Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom Review (PC) | There’s a Shadow Over Morrowind
Shaun M Jooste 
Elder Scrolls Online Necrom Review 2023 | PC Game Reviews
Welcome to our ESO Necrom review, where we analyse the story, gameplay, visuals, and sounds qualities. Check here if it's worth buying!
Operating System: Windows 11, Steam
Application Category: Game
5
We’re really excited to bring you our Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom review for PC, as we’ve been eager to get our hands on this ESO expansion. Launched on 5 June 2023, ZeniMax Online Studios is the developer, with Bethesda Softworks as the publisher. It’s set in the Morrowind area of Tamriel, with the city of Necrom as the new city. It also features the Daedric locations of Apocrypha and Chroma Incognito in Oblivion.
When you purchase the full chapter of ESO: Necrom, you also receive any previous chapters and DLCs you may have missed. That makes it perfect for any newcomers to the fantasy MMORPG. Read our full review to see our impression of this Elder Scrolls Online expansion.
Disclaimer: We received a free code to review the expansion, but this in no way influences our rating or review.
ESO Necrom Review Section 1: Story Elements
Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom isn’t just a DLC that adds a few elements to the base game. It’s an entirely new chapter with new locations, bosses, dungeons, creatures, and more. More exciting is the addition of a new character class called the Arcanist.
What is the ESO: Necrom Story About?
After you play the prelude to Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom, you’ll enter the Necrom city and receive your first main quest. Hermaeus Mora, the Daedric Prince of Fate, will speak to you near the beginning, requesting your assistance in saving his realm. It seems as if enemies of the Prince have found a way to enter Apocrypha, but it doesn’t know why.
Without spoiling too much of the story, you’ll be treated to many main and side quests in both regions of the Telvanni Peninsula and Apocrypha. The tale involves an ancient Daedric entity banished before and long forgotten, leaving you wondering who the good or bad guys really are.
New Arcanist Character Class
The Arcanist class is what I was looking forward to trying out the most for my ESO: Necrom review. The appearance and mechanics of the skills and abilities feel very much tied to Apocrapha, and you feel like an agent of the Daedric Prince of Fate, Hermaeus Mora.
There are three main skill lines for the Arcanist: Curative Runeforms, Herald of the Tome, and Soldier of Apocrypha. You have defensive, offensive, healing, and ultimate abilities tied in all of them, with many of them dealing with runes. I love the power where it looks like you’re throwing rune cards at the enemy, much like Gambit in X-Men.
I’ll deal with the actual gameplay of this class in the next section of my ESO: Necrom review.
New Morrowind and Daedric Locations
As mentioned earlier, Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom features new locations: Telvanni Peninsula and Apocrypha, while you’ll also discover a location later called Chroma Incognito. Let me deal with each of these separately.
First, you have the Telvanni Peninsula that houses Necrom city. House Telvanni rules this peninsula, hence the name. You’ll mostly find craggy steppes, massive mushroom forests, and the strangest creatures yet in Tamriel. The rulers don’t really concern themselves with the politics in the rest of Morrowind.
Necrom, as the name kind of suggests, is also called the City of the Dead. It’s home to the Dark Elves, so if you selected that race, you’ll fit right in. I went for a High Elf instead, just for that contradictory nature that appeals to me.
Michael Zenke, ESO’s Loremaster, explains it better: “The city of Necrom arose as Dark Elf (formerly Chimer) culture carried ancestral worship to the region in the First Era. The edicts and suggestions of their living gods, the Tribunal, led this region to be a hub for the veneration of the dead and departed—a confluence on the mortal plane of Nirn to commune with the spirits of Aetherius.”
There’s another zone in ESO: Necrom which is the Daedric realm of Hermaeus Mora in Oblivion, called Apocrypha. It’s quite a large landmass, so you’ll spend almost as much time exploring it as the Telvanni Peninsula. Despite being there to help the deity, the creatures in this realm are all too happy to attack you if given the chance.
Chroma Incognito is another part of the Daedric Prince that is known to be the home of fates. You’ll see monsters that will send tremors down your soul, while there are stunning and horrifying scenes to behold along the way.
Scary New Creatures
Of course, what would a new ESO chapter be like if it didn’t have new monsters to battle and scare us? While playing the game for my Necrom review, I was excited to see what awaited me. Some of them had a real Oblivion touch to them, seething of Daedric atmosphere.
