Melee Magicka Weapons; A Request

DocFrost72

Forward: Fighting in melee range with a staff (for me) feels clunky and unnatural. I also prefer the aesthetic of the melee combat in this game over the staff. I am suggesting several ways one could implement melee oriented weapons that scale with and restore magicka.

Option One: Bound weapons line.

The most obvious choice within the lore of TES, bound weapons are simply conjurations from a daedric plane manifest in the shape of common mortal weapons. Examples exist in previous games such as the bound sword, the bound battleaxe, and the bound bow from Skyrim. These weapons, once cast, were functionally indistinguishable from standard weapons. However, there existed two methods to strengthen them: being a better swordsman, or investing into the conjuration line. Ergo, in the canon states that these weapons grow more powerful with magical aptitude.

The gameplay proposal: Create (one or several) line(s) containing skills and passives. This one would be the trickiest to impliment. I will operate assuming one line, but if ZOS elects to go multiple (assuming they even consider this) that is their prerogative.

Skill line:

Ability one: Elemental Conjuration.
"Imbue your weapon with magicka and strike forward, dealing x magic damage."
Morph: Unstable Elements: Instead of dealing magicka damage, the attack randomly deals frost, fire, or lightning damage.
Morph: Penetrating Elements: In addition to dealing damage, inflicts minor breach on the target for 6 seconds.

Ability two: Delayed Spell.
"Place a curse on your enemy which will sap their vitality after 4 seconds, dealing x magic damage and heal you for x% of damage done."
Morph: Sustained Drain: The ability now deals less damage once per second for eight seconds.
Morph: Delayed Rejuvenation: Restore a small amount of magicka if the ability damages your target.

Ability Three: Paralytic Infusion.
"Imbue your weapon with a short lived but highly potent Paralyze spell and strike the target, dealing x magic damage and stunning then for 4 seconds."
Morph: Lingering Paralysis: After the stun ends, the target is snared 30% for four seconds.
Morph: Piercing Paralysis: Target is now stunned even if blocking at the time of impact, though damage is still reduced as normal. Dodging and immunity still prevent the stun.

Ability Four: Hastened Weapon.
"Induce a hastening spell on your weapon to let it lead your charge. For 10 seconds gain minor berserk and minor expedition."
Morph: Advancing Weapon: Activating this ability removes snares and provides four seconds of snare immunity.
Morph: Unstoppable Weapon: Activating this ability provides four seconds of CC immunity.

Ability Five: Radial Burst.
"Channel your magic through the weapon and project it around you as a spectral swipe dealing x magic damage (in a melee radius)."
Morph: Directed Burst: Ability can now be cast with the same radius up to 20 ft away.
Morph: Elemental Burst: Ability now deals a small amount of fire, frost, and shock damage and has an increased chance to proc status effects.

Ultimate: Magicka Dispersion (175 ult)
"You and up to 11 allies within 28 meters deal an additional x magic damage with light and heavy attacks for twelve seconds." (Note: User's attributes are used for all allies to provide one flat scale number).
Morph: Focused Dispersion: Instead of being granted to allies it is instead a self affecting ability. Each light and heavy attack builds up to deal damage at the end of the twelve seconds.
Morph: Healing Dispertion: Light and heavy attacks restore health and deal damage.

Passive 1: Elemental Affinity: While a bound weapon is equipped, your bound weapon abilities do x%/x% more damage to burning, concussed, or chilled enemies.

Passive 2: Focus Magicka: Each successive light and heavy attack increases the damage of the next bound weapon ability by x%/x%. (Does not affect Magicka Dispersion and morphs).

Passive 3: Practiced Conjuration: Reduce the cost of Conjured Weapon abilities by x%/x%

Passive 4: Soul Sap: Killing a target under the influence of a bound weapon ability grants x magicka on a (time)/(shorter time) second cooldown.

Passive 5: Secondary Affliction: Increase the chances of applying the burning, concussed, or chilled status effects by x%/x%.

Option Two: Trait.

What I would consider the much easier choice for ZOS would be adding a new trait to one hand, two hand, and bow weapons. The trait stone could make any stamina ability cost magicka and deal magicka damage instead of physical damage/poison damage. The lack of "trait" is offset by traditionally lower costing abilities for stamina weapons now being afforded to magicka, providing pseudo sustain.

The glaring issues I see with this option is firstly: what about resto and destro? Do they get this trait? What about armor? Going down a physical damage for the destro tree might be a bad idea, so you may end up with uneven traits.

Thoughts?

