Update 1.6.4; Comprehensive class ability list and ways to balance the game and increase diversity
Maintenance for the week of March 17:
• PC/Mac: No maintenance – March 17
• Xbox: NA and EU megaservers for maintenance – March 19, 6:00AM EDT (10:00 UTC) - 9:00AM EDT (13:00 UTC)
• PlayStation®: NA and EU megaservers for maintenance – March 19, 6:00AM EDT (10:00 UTC) - 9:00AM EDT (13:00 UTC)
• PC/Mac: No maintenance – March 17
• Xbox: NA and EU megaservers for maintenance – March 19, 6:00AM EDT (10:00 UTC) - 9:00AM EDT (13:00 UTC)
• PlayStation®: NA and EU megaservers for maintenance – March 19, 6:00AM EDT (10:00 UTC) - 9:00AM EDT (13:00 UTC)
We will be performing maintenance on the PTS on Tuesday at 10:00AM EDT (14:00 UTC).
Atarax
✭✭✭
[Still a bit of a work in progress, but I should finish this week, I hope, but I will maintain the thread and update over time trying to incorporate peoples' ideas]
TL:DR
Post contains a full list of class abilities as of 1.6.4
Also, balancing seems to be taking resources away from new systems such as spellcrafting and is likely an unwinnable battle, unless classes are homogenized, as long as classes are restricted to 1 per character; an easy solution to ensure long-term balance and give players more options for build diversity would be to have players be able to unlock a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th class at 20/40/60 champion points. Otherwise, additional balance changes, such as those listed here, are probably still needed (and I only suggest buffs, not nerfs and use the approach that a build using non-class abilities should be as good as any class-based build). Devs may want to implement several of these ideas either way, just because they solve problems and in many cases would make the game more fun.
P.S. holy Solar Flare & Radiant Destruction Batman, Templars are getting some love this patch.
P.P.S Original thread here:
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/149180/update-1-6-2-comprehensive-class-ability-list-and-ways-to-balance-the-game-and-increase-diversity?new=1
@SpAEkus @Fordd @Fruity_Ninja @Wolfenbelle @Pyatra @Cinbri @seanvwolf @other guy who's name I can't spell,
Restarting thread here as the class comparison thread is too long and I needed more initial posts to get it all in, will hopefully finish adding thoughts tomorrow.
/TL:DR
The Long Version
Firstly, thank you to the devs for all the hard work and effort that is going into patch 1.6. In many ways it is an improvement over what we had before, in some ways less so. This post is made to give people comprehensive information on the current state of class balance in 1.6.2, and a forum to discuss balance and what we'd like to see in the game going forward. The post is organized as follows:
I put this thread together initially as a consolidated source with base #s on all abilities so people not on PTS can see what is coming down the pipeline. However, in doing so, it seems like it is a good platform for starting a civil discussion around class balance.
As such, the purpose of this thread is to not only document, but also discuss balance in general, offer a simpler way to reach the same goal, and also discuss class-specific abilities present on PTS for build 1.6 with the intent of seeing that classes are balanced in line with the following guiding principles: in order to have a hopefully civil and fruitful discussion of where people would like to see the game go.
After giving this (obviously) lots of thought, I am of the opinion that devs should consider taking the following steps from here:
List of Suggested Changes
[Still Analyzing / Updating]
Affecting All:
Dragonknight:
Nightblade:
Sorcerer
Templar
The alternative is to continue to spend resources on balancing, which seems to have taken resources away from new systems (spell-crafting), skills, and abilities. I'd rather have perfect balance (everyone has access to the same abilities, and can create their own builds), and a growing list of abilities to choose from, than inherent dis-balances and dev resources being eaten up chasing complaints.
The problem inherent with having classes is that, unless they're all accessible on a single character, you give yourself an equation that is nearly impossible to balance without homogenizing classes. In which case, why have classes at all? You also force players to create alts if they want access to X ability. I know there are a lot of players that like making alts, I personally like focusing on one character. It should be possible to accomplish the same things regardless of this preference. Allowing access to all abilities on a single character doesn't prevent alts, but restricting access forces players to create alts to access certain abilities.
As such, and as mentioned above (and below), I think it is in the best interest of the game and players going forward for the Devs to simply allow players to open up each of the other classes on their characters after reaching a certain level of achievement. The trick is ensuring that players can do so while engaging in the gameplay they want, whether it be questing, PvP, raiding, dungeon delving, exploring, crafting, grinding, etc. with no one type of play giving an advantage over the others. The Champion system (assuming XP gain rates per hour invested in each style of play are tweaked to be equivalent) offers a perfect platform for this. You can have a new class unlock at 20/40/60 Champion Points, then your alts can do the same.
My initial thought was that you could unlock a class upon reaching 50, then 1 class each for completing Cadwell's Silver, and Cadwell's Gold. That corresponds nicely with the idea that you're sort of reliving each of the other Alliance's from the start. Unfortunately, such an approach would force players into doing ALL the content on ALL alts, over and over, if they want to have a level playing field. Many people will not want to repeat the content, or even do it the first time. The Champion System is great in that it provides a mechanism for people to accomplish the class unlocking once, and have it be available on all alts.
People who like alts or just want to play a single class, should note, just because you have access to the class, doesn't mean you need to spend points in it. You can play only one class per toon if you like. I'd like to play differently.
I hope Devs ultimately choose to open up classes as I propose, if not, then there is still balance work to be done.
In designing any system or project it is first important to define what success looks like, and the criteria that the project should be measured against. Otherwise, you may end up with a system or project that sounds good on paper, but is fragmented in reality and doesn't ultimately work well in practice. So, under the assumption that these are the guiding principles for ZOS, I'll try to help.
The devs have indicated their goals for balance are along the lines of the following, and ultimately I'll suggest some changes that would be in line with these principles:
Much of the balance discussion here is based on the assumption that ZOS (and most players) would like the game designed around the principles indicated above. In fact, there are some games (ex. TSW, where there are no classes and any single character can learn all active and passive abilities, but can only use a few at a time, and you see a huge variety in builds, including situational builds, and great character diversity, and some pretty amazing teamworking and little whining or class bashing as a result) that go even further in implementing these principles, and the balance is well-done. Hopefully this thread will introduce information people may not be aware of, and ultimately lead to an even more enjoyable game than we have now.
Thus, apart from some discussion on how balance is approached in other games, the discussion is mostly focused on class balance. It will not address balances between weapons. There will be some discussion of Stamina & Magicka in the context of the abilities, but the overall balance of Stamina vs Magicka vs hybrid largely goes beyond this thread.
If you wish to comment on this thread, I humbly request that your comments be in the spirit of helping ZOS make ESO as enjoyable as possible for everyone, not to give unfair advantage to any one class.
Lastly, before I get into the long post, I'd like to thank @SpAEkus for all the help, and for identifying a useful Add-on for purposes of compiling data for the thread.
TL:DR
Post contains a full list of class abilities as of 1.6.4
Also, balancing seems to be taking resources away from new systems such as spellcrafting and is likely an unwinnable battle, unless classes are homogenized, as long as classes are restricted to 1 per character; an easy solution to ensure long-term balance and give players more options for build diversity would be to have players be able to unlock a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th class at 20/40/60 champion points. Otherwise, additional balance changes, such as those listed here, are probably still needed (and I only suggest buffs, not nerfs and use the approach that a build using non-class abilities should be as good as any class-based build). Devs may want to implement several of these ideas either way, just because they solve problems and in many cases would make the game more fun.
P.S. holy Solar Flare & Radiant Destruction Batman, Templars are getting some love this patch.
P.P.S Original thread here:
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/149180/update-1-6-2-comprehensive-class-ability-list-and-ways-to-balance-the-game-and-increase-diversity?new=1
@SpAEkus @Fordd @Fruity_Ninja @Wolfenbelle @Pyatra @Cinbri @seanvwolf @other guy who's name I can't spell,
Restarting thread here as the class comparison thread is too long and I needed more initial posts to get it all in, will hopefully finish adding thoughts tomorrow.
/TL:DR
The Long Version
Spoiler
Firstly, thank you to the devs for all the hard work and effort that is going into patch 1.6. In many ways it is an improvement over what we had before, in some ways less so. This post is made to give people comprehensive information on the current state of class balance in 1.6.2, and a forum to discuss balance and what we'd like to see in the game going forward. The post is organized as follows:
- A full list (screenshots) of all class abilities & morphs in 1.6.4
- A comparison, point by point, of all classes
- A discussion of how balance is achieved in other games (including other Elder Scrolls Games) so people can be informed of the options and some of their ramifications
I put this thread together initially as a consolidated source with base #s on all abilities so people not on PTS can see what is coming down the pipeline. However, in doing so, it seems like it is a good platform for starting a civil discussion around class balance.
As such, the purpose of this thread is to not only document, but also discuss balance in general, offer a simpler way to reach the same goal, and also discuss class-specific abilities present on PTS for build 1.6 with the intent of seeing that classes are balanced in line with the following guiding principles: in order to have a hopefully civil and fruitful discussion of where people would like to see the game go.
After giving this (obviously) lots of thought, I am of the opinion that devs should consider taking the following steps from here:
- Ensure players earn equivalent XP toward champion points per hour invested while "playing how they want," whether it be questing, PvP, raiding, dungeon delving, exploring, crafting, grinding, etc. with no one type of play giving an advantage over the others.
- Further allow players to effectively "build their own classes" through the Champion system such that players can unlock each of the other classes, and use them on a single character (including alts) one class every 20 champion points (which roughly corresponds to the exp gained by doing Cadwell's Silver & Gold); game is balanced because any character can eventually access any ability
- ^may require that there be a Cyrodiil for new players with no champion points
- Refocus the dev resources currently spent on balance instead on bringing in new skills and abilities through new guild lines, spell-crafting, etc.
- AND/OR Implement the following list of changes:
List of Suggested Changes
Spoiler
[Still Analyzing / Updating]
Affecting All:
Spoiler
General Mechanics:
-Ensure experience points gained per amount of time invested is approximately equivalent regardless of play style (ex. Crafting, PvP, Dungeons, Questing, Exploring, Raiding, Grinding)
Rationale: 1) Players like different styles of play and shouldn't be penalized for doing so (i.e. "play as you want") 2) if one mode of play generates clearly superior experience gains, everyone will engage in that game play once the Champion system goes live.
-Give everyone the ability to map a key such that when held down, causes Ground Targeted AOE abilities to instantly fire at the location of the target, or if no target is present, instantly fire at the feet of the caster
Rationale: Makes ground targeted AOE abilities (such as Sorc lightning splash) function similarly to point blank aoes 2) sometimes the game bugs out and it's hard to drop the ground targeted AOEs
-For abilities such as Shield Charge, Ambush, Critical Charge, etc. that cause players to charge a target, 1) increase range to 22 meters across the board (also increase Bolt Escape & morphs to 22m) 2) remove the minimum range, and 3) cause them to fire and carry the player to maximum range in cases where a) they have no target selected (allowing them to be used for escape purposes) or b) where the target is out of range (allowing them to be used for chase purposes)
Rationale: 1) Gives all classes an equivalent / counter to Bolt Escape (which can be reverted to its original, pre-nerf cost) 2) gives additional functionality to these abilities, making them more useful and fun 3) gives everyone a bit more mobility 4) If I can lunge 22 yards AT someone who might stab me with a sword, why can't I lunge 22 yards into an open field of daisies?
-Only allow one damage shield to be active at a time, new damage shields cast will only apply if they will provide more mitigation than the mitigation remaining from the existing shield
Rationale: 1) Damage shield stacking shouldn't be possible 2) Will promote teamwork as people will be more likely to communication around available damage shields and who should be casting them, freeing up ability slots for other players 3) with changes suggested, it's possible that there will be a lot more damage shields flying around, so chances are people will prefer higher mitigation over increased duration
-Make crafting writs reward points toward alliance ranks; also incorporate Undaunted-focused crafting writs that give Undaunted skill
Rationale: 1) Players contributing to writs are, according to the lore, contributing to the war effort (or the undaunted guild) 2) Gives those players who spend time crafting a way to keep up with PvP / undaunted progression and earn the achievements / skills to some extent, even if it's slower 3) some of the balance suggestions I give below make use of the Alliance and Undaunted skill lines
-For any class passive that reduces costs of ALL abilities either 1) give to everyone 2) restrict to class-specific abilities and balance those appropriately or 3) remove from the game
Rationale: 1) Passives that are restricted to a given class, but affect non-class ability costs, create inherent dis balance among classes unless they are shared equally.
Ultimate changes:
-Align ultimate costs & effectiveness such that all classes have a 225, 125, 50 cost ability with similar effectiveness
-Remove all class passives that affect ultimate costs or increase ultimate generation
-Make triggering ALL abilities generate 2 ultimate every time you trigger the ability (as long as you're in combat)
Rationale: 1) levelizes ultimate generation and costs across classes 2) speeds up generation somewhat from where we are now 3) frees up passive slots for more interesting class-specific passives
New Undaunted Ultimate: Face Your Fear:
Active changes:
-Change Trapping webs & morphs: align cost and damage of the base ability with Searing Strikes (412 damage + 1320 over 10.5 seconds) , have it spawn spiders on cast (rather than be a synergy) but make the 795 damage be damage over time as indicated; if recast, does the direct damage component (412 damage) and refreshes duration of dot and spiders without interrupting ticks or attacks (and resummons a spider if it's not there); one morph adds a poison dot from spiders (magicka), the other can cause Fear and is stamina-based.
Rationale: 1) gives a spammable, non-class or weapon-locked, non-execute, single-target DPS ability (Sorcerer's rejoice!) for both Magicka and Stamina builds 2) gives a Stamina-based way for people to generate Fear 3) Gives everyone access to "pets" 4) summoning spiders is cool. 5) Sorceres can still have their pets on top of this (and still use Crystal Shards), other classes have other abilities that can be spammed alongside this to up DPS.
-Guard and its morphs ----> change to "Raze the Keep" (): AOE reduce armor and spell resistance
Rationale: 1) Guard seems lackluster for an end-tree ability, I can only really see using it on my DK after I pop Magma Armor. 2) Gives all classes access to 3) Will further incentivize people to not clump up in PvP 3) helps all classes solo places like Craglorn a bit easier
New Soul Magic Ability: Soul Rend (execute style)
New Soul Magic Ability: Soul Mend (heal)
Entropy change: Give Major Sorcery & 100% chance to heal
Passive Changes
Soul Magic
-Reduced ultimate cost
-Generate ultimate when using abilities
Undaunted
-Reduced ability costs
-Spell resistance
-Ensure experience points gained per amount of time invested is approximately equivalent regardless of play style (ex. Crafting, PvP, Dungeons, Questing, Exploring, Raiding, Grinding)
Rationale: 1) Players like different styles of play and shouldn't be penalized for doing so (i.e. "play as you want") 2) if one mode of play generates clearly superior experience gains, everyone will engage in that game play once the Champion system goes live.
-Give everyone the ability to map a key such that when held down, causes Ground Targeted AOE abilities to instantly fire at the location of the target, or if no target is present, instantly fire at the feet of the caster
Rationale: Makes ground targeted AOE abilities (such as Sorc lightning splash) function similarly to point blank aoes 2) sometimes the game bugs out and it's hard to drop the ground targeted AOEs
-For abilities such as Shield Charge, Ambush, Critical Charge, etc. that cause players to charge a target, 1) increase range to 22 meters across the board (also increase Bolt Escape & morphs to 22m) 2) remove the minimum range, and 3) cause them to fire and carry the player to maximum range in cases where a) they have no target selected (allowing them to be used for escape purposes) or b) where the target is out of range (allowing them to be used for chase purposes)
Rationale: 1) Gives all classes an equivalent / counter to Bolt Escape (which can be reverted to its original, pre-nerf cost) 2) gives additional functionality to these abilities, making them more useful and fun 3) gives everyone a bit more mobility 4) If I can lunge 22 yards AT someone who might stab me with a sword, why can't I lunge 22 yards into an open field of daisies?
-Only allow one damage shield to be active at a time, new damage shields cast will only apply if they will provide more mitigation than the mitigation remaining from the existing shield
Rationale: 1) Damage shield stacking shouldn't be possible 2) Will promote teamwork as people will be more likely to communication around available damage shields and who should be casting them, freeing up ability slots for other players 3) with changes suggested, it's possible that there will be a lot more damage shields flying around, so chances are people will prefer higher mitigation over increased duration
-Make crafting writs reward points toward alliance ranks; also incorporate Undaunted-focused crafting writs that give Undaunted skill
Rationale: 1) Players contributing to writs are, according to the lore, contributing to the war effort (or the undaunted guild) 2) Gives those players who spend time crafting a way to keep up with PvP / undaunted progression and earn the achievements / skills to some extent, even if it's slower 3) some of the balance suggestions I give below make use of the Alliance and Undaunted skill lines
-For any class passive that reduces costs of ALL abilities either 1) give to everyone 2) restrict to class-specific abilities and balance those appropriately or 3) remove from the game
Rationale: 1) Passives that are restricted to a given class, but affect non-class ability costs, create inherent dis balance among classes unless they are shared equally.
Ultimate changes:
-Align ultimate costs & effectiveness such that all classes have a 225, 125, 50 cost ability with similar effectiveness
-Remove all class passives that affect ultimate costs or increase ultimate generation
-Make triggering ALL abilities generate 2 ultimate every time you trigger the ability (as long as you're in combat)
Rationale: 1) levelizes ultimate generation and costs across classes 2) speeds up generation somewhat from where we are now 3) frees up passive slots for more interesting class-specific passives
New Undaunted Ultimate: Face Your Fear:
Active changes:
-Change Trapping webs & morphs: align cost and damage of the base ability with Searing Strikes (412 damage + 1320 over 10.5 seconds) , have it spawn spiders on cast (rather than be a synergy) but make the 795 damage be damage over time as indicated; if recast, does the direct damage component (412 damage) and refreshes duration of dot and spiders without interrupting ticks or attacks (and resummons a spider if it's not there); one morph adds a poison dot from spiders (magicka), the other can cause Fear and is stamina-based.
Rationale: 1) gives a spammable, non-class or weapon-locked, non-execute, single-target DPS ability (Sorcerer's rejoice!) for both Magicka and Stamina builds 2) gives a Stamina-based way for people to generate Fear 3) Gives everyone access to "pets" 4) summoning spiders is cool. 5) Sorceres can still have their pets on top of this (and still use Crystal Shards), other classes have other abilities that can be spammed alongside this to up DPS.
-Guard and its morphs ----> change to "Raze the Keep" (): AOE reduce armor and spell resistance
Rationale: 1) Guard seems lackluster for an end-tree ability, I can only really see using it on my DK after I pop Magma Armor. 2) Gives all classes access to 3) Will further incentivize people to not clump up in PvP 3) helps all classes solo places like Craglorn a bit easier
New Soul Magic Ability: Soul Rend (execute style)
New Soul Magic Ability: Soul Mend (heal)
Entropy change: Give Major Sorcery & 100% chance to heal
Passive Changes
Soul Magic
-Reduced ultimate cost
-Generate ultimate when using abilities
Undaunted
-Reduced ability costs
-Spell resistance
Dragonknight:
Spoiler
General:
-Shifting Standard tooltip states that it reduces Ultimate Cost when it no longer does, please fix
Ultimates:
Shift Dragon Leap (and rebalance) to an ability (see Movement below for more reasons for this), and replace with a 50 ultimate cost single target damage ultimate.
-Shifting Standard tooltip states that it reduces Ultimate Cost when it no longer does, please fix
Ultimates:
Shift Dragon Leap (and rebalance) to an ability (see Movement below for more reasons for this), and replace with a 50 ultimate cost single target damage ultimate.
Nightblade:
Spoiler
-Dark cloak & morphs to absorb 4 projectiles for 4s or give damage shield
Sorcerer
Spoiler
-Critical Surge Morph: change to restore Magicka & Stamina on Critical hits
-Streak morph to absorb 4 projectiles 4s
-Streak morph to absorb 4 projectiles 4s
Templar
Spoiler
The alternative is to continue to spend resources on balancing, which seems to have taken resources away from new systems (spell-crafting), skills, and abilities. I'd rather have perfect balance (everyone has access to the same abilities, and can create their own builds), and a growing list of abilities to choose from, than inherent dis-balances and dev resources being eaten up chasing complaints.
The problem inherent with having classes is that, unless they're all accessible on a single character, you give yourself an equation that is nearly impossible to balance without homogenizing classes. In which case, why have classes at all? You also force players to create alts if they want access to X ability. I know there are a lot of players that like making alts, I personally like focusing on one character. It should be possible to accomplish the same things regardless of this preference. Allowing access to all abilities on a single character doesn't prevent alts, but restricting access forces players to create alts to access certain abilities.
As such, and as mentioned above (and below), I think it is in the best interest of the game and players going forward for the Devs to simply allow players to open up each of the other classes on their characters after reaching a certain level of achievement. The trick is ensuring that players can do so while engaging in the gameplay they want, whether it be questing, PvP, raiding, dungeon delving, exploring, crafting, grinding, etc. with no one type of play giving an advantage over the others. The Champion system (assuming XP gain rates per hour invested in each style of play are tweaked to be equivalent) offers a perfect platform for this. You can have a new class unlock at 20/40/60 Champion Points, then your alts can do the same.
My initial thought was that you could unlock a class upon reaching 50, then 1 class each for completing Cadwell's Silver, and Cadwell's Gold. That corresponds nicely with the idea that you're sort of reliving each of the other Alliance's from the start. Unfortunately, such an approach would force players into doing ALL the content on ALL alts, over and over, if they want to have a level playing field. Many people will not want to repeat the content, or even do it the first time. The Champion System is great in that it provides a mechanism for people to accomplish the class unlocking once, and have it be available on all alts.
People who like alts or just want to play a single class, should note, just because you have access to the class, doesn't mean you need to spend points in it. You can play only one class per toon if you like. I'd like to play differently.
I hope Devs ultimately choose to open up classes as I propose, if not, then there is still balance work to be done.
In designing any system or project it is first important to define what success looks like, and the criteria that the project should be measured against. Otherwise, you may end up with a system or project that sounds good on paper, but is fragmented in reality and doesn't ultimately work well in practice. So, under the assumption that these are the guiding principles for ZOS, I'll try to help.
The devs have indicated their goals for balance are along the lines of the following, and ultimately I'll suggest some changes that would be in line with these principles:
- "Play how you want"
- Maximize potential build diversity
- Ensuring all player characters have a level playing field as a baseline so that skill and theorycrafting matter more to success than class choice
- Buff, not nerf, in order to achieve these principles
- Ensuring all player characters can, one way or another, accomplish the same things, regardless of class choice
- Making things "fun" for those of us who wish to see the game balanced in-line with these principles
- Striving to ensure groups will be indifferent to the class of the player when forming groups and willing to take on anyone who can perform the needed role (dps, heals, cc, hybrid, or tank)
- Preserving a unique class identity while not giving any class a significant advantage over any other class
Much of the balance discussion here is based on the assumption that ZOS (and most players) would like the game designed around the principles indicated above. In fact, there are some games (ex. TSW, where there are no classes and any single character can learn all active and passive abilities, but can only use a few at a time, and you see a huge variety in builds, including situational builds, and great character diversity, and some pretty amazing teamworking and little whining or class bashing as a result) that go even further in implementing these principles, and the balance is well-done. Hopefully this thread will introduce information people may not be aware of, and ultimately lead to an even more enjoyable game than we have now.
Thus, apart from some discussion on how balance is approached in other games, the discussion is mostly focused on class balance. It will not address balances between weapons. There will be some discussion of Stamina & Magicka in the context of the abilities, but the overall balance of Stamina vs Magicka vs hybrid largely goes beyond this thread.
If you wish to comment on this thread, I humbly request that your comments be in the spirit of helping ZOS make ESO as enjoyable as possible for everyone, not to give unfair advantage to any one class.
Lastly, before I get into the long post, I'd like to thank @SpAEkus for all the help, and for identifying a useful Add-on for purposes of compiling data for the thread.
