Werewolf and Core Combat Values

Erickson9610

Werewolf falls short of many aspects outlined in the ESO Developer Deep Dive on Core Combat Values. I'll go through the sections outlined by @ZOS_BrianWheeler in the Core Combat Values thread and comment on them as they relate to playing the Werewolf spec:

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Play The Way You Want
We strive to provide freedom and flexibility that allow you to transform your character fantasy into a gameplay reality. We value diversity of choice and playstyle with abilities, weapons, and armor. Some combinations of these tools are more effective than others, but every character should have the capacity to protect their group, mend allies, or devastate foes.

• Wear any combination of light, medium, and heavy armor
• Slot abilities from any skill line you've discovered
• "Deck building" through a selection of abilities, items, Champion Points, etc.

• Werewolves receive armor passives, but erroneously do not receive weapon passives. Heavy attacks with Werewolf restore Stamina, regardless of equipped weapon type.
• Werewolf players do not have a built-in taunt nor a built-in ally healing ability, so they can neither protect their group nor mend allies. Werewolves do not need to be the most effective tank or healer, but the Core Combat Values state that every character should have that capacity. Adding a taunt to Feral Pounce and making Hircine's Fortitude also heal a nearby ally would be enough to fix this problem.
• Werewolf players cannot slot abilities from any skill line they've discovered. While in Werewolf form, they must only use the 5 skills given to them.

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Active Combat
We believe combat is more engaging when you are on the move and continuously taking action. Battles should be exhilarating, with threats and opportunities coming fast and you feeling empowered to respond in kind. In any given moment you should have options for reacting to your opponents and shouldn't be held back by long waits between actions. This requires controls to be responsive and consistent so you feel connected to your character and in control of the outcomes of your battles.

• Block, Roll Dodge, and Bash/Interrupt are not constrained by the global cooldown
• No ability cooldowns and a short global cooldown
• Most abilities are instant, with cast times being the exception
• Weapon swapping

• Werewolves cannot weapon swap. This is a serious issue in areas of the game that require weapon swapping, like Cloudrest. Furthermore, the inability to weapon swap means that Werewolf players do not have the option to access a second bar of skills and a second weapon.

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Mastery
Whether you've played for 10 minutes or 1000 hours, there should always be something to learn or improve upon. That loop of learning should be consistently fun and rewarding. Our combat is designed to challenge you along two primary paths: character builds and skillful execution. Outside of combat, your character build should test your ability to refine a large number of choices into a proficient engine for battle. Tests of skillful execution occur during battle, challenging you to realize the potential of your build and outperform opponents in fast-paced, active combat.

• Builds consist of the combination of abilities, items and Champion Points
• Real-time resource management (Health, Magicka, Stamina, Ultimate)
• Optimizing ability rotations and timing
• Light attack weaving
• Group “builds” and synergies

• Werewolves do not manage Ultimate at all while transformed. There are several werewolf-themed sets which reduce the cost of Werewolf Transformation or generate Ultimate, but they are useless for the duration of the transformation as you cannot gain Ultimate while transformed. Currently, Werewolf Transformation reverts your form when cast in Werewolf form; if it instead had a secondary effect when cast with higher Ultimate, like Incapacitating Strike does, then the Werewolf playstyle would have a use for all of these sets, and Werewolf players would have an Ultimate to work with in their ability rotations.
• Werewolf can provide group members with Minor Courage passively, 10 seconds of Empower and Minor Force from the Feeding Frenzy synergy, and up to 80% reduced cost to remain in Werewolf form. The only Class Werewolf that can continue to provide their Class minor buff is the Warden Werewolf, but only if they somehow manage to heal an ally; the other Class minor buff passives require Class skills to be slotted or cast, which werewolves cannot do.

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Elder Scrolls Inspired
The Elder Scrolls has captured the hearts and minds of millions of players over decades, and we strive to honor series traditions. An online multiplayer world presents some unique challenges, constraints and opportunities, but fans of the series should feel a sense of familiarity within our character and combat experience. The lore and mechanics from previous games should serve as an inspiration and, when possible, a foundation for ESO combat.

• Health, Magicka, and Stamina as attributes
• Class selection does not define or constrain role
• Skill lines are discovered, and leveled up by using them
• Many skill lines are staples from previous TES games (ex: Werewolf, Heavy Armor, Mages Guild, etc.)

• While Class selection doesn't constrain your role, playing as the Werewolf subclass of any Class does constrain your role. Werewolf is considered a "subclass" rather than just an Ultimate and a skill line because of how it locks you into that skill line for the duration of the transformation, much like your character being locked into the class you select at character creation. Unlike most skill lines, you cannot use Werewolf skills outside of Werewolf form, so the Werewolf skill line is an isolated experience.
• Finally, I'd like to comment on how "Werewolf" was explicitly mentioned as a staple from previous TES games. If you look back at which TES games actually had playable werewolves, you'd see that in the mainline games, it was:
  • Not in TES: Arena
  • Included in the base game of TES II: Daggerfall
  • Included in a DLC in TES III: Morrowind
  • Not in TES IV: Oblivion
  • Included in the base game of TES V: Skyrim, with a DLC that added the skill line
  Of the 5 mainline games, Lycanthropy only featured in 2 of them at their launch. Werewolves were implemented in a DLC in one of them, and they were given a skill line in another game's DLC.

To summarize, werewolves are missing their weapon passives, the ability to restore Magicka from heavy attacks with a staff equipped, the ability to be Tanks and Healers, the ability to slot skills from any discovered skill line, their second bar, an in-form Ultimate to use, and most forms of group utility.

Werewolf is fundamentally different from every other spec in the game. You could argue that Vampire is what Werewolf would be if Werewolf was changed to be more like any other human spec — an optional skill line that people take for the passives and nothing more. Regardless, the Werewolf experience should be changed to alleviate as many of these problems as possible while still keeping a recognizable identity.

Panderbander

You mention werewolf as a "subclass" but I'd like to point out that it used to have a CLASS REP: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/416461/class-rep-werewolf-feedback-thread

It was never intended to be played as just an ultimate, but rather like a class. It should get just as much attention as any other class in this game.

autocookies

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