So I did a quick comparison...

DDuke

Derra wrote: »

DDuke wrote: »

Derra wrote: »

DDuke wrote: »

Ace_SiN wrote: »

RoyJade wrote: »

Mmmh. You haven't take any player controls, and you weren't able to perform any real dps. So… a sorc who do that is totally useless, and you weren't hit on your weakness.
And the other player don't attack you at all. I can easily survive against a pack of ncp too, without any skill needed. But against a good player, that's not the same thing.

I'm going to go solo some groups of vet mobs and show you just how OP my shields are in PvP. /sarcasm

Seriously though.. Can we get some real tests in here? 1v1 will NEVER be balanced in a game with a low skill ceiling(which eso has). Therefore, it must be balanced around group play(which takes way more skill than making the best "you can't kill me" dueling build).

Oh, so I'm not allowed to beat a shield spammer in 1v1, while in 1vX I'm required to use one to survive?


That sounds very balanced indeed...

How about just admitting there's a problem, when 75% of people use dmg shield abilities (even on Live), and when it's even worse on PTS?

I was always under the impression that dodgeroll was incredibly powerful in terms of dmg mitigation against multiple people. Far more potent than shields (in fact i saw a video of someone dodgerolling the attacks of an entire raid for a good 20 seconds - try that one with shields). Seems like a fair tradeoff?

Ahahah... no.

There's a period of time after dodge roll when you can take damage. Time your attacks right & you'll hit your target every single time.

Also, it suffers from the same kind of a bug as cloak does.
If you have multiple people attacking you & you decide to dodge roll, you evade only one or two attacks while the other 27 hit you & you're dead in a second, unable to do anything while in the dodge roll state, and any stamina build can attest to that.

That said, a skilled stamina build can avoid the attacks of one person by timing his/her dodge rolls to the opponent's attack rhythm (though it doesn't help against channeled abilities or DoT ticks).

I have yet to meet someone that is able to hit the splitsecond in between dodgerolls reliably - ever.

Edit: I can´t even manage to switch my weapons reliably and that only requires client server communication no third party involved.
Also i´ve not experienced people hitting single target attacks through dodgeroll when attacked by multiple enemies. But maybe thats a thing zos has implemented to hold back stam players. It´s all a conspiracy to keep the stick&shirt guys at the top of the food chain.

Eh... I do that all the time.

Maybe it's a trick you haven't learned yet?

If you try spamming roll dodge, you'll notice there's a 1,3 second cooldown between them (not a split second).

Perhaps I should record some footage for you, so you can learn.
I'll do the same to demonstrate how roll dodge does not save you against multiple enemies.

Derra

DDuke wrote: »

Derra wrote: »

DDuke wrote: »

Derra wrote: »

DDuke wrote: »

Ace_SiN wrote: »

RoyJade wrote: »

Mmmh. You haven't take any player controls, and you weren't able to perform any real dps. So… a sorc who do that is totally useless, and you weren't hit on your weakness.
And the other player don't attack you at all. I can easily survive against a pack of ncp too, without any skill needed. But against a good player, that's not the same thing.

I'm going to go solo some groups of vet mobs and show you just how OP my shields are in PvP. /sarcasm

Seriously though.. Can we get some real tests in here? 1v1 will NEVER be balanced in a game with a low skill ceiling(which eso has). Therefore, it must be balanced around group play(which takes way more skill than making the best "you can't kill me" dueling build).

Oh, so I'm not allowed to beat a shield spammer in 1v1, while in 1vX I'm required to use one to survive?


That sounds very balanced indeed...

How about just admitting there's a problem, when 75% of people use dmg shield abilities (even on Live), and when it's even worse on PTS?

I was always under the impression that dodgeroll was incredibly powerful in terms of dmg mitigation against multiple people. Far more potent than shields (in fact i saw a video of someone dodgerolling the attacks of an entire raid for a good 20 seconds - try that one with shields). Seems like a fair tradeoff?

