ESO Scribing Explained: How Does It Work?

During Bethesda's ESO Global Reveal, it was announced that the game's next upcoming Chapter is titled Gold Road. Here, players will be returning to an area of Cyrodiil not seen since The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. With new and familiar areas, characters and stories, players are certainly in for an adventure to remember in Gold Road.

But one new feature that's got everyone talking is Scribing, a brand new mechanic being added to Elder Scrolls Online in this upcoming expansion. Scribing will allow players to collect and customize various skills, giving more options to build out your character than ever before. At a glance, it might seem a bit complicated, so we're here to help break it down. 

What Is Scribing In Elder Scrolls Online?

As revealed by Bethesda during the Gold Road Chapter Global Reveal, Scribing is an all-new game system. On its surface, it allows you to customize special skills and tailor them to your specific character builds. 

A key element to this will be Grimoires — new types of skills for your existing skill lines. These Grimoire skills an be customized to expand their functions. An example that Bethesda gave is the Grimoire called Vault, which is a Bow Grimoire. You can customize Vault by choosing what's being called it's "Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Scripts." Essentially, one player's Vault could have vastly different effects to another's, and this applies to a huge range of Grimoire Skills for each weapon. 

Scribing: What Are Primary, Secondary, And Tertiary Scripts In ESO?

As a major mechanic for Scribing, each Grimoire (Scribing Skill) has a base function, something that the skill will do no matter what. So, for the Bow Grimoire - Vault, the skill has you shooting the ground with an enchanted arrow, which creates an area of effect. It then allows you to backflip out of danger. 

You can then customize Vault even further. Each Grimoire has three Script slots: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary, which each allow you to change specific aspects of the skill:

Primary Scripts

These allow you to determine the main effect of the skill and its resource cost. Do you want to inflice Poison or Bleed damage? Then set it as the Primary Script. This will become the main damage type of the skill and, in the case of Vault, will be the damage caused by the AoE. You can even change switch the damage type to Magic or Physical Damage. 

If you'd rather heal, you can set the Primary Script to Restore Health over time, or Restore Stamina, for example. That becomes the main effect of that individual Grimoire skill.

Secondary Scripts

Secondary Scripts are about individualizing the skill to better match your build or roleplay. You'll have access to more unique effects that tie into the parent skill line. So, for Vault, a unique Bow Secondary would be to add a stack of the Hawk Eye Bonus, which then increases damage of your other Bow skills for a limited time. 

Tertiary Scripts

These Scripts can add either a buff or debuff to your skill, such as Minor Vulnerability or Minor Expedition.

With each of these Scripts it effectively means that each player has the ability to make their character even more unique, and will give players more to work with when fully customizing their skills.

How To Unlock Scribing In ESO

To unlock the Scribing system in ESO, you'll need access to the game's Gold Road Chapter, which launches on June 3, 2024 for PC and June 18, 2024 on Xbox and PlayStation.

You'll then be able to access a brand new questline where you'll be working alongside the Mages Guild and a Knight of the Lamp to uncover a new location. The exact quest starter for the Scribing system will be revealed with the launch of Gold Road.

By following this questline, you'll unlock Scribing, along with a few Grimoires to get you started, and more.

Excited to get started in Elder Scrolls Online's Gold Road Chapter? Pre-orders for this upcoming expansion are now live, with a variety of editions available for purchase. You can also check out the 2024 content roadmap to see what's planned for ESO throughout the year.