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U50 Feedback Thread for Sheogorath Questline

ZOS_Kevin
ZOS_Kevin
Community Manager
This is the official feedback thread for the new Sheogorath Questline. If you have specific feedback on the main story, please visit this thread so others can avoid spoilers. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes the following:
  • Did you engage with the quest?
  • Did you find it easy to get the Sheogorath quests?
  • Did you enjoy the quests? Please provide additional feedback to provide context.
  • Did you find any quests to be problematic from either a directional or difficulty standpoint?
  • Did you try this questline while using Challenge Difficulty? If so, please provide any feedback on the experience.
Community Manager for ZeniMax Online Studio and Elder Scrolls OnlineDev Tracker | Service Alerts | ESO Twitter
Staff Post
  • Maitsukas
    Maitsukas
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    Is it possible to remove the questline starter from the Collections -> Stories menu until it goes live (same with the Daggerfall Thieves Guild)? Because it may cause a lot of confusion for players that accept the quest from there and find out that the NPC isn't in-game yet.

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    Edited by Maitsukas on 19 April 2026 18:32
    PC-EU @maitsukas

    Posting the Infinite Archive and Imperial City Weekly Vendor updates.

    Also trying out new Main Quests, Companions, ToT decks, Events and Styles on PTS.
  • DoofusMax
    DoofusMax
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    "That thing sheds power like a Khajiit sheds fur."

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    Do tell.
    I'm fresh out of outrage, but I could muster up some amused annoyance if required.
  • DoofusMax
    DoofusMax
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    • Did you engage with the quest? Yes, from beginning to end.
    • Did you find it easy to get the Sheogorath quests? I picked it up from the Crown Store, but assume that Noth is out there in the world somewhere just waiting to be stumbled upon.
    • Did you enjoy the quests? Please provide additional feedback to provide context. See below.
    • Did you find any quests to be problematic from either a directional or difficulty standpoint? Not really, but see below.
    • Did you try this questline while using Challenge Difficulty? If so, please provide any feedback on the experience. Yes, but see below.

    On the whole, it was quite enjoyable. I ran into a couple of "easter eggs" (submitted "That's Awesome!" reports of those), but it flowed quite nicely. There were a few very minor graphical/textual issues (subtitles not matching voiced dialogue, interaction text not matching the interaction, unremoved placeholder text, and the like), but nothing which noticeably interfered with the quests and their progressions. Not a fan of having to bunny-hop up the stairs to the barrier switch, but minor gripe. Wasn't running at Vestige difficulty, but the Gatekeeper fight was much harder in TESIV than here. All in all, an enjoyable jaunt and I think players will have a good time with it. The two collections rewards (the emote and pet) still have placeholder icons, but I expect those will be replaced before getting to the live servers. Or maybe not. Sheogorath has been known to manifest his influence through the developers from time to time and that's just the kind of thing he would do.

    EDIT: one oddball thing that I don't really get is why the quest rewards are Coldharbour's Favorite, a craftable set. Granted, it's a set where you have to know eight traits to be able to craft any piece and that's a few months of trait research, but it's still an odd reward. Low-levels are going to outlevel it and can't refarm it like other sets. High-levels (like my character) will either know what it is or mostly think that it's a set that they'd already collected the pieces of since there's no option to bind. It's not a big deal for me since I decon everything and only my EU characters cannot make it for themselves, but questions/eyebrows will very likely be raised when it goes onto the live servers.
    Edited by DoofusMax on 21 April 2026 23:01
    I'm fresh out of outrage, but I could muster up some amused annoyance if required.
  • MoonPile
    MoonPile
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    I love Noth. That is all.
    Sounds like Sereyne's VA. Well done xD

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  • Soarora
    Soarora
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    Jotting down my thoughts as I go through this...

    Quest 1
    - Not a fan of being unable to answer Noth's theoretical question about puppies and slaughterfish. Why are the only options "I'm not answering that", to imply that you would eat her, or to say both as a joke? I didn't read the response options before thinking about her question. I listened to her speak, thought about it, and then was disappointed that my thought that went into the question was for naught.
    - I'm disappointed that every room in the Shivering Shack has cheese in it. Here's a discussion on how overused the cheese references are
    - The tomeshell is fun, I laughed when poor Noth got bonked in the head with the urn!

