Update 34 Combat Preview

MashmalloMan

Player abilities that grant Major Savagery, Prophecy, Brutality, or Sorcery now grant both of their respective versions (such as Savagery and Prophecy) in efforts to reinforce the accessibility of hybrid stat gaining.

• Note that player passives and consumables that grant the Minor versions of these have not been adjusted at this time, in order to preserve class unique power contribution for coordinated groups.

@ZOS_Gilliam So since you're only focussing on morphs, are you saying you're not touching this issue yet? I understand a lot of reworking needs to be done behind the scenes so the original 4 classes each bring something unique to the table, but Sorc/NB are being left behind in the dust.

It's not a secret that Templar and DK are dominating PVP right now and a part of the reason is they now have full access to their class minor buffs (in regards to Mag DK and Stam Templar). They obviously received some nice buffs the past few patches too, but addressing this issue would help close the gap a little. I'd prefer buffs for other classes over nerfs to them when it comes to this problem and this is a rather simple issue you skipped over last patch.

All DK's go Weapon Damage, all Templars go Spell Damage.

Stam Sorc and Mag Nightblade do not have the same luxary as the only available source for both Major Prophecy/Savagery is from slotting Camo Hunter or Inner Light, if we were going for that buff we were most likely using a pot to do so as an entire skill slot for a buff that only works on 1 bar is just bad.. while Templar/DKs can simply use many options for active skills which easily provided them Major Brutality/Sorcery already. Not to mention crit chance is usually a no no to build for anyway, so DK/Templar are fine to completely abandon it for straight damage increases.

Eg. Degen, Igneous Weapons, Jabs, Rally.

I mean, even if you did adjust this.. it's not going to trump the power Minor Brutality/Sorcery gives because you've effectively killed any reason in PVP to aim for crit chance/damage. Every player has -20% crit damage resist at base, but you've also gone ahead and given every 4 man group (mainly BGs) another -20% from Rallying Cry which just so happens to increase damage values as well. Throw in a bit of impen and crits are doing next to no additional damage so what is the point in investing in it when it's uphill battle.

silver1surfer69

I would like to know who wrote this. I like the vision and the spark it brings. It gives me confidence for the future cause it makes me feel that there are guys at the right positions that really seem to know what they are doing and talking about.

MashmalloMan

silver1surfer69 wrote: »

I would like to know who wrote this. I like the vision and the spark it brings. It gives me confidence for the future cause it makes me feel that there are guys at the right positions that really seem to know what they are doing and talking about.

Gilliam the Rouge was a content creator for ESO like 3 or maybe even 4 years ago. He got hired at ZOS, he's as close to the playerbase as anyone from the dev team can be as he was "one of us" so to speak.

He was really knowledgable and posted a lot of content related to number crunching.

silver1surfer69

MashmalloMan wrote: »

silver1surfer69 wrote: »

I would like to know who wrote this. I like the vision and the spark it brings. It gives me confidence for the future cause it makes me feel that there are guys at the right positions that really seem to know what they are doing and talking about.

Gilliam the Rouge was a content creator for ESO like 3 or maybe even 4 years ago. He got hired at ZOS, he's as close to the playerbase as anyone from the dev team can be as he was "one of us" so to speak.

He was really knowledgable and posted a lot of content related to number crunching.

Thank you, i just wanted to add that i now managed to not only look below the text but also top left so i realized it. Gives me even more confidence and if im not mistaken Gilliam was aboard a long time ago but was away then a while and is now back for the 3 or 4 years you wrote. I want to further add that i think its this vision (of combat and classes) that made me fell in love with the game in the first place 7 years ago - althouggh balance was painfull back then imo - the vision kept shining through.

madmidwestmark

Would love to see changes to PURGE. It's basically never used since plaguebreak in pvp, which I'm much happier to see. It should be a buff, not something spammed. Make it give a reduction to DOT dmg for 6s (minor something) and the other morph, which is more expensive, should heal for 200 hp per negative or DOT affect (in cyro so maybe 400 outside). Same should go for netch and ritual (templar).

Also, bring back the reflect on wings (DK). At least 2 reflects per caste. This is what made playing a DK super fun and made a counter to all the ranged skills. The other morph can give immunity and maybe minor speed buff?

