Update 24 Combat Preview

xMovingTarget

So, we can expect necromancer Blastbones and syphon to work properly in update 24? Because right now, all the class achieves is frustration with skills that do not work properly.

Red_Feather

@ZOS_BrianWheeler

Would it be possible to add new cleanse options too? I like the counter play of it all. Ideas for class cleanses like Nightbalde can transfer their negatives to an enemy, or Dragonknight can convert negatives effects into a fire blast.

I used to play a game called guild wars (2005) and they had a really interesting system called hexes. Here's a list of all the clever ideas they used for hexes, and hex removal. PvP in guild wars was really really amazing!
https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/List_of_skills_related_to_hex_spells

doopt

So basically you’re walking back both the aoe dmg and st dot dmg changes introduced in patchbreaker.

I considered playerauctions dot com but couldn’t live with myself if I helped to introduce someone to this garbage.

Rikumaru

Solariken wrote: »

Despite the amount of tears on the forums, DOTs don't need to be nerfed at all. Seriously, they are fine as is.

But what's even more crazy is that you want to nerf DOTs and leave healing unchanged. Have you been to a BG lately? Healing is through the roof. You need to tone down pure healing specs, they are WAY stronger than DD counterparts. For real, healers are basically 12-man raid bosses. How about changing Critical Resistance to also reduce the value of healing crits from external sources? Perhaps this would even allow other traits besides Impenetrable to be viable in PvP.

DOTs are in no way fine. They are OP atm, you just get 3+ people applying it on you in Cyrodill and you just melt. It's basically sloads 2.0. It's mindless way to deal damage which you can apply from max range and in soul traps case is undodgeable and instant.

Skjaldbjorn

I'm not holding my breath on Wardens. I've mained Stamden since Morrowind, and it's been almost nothing but disappoint. We're actually super competitive for one or two major patches, and right back to the trashcan with an unnecessary nerf. Boggles the mind.

Get people who understand the Warden class and how to balance it without breaking it in PVP. It's genuinely not that difficult. Warden's fun is its class identity, and off-balance when far away just...doesn't do that. At least for Stam. I hope there's brighter days for Warden, but after so many nerfs throughout their time in ESO, i'm about ready to give up.

Royalthought

Rikumaru wrote: »

Solariken wrote: »

Despite the amount of tears on the forums, DOTs don't need to be nerfed at all. Seriously, they are fine as is.

But what's even more crazy is that you want to nerf DOTs and leave healing unchanged. Have you been to a BG lately? Healing is through the roof. You need to tone down pure healing specs, they are WAY stronger than DD counterparts. For real, healers are basically 12-man raid bosses. How about changing Critical Resistance to also reduce the value of healing crits from external sources? Perhaps this would even allow other traits besides Impenetrable to be viable in PvP.

DOTs are in no way fine. They are OP atm, you just get 3+ people applying it on you in Cyrodill and you just melt. It's basically sloads 2.0. It's mindless way to deal damage which you can apply from max range and in soul traps case is undodgeable and instant.

I'd be ok if it was just soul trap. But adding reach and entropy on top of that just made it too many.

On the topic: Where is nightblade? Necromancer? I love that you're improving the other 3 but leaving out these two in there current state is worrying.

LeHarrt91

Yay Warden Buff

Grandma

If by making every class eventually be like necro, you mean having a heal/dps/tank tree WITH a unique gameplay element that isn't just the same copy and pasted skills with different colors for no reason, then i'd be excited. Like if sorcerers had an actual mechanic they had to follow to maximize dps. That also means I hope that not every tree is the same like the dps trees all being 1) spam 2) burst aoe 3) single target 4) aoe 5) single target r) major debuff.

Juhasow

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

With the Necromancer, we achieved a very clear identity throughout their class kit. You all have expressed strong desires for other classes to get updates to match that identity and we are listening!

Are You really listening ? Because I dont see where in the phrase "Collosus ulti is too strong" You've heared "strong desires for other classes to get updates".

priforce

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Hey gang!

With Update 24 rapidly approaching, we want to give everyone an idea of the changes in store for combat and abilities. There will of course be highly detailed patch notes when the PTS hits with developer comments, but this post covers the broader themes from the update.

