We have been playing ESO since the second to last beta and have been involved in almost all aspects of eso including RP, trials, dungeons and VMA. The only thing that we regrettably have next to no experience in is PVP.
On discord last night we had a two hour discussion about what we think should be done not only to balance eso but to make it less awkward and more fun for everyone. The changes in one tamriel did a great deal to achieve this goal but below is a list of changes that we think will greatly improve the experience that eso has to offer.
- Make two handed weapons (staffs, bows and 2h) count as two pieces of a set - This one seems like it would only increase the gap between magicka and stamina as the majority of stam builds have access to two 5 piece sets and a monster helm set while the majority of magicka builds only have access to one 5 piece set, a 3 piece jewelry, a monster helm set and an awkward weapon off to the side (usually vMA). We feel like allowing all characters to have the same structure of item builds (5/5/2) provides more diversity in the builds. It would also improve the state of bow and 2h dps builds. Obviously if this is implemented the power increase would need to be managed appropriately.
- Change awkward sets like twice born star- this isn't really a balance thing but this set is really cool and interesting but we find ourselves avoiding it's use purely and simply because it limits the players ability to adapt builds on the fly. With any other set you can unequip the set for a certain fight in favor of a different set and then reequip the set after the fight however with twice born star if you do this you have to go out and reacquire your second mundus buff. I'm not sure how easy this would be to implement but would it be possibly to store a second mundus buff per player so that when the twice born star set is equipped it automatically activates the second stored mundus? If not would it be possible to have the character sheet have a drop down that allows players to switch between all DISCOVERED mundus stone buffs. This means that exploration is still important but it isn't as limiting to players.
- Choose a stance on stam vs magicka and stick with it- This one has been an argument since beta. Should melee stam builds have higher dps than casters because of the added danger? Should they be tankier than caster builds so as to better survive the increased danger? ESO balance has danced around this question over many updates. Just when it seemed to be settling on stam being better at sustaining resources magicka builds started having access to ele drain or siphon spirit (which is being mega buffed next patch). Instead of dancing around the subject, pick a stance and stick with it, an easy method would be to provide a stamina steal debuff as well as a magicka steal debuff. This would make stamina builds the ultimate resource sustain dps. Another possibility would be to add a lot more health sustain to melee abilities so that melee builds can mitigate some of the danger that comes with standing in red more often.
- Possibly rework master/maelstrom weapons- With the new update coming soon, skill lines have been altered so that the spam-able single target ability comes first in every skill line. With this change doesn't it make sense for the master weapons (that are very rarely used) to be reworked to boost the power of these skills rather than the old first in tree skills (such as cleave on the 2h). By doing this there would be two avenues for obtaining a solid endgame arena item. It could even be arranged so that master weapons provide a better increase to the main hand weapon (such as using snipe as main dps ability on a bow) while maelstrom could be the best off hand bar weapons (such as endless hail with maelstrom bow). This would further diversify builds and also allow for a substantial buff to 2h dps in PVE (increasing dps of uppercut the 2h single target dps ability).
Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I would like to remind you we have no experience in PVP. I welcome any feedback (particularly dev feedback letting me know if these changes are a possibility).