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The Elder Scrolls Online is Bethesda's delve into the world of MMOs, an expansive map of Tamriel that lets you venture from the familiarity of Skyrim to the perilous swamps of Argonia — all with your buds.

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Once you buy the game, that's that. It's not like other MMOs that require you to fork up and pay for a subscription fee. The only other payments on top are DLCs and expansions that bring forth entirely new PvE zones and dungeons to dive into. Again, with your buds (or strangers).

However, it does have a subscription service — it's an optional one. It's $14.99 if you purchase one month or it's $11.67 per month if you opt to pay for an entire year in one go. You can cancel at any time. It's called ESO+ and offers a whole variety of boons. You can get a lot of mileage out of the game without paying for it, but the benefits are certainly worth looking into.

What Do You Get With ESO Plus?

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Listed below is everything you get with the subscription.

  • Free DLC - you gain access to every dungeon and mini zone addition such as Markarth. However, expansions are not DLCs. ESO+ will not net you the Blackwood chapter, for example. You have to buy that separately. It will, however, give you the likes of Murkmire, Imperial City, Orsinium, Thieves Guild, Clockwork City, previous expansions like Summerset, etc.
  • The crafting bag - ESO's crafting system is expansive. There are jewelry, alchemy, smithing, and a whole host of other avenues to dive into, but all require a hefty amount of ingredients. You can store these in your bank to save bag space or you can increase the number of items you can hold, but you'll find yourself running out of space incredibly fast without the crafting bag. The crafting bag is infinite and cross character. It's invaluable, and arguably the biggest selling point of ESO+, certainly what makes it essential to so many players. If you want to craft, it's going to be difficult without the subscription.
The Elder Scrolls Online
  • Free Crowns - every month, ESO+ will net you 1,650 Crowns. Typically, this is worth $12.99. These let you buy cosmetics, DLC (not expansions), and crates (loot boxes). If you wanna get fancy with fashion, then this is neat, but it's hardly a necessity. You can, however, save these up to buy more useful things like on-the-go merchants and bank assistants that can be summoned wherever, whenever, or account upgrades like any race, any alliance, or the necromancer class.
  • 10% more gold, 10% increase to XP, and 10% quicker crafting research - leveling up is already fast in ESO, and making gold is incredibly easy. You don't need a boon, but it's nice to have, especially when starting a new character. You'll get rich even quicker, reach level 50 faster than normal, and enhanced crafting will be at your fingertips faster than ever.
  • Costume Dying - while you can buy and wear costumes that override your armour without ESO+, you cannot change a costume's colour. With ESO+, you can dye it at a station, changing the palette to your liking with colours you earn by unlocking achievements.

Is ESO Plus Needed To Play?

MMORPG Elder Scrolls Online fighting a dragon

The short answer is no. Not really.

You can play ESO without the crafting bag, cosmetics, assistants, XP boosts, and the DLC. There's plenty in the base game and crafting isn't even required to play, but even still, you can gather the necessary resources for what you need doing and discard the rest.

If you're just starting out and testing the waters, there is no point in getting ESO+, at least not right away. Get a feel of the game, see if you're into it, but if you do enjoy it, $11 a month isn't much for all these incredible unlocks and rewards, especially not when factoring in how cheap the base game actually is. With this, you save tons of money on DLC and crowns while getting plenty of extra goodies to sweeten the deal.

If you're looking at getting into crafting, it's not feasible without the bag, and if you're already well into the game and know you like it, ESO+ is more than worth it.

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