Vampire Skill Line Still a Joke?

Shagreth

Greetings to all my fellow ESO players. I come once again after a long time to ask the same question: are there any vampire builds that are viable for high-end content? Ideally ones that utilize some vampire ability a bit.

Surely zos has listened to all the vampiric cries after, what, two years since Greymoor released? Give me something. Back then I recall werewolves having a few strong builds, but vampires were, well, underperforming, to put it mildly.

Now, I LOVE ESO, and I would like to get back into it, but the condition is always the same: I want my vampire skill line to have a use. Hyperbolic? Perhaps, but it is what it is -- despite the game having some very strong points, I just can't, seeing vampires in such a derelict state every time I attempt to play saddens me.

Vevvev

Remathilis wrote: »

But hey, vampiric drain can kill a skeever now!

Hey, that was my line XD

But yeah, Vampire can only be a Vampire with all it's abilities in solo content as all their good stuff locks out outside healing making it a no go in group content.

That being said Mistform is still great in PvP, mainly Elusive Mist over Blood Mist, Swarming Scion is a straight up full heal + AoE damage aura that causes you to heal for all damage you do, and the Undeath passive is meta in PvP right now thanks to the 50% reduced HP regeneration on Battle Spirit.

Pick Vampire if you wanna use the Pale Order Ring, cheese Blood for Blood, or PvP. Group PvE content vampire is a resounding no and I'd go stage 1 vampire and pretend to ignore it. Healers wanting to use Blood for Blood can use it, but that's a kind of niche build in all honesty that I use.

Vevvev

Shagreth wrote: »

Vevvev wrote: »

Remathilis wrote: »

But hey, vampiric drain can kill a skeever now!

Hey, that was my line XD

But yeah, Vampire can only be a Vampire with all it's abilities in solo content as all their good stuff locks out outside healing making it a no go in group content.

That being said Mistform is still great in PvP, mainly Elusive Mist over Blood Mist, Swarming Scion is a straight up full heal + AoE damage aura that causes you to heal for all damage you do, and the Undeath passive is meta in PvP right now thanks to the 50% reduced HP regeneration on Battle Spirit.

Pick Vampire if you wanna use the Pale Order Ring, cheese Blood for Blood, or PvP. Group PvE content vampire is a resounding no and I'd go stage 1 vampire and pretend to ignore it. Healers wanting to use Blood for Blood can use it, but that's a kind of niche build in all honesty that I use.

Thank you. Sadly PvP, imo, was always a mess, I could never really get into it, mainly due to the somewhat clunky nature of ESO's combat. Cyro I liked as a concept, but I assume it's still a lagfest.

Which class(es) in your opinion does best with vampirism? I want some options to see what I could possibly roll for a fresh start.

P.s. I'd love to hear more for the so called blood for blood build, even if it's niche...since it works.. may give me something to aim for, raison d'être and all.

Dragonknight gets the most use out of Blood for Blood and melee abilities in general. Why would a DK use BfB you might ask? It costs health and can counteract the high cost of their abilities, especially with the vampire stage weaknesses on top. At stages 3-4 Blood for Blood isn't that debilitating and the outside lockout on healing got reduced from 5 seconds to 3. This makes it a bit more forgiving, but still can be detrimental if not timed right or used at the wrong place and time (i.e. in front of a ball group wanting you dead while the only reason you're still breathing is heal stacking on you.)

My vampire healing build.
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Special:EsoBuildData?id=300179

My glassy PvP build using Death Dealer's Fete. More for group PvP but I'll change out the mythic for the Pale Order Ring for duels and solo PvE stuff.
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Special:EsoBuildData?id=371491

dRudE

Yes, some of the vamp passives are pretty meta for PVP.

Remathilis

Shagreth wrote: »

Greetings to all my fellow ESO players. I come once again after a long time to ask the same question: are there any vampire builds that are viable for high-end content? Ideally ones that utilize some vampire ability a bit.

Surely zos has listened to all the vampiric cries after, what, two years since Greymoor released? Give me something. Back then I recall werewolves having a few strong builds, but vampires were, well, underperforming, to put it mildly.

Now, I LOVE ESO, and I would like to get back into it, but the condition is always the same: I want my vampire skill line to have a use. Hyperbolic? Perhaps, but it is what it is -- despite the game having some very strong points, I just can't, seeing vampires in such a derelict state every time I attempt to play saddens me.

Nope. Any attempt to use a vampire skill to do more than kill your own character is swiftly nerfed. They just added a redo of blood frenzy that weakens it significantly. That plus mist being a PvP only skill has made them barely usable. But hey, vampiric drain can kill a skeever now!