50 Bosmer Nightblade
50 Breton Sorcerer
50 Dunmer Dragonknight
50 Imperial Templar
50 Khajit Nightblade
50 Imperial Dragonknight
50 Altmer Sorcerer
50 Argonian Templar
Discussions of Interest:
Class Balance in 1.6
Quest Choices
Request to Reinstate Night's Silence and Dark Stalker stacking
50 Breton Sorcerer
50 Dunmer Dragonknight
50 Imperial Templar
50 Khajit Nightblade
50 Imperial Dragonknight
50 Altmer Sorcerer
50 Argonian Templar
Discussions of Interest:
Class Balance in 1.6
Quest Choices
Request to Reinstate Night's Silence and Dark Stalker stacking
4
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Atarax✭✭✭Full list of all abilities (both active, with morphs, and passive), by class, as of build 1.6.4
In order to provide as close to an apples-to-apples comparison as possible,values will be given as indicated via the tooltip (and under the assumption that the tooltip reflects reality) for a VR14 as follows:
1) No skill points allocated to any active abilities
2) 1 point invested in all class passives
3) No points invested in any attributes or non-class abilities
4) No gear equipped
5) No abilities slotted
[Note to ZOS, it appears some tooltips may not be reflective of the 10x increase]
DragonknightSpoilerArdent Flame
Ultimate Dragonknight Standard
Morph 1: Shifting Standard
Morph 2: Standard of Might
Active Abilities
Active 1: Fiery Grip
Morph 1 Empowering Chains:
Morph 2 Extended Chains:
Active 2: Searing Strike
Morph 1 Unstable Flame:
Morph 2 Burning Embers:
Active 3: Fiery Breath
Morph 1 Burning Breath:
Morph 2 Engulfing Flames:
Active 4: Lava Whip
Morph 1 Molten Whip:
Morph 2 Flame Lash:
Active 5: Inferno
Morph 1 Flames of Oblivion:
Morph 2 Sea of Flames:
Passives
Kindling
Warmth
Searing Heat
World in Flame
Draconic Power
Ultimate: Dragon Leap
Morph 1 Take Flight:
Morph 2 Ferocious Leap:
Active Abilities
Active 1: Spiked Armor
Morph 1 Hardened Armor:
Morph 2 Volatile Armor:
Active 2: Dark Talons
Morph 1 Burning Talons:
Morph 2 Choking Talons:
Active 3: Dragon Blood
Morph 1 Green Dragon Blood:
Morph 2 Coagulating Blood:
Active 4: Reflective Scale
Morph 1 Reflective Plate:
Morph 2 Dragon Fire Scale:
Active 5: Inhale
Morph 1 Deep Breath:
Morph 2 Draw Essence:
Passives
Iron Skin
Burning Heart
Elder Dragon
Scaled Armor
Earthen Heart
Ultimate: Magma Armor
Morph 1 Magma Shell:
Morph 2 Corrosive Armor:
Active Abilities
Active 1: Stonefist
Morph 1 Obsidian Shard:
Morph 2 Stone Giant:
Active 2: Molten Weapons
Morph 1 Igneous Weapons:
Morph 2 Molten Armaments:
Active 3: Obsidian Shield
Morph 1 Igneous Shield:
Morph 2 Fragmented Shield:
Active 4: Petrify
Morph 1 Fossilize:
Morph 2 Shattering Rocks:
Active 5: Ash Cloud
Morph 1 Cinder Storm:
Morph 2 Eruption:
Passives
Eternal Mountain
Battle Roar
Mountain's Blessing
Helping Hands
NightbladeSpoiler
Assassination
Ultimate: Death Stroke
Morph 1: Incapacitating Strike
Morph 2: Soul Harvest
Active Abilities
Active 1: Assassin's Blade
Morph 1: Killer's Blade
Morph 2: Impale
Active 2: Teleport Strike
Morph 1: Lotus Fan
Morph 2: Ambush
Active 3: Blur
Morph 1: Mirage
Morph 2: Double Take
Active 4: Mark Target
Morph 1 Piercing Mark:
Morph 2 Reaper's Mark:
Active 5: Grim Focus
Morph 1: Relentless Focus
Morph 2: Merciless Resolve
Passives
Master Assassin
Executioner
Pressure Points
Hemmorage
Shadow
Ultimate: Consuming Darkness
Morph 1 Bolstering Darkness:
Morph 2 Veil of Blades:
Active Abilities
Active 1: Shadow Cloak
Morph 1 Shadowy Disguise:
Morph 2 Dark Cloak:
Active 2: Veiled Strike
Morph 1 Surprise Attack:
Morph 2 Concealed Weapon:
Active 3: Path of Darkness
Morph 1 Twisting Path:
Morph 2 Refreshing Path:
Active 4: Aspect of Terror
Morph 1 Mass Hysteria:
Morph 2 Manifestation of Terror:
Active 5: Summon Shade
Morph 1 Dark Shades:
Morph 2 Shadow Image:
Passives
Refreshing Shadows
Shadow Barrier
Dark Vigor
Dark Veil
Siphoning
Ultimate: Soul Shred
Morph 1 Soul Siphon:
Morph 2 Soul Tether:
Active Abilities
Active 1: Strife
Morph 1 Funnel Health:
Morph 2 Swallow Soul:
Active 2: Agony
Morph 1 Prolonged Suffering:
Morph 2 Malefic Wreath:
Active 3: Cripple
Morph 1 Debilitate:
Morph 2 Crippling Grasp:
Active 4: Siphoning Strikes
Morph 1 Leeching Strikes:
Morph 2 Siphoning attacks:
Active 5: Drain Power
Morph 1 Power Extraction:
Morph 2 Sap Essence:
Passives
Catalyst
Magicka Flood
Soul Siphoner
Transfer
SorcerorSpoiler
Dark Magic
Ultimate: Negate Magic
Morph 1: Suppression Field
Morph 2:Absorption Field
Active Abilities
Active 1: Crystal Shard
Morph 1: Crystal Blast
Morph 2: Crystal Fragments
Active 2: Encase
Morph 1: Shattering Prison
Morph 2: Restraining Prison
Active 3: Rune Prison
Morph 1: Rune Cage
Morph 2: Defensive Rune
Active 4: Dark Exchange
Morph 1: Dark Deal
Morph 2: Dark Conversation
Active 5: Daedric Mines
Morph 1: Daedric Tomb
Morph 2: Daedric Minefield
Passives
Unholy Knowledge
Blood Magic
Persistence
Exploitation
Daedric Summoning
Ultimate: Summon Storm Atronach
Morph 1: Greater Storm Atronach
Morph 2: Summoned Charged Atronach
Active Abilities
Active 1: Unstable Familiar
Morph 1: Unstable Clanfear
Morph 2: Volatile Familiar
Active 2: Daedric Curse
Morph 1: Daedric Prey
Morph 2: Velocious Curse
Active 3: Summon Winged Twilight
Morph 1: Summon Restoring Twilight
Morph 2: Summon Twilight Matriarch
Active 4: Bound Armor
Morph 1: Bound Armaments
Morph 2: Bound Aegis
Active 5: Conjured Ward
Morph 1: Hardened Ward
Morph 2: Empowered Ward
Passives
Rebate
Power Stone
Daedric Protection
Expert Summoner
Storm Calling
Ultimate: Overload
Morph 1: Power Overload
Morph 2: Energy Overload
Active Abilities
Active 1: Mage's Fury
Morph 1: Mage's Wrath
Morph 2: Endless Fury
Active 2: Lightning Form
Morph 1: Thundering Presence
Morph 2: Boundless Storm
Active 3: Lightning Splash
Morph 1: Liquid Lightning
Morph 2: Lightning Flood
Active 4: Surge
Morph 1: Power Surge
Morph 2: Critical Surge
Active 5: Bolt Escape
Morph 1: Streak
Morph 2: Ball of Lightning
Passives
Capacitator
Energized
Disintegrate
Expert Mage
TemplarSpoiler________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
AEDRIC SPEAR
Ultimate: RADIAL SWEEP
Morph 1: EMPOWERING SWEEP
Morph 2: CRESCENT SWEEP
Active Abilities
Active 1: PUNCTURING STRIKES
Morph 1: BITING JABS
Morph 2: PUNCTURING SWEEP
Active 2: PIERCING JAVELIN
Morph 1: AURORA JAVELIN
Morph 2: BINDING JAVELIN
Active 3: FOCUSED CHARGE
Morph 1: EXPLOSIVE CHARGE
Morph 2: TOPPLING CHARGE
Active 4: SPEAR SHARDS
Morph 1: LUMINOUS SHARDS
Morph 2: BLAZING SPEAR
Active 5: SUN SHIELD
Morph 1: RADIANT WARD
Morph 2: BLAZING SHIELD
Passives
PIERCING SPEAR
SPEAR WALL
BURNING LIGHT
BALANCED WARRIOR
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DAWN'S WRATH
Ultimate: NOVA
Morph 1: SOLAR PRISON
Morph 2: SOLAR DISTURBANCE
Active Abilities
Active 1: SUN FIRE
Morph 1: VAMPIRES BANE
Morph 2: REFLECTIVE LIGHT
Active 2: SOLAR FLARE
Morph 1: DARK FLARE
Morph 2: SOLAR BARRAGE
Active 3: BACKLASH
Morph 1: PURIFYING LIGHT
Morph 2: POWER OF THE LIGHT
Active 4: ECLIPSE
Morph 1: TOTAL DARK
Morph 2: UNSTABLE CORE
Active 5: RADIANT DESTRUCTION
Morph 1: RADIANT GLORY
Morph 2: RADIANT OPPRESSION
Passives
ENDURING RAYS
PRISM
ILLUMINATE
RESTORING SPIRIT
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
RESTORING LIGHT
Ultimate: RIGHT OF PASSAGE
Morph 1: REMEMBRANCE
Morph 2: PRACTICED INCANTATION
Active Abilities
Active 1: RUSHED CEREMONY
Morph 1: HONOR THE DEAD
Morph 2: BREATH OF LIFE
Active 2: HEALING RITUAL
Morph 1: RITUAL OF REBIRTH
Morph 2: LINGERING RITUAL
Active 3: RESTORING AURA
Morph 1: RADIANT AURA
Morph 2: REPENTANCE
Active 4: CLEANSING RITUAL
Morph 1: PURIFYING RITUAL
Morph 2: EXTENDED RITUAL
Active 5: RUNE FOCUS
Morph 1: CHANNELED FOCUS
Morph 2: RESTORING FOCUS
Passives
MENDING
FOCUSED HEALING
LIGHT WEAVER
MASTER RITUALIST
Edited by Atarax on February 24, 2015 12:37PM50 Bosmer Nightblade
50 Breton Sorcerer
50 Dunmer Dragonknight
50 Imperial Templar
50 Khajit Nightblade
50 Imperial Dragonknight
50 Altmer Sorcerer
50 Argonian Templar
Discussions of Interest:
Class Balance in 1.6
Quest Choices
Request to Reinstate Night's Silence and Dark Stalker stacking3 -
Atarax✭✭✭Class Comparisons (Part 1/5)
[UPDATING NOW]
Class Comparisons
TL:DR
I break down the various abilities into buckets and compare them against each other, then make suggestions on how to level the playing-field, usually favoring making various abilities available in the guild or alliance skill-lines (so you can give everyone access to equivalent abilities instead of having to tweak the classes without) over class-specific changes.
/TL:DR
Please note, the balance changes suggested here are only needed if Devs do not open up all classes on a single character. If the Devs decide to open up the classes on a single character through the Champion system as I suggest, then this conversation is no longer needed. In fact, the Devs could implement even more unique class abilities and differences in abilities between the classes, and still maintain balance, as everyone would ultimately be able to access all active and passive abilities, making the system (but not neccesarily individual builds) balanced.
This section is meant to serve as a baseline for balancing the system assuming classes remain restricted to 1 per character. I compare all 4 classes against each other to assess their relative access to buffs, debuffs, dps (on paper), ultimate generation, ability costs, damage mitigation, healing, utility, mobility, etc. I also have a section for each class indicating suggested changes to bring them in line with the "best in class" one way or another (note, as this approach will be in-line with the principles in the first post, this would likely result in all classes being more powerful than they are now, so there would probably need to be changes to NPC health and abilities, and PC health to compensate).
If a class does not have similar functionality, but can access an ability through some other unrestricted (i.e. not Vampire, Werewolf, or weapon) skill line, then it will be listed and considered in the context of balance. To the extent possible, I make recommendations to buff universal abilities over class abilities in these cases since everyone can access them. The goal here is to make abilities more attractive overall, to increase the options and trade-offs for players when deciding their builds.
It is only the things that other classes can't do that become an issue for class balance. This is what makes some class Passives so inherently dis-balancing in the long run to the extent that they can affect non-class abilities and are not available to all player characters. Presumably, with Spellcrafting, we'll be able to design spells that do the same things as the class abilities, so only passives would be gated and be an issue.
Devs will probably need to increase game difficulty overall if they implement all of this.
Comprehensive List of Possible Balance Changes by Class (if balancing continues as it's headed)
[Still Analyzing / updating, working on passives & buffs /debuffs at the moment]
Affecting All:SpoilerGeneral Mechanics Changes:
The general ideas here are to ensure that:
1) any character, regardless of base class, can accomplish the same types of things, if in class-unique ways.
2) players can engage in a whatever content they want without falling behind in the accumulation of Champion points
3) classes that rely on Ground Target AOEs aren't at a disadvantage to those with access to aoes
4) there is generally a level playing field across characters, and skill and build selection matter more than initial class choice
-Ensure experience points gained per amount of time invested is approximately equivalent regardless of play style (ex. Crafting, PvP, Dungeons, Questing, Exploring, Raiding, Grinding)
Rationale: 1) Players like different styles of play and shouldn't be penalized for doing so (i.e. "play as you want") 2) if one mode of play generates clearly superior experience gains, everyone will engage in that game play once the Champion system goes live.
-Give everyone the ability to map a key such that when held down, causes Ground Targeted AOE abilities to instantly fire at the location of the target, or if no target is present, instantly fire at the feet of the caster
Rationale: 1) Makes ground targeted AOE abilities (such as Sorc lightning splash) function similarly to point blank aoes 2) sometimes the game bugs out and it's hard to drop the ground targeted AOEs
-For abilities such as Shield Charge, Ambush, Critical Charge, etc. that cause players to charge a target, 1) increase range to 22 meters across the board (also increase Bolt Escape & morphs to 22m) 2) remove the minimum range, and 3) cause them to fire and carry the player to maximum range in cases where a) they have no target selected (allowing them to be used for escape purposes) or b) where the target is out of range (allowing them to be used for chase purposes)
Rationale: 1) Gives all classes an equivalent / counter to Bolt Escape (which can be reverted to its original, pre-nerf cost) 2) gives additional functionality to these abilities, making them more useful and fun 3) gives everyone a bit more mobility 4) If I can lunge 22 yards AT someone who might stab me with a sword, why can't I lunge 22 yards into an open field of daisies?
-Only allow one damage shield to be active at a time, new damage shields cast will only apply if they will provide more mitigation than the mitigation remaining from the existing shield
Rationale: 1) Damage shield stacking shouldn't be possible 2) Will promote teamwork as people will be more likely to communication around available damage shields and who should be casting them, freeing up ability slots for other players 3) with changes suggested, it's possible that there will be a lot more damage shields flying around, so chances are people will prefer higher mitigation over increased duration
-Make crafting writs reward points toward alliance ranks; also incorporate Undaunted-focused crafting writs that give Undaunted skill
Rationale: 1) Players contributing to writs are, according to the lore, contributing to the war effort (or the undaunted guild) so should gain with the relevant faction 2) Gives those players who spend time crafting a way to keep up with PvP / undaunted progression and earn the achievements / skills to some extent, even if it's slower 3) some of the balance suggestions I give below make use of the Alliance and Undaunted skill lines
-For any class passive that reduces costs of ALL abilities either 1) give to everyone 2) restrict to class-specific abilities and balance those appropriately or 3) remove from the game
Rationale: 1) Passives that are restricted to a given class, but affect non-class ability costs, create inherent dis balance among classes unless they are shared equally.
Changes to Ultimates:
-Align ultimate costs & effectiveness such that all classes have a 225, 125, 50 cost ability with similar effectiveness
-Remove all class passives that affect ultimate costs or increase ultimate generation or move them out of the class and make them accessible to everyone
-Make triggering ALL abilities generate 2 ultimate every time you trigger the ability (as long as you're in combat)
Rationale: 1) levelizes ultimate generation and costs across classes 2) speeds up generation somewhat from where we are now 3) frees up passive slots for more interesting class-specific passives
New Undaunted Ultimate: Face Your Fear: Will add details soon
Changes to Actives:
-Change Trapping webs & morphs: align cost and damage of the base ability with Searing Strikes (412 damage + 1320 over 10.5 seconds) , have it spawn spiders on cast (rather than be a synergy) but make the 795 damage be damage over time as indicated; if recast, does the direct damage component (412 damage) and refreshes duration of dot and spiders without interrupting ticks or attacks (and resummons a spider if it's not there); one morph adds a poison dot from spiders (magicka), the other can cause Fear and is stamina-based.
Rationale: 1) gives a spammable, non-class or weapon-locked, non-execute, single-target DPS ability (Sorcerer's rejoice!) for both Magicka and Stamina builds 2) gives a Stamina-based way for people to generate Fear 3) Gives everyone access to "pets" 4) summoning spiders is cool 5) Sorcerers can still have their pets on top of this (and still use Crystal Shards), other classes have other abilities that can be spammed alongside this to up DPS.
-Guard and its morphs ----> change to "Raze the Keep" (): AOE reduce armor and spell resistance
Rationale: 1) Guard seems lackluster for an end-tree ability, I can only really see using it on my DK after I pop Magma Armor. 2) Gives all classes access to 3) Will further incentivize people to not clump up in PvP 3) helps all classes solo places like Craglorn a bit easier
New Soul Magic Ability: Soul Rend (execute style)
New Soul Magic Ability: Soul Mend (heal)
Entropy change: Give Major Sorcery & 100% chance to heal
Changes to Passivs
The biggest problem with the existing balance in the long run (assuming that classes aren't opened up as I propose, and spell-crafting will allow the construction of active abilities that do the same things as class abilities) are passive abilities that have an effect on abilities OUTSIDE the class. When a class-restricted passive affects ALL abilities, it gives that class an unbalanced advantage over other classes in that area when using non-class abilities. As such, I generally take the approach of moving such passives out into the non-weapon trees to make them accessible to everyone for the most part.
The list of these "new" or "combined" universally available passives is as follows:
Soul Magic
-New Passive "Soul Power:" (makes Dragonknight Kindling accessible and useful to all classes, DKs get a new passive): Increases all damage over time effects (which may need to be balanced to compensate) by 33%/66%
-Reduced ultimate cost
-Generate ultimate when using abilities
-
Undaunted
-Reduced ability costs
-Spell resistance
Mages Guild:
-
Fighter's Guild:
-Intimidating Presence (bring in Peircing Spear passive from Templar and Iron Skin from Dragonknight and give them something else): In addition to existing effects, Block an additional 7.5%/15%
Dragonknight:SpoilerGeneral:
-Shifting Standard tooltip states that it reduces Ultimate Cost when it no longer does, please fix
Ultimates:
Shift Dragon Leap (and rebalance) to an ability (see Movement below for more reasons for this), and replace with a 50 ultimate cost single target damage ultimate.
Nightblade:Spoiler-Dark cloak & morphs to absorb 4 projectiles for 4s or give damage shield
SorcererSpoiler-Critical Surge Morph: change to restore Magicka & Stamina on Critical hits
-Streak morph to absorb 4 projectiles 4s
TemplarSpoiler
Edit: Lots MOAR to come! No more time for todayEdited by Atarax on February 25, 2015 12:44PM50 Bosmer Nightblade
50 Breton Sorcerer
50 Dunmer Dragonknight
50 Imperial Templar
50 Khajit Nightblade
50 Imperial Dragonknight
50 Altmer Sorcerer
50 Argonian Templar
Discussions of Interest:
Class Balance in 1.6
Quest Choices
Request to Reinstate Night's Silence and Dark Stalker stacking0 -
Atarax✭✭✭Class Comparisons Part 2/5
Passives Comparison
Dragonknight:Spoiler- Kindling: Increases the damage of flame abilities' burning effect by 33%/66%
- Warmth: Damaging enemies with Ardent Flame abilities also reduces their movement speed by 15%/30% for 2/4 seconds
- Searing Heat: Increases duration of Fiery Breath, Searing Strike, and Dragonknight Standard Abilities by 2 seconds (and their damage increased by 3% for the second point)
- World in Flame: Increases the damage of flame-based aoes by 3%/6%
- Iron Skin: Block an additional 5%/10% damage
- Burning Heat: Increases healing received by 6%/12% while a Draconic Power ability is active
- Elder Dragon: Increases health recovery by 2%/5% for each Draconic Power ability slotted
- Scaled Armor: Increases Spell Resistance by 1000/2500
- Eternal Mountain: Increases duration of Earthen Heart abilities by 10% / 20%
- Battle Roar: Activating an Ultimate restores Health, Magicka, and Stamina in amounts increased by 35%/70% of the Ultimate's cost.
- Mountain's Blessing: Activating an Earthen Heart Ability grants 2/3 additional Ultimate (every 6s). Gives Minor Brutality to all allies within 30m, increasing Weapon damage by 5% for 10/20 seconds.
- Helping Hands: Activating an Earthen Hearth Ability restores 2%/5% stamina
Nightblade:Spoiler- Master Assassin: Increase Weapon and Spell Damage while invisible or stealthed by 5%/10%, plus stealthed attacks stun for 100% longer (unless they're running magelight, which everyone in PvP likely will be).
- Executioner: Killing an enemy with an Assassination ability (Death Stroke, Assassin's Blade, or Teleport Strike), restores 712/1428 Magicka over 6 seconds
- Pressure Points: Increases Critical Strike Rating by 0 for each Assassination ability slotted current bonus 0/0.
- Hemorrhage: Increases Critical Strike damage by 5%/10%; successful critical hits give nearby allies Major Savagery (Weapon Crit increases by 629) for 10/20 seconds.
- Refreshing Shadows: Increases stamina regeneration by 15%/30%
- Shadow Barrier: Activating a Shadow Ability (Shadow Cloak, Veiled Strike, Path of Darkness, Aspect of Terror, Summon Shade) gives you Major Ward and Major Resolve (increases Spell resistance and Armor by 5120 for 2/4 seconds, duration increased for each peice of Heavy Armor Equipped, max is 11 seconds)
- Dark Vigor: Each Shadow Ability slotted increases your Max Health by 2%/3%
- Dark Veil: Increases duration of Shadow abilities (Shadow Cloak, Path of Darkness, Aspect of Terror, Summon Shade) by 8%/15%
- Catalyst: Drinking a potion gives you 6/12 Ultimate (seriously? you're joking right)
- Magicka Flood: Increases Max Magicka by 4%/8% while a siphoning ability is slotted.
- Soul Siphoner: Increases the effectiveness of your Healing by 2%/3% for each Siphoning Ability (Soul Shred, Strife, Agony, Cripple, Siphoning Strikes, Drain Power) slotted
- Transfer: Activating a siphoning ability grants 1/2 additional ultimate with a 4 second cooldown, while gaining ultimate
Sorcerer:Spoiler- Unholy Knowledge: Reduces Magicka and Stamina costs for all abilities by 3%/5%
- Blood Magic: Hitting an enemy with a Dark Magic ability (Negate Magic, Crystal Shard, Encase, Rune Prison, Dark Exchange, Daedric Mines) heals you for 4%/8% of Max Health (so approximately 1,600 health per cast for a 20,000 health character).
- Persistence: Increases duration of Dark Magic abilities by 10%/20%
- Exploitation: Activating a Dark Magic ability ability (Negate Magic, Crystal Shard, Encase, Rune Prison, Dark Exchange, Daedric Mines) grants Minor Prophecy to nearby allies, increasing Spell Crit by 629 for 10/20 seconds.
- Rebate: When one of your summoned creatures is killed or unsummoned, you're restored for 10%/15% of your Max Magicka. (a bit "meh")
- Power Stone: Reduces the cost of Ultimate abilities by 8%/15% (this is unbalancing to the extent that it affects non-Sorc ultimates, which it currently does).
- Daedric Protection: Increases your Health recovery by 10%/20% when a Daedric Summoning ability is slotted.
