Maelstrom Ice Staff: Time for a New Enchantment Because You Made it a Tanking Weapon, ZOS

GrumpyDuckling · December 2017

Now that the Ice Staff is a tanking weapon, it seems foolish that the Maelstrom Ice Staff still has the same specialized Wall of Elements damage-centric enchant as Lightning and Fire staves.

(image correction: minus the spell damage, because that's gone now)

I can't imagine that there are many players out there who are dropping ice walls and spamming light/heavy attacks. It's time for a brainstorm that will give the Maelstrom Ice Staff an enchantment that is tanking focused, please.

Edit: Maybe the new enchantment could be that Ice Wall of Elements immobilizes enemies. Then ALL tanks would have potential access to immobilize for mobs (instead of just DK and Warden).

nnargun · December 2017

Very much agree if they intend to keep it for tanking.

GrumpyDuckling · December 2017

nnargun wrote: »

Very much agree if they intend to keep it for tanking.

I wonder if they'll ever revert. If not, they need to start taking the Ice Staff tanking decision seriously. The idea was fine, but the implementation was poorly thought-out.

On the most simple level, One Hand and Shield allows 12 slots and has a taunt that also provides Major Fracture and Major Breach. Ice Staff should at least receive that. It's currently decent as a back bar, but it's not a serious contender as a main tanking weapon.

Drakkdjinn · December 2017

Naw this sensical change won't happen - ZoS' balance plans read like the script for Memento

Izaki · December 2017

It makes sense for all staves. Ice staff should be considered a different weapon now. But the most non sensical part about this is that its a Destruction staff, not a "Protection" Staff.

Silver_Strider · December 2017

Suggestion 1: Frost Wall taunts enemies hit
Counter Argument: Blasphemy, an AoE taunt.

Suggestion 2: Frost Wall provides major breech/fracture to enemies hit
Counter Argument: Too OP, would cause too much abuse in PvP.

Suggestion 3: Frost Wall roots enemies hit.
Counter Argument: More PvP shenanigans since roots can just be reapplied.

All the suggestions would also potentially mean all tanks would be required to use MA Frost Staves, minus the 3rd option as DK still has talons for that and Sorcs have Encase.

I'm out.

Liofa · December 2017

I think it fits perfectly to special snowflake DPS builds . See what I did there ? Because it is an ice staff ? And snowflake is also ice ?

48FhEMYGWji8.gif?resize=500%2C323

I can't believe this got me the ''1000 Comments'' badge ...

Betsararie · December 2017

It should never have been made into a tanking weapon in the first place.

Revert the changes, and make it into a viable DPS option.

Apache_Kid · December 2017

Blanco wrote: »

It should never have been made into a tanking weapon in the first place.

Revert the changes, and make it into a viable DPS option.

I second this. There's gonna be the 1 person that actually uses it to tank come in here and start a fuss though. I've always enjoyed the idea of frost magic and being a cryomancer, would love for it to be a viable DPS option on a MagDen

GrumpyDuckling · December 2017

Blanco wrote: »

It should never have been made into a tanking weapon in the first place.

Revert the changes, and make it into a viable DPS option.

My main concern about Ice Staff becoming a sronger DPS option is PVP related. If it became a stronger DPS option, then we would likely see an increase in players using Ice Staff and spamming immobilize. In such an event, ZOS would probably have to take a closer look at immobilize.

SwimsWithMemes · December 2017

Just make a new skill line! Then make Ice Staff PvP focussed, draining Stam and then mag.

