Arthritis and solutions to help players that suffer from it.

MindOfTheSwarm · November 20

I have a friend who asked me recently to come up with a build that could let them do the harder content without too much pressure on click rates to help mitigate their arthritis.

I suggested Draugrkin and Sergeant Mail with a Lightning Staff that they already admitted they were using but found it a bit boring and not viable in Vet solo arenas. Which I could totally understand.

I thought of a set idea that could be insanely abused but I’m not sure one what other ways players with mobility issues can be helped.

Here is the set idea:

Deadly Territory: 5 Piece (Light)

(2 Items): Adds 129 Weapon and Spell Damage
(3 Items): Adds 129 Weapon and Spell Damage
(4 Items): Adds 129 Weapon and Spell Damage
(5 Items): Your non-ultimate area of effect sources that deal their damage over time deal 100% more damage, have 100% increased duration, have 2 meters additional area and have 1000% chance to apply their respective status effect. Any damage you deal that is not from a damage over time effect or a status effect is reduced by 99%.

I know this looks completely bonkers, but think of it like a more extreme Velothi Amulet that is more focused on very specific skills allowing players with issues to pair it with a utility set such as a healing over time set and have a slower rate of play.

I had considered it making monsters only, but should players with these sorts of issues be excluded or unable to compete in PvP?

Could normal players accept something like this and be able to deal with it as it would primarily only affect ground dots?

If anyone else has some build ideas to help we would appreciate it as I don’t think Velothi actually helps enough.

Soarora · November 20

I think it really comes down to the individual. Some people find HA builds to be better for them, some people find it puts too much strain holding down buttons. Could do a LA build or bash build bound to scroll wheel. Could do controller or mouse and keyboard. Could do a stam arcanist (which nowadays is almost entirely press beam once every so often and walk around).

o_Primate_o · November 20

pet sorc will take up four buttons.
use long-lasting DOTs like beast trap and carve.
HA Build you can tape down the trigger and still be able to queue up next skill during the HA channel.

i haven't seen deadly territory but they'd have to be using a lot of AOE DOTs. IDK if there's enough to slot. Orb, wall, etc. There's probably a build around that set on youtube.

RandomKodiak · November 20

Symmetry of the Weald overland set from West Weald

(2 items) Adds 129 Weapon and Spell Damage
(3 items) Adds 129 Weapon and Spell Damage
(4 items) Adds 657 Critical Chance
(5 items) Adds 200% Status Effect Chance while your Health is above 50%. Adds 10% Healing Done while your Health is 50% or less.
Can pair the above with Order's Wrath (Crafted), Velothi Amulet and 1 piece Slimecraw. If you can get Rele for them even better than Order's.
Front Bar: Both pets, Crystal Frag, Daedric Prey, and his choice for situation either shield or an offensive like Trap, Flawless or Atro for Ulti (Atro better on back bar alone with Flawless up front but if the switching for Ulti is too much then go with Atro)
Back Bar: Wall of Elements, Hurricane, Crit Surge and both pets, Atro Ulti
Flame enchant on Front Bar Lightning Staff, Charged (electric) enchant on Back Bar Staff (preferably Maelstrom's)

Hit Surge, Hurricane, Wall - swap- Prey, choice, Frag until Time to refresh back bar, Ulti as needed

With Practice Should be able to do just about anything in game as it does good damage and has self heals. 5 buttons never even need to hit pets but can for a bit more damage if it's not too much. Hope it helps

o_Primate_o · November 20

ps. Microsoft sells an adaptive controlled that maybe can help, i think it requires mapping buttons from one controller to the other or something.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/microsoft-xbox-adaptive-controller-white/6455394.p?skuId=6455394

Orbital78 · November 20

I use a controller which helps. I also use heavy attack builds and arcanist.

I have paired these with Sergeants for decent results:
https://eso-sets.com/set/mora-scribes-thesis
https://eso-hub.com/en/sets/grave-inevitability
https://eso-sets.com/set/tharrikers-strike

spartaxoxo · November 20

They could also try and easy arcanist build, they may find that more to their liking. Although, I'm not sure what they mean about Heavy Attack builds not being viable for solo arenas.

