Cloudrest Voltaic Overload vs. Oakensoul Tweak?

thepandalore

Some guildies and I are wondering about a change in the way Voltaic Overload affects 1-bar Oakensoul builds after U37. Prior to U37, 1-bar builds with no skills and no gear on the back bar were immune to spreading Voltaic Overload, instead being made to cope with a persistent DOT for the duration of the effect. After U37, limited testing shows the same 1-bar builds are now both afflicted with Voltaic Overload's usual massive AOE and are unable to swap bars. Interestingly, in this Cloudrest Example, Voltaic Overload seems to have preferred 2-bar builds over 1-bar builds.

So the questions at hand are:

- Is receiving the massive Voltaic Overload AOE, on a true 1-bar build, a bug in the way Voltaic Overload should behave?
- Has the mechanic been adjusted to simply skip 1-bar builds in full groups instead of treating 1-bar builds like the bar swap has already occurred?
- Has the mechanic been adjusted to treat all builds exactly the same, regardless of a player's ability to actually swap bars?
- Should any of this be interpreted as the beginning of a sea-change against 1-bar builds in the end-game content?

Any insight from the dev team on this would be greatly appreciated.

robpr

thepandalore wrote: »

- Is receiving the massive Voltaic Overload AOE, on a true 1-bar build, a bug in the way Voltaic Overload should behave?
- Has the mechanic been adjusted to simply skip 1-bar builds in full groups instead of treating 1-bar builds like the bar swap has already occurred?
- Has the mechanic been adjusted to treat all builds exactly the same, regardless of a player's ability to actually swap bars?
- Should any of this be interpreted as the beginning of a sea-change against 1-bar builds in the end-game content?

Any insight from the dev team on this would be greatly appreciated.

1. Its the way Voltaic always worked. You have 2s grace period then you will get ramping damage if the bad weapon is out. If you die from Voltaic it will jump to a random person nearby. If you suddenly swap from "good" weapon to a "bad" weapon mid-mechanic, you will get all ticks in one go.
2. From what Nefas says here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABbkhvYxWAQ its confirmed with devs that the "fix" was intended and also targets WW as well. The voltaic itself is RNG, you might even get it twice in a row, there is no priority system here.
3. Yes, either you can or not, you can get Voltaic now
4. Nah, it is only mechanic in entire game that target one of your weapons (excluding when your weapons are removed - Mazzatun, Blackheart)

How to pass this, but still use 1-bar? Equip exact second Lightning Staff on a backbar and have the same abilities on both bars. Equip Degeneration for Empower and use Spell/weapon power potion for damage and crit buffs. There will be a loss of damage (no Heroism or minor slayer) but usage will remain more or less the same with addition of weapon swap just to pass this mechanic.

Soarora

robpr wrote: »

How to pass this, but still use 1-bar? Equip exact second Lightning Staff on a backbar and have the same abilities on both bars. Equip Degeneration for Empower and use Spell/weapon power potion for damage and crit buffs. There will be a loss of damage (no Heroism or minor slayer) but usage will remain more or less the same with addition of weapon swap just to pass this mechanic.

Could also have a necro in the group use empowering grasp. Not sure if the MiniTank would have the barspace for it but I think they'd be able to get it to hit the group.

thepandalore

Appreciate you sharing what you know! I've seen that video too. Do you have a link to devs confirming the change elsewhere in the official forums? The video you linked features a comment made by an ESO-U Stream Team member called Master of Raviolis and/or Sea_Unicorn; is she actually a dev, too?

I'll have to do some testing on that workaround, but it looks pretty solid. We'll either go the group comp route or attempt to train up some 2-bar HA builds. I know of a handful of players who use Oakensoul to bypass IRL disabilities and access endgame content. It'd be a shame for ESO to start chipping away at what those players are mechanically capable of doing in actual content. Walking back Oakensoul usability in the endgame would unnecessarily cut those people out of certain content, and it would also read a little ableist if i'm honest.

colossalvoids

Devs confirmed it by adding new segment to the last patch notes at the very end of it.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/629071/pc-mac-patch-notes-v8-3-5#latest

thepandalore

colossalvoids wrote: »

Devs confirmed it by adding new segment to the last patch notes at the very end of it.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/629071/pc-mac-patch-notes-v8-3-5#latest

Last night at 8:45 local time! Thanks for letting me know; greatly appreciated.

Auldwulfe

robpr wrote: »

thepandalore wrote: »

- Is receiving the massive Voltaic Overload AOE, on a true 1-bar build, a bug in the way Voltaic Overload should behave?
- Has the mechanic been adjusted to simply skip 1-bar builds in full groups instead of treating 1-bar builds like the bar swap has already occurred?
- Has the mechanic been adjusted to treat all builds exactly the same, regardless of a player's ability to actually swap bars?
- Should any of this be interpreted as the beginning of a sea-change against 1-bar builds in the end-game content?

Any insight from the dev team on this would be greatly appreciated.

1. Its the way Voltaic always worked. You have 2s grace period then you will get ramping damage if the bad weapon is out. If you die from Voltaic it will jump to a random person nearby. If you suddenly swap from "good" weapon to a "bad" weapon mid-mechanic, you will get all ticks in one go.
2. From what Nefas says here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABbkhvYxWAQ its confirmed with devs that the "fix" was intended and also targets WW as well. The voltaic itself is RNG, you might even get it twice in a row, there is no priority system here.
3. Yes, either you can or not, you can get Voltaic now
4. Nah, it is only mechanic in entire game that target one of your weapons (excluding when your weapons are removed - Mazzatun, Blackheart)

How to pass this, but still use 1-bar? Equip exact second Lightning Staff on a backbar and have the same abilities on both bars. Equip Degeneration for Empower and use Spell/weapon power potion for damage and crit buffs. There will be a loss of damage (no Heroism or minor slayer) but usage will remain more or less the same with addition of weapon swap just to pass this mechanic.

I was able to use Sergeant's Mail, with Order's wrath, and lean into the crit with critical surge to constantly heal me, and give the same tankiness .... my character is Imperial, so I get extra health and stamina, anyways.....Slime Craw ... and I use the mage guild skill that you slot for critical, but gives 10 seconds of empower, ... with the usual pet and Daedric Prey ...
I get the same in trial damage, as Oakensoul, the rotation is even slower, and easier.......and back and front bars are identical, so the mechanic may as well not exist, as far as I am concerned.

Auldwulfe