The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom Review – Excellent Eldritch Adventures

The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom is the latest expansion for Zenimax’s MMORPG, based on the best-selling fantasy RPG franchise. Like the previous expansion, ESO: High Isle, Necrom whisks players away to a collection of fresh zones in the wide world of Tamriel, packed with new quests to complete, world events, and even the brand new Arcanist character class. Although it promises a refreshing MMO experience with lots of content, does Necrom do enough to keep players invested after hundreds of hours of play?

Into the Unknown

Your adventure in ESO: Necrom starts after you befriend a scholar named Leramil the Wise, and in the process of helping her, strike up a soul-binding contract with a Daedric Prince. It turns out that Hermaeus Mora, the tentacular Daedric Prince of Knowledge, has been experiencing an invasion in his home realm Apocrypha, which could lead to the complete collapse of reality. Being a proper hero, you set out on a quest to solve many Lovecraftian mysteries as you liberate the confounding depths of Apocrypha and endure its many fantastical hardships of cosmic horror.

Before descending into Hermaeus Mora’s hometown hellscape, you’ll pay a visit to another new zone, the Telvanni Penisula. Located on the eastern coast of Tamriel, the region is lush with peculiar flora, the roaming fields overrun by massive mushrooms and more. The eponymous capital city of the Telvanni Peninsula, Necrom, adds a dash of morbid intrigue, built atop a massive Dark Elf necropolis and honeycomb system of subterranean grave sites.

The stunning gem of Necrom is Apocrypha, which is easily one of the visually engaging zones in the entirety of The Elder Scrolls Online. This Daedric realm boasts shifting skies accented by eldritch horrors, foliage and landscapes that defy natural order, and multiple imaginative locales. Quests lead you through forbidden libraries filled with secret knowledge, universities dedicated to dark magic, and a slew of other mind-bending locales. Complimented by an atmosphere of otherworldliness and pervasive oddity, the sights and sounds of Apocrypha will stick with you long after you leave, lasting as a high point in any prolific adventurer’s quest log.

What’s New in Necrom

The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom contains a lot of the content you’d expect in an MMORPG expansion, including fresh zones with loads of quests, dungeons, and world events. For the most part, the quests ignite a feeling of adventure that keeps the never-ending grind for experience points enjoyable. Sure, there are a few fetch quests in the bunch (it’s an MMO, after all), but most of the main and side quests stand out with memorable characters and fun objectives. Especially in Apocrypha, even menial side tasks are engaging and immersive.

If you’re looking to add a fresh face to your adventuring party, two new companions are available to recruit, including a Redguard Arcanist named Azandar and an Argonian Warden named Sharp-as-Night. Both are worth picking up and questing around with, due to the power of their excellent class abilities. You’ll likely need the help, as the new Bastion Nymic world events can be exceptionally tough to solo, but are rewarding all the same. Larger groups can also tackle Necrom‘s 12-player raid dungeon, Sanity’s Edge, which is sure to provide a substantial challenge.

Necrom also offers a new character class to experiment with, the Arcanist. These rune bearing masters of the occult can be utilized in a variety of roles, but excel at delivering damage with their fanciful dark magic. There are three class skill lines to sink points into, and you’re free to mix and match abilities as you see fit, creating hybrid builds that are viable for solo, PVP, and group play. Either way, the Arcanist class features some exceptionally cool abilities that are very fun to use, such as blasting arcane spells out of an ancient tome or summoning a laser-shooting tentacle monster to smite foes.

The Bottom Line on The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom

Like some of the best expansions before it, ESO: Necrom offers some fun new ideas, but it truly rises to the pack with its vibrant zones, excellent quests, and engrossing storyline. The Arcanist class is a wonderful addition and the new world events are interesting, but they are simply extra goodies dotted on top of an already excellent piece of content.

I’ve always been a fan of the dark fantasy in The Elder Scrolls universe, and Necrom offers a joyfully weird and enigmatic playground to explore those themes. It doesn’t revolutionize the way the game is played or add any groundbreaking new systems, but Necrom is still exceptionally good. Whether you’ve played all of the other expansions or are considering Necrom for your first dip into DLC, you won’t be disappointed.