Alteration Staff - fits thematically in other ES games as a defensive buffing weapon

Potential abilities:

Attitude Adjustment (main taunt)
Morph 1: Reckless Rage - debuff target with major fracture and Major breach
Morph 2: Indomitable Will - gives AoE major resolve and Major ward

Oakflesh: (self shielding). Minor protection?
Morph 1: Ebonflesh: grants shields like the DK magma shell X% damage reduction thingo
Morph 2: Oaken Equilibrium: no shield, puts a circle near you that allies can activate to gain back some resources

Telekenitic Throw: (spammable)
Throws a big rock at your opponent, dealing damage based on their armor rating (heavy armor takes most)
Morph 1: Telekenitic Smash
Throws an enormous boulder, with an AoE knockdown
Morph 2: Telekenitic Grapple
Pulls the target towards you and stuns them for 3 seconds if they don't move away on arrival

Detect Evil: channel to send out a damaging pulse, revealing nearby enemies (15m radius) for 5 seconds
Morph 1: Daedric Detection - using your pact with Mephala, send out a damaging pulse and become permanently aware of approaching enemies (gain a protective rune that stuns the first enemy to attack you from <10m)
Morph 2: Detect Life: reveal all targets within 28m, and the next one you attack is a guaranteed crit

Ultimate: Paralysis (cost 100)
Stun a target for X seconds and deal Y damage per second. Applies minor staminasteal
Morph 1: Mass Paralysis (150ult): stun up to 6 targets for 6 seconds, and deal Y damage per second.
Morph 2: Hexed Paralysis (150 Ult) stun a target for 3 seconds, and whenever you take damage within the next 15 seconds, redirect 25% of incoming damage to the target. Applies minor staminasteal.

Smmokkee · December 2017

Im all for bringing it back to dps.

Vaoh · December 2017

Liofa wrote: »

I think it fits perfectly to special snowflake DPS builds . See what I did there ? Because it is an ice staff ? And snowflake is also ice ?

I can't believe this got me the ''1000 Comments'' badge ...

LOL. And also yes, idc if the build sucks - when Spellcrafting comes out I will finally be able to make a true Warden Frost Mage

Izaki · December 2017

Liofa wrote: »

I think it fits perfectly to special snowflake DPS builds . See what I did there ? Because it is an ice staff ? And snowflake is also ice ?

I can't believe this got me the ''1000 Comments'' badge ...

You.
Are.
A.
Genius.

luen79rwb17_ESO · December 2017

I still use it as it is on my magwarden for lulz with a winterborn set.

Btw ice ranking is technically nonexistant. I'd vote for a huge dps boost to ice (improved crit and crit damage), the chillz should make you crit!

Joosef_Kivikilpi · December 2017

Apache_Kid wrote: »

Blanco wrote: »

It should never have been made into a tanking weapon in the first place.

Revert the changes, and make it into a viable DPS option.

I second this. There's gonna be the 1 person that actually uses it to tank come in here and start a fuss though. I've always enjoyed the idea of frost magic and being a cryomancer, would love for it to be a viable DPS option on a MagDen

I totally just made a Nightblade tank with the Frost Staff and it works pretty flipping well. I decided to accept the fact that it is a tanky option and try something with it. haha

Danksta · December 2017

GrumpyDuckling wrote: »

nnargun wrote: »

Very much agree if they intend to keep it for tanking.

I wonder if they'll ever revert. If not, they need to start taking the Ice Staff tanking decision seriously. The idea was fine, but the implementation was poorly thought-out.

On the most simple level, One Hand and Shield allows 12 slots and has a taunt that also provides Major Fracture and Major Breach. Ice Staff should at least receive that. It's currently decent as a back bar, but it's not a serious contender as a main tanking weapon.

I'd take it a step further and say that ice staves need their own skill line if they're to be a tanking weapon.

GimpyPorcupine · December 2017

Wall of Frost is an AOE slow, and CC is part of a tank's job. The tank should also be light-attack weaving to proc the Crushing enchant on his weapon, so why not get some extra damage out of it.

Or just don't buy Tri-Focus and you won't taunt. Or just don't heavy attack on that bar and you won't taunt.

Just because it doesn't work for someone doesn't mean that someone else won't come along and use it in a build that he/she enjoys playing.

Beardimus · December 2017

Great point OP, I'm happy for it to change as I have a ton and no shock ones yet

Slurg · December 2017

Apache_Kid wrote: »

Blanco wrote: »

It should never have been made into a tanking weapon in the first place.

