Developer: ZeniMax Online Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tested on: PS4
The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited Imperial City DLC – Review
The Imperial City DLC is the first DLC game pack for the well-appraised MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited. Packed with additional hours of compelling story contents, two new PvE dungeons, craftable item sets and a raise in the Veteran Ranks, the DLC can be seen as a mini-expansion.
Firstly, don’t let the term “DLC” fool you. The Imperial City DLC is in fact a mini-expansion and the usage of the term “DLC” feels misguided here. However, unlike any expansion, The Imperial City DLC is aimed towards the PvP players but more about that later.
After gaining the DLC the player needs to travel to Cyrodiil where they can travel to one of the three entrances of the Imperial City Sewers. Traveling in this area can cause some frustration as Cyrodiil is a PvP zone, thus there tend to be some players who seem to find joy in ganking people at the entrances.
All annoyances aside, The Imperial City Sewers is a large network of tunnels, housing the safe zones of the Alliances as well as merchants, banks, crafting stations and a few wandering Daedra bosses. Notable is that the justice system found in any other city is lacking here and you are free to “steal” from the merchants.
In the center of the Sewers is a massive PvP location. Those who shy away from PvP-combat are not entirely forgotten as there are two new dungeons to venture in, located in the same center. Both dungeons, the White Gold Tower and the Imperial City Prisons, are to be completed in a four-player group and can be played in normal and veteran mode.
The Imperial City itself is comprised of six districts, all overrun by the Daedric forces of Molag Bal. These districts continue the unique story of the base game which, once completed, unlock repeatable daily quests. To top it off, the same area is also an small-scaled open PvP arena.
With the raise of the Veteran Rank (VR) to level 16 also comes a new currency, namely Tel Var Stones, which can be used at specific merchants to buy VR15 and VR16 gear. The stones are gathered from killing daedra and bosses but you can loot these stones from slain enemy players as well. An important feature with this new currency is the fact that you can lose it all in one go if you don’t thread the Imperial City carefully. Dying is not an option anymore, unless you like the thrill of the hunt.
There seems to be a small catch however. A multiplier has been added so that if you are carrying around 100 Tel Var Stones, you’ll receive a 2X multiplier. With a thousand stones the multiplier becomes 3X, and those seeking the thrill can carry around 10.000 stones to get the 4X multiplier. A steep risk, certainly at the start. If you don’t want to lose too much on your progression, you can drop these stones off at the bank.
As for the visuals of the new content, they seem to be on par with the general visuals ESO has already going for it. The graphics simply stay stunning overall but there seem to be visual glitches that were not present before the DLC. Whether or not this will be addressed soon is unsure but we’re hopeful as The Elder Scrolls Online is one of the best MMORPG’s around at the moment.
Conclusion
Due to the small sized PvP arena that is The Imperial City itself, the DLC is a great addition to the base game for PvP players. However the pack lacks some spice for the PvE players. If you play The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited only sporadically and have yet to play any kind of end content, you may want to steer away from this DLC pack for a while as it is aimed towards being end-game content.
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