General:Gold Road Zone Preview—West Weald

Originally published May 6, 2024. The original article can be found here.

Learn about West Weald, its myriad threats, and the valuable rewards you can obtain while exploring this new zone, coming soon with the Gold Road Chapter.

Beset by Mystery

The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road, arriving June 3 on PC/Mac and June 18 on Xbox and PlayStation consoles, introduces West Weald, a brand-new zone filled with unique locations, quests, challenges, and rewards for Tamriel’s intrepid adventurers to uncover.

While exploring West Weald, you’ll discover the geography of this prosperous Imperial region is far from uniform and is divided into three regions: the Gold Road, the Colovian Highlands, and Dawnwood.

Visit Skingrad in the Second Era

Both the Colovian Highlands and the Gold Road are primarily home to the local Imperials, including the wealthy city of Skingrad. From the rocky reaches and vineyards of the highlands to the temperate and well-traveled Gold Road, the area is ruled by Count Calantius, who shepherded the region away from the strife in Cyrodiil. However, recent events have introduced brand-new dangers and mysteries to the region.

“The big threat to West Weald is not knowing what’s going on,” explains Ed Stark, Gold Road’s Zone Lead. “Everything that’s happening seemingly happened overnight. And the ‘Mirrormoor Incursions’ popping up across the region? No one knows where these new Daedra are coming from or how to stop them.”

In addition to this new Daedric threat, a mysterious jungle recently emerged from the region’s southwest border. Known as Dawnwood, this region has rapidly become home to newly arrived Wood Elves.

Explore the emergent Dawnwood

“The inhabitants of Dawnwood are Valenwood Elves who ‘followed nature’ to West Weald,” shares Stark. “Following their chieftain—now king—Nantharion to the new land, they were surprised to see the ruins of Colovian buildings (and more than a few confused Colovians) in the region, but they have mostly acted as peaceful immigrants.”

In addition to the Daedric incursions and settling Wood Elves, the region’s final mystery lies not in the influx of new arrivals, but in the twisted lands of the Wildburn.

“The Wildburn is the forward edge of whatever magic created the jungle growth of Dawnwood,” Stark hints. “Whatever energy or magic caused the explosive jungle growth clashed with the natural flora and fauna. This left a region of devastation and created wildburn creatures, animals corrupted by the clash of magic and nature.”

Investigate the Wildburn

As you explore this new zone, you’ll have to unravel these mysteries and uncover the source of the chaos that has enveloped West Weald.

West Weald Threatened

When adventuring within West Weald, you’ll encounter all manner of threats in this once-peaceful land. In the new zone, you can explore six new Delves, including ancient Ayleid ruins and the remnants of Varen Aquilarios’ war, in addition to two new Public Dungeons, six World Bosses, and a new Trial.

Test yourself against strange new foes

You can also experience a wide variety of additional quests in the region as you explore and meet its inhabitants, each helping to tell the tale of this unique part of Tamriel.

“A number of the West Weald quests deal with aspects of Colovian and Wood Elf society and culture,” explains Stark. “The Colovian desire for a cosmopolitan society is tested, as are many of the Wood Elves’ core beliefs.”

Mirrormoor invades Tamriel

Finally, strange Daedra of unknown varieties roam the land, invading through a new type of world event called Mirrormoor Incursions.

“Without giving too much away, Mirrormoor Incursions are what happen when a forgotten Daedric Prince from a lost Oblivion realm suddenly reappears,” notes Stark. “Ithelia’s newly reawakened scions and servants have rallied what’s left of her forces and hunt for her—and they believe West Weald is a likely place to start.”

It's up to you and your allies to confront these new challenges to help bring stability back to West Weald.

Treasures of the Gold Road

Those who face great challenges deserve great rewards, and the wealth of the Gold Road obliges with a series of item sets, collectibles, and achievements to earn and unlock.

For starters, West Weald features 10 new item sets for you to find and craft. This includes the Threads of War, which causes your Light and Heavy Attacks to inflict a guaranteed Status Effect of the damage type of your weapon. Normally, Light and Heavy attacks cannot directly inflict Status Effects at all—a major change!

Additionally, antiquarians can find three different Mythic items available in the zone, such as the Rourken Steamguards that reward precision timing on blocks.

Opportunities await exploration

Complete various Gold Road achievements, and you can earn style pages for King Nantharion's Royal Armor in addition to other styles, mementos, an emote, a pet, and more, providing you with an abundance of collectibles to acquire on your adventures. If you play Tales of Tribute, you can also earn fragments of an all-new patron and deck—Saint Alessia.

Most notably, Gold Road also features a mount earnable by completing multiple West Weald achievements—the Wildburn Lynx. This magnificent mount requires some time investment to earn, including completing the Chapter story, defeating all World and Delve Bosses, and other feats of prowess and exploration.

Rewards of the Gold Road

Finally, this Chapter introduces an entirely new type of Collectible called Skill Styles.

“Skill Styles are an exciting new cosmetic that change existing Skill visuals,” explains Project Lead Kira Schlitt. “These initial 22 Skill Styles override the original Skill colors to a fun new variant, such as a violet purple version of Wall of Elements, or shifting Meteor from blue to blazing orange!”

Skill Styles are earnable in-game through a variety of sources, including the Scribing questline, daily quests, Public Dungeons, and elsewhere within the zone.

Venture into A New Zone

ESO’s newest zone, West Weald, is full of challenges, including new Delves, Public Dungeons, World Bosses, and the invasion of mysterious new Daedra. However, should you face the myriad threats to the local Wood Elf and Imperial residents, you’ll emerge with all-new items and collectibles, including an earnable mount, Achievements, and more. Are you excited to walk the streets of Skingrad, explore the mountainous Colovian Highlands, or battle strange new Daedric foes? Let us know via X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road arrives for PC/Mac on June 3, 2024, and for Xbox and PlayStation consoles on June 18, 2024. Pre-purchase Gold Road now to receive unique bonus rewards at launch and immediate access to the Welkyndstone Ruins Wolf mount. Don’t miss out.