Seekers are especially intimidating. There are lower-class ones that are easy to defeat, while others are more like mini-bosses. It may take more than one of you to kill them. They are these massive floating entities, with several tentacles and some hands, reflecting Mora in appearance.
Then, you have Lurkers, who remain grounded on two legs. They almost have a reptilian appearance and are eager to kill anyone they cross. These beasts are incredibly fast and ugly, and you’ll want to dispatch them as quickly as possible.
The Hushed reminds me of creatures from Silent Hill. These beings are actually husks of loreseekers that came before, having spent too much time delving into the darkest secrets of Mora, the Lord of Knowledge. They look decrepit and so fragile, but they won’t hesitate to kill you.
One of the most nightmarish creatures you’ll come across is the Mind Terror. They look like massive arachnid aliens with needle-like arms and horns, a vision that would terrify even some of the spawns of Diablo. When you find them in Apocrypha, make sure you’re ready.
Double the Regions, Double the Game Time
The best part of ESO: Necrom is that you have two locations that will keep you busy for days to come. You’ll have so much to explore with side and main quests all over the place. Be sure to also complete the new daily quests that form part of this chapter for more experience.
ESO Necrom Review Section 2: Gameplay Elements
Alright, so now you know enough about the story from our ESO: Necrom review to be excited. I’m sure you want to know more about what it’s like playing the game. Here are some gameplay details.
Play the Preview
Before you can start the actual Necrom chapter, you’ll want to check out the prelude quests. Just head over to the Featured or Prelude sections of the Crown Store, and you’ll find it there. It’s free to play, and gives you a taste of what’s to come. Once done, you’ll head to the City of the Dead if you bought the Elder Scrolls Online expansion.
Start from Scratch with the Arcanist
One thing you need to keep in mind is that you can’t change the class of one of your existing characters in ESO. That means that, if you want to play as an Arcanist, you’ll have to start from scratch. Yes, you’ll be level 1 again, but that’s the fun part of levelling up. You get to experience the new skills and abilities as you unlock them, powering them up for their morphs.
Arcanist Abilities and Builds
As with all ESO classes, the Arcanist has several builds you can try. Feel free to read more about suggested builds on the Elder Scrolls Online site. I went for Magicka Arcanist while making sure I had some healing abilities. Fortunately, some of the Arcanist active powers do heal you with runes.
I mentioned before that you get three skill lines for the Arcanist in ESO: Necrom. Here are the abilities you get with each of them:
- Curative Runeforms
- Vitalizing Glyphic (Ultimate)
- Runemend (Active)
- Remedy Cascade (Active)
- Chakram Shields (Active)
- Arcanist’s Domain (Active)
- Apocryphal Gate (Active)
- Healing Tides (Passive)
- Hideous Clarity (Passive)
- Erudition (Passive)
- Intricate Runeforms (Passive)
- Herald of the Tome
- The Unblinking Eye (Ultimate)
- Runeblades (Active)
- Fatecarver (Active)
- Abyssal Impact (Active)
- Tome-Bearer’s Inspiration (Active)
- The Imperfect Ring (Active)
- Fated Fortune (Passive)
- Harnessed Quintessence (Passive)
- Psychic Lesion (Passive)
- Splintered Secrets (Passive)
- Soldier of Apocrypha
- Gibbering Shield (Ultimate)
- Runic Jolt (Active)
- Runespite Ward (Active)
- Fatewoven Armor (Active)
- Runic Defense (Active)
- Rune of Eldritch Horror (Active)
- Aegis of the Unseen (Passive)
- Wellspring of the Abyss (Passive)
- Circumvented Fate (Passive)
- Implacable Outcome (Passive)
In a future guide, I’ll provide more details on these Arcanist skills. Curative Runeforms is by far my favourite. I enjoyed playing this class for my ESO Necrom review, and it’s a welcome addition to the fantasy MMORPG realm of Tamriel.
Unlocking Other Non-Arcanist Skills
While the Arcanist’s skills are the main focus, you need to remember to focus on other skill lines. For example, armour, crafting, weapons, and more. Keep at least one skill bar open for physical weapons while upgrading powers for them for when your stamina or magicka runs out.
