Any point to playing a non-arcanist DD at 2024?

Parasaurolophus · July 2

Your thoughts?

ESO_player123 · July 2

OK, I'll ask: at 24 of what?

Parasaurolophus · July 2

ESO_player123 wrote: »

OK, I'll ask: at 24 of what?

year

ESO_player123 · July 2

Parasaurolophus wrote: »

ESO_player123 wrote: »

OK, I'll ask: at 24 of what?

year

How is age related to a class in an MMO???

Edit: the OP changed the title from 24 to 2024 now. So, my question is irrelevant.

LunaFlora · July 2

why not?

Hapexamendios · July 2

Are you asking if there is any point playing anything other than arcanist now? If so, I'd say it's up to personal preference. I've got mag dk, mag cro and templar builds I'm comfortable playing in any content.

Araneae6537 · July 2

I’d say you’re old enough to play a variety of classes but way too young to necro.

Bradyfjord · July 2

If you're having fun then you're doing it right. If you're not having fun then you need to change it up.

valenwood_vegan · July 2

I actually play other classes that I enjoy, all the time.

Of course what I don't do is play with others who take the game too seriously, so I suppose one's mileage may vary?

LaintalAy · July 2

I've played magsorc for 90% of my gametime.

The recent change to the Hardened Ward ability has seen my recent PvE game play become much more enjoyable, fun even. PvP players have complained that sorcs are now 'unkillable' I didn't die a lot before, but staying engaged with enemies is now easier with enjoyable results.

I don't have access to Arcanist, so can't comment on the comparison.

So yes, in 2024, non-arcanist DD is worthwhile for me. It hasn't been satisfying up until this change.

ArchangelIsraphel · July 2

I heard it wasn't legal to DD on an arcanist in Tamriel until you're at least 25.

MrGarlic · July 2

Who says you can't?

Play what you want, when you want. Don't let other people tell you what to play if you want to play something different.

At 24, you are old enough to make your own decisions and accept the consequences of them.

LittlePinkDot · July 2

I think he meant 2024

freespirit · July 2

I have an Arcanist, I find the green too green, way too much green has put me off tbh!

I even find other players green too much!

LaintalAy · July 2

LittlePinkDot wrote: »

I think he meant 2024

I didn't read this.

OtarTheMad · July 2

Why wouldn’t you be able to? I have all classes and they are all fun. Necro needs some severe help but Scribing gives it a band-aid.

Play any class you want.

OsUfi · July 2

Necro here, supposedly the worst class. There's no content I have struggled with. The only exception being get trial trifectas or score pushing because I've never tried them.

Orbital78 · July 2

In organized groups Arc are definitely preferred except some support dps spots, mostly because of the cleave and ease of hitting higher numbers. Templars and other classes can do competitive numbers too though.

CrashTest · July 2

If you want to play the hardest hitting PvE endgame parse class, then it's Arcanist all the way.

PrinceShroob · July 2

Well, there's almost always a Z'enkosh Dragonknight, and sometimes an Elemental Catalyst Necromancer, if Lucent Echoes isn't sufficient.

Arcanist is good, of course. All the newly-introduced classes--Warden and Necromancer--were good at launch and then got cut back as the years went on. Arcanist is so prevalent largely because the newest trials--Sanity's Edge and Lucent Citadel--are very cleave heavy, and Arcanist excels at cleave thanks to Fatecarver.

But they've painted themselves into a corner. Arcanist is a very easy class to play with little effort; with the changes made in Update 35, everyone lost a lot of damage and many people simply couldn't keep up anymore. Arcanist really revitalized endgame after Update 35. But that means that Arcanist is now a lynchpin and nerfing the class would be catastrophic, particularly since there's no way to nerf Arcanist in any way that matters--mainly, its durability thanks to Cephaliarch's Flail and Pragmatic Fatecarver, and its huge cleave--without destroying it.

There's not really any way to bring up other classes to match Arcanist, either, because Arcanist is already the one of lowest-parsing classes; you don't bring Arcanist for its single-target parse, but for its cleave.

Arcanist has to be disincentivized at the design level, with trials that emphasize high single-target damage (and perhaps requiring block casting, something Arcanists can't do without being unable to use their highest-damage skill). But I don't particularly want the rug swept out from under them, even if I do much prefer classes with higher APM.