- Expert Summoner: 1) Winged twilight deals 5%/10% more damage, Familiary and clannfear gain 10%/20% movement speed, and Storm Atronach's attack range is increased by 15%/30%
- Capacitator: Increases Magicka Recovery by 5%/10%
- Energized: Increases damage of Storm Calling abilities (Overload, Mages' Fury, Lightning Form, Lightning Splash, Surge, Bolt Escape) by 3%/5%
- Disintigrate: Gives all Shock spells a 3%/6% chance to instantly disintegrate low Health targets, dealing 4372 damage
- Expert Mage: Increases spell power by 1% for each Sorcerer ability slotted
Templar:Spoiler- Piercing Spear: Increases damage bonus for critical strikes 5%/10% and damage against blocking targets by 5%/10% if an Aedric Spear ability (Radial Sweep, Puncturing Strikes, Piercing Javelin, Focused Charge, Spear Shards, Sun Shield) is slotted
- Spear Wall: Increases amount of damage blocked from melee attacks by 7%/15%
- Burning Light: Gives 25% chance to do 218/437 extra Magic Damage any time you use an Aedric Spear ability (Radial Sweep, Puncturing Strikes, Piercing Javelin, Focused Charge, Spear Shards, Sun Shield)
- Balanced Warrior: Increases Weapon Damage 3%/6% and Spell Resistance 1000/2000
- Enduring Rays: Increases duration of Dawns Wrath abilities (Nova, Sun Fire, Solar Flare, Backlash, Eclipse, Radient Destruction) by 10%/20%
- Prism: Activating a Dawn's Wrath ability (Radial Sweep, Puncturing Strikes, Piercing Javelin, Focused Charge, Spear Shards, Sun Shield) grants 2/3 Ultimate. This can only occur once every 6 seconds.
- Illuminate: Activating a Dawn's Wrath ability grants nearby allies Minor Sorcery (increases Spell Damage by 5%) for 10/20 seconds
- Restoring Spirit: Reduces Magicka, Stamina, and Ultimate ability costs 2%/4%
- Mending: Increases effect of Restoring Light abilities (Right of Passage, Rushed Ceremony, Healing Ritual, Restoring Aura, Cleansing Ritual, Rune Focus) by up to 5%/10%
- Focused Healing: Increases healing effects of Restoring Light abilities by 15%/30% for allies within Rite of Passage, Cleansing Ritual, and Rune Focus areas.
- Light Weaver: Increases duration of Restoring Aura by 10%/20%, Healing Ritual Grants 1/2 Ultimate for allies under 60% health, Channeling Rite of Passage grants a 6500/12500 bonus to Armor and Spell Resistance.
- Master Ritualist: Increases resurrection speed 10%/20%, resurrected allies return with 50%/100% more Health, and gives you a 50% chance to gain a soul gem after resurrection.
Analysis:SpoilerThe biggest problem with the existing balance in the long run (assuming that classes aren't opened up as I propose, and spell-crafting will allow the construction of active abilities that do the same things as class abilities) are passive abilities that have an effect on abilities OUTSIDE the class. When a class-restricted passive affects ALL abilities, it gives that class an unbalanced advantage over other classes in that area when using non-class abilities. As such, I generally take the approach of moving such passives out into the non-weapon trees to make them accessible to everyone for the most part.
The list of these abilities, and suggested changes, is as follows:
Dragonknight Passives:- Kindling: Increases the damage of flame abilities' burning effect by 33%/66%
Fix:
Implement a passive (in Soul Magic since there's an open spot? Call it "Soul Power?") that increases all damage over time effects (which may need to be balanced to compensate) by 33%/66% and replace this passive with something that affects only Dragonknight Abilities or does not create disbalance (ex. gives DKs an ability they otherwise lack access to)
Rationale: 1) Coupled with Dark Elf racial passives, this can result in disbalanced fire damage over time. 2) Gives Dragonknights an advantage over other classes when using non-Dragonknight flame-inducing abilities - World in Flame: Increases the damage of flame-based aoes by 3%/6%
Fix:
Add this passive to Mages guild passive Mage Adept (a somewhat lackluster passive as it is now) and have it effect whatever the damage type is of the staff equipped and replace the DK passive with something that only applies specifically to DK abilities that can be balanced or with an entirely new passive (I'll take the second approach)
Rationale: Similar to Kindling, 1) provides dis-balanced fire aoe damage for Dragonknights on its own when they use non-class fire-based aoes - Iron Skin: Block an additional 5%/10% damage
Fix: Combine with the block portion of Templar passive Piercing Spear and move to Fighter's Guild passive Intimidating Presence (an otherwise mediocre passive) such that it increases block mitigation for all attacks for everyone by 7%/15%; replace the Templar passive with a Templar-ability-specific passive, and the DK passive with a DK-ability-specific-passive.
Access to Buffs / DebuffsSpoilerArmor buffs
Minor Resolve: Small increase to physical resistance (960 Armor).
All:
Ultimate:
-Sturdy Horn (War Horn Morph) 250 cost, 30 second duration: Increase Max Magicka, Health, and Stamina for you and your allies by 15%, Aggressive Horn morph gives Major Force for 8 seconds, the other morph gives Minor Ward and Minor Resolve, increasing Armor and Spell Resistance by 960 for 36 seconds.
Dragonknight:
-Stone Giant (3591 Magicka), morph of Stonefist Ability, grants Minor Resolve for 16.5 seconds + does 494 damage & 3.3 second knock down to a single target
Nightblade:
Active:
-Blur and morphs (3351 Magicka cost, 26s duration): Gives Major Evasion (20% Dodge chance); morphs give Minor Resolve (960 Armor) for 20s, or Major Expedition (40% movement) for 4s
Sorcerer:
-Bound Armor (3962 Magicka, toggle): Grants Minor Resolve (960 Armor) and increases Max Magicka by 5%; Bound Armaments makes it cost Stamina and increase Heavy Attacks by 11% and increase Max Stamina instead, Bound Aegis morph also grants Minor Ward (960 spell resistance).
Major Resolve: Larger increase to physical resistance (5120 Armor).
All:
-Immovable ability and its morphs (13.5s+duration, 4309 Stamina cost), gives Major Resolve & Major Ward, increasing armor & spell resistance by 5120 and immunity to knockback and disabling effects for 5 seconds. One morph reduces break free cost with more heavy armor equipped, the other increases duration.
Dragonknight:
Active:
-Spiked Armor ability and morphs (duration 20 seconds, cost 2872 Magicka): Gives Major Resolve & Major Ward, plus a 146 damage reflection, and either a 786 aoe dot or 10% Max Health damage shield on activation
Nightblade:
Passive:
-Activating a Shadow Ability (Shadow Cloak, Veiled Strike, Path of Darkness, Aspect of Terror, Summon Shade) gives you Major Ward and Major Resolve (increases Spell resistance and Armor by 5120 for 2/4 seconds, duration increased for each peice of Heavy Armor Equipped, up to 175% or 11 seconds in full heavy)
Sorcerer:
-Lightning Form and its morphs (instant cast, 15s duration, 3339 Magicka cost): Gives Major Resolve and Major Ward (increasing Armor and Spell Resistance by 5120), also does 84 PBAOE dps; Thundering Presence morph increases duration to 20s, Boundless Storm morph gives Major Expedition (increasing move speed by 40%) for 6 seconds.
Templar:
-Rune Focus and its morphs (instant cast, self, 15s duration, 1646/940 cost): gives Major Resolve and Major Ward (increasing Armor and Spell Resistance by 5120), effects dissipate after 8s if you leave the rune area; Channeld Focus morph recovers 120 Magicka every 0.5s while near rune, Restoring Focus morph gives Minor Vitality (8% incoming healing).
Reduce Armor debuffs
Minor Fracture: Small decrease to target’s physical resistance.
Major Fracture: Larger decrease to the target’s physical resistance (5120).
All: None, other than weapon skills
Dragonknight:
Active:
-Burning Breath (stamina morph cone AOE ability, radius 10m, cost 2394 stamina, 8 second duration); does 940 flame damage over duration and gives Major Fracture (5120 Armor reduction).
Nightblade:
Active:
-Mark Target & morphs (single target, 2394 Magicka, 50m range, 20s/27s duration); afflict enemy with Major Fracture & Major Breach (reducing Armor and Spell resistance by 5120), if the enemy dies, you are restored for 40% of your Max Health; Piercing Mark increases duration and lets you see targets that stealth, Reapers Mark gives you Major Berserk, increasing damage by 25% for 5 seconds.
-Veiled strike surprise attack morph (2394 Magicka / stamina, 5m range, instant): does 822 Magic / Physical damage + stuns and sets enemy offbalance for 4.3 seconds when attacking from stealth / invisibility; surprise attack morph afflicts enemy with Major Fracture (5120 Armor debuff) when attacking from stealth / invis, concealed weapon gives 22% movement speed while stealthed / invis
Spell Resistance buffs
Minor Ward: Small increase to spell resist (960).
All:
Ultimate:
-Sturdy Horn (War Horn Morph) 250 cost, 30 second duration: Increase Max Magicka, Health, and Stamina for you and your allies by 15%, Aggressive Horn morph gives Major Force for 8 seconds, the other morph gives Minor Ward and Minor Resolve, increasing Armor and Spell Resistance by 960 for 36 seconds.
Dragonknight:
-Reflective Plate ability (morph of Reflective Scale) 3351 Magicka cost: gives Minor Ward for 20s, plus reflects 4 projectiles over 4 seconds.
Nightblade: None
Sorcerer:
-Bound Armor (3962 Magicka, toggle): Grants Minor Resolve (960 Armor) and increases Max Magicka by 5%; Bound Armaments makes it cost Stamina and increase Heavy Attacks by 11% and increase Max Stamina instead, Bound Aegis also grants Minor Ward (960 spell resistance).
Major Ward: Larger increase to spell resist (5120).
All:
-Immovable ability and its morphs (13.5s+duration, 4309 Stamina cost), gives Major Resolve & Major Ward, increasing armor & spell resistance by 5120 and immunity to knockback and disabling effects for 5 seconds. One morph reduces break free cost with more heavy armor equipped, the other increases duration.
Dragonknight:
Active:
-Spiked Armor ability and morphs (duration 20 seconds, cost 2872 Magicka): Gives Major Resolve & Major Ward, plus a 146 damage reflection, and either a 786 aoe dot or 10% Max Health damage shield on activation
Nightblade:
Passive:
-Activating a Shadow Ability (Shadow Cloak, Veiled Strike, Path of Darkness, Aspect of Terror, Summon Shade) gives you Major Ward and Major Resolve (increases Spell resistance and Armor by 5120 for 2/4 seconds, duration increased for each peice of Heavy Armor Equipped, up to 175% or 11 seconds in full heavy)
Sorcerer:
Active:
-Lightning Form and its morphs (instant cast, 15s duration, 3339 Magicka cost): Gives Major Resolve and Major Ward (increasing Armor and Spell Resistance by 5120), also does 84 PBAOE dps; Thundering Presence morph increases duration to 20s, Boundless Storm morph gives Major Expedition (increasing move speed by 40%) for 6 seconds.
Templar:
Active:
-Rune Focus and its morphs (instant cast, self, 15s duration, 1646/940 cost): gives Major Resolve and Major Ward (increasing Armor and Spell Resistance by 5120), effects dissipate after 8s if you leave the rune area; Channeld Focus morph recovers 120 Magicka every 0.5s while near rune, Restoring Focus morph gives Minor Vitality (8% incoming healing).
Reduce Spell Resistance debuffs
Minor Breach: Small decrease to target’s spell resist.
Major Breach: Larger decrease to target’s spell resist.
All: None
Dragonknight: None
Nightblade:
Active:
-Mark Target & morphs (single target, 2394 Magicka, 50m range, 20s/27s duration); afflict enemy with Major Fracture & Major Breach (reducing Armor and Spell resistance by 5120), if the enemy dies, you are restored for 40% of your Max Health; Piercing Mark increases duration and lets you see targets that stealth, Reapers Mark gives you Major Berserk, increasing damage by 25% for 5 seconds.
Sorcerer:
Templar:
Damage Taken buffs
Minor Protection: Reduces damage taken by 8%
All:
Circle of Protection (7053 Stamina cost, 10 second duration, 5 meter radius): AOE hotspot, morphs give either Major Fortitude or do aoe fear + 397 damage to undead and daedra in the area
Dragonknight: none
Nightblade: none
Sorcerer:
Ultimate:
-Suppression field morph of Negate Magic (207 cost 225 base, 10.4s duratiion, 8m radius, 28 meter range, ground target, instant cast) stuns (silences in the case of PCs) everything in the area and dispells enemy placed effects; Suppression Field morph provides allies with Minor Protection (8% damage reduction), while Absorbtion Field gives Major Expedition, Fortitude, Intellect, and Endurance (increasing Health, Magicka, and Stamina regen 20% and Movement speed 40%) for 12 seconds.
Major Protection: Reduces damage taken by 30%
Other: Reduce damage taken by x% (stacks)
Dragonknight: Standard of Might (Ultimate) 17%
Dodge buffs
Minor Evasion: Increases dodge chance by 5%
Major Evasion: Increases dodge chance by 20%
-All: Evasion and its morphs (3830 Stamina cost, 20 second duration), also removes and grants immunity to snares for up to 3.5 seconds or increases duration for each peice of medium armor equipped.
Dragonknight: None
Nightblade:
Active:
-Blur and morphs (3351 Magicka cost, 26s duration): Gives Major Evasion (20% Dodge chance); morphs give Minor Resolve (960 Armor) for 20s, or Major Expedition (40% movement) for 4s
Reduce Damage debuffs
Minor Maim: Reduces target’s damage dealt by 15%
All: none
Dragonknight:
-Choking Talons (morph of Dark talons ability): 3591 Magicka cost, 4 second duration, AOE with 477 damage + Impale (795 damage) synergy, gives Minor Maim (15% damage reduction) to all enemies in the area for
Nightblade:
-Aspect of Terror & morphs (3351 Magicka, 6m/3m radius): fears two enemies for 4.3 seconds, Mass Hysteria Morph gives Minor Maim (15% damage reduction) and 50% movement speed reduction for 4 seconds after recovering, Manifestation of Terror plants a trap and makes the fear AOE.
-Summon Shade & morphs (2394 Magicka , 28m range, 16.2s duration, instant cast): summon a shade to attack enemy, deals 238/318 Magic Damage per Second and causes Minor Maim (reduces enemy damage by 15% for 4 seconds)l Dark Shades summons 2 shades, doubling damage, Shadow Image summons an archer shade which does increased damage from range and lets you teleport to the shade.
Major Maim: Reduces target’s damage dealt by 30%
Damage on Next Attack buff
Major Empower: Increases damage of next attack by 20%
All: Might of the GUild (Mage's Guild), gives Empower when any Mages guild ability is used
Dragonknight: Active: Empowering Chains (morph of Fiery Grip)
Nightblade: Active: Ambush (morph of Teleport Strike)
Sorcerer: None
Templar:Active: Solar Flare and its morphs (1.1s cast time/instant, single target/aoe, 28m range, 2822 Magicka): does 1252 Magic Damage and grants Empower (20% damage increase for next attack); Dark Flare morph infects enemies with Major Defile (40% incoming healing reduction) for 6.6s, Solar Barrage Morph does 491 to all enemies and makes the ability instant cast (wow).
Weapon Damage buffs
Minor Brutality: Increases weapon damage by 5%
Dragonknight: Mountain's Blessing passive causes any earthen heart ability to grant 1/2 additional Ultimate and give Minor Brutality to all allies within 30m for 10/20 seconds.
Major Brutality: Increases weapon damage by 20%
All: none
Dragonknight: None, but see Molten weapons buff (40% increase to Heavy Attack damage, the only class in the game with said buff)
Nightblade:
Active:
-Drain power and morphs (2872 Magicka / stamina, 20s duration, 8m radius: deals 400/484 damage aoe and gives Major Brutality (increase weapon damage 20% for 20 seconds); Power Extraction morph increases damage and scales off of stamina, Sap Essence Morph gives Major Brutality and Major Sorcery (20% increase to weapon damage & spell damage) and heals Nightblade and nearby allies for 198+20% more for each enemy hit.
Sorcerer:
-Surge and its morphs (instant cast, 20s duration, 4452 Magicka cost): gives Major Brutality (20% weapon damage increase), while active, critical strikes heal you for 40% of damage done; Power Surge morph also gives Major Sorcery (20% Spell Damage), while Critical Surge causes attacks to heal for 50% instead of 40%.
Other: Increase damage of Heavy Attacks by x%
Dragonknight: Molten Weapons and Morphs increase Heavy Attack Damage by 40% for 8.8 seconds, instant cast, 3830 Magicka (great for 2 hander builds with Momentum).
Spell Damage buffs
Minor Sorcery: Increases spell damage by 5%
All: None
Dragonknight: None
Nightblade: None
Sorcerer: None
Templar:
-Activating a Dawn's Wrath ability grants nearby allies Minor Sorcery (increases Spell Damage by 5%) for 10/20 seconds
Major Sorcery: Increases spell damage by 20%
All:
-Entropy and its Morphs (28m range, 12s duration, 1436 Magicka Cost): deals 721 Magic Damage over 12 seconds and returns 224 Health plus an additional 224 every 6 seconds, and gives Major Sorcery, increasing Spell Damage by 20%; one morph causes weapon attacks to have a 15% chance to return 100% of damage as Health, the other increases Max Health by 5%
Dragonknight: None
Nightblade:
-Drain power and morphs (2872 Magicka / stamina, 20s duration, 8m radius: deals 400/484 damage aoe and gives Major Brutality (increase weapon damage 20% for 20 seconds); Power Extraction morph increases damage and scales off of stamina, Sap Essence Morph gives Major Brutality and Major Sorcery (20% increase to weapon damage & spell damage) and heals Nightblade and nearby allies for 198+20% more for each enemy hit.
Sorcerer:
-Surge and its morphs (instant cast, 20s duration, 4452 Magicka cost): gives Major Brutality (20% weapon damage increase), while active, critical strikes heal you for 40% of damage done; Power Surge morph also gives Major Sorcery (20% Spell Damage), while Critical Surge causes attacks to heal for 50% instead of 40%.
Templar:
Critical Damage buffs
Minor Force: Increases critical damage amounts by 15%
Major Force: Increases critical damage amounts by 40%
All:
Ultimate:
-Aggressive Horn (War Horn Morph) 250 cost, 30 second duration: Increase Max Magicka, Health, and Stamina for you and your allies by 15%, Aggressive Horn morph gives Major Force for 8 seconds, the other morph gives Minor Ward and Minor Resolve, increasing Armor and Spell Resistance by 960 for 36 seconds.
Weapon Critical Chance buffs
Minor Savagery: Increases weapon critical chance by 3%
All: None
Dragonknight: None
Nightblade: None
Nightblade:
Major Savagery: Increases weapon critical chance by 10%
All:
-Expert Hunter: 2872 stamina, 15s duration, gives Major Savagery and +4% (15% versus Daedra) chance to deal 795 Magic Damage; morphs restore 750 stamina per attack against undead and daedra, or do 1193 more damage to undead and daedra in stealth.
Dragonknight:
Active:
-Flames of Oblivion (Inferno ability morph): toggle ability, also gives Major Prophecy
Nightblade:
Passive:
-Hemmorage: Increases Critical Strike damage by 5%/10%; successful critical hits give nearby allies Major Savagery (Weapon Crit increases by 629) for 10/20 seconds. (Most likely mitigated in PvP)
Socerer:
-None
Templar:
-Biting Jabs morph of Puncturing Strikes (1.1s channel time, cone AOE, 8m radius, 2571 Magicka/stamina cost): strikes 4x for 117 Magic Damage each, nearest enemy takes 140% additional damage and is knocked back on the last hit; Biting Jabs morph gives Major Savagery (2099 Weapon Crit) and scales from Stamina, Puncturing Sweep morph heals for 40% of damage done (approximately 200 per enemy)
Spell Critical Chance buffs
Minor Prophecy: Increases spell critical chance by 3% (629)
All: None
Dragonknight: None
Nightblade: None
Sorcerer:
Passive:
-Exploitation: Activating a Dark Magic ability ability (Negate Magic, Crystal Shard, Encase, Rune Prison, Dark Exchange, Daedric Mines) grants Minor Prophecy to nearby allies, increasing Spell Crit by 629 for 10/20 seconds.
Major Prophecy: Increases spell critical chance by 10% (2099)
All:
-Magelight and its morphs: Toggle ability, 5% Magicka Reduction, plus gives Major Prophecy (increase Spell Crit by 2099) morphs either make it a 2% Magicka gain, or allow you to see stealthed or invisible players, reduce stealth attacks against you by 50%, and prevents being stunned by stealth.
Dragonknight:
-Inferno (ability) and its morphs, toggle ability, also can give Major Savagery
Nightblade:
-None
Sorcerer:
-None
Templar:
-Sun Fire and its morphs (instant cast, single target/3 targets, 28m range, 2352 Magicka): does 494 damage, snares for 40%, and does 597 damage over 5.5s, also gives Major Prophecy (spell crit up 2099, how long?); Vampires Bane morph increases damage over time to 864 over 7.7 seconds, Reflective Light morph causes ability to affect 2 additional targets.
Healing Done buffs
Minor Mending: Increases healing done by 8%
Major Mending: Increases healing done by 30%
All:
Dragonknight:
-Igneous Shield (Obsidian Shield ability Morph), 3591 Magicka, 22 second duration + gives nearby allies a 1314 damage shield (100% increase for caster)
Healing Taken buffs
Minor Vitality: Increases healing taken by 8%
All:
-Bone Shield and its morphs (3351 stamina cost, 6 second duration): Gives 30% of Max Health damage shield to you, Allies can activate Bone Wall synergy, giving a 60% Max Health damage shield for 10 seconds and affecting up to 4 allies; one morph gives 30% damage reflection for the caster, the other gives Minor Vitality (8% increase to healing received) to allies from the synergy.
Dragonknight:
Active:
-Coagulating Blood (morph) ability 20s duration, 3830 cost, (also heals 33% of missing health and gives Major Fortitude for 20% health regen).
Nightblade:
Active:
-Swallow Soul Strife morph (1211 Magicka cost, 28 meter range, 10s duration, instant cast): does 740 Magic Damage, healing Nightblade for 25% of the damage inflicted every 2 seconds; Funnel Health morph heals two allies as well, Swallow Soul gives Minor Vitality (8% increase in healing received)
Sorcerer: None
Templar:
-Channeled Focus morph of Rune Focus (instant cast, self, 15s duration, 1646/940 cost): gives Major Resolve and Major Ward (increasing Armor and Spell Resistance by 5120), effects dissipate after 8s if you leave the rune area; Channeld Focus morph recovers 120 Magicka every 0.5s while near rune, Restoring Focus morph gives Minor Vitality (8% incoming healing).
Major Vitality: Increases healing taken by 30%
Reduce Healing Taken debuffs
Minor Defile: Reduces target’s healing taken by 15%
Major Defile: Reduces target’s healing taken by 40%
Dragonknight: Dragonknight Standard (Ultimate) and its morphs, AOE
Reduce Max Health debuffs
Minor Mangle: reduces target’s max health by 10%
Major Mangle: reduces target’s max health by 40%
Health Recovery buffs
Minor Fortitude: increases health recovery by 10%
Major Fortitude: increases health recovery by 20%
All:
-Blood Alter & its Morphs:
-Balance, Equilibrium Morph, exchanges 2623 Health for 1055 Magicka, and gives Major Fortitude for 17 seconds, but prevents self-healing for 4 seconds.
-Circle of Protection (7053 Stamina cost, 10 second duration, 5 meter radius): AOE hotspot, morphs give either Major Fortitude or do aoe fear + 397 damage to undead and daedra in the area
Dragonknight: Dragon Blood ability and its morphs 20s duration, 3830 cost, (also heals 33% of missing health and gives Minor Vitality or Major Endurance with morphs).
Nightblade: None
Sorceror:
Active:
-Absorbtion Field morph of Negate Magic (207 cost 225 base, 10.4s duratiion, 8m radius, 28 meter range, ground target, instant cast) stuns (silences in the case of PCs) everything in the area and dispells enemy placed effects; Suppression Field morph provides allies with Minor Protection (8% damage reduction), while Absorbtion Field gives Major Expedition, Fortitude, Intellect, and Endurance (increasing Health, Magicka, and Stamina regen 20% and Movement speed 40%) for 12 seconds.