The combat changes in Update 24 are more narrow in focus than those we made with the ability audit in Update 22 and 23. Out of that audit came a few things laying under rocks for a while that came to surface, which we are addressing in Update 24 (mainly Damage over Time abilities). We are also looking to address feedback regarding Wardens, Sorcerers, and Dragonknights specifically in the realm of identity.

First off, let’s talk about Damage over Time (DoT) abilities. In Update 23, we made changes to “over time” abilities to make them more competitive and align to a numerical standard. This resulted in more variety in builds compared to Update 22. However, it’s swung the pendulum a bit too far in the other direction. As we’ve stated before, our audit pass doesn’t mean our numbers are engraved in stone, and this is a case where we missed the mark and are looking to correct that. In Update 24, we will be pulling back on the power of Damage over Time abilities, but not Heal over Time abilities. This will reign in some of the damage we’re seeing in PVP, but should not inhibit the completion of trials, dungeons, and arenas. We’ve also adjusted our standards of Area of Effect-based DoTs to once again do similar damage to single target counterparts, but with a much greater cost.

With the Necromancer, we achieved a very clear identity throughout their class kit. You all have expressed strong desires for other classes to get updates to match that identity and we are listening! In Update 24 we are giving Dragonknights, Wardens, and Sorcerers several updates to reinforce class identity, and in some cases, grant new gameplay options. We do plan on having a more in-depth pass at all classes in the future, but for now, we wanted to make a few changes to abilities that didn’t have enough function to their kit beyond “this ability just does damage”. Ultimately, we want to make sure class abilities have good usage cases and bring something extra. For example, Warden’s Dive ability was either Magicka or Stamina based, and that was it. We’re adding a secondary effect of putting enemies off balance when hitting enemies further than 12 meters away. It’s these types of adjustments we’re looking to add to classes as a whole to bring more identity and functionality without heavy reliance on skill lines outside of their class kit.

Lastly in Update 24, we are adding several quality of life additions. Major and Minor buffs will now display what they actually do instead of just displaying their name in your character sheet or on your gear. Sprint and Mount Sprint are now handled by the server more efficiently. You will notice that your stamina bar will drain gradually instead of in chunks, and functionality will remain basically the same; we lowered the cost of Sprint, and fixed an old bug where you could sprint infinitely after mounting. These changes are part of a larger effort to reduce the amount of information the ability system has to handle in combat. We are looking to do more passes like this to Block, Roll Dodge and Sneak in the future.

That wraps up the bigger picture of changes coming in Update 24! Remember, this post is not all encompassing and along with all of the above, there will be many bug fixes which will be in full detail in the patch notes.

With Warden, there are definitely a few skills that should be retooled, but the major healing ones, and low ultimate costs, please don't alter. They are great for Wardens and is why my Warden healer is still my main healer.

Alaztor91

I hope that reinforcing Sorcerer identity doesn't means turning it into a pet class. Also could we get a bit more identity by having access to Major Sorcery on the Critical Surge morph? I created my Sorc years ago to be a magicka damage dealer so the new Power Surge morph is useless to me.

Stridig

Please dont nerf dots. Healing has been out of control for far too long.

Wolfpaw

@ZOS_BrianWheeler

Like the changes so far, & looking forward to the next update.

Just two things,

Maybe it's time to lift skill & morph reset costs? & place this gold sink somewhere else.

A dual specialization qol update seems long overdue.

Just my 2c, thanks.

Sandman929

Well I thought with update 23 it looked like something of a vision. But now it looks like walking back where ZOS agrees that just because 4 people light you up with damage over time you shouldn't die. Damage over time being weaker means it'll be inconsequential from a single attacker, and we're right back to burst being the only way.
Or worse, the rumors of damage being overwritten will be true and people will be spending resources for no result.
I thought there was a direction, but after this it seems like Devs are still just guessing

Urvoth

I hope pets get seriously looked at. They're a massive problem and most good sorcs don't want to get shoehorned into using them. There's a lot of serious reworks that sorc could use like making overload into a burst damage ult.

Rehdaun

Wonder how they are going to wreck dk's, wardens and sorcs. Every time they mention a class in one of these it's gutted when it drops on pts.

