The release of theElder Scrolls OnlineDLCGreymoorin May 2020 brought new areas, new characters, and a new way to explore while getting rewards in return. Scrying is a World Skill inElder Scrolls Onlinethat allows players to hunt down hidden antiques and historical artifacts, some of which can be used by the player as furnishings and gear.
Scrying is a new and exciting way to get awesome rewards and exploreunknown areas of beloved maps. It’s a fun and new idea for theElder Scrolls Onlinefranchise and allows players to do something other than killing or completing quests. It’s essentially a new style of mini-game that involves thinking ahead, a keen eye, and lots of patience.
Updated July 24, 2025 by Erik Petrovich: One of the most beloved features in Elder Scrolls Online is the Scrying system. Since its introduction in the Greymoor expansion, ESO Scrying has become a mainstay for every expansion, offering new rewards for intrepid Scryers players with each DLC. But when it comes to learning Scrying,ESO players who are tryingthe MMO for the first time may feel overwhelmed and not understand what makes the system worth interacting with, and what makes it important. This Scrying ESO guide has been updated with new information and tips on the Scrying system, including re-formatted and re-written details on the rewards you can expect to get for leveling up Scrying, and how to start your Scrying journey in the first place.
What Is Scrying In Elder Scrolls Online?
Scrying is a way to get a fair amount of gold, treasure, and somepretty unique items. Essentially, a player can use this Antiquities system to solve puzzles presented by Leads.
Leads, as their name suggests, lead players to a particular spot, which is only revealed once the puzzle is completed. Leads can be found from treasure chests, world bosses, public dungeons, and lots of other sources throughout practically all zones in the game.
Completing the Scrying puzzle for each of these Leads shows the player where a Digsite is located, which must be tracked down and excavated to complete an Antiquity. Once located, head to the approximate location and start looking for a dirt pile to dig up. Interact with it to begin the Excavation minigame, which finishes the Antiquity upon completion.
The system is near because allows the player to enjoy exploring the map, get some easy cash, learn more about the lore of theElder Scrollsuniverse while solving puzzles along the way. Ultimately, Scrying is a mini-game designed for when the players get bored with dungeons, quests, and fighting. It’s also pretty addicting.
Where To Unlock Scrying Skill in ESO
The quest isn’t too challenging and serves more as a tutorial to the system than a fully-fledged multi-part questline.
If you may’t find the Antiquities quest giver in Solitude, look for a notice letter on a wall immediately after entering the city for a quest called “Calling All Antiquarians”.
Once it’s complete, go to the Map and select the Scrying tab on the top right of the screen; this will show all leads a player currently possesses. Then, the player can click on the Lead, which will initiate the Scrying process. It is only possible to Scry Green Leads until level 3 in Antiquarian’s Insight perk, then Blue becomes available. After that, Purple and Gold leads can be unlocked which yield even greater rewards.
Scrying And Excavation Perks: Tools and Passives
Scrying is not just a minigame, it comes with its own unique Skill Line that offers a few improvements when upgraded. There is also an Excavation skill line that goes more into the process of diffing up the Antiquities after having been located with the Antiquarian’s Eye puzzle.
When it comes to theScryingskill line, it’s best to focus onAntiquarian Insight, Coalescence, and Scryer’s Patience.
These will allow the player to get more moves, more squares, and more challenging leads. Other skills are useful, but the points are better spent elsewhere until the late-game when Skill Points are aplenty.
With theExcavationskill line, the best thing is to focus onKeen Eye: Dig Sites, the Trowel, and Heavy Shovel.
It’s good to get Excavator’s Reserves but only at level 10. The Keen Eye increases how easily players can find the dig sites, while the Trowel and Shovel are extremely useful when it comes to finding the extra loot in the dig site.
Scrying Leads Reveals Dig Sites In An Associated Area
After selecting the lead, an eye will appear, the main aim is to match the symbols to touch the glowing orbs. If you get all of them, itwill reveal one location; if you don’t, it will reveal two or three depending on how many you missed. It’s wide to re-attempt to solve the Lead over and over again until just one location is highlighted, to avoid having to travel to several in hopes of finding the dig site.
Then simply travel to the location highlighted and search for a dug-up mound. This initiates the Excavation minigame, in which players must use different tools and abilities to dig up the relic within the time/move limit.
First, use the Augur to find a green square that reveals the exact location. A gold square means that it’s somewhere within the boundary of the selected square, while a green one confirms the location of the object.Be cautious to not dig too deepand damage the item though, as using more improved tools could potentially break the treasure. If that happens, the process will have to be restarted.Check to see how much “time” you have left before making a move, and note how much “time” is lost with each layer taken away.
