Arcanist in PvP

SandandStars · July 2023

Just lvled my first Arcanist and been pvping a few days.

Initial observation: Fate Carver is your primary offense, and isn’t much fun to use. It’s like spraying a firehouse at your enemies… pretty sloppy.

There are some fun/interesting aspects of the class: shields work way better than anything Magsorc ever dreamed of (Impervious morph), and it’s the first time they feel effective for the fast pace of PvP.

The stun is wicked, and honestly, overpowered. Should be nerfed ASAP.

In a nutshell, class is very tanky/high survivability, but offensive skills are mediocre and boring to use.

I’d love to hear other’s input! Thanks in advance.

Necrotech_Master · July 2023

thats what ive witnessed too, the only way an arcanist ever kills me is because of the stun + ult + fatecarver

if they dont stun, the other attacks are really easy to avoid and they are just tanky

Jierdanit · July 2023

The stun really isn't as strong as it looks.
Since it can be blocked, has a pretty easy to spot animation and has a delay it is pretty easy to ruin arcanist combos in PvP simply by blocking their CC.

The only reason the CC is decently strong is cause it regularly is buggy and you're barely able to break it or you don't even notice you're cced in the charm morph.

SandandStars · July 2023

Yeah, I most often get hit with the stun from behind, when I’m distracted by combatting other players.

Overall, I’d put Arcanist below NB, DK, Warden, & Templar, in pvp…

I wish runeblades could be a viable offensive tool. They have cool snimation & sound. But ZOS doesn’t do ranged magicka spammables that work in pvp.

Necrotech_Master · July 2023

SandandStars wrote: »

Yeah, I most often get hit with the stun from behind, when I’m distracted by combatting other players.

Overall, I’d put Arcanist below NB, DK, Warden, & Templar, in pvp…

I wish runeblades could be a viable offensive tool. They have cool snimation & sound. But ZOS doesn’t do ranged magicka spammables that work in pvp.

honestly runeblades needs a lot of buffs, i agree on the animation and sound, but even in pve it doesnt feel very impactful to use and honestly as soon as i got cephiliarchs flail i completely stopped using runeblades

the flail is a crux builder, conal, and applies an additional unique debuff to the enemy to make them take more dmg from arcanist skills, and does more dmg because it has an execute component

LittlePinkDot · July 2023

SandandStars wrote: »

Just lvled my first Arcanist and been pvping a few days.

Initial observation: Fate Carver is your primary offense, and isn’t much fun to use. It’s like spraying a firehouse at your enemies… pretty sloppy.

There are some fun/interesting aspects of the class: shields work way better than anything Magsorc ever dreamed of (Impervious morph), and it’s the first time they feel effective for the fast pace of PvP.

The stun is wicked, and honestly, overpowered. Should be nerfed ASAP.

In a nutshell, class is very tanky/high survivability, but offensive skills are mediocre and boring to use.

I’d love to hear other’s input! Thanks in advance.

I didn't notice much. I use bow skills except with Flail. It's not mandatory to use fatecarver, just get rid of it.

katorga · July 2023

superlative ball group class.

taugrim · July 2023

I've never had a problem breaking the charm or stun, on my Arcanist or when playing other classes. I record footage of every BG and would have noticed by now if it didn't work.

I don't think the charm is OP. It's a unique CC, and the pull effect is strong, but as noted by @Jierdanit earlier there's a highly visible telegraph.

And I think the charm CC is needed given that Pragmatic Fatecarver has no snare effect but self-snares the caster.

I really enjoy my Arcanist. It's totally distinct from the other classes in ESO, or any MMORPG class I've played in PVP.

SandandStars · July 2023

I enjoy learning the new skills, and like most of the new animations, but right now, Fatecarver isn’t that fun/dynamic for me in PvP. Personal preference, of course.

Ceph’s Flail has good utility, pretty ugly spell though, and the 300ms delay feels wonky, Looks like I’m tossing a bucket of oil at opponents.

Still having fun theorycrafting and trying new builds. Just not sold on Fatecarver for PvP.

I’ll eventually try a Runeblades build, but I’m pretty sure it’s doomed to be crud.

