The Witches Festival is returning to The Elder Scrolls Online on October 26, 2023. During the event, you will obtain double XP and many goodies, which can be sold for some ESO gold coins. If it's your first time participating in the event, this guide has the details you should know about it.
What Is the Witches Festival Event
In October every year, players can participate in the Witches Festival, a holiday event. The event offers players a chance to collect a variety of Witches Festival-themed items, gain a 100% XP buff, and obtain a skeletal polymorph. The event includes a special quest, The Witchmother's Bargain, which is repeated yearly. Plunder Skulls, special reward containers, are also a notable feature of the festival. These skulls contain various event-themed items that players can collect.
2023 ESO Witches Festival Starting Date
This year's Witches Festival starts on October 26 at 10 AM EDT and ends on November 7 at 10 AM EST.
How to Start the Event
To take part in the Witches Festival, simply access the Crown Store and accept a free quest named The Witchmother's Bargain. Once you finish the quest, you'll receive the Witchmother's Whistle tool. If you have already completed this introductory quest in a previous year's event, there's no need to obtain this item again.
When you blow the whistle, you can summon the "Witchmother's Cauldron". Drinking it will transform you into a spooky, scary skeleton.
Find the Witchmother's Whistle tool in your Collection
Earn Plunder Skulls
During the Witches Festival, you will obtain a Plunder Skull for defeating a boss monster. Plunder Skull contains various goodies, and you have the chance to receive the following items:
• Alchemy reagents
• A festival-themed furnishing recipe
• A festival-themed provisioning recipe
• A complete festival-themed furnishing
• A festival-themed treasure
• A small chance for one of the following:
• A Hollowjack style item
• A Dremora style items
• Worms, Crawlers, Guts, Insect Parts
Hollowjack Style
Crowborne Hunter outfit style
What is more, when you defeat a different unique boss for the first time each day, you can get Dremora Plunder Skull that contains some of the above items in addition to these:
• Dremora motif chapter
• A chance for one of the following items:
• A Witches Festival Writ
• A Glenmoril Teasure Map or Glenmoril armor outfit style page
• A Grave Dancer weapon style page
• NEW A Tome of Forbidden Appetites Memento Runebox
• NEW A Witches Festival Ghost Netch pet fragment
• NEW A tradeable style page for the Crowborne Hunter outfit style
The different types of bosses that offer these Dremora Plunder Skulls include arena bosses, invasion bosses (from Dark Anchors, Harrowstorms, Volcanic Vents, etc.), delve bosses, final dungeon bosses, public dungeon bosses, and world bosses.
During this event, Tamriel is filled with monsters of all shapes and sizes. However, there is one creature that stands out among them all – Crowborne Horror. To defeat this terrifying monster, you first need to get the daily quest "Plucking the Crow" by speaking with the Witchmother Taerma, who can be found beside the Impresario or inside Olyve's Brewery.
After you complete the quest, Witchmother Taerma will reward you with a special Dremora Plunder Skull that has a small chance of containing valuable Witches Festival items that can be traded instead of regular Dremora Plunder Skull items. These items include:
• 10 Witch-Tamed Bear Dog fragments
• The full style book for the Dremora motif
• A folio of all Glenmoril Treasure Maps
• Runebox: Tome of Forbidden Appetites
• A random Crowborne Hunter outfit style page
Earn Event Tickets
The Witches Festival is also an opportunity to earn event tickets. Each day, for the first boss you defeat, you will receive two event tickets as rewards, which means there are up to 26 event tickets waiting for you to earn. You can use these special currencies to purchase unique items at the event merchants.
Hollowjack Lantern Ouroboros furnishing
ESO Witch-Tamed Bear-Dog pet
The Impresario
The Hoardhunter Ursauk mount
At the Impresario, you can use your event tickets to exchange for the following goodies:
• All the Passion Dancer Blossom pet fragments
• The first fragment for Hoardhunter Ursauk mount: Blessed Honeycomb
• Crowborne Hunter outfit style pages
• Witches Festival Ghost Netch pet fragment
• Tome of Forbidden Appetites memento
• Assorted Spooky Witches festival-themed Furnishings
• Webs, Cone furnishing
• Hollowjack Lantern, Ouroboros furnishing
• Specimen Jar, Spare Brain furnishing
• Ruby Candlefly Gathering furnishing
• Vampiric Lamp, Azure Tall furnishing
• Vampiric Lightpost, Azure Single furnishing
• Vampiric Container, Yellow Liquid furnishing
• Group Repair Kit
• Companion Guild Commendations
• Witches Grab Bag (This is purchasable only if you haven't yet collected all the items contained within)
• Skeletal Marionette memento
• Spectre Mask collectible
• There are four variations of this collectible
• Apple-Bobbing Cauldron fragment
• Throw Bones Memento fragment
• Marshmallow Toasty Treat emote
• Witch's Bonfire Dust
• Ghastly Visitation memento
• Witch-Tamed Bear-Dog pet fragment
• Witchmother's Servant outfit style pages
The Impresario's assistant, Philius Dormier, will offer all the fragments for the Unstable Morpholith pet and Dagonic Quasigriff mount.
Indrik Vendor
The Impresario's colleague, Nenulaure, will sell Indrik-related goodies:
• Nascent Indrik Feathers
• Pure Snow Indrik Berries
• Crimson Indrik Berries
• Frost-Light Indrik Pet
• Rosethorn Indrik Pet
So there you have it, folks. The ultimate guide to the Witches Festival in The Elder Scrolls Online. Get ready to earn some sweet rewards and transform into a spooky skeleton. Happy haunting!