[accessibility request] a List of strobing/flashing effects occurrences.

LunaFlora · August 2025

Happy Saturday.
in January ZOS posted a Pain Point thread to which i added a list with all occurrences of strobing and/or flashing effects.
i updates it a few times, but it seems better to make a separate post for it, similar to the Tassets and Loincloths post.

here is the link to my Pain Point thread comment:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8260693#Comment_8260693

The aforementioned comment and its list:
(Will update when i can)
As someone with photosensitivity issues,, high bright effects, flashes, and strobing can cause problems like migraines. Which isn't pleasant.

So it would be lovely to have a Toggle for these things and/or a slider for intensity.
a Toggle would ideally let us turn off these effects completely.
a Slider would ideally let us decide the intensity of these effects,
- 100% would be how it currently is.
- 0% would be no flashing/strobing at all.
- in-between would be slower if it's strobing.

Some examples of where this causes issues:

- Hard Mode Scrolls/Scroll of Glorious Battle in base game and imperial city dungeons
Big white flash for the entire screen.

- Dungeons, Arenas, and Trials
- Aetherian Archive.
the portals cause a big white flash to appear on the whole screen.
- Spindleclutch.
the Whisperer and Swarm Mother have attacks which causes a big white flash for the whole screen several times during the fights.
- Dragonstar Arena. has the Shadow Knight who uses a skill with a blinding bright light.
- Vaults of Madness:
The final boss uses a bright flash before the mechanic where you have to get outside of his circle.
Mad Architect casting "Undead Legion"
- Bal Sunnar
Kovan Giryon, first boss of Bal Sunnar, casts high-contrast, strobing beams. the attack is named Chaotic Ray.

- Quests
Certain quests have points where there's the same flash, one of the Blackwood Prologue quests is one of these. the Daedric Unwarding Amulet memento from that Prologue causes a flash as well.

- Mementos
- Daedric Unwarding Amulet, screenwide flash. (Emperor's Secret, Blackwood Proloque quest).

- Crown Store Outfit styles
examples:
- The purple flash effect that appears when you Equip a weapon that uses the Prior Thierric style.
- The glow effect pulsing too fast in Y'ffre bound, Aetheriusbound, and Order of the Lamp weapons.
- Devourer's Dragonbone weapons from Akatosh vs Alduin crown crates. (lightning effect).
- Iceshard weapons. personally painful ice sound everytime you unsheath the weapons. (All Maker Crates).
- Molag Kena weapon styles. (lightning)

Item Sets
- Darloc Brae. there's purple and yellow effects which constantly move.
Orbs moving around your character
- Ebon Armory
- Sanctuary
- Hircine Veneer
- Pearlescent Ward

- Skills
Arcanist
- Strobing in the Arcanist's Fatecarver, Remedy Cascade, and Unblinking Eye skills.
Sorcerer
- Winged Twilight. same as flying non combat pets: the wings are too fast and it would be helpful if they would sit and rest regularly.
Templar
- most skills' brightness is too intense. skills like Nova strobe too.

- Mounts
Explosive/flashy mount summoning effects like from:
- Spellscar Quasigriff, meteor explosion summon effect. (Buoyant Armiger crates).
- Spirit Queen Welwa (Ragebound crates).
- Harrowstorm Bear and the other Storm Atronach mounts. (Storm Atronach crates and available with the crates).
- Shackled Titan, dark anchor summon effect. (Diamond Anniversary crates).
- the Kynareth Quasigriff mount and Gryphon pet both have constant lightning effects, they seem worse than the Storm mounts. (Carnaval Crates).
- Living Armor senches, strobing fire effects (Akatosh vs Alduin crown crates).
- Kyne-Blessed Thundersnow Steed, Lightning effects (Akatosh vs Alduin crown crates).
- Meridian Sabre cat, pulsing glow (Crown Store).
- Hollowsteel mounts, rapidly pulsing blow. (Moons over Orsiniun crates)

- Non-Combat Pets
- Kynareth Fledgeling Gryphon, lightning (Carnaval Crates).
- Meridian Sabre cub, pulsing glow (Crown Store).
- Flying Pets. the wings are too fast and it would be helpful if they would sit and rest regularly.
- Eminent Slothcerer, sloth with a witch hat.
pet version of the sloth from Shor's Stand town quest. The pet has an explosive effect every few seconds(?).

- Antiquity Scrying
there's a flash when you open the Antiquarian's Eye to Scry for a lead.