Theignson · July 2023

It's just fun to do something new. New skills, new builds, new abilities (ie crux, which I still am trying to learn to pay attention to, Its hard for me to tell how much crux I have in the middle of battles). They can be very tanky, but they can also do some damage with the right build. I don't think they are over powered.

Necrotech_Master · July 2023

Theignson wrote: »

It's just fun to do something new. New skills, new builds, new abilities (ie crux, which I still am trying to learn to pay attention to, Its hard for me to tell how much crux I have in the middle of battles). They can be very tanky, but they can also do some damage with the right build. I don't think they are over powered.

i think they have an addon called "crux counter" or something along those lines that basically just displays a visual counter on your screen of how much crux you have

i dont use it, but i agree it is sometimes difficult to keep track how how much crux you have

Tonturri · July 2023

I'm cautiously side-eyeing the beam...Even in PvE the hit tracking feels very off, like it takes a half second or something for it to realize it should be hitting someone before damage starts to tick. It's also lackluster that the stamina morph of the conal root skill is so much more valuable than the magicka morph. I get what they're going for, it just feels like it didn't really work. Having a melee builder option on magicka would be lovely - and the pew pew pew ranged crux builder could use some love, it feels very genetic.

BasP · July 2023

Tonturri wrote: »

It's also lackluster that the stamina morph of the conal root skill is so much more valuable than the magicka morph. I get what they're going for, it just feels like it didn't really work.

Yeah, I can't help but feel that ZOS's initial intention was that an optimal rotation would consist of Runeblades, Tentacular Dread, Runeblades, Fatecarver. I could definitely be wrong, but I think I remember some streamer mentioning that the damage buff from TD was a lot stronger in an earlier test phase (before the Arcanist was available to everyone on the PTS).

Truth be told I do like using the Stam morph and beaming a lot in PvE, but it'd be nice if Tentacular Dread would be more useful for PvP at least.

geonsocal · July 2023

I have a level 22 arcanist on each server (stam/mag)...I have a bunch of cp on each server (1450 and 1750), so they are geared up pretty well and are fairly effective in cyrodiil combat situations...

I'm intentionally leveling them as slowly as possible to take advantage of combat scaling for sub level 50 toons...hopefully I can keep them at about 2 levels per 30 day campaign (I play other toons)...

my sustain and survivability are outstanding - the challenge is in putting together and effective execute rotation...

it's becoming obvious that if I want to consistently win 1 v 1's and kill folks I'm going to have to buy skill lines like fighters, mages, psijic or soul magic to help me execute folks...

I was thinking about it though - of my other 17 builds, most of those rely on weapon, guild and world skills to kill folks...

so, for myself - not being able to solely rely on class skills to effectively fight in cyro is pretty much business as usual...

SandandStars · July 2023

^^ seems accurate to me.

LittlePinkDot · July 2023

geonsocal wrote: »

I have a level 22 arcanist on each server (stam/mag)...I have a bunch of cp on each server (1450 and 1750), so they are geared up pretty well and are fairly effective in cyrodiil combat situations...

I'm intentionally leveling them as slowly as possible to take advantage of combat scaling for sub level 50 toons...hopefully I can keep them at about 2 levels per 30 day campaign (I play other toons)...

my sustain and survivability are outstanding - the challenge is in putting together and effective execute rotation...

it's becoming obvious that if I want to consistently win 1 v 1's and kill folks I'm going to have to buy skill lines like fighters, mages, psijic or soul magic to help me execute folks...

I was thinking about it though - of my other 17 builds, most of those rely on weapon, guild and world skills to kill folks...

so, for myself - not being able to solely rely on class skills to effectively fight in cyro is pretty much business as usual...

Bow sniper works great for Arcanist. I use sheer venom to give poison injection some real oomph in execute range.

Impervious rune ward is so good in PVP that it would be a waste of crux to use on offensive crux spender.
I hardly have to pay attention to how much crux I have.
If I'm using flail for crux generation and immobilizing, it's easy to always have crux for rune ward.

Weckless · July 2023

They need to spread the damage out a little bit imo. Take some from fatecarver and buff everything else. I know its frustrating to land but its kinda nuts how fast you can get melted by a fatecarver if you get caught in a bad situation. I took a buggy stun bc i didnt notice the animation bc I had multiple people on me and then break free was buggy and i died. On my recap i had 15k dmg from 6 fatecarver tics. So thats 15k dmg in 1.8 seconds. Idc how hard it is to land thats just too much sustained pressure I think. I mean thats more dps than most ppl can do with their entire kit in one skill. And i dont wanna hear about 20k bows or whips burst damage and sustained dps are not the same thing.

