A new solution to the magicka/stamina balance problem.

Phinix1 · September 2014

If you read THIS POST you can see some of my past suggestions. While I STILL like the idea of being able to upgrade armor to inherit a percent of the passives from another type, I feel I now have a better solution that could completely solve the balance problem!

Solution: Add a "Weapon Affinity" branch to the World skill tree, with the following passives:

Martial Prowess: Use your highest offensive resource pool to determine Weapon and Class skill damage.

Combat Synergy: When max Stamina is greater than max Magicka and Stamina is available, Class abilities draw 20/40/60% of their cost from your Stamina pool. Cost-reduction items and passives work on the base stat of the ability BEFORE final resource cost is determined.

This would allow heavy Stamina users to effectively make use of class skills, and offer a high degree of fine-tuning to balance resource management. Also, which stat to use and whether a stat is available are calculated client-side, so no added server load.

Aedh · September 2014

I don't really like your Combat Synergy idea. One of the stamina builds issues is that you have to share your ressource for damage dealing skills and sprint/dodge/cc break.

Now, you want the class skills (often utility skills on a stam build) to drain up to 60% of their cost in stamina on top of it ? You will be stamina starved and unable to dps way more quickly, even with a soft caped stamina regen.

Phinix1 · September 2014

@Aedh I agree that CURRENTLY, most stamina builds only use a few class abilities for utility. That is because class abilities currently determine damage by max magicka and so heavy stamina builds have little reason to use them for damage purposes.

Martial Prowess would change that significantly. That means more stamina users will mix in more class abilities, since they will be doing viable damage.

However, most class abilities are fairly expensive to cast, and working more of them into a damage rotation will deplete your magicka bar more quickly, leaving little for utility and escape.

You don't HAVE to put any points in Combat Synergy. Or you could put just one point in and have 20% of the cost come from stamina.

The purpose is for builds that use a lot of class abilities and some weapon abilities to be able to sustain enough magicka, and the purpose of three ranks of it is so you can fine-tune your specific build.

Aedh · September 2014

@AlienDiplomat‌
Fair enough, I guess

That would allow Nightblades to use Veiled Strike more effectively (or melee DKs with Lava Whip/Unstable Flame), while melee Sorcs would probably ignore this passive since they use stamina skills to deal their damages.

Ryzium · September 2014

AlienDiplomat wrote: »

If you read THIS POST you can see some of my past suggestions. While I STILL like the idea of being able to upgrade armor to inherit a percent of the passives from another type, I feel I now have a better solution that could completely solve the balance problem!

Solution: Add a "Weapon Affinity" branch to the World skill tree, with the following passives:

Martial Prowess: Use your highest offensive resource pool to determine Weapon and Class skill damage.

Combat Synergy: When max Stamina is greater than max Magicka and Stamina is available, Class abilities draw 20/40/60% of their cost from your Stamina pool. Cost-reduction items and passives work on the base stat of the ability BEFORE final resource cost is determined.

This would allow heavy Stamina users to effectively make use of class skills, and offer a high degree of fine-tuning to balance resource management. Also, which stat to use and whether a stat is available are calculated client-side, so no added server load.

The whole "when available" part of the Combat Synergy is stupid, so you allow the person to use some stamina to mitigate the magicka cost...unless you dont have the stamina then it can just cost magicka again... you cant pick and choose.

Shaun98ca2 · September 2014

Aedh wrote: »

I don't really like your Combat Synergy idea. One of the stamina builds issues is that you have to share your ressource for damage dealing skills and sprint/dodge/cc break.

This is actually not an issue at all.

Block/Dodge/Stun costing Stamina is equal to Magicka builds having to rely on Magicka for Stuns/Knockdowns/knockbacks/Heals/Buffs/Debuffs.

Magicka builds just like Stamina builds are required to spend their respective resource on something other than DPS.

The real issue between Stamina builds and Magicka builds is.....If I spam Magicka abilities I still don't seem to run out of Magicka due to Restro Staff and Dark Exchange/Equilibrium.

Stamina build spams its abilities it RUNS out of Stamina and then has to wait for regen to get back Stamina.

Theres 2 solutions either

A: Reduce the overall effectiveness of Magicka gain so that it become detrimental to a DPSer almost to the point your better off without Magicka gain.

B: Just get rid of the resource bars all together since having endless resources through OP means that's simply gimping your character for NOT using.

Personally I like option A better.

Right now if your Magicka build doesn't have a way to gain back Magicka and fast your simply doing it wrong and gimping yourself. This to me sounds more more like a broken mechanic where there is a MUST HAVE weapon/ability.

Think you'll run a trial without Magicka gain on your character and be acceptable?

tbrocato · September 2014

I remember somewhere that ZOS's final plan may be setup where there are no soft caps.

CapuchinSeven · September 2014

Shaun98ca2 wrote: »

Magicka builds just like Stamina builds are required to spend their respective resource on something other than DPS.

Yeah I agree with what you've said. It's hard to get people to look a little past their own nose though. My magic build spends a ton of magic on defence the same way my stamina build spends a ton of stamina of defence, this view that if you're a magic build you get this ton of stamina to play with is dumb, you'll get maybe two dodge rolls out of your stamina in a high magic build.

In the same respect my stamina build will get maybe a couple of dark cloaks out before my magicka is all gone.

Stamina builds main fundamental problem is that you can't gain stamina back the way magic builds gain magic back.

glak · September 2014

CapuchinSeven wrote: »

Stamina builds main fundamental problem is that you can't gain stamina back the way magic builds gain magic back.

Even Templars don't have a lump stamina gain akin to Equilibrium / Dark Exchange. Instead, their Restoring Aura is a buff to stamina/health regen.

Teloran · September 2014

The stamina regen shouldn't be an issue once they implement the stamina gain from heavy attacks.

CapuchinSeven · September 2014

Teloran wrote: »

The stamina regen shouldn't be an issue once they implement the stamina gain from heavy attacks.

Yup, should be very good and is like some of us have been saying, the first thing to take care of is stamina regen. In my stamina/weapon damage build both my melee and ranged attacks land pretty hard, heavy attacks landing very hard, won't be a problem to slot them into my rotation at all.

If it works well it'll just be a simple case of slight adjustments to damage numbers hopefully.