MindOfTheSwarm · November 20

spartaxoxo wrote: »

They could also try and easy arcanist build, they may find that more to their liking. Although, I'm not sure what they mean about Heavy Attack builds not being viable for solo arenas.

I think they were just saying it’s a bit one dimensional and boring. They wanted something easier but still offered some variety.

MindOfTheSwarm · November 20

o_Primate_o wrote: »

pet sorc will take up four buttons.
use long-lasting DOTs like beast trap and carve.
HA Build you can tape down the trigger and still be able to queue up next skill during the HA channel.

i haven't seen deadly territory but they'd have to be using a lot of AOE DOTs. IDK if there's enough to slot. Orb, wall, etc. There's probably a build around that set on youtube.

Deadly Territory isn’t a set in game. It was literally just a concept idea I had for something that could slow down the game for specific players with issues.

With the set idea you could run, Oakensoul Deadly Territory and then a safety set. Example you’re on a Warden. You could slot, Arctic Blast, Elemental Blockade, Winter’s Revenge, Caltrops and then something else like a buff. Plus Bear for passive damage (although that would be nerfed, I guess you could exclude ultimates from the damage reduction). Then just sit back and relax focusing on movement, blocking and the odd synergy here and there. I don’t think it will help with dodging but such a build would reduce required inputs by a wide margin while not being totally busted. It would also allow for a more relaxed PvP experience too. Although, that one is a tough nut to crack due to PvP being very input heavy anyway.

Techwolf_Lupindo · November 20

All ZOS had to do re-work the HA balance on sorc only to make in par with all other classes races HA builds. But NOoooo...ZOS had to banhammer nerf all HA builds to the point they are no longer allowed in prog groups.

Can someone please explain how this did not violate the ADA act in the U.S.A.?

Djennku · November 20

For an easy and simple build, check out Xynode's Lazy Sorc. Easiest build to play, just hold doen the HA and let it pop, and keep wall of elements up. Can literally juat use the Heavy if that works best for you.

katanagirl1 · November 20

spartaxoxo wrote: »

They could also try and easy arcanist build, they may find that more to their liking. Although, I'm not sure what they mean about Heavy Attack builds not being viable for solo arenas.

Arcanist is the way to go for finger and hand pain, bar swapping isn’t an issue for me and the Velothi amulet will allow you to cut out the light attacks completely unless you are doing very sweaty hard content. Then you have half the APM.

Heavy attack builds might work, they are a simpler rotation and no bar swapping, but holding down the trigger for long periods of play time is too much for me.

MindOfTheSwarm · November 20

katanagirl1 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

They could also try and easy arcanist build, they may find that more to their liking. Although, I'm not sure what they mean about Heavy Attack builds not being viable for solo arenas.

Arcanist is the way to go for finger and hand pain, bar swapping isn’t an issue for me and the Velothi amulet will allow you to cut out the light attacks completely unless you are doing very sweaty hard content. Then you have half the APM.

Heavy attack builds might work, they are a simpler rotation and no bar swapping, but holding down the trigger for long periods of play time is too much for me.

Appreciate the feedback. Although, I would hope that any class would be an option. And I can understand the argument that Heavy Attack builds have their negatives.

fizl101 · November 20

MindOfTheSwarm wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

They could also try and easy arcanist build, they may find that more to their liking. Although, I'm not sure what they mean about Heavy Attack builds not being viable for solo arenas.

Arcanist is the way to go for finger and hand pain, bar swapping isn’t an issue for me and the Velothi amulet will allow you to cut out the light attacks completely unless you are doing very sweaty hard content. Then you have half the APM.

Heavy attack builds might work, they are a simpler rotation and no bar swapping, but holding down the trigger for long periods of play time is too much for me.

Appreciate the feedback. Although, I would hope that any class would be an option. And I can understand the argument that Heavy Attack builds have their negatives.

templar also does very well with velothi, if you dont fancy all the green

AzuraFan · November 20

katanagirl1 wrote: »

[
Arcanist is the way to go for finger and hand pain, bar swapping isn’t an issue for me and the Velothi amulet will allow you to cut out the light attacks completely unless you are doing very sweaty hard content. Then you have half the APM.

