Is ESO's Markarth DLC Free Now? How to Start It in Season Two
Markarth is now part of The Elder Scrolls Online's base game. How to start it, what else went free with Greymoor, and the Golden Pursuits rewards.
Yes: The Elder Scrolls Online's Markarth DLC is now free. ZeniMax Online moved the Markarth zone and storyline into ESO's base game on 9 November, as part of Season Two: Echoes of Skyrim, so anyone with the base game can play it without buying the DLC.
Is Markarth free in ESO?
Yes. The zone and its storyline are "now free as part of ESO's base game and Season Two", ZeniMax says. That covers the Reach in southwestern Skyrim and an expanded Blackreach, and it wraps up the Dark Heart of Skyrim saga that began with the Greymoor Chapter.
How do I start Markarth?
Open the Collections menu, select Stories and find Markarth under Zone DLC. That gives you the opening quest, which points you to the Reach.
What else is free in ESO Season Two?
Season Two started on 21 October and moved three pieces of Skyrim content into the base game:
- Greymoor Chapter: the Western Skyrim zone with Solitude and Blackreach, the storyline, the Antiquities system and the Kyne's Aegis 12-player Trial.
- Wolfhunter DLC: including the four-player versions of the March of Sacrifices and Moon Hunter Keep dungeons.
- Markarth DLC: the zone and storyline, since 9 November.
Season Two also added ESO's first solo dungeons: solo versions of March of Sacrifices and Moon Hunter Keep, with variable difficulty and new rewards. Everything in the season is free except the Premium Tamriel Tome.
What is the Return to Western Skyrim Golden Pursuits?
A limited campaign that runs from 9 November until 2 December at 10am ET (3pm GMT). Its activities cover Western Skyrim and Blackreach: Antiquities, lore books, bosses, questing in the zone and crafting. The full list is in the Golden Pursuits section of the in-game Activity Finder. The milestone rewards are:
- 5 activities: Antiquities revealer and leads bundle
- 10 activities: 10,000 gold
- 15 activities: Antiquities booster, leads and crate bundle, with a Sovngarde Crown Crate
- 20 activities: Sea of Ghosts Coral Crab pet
- 25 activities: Antiquities mythic leads and crate bundle, with a Sovngarde Crown Crate
- 30 activities: Sea of Ghosts Coral Wolf mount
Since Greymoor and Markarth are both free now, newer players can earn the pet and mount without owning either.
When does ESO Season Two end?
On 27 January 2027. Before then, ZeniMax plans Whitestrake's Mayhem in November and the New Life Festival in December (dates not announced yet), a Nowhere Vault Golden Pursuits campaign in January, and Update 52 on 19 January. That update brings the season's player-experience improvements, including higher housing furnishing limits, more Companion face customisation, area-of-effect pulls and taunts and a new minimap option, and a new PvP season starts with it.
Bethesda's other online world gets its own update on 1 December: Fallout 76's World Pets lets your C.A.M.P. pet follow you into the wasteland.
