Update 18 introduces a selection of additions and improvements for all Elder Scrolls Online players, including Crown Store Gifting, Daily Rewards, and combat changes that are designed to help you play the way you want to play. Find out more in this preview article!



Update 18 will arrive in June as a free base-game update for all ESO players. This means you do not need to have purchased ESO: Summerset in order to enjoy Update 18's new features and improvements. If you're interested in Update 18's PvP changes and additions, check out our Alliance War and Battlegrounds preview article.

Daily Rewards

With Update 18 and Daily Rewards, you are rewarded simply by entering the game! When you log into ESO, you'll be able to claim a unique reward that can include different currencies (such as gold or Alliance Points) and consumables, and on specific milestones you can earn special rewards such as collectibles or Crown Crates from the very latest season. The first month even includes a new Psijic Mascot Guar Calf pet!

At the start of each month, the daily rewards will reset, with the amount of rewards you can claim varying month-to-month. If you can't log in and happen to miss a day, don't worry, the reward days are cumulative, meaning you won't lose progress and you can continue where you left off within the month. However, all progress does reset at the end of the month, and if you don't have enough days left to claim all of that month's rewards, you might miss out on some.

When you log into The Elder Scrolls Online, you'll see your available reward waiting to be claimed in the new announcement panel. You can claim it right there or when you log out. You can also navigate to the new “Daily Rewards" section of the Crown Store to claim your items, view future rewards, and see how many days are left before it resets. In order to be eligible for future rewards, you must claim any currently available daily rewards. If you do not claim a daily reward, the month's rewards will not progress. Note that to ensure everybody starts on equal footing, the first round of daily rewards will begin on June 5 for all platforms, not May 21 for early access PC/Mac users.

Crown Store Gifting

Update 18 also introduces the all-new Crown Store Gifting system. With this new system, you're able to purchase and send most Crown Store items to your friends and guildmates.

To send your friend a gift, navigate to the item you wish to buy in the Crown Store and select the “Purchase as Gift" option. After that, it's simply a matter of entering the UserID, Gamertag, or PSN ID of the player you wish to send the item to. You can even personalize your gift with a custom-made or a pre-selected message! Note that at this point, player housing and some "instant unlock" items (such as Bag Space or Vampire bites) are unable to be gifted. You can gift furnishings packs from the Crown Store or individual furnishings from the Housing Editor, though.

The gift recipient must accept the gift within 14 days to receive the item, but if they decline or fail to accept the item in time, it is simply returned to its original purchaser. Note that the purchaser in this case is unable to make use of any returned gifts themselves, but can resend it to the original or a different recipient.

You can view and manage your gifts from the “Gift Inventory" section of the Crown Store. From the Gift Inventory section, you can view your received, sent (claimed and unclaimed), and returned gifts, and it stores 14 days of gift history.

Unlocking Gifting

Gifting is a feature that must be unlocked. If you are a new player, you need to become an ESO Plus member or make a Crown Pack purchase and wait 30 days in order to gain the ability to gift. If you are an existing player who is not yet an ESO Plus member or has not made a Crown Pack purchase, you will also need to make a purchase and then wait 30 days in order to gain the ability to gift. Gifting is automatically unlocked if you are an existing player with a qualifying history of Crown Pack purchases or ESO Plus participation on the launch of Update 18.

Combat Changes

We're also making some significant changes to combat, items, and Abilities with Update 18. For starters, we've changed how two-handed weapons (such as Restoration Staves, Destruction Staves, Two-handed Axes, etc.) work so that they count for two item set bonuses. This change dramatically improves the viability of two-handed weapons, and it should inspire players to express their creativity and find new ways to play.

Secondly, we've made broad updates to certain Abilities with the aim of improving the viability of tank and healer roles for all classes. For example, the Dragonknight's “Ash Cloud" ability now heals you and your allies while also snaring enemies, and the Sorcerer's “Bound Armor" ability now has an active component that improves Block Effectiveness. We've updated many different Class Abilities, so if you've wanted to branch out and try different roles with one of your characters, take a look and give it a go!

Finally, we've also updated basic attacks to reinforce the idea that Light Attacks are for dealing damage and Heavy Attacks are for restoring resources. In addition to this, we also changed Light and Heavy Attacks so that they have stronger ties to your character's Magicka and Stamina pools. This means that if you use a lot of basic attacks in your rotation, you should see a bump in your overall damage output.

Update 18 brings a host of new additions, updates, and improvements for all ESO players. If you're interested in some of the changes coming to Cyrodiil and Battlegrounds PvP, don't hesitate to check out our recent article. What are you most excited to check out in Update 18? Head on over to Twitter @TESOnline and Facebook and let us know!

Update 18 will come free as a base-game update to PlayStation®4 and Xbox One on June 5 with PC/Mac early access on May 21. This free update will arrive alongside The Elder Scrolls Online's next Chapter, Summerset. Pre-purchase ESO: Summerset now to receive the Queen's Bounty Pack bonus reward and gain immediate access to the ESO base game and Morrowind Chapter (digital pre-purchases only – conditions apply). Don't miss out!