TL;DR
- Event runs October 24th to November 6th with new quests and rewards
- Complete The Witchmother’s Bargain first to unlock daily event bonuses
- Strategic boss farming yields gold Dremora Plunder Skulls and event tickets
- New Eltheric Revenant outfit style and Senchal Horned Owl pet available
- Group play recommended for Lord Hollowjack (6-12 players)
The Elder Scrolls Online’s annual Witches Festival returns for 2024 with exciting new content and enhanced gameplay mechanics. This year introduces fresh challenges and exclusive rewards that veteran players won’t want to miss. Your trusted guide, Zurga, provides comprehensive strategies for maximizing your event participation and securing all available collectibles.
Mark your calendars: the 2024 Witches Festival commences on October 24th and concludes on November 6th, giving players exactly two weeks to complete all activities and collect their rewards. The event timing strategically positions it as ESO’s premier Halloween celebration, offering perfect seasonal immersion.
Pro tip: Begin preparations several days in advance by stocking up on essential consumables and ensuring your character build is optimized for efficient boss farming. This preparation can significantly increase your daily reward acquisition rate.
Introductory Quest: The Witchmother’s Bargain
Initiate your festival experience by acquiring The Witchmother’s Bargain quest from the Crown Store at no cost. This essential starting point grants access to the event’s core mechanics and daily bonus systems. The quest requires gathering three specific components: a pumpkin, various guts, and an essence of death obtained from any Delve boss encounter.
After collecting all required ingredients, journey to one of the designated Witches Covens located in Glenumbra, Auridon, and Stonefalls to complete the ritual and activate your event-wide bonus.

The Witches Coven Location in Glenumbra

The Witches Coven Location in Auridon

The Witches Coven Location in Stonefalls
Daily Quest: Rescue Mission
Locate Priest Maxien Roundille at any coven location to obtain the new daily quest. His mission involves rescuing three captured individuals scattered across Tamriel, beginning with Thalien in Grahtwood.
Thalien Rescue Operation
Engage Thalien in Grahtwood, then traverse the Portal to Detritus. Navigate the labyrinthine environment and interact with the Flamequench Bloom to secure his release.
Farvyn Rolas Extraction
Journey to Deshaan and access Detritus through the portal. Examine the Letter from Farvyn’s Mother to progress this segment of the mission.
Gatzug Liberation
After freeing Farvyn Rolas, proceed to Stormhaven. Communicate with Gatzug, enter Detritus via portal, and utilize the Bloody Battleaxe to complete the rescue.

Lord Hollowjack Trophy
Lord Hollowjack Confrontation
Upon rescuing all three captives, report back to Priest Maxien Roudille. This triggers the climactic battle against Lord Hollowjack, which developers recommend tackling with 6 to 12 players for optimal success. Victory rewards you with the prestigious Lord Hollowjack Trophy collectible.
The Witches Festival introduces a sophisticated reward structure centered around Dremora Plunder Skulls. Each day, your initial boss elimination across multiple content types—including Arena, Crowborne Horror, Delves, Dungeons, Incursions, Infinite Archive, Lord Hollowjack quest, Public Dungeons, Trials, and World Bosses—grants ten gold-quality containers. Subsequent engagements yield purple-quality Plunder Skulls, maintaining consistent reward flow throughout your gameplay session.
Event tickets represent the premium currency for acquiring exclusive items. You’ll receive two tickets daily when obtaining your first gold-quality reward container, enabling strategic acquisition of high-value collectibles from event vendors.
Strategic recommendation: Prioritize your most efficient boss kill each day to secure the gold-quality containers, then continue farming for additional purple-quality skulls to maximize material acquisition.
Plucking the Crow Quest Mechanics
Acquire the Plucking the Crow quest from Taerma at any coven location. This assignment provides the Crowborne Horror box reward but requires careful timing—initiate this quest BEFORE opening any Plunder Skulls, as it enables cursed feather drops essential for progression. Without the active quest, these materials won’t appear in your loot.
You must collect 30 cursed feathers exclusively from Plunder Skulls to complete the crow plucking ritual. Group participation remains viable for the associated boss encounter, offering flexibility in completion approach.

Senchal Horned Owl Pet
Dremora Plunder Skulls contain diverse reward categories with varying drop rates:
• Dremora Motif Chapter Pages for armor and weapon customization
• Witches Festival Writs rewarding Hollowjack Style Pages upon completion
• Glenmoril Treasure Maps leading to hidden caches
• Glenmoril Wyrd Armor Outfit Style Page for complete set acquisition
• Crowborne Hunter Outfit Style Pages for thematic character appearance
• Eltheric Revenant Outfit Style Pages (NEW for 2024)
• Plunder Skull Blunder Memento (NEW interactive item)
• Senchal Horned Owl Pet Fragments (NEW companion collection)
Additional Plunder Skull contents include:
• Alchemy Reagents for potion crafting
• Festival-Themed Furnishing Recipes and actual furnishings for player housing
• Festival-Themed Provisioning Recipes for seasonal food and drink items
• Festival-Themed Treasure items with vendor value
• Occasional Hollowjack Style Items or Dremora Style Items
• Worms, Crawlers, Guts, and Insect Parts for various crafting purposes
The Impresario’s Exclusive Offerings

The Impresario serves as your primary source for premium event items, featuring:
• Complete fragment set for Molag Bal Illusion Imp Pet acquisition
• All Eltheric Revenant Style Pages for complete outfit collection
• Two fragments toward the Haven of the Five Companions House
• Feather components required for summoning the Senchal Horned Owl Pet
• Hollowjack Lantern, Ouroboros decorative item
• Plunder Skull Blunder interactive memento
• Ruby Candlefly Gathering furnishing piece
• Specimen Jar, Spare Brain alchemy station decoration
• Vampiric Container, Yellow Liquid storage furnishing
• Vampiric Lamp, Azure Tall lighting item
• Vampiric Lightpost, Azure Single outdoor furnishing
• Webs, Cone environmental decoration for housing
• Witches Grab Bag containing random festival items
• Impresario’s Group Repair Kit for cooperative gameplay
• Companion Fighter’s Guild Commendation for ally progression
• Companion Mages Guild Commendation for magical follower advancement
• Companion Undaunted Guild Commendation for veteran companion development
The event merchant’s assistant concurrently offers fragments from previous seasonal events, providing collection opportunities for missed content.
Indrik Vendor Location and Inventory
The Indrik Vendor maintains her established position in Craglorn near Belkarth. Her inventory specializes in Indrik mount fragments and two distinctive pet companions.
Advanced strategy: Prioritize acquiring the new Eltheric Revenant outfit style pages early in the event, as these typically represent the most sought-after collectibles each year.
Common mistake avoidance: Many players overlook the quest sequencing requirement for Plucking the Crow, resulting in wasted Plunder Skull openings that don’t yield cursed feathers. Always verify you have the appropriate quest active before engaging in reward container activities.
Action Checklist
- Acquire The Witchmother’s Bargain from Crown Store and complete ritual at any coven
- Farm Delve bosses for essence of death and gather other quest components
- Complete daily rescue quest from Priest Maxien Roundille
- Secure daily gold Dremora Plunder Skull from first boss kill
- Obtain Plucking the Crow quest BEFORE opening any Plunder Skulls
- Redeem event tickets for priority items at Impresario
- Assemble group of 6-12 players for Lord Hollowjack confrontation
No reproduction without permission:GameCDjnh » ESO Events 2024: The Witches Festival Event Guide Complete guide to ESO's 2024 Witches Festival with new quests, rewards, and optimization strategies
