"Yeah, you had to be there": Mike Finnigan talks Elder Scrolls Online Writhing Wall phases, server competition, and more

The Battle for the Writhing Wall is the next big event on the horizon for the Elder Scrolls Online, serving as a pivotal point of the ongoing Season of the Worm Cult storyline as well as the first event of its kind to affect the world of Tamriel in real time. To get more information about Zenimax Studios taking such a big step this late into the game's life, we sat down with Mike Finnigan, the Associate Design Director of Elder Scrolls Online, to chat about the event.

For the veterans of the title, they will know Mike from the earliest days when he worked on the myriad of Elder Scrolls Online's Dungeons. Later on, he took on the mantle of Lead Encounter Designer and has spent the last couple of years crafting the various Dungeons, Raids, and open-world content across the game. As it stands, Mike has well over 12 years dedicated to the game's development at every level. Without further ado, let's hear what he has to share about The Writhing Wall.

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Mike Finnigan lays out all the details regarding the upcoming Battle for the Writhing Wall in Elder Scrolls Online's Season of the Worm Cult

After introductions, our conversation began with Mike explaining in detail what the Battle for the Writhing Wall event will entail in terms of both gameplay and narrative terms, and how players will have to "lock in", as the kids say, to get through the entire event on a community level.

Break the walls down. Over and over again (Image via Zenimax Online Studios)

Q. So, first and foremost, what is The Writhing Wall? I mean, I know that it's in the game as a physical barrier between the two parts of Solstice, and I'm interested in how it came to be because before this, we had no idea about this. After all, it's a continuation of the base game storyline, which happened years ago, so why is it here and now?

Mike Finnigan: This Writhing Wall marks the barrier between the Worm Cult's resurgence (Western Solstice) and what they're trying to do (on Eastern Solstice). It's almost like a Planemeld on the other side of this wall, but you haven't seen it yet, and it's this physical and metaphysical barrier across the island.

So what you're trying to do with this event is the Battle of the Writhing Wall. It is a multi-staged, per-server event where you will break down the wall and head to the other side of Solstice, specifically the eastern side of Solstice. You started on Western Solstice and now you get to head to Eastern Solstice, but you have to deal with The Writhing Wall first.

The Battle of the Writhing Wall kicks off on October 13th. It is a multi-server event, but each server will run the event independently. So PCEU, PCNA, XboxEU, XboxNA, PSEU, and PSNA; all those servers are working independently. There are quests and stuff that everybody does, and it is a multi-phased event, so there are multiple stages that you have to work through, and eventually it culminates with you breaking through the wall and getting to the other side of Solstice.

As I mentioned, each server will work independently. Therefore, some servers will have access to Eastern Solstice before others do. That's part of the event's experience; there's almost a competition between the different servers to get to Eastern Solstice first.

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Q. So the Battle of the Writhing Wall is a Multi-phased, multi-server event. How will the progression work?

Mike Finnigan: Well, there are three phases, first of all, and depending on the server, you will be able to tell which phase you're on. There are goals that you can take a look at, and you can see which goals you will unlock. Now you've seen other events we've conducted in the past, where the community as a whole worked together, and we actually had a dedicated website to show these goals. This is on the server and completely independent from any other servers that you're on, so if you go to a different server, you're going to see them at a different stage of progress.

Author's note: Mike is referencing past events, such as Summerfall and Heroes of High Isle, where players could see progress on a dedicated website.

So, players will work through the phases, and as the phases transition, the difficulty will scale as the enemy defenses become more robust. So the first phase essentially consists of supplying and defending. There are these siege camps situated in Western Solstice, facing the Writhing Wall. As you gather supplies, those siege cramps will progress accordingly, on a visual level. You'll see them building the towers for the sieges and stuff, so you will know that you're actually progressing. You're actually crafting a device called the Meridia Lens, which is going to fire a beam at the Writhing Wall after you've completed supplying the camps.

