z'maja heavy block bug? (first reported January 2023)

Dr_Con · January 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy8vGy4mgec

70k HA on Z'Maja Portal tank while blocking, AmIBlocking said I was blocking

definitelygee · January 2023

Same thing happened to me the other day. I see my shield up and also the add on to compensate for non stop block bugs shows I am blocking too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNeiNAUgzo8

definitelygee · January 2023

@ZOS_Kevin Hello. Hope you are well and had a good new year. Just wanted to draw some attention to this. It doesnt seem related to the recent block bugs but rather something different. I have seen this in vMoL(last boss) and vCR a lot. The tank is clearly blocking but the boss heavy goes through it no mitigation. The trend I am seeing is that it happens after being cc'd block is reapplied but for some reason it does not register. CC's like the blue beads on last boss vMoL and relequen heavy in vCR +3 or an orb.

Dr_Con · January 2023

definitelygee wrote: »

@ZOS_Kevin Hello. Hope you are well and had a good new year. Just wanted to draw some attention to this. It doesnt seem related to the recent block bugs but rather something different. I have seen this in vMoL(last boss) and vCR a lot. The tank is clearly blocking but the boss heavy goes through it no mitigation. The trend I am seeing is that it happens after being cc'd block is reapplied but for some reason it does not register. CC's like the blue beads on last boss vMoL and relequen heavy in vCR +3 or an orb.

Since this appears to be the same bug, your video with mine proves it is occurring on both physical and shadow z'maja. I normally go back into my footage to see what mistakes I would have made, mine was pulled from a streamed and saved recording so lag from my end isn't an issue.

Your video also added the fact that we both appear to be using pearlescent as well, I'm wondering if it's an issue with that set.

Additionally, in my damage feed I don't have an asterisk * next to the damage received for Nocturnal's Favor, which says the servers didn't register me as blocking at all when the damage was dealt (blocked damage has an asterisk next to it).

Billium813 · January 2023

I have been seeing a block behavior when swapping quickly. It doesn't happen too often... so it's difficult to reproduce.

I will be blocking on one bar, but then after swapping to the other bar, I'm not holding block anymore even though I've been holding the right mouse button the whole time. I have to release RMB and press it again to reactivate block. It's gotten me killed sometimes while tanking cause I think I am still blocking, but I'm not.

I'll be on my sttaff back bar, holding block. The shield is up, indicating I am blocking. Ill swap to the Sword&Shield front bar in preparation of HA from the boss... and I'm just standing there. No block icon is up. I have to release RMB and reclick to re-initialize block.

Anyone else see this? Am I doing something wrong?

virtus753 · January 2023

Billium813 wrote: »

I have been seeing a block behavior when swapping quickly. It doesn't happen too often... so it's difficult to reproduce.

I will be blocking on one bar, but then after swapping to the other bar, I'm not holding block anymore even though I've been holding the right mouse button the whole time. I have to release RMB and press it again to reactivate block. It's gotten me killed sometimes while tanking cause I think I am still blocking, but I'm not.

I'll be on my sttaff back bar, holding block. The shield is up, indicating I am blocking. Ill swap to the Sword&Shield front bar in preparation of HA from the boss... and I'm just standing there. No block icon is up. I have to release RMB and reclick to re-initialize block.

Anyone else see this? Am I doing something wrong?

This has happened rarely but for a long time now, in my experience. I would estimate barswap while blocking reapplies successfully by itself the vast majority of the time, albeit with the standard 0.3 second or so of dropped block during the swap. It reapplies successfully on its own every time you don’t need it, but of course fails the one time in a run you really do. To be safe, I think it is generally a good practice to drop block briefly while swapping, since you’ll drop block for that fraction of a second anyway. That way you can be more sure it will apply.

Dr_Con · January 2023

Billium813 wrote: »

I have been seeing a block behavior when swapping quickly. It doesn't happen too often... so it's difficult to reproduce.

I will be blocking on one bar, but then after swapping to the other bar, I'm not holding block anymore even though I've been holding the right mouse button the whole time. I have to release RMB and press it again to reactivate block. It's gotten me killed sometimes while tanking cause I think I am still blocking, but I'm not.

I'll be on my sttaff back bar, holding block. The shield is up, indicating I am blocking. Ill swap to the Sword&Shield front bar in preparation of HA from the boss... and I'm just standing there. No block icon is up. I have to release RMB and reclick to re-initialize block.

Anyone else see this? Am I doing something wrong?

The first thing that comes to mind is that this reminds me of the first iteration of the u36 block bug. The second thing that comes to mind is mechanical failure (is your mouse working as intended?). The third thing that comes to mind is running out of resources- did your stamina or magicka completely reach 0? That explains this behavior perfectly, as your block will drop after resource depletion in this manner. It might be that you had no resources to block with your ice staff, but swapped to your shield, or you maybe had no resources on the bar you were blocking with to begin with, and got resources when you released the block. What sounds possible is that the servers interpret you having 0 mana = can't block, then you swap to sword and shield and it still thinks for a moment that you are trying to block on ice staff with 0 mana, but then it refreshes and sees that you are on s/b and can block due to having resources.

