Elder Scrolls Online players might be buzzing about Blackwood’s companion system and the chance to drag an NPC all over Tamriel to keep them alive, but the chapter is a lot more than that. To wit: ZeniMax Online Studios has dropped another dev blog today, this one focused on the actual Oblivion portals that gave Elder Scrolls IV its name.
“Oblivion Portals are a new world event unique to the Blackwood zone that challenges you and your fellow players to battle your way though the Deadlands,” the studio notes. “Seeming to appear at random, these portals to Mehrunes Dagon’s realm have begun surfacing throughout the region without warning, all in accordance with his dire plans. […] While similar world events, such as Dark Anchors, Harrowstorms, or Abyssal Geysers, are traditionally found in fixed locations, with Oblivion Portals, you must venture out to discover where they’re currently active, and a portal might not be in the same location twice.”
When players take their adventuring party into one of the gates, they’ll be randomly dropped into a different starting locations, then fight their way through the wing and on to the Duke of Storms. If they win, there’s a stack of loot in it for them, including armor, potions, antiquities leads, jewelry, and even a “series of Deadlands-themed furnishing patterns, including braziers, tables, a bookshelf, and more.” Although why you’d want to make your house look like an Oblivion portal, we have no idea.
Blackwood drops for PC on June 1st.
