Game is increasingly unplayable (freezes) since the 14th of July
exiars10
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I have the very bad flash backs from the Summerset release in 2018 when Warden was unplayable in Cyrodiil which caused me to leave game until last year (except for daily log ins).
If anybody has any idea or suggestion, please post.
Nothing changed on my setup hardware or software wise.
Ryzen 7 5700X3D + 32GB DDR4 + GeForce RTX 5060 + WD Blue SN580 2TB on 1080p 120 Hz capped display.
I stress test in OCCT and 3DMark for hours, play other games without problems...
Heck, this PC is my business machine primarly, and it has to work flawlessly because of livelihood.
Something changed 3 weeks ago on the 14th of July. In the first week I was getting freezes for a few seconds in trials when I play with Warden. It doesn't matter if it's normal or veteran, or PUG or via discord using VC. However, as I'm a tank main especially on Warden it causes big problems. It ramped up second week with regular 10+ sec freezes which caused wipes, and I got blamed even after posting screenshots because it only happens to me.
I disabled add-ons, it changed nothing. In several trials like LC, I get full minute of freeze! Sometimes I get notorious 999+ to show up. But since last week, 999+ doesn't even show up, just freeze.
It's really ironic that since U50 my ping actually went down to 60+ ms which never happened in the past (80+ was normal).
I basically stopped playing trials on Warden and have strained relations in several guilds/servers because of issues...
But there is more. Other instanced content (dungeons, arenas, IA) and overland are fine.
However, since two weeks ago, my other 3 characters - NB, Sorcerer, and DK, also started to get few seconds freeze in trials only, so far.
This increased last week to 5+ sec, and LC is the most notorious example where 10+ sec is the new normal. I could write a novel how that trial is super bad.
But, there are even more bad news on Warden. I always at least once per week farm IA on my Frost Warden. Last evening, IA became another source of freezes which you can see on screenshot how Blue Betty was super long streched, or how I managed to run past mob, show behind them, and they completely "ignored" me. It was pure luck and bracing I managed to get so deep as I had best Visions ever. I had luck to kill Arc bosses because they had "million" DPS Chill applied on them before freeze. Ping was record low, barely above 50 ms which makes no sense to me.
Run finished on screenshots. I had two threads. Marauder spawned and I got 1 min freeze. When game super fast forwarded I was dead. All right, last try, game froze after 3rd wave spawned for a 2 whole minutes which is the new record! Of course when game fast forwarded, I was dead.
Furthermore, now I'm getting even freezes in overland on Warden when I try to interact with NPCs, like I have to wait 1+ min to talk with NPC Vendor to sell items
.
Edited by exiars10 on August 7, 2026 7:24AM If anybody has any idea or suggestion, please post.
Nothing changed on my setup hardware or software wise.
Ryzen 7 5700X3D + 32GB DDR4 + GeForce RTX 5060 + WD Blue SN580 2TB on 1080p 120 Hz capped display.
I stress test in OCCT and 3DMark for hours, play other games without problems...
Heck, this PC is my business machine primarly, and it has to work flawlessly because of livelihood.
Something changed 3 weeks ago on the 14th of July. In the first week I was getting freezes for a few seconds in trials when I play with Warden. It doesn't matter if it's normal or veteran, or PUG or via discord using VC. However, as I'm a tank main especially on Warden it causes big problems. It ramped up second week with regular 10+ sec freezes which caused wipes, and I got blamed even after posting screenshots because it only happens to me.
I disabled add-ons, it changed nothing. In several trials like LC, I get full minute of freeze! Sometimes I get notorious 999+ to show up. But since last week, 999+ doesn't even show up, just freeze.
It's really ironic that since U50 my ping actually went down to 60+ ms which never happened in the past (80+ was normal).
I basically stopped playing trials on Warden and have strained relations in several guilds/servers because of issues...
But there is more. Other instanced content (dungeons, arenas, IA) and overland are fine.
However, since two weeks ago, my other 3 characters - NB, Sorcerer, and DK, also started to get few seconds freeze in trials only, so far.
This increased last week to 5+ sec, and LC is the most notorious example where 10+ sec is the new normal. I could write a novel how that trial is super bad.
