A cost effective alternative to spellcrafting

Nerouyn

Previously I've suggested that ZO could remove the fire / shock / frost skill lines from dk / sorc / warden, offer those to everyone, and develop a new skill line for each of those classes. While I still like that idea a much cheaper (i.e. more likely to be implemented) idea occurred to me today.

For any given player, the vast majority of the game's abilities are never used. You level the base one, pick a morph and courtesy of magicka v stamina scaling, cost to change morphs, preference etc., never use the other.

That means that 2/3rds of the game's existing abilities add no value for many players or at least characters. It would be relatively cheap to change that and it could drastically improve player enjoyment.

How:

1) Rather than leveling the base ability and then selecting a morph, make the abilities tiered. 1 2 3. All equally powerful. All with their existing appearance unless there's a real need to alter any. All similar in function. But each could have its own twist.

eg. Warden's Living Vines. Presently it's a heal-on-taking damage, which might be useful in pvp but in pve is generally outclassed by all other options. It's super situational. Each of the existing morphs are also problematic.

It could be changed to:

1 Living Vines : 1906 heal-on-taking damage, 10 second duration (no change)

2 Living Trellis : 5000 heal per second + 1000 heal-on-taking-damage, 3 second duration (change)

3 Leeching Vines : 900 retaliatory damage against melee attacks, plus 900 healing, 10 second duration (change)

2) Instead of players picking a single morph and needing to pay for a different one, allow players to either freely switch between them outside of combat. Or freely slot any or even all of them as separate abilities.

With the Living Vines example, a warden playing healer in group content could find all 3 of those useful. And if they could slot all 3, might not need to rely on resto staff heals.
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Not only would players love improved variety, but you'd increase the chance of any given player being able to enjoy any given class. Which makes the developers $$$$.

Presently players have very limited options (especially poor mag players) and if you can't find a combination of abilities from a single class which appeals to you, that class is a write off. If you could freely choose from up to 45 class abilities there's a much greater chance of finding something you'd enjoy. Which makes the developers $$$$.

And having made abilities tiered, it would be relatively cheap for ZO to roll out new abilities. A 4th tier would visually be a copy / paste of the existing ability + minor tweaks. Also mechanics (as in does x damage, heal, cc etc.) and codewise it would mostly be a copy / paste + minor tweaks.

Bradyfjord

Variety is good. But each ability must bring something unique, and be balanced.

If spellcrafting were implemented, it should be in the form of specific morphs. That would give more choices than we have now. And these hypothetical morphs could be balanced as Zos sees fit.

Maxx7410

spellcrafting = sorcerers only mmm and necros too

Bradyfjord

We could get magicka morphs for physical weapons. Not sure what that would mean, but it might give the game a shot in the arm.

Mr_Walker

Sure, we should gut every class, remove every single thing that makes them unique. Sounds amazing.

Bradyfjord

Mr_Walker wrote: »

Sure, we should gut every class, remove every single thing that makes them unique. Sounds amazing.

I hope not.

My suggestion was about a structure that already exists in game that could allow people some new degree of choice while allowing ZOS to balance that in some way.

Nerouyn

Love the idea - with players able to freely slot any variation of abilities

Mr_Walker wrote: »

Sure, we should gut every class, remove every single thing that makes them unique. Sounds amazing.

The single player games - much more popular and successful than ESO - are loved for doing exactly that.

Player's aren't constrained by classes.

With Skyrim Bethesda initially tried to impose restrictions on players with the perk system, but such was the immense popularity of mods which removed that restriction, that they later removed it an official patch.

Players enjoy freedom and variety.

Seraphayel

You know what would be a cost effective alternative to Spellcrafting? Adding it to Antiquities.

Give it a skill line or two for spells / active abilities m and let us find ancient spells via artifacts we dig up.

Thannazzar

Don't love the idea, and, erm..... I smell like poo (it's not a proper poll if the options aren't hilariously stacked)

IMHO. For balance the only way to apply spellcrafting is;

1. A new set of powers that are able to be modified by spellcrafting effects.
2. These powers can only be placed in ultimate slots.

Nerouyn

Love the idea - with players able to freely slot any variation of abilities

Seraphayel wrote: »

You know what would be a cost effective alternative to Spellcrafting? Adding it to Antiquities.

Give it a skill line or two for spells / active abilities m and let us find ancient spells via artifacts we dig up.

I think that would go either way though.

Sure, antiquities might be a precursor to them finally implementing spellcrafting.

Or maybe it's just meant to look that way to continue to dangle the promise of spellcrafting over us without ever delivering.

Don't forget that ZO's director straight up said that he didn't like the design of the spellcrafting as originally promised. The design which was awesome. So if we ever see spellcrafting it's unlikely to be like that.

https://wccftech.com/elder-scrolls-online-interview-looking-ahead-with-game-director-matt-firor/

Same thing. With spell crafting we actually got in enough to start seeing how it worked, we didn't like the design so much and it was going to be more work than we thought to get it to launch so we kind of put it aside to do Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, One Tamriel, housing etc.

But it will come eventually, it's just further out.

That was three and a half years ago.

Thannazzar wrote: »

IMHO. For balance the only way to apply spellcrafting is;

1. A new set of powers that are able to be modified by spellcrafting effects.
2. These powers can only be placed in ultimate slots.

No thanks.

The point of spellcrafting is to give players the freedom to customize all of their abilities.

The single player games don't have cooldowns - except for dragon shouts. Which personally I ignored in Skyrim because I don't like cooldowns. And I suspect many players just looped or modded themselves 100% shout cooldown. An option we don't have in ESO.

Ultimates - for all that it's obfuscated by elite build up / spending - are just cooldowns by another name.

Like in Skyrim I tend to ignore them.