This post was a quite brilliant way to complain about the class balance.

Well done.

Zlater wrote: »

This is a little outdated, the glory days of the Dragon Knight god mode have ended ;D

I agree with this. 1.6 brought the classes closer together in dps simply because it made stam dps generally superior to magica dps survivability aside and because few class abilities have stam morphs fewer differences exist. I suppose that is one way to easy mode class balance, just make it so that you don't use near as many class abilities.

The following is written from an endgame PVE standpoint. I realize none of it applies to PVP at all.

1.6 also did bring some significant nerfs to the dk with some of the ability changes whereas Templar was generally buffed. Since templar was the second best all around class pre 1.6 it is arguable that it overtook DK with that patch. Certainly Templar is still the only viable healer (there is no, no, no, no, substitute for breath of life which has good range, a big heal, and self targets a low health player). Now, Templar does better dps though before it's dps was better than people gave it credit for, and with some important ability changes it does much improved tanking. One of my friends is experimenting with these new pro-tanking changes. When these are compared to the DK anti-tanking and anti-group support changes (chain usability nerf with cc immune trash and chain yourself away mechanic, igneous weapons no longer buffs group, and corrosive armor no longer debuffs boss nerf) we believe templar is now a better tank than DK as a DK no longer offers meaningful group support while tanking but the templar has novas, etc.

The way I see it the DK used to have the best set of group support skills with igneous, chains, cinder storm, and corrosive. DK also used to be the hands down best tank. Now it is still the best DPS but has very little in the way of group support and is perhaps only the second best tank. It is strong but not the do all be all only answer in tamriell that it was in 1.5.

Templar now is not only the best healer but perhaps the best tank, offers probably the best group support abilities, and does competitive DPS. It may be the strongest class and is certainly the only one that would be accepted in a raid at any role. "Play the way you like" Templar is your name.

NB, to me, is less compelling in 1.6 because it was very dependent on a strong ultimate and fast ultimate recharge. I have also had trouble getting impressive sustained dps post 1.6 but have not spent much time on it because leveling my DK gives me both a DK and lots of Champion points. The most interesting thing about NB in 1.5 was the high heals while dps for magica and also high ult regen for almost constant mitigation. In 1.6 you are pushed twords stamina with a number of magica dps output nerfs. This is unfortunate because NB is not complete without the heals from funnel and sap and with stamina you have neither. To be honest, not much time was put into NB by the game designers and it shows. At launch most of it's abilities literally didn't work which is why you still don't have many NB's running about. The class did not get compelling until not long before 1.5 and perhaps it will take another 9 months to get it back to functional now that they have written entirely new mechanics. I consider is a nich class at the moment. It is not as broken as Sorc but it is full of holes.

As for sorc. I mothballed mine back in the 1.5 days for low DPS and lack of compelling group synergy and have little intention of resurrecting it now. So, the consensus seems to now be that for endgame PVE sorcs have to do stamina now or togglemancer and in either case they are only maybe fit for DPS. With stamina they lost much of the advantage they had in 1.5 because crit surge is pretty weaksauce now but hey, you can really stamina DPS with no class abilities at all so what are you complaining about. With the togglemancer thing the dps really isn't bad provided it is working. Of course if the boss decides to have big nasty AOE's, such as most trials bosses, the 90% less AOE damage that the summons take is worthless and they die because they aren't in the beam of light, can't get a pink bubble, like to stand in poison shards, etc. No skill can prevent any of this because they pretty much stand where they like and the amount of programming it would take to fix this is clearly not going to happen or the whole 90% AOE reduction thing wouldn't have happened. Bottom line, sorc is a gimmicky class whose gimmicks work in PVP but still don't for endgame PVE. Also, because crit surge no longer does much and you now wear tissue paper, enjoy dying more when you solo. Sorcerer was the class most changed by 1.6 receiving massive direct and indirect (by way of the force shock line) nerfs as well as different massive direct buffs. Realistically nothing a sorc did that somewhat worked in 1.5 will work now and many things that were stupid in 1.5 somewhat work now. I do not know why nerfs were handed to sorcs along with buffs as trials leaderboards clearly indicated that there was little to nerf. I think it had something to do with PVP maybe.

I think the OP got aware of a balance problem regarding races but his view on build/race/class choice is questionable imho.

If a race change will be allowed suddently most stamina dps/tank will become imperial .
Same goes for Magicka, there are only very few valuable choices when you have a build in mind. And there are races which aren't best pick for any build.
OP stated Khajiit would be a good choice for stamina dps and I have to disagree. The Carnage Skill equates to about 2%-3% dps increase while a 10% ressource pool increase leads to about 5% dps increase and a improved sustainability. Imperials aditionally recieve 12% health, so they can invest even more in stamina, which gives them a rough 20% stamina pool increase which converts to about 10% dps

For me the race choice should be more about which race you like, not wether you get an dps increase. Race choice should be irreversible but not the most defining part for your character stats