The Elder Scrolls Online’s classes are among some of the most unique in the MMO genre. Not only do they each come with their own unique lore found throughoutThe Elder Scrollsfranchise, but they can all play various roles to great success. This level of freedom is echoed throughout the rest of the MMO and even the entire franchise.
ThoughThe Elder Scrolls Onlinedoesn’t receive a new class often, it adds tons of new ways to play the game when they are added. The addition of the necromancer class alone introduced new ways for players to approach both PvE and PvP content. Introducing a class like the bard would not only continue this trend, but allow players to approach their characters as a whole in a new way.
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The Case For The Bard Class
Like the sorcerer, nightblade, and necromancer class, the bard archetype has pre-existing lore throughout the franchise. Bards are known to value their words over their swords, but still versatile in many forms of magic and more down-to-earth skills such as lock picking. That said, they are not exactly known for using music in tandem with their magic and combat skills. But asThe Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom’supcoming arcanist classshows, ZeniMax isn’t afraid to introduce new systems in the lore that would allow for such a thing to exist. The invention of a new form of song magic could be used to justify their inclusion into the MMO.
As more recent class additions have shown, ZeniMax isn’t afraid to add a layer of complexity to its new classes.The Elder Scrolls Online’s arcanist crux systemis a perfect example of this, allowing plays to be creative with their combos. The bard would be the perfect opportunity to utilize a song-like system, where players may have to follow a beat or create a song using their skills in order to accomplish their role’s goals. There could be songs for damage mitigation or health and resource restoration for healers, and damage songs for DPS players. Not only would it stand out creatively speaking, but the gameplay would differ greatly from other classes as well.
The Elder Scrolls Online’s struggles with class identityare a more recent issue that the bard class could help alleviate. The introduction of a new class would add much needed variety to the pre-established meta of the game. It would change up team compositions for raid teams, how players approach PvP, and could provide unique versatility for open world engagements as well. Many classes are known for their offensive capabilities, but a silver-tongued archetype like the bard could have noncombat approaches to what would otherwise be a fight. That level of interaction with the world matches with the necromancer, who is unable to use their skills in cities at risk of receiving a bounty.
The addition would also do well at fulfilling the fan bases desires. ZeniMax has disappointedtheThe Elder Scrolls Onlineplayerbasebefore, so showing it has the ability to follow through with fan’s desires would help correct that history.The Elder Scrolls Onlinealso has a large role playing community, with players coming up with unique stories for every one of their characters. Their stories often align with the character’s class, so the addition of the bard would also allow for a greater amount of personal stories to be explored.
With the upcoming addition of the arcanist inThe Elder Scrolls Online: Necromexpansion, it is unlikely players will see another new class any time soon. This is to ensure that enough time is taken to balance all classes, while also allowing enough time to create new classes for the future. In the event that another class is announced in the future, fingers are crossed for the long-waited addition of the bard class.
The Elder Scrolls Onlineis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
