardsEdit
Two quests within the scribing questline give scripts as rewards:
- The Second Era of Scribing gives the Magic Damage Focus script, the Lingering Torment Signature script, and the Breach Affix script. For a character to be able to scribe, they must have completed this introductory quest, so as a result, they will know these scripts by default.
- The Wing of the Indrik gives the Healing Focus script, the Sage's Remedy Signature script, and the Off Balance and Resolve Affix scripts. These scripts may also be purchased for 10
each by subsequent characters once the required Sigils have been obtained by the first character to complete the Scribing quests (the Sigil of the Luminary Gryphon is required for the purchase of the Healing Focus script; the Sigil of the Luminary Dragon is required for the purchase of the Sage's Remedy Signature script; and the Sigil of the Luminary Netch is required for the purchase of the Off Balance and Resolve Affix scripts).
Free Scripts from Mages Guild LocationsEdit
Once the Sigil of the Luminary Dragon has been obtained by the player, a handbill entitled The Largesse of the Archmagister appears on a table opposite Chronicler Firandil in the Scholarium. It explains that Archmagister Vanus Galerion has made nine scripts available for free at Mages Guilds across Tamriel (though annotations by Firandil complain that he did all the work involved in creating them).
Only a character that has not yet learnt these scripts is able to see them. If a character takes a script and banks it without using it, the script immediately respawns. These scripts can be banked for use by other characters (so it is possible for one character to collect the same script for all other characters, provided they do not learn the script until all copies required have been collected and banked). Any character can use these scripts (even if they have not yet completed the introductory Scribing quest, The Second Era of Scribbing).
There are three Focus scripts, three Signature scripts, and three Affix scripts available for free at the following locations:
Nine Daily Quest RewardsEdit
Once one character has completed all of the scribing quests, three handbills appear opposite Chronicler Firandil in the Scholarium—Sigil of the Gryphon Analysis, Sigil of the Dragon Analysis, and Sigil of the Netch Analysis—that detail nine sources for scripts. Three sources provide Focus scripts, three give Signature scripts, and three drop Affix scripts. For any subsequent character to see these handbills, they must have completed the first scribing quest, The Second Era of Scribing.
Once the prerequisite Sigils have been obtained on a player's account (the Sigil of the Luminary Gryphon, the Sigil of the Luminary Dragon, and the Sigil of the Luminary Netch), the first reward coffer looted each day from each of the sources enabled by those Sigils, per account, contains a guaranteed drop of a script curated for that character; subsequent coffers have a 25% chance to drop curated bound scripts.
There are nine of these sources in total: three from PVP activities (one from Rewards for the Worthy coffers, one from daily Cyrodiil town and mission board quest rewards, and one from Imperial City daily district quest rewards); three from the rewards for Guild dailies (one from the Mages Guild daily quests offered by Alvur Baren, one from the Fighters Guild daily quests offered by Cardea Gallus, and one from the Undaunted daily delve quests offered by Bolgrul); and three from DLC zone daily quests (one from completing a DLC-zone delve daily quest, one from the daily quest to kill a DLC-zone world boss, and one from the daily quest to complete a DLC-zone incursion).
The guaranteed drops of scripts come from looting the coffers rewarded by these nine daily quests, rather than from handing-in the quests themselves. This means that it is possible to earn more than nine coffers in one day and to store them—unopened—in a character's inventory (or, in the case of the Rewards for the Worthy, in the player's mailbox); guaranteed drops may be obtained from all of these coffers by only opening one from each of the nine sources on that day and then opening one from each source on subsequent days (the coffers rewarded by the three DLC-zone daily quests usually have identical names, so it can be difficult to tell which is from which source).
Other Reward CoffersEdit
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The reward coffers from a range of other game activities also drop scripts—including dungeons, trials, arenas, the Infinite Archive, and PvP. When one of these activities offers a guaranteed drop (see below), this is in addition to those that the nine daily quests guarantee.
As with the reward coffers from those nine dailies, the drops from these coffers are curated until all scripts of the type rewarded (either focus, signature, or affix) have been learnt (or are present, unlearnt, in the character's inventory) — after which, a script drops at random. Since the scripts are delivered to the player as an attachment to the mail with the rewards (rather than within a container), curation of these scripts relates to the character that earned the reward, not that which takes it from the mail into their inventory.
