PrinceShroob wrote: »I'll wait and see with regard to Warden changes but tying Piercing Cold to health value is not a good idea. That low value of 30k means you could lose a damage passive in Infinite Archive with health bonuses and Maturation, and it'll functionally be unavailable in PvP where one's health is generally higher.
Despite Warden's generally poor performance in PvE I did like that it had a unique setup, using a frost staff and using Frost Reach as a spammable. Now with the changes to Piercing Cold, it seems Warden will become another Rapid Strikes user. I guess that might help the class' damage, but right now damage is irrelevant when everything is overshadowed by Arcanists' cleave, so it's sad to see a unique build disappear.
Not a big fan of the Warden changes... basically if you want to play the "ice mage" archetype with frost staff for damage, warden is the sole option for that.
Except it isn't in the next patch - not with the special incentive to run frost staff on the "ice class" of this MMO basically removed & the class turned into yet another DW front bar setup in PvP.
Furthermore, by having the damage bonuses only active below 30k health and block mitigation active above 30k health, you're running into a situation where people slot more health on back bar (i.e. SnB with health glyph or 4p health bonus on back bar) to be tanky on their defensive bar and then drop below the crucial 30k threshold while on their front bar, gaining 8% more damage from the passive instead.
This is problematic for multiple reasons, not just because it greatly limits build diversity, but also because it forces you to have multiple different setups between CP/noCP/emp buffs/no emp buffs etc etc.
Tedious and unnecessary - not a huge fan of the direction this passive has taken.
Apart from that, the changes to Arctic Blast are also completely unnecessary - there is nothing wrong with the skill right now on Live and if you're looking for something that's overperforming in PvP, I'd take a look at the other morph (Polar Wind) that happens to be the strongest burst heal in the game that quite uniquely affects two targets for the full value of the heal without any pre-conditions, while also providing a potent heal over time.
Polar Wind is the source of most of the Warden complaints in this game, as it enables absurd cross-healing to happen, especially when you have multiple 50k health wardens spamming it on each other.
Just a few thoughts.
These are pretty much my thoughts, as well. Ironically, I was probably one of the very last holdouts of ppl not wanting to use an ice staff for damage. I finally converted my wardens and was just starting to embrace their new identity... talk about whiplash.
At first I also didn't like the ice staff requirement, because in my view it would hurt variety and make every single warden just run them for extra damage, until I realized if it wasn't for that they'd just be running the same weapons as every other class, which is quite the opposite of variety.
So although I still not enjoy the idea of a passive being locked behind a type of weapon, I did wish they could keep ice staves as the best option for magdens, and maybe give the same treatment to bows for stamdens? But, alas, I guess we can't have everything.
Skjaldbjorn wrote: »Not a big fan of the Warden changes... basically if you want to play the "ice mage" archetype with frost staff for damage, warden is the sole option for that.
Except it isn't in the next patch - not with the special incentive to run frost staff on the "ice class" of this MMO basically removed & the class turned into yet another DW front bar setup in PvP.
Furthermore, by having the damage bonuses only active below 30k health and block mitigation active above 30k health, you're running into a situation where people slot more health on back bar (i.e. SnB with health glyph or 4p health bonus on back bar) to be tanky on their defensive bar and then drop below the crucial 30k threshold while on their front bar, gaining 8% more damage from the passive instead.
This is problematic for multiple reasons, not just because it greatly limits build diversity, but also because it forces you to have multiple different setups between CP/noCP/emp buffs/no emp buffs etc etc.
Tedious and unnecessary - not a huge fan of the direction this passive has taken.
Apart from that, the changes to Arctic Blast are also completely unnecessary - there is nothing wrong with the skill right now on Live and if you're looking for something that's overperforming in PvP, I'd take a look at the other morph (Polar Wind) that happens to be the strongest burst heal in the game that quite uniquely affects two targets for the full value of the heal without any pre-conditions, while also providing a potent heal over time.
Polar Wind is the source of most of the Warden complaints in this game, as it enables absurd cross-healing to happen, especially when you have multiple 50k health wardens spamming it on each other.
Just a few thoughts.
Honestly, as many times as Warden has been nerfed into the ground due to PVP, it's about time PVP Wardens finally take a shot for us PVE Wardens. The number of times Warden's PVE viability has been sent to the basement due to issues with the class in PVP is utterly absurd. It's not like they took away the ability to run a frost staff - you just lost ~4% damage. That's a hell of a lot less than non-frost staff PVE Wardens lost when they changed the AC passive in favor of the previous one.
Making the bonus 8% generally, but 12% for ice staves, would just make ice staves viable still. Daggers would still pull ahead. But it would keep ice stave build damage where it currently is for magdens. And of the 3 staves, it would push magdens toward ice. I think this would be great for class identity. Wardens would be the only class who could really make use of ice staves for damage, but they would not be locked into that.
Joy_Division wrote: »About Arcanist's Abyssal Impact morphs, the nerf was not necessary.
The problem here is these two morphs are not competing with each other. Tentacular Dread competes with Fatecarver.
Cephaliarch's Flail builds crux. Tentacular Dread consumes it. I don't use Cephaliarch's because it is always better. I use it because it does not consume Crux. If I am beaming, I will never use Tentacular Dread not matter how much the other morph is nerfed (because I will use the unspectacular Runeblades to build Crux).
If the reason is Arcanists are already broken for DPS, then say that in the actual explanation, rather than a Red Herrring about morph choices. And then resolve the actual issue: the combination of specific gear combination of Deadly and Velothi coupled with the centerpiece of class's damage: the Beam. After all, that is what is competing with the Tentacular Dread morph that nobody uses.