Heavy attack builds might work, they are a simpler rotation and no bar swapping, but holding down the trigger for long periods of play time is too much for me.

I don't have arthritis, but I do have an RSI and HA builds are a no-no for sure. The worst thing for me to do is to hold down anything. I only want to tap. I use a controller which really helps, but I would never run an HA build where I have to hold the trigger and not immediately release it. Unfortunately that means no replenishing resources with heavy attacks, which is why I'll never be able to do some content.

Interesting about the arcanist. I might give one a try at some point.

On a side note, every game should have a way to auto-walk or run. I can't believe in 2024 with all the talk of accessibility, some games still have no way for you to press a button/key and have your character walk until you do something that makes them stop.

ZOS got this right. Even when I'm using a controller, I can still use the keyboard. So I can use the auto-run key, which is fantastic and I use it all the time. I can also mount using 'H', which means I don't have to hold down the button that usually brings up the map. Without the auto-run in particular, I wouldn't be able to play the game as much as I do. So, thank you ZOS for getting that right. Now if you could just give us another way to do a heavy attack that doesn't involve holding something down for longer than usual, that would be great! But no worries.

Bammlschwamml · November 20

Maybe a controller with backpaddles could help.

A few years ago i had to stop playing on my playstation because my left thumb started to hurt a lot when i tried to sprint (press left stick) and switch weapons (press right on the directional pad). So i bought the sony back button attachment for my ps4 controller, and put sprint and weapon switch on the back buttons. Maybe the best 30$ i ever invested in gaming. And it was really easy to install, you just had to plug it in.

Unfortunately the ps5 doesn't support the ps4 controller anymore and Sony doesn't sell back button attachments for the ps5 controller. So you would have to spend over 200$ on a dualsense edge controller or something similar. Or you could buy one of those cheaper things where you have to completely disassemble the entire controller and solder some cables yourself.

There are controllers where you need less force to move the sticks and press the buttons, and some controllers and attachments have more than 2 extra buttons. And there are others mods for triggers and buttons that might be able to help a little.

I know this is not really what you asked for, and it doesn't really help if all your fingers hurt all the time. But the additional buttons helped me decrease the stress on the finger that hurt the most. I wouldn't be able to play the game without it anymore.

HatchetHaro · November 20

AzuraFan wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

[
Arcanist is the way to go for finger and hand pain, bar swapping isn’t an issue for me and the Velothi amulet will allow you to cut out the light attacks completely unless you are doing very sweaty hard content. Then you have half the APM.

Heavy attack builds might work, they are a simpler rotation and no bar swapping, but holding down the trigger for long periods of play time is too much for me.

I don't have arthritis, but I do have an RSI and HA builds are a no-no for sure. The worst thing for me to do is to hold down anything. I only want to tap. I use a controller which really helps, but I would never run an HA build where I have to hold the trigger and not immediately release it. Unfortunately that means no replenishing resources with heavy attacks, which is why I'll never be able to do some content.

Interesting about the arcanist. I might give one a try at some point.

On a side note, every game should have a way to auto-walk or run. I can't believe in 2024 with all the talk of accessibility, some games still have no way for you to press a button/key and have your character walk until you do something that makes them stop.

ZOS got this right. Even when I'm using a controller, I can still use the keyboard. So I can use the auto-run key, which is fantastic and I use it all the time. I can also mount using 'H', which means I don't have to hold down the button that usually brings up the map. Without the auto-run in particular, I wouldn't be able to play the game as much as I do. So, thank you ZOS for getting that right. Now if you could just give us another way to do a heavy attack that doesn't involve holding something down for longer than usual, that would be great! But no worries.

If your keyboard, mouse, or controller has software that lets you toggle-hold inputs, you should try those.

For mouse, you can try enabling ClickLock in your Windows mouse settings, see if that works for you.

For Xbox controller, I believe your best bet is to make a custom AutoHotkey script with an XInput API.

For PS4 controller, you should be able to achieve the same function through DS4Windows, though I'm not entirely sure.

katanagirl1 · November 20

MindOfTheSwarm wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

They could also try and easy arcanist build, they may find that more to their liking. Although, I'm not sure what they mean about Heavy Attack builds not being viable for solo arenas.

