more HA staff playstyles by modifying fire/ice HAs

haelgaan

I'm enjoying the new HA staff playstyle, but find it limiting that Lightning staves are the clear favorite. This is, in part, to how the heavy attacks work like a channeled attack with multiple ticks.

I propose for ZOS to expand HA staff playstyles by modifying the behavior of Heavy Attack with Fire and Ice staves to match that of Lightning. Instead of a fire or ice ball the HA should send a stream of fire or frost, and tick similar to a Lightning staff HA. The sticky targeting that Lightning staff HAs have should also act in fire/ice HAs.

With this change, I would leave tri-focus as it is now. With all three elements ticking similarly, players could then go for max single target (fire), max AOE (Lightning) or max survival (ice).

This also plays well with class elemental passives - DK and fire, Sorc and Lightning, Warden and Cold - giving each class an opportunity to customize to their element. This would also help improve diversity (seeing more than just HA Sorcs everywhere).

Thoughts?

isadoraisacat

In Skyrim when yo do a fire attack there is a spraying fire attack you can do. I don’t understand why the heavy attack for fire isn’t a spray like that and channeled. As for ice I never used it as it’s more for a tank but I don’t see why they can’t make heavy attacks for that do more of a “ice storm” style spray if that makes sense. So that way it can all work if a channel.

Soarora

I really don’t like channeled heavy attacks especially for things like ro/jo (need to heavy attack twice, QUICKLY), one reason I specifically always use ice staff on healer. I tend to accidentally stop ha’ing with a channel before the ha is actually done.

Ragnarok0130

While I love the channeled heavy attacks of resto/lightning staves and dislike the fire/ice staff heavy attack there are likely many people who like the inferno/ice heavy attack that they currently have after playing with them for 9 years so I think it would be a very bad thing to change them after just short of a decade. We've seen the vehement push back from changing the Templar spear model and animation after 9 years and I would expect even more push back after a change to inferno/ice staves after so long so I do not think this would be a good idea.