Another user posted about the weapon swapping issue- that's plausible as well... but without footage this is all I can really hypothesize is happening (servers not updating in the expected manner would be a valid bug report to notify zos of).

Troodon80 · January 2023

Dr_Con wrote: »

Another user posted about the weapon swapping issue- that's plausible as well... but without footage this is all I can really hypothesize is happening (servers not updating in the expected manner would be a valid bug report to notify zos of).

I've also had iterations of block bugs for years now. Sometimes, when it happens, you're unable to do anything except WASD for movement and roll dodge, but abilities won't activate (including block). In some other cases while also being unable to block, you can no longer even bar swap (as in, the game tells you that you are unable to swap bars in your currrent state). It's definitely not a resource problem in all the times I've had it and has been a problem for about 4-5 years, I would say. 99% of the time it works fine. The intermittent nature of it and the limited times it comes up makes it difficult to make a repro case for.

There are also times where, if you die while sprinting, you'll get the "sprint bug" and be unable to block or cast skills after coming out of ghost form. But this is easily fixed by attempting to sprint again. I didn't include that in the paragraph above because I know how and why it occurs, though both issues may in some way be linked. Most of the time when I get one form or another of the block bug, I'm still able to use abilities.

TechMaybeHic · January 2023

Yeah, they tried to fix it, made it worse. Tried to fix that, made it even worse. And then rolled it back to the original issue
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/624240/xbox-patch-notes-v1-30-2-0

That was the end of lile a month of really bad block mechanics. Haven't heard a thing since.

Billium813 · January 2023

virtus753 wrote: »

Billium813 wrote: »

I have been seeing a block behavior when swapping quickly. It doesn't happen too often... so it's difficult to reproduce.

I will be blocking on one bar, but then after swapping to the other bar, I'm not holding block anymore even though I've been holding the right mouse button the whole time. I have to release RMB and press it again to reactivate block. It's gotten me killed sometimes while tanking cause I think I am still blocking, but I'm not.

I'll be on my sttaff back bar, holding block. The shield is up, indicating I am blocking. Ill swap to the Sword&Shield front bar in preparation of HA from the boss... and I'm just standing there. No block icon is up. I have to release RMB and reclick to re-initialize block.

Anyone else see this? Am I doing something wrong?

This has happened rarely but for a long time now, in my experience. I would estimate barswap while blocking reapplies successfully by itself the vast majority of the time, albeit with the standard 0.3 second or so of dropped block during the swap. It reapplies successfully on its own every time you don’t need it, but of course fails the one time in a run you really do. To be safe, I think it is generally a good practice to drop block briefly while swapping, since you’ll drop block for that fraction of a second anyway. That way you can be more sure it will apply.

Just to be clear to those that read this, I am not talking about the 0.3 seconds between bar swaps where block is down. I know that exists as a mechanic and it's fine. I'm just talking about the block being re-applied AFTER that.

I'd say this issue is more frustrating because of how random and how seldom it occurs! Perhaps I just need to adopt the reflex of dropping block manually and re-applying, but it feels like such a waste to learn that habit for something that happens like 2% of the time. And ya, it always seems to occur right at the worst time.

Billium813 · January 2023

Dr_Con wrote: »

Billium813 wrote: »

I have been seeing a block behavior when swapping quickly. It doesn't happen too often... so it's difficult to reproduce.

I will be blocking on one bar, but then after swapping to the other bar, I'm not holding block anymore even though I've been holding the right mouse button the whole time. I have to release RMB and press it again to reactivate block. It's gotten me killed sometimes while tanking cause I think I am still blocking, but I'm not.

I'll be on my sttaff back bar, holding block. The shield is up, indicating I am blocking. Ill swap to the Sword&Shield front bar in preparation of HA from the boss... and I'm just standing there. No block icon is up. I have to release RMB and reclick to re-initialize block.

Anyone else see this? Am I doing something wrong?

The second thing that comes to mind is mechanical failure (is your mouse working as intended?).

That's a fair assumption to make. I don't have another mouse to test with (nor do I want to buy a new one just for this when I've not felt any other issues), so I was just hoping to hear if others have noticed this behavior

Dr_Con wrote: »

Billium813 wrote: »

I have been seeing a block behavior when swapping quickly. It doesn't happen too often... so it's difficult to reproduce.

I will be blocking on one bar, but then after swapping to the other bar, I'm not holding block anymore even though I've been holding the right mouse button the whole time. I have to release RMB and press it again to reactivate block. It's gotten me killed sometimes while tanking cause I think I am still blocking, but I'm not.

