Short ward spells?

Tapio75 · March 2018

I was wondering, that how many still uses these outside extremely rare situations?

For example. If i take any ward i have on my templar, the 6 second duration makes it either that or something useful in the rotation. But i do like some ward, so i use mutagen instead.

The effect in normal game feels the same, exept theres no hassle of constantly wasting mana to steadfast ward for example when mutagen can do the exact same thing. Keep the healt up and have an appearance of me having a ward.

In harder places, other healing stuff always comes first before any ward because they are needed anyway.

The old argument of situational spell does not really work on online TES that well, as often lag makes the ward either work or not work which again, removes it from action bar to something that has more lasting effect and less suspectible to lag spikes.

Also, when a ward has a certain amounht of damage it can absorb before it goes down, what the use of the 6 sec duration on top of that? I mean the thing can be balanced by the amount of damage it can absorb plus stacking shields should not be prevented by duration, but by cancellation or dispel. If one attempts to cast another ward on top of other, the second spell should either not work or cancel the first ward to prevent stacking. The duration thing still seems like a foolish idea. Then again many foolish ideas in PVE come, because developers are not adept at separating PVP and PVE effect on spells which should always be the case before sacrificing one playstyle for another. In tjhis case, the assumably smaller group of PVP players. Very vocsal though.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO · March 2018

All ward in the game, with the exception of sorcs empowered ward, are only 6 seconds long. Wards are supposed to be reactivate and Mutegen is a preemptive heal. They are for different things. Wards not supposed to be part of a "rotation".

Also sun sheild is a bad ward, unless you have 50k+ health. Try annulment and it morphs from the light armor skill line. if you want a good ward.

Brrrofski · March 2018

Wards used to last like 20 seconds at one point (sorc one and annulment anyway) but people said shileds were OP in pvp.

So ZOS, nerfed them in typical ZOS nerf fashion - completely wrong. If you're fighting anyone with the tinniest clue on how to play the game, your wards don't last 6 seconds anyway. You cast them more often that, even if it was still 20 secs.

Anyway, outside of PvP wards are extremely powerful. They are often used when you know a big hit it coming. If a boss is about to hit you, using a ward can effectively double your health, meaning you'll survive big hits.

Tapio75 · March 2018

Brrrofski wrote: »

Wards used to last like 20 seconds at one point (sorc one and annulment anyway) but people said shileds were OP in pvp.

So ZOS, nerfed them in typical ZOS nerf fashion - completely wrong. If you're fighting anyone with the tinniest clue on how to play the game, your wards don't last 6 seconds anyway. You cast them more often that, even if it was still 20 secs.

Anyway, outside of PvP wards are extremely powerful. They are often used when you know a big hit it coming. If a boss is about to hit you, using a ward can effectively double your health, meaning you'll survive big hits.

In mages point of wiev, ward is not a situational but a precombat spell that is cast to prevent instant death from a single blade or someone throwing a big rock at ones head

In this perspective resistance spells should be situational but ESO seems to be mssing them, plus the console 5 spell limitation makes it hard to have such stuff on actionbar.

What i am trying to advocate here, is that if people just think a bit, wards can really last longer for immersive purposes but at the same time, be balanced for PVP and still be situational in harder boss fights. The absorption amount is one factor for example and the prevention of stacking wards is another. When these things are implemented correctly to ward spells, they can last for hours when cast, but still be perfectly balanced.

For me, they are not used, they just feel as a waste in action bar since the boss fights i have been, the other healing stuff has always been enough to save anyone in time without hassle to have a spell like that in action bar. Then again i have not made the hardest trials at all, but the argument is still valid there for the duration factor. They can be situational and perfectly balanced with long durations if right mechanics are included.

I remember that Warcraft tried this too with priest shield for a short while, but the spell just became part of rotation and they changed it back. With ESO's limits, it cant really be part of rotation if one does want to cast more cool stuff or do some damage in battles where damage really matters.

Right now they work more like buffs and resistance spells rather than mage ward spells so if the duration is not changed and mechanics implemented to balance the duration, it might be good time to change the names from ward spells to something more suitable for situational spells.

