Ultimate: Radial Sweep

The Empowering Sweep morph works for being tanky in PvE on large pulls an the extra meter it will get as part of buff to the base ability is fine, but the other morph needs work. (@Cinbri has suggested replacing the formula for the amount of damage mitigation for Empowering with Major Protection, which would have the advantage of always having at least 30% mitigation and requiring fewer calculations by the server. On the other hand, mitigation would always be capped at 30%, too.)

Crescent Sweep is meant to be a small burst+dot focusing on enemies in front of the player (33% more damage to enemies in front of the caster on the initial hit). It's more like a really strong AoE regular skill than an ultimate but that is probably tied to it being relatively cheap. Add Minor Berserk (+8% to all damage) to the caster for the duration of the ability (6 seconds) when outside of the ability's AoE range and give Major Berserk (+25% to all damage) while the caster is inside the 5 meter area of effect. Thus it pays for the caster to try to protect her "house" but recognizes there is still often a need for some degree of mobility.


Active Skills

Puncturing Strikes

Keep it like it is for 2.3.x with the new snare or drop the snare, either way, but add either a bleed effect, a burning effect, or a 2 second knockdown versus off balance targets. This fits well with the effect Toppling Charge already has on active casters and also with the proposed change to Blazing Spear described below. There needs to be more inter-skill synergy for Templar. I had written up the bleed vs. off balance targets idea for Piercing Javelin to give it more value, but it was too clumsy work with this idea as it is a ranged skill. Strikes is the bread and butter ability of a "not in my house"/"stand tall" playstyle for Templars so it makes sense as the locus of a skill line synergy.

Piercing Javelin

The longer distance (and thus increased damage) for Aurora Javelin in 2.3.x is nice. I was one of those requesting this, so my thanks. But what if it also snared the target by 35-40% for 3 seconds. For the "not in my house" feel, such a snare would be a real boost, since keeping enemies at a distance and only letting them approach on your terms is valuable tool for that playstyle. Yes, Binding Javelin has a 3 second knockdown but Aurora still gets the bonus damage for distance traveled and now both can help dictate when to engage in melee range and offer an escape hatch if needed.

Spear Shards

Great ability. Let's talk the "not in my house" model, though. How about we have Blazing Spear still stun one target for two seconds but set 2-4 others off balance? Would work well with the proposed change to Puncturing Strikes above (Blazing Spear --> Strikes...Strikes...Strikes...). For Luminous Shards still have one target disoriented but snare 2-4 others by 25-30% for 4 seconds. As with the recommended change to Piercing Javelin, this helps control who gets near the Templar and gives more options for an escape attempt.

Sun Shield

Wrobel mentioned he was planning on looking into tanky skills, and name checked Sun Shield. He said that he doesn't want to go back to the days of unkillable tanks. Fair enough. But if we are taking the "not in my house" approach to skill reviews, this needs buffed. Increase shield strength from 27% to 35% of caster's health for Sun Shield and its morphs. Either that, or, if there is concern about super-high health stacking tanks being OP, have it scale off of the highest stat between magicka and stamina. I prefer the tanky/health option, but whatever. The better changes are just below.

Give a 35-40% increase to the damage done on activation for the base ability and for Radiant Ward, while stunning those caught in the blast of the activation of the latter for 2 seconds. Knock down enemies in range of the AoE damage effect when Blazing Shield explodes for 2 seconds. You want to play in a Templar's house? You play by the Templar's rules. These changes make the 6 second duration an asset rather than a liability for Blazing Shield, and Radiant Ward can stun again once CC immunity wears off, which would be only a couple of seconds after the max duration of the effect.


Passive Skills

Piercing Spear

Buff the bonus damage against blocking targets from 5/10% to either 7/15% or 10/20% and have the bonus work against shielded targets as well. This and the suggested change to Spear Wall below help to punish targets who stay close and fight and also helps to flesh out the Templar's distinctiveness. Players will start to actually think "Blocking/shielding up isn't going to work as well against Templars." This change also makes more of the slower moving/functioning Templar ranged abilities, such as those from the Dawn's Wrath skill line. This will push enemy players into wanting to dodge more and stay mobile.

Spear Wall

Add (a chance to) inflict Minor Maim, which gives a 15% damage reduction, to targets whose melee attacks are successfully blocked. If it is a chance-based proc rather than automatic the odds should be no lower than 25% and preferably would be 50%. But given that it's just versus melee, it ought to be 100%/automatic. If Templars are to continue to have limited mobility and fight in rune circles and healing circles and such while they defend their "houses", there needs to be more mitigation. If you hit a spear wall, it should sting. Get up in a Templar's face and you'll bleed.

Spear Wall

I agree with @Hymzir that this should proc on shields, and along with the above suggested change to Piercing Spear would help give Templars a small edge as a shield buster class.