Magicka Recovery buffs
Minor Intellect: Increases magicka recovery by 10%
All: None
Dragonknight: None
Nightblade: None
-Summon Winged Twilight (1.5s cast time, 6293 Magicka cost, permanent): Winged Twilight's attack deals 557 shock damage +15%, Summon Restoring Twilight causes pet to grant Minor Intellect (10% Magicka Regeneration) to allies, while Summon Twilight Matriarch will cause pet to heal you for 1049 damage when low(35%) health, but only once every 30 seconds.
Major Intellect: Increases magicka recovery by 20%
All: None
Dragonknight: None
Nightblade: None
Sorcerer:
Ultimate:
-Absorbtion Field morph of Negate Magic (207 cost 225 base, 10.4s duratiion, 8m radius, 28 meter range, ground target, instant cast) stuns (silences in the case of PCs) everything in the area and dispells enemy placed effects; Suppression Field morph provides allies with Minor Protection (8% damage reduction), while Absorbtion Field gives Major Expedition, Fortitude, Intellect, and Endurance (increasing Health, Magicka, and Stamina regen 20% and Movement speed 40%) for 12 seconds.
Stamina Recovery buffs
Minor Endurance: Increases stamina recovery by 10%
All: None
Dragonknight: None
Nightblade:
-Grim Focus, Relentless focus morph (2934 cost, 20 second duration): 8 light and/or heavy attack stacks to turn into Assassin's Will, firing for 1478/1594 Magic Damage, also grants Minor Berserk (8% damage buff); Relentless Focus morph gives Minor Endurance (10% stamina regen), Merciless Resolves gives Assassin's Will more damage + a 40%, 5s, snare
Major Endurance: Increases stamina recovery by 20%
All: None
Dragonknight: Green Dragon Blood ability 20s duration, 3830 cost, (also heals 33% of missing health and gives Major Fortitude).
Nightblade: None
Sorcerer:
Ultimate:
-Absorbtion Field morph of Negate Magic (207 cost 225 base, 10.4s duratiion, 8m radius, 28 meter range, ground target, instant cast) stuns (silences in the case of PCs) everything in the area and dispells enemy placed effects; Suppression Field morph provides allies with Minor Protection (8% damage reduction), while Absorbtion Field gives Major Expedition, Fortitude, Intellect, and Endurance (increasing Health, Magicka, and Stamina regen 20% and Movement speed 40%) for 12 seconds.
Movement Speed buffs
Minor Expedition: Increases movement speed by 10%
All:
-Rapid Maneuver and its morphs (7182 Stamina cost, 22 second duration, 20 meter radius): Grants Major Expedition and Major Gallop, increasing Movement Speed & Mounted Speed by 40%. Also makes you immune to snares and immobilizations until you attack. One morph removes all ssnares and immobilizes, the other grants Minor Expedition, giving 10% move increase, after attacking.
Major Expedition: Increases movement speed by 40%
All:
-Rapid Maneuver and its morphs (7182 Stamina cost, 22 second duration, 20 meter radius): Grants Major Expedition and Major Gallop, increasing Movement Speed & Mounted Speed by 40%. Also makes you immune to snares and immobilizations until you attack. One morph removes all ssnares and immobilizes, the other grants Minor Expedition, giving 10% move increase, after attacking.
Dragonknight: none
Nightblade:
Active:
-Blur and morphs (3351 Magicka cost, 26s duration): Gives Major Evasion (20% Dodge chance); morphs give Minor Resolve (960 Armor) for 20s, or Major Expedition (40% movement) for 4s
-Path of Darkness & morphs (3112 Magicka, 10.8 second cast, frontal cone); does 45/58 Magic Damage every 0.5s to enemies on path, and gives Nightblade Major Expidition (40% move speed) while on path; Twisting Path increases damage and area, refreshing path heals allies and Nightblade for 63 every 0.5s.
-Cripple and its morphs (instant cast, 28m range, 8s duration, 2872 Magicka Cost): steals 40% movement speed from enemy and returns it as Major Expedition (40% increase), deals 1405 damage over 8s; debilitate morph returns 2520 of magica cost if target dies while affected, Crippling grasp morph does 238 Magic Damage and is immobilized on cast.
Sorcerer:
Ultimate:
-Absorbtion Field morph of Negate Magic (207 cost 225 base, 10.4s duratiion, 8m radius, 28 meter range, ground target, instant cast) stuns (silences in the case of PCs) everything in the area and dispells enemy placed effects; Suppression Field morph provides allies with Minor Protection (8% damage reduction), while Absorbtion Field gives Major Expedition, Fortitude, Intellect, and Endurance (increasing Health, Magicka, and Stamina regen 20% and Movement speed 40%) for 12 seconds.
Active:
-Lightning Form and its morphs (instant cast, 15s duration, 3339 Magicka cost): Gives Major Resolve and Major Ward (increasing Armor and Spell Resistance by 5120), also does 84 PBAOE dps; Thundering Presence morph increases duration to 20s, Boundless Storm morph gives Major Expedition (increasing move speed by 40%) for 6 seconds.
Major Gallop: Increases Mounted Speed by 40%
All:
-Rapid Maneuver and its morphs (7182 Stamina cost, 22 second duration, 20 meter radius): Grants Major Expedition and Major Gallop, increasing Movement Speed & Mounted Speed by 40%. Also makes you immune to snares and immobilizations until you attack. One morph removes all ssnares and immobilizes, the other grants Minor Expedition, giving 10% move increase, after attacking.
Ultimate Gain
Minor Heroism: Increases Ultimate gain by 1
Major Heroism: Increases Ultimate gain by 3
Damage Increase buffs (new)
Minor Berserk: Increases all damage done by 8%.
All: None
Dragonknight: None
Nightblade:
Active:
-Grim Focus & morphs (2934 cost, 20 second duration): 8 light and/or heavy attack stacks to turn into Assassin's Will, firing for 1478/1594 Magic Damage, also grants Minor Berserk (8% damage buff); Relentless Focus morph gives Minor Endurance (10% stamina regen), Merciless Resolves gives Assassin's Will more damage + a 40%, 5s, snare
Major Berserk: Increases all damage done by 25%.
All: None
Dragonknight: None
Nightblade:
Active:
-Mark Target morph (single target, 2394 Magicka, 50m range, 20s/27s duration); afflict enemy with Major Fracture & Major Breach (reducing Armor and Spell resistance by 5120), if the enemy dies, you are restored for 40% of your Max Health; Piercing Mark increases duration and lets you see targets that stealth, Reapers Mark gives you Major Berserk, increasing damage by 25% for 5 seconds.
Sorcerer:
Ultimate:
-Summon Storm Atronach and its morphs (184 cost 200 base, 18s/25s duration, 28m range, 6m radius, instant, ground target): Summons storm atronach that deals 795/819 Shock Damage in an aoe and stuns for 3 seconds and attacks the nearest enemy, allies can activate Charged Lightning, giving the ally and the atronach Major Berserk, increasing their damage by 25% for 8 seconds; Greater Storm Atronach morph increases damage 15%, duration, and health; Summon Charged Atronach morph does aoe attacks.
Other: Increase damage done by x%
Dragonknight: Standard of Might (Ultimate) 17%)
Bound Armor (3962 Magicka, toggle): Grants Minor Resolve (960 Armor) and increases Max Magicka by 5%; Bound Armaments makes it cost Stamina and increase Heavy Attacks by 11% and increase Max Stamina instead, Bound Aegis also grants Minor Ward (960 spell resistance).
Other: Increase damage from (type) by x%
Dragonknight: Engulfing Flames (cone AOE magicka morph) increases damage enemy takes from flame by 7%
Other: Increase damage of (type) abilities by x
Dragonknight: Molten Whip, increase damage of Ardent Flame Abilities by 70
Damage reduction debuffs (new)
Minor Maim: Reduces the damage your target can do by 15%.
Major Maim: Reduces the damage your target can do by 30%.
Self-Healing
All (excluding resto staff):Dragonknight:SpoilerActives:
-Entropy and its Morphs (28m range, 12s duration, 1436 Magicka Cost): deals 721 Magic Damage over 12 seconds and returns 224 Health plus an additional 224 every 6 seconds, and gives Major Sorcery, increasing Spell Damage by 20%; one morph causes weapon attacks to have a 15% chance to return 100% of damage, the other increases Max Health by 5%
-Blood Altar & its morphs (3830 Magicka, 8 meter radius, 33 second duration, 1.5 second cast time), gives Major Fortitude (20% health regen), allies can also use Blood Funnel synergy to heal for 40% of Max Health; one morph gives increased duration, the other causes the synergy to heal for 62%.
-Vigor and its morphs (2394 Stamina, 10 meter radius): Heal self and allies for 1104 over 5 seconds; one morph increases healing to self to 1458, the other increases radius to 15 meters.Nightblades:SpoilerUltimates: None
Actives:
-Burning Embers (ability, Magicka Morph): Heals 30% of damage inflicted when effect ends
-Flame Lash (Lava whip ability morph): Heals DK for 740 when targeting an off-balance enemy, plus stuns for 2 seconds, and sets enemies off-balance when hitting stunned or immobilized enemies
-Dragon Blood ability and its morphs: 3830 cost, restores 33% of missing Health, and gives Major Fortitude (20% Health Regen buff) for 20 seconds, and either Major Endurance (20% stam regeneration) or Minor Vitality (8% increased healing received) for 20s.
-Inhale ability and its morphs: 3591 cost, heals 248 health from up to 3 nearby enemies, and deals 408/491 damage (plus possibly interrupt) or restores 17% of damage done as Magicka
-Passives:
-Activating an ultimate restores Health, Magicka, and Stamina increased by 35%/70% of Ultimate costSorcererSpoilerUltimates:
-Hidden Refresh: Consuming Darkness (200 ultimate, 5 meter radius, 13 second duration, instant cast): reduces damage to you and allies by 30% and reduces enemy movement by 70%, low health allies can activate Hidden Refresh synergy, granting invisibility and healing them for 2790 over 4 seconds; bolstering darkness morph increases damage mitigation on NB to 60%, Veil of Blades does 184 damage every 0.5 seconds.
-Soul Siphon: Soul Shred (150 ultimate, 6m/15m radius, 3.5s duration, instant cast): deals 1193 damage to nearby enemies, an ally can activate Soul Leach to steal 1074 Health; Soul Siphon morph increases radius, eliminates damage but heals everyon for 1193 damage + 397 every 0.5s, Soul Tether stuns enemies for 4.5 seconds and adds a 198 health/damage siphon to all nearby enemies in addition to initial damage.
Actives:
-Assassin's Blade and morphs (5m/15m range, 1675 Magicka/Stamina cost): 412 damage, causes 300% more damage to low health targets; Killer's blade morph makes it cost stamina and heals for 17% of Max Health if target dies within 2 seconds, Impale morph increases range.
-Mark Target & morphs (single target, 2394 Magicka, 50m range, 20s/27s duration); afflict enemy with Major Fracture & Major Breach (reducing Armor and Spell resistance by 5120), if the enemy dies, you are restored for 40% of your Max Health; Piercing Mark increases duration and lets you see targets that stealth, Reapers Mark gives you Major Berserk, increasing damage by 25% for 5 seconds.
-Path of Darkness & morphs (3112 Magicka, 10.8 second cast, frontal cone); does 45/58 Magic Damage every 0.5s to enemies on path, and gives Nightblade Major Expidition (40% move speed) while on path; Twisting Path increases damage and area, refreshing path heals allies and Nightblade for 63 every 0.5s.
-Swallow Soul Strife morph (1211 Magicka cost, 28 meter range, 10s duration, instant cast): does 740 Magic Damage, healing Nightblade for 25% of the damage inflicted every 2 seconds; Funnel Health morph heals two allies as well, Swallow Soul gives Minor Vitality (8% increase in healing received)
-Leeching Strikes morph of Siphoning Strikes (toggle): reduces Weapon and Spell damage by 25%, each basic (light or heavy) attack heals 3% Magicka and Stamina and has a chance to restore 15%, Leeching strikes also heals 2% Health, Siphoning Attacks gives all attacks a chance to restore 15% Magicka and Stamina.
-Power Extraction morph of Drain Essence (2872 Magicka / stamina, 20s duration, 8m radius: deals 400/484 damage aoe and gives Major Brutality (increase weapon damage 20% for 20 seconds); Power Extraction morph increases damage and scales off of stamina, Sap Essence Morph gives Major Brutality and Major Sorcery (20% increase to weapon damage & spell damage) and heals Nightblade and nearby allies for 198+20% more for each enemy hit.TemplarSpoilerUltimates: None
Actives:
-Dark Exchange and its morphs (4 second channel): heals 1044 Health and 948 Magicka (Stamina) per second for 1544 Stamina (Magicka) per second; Dark Deal morph switches Magicka & Stamina cost/restore, Dark Conversion drains less Stamina.
-Surge and its morphs (instant cast, 20s duration, 4452 Magicka cost): gives Major Brutality (20% weapon damage increase), while active, critical strikes heal you for 40% of damage done; Power Surge morph also gives Major Sorcery (20% Spell Damage), while Critical Surge causes attacks to heal for 50% instead of 40%. (I hear there is an internal cooldown, intended or not, on this healing)
Passives:
-Blood Magic: Hitting an enemey with a Dark Magic ability (Negate Magic, Crystal Shard, Encase, Rune Prison, and Daedric Mines) heals for 4%/8% of Max HealthAnalysisSpoilerUltimate:
-Rite of Passage and it's morphs (4s channel time, targeted area, 20m radius, 4s duration, 123 cost, 125 cost base): Heal allies for 986 every second, cannot move while channeling, but gain immunity to all control effects; Rememberance morph reduces damage to allies in the area by 20%, Practiced Incantation morph increases channel duration by 2s.
Abilities:
-Puncturing Sweep morph of Puncturing Strikes (1.1s channel time, cone AOE, 8m radius, 2571 Magicka/stamina cost): strikes 4x for 117 Magic Damage each, nearest enemy takes 140% additional damage and is knocked back on the last hit; Biting Jabs morph gives Major Savagery (2099 Weapon Crit) and scales from Stamina, Puncturing Sweep morph heals for 40% of damage done (approximately 200 per enemy)
-Purifying Light morph of Backlash (instant, single target, 28m range, 6s duration, 1646 Magicka / Stamina cost): Stores all damage taken for 6s, then releases for 36% increased damage (max 3660); Purifying Light morph reduces damage to 33% increase base, but heals everyone in the area for 266 health every 2 seconds for 6.6s, Power of the Light morph changes to Stamina-based and inflicts Minor Fracture (reducing armor 960) for 6s.
-Eclipse and its morphs (instant cast, 28m range, 5.5s duration, 3998 Magicka): puts target in a sphere that reflects all single target spells back at them for 5.5s; Total Dark morph heals the caster for 596 for each spell reflected, Unstable Core morph causes target to do 397 damage aoe when the effect ends.
-Radiant Destruction and its morphs (2.5s channel time, 28m range, 3.3s duration, 3998 Magicka cost): does 1598 damage over 2.8s and 300% increased damage to low health targets; Radiant Glory morph heals player for 20% of the damage inflicted, Radiant Oppression deals up to 40% more damage in proportion to Magicka.
-Rushed Ceremony and its morphs (instant, area, 28m range, 3998 Magicka): heals self or ally for 1232 Health; Honor the Dead morph restores 15% of ability cost every 2 seconds for 8 seconds when cast on a low health target, Breath of Life morph heals up to 2 additional allies for 596.
-Healing Ritual and its morphs (2s cast time, area, 10m radius, 3292 Magicka cost): heals everyone for 1642 and self for 30% more; Ritual of Rebirth reduces cast time to 1.7s, Lingering Ritual heals an additional 409 after 8s.
-Repentance morph of Restoring Ritual (instant cast, self target, area, 12m radius, 16.5s duration, 3057/0 Magicka cost); while slotted, gain Minor Fortitude, Minor Endurance, and Minor Intellect, increasing Health, Stamina, and Magicka Regeneration by 10%; activate to grant allies Major Fortitude and Major Endurance (increasing health and stamina regen by 20%) for 16.5s; Radiant Aura morph increases radius, Repentance morph restores 795 health and stamina to allies for each corpse in the area and has no cost, but removes option to buff allies with Major Fortitude and Major Endurance.
-Cleansing Ritual and its morphs (instant, area, 12m radius, 3292/2587 Magicka cost): cleanse self from 1 harmful effect and heal allies for 138 every 2s for 12s, allies can activate Purify, removing harmful effects and healing them for 596; Purifying Ritual reduces cost and removes 2 harmful effects from the Templar, Extended Ritual morph increases duration to 16s.Spoiler
Healing Others
All:Dragonknights:Spoiler-Vigor and its morphs (2394 Stamina, 10 meter radius): Heal self and allies for 1104 over 5 seconds; one morph increases healing to self to 1458, the other increases radius to 15 meters.
-Necrotic Orb and its morphs (4069 Magicka cost, 5 meter radius, 10 second duration): does 113 aoe damage and ally can activate the synergy, causing the orb to explode for 795 Magic Damage (or healing themselves for 795 health or Magicka depending on morph) and restoring the ally for 395 Magicka over 10 seconds, plus additional Magicka based on the number of enemies hit.Nightblades:Spoiler-NoneSorcerers:SpoilerUltimates:
-Hidden Refresh: Consuming Darkness (200 ultimate, 5 meter radius, 13 second duration, instant cast): reduces damage to you and allies by 30% and reduces enemy movement by 70%, low health allies can activate Hidden Refresh synergy, granting invisibility and healing them for 2790 over 4 seconds; bolstering darkness morph increases damage mitigation on NB to 60%, Veil of Blades does 184 damage every 0.5 seconds.
-Soul Siphon: Soul Shred (150 ultimate, 6m/15m radius, 3.5s duration, instant cast): deals 1193 damage to nearby enemies, an ally can activate Soul Leach to steal 1074 Health; Soul Siphon morph increases radius, eliminates damage but heals everyon for 1193 damage + 397 every 0.5s, Soul Tether stuns enemies for 4.5 seconds and adds a 198 health/damage siphon to all nearby enemies in addition to initial damage.
Abilities:
-Path of Darkness & morphs (3112 Magicka, 10.8 second cast, frontal cone); does 45/58 Magic Damage every 0.5s to enemies on path, and gives Nightblade Major Expidition (40% move speed) while on path; Twisting Path increases damage and area, refreshing path heals allies and Nightblade for 63 every 0.5s.
-Funnel Health Strife morph (1211 Magicka cost, 28 meter range, 10s duration, instant cast): does 740 Magic Damage, healing Nightblade for 25% of the damage inflicted every 2 seconds; Funnel Health morph heals two allies as well, Swallow Soul gives Minor Vitality (8% increase in healing received)
-Power extraction morph of Drain Essence (2872 Magicka / stamina, 20s duration, 8m radius: deals 400/484 damage aoe and gives Major Brutality (increase weapon damage 20% for 20 seconds); Power Extraction morph increases damage and scales off of stamina, Sap Essence Morph gives Major Brutality and Major Sorcery (20% increase to weapon damage & spell damage) and heals Nightblade and nearby allies for 198+20% more for each enemy hit.Templars:Spoiler-None:SpoilerUltimate:
-Rite of Passage and it's morphs (4s channel time, targeted area, 20m radius, 4s duration, 123 cost, 125 cost base): Heal allies for 986 every second, cannot move while channeling, but gain immunity to all control effects; Rememberance morph reduces damage to allies in the area by 20%, Practiced Incantation morph increases channel duration by 2s.
Actives:
-Backlash and its morphs (instant, single target, 28m range, 6s duration, 1646 Magicka / Stamina cost): Stores all damage taken for 6s, then releases for 36% increased damage (max 3660); Purifying Light morph reduces damage to 33% increase base, but heals everyone in the area for 266 health every 2 seconds for 6.6s, Power of the Light morph changes to Stamina-based and inflicts minor fracture (reducing armor by 960) for 6s.
-Rushed Ceremony and its morphs (instant, area, 28m range, 3998 Magicka): heals self or ally for 1232 Health; Honor the Dead morph restores 15% of ability cost every 2 seconds for 8 seconds when cast on a low health target, Breath of Life morph heals up to 2 additional allies for 596.
-Healing Ritual and its morphs (2s cast time, area, 10m radius, 3292 Magicka cost): heals everyone for 1642 and self for 30% more; Ritual of Rebirth reduces cast time to 1.7s, Lingering Ritual heals an additional 409 after 8s.
-Repentance morph of Restoring Ritual (instant cast, self target, area, 12m radius, 16.5s duration, 3057/0 Magicka cost); while slotted, gain Minor Fortitude, Minor Endurance, and Minor Intellect, increasing Health, Stamina, and Magicka Regeneration by 10%; activate to grant allies Major Fortitude and Major Endurance (increasing health and stamina regen by 20%) for 16.5s; Radiant Aura morph increases radius, Repentance morph restores 795 health and stamina to allies for each corpse in the area and has no cost, but removes option to buff allies with Major Fortitude and Major Endurance.
-Cleansing Ritual and its morphs (instant, area, 12m radius, 3292/2587 Magicka cost): cleanse self from 1 harmful effect and heal allies for 138 every 2s for 12s, allies can activate Purify, removing harmful effects and healing them for 596; Purifying Ritual reduces cost and removes 2 harmful effects from the Templar, Extended Ritual morph increases duration to 16s.
Magicka Restore
All:Dragonknight:Spoiler-Heavy attacks with staves restore Magicka
Ultimate:
-Barrier and its morphs (12m radius, 30 second duration, 250 ultimate): Gives 4101 damage shield; Reviving Barrier heals everyone for 2919 over 30 seconds, Repleneshing Barrier gives 4 Ultimate and 119 Magicka each time a barrier expires/is destroyed.
Abilities:
-Equilibrium and its morphs: trade 2623 health for 1055 Magicka, but prevents you from healing yourself for 4 seconds, one morph reduces next spell cost by 25%, the other gives Major Fortitude
-Annulment morph: Light Armor ability Annulment, morph, gives you 238 Magicka gives you 238 + 3% Magicka for each spell restored up to 3x
-Combustion / Healing Combustion / Magicka Combustion: Necrotic Orb and its morphs (4069 Magicka cost, 5 meter radius, 10 second duration): does 113 aoe damage and ally can activate the synergy, causing the orb to explode for 795 Magic Damage (or healing themselves for 795 health or Magicka depending on morph) and restoring the ally for 395 Magicka over 10 seconds, plus additional Magicka based on the number of enemies hit.Nightblade:SpoilerActives:
-Sea of Flames: restores 112 magicka if the fireball kills an enemy (weaksauce)
-Draw Essence: restores 17% of damage done by the ability as MagickaSorcerer:SpoilerActives:
-Siphoning Strikes and morphs (toggle): reduces Weapon and Spell damage by 25%, each basic (light or heavy) attack heals 3% Magicka and Stamina and has a chance to restore 15%, Leeching strikes also heals 2% Health, Siphoning Attacks gives all attacks a chance to restore 15% Magicka and Stamina.Templar:SpoilerUltimate: None (other than buffs)
Actives:
-Dark Exchange and its morphs (4 second channel): heals 1044 Health and 948 Magicka (Stamina) per second for 1544 Stamina (Magicka) per second; Dark Deal morph switches Magicka & Stamina cost/restore, Dark Conversion drains less Stamina.Spoiler-Channeled Focus morph of Rune Focus (instant cast, self, 15s duration, 1646/940 cost): gives Major Resolve and Major Ward (increasing Armor and Spell Resistance by 5120), effects dissipate after 8s if you leave the rune area; Channeld Focus morph recovers 120 Magicka every 0.5s while near rune, Restoring Focus morph gives Minor Vitality (8% incoming healing).
Stamina Restore / Regeneration
All:Dragonknight:Spoiler-Heavy Attacks with melee weapons & bows restore Stamina
-Expert Hunter: 2872 stamina, 15s duration, gives Major Savagery and +4% (15% versus Daedra) chance to deal 795 Magic Damage; morphs restore 750 stamina per attack against undead and daedra, or do 1193 more damage to undead and daedra in stealth.Nightblade:SpoilerUltimate: None
Active:
-Green Dragon Blood ability (3830 cost): gives 20s Major Endurance buff with 20% Stamina Regeneration (on top of healing 33% of missing health and giving 20% health regen buff)
Passive:
-Helping Hands Passive: Activating any Earthen Heart ability restores 2%/5% StaminaSorcererSpoilerUltimate: None
Active:
-Grim Focus Relentless Focus morph (2934 cost, 20 second duration): 8 light and/or heavy attack stacks to turn into Assassin's Will, firing for 1478/1594 Magic Damage, also grants Minor Berserk (8% damage buff); Relentless Focus morph gives Minor Endurance (10% stamina regen), Merciless Resolves gives Assassin's Will more damage + a 40%, 5s, snare
-Siphoning Strikes and morphs (toggle): reduces Weapon and Spell damage by 25%, each basic (light or heavy) attack heals 3% Magicka and Stamina and has a chance to restore 15%, Leeching strikes also heals 2% Health, Siphoning Attacks gives all attacks a chance to restore 15% Magicka and Stamina.
