Arriving with Update 50 and Season Zero on June 8, Tamriel’s Werewolves are getting a fierce refresh.
Werewolf Refresh
Part of Season Zero’s ongoing combat and class refresh work, the Werewolf skill line and look and feel update is almost here. You can experience the monstrous transformation anew when Update 50 arrives on June 8, and as with all Seasonal content, this refresh is completely free for all ESO players.
What exactly should you expect from the Werewolf refresh? Here’s a quick list of the major changes and additions:
- Two brand-new Werewolf models, one male and one female
- Including an approximate 20% size increase, the addition of more dynamic fur, and other visual tweaks
- New animations, visual effects, and sound effects, including:
- Locomotion (movement, jumping, etc.)
- Core combat mechanics (Block, Roll Dodge, etc.)
- Abilities
- A new Ultimate ability that overrides your Ultimate while in Werewolf form
- An overhaul of the way you manage and sustain Werewolf form
- Ultimate is used to both activate and sustain the form, making it significantly easier to maintain
- Sustaining Werewolf form out of combat is now free—the hunt goes on!
- Two new mechanics, named “Prowl” and “Slaughter”
- Slaughter is a synergy-based ability similar to Blade of Woe
- Prowl is a mechanic override for Crouch that works with Slaughter to ensure Werewolves remain terrifying without being invisible
As you can see, Werewolves are set to pounce back into the forefront with the redesign, so we reached out to members of the development team for a more in-depth look.
Roaring Redesign
First up is a dramatic redesign of the skill line’s core visuals, animations, VFX, and sounds, with the primary goal being to make them even more terrifying on the battlefield.
“Our goal was to create an experience that feels bestial and powerful,” explains Lead FX Artist Cambria Blaize. “We want you to feel intimidating as a werewolf, like you are ripping through anything that would stand in your way.”
The Claw Fury skill
To get there, the team took a three-pronged approach to the redesign: addressing player pain points, identifying gaps, and finding opportunities to showcase what makes Werewolves cool. Most importantly, the team wanted to make the experience of playing a Werewolf feel truly satisfying.
“The Werewolf is all-encompassing and its own beast,” explains Senior Animator Radacal Alexander. “It needed new locomotion and combat animations, and for all of it to feel cohesive.”
“For the VFX, we wanted it to feel more brutal than what we had for the original Werewolf abilities,” explains Principal VFX Artist Brian Hahn. “Some abilities just felt out of place, and honestly a bit silly when in use. Their replacements are much more intense and physical than their older counterparts.”
This work also included a female version of the Werewolf model—and one of the ESO community’s most-requested features.
“We wanted to add the female model for the Werewolf to bring it into parity with our other transformation abilities, like the Vampire, which already has a female form,” says Senior Producer Erin Schulte. “The female model has slightly slimmer figure, a longer tail, smaller ears, a shorter snout, and additional fur across the chest and neck with less fur along the jawline.”
Concept art for the Werewolf refresh
As with all combat refresh work, community feedback was a vital part of the process.
“I loved getting player feedback and tweaking the animations,” says Alexander. “There was even an animation that was too savage that tested our ESRB rating, requiring some tweaks!”
Transformative New Power
In addition to updates to the Werewolf’s visuals, VFX, and sounds, the team also sought to improve the mechanics behind Tamriel’s lycanthropes, starting with their ability to transform.
“The old model of expending a high, set amount of Ultimate that led to a timer was very limiting and rough not only in experience, but also in its design and how it was set up under the hood,” explains Senior Combat Designer Alec Verish. “We wanted to rework the experience into something more modern, so we moved toward a more “toggled” approach with a new Werewolf transformation cost and timer.”
This change should feel like a natural evolution for the previous transformation. It grants more freedom to enter and exit Werewolf form at will while providing additional ways to sustain the ferocious form for longer.
Pack Leader transformation skill
“Transformations cost significantly less Ultimate outright, and instead it drains that cost again to maintain,” explains Verish. “However, since this now drains Ultimate at a steady rate, we’ve also enabled Ultimate generation while transformed, making it the primary driver to transform AND sustain.”
Of note, you can no longer lose your Werewolf form when out of combat, allowing you to loot, communicate with your squad, or rest without an awkward transformation back to your much less hairy, less terrifying form.
Ferocious New Mechanics
In addition to the update to your lycanthropic transformation, the team has also introduced two new mechanics that allow you to become a true predator on the hunt. The first, being Slaughter takedowns, which function in a similar way to the Blade of Woe.
“Early into design we discussed making a cinematic kill camera that really helped sell the vicious, brutal nature of the Werewolf,” says Verish. “While designing these badass new Slaughter takedowns, we ran into a few issues with activating them while transformed. Werewolves are loud, intimidating creatures that garner a lot of attention when sighted!”
As a result, the team added a companion mechanic to Slaughter, called Prowl.
“Prowl is a unique override for your crouch function that operates similarly, but in a much more simplified manner,” says Verish. “At its core, Prowl simply makes it harder for enemies to detect you, letting you get behind them to use these new takedown effects and incite chaos upon the battlefield, but it also has the added benefit of letting you sniff out some more well-hidden foes.”
Pounce on unsuspecting prey
“When Prowl and Slaughter are used in tandem, you’ll be able to run between packs of enemies, instilling fear and carnage in your wake much more effectively,” says Verish.
Savage Skills
With Update 50, the Werewolf’s individual skills have also received numerous tweaks and improvements. In particular, the team made a major update to the Terrified mechanic, previously triggered by the Roar ability, and it has now been replaced with Blood Hunger.
“While Blood Hunger continues to increase the damage of your spammable, it can also interact with a few morphs as well,” explains Verish. “This is a relatively simple update on the surface that adds a little more mastery and expression to the Werewolf experience for those who want a more robust combat rotation.”
As far as werewolf spammable abilities go, as we mentioned above, the Piercing Howl ability has also been reworked into Gnash.
“Gnash is a quick double bite that operates as a high-hitting instant attack, but it also doubles as an execute to make up for Werewolves’ lack of bar space. This makes Werewolves far more impactful and terrifying hunters on the field, with a much higher ability to finish off their prey.”
The Gnash skill
While Blood Hunger and Gnash represent the biggest changes to the Werewolf’s individual skills, the team also made a host of smaller tweaks to other abilities to ensure you have plenty of good options when building your Werewolf character. Be sure to check out the full list of changes in the Patch Notes when Update 50 arrives on June 8.
Hunt and Howl
With Season Zero’s Werewolf refresh, Tamriel’s most fearsome lycanthropes will once again return to the hunt. Are you excited to get your claws into your own beast? Will you terrify your fellow players in PvP, or take your transformative new power into ESO’s PvE encounters? Let us know via Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.
The Werewolf refresh is part of Season Zero and arrives with Update 50 on June 8, 2026.