New Weapon Suggestion

ichsuisme

Weapon skill line suggestion: Arcane Scroll
- Weapon ability line that scales and uses Magicka
- AOE, medium range skills. ~10m max.
- Rotating elements with every cast: Fire, Ice, and Electric.
- considered a 2h weapon
Introduced to players with a quest. Scroll weapons can be found, bought, traded, sold, etc, but will be innate until the quest is completed. Quest involves Sheogorath. It should be separate from the Mages Guild plot line so new characters can start with these right away like the other weapons; although a reason to revisit eyevea would be nice.
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Quest summary: There are new rumors of a mysterious workshop that used to belong to a great scroll-crafter being found, so the Mages guild sends you and one of their scroll enthusiasts to investigate. The rumors turn out to be true. A perfectly balanced, Omni-scroll was crafted, and it’s the first successful attempt in Tamriel: a scroll that can cast any kind of spell at any time; your mages guild buddy gets excited and nerdy. As the player reaches it, Sheogorath appears, he heard of the rumors too. He’s much less impressed. Thought he might stumble upon some new tools for cheese making, but he finds paper instead, very lame.

Mages guild buddy starts to get upset with the Daedric Prince’s lack of respect for the discovery – Sheogorath lashes out and shreds the scroll up. And poof, flash of butterflies, Sheogorath is gone. Mages guild buddy immediately gets to work in order to reassemble the scroll. He’s able to do so with some success, buddy starts to relax a bit.

Poof! Sheogorath reappears “I came back because I kept thinking how rude I had been to not offer any cheese, and to my total surprise, I catch the two of you two disgracing the favor I just did for you. You will not waste your time with that pointless piece of paper any longer.” The already damaged scroll is incinerated and then its ashes are made into awful forgeries that buzz, pulse, and twitch with energy – an act that ridicules the recent discovery. Sheogorath’s scroll is wickedly unstable and the perfectly balanced, original scroll is lost.

“This version will be much more entertaining. I’ll have Haskill make copies out of all that dusty old parchment floating around, do you know how many useless scrolls there are like the one I just improved? I’ll make sure he spreads the copies all around– just to make sure the mages never forget what little ole me did for all the mages here today! I preserved the fun of magic! Should we celebrate? No, scratch that, I’ll find a much more cheerful group elsewhere, this space is feeling a little bit…. Mournful. Maybe one of these toy scrolls will make you feel better.” Poof.

Mages guild buddy is pained. Doesn’t have the determination to even try. Suggests to you to ignore the scrolls too. Part ways soon after. You have more determination than the mages guild buddy; you try it and realize scrolls can be equipped as weapons now.

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Active Skills
1. Energized Launch: Send a projectile hurling towards your target doing x amount of fire, ice, or electric damage.
a. Send 3 projectiles in rapid succession (fire, ice, and electric). If any of these are a critical hit, they deal extra aoe damage.
b. The projectile does more damage to shields and lowers the strength of the enemy’s next shield by x amount.


2. Wild Pull: Command the scroll’s magic to cling onto an enemy and pull them into the ground. (Imagine the Elden Hollow 1’s last boss and her quicksand-like CC ability, that’s the animation
I’m thinking of). Deals X fire/ X ice/ or X electric damage. Can cast multiple times, single target.
a. If the enemy is killed while under the effects of this ability, then the pit of energy opens open to be 3m wide and remains there for 8 seconds, pulling in more enemies that stumble
into it. Only one active at a time with this morph; Recasting will now remove previous ones.
b. Deals more damage and restores 20% of the cost if the enemy dies while effected by this CC. Can still cast multiple times.


3. Open-minded: Accept the faults of the scroll and embrace its unstable magic. The Scroll skills will now do 40% extra damage as pure magic damage for 15 seconds.
a. All scroll skills also gain +6m casting range. Affects light and heavy attacks as well.
b. All AOE Scroll Skills gain +3 AOE radius. Affects heavy attacks if you take the arcane amplify morph.


4. Flood: Magical Energy will pour into your targeted area and all of the competing magical elements will tear at the enemies within that area from the inside out, dealing X fire, X Frost, and X
electric damage. When the elements pass, it afflicts the enemy with a random status effect: burning, chilled, or concussed.
a. Revealing Flood: You take note of the enemies’ weaknesses. Enemies in the area are affected by minor vulnerability for 8 seconds. Casting this a second time on
the same enemies applies minor breach and minor vulnerability for 10 seconds.
b. Persisting Flood: every two seconds, the same area is again flooded with energy and damages enemies again. The radius grows 1m every time it spikes. Lasts 8 seconds.


5. Arcane Amplify: Self buff. While this buff is active, your light and heavy attacks store energy which will turn into a shield once this ability is recast or ends (like the health burst from forward
momentum, but a shield and it’s damage-based instead of time-based.).
a. Killing an enemy within 2 seconds of a light attack will give you +15% regen to health, magicka, and stamina for 3 seconds.
b. Heavy attacks deal AOE splash damage now too.


