I would more like to see a huge increase of Dodge and Block costs for all players.

Than a lowering passive Skill for Medium Armor that reduces Dodge costs for 10% and Block cost of 5% for each Medium Armor equiped.

Heavy Armor with Dodge Reduction 5% per peace and 10% per Block.

Light Armor with Dodge Reduction 5% and Block 5% per peace.

Break Free should be consuming Magicka instead of Stamina, cause breaking free from CC is more a work of the Mind (Magicka) instead of Force (Stamina).

You just forget here, that we only have 5 Skills to use, unlike other MMOs where you can use 30 Skills like you wish.

For PvE DPS you will have most likely one Bar for Sustained DPS and One Bar for Execution phase.

Another one is, that in other MMOs, Ranged DPS ist static, means if they have to move cause of boss mechanics, their DPS drops as well, like Melee DPS drops if they have to move outside of Melee Range. In Eso most Spells are Instant and there for can even cast in Movement.

Last but not least, NO Group would ever force their people to play a specific Build because of 50 or 100 DPS difference, that is to minor and can result through playstyle, boss mechanics, and so on.

But 500-800 DPS difference like we have it atm., is just Gamebraking and to be true, I can't imagine any MMO ever Released that had such a huge gap and this over 4 month in Live.

guybrushtb16_ESO wrote: »

jamie.goddenrwb17_ESO wrote: »

Melee should be doing as much damage as a ranged nuker. The tradeoff of being a melee dps is that you are in harms way at all times. Even with extra armor to absorb more of a hit, you are in most circumstances in danger far more often than a ranged character. Melee also need to move of combat regularly to avoid close range boss mechanics which further cripples their dps.

Certainly not saying they should do more damage but given the inherent danger of being a melee character they certainly should not do less.

Not agreed about the "melee needs more dps then ranged" because when this is employed in games, the pve meta usually shifts towards "ranged is useless for dps, go melee or gtfo" which is not what I'd like to see either.

There are other parameters for balancing melee's inherent issues though, namely mobility (i.e. immobile turret casters vs. instant melee skills) availability of dots for melee (to make their disconnects less detrimental) and of course their overall burst ability (giving melee the ability to frontload more of their damage, at the same overall dps).

That's what I wrote, they should do as much damage not more

jamie.goddenrwb17_ESO wrote: »

Certainly not saying they should do more damage but given the inherent danger of being a melee character they certainly should not do less.

Or change it, that it only applies on heavy Attacks. In that case it would support the Passive Essence Drain.

Therefore, this one proposes the introduction of more skill slots

By the eight, no!
1 - correct me but ZOS already said that they wont add more skill slots.
2 - TBH I agree with them, we have (5 slots + Ult) x 2. Seesms enough. Dont know what will happen when we get spellcrafting but for now IMO it's OK. Of course it's always pain when you need choose only 6, but this is not WoW or Wild Star.

AshySamurai wrote: »

Therefore, this one proposes the introduction of more skill slots

By the eight, no!
1 - correct me but ZOS already said that they wont add more skill slots.
2 - TBH I agree with them, we have (5 slots + Ult) x 2. Seesms enough. Dont know what will happen when we get spellcrafting but for now IMO it's OK. Of course it's always pain when you need choose only 6, but this is not WoW or Wild Star.

2) Care to elaborate on your reason why 5 slots are enough?

This certainly is not the the case for PVP for stamina builds / weapon users.

1. - some assault / or support? 1-2 slots (siege shield / caltrops, etc.)
2. - mage light another slot (both bars)
3. - some 'active' passive like siphoning strikes
4. - some escape / purge negative effects (purge, dark cloak, etc.)
5. - some "weapon" ability/abilities (> 1 stamina and/or magicka each)
6. - some "class" ability/abilities (> 1 stamina and/or magicka each)
7. - some trademark ability for your style / class or type (Vamp/WW/...)

