Wardens | Masters of the Green

jesse_lewis · March 2023

I've been thinking of getting back into ESO again after a long hiatus. While there are some valid criticisms regarding the state of the game, I personally have always appreciated the way the development team has handled ESO lore. I feel they have added depth to the breadth that the prior Elder Scrolls games have given us - lore is like history, and it connects the reader to the world they find themselves in.

With that in mind (and the prospect of a new class up and coming) I wanted to start a thread to ask about class lore, in particular the Wardens.

I've chosen the Warden to present this question with only because it is the class I main - however, the Dragon Knight and now the Arcanist would also apply...

Will we ever get more lore behind these classes? Is this even something the community would like to see? I know for myself, having enough backstory to ground one's character in the world - it allows for more freedom in creative expression than a blank page would. With a blank page you have infinite possibilities, and options sometimes are overwhelming. What I'm trying to convey is that I feel the class lore that we currently have is a little underwhelming - the Necromancer, Templar, and Sorcerer are all well-established themes (in general fantasy and The Elder Scrolls alike) but the former three are not. This isn't just specific to the Elder Scrolls, but to ESO itself; so, do you think an expansion that lets us explore the history of these classes would be something feasible? Or are we better off keeping the status quo?

Thanks!

kaushad · March 2023

I'd love to see more and I wish that the developers would stop ignoring them washing in terms of alteration, destruction etc. It could be some of the most interesting lore that we have in the franchise about how mages cast spells and how that has changed through history.
While I think that Legacy of the Bretons should have shown us some more Breton sorcerers and nightblades, the Breton magical tradition we were given was a clear opportunity to show us how people learn to become wardens and how they interact with druids and wyrds. Even one side quest or book would have made a difference, but it's like outside Cinnabar's book, the only wardens who exist are player characters. They don't feel as much part of TES, not because they're new to ESO, but because there isn't enough commitment to including them.

Arcanists are kind of already in TES. The Last Dragonborn is something of Arcanist and we know that some people learn magic from daedra princes. I think that they'll be in a similar to necromancers: broadly familiar to us, but with no direct explanation for how the three particular schools of magic we can learn work.

Araneae6537 · March 2023

I don’t think I would want ESO to add lore about specific classes unless it was in the form of additional optional/elite skill lines or specializations we could add since anything added might not fit with our existing characters.

Warden doesn’t feel cohesive to me — I would think that a class devoted to Y’ffre would fit a Bosmer or Breton best (not that Y’ffre isn’t followed in other cultures of course) yet the theme, excepting the bear, is Morrowind. And then there’s ice thrown in too just because? Idk

Arcanist looks like it will have a more cohesive theme, which will be more limiting for good and bad — good if you like the theme as it gives some specifics for inspiration.