While many MMO’s have special holiday celebrations for Halloween, The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited sticks with its lore and fails to recognize real world holidays. If you just looooove Halloween, read on to find out how to make your own in-game holiday celebration in Tamriel.
The first thing you will need to do is to pick a costume. The Elder Scrolls Online actually introduced some new costumes last week that fit with a Halloween theme, even though they fail to use the holiday’s name. These are the Scarecrow Spectre Polymorph and the Pumpkin Spectre Polymorph. Purchase them in the Crown Store for 1200 crowns each.
Choose the Pumpkin Spectre costume in the Crown Shop.
If those aren’t your style, you can still make a costume. The easiest and cheapest way is to visit a dye station and change your normal armor to something more Halloween appropriate. I changed my sorcerer robes to a sinister silver and black theme. Another option is to purchase one of the other costumes from the Crown Store. Some of the scariest ones are the Ordinator Night-Raid Armor, the Royal Court Jester, or the Ashlander Mabrigash Hunt Clothes.
Lastly, look through the skins in your collections. You may already have a way to transform into a skeleton or other monster. You can combine some of these with your regular armor. Experiement and see what you can come up with. My final Halloween look combined my dyed robes with the Mind-Shriven skin. Once you have your costume complete, take some screenshots in a scary location.
Create a scary costume and take some screenshots in a creepy location.
Most players in The Elder Scrolls Online acquire a mount sooner or later. If you have some extra cash on hand, buy yourself a terrifying new ride. Along with the new costumes released last week, the game included a new mount: the Zombie Horse. If zombies aren’t your style, two other horses worthy of the holiday are the Nightmare Courser and the Mind-Shriven Horse.
The Mind-Shriven Horse is one of several frightening mounts available in the Crown Store.
To finish off your Halloween look, select a scary pet to follow you when you trick-or-treat. Some of the most appropriate ones include the High Hrothgar Wraith, the Striped Senche Panther, the Daedrat, Banekin, or Daedric Scamp.
Tamriel is filled with Halloween scenery and props. The landscape is dotted with skeletons, cemeteries, and pumpkins. Many of the mobs you encounter echo common Halloween beasties, including vampires, hags, giant bats, spiders, and ghosts. You may even be able to transform into a vampire or werewolf yourself.
These hags could easily be mistaken for witches.
Many of the caves and dungeons in the game are quite scary. Go claim your own evil lair by defeating the boss and then lurk in his place. Ayelid ruins are eerie and would make a great place to creep around on the holiday. The dolmens generate worm cult members who summon demons – is that scary enough? My favorite area to visit for the frightening ambiance is the cemetery in Coldharbour. Travel there through the Orchard Wayshrine. Travel north into a huge graveyard filled with zombies and mausoleums.
The graveyard near the Orchard Wayshrine is filled with zombies.
If you haven’t finished the endgame, what are you waiting for? It’s time to fight Molag Bal, a genuine Daedric Prince. I really enjoyed the main quest from Coldharbour on to the end. Wait until late at night, turn off all the lights, and take on the Harvester of Souls. The story and action will make your palms sweat and your heart pound.
Molag Bal is seriously scary. He will squeeze you so hard that your vision goes red.
If you prefer the treat aspect of the holiday, you can find a plethora of tasty crafting options in game. Of course you’ll have to find the recipes first. Many pumpkin-based food can be made, and a few sweets are also available. Craft an entire stack and hand them out on Halloween.
Start collecting pumpkins so you can create plenty of treats.
Here are some of the most appropriate recipes to look for:
Okay, this may be a tough one to pull off. You could sneak around the PvP area of Cyrodiil and kill off some other players, although that seems a little too mean for a holiday trick. You could certainly practice your pickpocketing skills in town. If you are more inspired, try out some emotes. Unfortunately, the /boo emote doesn’t make you jump out to scare someone, but rather has you booing and giving a thumb’s down. You’ll have to settle for typing out Boo! in the chat window. Try out these emotes instead and work them into situations in-game to try to celebrate the holiday.
/cower – This one is straight-forward and has you cower in fear.
/doom – Make your character draw a finger across his throat while looking at a friend.
/drum – Create a scary beat on a drum.
/juggleflame – Combine this one with the Royal Court Jester costume to make this even creepier.
/playdead – Drop to the ground and fake your own death.
/scared – Jump in fear with this emote.
/shovel – Dig a grave for your enemies, or simply as a joke on a friend.
/torch – Perfect for waving around in a crowd if you need to drive monsters out of your town.
The scariest things that will happen to you are those that you don’t expect. While the game has been running with fewer bugs as time goes on, there are always days were things go wrong. If you’re unlucky, you may find yourself trapped in a dungeon or falling through scenery.
I was trapped at this screen at the end of a dungeon with NO WAY OUT!
Get your friends or your guild together to celebrate for some added fun. Try to get a large group together in costumes and take some screenshots. Even though The Elder Scrolls Online lacks Halloween quests and content, you can find a lot of ways to celebrate on your own. Spread the tricks and the treats and enjoy the holiday.
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