Passive:
-Refreshing shadows passive: gives 15%/30% stamina regenTemplar:SpoilerUltimates: None but buffs
Actives:
-Dark Exchange and its morphs (4 second channel): heals 1044 Health and 948 Magicka (Stamina) per second for 1544 Stamina (Magicka) per second; Dark Deal morph switches Magicka & Stamina cost/restore, Dark Conversion drains less Stamina.AnalysisSpoilerSpoiler
Cost ReductionsSpoiler
Fear
All:Dragonknight:Spoiler-Trapping Webs and its morphs (3112 Magicka Damage, 28 meter range, instant cast), does 497 Magic Damage and reduces Movement Speed by 50% for 8 seconds, allies can activate the Spawn Broodlings synergy, dealing 795 Magic Damage and summoning 2 spiders for 15/20 seconds: one morph makes the spiders last longer and gives them a poison ability, the other causes fear.
-Circle of Protection (7053 Stamina cost, 10 second duration, 5 meter radius): AOE hotspot, morphs give either Major Fortitude or do aoe fear + 397 damage to undead and daedra in the areaNightblade:Spoiler-NoneSorcerer:SpoilerAbility:
-Aspect of Terror & morphs (3351 Magicka, 6m/3m radius): fears two enemies for 4.3 seconds, Mass Hysteria Morph gives Minor Maim (15% damage reduction) and 50% movement speed reduction for 4 seconds after recovering, Manifestation of Terror plants a trap and makes the fear AOE.Templar:SpoilerAnalysisSpoiler-NoneSpoiler-Nightblades are the only class that get access to a reliable fear against non-daedra
Fix:
-Change Trapping webs & morphs: align cost and damage of the base ability with Searing Strikes (412 damage + 1320 over 10.5 seconds) , have it spawn spiders on cast (rather than be a synergy) but make the 795 damage be damage over time as indicated; if recast, does the direct damage component (412 damage) and refreshes duration of dot and spiders without interrupting ticks or attacks (and resummons a spider if it's not there); one morph adds a poison dot from spiders (magicka), the other can cause Fear and is stamina-based.
Rationale: 1) gives a spammable, non-class or weapon-locked, non-execute, single-target DPS ability (Sorcerer's rejoice!) for both Magicka and Stamina builds 2) gives a Stamina-based way for people to generate Fear 3) Gives everyone access to "pets" 4) summoning spiders is cool. 5) Sorceres can still have their pets on top of this (and still use Crystal Shards), other classes have other abilities that can be spammed alongside this to up DPS
-Nightblade fear should also be reduced in cost to match, and have the Minor Maim apply to all enemies (to match DK) instead of just the ones feared.
Stealth / InvisibilitySpoilerAll:
-Stealth
-Invisibility potions
Dragonknight:
-None
Nightblade:
-Shadow Cloak and its morphs (2.7s, 3591 Magicka): Grants invisibility for 2.7s, Dark Cloak morph purges up to 4 damage over time effects, Shadowy Disguise ensures next attack is a crit. Can also trigger Shadow Barrier passive, increasing spell and armor resist by 5120.
Sorcerer:
-None
Templar:
-None
Reveal stealth / invisibilitySpoilerAll:
-Any aoe ability which catches the stealth / invisible player in range will break them out of stealth
-Revealing Flare and its morphs (instant, target aoe, 30m range, 10m radius, 4309 cost): Reveals stealthed enemies in the area, and they cannot return to stealth for 8 seconds; one morph causes revealed enemies to take 1284 flame damage over 10 seconds, the other creates a revealing hotspot for 5 seconds.
-Magelight and its morphs: Toggle ability, 5% Magicka Reduction, plus gives Major Prophecy (increase Spell Crit by 2099) morphs either make it a 2% Magicka gain, or allow you to see stealthed or invisible players, reduce stealth attacks against you by 50%, and prevents being stunned by stealth.
Pets
All:Dragonknight:SpoilerActive:
-(requires synergy activation) Trapping Webs and its morphs (3112 Magicka Damage, 28 meter range, instant cast), does 497 Magic Damage and reduces Movement Speed by 50% for 8 seconds, allies can activate the Spawn Broodlings synergy, dealing 795 Magic Damage and summoning 2 spiders for 15/20 seconds: one morph makes the spiders last longer and gives them a poison ability, the other causes fear.Nightblade:Spoiler-NoneSorcerer:Spoiler-Summon Shade & morphs (2394 Magicka , 28m range, 16.2s duration, instant cast): summon a shade to attack enemy, deals 238/318 Magic Damage per Second and causes Minor Maim (reduces enemy damage by 15% for 4 seconds)l Dark Shades summons 2 shades, doubling damage, Shadow Image summons an archer shade which does increased damage from range and lets you teleport to the shade.Templar:Spoiler-Unstable familiar and its morphs (6293 Magicka toggle): Summons familiar to fight at your side, familiar does 159 Shock damage +15%; Unstable Clanfear morph changes summons to Clanfear, which does 238 Physical Damage plus an additional 15% and can tail swipe enemies in the area; Volatile Familiar causes Familiar to explode when killed, dealing 20% of Max Magicka as damage and stunning enemies for 2 seconds.
-Summon Winged Twilight (1.5s cast time, 6293 Magicka cost, permanent): Winged Twilight's attack deals 557 shock damage +15%, Summon Restoring Twilight causes pet to grant Minor Intellect (10% Magicka Regeneration), while Summon Twilight Matriarch will cause pet to heal you for 1049 damage when low(35%) health, but only once every 30 seconds.Analysis:Spoiler-NoneSpoiler-Sorcerers are the only class with "permanent" pets, however Nightblades can also resummon their pets; both sets of pets deal roughly the same damage (NB can summon 2 shades to come close to matching Twilight damage); Templars and Dragonknights are left out in the cold.
Fix:
-Change Trapping webs & morphs: align cost and damage of the base ability with Searing Strikes (412 damage + 1320 over 10.5 seconds) , have it spawn spiders on cast (rather than be a synergy) but make the 795 damage be damage over time as indicated; if recast, does the direct damage component (412 damage) and refreshes duration of dot and spiders without interrupting ticks or attacks (and resummons a spider if it's not there); one morph adds a poison dot from spiders (magicka), the other can cause Fear and is stamina-based.
Rationale: 1) gives a spammable, non-class or weapon-locked, non-execute, single-target DPS ability (Sorcerer's rejoice!) for both Magicka and Stamina builds 2) gives a Stamina-based way for people to generate Fear 3) Gives everyone access to "pets" 4) summoning spiders is cool. 5) Sorceres can still have their pets on top of this (and still use Crystal Shards), other classes have other abilities that can be spammed alongside this to up DPS.
-Nightblade pet damage should be upped just a little bit, and the Trapping Webs pets similarly aligned.
Edited by Atarax on February 25, 2015 12:38PM50 Bosmer Nightblade
50 Breton Sorcerer
50 Dunmer Dragonknight
50 Imperial Templar
50 Khajit Nightblade
50 Imperial Dragonknight
50 Altmer Sorcerer
50 Argonian Templar
Discussions of Interest:
Class Balance in 1.6
Quest Choices
Request to Reinstate Night's Silence and Dark Stalker stacking0 -
Atarax✭✭✭Class Comparisons Part 3/5
Synergies
All:Dragonknight:SpoilerActives:
-Blood Funnel: Heals for 40%/62% of Max Health: Blood Altar & its morphs (3830 Magicka, 8 meter radius, 33 second duration, 1.5 second cast time), gives Major Fortitude (20% health regen), allies can also use Blood Funnel synergy to heal for 40% of Max Health; one morph gives increased duration, the other causes the synergy to heal for 62%.
-Spawn Broodlings: Trapping Webs and its morphs (3112 Magicka Damage, 28 meter range, instant cast), does 497 Magic Damage and reduces Movement Speed by 50% for 8 seconds, allies can activate the Spawn Broodlings synergy, dealing 795 Magic Damage and summoning 2 spiders for 15/20 seconds: one morph makes the spiders last longer and gives them a poison ability, the other causes fear.
-Radiate: Inner Fire & its morphs (4149 Magicka / 4115 Stamina, 28m range) deals 409 Magic Damage and forces target to attack you for 15 seconds, grants a 15%/35% chance that allies can activate the Radiate synergy, dealing 198 Magic Damage to target over 2 seconds, then causing the target to explode for 795 Magic Damage aoe; one morph increases synergy chance, the other makes it cost stamina and reduces cost. Note: Puncture, from 1-hand & shield, only costs 1508 stamina for a taunt with Major Fracture and 658 instant damage for a 15 second taunt, but only 5m range.
-Bone Wall / Spinal Surge: Bone Shield and its morphs (3351 stamina cost, 6 second duration): Gives 30% of Max Health damage shield to you, Allies can activate Bone Wall synergy, giving a 60% Max Health damage shield for 10 seconds and affecting up to 4 allies; one morph gives 30% damage reflection for the caster, the other gives Minor Vitality (8% increase to healing received) to allies from the synergy.
-Combustion / Healing Combustion / Magicka Combustion: Necrotic Orb and its morphs (4069 Magicka cost, 5 meter radius, 10 second duration): does 113 aoe damage and ally can activate the synergy, causing the orb to explode for 795 Magic Damage (or healing themselves for 795 health or Magicka depending on morph) and restoring the ally for 395 Magicka over 10 seconds, plus additional Magicka based on the number of enemies hit.Nightblade:SpoilerUltimate
-Shackle: 1748 AOE Flame Damage + immobilize (from ultimate)
-Protective Shell: 100% Max Health Damage shield for allies (from ultimate)
Active:
-Impale: 795 Magic Damage (from Dark Talons, PBAOE ability)Sorcerer:SpoilerUltimate
-Hidden Refresh: Consuming Darkness (200 ultimate, 5 meter radius, 13 second duration, instant cast): reduces damage to you and allies by 30% and reduces enemy movement by 70%, low health allies can activate Hidden Refresh synergy, granting invisibility and healing them for 2790 over 4 seconds; bolstering darkness morph increases damage mitigation on NB to 60%, Veil of Blades does 184 damage every 0.5 seconds.
-Soul Siphon: Soul Shred (150 ultimate, 6m/15m radius, 3.5s duration, instant cast): deals 1193 damage to nearby enemies, an ally can activate Soul Leach to steal 1074 Health; Soul Siphon morph increases radius, eliminates damage but heals everyon for 1193 damage + 397 every 0.5s, Soul Tether stuns enemies for 4.5 seconds and adds a 198 health/damage siphon to all nearby enemies in addition to initial damage.Templar:SpoilerUltimate:
-Charged Lightning from Summon Storm Atronach and its morphs (184 cost 200 base, 18s/25s duration, 28m range, 6m radius, instant, ground target): Summons storm atronach that deals 795/819 Shock Damage in an aoe and stuns for 3 seconds and attacks the nearest enemy, allies can activate Charged Lightning, giving the ally and the atronach Major Berserk, increasing their damage by 25% for 8 seconds; Greater Storm Atronach morph increases damage 15%, duration, and health; Summon Charged Atronach morph does aoe attacks.
Actives:
-Conduit (795 Shock damage) from Lightning Splash and its morphs (instant, ground target, 28m range, 4m radius, 5s duration, 2893 Magicka cost): deals 125 Shock Damage to all enemies nearby every 0.5s, allies can activate conduit to deal 795 Shock Damage to enemies nearby; Liquid Lightning causes the first hit to deal 94% additional damage (being removed in 1.6.3), Lightning Flood has a radius of 4 meters.AnalysisSpoilerUltimate:
-Supernova synergy of Nova and its morphs (245 cost, 250 base, instant cast, ground target, 28m range, 8.8s duration): Does 412 Magic dps to enemies in the area, and reduces damage from their attacks by 30%, ally can activate Supernova dealing 795 damage to all enemies and stunning for 2.2 seconds; Solar Prison causes synergy to deal 1392 damage and stun for 5s, Solar Disturbance snares enemies in the area for 62%.
-Active:
-Purify from Cleansing Ritual and its morphs (instant, area, 12m radius, 3292/2587 Magicka cost): cleanse self from 1 harmful effect and heal allies for 138 every 2s for 12s, allies can activate Purify, removing harmful effects and healing them for 596; Purifying Ritual reduces cost and removes 2 harmful effects from the Templar, Extended Ritual morph increases duration to 16s.Spoiler
Crowd Control
All:Dragonknight:SpoilerUltimate:
-Meteor and its morphs (200 cost, 28 meter range): Does 1479/1581 Flame/Cold damage to all enemies in the area and knocks back. After impact, enemies in the area take 470 dps for 10 seconds. One morph increases damage and changes it to cold and snares for 85%, the other causes the caster to gain 9 ultimate for every enemy hit.
Abilities:
-Trap Beast and its morphs (2.5m radius, 0/28m range, 3351 stamina cost, 3 seconds to arm, 30 second duration): traps an enemy to deal 397 Magic Damage, plus 1053 for Daedra and undead, one morph lets you set at range, the other causes the trap to rearm once.
-Caltrops and its morphs (28m range, 12m radius, 30 second duration, 7182 stamina cost); does 102 dps and reduces movement speed by 30% for all in the area; one morph forces dismount, the other causes 204 damage when cast, and increases the snare to 70% for the first 3 seconds.
-Trapping Webs and its morphs (3112 Magicka Damage, 28 meter range, instant cast), does 497 Magic Damage and reduces Movement Speed by 50% for 8 seconds, allies can activate the Spawn Broodlings synergy, dealing 795 Magic Damage and summoning 2 spiders for 15/20 seconds: one morph makes the spiders last longer and gives them a poison ability, the other causes fear.
-Volcanic Rune, Fire Rune morph (28m range, 3 meter radius, 30 second duration, 3591 cost), 610 damage, one morph gives a 3 second stun / knock back, the other gives 295 flame damage over 10 seconds.Nightblade:SpoilerUltimate:
-Dragonknight standard synergy causes brief immobilize
-Dragon Leap causes knockback
Active:
-Lava whip can set immobile or stunned enemies off balance, one of its morphs can stun for 2 seconds while healing the DK for 740 when hitting off balance enemies
-Dark Talons & morphs: immobilize enemies for 4 seconds in PBAOE.
-Deep Breath: nearby casting targets are stunned and set off-balance for 2 seconds.
-Petrify (15m range, instant cast, 22 second duration, 3112 Magicka cost), 397 damage when broken, enemies can take 596 damage before breaking, enemies are either rooted for 2.5 seconds or have a 50% chance to be set off balance when the effect ends
-Ash Cloud and its morphs (22 meter range, 5 meter radius, 16.5 second duration): snares for 70% movement speed while dealing 104 dps.
-Passive:
Warmth reduces enemy movement speed by 15%/30% whenever hitting with an Arden Flame ability (Fiery Grip, Searing Strike, Fiery Breath, Lava Whip, Inferno & their morphs)Sorcerer:SpoilerUltimate:
-Death Stroke (50 cost, instant, 5 meter range): does 1352 Magic Damage and increases damage against target by 20%. Also causes Major Defile, reducing the effectiveness of healing on the enemy by 40% for 6 seconds; one morph stuns for 3 seconds if NB health is lower than enemy, the other causes the NB to gain more ultimate per kill while slotted.
-Consuming Darkness (200 ultimate, 5 meter radius, 13 second duration, instant cast): reduces damage to you and allies by 30% and reduces enemy movement by 70%, low health allies can activate Hidden Refresh synergy, granting invisibility and healing them for 2790 over 4 seconds; bolstering darkness morph increases damage mitigation on NB to 60%, Veil of Blades does 184 damage every 0.5 seconds.
-Soul Shred (150 ultimate, 6m/15m radius, 3.5s duration, instant cast): deals 1193 damage to nearby enemies, an ally can activate Soul Leach to steal 1074 Health; Soul Siphon morph increases radius, eliminates damage but heals everyon for 1193 damage + 397 every 0.5s, Soul Tether stuns enemies for 4.5 seconds and adds a 198 health/damage siphon to all nearby enemies in addition to initial damage.
Active:
-Grim Focus Merciless Resolve morph (2934 cost, 20 second duration): 8 light and/or heavy attack stacks to turn into Assassin's Will, firing for 1478/1594 Magic Damage, also grants Minor Berserk (8% damage buff); Relentless Focus morph gives Minor Endurance (10% stamina regen), Merciless Resolve gives Assassin's Will more damage + a 40%, 5s, snare
-Veiled strike & morphs (2394 Magicka / stamina, 5m range, instant): does 822 Magic / Physical damage + stuns and sets enemy offbalance for 4.3 seconds when attacking from stealth / invisibility; surprise attack morph afflicts enemy with Major Fracture (5120 Armor debuff) when attacking from
-Aspect of Terror & morphs (3351 Magicka, 6m/3m radius, instant): fears two enemies for 4.3 seconds, Mass Hysteria Morph gives Minor Maim (15% damage reduction) and 50% movement speed reduction for 4 seconds after recovering, Manifestation of Terror plants a trap and makes the fear AOE.
-Agony and its morphs (1.2 second cast time, 2872 Magicka Cost, 30 second duration, 28 meter range): stuns enemy for 30 seconds, deals 625 damage over 5 seconds after ending, Prolonged Suffering morph increases damage to 875 over 7 seconds, Malefic Wreath does 400 Magic Damage +2% for every second stunned in an aoe.
-Cripple and its morphs (instant cast, 28m range, 8s duration, 2872 Magicka Cost): steals 40% movement speed from enemy and returns it as Major Expedition, deals 1405 damage over 8s; debilitate morph returns 2520 of magica cost if target dies while affected, Crippling grasp morph does 238 Magic Damage and is immobilized on cast.Templar:SpoilerUltimates: None
Actives:
-Crystal shard and its morphs (cast time 1s, 28m range, 3496 Magicka, single target): Does 1191 Magic Damage and knocks down for 2.2 seconds; Crystal Blast adds 576 AOE damage, Crystal Fragments gives other spells (NOT Crystal Fragments) a 35% chance to make Crystal Fragments instant cast, do 20% more damage, and cost 50% less.
-Encase and its morphs (instant, 15x3m area, 4.9s duration, 3729 Magicka cost): Immobilizes enemies for 4.9 seconds; Shattering Prison explodes for 339 damage when effect ends, restraining prison snares enemies for 4.4 seconds when effect ends.
-Rune Prison and its morphs (1.5s cast time, 28m range, 1864 Magicka cost, 18.3s duration): Imprisons enemy for 18.3 (breaks on damage); Rune cage allows dots to do damage without breaking prison, Defensive Rune gives you a protective rune for 1.1 minutes that causes the next person to attack you to be imprison
-Daedric Mines and its morphs (instant cast, 33 second duration, 5594 Magicka): drops 3 mines that explode when touched by the enemy, dealing 617 damage and immobilizing for 1.7 seconds, mines take 3 seconds to activate; Daedric Tomb morph makes mines arm instantly, Daedric Minefield spawns 5 mines
-Bolt Escape and its morphs (instant cast, 4m radius, 3116 Magicka cost): transform yourself into energy and flash forward, stunning enemies at origin for 2 seconds, casting again within 4 seconds costs 50% more Magicka; Streak morph causes 477 damage and stuns everyone in the wake, Ball of Lightning Morph absorbs all spell projectiles for 5 seconds.Analysis:SpoilerUltimate:
-Nova and its morphs (245 cost, 250 base, instant cast, ground target, 28m range, 8.8s duration): Does 412 Magic dps to enemies in the area, and reduces damage from their attacks by 30%, ally can activate Supernova dealing 795 damage to all enemies and stunning for 2.2 seconds; Solar Prison causes synergy to deal 1392 damage and stun for 5s, Solar Disturbance snares enemies in the area for 62%.
Active:
-Piercing Javelin and its morphs (instant cast, 20m range, single target, 3528 Magicka/Stamina cost): 494 Magicka Damage and 5m knockback; Aurora Javelin increases damage up to 40% based on distance to target, Binding Javelin morph scales off of Stamina and increases knockdown duration to 3s.
-Focused Charge and its morphs (instant cast, single target/AOE, 3.5-22m range, 3057 Magicka Cost): moves Templar to target and does 658 Magic Damage and stuns casting enemies for 3s; Explosive Charge morph does 658 damage to all enemies in the area rather than single target, Toppling Charge morph always stuns for 1.5s (unless they're using Magelight).Spoiler
Mobility / Movement / Escape / Closing
Moves you somewhere, or moves you to target, or moves target to you, or increases movement speed:
All:Dragonknight:SpoilerUltimate: None
Active:
-Rapid Maneuver and its morphs (7182 Stamina cost, 22 second duration, 20 meter radius): Grants Major Expedition and Major Gallop, increasing Movement Speed & Mounted Speed by 40%. Also makes you immune to snares and immobilizations until you attack. One morph removes all ssnares and immobilizes, the other grants Minor Expedition, giving 10% move increase, after attacking.
Passive: None outside of weapon skillsNightblade:SpoilerUltimate:
-Dragon Leap (20/28m range) moves you to your target
Active:
-Fiery Grip (18/22m range) and its morphs, pulls target to you or you to target
Passive: NoneSorcererSpoilerUltimate: None
Active:
-Teleport Strike and morphs (3591 Magicka / stamina cost, 22m range, instant, single target/aoe): does 658/298 (AOE) Magicka (or Physical) damage, and stunning (not on AOE) or immobilizing (if PC) for 1.5 seconds; Lotus fan makes it a Magicka AOE and adds 396 Damage over 6 seconds with a 60% snare, Ambush morph makes it Stamina based, and gives Empower (20% damage increase on next attack)
-Blur and morphs (3351 Magicka cost, 26s duration): Gives Major Evasion (20% Dodge chance); morphs give Minor Resolve (960 Armor) for 20s, or Major Expedition (40% movement) for 4s
-Veiled strike concealed weapon morph (2394 Magicka / stamina, 5m range, instant): does 822 Magic / Physical damage + stuns and sets enemy offbalance for 4.3 seconds when attacking from stealth / invisibility; surprise attack morph afflicts enemy with Major Fracture (5120 Armor debuff) when attacking from stealth / invis, concealed weapon gives 22% movement speed while stealthed / invis
-Path of Darkness & morphs (3112 Magicka, 10.8 second cast, frontal cone); does 45/58 Magic Damage every 0.5s to enemies on path, and gives Nightblade Major Expidition (40% move speed) while on path; Twisting Path increases damage and area, refreshing path heals allies and Nightblade for 63 every 0.5s.
-Summon Shade & morphs (2394 Magicka , 28m range, 16.2s duration, instant cast): summon a shade to attack enemy, deals 238/318 Magic Damage per Second and causes Minor Maim (reduces enemy damage by 15% for 4 seconds)l Dark Shades summons 2 shades, doubling damage, Shadow Image summons an archer shade which does increased damage from range and lets you teleport to the shade.
-Cripple and its morphs (instant cast, 28m range, 8s duration, 2872 Magicka Cost): steals 40% movement speed from enemy and returns it as Major Expedition, deals 1405 damage over 8s; debilitate morph returns 2520 of magica cost if target dies while affected, Crippling grasp morph does 238 Magic Damage and is immobilized on cast.TemplarSpoilerUltimate:
-Absorbtion Field morph of Negate Magic (207 cost 225 base, 10.4s duratiion, 8m radius, 28 meter range, ground target, instant cast) stuns (silences in the case of PCs) everything in the area and dispells enemy placed effects; Suppresfsion Field morph provides allies with Minor Protection (8% damage reduction), while Absorbtion Field gives Major Expedition, Fortitude, Intellect, and Endurance (increasing Health, Magicka, and Stamina regen 20% and Movement speed 40%) for 12 seconds.