Ahahah... no.

There's a period of time after dodge roll when you can take damage. Time your attacks right & you'll hit your target every single time.

Also, it suffers from the same kind of a bug as cloak does.
If you have multiple people attacking you & you decide to dodge roll, you evade only one or two attacks while the other 27 hit you & you're dead in a second, unable to do anything while in the dodge roll state, and any stamina build can attest to that.

That said, a skilled stamina build can avoid the attacks of one person by timing his/her dodge rolls to the opponent's attack rhythm (though it doesn't help against channeled abilities or DoT ticks).

I have yet to meet someone that is able to hit the splitsecond in between dodgerolls reliably - ever. Go tell that to you grandmother she might believe the things you make up.
Timing your attacks right

Edit: I can´t even manage to switch my weapons reliably and that only requires client server communication no third party involved.
Also i´ve not experienced people hitting single target attacks through dodgeroll when attacked by multiple enemies. But maybe thats a thing zos has implemented to hold back stam players. It´s all a conspiracy to keep the stick&shirt guys at the top of the food chain.

Eh... I do that all the time.

Maybe it's a trick you haven't learned yet?

If you try spamming roll dodge, you'll notice there's a 1,3 second cooldown between them (not a split second).

Perhaps I should record some footage for you, so you can learn.
I'll do the same to demonstrate how roll dodge does not save you against multiple enemies.

I can perform 3 dodgerolls in 3 seconds. According to you this would atleast take 1s per dodgeroll +2x delay of 1.3s so 5.6 seconds. Maybe we´re playing a different game.
Who do you think you´re kidding with your absolute nonsense (that is easily verifiable as nonsense in 2 minutes it takes to login and perform a few dodgerolls).

Edit: God, i´m so angry i even logged in to call you out just to be 101% sure.

Dracane

I can dodge roll as often as I want and after a dodge roll, I automatically evade incoming projectiles and such things and then I can simply roll dodge again.

Yesterday on the PTS there was a NB. He was at a Lumbermill. Me and 6 NPCs were attacking him and this is no joke: He roll dodged like 30 times and even destroyed the guards while doing it. I've had no chance to ever hit him.

I think, Derra is not the one who needs lessons....

DDuke

Derra wrote: »

DDuke wrote: »

Derra wrote: »

DDuke wrote: »

Derra wrote: »

DDuke wrote: »

Ace_SiN wrote: »

RoyJade wrote: »

Mmmh. You haven't take any player controls, and you weren't able to perform any real dps. So… a sorc who do that is totally useless, and you weren't hit on your weakness.
And the other player don't attack you at all. I can easily survive against a pack of ncp too, without any skill needed. But against a good player, that's not the same thing.

I'm going to go solo some groups of vet mobs and show you just how OP my shields are in PvP. /sarcasm

Seriously though.. Can we get some real tests in here? 1v1 will NEVER be balanced in a game with a low skill ceiling(which eso has). Therefore, it must be balanced around group play(which takes way more skill than making the best "you can't kill me" dueling build).

Oh, so I'm not allowed to beat a shield spammer in 1v1, while in 1vX I'm required to use one to survive?


That sounds very balanced indeed...

How about just admitting there's a problem, when 75% of people use dmg shield abilities (even on Live), and when it's even worse on PTS?

I was always under the impression that dodgeroll was incredibly powerful in terms of dmg mitigation against multiple people. Far more potent than shields (in fact i saw a video of someone dodgerolling the attacks of an entire raid for a good 20 seconds - try that one with shields). Seems like a fair tradeoff?

Ahahah... no.

There's a period of time after dodge roll when you can take damage. Time your attacks right & you'll hit your target every single time.

Also, it suffers from the same kind of a bug as cloak does.
If you have multiple people attacking you & you decide to dodge roll, you evade only one or two attacks while the other 27 hit you & you're dead in a second, unable to do anything while in the dodge roll state, and any stamina build can attest to that.