Everything doesn't happen just on Solstice. You have several tasks that you could partake in. There are a lot of repeatable quests that help you kind of supply your war effort. There are quests to do if you don't have the content pass. If you have the content pass, you can engage with all the repeatable quests in Solstice, but if you don't, you can head to Stirk in the base game, and there are quests that you can do out in that area too to gather resources and stuff to assist the siege effort. This isn't just for people who have the Season of the Worm Cult content pass.

This isn't just limited to Stirk or Solstice. During this phase, the Worm Cult will take over some of the Delves and Public Dungeons throughout the base game map. So, these instances will glow to indicate that they are invaded, and you will be able to kill the daedra and collect a currency called Vitrified Souls. You can turn these in at Stirk and Solstice and get your daily and repeatable coffers.

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Servers will have to plan their playtimes accordingly to get access to Eastern Solstice faster (Image via Zenimax Online Studios)

Q. Will the Dolmens become empowered as well? And does it affect all of the Worm Cult-related content because there's an unfinished Dolmen in Wrothgar, which the Worm Cult has forgotten?

Mike Finnigan: Dolmens are not being empowered, but players will be able to collect Vitrified Souls from almost all of Worm Cult daedras in-game. You will progress even when farming the other regions.

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Q. You mentioned that different stages will become more difficult with time. What kind of resistance can players expect?

Mike Finnigan: During the first phase, the siege camps will be attacked by forces on the other side of the wall, so you will have to defend the camps, and these will get progressively harder. As the Battle for the Writhing Wall progresses, elite daedras from the other side will start to attack the camps as well. Occasionally, you will get a boss joining in on the fight. After you break through the wall and open up Eastern Solstice, this enemy will become a World Boss.

Once your server breaks through the wall, it will unlock a new instanced content called The Writhing Fortress. Think of it as a public dungeon, but with more players and a much more mechanic-focused encounter. There are three lanes, and players will have to pick one and do certain mechanics to progress through the dungeon. You will be able to see what the other lanes are doing and even help them progress, so your lane might have to wait for another lane to finish their task to open the way forward for you.

The final boss is one of the biggest encounters we've designed. You'll see it when you get to it. There are siege machines all around that you will have to use, and you will have to work together to defeat the boss. But once the first team gets through the Fortress, Eastern Solstice opens up for everyone on that server. So there's that chase aspect, even in the third phase of the Battle for the Writhing Wall as well. The Writhing Fortress will be open for one week, but the map will be available to explore after the first team gets through.

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Arnab Chakrabarti: I thought this would be like the other events in Elder Scrolls Online, like the Undaunted Celebration and such, where we have to do quests daily, get rewards, and move on. This is much more involved and somewhat competitive, even.

Mike Finnigan: Yeah, there is definitely an aspect of competition between servers. And it will be up on a website so servers can prepare for the next phase.

Arnab Chakrabarti: See, I'm on PCEU, so I know that our server is all good, given how efficient players are on that end.

Mike Finnigan: I mean, I'm not gonna say anything, but considering how quickly I get updates from you guys regarding new content...

Arnab Chakrabarti: Yeah, we got this.

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Q. Okay, let's talk about the biggest issue with live events. Fear of missing out. It's inevitable in a live-service game, and the Battle of the Writhing Wall will elicit a similar response. Will there be any cinematics to remind future players of what transpired here?

Mike Finnigan: I mean, sure, that kind of feeling will never go away, and you cannot develop content by thinking about just that. But, yes, there will be references to what happened. Characters will talk about it. Future content will hint at it. This is kind of the thing where it's like, "yeah, you had to be there", but not necessarily that you're going to feel like "oh, you missed out on everything."

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Q. You mentioned a big boss fight at the end of the Writhing Fortress. Does this boss have any special loot that players will have a limited chance to obtain? Since the Battle for the Writhing Wall is a special event, maybe a special drop to signify the rarity factor?

Mike Finnigan: The boss won't drop any rewards directly, as all of the loot is locked behind the reward coffers from quests. As you continue to complete the quests and delve into the Writhing Fortress, you'll get the rarer rewards after a while.

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The Battle for the Writhing Wall is set to release on 13th October at 10 AM EDT for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5

Edited by Arnab Chakrabarti