Turtle_Bot · July 2023

This has been my experience as well. Arcanist is very tanky, the damage is ok, not super amazing (at least not consistently super amazing, it can have its moments).

I'd like to see some of the power shifted from fatecarver and into the runeblades skill, that skill is really satisfying to use visually, but its damage is lacking at the moment.

SandandStars · July 2023

Yes, I completely agree with you @Turtle_Bot . The more I pvp w Arcanist, the less interesting stunning someone & melting them with Fatecarver becomes. Very boring offensive play style, similar to spamming Jesus beam, or fossilized & whip.

I am experimenting with a Draugrkin build to try to get some more damage out of Runeblades, but they’re still too weak.

SandandStars · August 2023

Alright, my last entry on this unscintillating topic.

I’ve been pvping Arcanist off n on for a few weeks and just can’t get excited about using Fatecarver. It’s just too sloppy/crude/imprecise.

Been using Deadly Strike set and getting a decent amount of kills with FC, but it’s dull as dirt.

Being a tanky healy Plar spamming javelins and radiant O feels more dynamic, and I hate that crap.

Can anyone inspire me to see an exciting aspect of Fatecarver that I am ignorant of?

NordSwordnBoard · August 2023

SandandStars wrote: »

Alright, my last entry on this unscintillating topic.

I’ve been pvping Arcanist off n on for a few weeks and just can’t get excited about using Fatecarver. It’s just too sloppy/crude/imprecise.

Been using Deadly Strike set and getting a decent amount of kills with FC, but it’s dull as dirt.

Being a tanky healy Plar spamming javelins and radiant O feels more dynamic, and I hate that crap.

Can anyone inspire me to see an exciting aspect of Fatecarver that I am ignorant of?

You can aim it up and hit the mage guard at a resource if close enough.

You can aim it up and spin around for decent laser show.

LittlePinkDot · August 2023

SandandStars wrote: »

Alright, my last entry on this unscintillating topic.

I’ve been pvping Arcanist off n on for a few weeks and just can’t get excited about using Fatecarver. It’s just too sloppy/crude/imprecise.

Been using Deadly Strike set and getting a decent amount of kills with FC, but it’s dull as dirt.

Being a tanky healy Plar spamming javelins and radiant O feels more dynamic, and I hate that crap.

Can anyone inspire me to see an exciting aspect of Fatecarver that I am ignorant of?

JUST GET RID OF IT!

I don't use fatecarver on my PVP build. It's completely unnecessary. Flail for crux generation, immobilization and 5% DMG debuff to enemy. Then use whatever weapon skills you want, plus 1 proc set.
I use bow, shes a poison/DOT build with Sheer venom. Destruction staff back bar for weakness to elements
No offensive crux spender at all.
All crux is reserved for impervious rune ward.

Fyi Arcanist passive "Psychic lesion" increases damage with status effects by 15% and the chance to apply by 75%

SandandStars · August 2023

I hear ya Pink Dot. Totally makes sense. I just don’t like having to use weapons skills as my main spammable and execute as that dilutes class identity for me. Like when wardens go super tanky with Polar wind and then just spam dizzy swing all the time. Or every class using masters dual wield.

I think DK and NB might be the only classes that have effective spammables and executes in their tool kits.

And look where it puts them.

BasP · August 2023

LittlePinkDot wrote: »

SandandStars wrote: »

Alright, my last entry on this unscintillating topic.

I’ve been pvping Arcanist off n on for a few weeks and just can’t get excited about using Fatecarver. It’s just too sloppy/crude/imprecise.

Been using Deadly Strike set and getting a decent amount of kills with FC, but it’s dull as dirt.

Being a tanky healy Plar spamming javelins and radiant O feels more dynamic, and I hate that crap.

Can anyone inspire me to see an exciting aspect of Fatecarver that I am ignorant of?

JUST GET RID OF IT!