6. (ultimate) Suppress: target an enemy. If they use a magicka-based ability within 4 seconds, the energy from your scroll rushes to seek them out. Their ability is negated and then deals X fire, X ice, and X electric damage to them and 30% of this damage is also done to a small area around them. If the effect does not proc, the enemy takes no damage but you will gain +200 magicka regen for 6 seconds in consolation; since your spent ultimate points will be forfeited. Must have Line of sight for the entirety, must not be farther than 28 meters when the effect procs (cannot cast and then rapidly streak away)
a. Bonus damage based on how much magicka their skill cost. Even more bonus damage if the skill cost more than 4000 mag.
b. Refund 75 ultimate out of the 120 cost if the three seconds pass and the effect does not proc.


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Light and heavy attacks

I don’t picture scrolls having as much range as staves but I also don’t see them being strictly melee range either. In my head I’m thinking: staves = long range & single target; scrolls = medium range & aoe.

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Passives: haven’t given these much thought. Probably similar to destro staves: increased status chance, maybe a bonus to spell damage for x seconds after killing an enemy with a scroll equipped. Etc. I don’t know if I’d support any ice-tank options though. Some survivability would be handy since I’m arguing scrolls shouldn’t have as much range, which means you can be attacked more easily.
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Rotating elemental types
How I'm imagining it is any attack will progress the rotation. Lets say the first attack in combat is always fire. Light attack and voila, it's fire damage. Then you use the #1 skill, it's an ice skill, heavy attack now and bam, it's electric, you use your #2 and you pull an enemy into a pit of fire and deal fire damage.
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Closing thoughts

Thanks for reading. I returned to this game after a break and I'm glad to be back but I have to admit: I am bored of all the weapon choices. They haven’t changed in… how many years has this game been around now? I felt the need to be constructive rather than just staying frustrated. I hope that’s relatable. This is the kind of content that would convince me to re-sub to eso+. I have played on and off since beta, I need new skills in bulk.

I tried to be fair about the skills, tried to make it different from destruction staves but still similar: giving breach I think helps a lot. The difference is the constant switching of elemental damage types. With staves you’re locked in which is great, yes, but an option like this would open up a lot of builds.

Most of my time in ESO has been PvE but I do PvP in cyro and bgs so I also tried to think of what I would want in both situations and for pvp I thought of what’s missing: a single target, one-time-use negate; admittedly the ultimate would be less useful in PvE but many of the weapon ultimates shine much more in PvP anyway – I don’t feel bad for the decision, I think it’s fair, besides, it wouldn’t be unusable: there’s plenty of mage mobs in pve. When you’re marked with the ultimate, the marked player should have obvious visual cues – so the counter play to it is to just pay attention to what’s happening around you and wait out the mark duration; yes, 4 seconds can be a long time to play defensively so either pop a potion and try to eat the damage or pray you can afford to wait. The skill isn’t an automatic win, it can fail, and if the player doesn’t pay attention to who their target it, perhaps a stamina player or mob, the effect won’t proc.

I’d be interested to hear feedback. I have other ideas I’ve written down for other weapon skill lines and such, but I don’t know if ideas like this are even welcomed – so I will wait!

Oh and the quest was just my way of thinking how you could explain a completely new weapon being added. It’d be short, but I think something like that would be nice, right? Without it, the weapon addition would just be totally out of the blue but with it, it could explain why and how you're finding scrolls in dungeons all of a sudden. Besides, Sheogorath is a beloved character anyway so I don’t think many people would turn down another interaction with him.

ichsuisme

When I said innate I think the word I was actually searching for was dormant.

TheShadowScout

Scrolls generally are depicted as -consumables-, not a weapon.

And as such... well, I personally would love to see them revive the shelved spellcrafting concept into a -Scrollcrafting- skill line that allows people to make scrolls to cast "canned spells", and then trade them around for others to use and such...

And of course, the point is also well made that more options on magica weapons would also be very good for the game, to combat the creeping boredon once you know each of them in and out, but I already made my own ideas on that one known: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/371862/additional-weapon-skill-ideas-mk-ii

ichsuisme

yeah scrolls in tes have generally been consumable but as far I know, there's nothing that would prevent a reusable scroll to exist. dual wielding wasn't a thing until skyrim. Whole schools of magic have been erased or combined from game to game. Eso doesn't require consumable arrows. Soul gems aren't used in enchanting in eso. So the mechanics in tes series can change and I think a reusable, chaotic scroll is within the realm of possibilities.

And yeah, spell-crafting would be great but that'd require a whole system to go along with it, multiple animations, materials, nodes, probably a new workshop bench, npcs, etc. I hope it still is implemented but a scroll weapon should be much simpler to implement, the devs would only have six new skills to make animations for rather than idk - countless skills that would come with spell crafting. And six skills would be easier to balance as well.

Radiance

I'm still holding out for Wands but I doubt there will be a new weapon, there have been countless threads with several pages of ideas and they literally only just made 2h and Staff count as a dual set piece so this is highly unlikely...