Depending on the level of Dig Site (legendary Leads being the hardest), there are more layers of dirt that need to be uncovered. Without spending perks in the Excavation tree, this can be an incredibly tedious – if often impossible – task.
How To Scry More Efficiently
Small Zones Means More Scrying XP, Faster
Leveling up Scrying fast is long-winded and repetitive, but there are certain locationsthat are perfectfor this sort of thing. It’s well known among Antiquity Aficionados thatArtaeum, which is within the province of Summerset, is the best location to Scry. This is because it’s one of the smallest locations in the game, meaning the player doesn’t need to go too far to the next digging site.
If the player can’t get to Artaeum, the next best option is faction starter zones. The Dominion’s Khenarthi’s Roost, the Pact’s Bleakrock Isle, and the Covenant’s Stros M’Kai each have a Wayshrine unlocked for players to travel to (according to their chosen faction) from the very outset of the game. This gives a neat four locations to rotate between and constantly have a new set of Leads to solve.
Take On Zone-Specific Leads To Grind More Efficiently
Every zone in ESO has a Green lead that can be Scryed. Once complete, this unlocks a Zone-specific Blue lead, which in turn unlocks a Purple one. Alongside doing Leads found from drops and elsewhere, completing these leads allows for the most XP and the fastest progression as they are repeatable.
The best way to start out is to grind the Green Leads until the player gets to level 3. The player gets 1 XP for the green leads and 3 from the Blue and even more from a Purple, but these latter two can only be accessed once the previous tier has been completed.
It’s best to complete them in order and then continue to the next zone, which lets the player harvest XP from as many Blue and Purple Leads as possible, and gives a nice change of scenery to make the grind a bit less monotonous. This is the best order to maximize XP and keep the player relatively sane while trudging around Tamriel.
Scrying Rewards: Furniture, Mounts, and Mythic Gear
Many players struggle to find the point in Scrying, but there are some seriously cool rewards if you commit to the feature and complete as many Digs as you may. Alongside Furnishings (and extra rewards for players brave enough to try uncovering extra treasures), you can earn plenty of Mounts, pets, and other cosmetics like armor appearances and more.
The cosmetics and mounts are great, but these features aren’t exclusive to the Antiquities system, and you can earn other mounts and cosmetics in other content. However, the Antiquities system is the only source of Mythic gear.
These pieces of equipment are not only great for bragging rights, but can be extremely useful to any tank, healer, or DPS thanks to their often gameplay-breaking effects, like the Oakensoul Ring’s slew of buffs that sacrifice the entire back bar.
To get Mythic items inESOyou must partake in the Antiquities system. Each mythic requires players to solve five Legendary Leads, which requires at least Level 7 Antiquarian’s Insight and only drop from very specific sources throughout the world. You have to level up your Scrying and Excavation skills significantly to get to the point where you can even unlock Legendary Leads, so be prepared to spend some time running from zone to zone to efficiently level up your Scrying ability.
Sporadically these Mythic items show up in the Gold Vendor pool, but it’s extremely rare and not worth holding out for. Pay attention to variousElder Scrolls Onlineonline communities, like the /r/elderscrollsonline subreddit, to see if a Mythic item is up for sale without going out of your way.
Further Scrying Tips for ESO
Don’t Waste Too Many Skill Points
Scrying inElder Scrolls Onlineis one of the more engaging side activities in the MMO, thanks to its lucrative reward system and its puzzle-based mechanics. It’s not exactly a brainteaser at low levels, but Purple and Gold leads can really challenge a player’s puzzle-solving skills.
As such, don’t worry about delving too deeply into either the Scrying or Excavation trees until you gain the ability to Scry for Epic and Legendary leads, as it’s a waste of Skill Points (especially before Max Level). Just focus on gaining access to higher-level Leads first, and only start branching out for buffs once you begin having trouble solving puzzles.
Scrying Skill (& Legendary Leads) Is Character Based
Leads can’t be traded between characters, so if you come across a Legendary Lead without being skilled enough to Scry for it, there’s no possibility of an alternative pay-out, as it were. Additionally, there are no Skill Books inElder Scrolls Onlinefor the Scrying or Excavation Skill Lines, so they must be leveled up in the traditional way, not bookshelf spamming.
A Bug Can Hide The UI, But It’s Easily Fixed
It’s known thatone bug inElder Scrolls Onlinecomes when Scrying. After the player finishes digging up an Antiquity, they may find that they can’t access the journal or anything else in the UI interface.
There are two ways to fix this annoying bug but none are permanent, although it’s rare that this bug happens more than once. Players can either force the game to shut down and restart it, which can also solve other memory-related issues, or simply type in “/reloadui” into the chat. After a brief load screen, the game will refresh, and the UI should appear once again.