Armatesz · March 2018

I use the support barrier (morphed to reviving barrier) and I use ward ally. Wards are useful and you can find yourself in situations where they add a bit of cushion. They are by far not a heal, they can be used to give you a sort of cushion or in the case of ward ally give yourself and another a cushion if their health drops below a certain value. You don't spam it unless you really need to spam it. Reason why I use ward ally is because it is a by far stronger ward than light armor one. Amount of magic spent is not too much for me and can usually regen magic well enough to keep it up. I can honestly see how wards can be broken and 5 seconds does kind of keep it from being abused. If you seen how powerful some of these wards get it might shock them. From what I can tell powered does not boost a ward's power, nirnhoned does though. But if you need a ward or not can vary... ask yourself if you are dying a lot, even with loads of heals. Problem can be as simple as adding a ward to your rotations at key moments. Wards are severely downplayed of how useful they can potentially can be.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO · March 2018

. @Tapio75 In mages point of wiev, ward is not a situational but a precombat spell

Not in ESO. Wards are basically a "burst" heal, they are simply an extension of your health bar for a short time. Not every class has Breath of life for when you have no time for a HoT to bring you back up to full. This is what wards are for.

@Armatesz From what I can tell powered does not boost a ward's power, nirnhoned does though.

Out of the big three magic wards, annulment, conjured Ward and steadfast ward, only steadfast ward and it morphs scale with spell damage as well as max magic, the weapon trait powered also works on steadfast ward and morphs, annulment and conjured Ward only scale with your max magic and do not work with powered. Of course all three work with the CP node "bastion".

The templars in class ward, sun sheild, is based on health, like 90% of the wards in the game are. That alone ought to tell you what zos wants them used as @Tapio75

Brrrofski · March 2018

Tapio75 wrote: »

Brrrofski wrote: »

Wards used to last like 20 seconds at one point (sorc one and annulment anyway) but people said shileds were OP in pvp.

So ZOS, nerfed them in typical ZOS nerf fashion - completely wrong. If you're fighting anyone with the tinniest clue on how to play the game, your wards don't last 6 seconds anyway. You cast them more often that, even if it was still 20 secs.

Anyway, outside of PvP wards are extremely powerful. They are often used when you know a big hit it coming. If a boss is about to hit you, using a ward can effectively double your health, meaning you'll survive big hits.

In mages point of wiev, ward is not a situational but a precombat spell that is cast to prevent instant death from a single blade or someone throwing a big rock at ones head In this perspective resistance spells should be situational but ESO seems to be mssing them, plus the console 5 spell limitation makes it hard to have such stuff on actionbar.

What i am trying to advocate here, is that if people just think a bit, wards can really last longer for immersive purposes but at the same time, be balanced for PVP and still be situational in harder boss fights. The absorption amount is one factor for example and the prevention of stacking wards is another. When these things are implemented correctly to ward spells, they can last for hours when cast, but still be perfectly balanced.

For me, they are not used, they just feel as a waste in action bar since the boss fights i have been, the other healing stuff has always been enough to save anyone in time without hassle to have a spell like that in action bar. Then again i have not made the hardest trials at all, but the argument is still valid there for the duration factor. They can be situational and perfectly balanced with long durations if right mechanics are included.

I remember that Warcraft tried this too with priest shield for a short while, but the spell just became part of rotation and they changed it back. With ESO's limits, it cant really be part of rotation if one does want to cast more cool stuff or do some damage in battles where damage really matters.

Right now they work more like buffs and resistance spells rather than mage ward spells so if the duration is not changed and mechanics implemented to balance the duration, it might be good time to change the names from ward spells to something more suitable for situational spells.

But my point is you don't need wards in pve apart from certain boss mechanics.

All magica classes have ways of healing whilst doing damage, so you basically just need to use a ward before a big hit or when you're low on health and let those skills heal you back up. Nightblade has funnel health, DK has embers, whip, inhale, Sorc has power surge, Warden has lotus blossom plus using animal companions and Templar has sweeps. Wards aren't in a rotation in pve. They're to be used in the right scenario.