TheShadowScout

Heh, makes me think... there could be a new weapon flavor, "Chaotic"... be a destruction staff just like fire, ice and shock, but with a randomly fluctuating effect... one of those, or disease, or oblivion damage, or poison, or maybe occasionally even fairy rainbows that only do half damage or even heal the enemy, just to make it "random"... and could come for any future magic weapon and weapon enchantments as well, just for those who like surprises...

ichsuisme

Any new magicka-based weapon would great, the point of this post is I'm itching for new combat skill and gear combinations -and desperate enough to dream up my own skill line to explain what I want- but have wands ever been in an elder scrolls game before? I suggested a scroll weapon since I know they've been around for a long time. The earliest game I've played was Morrowind and I know scrolls were in that game but I can't recall any mention of a wand in any of the games.

As far as likelihood - yeah, I'm hopeful but not counting on this making its way into development but ZoS pays attention to these kinds of threads: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/404566/suggestions-for-new-weapon-line-type

SilverIce58

According to both Skyrim and Oblivion, scrolls are one time use items that are useable by literally everyone because they don't consume magicka. It's thought that they're one time use bc the paper that holds the spell deteriorates after the spell is used. Morrowind, afaik, does not seem to have any lore on scrolls even tho they're one time items.

What does prevent a reusable scroll to exist, is the fact that there arent any in other games, and while you could use the argument that most knowledge is lost after the 2nd era, the telvanni are many things, but they are not forgetful, and there's no way they'd forget about reusable scrolls. Thus, they'd have some in morrowind, and there were none in morrowind in the 3rd era.

A better magicka weapon would be the datamined 1hand and rune.

ichsuisme

A pure magic damage staff variant, with no elemental type, would be a welcome addition but it wouldn't be enough for me. If that were the only change it'd be a huge disappointment. It'd still be a staff and it'd still use staff skills. I would still have the same skills on my bar, they would just be a different damage type. I would still be bored, the way I approach a fight wouldn't change: wall of elements, impulse, impulse, force pulse on the one left standing. Plus if it had a chance to heal the enemy instead of damage it - that wouldn't be received well in end-game pve content like vet trials or in pvp.

I need new skills to experiment with and new combinations to have fun with. I don't want wall of elements, impulse, force pulse, or destructive touch on my bars.

Gilvoth

very interesting view and is a good read.

ichsuisme

silverice, The absence of scrolls in other games could be explained away if need be.

My point was just to call attention to the need for new skill lines so ESO, and my ideas of what one should look like, how it might stand out from what it currently exists.

ichsuisme

dwemer_paleologist, thank you, glad to hear.

SilverIce58

ichsuisme wrote: »

silverice, The absence of scrolls in other games could be explained away if need be.

My point was just to call attention to the need for new skill lines so ESO, and my ideas of what one should look like, how it might stand out from what it currently exists.

Theres no absence of scrolls in other games. Theres scrolls in Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim. Im saying theres no reusable scrolls.

TheShadowScout

Also, while scrolls would be somewhat iffy, there is no reason a new weapon could not be something else with such effects. Magic wands, mystic runestones, eldritch artifacts, spirit totems, etc.
And as I said:

TheShadowScout wrote: »

...the point is also well made that more options on magica weapons would also be very good for the game, to combat the creeping boredon once you know each of them in and out...

No matter how it looks, i really would want to see the weapon skill lines at the very least double in number, so people have more choices, and characters get more diverse!

ichsuisme

SilverIce, I should have been clearer. I understood what you said; I meant the absence of reusable scrolls could be explained away. Perhaps Sheogorath ordered Haskill to recall & destroy all of the reusable scrolls on a whim because he found it boring. Or - perhaps the scrolls actually aren't infinite and do degrade over many many years but that happens after the ESO timeline ends and before other games. There are plenty of of possibilities.

Sahidom

First. I apologize for bumping the thread. I did a search and thought I'd add to a current one with my suggestion.

I really would like to see a new Melee/Striking Staff weapon line. The weapon skill line would offer new alternative for magic builds to have a melee range weapon skills line that scale to Max. Magic and Spell Damage. The weapon line would than provide some support for melee oriented magic builds; but also offer stamina version morphs.

For instance,

Power Slam (magic) would be a moderate DD strike, as the wielder slams the staff down on the target. You could compare the skill to Upper Cut.

Double Strike (either magic or stamina) would be a fast weapon channel that double strikes the target. You could add a third jabbing strike with the end of the staff with a possible staggered effect or a minor heal negation effect.

Quick Reversal (stamina) would be a hooking strike that does relocates you behind the target. Possibly, offering a short Empowered benefit for your first Light or Heavy Attack. This skill would be a tactical CC weapon skill because quick displacement briefly breaks LOS from the target.

Focused Strikes (magic) would be a strong DD strike, as the wielder focuses his energy to briefly reduce the channel time for heavy attacks. This would be using the old Weighted weapon trait mechanics that increased your attack speed.

These suggested ideas bring out some DD and utility weapon skills similar to other weapon skills i.e. Rally, Deadly Cloak, Weakness to Elements, etc. I ultimately would love to see a viable melee magic weapon skill line, as expanding upon the different staffs seemed good.

dazee

Hit people with a rolled up newspaper, the weapon of a true hero.

Red_Feather

I would love more skills to play around with and you put a lot of work into this. I wish it could come true.