Lightning staves = dead

Somber97866 · March 2023

What I mean by that is in endgame pve lightning staves don't cut mustard. They are whoahfully inadequate and fall off the map. It's a shame really.

Kisakee · March 2023

I don't know where you've been since Oakensoul but Lightning Staves are the key element of most Heavy Attack builds nowadays.

spartaxoxo · March 2023

Look up lightning staff one bar builds

haelgaan · March 2023

mmmkay, lemme know how you do with an ice staff...

freespirit · March 2023

Always used to use flame staves, now most of my character's use lightning.

colossalvoids · March 2023

A lot of things ingame aren't endgame material, nothing wrong with it. It also depends on your particular endgame, people already done plenty trifectas on ha lightning setups and pretty sure a lot of folks consider this endgame for themselves.

tonyblack · March 2023

Lightning suck in pvp even more so than in endgame pve. The most underpowered and overlooked element out of 3 sadly. It’s in dire need of buffs or redesign for years, even ice is better at this point which is absolute joke considering it was the weakest in skyrim and in eso it has tons of tank utility added on top of all the damage, while lightning only niche is heavy attack builds.

Nyseto · March 2023

HA builds shouldn’t outperform, let alone be in the same ballpark as LA builds. If you want dps, work for it

markulrich1966 · March 2023

Lstaves have become a niche.

The easy playstyle (autotarget) would make them great for beginners.
But those will hit like a wet noodle with them, as they have no access to empower yet and might not be aware that they have to grind wayrest sewers for sergeants mail.

The class that literally was the incarnation of those staves, the sorcerers, don't even has a class skill for empower.
They need to either get Oakensoul (grind), mages guild level 9 (grind), or queens elegance set (minor grind, but the latter blocks the benefit of using a different set.

If you are advanced and can workaround this (I use some templars and DKs for empower), HA can hit pretty strong.
But I gave up grindinding again for the majority of my characters, sorcerers, and meanwhile left the game out of frustration (and other unsolved flaws).
In Fallout 76 the classes are far less complex, certainly too simple, but very relaxing after the class/skill mess of ESO.

Stx · March 2023

Lightning staves are by far the best heavy attack weapon. For builds that weave light attacks, they aren’t as good for a number of reasons. But they aren’t dead.

If lightning staves are dead then all weapons except dual daggers are dead.

Somber97866 · May 2023

I'm gonna hold my breath bc that's how long it's going to take the zos to Nerf those one bar heavy attack builds

logan68 · May 2023

i prefer them i cant stand the windup on the other staffs feels like i am just standing there.

Ei8htba11 · May 2023

Nyseto wrote: »

HA builds shouldn’t outperform, let alone be in the same ballpark as LA builds. If you want dps, work for it

You have to buy the expansion, grind levels, grind leads, grind gear, upgrade said gear, correct the traits.. I'd say they worked for it. I've tried a Oak sorc, it's fun, but doesn't replace my other characters or playstyle. It's just a different style

Kirawolfe · May 2023

Nyseto wrote: »

HA builds shouldn’t outperform, let alone be in the same ballpark as LA builds. If you want dps, work for it

Nah. Enjoy accessible dps and playing levels of the game you might not have had access to before.

(because it is a game, not work)

I'm enjoying finetuning LA weaving on my stamblade atm, and also enjoy my oakensoul sorc for some relaxed fun.

Lightning staff is definitely the most fun to use out of all the staves, even outside of an HA build.

nemesrichard · May 2023

Nyseto wrote: »

If you want dps, work for it

You mean change to meta builds?

Roylund · May 2023

nemesrichard wrote: »

Nyseto wrote: »

If you want dps, work for it

You mean change to meta builds?

I mean, that's by definition. Things become meta because they're seemingly optimal. If something off meta is better then it becomes meta eventually.

If you're saying all it takes is having a meta setup then that's part of it.

Gruumsh1 · May 2023

Nyseto wrote: »

HA builds shouldn’t outperform, let alone be in the same ballpark as LA builds. If you want dps, work for it

Apologies, but why? Same ball park should be more than adequate. Why do people need to fit in your view of how to get dps? Some just can't for myriad reasons. Why not bring in varied styles of play? Sure, lots of people have taken up the HA build but that doesn't diminish your play style. People who love weaving will still do so.