Honestly, what I love about this game is he combat. You just basically want to elimate the two things which are key. Actively thinking about what skills to use and when. Keeping buffs up, using wards at the right time, healing at the right time, knowing when someone's buffs or wards run out etc. It's high pace and requires thought for the most part (there are always exception in pvp in one broken build or another).

Also, competition for bar space. I'm glad that you have a limited amount. It means builds are often different (in PvP at least) and it requires though when putting together a build. Skills you might put on or leave off influence e the gear you use to compensate. The heat you want may lack something so you make room for a skill to compensate.

Tapio75 · March 2018

Armatesz wrote: »

Ask yourself if you are dying a lot, even with loads of heals. Problem can be as simple as adding a ward to your rotations

My problem with dying is, that even while i dont use any food and rarely potions, i have a hard time finding places where i can die unless im really tired and my concentration goes away

The change i am wishing, is that ward duration is reverted back to what i once was for mostly immersion and the so called QOL purposes, and balanced by those other means i mentioned earlier like preventing stacking and keeping the absorption rates such, that they are balanced. They actually allready have the absorption numbers mostly that are pretty well balanced, but what really made them to change the duration was people stacking muyltiple wards in PVP to prevent dying. The system was abused and things were nerfed in a very bad way. Those spells need to have exlusion lists and prevention mechanisms that either cancel the previous wards when new is cast or having a ward prevents casting another as long as the first is up or that one can only slot one ward per action bar for example. Things can be balanced and wards can stay as situatiponal as they are now with these tweaks, but theuy would aalso allow the immersive usage of wards as mages protective shell from harm in battle. Every time i face that trash mob that really poses no threat to me, i feel kinda stupid when they still hit me with their greatswords and i dont have any ward up on my mage who dont wear any armor exept clothes and not dying from that.. I hope you get what i mean

@Lightspeedflashb14_ESO

To be frank, in ESO, all mages would be dead in matter of minutes in any combat situation as well as it was with Skyrim ward. If mage is wearing "light armor which really wants to say, clothes. All the blunt, pointy daggers, slashes would go right past the cloythes ESO mages wear. Battlemages with armor are different story, but the current TES way is not in line what would "really" happen for a mage in battle if it was a cloth wearing TES mage.

Armatesz · March 2018

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

. @Tapio75 In mages point of wiev, ward is not a situational but a precombat spell

Not in ESO. Wards are basically a "burst" heal, they are simply an extension of your health bar for a short time. Not every class has Breath of life for when you have no time for a HoT to bring you back up to full. This is what wards are for.

@Armatesz From what I can tell powered does not boost a ward's power, nirnhoned does though.

Out of the big three magic wards, annulment, conjured Ward and steadfast ward, only steadfast ward and it morphs scale with spell damage as well as max magic, the weapon trait powered also works on steadfast ward and morphs, annulment and conjured Ward only scale with your max magic and do not work with powered. Of course all three work with the CP node "bastion".

From personal experiences and actually testing it... ward ally does scale to spell damage. Bastion can also improve it as well. Reviving barrier does get boosted by spell damage. If you have a restoration staff that is nirnhoned you notice that it also gets improved to boot. Wards are not burst heals btw. That is a poor way to compare it to. Some wards you can use for preemptive against certain situations.
Wards can provide some time for actual healing while providing some kind of defensive bonus. I have noticed some bad things about wards, where as someone with a weaker providing ward apply a barrier after you just cast one and theirs takes over yours and replaces it to boot. Leaving you with a less efficient ward. Example of such a thing is reviving barrier. Some wards with the newest dlc have gotten an extremely odd way around this but here is the thing and how it goes about. I'm not sure how to report it though but here it is. You apply ward ally, one more person can apply ward ally as well and if you are the only one there it applies onto you on top of the other ward. Don't believe me? Find two people that have ward ally and notice they can stack up. You can only stack up once. From what I have to guess there are two wards being applies, one is onto caster, and the other has some other identifying nature that only applies onto others and is being treated as a different ward altogether. Another odd bug is where ward ally doesn't apply itself to the person with the lowest hp or if you see someone's health bar glitch out where it looks like they are perma damaged... ward seems to constantly favor placing onto such a person. There can be painfully obvious health ranges that it doesn't make sense why someone with hp 30k+ should get the barrier over someone with say 14 or 13k. Flavor text says it shouldn't do that. Now note both are at full health.