Revert the changes, and make it into a viable DPS option.

I second this. There's gonna be the 1 person that actually uses it to tank come in here and start a fuss though. I've always enjoyed the idea of frost magic and being a cryomancer, would love for it to be a viable DPS option on a MagDen

After actually trying frost staff tanking, I am onboard with reverting it back to DPS. Charging up and pointing all those heavy attacks one after another while everyone else went and ate a sandwich or something was pretty painful.

Silver_Strider · December 2017

I tried Ice Staff tanking on Lord Warden, to see if I could eliminate my need of Inner Fire for his shades.

It somewhat worked but the loss of my 2nd 5 piece bonus as well as the extra enchantment slot and trait bonus from my shield just made it feel horribly less effective as my already low damage was dropped even lower, my resource pools were now more strained as Magic was used for blocking on top of everything else, limiting what I could cast with the Ice staff bar, and I still had to use inner fire considering how slow the heavy attacks were. I still had my 1H+shield so I was able to swap between the 2 to regen resources, which was the only real positive to it but overall it wasn't a pleasant experience.

Either Frost Staff need to be returned to a DPS weapon or it becomes its own stand alone skill line, built from the ground up as a tank weapon.

GrumpyDuckling · December 2017

Silver_Strider wrote: »

I tried Ice Staff tanking on Lord Warden, to see if I could eliminate my need of Inner Fire for his shades.

It somewhat worked but the loss of my 2nd 5 piece bonus as well as the extra enchantment slot and trait bonus from my shield just made it feel horribly less effective as my already low damage was dropped even lower, my resource pools were now more strained as Magic was used for blocking on top of everything else, limiting what I could cast with the Ice staff bar, and I still had to use inner fire considering how slow the heavy attacks were. I still had my 1H+shield so I was able to swap between the 2 to regen resources, which was the only real positive to it but overall it wasn't a pleasant experience.

Either Frost Staff need to be returned to a DPS weapon or it becomes its own stand alone skill line, built from the ground up as a tank weapon.

Splitting up the 3 destro staves into their own skill lines would great. More diversity for builds, and hopefully they could get frost staff tanking where it needs to be.

GrumpyDuckling · January 2018

Slurg wrote: »

Apache_Kid wrote: »

Blanco wrote: »

It should never have been made into a tanking weapon in the first place.

Revert the changes, and make it into a viable DPS option.

I second this. There's gonna be the 1 person that actually uses it to tank come in here and start a fuss though. I've always enjoyed the idea of frost magic and being a cryomancer, would love for it to be a viable DPS option on a MagDen

After actually trying frost staff tanking, I am onboard with reverting it back to DPS. Charging up and pointing all those heavy attacks one after another while everyone else went and ate a sandwich or something was pretty painful.

I recall reading something about how ZOS was contemplating increasing the speed of heavy attacks (which would help ice staves) but I think they ultimately decided against it.

GrumpyDuckling · January 2018

How about if Maelstrom Ice Staff gets a Wall of Elements enchant that immobilizes enemies for a few seconds?

That would allow all classes to use Malestrom Ice Staff for trash mobs immobilization because currently Dragonknight and Warden are only tanks with AOE immobilization.

Lynx7386 · January 2018

Have to admit I like having ice as a tanking element and I dont mind the changes that were made to frost staves. However, they didnt really think things through when they made that change: Frost staves still only get one set slot, instead of two like 1h+shield. Frost staves still need to heavy attack for a basic taunt, which isnt bad in lower end content but isnt an option later on. They're also still classified as destruction staves so you get idiots that dont read the abilities and passives using them without realizing they're taunting the bad guys.

Frost makes sense as a tanking element, but the way they implemented it was botched.

Lynx7386 · January 2018

GrumpyDuckling wrote: »

How about if Maelstrom Ice Staff gets a Wall of Elements enchant that immobilizes enemies for a few seconds?

