Video shows hope for Elder Scrolls Online's group battles
Perhaps working together isn't so bad after all.
Group combat in Elder Scrolls Online is something that's fundamentally new to the Elder Scrolls IP. There are MMO classes and roles - it's not you in an AI playground being what you want, doing what you want and changing the world around you.
But can The Elder Scrolls work in any other way?
There's hope for Elder Scrolls Online. It's a glimmer, a developer-narrated group gameplay video, but it's promising.
Spells fly and they're more than pretty effects: carpets of fire that continue to burn, solid projectiles that knock enemies down. There's someone healing and someone taking the brunt of the damage, but there's also variation, and the healer-type's hands are also dirty from the thick of the action.
One of the characters uses a Dragkonknight fire staff build, apparently, which isn't a sign-posted progression but one discovered by the community, suggesting something of the traditional Elder Scrolls freedom in growing a hero.
The second, larger battle is also a frantic affair against waves of enemies, environmental challenges and, eventually, a boss daedra - a new kind called a Dread Harvester. There's action and everyone's involved: it's not the animated spreadsheet of a battle MMOs sometimes suffer from.
The Elder Scrolls Online arrives first on PC and Mac on 4th April, then on PS4 and Xbox One in June.