RisenEclipse

I'm a vamp now, but literally just to get the achievement and the final dye. Once I do, I'm getting a cure right away lol

Shagreth

dRudE wrote: »

Yes, some of the vamp passives are pretty meta for PVP.

Some Vampire passives were always meta, even after the big ult nerf many years ago. Well, not even in PvP, eh? It feels as if ZOS hates vampires, to be emotional about it. The reality probably is they are too afraid to do anything and/or don't know WHAT to do with the skill line.

Remathilis wrote: »

Nope. Any attempt to use a vampire skill to do more than kill your own character is swiftly nerfed. They just added a redo of blood frenzy that weakens it significantly. That plus mist being a PvP only skill has made them barely usable. But hey, vampiric drain can kill a skeever now!

Well, I am actually sad. I honestly thought that they would have made SOME kind of positive change by now...

Shagreth

Vevvev wrote: »

Remathilis wrote: »

But hey, vampiric drain can kill a skeever now!

Hey, that was my line XD

But yeah, Vampire can only be a Vampire with all it's abilities in solo content as all their good stuff locks out outside healing making it a no go in group content.

That being said Mistform is still great in PvP, mainly Elusive Mist over Blood Mist, Swarming Scion is a straight up full heal + AoE damage aura that causes you to heal for all damage you do, and the Undeath passive is meta in PvP right now thanks to the 50% reduced HP regeneration on Battle Spirit.

Pick Vampire if you wanna use the Pale Order Ring, cheese Blood for Blood, or PvP. Group PvE content vampire is a resounding no and I'd go stage 1 vampire and pretend to ignore it. Healers wanting to use Blood for Blood can use it, but that's a kind of niche build in all honesty that I use.

Thank you. Sadly PvP, imo, was always a mess, I could never really get into it, mainly due to the somewhat clunky nature of ESO's combat. Cyro I liked as a concept, but I assume it's still a lagfest.

Which class(es) in your opinion does best with vampirism? I want some options to see what I could possibly roll for a fresh start.

P.s. I'd love to hear more for the so called blood for blood build, even if it's niche...since it works.. may give me something to aim for, raison d'être and all.

Fennwitty

A couple vampire skill changes are now on PTS.

7.3.0
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/596951/pts-patch-notes-v7-3-0
Vampire
Vampiric Drain: Increased the damage done from this ability and its morphs by 50% per tick.



7.3.2
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/598203/pts-patch-notes-v7-3-2
Vampire
Blood Frenzy:
This ability and its morphs now grant a stack of up to 30 Weapon and Spell Damage rather than 600 upfront, up to a maximum of 10 stacks.

Decreased the tick frequency to 2 seconds, down from 1 (haha inverse math!) so the ability drains Health slower.

The health cost now increases by 250 Health per stack, rather than 20% of the cost of the skill with no cap.

Reduced the initial cost to 700, down from 1980.

Simmering Frenzy (morph): This morph now increases the Weapon and Spell Damage granted to a maximum of 40 per stack, rather than adding 66 Weapon and Spell Damage each second the ability is toggled on with no cap.

Sated Frenzy (morph): This morph now also reduces the ramping cost of the ability to 200 per stack, down from 250.
Developer Comment:

This ability and its morphs are currently enabling incredibly polarizing gameplay; it feeds into an intense risk/reward mechanic that can often be mitigated heavily by specialized classes and builds that stack life steal, paired with deep knowledge of content and combat interactions.

In its current form, it feels too penalizing for the base Vampire experience to engage with in a satisfying way while also enabling an overwhelming amount of power for those who know how to use it properly. This iteration now significantly reduces both the penalty and the bonus of the effect to make it more accessible and balanced overall, helping it feel more like a Damage over Time alternative where an ability can be active for prolonged periods of time with slightly more risk/reward than usual.

Vevvev

Fennwitty wrote: »

A couple vampire skill changes are now on PTS.

7.3.0
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/596951/pts-patch-notes-v7-3-0
Vampire
Vampiric Drain: Increased the damage done from this ability and its morphs by 50% per tick.



7.3.2
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/598203/pts-patch-notes-v7-3-2
Vampire
Blood Frenzy:
This ability and its morphs now grant a stack of up to 30 Weapon and Spell Damage rather than 600 upfront, up to a maximum of 10 stacks.

Decreased the tick frequency to 2 seconds, down from 1 (haha inverse math!) so the ability drains Health slower.

The health cost now increases by 250 Health per stack, rather than 20% of the cost of the skill with no cap.

Reduced the initial cost to 700, down from 1980.

Simmering Frenzy (morph): This morph now increases the Weapon and Spell Damage granted to a maximum of 40 per stack, rather than adding 66 Weapon and Spell Damage each second the ability is toggled on with no cap.

