Haunt and harrow during the Witches Festival and you’ll earn spooky new and returning rewards!
The Witches Festival in-game event returns from Wednesday, October 21 at 10AM ET until Wednesday, November 4. During this creepy celebration, you can enjoy bonus XP and event-specific rewards while putting the fright into Tamriel’s monsters.

To get started, acquire the introductory quest titled “The Witchmother’s Bargain” via the Quest Starters section of the in-game Crown Store. Alternatively, make your way to Olyve’s Brewery in Glenumbra, Stonefalls, and Auridon to pick up the quest manually. Note that if you’ve completed this quest in previous years, you do not need to complete it again!
[esosslfiles-a.akamaihd.net]Celebrate the spooky season together!

Completing the introductory quest grants you the Witchmother’s Whistle collectible. Find the whistle within your Collections UI and use it to summon a magical brew cauldron. Drink from that cauldron, and you’ll be transformed into a ghastly skeleton—boo!

Event Daily Quests

While you can stalk and slay most of Tamriel’s monsters to unlock event rewards, there are two specific Witches Festival daily quests you can complete once per day per character.

• Plucking the Crow
• Designed for small groups and rewards a legendary Dremora Plunder Skull, Crownborne Horror
• The Lord of Fear
• Designed for large groups and rewards a legendary Dremora Plunder Skull, Lord Hollowjack

[esosslfiles-a.akamaihd.net]Lord Hollowjack awaits!

Learn more about Plunder Skulls and other event rewards below!
During the Witches Festival event period, you will enjoy a passive 100% bonus to all XP gains, and as you hunt down and slay Tamriel’s monsters, you’ll earn bonus event-specific rewards.

Plunder Skulls and Trade Bars

The first time you slay one of the specific types of bosses outlined below each day, you will earn a legendary-quality Dremora Plunder Skull in addition to 300 Trade Bars. After your first boss is slain for the day, subsequent successful boss hunts will grant you an epic-quality Plunder Skull.

Among other items, legendary Dremora Plunder Skulls contain style pages for the Dremora outfit style, with the type of boss you slay determining the specific style page you could receive! Here’s a list of the types of bosses you will need to target and what kind of style pages they can drop:

• Arena Final Bosses: Bows or Legs
• Invasion Bosses: Daggers or Gloves
• Delve Bosses: Staves or Belts
• Dungeon Final Bosses: Helmets or Maces
• Public Dungeon Bosses: Shields or Boots
• Trial Final Bosses: Swords or Chests
• World Bosses: Shoulders or Axes
• Tho'at Replicanum in the Infinite Archive: Any Weapon

Some of the other rewards you have a chance to loot from Dremora Plunder Skulls include:

• Unbound outfit style pages for the Dremora style (as detailed above)
• NEW: Unbound outfit style pages for the Zhekleg armor style
• Glenmoril Wyrd Treasure Maps (which lead to Glenmoril Wyrd weapon outfit style pages)
• Unbound outfit style pages for the Glenmoril Wyrd style
• Witchy Writs (completing these writs offer Hollowjack outfit style pages as rewards)

[esosslfiles-a.akamaihd.net]Earn spooky rewards!

Finally, regular epic-quality Plunder skulls can also reward:

• Witches Festival motif style items and alchemy reagents
• Witches Festival-themed furnishings and furnishing recipes
• Witches Festival-themed provisioning recipes

Note that Dremora Plunder Skull, Crowborne Horror and Dremora Plunder Skull, Lord Hollowjack offer the same rewards as other Dremora Plunder Skulls, but they also have an extremely rare chance to contain jackpot rewards with all of the outfit style pages for the Zhekleg or Dremora styles.
[esosslfiles-a.akamaihd.net]Earn Plunder Skulls as you slay monsters

Ultimately, between the two daily quests and the first other boss you defeat each day, you can earn up to 10 legendary Dremora Plunder Skulls and any number of regular Plunder Skulls each day. Good hunting!
Throughout the event window, the Impresario event vendor will once again open their stores for Trade Bars. This event vendor will stock many rewards from previous Witches Festival events, such as style pages for the Crowborn Hunter, Soulspun Wicker, and Grave Dancer outifts.

In addition, the Impresario will offer the complete selection of Sanguine-themed morphing collectible fragments released this year, including the first fragment for the upcoming Sanguine-themed house.
[esosslfiles-a.akamaihd.net]Host lavishly in the Grotto of Desires home

For the current series, these fragments include:

• The first fragment of the Grotto of Desires home.
• Floating Desires Petal
• All three fragments for the Roseblood Bat pet.
• Crimson Bat Statuette
• Red Rose Petals
• Sharp Rosebush Thorn
• All three fragments for the Roseblood Wings Recall customized action.
• Embellished Dance Card
• Rosy Boutonniere
• Sanguine’s Goodbye Kiss
• All three fragments for the Thorn’s Bite Withersteed mount.
• Blooming Saddle
• Gilded Stirrups
• Withered Antlers

Hunt the things that go bump in the night during the Witches Festival, and you’ll earn a spoopy selection of in-game rewards in addition to bonus XP. This frightful fete will be live from Wednesday, October 21at 10AM ET until Wednesday, November 4. Don’t miss out on your chance to put a scare into Tamriel’s terrors!