That said, a skilled stamina build can avoid the attacks of one person by timing his/her dodge rolls to the opponent's attack rhythm (though it doesn't help against channeled abilities or DoT ticks).

I have yet to meet someone that is able to hit the splitsecond in between dodgerolls reliably - ever. Go tell that to you grandmother she might believe the things you make up.
Timing your attacks right

Edit: I can´t even manage to switch my weapons reliably and that only requires client server communication no third party involved.
Also i´ve not experienced people hitting single target attacks through dodgeroll when attacked by multiple enemies. But maybe thats a thing zos has implemented to hold back stam players. It´s all a conspiracy to keep the stick&shirt guys at the top of the food chain.

Eh... I do that all the time.

Maybe it's a trick you haven't learned yet?

If you try spamming roll dodge, you'll notice there's a 1,3 second cooldown between them (not a split second).

Perhaps I should record some footage for you, so you can learn.
I'll do the same to demonstrate how roll dodge does not save you against multiple enemies.

I can perform 3 dodgerolls in 3 seconds. According to you this would atleast take 1s per dodgeroll +2x delay of 1.3s so 5.6 seconds. Maybe we´re playing a different game.
Who do you think you´re kidding with your absolute nonsense (that is easily verifiable as nonsense in 2 minutes it takes to login and perform a few dodgerolls).

Edit: God, i´m so angry i even logged in to call you out just to be 101% sure.

Sorry, not online atm

Rendering an exciting 1.6.2 Sorc PvP video showcasing how wonderful dmg shields are.

After that, I'll render the video I filmed for you & @Dracane that shows when you can attack a roll dodger. You're welcome btw

Dracane

DDuke wrote: »

After that, I'll render the video I filmed for you & @Dracane that shows when you can attack a roll dodger. You're welcome btw

A gentleman knows, how to maintain his 2 ladies (at least I think, Derra is a lady as well)

Derra

You can. If you´re lucky to hit the 0.2 seconds between dodgerolls where he has a passive evasion buff up.

Dracane wrote: »

DDuke wrote: »

After that, I'll render the video I filmed for you & @Dracane that shows when you can attack a roll dodger. You're welcome btw

A gentleman knows, how to maintain his 2 ladies (at least I think, Derra is a lady as well)

Ig Altmer girl. Would not call myself a lady. Sold my loyalty to the covenant to depose the false Queen.

Definetely no ladyparts rl though. He won´t get me that way!

Wolfenbelle

Question: How are people getting so many Champion Points when the cap is supposed to be 70? Is it that easy and fast to grind them up?

AriBoh

Wolfenbelle wrote: »

Question: How are people getting so many Champion Points when the cap is supposed to be 70? Is it that easy and fast to grind them up?

They added the full 3400 or something this PTS patch for us to try. 70 is only what you get if you have at least a (or equivalent characters to) vr14 when the system goes live.

DDuke

Derra wrote: »

You can. If you´re lucky to hit the 0.2 seconds between dodgerolls where he has a passive evasion buff up.

Actually, it is one second (I analyzed it frame by frame on my own PvP footage), and luck has nothing to do with it

In a game without skill cooldowns, players have a tendency of hitting abilities as soon as the global cooldown is over. This leads to a certain attack rhythm, which you can easily adapt to as a roll dodger.

Wait a second instead of mashing that button. You can use the roll dodge animation to your advantage here, and hit the skill button when it is nearing the end (assuming skill doesn't have a long travel time, Snipe for instance).

Here's the window you have to hit your target:

http://youtu.be/_Y0lKt3qAbk


And here's how "balanced" PvP is with dmg shields:

http://youtu.be/3GAfb5V5zjo

Template gear, no potions used, magicka stays at 100%, I kill the opponent simply by spamming one dmg shield & heavy attacking.
Such skill, wow...

This is pretty much every fight I've come across in PTS (where I don't get hit by 132k Silver Bolt or 98k Razor Caltrops).

I can even have 3 people attacking me, and they won't be able to kill me.