Arcanist is the way to go for finger and hand pain, bar swapping isn’t an issue for me and the Velothi amulet will allow you to cut out the light attacks completely unless you are doing very sweaty hard content. Then you have half the APM.

Heavy attack builds might work, they are a simpler rotation and no bar swapping, but holding down the trigger for long periods of play time is too much for me.

Appreciate the feedback. Although, I would hope that any class would be an option. And I can understand the argument that Heavy Attack builds have their negatives.

Every other class will have to light attack weave for heavy combat and that is a very real problem for hand pain. If the player enjoys only overland content and questing, you can get away without weaving because the combat is very minimal. I do use my stamblade for overland activities and just skip it and wait for stamina regen.

AzuraFan · November 20

HatchetHaro wrote: »

If your keyboard, mouse, or controller has software that lets you toggle-hold inputs, you should try those.

For mouse, you can try enabling ClickLock in your Windows mouse settings, see if that works for you.

For Xbox controller, I believe your best bet is to make a custom AutoHotkey script with an XInput API.

For PS4 controller, you should be able to achieve the same function through DS4Windows, though I'm not entirely sure.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I_killed_Vivec · November 20

AzuraFan wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

[
Arcanist is the way to go for finger and hand pain, bar swapping isn’t an issue for me and the Velothi amulet will allow you to cut out the light attacks completely unless you are doing very sweaty hard content. Then you have half the APM.

Heavy attack builds might work, they are a simpler rotation and no bar swapping, but holding down the trigger for long periods of play time is too much for me.

I don't have arthritis, but I do have an RSI and HA builds are a no-no for sure. The worst thing for me to do is to hold down anything. I only want to tap. I use a controller which really helps, but I would never run an HA build where I have to hold the trigger and not immediately release it. Unfortunately that means no replenishing resources with heavy attacks, which is why I'll never be able to do some content.

Interesting about the arcanist. I might give one a try at some point.

On a side note, every game should have a way to auto-walk or run. I can't believe in 2024 with all the talk of accessibility, some games still have no way for you to press a button/key and have your character walk until you do something that makes them stop.

ZOS got this right. Even when I'm using a controller, I can still use the keyboard. So I can use the auto-run key, which is fantastic and I use it all the time. I can also mount using 'H', which means I don't have to hold down the button that usually brings up the map. Without the auto-run in particular, I wouldn't be able to play the game as much as I do. So, thank you ZOS for getting that right. Now if you could just give us another way to do a heavy attack that doesn't involve holding something down for longer than usual, that would be great! But no worries.

I do have arthritis in my hands but I also cannot stand HA holding down the mouse key. I can tap, but HA pet oakensorc is just too much for me.

I also use auto-run. I have it mapped onto a thumb key on my mouse. At least I'm not in pain, but I know I'm nowhere near as agile as I could be (kiting is difficult), though the silver lining is that I prefer a toe-to-toe fighting style, preferably with a gap closer to bring me into melee range:)

SkaraMinoc · November 20

Soarora wrote: »

Could do a LA build or bash build bound to scroll wheel.

I don't recommend playing a Bash build if you have any sort of arthritis in your hands, not even with mouse wheel.

ApoAlaia · November 20

Personally I am really hoping that this project delivers:

GLYDR: Analog Dual Foot Controller for Video Games & VR, via @Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/glydr/glydr-analog-dual-foot-controller-for-video-games-and-vr?ref=android_project_share

Because my feet can take a lot more punishment that my hands.

At the moment I use regular pedals but they are somewhat limited in functionality.

Is Kickstarter so I'm trying to temper my expectations, plenty of projects fall through when met with the harsh realities of production but if it materialises it would really open up things for me in ESO.

AzuraFan · November 20

ApoAlaia wrote: »

Personally I am really hoping that this project delivers:

GLYDR: Analog Dual Foot Controller for Video Games & VR, via @Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/glydr/glydr-analog-dual-foot-controller-for-video-games-and-vr?ref=android_project_share

Because my feet can take a lot more punishment that my hands.

At the moment I use regular pedals but they are somewhat limited in functionality.