Do you have your costume ready for this year’s Witches Festival event? Perhaps you’re playing the horrible host in your own haunted home? Tell us your plans for this fan-favorite celebration via Bluesky[bsky.app], X (formerly Twitter), Instagram[www.instagram.com], and Facebook[www.facebook.com].

The Witches Festival 2026 in-game event is live from Wednesday, October 21at 10AM ET until Wednesday, November 4.

Preview the solo versions of Moon Hunter Keep and March of Sacrifices, coming soon with Season Two!
Launching as part of Season Two[www.elderscrollsonline.com] on October 21, the solo dungeon versions of both Moon Hunter Keep and March of Sacrifices will test those who stand strongest alone. Previously available in the Wolfhunter DLC (which will be made free for all players on October 19), solo dungeons introduce a new kind of challenge to fan-favorite encounters.

“Players have soloed group dungeons since the launch game,” says Sean Wicks, one of ESO’s Senior Encounter Designers. “But that experience is out of reach for many players and is far from optimal for a player who is alone. [With solo dungeons] we want everyone to be able to experience the stories we tell at a pace that is comfortable for them. At the same time, we want to give players looking for a challenge something to gnosh on—a reason to do the solo version of a dungeon as opposed to soloing the group experience.”
[esosslfiles-a.akamaihd.net]Face Hircine’s trials alone

Even if you’re already intimately familiar with both Moon Hunter Keep and March of Sacrifices, the team has worked hard to ensure their solo versions provide a unique experience.

“While we have tried to retain the spirit of each encounter, some mechanics designed for groups are very difficult for one player,” explains Wicks. “As a result, we've adapted those mechanics to make them more manageable for the solo player. Values and scope of abilities in the dungeon have also been tuned, making for a much more level playing field.”

While you are a solo player, you can (and are encouraged to) bring your Companion into the dungeon, too. In fact, they have been redesigned with them in mind.

“Some encounter mechanics have been reimagined for a solo experience and for a solo-with-companion experience,” says Lauren Kaiser, a Senior Encounter Designer. “Particularly concerning companions, you'll find that adventuring through a solo dungeon with one at your side is not only a huge boon, but that some mechanics are specifically targeted only at them.”
Ensuring there’s always greater challenge to be had, when you select solo mode for either of these two dungeons, you can also choose Meted Misfortunes to add even more danger.

“At the entrance to each solo dungeon, players will find a pile of armor and weapons where they can activate Meted Misfortunes,” explains Wicks. “Activating a Misfortune applies an effect intended to make the experience more difficult. For example, Warm Welcome doubles incoming damage and players will want to bring more mitigation to counter it.”

“In addition to a Misfortune's individual effect, activating any one of them increases the difficulty level—raising the stats of monsters and bosses and allowing them to use more of their arsenal against the player. Up to three Misfortunes can be activated at once for Dauntless difficulty, the most challenging version of the experience.”
[esosslfiles-a.akamaihd.net]Choose your challenge!

Be warned, once you start adding Misfortunes, you may need to change up the way you play, or even completely change your build.

“When playing without any Meted Misfortunes active, you'll find that you can make your way through a solo dungeon with a typical overland build,” says Kaiser. “But once you start adding Meted Misfortunes into the mix, it'll definitely be advantageous to change up your build to better rise to meet those challenges.”
Should you venture into the solo version of Moon Hunter Keep or March of Sacrifices, you can earn new rewards not found in their original group experiences.

“Solo dungeons provide the new Undaunted Crest currency at increasing amounts by difficulty, which can be exchanged for rewards by talking to Veya Thenim in your Undaunted Enclave of preference,” says Wicks. “Rewards available on the merchant include the new Cultivated Cryptpod alchemical reagents, style materials, and more.”
[esosslfiles-a.akamaihd.net]New and original rewards await

In addition, solo dungeon rewards feature two new two-piece monster sets (with the masks dropping from dungeon final bosses and the shoulders available from Veya Thenim). There are also style pages for the new sets, new bust and trophy furnishings, Nowhere Keys, and pieces of legendary companion equipment (chests and two-handed melee weapons) to loot, too.

Even better, many of these rewards are increased as you up the difficulty, letting you tailor the risks to the rewards when selecting your Meted Misfortunes.
Season Two showcases Tamriel’s monster slayers, and there’s a host of great challenges and rewards to be found in its two new solo dungeons. Don’t forget, like all seasonal content, these new experiences are free for all ESO players! Are you ready to begin your hunt anew when Season Two launches on October 21? Let us know via Bluesky[bsky.app], X (formerly Twitter), Instagram[www.instagram.com], and Facebook[www.facebook.com].

Season Two: Echoes of Skyrim[www.elderscrollsonline.com] launches on October 21 and will run until January 27, 2027.