How to build a Dungeon: ESO devs break down Oathsworn Pit design process

A behind-the-scenes look at Oathsworn Pit, one of the new dungeons available in The Elder Scrolls Online’s new DLC, Scions of Ithelia.

The Elder Scrolls Online turns ten in April this year, and festivities are already in full swing. With the Orsinium DLC available for free throughout March as part of the celebrations, it’s a perfect time for players who haven’t delved into the lore of Tamriel’s Orcish tribes and their connection to Malach to explore it.

So, that’s exactly what we did, taking a deep dive into the design of the new dungeon, Oathsworn Pit alongside Elder Scrolls Online’s Creative Director, Richard Lambert, and Lead Encounter Designer, Mike Finnigan.

Aside from the fast-paced and exciting combat encounters, the new dungeon also offers players a closer look at Orcish culture, and what it takes to live up to the lofty Code of Mauloch.

Starting with the story

“Initially as we’re coming up with the stories, it’s fun to brainstorm,” explained lead encounter designer, Mike Finnegan, speaking on the ZOS philosophy and design process. “We start from a story element, so we always start from the perspective of what is this place, what does it do, why would you be here?”

“What is the player going to learn?” Lambert added.

“It’s not just a series of connected hallways and rooms,” Finnegan continued, “it’s a function to that place, and what does that mean?”

“Oathsworn Pit is a traditional training ground for Malacath followers, and it’s separated into three Lodges.”

Each Lodge is a place where Orcs engage in rigorous training, learning to defend themselves and their home, beginning with their bare knuckles in the aptly named Lodge of the Fist, then moving on to the Lodge of the Axe to further their martial prowess with weapons. Finally, the belly of Oathsworn Pit is the Lodge of the Forge, where each orc will craft their own weapon, worthy of spilling blood for Mauloch.

The dungeon’s story takes players on a journey through these training grounds. An enigmatic group of Woodelves, known as the Recollection, are responsible for the chaos at Oathsworn Pit. Alongside the orc Bazrag, the players are tasked with driving the betrayers from the pit’s halls.

“If you’re familiar with the game and you’ve done Orsinium or Wrothgar, you may recognize Chief Bazrag,” Mike Finnegan said.

But this Woodelf force is “a new faction of enemies,” players haven’t met before. “What we typically like to do in dungeon content though is introduce stuff that may be relevant throughout the year…” he added, “you may see some Recollection people later on in the year, and we’re kind of introducing them here.”

Bringing Tamriel to life

Zenimax Online Studios

On top of the fun throwbacks to past key characters, and fresh antagonists, the dungeon’s scenic environments are breathtaking. A giant statue of the Orc God and Daedric Prince hangs suspended over a giant pit in the middle of the complex, and the rugged mountainside of The Reach rolls off into the distance, lending to the immense feeling of scale.

The environment in each level gives players a real reason to explore and take in all the glory of the level design, with rewards for those willing to take their time, from opportunities to unlock hidden secrets or deal ruthless sneak attacks to unsuspecting Recollection forces.

“What we try to do in dungeons, especially the later dungeons we’ve done, for people that like to go off the beaten path and explore, we try to give people avenues to do that,” Finnegan explained, showing off some of the interactive level design and NPC co-op options. “It also gives us the opportunity to create a more well-rounded experience, we can tell different stories and other stories which are related.”

Both he and Lambert agree it’s “absolutely” worth taking the time to dive into the secrets Oathsworn Pit has to uncover.

“This side content, particularly in this dungeon is a really cool story element,” he told us. “We explored the orc culture quite a bit in Orsenium and Wrothgar. This allows us to explore that aspect of them that’s specifically related to the worship of Malacath.”

Zenimax Online Studios

Designing the Pit

The team aims to “delineate different environments” whenever possible, Finnegan continued. “So, the Lodge of the Fist was outside, the Lodge of the axe was inside had those Orsinium elements to it, this area’s also inside, but adds the fire and the forge elements.” The idea is to ensure players can clearly tell where they are, just by looking at the dungeon’s visuals, making it easy to navigate through and explore those hidden mysteries.

Then, of course, there are combat mechanics to consider.

Understandably, for a dungeon dedicated to the Lord of Ash and Bone, boss fights can get hectic in Oathsworn Pit. With the environment and fight mechanics providing additional hurdles to conquer on top of just damaging the boss.

There are traps to avoid, totems to destroy, and persistent elemental effects which can vastly shrink the size of the combat arena if you’re careless.

“Generally, we try to lean into our core combat mechanics, the aspects of combat we think make the game the most fun. A lot of those are movement, blocking, dodging, interrupting.” Finnegan says, discussing the philosophy behind the level design. “We want to make sure what we call wombo combos, too many things happening at any given time without players being able to discern.”

Making every mode

“A lot of what we do is readability, we’ll design the encounters to blend in the core combat and challenge players in specific ways, but also spend a ton of time focusing on making sure that it’s readable and they know what’s happening.” As Finnegan sees it, he wants players to learn how attacks or terrain might affect combat. “We want to teach that before it matters.”

Lambert elaborated further on the process for designing a dungeon encounter like Oathsworn Pit. “So, a lot of times when the team is coming up with mechanics, they design them up front and then they start thinking about what ones they can take out for the different difficult modes so that it can be accessible to as many people as possible.”

Oathsworn Pit arrives alongside The Bedlam Veil, with the Scions of Ithelia DLC, launching March 11 for PC and Mac, and March 26 for the Xbox and PlayStation consoles.