General:Look to the Skies – Hunting Dragons in The Elder Scrolls Online

Originally published May 22, 2019. The original article can be found here.

Dragons roam the skies over Elsweyr, but with the right team (and a little bit of luck) they can be felled. Learn about ESO's all-new Dragon Hunt events, coming as part of The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr.

Dragon Hunts

With their release from the Halls of Colossus, the Khajiit live under constant threat as Dragons lay waste to their homeland from above. However, Elsweyr is not without its defenders. In The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr, you can participate in a new overland event, called Dragon Hunts, where you pursue the Dragons as they fly high above the zone and then attempt to destroy them when they land.

When it came to designing this Elsweyr-specific event, the team wanted to try something new. Like the Dark Anchors or Abyssal Geysers found in the base game or ESO: Summerset, anybody in the zone can participate in a Dragon Hunt. That said, some key differences exist between this new zone activity and previous ones.

If you see a Dragon flying above, chase it down!

"Dark Anchors always spawn in the same place, and even when they aren't there, you know they're coming back. With Dragon Hunts, things are a little more involved," explains Sean Wicks, ESO's Design Lead for monsters and encounters. "They come from somewhere else, and you never quite know where they're going to end up until they're there."

With Dragon Hunts, there are multiple possible landing sites for any one Dragon flying overhead, and you need to keep an eye on both the sky and your map to catch up to them and strike. Of course, the team also made sure that if you want to hunt Dragons, it is easy to see where the beasts currently are on the huge Elsweyr map thanks to new compass markers and status indicators.

The other important distinction between Dragon Hunts and previous world events is the difficulty. Dragons are massive, powerful beasts, capable of assaulting you with tooth and claw, utilizing breath attacks, and even summoning monsters to fight for them. As a result, it's extremely difficult to take one on alone. Note that by "extremely difficult," we actually mean "almost impossible."

Fight as one to beat a Dragon

"Our players aren't Dragonborn, and to win against a Dragon, you need something to level the playing field," explains Wicks. "Traditional Dark Anchors and Abyssal Geysers are soloable by design, and the same level of difficulty wouldn't do Dragons justice. So we took what we learned making those experiences to ensure Dragons were extremely deadly creatures that hit hard and require a group to take down."

Dragon's Bounty

If you bring down a Dragon during a world event, you receive rewards specific to the activity, including some not found anywhere else in the game. Here are the items you can receive after felling a mighty Dragon in Elsweyr:

• Dragon Blood and Bile crafting ingredients
  • Allowing you to craft new consumables and furnishings unique to Elsweyr
• Jewelry (rings and necklaces) for Elsweyr's overland item sets
• Half-digested containers (yuck!)
  • Containing consumables such as potions, food and drink, recipes, furnishing plans, repair kits, and more
• Valuable trinkets and treasures you can sell for gold

Rummaging around the belly of a freshly killed beast might sound unappealing, but you'll find that the rewards are more than worth the effort—and we promise that the smell will pass ... eventually.

In addition to the rewards you can loot from a Dragon's corpse, keep an eye out for the upcoming Dragon Hunt daily quests, coming shortly after launch. Like a lot of traditional zone daily quests, Dragon Hunt dailies reward you with containers that include gear as well as new Motif chapters!"

Look to the Skies

Dragons bring fire and ruin to the people of Elsweyr, and they need all the help they can get to defend the Khajiiti homeland. Gather your allies, hunt down the winged beasts, and destroy them. Are you ready and willing to face down Dragons in The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr? Let us know on Twitter @TESOnline, Instagram, and Facebook!

The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr and Update 22 is now live in Early Access on PC/Mac and is coming to Xbox One and PlayStation®4 on June 4. Pre-purchase ESO: Elsweyr now to receive unique bonus rewards and gain immediate access to the Rahd-m'Athra in-game mount (conditions apply). Don't miss out!