- Customised actions
Recall actions.
- Legionaire's Recall, very bright.
- Coldharbour Recall, dark anchor which is very bright.
- Accursed Recall, bright purple orb. screen wide flash.

- Skill Styling
- Shield Charge, Dragonclash. flash at activation

Overland stuff
- Spellscar in Craglorn. strobing.
- Lightning Weather. sudden flashes with explosive noise. I know this is realistic weather, but other games like Minecraft also have a toggle for it.

edits:

August 9:
- edited the title, forgot the word "of" and changed "inaccessibility" to "accessibility request"
- added sources for mounts.
- removed the spoiler tags from the list, oopsie forgot that at first.
- added customised actions.
- consolidated Aetherian Archive and Spindleclutch into a Dungeons and Trials category.
- added Mementos
- added pets

August 18
- added skill styling.
- Overland. for Spellscar, maybe more later
- winged Twilight + flying pets.
- item sets
- lightning weather
- dragonstar arena

September 19
- Molag Kena weapon style with her lightning effects

2026
January 14
- added Eminent Slothcerer pet, from East Solstice story completion.
- added Vaults of Madness: The final boss uses a bright flash before the mechanic where you have to get outside of his circle.
- Hollowsteel mounts from Moons over Orsinium crates
- removed Obliterate and added Undead Legion.
- added Kovan Giryon, first boss of Bal Sunnar, casts high-contrast, strobing beams.

birdmann1230 · August 2025

The shield bash style with the spinning hourglass was especially bad, and some of these mounts have gotten ridiculous and I don’t even have an issue with lights.

BretonMage · August 2025

Dragonstar Arena has the Shadow Knight who uses a skill with a blinding bright light.

I find the intense glowing red skill style of the Twilight summon visually painful, and the flapping motion makes it 20 times worse for the eyes.

I have mixed feelings about all this, I wish we could turn off some effects but not all. I like a bit of colour and variety, but not to the extent that we're getting these days, and definitely not the ones that give me a headache.

Araneae6537 · August 2025

Some of these which bother me I can adapt to — the flash when doing scrying for instance. I don’t know why they decided to make the screen flash, but I know it’s coming and can momentarily close my eyes.

There is armor I won’t wear because the effects bother, including Darloc Brae (doesn’t bother me when others wear it, but if I use, I feel like a migraine is coming on). Certainly some pets and especially mount summons and and recalls are obnoxious at best and if I had a way to not see (or hear) the explosive/meteoric/whatever effects, I’d be glad for it, but my number one problem is much more subtle.

Flickering lightning. I love rain, in game and irl, but the constant flicking lightning really triggers me and I have to stop what I’m doing and relog, change characters, or move to a different zone (and sometimes the weather I swear comes with me so I have to change switch characters anyway. The frequency with which this happens and the degree to which it disrupts my game (I can’t wait for a player to pass or adjust where my character is looking, but have to completely stop what I’m doing) is what makes this the number one pain point for me.

Danikat · August 2025

I don't know if it's a problem for anyone but the whole area around Spellscar in Craglorn can be irritating.

I don't have epilepsy or anything and I avoid spending time there if I don't have to because of the constant flickering.

wolfie1.0. · August 2025

Eso in general is lacking in accessibility. Not only does it have effects such as this (with no warning) it also doesnt have a viable colorblind mode.

I feel both options should be added to the game as settings.

Soarora · August 2025

I mentioned this last time it got brought up but I don’t even think the hard mode scrolls (at least) should be a toggle, it should just be changed to not flash white at all, the purpose it serves can be done in a way that makes more thematic sense (a slow red pulse with Evil Sounds or magic shooting to the boss or something). I don’t have photosensitivity and I play in a bright room and it still hurts sometimes, I presume because the dungeons appear dark and perhaps the sudden flash of light mimics getting blinded by a flashlight whilst in a dark room?

SickleCider · August 2025

Ah, yes, the Blackwood prologue and memento. I remember that dropped at a time that posts like this talking about accessibility concerns re: full screen flashes had really picked up momentum. I participated in a lot of them, as a photosensitive person. I know that correlation doesn't necessarily indicate intent but I couldn't help but feel like it was targeted and petty.

[Edited to soften the language a little.]

LunaFlora · August 2025

added the stuff from all your comments to the list ♥ and agree with y'all

Syldras · August 2025

Thank you for making this list!

spartaxoxo · August 2025

They really need a performance mode that reduces all of this and hides cosmetics and perhaps reduces the amount of grass or whatever.

It would help so many different types of players.