I'll be on my sttaff back bar, holding block. The shield is up, indicating I am blocking. Ill swap to the Sword&Shield front bar in preparation of HA from the boss... and I'm just standing there. No block icon is up. I have to release RMB and reclick to re-initialize block.

Anyone else see this? Am I doing something wrong?

The third thing that comes to mind is running out of resources- did your stamina or magicka completely reach 0? That explains this behavior perfectly, as your block will drop after resource depletion in this manner. It might be that you had no resources to block with your ice staff, but swapped to your shield, or you maybe had no resources on the bar you were blocking with to begin with, and got resources when you released the block. What sounds possible is that the servers interpret you having 0 mana = can't block, then you swap to sword and shield and it still thinks for a moment that you are trying to block on ice staff with 0 mana, but then it refreshes and sees that you are on s/b and can block due to having resources.

I would really like to say this isn't it. I feel pretty confident that I had resources each time this happens... but I honestly can't refute this as a possibility. Especially with how Ice Staff blocks with Mag and Shield blocks with Stam and how swapping sets may change max stats on mag/stam. It's possible that I was out of mag/stam on one of my swaps, which deactivated block and I regened resources by the time I noticed but the game doesn't reactivate block automatically...

I'll pay attention closer next time I see it happen.

virtus753 · January 2023

Billium813 wrote: »

virtus753 wrote: »

Billium813 wrote: »

I have been seeing a block behavior when swapping quickly. It doesn't happen too often... so it's difficult to reproduce.

I will be blocking on one bar, but then after swapping to the other bar, I'm not holding block anymore even though I've been holding the right mouse button the whole time. I have to release RMB and press it again to reactivate block. It's gotten me killed sometimes while tanking cause I think I am still blocking, but I'm not.

I'll be on my sttaff back bar, holding block. The shield is up, indicating I am blocking. Ill swap to the Sword&Shield front bar in preparation of HA from the boss... and I'm just standing there. No block icon is up. I have to release RMB and reclick to re-initialize block.

Anyone else see this? Am I doing something wrong?

This has happened rarely but for a long time now, in my experience. I would estimate barswap while blocking reapplies successfully by itself the vast majority of the time, albeit with the standard 0.3 second or so of dropped block during the swap. It reapplies successfully on its own every time you don’t need it, but of course fails the one time in a run you really do. To be safe, I think it is generally a good practice to drop block briefly while swapping, since you’ll drop block for that fraction of a second anyway. That way you can be more sure it will apply.

virtus753 wrote: »

Billium813 wrote: »

I have been seeing a block behavior when swapping quickly. It doesn't happen too often... so it's difficult to reproduce.

I will be blocking on one bar, but then after swapping to the other bar, I'm not holding block anymore even though I've been holding the right mouse button the whole time. I have to release RMB and press it again to reactivate block. It's gotten me killed sometimes while tanking cause I think I am still blocking, but I'm not.

I'll be on my sttaff back bar, holding block. The shield is up, indicating I am blocking. Ill swap to the Sword&Shield front bar in preparation of HA from the boss... and I'm just standing there. No block icon is up. I have to release RMB and reclick to re-initialize block.

Anyone else see this? Am I doing something wrong?

This has happened rarely but for a long time now, in my experience. I would estimate barswap while blocking reapplies successfully by itself the vast majority of the time, albeit with the standard 0.3 second or so of dropped block during the swap. It reapplies successfully on its own every time you don’t need it, but of course fails the one time in a run you really do. To be safe, I think it is generally a good practice to drop block briefly while swapping, since you’ll drop block for that fraction of a second anyway. That way you can be more sure it will apply.

Just to be clear to those that read this, I am not talking about the 0.3 seconds between bar swaps where block is down. I know that exists as a mechanic and it's fine. I'm just talking about the block being re-applied AFTER that.

I'd say this issue is more frustrating because of how random and how seldom it occurs! Perhaps I just need to adopt the reflex of dropping block manually and re-applying, but it feels like such a waste to learn that habit for something that happens like 2% of the time. And ya, it always seems to occur right at the worst time.

Yes, I understood you were saying it failed to reapply. My point is that since you will get that short time of no block, might as well drop block yourself and reapply to ensure the no-reapply doesn’t happen.

Dr_Con · April 2023

definitelygee wrote: »

Same thing happened to me the other day. I see my shield up and also the add on to compensate for non stop block bugs shows I am blocking too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNeiNAUgzo8

I just caught something very subtle in this after reviewing the footage again (because the bug is still not fixed). For a split second he brings up the last damage ticks to hit him, and he was blocking damage done by crushing darkness, which is an AOE DD that can be mitigated.

This bug is specific to Z'Maja's Nocturnal Favor, or at least single target direct DD attacks like Nocturnal's Favor, the user's block was working on her AOE attack, not her single target.

Dr_Con · October 2023

this bug is still active