New Overland Difficulty: Good Direction, Wrong Approach
FelBRax
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I like the idea of increasing overland difficulty. Open-world combat has been too easy for a long time, and making fights more engaging is a good change.
My issue is specifically with reducing or capping player damage. I’d rather see enemies with more health instead of making players feel weaker. Since players can change difficulty on the fly, keeping player damage consistent across all difficulties would also make it much easier to understand and compare the strength of our builds.
The goal is good, but I don’t think lowering player damage is the right way to achieve it.
My issue is specifically with reducing or capping player damage. I’d rather see enemies with more health instead of making players feel weaker. Since players can change difficulty on the fly, keeping player damage consistent across all difficulties would also make it much easier to understand and compare the strength of our builds.
The goal is good, but I don’t think lowering player damage is the right way to achieve it.
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ESO_player123✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭I like the idea of increasing overland difficulty. Open-world combat has been too easy for a long time, and making fights more engaging is a good change.
My issue is specifically with reducing or capping player damage. I’d rather see enemies with more health instead of making players feel weaker. Since players can change difficulty on the fly, keeping player damage consistent across all difficulties would also make it much easier to understand and compare the strength of our builds.
The goal is good, but I don’t think lowering player damage is the right way to achieve it.
How would different amount of health work for the same mob when two players on different difficulty settings attack it?14 -
FelBRax✭✭So players on different difficulty settings are going to fight side by side in the same world, with different rewards tied to each difficulty? That sounds like a balancing nightmare waiting to happen.
If one player is effectively much stronger against the same mob because of difficulty scaling, while another is doing reduced damage for better rewards, I can already see people finding ways to exploit or bypass the intended challenge.
The more I think about it, the more this system feels problematic in an MMO environment.6 -
Castagere✭✭✭✭✭
✭The mobs are what you call bullet sponges now. It will take you longer to kill wolves now, and you get an extra gold reward for it. I can't wait to see how this unfolds when it is launched. I won't be changing it, that's for sure.3 -
FelBRax✭✭I thought players on different difficulties would be separated into instanced worlds. Now I can already see the new LFG meta: “Looking for someone on the easiest difficulty to carry me through the hardest one.” 😂0
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FelBRax✭✭What we have since the One Tamriel update is actually a really good system. Players of different levels can fight side by side while having their power roughly equalized, with rewards still scaling based on level and Champion Points. That works because the game is trying to keep players on a similar power level.
My concern with this new system is different. We’re no longer talking about equalizing players, we’re talking about intentionally capping one player’s damage while another player remains stronger because they’re on a different difficulty setting. That creates a very different dynamic, and I’m not sure it fits well in a shared MMO world.2 -
FelBRax✭✭Hapexamendios wrote: »No direction
It's a feature I don't have any interest in.
I mean, I do appreciate that they’re trying to make overland content more meaningful, with better rewards and less brain-dead combat. But that’s exactly why players should give feedback now, so this optional system doesn’t become something most people ignore while others just look for ways to abuse it.1 -
SacredNym✭✭✭The mobs are what you call bullet sponges now. It will take you longer to kill wolves now, and you get an extra gold reward for it. I can't wait to see how this unfolds when it is launched. I won't be changing it, that's for sure.
I don't understand this take. My wildly unoptimized builds can still kill nearly every non-boss enemy in the overland before they have the ability to move. Challenge difficulty tries to change this, but it doesn't really. Even 15% normal damage kills things extremely quickly. The only actual difficulty increase comes from the incoming damage, and even then it takes Vestige difficulty for that to actually matter.What we have since the One Tamriel update is actually a really good system. Players of different levels can fight side by side while having their power roughly equalized, with rewards still scaling based on level and Champion Points. That works because the game is trying to keep players on a similar power level.
This is the ideal but the way it plays out doesn't quite work. The skill gap in this game is so wide that it's entirely possible that a good level 10 player can contribute more to a fight than a bad 3000CP player, while a good 3000CP player will contribute so much that the other two aren't even data points anymore. That "rough equalization" isn't happening anymore. Not to any meaningful degree.1 -
Nemesis7884✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭The mobs are what you call bullet sponges now. It will take you longer to kill wolves now, and you get an extra gold reward for it. I can't wait to see how this unfolds when it is launched. I won't be changing it, that's for sure.