Arcanist already have zero delayed burst skills in their kit, thus making them proc Bots for PvP. Cephaliarch's nerf will just unnecessarily hurt Arcanists - who nobody fears offensively in PvP - who actually want to use that morph for PvP.
Not necessary and the wrong approach to making the other morph desirable.
Skjaldbjorn wrote: »Making the bonus 8% generally, but 12% for ice staves, would just make ice staves viable still. Daggers would still pull ahead. But it would keep ice stave build damage where it currently is for magdens. And of the 3 staves, it would push magdens toward ice. I think this would be great for class identity. Wardens would be the only class who could really make use of ice staves for damage, but they would not be locked into that.
As long as the HP limitation is still there, I would be fine with that. The issue people seem to be really struggling to understand is that flat % damage gains without stipulations cause massive problems in PVE. It's why the AC passive has seen like four or five iterations, because you could build tanky as hell but have ramped damage.
Zos is right here. Flat & damage gains are not good for PVP, unless they come with glass cannon-y builds.
Skjaldbjorn wrote: »Making the bonus 8% generally, but 12% for ice staves, would just make ice staves viable still. Daggers would still pull ahead. But it would keep ice stave build damage where it currently is for magdens. And of the 3 staves, it would push magdens toward ice. I think this would be great for class identity. Wardens would be the only class who could really make use of ice staves for damage, but they would not be locked into that.
As long as the HP limitation is still there, I would be fine with that. The issue people seem to be really struggling to understand is that flat % damage gains without stipulations cause massive problems in PVE. It's why the AC passive has seen like four or five iterations, because you could build tanky as hell but have ramped damage.
Zos is right here. Flat & damage gains are not good for PVP, unless they come with glass cannon-y builds.
The percent increases would not even to be there if the base damage amounts on class skills were set correctly. I'm not sure why zos is so stingy with warden damage.
Skjaldbjorn wrote: »
Skjaldbjorn wrote: »
Well here's the thing: Warden damage was never a problem in PvP either, apart from undodgeable birds & Shalks with a stun perhaps, back when the class was originally released - but neither of these had impact on PvE. The funniest thing is that the undodgeable birds & Shalks with a CC wouldn't even be that broken in today's meta.
It seems to be a common misconception ZOS has about the class that there's too much damage in PvP (or PvE)... the issue of Warden has always been Polar Wind and crossheals.
Skjaldbjorn wrote: »
Well here's the thing: Warden damage was never a problem in PvP either, apart from undodgeable birds & Shalks with a stun perhaps, back when the class was originally released - but neither of these had impact on PvE. The funniest thing is that the undodgeable birds & Shalks with a CC wouldn't even be that broken in today's meta.
It seems to be a common misconception ZOS has about the class that there's too much damage in PvP (or PvE)... the issue of Warden has always been Polar Wind and crossheals.
It seems to be a common misconception ZOS has about the class that there's too much damage in PvP (or PvE)... the issue of Warden has always been Polar Wind and crossheals.
Skjaldbjorn wrote: »It seems to be a common misconception ZOS has about the class that there's too much damage in PvP (or PvE)... the issue of Warden has always been Polar Wind and crossheals.
Based on Zos' own words when they overhauled the AC passive, then gave us the first Piercing Cold iteration (6%), to then give us the 2/12 Frost staff version to now, they've said repeatedly flat % damage gains are bad because they heavily encourage the tank meta in PVP. Logically, there's truth to that. Why gear for damage when your passive is stronger than x classes' relevant damage passives?
Skjaldbjorn wrote: »It seems to be a common misconception ZOS has about the class that there's too much damage in PvP (or PvE)... the issue of Warden has always been Polar Wind and crossheals.
Based on Zos' own words when they overhauled the AC passive, then gave us the first Piercing Cold iteration (6%), to then give us the 2/12 Frost staff version to now, they've said repeatedly flat % damage gains are bad because they heavily encourage the tank meta in PVP. Logically, there's truth to that. Why gear for damage when your passive is stronger than x classes' relevant damage passives?
This is problematic for multiple reasons, not just because it greatly limits build diversity, but also because it forces you to have multiple different setups between [...] emp buffs/no emp buffs
Skjaldbjorn wrote: »Classes should not be fundamentally designed as "This is the archer class". That's just poor, especially with ESO's mantra of "play how you want". .
Not a big fan of the Warden changes... basically if you want to play the "ice mage" archetype with frost staff for damage, warden is the sole option for that.
Except it isn't in the next patch - not with the special incentive to run frost staff on the "ice class" of this MMO basically removed & the class turned into yet another DW front bar setup in PvP.
Furthermore, by having the damage bonuses only active below 30k health and block mitigation active above 30k health, you're running into a situation where people slot more health on back bar (i.e. SnB with health glyph or 4p health bonus on back bar) to be tanky on their defensive bar and then drop below the crucial 30k threshold while on their front bar, gaining 8% more damage from the passive instead.
This is problematic for multiple reasons, not just because it greatly limits build diversity, but also because it forces you to have multiple different setups between CP/noCP/emp buffs/no emp buffs etc etc.
Tedious and unnecessary - not a huge fan of the direction this passive has taken.
Apart from that, the changes to Arctic Blast are also completely unnecessary - there is nothing wrong with the skill right now on Live and if you're looking for something that's overperforming in PvP, I'd take a look at the other morph (Polar Wind) that happens to be the strongest burst heal in the game that quite uniquely affects two targets for the full value of the heal without any pre-conditions, while also providing a potent heal over time.
Polar Wind is the source of most of the Warden complaints in this game, as it enables absurd cross-healing to happen, especially when you have multiple 50k health wardens spamming it on each other.
Just a few thoughts.