Are you really defending this?


I went through a lot of effort to record & render these videos, this is not the response I want:




Thank you.

pppontus

Wow, I didn't even realise it was THAT bad. That shield better be fixed....

Snit

Solanum wrote: »

Now, can I ask you, why are you running with light armor?

Magicka builds have to run light armor for the same reason stamina DPS builds run medium -- resource management and crit. Medium also provides a moderate amount of armor/ spell resist. LA does not.

Ezareth

pppontus wrote: »

Wow, I didn't even realise it was THAT bad. That shield better be fixed....

The issue has nothing to do with shields and everything to do with him fighting terribads and the fact 3600 champion points isn't balanced nor can it be balanced.

Getting insane bonuses to Magicka Regen, Heavy Attack Magicka returns, Magic Cost reduction, and Damage shields will ensure he never runs out of magicka with only 1-2 people beating on him.

A templar could do the exact same thing just spamming heals and heavy attacks without using shields at all.

I soloed a keep by myself last night with my 3600 points. Is it really worth discussing balance at all in this situation?

Dracane

If damage shields are going to be nerfed, we can say goodbye to Sorcerer (if not right now)

DDuke

ezareth_ESO wrote: »

pppontus wrote: »

Wow, I didn't even realise it was THAT bad. That shield better be fixed....

The issue has nothing to do with shields and everything to do with him fighting terribads and the fact 3600 champion points isn't balanced nor can it be balanced.

Getting insane bonuses to Magicka Regen, Heavy Attack Magicka returns, Magic Cost reduction, and Damage shields will ensure he never runs out of magicka with only 1-2 people beating on him.

A templar could do the exact same thing just spamming heals and heavy attacks without using shields at all.

I soloed a keep by myself last night with my 3600 points. Is it really worth discussing balance at all in this situation?

Yes, it is worth discussing balance when another person with 3600 points cannot kill a shield spammer (also with 3600 points).

Heavy Attacks weren't even required, I could just spam the shield non-stop without them, even when being attacked by 3 people.

And those 3 people (assuming they've 3600 points allocated) weren't able to kill me.

Of course you can brand anyone who can't kill a person with 2 hours experience with dmg shields "terribad", but that's not really a compelling argument.

Snit

pppontus wrote: »

Wow, I didn't even realise it was THAT bad. That shield better be fixed....

Yes, NB players certainly agree that light armor players should be easier to kill. It's like asking lions to vote on whether they want the antelopes to be faster

As others have said, consider changing tactics a bit. Crowd Control works great on sorcs, and NB's have access to some really good stuff.

DDuke

Snit wrote: »

pppontus wrote: »

Wow, I didn't even realise it was THAT bad. That shield better be fixed....

Yes, NB players certainly agree that light armor players should be easier to kill. It's like asking lions to vote on whether they want the antelopes to be faster

As others have said, consider changing tactics a bit. Crowd Control works great on sorcs, and NB's have access to some really good stuff.

You probably didn't watch the video.

I can get CC'ed non-stop (even without Arena set), and I'll be able to break it all the time
No worries if I don't manage to do that, my 22k shield will still be up when the CC is over.

Funny trivia: if I used Barrier, I could actually get almost 60k worth of shield.

Again though, it's not only a sorc problem.

Next video will be on the Templar, stay tuned...

Jahosefat

Have you tried CC against the sorc that is full mag and can CC break once if he has blocked anything. Just CC him. For the love of nirn, you have the best CC in the game as a NB.

[Moderator Note: Edited per our rules on Rude and Insulting comments]

Ezareth

DDuke wrote: »

ezareth_ESO wrote: »

pppontus wrote: »

Wow, I didn't even realise it was THAT bad. That shield better be fixed....

The issue has nothing to do with shields and everything to do with him fighting terribads and the fact 3600 champion points isn't balanced nor can it be balanced.

