Quality of Life Suggestion for Vampires: Mesmerize should allow Feeding

TX12001rwb17_ESO

As per the title, the Mesmerize ability and it's morphs should create a synergy allowing the vampire to feed on the effected NPC, this of course would only apply to beings who you can already feed on and would not be overpowered given many endgame players can already one shot these kinds of enemies so being able to kill them with this synergy would not be overpowered, this quality of life improvement would also make it easier for non-stealth oriented Vampires to feed and make those with fewer self healing spells able to make greater use of the Vampire feed healing effect.

chessalavakia_ESO

No to this but do explain why

I think you'd run into the issue that it would kind of overlap rather heavily with Vampiric Drain.

Vampiric Drain would be offering the player less healing than Mesmerize + Synergy against trash as the feeding fully heals the player and Vampiric Drain would be doing less damage than Mesmerize + Synergy against trash as the latter would straight up kill them.

It also might leave content in the position of becoming easier due to adds rather than harder in unintended ways.

Psiion

Greetings,

We have moved this thread to the Combat and Character Mechanics section of the Forums as it is better fit there.

Palumtra

No to this but do explain why

Feeding is not a problem as a Vampire, there are also potions that let you jump between stages, should the need arise.
Vampire skills and passives need to be looked at in general because they feel outdated/overnerfed, IMO.

TX12001rwb17_ESO

Yes to being able to Feed on those effected by Mesmerize

Palumtra wrote: »

Feeding is not a problem as a Vampire, there are also potions that let you jump between stages, should the need arise.
Vampire skills and passives need to be looked at in general because they feel outdated/overnerfed, IMO.

Not a problem for you but not every player sneaks around and do you know how expensive those potions are?

Spectral_Force

No to this but do explain why

I have difficulty picking a response. I'll err on "No" specifically to the proposed idea, but hear me out.

Feeding is one of the few aspects of Vampirism which I think is actually great - the animations are amazing (other than draining levitating targets with a blood beam, which has some pretty severe implications - why can't we do it to targets from the front, or targets that are in combat? - but I accept it as a necessity for when other animations simply can't happen), and now that feeding on a target heals you to full it has a mechanical purpose and - dare I say it - makes it pretty fun to run around in the overland and only heal yourself through feedng.

However, even feeding has a few issues. It demands near flat terrain, and any attempts to feed on targets that are uphill or downhill from you will almost certainly fail. I understand it is a technical limitation of some kind, but I'd still like to see some improvements to at least alleviate that issue (I imagine the blood beam animation will work for this situation even if all other animations fail). This along with a somewhat restrictive feeding angle results in a very finicky experience when trying to actually line up to feed on someone. And that is once you actually do find someone to feed on - especially a lot of humanoid enemies are placed on hilly and uneven terrain which makes it challenging or even impossible to actually get that juicy ding. A lot of enemies are leaining on or otherwise standing next to walls, which also makes them impossible to feed on. Finally, most enemies are found standing or sitting in a group, making it harder to sneak up (and subsequently feed) on them. The last two points make it especially difficult to feed on someone in a delve or dungeon, where the added tight quarters make snacking even more painful. Finally, feeding on an enemy immediately aggros all nearby enemies, and they get several free shots at you while you complete the feeding animation (there used to be a way to cancel out of it but I think it got fixed).

Now, that's not to say enemies leaning on walls or sitting around a campfire watching one another's backs is "bad game design" or anything like that, in fact quite the opposite - this makes a lot of sense while you're in the wilderness in case something wants to sneak up on you - but it does make the overall feeding experience a bit lacking, which does explain the common opinion (at least here on the forums) that something feels off about feeding, even if the animations themselves are neat. Everything surrounding the mechanic is very temperamental, and it's almost as though you have to specifically "stage" a feeding - it doesn't organically fit into gameplay.

I think this also would explain OP's proposal - it doesn't appear to come from a desire to kill things quicker; rather, (as stated) it aims to make feeding easier by expanding your options. As neat as it would be, I don't think adding a Feed synergy to Mesmerise is feasible - most animations wouldn't work correctly when the enemy is facing you, and "blood beam" conflicts with Vampire Drain in terms of looks and mechanics, as another user has already pointed out. I'd love to see combat feeding implemented as much as the next guy, but I don't see it happening until at least the next big re-Vamp (if you catch my meaning).

My counter-proposal I've come up with while typing all this text is thus: if we want to have an easier time feeding, why not add a 3-second Fear effect in a radius around the feeding target, similar to the one Werewolves inflict when they transform? It would add marginal combat utility to Feeding as a way to initiate a fight with adds, and will make enemies in groups a viable (and cool) target to feed on. Ironically, it would also be a more reliable Vampire CC than Mesmerise :^)

Palumtra

No to this but do explain why

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

Not a problem for you but not every player sneaks around and do you know how expensive those potions are?

It's very easy to sneak upon random overworld npcs (in the wild for instance, or while trespassing) and to feed on them, as sneaking in this game is pretty simplified compared to other TES games.
The pots maybe expensive, but they are also only alternatives, not the main intended way of maintaining/reaching your desired stage.
I don't know much about housing and furniture, but what if we could have a blood fountain that let you "feed"?

Amottica

No to this but do explain why

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

Palumtra wrote: »

Feeding is not a problem as a Vampire, there are also potions that let you jump between stages, should the need arise.
Vampire skills and passives need to be looked at in general because they feel outdated/overnerfed, IMO.

Not a problem for you but not every player sneaks around and do you know how expensive those potions are?

Sneaking upon an NPC to feed is not complicated. Easy and free.