ESO Scribing Guide

Scribing is a Gameplay System in ESO that allows you to customize certain Skills and unleash the full potential of your Character! A precursor to the Spellcrafting system that introduces new skills, called Grimoires, to specific skill lines that players can customize and enhance with Scripts! Scribing is available with the Gold Road Chapter and will expand the options players have when creating a PVE or PVP Build for The Elder Scrolls Online! This Detailed ESO Scribing Guide will show you how to use the system and unlock the full potential of your character in The Elder Scrolls Online!

How Scribing Works in ESO

Scribing introduces new skills to ESO, called Grimoires, which you can customize with Scripts! Existing ESO skills are not available to customize with this System. Scribing is adding instead a new skill in specific skill lines that you can find and customize with Scripts. These skill lines are all Weapon Skill lines, Guild Skill lines, Soul Magic and Alliance War Skill lines. The skill lines you can unlock and customize Grimoires for are:

• Bow
• Dual Wield
• Destruction Staff
• One Hand and Shield
• Restoration Staff
• Two-Handed Weapon
• Fighters Guild
• Mages Guild
• Soul Magic(Two Grimoires)
• Assault and Support(One Grimoire for each Alliance War line)

Each of the above skill lines offers a skill that you can customize and enhance with scripts, expanding like this your skills options in ESO! To customize the available Grimoires with Skills, you need to use a special material called Luminous Ink!

What is Grimoire in ESO Scribing

The Available new Skills with the Scribing System are called Grimoires and are the core of the system in ESO. The Grimoire is basically the basic function of the new skills that you can enhance and customize further with Scripts. Scripts add layers to these new skills, that allow you to alter their basic function or add extra effects to them. You can find and collect all available Grimoires by accepting and completing new Scribing Quests!

What are Scripts in ESO Scribing

Scripts allow the player to customize the Grimoire with Scribing! With the right Script you can change the base function of a Grimoire, add unique effects and even Buff yourself or debuff enemies. Scripts are essential to create unique skills that will fit your personal play style and gameplay. There are three different types of Scripts in ESO and each type offers different options. The available Scripts Categories are:

• Focus Scripts
• Signature Scripts
• Affix Scripts

The Focus Script defines the main function of a Grimoire and allows you to select the nature of the skill, as well as the type of damage it deals and the resource it will cost to cast! With a Focus Script you can determine if the skill will deal Physical or Magic damage, heal or even offer a Shield! Picking a specific Focus Script will disable options from the other Scripts you can use. For example if you pick a Damage Focus Script you can not also pick a Heal focused Signature Script after and vice versa. So your primary choice when enhancing your Grimoires matters!

Signature Scripts add unique effects to your Grimoire and enhance your Focus Script choice. You can add a Signature Script that heals over time or deals Damage over Time, snares enemies, increases your speed or recovery. Your Signature Script cannot be fundamentally different from your Focus Script. You cannot have a Heal Focus Script and a Damage Signature Script for example, they have to match!

The Affix Script adds buffs or debuffs to your skill, further enhancing your new ability. You can add a variety of buffs like Savagery, Prophecy, Minor or Major Force or make your skills debuff enemies by applying Vulnerability, Maim, Lifesteal and other debuffs or effects. Affix Scripts offer valuable effects to Classes that lack them, making your life easier no matter what your favorite ESO Class is.

What is Class Mastery in Scribing

Class Mastery is a unique concept you can pick when choosing Signature Scripts for your favorite Grimoire! Class Mastery is basically adding a Class unique effect to your skill, so it can complement your Build and character even more. For example the Class Mastery of the Arcanist Class is to generate Crux and allow you to cast powerful skill combinations. The available Class Masteries in ESO Scribing are:

• Arcanist: Creates a Crux
• Dragonknight: For each enemy within 8 meters up to 6, gain 50 Weapon and Spell Damage and reduce your damage taken by 2% plus 1% per enemy for 5 seconds.
• Necromancer: Once every 3 seconds, increase your Health, Magicka, and Stamina by 2% for 10 seconds for each corpse within 12 meters, up to a max of 10. If no corpses are nearby, create a corpse.
• Nightblade: Restore 400 Magicka and Stamina if your target was above 50% Health. Increase your Critical Chance by 10% if your target was at or below 50% Health.
• Sorcerer: Enchant your closest pet for 20 seconds to heal a nearby ally each time the pet deals damage, up to once a second. If you do not have a pet, you deal Shock Damage to enemies within 8 meters of you.
• Templar: For 5 seconds, you gain 1320 Armor and 150 Weapon and Spell Damage. If Sacred Ground is active on you, these values are increased by 50%.
• Warden: Create an 8 meter area under your target once every 10 seconds that snares enemies by 70% and charms after 3 seconds. If no enemies are charmed, you restore 1435 Magicka and Stamina.

How to Get Scribing Scripts in ESO?

There are a few ways you can get Scripts for Scribing in ESO! You will receive your first Scripts by completing the Scribing Quests and you can also buy new Scripts from the Chronicler Firandil Merchant along with all Grimoires. To complete your collection of Scripts you will have to complete a variety of Daily Quests and other tasks in the game:

• Fighters Guild, Mages Guild, Undaunted Dailies
• Rewards for the Worthy coffers, Imperial City, Cyrodiil Dailies
• Delve, World Boss and World Event(Dolmens, Mirrormoor Incursions etc) Dailies
• Complete Gifts from the Archmagister Achievement

You can also buy Scripts form Filler Ool Merchant inside the Infinite Archive with Archival Fortunes! His selection of Scripts changes regularly like with all the other items he offers. The Scripts you unlock are character bound and not Account bound! So you will have to repeat the process with every character you wish to use Scribing abilities.

What is Luminous Ink in ESO Scribing

Luminous Ink is the special resource you need to use when customizing your Grimoires with Scribing! This is the Crafting Currency of Scribing that you can find while exploring ESO! Every Script you add to a Grimoire costs one Ink. So to fully customize a Grimoire with three Scripts you will need three Luminous inks! If you wish to just replace a Script with another, the cost will be one Luminous Ink. So Luminous Ink is an affordable material that allows you to transform your available Grimoires into anything you like.

Scribing introduces an unprecedented level of Freedom when creating new Builds in ESO. Thanks to its Grimoires and Scripts, you can now create unique skills in The Elder Scrolls Online and complement your Builds like never before. It is possible to create a Poison Damage based Bow skill that deals damage over time or boosts your mobility and applies Vulnerability to your target. The combinations are endless.

After you complete “The Wing of the Indrik” Scribing quest, Luminous Ink will start dropping rarely from defeated enemies. When you also complete “The Wing of the Netch” Scribing Quest, Luminous Ink will start dropping rarely from harvesting crafting materials and other sources!

What are the Scribing Skills

Scribing introduces new Skills to ESO, called Grimoires! These skills represent Weapons, Guild, Soul Magic and Alliance War Skill lines. There are in total One Grimoire for every Weapon skill line, one Grimoire for the Mages Guild and one for the Fighters Guild, two Grimoires for the Soul Magic and one Grimoire for each Alliance War Line. More Grimoires for those or other skill lines will come later to ESO with Scribing. The available Scribing Skills at the moment are:

• Traveling Knife(Dual Wield)
• Vault(Bow)
• Mender’s Bond(Restoration Staff)
• Elemental Explosion(Destruction Staff)
• Shield Throw(One Hand and Shield)
• Smash(Two Handed)
• Soul Burst(Soul Magic)
• Wield Soul(Soul Magic)
• Torchbearer(Fighters Guild)
• Ulfsild’s Contingency(Mages Guild)
• Trample(Alliance War-Assault)
• Banner Bearer(Alliance War- Support)