I don't use fatecarver on my PVP build. It's completely unnecessary. Flail for crux generation, immobilization and 5% DMG debuff to enemy. Then use whatever weapon skills you want, plus 1 proc set.
I use bow, shes a poison/DOT build with Sheer venom. Destruction staff back bar for weakness to elements
No offensive crux spender at all.
All crux is reserved for impervious rune ward.

Fyi Arcanist passive "Psychic lesion" increases damage with status effects by 15% and the chance to apply by 75%

I've seen you mentioning your bow build a handful of times and I've been wondering, what gear sets do you use? I did quite a few BGs while leveling my Arcanist and during MYM, but began to get bored of using Fatecarver after a while (and I didn't feel like switching to the generic Master DW / Vateshran Hollows Ice Staf setup).

taugrim · August 2023

LittlePinkDot wrote: »

SandandStars wrote: »

Alright, my last entry on this unscintillating topic.

I’ve been pvping Arcanist off n on for a few weeks and just can’t get excited about using Fatecarver. It’s just too sloppy/crude/imprecise.

Been using Deadly Strike set and getting a decent amount of kills with FC, but it’s dull as dirt.

Being a tanky healy Plar spamming javelins and radiant O feels more dynamic, and I hate that crap.

Can anyone inspire me to see an exciting aspect of Fatecarver that I am ignorant of?

JUST GET RID OF IT!

I don't use fatecarver on my PVP build. It's completely unnecessary.

This is highly biased, narrow-view advice.

Fatecarver is strong, it takes time to learn how to use & build for it.

LittlePinkDot · August 2023

BasP wrote: »

LittlePinkDot wrote: »

SandandStars wrote: »

Alright, my last entry on this unscintillating topic.

I’ve been pvping Arcanist off n on for a few weeks and just can’t get excited about using Fatecarver. It’s just too sloppy/crude/imprecise.

Been using Deadly Strike set and getting a decent amount of kills with FC, but it’s dull as dirt.

Being a tanky healy Plar spamming javelins and radiant O feels more dynamic, and I hate that crap.

Can anyone inspire me to see an exciting aspect of Fatecarver that I am ignorant of?

JUST GET RID OF IT!

I don't use fatecarver on my PVP build. It's completely unnecessary. Flail for crux generation, immobilization and 5% DMG debuff to enemy. Then use whatever weapon skills you want, plus 1 proc set.
I use bow, shes a poison/DOT build with Sheer venom. Destruction staff back bar for weakness to elements
No offensive crux spender at all.
All crux is reserved for impervious rune ward.

Fyi Arcanist passive "Psychic lesion" increases damage with status effects by 15% and the chance to apply by 75%

I've seen you mentioning your bow build a handful of times and I've been wondering, what gear sets do you use? I did quite a few BGs while leveling my Arcanist and during MYM, but began to get bored of using Fatecarver after a while (and I didn't feel like switching to the generic Master DW / Vateshran Hollows Ice Staf setup).

I'm using swamp raider(600 weapon DMG to poison abilities) and sheer venom for the poison proc on execute from poison injection. It's the same old combo used on gank NB's years ago.

The Toxic Barrage bow ultimate has some pretty insane damage. It's technically a channeled ability so I guess deady strike might work too.
I could get more damage, but I'm liking blood spawn set for survivability and ultimate generation.
And I use 3xswift trait jewelry since Arcanists mobility sucks.
Obviously if I used infused or blood thirsty traits I would have more damage.

I also don't have bar space for that awesome stun Arcanist has, I need camohunter for major savagery. But being able to hit from range means it's not too bad without a stun.

But the real critical piece of the build to me is impervious rune ward on the front bar.
With all your crux reserved for rune ward, it's basically an on demand burst heal with a massive shield. That and Runeguard of Freedom has saved my hide many times.
My only real heal I'm currently slotting is audacious runemend for the minor heroism. Vigor might be a better heal, but I don't want to lose the minor heroism I need to get Toxic Barrage up as soon as possible.
And Runeguard of Freedom has the minor resolve like Vigor. I'm trying to determine which I like better, vigor or Runeguard of Freedom.

I can see why ZoS didn't give Arcanist a burst heal like Templar, NB etc.
Because their healing is spread out over multiple skills.