That would allow all classes to use Malestrom Ice Staff for trash mobs immobilization because currently Dragonknight and Warden are only tanks with AOE immobilization.

Doesnt wall of elements already immobilize enemies that are chilled? Meaning it should have a high chance to immobilize with a frost staff on the second or third ticks.

GrumpyDuckling · January 2018

Lynx7386 wrote: »

GrumpyDuckling wrote: »

How about if Maelstrom Ice Staff gets a Wall of Elements enchant that immobilizes enemies for a few seconds?

That would allow all classes to use Malestrom Ice Staff for trash mobs immobilization because currently Dragonknight and Warden are only tanks with AOE immobilization.

Doesnt wall of elements already immobilize enemies that are chilled? Meaning it should have a high chance to immobilize with a frost staff on the second or third ticks.

I think the only destruction staff frost skill that immobilizes enemies is Destructive Touch (and morphs). Wall of Elements definitely provides chilled status (slows enemies) but I don't think it can currently immobilize.

Lynx7386 · January 2018

GrumpyDuckling wrote: »

Lynx7386 wrote: »

GrumpyDuckling wrote: »

How about if Maelstrom Ice Staff gets a Wall of Elements enchant that immobilizes enemies for a few seconds?

That would allow all classes to use Malestrom Ice Staff for trash mobs immobilization because currently Dragonknight and Warden are only tanks with AOE immobilization.

Doesnt wall of elements already immobilize enemies that are chilled? Meaning it should have a high chance to immobilize with a frost staff on the second or third ticks.

I think the only destruction staff frost skill that immobilizes enemies is Destructive Touch (and morphs). Wall of Elements definitely provides chilled status (slows enemies) but I don't think it can currently immobilize.

Maybe I was thinking of one of the warden skills, been a while since i've played

GrumpyDuckling · January 2018

Lynx7386 wrote: »

GrumpyDuckling wrote: »

Lynx7386 wrote: »

GrumpyDuckling wrote: »

How about if Maelstrom Ice Staff gets a Wall of Elements enchant that immobilizes enemies for a few seconds?

That would allow all classes to use Malestrom Ice Staff for trash mobs immobilization because currently Dragonknight and Warden are only tanks with AOE immobilization.

Doesnt wall of elements already immobilize enemies that are chilled? Meaning it should have a high chance to immobilize with a frost staff on the second or third ticks.

I think the only destruction staff frost skill that immobilizes enemies is Destructive Touch (and morphs). Wall of Elements definitely provides chilled status (slows enemies) but I don't think it can currently immobilize.

Maybe I was thinking of one of the warden skills, been a while since i've played

Probably Warden. There's an AOE ice skill with a morph that immobilizes.

KanedaSyndrome · January 2018

As long as I get to keep a dps version. I'm using ice staves for dps. Removing the spell power and dps bonus on the ice staff would invalidate the maelstrom ice staff for my character.

Perhaps it's time to split it, such that we can choose any staff as a tanking, but bind it to a morph or something instead of forcing it on one damage type.

KanedaSyndrome · January 2018

GrumpyDuckling wrote: »

Lynx7386 wrote: »

GrumpyDuckling wrote: »

Lynx7386 wrote: »

GrumpyDuckling wrote: »

How about if Maelstrom Ice Staff gets a Wall of Elements enchant that immobilizes enemies for a few seconds?

That would allow all classes to use Malestrom Ice Staff for trash mobs immobilization because currently Dragonknight and Warden are only tanks with AOE immobilization.

Doesnt wall of elements already immobilize enemies that are chilled? Meaning it should have a high chance to immobilize with a frost staff on the second or third ticks.

I think the only destruction staff frost skill that immobilizes enemies is Destructive Touch (and morphs). Wall of Elements definitely provides chilled status (slows enemies) but I don't think it can currently immobilize.

Maybe I was thinking of one of the warden skills, been a while since i've played

Probably Warden. There's an AOE ice skill with a morph that immobilizes.

It's the wall of elements that immobilizes, the warden skill just provides chilled.