The Elder Scrolls Online: Stonethorn DLC & Update 27 Now Live

The Elder Scrolls Online: Stonethorn, the latest piece of DLC that continues TESO’s current Dark Heart of Skyrim storyline, is now live on PC and Mac, with the console version set to launch on September 1, 2020. The DLC offers two new dungeons, new challenges and rewards. It’s also accompanied by the free Update 27 that introduces a new Character Pathing tool and improves the game’s performance. Here’s more on that:

Continue your Dark Heart of Skyrim adventure with The Elder Scrolls Online: Stonethorn. Explore Castle Thorn and the Stone Garden in this all-new dungeon DLC.

The Stonethorn DLC game pack and Update 27 is now available on PC/Mac, Steam, and Stadia* and brings a host of new stories, challenges, tools, and improvements to ESO, including:

• Two new four-player dungeons: Castle Thorn and Stone Garden
• The continuation of the Dark Heart of Skyrim year-long storyline
• New rewards, including unique gear sets, Achievements, and collectibles
• The new Character Pathing tool for the Housing System
• Performance improvements and bug fixes
• And more!

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STONETHORN DLC GAME PACK

The threat of the Gray Host did not end with the events of Greymoor, and new dangers arise from ancient holds and deep, hidden places. In The Elder Scrolls Online: Stonethorn, you can challenge yourself and your team with two exciting new dungeons: Castle Thorn and Stone Garden. As part of the Dark Heart of Skyrim, Stonethorn leads into the events of the upcoming Q4 DLC and final part of this year-long adventure!

Stone Garden

What horrifying new evils is the mad alchemist Arkasis crafting within the hidden laboratory of Stone Garden? Venture into Blackreach, discover the terrible creations of this twisted genius, battle your way through his empowered minions, and put a stop to his dread experiments before he births a new terror for the people of Western Skyrim. Check out our Stone Garden preview for more.

Castle Thorn

Isolated within the mountains of Western Skyrim, Lady Thorn raises a fearsome new vampire army behind the strong walls of her keep and prepares to march on Tamriel. You must infiltrate Castle Thorn, seek out the horrifying secret behind this rising force, and confront the ancient Vampire Lord at its heart. Discover more about Castle Thorn in our preview.

These two new dungeons will challenge your team in exciting ways and provide rewards in the form of unique gear sets, monster masks, collectibles, and Achievements.

Both can be completed in Normal and Veteran Difficulties, and should you truly wish to challenge your party’s skills and teamwork, Stone Garden allows you to attempt a Hard Mode version of each of its three bosses—good luck!

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UPDATE 27

Releasing with Stonethorn, Update 27 brings new features and improvements for all ESO players, free!

Character Pathing

With the new Character Pathing tool added to the Homestead System, you can now give your pets, mounts, and assistants unique paths for them to follow throughout your home, helping it feel more alive than ever. By simply assigning your companions nodes, you can have them move all around your home along a set path. You can even define speed, set wait times, and choose whether you want them to return along the same path or loop. For more on this new tool, check out our preview.

Performance Improvements

The team has been working hard on various performance improvements in this update. These include improvements to how persistent AoEs work (starting with the Dragonknight Standard), an item set scripting update, new Critical Memory systems, physic engine improvements, server load handling improvements, database caching, and some intermittent load screen fixes—phew! With these updates, you’ll see fewer crashes, improvements to overall server stability/performance, and fewer random load screens.

For everything arriving in Update 27, check out the Patch Notes section on our official forums.