    Quest 2
    - Othuk is complaining about being covered in tomato but he's clean, yet the next merchant is covered in tomato... oversight? (I do appreciate that there is a tomato overlay for this! Pleasant surprise :) )
    - "Don't say the name" -> only option you give us is to say the name...? I feel stupid.

    Quest 3
    - I'm glad we got to call out that "Othuk" came back, I found it immediately suspicious!
    - Oh I LOVE the Violet Vvardvark. The environment? The music playing backwards? Perfection

    Quest 4
    - The dogs playing Tales of Tribute in the Violet Vvardvark... I love it so much
    - Love the dragon frog situation
    - The poor guy losing memories and becoming doomed to be just a dragon frog is horrifying, I love it
    - Following the tomeshell orbs through Pulk was fun, since it has forked paths so I actually had to use the orbs to see where to go
    - Face-to-face with Lazaki and Othuk, I wonder... where is Haskill in all this? I'm sure he'd have something to say about it and we know he exists during this time...
    - Hmm... the staff feels more like a stick... that would be a really cool reference if the era was ending but it's not so I hope that's followed up on later

    Quest 5
    - My marbles are rattled and a few may have fallen on the floor. I love Maddy. I have no idea what the greater implications of this quest means on the nature of what it is to be a Daedric Prince (on if I like this lore or not). I need to reflect on that later.
    - Chicken becoming Khajiit... Chicken becoming Khajiit... Khajiit becoming a Horse... great touch!

    I was skeptical but I think the later half of the questline was quite interesting. I love that there's more of a balance between mania and dementia. I don't understand why he would give his staff away, he's insane, not stupid, but overall I think all my questions (except for what Haskill is doing during all this) were answered at the right time. As much as I don't like all the cheese references, the lore implications brought on by power taking form are interesting. I think this questline solidly gives evidence for:
    1 - the Sheogorath of ESO is different than the Sheogorath of Oblivion, either by someone mantling him between then and now or because of the Greymarch resetting him.
    2 - Gods are *not* their planets, with the form being a powerful projection like I had previously theorized. Having a form seems to have more importance than I had given credit to. I still believe that a significant amount of what a god is has to do with their planet, but I suppose that the form is a necessity. Like there's a power budget set aside for having a physical form. Edit: Maddy and Sheogorath remind me of Barbas and Clavicus.

    Edit: I still love Oblivion Sheogorath the best but this questline feels like redemption when compared to how I felt about the Elsweyr and the Mages Guild quests. It could be better in some ways but I'm compelled and I'd be interested in running this quest back for the funny moments and beautiful quest locations.

    I did this on the next difficulty up from the bottom. I wish I had a little less damage but I didn't want to redo my build just to do this quest, so I couldn't do the higher difficulties because they'd kill me.
    Edited by Soarora on 22 April 2026 03:46
    [PC/NA] Dungeoneer (Tank/DPS), Retired Trialist, and amateur Battlegrounder (DPS) with a passion for The Elder Scrolls lore.
  • Freelancer_ESO
    Freelancer_ESO
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    Did you engage with the quest?

    Yeah, I did the quest chain.

    Did you find it easy to get the Sheogorath quests?

    Yeah, I just grabbed it from the crown store.

    Did you find any quests to be problematic from either a directional or difficulty standpoint?

    Seemed fine.

    Did you enjoy the quests? Please provide additional feedback to provide context.

    I liked the visuals and the quests had some cute arrangements. Very minor spoiler
    I loved the dogs gaming

    Sorta Spoiler
    I might be a bit Sheo'd out but, I kinda feel like he works better in either smaller doses or when he has someone a bit less blatantly crazy to bounce off of.
    It wasn't a bad experience but, I probably won't be in any rush to do it once it hits live.

    Did you try this questline while using Challenge Difficulty? If so, please provide any feedback on the experience.

    I did it on Master with Mirri. Aside from the last boss I didn't have any major issues and the last boss I was messing up the mechanic on the Ogrim stage so I think it is fine.
    Edited by Freelancer_ESO on 23 April 2026 03:00
  • WhiteCoatSyndrome
    WhiteCoatSyndrome
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    +1 getting increasingly tired of the constant cheese references. I was also unimpressed with the first half; too much of it hinges on Sheo doing really stupid things when he’s usually more clever. 😕 He’s the Prince of Madness not foolishness.