Need to revise bound armaments. The buffs are nice (LA and max stam), but the skill doesn't do nearly the damage of many single target attacks. Maybe make it do a conal aoe after 3? Not sure how used this skill is and Stamsorc needs something more powerful their toolkit.

A revision to guard and revealing flare would be nice too. I mean, we have other skills to reveal, but the pots are better anyway. Could use a more defensive buff for more people (guard) and another form of heal or something instead of flare.

Trapping webs needs to be a lot bigger than 4m. 4m isn't an aoe, that's maybe 1 or 2 targets max. All aoe should be a minimum of 5m and if that size, a lot more powerful vs skills with 8+ m circle.

Vevvev

Any news on Mesmerize and Mistform?

Mesmerize needs some love and the inability for Mistform to mitigate stuff in PvE makes me feel like the devs are looking to rework it into a get-a-way ability rather than what it became when people got their hands on Blood Mist.

Fabi95

MashmalloMan wrote: »

It's not a secret that Templar and DK are dominating PVP right now and a part of the reason is they now have full access to their class minor buffs

Which is not really a class issue, more of a game design side effect. Each base game class has their own minor buff for critical chance and damage increase. Plus, I think it's always honest in such discussions to mention what class someone personally plays. It's also no secret that there is the tendency to complain about other classes, just because people secretly like to see their opponents get hit with the nerf hammers. And most importantly what should be considered: Is it worth giving up balance for PvE, just for PvP? The size of target groups between PvE and PvE is huge by the way. Huge enough that we constantly see new PvE content.

ESO_Nightingale

dinokstrunz wrote: »

Being able to move wouldn't make me want to use Rite of Passage, Ambush and Northern Storm changes are solid though

Northern's change really doesn't feel like enough just based on this 1 change. There may be more added to the base skill but this is all we can see at the moment. Both morphs have felt very underwhelming since the major protection nerfs. However with this being said, the change from max magicka to weapon and spell damage sounds nice.

MashmalloMan

Fabi95 wrote: »

MashmalloMan wrote: »

It's not a secret that Templar and DK are dominating PVP right now and a part of the reason is they now have full access to their class minor buffs

Which is not really a class issue, more of a game design side effect. Each base game class has their own minor buff for critical chance and damage increase. Plus, I think it's always honest in such discussions to mention what class someone personally plays. It's also no secret that there is the tendency to complain about other classes, just because people secretly like to see their opponents get hit with the nerf hammers. And most importantly what should be considered: Is it worth giving up balance for PvE, just for PvP? The size of target groups between PvE and PvE is huge by the way. Huge enough that we constantly see new PvE content.

I'm sorry I have to question if you read the rest of the post where I basically said I prefer to avoid nerfs in favour of buffs. It's also abundtly clear that I'm speaking in regards to pvp, I main sorc as it's related to my display picture and it's in my signature below every comment I write so I wouldnt' say it's a secret or something I need to clarify when I've gone out of my way to make it pretty clear.

I wasn't even fully touching on why DK and Plar are the strongest classes right now in pvp, but I really don't need to convince anyone as everyone who plays pvp this patch has made that abundtly clear in youtube videos, in game, on the forums. I've seen DK and Templar mains agree they went a bit too far. They've recently received a lot of changes I agree with in terms of quality of life, but the other classes need some help meeting that same level, hopefully some of the morph changes will help with that on Monday.. but I'd rather not wait another 3-4 months past Junes Chapter for them to address an issue regarding class minor buffs ZOS created by hybridizing everything.

Also, I don't understand what you're saying about balance regarding pve just for pvp? What does that have to do with giving Sorc and NB better use of their minor class buff? It doesn't really sound like you're commenting directly to my comment and instead going off on a tangent about nerf hammers when I suggested nothing of the sort, only buffs, and minor ones that are related to their efforts to hybridize everything. It's the last thing they need to address to complete the ongoing effort they've made the past 3-4 patches. I'd like it if NB and Sorc weren't left behind.