Is Kickstarter so I'm trying to temper my expectations, plenty of projects fall through when met with the harsh realities of production but if it materialises it would really open up things for me in ESO.

That looks fantastic! I hope they manage to bring it to market.

Hotdog_23 · November 21

Have arthritis too and oakensoul was a god send for me. That and controller's with back buttons have enabled me to continue playing ESO.

Kinda sad they nerfed oakensoul soul in previous updates. Since I don't try and do competitive trial HM score runs I do ok. Just wish ZOS would not have nerfed it as much as they did. My problem is not really holding down a button but the rapid fire button pushing.

Auto run button on console would be so awesome.

Know you mentioned that you cannot hold down buttons just and FYI a lot of the custom controllers have trigger buttons that you can adjust how much you have to hold them down in order for them to activate which has helped me a lot too.

Also do finger/hand stretches before and after gaming has helped a lot as well. On my phone so not sure how to link YouTube videos but search "hand + wrist exercises for gamers". It is a 10 year old video by DR. Levi Harrison. Only 5 minutes long but he goes over some nice hand finger wrist stretches.

Stay safe 🙂

Kesstryl · November 23

I love this post! I haven't been able to play much this year due to ongoing carpal tunnel pain. I have to use a touchscreen to type which is so much easier on my hands. Autorun mapping has definitely been a godsend for me through the life of my gaming, and if a game does not have it, I pretty much have to pass on it. Mouse look is also easier than turning with keys, but this year I've had to back off from gaming completely.

allochthons · November 23

Check out The Gameroom (https://www.thegameroom.tv). They create lots of builds for people with disabilities or other non-standard game play needs. And they test those builds using non-standard game play, like slow button presses, slow movement, jerky movement, etc. It goes into the core of their theory crafting. You can watch in their videos.

I use their 2-button arcanist every day in the Infinite Archive (modified for myself) and I absolutely adore it.
It uses oakensoul, briarheart, hexos ward, and critically, the red CP point Strategic Reserve: "Gain 30 health recovery for every 10 ultimate you have." And then you only use your ulti (the crazy arc shield) in oh-crap scenarios. The health recovery on this build is insane at full ulti. Almost 3K.

I cannot recommend this site enough.

JanTanhide · November 23

I have that problem in both hands and in my neck. I can still play all my builds and all the classes but it takes it's toll on my hands.
So, my favorite build i use to play all day (on those days I have time) is my heavy attack mag sorc. It's pretty simple and many have posted great gear setups.

Mine is just one bar since it's an Oakensoul build. Currently running one piece Slimecraw, 5 Sergeant's Mail, 5 Undaunted Unweaver. Undaunted Unweaver is pretty interesting since it has no cooldown. Just run the build correctly and you can get almost 100% uptime on it. I use Razor Caltrops to keep it going. Plus Razor Caltrops debuffs for about 6K just have to cast it every four seconds to keep that up if needed (boss fights for example).

Start with a light attack to get in "combat" then cast Razor Caltrops and whatever else you decide to put on your bar(s). I swap out Slimecraw with Archdruid Devyric's guise when I need a bit more penetration. I also have setups using Order's Wrath, Noble Duelist and a few others but I tend to use this setup the most. I've run Vet DLC dungeons with ease and completed Vet Vateshran easily many times including no death and made the Leaderboard with it quite a few times.

I use Jewels of Misrule for the stam and mag regen. Can use the more expensive stuff for a bit more but I find it not necessary.

Lot's of build choices to experiment with if your friend has the time. Good luck!

HedgeHugger · November 23

The biggest pain reliever I found for Arthritis, (Rheumatoid Arthritis in my case), was switching to a controller. Not just for ESO but all games. Took a while to get proficient with a pad, but these days keyboard and Mouse for gaming are almost alien to me. I was very much the other way. Since the '90's I was KBM all the way. 2017 I got an Xbox and the pad was just easier. Less pain, less stress on my joints.

Orbital78 · November 23

Some controllers actually have toggles that can be setup, to take some strain off your fingers for heavy attacks probably. PC gaming via controllers has been slowly improving. Even Xbox Elite finally added keyboard support.