DISCLAIMER: The following suggestions are in no way, shape, or form being implemented into the game in any version of reality. The following suggestions are solely the changes that I, as an individual with subjective preferences and more than probably incorrect views of balance, would like to see implemented into the game. By continuing to read this thread, you are acknowledging that both parties, the reader and the poster, are entitled to their own opinions, but only mine will be represented by this thread. I'm Freddy Krueger. You are in my nightmare. You're just along for the ride. But that's not to say that you can't achieve dream warrior status. Back up your suggestions/comments/criticisms/critiques with critical analysis and careful consideration in a calm, collected, and friendly way, and you may or may not see some of your ideas implemented into the original post.
Now then. This post has to do with rebalancing all of the racial passives across all of the different races, as I believe ZOS way of doing it has so far been
inherently wrong. This is because ZOS doesn't stick to certain unbreakable guidelines when designing racial passives. Each race seems to be doing its own thing. There's no set of rules that each and every race is being forced to follow, other than the "roughly 6.5 item set piece bonuses", whatever that means. It would logically follow then that the races are not balanced. The first step to achieving real balance, is by establishing guidelines. Here are mine:
GUIDELINES
1.
Every race will be allotted 3000 maximum resources to play around with, no more and no less (with the exception of health bonuses receiving a 10% increase consistent with all other sources of health in the game). These can be distributed in any which way between Magicka, Stamina, and Health, so long as the total sum of these bonuses neither exceeds nor falls below the 3000 pre-adjusted maximum resource mark. The only races with more than 3000 total maximum resources have a health bonus, which will receive a 10% increase in accordance to the 10% increase in health over stam or mag found elsewhere in the game (evidenced by set bonuses granting 1096 stamina/magicka but 1206 health and attribute points granting 111 mag and stam but 122 health). For example, a race can have 1000 max stam, and 2000 max mag, while another can have 3000 max stam but no health and magicka. A race can also have 1000 max stam, 1100 max health (on account of the 10% increase), and 1000 max magicka. A race cannot have 3000 max stam and 1100 health, as the sum of these exceeds the 3000 pre-adjusted maximum resources limit. Nor can a race have 500 max stam, 550 max health, and 500 max magicka, as the total sum of these falls below the pre-adjusted 3000 maximum resources. Does this sound nice and fair to everyone? No? Well too bad.
2.
Every race will have a small defensive bonus of relatively equal value. In most cases, this will be a consistent numeric value of bonus resistance to a particular type of damage.
3.
Every race will have a sustain tool for at least one of their resources. The effectiveness and ease of use of this sustain tool will be dictated by the offensive power of the race through an inverse relationship. That is to say that, generally speaking, the more offensive power a race has, the less access it has to main resource sustain. And vice versa: the lower the offensive power of a race, the more access it has to primary stat sustain.
4.
Every race will be granted the equivalent of two 2-4 piece item set bonuses. In certain situations, because endgame builds will utilize only one or the other, additional set bonuses will be granted strictly as magicka or stamina counterparts to the existing 2 set bonuses. But that is the only exception. For the most part, these bonuses are copy pasted directly from current 2-4 piece set bonuses already found in the game. There are a few exceptions, where liberties were taken. My apologies. But again, I'm Freddy Krueger. This is my dream.
5. Last and certainly not least,
every race will more or less reflect traditional TES lore. Because of (my perceived notion of) balance, not all elements of the lore can be reflected. But the general feel of each race's lore must be preserved.
My logic behind these guidelines is that by giving every race equal amounts of max resources, independent of the questionably quantifiable "set bonuses", it leaves less room for variance between the races. Further restricting classes to having similar defensive bonuses (numeric value-wise) and requiring them to have a sustain tool further reduces the room for negotiation on these "set bonuses" by dropping the overall number from ~6.5 to exactly 2. Furthermore, copy pasting these bonuses directly from preexisting item sets wherever applicable maintains the balance between races by feeding off of the balance currently found in the game.
