The game is improving, I've just recently returned after giving up on ESO 5-6 months ago when it was a bug-riddled mess and you had to be harry potter to get a group. Things have changed, and I'm loving the fact that I can play a melee, weapon-oriented character without completely gimping myself.

That said, one thing that has always bugged me about ESO is the appearance of combat. This has been a problem for people since beta, where comments about weapon combat not having any 'impact' were exceedingly common. Back then, enemies didnt even react to being hit with a 2hander, or anything else for that matter - it's one of the things that attributed to so many caster-type characters early on, because ranged spell combat at least felt a little more interactive. Using a melee weapon, you felt like you were swinging at air all the time.

That situation has improved slightly since beta, but not at all since I left the game several months ago, or since release for that matter. Combat still looks as bland as ever, and melee combat moreso.

So I'm proposing a system that could possibly be implemented soon(tm) - probably sometime after the champion system gets worked out - Fighting styles.



The Concept
All across tamriel, the Fighter's Guild trainers are now opening their schedules to teach guild members different fighting styles. Some will teach you to slice like the wind, others to smash like a boulder, all for a moderate fee.



Essentially, Four new NPCs would be added to each major fighter's guild hall. These NPCs - Style Trainers - allow you to set what type of combat aesthetic you want for your character for a modest price, maybe 500 gold, maybe 1000g, that's up to the developers.

These trainers alter the appearance of your attacks and abilities when using certain weapons. The Fighter's guild trainers will alter the style for dual wielding, two-handed, and one-handed and shield.

Trainer 1: The Brawler
This trainer sets your attack animations and combat stance to what they currently are (the default/standard animations and appearance).

Trainer 2: The Berserker
This trainer gives you a much more 'powerful' - albeit wreckless - appearance in combat. All of your applicable weapon abilities (everything from twin strikes to shield bash to wrecking blow), your light and heavy attacks, your bash animation, and your combat stance are altered to give you that barbaric air in battle. Your swings are heavier, your stance intimidates enemies, so on and so forth.

Trainer 3: The General
This trainer gives you a combat aesthetic befitting a trained, seasoned soldier. Your strikes are precise and calculated, your stance is on edge and ready to defend against attack, and overall your appearance is more that of a defensive-minded fighter.

Trainer 4: The Blademaster
This trainer gives you the combat aesthetic of a graceful warrior - akin to a ninja, or a samurai. Taking queues from redguard culture, this makes your attacks circular, your swings always follow through, you flow like water and strike like a hurricane.

Do Note that NONE of these have any statistical impact on combat or gameplay balance. This is, in it's entirety, a change in animations, nothing more.



Mage's Guild Trainers
Melee fighters arent the only combatants who can show off on the battlefield. The mage's guild would have it's own trainers which can teach new animations and stances for wielders of the arcane.

Trainer 1: The Apprentice
Just as with trainer 1 for the fighter's guild, this trainer simply restores you to the current (default/standard) animations and combat stance, for those who prefer it.

Trainer 2: The Battlemage
This trainer turns you into an acrobatic, martial-disciplined caster. What I have in mind here is something akin to the mage animations used in dragon age 2, where you spin and twirl as you fight, casting spells off from your staff. The battlemage might hold his destruction or restoration staff behind him in one hand, at the ready.

Trainer 3: The Archmage
This trainer gives you a more wisened, controlled approach to battle. Your motions are more confident but not overly flamboyant like the apprentice or the battlemage. This would be more suitable to characters that want to play the role of gandalf or whatever old wizard they idolize. A basic combat stance example could be holding your staff upright with the bottom planted in the ground, rather than holding it behind you or at your side.

Trainer 4: The Shaman
This trainer gives you the feel of a tribal shaman or witch doctor - very informal, but also fearless and powerful. Your animations give the appearance of someone who wasnt formally trained in magical techniques, but learned them from the wild. Combat moves could include things like slamming the ground with your staff when doing area attacks or heals.



Unfortunately, unless someone else has suggestions, I dont think archery can get much fancier than it is now (which isnt much, to be honest). Archery has never been about flair, outside of having a hotshot aim.