But then, if you don't like playing Arcanist, you can learn a different role. Convert your old characters to supports so they can still go to content--and you can even keep their damage-dealing build using the armory. I'm learning how to tank and have pretty much taken over as the de facto tank for my friend group, meaning the friend who had felt put-upon to always tank now gets a break. It's all a matter of perspective.

Soarora · July 2

Yes. PvP? Arcanist deffo not the only class there.
Trials? Any class still works.
Hardcore trials? There's still the support cro, DK, templar, and sometimes sorc.
Dungeons? I can't think of any dungeon where you remotely need to be an arcanist, there's less adds to be cleaved in dungeon boss fights since, you know, no OT.

AnduinTryggva · July 2

I have to say that my strong impression is that ZOS is designing some of the more challenging (and rewarding) content (like veteran Lucent Citadel) with the arcanist in their minds. Just see how some of the fights in these trials on vet mode are designed since Necrom.
I don't say that other classes don't stand a chance in this new content. But for me they clearly designed them for arcanists to shine.

notyuu · July 2

This mystical mythical thing known as "having fun by playing what you enjoy"
Which is why I still run stamplars despite it being Almost necro tier bad

Can I roll an arcanist and pull almost 4 times the DPS? Yes, I actually have one that does that, but unfortunately it suffers from this issue known as being really boring to play, so I don't play it

JinKC98 · July 2

I personally play StamDK. Applying DOTs and spamming… spammables, learning the rotation is fun. I think this is the same case for other classes, even Necro.

If you want to be a good DPS with minimal effort, then yeah Arcanist is the way to go, but that gets boring real quick since rotation is like pressing 4 buttons only.

moderatelyfatman · July 2

My problem with dps Arcanist is that it is basically an Oakensoul HA sorc but with no other options. Basically, the entire class is tied to a single build and playstyle with very little diversity.

Orbital78 · July 2

notyuu wrote: »

This mystical mythical thing known as "having fun by playing what you enjoy"
Which is why I still run stamplars despite it being Almost necro tier bad

Can I roll an arcanist and pull almost 4 times the DPS? Yes, I actually have one that does that, but unfortunately it suffers from this issue known as being really boring to play, so I don't play it

Have you tried velothi and azureblight? Stamplar is near or better to Arcanist depending on how well you have mastered it.

Orbital78 · July 2

moderatelyfatman wrote: »

My problem with dps Arcanist is that it is basically an Oakensoul HA sorc but with no other options. Basically, the entire class is tied to a single build and playstyle with very little diversity.

Oakensorc can actually be pretty versatile, which is what I liked about it. Solid group burst heals, one of the tankiest dps.

Jaimeh · July 2

Soarora wrote: »

Yes. PvP? Arcanist deffo not the only class there.
Trials? Any class still works.
Hardcore trials? There's still the support cro, DK, templar, and sometimes sorc.
Dungeons? I can't think of any dungeon where you remotely need to be an arcanist, there's less adds to be cleaved in dungeon boss fights since, you know, no OT.

Agree ^ Arcanist is really good, lots of damage, mitigation and it's easy to play, so for HM trials or score-pushing, it makes sense that groups prefer it. It doesn't mean that you can't do well with other classes, but it will likely be more effort. For everything else, you can pretty much be competitive with any spec.

Elsonso · July 2

moderatelyfatman wrote: »

My problem with dps Arcanist is that it is basically an Oakensoul HA sorc but with no other options. Basically, the entire class is tied to a single build and playstyle with very little diversity.

I like my arcanist, and this is basically why. It is dirt simple to play as a DD.

Sadly, I expect major nerfs inbound due to the lack of foresight in the original class design.

Not sure what I am going to do with it after the nerfs hit. Given the way the class is designed, any nerf may be terminal to the "fun to play" aspect. I probably won't be playing it this time next year. This might be the class nerf that gets me onto the "Class Change Token" boat, since I can't see myself creating a new character.

ClowdyAllDay · July 2

I don’t have an arcanist and never will. The green swirlie nonsense blocks my view. I will never buy that

Cazador · July 2

It doesn't matter if arcanist is currently the strongest class. Every class can complete any content in the game.