Actives:
-Bolt Escape and its morphs (instant cast, 4m radius, 3116 Magicka cost): transform yourself into energy and flash forward, stunning enemies at origin for 2 seconds, casting again within 4 seconds costs 50% more Magicka; Streak morph causes 477 damage and stuns everyone in the wake, Ball of Lightning Morph absorbs all spell projectiles for 5 seconds.Spoiler-Focused Charge and its morphs (instant cast, single target/AOE, 3.5-22m range, 3057 Magicka Cost): moves Templar to target and does 658 Magic Damage and stuns casting enemies for 3s; Explosive Charge morph does 658 damage to all enemies in the area rather than single target, Toppling Charge morph always stuns for 1.5s (unless they're using Magelight).
Damage Reduction
All:Dragonknight:Spoiler-Siege Shield and its morphs (8379/7533 Magicka cost, 10 meter radius, 20 second duration): reduces damage from siege weapons by 35%; one morph protects seige weapons from 75% of damage from seige weapons, the other reduces cost and increases range by 4 meters for those in the area.Nightblade:SpoilerUltimates:
-Dragonknight Standard: 17% reduction
-Magma Armor and its morphs: limits damage 3% of Max Health
Abilities:
-Major Resolve + Major Ward (5120 Spell & Armor resist from Spiked Armor & Morphs) 20s duration, + 15% enemy damage reduction from Choking Talons (aoe damage & imobilize + reflect 4 projectiles over 4 sections (and possibly 960 Spell resistance from Minor Ward) + possibly, Minor Resolve (960 armor for 16.5 seconds) from Stone Giant+ 2166 / 2628 damage shield for 22 seconds from Obsidian Shield and its morphs
Passives:
Iron Skin blocks an additional 5%/10% damage, Scaled Armor increases spell resistance by 1000/2500 alwaysSorcererSpoilerUltimate:
-30%/60% reduction from Consuming / Bolstering Darkness
Active:
-Blur and morphs (3351 Magicka cost, 26s duration): Gives Major Evasion (20% Dodge chance); morphs give Minor Resolve (960 Armor) for 20s, or Major Expedition (40% movement) for 4s
--Shadow Cloak and its morphs (2.7s, 3591 Magicka): Grants invisibility for 2.7s, Dark Cloak morph purges up to 4 damage over time effects, Shadowy Disguise ensures next attack is a crit. Can also trigger Shadow Barrier passive, increasing spell and armor resist by 5120.
-Aspect of Terror & morphs (3351 Magicka, 6m/3m radius, instant): fears two enemies for 4.3 seconds, Mass Hysteria Morph gives Minor Maim (15% damage reduction) and 50% movement speed reduction for 4 seconds after recovering, Manifestation of Terror plants a trap and makes the fear AOE.
-Summon Shade & morphs (2394 Magicka , 28m range, 16.2s duration, instant cast): summon a shade to attack enemy, deals 238/318 Magic Damage per Second and causes Minor Maim (reduces enemy damage by 15% for 4 seconds)l Dark Shades summons 2 shades, doubling damage, Shadow Image summons an archer shade which does increased damage from range and lets you teleport to the shade.
Passive:
-Major Resolve & Major Ward from activating any Shadow ability (Shadow Barrier passive)TemplarSpoilerUltimate:
-Negate Magic & its morphs (207 cost 225 base, 10.4s duratiion, 8m radius, 28 meter range, ground target, instant cast) stuns (silences in the case of PCs) everything in the area and dispells enemy placed effects; Suppression Field morph provides allies with Minor Protection (8% damage reduction), while Absorbtion Field gives Major Expedition, Fortitude, Intellect, and Endurance (increasing Health, Magicka, and Stamina regen 20% and Movement speed 40%) for 12 seconds.
Actives:
-Bound Armor (3962 Magicka, toggle): Grants Minor Resolve (960 Armor) and increases Max Magicka by 5%; Bound Armaments makes it cost Stamina and increase Heavy Attacks by 11% and increase Max Stamina instead, Bound Aegis morph also grants Minor Ward (960 spell resistance).
-Lightning Form and its morphs (instant cast, 15s duration, 3339 Magicka cost): Gives Major Resolve and Major Ward (increasing Armor and Spell Resistance by 5120), also does 84 PBAOE dps; Thundering Presence morph increases duration to 20s, Boundless Storm morph gives Major Expedition (increasing move speed by 40%) for 6 seconds.
-Ball of Lightning morph of Bolt Escape (instant cast, 4m radius, 3116 Magicka cost): transform yourself into energy and flash forward, stunning enemies at origin for 2 seconds, casting again within 4 seconds costs 50% more Magicka; Streak morph causes 477 damage and stuns everyone in the wake, Ball of Lightning Morph absorbs all spell projectiles for 5 seconds.AnalysisSpoilerUltimate:
-Radial Sweep and it's morphs (75 ultimate, 4m radius, instant cast): Does 822 Magic Damage to all nearby enemies and an additional 400 Magic Damage every 2 seconds for 8 seconds; Empowering Sweep Morph reduces damage to you by 15% plus 4% for each enemy hit, Crescent Sweep morph deals 33% more damage to enemies in front of you.
-Rite of Passage and it's morphs (4s channel time, targeted area, 20m radius, 4s duration, 123 cost, 125 cost base): Heal allies for 986 every second, cannot move while channeling, but gain immunity to all control effects; Rememberance morph reduces damage to allies in the area by 20%, Practiced Incantation morph increases channel duration by 2s.
Active:
-Sun Shield and its morphs (instant cast, aoe, 5m radius, 6s duration, 3763/3449 Magika cost): gives 30% of Max Health damage shield to Templar, hits nearby enemies for 248 damage, each hit increases strength 4%; Radiant Ward morph reduces cost and increases strength to 5% per hit, Blazing Shield causes 50% of damage absorbed to enemies when shield expires.
-Eclipse and its morphs (instant cast, 28m range, 5.5s duration, 3998 Magicka): puts target in a sphere that reflects all single target spells back at them for 5.5s; Total Dark morph heals the caster for 596 for each spell reflected, Unstable Core morph causes target to do 397 damage aoe when the effect ends.
-Rune Focus and its morphs (instant cast, self, 15s duration, 1646/940 cost): gives Major Resolve and Major Ward (increasing Armor and Spell Resistance by 5120), effects dissipate after 8s if you leave the rune area; Channeld Focus morph recovers 120 Magicka every 0.5s while near rune, Restoring Focus morph gives Minor Vitality (8% incoming healing).
Passive:
-Spear Wall increases blocking against melee attacks by 7%/15%Spoiler
Damage Shield
All:Dragonknight:SpoilerUltimate:
-Barrier and its morphs (12m radius, 30 second duration, 250 ultimate): Gives 4101 damage shield; Reviving Barrier heals everyone for 2919 over 30 seconds, Repleneshing Barrier gives 4 Ultimate and 119 Magicka each time a barrier expires/is destroyed.
Abilities:
-Bone Shield and its morphs (3351 stamina cost, 6 second duration): Gives 30% of Max Health damage shield to you, Allies can activate Bone Wall synergy, giving a 60% Max Health damage shield for 10 seconds and affecting up to 4 allies; one morph gives 30% damage reflection for the caster, the other gives Minor Vitality (8% increase to healing received) to allies from the synergy.Nightblade:SpoilerUltimates:
-Dragon Leap (125/110 cost, instant, plus possible 6 second damage shield): launch 20/28 meters at an enemy dealing 1498/1674 aoe damage and knocking back enemies or gain 100% of Max Health damage shield for 6 seconds instead of increased damage+range+reduced cost.
-Magma Armor: (200 cost, 9.9 second duration): Caps incoming damage to 3% of Max Health and deals 122 aoe DPS & either gives allies the Protective Shell Synergy (100% Max Health Damage shield) or causes the DK's attacks to ignore 100% of their enemy's Armor.
Abilities:
-Spiked Armor ability and morphs (duration 20 seconds, cost 2872 Magicka): Gives Major Resolve & Major Ward, plus a 146 damage reflection, and either a 786 aoe dot or 10% Max Health damage shield on activation
-Obsidian Shield ability & its morphs (3591 Magicka, 22 second duration, 12m radius): Gives nearby allies a 1083/1314 damage shield (100% increase for caster); one morph increases shield strength and gives Major Mending, the other deals 374 Magic Damage AOE when the effect ends.Sorcerer:Spoiler-NoneTemplar:SpoilerActive:
-Conjured Ward and its morphs (instant cast, 20m radius, 20s duration, 3030 Magicka cost): Places a 2390 damage shield on you and pets; Empowered Ward morph increases shield effectiveness on Sorcerer, Empowered Ward causes pets to deal additional damage.Analysis:Spoiler-Sun Shield and its morphs (instant cast, aoe, 5m radius, 6s duration, 3763/3449 Magika cost): gives 30% of Max Health damage shield to Templar, hits nearby enemies for 248 damage, each hit increases strength 4%; Radiant Ward morph reduces cost and increases strength to 5% per hit, Blazing Shield causes 50% of damage absorbed to enemies when shield expires.Spoiler-NoneEdited by Atarax on February 16, 2015 11:33PM50 Bosmer Nightblade
50 Breton Sorcerer
50 Dunmer Dragonknight
50 Imperial Templar
50 Khajit Nightblade
50 Imperial Dragonknight
50 Altmer Sorcerer
50 Argonian Templar
Discussions of Interest:
Class Balance in 1.6
Quest Choices
Request to Reinstate Night's Silence and Dark Stalker stacking0 -
Atarax✭✭✭Class Balance Part 4/5
Single Target Damage
All:Dragonknight:Spoiler
Ultimates:
-Soul Strike & Morphs: 100 cost, channeled, 2.8/3.8 second duration, 70% snare, 3684/4912 damage; Soul Assault increases channel time by 1s, Shatter Soul causes 875 aoe damage if target is killed.
Abilities:
-Soul Trap (28 meters, 5 meter radius, 10 s duration, 2394 Magicka Cost), deals 655 Magic Damage to 1 target, plus another nearby target over 10 seconds, morph either affects two nearby targets, or restores 7% health, magicka, and stamina if an enemy dies while affected
-Silver Bolts (3112 stamina, 28m range), does 658 Physical Damage, plus knocks down daedra and undead for 3.5 seconds with 30% chance to deal an additional 1311 Magic Damage, one morph hits 2 additional enemies for 50% less, the other lets you activate again to pull the target to you.
-Entropy and its Morphs (28m range, 12s duration, 1436 Magicka Cost): deals 721 Magic Damage over 12 seconds and returns 224 Health plus an additional 224 every 6 seconds, and gives Major Sorcery, increasing Spell Damage by 20%; one morph causes weapon attacks to have a 15% chance to return 100% of damage, the other increases Max Health by 5%
-Inner Fire & its morphs (4149 Magicka / 4115 Stamina, 28m range) deals 409 Magic Damage and forces target to attack you for 15 seconds, grants a 15%/35% chance that allies can activate the Radiate synergy, dealing 198 Magic Damage to target over 2 seconds, then causing the target to explode for 795 Magic Damage aoe; one morph increases synergy chance, the other makes it cost stamina and reduces cost. Note: Puncture, from 1-hand & shield, only costs 1508 stamina for a taunt with Major Fracture and 658 instant damage for a 15 second taunt, but only 5m range.Nightblade:Spoiler-Fiery Grip (18/22m 3591/3351 Magicka Cost, instant): 412 Damage (+20% on next attack with morph) + plus closes gap between you and enemy
-Searing Strike (5m 1197 Magicka or Stamina Cost, instant): 412 damage + 1320 over 10.5 seconds, plus can heal you or does more dot with morph
-Lava Whip (8m 2394 Magicka cost, instant)): 740 flame damage /2394 Magicka cost + stun, plus can heal you or buff your damage
-Stonefist: (10/15m, 3591 Magicka, Instant): 494/593 damage + 3.3 second knockdownSorcerer:SpoilerUltimates:
-Death Stroke (50 cost, instant, 5 meter range): does 1352 Magic Damage and increases damage against target by 20%. Also causes Major Defile, reducing the effectiveness of healing on the enemy by 40% for 6 seconds; one morph stuns for 3 seconds if NB health is lower than enemy, the other causes the NB to gain more ultimate per kill while slotted.
Abilities:
-Assassin's Blade and morphs (5m/15m range, 1675 Magicka/Stamina cost): 412 damage, causes 300% more damage to low health targets; Killer's blade morph makes it cost stamina and heals for 17% of Max Health if target dies within 2 seconds, Impale morph increases range.
-Teleport Strike and morphs (3591 Magicka / stamina cost, 22m range, instant, single target/aoe): does 658/298 (AOE) Magicka (or Physical) damage, and stunning (not on AOE) or immobilizing (if PC) for 1.5 seconds; Lotus fan makes it a Magicka AOE and adds 396 Damage over 6 seconds with a 60% snare, Ambush morph makes it Stamina based, and gives Empower (20% damage increase on next attack)
-Veiled strike & morphs (2394 Magicka / stamina, 5m range, instant): does 822 Magic / Physical damage + stuns and sets enemy offbalance for 4.3 seconds when attacking from stealth / invisibility; surprise attack morph afflicts enemy with Major Fracture (5120 Armor debuff) when attacking from stealth / invis, concealed weapon gives 22% movement speed while stealthed / invis
-Summon Shade & morphs (2394 Magicka , 28m range, 16.2s duration, instant cast): summon a shade to attack enemy, deals 238/318 Magic Damage per Second and causes Minor Maim (reduces enemy damage by 15% for 4 seconds)l Dark Shades summons 2 shades, doubling damage, Shadow Image summons an archer shade which does increased damage from range and lets you teleport to the shade.Minor
-Strife & its morphs (1211 Magicka cost, 28 meter range, 10s duration, instant cast): does 740 Magic Damage, healing Nightblade for 25% of the damage inflicted every 2 seconds; Funnel Health morph heals two allies as well, Swallow Soul gives Minor Vitality (8% increase in healing received)
-Cripple and its morphs (instant cast, 28m range, 8s duration, 2872 Magicka Cost): steals 40% movement speed from enemy and returns it as Major Expedition, deals 1405 damage over 8s; debilitate morph returns 2520 of magica cost if target dies while affected, Crippling grasp morph does 238 Magic Damage and is immobilized on cast.Templar:SpoilerUltimates:
-Overload (66 cost, 75 base, instant cast): empowers light attacks to do 1512 Shock Damage and heavy attacks to do 596 AOE shock damage, both attacks deal 9% additional damage, drains ultimate (you need ultimate to do more attacks) until you run out; Power Overload morph increases range and radius of heavy attacks, Energy Overload morph causes light and heavy attacks to restore Magicka.
Actives:
-Crystal Shard and its morphs (cast time 1s, 28m range, 3496 Magicka): Does 1191 Magic Damage and knocks down for 2.2 seconds; Crystal Blast adds 576 AOE damage, Crystal Fragments gives other spells (NOT Crystal Fragments) a 35% chance to make Crystal Fragments instant cast, do 20% more damage, and cost 50% less.
-Daedric Curse and its morphs (instant cast, 28m range, 6 second duration, 2564 Magicka): Deals 1027 Magic Damage to enemy and 474 Magic to enemies nearby after 6 seconds; Daedric Prey Morph reduces damage to 994 & 457, but pets deal 30% (20% for SA) more damage to the target, Velocious Curse causes the damage to occur in 3.5 seconds instead of 6 seconds.
-Mage's Fury and its Morphs (instant cast, 28m, 2003 Magicka cost): strikes an enemy for 310 Shock Damage, if enemy's health falls below 20% within 4 seconds, an explosion deals 994 additional Shock Damage to the target and 198 Shock damage to enemies nearby; Mage's Wrath morph causes the aoe to deal 397 damage, Endless Fury morph restores 2210 Magicka if the enemy is killed.SpoilerActives:
-Piercing Javelin and its morphs (instant cast, 20m range, single target, 3528 Magicka/Stamina cost): 494 Magicka Damage and 5m knockback; Aurora Javelin increases damage up to 40% based on distance to target, Binding Javelin morph scales off of Stamina and increases knockdown duration to 3s.
-Focused Charge and its morphs (instant cast, single target/AOE, 3.5-22m range, 3057 Magicka Cost): moves Templar to target and does 658 Magic Damage and stuns casting enemies for 3s; Explosive Charge morph does 658 damage to all enemies in the area rather than single target, Toppling Charge morph always stuns for 1.5s (unless they're using Magelight).
-Solar Flare and its morphs (1.1s cast time/instant, single target/aoe, 28m range, 2822 Magicka): does 1252 Magic Damage and grants Empower (20% damage increase for next attack); Dark Flare morph infects enemies with Major Defile (40% incoming healing reduction) for 6.6s, Solar Barrage Morph does 491 to all enemies and makes the ability instant cast.
-Backlash and its morphs (instant, single target, 28m range, 6s duration, 1646 Magicka / Stamina cost): Stores all damage taken for 6s, then releases for 36% increased damage (max 3660); Purifying Light morph reduces damage to 33% increase base, but heals everyone in the area for 266 health every 2 seconds for 6.6s, Power of the Light morph changes to Stamina-based and inflicts Minor Fracture (960 armor reduction for 6s).
-Radiant Destruction and its morphs (2.5s channel time, 28m range, 3.3s duration, 3998 Magicka cost): does 1598 damage over 2.8s and 300% increased damage to low health targets; Radiant Glory morph heals player for 20% of the damage inflicted, Radiant Oppression deals up to 40% more damage in proportion to Magicka.
Point Blank AOE Damage
All:Dragonknight:Spoiler-None (Necrotic orb sort of, damage is a bit weak)Nightblade:SpoilerUltimates:
-Dragonknight Standard (250 cost): does 306/318 dps & has 1748 shackle Synergy
-Magma Armor (200 cost): does 122 flame dps in aoe
Actives
-Volatile Armor (morph of Spiked Armor ability, Instant), does 786 Damage over time (10s, 2872 Magicka cost) + Major Resolve & Major Ward (20s duration) upon activation
-Dark Talons (ability and morphs 3591 Magicka cost, instant): 477 damage + immobilize + either 465 flame dot or Minor Maim (15% damage reduction) on all targets + allies can activate 795 damage Impale Synergy
-Inhale & its morphs (3591 Magicka cost, instant): Steals 248 health from up to 3 nearby enemies plus 408/491 damage after 2.5 seconds
-Ash Cloud (instant cast, 16.5s duration, 22 meter range, 5 m radius, 4069 Magicka Cost): Does 52 flame damage every 0.5s (104 dps) and snares for 70%, one morph continues snare for 2.5 seconds even if enemies leave the area, the other does 327 damage on castSorcerer:SpoilerUltimates:
-Consuming Darkness (200 ultimate, 5 meter radius, 13 second duration, instant cast): reduces damage to you and allies by 30% and reduces enemy movement by 70%, low health allies can activate Hidden Refresh synergy, granting invisibility and healing them for 2790 over 4 seconds; bolstering darkness morph increases damage mitigation on NB to 60%, Veil of Blades does 184 damage every 0.5 seconds.
-Soul Shred (150 ultimate, 6m/15m radius, 3.5s duration, instant cast): deals 1193 damage to nearby enemies, an ally can activate Soul Leach to steal 1074 Health; Soul Siphon morph increases radius, eliminates damage but heals everyone for 1193 damage + 397 every 0.5s, Soul Tether stuns enemies for 4.5 seconds and adds a 198 health/damage siphon to all nearby enemies in addition to initial damage.
Actives:
-Lotus fan can effectively function as a PBAOE
-Drain power and morphs (2872 Magicka / stamina, 20s duration, 8m radius: deals 400/484 damage aoe and gives Major Brutality (increase weapon damage 20% for 20 seconds); Power Extraction morph increases damage and scales off of stamina, Sap Essence Morph gives Major Brutality and Major Sorcery (20% increase to weapon damage & spell damage) and heals Nightblade and nearby allies for 198+20% more for each enemy hit.Templar:SpoilerUltimates: none
Actives:
-Daedric Mines and its morphs (instant cast, 33 second duration, 5594 Magicka): drops 3 mines that explode when touched by the enemy, dealing 617 damage and immobilizing for 1.7 seconds, mines take 3 seconds to activate; Daedric Tomb morph makes mines arm instantly, Daedric Minefield spawns 5 mines
-Streak morph of Bolt Escape (instant cast, 4m radius, 3116 Magicka cost): transform yourself into energy and flash forward, stunning enemies at origin for 2 seconds, casting again within 4 seconds costs 50% more Magicka; Streak morph causes 477 damage and stuns everyone in the wake, Ball of Lightning Morph absorbs all spell projectiles for 5 seconds.Analysis:SpoilerUltimate:
-Radial Sweep and it's morphs (75 ultimate, 4m radius, instant cast): Does 822 Magic Damage to all nearby enemies and an additional 400 Magic Damage every 2 seconds for 8 seconds; Empowering Sweep Morph reduces damage to you by 15% plus 4% for each enemy hit, Crescent Sweep morph deals 33% more damage to enemies in front of you.Spoiler-Sun Shield and its morphs (instant cast, aoe, 5m radius, 6s duration, 3763/3449 Magika cost): gives 30% of Max Health damage shield to Templar, hits nearby enemies for 248 damage, each hit increases strength 4%; Radiant Ward morph reduces cost and increases strength to 5% per hit, Blazing Shield causes 50% of damage absorbed to enemies when shield expires.
Edited by Atarax on February 16, 2015 2:41PM50 Bosmer Nightblade
50 Breton Sorcerer
50 Dunmer Dragonknight
50 Imperial Templar
50 Khajit Nightblade
50 Imperial Dragonknight
50 Altmer Sorcerer
50 Argonian Templar
Discussions of Interest:
Class Balance in 1.6
Quest Choices
Request to Reinstate Night's Silence and Dark Stalker stacking1 -
Atarax✭✭✭Class Comparisons 5/5
Targeted AOE Damage (both ground or not)
All:Dragonknight:SpoilerUltimate:
-Meteor and its morphs (200 cost, 28 meter range): Does 1479/1581 Flame/Cold damage to all enemies in the area and knocks back. After impact, enemies in the area take 470 dps for 10 seconds. One morph increases damage and changes it to cold and snares for 85%, the other causes the caster to gain 9 ultimate for every enemy hit.
Active:
-Fire Rune and its morphs (28m range, 3 meter radius, 30 second duration, 3591 cost), 610 damage, one morph gives a 3 second stun / knock back, the other gives 295 flame damage over 10 seconds.
-Caltrops and its morphs (28m range, 12m radius, 30 second duration, 7182 stamina cost); does 102 dps and reduces movement speed by 30% for all in the area; one morph forces dismount, the other causes 204 damage when cast, and increases the snare to 70% for the first 3 seconds.
-Magicka Detonation and its morphs (3591 Magicka, 1.8/2 second cast time, range 28 meters, radius 8 meters, duration 4 seconds): curse an enemy with a bomb that explodes after 4 seconds, dealing 1232 Magic Damage to all enemies in the area; one morph causes the explosion to happen immediately if dispelled but increases cast time, the other causes you to become the bomb-carrier.Nightblade:SpoilerUltimate:
-Dragon Leap (125/110 cost): does 1498/1674 damage in aoe around enemySorcerer:SpoilerActive:
-Lotus fan (teleport strike morph) 3951 Magicka cost: makes it a Magicka AOE and adds 396 Damage over 6 seconds with a 60% snareTemplar:SpoilerUltimate:
-Summon Storm Atronach and its morphs (184 cost 200 base, 18s/25s duration, 28m range, 6m radius, instant, ground target): Summons storm atronach that deals 795/819 Shock Damage in an aoe and stuns for 3 seconds and attacks the nearest enemy, allies can activate Charged Lightning, giving the ally and the atronach Major Berserk, increasing their damage by 25% for 8 seconds; Greater Storm Atronach morph increases damage 15%, duration, and health; Summon Charged Atronach morph does aoe attacks.
-Overload (66 cost, 75 base, instant cast): empowers light attacks to do 1512 Shock Damage and heavy attacks to do 596 AOE shock damage, both attacks deal 9% additional damage, drains ultimate (you need ultimate to do more attacks) until you run out; Power Overload morph increases range and radius of heavy attacks, Energy Overload morph causes light and heavy attacks to restore Magicka.
