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Should Rapid Mending (heavy armor passive) allow heavy attacks to restore both resources?

casparian
casparian
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Should Rapid Mending allow heavy attacks to restore both resources instead of boosting heavy attack resource return?

One common refrain in discussions about sustain in Morrowind has been that people are worried about off-resource return. In particular, it's imperative that PVE tanks and PVPers be able to sustain not just their primary resource pool, but their secondary, smaller resource pool as well. (PVE healers and DDs don't need to worry about this so much.) Unfortunately, it looks as though the Morrowind patch is going to make secondary resource sustain considerably more difficult: every class's main secondary resource return tool was nerfed (or, in the case of nightblades, removed from the game altogether), and no alternative sustain mechanisms have been provided.

Starting in Morrowind, heavy attacks will restore 30% more resources than they used to. Add this to the heavy armor Rapid Mending passive, and heavy attacks have the potential to be an extremely potent, arguably overpowered sustain tool (especially heavy attacks with a Restoration Staff). While this change to heavy attack resource return does go a long way toward avoiding the slow-paced slog of sustain problems many players were worried about, it arguably makes heavy armor too potent for PVP (especially considering that it was already king). Many of us had hoped that the Morrowind sustain changes would allow medium and light armor to make a comeback in PVP. It no longer seems that this will be the case. The new heavy attack resource return + Rapid Mending will allow damage-oriented builds to continue to achieve excellent sustain while enjoying the added protection of heavy armor in PVP (especially if they use a Resto Staff on back bar).

One way to solve both problems at one stroke (perhaps) would be to change Rapid Mending so that it no longer grants increased return on heavy attacks, but rather restores both resources instead of only one. (Perhaps it could restore a smaller amount of the secondary resource than the primary resource.) This would obviously be a huge boon to PVE tanks, particularly off-meta tanks that depended on resource mechanics that have been removed or nerfed (saptanks, Templar tanks, etc.) It would also help certain classes in PVP that relied on dual-resource sustain mechanics that have been removed or nerfed (magblades, Dragonknights, etc.) But if done right, this change could also help remove heavy armor from its place as the standard, go-to armor choice for PVP. Of course it would still be useful to many PVP builds. But many other builds would come to find medium or light armor necessary in order to sustain their primary resource.

In the past, heavy armor's unique sustain mechanic was that it encouraged sustaining through heavy attacks, while medium and light armor encouraged sustain through cost reduction and resource regeneration. In the upcoming meta, heavy attacking is going to be an important sustain mechanic for all builds, especially since medium and light armor received nerfs to their reduction and regeneration passives. This both lessens heavy armor's uniqueness and makes it more attractive in PVP (keep in mind that it was already the best choice in PVP for many if not most builds). It may be that further changes to light and medium armor need to happen in order to make them preferred choices in PVP again. But changing heavy armor in this way could be a step in the right direction. If this change were implemented, heavy armor would offer a unique reward, become more useful to the role it was designed for (tanking), and become less useful for builds oriented primarily toward damage and/or primary resource sustain.

What do you think?
Edited by casparian on May 16, 2017 2:11PM
7-day PVP campaign regular 2016-2019, Flawless Conqueror. MagDK/stamplar/stamwarden/mageblade. Requiem, Legend, Knights of Daggerfall. Currently retired from the wars; waiting on performance improvements.
  • Brutusmax1mus
    Brutusmax1mus
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    Not bad, but way too late to do anything now
  • leepalmer95
    leepalmer95
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    You could just slot some regen glyphs or something if you really need too.
    Or use a set that gives both regen types

    Most pve tanks use their off resource in order to gain blocking potential don't they.
    PS4 EU DC

    Current CP : 756+

    I have every character level 50, both a magicka and stamina version.


    RIP my effort to get 5x v16 characters...
  • sly007
    sly007
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    No. Heavy armor is already good. If anything, medium armor need buffs.
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