MashmalloMan

ESO_Nightingale wrote: »

dinokstrunz wrote: »

Being able to move wouldn't make me want to use Rite of Passage, Ambush and Northern Storm changes are solid though

Northern's change really doesn't feel like enough just based on this 1 change. There may be more added to the base skill but this is all we can see at the moment. Both morphs have felt very underwhelming since the major protection nerfs. However with this being said, the change from max magicka to weapon and spell damage sounds nice.

Would you like it if they removed Major Protection in favour of more damage because I think that would be a great direction to take.

I think thats really holding it back right now, 1 morph should be defensive while the other is offensive instead of this mixed bag for both.

Skullstachio

Will the Wild Guardian Morph Get a bit of a buff/touchup since Eternal guardian is often the clear bread-winner when choosing a morph?

(Because when taking piercing cold into account, Eternal guardians magic damage slightly exceeds the damage of Wild guardian regardless of build composition not to mention eternal guardians 1 minute resurrection on death gives it a more distinctive advantage over wild guardian having “converted to increased physical damage” in which the res mechanic for eternal guardian is fine 100% from my perspective.)

I honestly feel Wild Guardian as a morph could use some “Bear Hugs” to give 'em a slight buff in the right direction.

Tommy_The_Gun

ZOS_Gilliam wrote: »

Keep in mind that most of these adjustments will not be heavy-handed and will instead focus on tweaking values of effects with our set bonus efficiency calculator and standardization as guidelines.

I am kinda worried because whenever "heavy-handed" term is used.... it means nerfs...

Also... it is weird out of all the NB skills, to present the "sneak peek" changes - they chosen Ambush. Because this is the skill that is more or less "ok". Whenever people are asked about NB changes and what skills should be buffed it is either Consuming Darkness or Mass Hysteria (or both).

ESO_Nightingale

Skullstachio wrote: »

Will the Wild Guardian Morph Get a bit of a buff/touchup since Eternal guardian is often the clear bread-winner when choosing a morph?

(Because when taking piercing cold into account, Eternal guardians magic damage slightly exceeds the damage of Wild guardian regardless of build composition not to mention eternal guardians 1 minute resurrection on death gives it a more distinctive advantage over wild guardian having “converted to increased physical damage” in which the res mechanic for eternal guardian is fine 100% from my perspective.)

I honestly feel Wild Guardian as a morph could use some “Bear Hugs” to give 'em a slight buff in the right direction.

I think it's fairly likely that they'll be at the very least adjusting wild guardian.

ESO_Nightingale

MashmalloMan wrote: »

ESO_Nightingale wrote: »

dinokstrunz wrote: »

Being able to move wouldn't make me want to use Rite of Passage, Ambush and Northern Storm changes are solid though

Northern's change really doesn't feel like enough just based on this 1 change. There may be more added to the base skill but this is all we can see at the moment. Both morphs have felt very underwhelming since the major protection nerfs. However with this being said, the change from max magicka to weapon and spell damage sounds nice.

Would you like it if they removed Major Protection in favour of more damage because I think that would be a great direction to take.

I think thats really holding it back right now, 1 morph should be defensive while the other is offensive instead of this mixed bag for both.

There's a lot they could do. Right now the main problem is that since the major protection nerfs, northern storm hasn't been worth the cost, which is why a lot could change. They could reduce the cost to 150, they could increase the base duration, they could increase the base damage, they could replace major protection with major brittle, they could make the base always apply chilled. Or any combination of those things.

But what's clear is that changing the 15% bonus max mag to 300 weapon and spell damage isn't really enough to make a difference. All this does is allow stamden to use it. It doesn't fix it's problem. So i really do hope they've done something to sleet storm at base because I'd really prefer to be able to use it over bear in pve without crippling my damage.

LostToTheSea

Show us that you're listening and remove Dark Convergence/Plaguebreak from PVP. Many guilds and players would like a reason to come back to ESO.

Falcon_of_light

SillyGT wrote: »

Please nerf hard hitting proc sets such as caluurion legacy. This makes the game so unenjoyable and more frustrating than it needs to be.

And just delene nighrblades, cause caluurion is the only reason this class as assasin work as c tier class and not *** tier...