MartiniDaniels

Victor_Blade wrote: »

What about that magblade thingy?

Well, cripple's damage will be nerfed by 20% and twisting path will have +10% damage and +20% cost.
After 6 patches of direct nerfs in the row no wander magblade is completely ruined as PVE dps.

Canned_Apples

Fix Necromancer.
Remove "tethers."

Ashtaris

Wolfpaw wrote: »

@ZOS_BrianWheeler

Like the changes so far, & looking forward to the next update.

Just two things,

Maybe it's time to lift skill & morph reset costs? & place this gold sink somewhere else.

A dual specialization qol update seems long overdue.

Just my 2c, thanks.

I really have to agree with you there. Experimentation of builds using different gear, skills, and race/classes should be encouraged, not discouraged. Getting rid of the Attribute/Skill/Champion cost is way overdue.

SirLeeMinion

Reverting AoE damage to pre-update levels sounds like a step in the right direction towards more enjoyable game play. However, given the drastic nerfs and buffs that have been haphazardly applied over the past year, the phrase "much greater cost" is terrifying. Also, nerf werewolf more, please - I'm pretty sure I saw one in game last week.

Cinbri

Sandman929 wrote: »

Well I thought with update 23 it looked like something of a vision. But now it looks like walking back where ZOS agrees that just because 4 people light you up with damage over time you shouldn't die. Damage over time being weaker means it'll be inconsequential from a single attacker, and we're right back to burst being the only way.
Or worse, the rumors of damage being overwritten will be true and people will be spending resources for no result.
I thought there was a direction, but after this it seems like Devs are still just guessing

Standardization where standards changing every 3 months...

MinarasLaure

Dots are not too powerful, they're pretty balanced actually.
They don't really need to be nerfed again, what you can do instead, is make them non-stackable.

Deathztalker

What is your plans for Bow DPS in Update 24?

The_Saint

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

and functionality will remain basically the same; we lowered the cost of Sprint, and fixed an old bug where you could sprint infinitely after mounting. ....

@ZOS_BrianWheeler Bug? Sure?
At the ESO beginning you (ZOS) told us it was the special ability of horses and other mounts will get other specials. with the first senche you told us the infinitely sprint ability will count for every mount.

With scalebreaker patch mounts stop sprinting without stamina. With patch 5.1.6 you fix this because it never was a bug.
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/490035/pc-mac-patch-notes-v5-1-6

and now you say again its a bug... What is going on? Why patch 5.1.6 then?
Why call it a bug? Call it performance boost or what ever. But when this is bugfixing: congrats for doing double work and lying all the years...

MCBIZZLE300

What about the nerf to frame rate, will that be getting a buff?

Turelus

Sounds interesting, will be nice to see all the classes reach a point they play differently.

KageNin

#MakeCaltropsGreatAgain

HollHearsGlow

mcb123 wrote: »

What about the nerf to frame rate, will that be getting a buff?

That is not Combat related topic, isn't it? However! ZOS did announce few weeks back their road map about continuous and thorough system reworking for next year and beyond, to ensure stable gameplay feelings, aka good fps.

As someone mentioned PvP healers to be "12-man boss", that is too far fetched. Healers can survive for some time, but usually It takes about 3 skilled players to kill anything under 6 seconds, including dedicated healer.

Mayrael

Victor_Blade wrote: »

What about that magblade thingy?

Who cares about magblades? Everyone hates them because of cloak (doesn't matter there is like dozens of counters) but somehow nobody plays them because when they try to play them they realise it's not as easy as it seems, when someone actually uses some of those counters you don't have one button skill that will save your a**.

Sometimes I think even ZOS is mistaking magblades and stamblades. When they want to nerf stamblades, they nerf magblades. When they want to buff magblades, they buff stamblades more.

About skills. DoTs are going to get nerfed, I just hope ALL dots will be nerfed not just the two shout out by stam community.

What about Onslaught? 22k crits in PvP (I've done it on a magicka character!) are far from being balanced or counter able.

Luede

wow, so u reduced class identity with buffing guild abilitys into the sky and with Update 24 u bring more class identity. and every player on PTS tells u that dots are complete OP and 3 months later u adress this problem.

läuft bei euch....