It is also important to note that my proposed changes are based off of the most recent analysis of DPS parses done by
@susmitds and the Hell Runners Guild, found here:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/458985/raid-buffed-dps-test-each-class-each-dd-race-pts-4-3-3/p1
The study conducted by
@HatchetHaro will also act as a basis of my rebalance for the magicka races, found here:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/459447/dps-comparison-of-races-on-pts-v4-3-3-pretty-graphs-analyses-and-farming-for-insightful-votes/p1
Later in this thread, I provide a detailed analysis of these studies and use their findings to justify the changes I make to the races.
Big shout out and special thanks to those brave and patient souls, willing to take the time for all those DPS parses in the name of science. This wouldn't be possible without you. Well conducted, guys.
Well then. Lets get into it.
ALTMER - I like where this one sits in the current dps parsing, competing for the top spot. I don't like their off-stat sustain, as it doesn't seem to fit the lore, but like the idea of having a bit of off-stat utility for PvP balancing
Maximum resources: 2000 magicka 1000 stamina (1000 bonus stamina for utility. Mainly a PvP balance addition, to help bridge the gap between them and the dunmer in that department. also helps make up for the loss of spell recharge)
Defensive bonus: 5% damage resistance while casting (unchanged - Altmer, lore wise, have very weak defenses. This is reflected by this admittedly weak defensive passive)
Sustain tool: Fully charged heavy attacks restore an additional 20% of the resources they normally would. (This is to keep Altmer damage dealers' sustain low as they will primarily be weaving light attacks, while also providing a sustain tool for altmer healers to take advantage of to compete with Breton healers. This also synergizes quite nicely with their defensive bonus, as heavy attacks are considered channeled/cast time abilities)
Set bonuses: (unchanged)
1. 129 spell damage
2. 129 spell damage
ARGONIAN - In PTS v4.3.3, I think Argonians are falling a bit behind in DPS. I like their emphasis in survivability though. Could use some help on the stamina side for lore.
Maximum resources: 1000 magicka 1100 health 1000 stamina (granting the extra 1000 to stamina to more closely resemble the bonuses granted to them in previous games)
Defensive bonus: 2310 disease resistance. Immunity to diseased status effect. (unchanged)
Sustain tool: When you drink a potion, you restore 4000 magicka, health, and stamina (unchanged)
Set bonuses:
1. 129 spell/weapon damage (this replaces their current 6% healing done, as spell damage also directly increases the power of healing spells. it also helps them out in the DPS race, where they are lagging behind a bit)
2. 4% healing received (this reinforces the idea of Argonian survivability in any role, not just as healers)
BOSMER - all sorts of problems with their roll dodge mechanic, ranging from a lore perspective to the bonus being tied to a very expensive stamina cost. Also wanted to open them up to more magicka roles. I like where they are currently sitting in dps parses, however. Therefore, I've kept their stats very similar to how they are in 4.3.3. One notable difference is the division of their sustain: half of it now comes from a new sustain tool that can be specced for magicka recovery. Penetration bonus helps them keep up with other races that I've granted maximum primary resources to that were previously parsing on similar levels as the bosmer)
Maximum resources: 2000 stamina 1000 magicka (max mag to boost efficiency in magicka roles)
Defensive bonus: 2310 poison resistance. Immunity to poisoned status effect (unchanged)
Sustain tool: While the effects of one of your alchemical potions or weapon poisons are active, restore 400 magicka or stamina, whichever is higher, every 4 seconds. (emphasizes their proficiency in alchemy while also opening the door to magicka bosmer)
Set bonuses:
1. 129 stamina recovery (having a hard 129 stamina recovery emphasizes their natural agility, even when specced for magicka)
2. 1487 physical/spell penetration (Kra'gh one piece bonus, but again opening the door for magicka bosmer)
BRETON - parsing a little too high in my opinion, on account of their godly sustain. Brought that down considerably, giving them slightly more raw power instead.