Falcon_of_light

assasin nightblade needs buffs, cause now its useless class at all, even in roam dk and plars are more popular. one more time - stealth class less popular on solo roam pvp than nonstealth classes...
Nightblades needs huge rework of teleport strike - this ability is literally worst gapcloser in the game, to become usefull its casttime must be lovered to 100ms from 400 andgive 3s 30% movespeed buff on it , u literally cant use it in pvp at all, its just doesnt go off in half situation.
Stealth morf of cloac needs a buff, something like 300 wep damage for 3s AFTER satealth go off.
Sunder status of surprise attack must be buffed to 10s, and both magica and stam morf needs minor heal debuff on it.
Literally now assasinblade doesnt work, and everybody get buffs but nb who is somehow playable ONLY because caluurion set.

xylena_lazarow

Teleport Strike will still go unused because of the cast time.

Pevey

If CP slottables are being nerfed, and more are being added, it's time for an increase from 4 to 5 slottables. The feeling of not being able to slot all the power you've earned is just horrible. I still hate this change. The pain is worse every time stars get nerfed and new stars get added, so we have to give up even more.

universal_wrath

I'm hopeful that the reinterduced exploiter passive would only effect the caster rather than the whole group or it will give the frost staff brittle effect treatment, also, please no cooldown on it.

Boundless storm should recieve a radius buff to maybe 6-7m, hurricane still the better damage more so there should not be a problem with this buff ( for lighting mage builds, plz).

Air atronach when? Group major berserk?

Mages wrath is dead morph, the aoe damage increase is miniscule when compared to magicka return of endless fury, it should get either its main damage buffed or have the aoe damage deals 30-50% of excute damage with increased radius.

Toggle armament when?

One bar pets for sorc when?

Unique animation for crystal weapon plz and make it true spammale(does not require LA/HA)

Target locked streak?

Lighting splash unique/secondary effect? Synrgy only work in group play and only if some use it.

Lighting clutch(destro staff) true lighting spammable?

Better morphs for thunderous rage? Maybe more time or increased damage done for caster during the duration?

Kelanthras

I don't want to be a mage with 2 daggers and a greatsword.
You have killed this game for me with your new meta.
I would have played the expansion even with the lack of anything new, but only if I enjoyed playing my class.

Shagreth

Kelanthras wrote: »

I don't want to be a mage with 2 daggers and a greatsword.
You have killed this game for me with your new meta.
I would have played the expansion even with the lack of anything new, but only if I enjoyed playing my class.

I disagree. TES games have always been like this, traditional classes (like we know them in most rpg titles) have little place. What I WANT to see is better balance, so that running 2 daggers isn't mandatory to be 'competitive'.

Iron_Warrior

The whole point of your post is to say you are trying to buff the less used morphs yet you are nerfing mortal coil. That skill is already great specially for tanks. Then why are you touching it?

Grandchamp1989

Hmm I'm not sure about the The new mortal coil for Tanks.

-DK Ultimate sustain through block
-Warden ability Betty sustain through block
-NB ability Leeching strike sustain through block
-Templar ability Restoring Focus sustain through block
-Sorcerer ability Dark Deal provide a massive 3600k stam in a 1s cast time (Higher than a heavy attack - values as far as I can tell https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/598011/in-u33-will-heavy-attack-resources-returned-based-on-max-stats ) followed by 2400stam through block over 20s.

From what I can tell...
Necro doesn't seem to have an ability to quickly burst restore a decent amount of stam quickly, outside of a heavy attack, or gain stamina through block. It can possibly make it the hardest to sustain through moving forward? Relying on an enemy to die nearby for 200 stam isn't reliable in a lot of boss fights IMO..

Kisakee

TitanEidolon wrote: »

robpr wrote: »

Mortal Coil and Mystic Siphon: These morphs will increase your Health, Magicka, and Stamina Recovery by up to 150 while active, rather than restoring up to 1260 Stamina or Magicka over their durations.

While this is fine for Mystic Siphon, Mortal Coil not restoring stamina sound bad for necro tanks. Also, both gonna do the same thing? That's boring.

Yeah, this is going to wreck necro tank sustain... to the point that I don't even know how to address stamina sustain on the class if this is removed.