Sated Frenzy (morph): This morph now also reduces the ramping cost of the ability to 200 per stack, down from 250.
Developer Comment:

This ability and its morphs are currently enabling incredibly polarizing gameplay; it feeds into an intense risk/reward mechanic that can often be mitigated heavily by specialized classes and builds that stack life steal, paired with deep knowledge of content and combat interactions.

In its current form, it feels too penalizing for the base Vampire experience to engage with in a satisfying way while also enabling an overwhelming amount of power for those who know how to use it properly. This iteration now significantly reduces both the penalty and the bonus of the effect to make it more accessible and balanced overall, helping it feel more like a Damage over Time alternative where an ability can be active for prolonged periods of time with slightly more risk/reward than usual.

Woah.... They actually changed Blood Frenzy. O_O

Edit: Aaaaaand this change nerfs my build LOL!

Love how they acknowledged my existence though and were like, "Yeah, your insanity has to stop, Vevvev. We're sorry."

Edit 2: Actually... with how they changed it there's a cap to the health drain.... hmmmm.... I can actually work with this. Time to turn Sated Fury into one of the most powerful burst heals of all time! MUWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Shagreth

Vevvev wrote: »

My vampire healing build.
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Special:EsoBuildData?id=300179

My glassy PvP build using Death Dealer's Fete. More for group PvP but I'll change out the mythic for the Pale Order Ring for duels and solo PvE stuff.
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Special:EsoBuildData?id=371491

Thank you so much! I'm really grateful. Would the changes in the PTR open up other class possibilities? I don't really see it as a significant change, but what about you? Eyes of a veteran can always see more. I'd like to have at least a second-best option. ^^

As for race, I recall dunmer being quite a good choice for the fire res, anything changed about that? I like dunmer. Breton is probably the better option for your builds, though. Maybe.

Edit: yes indeed, a nerf to the build as you said. What a frigging shame, I feel equally ruined.

Vevvev

Shagreth wrote: »

Vevvev wrote: »

My vampire healing build.
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Special:EsoBuildData?id=300179

My glassy PvP build using Death Dealer's Fete. More for group PvP but I'll change out the mythic for the Pale Order Ring for duels and solo PvE stuff.
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Special:EsoBuildData?id=371491

Thank you so much! I'm really grateful. Would the changes in the PTR open up other class possibilities? I don't really see it as a significant change, but what about you? Eyes of a veteran can always see more. I'd like to have at least a second-best option. ^^

As for race, I recall dunmer being quite a good choice for the fire res, anything changed about that? I like dunmer. Breton is probably the better option for your builds, though. Maybe.

Edit: yes indeed, a nerf to the build as you said. What a frigging shame, I feel equally ruined.

When a Breton is inflicted with an elemental status effect their flame resistance is the exact same as a Dunmer.

Ragnarok0130

I was hoping for ZOS to add some of the awesome Greymoor abilities that we witnessed in game to the vamp skill line but alas vampires seem to be destined for disappointment.

Hlaaluna

I just wish the developers would admit they completely trashed Vampirism and either revert it to where it was pre-Greymoor or rebuild it from the ground up as a new class.

My character acquired Vampirism by accident probably as far back as 2014 and I loved it as an understated elegant little set of passives & skills to tack onto my class.

It is beyond me to comprehend how they ever came up with that thing that looks like a science experiment gone wrong at the nuclear plant. And of course the skill line is about as garbage as it gets.

One would have thought that when whole guilds (I belonged to a couple of Vamp/WW ones) dumped vamp, that they'd have realised how wrong they got it. So many people enjoyed vampirism, if not for the passives and skills, then for the lore, and it was workable as it was. But no, they just tinker around making it worse and worse.

I have vamp saved on one of my Armory Slots and occasionally take it for a run to see if there is any way I can make it work in PvE (I don't PvP) and it is always the same sorry story. I hold no hope at all that any tweaks they have done in the public test realm will redeem it. I just do not understand where their thinking is on this subject. Maybe it is just a refusal to acknowledge that they made a big mistake.

francesinhalover

trash since the rework yes.

Jeirno

Incredibly powerful in endgame PvE, score pushing etc, useful in PvP if you wanna be tanky. Useless for everyone else. Although when next patch hits its taking a hit for endgame PvE and not be so powerful anymore.

aurelius_fx

Shagreth wrote: »

Which class(es) in your opinion does best with vampirism? I want some options to see what I could possibly roll for a fresh start.

Warden has a passive for 10% more magic damage at the end of his tank line. You could pair War Maiden with that to buff the vampire spammable, the drain (good luck with that) and the ult with the swarm morph. Either that or some sort of crit force magblade to push the guaranteed crits on the vampire spammable with same mentioned set.