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Why Nerf Soul Cleaver? (Update 4)

db0ssman
db0ssman
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Edit: Nothing to see here. I thought they lowered the base % damage and then increased your damage based on your missing health, but it is the health you have which makes it a net buff.

Update 1: I did a quick arc of IA and things are dying noticeably faster. A couple of the more sustained fights have resulted in needing a pot where I wouldn't have before, but that's not surprising giving the 6% raise in cost of my main two spamables. I might try some of the more difficult content and leave more feedback.

Update 2: I ran a nBRP with my usual Oakensoul/Soul Cleaver/Tide Born build while equipping An eye for Exploitation and Above and Beyond. The Good: There was an appreciable difference in the amount of time it takes to kill the bosses and sub bosses. To give you scale, probably 25% quicker for the bosses and 10% quicker for the sub bosses. I'm guessing this has to do with the higher crit evens out over time and they are alive long enough to get hit many times with low health. The Bad: There was no real difference in the amount of time it took to kill the trash mobs. I haven't adjusted my build to reflect being in NM instead of vet and there is some room for changes that might result in killing them faster I can try.

Update 3: I changed out my mundas to increase crit and lower penetration. With the change to Ass. every NB skill raises your crit so I swapped out Firery Explosion for Cripple. I think FE will still be better in IA, but the swap out worked out here. Finally I traded my heavy helm for a light helm with increased crit. I think with the increased crit and rate the trash mobs were a little quicker, but the bosses just melted. So overall with the changes this build can fly through nBRP. On current live it takes me around 45 to 55 min for a run. Even with not perfecting methods now it's more like 35 minutes.

Update 4: I ran vMA. My old PB was 544840 with 0 deaths. Using (mostly) that loadout with the upgraded Soul Cleaver and mastery abilities I went up to 566223 with 3 deaths. Funnily enough all 3 were because I was damaging that ice ogre lady so quickly that she would break the platforms way sooner than I expected. Hmmm... That wouldn't even be good enough to make it in the top 500 leaderboard, though pretty close.Without the deaths, I'd probably only be at the bottom of the leaderboard. I'd be at about rank 55 in the weakly leaderboard. Maybe more like 47 Though this is not a build with any changes made to accommodate the new buffs.
Edited by db0ssman on May 16, 2026 12:49AM
Starfire Protocol lvl 50 NB Redmage healer - Main + Master Crafter
Gives Good Heed lvl 50 Warden Super Buff Healer
Crafty Smyth lvl 50 Stamblade Poison Assassin - Farmer
Everyon's Pal Adin lvl 44 Templar Splash Healer
Stands Against Danger lvl 16 DK Tank -ex mule
Matriarch Tamer lvl 18 Baby Sorc Healer
  • acanca
    acanca
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    Hey, soulcleaver is getting buffed.
    The 21% extra damage and healing to siphoning skills is converted into 15% extra damage and healing to siphoning and another 12% damage done depending on how high your hp% is, not how low, so dont worry.

    This is a huge buff for all intents and purposes except for the very niche pvp siphoning heal builds and i think i know off like a singular guy on my server who even had that build so the number of people impacted can probably be counted in single digits per server
    Edited by acanca on May 14, 2026 5:15AM
  • Renato90085
    Renato90085
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    it a buff..
    Edited by Renato90085 on May 14, 2026 6:03AM
  • db0ssman
    db0ssman
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    acanca wrote: »
    Hey, soulcleaver is getting buffed.
    The 21% extra damage and healing to siphoning skills is converted into 15% extra damage and healing to siphoning and another 12% damage done depending on how high your hp% is, not how low, so dont worry.

    This is a huge buff for all intents and purposes except for the very niche pvp siphoning heal builds and i think i know off like a singular guy on my server who even had that build so the number of people impacted can probably be counted in single digits per server

    So it turns out I can't read. Thanks for the clarification. You are right this is a big buff.
    Starfire Protocol lvl 50 NB Redmage healer - Main + Master Crafter
    Gives Good Heed lvl 50 Warden Super Buff Healer
    Crafty Smyth lvl 50 Stamblade Poison Assassin - Farmer
    Everyon's Pal Adin lvl 44 Templar Splash Healer
    Stands Against Danger lvl 16 DK Tank -ex mule
    Matriarch Tamer lvl 18 Baby Sorc Healer
  • MincMincMinc
    MincMincMinc
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    Remember when sap builds used to be a thing in cyrodil? Crazy times
    I only use insightful
    BG MMR should NOT reset, zos sponsored smurfing is a terrible design choice.
    PvP needs more incentives, even simple potion mats or gold would be better than rewards for the worthy inventory bloat
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