Rather than just going in and trying to freshen up the original base-game classes with new, albeit worse, animations (like Templar), just go in and revamp them completely. Not everything needs to be changed, of course, but I'm not just talking a new coat of paint and new animations for old skills either.
I'm talking going in and reworking or scrapping skills that are either underutilized by players, or ones that are explicitly problematic for the game. Jabs was a bad change, but the rework to Mist Form is actually really interesting and good example of a good way to revamp problematic skills. Keep the skills that work and that players love, and use the original skill trees as a framework to redesign the classes a bit. Not every class needs a huge overhaul, but they could all use some TLC.
Templar is one that needs the biggest overhaul in my opinion. I've mained it since the game came out, and rather than trying and failing with animation changes like with Jabs (a complete failure in my professional opinion as an animator), the class itself could use a bit of a rework in some ways. Here's a couple bullet points:
1. Every ultimate in every skill line is either too weak or just bad. Radial Sweep and its morphs are not much stronger than a normal spammable skill, just with some added (relatively weak) damage over time tacked on. Its low cost is nice, and the fact that you get the passive buffs from the Aedric Spear skill line while its slotted is good, but only because Jabs is so bad that Templars don't even run it anymore. It might as well become a normal skill, ditch the damage over time or make it exclusive to one of the morphs, and have it replace Jabs at this point. Nova and its morphs are outperformed by basically every other non-class specific ult that Templar can get their hands on. Rite of Passage is both overkill when it comes to group healing while at the same time detrimental as you cannot move when casting it. Best time to cast it is in crunch time, and at that point if you stand still you or your party wipes, making it useless most of the time.
2. Excessive nerfs and skill changes without thinking about the actual overall health of the class has made it kind of a weak toolbox of a couple skills you can slot, but without a good spammable option as the OG is terrible to look at + does terrible damage ++ costs too much resources for the low damage it does manage to fart out. Backlash's only saving grace is minor breach on one of its morphs, but doesn't do enough damage to really justify it. With the change to Empower and AOE damage, solar flare's only good morph now does basically no damage and adds no real value not that it was used often before the changes, and the other morph is basically nothing. Radiant Aura used to give an AOE magic steal effect, but now just basically does nothing but sit in your bar giving some minor buffs, and though the other morph is still good, it's only good on stamina.
3. Old skills like Sun Fire see no play in any content at all, and like most classes, there are skills that are only used in PVE and some that are only used in PVP. That's not really a bad thing, the second part there, but these skills should have their place in both sides of content, not just one or the other.
I don't have much constructive to say here. These points from Templar kinda fit in different ways into every class. Sorc is missing things from its kit that would make it stand up to other classes. NB is so complicated to play that just thinking about playing it gives me carpal tunnel. DK is probably in the best spot out of all the classes, but still suffers dead skills in its kit that no one uses. I'll even tack on Warden and say the direction of forcing players that want to utilize magicka to use ice staves goes against the main identity of ESO, and also Cliff Racer still feels like garbage to use 6 years later.
Edited by merpins on 22 March 2023 00:13