    Second half was somewhat better, the constant complaining about being poisoned with no meaningful effects got tedious. I enjoyed the lore references with the keys, EX: the instruments Sheo made out of a mortal.
    #proud2BAStarObsessedLoony
    PAWS (Positively Against Wrip-off Stuff) - Say No to Crown Crates!
    A useful explanation for how RNG works
    How to turn off the sustainability features (screen dimming, fps cap) on PC
  • FabresFour
    FabresFour
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    Did you engage with the quest?
    I did all of Sheogorath’s quests.

    Did you find it easy to get the Sheogorath quests?
    Relatively easy overall, but I really wish there were a proper questing hub outside the Crown Store… It just doesn’t feel RIGHT for these quests to be placed there. I’ve seen a lot of players describing this as “hiding the quests,” and honestly, I agree. Isn’t there a way to add a Journal tab for these, like with prologues and similar content? I think that would work much better.

    Did you enjoy the quests? Please provide additional feedback to provide context.

    Honestly: it’s a fun questline overall. The environments are cool, and Sheogorath’s appearance is always entertaining, but… don’t you think it’s starting to feel a bit worn out? Sheogorath is a macabre prince, and his themes are macabre. Part of what makes him so compelling is that, yes, on one hand he cracks jokes about cheese (which used to be more occasional, but now feels like a constant barrage that doesn’t quite work for the character anymore), but on the other hand, he makes flaming dogs rain down on a village. He’s not kind—he is funny, but much more because of the absurdity of his madness than the way he’s been portrayed lately. I have to admit, that left me a bit disappointed. It’s worth remembering that we have countless books describing the more bizarre aspects of this prince, and even parts of his realm carry heavy, unsettling names because of what he represents. I genuinely feel like that aspect of the Prince of Madness was missing here, you know? Less talking, more sheer bizarreness.

    Did you find any quests to be problematic from either a directional or difficulty standpoint?

    I didn’t find any of the quests problematic in any sense. The only issue I ran into was that sometimes Sheogorath wouldn’t spawn, and I had to log out and back in for him to appear—it happened about three or four times during the questline.

    Did you try this questline while using Challenge Difficulty? If so, please provide any feedback on the experience.
    I used Vestige difficulty for most of it, and the encounters were pretty fun, especially the one where Maddy summons multiple enemies at once.
    @FabresFour - 2444 CP
    Director and creator of the unofficial translation of The Elder Scrolls Online into BR-Portuguese.
    Twitch: twitch.tv/FabresFour
  • LittleBlueWraith
    LittleBlueWraith
    Soul Shriven
    • Did you engage with the quest? | Yes.
    • Did you find it easy to get the Sheogorath quests? | Yes, but I agree with FabresFour; it's not great that there isn't really a natural way to stumble across it. Either you happen to see Noth at the Baandari Trading Post, or you get it from the Crown Store. I think the Crown Store should be the "I can't be bothered to look for the quest giver," option, not the default.
    • Did you enjoy the quests? Please provide additional feedback to provide context. | HOO BOY. See below.
    • Did you find any quests to be problematic from either a directional or difficulty standpoint? | Got a little turned around in Pulk once or twice because I couldn't see the next mote of light, but that was about it.
    • Did you try this questline while using Challenge Difficulty? If so, please provide any feedback on the experience. | No.

    So... you want to know if I enjoyed these quests?

    Well, let's get the good stuff out of the way first.
    1. Noth is perfect and I love her and I want her as a houseguest.
    2. I also love Eduard forget the tomeshell I want HIM as a pet. I want to keep him safe and comfy🥺
    3. I like that we get a bit more information and lore on Sheogorath, even if it's mostly subtext and implication. And even if I'm still on the fence about what some of those implications are.
    4. Not totally sure how I feel about the implication that Sheogorath has actually been mantled by several mortals. Shivering Isles seemed to imply he hadn't tried it before, but I suppose one could argue he'd never tried it specifically to stop the Greymarch before. It does bring up some interesting questions, though. How many times has he passed his mantle on? Does he keep all the memories of all the mortals he's been before? Does it exacerbate his madness, or does his madness help him manage it?
    5. Love this tidbit from that letter in the Mages Guild: the borders of Mania and Dementia shift with Sheogorath's mood. Great way to stick with existing lore while acknowledging that madness is more nuanced and complex than a static binary.
    6. I liked his commentary throughout Enduum. His little aside about him and Matron Whatserface made me laugh, especially with his delivery. Like oh? 👀 You two "ended up in a small chamber," did you? 👀👀
    7. His voice actor does a superb job, overall.

