The Armory is a new feature in The Elder Scrolls Online that was added with Update 32 alongside the Deadlands DLC. A long-requested feature, the Armory allows players to create multiple builds for their characters and switch between them when needed, opening up the door for multi-speccing.
The Armory will save Attributes, Skills, Equipment, Champion Points, Quickslot setups, Outfits, and even whether the player is a Vampire or Werewolf - the Grey Host would be proud of such a hybrid spirit. It is a system that's available to all Elder Scrolls Online players, regardless of subscription to ESO Plus, and it is something that veteran players should spend some time digging into.
Updated June 3, 2022 by Erik Petrovich: With Elder Scrolls Online: High Isle soon arriving, plenty of players new and returning will be flooding into ESO for the new Chapter's release. Whether you've played the MMO before or not, it's a good idea to go back and familiarize yourself with the game's mechanics, especially new ones. The ESO Armory system is one such recent mechanic, one that gives players more freedom in customizing builds for different aspects of Elder Scrolls Online content. The ESO Armory system is pretty intuitive, though players do have to jump through a few hurdles to get access to it in the first place: namely, the Crown Store and home ownership.
What Is The Armory Used For In ESO?
The ESO Armory system is essentially a way for players to have a second loadout, one that can be swapped in and out at one of the Armory Stations ESO provides for players. It's not just for cosmetic loadouts, which the Outfit system already covers for the most part. The ESO Armory System is instead used for stats, abilities, weapons, armor sets, champion points, and curses.
It's important to note that players must have access to the gear and abilities they have in their second Armory slot to be able to swap. If you have an armor set in your second loadout, but don't have it in your inventory when you go to swap your build at the Armory Station, you won't be wearing the armor after switching. If abilities are tied to specific weapons in your loadout, they will only appear after switching if you have the weapon on-hand at the time. This does not apply to class and race-specific spells as they aren't tied to gear that can be unequipped.
Accessing The Armory
The Armory can be accessed in two ways, both of which are found in the Crown Store. The first way is through the Armory furnishing, which can be acquired from the "Upgrades" tab of the Crown Store for free. Once the Armory furnishing is placed in the player's home, interacting with it as one would with any Crafting station will bring up the Armory menu. As such, there is no specific ESO Armory location as it's your choice where to place it. If you don't have a player home, head to the nearest Inn in a major city to begin a quest that rewards one for free.
The second way is through the Armory assistant Gharasharog who can appear whenever called out in the world, though hiring him costs a steep 5000 Crowns. Keep in mind, too, that players only have access to two Armory slots at first, essentially meaning a character can have one alternative build to start with. More slots are purchasable from the Crown Store.
How Does The ESO Armory System Work?
Upon opening the Armory menu players will be greeted with two tabs, one for Build 1 and one for Build 2. The player's current gear setup, including equipped weapons, is shown on the left side of the screen, while the empty Build tabs are shown on the right side.
Players don't customize their builds within this menu – it's easier to think of it as overriding the build settings saved to the Armory with the player's current setup. Players can unlock additional slots from the Crown Store for 1500 Crowns, but it's best to mess around with the two free slots first before buying additional room.
Equip Build, Save Build, and Build Settings
In the Armory menu, there are three options presented at the bottom of the screen, being "Equip Build", "Save Build", and "Build Settings".
- Build Settings allows players to customize the name and icon for the selected Build tab.
- Save Build is used to load the player's current setup into either of the Build tabs, to include Gear, Skills, Attributes, CP, current Outfit, and whether a Curse is active or not.
- Equip Build will load the currently selected Build tab in the Armory onto the player, unequipping their gear and changing their stats to match the selected Build tab.
As an example of how these are used, refer to the screenshot above. Build 1 was created by using "Save Build" to record the character's current setup into the Armory, while Build 2 is currently unused. If the character were to "Equip Build" on this empty second tab they would essentially be given a blank slate to start anew with their gear being unequipped and their stats and points being refunded. If the character were to "Equip Build" on the Build 1 tab again, they would instantly be given the skills, equipment, attributes, champion points, and other customizations saved in that tab.
Other ESO Armory Tips
The Armory is more nuanced than it first appears. Its most obvious use is to multi-class on a certain character, perhaps opening up a Tank build to complement a DPS one. It can also be used to create very specific builds, like Crafting builds that can be used to maximize crafting output without switching to a Crafting Alt.
Additionally, it can be used as a sort of free re-spec station, as long as one of the builds is kept completely empty. Players can go to their Armory station instead of a Shrine to re-allocate their Skill Points, CP, and Attributes (or cure themselves of a curse) as needed in this way, though it does completely close off the possibility of having a secondary build available.
The Elder Scrolls Online is available for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S