Actives:
-Daedric Curse and its morphs (instant cast, 28m range, 6 second duration, 2564 Magicka): Deals 1027 Magic Damage to enemy and 474 Magic to enemies nearby after 6 seconds; Daedric Prey Morph reduces damage to 994 & 457, but pets deal 30% (20% for SA) more damage to the target, Velocious Curse causes the damage to occur in 3.5 seconds instead of 6 seconds.
-Endless Fury morph of Mage's Fury (instant cast, 28m, 2003 Magicka cost): strikes an enemy for 310 Shock Damage, if enemy's health falls below 20% within 4 seconds, an explosion deals 994 additional Shock Damage to the target and 198 Shock damage to enemies nearby; Mage's Wrath morph causes the aoe to deal 397 damage, Endless Fury morph restores 2210 Magicka if the enemy is killed.
-Lightning Splash and its morphs (instant, ground target, 28m range, 4m radius, 5s duration, 2893 Magicka cost): deals 125 Shock Damage to all enemies nearby every 0.5s, allies can activate conduit to deal 795 Shock Damage to enemies nearby; Liquid Lightning causes the first hit to deal 94% additional damage (being removed in 1.6.3), Lightning Flood has a radius of 4 meters.Analysis:SpoilerUltimate:
-Nova and its morphs (245 cost, 250 base, instant cast, ground target, 28m range, 8.8s duration): Does 412 Magic dps to enemies in the area, and reduces damage from their attacks by 30%, ally can activate Supernova dealing 795 damage to all enemies and stunning for 2.2 seconds; Solar Prison causes synergy to deal 1392 damage and stun for 5s, Solar Disturbance snares enemies in the area for 62%.
Actives:
-Explosive Charge morph of Focused Charge (instant cast, single target/AOE, 3.5-22m range, 3057 Magicka Cost): moves Templar to target and does 658 Magic Damage and stuns casting enemies for 3s; Explosive Charge morph does 658 damage to all enemies in the area rather than single target, Toppling Charge morph always stuns for 1.5s (unless they're using Magelight).
-Spear Shards and its morphs (instant cast, ground target, 25m range, 8m radius, 6s duration, 2822 Magicka cost): does 453 damage to enemies in target area, disorients 1 enemy for 6s, ally can pick up a shard to restore 25% Stamina plus an additional 1700/1590 Stamina / Magicka over 10s; Luminous Shards restores both Stamina and Magicka to ally, Blazing Spear morph does 59 dps in the area and stuns instead of disorients.
=Spoiler
Cone AOE Damage
All:Dragonknight:SpoilerUltimate:
-Dawnbreaker (100 cost): does 1027/1191 Magic Damage + 1191/1371 Magic Damage over 4 seconds + 60% to Undead & Daedra, one morph increases weapon damage 5%, the other deals more damageNightblade:SpoilerAbility:
-Fiery Breath & Morphs: 203 damage + 940 over 10 seconds 2394 Magicka / Stamina cost, plus afflicts enemy with 7% more damage from flame or gives Minor Fracture (5120 armor reduction)Sorcerer:SpoilerAbility:
-Path of Darkness & morphs (3112 Magicka, 10.8 second cast, frontal cone); does 45/58 Magic Damage (972/1252 total) every 0.5s to enemies on path, and gives Nightblade Major Expidition (40% move speed) while on path; Twisting Path increases damage and area, refreshing path heals allies and Nightblade for 63 every 0.5s.Templars:SpoilerUltimates:
Actives:
-Restraining Prison morph of Encase (instant, 15x3m area, 4.9s duration, 3729 Magicka cost): Immobilizes enemies for 4.9 seconds; Shattering Prison explodes for 339 damage when effect ends, Restraining Rrison snares enemies for 4.4 seconds when effect ends.Spoiler-Puncturing Strikes and its morphs (1.1s channel time, cone AOE, 8m radius, 2571 Magicka/stamina cost): strikes 4x for 117 Magic Damage each, nearest enemy takes 140% additional damage and is knocked back on the last hit; Biting Jabs morph gives Major Savagery (2099 Weapon Crit) and scales from Stamina, Puncturing Sweep morph heals for 40% of damage done (approximately 200 per enemy)
"Execute"-type abilities
All:Dragonknight:Spoiler-None: Only weapon-based skillsNightblade:Spoiler-None really other than using Heavy Attacks when using Molten Armaments, which can be pretty effective using a 2-hander in 1.6Sorcerer:Spoiler-Assassin's Blade and morphs (5m/15m range, 1675 Magicka/Stamina cost): 412 damage, causes 300% more damage to low health targets; Killer's blade morph makes it cost stamina and heals for 17% of Max Health if target dies within 2 seconds, Impale morph increases range.
-Note, if an enemy dies within a few seconds of this ability doing damage, the Nightblade receives additional Magicka as long as points are invested in the passive.Templar:Spoiler-Mage's Fury and its Morphs (instant cast, 28m, 2003 Magicka cost): strikes an enemy for 310 Shock Damage, if enemy's health falls below 20% within 4 seconds, an explosion deals 994 additional Shock Damage to the target and 198 Shock damage to enemies nearby; Mage's Wrath morph causes the aoe to deal 397 damage, Endless Fury morph restores 2210 Magicka if the enemy is killed.Analysis:SpoilerActive:
-Radiant Destruction and its morphs (2.5s channel time, 28m range, 3.3s duration, 3998 Magicka cost): does 1598 damage over 2.8s and 300% increased damage to low health targets; Radiant Glory morph heals player for 20% of the damage inflicted, Radiant Oppression deals up to 40% more damage in proportion to Magicka.SpoilerGiven that the execute damage from Mage's Fury basically lines up with that of Assasin's Blade (albiet with higher cost, which seems to be due to Mage's Fury dealing AOE damage)
Ultimate Effectiveness
All:Dragonknight:Spoiler-Soul Strike & Morphs (100 cost, channeled, 2.8/3.8 second duration): 70% snare, 3684/4912 damage; one morph gives 1 extra second channel duration, the other causes an 875 damage aoe if the target dies.
-Meteor and its morphs (200 cost, 28 meter range, instant): Does 1479/1581 Flame/Cold damage to all enemies in the area and knocks back. After impact, enemies in the area take 470 dps for 10 seconds. One morph increases damage and changes it to cold and snares for 85%, the other causes the caster to gain 9 ultimate for every enemy hit.
-Dawnbreaker (100 cost): does 1027/1191 Magic Damage + 1191/1371 Magic Damage over 4 seconds + 60% to Undead & Daedra, one morph increases weapon damage 5%, the other deals more damage
-War Horn and its morphs (250 cost, 30 second duration): Increase Max Magicka, Health, and Stamina for you and your allies by 15%, Aggressive Horn morph gives Major Force for 8 seconds (40% increased crit damage), Sturdy Horn gives Minor Ward and Minor Resolve, increasing Armor and Spell Resistance by 960 for 36 seconds.
-Barrier and its morphs (12m radius, 30 second duration, 250 ultimate): Gives 4101 damage shield; Reviving Barrier heals everyone for 2919 over 30 seconds, Repleneshing Barrier gives 4 Ultimate and 119 Magicka each time a barrier expires/is destroyed.Nightblade:Spoiler-Dragonknight Standard (250 cost, 17 second duration, 8m radius): Does 306 AOE dps, Major Defile (40% reduced healing), allies can synergize for Shackle for 1748 aoe damage + immobilize, and it can buff the DK's damage output & reduce the DKs incoming damage by 17%
-Dragon Leap (125/110 cost, instant, plus possible 6 second damage shield): launch 20/28 meters at an enemy dealing 1498/1674 aoe damage and knocking back enemies or gain 100% of Max Health damage shield for 6 seconds instead of increased damage+range+reduced cost.
-Magma Armor: (200 cost, 9.9 second duration): Caps incoming damage to 3% of Max Health and deals 122 aoe DPS & either gives allies the Protective Shell Synergy (100% Max Health Damage shield) or causes the DK's attacks to ignore 100% of their enemy's Armor.Sorcerer:Spoiler-Death Stroke (50 cost, instant, 5 meter range): does 1352 Magic Damage and increases damage against target by 20%. Also causes Major Defile, reducing the effectiveness of healing on the enemy by 40% for 6 seconds; one morph stuns for 3 seconds if NB health is lower than enemy, the other causes the NB to gain more ultimate per kill while slotted.
-Consuming Darkness (200 ultimate, 5 meter radius, 13 second duration, instant cast): reduces damage to you and allies by 30% and reduces enemy movement by 70%, low health allies can activate Hidden Refresh synergy, granting invisibility and healing them for 2790 over 4 seconds; bolstering darkness morph increases damage mitigation on NB to 60%, Veil of Blades does 184 damage every 0.5 seconds.
-Soul Shred (150 ultimate, 6m/15m radius, 3.5s duration, instant cast): deals 1193 damage to nearby enemies, an ally can activate Soul Leach to steal 1074 Health; Soul Siphon morph increases radius, eliminates damage but heals everyon for 1193 damage + 397 every 0.5s, Soul Tether stuns enemies for 4.5 seconds and adds a 198 health/damage siphon to all nearby enemies in addition to initial damage.Templar:Spoiler-Negate Magic & its morphs (207 cost 225 base, 10.4s duratiion, 8m radius, 28 meter range, ground target, instant cast) stuns (silences in the case of PCs) everything in the area and dispells enemy placed effects; Suppression Field morph provides allies with Minor Protection (8% damage reduction), while Absorbtion Field gives Major Expedition, Fortitude, Intellect, and Endurance (increasing Health, Magicka, and Stamina regen 20% and Movement speed 40%) for 12 seconds.
-Summon Storm Atronach and its morphs (184 cost 200 base, 18s/25s duration, 28m range, 6m radius, instant, ground target): Summons storm atronach that deals 795/819 Shock Damage in an aoe and stuns for 3 seconds and attacks the nearest enemy, allies can activate Charged Lightning, giving the ally and the atronach Major Berserk, increasing their damage by 25% for 8 seconds; Greater Storm Atronach morph increases damage 15%, duration, and health; Summon Charged Atronach morph does aoe attacks.
-Overload (66 cost, 75 base, instant cast): empowers light attacks to do 1512 Shock Damage and heavy attacks to do 596 AOE shock damage, both attacks deal 9% additional damage, drains ultimate (you need ultimate to do more attacks) until you run out; Power Overload morph increases range and radius of heavy attacks, Energy Overload morph causes light and heavy attacks to restore Magicka.Analysis:Spoiler-Radial Sweep and it's morphs (75 ultimate, 4m radius, instant cast): Does 822 Magic Damage to all nearby enemies and an additional 400 Magic Damage every 2 seconds for 8 seconds; Empowering Sweep Morph reduces damage to you by 15% plus 4% for each enemy hit, Crescent Sweep morph deals 33% more damage to enemies in front of you.
-Nova and its morphs (245 cost, 250 base, instant cast, ground target, 28m range, 8.8s duration): Does 412 Magic dps to enemies in the area, and reduces damage from their attacks by 30%, ally can activate Supernova dealing 795 damage to all enemies and stunning for 2.2 seconds; Solar Prison causes synergy to deal 1392 damage and stun for 5s, Solar Disturbance snares enemies in the area for 62%.
-Rite of Passage and it's morphs (4s channel time, targeted area, 20m radius, 4s duration, 123 cost, 125 cost base): Heal allies for 986 every second, cannot move while channeling, but gain immunity to all control effects; Rememberance morph reduces damage to allies in the area by 20%, Practiced Incantation morph increases channel duration by 2s.SpoilerIt looks like all classes have access to a high damage single target (Soul Strike), cone AOE (Dawnbreaker), ground target AOE (Meteor), damage reduction (Barrier), and buff (War Horn), which roughly equate to what each of the class ultimates can do, with two exceptions; Templars are the only class with a healing ultimate, Sorc are the only class with a dispelling ultimate. This presents the perfect opportunity for an Undaunted Ultimate. Additionally, Soul Strike is comparatively weak and expensive versus other class ultimates, and Barrier is a little lackluster as well (although its morphs are pretty compelling). Additionally, if Devs change Dragon Leap to an active ability as I suggest, DKs will need an additional ultimate, so I recommend the following changes:
-Soul Strike: Make it instant cast, 50 cost, and burst damage rather than damage over time; balance the damage/cost against Death Stroke.
Ultimate Generation / Ultimate Cost
All:Dragonknights:Spoiler1. All classes generate ultimate every second for 8 seconds after a light attack (giving a slight advantage to ranged attackers).
2. Ultimate can now be gained from blocking, dodging, or attacking targets with a damage shield.
3. All classes have additional means of generating ultimate above this amount and/or reducing costs, these means are as follows
Ultimates:
-Barrier and its morphs (12m radius, 30 second duration, 250 ultimate): Gives 4101 damage shield; Reviving Barrier heals everyone for 2919 over 30 seconds, Repleneshing Barrier gives 4 Ultimate and 119 Magicka each time a barrier expires/is destroyed.
Passives:
-Banish the Wicked (Fighter's Guild): gives 3/6 extra ultimate when killing Daedra and undead
-Combat Frenzy (Assault): grants an additional 10/20 Ultimate when killing an enemy playerNightblade:SpoilerMountain's Blessing: Activating an Earthen Heart ability grants 1/2 additional Ultimate and gives Minor Brutality to all allies within 30m, increasing Weapon Damage by 5% over 10 / 20 seconds. (Earthen Heart abilities are: Stonefist, Molten Weapons, Obsidian Shield, Petrify, and Ash Cloud).Sorcerer:SpoilerSoul Harvest (Ultimate: Morph 2 of Deathstroke): While slotted, each kill generates increased Ultimate.
Catalyst: After Drinking a potion you gain 4/8 Ultimate.
Transfer: Boosts your Ultimate by 1/2 whenever a Siphoning ability deals damage. This effect has a 6 seconds cooldown. (Siphoning abilities are: Strife, Agony, Cripple, Siphoning Strikes, which can't trigger this, and Drain Power, NBs due tend to spam Strife or Drain Power, but why are they the only class with a 6 second cooldown? It's not like Catalyst, which is a joke of a Passive and whoever came up with it should be cursed into a block of cheese and gnawed on by skeevers for eternity, closes the gap)Templar:SpoilerPower Stone:Reduces the cost of Ultimate abilities by 8%/15%.
(unclear if any morphs give additional ultimate generation potential or not)Analysis:SpoilerPrism: Grants 1/2 additional ultimate when activating a Dawn's Wrath Ability (Dawn's Wrath Abilities are: Sun Fire, Solar Flare, Backlash, Eclipse, and Radient Destruction, all abilities that have the potential to be used frequently)
Light Weaver: Healing Ritual grants 1/2 ultimate to allies under 60% health.
Restoring Spirit: Reduces Magicka, Stamina, and Ultimate ability costs by 2%/4%SpoilerIt appears that the order of supremacy in ultimate generation is:
Templar>DK>NB>Sorc, however, the fact that Sorc reduce all ultimate costs by 15% is the equivalent of 18 free ultimate every ultimate cast at the low end (Overload) or [60] (still need to check on sorc) at the high end (werewolf).
There are several issues with the current design:
1. Passives that reduce ultimate cost give an increasing advantage the larger the ultimate cost, whereas the generation increasing passives do not scale with ultimate cost; this appears to have been adjusted for in ultimate costs within the classes, however, all ultimates that are non-class create wide gaps.
2. Having some classes able to increase their ultimate generation rate through class abilities while others cannot also creates an unlevel playing field.
3. Having some classes able to generate ultimate through abilities they are likely to cast frequently, but placing a 6 second cooldown on other classes also creates an unlevel playing field.
4. That said, both Sorc and Nightblade have the two cheapest ultimates (Overload & Deathstroke)
If the intent is to have all classes able to generate ultimate and use ultimates at an approximately equivalent rate, I would suggest the following changes:
1. Have kills generate additional ultimate for everyone as long as you either damaged the enemy or healed someone who damaged the enemy
2. Give all classes a 250 cost, 125 cost, and 75 cost ultimate and balance their usefulness / utility accordingly.
3. Give all classes a passive that reduces ultimate costs by 8%/15%
4. Give all classes a passive that grants 1/2 ultimate any time any ability is TRIGGERED (regardless of if the opponent is shielded/barriered/blocking or not)
5. Have ultimate generation only be able to happen while in combat
6. Remove all other ultimate generation increasing and cost reduction effects from passives and morphs (including Soul Harvest) and replace them with something else to add identity to classes without causing huge rifts in class ability.
Ultimate abilities are too critical / powerful to be nerfed to the extent they were, and to have these kinds of discrepancies between the classes in costs, generating ultimate, etc. creates large imbalances. Nightblades and Sorc could generate ultimate fairly well before 1.6, they are now extreme laggards in comparison to Templars. DKs were the kings of ultimate generation, now they pale in comparison to Templars. If we're going to revamp ultimate generation so dramatically, let's at least make sure there is a level field, and that the rate of generation allows people to use the cheapest ultimates once or twice a fight, or the most expensive about once a fight, without giving people the ability to spam them.
Edit: As @Vordae indicated in this thread:
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/148729/ultimate-generation-in-1-6#latestAn easier fix would be to remove all ult generating or cost reduction passives. This will put all the classes at the same level. Then you reduces the cost of all ult to 150, 100, 50. All the current passives can be rework to more fun cool effects then ult cost reduction or extra generation.
This works too, and has the added benefit of more spots for new, hopefully more interesting passives, as long as they rebalanced ulti cost as Vordae suggested, and as long as they also give us inherent ulti generation on kills & for activating abilities as I suggest (the current pace of ulti generation is too slow on the DK & Nighblade I tested so far).
That sounds like a workable, balanced, system. They might need to tweak values here or there, but sounds like a good base to build from.Edited by Atarax on February 16, 2015 2:44PM50 Bosmer Nightblade
50 Breton Sorcerer
50 Dunmer Dragonknight
50 Imperial Templar
50 Khajit Nightblade
50 Imperial Dragonknight
50 Altmer Sorcerer
50 Argonian Templar
Discussions of Interest:
Class Balance in 1.6
Quest Choices
Request to Reinstate Night's Silence and Dark Stalker stacking2 -
Atarax✭✭✭
Approaches to Balance in Various Games
This section is meant to provide additional information on various possible approaches to balancing characters as seen in other games (note to ZOS, please let me know if you want me to remove the references to specific games). The approaches can broadly be categorized as follows:- Jack of all trades, master of... all trades.... (just not all at once)
- The Oprah Approach ("You get a stun, you get a stun, everybody gets a stun!")
- The original WoW Approach ("How much stuff can I get done in an equivalent period of time")
That said, ZOS obviously needs to have an approach that is unique to The Elder Scrolls, but ultimately works well.
As can be seen in the comparisons post, there are still several points that could be balanced further. That said, It seems clear that lots of players would like new content, and focusing resources on balance instead of on new systems players would like to see, such as spell-crafting, or new guild and skill lines, may cause players to lose interest.
After giving this of thought, I am of the opinion that devs should simply say balance is good enough in 1.6, and, instead of balancing classes against each other further, just open up all 4 classes on every character through use of the Champion System. So players can choose a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th class at 20/40/60 Champion points, and be able to invest skill points in any of the active and passive abilities in any class they have access to.
They may need to tweak here and there at the edges still, or may decide one day to do another big revamp, but opening up the classes gives them, and the players, more flexibility. It also would likely lead to a more healthy player community as we've seen in other games (which I get into below). It is also in the spirit of the previous Elder Scrolls games (where you could eventually max out everything if you put in enough time and effort), and would be unique in the MMORPG space.
Now for approaches (note, I chose a few example games people may be familiar with, I've played many more than just these):
Jack of all trades, master of... all trades.... (just not all at once)
There are several games on the market now (or in the past) that take a more "sandbox" approach and basically let players do whatever they want on a single character. Every single character can ultimately access all abilities. And yes, there are MMORPGs that do this, and when done right, it works great. Some examples are as follows:SpoilerFInal Fantasy
Class-based system, but you can switch classes freely and ultimately max out all classes on a single character, you can also utilize some class abilities cross-class, but there are restrictions on which abilities you can use.
Pros:- Players can swap roles when needed (ex., no healer available, let me change to my healer build)
- Players can change their mind down the road and decide to focus on a different class, without having to start an entirely new character
- Promotes teamwork
- Effin cartoon world
- It takes forever to level classes, and once you've leveled your main class, you don't have quests to do, so you're stuck grinding events over and over as you level up each class, very tedious
The Secret World
No classes, there are 255 abilities to learn, and you learn actives and passives. You eventually learn all abilities on a single character. You build a "Deck" of 7 active and 7 passive abilities, which you can change on the fly as long as you're out of combat.
Pros:- Amazing diversity in player builds, you really can "create your own class" (Want to be a healer that does crazy damage with an assault rifle? How about a DPSer that can buff party dps through the roof? How about a tank with a hammer, that can heal yourself and your party? Or a tank with a sword and that does crazy dps? You can do all of them, on a single character)
- Great flexibility, if you need a given ability for a certain encounter, or your tank friend isn't online, change your deck
- Promotes teamwork: When starting hard dungeons, players often spend a few moments asking who's slotting what key abilities, the level of cooperating is great
- Very little whining or cries for nerfs on the forums
Cons:- Very confusing system for new players or those coming from games like WoW
- The limit of 7 actives and 7 passives is a bit too restrictive
- They've added in a bunch of time-consuming character advancement systems that force you to play in certain ways (ex. scenarios) to advance your characters /bye
Horizons / Istaria
You can learn all classes (with the exception of the split between bipeds and dragons) up to (when I played) level 50, as you level additional classes, you gain further levels, so your character level caps out at 250 or some such (I forget, it's been more than a decade since I played). You can utilize some cross-class abilities depending on which class you have "active" at the time.
Pros:- Able to eventually master all of your biped or dragon abilities on a single character
- You can change roles and classes to meet the needs of the situation
- Classes have unique identities
- Waaaaay too many classes, and each class/sub-class pair levels separately, which becomes a tedious grind
- You can't use a class to full effect unless that is your active class
The Elder Scrolls (not Online)
Given enough time and effort, historically in Elder Scrolls Games, you could max out all stats, learn all spells and abilities, and then play your character however you wanted on that day. Skills increase through usage.
Pros:- Awesome feeling once you've maxed out your character
- You can truely "play how you want"
- No need to start over (although people do to try different choices in storyline etc.) if you want access to a given ability, you just play a while and learn it.
- You can switch your equipment and what spells/weapons/skills you're using to help you bit difficult encounters
- Can do all content on one character
- None (other than perhaps being able to trivialize content, but that can be balanced by increasing mob difficulty and AI)
The Oprah Approach ("You get a stun, you get a stun, everybody gets a stun!")
Some games take the approach of having restricted classes, but they seek to balance them by homoginizing core mechanics. For example, everyone gets a stun, everyone gets an interrupt, everyone gets aoe damage abilities, etc. While it is possible to balance this way, the end result is that you either need to homoginize classes entirely, or you still end up with disbalance, and rants on the forums and cries for nerfs. Examples are:SpoilerSWTOR
Classes, but every class gets some of the same key functionalities.
Pros:- Somewhat better balance than games like WoW (at least when I played WoW)
- Classes still have some identity
- Certain abilities are still gated, which means if I want to stealth, I need to roll an alt with a stealth class, if I want to be a healer, I need to roll a healer alt
- If you can't find someone with a certain needed class, your group isn't happening
- Classes seem kind of bland
- There are always balance issues, still, years later
The Elder Scrolls Online
Restricted classes that gate some active and passive abilities, but you also have access to a pool of skills and abilities from outside the class that allow you to play various roles. Classes also share similar abilities and access to buffs / debuffs.
Pros:- Players are able to adjust build somewhat based on circumstances if they have enough skill points
- Players can play any "holy-trinity" role (healer, dps, tank) regardless of class
- Several of the key mechanics (ex. stealth, healing, roots) are availabile in one form or another regardless of class
- Classes have a unique identity
Cons:- While improving, there are still some wide gaps in balance, particularly in cases where only one class gets access to a certain kind of ability; this is pronounced with class passives that have an effect on non-class abilities.
