Update 36 Combat Preview

ZOS_Gilliam

Greetings, everyone!

The end of the year is fast approaching and today we would like to discuss some upcoming adjustments you can expect with combat. This time around, we are keeping things short and sweet since we’re continuing to evaluate many of the adjustments made to the game over the past few updates. This update won’t have any sweeping changes or themes; instead, the main focus is on bug fixing, as well as a few adjustments to targeted abilities, sets, and passives based on community feedback. For those interested in some of the “bigger” targeted adjustments, below are a few short summaries to chew on in the meantime:

• Backlash’s final hit will dynamically scale with your highest offensive stats. It will also have a base line of damage that increases based on your damage done to the target, rather than exclusively scaling with Weapon or Spell Damage, and the damage being completely reliant on the target’s damage taken from you.
• Occult Overload – the Warfare star – will receive some adjustments to be less explosive and less frequently available, but will offer some more self-sustaining synergy. The explosion will deal less outright damage and have a 1 second cooldown to prevent multi-procs, but will also apply a random status effect to all enemies hit so if you can manage to kill them within that time, you can get another explosion after the cooldown.
• Advanced Species – a Warden passive – will be adjusted away from Penetration and instead will grant increased Critical Damage, as we’re noticing Light Armor-focused Wardens are down considerably more than their Medium Armor-clad cousins. Piercing Cold will also be moving away from enhancing specific damage types, and will instead enhance overall damage that will further increase when using an Ice Staff; the passive is currently hurting many morph options that are meant to offer damage, as the class has a myriad of damage types that are not being affected by the passive.

There will be a few other adjustments outside of the ones listed, but you can expect most of them to be smaller number tweaks, bug fixes, or performance improvements. This should largely bring everyone up to speed on what to expect for combat adjustments in Update 36! Thanks for taking the time to read and we’ll see you in Tamriel!

ESO_Nightingale

interesting. the penetration change really hurt dps.

Crit damage is another capped stat regarding advanced species, it's also going to devalue medium armor instead as well. It should be something useful in pvp AND pve, that doesn't devalue stam or mag. The only stats that do that are weapon and spell damage, raw damage like it previously was, or critical chance. This passive was previously fine as 2% raw damage. It didn't need to be changed away from that.

I'm a bit concerned about tying our damage to the frost staff specifically as well. We definitely want frost dps to be better, but increased frost damage was a great way to make frost dps better. As there are more sources of frost damage from a frost staff via light attacks and skills. But it didn't specifically devalue non frost staff users either. we're also still looking for frost damage animal companions skills as well as an item set that increases the direct damage of the chilled status effect. Given how much we apply that status effect, an increase of it's damage would unlock the damage potential of frost damage builds.

thejadefalcon

ZOS_Gilliam wrote: »

This update won’t have any sweeping changes or themes

Haven't we heard this one before?

warich

Please stop tying a weapon type to a specific class.

EsotericM

when is sorc going to get some love? its the only class that hasnt gotten an appropriate update to its defenses/offense

React

These mostly look good.

When adjusting backlash I would be careful - there are several bugs affecting the building currentley, i.e it will remember the buildup from casts that are purged, or casts where it is refreshed before expiring. In pvp this frequently causes scenarios where it will hit the maximum value with you having done nowhere near that much damage during that cast, resulting in bursts that are much higher than they should be.

I really hope there are some magsorc changes planned. Our pvp magsorc brothers have been begging for updates for well over a year now, as they are by far the worst pvp class in almost all areas. Malcolm recentley did a great video you can check out in regards to these suggestions.

I had one suggestion I wanted to make myself in regards to combat QOL. Lately on PC NA, players using 5 meter range melee abilities have been experiencing the "out of range bug" more than ever. This bug is caused by location desync, which is the server's inability to accurately and quickly determine the location of two players in relation to one another. Often this results in melee abilities failing to fire against targets that are well within your range.

If you play a DK, with the passive that extends the range of these abilities by 2 meters, you will notice that the "out of range" instances almost never happen. The fluidity of combat using these abilities is exponentially better on dks, as a result.

I would like to suggest that all 5 meter range melee abilities receive a 2 meter range buff. Balance wise this does not change anything, but in terms of the quality of combat, this is a massive boon for anyone using these abilities. Since the server based location desync is likely something that is here to stay, this change seems logical as one that would improve the combat experience for many players. The passive on DK should be swapped for something new and equally useful, to avoid having their melee range be TOO long.

Wodwo

Thank you for this - will there be an adjustment to Jabs?

Syiccal

Please can you say if jabs will be adjusted?

Arthtur

Nothing about DoTs...? Sigh...