Sorry, just the essentials use more than 5 slots! Even when you limit yourself to just one weapon set for both skill bars, so that light/heavy stays the same, you end up with everything full even for magicka "only" users, i.e. stamina only for shielding, running, sneaking, dodging but not a single slot.

Add Stamina use for weapon skills to that mix ...without add-ons you are screwed and those take a lot more time to use and are not very reliable.
And in the heat of the battle time is precious.

Worse, If you actually use weapon swapping ... you are really screwed at the moment even in PVE unless you take the time to adjust everything for the next part of the dungeon. Doing Trials this way? Forget about it.

1) You got a link for that statement, as that would be a deal breaker for me (as in cancel subscription)
In the current state PVP is hardly playable with stamina builds and at lest for me (your mileage may vary) one of the reasons (of many others) is that a lot of those skills are not general purpose, beats all type, but specific (which is not bad, as it only means you have to know your trade and pick what is appropriate for the situation right now). However, since you can't switch skills during combat (other than going to the second skill bar) and successful (read competitive) use of stamina / weapon skills requires some supportive skills this either means, you are either solo-ing in a group in PVP, i.e. not contributing to the group other thank picking on single targets or just support / siege, or stay out of PVP altogether. Both options seem not to be the intention of ZOS, but if you got a statement that this is on purpose, I am out of here.

AshySamurai wrote: »

Don know why you use mage light for stamina/weapon build. If only for revealing hidden and invisible enemies, thats a bad trade for me.

You know there is that other morph of that skill (i.e. radiant light) that all those max critical guys often forget about, which actually gives not only you but also those around you an improved chance against that?

And you would be surprised of how useful that can be in drawn out AvA when fighting for a resource etc. That is not just your average "in and out", "kill some NPCs and repair walls" or just being a part of a large Zerg, but actually being in the smaller group and still taking/keeping things.

Furthermore, as melee often turns into 4+ against one, survivability - if not absolutely geared for it - is extremely low for stamina builds (right now), unless you have exactly the right skills to counter your opponent but those vary a lot between DK, Sorcerer, Templar, Nightblade, with even more variation required in case they are Vampires or Werewolves etc.
This is even true for magic wielders, but make or break in case you are (currently stupid enough) to try this as a "fighter" (aka weapon user / stamina build).

Last but not least, when fighting two factions working together, with each having a forward camp nearby, but on opposing sides, "middle of the battle" is a relative term.

So yes, this one tries to stay on the 'edge' of the battle, with ranged attacks of various sorts to support those in melee, making sure they are not suddenly attacked from behind / side as well.

For example, the medium armor skill "evasion" is would be highly useful against those instant cast and area effects snare and grab skills, but that is another skill using a slot and stamina. (On a side note: the similar nightblade skill is completely unusable for PvP and probably right now the most unbalanced skill there is compared with those available to DK and Sorc (1.2 second cast time, single target, breaks on first hit from any source, yeah right))

Add to this that you need - at least when you want / have to be effective / competitive - still other skills in the keep than outside or on the battlements. Furthermore, sometimes you have to successfully defend yourself in close range as well in those situations, need to purge negative effects from yourself or others nearby, then run after a scroll (rapid maneuver etc.), re-take it (ranged attack and melee support), run back while defending its bearer (with yet another skill set), ... well if you have actually done AvA (with and against organized As) you know the drill.

So yes, 6-8 skills at any given time are usually enough, but which skills those are changes a lot and often in minutes during AvA.

Therefore, doubling that number of skills availabe (for expert users at least) would give those the option of "just" having an offensive / defensive skill bar.

Not to mention a nice way to make finishing these quest lines even more attractive also to those that just want to do PvP, give me that bat swarm already.

AshySamurai wrote: »

@duncan_cougarpreeb18_ESO‌
I know about this morph and TBH I'm surprised that it's useful. But I dont think it stack many times. So if you have a group and if at least one have this ability active - it's ok and no need all have this ability.

You know there is a lot more area to cover on the edge than in the middle, where this would be not so useful and no it does not stack, anyway. At the edge or in a small group, it can help in protecting your team.