- The coffer (Premium Undaunted Exploration Supplies) rewarded to each character for the first random daily dungeon—if it is completed on normal difficulty—contains a guaranteed drop of a bound, curated Affix script and one Class Script Scrap.
- The coffer (Premium Undaunted Exploration Supplies) rewarded to each character for the first random daily dungeon—if it is completed on veteran or veteran hard-mode difficulty—contains a guaranteed drop of a bound, curated Affix script and two Class Script Scraps.
Script VendorsEdit
Once the prerequisite Sigils have been obtained on a player's account, bound scripts may be purchased from Chronicler Firandil in the Scholarium for gold, from Filer Ool in the Infinite Archive for Archival Fortunes and from the Tel Var Merchants in the Imperial Sewers. The Sigil of the Luminary Gryphon is required for the purchase of Focus scripts; the Sigil of the Luminary Dragon is required for the purchase of Signature scripts; and the Sigil of the Luminary Netch is required for the purchase of Affix scripts.
All of these merchants carry a rotating stock of scripts that changes every Tuesday. Each vendor offers a different selection of scripts from the other each week. Only a character that has not yet learnt a particular script is able to purchase it from either of these vendors. The cost of a script is greater for its first copy. The chart below details the prices. Note that this does not apply to those received as rewards for the scribing quests nor to those available for free in or near Mages Guilds.
| Script Type | Gold Price | Archival Fortunes Price | Tel Var Stones Price | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First | Later | First | Later | First | Later | |
| Focus Scripts | 40,000  |
8,000 |
15,000  |
3,000 |
(?) | 15,000  |
| Signature Scripts | 60,000 |
12,000 |
20,000 |
4,000 |
(?) | 20,000 |
| Affix Scripts | 20,000 |
4,000 |
10,000 |
2,000 |
(?) | 10,000 |
One Signature script—Class Mastery—may be purchased from Chronicler Firandil in the Scholarium once the A Signature with Class achievement has been earned (which requires the player to obtain and use 50 Class Script Scraps).
Focus ScriptsEdit
The choice of a Focus script determines the name of the skill scribed, its primary function, and whether it costs Magicka or Stamina to cast. Certain Focus scripts disallow their combination with particular Signature and/or Affix scripts, generally a matter of the skill being offensive or defensive. Once the Sigil of the Luminary Gryphon has been obtained, Focus scripts drop from Rewards for the Worthy containers and the coffers rewarded for the Mages Guild daily quests offered by Alvur Baren and the daily quests to explore a delve (or other single-player focused content) in the DLC zones.
All Focus scripts looted from the reward coffers from these three sources are bound. They are curated for the character that opens the coffer; after all Focus scripts have been learnt by a character, a random bound Focus script will be received. Looting the first coffer from each source—per account, each day (regardless of when the coffer was rewarded)—gives a guaranteed drop of a Focus script. Any coffers from these three sources looted subsequently by any character on the same day have a 25% chance to drop a Focus script.
The DLC-zone daily delve quests are those given by:
|
|
Signature ScriptsEdit
The choice of a Signature script adds unique effects to the scribed skill. These effects may enhance the effect of the Focus script, or add a secondary effect, or trigger an interaction with an existing mechanic. Once the Sigil of the Luminary Dragon has been obtained, Signature scripts drop from the coffers rewarded for the daily Cyrodiil town and mission board quests, the Fighters Guild daily quests offered by Cardea Gallus, and the daily quests to kill a World Boss in the DLC zones.
All Signature scripts looted from the reward coffers from these three sources are bound. They are curated for the character that opens the coffer; after all Signature scripts have been learnt by a character, a random bound Signature script will be received. Looting the first coffer from each source—per account, each day (regardless of when the coffer was rewarded)—gives a guaranteed drop of a Signature script. Any coffers from these three sources looted subsequently by any character on the same day have a 25% chance to drop a Signature script.