DocFrost72

update: There are already NPCs that have a "bound sword" ability. The first two I saw were the mages near the dye station at wayrest AND the mage at the pond near the skyshard NW of wind keep, but there are others.



credit for the image used: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/256192/so-bound-weapons-happened-to-me

Tetujin

I’ve always wished that the animations for the staff attakcs could be more martial in nature when in melee range, just automatically. If you are at a distance fire something out of it, sure, but if you are close then wield it with a striking motion. Probably just for the light attacks.

I think it would look and feel more impressive and satisfying, and closer to what you’d do if someone was in your face, rather than continuing to just poke it forward.

I’ve also caught myself wishing that the light attacks had a bit more impact to them in general. Well, I think I like the Resto light attack, had a nice hhhwop to it. For the lightning staff though, the heavy attack has that sustained electrical buzz, but wish there was more of a lightning-strike snap on the light one, for example. Maybe even in a full bolt instead of a spark projectile. Right now it’s like the little flash and poof as if something went wrong with an electrical outlet.

Iskiab

Yea, if they do bound weapons or orbs it would be amazing. I want to play a melee magblade, it would be a lot of fun.

kind_hero

I would really like to see conjured weapons in the game.

Before anything, we have to think which classes and play styles would benefit from them. I am not sure we need conjured weapons for the brawler types of characters, like 2h weapons, also staves would be out of the list for obvious reasons.

So this leaves us with dual wielding weapons and maybe a bow

The problem is that since conjured weapons fit a magicka character, it would be vulnerable in melee range. A melee conjurer needs some sort of magic shield like the sorcerer's aegis.

Adding a new trait for weapons would be a bad idea, because you will complicate sets and crafting/writs quite a lot.

My suggestion is to add a skill line called conjuration or just a few abilities in the existing mage guild tree. BTW, I think the Mages Guild in this game has very few (useful) spells available to the player, so this would compensate a bit. You do not need an ultimate for this... just one two offensive skills and a defensive one, like a shield.

Then by slotting a conjured weapon skill, your existing melee weapon or bow would work like a magicka weapon and scale with your spell power/magicka and conjuring skill, instead of the physical weapon stats. The weapon will be visible only when you draw it, which will be a conjuring spell. But these weapons will have their own abilities, so you can't use snipe with a conjured bow, or rending slashes with conjured daggers. These would be great for magicka nightblades or even some sorcerers. The magicka templars could have a conjured spear, like their javelin, DKs fiery weapons, and so on.

Nerouyn

Just going to name that elephant in the room - class balance.

Visually / thematically, bound weapons would effectively be a significant addition to one specific class - sorcerer.

Sorc had been my main class pre warden and I'm seriously considering returning to it, so personally I could benefit greatly from this. And it would be making ESO more true to the single-player games which would be welcome. But from a fairness and by extension business perspective - because aggrieved players are less likely to throw their money at a developer - bound weapons are problematic.

For the sake of adding something to the discussion I'll throw a third option into the mix.

A non-class toggle ability like the Psijic Mend Wounds which alters the function of your weapon - i.e. makes a physical weapon scale from magic damage and consume magicka, and vice versa.

There's even a great candidate in the Psijic line - Imbue Weapon. Doesn't that name sound perfect for this kind of effect? I can't speak for anyone else of course but I'm not a fan of the current version. I've tried it a few times but don't love Elemental Weapon.

usmcjdking

The easiest way to go about it is to simply have your lights and heavies scale off max stat - and then turn around and at least make penetration a singular value (i.e. merge spell/weapon pen)

worrallj

Specifics are hard to nail down, but as a concept I *love* the idea of bound melee weapons for magicka users.

DeadlyRecluse

I think we're more likely to get sword-and-rune than a bound weapons line (due to sword and rune being in the game files already), but really most of the ideas/suggestions here would work in for sword-and-rune, too.

Drierm

I feel like if they expand the mage guild or add Direnni Tower, they could have a skill line dedicated to Conjuration magic and have all the weapons be toggleable abilities (like the psiijic ones) that cause you to utilize magicka to block, dodge roll and breakfree.

I also think that they could add summonable combat pets with this skill line and make Direnni tower like this giant place with lots of dimensional portals and semi-present constructs that persist in a place between Nirn and where the Aedra ascended to after Direnni tower was built.

I could imagine even a dungeon and trial fitting in there relatively well.

EDIT: I feel like a passive available for these conjuration skills could be that all weapon abilities would use magicka instead of stamina, scale with spell damage and that there would be a conjuration spell for each melee weapon archetype. Furthermore, the pet in the conjuration tree should be a simple summon familiar variant, like the Bretons get for free in skyrim.

Oh, and changing what weapon you're conjuring could be changed in some special way, like using an outfit station or talking to an npc that will imbue your spell in some way to switch your conjured loadout.