Balanced Warrior

This should be updated to include Physical Damage in the 1000/2000 resist bonus, especially in a melee-focused/area of denial setup for "stand tall" game play considering that melee weapons do, ya know, physical damage. To be fully "balanced", Spell Damage would need to be included in the 3%/6% bonus as well.

Ultimate: Nova

Great ability, great morphs, just drop the cost to the 200-220 range.


Active Skills

Sun Fire
So meh. Sooooooo soooooo meh. Now, I know there are builds that use the Reflective Light morph as part of a fire-damage DPS build, and it can be useful while leveling, so good. But Vampire's Bane? Making the DoT last longer or burn hotter as a single target skill is a waste, and this is mentioned whenever a comprehensive review by a player pops up because we've all tried it and figured, "I could just burn the same target down faster with [X, Y, or Z] ability before the final tick of VB even hits. And sure, a snare, but that's what the Aedric Spear skill line should be for (see above).

How about having it do one-shot burst damage that lower resistance to elemental damage for those seven seconds? Give it a 15% chance to proc for an extra 25-30% damage, like a magicka version of a Fighter's Guild skill. Vampire's Bane indeed. And the Enduring Rays passive would simply extend the lower resistance to elemental damage. I used to say for months to just swap "Major Sorcery" for "Major Prophecy" as the fix for VB, but with time to think about it more, I came up with and now favor the burst (into flame) damage fix instead.

Solar Flare/b]
So close, yet so far away. So close, yet so far away. We dream of (hitting our targets) tomorrow, but we're stuck in today... Sorry, Hall and Oates moment, there. But I would trade the extra damage given in 2.3.x to Dark Flare to disorient a target upon impact. At least if you managed to hit with the first one you would have a better chance of landing a second. But that still requires a target not to dodge roll away from the first projectile as it slowly arcs across the sky with a tell sound that says "double tap a direction key". My suggestions for extra CC in the Aedric Spear line can create some new openings for Dark Flare, but it's unclear whether those will be enough.

That's why I still like the idea of having it chase you like a heating seeking missile. That makes up for the clumsy cast, high arc, long flight, clear warning sound effect, etc. A target could still block the projectile to reduce damage taken, reflect it for no damage, or absorb it for little or no damage. A target could even outrun its range and escape. But the target couldn't dodge roll out of it. Keep the defile and empower, dump the new damage boost for 2.3.x, and give Templars a target-lock missile that can debuff an enemy group if the target doesn't get some distance from allies. A DK or any player with a sword and board can reflect/absorb it, a NB or Sorc can take the first hit and either CC the caster or cloak/streak away, and a fellow Templar can pop Eclipse on you. Risk and reward, but better than the current model since the first hit, even if bounced back at you, will actually land where you intended.

With regard to Solar Bore-age, I know a very few people who use it but I haven't since I first leveled up my magicka Templar a long time ago. It sounds great, a PBAoE that empowers your next attack. What a great skill to spam! But maybe there was a concern that would make it OP, so it's another "clunky instant cast" skill. Why not give it Major Defile as well like Dark Flare? One is a ranged projectile that defiles nearby allies of the target, one is a PBAoE that could do the same thing at greater risk up close. If not defile, then some other buff, debuff, or status effect to make it a competitor with Impulse from the Destruction Staff skill line.

Backlash

I haven't used Power of the Light since it became a stamina morph, at which point I switched to Purifying Light. I've used Backlash in one form or another when doing four person dungeons since I started playing a Templar, and it was always a nice DPS/HPS boost. I've heard some people say those boosts have been decreased with 2.3.x but I haven't tested that yet myself.

Eclipse

Give Eclipse and Total Dark a penalty (like 3x normal damage that would otherwise occur at the end of the ability) for breaking free. Still only one target allowed at a time and reflecting projectiles as per 2.3.1 mechanics. This forces a human opponent to decide between using non-projectile abilities and taking the extra damage. Bosses who are immune automatically "break free" and take damage, and the player has to wait the same period as a CC immunity timer to recast on a boss.

Unstable Core gets the bubble back, works like the 2.3x mechanics, but stuns the primary target upon exploding. The bubble keeps a human opponent from knowing which morph was used. The stun makes up for the lackluster damage and wait time. I really tried using it on the PTS but I had to kind of wait and slow down my fights for it to register before trash mobs were killed. Otherwise they died before it went off. Very lackluster. The stun also has some use in PvP, as that CC, rather than extra damage, is the break free penalty for players. Core also need to be added to the no fly list for Enduring Rays.

Radiant Destruction

Radiant Oppression great. Just add "healing effect increased up to 50% of damage done based on your current magicka" to Radiant Glory. If you want to add a stamina morph for this class execute, Oppression would make sense as long as magicka builds get the scaled healing just mentioned for Glory.