LunaFlora · January 14

hey @ZOS_Kira @ZOS_Kevin @ZOS_JessicaFolsom
tagging you on this thread to ask if it has been seen by ZOS already?

Acknowledgement and any insight on future accessibility changes or options would be helpful

ZOS_JessicaFolsom · January 14

LunaFlora wrote: »

hey @ZOS_Kira @ZOS_Kevin @ZOS_JessicaFolsom
tagging you on this thread to ask if it has been seen by ZOS already?

Acknowledgement and any insight on future accessibility changes or options would be helpful

Hi there, @LunaFlora! Just acknowledging that we have seen this thread and passed it along to our team of folks who work on accessibility efforts.

LunaFlora · January 14

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

LunaFlora wrote: »

hey @ZOS_Kira @ZOS_Kevin @ZOS_JessicaFolsom
tagging you on this thread to ask if it has been seen by ZOS already?

Acknowledgement and any insight on future accessibility changes or options would be helpful

Hi there, @LunaFlora! Just acknowledging that we have seen this thread and passed it along to our team of folks who work on accessibility efforts.

thank you Jessica! that is awesome

cyclonus11 · January 14

Dungeons, Arenas, and Trials

- Vaults of Madness: The final boss uses a bright flash before the mechanic where you have to get outside of his circle.

LunaFlora · January 14

cyclonus11 wrote: »

Dungeons, Arenas, and Trials

- Vaults of Madness: The final boss uses a bright flash before the mechanic where you have to get outside of his circle.

thanks i added it!

cyclonus11 · January 14

LunaFlora wrote: »

Mad Architect casting "Obliterate"

I think the one with the flash is called Undead Legion. Obliterate is the one where you have to get inside the bubble. From UESP:

Undead Legion
The Mad Architect lets out a flash of light and summons spirits from the ground around him. This does very high magical damage over time and should be avoided at all costs. This area will affect the circle he is standing on only, so players can use that as a guide.

LunaFlora · January 14

cyclonus11 wrote: »

LunaFlora wrote: »

Mad Architect casting "Obliterate"

I think the one with the flash is called Undead Legion. Obliterate is the one where you have to get inside the bubble. From UESP:

Undead Legion
The Mad Architect lets out a flash of light and summons spirits from the ground around him. This does very high magical damage over time and should be avoided at all costs. This area will affect the circle he is standing on only, so players can use that as a guide.

thanks for the correction, i changed it to Undead Legion.

thedocbwarren · January 14

Please please please have a toggle for flashing and any bright effects. I have to turn away very often and have a bear or something bright spawn and flash in my face at a wayshrine. These flashes cause headaches/migraines. Also the flashing for scrying.

spartaxoxo · January 14

We really need a performance mode that disables players effects and cosmetics. Put everyone in basic, race-based outfits, disable the glowing, and hide the effects of their spells (unless you can use synergy or something).

It would help such a wide variety of issues.

DragonRacer · January 14

spartaxoxo wrote: »

We really need a performance mode that disables players effects and cosmetics. Put everyone in basic, race-based outfits, disable the glowing, and hide the effects of their spells (unless you can use synergy or something).

It would help such a wide variety of issues.

Agreed. I'm fortunate in that I don't get migraines from visual effects, but even I grow tiresome of just how insanely flashy some of these cosmetics and spells are. It honestly makes some battles incredibly hard to see and watch for mechanics through all that. If the technology is there for a person to toggle off effects, I see no reason not to implement it. I really don't need to watch a constant rave party from the other players and me shutting it off doesn't hurt or affect their experience whatsoever because they can leave theirs on and enjoy their constant rave party.

Then everyone's happy.

iyx · January 14

What a great topic

Dungeons, Arenas, and Trials

Kovan Giryon, first boss of Bal Sunnar, casts high-contrast, strobing beams. I don't know the exact name of the ability, but judging by the description, it's Chaotic Ray.

This literally prevented me from completing the dungeon because my eyes immediately started hurting.

LunaFlora · January 14

iyx wrote: »

What a great topic

Dungeons, Arenas, and Trials

Kovan Giryon, first boss of Bal Sunnar, casts high-contrast, strobing beams. I don't know the exact name of the ability, but judging by the description, it's Chaotic Ray.

This literally prevented me from completing the dungeon because my eyes immediately started hurting.

thanks, i added it!
uesp also said Chaotic Ray so i specified the attack in the thread.

ArchMunky · January 14

Tagging @ZOS_JessicaFolsom for visibility.