The DLC-zone World Boss daily quests are those given by:
| Script | Price | Grimoires | Requirements | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Anchorite's Cruelty consume soul gem to deal oblivion damage |
First: 60,000 Later: 12,000 |
  |
Sigil of the Luminary Dragon |
 |
Anchorite's Potency consume soul gem to grant ultimate |
First: 60,000 Later: 12,000 |
|
Sigil of the Luminary Dragon |
 |
Assassin's Misery improved use of status effects |
First: 60,000 Later: 12,000 |
   |
Sigil of the Luminary Dragon |
 |
Cavalier's Charge increase to damage as ability persists |
First: 60,000 Later: 12,000 |
 |
Sigil of the Luminary Dragon |
 |
Class Mastery class signature enhancement |
First: achievement reward Later: 5,000 |
      |
A Signature with Class |
 |
Crusader's Defiance removal of debilitating effects |
First: 60,000 Later: 12,000 |
|
Sigil of the Luminary Dragon |
 |
Druid's Resurgence resource restoration |
free | |
Found at the Wayrest Mages Guild |
 |
Fencer's Parry deflection of next direct damage attack |
First: 60,000 Later: 12,000 |
|
Sigil of the Luminary Dragon |
 |
Gladiator's Tenacity damage reduction |
First: 60,000 Later: 12,000 |
|
Sigil of the Luminary Dragon |
 |
Growing Impact enhanced buff and debuff application |
First: 60,000 Later: 12,000 |
|
Sigil of the Luminary Dragon |
 |
Hunter's Snare slowing |
free | |
Found outside at the Mournhold Mages Guild |
 |
Immobilizing Strike immobilization |
First: 60,000 Later: 12,000 |
|
Sigil of the Luminary Dragon |
 |
Knight's Valor improved use of bash or blocking |
First: 60,000 Later: 12,000 |
|
Sigil of the Luminary Dragon |
 |
Leeching Thirst heal for percentage of damage done |
First: 60,000 Later: 12,000 |
|
Sigil of the Luminary Dragon |
 |
Lingering Torment damage over time |
free | |
Earned for free during The Second Era of Scribing quest. |
 |
Sage's Remedy healing over time |
First: free Later: 10 |
|
Reward for The Wing of the Indrik quest. |
 |
Thief's Swiftness improvement to your mobility |
First: 60,000 Later: 12,000 |
|
Sigil of the Luminary Dragon |
 |
Warmage's Defense damage shield |
First: 60,000 Later: 12,000 |
|
Sigil of the Luminary Dragon |
 |
Warrior's Opportunity improve your next direct damage attack |
free | |
Found at the Elden Root Mages Guild |
 |
Wayfarer's Mastery improved functionality of skill line passives |
First: 60,000 Later: 12,000 |
|
Sigil of the Luminary Dragon |
Affix ScriptsEdit
The choice of an Affix script adds either a buff or debuff to the effect of a scribed skill. Once the Sigil of the Luminary Netch has been obtained, Affix scripts drop from the coffers rewarded for Imperial City daily district quests, the Undaunted daily delve quests offered by Bolgrul, and the daily quests to complete an incursion (such as Abyssal Geysers, Harrowstorms, Volcanic Vents, or Mirrormoor Incursions) in the DLC zones.
All Affix scripts looted from the reward coffers from these three sources are bound. They are curated for the character that opens the coffer; after all Affix scripts have been learnt by a character, a random bound Affix script will be received. Looting the first coffer from each source—per account, each day (regardless of when the coffer was rewarded)—gives a guaranteed drop of a Affix script. Any coffers from these three sources looted subsequently by any character on the same day have a 25% chance to drop a Affix script.
The coffer rewarded to each character for the first random daily dungeon—Premium Undaunted Exploration Supplies—contains a guaranteed drop of an bound, curated Affix script (as well as Class Script Scrap that contribute to the A Signature with Class achievement).
The DLC-zone Incursion daily quests are those given by:
|
|
NotesEdit
- ^ An NPC in West Weald, Tribune Alea Idolus, uses what appears to be a modified version of a Trample-based skill (summoning three golden horses to attack) that may signal that ultimate abilities are planned for a future release.
See AlsoEdit
GalleryEdit
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Scribing
-
Luminary of Magic and the Knights of the Lamp
-
The Dragon - A Luminary of Magic
