Racial Bonuses Discussion - Imperials

Roylund

I hopped back into ESO a couple of months ago after I heard that racial passives were getting some changes. Spell/Weapon damage being hybridized across all races that had damage bonuses was an interesting change and I see now that it's part of a larger wave of hybridization changes like the recent med/light armor update that ZOS is bringing presumably to allow for easier balancing. It got me thinking about Imperials again... and how the "Imperial Battlemage" side of their lore has kind of been left on the wayside.

I know Imperials get % cost reduction to everything which gives them a bonus to spellcasting in a way, but can't they get a more direct nod to their battlemage lore by being given a Magicka bonus? I'm not sure what the best way to do this is but since lorewise Imperials give the impression of being the hardier, well trained counterparts to more talented warriors (Orcs, Redguards) and mages (High Elves, Bretons) it makes sense to me to keep them as a beefier alternative to each of those archetypes.

My idea was to either have Imperials...

• keep their 2k HP bonus
• split their 2k Stam into 1k Stam and 1k Mag

OR

• keep their 2k HP bonus
• have a passive that provides a 2k bonus to their highest offensive resource

They won't be stepping on Bretons' toes as the sustain Magicka race since they are still inferior in that department and will instead provide a tankier alternative. For current Stamina-based Imperials nothing will change, but at least this will give more battlemage-y playstyles access to a beefy, stat-focused Magicka race and Imperial players a way to fulfill their Imperial Battlemage fantasies.

Thoughts?

Also if there is a more specific subforum where this discussion would make more sense please let me know.

TwinLamps

idk man, Im too depressed with 7y of no stamwhip to speculate

Hapexamendios

I'd rather keep the bonus as is.

YandereGirlfriend

Hapexamendios wrote: »

I'd rather keep the bonus as is.

This is the right answer.

I appreciate the work that the OP put into their idea but Imperial is perhaps the best all-around race right now and many of us like it just the way that it is.

Nothing is stopping you from making a very effective Battlemage.

BlueRaven

I am all for races being more adaptable to different kinds of builds. In eso many races seem hard wired into being stam or mag builds, when the lore says that the races are less stereotypical then that.

That being said, whenever I see any discussion about the imperial racials, all I can think about is:

Roylund

TwinLamps wrote: »

idk man, Im too depressed with 7y of no stamwhip to speculate

feelsbad

Hapexamendios wrote: »

I'd rather keep the bonus as is.

why?

YandereGirlfriend wrote: »

This is the right answer.

I appreciate the work that the OP put into their idea but Imperial is perhaps the best all-around race right now and many of us like it just the way that it is.

Nothing is stopping you from making a very effective Battlemage.

Doesn't the "best all-around" only apply for stam? As far as I can tell, mag in PvP is Bretons galore and in PvE I don't think my 2nd idea would change anything. I guess from a defensive standpoint in PvP Imperials make sense for mag since you can never have enough HP or stam but I don't want to turn to Argonians exclusively if I want a tankier class with actual mag bonuses.

I mean, back when Nords were OP you saw them run as mag specs but that felt more like abusing a universal trait (ult gen, resistances) which stopped me from feeling like my character was actually mage-y and Imperials are kinda doing the same thing with the cost reduction. Idk I've just wanted to be an "Imperial Battlemage" since day one and it's a bit annoying that doing so is under a stamina-centered package like it was with Nord rather than actual magelike passives.

WrathOfInnos

Splitting it into 1k Mag + 1k Stam would be a significant nerf to Imperial. I do think they should have better Magicka stats though. 2k of each might not be bad, but there is a risk of them becoming too powerful as tanks (probably wouldn’t be any better than Nord still).

Maybe would be better to give them something like 1k Stam + 1k Mag + 100 Weapon & Spell Damage. Then it wouldn’t be much of a buff to Imperial tanks, while still allowing Stam or Mag builds to do moderate damage.

ResidentContrarian

Imperial is already better than some of the other races.

Also, not all races get damage passives and giving them what you want just makes them outright better than Breton and Redguard, when they arguably already are.

I'd take imperial over 1/2 the races...

zelaminator

If we're to talk about changing the Imperial racials, lets start with the "+1% gold" bonus..

francesinhalover

don't mages uses stam too? those 2k wouldn't be that useless.

that being said, i would preffer if we could swap racial passives for a price , but hey , no one can be happy cuz some people take the lore of a game that's mostly a alternate universe too seriously.

jedtb16_ESO

my imp stamplar does just fine thanks. change is not required.

FluffWit

I've been playing Imperial on 90% of my toons for 7 years and I'm just pleased they gave us the reduced cost passive.

I'd prefer the 1k stam/ 1k magic but really I'm fine with how it is now.

Roylund

ResidentContrarian wrote: »

Imperial is already better than some of the other races.

Also, not all races get damage passives and giving them what you want just makes them outright better than Breton and Redguard, when they arguably already are.

I'd take imperial over 1/2 the races...

Breton's would still be better for mag sustain. Redguards suck right now and they should get changes too, that shouldn't lock out Imperials from seeing further changes to their passives. I get that there are weaker classes but there's an opportunity for flavor to be added to a race that should have had it from the start.

francesinhalover wrote: »

don't mages uses stam too? those 2k wouldn't be that useless.

that being said, i would preffer if we could swap racial passives for a price , but hey , no one can be happy cuz some people take the lore of a game that's mostly a alternate universe too seriously.

I already mentioned in my post that the stam and hp are welcome for all mag classes but that it doesn't make sense that the "Imperial battlemage" is fulfilled using the same general passives that Nords and Orcs have (statwise). I mean, no one is running around saying Redguards work for mag because stam is welcome on mag classes and their force shock gets cost reduction.

jedtb16_ESO wrote: »

my imp stamplar does just fine thanks. change is not required.

This wouldn't change anything on your stamplar... this is specifically for mag Imperials.