Trading and Crafting
If you love crafting as much as I do, you’ll be happy to know that Necrom city has all the crafting tables in one area. Once you unlock the skill lines, you’ll undertake the training to perform tasks for each craft as before, but only if you started over with the Arcanist class. I usually deconstruct and research new items instead of selling them, trying to amp up my craft skill trees as much as possible.
Community Events
For gamers that enjoy PvE events, my ESO: Necrom review covers those two. There are two group challenges in the new expansion: Bastion Nymic and Sanity’s Edge.
Bastion Nymic presents a real challenge that features the Seekers I mentioned before. It’s a world event that accepts up to four players in a group. Knowing a Daedra’s true name is how you hold power over them, and that’s where the Nymic comes in, the word for their true names. The event asks you to kill Seekers and collect their ichor, gaining you entrance into the challenging bastion.
Sanity’s Edge is ESO: Necrom’s 12-player trial. You’ll go into a mage’s fragile mind where the Daedra Ansuul the Tormentor holds him mentally prisoner. There are many minions along the way that will try and stop your group, so you all need to be prepared. In the end, you’ll be facing Vanton the Mage’s darkest demons.
Zone Achievements
As with all new chapters, you’ll have zone achievements to complete. They present several rewards for your hard work, so be sure to check them out when viewing the map. For Apocrypha, you’ll have Necrom Grand Adventurer, Keeper of the Bastion, Grave Discoveries, and Saviour of Necrom. Remember also to complete your map 100%, such as finding waypoints and viewpoints, completing quests, and finishing delves.
ESO Necrom Review Section 3: Visual and Audio Elements
You’re nearing the end of my ESO Necrom review. In this section, I’ll mainly look at some visual and audio aspects, not for Elder Scrolls Online in general, but primarily the newly added features.
The Beauty and Horror of ESO: Necrom Locations
The Telvanni Peninsula has some stunning locations, mostly with craggy cliffs and massive mushrooms. You’ll see many beautiful views that ESO is well known for, and the Necrom expansion doesn’t disappoint. The cities and villages have gorgeous designs, and I loved the room I received in Necrom City. I haven’t spent too much time decorating it yet while playing the main quests, but I’ll get there.
Apocrypha is where you see more horrific locations, since you’re in Oblivion after all. This realm was not made for human/elvin comfort. Still, there’s some beauty in the horror, and you’ll still enjoy exploring to uncover any mysteries you can find.
New Pets and Mounts
One of my favourite parts of playing ESO: Necrom was the free gifts I received as part of the expansion. The pet looks just like the Daedric Prince Mora, while the mount is part equine, part Daedra in some way, with several eyes and a gaping mouth with several teeth. It’s disgusting, but I love it. It suits Apocrypha completely.
Stunning Sound of Arcanist Powers
Voice acting is the norm in Elder Scrolls Online, as are the wonderful animal and environmental sounds that come with every chapter. The one sound I’m addicted to hearing is the rune attack, where you throw those runic cards I mentioned before. There’s something about it that’s just magical and comforting at the same time.
Final Verdict: Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom Expansion
Let’s get one thing straight: I’m a massive ESO fan and always have been since the base game launched. I’ve been through every expansion and DLC and loved every moment of it. Knowing this, I might be biased in saying in my ESO Necrom review that the game is perfect in every way. As with Elsweyr and High Isle, I spent hours and days living every moment of the new chapter, lapping up the quests and atmosphere as much as possible.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom expansion receives full marks from me. I can’t and don’t want to find any fault, and I’ll be spending more time with this chapter for a long while yet.
What comes with Necrom ESO?
If you pre-ordered ESO Necrom, you would have received the following with the chapter:
- Sadrith Mora Spore Steed mount
- Sadrith Mora Spore Pony pet
- Sadrith Mora Formal Attire costume
- Apocryphal Bookwyrm pet
- 1 Unfeathered crate
- 3 Telvanni Peninsula treasure maps
- 2 Experience scrolls
Purchasing the Deluxe Edition of Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom rewards you with the following:
- Hermitage Servitor mount
- Cipher’s Eye Pocket Watcher pet
- Dark Lady’s Headrest memento
- Knowledge Eater Armor outfit style
- Leaning / Sitting / Standing Scholar emotes
- Collector’s Edition rewards from all other ESO chapters
