Battlegrounds In Elder Scrolls Online Drops 3-Team Format For A 2-Team One, 2 New Companions Coming

Last week we prepped you for an incoming stream from The Elder Scrolls Online that was aimed at showing off Update 44 and the large changes coming to PvP in the MMORPG. Honestly, I don't think I would have guessed that the new direction was going to be the path. Battlegrounds is dropping an entire team. Right now, Battlegrounds is a 3 team affair in ESO. Once Update 44 drops, only 2 teams will take part in each match.

These changes are across the board in Battlegrounds, so this includes 4v4 and 8v8 and all the normal modes: Team Deathmatch, Crazy King, Domination, Chaosball (8v8 mode only), and Capture the Relic (8v8 mode only). 4v4v4 will not even be available in the Battleground queue anymore, although it could return for special PvP events.

We will have seven new maps to battle in though, and some of them look great. Check out the video from the stream below.

With PvP having a bit of a rocky history in ESO, I get trying to revamp it a bit, but I'm not entirely sure that cutting out the 3 team aspect was the way to go here, but I'm open to seeing how things go. If nothing else, the queues should be faster and the action quicker, too.

Two new companions are making their way to Tamriel in Update 44, too. Tanlorin and Zerith-var (shown above) will each have their own story quests and background, similar to previous companions. When traveling with Tanlorin, you'll receive a number of buffs to your lockpicking and Zerith-var highlights bags of loot when out in the world.

Both companions need to either be purchased from the Crown Store (ESO's cash shop), or accessed through your ESO Plus membership.

Other notable additions include the first new Grimoire since Update 42. Banner Bearer slaps a banner to your back and buffs allies in range. Previous Grimoires also get 14 new focus scripts. We're also getting the original tutorial mission back as the current one will be retired. Don't worry, "Soul Shriven in Coldharbour" has seen changes and improvements.

That's just the beginning of the Update 44 plans, too. Hit up the post linked above for all the additional details. The update arrives on PC on October 28th and on consoles on November 13th.