Uncover the darkness at the heart of the rites
You must take all three paths to complete the arena and unlock the final challenge, but the order by which you take them is entirely up to you. In addition, each path can unlock new traversal tools that can help you find new secrets in the other arenas. Keep an eye out for new powers that may help you navigate certain paths and assist you in your battles.
“We wanted each arena’s traversal method to play a role in the final boss for that arena, so discovering how best to do that is key to defeating each arena,” explains Finnigan. “Also, the order in which you do the arenas can be important, so figuring out your individual path based on build and playstyle is something we think players will enjoy.”
All of this creates a fundamentally different experience from the one you have in Maelstrom Arena, and in a lot of ways, this new arena reflects ESO’s core tenets of exploration, storytelling, and choice.
“I have seen it said that Vateshran Hollows plays much more like a single player Dungeon than it does a classic Arena like Maelstrom, and that was a design goal. While Maelstrom has the temporary sigils you can use within the given fight space (and Vateshran has those too), we also wanted to create new, lasting impacts that, should players wish to sacrifice time, could make their experience a bit easier.”
Rewards of the Vateshran
To the Spiritblood clan, great glory comes in completing the rites and becoming a champion, and those who successfully battle their way through each arena discover new rewards and riches not found elsewhere in the Reach.
These new rewards include collectibles such as the Hungering Void weapon styles, which you have a chance of earning each time you complete Vateshran Hollows (with a better chance on veteran difficulty), and the Void Pathosis skin, earned after you clear the arena on veteran difficulty—no easy feat!