Getting insane bonuses to Magicka Regen, Heavy Attack Magicka returns, Magic Cost reduction, and Damage shields will ensure he never runs out of magicka with only 1-2 people beating on him.

A templar could do the exact same thing just spamming heals and heavy attacks without using shields at all.

I soloed a keep by myself last night with my 3600 points. Is it really worth discussing balance at all in this situation?

Yes, it is worth discussing balance when another person with 3600 points cannot kill a shield spammer (also with 3600 points).

Heavy Attacks weren't even required, I could just spam the shield non-stop without them, even when being attacked by 3 people.

And those 3 people (assuming they've 3600 points allocated) weren't able to kill me.

Of course you can brand anyone who can't kill a person with 2 hours experience with dmg shields "terribad", but that's not really a compelling argument.

No, it isn't worth discussing because the balance of the game will drastically change by the time people are approaching anywhere near max champion points. Honestly do you find the game fun at all with 3600 points? I don't. You have over 43K Magicka and absurd regen and cost reduction.

Anyone that died to you *is* terribad, the problem is they burned all their resources attacking you instead of saving their resources like you did.

Anyone using defensive abilities and no real offensive spend can do this *on live* with the exception they can easily run out of stamina while the champion system prevents that from happening with you.

The balance of the game should favor the scaling of defensive abilities over offensive one at extreme levels. The alternative to this is a bunch of people running around 1-shotting others.

DDuke

ezareth_ESO wrote: »

DDuke wrote: »

ezareth_ESO wrote: »

pppontus wrote: »

Wow, I didn't even realise it was THAT bad. That shield better be fixed....

The issue has nothing to do with shields and everything to do with him fighting terribads and the fact 3600 champion points isn't balanced nor can it be balanced.

Getting insane bonuses to Magicka Regen, Heavy Attack Magicka returns, Magic Cost reduction, and Damage shields will ensure he never runs out of magicka with only 1-2 people beating on him.

A templar could do the exact same thing just spamming heals and heavy attacks without using shields at all.

I soloed a keep by myself last night with my 3600 points. Is it really worth discussing balance at all in this situation?

Yes, it is worth discussing balance when another person with 3600 points cannot kill a shield spammer (also with 3600 points).

Heavy Attacks weren't even required, I could just spam the shield non-stop without them, even when being attacked by 3 people.

And those 3 people (assuming they've 3600 points allocated) weren't able to kill me.

Of course you can brand anyone who can't kill a person with 2 hours experience with dmg shields "terribad", but that's not really a compelling argument.

Anyone that died to you *is* terribad, the problem is they burned all their resources attacking you instead of saving their resources like you did.

Anyone using defensive abilities and no real offensive spend can do this *on live* with the exception they can easily run out of stamina while the champion system prevents that from happening with you.

And that is exactly why these shields are too strong right now.

I should not be forced to use a freaking damage shield (or spam heals for that matter).

I'm playing a rogue character, I don't heal, I don't spam shields.
Should I be just AP fodder for shield spammers?
Or what if I wanted to play a heavy armour warrior, or a pure DPS mage.
Same scenario?

How can you find a game where everyone plays some ridiculous healer/shield mage spamming heavy attacks even remotely interesting?

Zero diversity.
Zero skill required.
Zero fun.

And if you look at the video, it's me who is the "terribad".

All I'm doing is spam heavy attack, while my opponent does skill rotations & CCs me etc.


Right now, I believe you are just blindly defending a broken concept, because you're too stubborn to admit you're wrong.
My advice to you: admit you're wrong.

olsborg

Are you comparing crystal fragments to surprise attack? if you are, thats kinda dumb. One is instant cast and the other one has a cast time. (and thats just the most obvious difference)

DDuke

olsborg wrote: »

Are you comparing crystal fragments to surprise attack? if you are, thats kinda dumb. One is instant cast and the other one has a cast time. (and thats just the most obvious difference)

No... I think you completely missed the point of the thread. Go read it again.

