The Elder Scrolls Online's Greymoor expansion will let you dig for treasure with its new Antiquities system


Elder Scrolls Online continues to grow, with its Greymoor expansion arriving on May 18 for PC and Mac gamers and on June 2 for PS4 and Xbox players.

If you're wondering what's new, be sure to check out our guide to everything included here, but in a new interview with PC Gamer, Bethesda Game Studios have revealed more details on the new antiquities system.

A new faction, the Antiquarian Guild, will send players all over Skyrim (returning as part of Greymoor's map addition) to unearth all kind of powerful pieces of treasure.

"Players consistently tell us they love exploration," the game's creative director Rich Lambert explains. "They consistently tell us they love the lore."

"In ESO we have lots of questing and it's great. There's lots of killing in ESO as well and it's fun. But we needed another alternate activity," he continues.

But how does it work? Once you've picked a 'lead' from the guild, you'll need to use a new item called the Antiquarian's Eye to locate treasure using a minigame that is formed of matching shapes and capturing points on a board. This process, known as Scrying, can all be expedited with a new skill tree, and you'll need it – as scrying gets progressively tougher when hunting for rarer items.

Once that's over, you'll find one or more spots located on your map, leading to another minigame based around excavation. Using a shovel, trowel and brush, you complete what is essentially a guessing game to unearth the treasure. It's a far cry from shooting fireballs from your hands, but it can result in some varied treasures.

Some antiquities can decorate your house or add an emote, while some are more practical – like weapons, which can be found in the new 'Mythic' rarity, often carrying a buff and debuff for your character's stats.

You can read more of the interview at PC Gamer here.

For more articles like this, take a look at our Elder Scrolls page.