But the problem I see is that Arcanist can only hold 3 crux at a time. So there isn't enough crux to use both runeward AND fatecarver sequentially.
And it doesn't help that Arcanist has a passive that increases healing the more crux you have.
So as soon as you spend your crux on fatecarver, your healing is gimped. That passive even gimps how much healing you get from vigor, and that's not even an Arcanist skill.

LittlePinkDot · August 2023

taugrim wrote: »

LittlePinkDot wrote: »

SandandStars wrote: »

Alright, my last entry on this unscintillating topic.

I’ve been pvping Arcanist off n on for a few weeks and just can’t get excited about using Fatecarver. It’s just too sloppy/crude/imprecise.

Been using Deadly Strike set and getting a decent amount of kills with FC, but it’s dull as dirt.

Being a tanky healy Plar spamming javelins and radiant O feels more dynamic, and I hate that crap.

Can anyone inspire me to see an exciting aspect of Fatecarver that I am ignorant of?

JUST GET RID OF IT!

I don't use fatecarver on my PVP build. It's completely unnecessary.

This is highly biased, narrow-view advice.

Fatecarver is strong, it takes time to learn how to use & build for it.

Well I haven't been killed in a duel by fatecarver yet. It's too easy to avoid.

If you like zerg surfing it can come in handy though. You can stand at the back of your zerg and nuke people while they're busy fighting everyone at the front of the zerg.

SandandStars · August 2023

^^ Beamplar style.

I hate it when there’s two or three of them all beaming you at once from a distance in the back.

It used to be only the weak Sorcs doing this with mages wrath, Which is a much weaker execute than radiant oppression. Especially when you get three of the little turds zinging you from the back of the pack.

taugrim · August 2023

LittlePinkDot wrote: »

taugrim wrote: »

LittlePinkDot wrote: »

SandandStars wrote: »

Alright, my last entry on this unscintillating topic.

I’ve been pvping Arcanist off n on for a few weeks and just can’t get excited about using Fatecarver. It’s just too sloppy/crude/imprecise.

Been using Deadly Strike set and getting a decent amount of kills with FC, but it’s dull as dirt.

Being a tanky healy Plar spamming javelins and radiant O feels more dynamic, and I hate that crap.

Can anyone inspire me to see an exciting aspect of Fatecarver that I am ignorant of?

JUST GET RID OF IT!

I don't use fatecarver on my PVP build. It's completely unnecessary.

This is highly biased, narrow-view advice.

Fatecarver is strong, it takes time to learn how to use & build for it.

Well I haven't been killed in a duel by fatecarver yet. It's too easy to avoid.

If you like zerg surfing it can come in handy though. You can stand at the back of your zerg and nuke people while they're busy fighting everyone at the front of the zerg.

I spend the vast majority of my time in BGs. I've won plenty of 1v1s.

Are you on PC NA? Wondering whether we've fought in BGs or not.

LittlePinkDot · August 2023

taugrim wrote: »

LittlePinkDot wrote: »

taugrim wrote: »

LittlePinkDot wrote: »

SandandStars wrote: »

Alright, my last entry on this unscintillating topic.

I’ve been pvping Arcanist off n on for a few weeks and just can’t get excited about using Fatecarver. It’s just too sloppy/crude/imprecise.

Been using Deadly Strike set and getting a decent amount of kills with FC, but it’s dull as dirt.

Being a tanky healy Plar spamming javelins and radiant O feels more dynamic, and I hate that crap.

Can anyone inspire me to see an exciting aspect of Fatecarver that I am ignorant of?

JUST GET RID OF IT!

I don't use fatecarver on my PVP build. It's completely unnecessary.

This is highly biased, narrow-view advice.

Fatecarver is strong, it takes time to learn how to use & build for it.

Well I haven't been killed in a duel by fatecarver yet. It's too easy to avoid.

If you like zerg surfing it can come in handy though. You can stand at the back of your zerg and nuke people while they're busy fighting everyone at the front of the zerg.

I spend the vast majority of my time in BGs. I've won plenty of 1v1s.

Are you on PC NA? Wondering whether we've fought in BGs or not.

Playstation

Rhaegar75 · August 2023

The majority of arcanists I fight tend to be very tanky. Generally master DW, Vateshran, 2 rather tanky 5pc sets or 1 tanky set + monster helm + mythic

It’s the good old let the procs do the damage and stay tanky in the meantime