AshySamurai wrote: »

@duncan_cougarpreeb18_ESO‌
I hear you and feel you pain. And things you're talking about is right, but I still cant agree for 100% with you. Sure, with spellcrafting coming it will be a hard choise.

Well with spell crafting coming things will sure be more interesting for magicka users, if any of this will help for those not relying on magicka ... we will see then

AshySamurai wrote: »

@duncan_cougarpreeb18_ESO‌
But!
1. If you want change skills fast you can install special addon (and I know that we cant change skill in combat). Similar addon for outfit. All you need just exit combat and change skills with hotkeys.

Exiting combat in the middle of it ... easier said then done.

AshySamurai wrote: »

@duncan_cougarpreeb18_ESO‌
2.

Therefore, doubling that number of skills availabe

Really? Double? Not +1/+2 but double. You want to get 10 + ult?

Up to does not mean right from the start (see posts above), but after finishing long story quest lines. The maximum number is sure debatable. One or two more would already help a lot, double, i.e. 10 would be an obvious upper limit.

Also, more skills does not mean more damage, as you can still only use any which one of these at a given time not all at once. (That would be a really bad bug if possible)

AshySamurai wrote: »

@duncan_cougarpreeb18_ESO‌
3. Why I have feeling that you want to be a unstoppable nuker? When I read your post I had this feeleing all the time. You want to be great in offense and in defence in the same time. I could be wrong and in that case I hope you correct me.

Unstoppable nuker, me?
You Sir, just made my day, haven't had such a good laugh in ages.

But seriously, this one would be happy to just not die quite so fast and as often while not even making a dent into that light armor.

As it is now, this one is one is on first name basis with each of the mages at the transitus shrines. Even most of the wild life already recognizes this one by sight, so that he is more often than not only getting that "you again" stare, while they settle down after an reproachful shake of their heads and me 'just passing through'.

In any case, as you already stated yourself, you can - while out of combat - already switch skills around to your hearts content with the appropriate add-ons (doing so by hand however is real slow and not even really an option for PvP).

Switching between skill bars is also a must in combat, but to be effective this means relying on general purpose skills and those increasing your survivability and/or DPS. (Note to self: Mixing Melee and Ranged is a really bad™ idea)

Right now the most effective way for that is magicka skills, as stamina is then free for the defense (shield, dodge, sprint etc.)

Meaning there is no need to waste any precious slot for any of that for magicka builds.

For those actually trying to use solely weapon/stamina skills, magicka is currently a wasted resource. (This approach is currently not to be recommended, at all)

Now that would be different if magicka damage would actually first damage the opponent's magicka and only once that is depleted starts to effect health, effectively giving those not relying on magicka a health buffer against staff wielders. This would even the odds, as they then too would have to have at least one stamina based backup skill.

However, the outcry from that fraction would be very tough on this one ears if that would ever come to pass.

And as far as instant critical kill & nukers go: This one would rather see those possibilities gone for good, the earlier the better.

One possibility in that direction might be to increase base health a lot (doubling it?) so that a fight is actually a fight and not who is snaring whom and then trying to do to the helpless victim as much damage as possible with a minimum number of skills, i.e. killing within seconds mini-maxing your build to that effect (and yes this one despises Mr. and Mrs. MiniMax with a passion since the early days of pen&paper D&D)

Or to provide an example (and for laughs not a staffy)

Take your average dragon knight, two handed wielder:
- pull if at range (magicka) or stampede (2 handed / stamina)
- instant snare with talons (once close / magicka)
- upper cut / wrecking blow with max crit for highest damage (stamina)
- interleave with light/heavy attacks as needed (none)
- and/or have your allies activate the synergy effect or just attack at will and minimum risk of retaliation
- finish with executioner (stamina) or ultimate for show
rinse and repeat just 3-4 skills needed.

