Here, we’ll talk about the Witches Festival 2023 for the Elder Scrolls Online.

Witches Festival

The Witches Festival got introduced 2016 and usually returns each year mid or end of October.

The Festival is part of the Base Game and you don’t need any DLCs or ESO + to earn unique rewards or event tickets.

How To Start The Witchmother’s Festival?

If you never participated in the past years in the Witches Festival, you have to complete the quest ‘The Witchmother’s Bargain’ first.

Open the Crown Store and use the free quest starter Crow Caller to summon the Witchmother and start the quest. She will request you to obtain a pumpkin, a sample of guts, and an Essence of Death.

The quickest way to obtain pumpkin and guts is to look at the guild traders and buy them with ESO Gold.

If you don’t want to spend gold, you can find guts by looting small animals and fleshy undeads. And pumpkins can be found in containers or on the ground throughout Tamriel or you can purchase them from the NPC Grocers for 150 gold.

To obtain the Essence of Death, you must kill a boss of any delve. Delves in Cyrodiil are not working to earn Essence of Death.

Once you have all three ingredients (Guts, Pumpkins & Essences of Death), you will be directed to the Witchmother’s Brewery in Auridon, Glenumbra or Stonefalls. You may use any of these three locations, regardless of your alliance. Even so, the quest will still direct you to your alliances zone.

After you deliverd the requested ESO Items to the Witchmother, she will start to prepare her brew. Complete the quest ‘The Witchmother’s Bargain’ to receive the Witchmother’s Whistle Memento.

Double XP - Witchmother’s Whistle Memento

Use the Witchmother’s Whistle memento to summon the Witchmother’s Cauldron. This will grant you and your party a two hour 100% XP buff that stacks with all other xp bonuses.

You can’t use the Memento in Cyrodiil, but you can activate the buff before you enter Cyrodiil to use the double xp buff there.

You don’t have to drink from the Witchmother’s Cauldron in order to gain the xp buff. But if you decide to taste the Witchmother’s Brew, you will transform into a skeleton for a limited time.

If you completed the quest in previous events, you don’t need to acquire the Crow Caller or complete the quest again. You can just open your memento collection, go to tools, and there you can use the Witchmother’s Whistle Memento.

Witches Festival Rewards & Plunder Skulls

During the event, all bosses and monsters will drop unique Plunder Skulls and Dremora Plunders Skulls, which will contain amazing Witches Festival themed loot.

Plunder Skull has a chance to contain the following spooky items:

• Witches Festival Furnishing Recipes
• Witches Festival Furnishings
• Witches Festival Recipes
• Witches Festival Provisioning Recipes
• Various Creepy Crawlies
• Various Crafting Materials
• Dremora Plunder Skulls

You can acquire Dremora Plunder Skulls in addition to the regular Plunder Skulls. These will be the first Plunder Skull drop you receive for each type of boss each day.

A Dremora Plunder Skull contains all the same items found in a regular Plunder Skull, but it also includes a Dremora Motif page based on the type of boss you defeated.

• The Final Boss of the Dragonstar Arena, Maelstrom Arena, Blackrose Prison Arena or Vateshran Arena drop Dremora Motif pages for Bows and Legs.
• Dark Anchor, Geyser Bosses, Dragons and Harrowstorms drop Dremora Motif pages for Daggers and Gloves.
• Delve Bosses drop Dremora Motif pages for Staves and Belts.
• The final boss of a Group Dungeon drop Dremora Motif pages for Helmets and Maces.
• Public Dungeon and Quest Bosses drop Dremora Motif pages for Shields and Boots.
• Final Trial Bosses drop Dremora Motif pages for Swords and Chests.
• World Bosses drop Dremora Motif pages for Shoulders and Axes.

Dremora Plunder Skulls may also contain the following additional rewards:

• Grave Dancer Style Pages
• Witches Festival Writs
• Glenmoril Treasure Maps
• Runeboxes with more collectibles

Witches Festival Writs

The Witches Festival Writs work much like Master Writs. They can be traded, mailed, and sold.

Once you accept the contract, however, they are bound to you.

