The folks behind The Elder Scrolls Online have been hard at work over since its release bringing the worlds of our favorite single player experiences to a large scale. With the two previous major releases of Morrowind and Summerset joining the ranks of TESO, I was eager to see what ZeniMax Online Studios had in store for us. Well that new content is here in the form of The Elder Scrolls Online: Wolfhunter DLC for the PC.
With Wolfhunter players will once again hark back to a little Morrowind magic with some primal flair. I’ve always been a big fan of werewolves and when they first made their playable experience back in the single player Morrowind I was hooked. Fast-forward through both Skyrim and the base ESO experience and well you can only imagine I jumped at the chance to really enjoy being a werewolf again. Up until now the werewolf skill line in ESO made for less than terrifying combat experiences and usefulness in group excursions like dungeons.
Considering the main bulk of the Wolfhunter DLC comes in the form of two new dungeons, the ability to truly work as a team is paramount. Thanks to the One Tamriel update you can dive into these dungeons with others without fear of a level requirement so even new players can get in on the action. The two dungeons are March of Sacrifice and Moon Hunter Keep both of which offer their own flavor of the hunt. Of the two Moonhunter Keep is the more traditional dungeon and the main heart of Wolfhunter.
The story for Moon Hunter Keep is that an ancient werewolf called Vykosa has overrun and taken control of Silver Dawn wolf hunter lodge with the aid of residents that have been unwillingly recruited. In this dungeon you and a group of other players must make your way through the once proud home of the Order of the Silver Dawn to stop Vykosa’s plans to raise an army to make the world a haven for werewolf kind. I couldn’t help but have thought of The Colony as I made my way through my first run of this dungeon. Though it was a little weird going after my own kind it was still a blast as I was aided by a Captain recently afflicted with the disease.
March of Sacrifice however takes a different approach as it’s literally more of a competition than an actual dungeon. That said it still carefully designed to be played with other people as you hunt for an elusive hare in the heart of Hircine’s realm. This is particularly true on one of the five bosses that make up this dungeon as you must separate two foes to weaken them. In this dungeon, you will be aiding Hanu, an Ashlander, to find the spirit of her father that ended up in the hunting grounds after he dies in werewolf form. As much as I loved Moon Hunter Keep, I really dug the atmosphere and banter that this dungeon offered.
This is not all that Wolfhunter brought to the table though as it is also a host of new additions and quality of life improvements. PVP players will gain a new semi-symmetrical Battleground call Istirus Outpost that allows players to use mounts for the first time ever thanks to its large layout design. Even long time players of Cyrodiil can find a faster way to get around with the use of Keep Recall Stones. As long as a currently owned keep isn’t flagged you can purchase these stones from vendors to quickly move around to push forward or build defenses as you need to.
From the perspective of a primarily solo player I found the overhaul improvements of Update 19 to be my biggest boon. With the Respec 2.0 update, players can change up individual skills without having to rebuild your skill trees completely. This is a huge timesaver if you really need to switch up skills based on the situation. The other change affects the Werewolf skill tree which moves skills like Devour, previously an active, over to the first free passive. One of my favorites is the changes in Blood Rage which switches you’re time in werewolf to be based on damage inflicted instead of taking it.
The other is that Roar feels a lot more effective now with more enemies being effective. They even went so far as to allow you to now regain all those skill points back if you choose to cure your lycanthropy. There is also the fact that transformed werewolf players can now resurrect players as well as using Siege weapons which makes us much more useful for things outside of being walking damage dealers. I also really like that I don’t have to worry about losing out on werewolf time when being reviving myself.
In short Wolfhunter is right up my alley as a far as subject matter is concerned and I thoroughly enjoyed it from that standpoint. I would have liked to have experienced a bit of single player quest action but the dungeons are well crafted in both their storytelling and design that it make up for it in the long run. More importantly the updates to the werewolf and respecification systems found in the game wide Update 19 alone is something that all players will enjoy and benefit from. Coming in at 1500 Crown Points or free to ESO Plus members, the story and teamwork driven dungeons found in The Elder Scrolls Online: Wolfhunter DLC for PC is well worth a look for old and newcomers alike.
