Free Berserk! (Only Stam. Other Specs Need Not Apply)

acastanza_ESO · March 2023

The current state of game balance massively disproportionately favoring Stamina is not acceptable. The "risk reward" is a complete fiction (at least in PVE).

With Wrecking Blow granting Major Berserk - one of the strongest buffs in the game (possibly only second to Major Heroism) with near perfect uptime that only pure stam specs can sustain, there is simply no reason for anyone to play anything other than a stamina spec in the current state of the game.

These pure specs, thanks largely to Wrecking Blow, but also ZOS's continual nerfs to any damage that isn't melee - are nearing real 140k parses. No one else can compete with this.

There is no way that any actual game balance team should have approved these changes. Magicka (and frankly, hybrid as well) specs need to be given equal treatment. Unless ZOS removes Major Berserk from Wrecking Blow right away - a buff that does not belong there - a buff that was always intended to be rare and sourced from 5PC set bonuses, and Ultimates - it MUST also be added to a comparable Magicka skill. Anything else is straight up killing the game by locking in Stam as the only valid way to play a DPS (unless you're a DK, then, by ZOS fiat, you can do anything).

I hate to always be the one bringing it back to Sorcerer balance, but ZOS's stated, intentional, refusal to allow Sorcerers to bring anything unique and useful to group play seems to be one of the instigating factors for this change, they saw that the major source of Major Berserk uptime was the Sorcerer atro ultimate, and consistent with their actual, real, stated intent of making sure Sorcerer's don't provide any unique group buffs, took it and gave it to a "universal" stamina skill.

This has to stop ZOS.

ZOS_Kraken · March 2023

Greetings,

After further review we have decided to move this thread to a category we think is more appropriate for this topic.

Thank you for your understanding.

Runefang · March 2023

Ehhh yet to see it used much in content, it feels clunky overall.

Hottytotz · March 2023

Runefang wrote: »

Ehhh yet to see it used much in content, it feels clunky overall.

You wont see it in casual content. The few logs posted already on ESO logs show that wrecking blow is almost exclusively the only spammable getting used now except for DKs. At least by people trying to do their best and be competitive.

And it makes sense. Why not use a spammable that also just gives you a huge %dmg increase over just any other spammable that does nothing special? It doesnt take much brain power to see why this is a massive issue.

El_Borracho · March 2023

Remember when Major Berserk was 25% increase in damage? I do. To the point I would not consider Major Berserk relevant enough to create a build around.

MudcrabAttack · March 2023

It’s clunky weaving in the best case scenario of hitting a target dummy in a house, and worse in a trial during prime time. After enough time gets added waiting on wrecking blows, the berserk buff is basically nullified

Urzigurumash · March 2023

On the other hand,

Since the Malacath era* we've seen a continual slide towards Magicka Class Skills as the leading Damage Skills. Not everybody wants to play an elemental mage of some type, some of us prefer a generic Warrior / Thief.

For the most part the idea of Stamina Class Spammables makes little sense in a broad fantasy context, so I'm in favor of Weapon Skills outperforming Class Skills for Stamina.

* PvP only perspective

merpins · March 2023

It's arguable if it's better than dual wield. In the case that you're playing a class without a good spammable attack, it might be better than dual wield since it's better than Flurry unless you're doing a bleed build or using the Sea Serpent's Coil.

Which classes lack a good spammable attack?

Sorcerer? Definitely. After the nerf to crystal weapons, it lacks a spammable attack for stamina. In fact, I don't think it even has another stamina spammable other than crystal weapons, so they're 100% going to be using Wrecking Blow.

Warden? Kind of. Depends on if you're doing a bleed build or if you're into using cliff racer. Personally, I hate cliff racer as a spammable option because it feels like garbage to use. Always has. That delay makes it have no impact, so it's not fun to use. So unless you're doing a bleed build, if you're Stamina, then Wrecking Blow is the best option.

Templar? Probably. Jabs got nerfed so hard, and the animation is now on par with how bad Cliff Racer feels to use. And it's the only real spammable attack Templar had for both Stam and Mag. Course the other option is mag exclusive, but it's not really a great option imo (blazing spear). So like Sorc, Templar lacks its own good spammable. So Wrecking Blow is probably the best option for Stam.

Nightblade? Probably not. You have some good options on NB, and though Wrecking Blow is a good option, you're probably better off sticking to the old standard. You'll probably be able to make a comparable build using Wrecking Blow on NB, but old NB mains won't swap to it since it's not exactly more damage, but new NB players, or those that want a different playstyle, now just have a new tool they can utilize for a build.

DK? Nah. Don't need it. In fact, DK got the buff on a skill too, even if the duration is short. Might as well use chains if you want it, since the skill is an instant cast rather than having a cast time.

Necromancer? Dunno. I think it goes against Necro's normal playstyle, so I'd doubt it would see use there. But I could be wrong, I don't play necromancer. Cause I don't like the playstyle.

So what did we learn? We learned that Wrecking Blow is a solid spammable attack now. It was a bit too weak before, especially with the Empower change, but now it's actually competing with other options. But is that a bad thing? No, it's not better than other mainstay spammable attacks, it's just being used by some popular classes, like Templar and Sorc, that don't have a good spammable attack. This really just highlights the fact that these classes lack a fundamental class kit tool, and that should be addressed. Not by nerfing Wrecking Blow, but by giving these classes an actual good option to spam. Idk why ZoS decided to nerf those skills so hard; people were using them more than other skills because they were basically the only option. Even if they were overtuned, making them undertuned just highlights skills like Wrecking Blow when they get a glow-up. If Crystal Weapon and Jabs both didn't get a nerf, I guarantee you that Wrecking Blow wouldn't be seen as good as it is seen as right now. It would be seen as a solid option. but people wouldn't switch to if over their class spammables, other than maybe Warden.