holiday event | MissBizzPlays

The Witches Festival is an annual holiday event in The Elder Scrolls Online! Lore-wise, the Witches Festival is on the 13th of Frost Fall, but in game dates have varied. You can get a memento, along with holiday themed loot and an XP buff! If you prefer video guides, you can check mine out here!

When is the witches festival?

2016 – October 13th – November 1st
2017 – October 20th – November 1st

How do I partake?

‘Purchase’ the free crown caller item available from the crown store. This will add the crow caller to your inventory. Go ahead and use it! You will now need to complete a short quest titled The Witchmother’s Bargain.

Where do I get everything for the quest?

Pumpkin

Pumpkins can be purchased from any Grocer NPC for 150 gold, as well you can purchase them from other players. You also can find pumpkins on the counter beside the Vivec City grocer, in a cart in Maelstrom Arena (before any fights) or in The Rift as shown below.

Guts

Guts can be looted by killing any small creature. Think non-hostile critters such as rabbits and squirrels.

Essence of Death

The Essence of Death is something quest specific. You just need to go to any delve (that is not in Cyrodiil) and kill the boss. Look for a delve with the torch icon on your map.

What do I get?

After completing the quest, you will receive a Witchmother’s Whistle which can be found under memento’s in your collections screen. This whistle gives you an XP buff (2 hours) when used, and optionally can give you a skeleton polymorph. (2 hours) The whistle can be quickslotted so it is easier to renew your XP buff.

How do I get the XP Buff?

The 100% XP buff is given to you when you use the Witchmother’s Whistle memento. You do not need to complete the quest on every character you have. If you did the quest on one character, all of your characters have access to the memento. If you are in a group when the Witchmother’s Whistle memento is used, everyone in the group receives the XP Buff.

Does the XP Buff stack?

Yes! The XP buff stacks with other XP bonus sources. Keep in mind you cannot use a XP Scroll and Drink (Ambrosia) at the same time. XP Buffs that can be used are:

ESO+ XP Bonus: 10%
Ring of Mara: 10%
Grouping Bonus: 10%
Psijiic Ambrosia OR XP Scroll: (50%-150%)
Training Gear: Dependent on level, quality, and how many pieces worn. Only buffs XP from kills.
Alliance War Keep buff: 5% (applies only to monster and player-character kills in PvP zones)
Festival XP Bonus: 100%

Keep in mind that all XP buff bonuses are applied to the base XP only. Example: You have the festival buff and 50% Psijiic ambrosia. Let’s say a monster kill without any buffs will give you 50 xp. You will receive 125 XP. 50 base XP, 50 bonus XP from Festival buff, and 25 bonus XP from Psijiic Ambrosia.

How do I get the skeleton polymorph?

To turn into a skeleton for 2 hours, you need to use the Witchmother’s Whistle, then once you summon a cauldron, use the cauldron to morph into a skeleton. You do not need to be a skeleton to receive the XP buff.

What about loot?

Oh yes! There is tons of loot to be had during the ESO Witches Festival! During the Witches Festival you will receive a Plunder Skull every time you kill a boss. All kind of bosses count, group dungeon bosses, maelstrom arena bosses, world bosses, delve and public dungeon bosses! Oh, and dolmens! For instanced content (such as group dungeons) there is a 3 minute cooldown timer on Plunder Skulls. For overland content the cooldown appears to be 3-5 minutes. Plunder skulls are a container and therefore cannot be banked.

What do Plunder Skulls hold?

For 2017 Plunder Skulls currently can hold the below items. All items you could receive in 2016 are also available in 2017. This list is not currently complete, I’m working on getting more pictures.