Niche Gamer Plays is an ongoing video preview series where our staff take an in-depth and yet concise look at classic, current, and upcoming games across all current gaming platforms.

The latest hands-on preview video we’ve done for you all is the latest expansion for The Elder Scrolls Online, focused on the new region Elsweyr!

Featured above, you can view roughly two hours of myself playing the game, creating an extra fat new khadjiit character, test out some of the new necromancer stuff, and more.

Here’s a rundown on the expansion:

The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr

The Dragons have returned to Tamriel. Unleashed upon the world by the unwitting Abnur Tharn and the Imperial usurper queen Euraxia, the great Kaalgrontiid and his followers hunt from the skies and threaten to burn down the ancestral home of the Khajiit.

Elsweyr is packed with new stories, adventures, and challenges, including:

• A whole new zone to explore: Elsweyr
• An epic main story quest line that ties into the Season of the Dragon
• A powerful new Class: Necromancer
• A challenging new 12-player Trial: Sunspire
• Massive new world events: Dragon Attacks
• A huge amount of unique delves, public dungeons, and stand-alone quests
• A host of updates and quality-of-life improvements

Previously, you have been able to explore the province of Elsweyr in The Elder Scrolls: Arena and its outer edges in The Elder Scrolls Online’s regions of Reaper’s March and Khenarthi’s Roost, but in this new adventure, you can fully experience the home of Tamriel’s beloved cat people. In Elsweyr, you can traverse both fertile grasslands and scorching deserts, interact with moon-sugar farmers and wandering nomads, or confront merciless Imperial occupiers and roaming bandits. In this new Chapter, you can truly dive into the life, history, culture, and mythology of the Khajiit and their homeland.

Of course, in addition to exploring this new zone, you’ll also be called upon to defend the Khajiiti people against a devastating new threat: Dragons. However, in this Chapter you’re no Dragonborn, and you’ll need to work with your fellow players and powerful allies in order to take these winged beasts down.

Finally, Elsweyr also introduces the highly anticipated Necromancer Class to ESO. With this dark, mysterious new Class, you will be able to command the dead and cast powerful elemental spells to overcome your foes and bolster your defenses. With the Necromancer, death itself is a weapon!

Pre-Purchase The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr

You can pre-purchase The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr now to receive unique rewards at launch, including the Noble Clan Chief costume, Blue Dragon Imp pet, Treasure Maps, a Baandari Pedlar Crown Crate, and Experience Scrolls. In addition to this, for digital pre-purchases only, you’ll receive immediate access to the Rahd-m’Athra mount!

Elsweyr will be available in the following editions:

• The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr Standard Edition
  • Base game
  • Morrowind Chapter
  • Summerset Chapter
  • Elsweyr Chapter
  • Pre-purchase rewards
  • Exclusive pre-purchase mount
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr Digital Upgrade
  • Elsweyr Chapter
  • Pre-purchase rewards
  • Exclusive pre-purchase mount
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr Digital Collector’s Edition
  • Base game
  • Morrowind Chapter and Collector’s Edition items
  • Summerset Chapter and Collector’s Edition items
  • Elsweyr Chapter
  • Pre-purchase rewards
  • Exclusive pre-purchase mount
  • Esweyr Collector’s Edition items
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr Digital Collector’s Edition Upgrade
  • Elsweyr Chapter
  • Pre-purchase rewards
  • Elsweyr Collector’s Edition items
  • Exclusive pre-purchase bonus

The Elsweyr Collector’s Edition comes with all the pre-purchase bonuses in addition to a host of unique digital goodies. For more information on each version of Elsweyr and to find out which one is right for you, check out our editions article, and you can pre-purchase Elsweyr on our Buy Now page right now!

Tamriel Burns

The Season of the Dragon year-long adventure is unlike anything we’ve ever released before, and Elsweyr is a huge part of this epic tale. We can’t wait to reveal everything that is coming to The Elder Scrolls Online’s newest Chapter and this massive, interconnected story, so keep an eye out for more information in the coming months.

The Season of the Dragon

Keep both eyes on the skies! During the Season of the Dragon, you can experience a year-long interconnected adventure that begins very soon with the Wrathstone DLC game pack and continues through the upcoming Elsweyr Chapter and beyond. Here’s the Season of the Dragon schedule:

• Wrathstone DLC dungeon pack
• Elsweyr Chapter
• Unannounced Q3 DLC dungeon pack
• Unannounced Q4 DLC story zone

As always, each release will feature an incredible stand-alone story, but the Season of the Dragon brings it all together as part of an epic adventure that runs throughout the entire year – a first for The Elder Scrolls Online!

The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr is launching across Windows PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on June 4th.