Crystal Frags & Flame Lash comparisons are there just to demonstrate that it's the exact same problem for magicka builds trying to break shields as well.

Vis

Snit wrote: »

pppontus wrote: »

Wow, I didn't even realise it was THAT bad. That shield better be fixed....

Yes, NB players certainly agree that light armor players should be easier to kill. It's like asking lions to vote on whether they want the antelopes to be faster

As others have said, consider changing tactics a bit. Crowd Control works great on sorcs, and NB's have access to some really good stuff.

Sums up this thread pretty well. Some people can't win no matter how many times they get their opponents nerfed.

Snit

DDuke wrote: »

This is pretty much every fight I've come across in PTS (where I don't get hit by 132k Silver Bolt or 98k Razor Caltrops)

You're running a build with four toggles, which is simultaneously the tankiest and the least useful sorc build possible. The only thing this build is good at is outlasting people.

If your focus is one vs one balance in duels, I understand this is a big deal. And that's part of the disconnect -- many of us are focused on team vs team PvP, not duels. Your build offers no burst damage, no crowd control, no heals, no utility. Nothing. You're just a hard *** to kill.

If this build became the meta for sorcs, I'd quit, too Running a four-toggle build, spamming shields while waiting for your pets to slowly whittle the other guy down would be a miserable playstyle, and I'd be adding almost nothing to my group. That's why I suspect exactly nobody will run it, other than those who want to gather up and duel.

But, kudos -- this is a pretty clever tanky duel build for sorcs. I'm sure you can put together an unkillable block-based guild for DK's or Templars, too, if you put your mind to it.

Vis

Snit wrote: »

DDuke wrote: »

This is pretty much every fight I've come across in PTS (where I don't get hit by 132k Silver Bolt or 98k Razor Caltrops)

You're running a build with four toggles, which is simultaneously the tankiest and the least useful sorc build possible. The only thing this build is good at is outlasting people.

If your focus is one vs one balance in duels, I understand this is a big deal. And that's part of the disconnect -- many of us are focused on team vs team PvP, not duels. Your build offers no burst damage, no crowd control, no heals, no utility. Nothing. You're just a hard *** to kill.

If this build became the meta for sorcs, I'd quit, too Running a four-toggle build, spamming shields while waiting for your pets to slowly whittle the other guy down would be a miserable playstyle, and I'd be adding almost nothing to my group. That's why I suspect exactly nobody will run it, other than those who want to gather up and duel.

But, kudos -- this is a pretty clever tanky duel build for sorcs. I'm sure you can put together an unkillable block-based guild for DK's or Templars, too, if you put your mind to it.

Again though, don't be too impressed. Far more champ points go to defensive abilities and resource management than those that go to dps (over 3 to 1). Again, DDuke is being disingenuous because he knows that

3600 cp defenses >> 3600 cp dps

And hopes we won't realize that so he can nerf other classes off of false information.

DDuke

Snit wrote: »

DDuke wrote: »

This is pretty much every fight I've come across in PTS (where I don't get hit by 132k Silver Bolt or 98k Razor Caltrops)

You're running a build with four toggles, which is simultaneously the tankiest and the least useful sorc build possible. The only thing this build is good at is outlasting people.

If your focus is one vs one balance in duels, I understand this is a big deal. And that's part of the disconnect -- many of us are focused on team vs team PvP, not duels. Your build offers no burst damage, no crowd control, no heals, no utility. Nothing. You're just a hard *** to kill.

If this build became the meta for sorcs, I'd quit, too Running a four-toggle build, spamming shields while waiting for your pets to slowly whittle the other guy down would be a miserable playstyle, and I'd be adding almost nothing to my group. That's why I suspect exactly nobody will run it, other than those who want to gather up and duel.

But, kudos -- this is a pretty clever tanky duel build for sorcs. I'm sure you can put together an unkillable block-based guild for DK's or Templars, too, if you put your mind to it.