Skill	Effect
Traveling Knife(Dual Wield)	Twirl and throw an enhanced dagger at an enemy which returns to you after a short delay and hits additional enemies in the path.
Vault (Bow)	Fire a burst at your feet while flipping backwards.
Mender’s Bond (Restoration Staff)	Tether yourself to an ally, manifesting a life link between you and them.
Elemental Explosion (Destruction Staff)	Channel the power in your staff to fling a bolt of volatile magic, causing an elemental explosion at the target location.
Shield Throw (One Hand and Shield)	Hurl your shield at an enemy, which then returns to you.
Smash (Two Handed)	Drag your weapon along the ground to smash a cone in front of you.
Soul Burst (Soul Magic)	Unleash a Powerful burst of Soul magic around you.
Wield Soul (Soul Magic)	Launch a concentrated blast of soul magic at a target.
Torchbearer (Fighters Guild)	Conjure an imbued torch and sweep the area in front of you three times with its power.
Ulfsild’s Contingency (Mages Guild)	Imbue yourself with the magical runes of Ulfsild. These runes trigger when you cast an ability with a cast, causing a burst of magic around you.
Trample (Alliance War-Assault)	Pierce the air with a shrill whistle, calling your mount forth to trample enemies in a line.
Banner Bearer(Alliance War-Support)	Bring out a Banner to inspire yourself and nearby group members.

Every Scribing Skill offers a basic function that fits with the skill line it comes from. You can however customize them further with the clever use of Scripts and make them more suitable for your Builds and personal play style!

How to Unlock Scribing

To unlock Scribing, you need access to the Gold Road Chapter. Gold Road introduces a new quest line dedicated to this new system, that players can follow in order to unlock Scribing and find their first Grimoires. By interacting with Adept Irnard Rirnil, a Mages Guild Researcher NPC, you can start the “Second Era of Scribing” Quest. By following his instructions and completing this short introductory Quest, you will gain access to the Scholarium and unlock Scribing in ESO!

The Scholarium is a special place in the Eyevea zone, that offers a Scribing Altar for your Scribing needs. The Scribing Altar is a furnishing that you can use to Scribe Grimoires in ESO. You can visit the Scholarium every time you wish to use the altar or alternatively you can buy your own Scribing Altar with Writ Vouchers and place it in your Home.

During this first Quest you will earn your first Grimoire, Wield Soul and learn the basics. Complete the second Scribing Quest “The Wing of the Indrik” to earn more Scripts and Luminous Ink but also unlock the Chronicler Firandil Merchant. From Firandil you can buy all available Grimoires at the cost of 50000 Gold each! Next to him you can also find Caal, a Scamp merchant that sells Scribing related furnishings!

When was the Scribing Release Date?

Scribing was released to ESO with the Gold Road Chapter! The Chapter launched on June 3rd for PC/Mac and June 18th for Xbox and Playstation Consoles! Along with the Gold Road Chapter and Scribing, Skill Styles and the West Weald zone with its Skingrad Capital also made their appearance in ESO!

Is Scribing in ESO Spellcrafting?

Spellcrafting has been the desire of the Player base in ESO for many years but Scribing is not exactly that. Scribing is considered a Precursor to the Spellcrafting system other Elder Scrolls Games use. The reason for this is because The Elder Scrolls Online takes place thousand of years before the Elder Scrolls Games. So although Scribing is similar to Spellcrafting it is not the same full experience. Still it is a revolutionary system that adds freedom to the game and allows players to customize new skills in any way they like. With Scribing you can make a Grimoire skill perform in a specific way with scripts and better complement your favorite ESO Build!

ESO Scribing Summary

Scribing is a brand new feature in ESO that allows player to collect and customize select skills! This new system offers new abilities called Grimoires with their own base function that you can customize with Scripts. Players can take the same grimoire, add to it a different Focus, Signature, and Affix Script to end up with a vastly different final ability that will allow them to enhance and complement their personal Build further!

To add Scripts to your Grimoires you need a special crafting material called Luminous Ink, which you can find around ESO! To unlock Scribing you need access to the Gold Road Chapter so you can interact with Adept Irnard Rirnil and follow the system’s unique quest line. Another way you can customize your skills, existing and Grimoires, is with the Skill Styles system, which adds a Skill transmog function to ESO!

FAQ – ESO Scribing Guide