Thats the point OPTIONS
Besides higjer difficulties will be used 90% when ppl play solo content i assume0 -
JimT722✭✭✭✭✭
✭Having played with it some i really like it. it has ruined the live game for me. I do wish it separated players by difficulty but zos said they can't do that. if this is the best they can do it will gladly take it.0 -
Gabriel_H✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Having played with it some i really like it. it has ruined the live game for me. I do wish it separated players by difficulty but zos said they can't do that. if this is the best they can do it will gladly take it.
Won't, not can't.PC EU
Never get involved in a land war in Asia - it's one of the classic blunders!1 -
ESO_player123✭✭✭✭✭
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The actually said that they can't here:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/691351/update-50-pts-week-1-summary/p11 -
MaleAmazon✭✭✭✭✭
✭I don´t play PTS, so I´ll take eso-hub´s word:There are four tiers in ESO's overland difficulty system. Adventurer is the current default. The other three debuff your character and increase your gold and XP rewards.
All numbers below are work in progress.
Adventurer: Default difficulty, no changes to damage or rewards
Seasoned: Take 100% more damage, deal 20% less. Rewards +50% gold and +20% XP
Master: Take 300% more damage, deal 50% less. Rewards +100% gold and +75% XP
Vestige: Take 600% more damage, deal 80% less. Rewards +200% gold and +100% XP
Now...My issue is specifically with reducing or capping player damage. I’d rather see enemies with more health ... keeping player damage consistent across all difficulties would also make it much easier to understand and compare the strength of our builds
So, you basically want the exact same thing just expressed differently (you didn´t comment on player survivability though). First off, I don´t know how it is (going to be) actually expressed on the interface. But when I go into a PvP area (Cyrodiil), it has no effect on my damage in the interface since Battle Spirit affects damage taken and not damage output as such. My health recov and damage shield are displayed in their working (i e debuffed) forms. I don´t find this hard to understand - it shows the values as they are. If you absolutely need to compare numbers, just compare them on the same difficulty. Or use a website.
Second, it is way late to have difficulty settings, but this is something that should have been there from the beginning, same as in Diablo 4. I´ve played Diablo 4 (and 3, and 2, and 1...) a lot, and it is kind of remarkable how Diablo 4 and ESO are basically the exact same game design, they actually mostly differ by camera angle. Diablo 4 doesn´t have popular PvP, but the PvE design is pretty much identical. Story quests mixed in with farming, high-end content, overpriced costumes, and me putting up with people with annoying names cosplaying characters I´ve never heard of running around stealing my kills and pulling me out of the Chosen Hero suspension of disbelief.
I know every change will be met by opposition from some, so this is just my personal perspective: Changing skills to 'scale from maxstats', introducing multiclass (and now pureclass boosts) and difficulty settings have all been great decisions that have revitalized the game and given reasons for many of us to come back, at least for a while. Elder Scrolls has been selling itself on "play how you want, don´t be restricted" for a long time, and both TES and ESO has pretty consistently moved in that direction.
Lastly, as someone who has played ESO on and off (at very varying levels of proficiency) from the very start, here´s a quote for perspective:Maybe ESO is dead or coming close to its end? I sorta feel like the game has entered its 'end of life care phase' and its sitting in the old folks home. It does not feel like a vibrant, living, evolving game anymore.
From AtmaDarkwolf.
In 2016.Edited by MaleAmazon on May 25, 2026 6:52AM0 -
Nemesis7884✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭MaleAmazon wrote: ».
Lastly, as someone who has played ESO on and off (at very varying levels of proficiency) from the very start, here´s a quote for perspective:Maybe ESO is dead or coming close to its end? I sorta feel like the game has entered its 'end of life care phase' and its sitting in the old folks home. It does not feel like a vibrant, living, evolving game anymore.
From AtmaDarkwolf.
In 2016.
Lol glorious...looking forward to another 10 amazing years....2 -
Taarente✭✭✭MaleAmazon wrote: »I don´t play PTS, so I´ll take eso-hub´s word:it is kind of remarkable how Diablo 4 and ESO are basically the exact same game design, they actually mostly differ by camera angle.
Hmm, I don't think you are actually comparing like with like here from a software design and architecture level. It seems to me that what ZOS are putting out is the best they can probably do without having to re write the entire game.
Edited by Taarente on May 25, 2026 7:39AM0 -
MaleAmazon✭✭✭✭✭
✭Hmm, I don't think you are actually comparing like with like here from a software design and architecture level. It seems to me that what ZOS are putting out is the best they can probably do without having to re write the entire game.