Passive Skills

Enduring Rays

Unstable Core, in it's 2.3.x incarnation, needs to be one of the skills excluded from this passive.

Restoring Spirit

I guess there is zero chance of every returning to the version of getting resources back per cast, even at a smaller percentage. So, straight buff it is the the cost reduction numbers to make Templars competitive. I've seen various numbers tossed out, but anything would be a significant improvement.

Ultimate: Rite of Passage
I rarely see either morph of this ability used outside of PvE. Sometimes I and some healer Templars will use Remembrance in group PvE play for bosses that have high damage phases, while others use Practiced Incantation and its slightly longer channel time (an extra two seconds). Perhaps Practiced Incantation could be altered to be the PvP-preferred version. For example, by extending the caster's immunity to crowd control effect to the allies being healed for the duration of the ability.


Active Skills

Rushed Ceremony

I'm not too bothered by the Breath of Life nerf. This is one of three places in this skill line I will mention a suggestion by Hymzir, though, since they deserve recognition: Give BoL back three targets but have them all at the lesser value while making the base ability and both morphs prioritize the caster.

Healing Ritual

I've had so many different ideas for this over the past couple of years, just all over the place. So I'll start with some ideas other people have offered:

A version you cast before the fight begins from @Faulgor

A Xivkyn Lacerator version from @Leon119

A "turn it into a lesser form of Rite of Passgae" version (and replace Rite of Passage with something else) by @Talyena

A "make it into a mobile HoT with instant cast" from @halfthepeopletalkingabouthealingritual


Here are my favorites from my own theorycrafting for your consideration:

"The Light"

"The Buff"

"The Mover"

"The Toggle"

"The Replacement"


Restoring Aura

Repentance continues to be a good skill for many builds, while Radiant Aura continues to be a disappointment. Change it to passively give allies the same buffs the Templar receives for slotting it: "Minor Fortitude, Minor Endurance, and Minor Intellect, increasing Health, Stamina, and Magicka Regeneration by 10%." For a bigger change, have activation give different buffs like Minor Evasion (5% dodge chance), Minor Protection (8% damage mitigation), and Minor Force (15% bonus to critical damage). With a 5% chance to dodge an enemy attack + 8% direct mitigation, allies are taking noticeably less damage, all the while having their stats regen faster (and not in conflict with tripots) and doing more damage. Subtle sounding? Yes. Helpful? Definitely.

Cleansing Ritual

If I were to suggest any changes, just follow Hymzir's rec to give one cleanse upon cast and get further cleanses, as per morph tooltip, with the synergy. For extra firepower, @Radburn suggests altering Extended Ritual to have enemies in its AoE take burning damage over time while they remain rather than lasting a few second longer. I like the idea, and technically a good name would be Purifying Ritual, but well, you can see the problems as that is already the name of the other morph. So, good options would include Sanctifying Ritual, Chastening Ritual, and Cauterizing Ritual. I am partial to that last one.

Rune Focus

I like this ability. I really do. I've been practicing fighting inside of it against things like the crossed-sword generals in the IC sewers. And it is *really* hard to stay inside of it: knockdowns that knock you back, AoE, AoE, AoE, targets zipping around, AoE, frontal conal attacks, AoE... the buffs the rune gives are awesome *if* you can stay inside of it. And even if you do, immoveable pots, Shuffle, and blocking only go so far for a magicka build. Meanwhile stamina builds need mobility to be viable.

So how about expanding the rune's radius a meter and either adding in an extra two seconds of CC immunity or being immune to soft CC if you manage to stay in the little circle? Also extend the length of ability (16s for base, for 24s morphs). As per the suggestion by Hymzir, allow all buffs to extend for 8s while outside the rune and to be renewed if you get back in before the 8s expire. Hence the new durations in multiples of eight.


Passive Skills

Mending

Like many Templar healers, I would love to see this passive work on all healing abilities, not just Restoring Light abilities, like it used to do. But the whole "Templars are too good at healing what about Sorcs/NBs/DKs?" mantra goes directly against this.

Light Weaver

Suggestion if kept in it's current form:

Have this passive grant 20 ultimate, not 2, when allies under 60% health are affected by Healing Ritual. Even if players spam it, there is little chance of exploiting. Cheap ultimates are cheap, so it doesn't matter if you charge them a bit faster. And getting to the costlier ultimates faster makes Healing Ritual more appealing.

How it would look if re-imagined:

Increase the value of critical heals by 10/20%.

I do like the 12500 Armor and Spell Resistance while channeling Right of Passage that comes with the current version of Light Weaver, so if we go with a re-imagined version, just stick this protection buff under Focused Healing or Master Ritualist.