Can someone help me define the current "melee attack"?

Lewandowsky · October 2016

Should be straight forward and I own a dictionary. But.
Viper's sting per ESO wiki comes in bow.
People have reported here (not sure if applies in newest patches) that viper's sting can proc off a bow.
So - is melee defined by weapon type (e.g. can non-ranged class skill using equipped DW wpn proc viper's)? Or is melee defined by proximity to enemy as some have reported? Is it a basic light or heavy attack or any weapon type, or does it exclude range?
I've searched, answers so far are outdated and conflicting.

All I can verify so far is viper's sting does not proc off of destro staff basic attack (it's what I had to test at the time - I know it doesn't make sense).

AzuraKin · October 2016

i have never heard or seen bows using vipeer

GreenSoup2HoT · October 2016

Disease and Poison Enchants are the problem. I have already tested. These enchants are what create the illusion of bow proccing viper. This is also why Viper Procs with Hidden Blade. After removing my enchants, Viper no longer proc's.

Edit: Just to be clear these enchants should not be considered melee. Widowmaker is also a proc that is considered melee. Which is another issue.

Smasherx74 · October 2016

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/1582754/#Comment_1582754

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/1794286/#Comment_1794286

Aside from the three expectations, up to that date melee attacks were just "non ranged physical attacks"

Lewandowsky · November 2016

OK, so-
My bow basic attack and venom arrow in PVE both procc'd viper sting per FTC combat log and rolling tics.
I have verified that viper sting bow exists - someone linked one to me. It may have been an old trial reward.

So to the point of the thread, bow attacks and some bow skills seem to count as "melee", I can't explain why. I have seen the case made that the difference between bow and staffs in categorizing one as melee and the other not might be weapon damage base vs spell damage - so bow is just another basic attack based on wpn power, it's lumped in with the others. I think it probably should be, but that's a whole additional thread and debate...

What I'm more interested in now though is does viper's sting bow ever drop in the dungeon... or will I grind endlessly to no avail.

Diminish · November 2016

Lewandowsky wrote: »

OK, so-
My bow basic attack and venom arrow in PVE both procc'd viper sting per FTC combat log and rolling tics.
I have verified that viper sting bow exists - someone linked one to me. It may have been an old trial reward.

So to the point of the thread, bow attacks and some bow skills seem to count as "melee", I can't explain why. I have seen the case made that the difference between bow and staffs in categorizing one as melee and the other not might be weapon damage base vs spell damage - so bow is just another basic attack based on wpn power, it's lumped in with the others. I think it probably should be, but that's a whole additional thread and debate...

What I'm more interested in now though is does viper's sting bow ever drop in the dungeon... or will I grind endlessly to no avail.

I am fairly certain I have a viper bow. I can check when I get home and report back if nobody has confirmed this for you by then.

Lewandowsky · November 2016

Diminish wrote: »

I am fairly certain I have a viper bow. I can check when I get home and report back if nobody has confirmed this for you by then.

I'd appreciate it - would be particularly helpful if you could tell me if it was a drop vs a leader board reward, and if a drop when it dropped (particularly before or after 1 Tamriel)

scorpiodog · November 2016

I gave up trying to make sense of Viper's Sting.

However, when people say Viper procs off a bow I will bet it is actually proccing off of another proc which itself is also procced of something else (hint: poison 5-piece set), not the bow itself.

I haven't done it myself, but I've seen three different youtube videos where poison on a bow procs a poison set, and then that set procs viper. I think one video was Alcast? He was single-shotting Mastadons with light bow attacks on the PTS if I remember correctly.

Biro123 · November 2016

I have (and use) a vipers bow. It does have a place in some builds - Mines has 3 vipers jewellery, viper 1-h + shield (for 5-piece bonus) - switching to vipers bow still lets me keep the 4-piece bonus when on the back-bar.