Let's talk about it..

boombazookajd

So now that PTS 2 is going to have the interrupt removed, what point is there for the cast time? Sure, he said that they want shields to be used at tactical times but lets address that:

Combat in ESO, even in PVP, isn't very tactical. Sure, there are some and I am not privy to PVP combat but I am aware of terrain use at least. I also don't want to put my nose where it doesn't belong and a strict PVE player, I won't expound upon PVP combat. So, as far as PVE goes, there are no tactical moves. PvE in this game is not in the slightest, in any manner of definition, tactical. It's fast paced and requires the memorization and execution of mechanics, so it is therefore the exact opposite of tactical. The tactics come before a fight, not during. Tactics include pulling a boss to a certain location, etc... not "ok you can use a shield now thats going to take 2-3 seconds to appear and then gone in 1 second".

I'm going to rely on vMA specifically because it is the most difficult content I personally have faced and I am most familiar with. There are no moments in vMA where you could reasonably stop to think "ok use a shield here", if you stop you are dead. You have the sigil to use, but only for a limited time during each round. THAT's where you can be tactical. Otherwise, those shields and their immediacy is what allows you to survive a poison plant, the archers in round 5, the lurchers in round 6 (among everything else), a crematorium guard and most of all, the crystal phase of the final boss.

A 1 second cast time means you are either stationary or moving slowly long enough to be bombed by a meteor, CC'd, stunned, and then spanked by the boss (unless you happen to have enough stamina left after roll dodging the first skull). This also leads to the stamina cost you get from the break free meaning your likely going to eat that skull.

Light armor is the weakest in the game, by design we were given access to a moderate shield which is still pretty easy to lose in PVE content. ZoS stated that they wanted to bring light and heavy armor up to par (I'm assuming this was in PVP, the main focus of this update) but they completely destroyed the balance that exists in the largest portion of the game. As outlined in other threads, this is going to have far reaching implications not just to the magicka end game community but those aspiring to it as well.

Johnny and Susie Q. Newplayer aren't going to know anything different but they are going to be facing a much tougher challenge. For those of us who are aware, it's our responsibility to adapt new players into our community, it's how we survive. However, what is going to happen is magicka toons will either A. be rerolled to stam proactively or B. forced to reroll because trial groups won't want the loss of DPS while the 4 mag toons are taking poops during the execute phase just trying to stay alive, only to have the shield eaten up completely and then going back to pooping.

Boss executes will look like diarrhea tests and the group will likely wipe. It won't take long for groups to realize that 8 stam is going to be better than 4/4 or whatever the ratio is.

Let us also look at my beloved magDK: we are in light armor AND in melee range. We already have it rough when it comes to DPS compared to the stam classes so all you are doing is putting the nail in magDK's coffin in trials. I can't deal damage when I'm pooping and my stam brothers/sisters are already two rotations ahead of me still chugging along.

Finally, this notion from ZOS that shields made healers useless...Have you played your own game? Indeed, some content is possible with 4 DD's especially the base content that you yourself refuse to bring up to the current power level. Power creep is going to kill this game, as it has others before it. If you want to make healers relevant in more content (and they are truly coveted even in normal dungeons for many players not at those high levels) then make your content harder. Banished Cells, Fungal Grotto, Elden Hollow, Spindleclutch, Darkshade, City of Ash, these dungeons are remarkably simple and need a buff.

So, in closing, you've removed the interrupt from the cast time and you've also now removed the only legitimate reason you'd have a cast time on the skill. Remove the cast time altogether.

Thanks for reading.

Agenericname

If the intent was to force a strategic decision, then making the 1 second time a channel where the shield went active upon channeling should suffice. It's still forcing a decision between DPS and sustain and not leaving you completely defenseless in the proccess.

It gives us a reason to scrutinize the use of it without losing the utility .

Or just remove the 1s altogether, that's fine too.

StrawberryKitsune

Inb4 l2p comments

iCaliban

This pts makes no sense. They wanted to buff Medium and Light armor and instead have nerfed both heavily. Its almost like the combat team struggles to clear basic vet dungeons... and cant pvp worth a damn.

Darkenarlol

i think that shields can be interruptable + have cast time but not affected by battle spirit at all

so BIG shileds with risk of interuuption and cast time requires smart use of landscape and/or controls

(still kinda strange and makes magicka even slower in compare to stamina but... it may work)


in PVE defense with cast time is just...damn it is soooo stupeeeed =/

like any ability with cast time ( like psijic acceleration skill) just ruins your comfort waving and

pi**es me off

idk

The interupt is the least of the issue. The idiot who tries to use a shield while in combat will be dead before the shield goes up regardless.

Zos is merely displaying their ignorance of the game they actually manage.

This reminds me when Zos did the ninja nerf to Templar jabs during the first month of two the game was live. They put a near full second CD on the skill so you couldn’t do anything for a moment but stand there like an idiot. They quickly admitted the nerf and reverted it.

They recently removed the activation time for the Templar heal after 4 years of it being an undesirable skill. You’d think they’d learn from mistakes they’ve noticed.

kojou

In general I hate skills with cast times... I don't care what the skill is or what it does, but watching my character wind up a cast time is boring and annoying. I am already planning how I am going to get by without Harness Magicka on my DK.

ruikkarikun

Remove cast time, make shields not stackable, or make major/minor shields as someone mentioned.