Please stress how important it is to the accessibility team to let us turn down or disable these flashy effects. I just tried out the new DragonKnight skills on PTS and I can't play that class because it triggers migraines. I've been able to ignore (mostly) the flashy mounts so far, but if every class skill goes this flashy, I won't be able to play any more.

I've been playing since the beta and I play nearly every day. And I really don't want to know how much I've spent over the years (approaching $5k in real money last I checked). I will also be buying the $30/season pass to help with development. But if things continue to get flashy, I'll have to quit and that'll be a very sad day since this game is a comfort activity.

Thank you.

Gamplyr613 · January 14

Absolutely agree with all that has been said above. I made a post about it when antiquities first came out here https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/529851/scrying-interface-has-too-bright-flashes#latest . the scrying interface has an even worse flash when solving the puzzle but it can be avoided by hitting esc immediately because it has a few seconds delay. i've noticed that the digging interface also gives me headaches because of the flash every time you uncover part of the treasure or a bonus treasure. that one is much harder to avoid i've gotten to where i position the cursor and then shut my eyes before clicking which is a pain.

Alphawolf01A · January 15

I agree with everything listed here. I have a small thing to add. It's not about flashes, but the spinning camera angle when activating a crafting table. No other interaction has this "animation". The camera doesn't spin when you talk to NPCs, open chests, any thing like that, just tables, and it's dizzying. I sometimes do daily crafting on 11 of my toons and after about 3 sets, I have to close my eyes as I start a table and count to 3 to wait for the camera to stop spinning. It borders on nausea inducing sometimes.

A related camera issue is when opening multiple coffers, the camera zooms in/out with each coffer. I understand the zoom in when opening the inventory, so you could see equipment changes to the toon. But why does it have to zoom out to "out of inventory" camera range as coffers open, just to zoom back in for the next coffer. Makes opening event coffers a challenge for my head and eyes.

Just keep the camera on the "zoom in" range once the inventory is open, reset when closed. And just snap to the final angle at tables and remove the spin please

BretonMage · January 15

ArchMunky wrote: »

Tagging @ZOS_JessicaFolsom for visibility.

Please stress how important it is to the accessibility team to let us turn down or disable these flashy effects.

Yes, this is desperately needed at this stage.

I'd like to add that in recent years, there has been a drastic increase in ultra-saturated, overly intense glow effects. Even without strobing effects, some of these can cause physical pain just by looking at them. Examples, on my end, include the red Twilight Warrior style and the violet Elemental Rage style.

I don't know if this is due to some sort of age-related light sensitivity, but I am finding it more and more difficult to play ESO comfortably.

I think we need a setting to reduce the visual intensity of other players' skill effects, or alternatively to disable its customisations.

@ZOS_JessicaFolsom Thank you.

LalMirchi · January 15

Many thanks LunaFlora!

Let's hope that there will be significant actions by the studio to alleviate these accessibility issues.

Perhaps an effective solution would be to allow individual players to shut off all this extraneous noise and distraction. Let the players who like it continue and a settings toggle for us that do not like the disco inferno.

ArchMunky · January 15

Tagging @ZOS_JessicaFolsom for visibility.

Please stress how important it is to the accessibility team to let us turn down or disable these flashy effects. I just tried out the new DragonKnight skills on PTS and I can't play that class because it triggers migraines. I've been able to ignore (mostly) the flashy mounts so far, but if every class skill goes this flashy, I won't be able to play any more.

I've been playing since the beta and I play nearly every day. And I really don't want to know how much I've spent over the years (approaching $5k in real money last I checked). I will also be buying the $30/season pass to help with development. But if things continue to get flashy, I'll have to quit and that'll be a very sad day since this game is a comfort activity.

Thank you.

iyx · January 15

ArchMunky wrote: »

Tagging @ZOS_JessicaFolsom for visibility.

Please stress how important it is to the accessibility team to let us turn down or disable these flashy effects. I just tried out the new DragonKnight skills on PTS and I can't play that class because it triggers migraines. I've been able to ignore (mostly) the flashy mounts so far, but if every class skill goes this flashy, I won't be able to play any more.

I've been playing since the beta and I play nearly every day. And I really don't want to know how much I've spent over the years (approaching $5k in real money last I checked). I will also be buying the $30/season pass to help with development. But if things continue to get flashy, I'll have to quit and that'll be a very sad day since this game is a comfort activity.

Thank you.

I agree with this, as the reworked visuals for two-handed weapon skills looks too overloaded with wide flashing effects.

Ugrak · January 15

The antiquarians eye especially has always been something I look away from.