Dangranma_Burgrukgad

Why again this thing on wardens? Why do we have to use a specific weapon to benefit from a passive?
Why are you alway doing this annoying things to people playing wardens????

Oakiyo

Since wardens tend to be tied to ice staff, why not switching all of their damage abilities to frost damage ? As it's requested for years now ?

Dragonlord573

Whelp, looks like I won't be renewing my sub after all. This had better not be all U36 is gonna be. Either U33 or U34 stated there wouldn't be any major changes, U35 had major changes, and now U36 won't be any major changes. Some of us had hope U36 would actually help put some faith back into your guys but apparently y'all are happy without it.

QueuesAsTanks

> Piercing Cold will also be moving away from enhancing specific damage types, and will instead enhance overall damage that will further increase when using an Ice Staff; the passive is currently hurting many morph options that are meant to offer damage, as the class has a myriad of damage types that are not being affected by the passive.

Generally folks don't use an ice staff if they want to do damage, so a damage increase tied to ice staves would have to be pretty ridiculous to be worth serious consideration. It'd need to outweigh Fiery Rage, Flame Pulsar, Stampede, the DW passives, etc.

Hopefully Taleria's shalk-invincible hitbox is one of the bugs targeted. It's not an accident that there's only one (1) magden kill log on Taleria HM this patch.

Oakenaxe

The Occult Overload changes are good, I'm glad to hear about that!

What about Mara's Balm set? The changes planned, mentioned by other staff members here on the forums, don't seem to be enough to make it a reasonable set. This set is hurting PvP and I'm afraid the announced changes won't fix it. (https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/616906/new-maras-balm-fix-does-nothing-at-all-to-address-the-issue-with-this-set/p1)

Last but not least, could we have a word if there will be any change regarding jabs? Specially regarding the animation (it is a vampiric appearence afterall, for a Templar class, in an Elder Scrolls game, known to be very lore-based).

Mr_Stach

Going to enter in my 2 cents.

Class Passives directly being tied to Specific Weapons is not something I completely agree with. Damage is king, while increasing Frost Damage for Warden is generally good, being pigeonholed to Frost Staff is not a great direction.

But who knows, maybe this will be better, I guess we'll see with how EXACTLY it's being changed.

Also while you're reworking Passives:

Icy Aura is basically useless in every stage.

Nature's Gift would be great if it procced on healing yourself and others instead of just others.

You should really add the Brittle status in words into the Destruction Staff Passives SOMEWHERE. Maybe just tack it in under Elemental Force which deals with status effects. So people know it's there without having to research it outside of the game.

TheGreatBlackBear

Crit damage is as useless a stat as penetration in organised raiding groups as we are very easily able to hit the cap. Unless you plan to make wardens ignore the crit damage cap this is not useful in terms of regaining lost power in raids. Either admit you were wrong and give advanced species back the damage bonus or give it a clone of the undaunted passive where it increases weapon and spell damage.

Edit fighter’s guild passive*

Elsonso

I am reserving judgement until the FAQ/Q&A comes out and they clarify what their plan is, and where they are going. What they said for Update 35, to date, was confusing.

ESO_Nightingale

TheGreatBlackBear wrote: »

Crit damage is as useless a stat as penetration in organised raiding groups as we are very easily able to hit the cap. Unless you plan to make wardens ignore the crit damage cap this is not useful in terms of regaining lost power in raids. Either admit you were wrong and give advanced species back the damage bonus or give it a clone of the undaunted passive where it increases weapon and spell damage.

It should be crit chance, dmg done or weapon/spell damage instead so we can make use of our already existing crit damage passive.

ApoAlaia

Hopefully in U36 they will finally fix the bug that they started addressing on U35 (offensive abilities doing damage) and we can play the game the way is meant to be played:

Finding diplomatic and peaceful solutions with the denizens of dungeons and trials for safe passage and loot acquisition.

It is nigh time we start studying goblins rather than slaughtering them!

davelbier

buff my pvp magsorc.
kthxbye

Kharnamantic

If you're going to fix wardens, why not buff argonian racials at the same time - currently the weakest race, but most used to play wardens because of their healing passive.

siddique

thejadefalcon wrote: »

ZOS_Gilliam wrote: »

This update won’t have any sweeping changes or themes

Haven't we heard this one before?

Someone save this for Update 38.

Firstmep

I'm curious to see the backlash changes, I'm glad I can use power of the light again tho.
Hopefully the numbers will be good.
I think at the top end it should be little bit less damage to be honest, especially if you are giving it some baseline damage. And this is coming from a templar main.

