The Elder Scrolls: Legends

Gameplay

The Elder Scrolls: Legends is a collectible card game which revolves around turn-based matches between two opponents (player vs. player, or player vs. a computer opponent). The cards are based on creatures, characters and lore found in The Elder Scrolls series.

Each player or computer opponent starts with a deck between 50 and 70 cards. At the start of every battle, each player starts off with three cards drawn from that deck and one magicka, which is used to deploy cards. To offset the advantage of taking the first turn, the second player also starts with a potion in play that can be activated to gain one additional magicka three times during the game. Each player gets one additional magicka at the start of their turns thereafter. Without use of specialized cards, a player's magicka can only reach 12 in a game. The player and their opponent are represented by a character with a set amount of health, with the goal to reduce the competitor's health to zero.

Each player can use their available magicka to play any number of cards. Cards are divided into three types: Support cards, which provide ongoing benefits; Action Cards, which are effects that are instantaneously played; and creatures, which are the main method of play in The Elder Scrolls: Legends. Creatures normally cannot attack the turn they come into play. Creatures have attack and health values; when creatures attack, they deal the damage equal to their attack value to the opponent creature or opponent character, and take damage equivalent to the defending creature's attack. If a creature's health drops to zero, that creature is defeated and removed from play. Many cards feature additional effects, listed explicitly or by a number of pre-defined keywords.

When deploying Creatures, the player can place them on one of two sides, called lanes; creatures can only attack opponent creatures in that lane or the opponent character directly. Lanes can have special abilities which alter the fields of battle. In standard play, one lane is a "Shadow Lane" where all creatures played into it cannot be targetted by attacks or spells for one turn. Other fields of play have other types of lanes, and some cards have the ability to affect lane placement.

In addition to their health points, a player character has a number of runes, one for every 5 points of starting health (eg for a typical match with 30 health, the player will have 5 runes). When a player loses health and losing one of the runes, they immediately gain one card to their hand. Some cards in the game feature the "Prophecy" keyword, which allows these cards to be played immediately if they are the result of a rune-card draw.

As the player wins matches and completes other tasks in the game, they will level up their character and gain new cards. The distribution of new cards is influenced by the character race that the player selects at the start of the game. Some cards in a player's collection can be leveled up, as the player's level increases. Leveling up a card may offer the player the choice of two alternate versions. Players can also obtain new cards by spending in-game gold (given as rewards for some activities or completing daily quests) or real-world money.

The Elder Scrolls: Legends supports three play modes. Battle mode lets player play with their decks against other players, either in a ranked system through random matchmakeing or in casual mode with friends, or may allow players to test decks against computer opponents in practice rounds. Arena mode allows players to draft a deck of cards from a random selection of cards; this deck can then be used to go up against a series of component opponents or in a number of matches against human ones. A deck is retired if it wins 12 matches or loses 3 matches, with the player then getting rewards for how successful their deck was. Finally, the game features a campaign-based Story mode with a number of preset opponents that the player must face.

Development and release

The Elder Scrolls: Legends is developed by Dire Wolf Digital. The game was revealed at Bethesda's 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo conference. In April 2016, a closed beta for Windows was released. In August 2016, an open beta for Windows was released. The game was originally scheduled for release in 2016 as a free-to-play title for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows. The Windows version officially launched on March 9, 2017. An iOS for iPad devices launched on March 23, 2017. A version for tablets running Android version is scheduled for April 2017, and the macOS version is scheduled for May 2017. Mobile phone versions for iOS and Android are expected in mid-2017.

Story

The main story revolves around the player character, and an elf named Naarifin who has invaded the heart of the Empire. The player character, called 'The Forgotten Hero' has to fight various hazards along the way to reaching the White-Gold Tower, where Naarifin plans to release demon-like creatures called Daedra. Along the way, the player makes various choices determining how the story ends and cards they gain as rewards.