Mage Guild skills could use some tweaking

BXR_Lonestar

I've been playing around with my Heavy Attack sorc and I've used the scalding flame rune in order to trigger empower to buff my light/heavy attacks through the mage guild passive (Casting ability grants empower for 3 seconds), and while it works, it just made me realize how badly the mage's guild skill tree needs a spamable to work with this passive. All of the mage guild damage abilities are ultimates (Meteor) or damage over time abilities (Entropy, scalding rune). Perhaps the major sorcery from Entropy can be moved to the Rune, and then Entropy can be replaced with a spamable ability that can be used to proc empower so that no damage is wasted from the rune's DoT proc? Alternatively, I wouldn't object to things being kept the way they are, but having empower duration extended to match the burning duration of the rune.

Just a couple of thoughts.

Stx

I think the least used mage guild skill should be changed into a flame damage spammable with maybe a morph for frost or shock spammable.

The fact that this game has been out 7 years and it has no basic fireball spell or frostbolt spell is just crazy. Elder scrolls games have always had fireball spells as well as basically every RPG ever.

I use inner light, and degeneration for major sorcery on some of my characters, but I have never once used balance/symmetry. I have used the flame rune a few times but not often. I can't even remember if there is a 5th non ultimate skill.

ealdwin

Ideally, Mages Guild would be fleshed out into different skill lines for each of the schools of magic. (eg. Destruction = "bolt" spammable, "ball" ranged Dot, "rune" delayed burst, "wall" ground aoe, "cloak" = well... cloak). At this point though, the likelihood is low. If the message hasn't been received will it ever?

Both Fighter's Guild and Mage's Guild only have 4 skills, so a fifth addition isn't out of the question, just a matter of ZOS actually taking a look at those skill lines. So, a 20% chance?

The most likely solution is a rework of balance/symmetry to be a kind of Magicka form of Rally/Momentum (ie. a universal source of M.Sorcery that does not require a target and does more than a DoT. (Still slightly angry at ZOS for Entropy's neutering at Dragonhold). Then Entropy/Degeneration could be reworked into a more useful damage skill.

jaws343

Stx wrote: »

I think the least used mage guild skill should be changed into a flame damage spammable with maybe a morph for frost or shock spammable.

The fact that this game has been out 7 years and it has no basic fireball spell or frostbolt spell is just crazy. Elder scrolls games have always had fireball spells as well as basically every RPG ever.

I use inner light, and degeneration for major sorcery on some of my characters, but I have never once used balance/symmetry. I have used the flame rune a few times but not often. I can't even remember if there is a 5th non ultimate skill.

They could always have it match the damage type of the staff you are carrying. With it doing magic damage for everything that isn't a destro staff. But really, I like the mages guild as more of a support skill line as it is now, than trying to add another spammable in.

Vevvev

Or they could just add a new ability. Like old vampire, Fighters Guild, Soul Magic, and Undaunted the Mage's Guild doesn't have a full suite of skills. (1 ultimate and 5 abilities)

YandereGirlfriend

Vevvev wrote: »

Or they could just add a new ability. Like old vampire, Fighters Guild, Soul Magic, and Undaunted the Mage's Guild doesn't have a full suite of skills. (1 ultimate and 5 abilities)

This would be the best option by a big margin.

SaintSubwayy

jaws343 wrote: »

Stx wrote: »

I think the least used mage guild skill should be changed into a flame damage spammable with maybe a morph for frost or shock spammable.

The fact that this game has been out 7 years and it has no basic fireball spell or frostbolt spell is just crazy. Elder scrolls games have always had fireball spells as well as basically every RPG ever.

I use inner light, and degeneration for major sorcery on some of my characters, but I have never once used balance/symmetry. I have used the flame rune a few times but not often. I can't even remember if there is a 5th non ultimate skill.

They could always have it match the damage type of the staff you are carrying. With it doing magic damage for everything that isn't a destro staff. But really, I like the mages guild as more of a support skill line as it is now, than trying to add another spammable in.

this sounds better than changeing entropy

entropy is a pretty widely used skill in PVE in both morphs.

Degeneneration is used when you want to use ultipots and the tanks or healers cant provide major sorcery, or when playing solo and using trashpots

Structured Entropy is used in vCR portals for some sustained healing

either morph can be used as a ST filler DOT for Z'en and are used when you have moving fights, like Bashei HM since its easyier to deal dmg this way.
Also Magdens use either skill, since their Magicdmg gets buffed by 10%

BXR_Lonestar

Wow, some good ideas here! I didn't think about the Mage Guild being an incomplete skill line. In that case, they could simply add in a skill that could act like a spamable for the purposes of proccing empower. Perhaps they give us Magic Bolt, which does base magic damage that can be morphed into elemental bolt or piercing bolt (physical damage - for stam morphs). This would allow characters dealing primarily magic damage (templars using War Maiden for example) to just take the un-morphed version of the skill, elemental bolt can match the element of the staff you are using with different effects, and piercing bolt can be used to deal moderate damage and provide minor breach for stam characters that struggle with armor pen.

Red_Feather

What about a summonable rune that when you cast it again it explodes. And it can be cast again and again before it fades away. So it's a static spawn aoe spammable.

phaneub17_ESO

Both MG and FG are missing a 5th ability, Undaunted is missing an Ultimate.

universal_wrath

I wouldn't totally agreee with the spammable suggestion, but I agree that mages guild is lacking damage, support or healing. It has all the 3 elements but it fails to do them correctly. A skill line shouldn't alway need to have buff, damage, heal skills, this can limit the potential variety of skills in that skill line and other skill lines too.

Red_Feather

phaneub17_ESO wrote: »

Both MG and FG are missing a 5th ability, Undaunted is missing an Ultimate.

I would love an undaunted ultimate that has a morph that says when it's slotted on your bar you can use your own undaunted synergies at half their effectiveness!

BXR_Lonestar

universal_wrath wrote: »

I wouldn't totally agreee with the spammable suggestion, but I agree that mages guild is lacking damage, support or healing. It has all the 3 elements but it fails to do them correctly. A skill line shouldn't alway need to have buff, damage, heal skills, this can limit the potential variety of skills in that skill line and other skill lines too.

I agree with this kind of thinking, but my main issue is that The Mage's Guild is the only generic skill line (available to all classes) that has the ability to grant you Empower, and you only get it for 3 seconds following the casting of a Mage Guild Skill. So it appears to me that this passive was meant to work in conjunction with a spamable skill, and yet, none of the Mage Guild skills can be classified as a spamable skill. They're all Dots, a passive buff for being slotted, or a sustain mechanic.

IMO, a skill needs to be reworked to be in the mold of a spamable, or, as others have suggested here, just add in some kind of magic ability that can act as a spamable.