To get out of it you need stamina and/or evasion etc. For NB dark cloak or even aspect of terror (and morphs) could possibly work as well (but than you are down another slot just for the off-chance that you are suddenly in melee, won't do any good when facing a ranged attacker with just 6 meter range), respectively still be in range of that pull once dark cloak is gone at 2.5 seconds (and some of that precious time wasted for that effect's animation)

With stamina down for escaping, how to counterattack / distance yourself?
Running? Just gets you pulled again (instant casting).
Fighting? Just gets you immobilized again (instant casting).
So you need some purge / dark cloak (NB) to counter this (and another slot gone) and/or evasion (medium armor skill) for a 20% chance to not be effected in the first place ...

Does any of this help against Magicka AoE attacks? No! Not at all.

So what to do if you happen to face both in the same combat and typically any healers present concentrating their spells towards the middle and not anywhere near the edge and some able to reflect every direct attack just right back, while others can only be overcome by that ...

Well you get the picture. Say 'hi' to the transitus mages and 'here we go again'.

In any case, for those who really want to go for a maximum passive effects for any given skill tree: that is already quite possible even now (5 skills per tree, 5 slots), but such an approach is not easy to pull off effectively in most cases.

This might indeed change with more slots available, so some balancing might indeed be required (e.g. capping the effect or just generally increasing health as discussed above). So your point is well taken.

However, would more slots increase the damage per second to even higher levels than already possible now?

This one thinks: Not by much, if at all, as you still can only use one skill at a time and mix and matching skills would not only be more versatile but in most cases more effective than an all-out on a single type.

By telling everyone to block Spells with Magicka, you are telling classes who rely on the backup of Magicka to supplement their Stamina Builds they cannot do that anymore, which wouldn't make them happy either.

Why do people like you always want to make the game less fun for others, instead of proposing things that can even the odds you just propose methods of ruining classes and builds for a significant part of the populace.

1. I deny. I know Stamina Build players who work a 4/1 ratio with one magicka ability or a 3/2 ratio with 2. They can often pull 1.4k-1.8k DPS for a 10 second burst and 1.2k DPS on a 20 second burst. This is more DPS than I can pull, and I am a fully loaded Sorcerer! They are wearing 5 medium 2 heavy on armor.

2. The problem is that Stamina Abilities share a resource pool with Running. Blocking. Roll Dodging. You can't really rely on a resource pool like that for virtually everything. 5 slotted Stamina Skills shouldn't be as effective as a properly designed character on a 4/1 or 3/2 ratio.

3. Mages then often use only one resource pool, magicka. Or so the common myth goes, such a mage will never use Silver Bolts. When I want to use any Stamina Ability, it literally drains 65% or more of my max stamina. I dumped everything in to Lower Magicka Cost, and when I need to use a Stamina Ability such as Immovable or Silver Bolts there goes 70% of my max stamina. Rapid Maneuver costs 85% of my max stamina.

4. Then propose something that makes other vocations better, not something that makes mages worse. Propose raising weapon damage caps. Propose doubling the current armor caps. Yes, double.

Light = 600 Softcap.
Medium = 1000 Softcap.
Heavy = 2000 Softcap.

Bound Armor, Lightning Form, Immovable and all the other Raise Armor, Ward, etc. will still allow a Sorcerer to Tank and have really high armor. Then it would work as intended. By default, Mages have really low armor and can spend their 1-5 slots to have better. Likewise, Warriors would have default really good armor and can spend their 1-5 slots to make it better.

I would balance this with a similar restriction to Spell Resistance. I feel that Spell Resistance should have Light 2000, Medium 1000, and Heavy 600. This way, Warriors have the same situation as mages: Bad spell resist up front, and able to spend 1-5 slots to increase it.

AshySamurai wrote: »

This way, Warriors have the same situation as mages: Bad spell resist up front, and able to spend 1-5 slots to increase it.

Maybe I just missed some skills, but I really cant remember any skill which increase spell resist (exept rune focus - templar restoring light skill line)....

Immovable?

Read this....

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/123531/spell-resistance-bhahaha