The best MMO of 2015:The Elder Scrolls Online Revisited

The Elder Scrolls Online has a huge player base and won an award for the best in the MMO category in 2015. This article is for the hundreds of role-playing game (RPG) fans, who never got a chance to play the game. The game offers the depth of a traditional massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), with fast paced gameplay and gorgeous open world.

The Elder Scrolls Online was developed by ZeniMax Online Studios and initially released on April 4, 2014 for Microsoft Windows. It was later released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on June 9, 2015. It is The Elder Scrolls franchise’s eighth game, and the first one to have multiplayer features.

The Story
The game is set roughly a millennium before the events of The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, on the continent of Tamriel. The story is about an event called the Plane Meld. The Daedric Prince Molag Bal, attempts to meld the plane of Mundus (the material world) with his realm, Coldharbour. You (the player) have been sacrificed to Molag Bal, but during the Plane Meld you manage to escape from the clutches of the Daderic Prince, and begin a quest to find your soul.

The game revolves around two main objectives, which are the Player vs Environment (PvE) and the Player vs Player (PvP). The social aspect of the game also adds to the overall gaming experience, as players get a chance to meet new friends and join a band of adventurers to take on a group quest.

The quest for your soul takes you all over the world map in PvE, as you explore exotic locations, delve into dark dungeons in search of treasure, and gather material for crafting everything from weapons and armor to food and potions.

The Continent of Tamriel is in a state of constant war. Three warring factions fight for the throne of the imperial city of Cyrodiil, which is the main PvP area of the game. Players can travel to Cyrodiil to take part in the war, along with hundreds of real online gamers and fight their way to the top. Players can rise through the ranks to eventually become the king of Tamriel, unlocking bonuses not just for themselves, but their entire faction.

Races and Factions
Players can choose one of the nine available races namely the High Elves, Wood Elves, Khajiit, Dark Elves, Argonians, Nords, Bretons, Red Guard and Orcs. Every race is associated with one of the three factions including Aldmeri Dominion, Ebonheart Pact, and Daggerfall Covenant. An extra race — Imperials — can be purchased from the game's online store. Each of these races come with unique strengths and weakness. The game also features in-depth character creation options, which enable the player to design a unique look for their character.

Class
In addition to the race, players can choose from one of the four classes in the game. The classes available are Dragon Knights, Sorcerers, Night Blades, and Templars. Each class comes with various unique spell and skills.

The Dragon Knight excels at close range fire based Area of Effect spells. Dragon Knights have access to good defensive spells, which enable them to function as a good tank. Night Blades use stealth and deadly hit and run tactics to inflict massive damage upon their enemies.

Sorcerers can call lightning to bombard their enemies from afar, or summon monsters to fight their enemies. Their class abilities enable them to fulfill multiple roles on the battlefield.

Templars use holy magic and the power of light to fight their enemies. They have very good healing and support skills, along with useful offensive and defensive spells making them very versatile support characters, capable of multiple roles in combat.

Weapons,Armourand Abilities
The game features a wide variety of weapons and armor. There are three armor types (light, medium, and heavy) available in the game. Each of these armor types has its own set of skills.

Light Armor is the least protective form of Armor. It is ideal for Spell Casters, as it favors Magicka, Magicka Recovery, and Spell Penetration. Medium Armor offers medium protection; it is ideal for players with abilities from the Weapon Skills Lines as it enhances Stamina, Stamina Recovery, and Weapon Critical and Stealth. Heavy Armor is the most protective form of Armor and ideal for Tanks. It bolsters blocking, Spell Resistance, and Healing Received.

The different types of weapons disciplines include Two Handed Weapons, Sword and Shield, Dual Wielding, Bow, Destruction Staffs, and Restoration Staffs. Each weapon discipline has its own skill tree.

During the course of the game, players also acquire new abilities through different means. Players can join the Fighters Guild, which is a group of mercenaries who specialize in hunting the undead, Daedra (demons of Oblivion), and Werewolves. Players also have the option to join the Mages Guild to hunt for forgotten lore and arcane magical tombs, which grant you access to more magic spells to aid you on your journey. The third guild in the game — Undaunted — are a group of daring treasure hunters, who specialize in hunting for powerful artifacts and fighting terrible monsters. Joining this guild gives the players access to new skill, which they can use in synergy with other members of their group to combine and coordinate their attacks.

As the story progresses, the players gain access to a new magical spell, soul Magic, which gives them more customizing options. It is also possible to become either a werewolf or a vampire, both of which come with their own skill trees. You can also unlock new abilities by fighting in the Alliance War. Alliance War Skills can be acquired by gaining Alliance Rank in Cyrodiil.

Crafting and other abilities
The players can learn crafting skills like blacksmithing, tailoring, and wood work, which enable them to craft weapons and armor that can be used or sold. Crafting skills also include Alchemy for creating potions, provisioning for creating food and beverages, and enchanting, which enables the players to enchant their equipment.

Downloadable Content
The Elder Scrolls Online presently has two Downloadable Content (DLC) packs available on the online store, namely The Imperial City and Orsinium.

Imperial city features a new PvP Dungeon, where players from opposing factions wage a war against the denizens of the dungeon as well as each other, in an effort to mine for a rare material known as Telwar stone.

Orsinium is the largest DLC game pack released for the game to date. It features a large new zone with many hours of story content, a new single-player monster arena, new public dungeons, and many new items. This latest DLC game pack takes you to the mountains of Wrothgar, and to the Orc capital itself, to clash with new enemies and discover new allies.

With such a wide variety of skills and customizations, players are free to design a unique build for their character regardless of their race and class abilities. This aspect adds to the replay ability of the game, improving the gameplay drastically as the player formulates new tactics to vanquish enemies. The massive open world, full of towns, cities, ancient ruins, and enchanted forests give the player an online experience that allows endless possibilities. The game has surprisingly good graphics for an MMORPG, along with a compelling story, and a truly immersive world with breathtaking scenery; we believe that The Elder Scrolls Online is the best in its genre and a must try for all MMORPG enthusiasts.