A templar's lament

Lanae · April 2014

I wasn't sure what to put this under so if it is under the wrong header then I apolize. But I did want to note this somewhere. Also note I have been an MMO player for a long time and no matter where I play I always play a healer or the closest derivate in game.

One of the things I loved in the ES games is the freedom to actually try and build the character you want to play. And while ESO seems to have this same aspect the truth is unfortunately quite different.

In my mind I had this idea of making a paladin type healer so a healing specialist in heavy armor. And while this is possible you soon learn that if you actively use magicka you have to really get light armor. Ok fine... a slight restriction but I can live with that.
And so I went onward and level further.. hit a few bugs left and right and eventually came to the end boss.

At this point I already saw dents in my gameplay as I wasn't doing enough damage to kill stuff fast enough (fast enough being defined as killing it before being killed). If I did get nailed I usually spent time 'tickling' it to death with my resto staff heavy attack while healing myself. Bosses with extended health bars take .. forever to down.

But hell. onward to veteran content. Hmm well not so much so. It seems the curve again spiked and any mob pack that has 2 mobs in them has an 90% chance of being fatal. Really? I am doing veteran rank and I can barely take 1 mob head on. When I see 2 I just hope i get lucky.

Talked to some other people wondering what was going on and hilarity ensued when i found a lot of people having issues. So when discussing solutions, about 90% of the answers include : Get a bow. Well *bleep* bows. I don't want to play a bow user. Even if they are powerhouses.

As I have sunk the majority of my points in magicka and not stamina I guess the only real option is a Destruction staff. So this is where I am now. I envisioned a templar healer in heavy armor. And I am currently a destruction staff user in light armor. I don't want to level destruction staff but I have NO choice.

VR3 zones have mob packs fo 3 or more that hit light Freight trains. And sure I see plenty of AOE heavy Dragonites having the time of their life there but my healer gets owned by everything. I can barely keep up with repairs and I burn through soul gems like I was giving em away for free.

I am undecided on what to do now.. I like the visuals and I like the concepts of ES. But it seems that I cannot play what I want to play unless I find a dedicated group to run with. I would like to get to VR10 but I am wondering really if I will quit in frustration first....

zazamalek · April 2014

Lanae wrote: »

At this point I already saw dents in my gameplay as I wasn't doing enough damage to kill stuff fast enough. [...] It seems the curve again spiked and any mob pack that has 2 mobs in them has an 90% chance of being fatal.

As my NB Tank found out in VR areas. I've reached the point where I can take on 3 mobs; but the difficulty of that is indistinguishable to elites (as a "normal rank" in "normal rank" areas). Some quest bosses are even guaranteed to kill me, that is, with me not missing a single block, interrupt or dodge (Sir Croix comes to mind). Not a problem, just camp at the boss for 1/2 hour until someone else comes along.

Lanae wrote: »

Get a bow. Well *bleep* bows. I don't want to play a bow user.

Even then it's still bad advice. It gives me one AOE DOT DPS, there are NB AOEs but they are magicka-based. I also morphed most of them for tanking, not DPS. Still I picked up some AOE skills I hadn't trained and morphed them for damage. No use. Now I can't use those abilities for tanking if I wanted to.

"In the end it's worth it, I'll be great in dungeons." Nope! See, instead of dropping all my stats into health I wanted to do something smart (play my way). I looked at how tanking worked at low levels and realised that a deep stamina pool is just as important. Great! This works absolutely brilliant: I can rely on the sum of stamina regen and health regen! I have 5 soft-capped stats - all survivability. Enter "Vorenor Winterbourne." For the uninitiated his attacks pass through blocking - he does more HP pool damage to me than the DPS players in my group. "You must be missing blocks or interrupts." Nope! Like some other VR bosses, he has none. So to ever finish that dungeon I either need to be carried, or have to drop 10k gold (5k to respec to health, 5k to respec back). "Ah, that's just one boss." Nope! That's just one example.

I'm lucky though. I have an awesome guild; there is a DK DPS who doesn't mind me freeloading off his XP and quest completion. I've had to skip swathes of VR quests (even entire zones) because he's on leave and I am not. Still, with the combination of whatever I can leech of friends (and PvP) I'm sure I'll eventually reach VR 10. I honestly don't know what PUGs are going to do.

Either way I foresee a massive shortage of tanks and healers in VR. If you are in a guild: support your tanks and healers. If you are a tank or healer not in a guild: get into one.

TotterTates · April 2014

In lieu of a l2p or "bro, do you even kite?!?" post, here's my 4 halfcents.

No matter what spec, while soloing, taking on several mobs at once (with or without AoE) is ill-advised. Unfortunately they nerfed non-veteran encounters to the point where everyone gets used to grabbing everything in sight and then throwing down an aoe or two... In veteran zones, as you two have detailed... this is not the case.

Have you played around with CC skills (ignoring class abilities, Undaunted's "Trapping Webs" and Fighter's "Trap Beast" come to mind)... Hell, even give the Bear Trap trophy a whirl... that b**** goes snap.

OniMalkav · April 2014

"Biting Jabs" and "Honor of the Dead" core, 5 Light 2 Heavy using Resto-Staff (yes for DPS). been playing melee Nerfplar from the early access, sure its hard and mistakes get me killed (or the freaking lag, move the EU server already please). Its easily do-able, but yeah nowhere near the OP DK.

Don't give up yet, they have to buff Nerfplar right..?

Sethowar · July 2014

I wanted to be a Heavy Armour Templar Healer/2hs. Zenimax says nope!

no sustainable spammable DPS other than biting jabs in my kit. just not fun to play. I want to have a rotation or something, not just lead, jabs, finish. (and die somewhere in that mix as well)