The Elder Scrolls Online's Horns of the Reach DLC is out next month

Horns of the Reach, the minotaur-themed DLC pack for The Elder Scrolls Online [official site], will be coming out next month, Bethesda have announced. The DLC will add two dungeons to the MMO as well as new items, enemies and companions. There's no word on pricing, yet – just that it will be free to ESO Plus members and that it will be available on the in-game crown store.

It will arrive alongside a free update to the game, Update 15, which will introduce a new game mode for PvP called Chaosball. Which sounds friggin' awesome. There's also a new map for the 4v4v4 PVP mode. All players will get some quality-of-life changes and bug fixes as part of the update, but for the new map and game mode you'll need to own the game's Morrowind expansion, which Alec had some reasonably kind words about when he played a preview build.

Anyway, let's return to the DLC, which is all about minotaurs. First, there's Gherig Bullblood, the boss for the first new dungeon, called Bloodroot Forge.

"[It's] an ancient, long-forgotten forge that was recently rediscovered by the Reachmen and their minotaur allies. This forge, rumored to have been created by the Daedric prince Hircine, can create weapons of unbelievable power. When exploring this new dungeon, you will navigate through heavy vegetation and deep, lava-filled corridors to reach the heart of the forge and put a stop to Gherig Bullblood's plans."

The other new horned monster is Domihaus the Bloody-Horned, who I think came off better from Bethesda's minotaur-naming session. He's yer man for Falkreath Hold, the second new dungeon, where you're tasked with breaking a mammoth siege on Falkreath, one of the major cities from Skyrim.

Mammoth siege, see?

On the multiplayer front, it seems Chaosball is not quite as madcap as it sounds. Think capture the flag with no flag return spot: you have to grab a ball and hold it for as long as possible, which could prove tricky because it gives you healing and armour debuffs and eventually does damage to your entire team.

The new map for 4v4v4 is called Arcane University, and "features heavy indoor fighting, tricky teleporters, and high platforms that force you to watch your feet at all times", so says Bethesda.

Now, if you can't wait a month for the DLC release you can try it out early from next week on the Public Test Server. There's instructions on how to gain access here.

The full details of the update are available in all their glory on The Elder Scrolls Online official site.

So, ESO fans, what do you make of the news?