    Now, onto the not-so-good stuff...

    I've got to be honest, here. Sheogorath's my favorite character, and overall, this whole questline was a massive disappointment. It feels like a first draft, or like it was written by someone who doesn't understand (or even like) Sheogorath. I understand it's a difficult balance: being entitled and self-centered is part of his character, but taken too far, he's just whiny, annoying, and unlikable. It's one thing to use "protecting Nirn from him," as a way to justify babysitting duty, but then it feels like the potential threat to Nirn is used to motivate us to save him in place of making us actually want to save him. Like I said, he's my favorite; I shouldn't have needed convincing, but I was so done with this questline before I even hit the halfway point. If I'd stayed invested, I probably wouldn't have so many nitpicks, because I wouldn't have noticed all the nits to be picked.

    I typed up all my thoughts in a text document and ended up with a veritable essay, so I'm going to put the rest of my word vomit in spoilers, because there's a lot of it. Sorry (not sorry).

    The cheese thing.
    I agree with everyone who has said it's overdone, but I think I'm a bit more forgiving of it than others. Obsession's a form of madness, Sheo's just in his cheese phase, it's whatever. That said, I think it can be made more palatable (ha) with the addition of a simple comment toward the end of the questline; something like, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm sick to death of cheese! I never want to see another wheel of cheese again! ... Well, at least until next era." And then for the love of Talos, follow through and drop the damn cheese thing for any future appearances.

    Sheogorath acting like an idiot.
    The thing that makes Sheogorath interesting, something core to his character, is that despite being mad, he's also incredibly intelligent. He is a master manipulator, and while he's not infallible, he's not so stupid as to hand over his staff to the guy who literally just poisoned him, with the flimsiest justification possible. Ironically, I think this could be helped by leaning more heavily into the idea that Sheogorath doesn't fully understand the limits of his mortal body. Even as soon as the first quest, he's complaining about various things that he finds uncomfortable about mortal existence. Yet, he realizes almost immediately that he's suffering from more than just indigestion? Even experienced mortals will brush off discomfort or strange physical sensations as nothing. Sometimes--often--when it's an obviously serious problem.

    If Sheogorath initially assumes it's just indigestion, then it's a bit less stupid for him to hand off his staff. It's still kind of stupid, given that he knows someone is actively trying to harm him, but still. Have him not realize he's poisoned until after he's handed off the staff. Getting the staff back later is said to make him feel a bit better (despite being depleted), so maybe letting the staff go makes him feel worse, and that's the tip-off.

    Tangentially related: "Even mortal, I can easily escape any trap Lazaki might set for me." You mean like the one I just saved you from? Idiot? I think rewording that line a bit could help. Maybe he could just say that now that he knows Lazaki's out to get him, he won't be outsmarted a second time, or he'll be on the lookout for more Daedric chicanery... Of course, that doesn't stop him from eating cheese that a mere mortal hands to him. In general, I'd like a few more options to call Sheogorath out on being an idiot. Might not make him seem like less of an idiot, but it'd feel good.

    It also might reinforce the point that he's underestimating what "mere mortals" are capable of. He still has the ego of a Prince, and he's so used to being the trickster that he's now acutely vulnerable to being tricked, especially when that ego is being stroked by a lesser being. Let him eat a slice or two of humble pie. Let him have character development. Maybe this whole experience has shown him that mortals aren't as useless or pathetic as he thought. Maybe next time he's in dire straits, he'll consider a mortal champion...

