The discussions about the imbalance between Stamina and Magicka have been around since probably before the game even released and were definitely well warranted since it is was and to some extent still is a large imbalance. I thought I'd go ahead and point two huge issues that probably have not been discussed much (I haven't check the forums in a while so maybe they have been discussed already).

The first issue is related to the total number of skills that use magicka as a resource compared to the total number of skills that use stamina as a resource. At any given time you can have a total of 32 skills that use magicka available to you, while at the same time you can have a total of 9 skills that use Stamina (Werewolf abilities can only be used in Werewolf form so are not counted).

Magicka Abilities
- 15 class abilities
- 5 weapon abilities (either destro or resto staff)
- 5 undaunted abilities
- 4 mages guild abilities
- 2 vampire abilities (if you're a vampire)
- 1 soul magic ability

Stamina Abilities
- 5 weapon abilities (choose one line from Two-handed, Sword and shield, Dual Wield, and Bow)
- 4 fighters guild abilities.

In essence you have almost 4 times the number of magicka skills available to you than stamina skills at any given time. Now I realize that the reason it is likely this way is because of the fact that stamina is used for all of the utility abilities (sprinting, blocking, dodge roll, and CC break). However this imbalance in total available skills will lead me into my next point.

The second issue as the title states is the fact that the amount of damage a skill does is directly related to the maximum total pool of the resource it uses. For instance the amount of damage shield charge or snipe will do is largely impacted by the size of your stamina pool. The same can be said for all class abilities being largely impacted by the size of your magicka pool.

The reason I believe this is such a large imbalance is because you can have a full magicka build, but you can't really have a full stamina build (unless you use all of your weapon line skills...but that's impractical). So basically you're left with a magicka build and a hybrid build, which is where the real issue comes into place. The game does not allocate enough resources to the player to allow for any resources to be wasted, so most players (and I could be wrong) are likely going to focus on health for survivability and magicka because that's where the majority of skills pool their resource from and will want the highest potential out-put possible. This leads to the stamina resource being left behind and all stamina abilities being outclassed by magicka abilities.

In most MMO's a players ability damage is based off of the players level, the players weapon damage, and the players primary stat that does not impact the resource pools maximum total. This game is obviously different because it does not have the traditional "stats" and has two different resource pools that impact ability damage.

I believe that the only real way to help make stamina abilities more useful and more balanced in this game is to base ability damage on the players level (which it already is) and the players spell and weapon damage stats only, and have not be impacted by the size of their respective resource pools.

The Champion System is coming and I know that it is going to be a massive game changer so this thread may be pointless. However I felt I should point out these flaws in the current system, just in case they carry over into the new system.