Well, what I am saying is, take this description:
"Welcome to a fantasy setting world where you can play on your own or group with others. You can play a solo main quest storyline, standalone minor quests, or go, for example, for difficult achievements with bosses alone or in a group. There are also events and endgame stuff. Things get changed up with patches on a regular basis and is based on seasons. Your character is based on archetypes but you have a lot of customization options with skills that you can respec. Going for high-end gear is a popular activity (that a lot of people really don´t actually enjoy that much, actually). You can also buy cosmetics, but the game itself isn´t pay-to win."
That describes both games. I am not informed about the codebase of either, just the design. Diablo 4 has scaled 'overland' content - from the very start you are not really locked out of anything (same design as One Tamriel). And when you get better gear while being at the same character level, you can scale the difficulty up. So you have a design where everyone can participate everywhere with combined difficulty adjustments both automatically from the 'server side' and dynamically from player choice.
ESO will not have the exact same way of handling things but it will be very much in a similar vein.Edited by MaleAmazon on May 25, 2026 9:15AM0 -
ADarklore✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭I'm still shocked that the OP made a post about upcoming Overland Difficulty settings without even understanding how it works, when there are plenty of posts explaining it on the PTS.CP: 2130 ** ESO+ ** ~~ ***** Strictly a solo PvE quester *****
~~Started Playing: May 2015 | Stopped Playing: July 2025 | Returned: March 2026~~2 -
Gabriel_H✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭ESO_player123 wrote: »
The actually said that they can't here:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/691351/update-50-pts-week-1-summary/p1
They cite "technical standpoint", they mean "financial". Multiple instances of zones already exist - that means it is technically possible. What would be required is some additional coding to put anyone who is on a different difficulty into the same instance. Or those who change difficulty being ported to a suitable instance. They would have to have 4x the number of instances they have running now, one for each difficulty. That's a huge cost.PC EU
Never get involved in a land war in Asia - it's one of the classic blunders!2 -
ESO_player123✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭ESO_player123 wrote: »
The actually said that they can't here:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/691351/update-50-pts-week-1-summary/p1
They cite "technical standpoint", they mean "financial". Multiple instances of zones already exist - that means it is technically possible. What would be required is some additional coding to put anyone who is on a different difficulty into the same instance. Or those who change difficulty being ported to a suitable instance. They would have to have 4x the number of instances they have running now, one for each difficulty. That's a huge cost.
Regardless of what's under the hood it's still "can't" rather than "wouldn't". An example of "wouldn't" is the reason 1 in the post that I linked.0 -
spartaxoxo✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭ESO_player123 wrote: »
The actually said that they can't here:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/691351/update-50-pts-week-1-summary/p1
They cite "technical standpoint", they mean "financial". Multiple instances of zones already exist - that means it is technically possible. What would be required is some additional coding to put anyone who is on a different difficulty into the same instance. Or those who change difficulty being ported to a suitable instance. They would have to have 4x the number of instances they have running now, one for each difficulty. That's a huge cost.
No. They said having to have 4x the number of instances would be a huge technical debt that would cause detriment to the rest of the game.
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coop500✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Didn't read the comments, but let me put it simply: The devs made a glorified self nerf that's player side. Doing anything else besides nerfing the player's damage and defense is far beyond the scope of the team we currently have, and there will not be big difficulty overhauls or new mechanics or anything like that.Hoping for more playable races.
I just want werewolf to be viable in endgame PvE T.T (which not allowed according to PTS update 50)2 -
Aliniel✭✭✭✭✭The solution we're getting is the solution I've been asking for.
The difficulty is pretty much an objective thing - you can modify it by tuning the numbers. You either make the enemies stronger, or you make the players weaker. The current approach of making players weaker is a good one because it doesn't impact the world. You can still meet other players without world feeling empty. I expect the players playing on the highest difficulty will be a vast minority.
Keep in mind ESO has lost many of its player base and the changes they are making are nothing worth coming back for. Updating 7 classes is gonna take 3 years. WoW updates 13 classes twice a year and they are, more or less, all viable.
Yes, this approach has its drawbacks. When you meet someone who's on normal difficulty, he's gonna one shot your story boss you're fighting as if he was a joke.
WE. NEED. HP. SCALING. BASED. ON. NUMBER. OF. PLAYERS. ENGAGING. THE. ENEMY!2
