While it’s probably still a few years away, The Elder Scrolls 6 might be Bethesda’s most highly anticipated game among fans. And while its predecessor, Skyrim, is one of the best-selling games of all time, that hasn’t spared it from criticism. While the game offered a lot of interesting concepts and locales, some long-time fans of the franchise have critiqued how simple the formula is compared to other games in the series.
It’s unrealistic to expect Bethesda to radically change a formula that has performed so well, so fans expecting major changes to The Elder Scrolls 6’s complexity are likely out of luck. There are, however, some key areas that Bethesda could choose to make changes. Chief among those possible changes are weapon enchantments, an element heavily featured in Skyrim that could be greatly expanded on.
Skyrim’s weapon enchantments were something of a dull affair. The game essentially allowed fans to craft their own powerful weapons based on their smithing and enchanting skills, which would allow for increasingly powerful effects as players leveled up. For the most part, these effects were typical. One could opt to give their weapons fire damage, frost damage, shock damage, and so on.
There were some rare enchantments that could lead to powerful sets of gear, a great reward considering how much effort it took to max out both the smithing and enchantment skill trees. Those rare enchantments could do things like grant the wearer water breathing or muffle the wearer’s steps. With the right gear set, a player could from strong to nearly invincible pretty quickly, and considering that already happens, more or less, by the end of Skyrim, it can throw things a bit off balance.
While being powerful is fun, Skyrim’s enchanting system lacked depth. There wasn’t much to it besides navigating through a menu, and while that’s fine, it’s an area that The Elder Scrolls 6 can and should improve. On top of that lack of depth, the effects applied to enchantments were a bit lackluster. That was likely an intentional design decision to avoid screen clutter, but it’s yet another area where the next game could make some improvements.
However, the most disappointing aspect of Skyrim’s weapon enchantments is how little it explores what goes into them. To enchant weapons and keep them charged, players have to collect soul gems, which contain the soul of a mortal creature. It’s a dark aspect of the enchantment process, and one that wasn’t really explored in Skyrim to the degree it could have been. The most players learn about soul gems is in the Black Star Daedric Quest, which is a special case.
The list of possibilities for the enchantment system in The Elder Scrolls 6 is endless. Offering an extended process to create an enchanted weapon would be a good start, so long as that process offered a more powerful or more unique weapon. For instance, it would be interesting to see the soul used to imbue a weapon with an enchantment have a distinct effect on the end product. If players were to use an evil soul, it could result in a more chaotic weapon, one that deals more damage but could also harm the user in some way.
The effects applied to the weapons could also use some love. The Elder Scrolls Online does a much better job of portraying that a weapon is enchanted, and it would be interesting to see that translated into The Elder Scrolls 6. Weapons enchanted with fire could ignite into flames when drawn, or a poisoned weapon could radiate a pestilent aura. It would certainly make the weapons more visually appealing. For those that don’t want the effect, the option to toggle it on and off at an enchanting table seems like a simple and effective method to get the best of both worlds.
On top of effects coming off of the weapons, players would undoubtedly appreciate some sort of transmog option, which has become increasingly standard in recent years. The ability to dictate the look of a weapon – or if Bethesda is really invested, allowing players to alter individual aspects of a weapon, like the hilt and blade – is a great way to give players more ownership of it.
By doing all of this, Bethesda would essentially be allowing players to create their own unique weapons, and that could do wonders for making the game more immersive all around. Exploring with a full set of tricked out enchanted gear is likely best reserved for the endgame, and simple enchanted weapons could definitely still exist in the confines of the universe, but it would do wonders for helping players engage with their characters.
It could also be interesting to get a clear look at what happens after a soul is imbued in a weapon, especially when those souls are used to recharge it. The leading theory is that those souls go to the Ideal Masters in the Soul Cairn, an area that appeared in Skyrim’s Dawnguard expansion. Making players face the reality of what they’ve condemned those souls to would be an interesting way to explore the Elder Scrolls universe, though it isn’t clear if Bethesda would be willing to go that deep into it.
Many Elder Scrolls fans agree that magic needs more depth in The Elder Scrolls 6 than it has had in prior entries. While improving enchanting wouldn’t fix all of those criticisms, it would certainly be a start, as it’s one of the areas that is most desperately in need of fixing. How Bethesda plans to address complaints is still a mystery, however.
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