First, thanks to everyone for all your feedback on block. We appreciate the time you've spent testing everything out, and we'd like to take some time to explain some of our most recent changes.
Live vs PTS Block Costs
In general, we feel that if you decide to hold block against all attacks, it should require a significant investment. To help explain this, let’s start with a mathematical peek at how low you can get block costs on Live versus what's currently on the PTS. In this exercise, we're using a fully-optimized character wearing 7 pieces of gold-quality heavy armor, 3 purple jewelry with block cost reduction, and the full 25% block cost reduction through the Champion System. The first 2 examples assume you are getting hit every half second, while the 3rd example is representative of a boss fight where you are getting hit once a second. As bosses usually hit less frequently, this is intended as a worst case scenario.
While reviewing these examples, please keep the following points in mind:
- Fortress, Bracing, and Defensive stance bonuses are additive
- Block cost has a cooldown of 0.5 seconds - No matter how many monsters are attacking, you can block every single attack and will only be charged every half second.
- To calculate Constitution’s stamina return relative to block costs, we need to figure out how much stamina is being returned every half second. Constitution gives 346 stamina every 4 seconds, which equates to 43 every half second. We can then subtract that 43 from the amount each block is charging you since you are being charged that block cost every half second.
Live
Base Block Cost: 2160
25% Champion Cost Reduction: 2160 * .75 = 1620
3x purple block cost enchantments: 1620 – 191x3 = 1620 – 573 = 1047
Fortress, Bracing, and Defensive Stance: 1047 * 0.42 = 440
Constitution: 440 – 43 =
397PTS
Base Block Cost: 2160
25% Champion Cost Reduction: 2160 * .75 = 1620
3x purple block cost enchantments: 1620 – 191x3 = 1620 – 573 = 1047
Fortress and Defensive Stance: 1047 * .56 = 587
Sturdy x1: 587 * .96 = 563
Constitution: 563 – 163 =
400PTS – Boss Fight
Base Block Cost: 2160
25% Champion Cost Reduction: 2160 * .75 = 1620
3x purple block cost enchantments: 1620 – 191x3 = 1620 – 573 = 1047
Fortress and Defensive Stance: 1047 * .56 = 587
Constitution 1 second: 587 – 326 =
261
Assuming the worst case scenario where you get hit exactly every half second, you only need 1 piece of Sturdy gear equipped to keep the current block costs. This means you now have the option to wear 8 pieces of Sturdy to get even lower costs. We’re not trying to force Sturdy on tanks, but more to give an option for players who block a lot and need more stamina recovery. Tanks who are getting hit every second on average will actually be able to block more with the upcoming changes in Dark Brotherhood, and that’s without having any Sturdy items equipped. Also note that you’ll have additional magicka with the updated Constitution passive to help you use more utility abilities while tanking:
DB Constitution value = 1305
Live Constitution value = 346
1305 – 346 = 959 / 2 seconds = 480 additional magicka every 2 seconds
Champion System
We recently moved the block cost reduction from the Steed tree to the Shadow tree. This change was made to give more options in customizing your defenses, and help reduce the amount of time spent blocking. When spending Warrior points, you don’t need to invest in block cost; you can now consider increased healing taken, stronger damage shields, or more damage reduction. Let’s dive into how this will affect the stats of a character with 501 Champion Points who is trying to maximize their block time and damage resistance:
Live - Warrior
100 Block Expertise – 25% Block Cost Reduction.
33 Hardy – 11.5% Reduced Poison, Disease, and Physical Damage.
34 Elemental Defender – 11.8% Reduced Flame, Frost, Shock, and Magic Damage.
Unique unlocks the PTS build does not have (Invigorating Bash, Phase, Shield Expert)
Live - Thief
100 Warlord – 16% Cost Reduction Stamina abilities
67 Magician – 12.6% Cost Reduction Magicka abilities
Unique unlocks the PTS build does not have (Mara’s Gift, War Mount)
PTS - Warrior
83 Hardy – 21.9% Reduced Poison, Disease, and Physical Damage reduction.
84 Elemental Defender – 22.1% Reduced Flame, Frost, Shock, and Magic Damage.
Unique unlocks the Live build does not have (Critical Leech, Unchained)
PTS - Thief
100 Block Expertise – 25% Block Cost Reduction.
67 Warlord - 12.6% Cost Reduction Stamina abilities.
Unique unlocks the Live build does not have (Fortune Seeker, Merchant Favored, Treasure Hunter)
The average ability cost is 2700 resources. That’s going to be reduced to 2268 when maxing out the Magician Champion star, or 2365 with lesser investment. If you cast an ability every 2 seconds, you will end up with more magicka after the Dark Brotherhood changes because Constitution is giving more magicka. The difference in only putting 67 points in Magician is 2365 – 2268 = 97 magicka (480 every 2 seconds from Constitution – 97 every 2 seconds nets you 383 magicka every 2 seconds). Even if you put no points in Magician, you still end up with more magicka because of the Constitution buff. Magician gives 2700 – 2268 = 432 magicka (480 every 2 seconds from Constitution – 432 magicka from Magician = 48 magicka every 2 seconds). Overall, you have more magicka and more defense if you choose to put Warrior Champion Points into Hardy and Elemental Defender. Putting 83 points into these stars instead of 34 nets an additional 10% damage reduction.
Two of the most influential passives for tanks are Shield Expert and Unchained. The resource cost reduction from Unchained is great if you miss blocking a stun attack, or if you get feared/disoriented. The Champion passive Shield Expert gives about 1290 armor and spell resistance all the time. However, this is a great passive that is currently in a tree that is PvP and medium armor focused. To help remedy this, we’re looking into swapping Shield Expert with Resilient so the passive to reduce critical hit damage and the unlock to heal on critical hits are together. This also makes a key tanking unlock more accessible for players with lower Champion Points, requiring 30 Champion Points instead of 75.
Wrap Up
As with all pieces of the ESO balance puzzle, changes to tanking affect players of different types of content, ability loadouts, item sets, and armor weights. With Dark Brotherhood, we’re offering more ways to customize your Tanky character by allowing lower block costs than ever before and providing more flexibility when customizing your defenses. If you don’t want to take advantage of these options, your block cost should remain similar to what it was before the changes. If you still have concerns with tanking after trying out the changes, please leave a detailed reply about your character and the type of content you’re playing.
We'll also be making the following changes before Dark Brotherhood goes live:
- Fixing an issue where Sturdy is rounding fractions down
- Fixing an issue where Sturdy is multiplicative with itself instead of additive
- A more accessible Shield Expert Champion unlock