Maximum resources: 3000 magicka (magic boost to compensate for loss of sustain)
Defensive bonus: 2310 spell resistance. Status effects have a 10% lower chance of being applied to you. (focus on status effect avoidance, rather than conditionally doubling the bonus. Keeps it more in line with other race's defensive bonuses)
Sustain tool: When you use an ability, restore 300 magicka. If the ability used does not damage an enemy, the magicka restored is doubled. This can occur once every 6 seconds. (reducing their sustain in damage dealer roles while also retaining their superior sustain compared to altmers in healer roles)
Set bonuses: (relatively unchanged)
1. Reduces the cost of magicka abilities by 3% (this one is hard to quantify, as there are currently no set bonuses that provide this. I wanted to keep the cost reduction though, as it has become a staple of the breton identity. came up with the 3% figure by balancing the current breton reduction bonus, the armor of the seducer 5 pc bonus, and the imperials new cost reduction ability)
2. Reduces the cost of magicka abilities by 3%
DUNMER - I like where they are at in current parses for the most part. Wanted to emphasize the duality of their nature as both skilled warriors and casters in comparison to the altmer, according to lore. Steered hard into utilization of both stat pools (for added combat utility for roll dodges, break frees,etc on the magicka side of things and more magicka utility for crowd control, self buffs/heals, nb cloaks, etc on the stamina side of things).
Maximum resources: 1500 stamina 1500 magicka (retaining their equal split in offensive capabilities, while adhering to the 3000 max resource limit)
Defensive bonus: 2310 resistance to fire. Immunity to burned effect (unchanged)
Sustain tool: Dealing direct damage restores 645 magicka or stamina, whichever maximum is lower. 6 second cooldown (Altmer spell recharge. Seemed a lot more fitting on a hybrid race)
Set bonuses: (unchanged)
1. 129 spell/weapon damage
2. 129 spell/weapon damage
IMPERIAL - i like where they are going in v4.3.3. They are being established as as the swiss army knife race. They are well suited for any role. Could still use some help in the DPS race, both as magicka DD and as a stamina DD
Maximum resources: 750 magicka 1650 health, 750 stamina (spreading these out among all three resources to play into the jack of all trades identity. Damage concerns addressed in set bonuses)
Defensive bonus: 1155 spell resistance 1155 physical resistance. Increases amount of damage you can block by 5% (seems fitting that the jack of all trades, master of none should receive equal bonuses to all damage, at the cost of potency. Added block damage in place of a status effect immunity)
Sustain tool: When you deal direct damage, restore 333 magicka, health, and stamina. 5 second cool down. (unchanged)
Set bonuses:
1. Reduces magicka/stamina cost of your abilities by 3% (again hard to quantify, but seems like 3% could conceivably be a 2-4 piece set bonus, given the 5th piece bonus of the armor of the seducer set is 8% reduction)
2. 129 weapon/spell damage
KHAJIT - I think they are at a pretty good place in terms of balancing magic cats against stamina cats. They could both use a slight boost to keep them more competitive with the other races, however.
Maximum resources: 1250 magicka 550 health 1250 stamina (boosting offensive capabilities while staying true to 3000 max resource limit)
Defensive bonus: Decreases the radius enemies can detect you while sneaking by 3m (unchanged)
Sustain tool: 100 magicka recovery, 100 health recovery, 100 stamina recovery (slight boost to stat recovery to keep them competitive with other races in the DPS race)
Set bonuses: (unchanged)
1. +5% critical damage (another hard one to quantify as set bonuses, but I feel the current 10% increase to critical damage is quite balanced)
2. +5% critical damage
NORD - I think there is a reason why ZOS hasn't touched them since the initial rework. I really like where they currently are. Could use a bump in the DPS race to keep up with other races in that department
Maximum resources: 1100 health 2000 stamina (bonus to stamina to keep them competitive as DPS)
Defensive bonus: 2310 cold resistance. Immunity to chilled status effect. (unchanged)
Sustain tool: When you take OR deal damage, generate 5 ultimate. 10 second cooldown. (modified to support nords in roles other than tank. Otherwise unchanged)
Set bonuses:
1. 2975 physical/spell resistance (only changed the values to accommodate the 2 set bonus limit established in the guidelines)
2. 129 weapon damage (to help them keep up in the DPS race, as they are currently falling behind)
ORC - I like where they currently are in v4.3.3 Good balance of damage and hardiness. Supports the lore.