    Sheogorath's weakness.
    Despite no longer having the full might of his Princely power, Sheogorath can still handle himself--or so he says. But every time I entered combat, he started cowering, even during the very first quest. Conversely, he spent most of the questline complaining of feeling weak and in pain, but it didn't seem to stop him from following me across hilly terrain or through caves and ruins. I kept waiting for him to actually get worse over the course of the story, but he never did. Instead of getting progressively worse over time, it feels like he went straight to death's door and then stayed there for ages. It came across as the game trying really hard to convince me he was dying... and instead it was impossible to take seriously. As Sheo himself says in Circus of Cheerful Slaughter, "show, don't tell." I think a few minor-to-moderate adjustments would go a long way to showing us that he's getting worse instead of telling us.
    Quest 1: First option; have him actually participate in combat. He doesn't need to be especially powerful, just enough to make us believe him when he says he can handle himself. Or he does that thing followers sometimes do, where they draw their weapon but don't actually fight (tbh I'm still not sure if that's bug or not, but it drives me nuts every time... so, fitting for Sheo).
    Second option; he did say he might look at stuff while you were fighting, so... have him do that. Have him completely ignore that combat is happening, and instead maybe he looks around curiously, or wanders off to examine something. It'd be very different from anything we've seen from followers before, and it would help reinforce the idea that he's not even slightly worried about his own safety.
    Third option; have him enjoying the show, or looking bored whenever you enter combat. Just, anything other than literally cowering.

    Quest 2: There's no point in the quest where you engage in combat while Sheo is actively following you, but he does sprint through a field of bandits that will try to kill you if they see you. Presumably, they wouldn't just ignore the old man in expensive-looking clothes running by. Just put one or two dead bandits at his feet when you catch up to him at the house.

    Quest 3: He's only just starting to feel the effects of the poison, and he's furious, so his animations should reflect that. He might be unarmed, but apparently the "thrill of the chase" can temporarily clear up the effects in the next quest, so I think rage and adrenaline can absolutely sustain him through the end of this one. He should look ready to start swinging if he had to. Lucky for him he can't be targeted by NPCs.

    Quest 4: He's feeling bad enough now that he needs to sit down after exerting himself, which makes it weird when his posture doesn't always reflect that ("thrill of the chase," indeed). It's also a bit odd that he doesn't actually follow you at any point during this quest, especially since he does so during the next two, when he's supposed to be feeling even worse. Maybe instead of just appearing from nowhere when entering Othuk's hideout, he should tag along. At this point, it's finally started to sink in that his life is in very real danger, so if he's going to start cowering when you enter combat, this would be the time.

    Quest 5: He's weak enough now that with his staff depleted, he apparently doesn't have the strength to carry it while you're running through Enduum. At least, that's the justification I came up with. When he handed the staff back to me before leaving for Enduum, it was immediately, immersion-breakingly obvious that it's because I'm the player and I need something to do. The thought that maybe he's too weak to carry it around came around later, after thinking about it. I'm not even sure if that was the intended reading or not. I think at this point, he should switch from the regular walk/run animations to ones used by sick or wounded NPCs.

    Quest 6: Mostly the same comments/complaints as the previous quest. He's supposed to be very weak, and the only reason he hasn't collapsed yet is because of the staff, and the scraps of his power you've been collecting along the way.

    I'm currently partway through a second playthrough of the quest, and will probably do a third. Because apparently I'm a glutton for punishment... and also want to see where there may be differences. I'm also recording my playthroughs for potential bug-hunting purposes, but that's a different thread.
    Edited by LittleBlueWraith on 25 April 2026 13:21
  • LittleBlueWraith
    LittleBlueWraith
    Soul Shriven
    Been thinking about the quest rewards, and DoofusMax is completely right in their assessment; Coldharbour's Favorite is a strange choice. I don't know if it's just a placeholder for now, but it will definitely come off as weird (in the wrong way) if the live version keeps them.

    If nothing else, I think it'd be cool if the pieces were in Grim Harlequin style. It's the most appropriate for Sheogorath rewards, imo, and since it's otherwise a Crown Store exclusive, I think it would elevate the rewards beyond some regular old craftables.

    That said, if you're looking for suggestions, I have a couple of alternatives, though I don't know how actionable they are.
    My first thought was to skip the gear altogether, maybe raise the amount of gold awarded, and create a couple more collectibles. We already get a pet and an emote (and/or a memento? I forget). I mentioned before that I wanted Noth as a houseguest, and I wasn't joking. I adore her.

    My second thought (and probably more ambitious) was to make a gear set unique to the quest rewards. The biggest challenge would be figuring out what to make the set do. There are already a couple mythic items themed after Sheogorath, should the set complement them or have similar effects? Should it be more broadly useful, like offering flat bonuses to attributes or stats? Not sure.
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