WrathOfInnos

So Advanced Species is changing from one stat that is negated by support sets and armor passives to another stat that is negated by support sets and armor passives. What exactly was wrong with it giving % damage done? That worked well for 5 years. Or remove the arbitrary cap on crit damage.

Also can we please have the 3s shalks rhythm back? The 9s "DoT" version is just not fun in a rotation. And are Shalks ever going to work on Tideborn Taleria?

FrancisCrawford

As a general rule, could we please have crit damage bonuses expanded to crit damage and healing? You're already doing that somewhat, but it would be very helpful if you'd extend that. Hybrid healer/DPSers are a thing, and always will be, almost everywhere in the game (except trials, I presume).

FluffyReachWitch

Nooooo I just finished planning my frost Warden

I have to agree with the above, I'm not that fond of tying class passives to weapon type. I would really just prefer frost staves to be reworked as a DPS weapon, and Winter's Embrace damaging abilities to get damage on par with other elemental damaging abilities.

I do appreciate that frost staves are a magicka alternative to One-Hand and Shield. I don't think it should be completely removed as a tanking option. I think both weapon choices need solid DPS options for the sake of variety and fun.

To continue on the Winter's Embrace thoughts, Piercing Cold in its current form (magic/frost) is a good icy counterpart to the Sorcerer and Dragonknight passives that increase physical/shock and fire/poison. Sorcerer and Dragonknight also have skills and morphs that do not benefit from these passives, but they remain solid choices nonetheless. So unless all of these passives are due for a similar change, it doesn't make as much sense to change Piercing Cold for the benefit of say, Animal Companions. Especially when Animal Companions already has good offensive passives.

Dangranma_Burgrukgad

Oakiyo wrote: »

Since wardens tend to be tied to ice staff, why not switching all of their damage abilities to frost damage ? As it's requested for years now ?

I main warden both as PvE dd and in PvP and never used iced staff.
And I see very few wardens using ice staff except for the role players ones.

ESO_Nightingale

MrLasagna wrote: »

Oakiyo wrote: »

Since wardens tend to be tied to ice staff, why not switching all of their damage abilities to frost damage ? As it's requested for years now ?

I main warden both as PvE dd and in PvP and never used iced staff.
And I see very few wardens using ice staff except for the role players ones.

It's more common than you think it is. However, melee weapons generally are just more damage for various reasons and thus are more often picked on most classes.

Nomadic_Atmoran

ZOS_Gilliam wrote: »

• Advanced Species – a Warden passive – will be adjusted away from Penetration and instead will grant increased Critical Damage, as we’re noticing Light Armor-focused Wardens are down considerably more than their Medium Armor-clad cousins. Piercing Cold will also be moving away from enhancing specific damage types, and will instead enhance overall damage that will further increase when using an Ice Staff; the passive is currently hurting many morph options that are meant to offer damage, as the class has a myriad of damage types that are not being affected by the passive.

ZOS: "Play as you like."

Also ZOS: "Wardens will need to use an Ice staff to take advantage of this ability."


Whats next? DKs need to use fire staves to better take advantage of their flame abilities? Sorcs need to use Lightning staves to take advantage of their shock abilities?


Make it make sense!


Also #WherestheQA

Dangranma_Burgrukgad

ESO_Nightingale wrote: »

MrLasagna wrote: »

Oakiyo wrote: »

Since wardens tend to be tied to ice staff, why not switching all of their damage abilities to frost damage ? As it's requested for years now ?

I main warden both as PvE dd and in PvP and never used iced staff.
And I see very few wardens using ice staff except for the role players ones.

It's more common than you think it is. However, melee weapons generally are just more damage for various reasons and thus are more often picked on most classes.

Maybe for casual play, but in PVP, trials and dung there are very few using ice staves, at least on PC EU.
But this is not the point, I don't care if people enjoy using ice staves but to punish all others that prefer othe weapons is just a dumb move.

ESO_Nightingale

MrLasagna wrote: »

ESO_Nightingale wrote: »

MrLasagna wrote: »

Oakiyo wrote: »

Since wardens tend to be tied to ice staff, why not switching all of their damage abilities to frost damage ? As it's requested for years now ?

I main warden both as PvE dd and in PvP and never used iced staff.
And I see very few wardens using ice staff except for the role players ones.

It's more common than you think it is. However, melee weapons generally are just more damage for various reasons and thus are more often picked on most classes.

Maybe for casual play, but in PVP, trials and dung there are very few using ice staves, at least on PC EU.
But this is not the point, I don't care if people enjoy using ice staves but to punish all others that prefer othe weapons is just a dumb move.

Yeah the ice staff generally has always been weaker. I also agree that this direction is really troubling. The 10% frost damage is fine and it doesn't need to change.