It kind of is the meta already for many, and it is only getting worse (instead of getting fixed, as I kind of expected from 1.6 & their promises of "build diversity")

Why do you think I haven't released any new PvP videos for over 5 months?

I don't find it fun playing against people whom I have 0% chance of winning, despite being the better player.

Encounters should be decided on who is the better player (reaction speed, strong combos, situational awareness etc), not who has skill X slotted (by the very definition this skill would be overpowered at this point) & spams heavy attack.

Nivzruo_ESO

I'd agree that everything should be balanced around 1v1 first.. if it's balanced 1v1 then in most cases it will translate into XvX, if it doesn't then that is when you start tweaking things.

Snit

DDuke wrote: »

It kind of is the meta already for many

I have trouble accepting this statement. Many? I've literally never seen anyone run a sorc with no attack spells on their bar, no heals, no group-friendly utility spells.

I agree with you that this is an awful build to fight against, but it would be awful to play, too. It's ineffective at everything that's actually important in Cyrodiil (taking objectives through team-based play).

You're thinking about PvP. I'm focused on RvR. You're saying that, if a sorc piles up every survival-based tactic, they're extremely hard to kill. I agree, but I'm saying 98% of us will be relying on a small subset of those skills, as we also need to do useful stuff. Yet, we still need that small subset to give us reasonably survivability, or we're as useless to our team as your build is

Darlgon

DDuke wrote: »

I don't find it fun playing against people whom I have 0% chance of winning, despite being the better player.

I find this statement extremely arrogant. If you are the better player, you would not have zero chance.

Vis

Darlgon wrote: »

DDuke wrote: »

I don't find it fun playing against people whom I have 0% chance of winning, despite being the better player.

I find this statement extremely arrogant. If you are the better player, you would not have zero chance.

He builds a tank with only tank skills, set up with the super tanky 3600 "tank" points, and then wants everyone to admit he's a tank? What is the point? Haven't sorcs been nerfed enough already for you? Most nerf criers quit this game when they did not get what they wanted, and some quit because they got more nerfs than they bargained for.

Your 3600 cp build means nothing to me. Everyone is a tank of sorts at 3600 cp.

[Moderator Note: Edited per our rules on Rude and Insulting comments]

DDuke

Snit wrote: »

DDuke wrote: »

It kind of is the meta already for many

I have trouble accepting this statement. Many? I've literally never seen anyone run a sorc with no attack spells on their bar, no heals, no group-friendly utility spells.

You must not duel much then. Regardless, this build works even without Magelight for instance (feel free to replace with Crystal Frags). Shield will be 2k~ weaker but eh... who cares, still unbreakable.

Again, this is not a sorc problem. I can build a similar "unkillable" build with Templar & Blazing Shield...

Snit wrote: »

I agree with you that this is an awful build to fight against, but it would be awful to play, too. It's ineffective at everything that's actually important in Cyrodiil (taking objectives through team-based play).

I can solo a keep with this build & tank every single NPC at a resource, or make 2-3 people get bored when they try to kill me, and if they don't have heals my pets will kill them eventually.
Too ineffective for your taste? Again, feel free to replace one skill with Crystal Frags, it'll still be impossible to kill you.

Snit wrote: »

You're thinking about PvP. I'm focused on RvR. You're saying that, if a sorc piles up every survival-based tactic, they're extremely hard to kill. I agree, but I'm saying 98% of us will be relying on a small subset of those skills, as we also need to do useful stuff. Yet, we still need that small subset to give us reasonably survivability, or we're as useless to our team as your build is

News for you: PvP is RvR. PvP is 1v1, PvP is 1vX & PvP is XvX.

In every single regard, damage shields are overpowered.

1v1, player without dmg shield? Well, consult my video.
1vX, player without dmg shield? Dead. Find me one video of a good PvPer that doesn't spam shields and/or heals.
XvX, player without dmg shield? Dead in 2 seconds once the zerg train closes in.

How is this balanced, in any regard? Choice is obvious: slot a dmg shield & survive, or don't slot it & die.