Maximum resources: 2000 stamina 1100 health (unchanged)
Defensive bonus: 2310 Shock resistance. Immunity to concussed status effect. (not a very lore-based change. I just imagine it would be particularly difficult to give an orc a concussion. It also makes me happy to use bonus resistances to each of the elemental damage types in my racial rebalance. Freddy Krueger strikes.)
Sustain tool: Restore 600 health when you deal damage with a weapon ability, 4 second cooldown (unchanged)
Set bonuses: (unchanged)
1. 129 weapon damage
2. 129 weapon damage
REDGUARD - overall in a good spot. Could use a slight boost to help close the gap between orc/dunmer a bit.
Maximum resources: 3000 stamina (bump to stamina to boost their offensive capabilities slightly)
Defensive bonus: 2310 physical resistance. Reduces effectiveness of snares applied to you by 15% (lore related bonus. Emphasizes their expertise in all things related to physical combat, while maintaining their lack of magical prowess, both defensively and offensively. Snare reduction unchanged)
Sustain tool: Dealing direct damage restores 250 stamina. 4 second cool down. (Nerfed to balance out the buff to their stamina cost reduction abilities, balanced to a level similar to the Breton's current sustain tool due to the new similarities between their set bonuses)
Set bonuses:
1. Reduces the stamina cost of abilities by 3% (again, hard to quantify. But chose to reduce stamina cost of all abilities to mirror breton, and also stick to my established quantification of cost reduction in terms of set bonuses)
2. Reduces the stamina cost of abilities by 3%
You will notice most of the races remain relatively unchanged from what they currently are on 4.3.3, other than a slight bump in offensive power to the races that are currently under-performing. This is quite intended. My goal in this hypothetical and very fictional racial rebalance is to provide better balance to the races by establishing a set of standardized rules that racial passives must follow, while also maintaining each race's unique feel and viability for the roles they currently are associated with. I also want to help bridge the gap between some of the races in the latest DPS parses, while more or less maintaining the structure of the current hierarchy.
The following is my commentary on the latest DPS parsing analysis (again found here:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/458985/raid-buffed-dps-test-each-class-each-dd-race-pts-4-3-3/p1
and here:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/459447/dps-comparison-of-races-on-pts-v4-3-3-pretty-graphs-analyses-and-farming-for-insightful-votes/p1) .
STAMINA RACES
On the stamina side of things, Orc and Dunmer are consistently at the top of the DPS charts in controlled testing. This makes sense, as they offer the highest raw damage potential and the least amount of main-stat sustain, meaning they thrive in very controlled environments where sustain is a non-issue (ex/ dummy parses and very well organized and well practiced trial groups). Although they offer the highest amount of damage potential, they are also accompanied by the greatest amount of playing difficulty (on account of their limited sustain). This is their tradeoff, as to achieve their maximum potential the greatest amount of coordination in trials groups is required. These characteristics make up the first tier of DPS races, as there is a considerable gap between these top two races and the next best grouping of races.
Following the Orc and Dunmer are the 2nd tier DPS races: Khajit, Redguard, Bosmer, and Imperial. These races are characterized by having lower theoretical damage potential, but higher ease of play through increased sustain. This means that they do not rely on optimal scenarios (ex/ dummy parses and well practiced trials groups) to achieve their maximum potential. This benefits them in scenarios like solo play and PvP, where sustain could be an issue. As such, they are characterized as being more versatile, but less optimized for min/maxed builds.
The third tier of stamina DPS races is made up of races that possess inferior bonuses to stamina statistics, like Nord and the races typically considered as magicka users.
MAGICKA RACES
Similar to the stamina races, the magicka DPS parses can also be divided into three distinct tiers with similar characterizations (tier 1 = high damage potential + low sustain, tier 2 = magicka bonuses + sufficient sustain, tier 3= unoptimized). At the head of the pack in tier 1 of the magicka races are Altmer and Dunmer. Again, no surprises here as they have the highest theoretical max damage potential but lowest sustain. Uncharacteristically, however, Breton also joins them in this tier. I feel this is rather unintended, however, because Bretons possess the highest amount of sustain and therefore the greatest ease of use. Therefore, it seems that Breton should be bumped down into the second tier of magicka races, but this is not being reflected in the latest parses. We are going to leave them as an outlier for now.