If you complete 13 Witches Festival Writs, you will earn the Witch’s Infernal Hat and for completing 28 Witches Festival Writs will earn the title “Witch”.

By completing Witches Festival Writs, you also have a chance to find Hollowjack Style pages.

Tome Of Forbidden Appetites Memento

There can be found also new items inside Dremora Plunder Skulls.

You can collect a new Memento, the Tome of Forbidden Appetites Memento. And you can also find a new Outfit Style, the Crowborne Hunter armor Style.

Ghost Netch Pet

Furthermore, you have this year a chance to obtain the new adorable Ghost Netch pet.

Collect and Combine ten possessed shreds to unlock the Ghost Netch pet.

Witches Festival Dailies - Plucking The Crow Quest

In 2021, ESO added a daily reaptable Witches Festival Quest.

You can start the Plucking the Crow Quest at the Impresario’s tents or inside of Olyve’s Brewery.

For this quest, you have to gather 50 cursed feathers. Cursed feathers can be collected by opening any Plunder Skull.

After you have collected 50 cursed feathers, return to Olyve’s Brewery and follow the instructions.

Then, use the portal to fight & defeat the Crowborne Horror.

Completing this daily repeatable quest will reward you with three Plunder Skulls.

Also Read: Elder Scrolls Online 2024: Whitestrake’s Mayhem Event Is Back! - A Comprehensive Guide

Witches Festival House - Exorcised Coven Cottage

During the Witches Festival, you have also the opportunity to purchase a unique house.

The Exorcised Coven Cottage will be purchasable via the Crown Store or for 250,000 gold during the Witches Festival if you have the Witches Festival Achievement ‘An Unsparing Harvest’ unlocked.

This spooky and cozy little cottage is located in Glenumbra and is only available during the Witches Festival.

If you complete all achievements related to the Witches Festival, you can unlock the ‘Sun’s Dusk Reaper’ title.

Witches Festival Event Tickets

You can also earn Event Tickets during the Witches Festival.

You will earn 2 Event Tickets per day per account by defeating any boss monster in the Elder Scrolls Online. That can be, for example, a boss from a quest, in a delve, dolmen, world boss, trials, etc.

Don’t forget to loot the boss to get your Event Tickets.

Impresario Event Merchant

Of course, the Impresario Event Merchant is also opening her store during the Witches Festival.

This year, she is offering:

• Passion Dancer Blossom fragments,
• The first fragment for the Hoardhunter Ursauk mount,
• Witches Festival themed furnishings
• Hoardhunter Ursauk Mount
• Witches Grab Bags
• Crowborne Hunter Style pages
• Crowborne Hunter Style
• A Tome of Forbidden Appetites Memento
• Ghost Netch pet & more

Witches Grab Bags

Several rewards from previous Witches Fesitvals can no longer be found in Plunder Skulls.

These rewards are now inlcuded in the Witches Grab Bags, which you can purchase for 2 event tickets from the Impresario Event Merchant.

Inside the Witches Grab Bags you can find:

• Skeletal Marionette Memento Fragments for the Throwing Bones Memento
• Apple Bobbing Cauldron Memento
• Skeletal Marionette Memento
• Hollowjack Spectre Mask
• Pumpkin Spectre Mask
• Scarecrow Spectre Mask
• Thicketman Spectre Mask
• Marshmallow Toasty Treat Emote
• Witch’s Bonfire Dust Memento
• Bonedust Pigments for the Witch-Tames Bear Dog
• Witchmother’s Servant Style the Ghastly Visitation Memento
• Bound style pages for the Witchmother’s Servant Style

Indrik Vendor

The Indrik Vendor will also open her shop during the Event.

She offers during the fourth quarter of 2023:

• Nascent Indrik feathers
• Pure Snow Indrik berries & Crimson Indrik berries
• Frost-Light Indrik Pet & Rosethorn Indrik Pet

Philius Dormier

Philius Dormier, the Impresario’s Assistant, will also open his shop during the Witches Festival.

He offers during the fourth quarter of 2023:

• Unstable morpholith pet fragments
• Dagonic Quasigriff Mount fragments