Play ice staff on backbar?

Cast_El

mav983 wrote: »

Please nerf Templar. The class is OP. Constant jabs and bubbles. And yes, I have a Templar I play.

Templars were in bad place for so long.they deserve some love.... And DK and NB are much more powerful. I play every class on pvp solo 1vX. DK> everything

UtopianWarrior88

TitanEidolon wrote: »

robpr wrote: »

Mortal Coil and Mystic Siphon: These morphs will increase your Health, Magicka, and Stamina Recovery by up to 150 while active, rather than restoring up to 1260 Stamina or Magicka over their durations.

While this is fine for Mystic Siphon, Mortal Coil not restoring stamina sound bad for necro tanks. Also, both gonna do the same thing? That's boring.

Yeah, this is going to wreck necro tank sustain... to the point that I don't even know how to address stamina sustain on the class if this is removed.

Try heavy attacking? Whilst necro has it a bit harder than a DK or warden with green betty, heavy after heavy is still your best bet, especially with most Cro unique tank skills using magicka.

Having said that, I do think that the change to mortal coil is not thought-through for its possibly intended purpose. It was not broken, don't fix it.

olsborg

MashmalloMan wrote: »

@ZOS_Gilliam So since you're only focussing on morphs, are you saying you're not touching this issue yet? I understand a lot of reworking needs to be done behind the scenes so the original 4 classes each bring something unique to the table, but Sorc/NB are being left behind in the dust.

I mean, even if you did adjust this.. it's not going to trump the power Minor Brutality/Sorcery gives because you've effectively killed any reason in PVP to aim for crit chance/damage. Every player has -20% crit damage resist at base, but you've also gone ahead and given every 4 man group (mainly BGs) another -20% from Rallying Cry which just so happens to increase damage values as well. Throw in a bit of impen and crits are doing next to no additional damage so what is the point in investing in it when it's uphill battle.

Yes, very much agree with these points here.

Foxtrot39

"We’ve also tried to focus on bringing up lesser utilized morphs’ power, rather than bringing down the clear winners"

Means we will finaly see consuming darkness and all its morphs finaly reworked after being rendered completley useless for 3 years straight as its ONLY selling point : major protection got nerfed into the ground?

For a tank ult its by far the most useless one with non existant benefit to the caster for its ludicrous ult cost and nigh useless group utility

Mass hysteria doing nothing but a AOE CC its complelty outclassed by repel evil wich also give you 2x20s buffs on top of it

Also removing the stealth penality on heavy armor would be nice, hauling a full set of medium armor because I want to have some fun in the overland thieving or using blade of woe is extremely annoying when non tank players don't have to waste inventory space for that matter, I get detected from 5m away BEHIND npc when INVISIBLE to cry out loud

As people complaing about vamprie : there is a deep need of a full rework of it, as it stand is extremely niche and ask you to sacrifice way too much to get its benefit to the point its only good for role playing

ESO_Nightingale

Foxtrot39 wrote: »

"We’ve also tried to focus on bringing up lesser utilized morphs’ power, rather than bringing down the clear winners"

Means we will finaly see consuming darkness and all its morphs finaly reworked after being rendered completley useless for 3 years straight as its ONLY selling point : major protection got nerfed into the ground?

For a tank ult its by far the most useless one with non existant benefit to the caster for its ludicrous ult cost and nigh useless group utility

Mass hysteria doing nothing but a AOE CC its complelty outclassed by repel evil wich also give you 2x20s buffs on top of it

Also removing the stealth penality on heavy armor would be nice, hauling a full set of medium armor because I want to have some fun in the overland thieving or using blade of woe is extremely annoying when non tank players don't have to waste inventory space for that matter, I get detected from 5m away BEHIND npc when INVISIBLE to cry out loud

As people complaing about vamprie : there is a deep need of a full rework of it, as it stand is extremely niche and ask you to sacrifice way too much to get its benefit to the point its only good for role playing

I'm still confused as to why that ultimate hasn't recieved a major overhaul. Sleet Storm hasn't been worth 200 ultimate cost since the major protection nerfs, and nightblade's major protection ultimate wasn't even worth the ultimate cost before the nerf.