Below Altmer and Dunmer, in the 2nd tier of magicka DPS races, are Khajit followed by Argonian. Again, these races are characterized by having better sustain, but lower max damage potential. That equates to greater ease of use, but less min/maxed damage potential.
The third tier of magicka DPS races is characterized by races unoptimized for magicka damage dealing roles.
THE PROBLEM AREAS
For the most part, ZOS has done an admittedly really good job balancing these races. The one that stands out, however, is Breton. Breton possesses characteristics most closely related to the 2nd tier DPS races: high sustain, but lower max potential damage in comparison to the tier 1 races. Because of their sustain, Bretons are incredibly easy to manage, yet the latest testing shows that they are also competing for the top magicka DPS parsing. This to me indicates that Breton are over performing. I will try to address this in my rebalance.
Outside of this, everything else seems okay. There is a clear grouping at the top of the DPS charts for both stamina and magicka, followed by another clear cluster of races a bit lower. The gap between these two tiers, however, could always benefit by being smaller. Therefore I will also try to increase the damage potential of the 2nd tier races in my rebalance as well.
HOW THE REBALANCE AFFECTS EVERYTHING
In my rebalance, I left the damage potential and main-stat sustain of the Tier 1 DPS races relatively untouched (except for Breton, which in my opinion should drop down to tier 2 on account of their ease of use). This is quite intentional, as I already like where they are currently in DPS parsing. The exception to this is the Dunmer, that have suffered a max resource reduction to 1500 max stam and magicka because of the confines of my guidelines (no race will have more than 3000 max resources). In compensation, I've granted them access to off-stat utility. This change will admittedly lower their DPS parses, but still keep them clearly above the 2nd Tier DPS races. Furthermore, they will gain off-stat sustain in the tradeoff, emphasizing their hybrid nature in TES lore. This gives dunmer the slight disadvantage in dps parses when compare to "pure" races of similar characteristics (Altmer and orc) as a tradeoff for their hybrid viability.
I've attempted to drop Bretons down to the Tier 2 DPS races by removing a large part of their sustain (100 magicka recovery), while boosting their maximum magicka by 1000. This should put them more in line with their stamina counterparts, Redguard and Bosmer, and seat them comfortably toward the top of the 2nd tier DPS races. I've given them access to main-stat restore through the use of healing abilities so that they may retain their incredible sustain in the healing role and further differentiate them from the Altmer.
To all the 2nd tier DPS races, I've provided either a max resource or damage boost. This should result in a slight shift up in DPS parsing charts for the entire 2nd tier of races, and help to bridge the gap between the two tiers.
I've also experimented with giving Bosmer magicka viability (although it is still clearly better optimized for stamina), because I feel the roll dodge mechanic needed a complete overhaul. Plus, the more diversity the better, right?
For reference, here is an outline of the current DPS hierarchy:
MAGICKA
Tier 1
Altmer/dunmer/breton
Then, about 1k dps lower:
Tier 2
Khajit
Argonian
Tier 3
Unoptimized
STAMINA
Tier 1
Orc/dunmer
Then, about 1k dps lower:
Tier 2
Redguard
Khajit/bosmer/imperial
Nord (presumably)
Tier 3
Unoptimized
Here is what I hope to accomplish with the rebalance:
MAGICKA
Tier 1
Altmer
Dunmer
Then, less than 1k dps lower:
Tier 2
Breton/khajit
Imperial/argonian/bosmer
Tier 3
Unoptimized
STAMINA
Tier 1
Orc
Dunmer
Then, less than 1k dps lower:
Tier 2
Redguard/khajit/bosmer/nord
Imperial/argonian
Tier 3
Unoptimized
Anyway. I was bored and daydreaming, so go nuts.
P.S. A lot of these suggestions are not of my own creation, as I have picked quite a few of them up from reading suggestions in other threads. I apologize for not giving credit where credit is due, but I do not remember where I picked a lot of them up. If anything I've used is one of your ideas, please let me know and I'll happily give you the credit you deserve.