But, there are even more bad news on Warden. I always at least once per week farm IA on my Frost Warden. Last evening, IA became another source of freezes which you can see on screenshot how Blue Betty was super long streched, or how I managed to run past mob, show behind them, and they completely "ignored" me. It was pure luck and bracing I managed to get so deep as I had best Visions ever. I had luck to kill Arc bosses because they had "million" DPS Chill applied on them before freeze. Ping was record low, barely above 50 ms which makes no sense to me.
Run finished on screenshots. I had two threads. Marauder spawned and I got 1 min freeze. When game super fast forwarded I was dead. All right, last try, game froze after 3rd wave spawned for a 2 whole minutes which is the new record! Of course when game fast forwarded, I was dead.
Furthermore, now I'm getting even freezes in overland on Warden when I try to interact with NPCs, like I have to wait 1+ min to talk with NPC Vendor to sell items
.Aldmeri Dominion (PC EU via Steam)
The cowardly Wood Elves are best noted for their unwillingness to engage in a face-to-face attack; a Bosmer will strike at you from every side except the front. You won't cross swords with a Bosmer, but you might catch an arrow in the throat. Be wary in forests and jungles, and watch your back.
The cowardly Wood Elves are best noted for their unwillingness to engage in a face-to-face attack; a Bosmer will strike at you from every side except the front. You won't cross swords with a Bosmer, but you might catch an arrow in the throat. Be wary in forests and jungles, and watch your back.
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exiars10✭✭✭✭I don't have fps issues. Game is screen capped at 117 fps, most of time is at, and almost everything is maxed.
Only in the really big trial battles goes to low 70-80 fps, and of course big Cyrodiil keep battles tank fps, but that's normal.
I forgot to write that when freeze happens, if I Alt-Tab game to Win, it would rarely trigger crash, but if it crashes there will be no typical prompt to send crash report to ZOS which is very weird. Otherwise Alt-Tab out of game works without any issues.
Cyrodiil
I play Whitestrake’s Mayhem in Vengeance campaign. On Wendesday evening playing with Warden, and had zero issues. At least that's good news. However, last evening (Thursday) I played with DK, and had so many feezes, that twice game simply booted me out without any error code. You can see how game froze. I was literally standing in the front of enemy NPCs who "ignored" me. Another screenshot when you can see Hearthfire animation because game froze, even skill is over. 3rd one is when I got stuck in Charge animation...
So many sieges were unplayable from how many freezes happened, and they almost always happened at sieges including resources. Between 21.45 and 22 CEST it became so bad that I almost stopped playing. I saved log file, and checked it, couldn't find anything interesting.
Edited by exiars10 on August 7, 2026 6:46AMAldmeri Dominion (PC EU via Steam)
The cowardly Wood Elves are best noted for their unwillingness to engage in a face-to-face attack; a Bosmer will strike at you from every side except the front. You won't cross swords with a Bosmer, but you might catch an arrow in the throat. Be wary in forests and jungles, and watch your back.0 -
exiars10✭✭✭✭I changed title to reflect new findings.
Summary of what is happening:
(Tuesday) 14th of July // freezes in various trials up to 5 sec on Warden
(Tuesday) 21st of July // freezes in trials extended to 1+ min on Warden, other 3 classes got few sec freezes
(Tuesday) 28st of July // other classes have 10+ sec regular freezes in trials, Warden started to freeze in overland when try to interact with NPCs
(Tuesday) 4th of August // IA freezes (confirmed on Warden), Cyrodiil freezes (confirmed on DK)
It's obvious that every Tuesday evening after weekly reset it gets worse and worse. It was bad initially, but after the 21st of July it became dramatically worse. That day was the last time when almost every file inside Zenimax Online/Launcher folder was updated. It can't be coincidence. I also found that some players on Steam ESO forum and discord servers also reported increasingly similar problems ever since U50.
I finally found out what is happening last evening and posted partial findings in the other thread.
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/696064/problems-since-update-49-unplayable-since-update-50
I won't be home later today and tomorrow, but when I come back I have to test one thing as a possible solution.
After that, I'll post detailed what is going on.
Hint: it's on ZOS to fix it. Problem is not on my or others end as we have different hardware, OSes, and software configurations.Edited by exiars10 on August 7, 2026 9:02AMAldmeri Dominion (PC EU via Steam)
The cowardly Wood Elves are best noted for their unwillingness to engage in a face-to-face attack; a Bosmer will strike at you from every side except the front. You won't cross swords with a Bosmer, but you might catch an arrow in the throat. Be wary in forests and jungles, and watch your back.0