Hey all, your favorite forum bad guy here. First of all, as most of you know, I incurred a 3-day suspension for doing massive damage (up to 5500ish) with the bow, and then instead of apologizing and switching my build, I rubbed it in when people justifiably took offense. Well, I thought it would be a good idea to look at the bug and assess whether it's actually a bug or a build.

Admittedly, I am not a game mechanic expert or a master theory crafter like many of you. Many of you did not believe me when I said I did not know what was causing the damage or that I couldn't get rid of it. Both statements remain true, however. Anyway, here are some things to take into consideration:

1. I ran about 2400 Stamina and between 208 and 240 Weapon Power and 58% Crit.
2. I used the Panacea of Weapon Power pots.
3. My base damage with my bow skills were usually: Venom Arrow - 367, Lethal Arrow - 968. Those are both "Poison" damage.
4. Master Assassin passive gives 10% Weapon Damage from Stealth.
5. Hemorrhage gives 10% bonus Critical Strike Damage.
6. Long Shots passive gives 12% bonus damage to "distant" enemies.
7. Hawk Eye gives 15% increase damage from bows against off-balance players.
8. Juggernaut passive for 2 pieces of heavy (which I wear) gives 2% increase in Weapon Damage.
9. Slayer passive gives 9% increase in Weapon and Spell Damage against undead players.
10. Camouflaged Hunter against undead gives an automatic 760 damage from stealth and a 20% chance to hit for 507 damage unstealthed. (Not sure if this shows separately in the Death Recap.)
11. Continuous Attack adds 10% Weapon Damage for 10 min after capturing a resource or keep.
12. The Covenant bow can proc 107 base irresistible damage (crits for over 300) when charged.
13. I was using the Warrior mundus stone.
14. Piercing Mark removes 75% of an enemy's armor.

Now, I do not know the order of operations in calculating damage for ESO. But what I think would be an interesting discussion is for someone who is good with game mechanics and theory crafting to determine what the maximum one-hit damage can possibly be when a lethal arrow is loosed against a marked target, given the above. I really don't know what it ought to be able to hit for and I wish Zenimax game more guidance instead of being vague and nebulous about it.

Anyway, aside from sharing this and asking for people's opinions on damage, I wanted to apologize to those people against whom I used these massive hits. Since the damage is not meant to be that high (although no one in authority will give guidance on what the upper limit is meant to be), I was being unfair. And, I am sorry. And I am sorry for coming to the forums and rubbing it in. That was mean and uncalled for. So please accept my apology.

I have since reduced my Weapon Damage, swapped into light and medium armor, lowered my stamina, and taken Flawless Dawnbreaker off my bar, and this seems to have really lowered my bow damage. Lots of people have asked me what caused the "bug", and the truth is that I do not know and just assume it is related to weapon damage and stamina. Note that this is not the "scaling damage" bug. My damage did not climb and climb. It stayed in a range and never exceeded about 5500 to the best of my recollection.

Anyway, please accept my sincere apology. I would like someone to do the math on this though.

Regards,
Covert Ops