Isn't it better to have more people in game doing good dps regardless of how? Or is it better to force people to weave when they're poor-to-average at it, or worse, can't at all?

Forcing people to play how someone else wants is likely one of the reasons people leave games. To be fair, given all the "this game is dead" quotes and posts in game and on the forums, that's not a great approach.

M0ntie · May 2023

Kirawolfe wrote: »

Nyseto wrote: »

HA builds shouldn’t outperform, let alone be in the same ballpark as LA builds. If you want dps, work for it

Nah. Enjoy accessible dps and playing levels of the game you might not have had access to before.

(because it is a game, not work)

I'm enjoying finetuning LA weaving on my stamblade atm, and also enjoy my oakensoul sorc for some relaxed fun.

Lightning staff is definitely the most fun to use out of all the staves, even outside of an HA build.

Agree 100%.
LA builds (with a lot of practice and skill) do hit the hardest in nearly all end game content. This gives appropriate reward for effort. I think ZoS's intention of making all vet content more accessible with the HA builds - which use lightning staffs - is working - and are a lot of fun.
I'll run my HA sorc (with lightning staff) in some situations, but mostly love my LA mag DK (DW, 2H/inferno) for trials.

Because of the HA builds, lightning staffs are used more in PVE than they have been in a long while.

MudcrabAttack · May 2023

The new low APM Arcanist build would do more dps with lightning staff, especially for ranged fighting. It’s not much in the grand scheme of things but thought I’d share it, bow hawke eye stacks die off when weaving light attacks around Fatecarver, and flame staff doesn’t help as much.

In terms of pure AOE dps (where you’re mostly just knocking over weak enemies in AOE with Cephaliarchs Flail x2 and Fatecarver) lightning staff outpaces dual wield.

For single target DPS dual wield can’t be beaten with the extra status damage from the other weapon glyph

Dr_Con · May 2023

haelgaan wrote: »

mmmkay, lemme know how you do with an ice staff...

*a warden enters the chat*

ZOS_Hadeostry · May 2023

Greetings,

After further review we have decided to move this thread to a category we think is more appropriate for this topic, as it deals with mechanics.

Thank you for your understanding

MindOfTheSwarm · May 2023

Gruumsh1 wrote: »

Nyseto wrote: »

HA builds shouldn’t outperform, let alone be in the same ballpark as LA builds. If you want dps, work for it

Apologies, but why? Same ball park should be more than adequate. Why do people need to fit in your view of how to get dps? Some just can't for myriad reasons. Why not bring in varied styles of play? Sure, lots of people have taken up the HA build but that doesn't diminish your play style. People who love weaving will still do so.

Isn't it better to have more people in game doing good dps regardless of how? Or is it better to force people to weave when they're poor-to-average at it, or worse, can't at all?

Forcing people to play how someone else wants is likely one of the reasons people leave games. To be fair, given all the "this game is dead" quotes and posts in game and on the forums, that's not a great approach.

100% agree. Accessible for people with disabilities is the way forward. People need to stop acting like entitled brats that their sweaty weaving should be the only viable means of completing endgame content. LA builds still can compete btw, there are sets specifically designed for LA weaving and even spamming in some niche cases. And this is coming from someone who likes weaving and prefers this style to the HA one bar builds.

MindOfTheSwarm · May 2023

Dr_Con wrote: »

haelgaan wrote: »

mmmkay, lemme know how you do with an ice staff...

*a warden enters the chat*

Key to good Ice DPS is to go all in on the Chilled status. It hits hard on a Warden and can proc multiple times.

MindOfTheSwarm · May 2023

On another note I do agree ultimately that the Destro staves feel stale. They need to be split up into three separate skill lines with unique interactions and skills, while specialising in combat styles through skills and passives.

All staves should have the choice of being able to tank with such passives put into the Clench morph.

fred4 · May 2023

tonyblack wrote: »

Lightning suck in pvp even more so than in endgame pve.

Well, I guess templar sucks, Sweeps sucks, and DW + ice staff is probably meta when you do play such a build. I still like lightning staff + 1H+S. I like the 1H+S ultimate on templar and find lightning staff the most playable attack weapon to go along with that. It buffs Puncturing and Crescent Sweeps. It allows you to restore magicka with easy to land channeled heavies.