- There are certain skills that only certain classes can do, which, for raid groups, means that you have to have that class in some cases, or the raid won't be successful
- There are abilities that only some classes get, so if you want that ability, you must roll a character of that class
- Classes are pigeonholed into certain styles of play (ex. Nightblades in PvP have to rely on stealth mechanics to succeed)
The original WoW Approach ("How much stuff can I get done in an equivalent period of time")
Many games adhere to the "class-based" system approach, with a vengance. Classes are very distinct, and play very differently. The Devs then spend years on balance using metrics such as, "how many mobs can this build kill per hour vs. this build." Years later, they still don't have balanced games last I checked.SpoilerWoW
Still the largest subscriber base out there, so they have the resources to throw at balance. However, their success now isn't so much a testament to class-based systems being good, it's a testament to humans being adverse to change, and them having an approachable, easy, game before other (better) games, such as ESO, came out. WoW has distinct classes that can all dps fairly equally, but after that play very differently. Classes are further defined by the talents they choose.
Pros:- Unique class identity
- Easy to get a group if you're a healer
Cons:- Horrible game balance when I last played (it's been a while, so maybe this has improved)
- Many many abilities are gated behind classes, and there are some roles that are limited to only certain classes (ex. only paladins, priests, and druids can heal) so I need to start an alt of that class to not only access X ability, but also to play Y role.
- Forums are pretty toxic
- Effin cartoon world
Rift
While less restrictive than WoW, this is still a class-based system with the added bonus that you can, to some extent, design your own class by using sub-classes within each branch.
Pros:- Unique class identities
- Some ability to respec to play different roles
- Better class balance than WoW, but worse balance than ESO in my opinion
- Abilities are still gated behind class walls, which prevents you from using X ability unless you play Y class.
- Too many classes and overlap
- Effin cartoon world
Edited by Atarax on February 16, 2015 2:45PM50 Bosmer Nightblade
50 Breton Sorcerer
50 Dunmer Dragonknight
50 Imperial Templar
50 Khajit Nightblade
50 Imperial Dragonknight
50 Altmer Sorcerer
50 Argonian Templar
Discussions of Interest:
Class Balance in 1.6
Quest Choices
Request to Reinstate Night's Silence and Dark Stalker stacking2 -
Atarax✭✭✭Post awayEdited by Atarax on February 16, 2015 2:44PM50 Bosmer Nightblade
50 Breton Sorcerer
50 Dunmer Dragonknight
50 Imperial Templar
50 Khajit Nightblade
50 Imperial Dragonknight
50 Altmer Sorcerer
50 Argonian Templar
Discussions of Interest:
Class Balance in 1.6
Quest Choices
Request to Reinstate Night's Silence and Dark Stalker stacking1 -
Nihil✭✭✭ok, looks like you are done. I will have to read all this later. But saw your buff section and thought you might like a grid for a "quick view" of who gets what buff.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fW5cgdybuvxR8inE6QaPoeVOTsGJtrvKDD3RLFZ07n4/edit?usp=sharing1 -
Atarax✭✭✭@Nihil thanks much for this, probably a nicer summery than listing it all out by text, I'll finish adding in my thoughts tomorrow, time now for me to sleep though
50 Bosmer Nightblade
50 Breton Sorcerer
50 Dunmer Dragonknight
50 Imperial Templar
50 Khajit Nightblade
50 Imperial Dragonknight
50 Altmer Sorcerer
50 Argonian Templar
Discussions of Interest:
Class Balance in 1.6
Quest Choices
Request to Reinstate Night's Silence and Dark Stalker stacking0 -
trimsic_ESO✭✭✭✭✭Very impressive post and I just applaude such an effort and initiative. However, I think it's very difficult to have such a one-one class discussion without taking into account the added value of the armor and weapon skills. Their advantages are not the same from one class to another IMHO.2 -
ArconSeptim✭✭✭✭Yeah you cant discuss just from that, you need to consider many synergizes, passives of races, champion points, armor sets, traits etc. if you want to discuss all classes possible build outcomes.1 -
Atarax✭✭✭@trimsic_ESO
Agreed that weapon skills armor traits, etc. play a role. I'm limiting my analysis to class abilities and non-restricted abilities (although I do touch on some weapon skills briefly) because 1) it's a very large analysis already and 2) anyone can access the weapon abilities and armor (although they do interact differently with different classes admittedly). The devs have better tools and get paid for this though, I'm just a dude who wants to see the game grow in a healthy way and am trying to offer constructive criticism.
@ArconSeptim
This actually does consider synergies. Also, passives of races, champion points, armor sets, etc. all sit on top of this base. I'll let someone else cover that part of the analysis though
I'm just trying to show gaps and give creative ideas how to close them. That said, you are correct that there is a much bigger balance picture to consider (I just don't have capacity), and there are many ways to address balance. 50 Bosmer Nightblade
50 Breton Sorcerer
50 Dunmer Dragonknight
50 Imperial Templar
50 Khajit Nightblade
50 Imperial Dragonknight
50 Altmer Sorcerer
50 Argonian Templar
Discussions of Interest:
Class Balance in 1.6
Quest Choices
Request to Reinstate Night's Silence and Dark Stalker stacking0 -
ArconSeptim✭✭✭✭
All in all this is not bad what you made, it really helps people who actually didnt even tried PTS so far.@trimsic_ESO
Agreed that weapon skills armor traits, etc. play a role. I'm limiting my analysis to class abilities and non-restricted abilities (although I do touch on some weapon skills briefly) because 1) it's a very large analysis already and 2) anyone can access the weapon abilities and armor (although they do interact differently with different classes admittedly). The devs have better tools and get paid for this though, I'm just a dude who wants to see the game grow in a healthy way and am trying to offer constructive criticism.
@ArconSeptim
This actually does consider synergies. Also, passives of races, champion points, armor sets, etc. all sit on top of this base. I'll let someone else cover that part of the analysis though I'm just trying to show gaps and give creative ideas how to close them. That said, you are correct that there is a much bigger balance picture to consider (I just don't have capacity), and there are many ways to address balance.
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indigoblades✭✭✭Me personally i think balance is impossible, when one considers what defines balance..... class strength in about 4 areas: group PVP, 1v1 PVP, ability to solo PVE, PVE delves and PVE trials.
Too make the majority happy one would need to balance the classes, armors and weapons in all the areas.0 -
Oughash✭✭✭✭Amazing work, thanks for all this!
One your thesis that in an Elder Scrolls game we should have access to all "classes": I used to think this. Perhaps a better way would be to limit the number of active "class" skill trees to three, just like now. But let the player choose which three.1 -
Soris✭✭✭✭✭
✭Lol ZOS should pay you for this and hire you after fire its current designers.
Amazing work!Welkynd [Templar/AD/EU]1 -
CP5✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭I've been gathering the communities suggestions on sorcerer balance changes and am looking forward into seeing what is suggested in this entire thread, a few things I've noticed from what little I have read:-For abilities such as Shield Charge, Ambush, Critical Charge, etc. that cause players to charge a target, 1) increase range to 28 meters across the board and 2) cause them to fire and carry the player to maximum range in cases where a) they have no target selected (allowing them to be used for escape purposes) or b) where the target is out of range (allowing them to be used for chase purposes)
Rationale: 1) Gives all classes an equivalent / counter to Bolt Escape (which can be reverted to its original, pre-nerf cost) 2) gives additional functionality to these abilities, making them more useful and fun 3) gives everyone a bit more mobility 4) If I can lunge 25 yards AT someone who might stab me with a sword, why can't I lunge 25 yards into an open field of daisies?
and-Change Trapping webs & morphs: align cost and damage of the base ability with Searing Strikes (412 damage + 1320 over 10.5 seconds) , have it spawn spiders on cast (rather than be a synergy) but make the 795 damage be damage over time as indicated; if recast, does the direct damage component (412 damage) and refreshes duration of dot and spiders without interrupting ticks or attacks (and resummons a spider if it's not there); one morph adds a poison dot from spiders (magicka), the other can cause Fear and is stamina-based.
Rationale: 1) gives a spammable, non-class or weapon-locked, non-execute, single-target DPS ability (Sorcerer's rejoice!) for both Magicka and Stamina builds 2) gives a Stamina-based way for people to generate Fear 3) Gives everyone access to "pets" 4) summoning spiders is cool. 5) Sorceres can still have their pets on top of this (and still use Crystal Shards), other classes have other abilities that can be spammed alongside this to up DPS.
First with the gap closers, if they were buffed to 28m that means in pvp they will gain the range buff, keeping them at the same effective range as bow users and casters (snipe excluded). The point of being at range is to avoid melee combat and not be bludgeoned to death the moment you get into your own effective range (since this change would make your melee opponents share the samge effective range). Also if any gap closer gets buffed to 28m and can be used without a target, Bolt Escape, with its 15m range blink, will be a little beyond useless. Even if there was no regen debuff or extra cost it would still be a laughable skill compared to the 28m range jump suggested.
Also in response to the changes to Trapping Webs, like the idea of spawning the spiders without the synergy (since I rarely see my allies use it anyway and summoning spiders is cool). However, in bold, "Sorcerer's rejoice!"... Not sure if many sorc's would be thrilled to just change a generic weapon skill for a generic guild skill. It wouldn't change the fact that as a class they are missing the ability to reliably sustain damage with an instant class skill.
Going to keep on reading this, but those were just two of the things that quickly jumped out.3 -
Atarax✭✭✭I've been gathering the communities suggestions on sorcerer balance changes and am looking forward into seeing what is suggested in this entire thread, a few things I've noticed from what little I have read:
and
First with the gap closers, if they were buffed to 28m that means in pvp they will gain the range buff, keeping them at the same effective range as bow users and casters (snipe excluded). The point of being at range is to avoid melee combat and not be bludgeoned to death the moment you get into your own effective range (since this change would make your melee opponents share the samge effective range). Also if any gap closer gets buffed to 28m and can be used without a target, Bolt Escape, with its 15m range blink, will be a little beyond useless. Even if there was no regen debuff or extra cost it would still be a laughable skill compared to the 28m range jump suggested.
Also in response to the changes to Trapping Webs, like the idea of spawning the spiders without the synergy (since I rarely see my allies use it anyway and summoning spiders is cool). However, in bold, "Sorcerer's rejoice!"... Not sure if many sorc's would be thrilled to just change a generic weapon skill for a generic guild skill. It wouldn't change the fact that as a class they are missing the ability to reliably sustain damage with an instant class skill.
Going to keep on reading this, but those were just two of the things that quickly jumped out.
Thanks @CP5 this is helpful feedback, you're right about the ranged buff, I hadn't considered that. Also, apologies if it wasn't clear, the 28m range was meant to apply to bolt escape as well (and balance them all so they move effectively at a similar rate). The reason I chose 28m range is that's the max possible with Dragon Leap, and I'm trying to buff, not nerf, abilities. That said, in it's current incarnation, Dragon Leap can't be spammed, I do propose that it be made into an active to give DKs similar mobility (haven't figured out where to slot it yet and what to move around) and the ultimate replaced with something else DKs otherwise lack, in which case it could be spammed, so lowering max range to 22m, but having it be recastable, results in a buff (yes, they have Grip, also with 22m range, but it's not the same really); the next lowest range is 22m, if we were to align all the mobility abilities (including Bolt Escape) to that range, then it works and avoids the ranged buff. Good catch. I will update the suggestions section accordingly after work.
For the Trapping Web suggestion, while it would be great for Sorc to have a sustain damage instant class skill, that would require potentially replacing another ability, this gives an equivalent (with some interesting alternative options for solo / PvP playe); the difference between a spammable class/guild skill and a spammable weapon skill is that the spammable guild/class skills can be used with ANY weapon. So putting it on a guild skill means Sorcerers do not lose any of their current functionality, but gain the weapon agnostic spammable dps skill they've been looking for. It also keeps the playing field level as anyone can opt to use it, as long as it does equivalent dps to other spammable skills. Note, it would still proc Crystal Fragments as well, giving you the option for a higher damage instant burst 35% of the time.Edited by Atarax on February 16, 2015 11:48PM50 Bosmer Nightblade
50 Breton Sorcerer
50 Dunmer Dragonknight
50 Imperial Templar
50 Khajit Nightblade
50 Imperial Dragonknight
50 Altmer Sorcerer
50 Argonian Templar
Discussions of Interest:
Class Balance in 1.6
Quest Choices
Request to Reinstate Night's Silence and Dark Stalker stacking0 -
Atarax✭✭✭Hi all, sorry for the delay in updating. I'll be working on this in word so I don't lose the work when the forum updates start. I will update the post once the update finishes.Edited by Atarax on February 18, 2015 2:24AM50 Bosmer Nightblade
50 Breton Sorcerer
50 Dunmer Dragonknight
50 Imperial Templar
50 Khajit Nightblade
50 Imperial Dragonknight
50 Altmer Sorcerer
50 Argonian Templar
Discussions of Interest:
Class Balance in 1.6
Quest Choices
Request to Reinstate Night's Silence and Dark Stalker stacking0 -
Atarax✭✭✭Okay, full list of abilities updated for 1.6.4. I'll go back to posting suggested balance changes for each class tomorrow. Feel free to post additional ideas and suggestions for any class and I'll try to incorporate them as I'm going through.50 Bosmer Nightblade
50 Breton Sorcerer
50 Dunmer Dragonknight
50 Imperial Templar
50 Khajit Nightblade
50 Imperial Dragonknight
50 Altmer Sorcerer
50 Argonian Templar
Discussions of Interest:
Class Balance in 1.6
Quest Choices
Request to Reinstate Night's Silence and Dark Stalker stacking0 -
ZOS_GinaBrunoCommunity ManagerWow @Atarax, this is a ton of information you put together! Well done! Thanks so much for posting all this, and we'll be sure to pass it along to the team.3 -
Theegoliath✭✭✭Other games have succesfully let characters choose from other class skills once earned. It would an awesome addition to elderscrolls imo. Every other elder scrolls game was not restrictive on skills once earned. That is something I think the devs should really take a look at for a down the road update.1
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robeauch✭✭✭Terrific work! I'll add my voice to the chorus of praise (and amazement).
One minor point about opening up all classes... I'm not sure it would have the impact on balance that you are expecting.
With all classes opened, and in the absence of ongoing balance efforts, let's suppose one class's skill line is found to enjoy a modest advantage. Since everyone has access to that skill line, no one is excluded from that advantage. That's fair.
But balance is still an issue. The preferred skill line won't appeal to everyone. Without rebalancing, players will either have to adopt that skill line, or forego its advantages. The system is "fair" (you make your own choice) but players will still demand balance, and devs will still have to put their time into it.
None of this is a reason *not* to open up all classes -- it's a worthy idea just on its own merits. I just don't see it freeing up any dev resources that are currently applied to game balance.
With that said -- thanks again for an awesome compendium of awesomeness. Sorry to focus on the one quibbly bit. Very much appreciate the time & thought you put into it.1 -
Gyudan✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Sorry but when I read this thread I couldn't help but think of the following gif:Spoiler
It's quite big and I'd rather not see it anywhere near my characters.
I don't think crafting should receive experience because doing so would completely unbalance the leveling process. It's already hard not to outlevel content too much if you're doing all the quests. Crafting xp would make it impossible.-Ensure experience points gained per amount of time invested is approximately equivalent regardless of play style (ex. Crafting, PvP, Dungeons, Questing, Exploring, Raiding, Grinding)
Rationale: 1) Players like different styles of play and shouldn't be penalized for doing so (i.e. "play as you want") 2) if one mode of play generates clearly superior experience gains, everyone will engage in that game play once the Champion system goes live.
While I personally don't like grinding, I think that this playstyle, boring as it is, should be the most effective way to gain XP, but not in some shady portion of Craglorn and not with a too large difference compared to other activities. XP balance is tricky because not all players have the same abilities and while some clear a veteran dungeon in 15 minutes, others need more than an hour to do the exact same thing. In PVP solo beginners get points much slower than experienced AP farm groups.
Bolt Escape is Sorcerer-specific and should remain so. NBs have Cloak, DKs have Scales and Dragon Blood, Templars have Breath of Life. Sorcerers can keep at least one class-defining ability now that Surge has been nerfed, can't they?-For abilities such as Shield Charge, Ambush, Critical Charge, etc. that cause players to charge a target, 1) increase range to 22 meters across the board (also increase Bolt Escape & morphs to 22m) 2) remove the minimum range, and 3) cause them to fire and carry the player to maximum range in cases where a) they have no target selected (allowing them to be used for escape purposes) or b) where the target is out of range (allowing them to be used for chase purposes)
Rationale: 1) Gives all classes an equivalent / counter to Bolt Escape (which can be reverted to its original, pre-nerf cost) 2) gives additional functionality to these abilities, making them more useful and fun 3) gives everyone a bit more mobility 4) If I can lunge 22 yards AT someone who might stab me with a sword, why can't I lunge 22 yards into an open field of daisies?
Again, not all classes would be affected by this in the same way. Shields already got reduced by 15% in the latest patch, I think it's enough.-Only allow one damage shield to be active at a time, new damage shields cast will only apply if they will provide more mitigation than the mitigation remaining from the existing shield
Rationale: 1) Damage shield stacking shouldn't be possible 2) Will promote teamwork as people will be more likely to communication around available damage shields and who should be casting them, freeing up ability slots for other players 3) with changes suggested, it's possible that there will be a lot more damage shields flying around, so chances are people will prefer higher mitigation over increased duration
I don't want the writs to be another grind for ranks. They will bring good rewards in update 6 (if you've tried them on PTS) and that's more than enough.-Make crafting writs reward points toward alliance ranks; also incorporate Undaunted-focused crafting writs that give Undaunted skill
Rationale: 1) Players contributing to writs are, according to the lore, contributing to the war effort (or the undaunted guild) 2) Gives those players who spend time crafting a way to keep up with PvP / undaunted progression and earn the achievements / skills to some extent, even if it's slower 3) some of the balance suggestions I give below make use of the Alliance and Undaunted skill lines
I think that removing them entirely would be too drastic and that some balance is possible. See this for details.-For any class passive that reduces costs of ALL abilities either 1) give to everyone 2) restrict to class-specific abilities and balance those appropriately or 3) remove from the game
Rationale: 1) Passives that are restricted to a given class, but affect non-class ability costs, create inherent dis balance among classes unless they are shared equally.
Please tell how that would work with Sorcerer's Overload? Ultimates are balanced imo.-Align ultimate costs & effectiveness such that all classes have a 225, 125, 50 cost ability with similar effectiveness
Tanks don't spam abilities as often as other roles and would get a disadvantage from your suggestion. Ultimate generation passives are part of how classes work and should remain in place imo.-Remove all class passives that affect ultimate costs or increase ultimate generation
-Make triggering ALL abilities generate 2 ultimate every time you trigger the ability (as long as you're in combat)
Rationale: 1) levelizes ultimate generation and costs across classes 2) speeds up generation somewhat from where we are now 3) frees up passive slots for more interesting class-specific passives
Entropy is already extremely strong in update 6. Just compare it with the 1.5 version, it's ridiculously OP. No need to buff it further.Entropy change: Give Major Sorcery & 100% chance to heal
Why would you cut of the DK's wings? That ultimate is quite cool imo. You can argue about balance but the ability itself is really nice.Ultimates:
Shift Dragon Leap (and rebalance) to an ability (see Movement below for more reasons for this), and replace with a 50 ultimate cost single target damage ultimate.
I don't think your suggestions for 4 projectiles absorption are valid either. I haven't played enough sneaky NB to know exactly how cloak handles projectiles cast before cloaking, but if you want projectiles to be absorbed after exiting stealth as well, that's way too strong imo. Exiting cloak already grants a large bonus to armor, at least in update 5. Sorcerer's streak is specifically not designed to absorbed projectiles, since there's the other morph doing just that.Edited by Gyudan on February 24, 2015 6:41PMWololo.2 -
Bouvin✭✭✭✭✭
✭More sorc nerfs!
NB has to be ahead of someone once 1.6 hits
Right now it's looking like Templar > DK > NB > Sorc0 -
evedgebah✭✭✭I appreciate this post and the amount of work involved. I disagree with the idea of granting every class ability to everyone. That being said, everyone should have access to every debuff/buff (I'm fine with needing to go to non-class lines for them).
Balance wise, every class needs to be effective with DPS, tanking, and healing. I'm fine with classes having lines dedicated to one of those roles like Templar for healing, but each class should have something that helps them in the role. Restoration Staff should be competitive with Templar healing.2 -
WarrioroftheWind_ESO✭✭✭✭I do NOT want ESO to go the route of homogenization (aka the Oprah Winfrey style or "current' WOW style). Each class needs to retain what makes them unique and have those abilities enhanced. NB's often whine that they don't have a class-based damage shield, but realistically they shouldn't need to. They do their best work NOT getting hit. DK's are probably the best 'well rounded' class, and the only homogenization I'd want is that every class have the capacity to be as well-rounded and not suffer with brokenly broken skill trees.
Normally I refer to WOW when it comes to prior MMO experience, but there is another MMO I'd played extensively (and wish I would play more often but enjoying ESO way too much). It's LOTRO, or Lord of the RIngs Online.
For anyone unfamiliar with that particular game, it is fairly limited on class archetypes due to lore restrictions, but each class has a specific style and role within a raid (or fellowship). The tank archetype is filled by Guardians and Wardens, but a Guardian won't have as much DPS and self-healing as a Warden, nor would the Warden have as much aggro gain or raw dmg mitigation as the Guardian. Loremasters are known for debuffing as well as support dps/heals and pets. Lots and lots of pets. They can't sustain healing as much to fill a healer role, but are more suited for pure dpsing or support. Runekeepers and Minstrels fill the healing role, and while both can dps and heal, Minstrels are often preferred for main healing while RK's can alternate between both. Burglars and Champions do the melee damage role, and while a Champ can do balls out bonkers dps, they're pretty much glass cannons and lack the survivability or utility that Burgs have, but unlike Champs, Burgs can't offtank to save their lives. Hunters do ranged physical dps but aren't restricted to just that. They have support melee skills, though not as much to make them 'rogue-like' and bolster their abilities with traps and oils. Captain, or cappy, my main class were and remain the 'buff-***". They can't heal, tank, or dps as well as any of the archetypes, but their party-wide buffs, support heals, and debuff effects make them important to a raid composition regardless. I believe they are the only class besides the Runekeeper that has a combat rez too.
Balancing in that game has been a neverending struggle, but I doubt 'true' balance could ever be achieved without sacrificing what makes these classes, as well as any class in any game, unique. Balance should pertain to is X class ability from y class 1 shotting people with full armor and resistance, or is Z ability costing more than it should compared to S ability.
Balancing is going to be a nightmare howeverwhich way people slice it, but I would rather classes be restricted to a class-defining toolbox and be able to and encouraged to emphasize those skillsets than make the mistake WoW did, which was homogenize out the yin-yang and ruin player identity.0 -
kaithuzar✭✭✭✭✭
✭For the most part; tldr, but will get to later. My 2 cents:
It seems most players want every class to have an ability that can cancel another ability (class or not). So that it doesn't matter what class a player chooses, the fight is based on the skill of the player knowing when to cast what ability; rather than an OP class/ability. This would probably require an ability matrix where everything would be matched up. Idk how viable/fun the game would be if this were the circumstance.
Slightly off topic this is how I think it should be:
DK: best tank, 3rd best dps, worst healer
Temp: best healer, tied 3rd best dps, 2nd best tank
Sorc: best dps, 2nd best healer, worst tank
NB: 2nd best dps, 3rd healer, 2-3rd tank (depending how viable evasion tanking is)
For instance dk's & temp should be able to kill anything in game b/c they can't die but it should take them 10-30 mins to kill something.
Nb's should be faster than anyone else allowing for 10 hits in a sec & killing with large quantities of smaller dmg
Sorc should be powerful spells! Kill about the same speed as Dk & temp but much more powerful.
Just my opinion.
-kaiMember of:
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Just Chill - Crown's house
GoldCloaks - Durruthy test server penga
Small Meme Guild - Mano's house
Former member of:
Legend - Siffer fan boy club
TKO (tamriel knight's order) - free bks
Deviance - Leonard's senche tiger
Purple - hamNchz is my hero
Eight Divines - myrlifax stop playing final fantasy
WKB (we kill bosses) - turd where you go?
Arcance Council - Klytz Kommander
World Boss - Mike & Chewy gone EP
M12 (majestic twelve) - cult of the loli zerg0 -
Cyantific87✭✭✭Okay, full list of abilities updated for 1.6.4. I'll go back to posting suggested balance changes for each class tomorrow. Feel free to post additional ideas and suggestions for any class and I'll try to incorporate them as I'm going through.
i think you missed solar barrage on Templars AOE unless I misread somewhere?Edited by Cyantific87 on February 25, 2015 10:18AM0