Armatesz · March 2018

Tapio75 wrote: »

Armatesz wrote: »

Ask yourself if you are dying a lot, even with loads of heals. Problem can be as simple as adding a ward to your rotations

My problem with dying is, that even while i dont use any food and rarely potions, i have a hard time finding places where i can die unless im really tired and my concentration goes away

The change i am wishing, is that ward duration is reverted back to what i once was for mostly immersion and the so called QOL purposes, and balanced by those other means i mentioned earlier like preventing stacking and keeping the absorption rates such, that they are balanced. They actually allready have the absorption numbers mostly that are pretty well balanced, but what really made them to change the duration was people stacking muyltiple wards in PVP to prevent dying. The system was abused and things were nerfed in a very bad way. Those spells need to have exlusion lists and prevention mechanisms that either cancel the previous wards when new is cast or having a ward prevents casting another as long as the first is up or that one can only slot one ward per action bar for example. Things can be balanced and wards can stay as situatiponal as they are now with these tweaks, but theuy would aalso allow the immersive usage of wards as mages protective shell from harm in battle. Every time i face that trash mob that really poses no threat to me, i feel kinda stupid when they still hit me with their greatswords and i dont have any ward up on my mage who dont wear any armor exept clothes and not dying from that.. I hope you get what i mean

@Lightspeedflashb14_ESO

To be frank, in ESO, all mages would be dead in matter of minutes in any combat situation as well as it was with Skyrim ward. If mage is wearing "light armor which really wants to say, clothes. All the blunt, pointy daggers, slashes would go right past the cloythes ESO mages wear. Battlemages with armor are different story, but the current TES way is not in line what would "really" happen for a mage in battle if it was a cloth wearing TES mage.

I won't lie that wards are kind of good for the times when you are mentally droning.

Armatesz · March 2018

Brrrofski wrote: »

Tapio75 wrote: »

Brrrofski wrote: »

Wards used to last like 20 seconds at one point (sorc one and annulment anyway) but people said shileds were OP in pvp.

So ZOS, nerfed them in typical ZOS nerf fashion - completely wrong. If you're fighting anyone with the tinniest clue on how to play the game, your wards don't last 6 seconds anyway. You cast them more often that, even if it was still 20 secs.

Anyway, outside of PvP wards are extremely powerful. They are often used when you know a big hit it coming. If a boss is about to hit you, using a ward can effectively double your health, meaning you'll survive big hits.

In mages point of wiev, ward is not a situational but a precombat spell that is cast to prevent instant death from a single blade or someone throwing a big rock at ones head In this perspective resistance spells should be situational but ESO seems to be mssing them, plus the console 5 spell limitation makes it hard to have such stuff on actionbar.

What i am trying to advocate here, is that if people just think a bit, wards can really last longer for immersive purposes but at the same time, be balanced for PVP and still be situational in harder boss fights. The absorption amount is one factor for example and the prevention of stacking wards is another. When these things are implemented correctly to ward spells, they can last for hours when cast, but still be perfectly balanced.

For me, they are not used, they just feel as a waste in action bar since the boss fights i have been, the other healing stuff has always been enough to save anyone in time without hassle to have a spell like that in action bar. Then again i have not made the hardest trials at all, but the argument is still valid there for the duration factor. They can be situational and perfectly balanced with long durations if right mechanics are included.

I remember that Warcraft tried this too with priest shield for a short while, but the spell just became part of rotation and they changed it back. With ESO's limits, it cant really be part of rotation if one does want to cast more cool stuff or do some damage in battles where damage really matters.

Right now they work more like buffs and resistance spells rather than mage ward spells so if the duration is not changed and mechanics implemented to balance the duration, it might be good time to change the names from ward spells to something more suitable for situational spells.

But my point is you don't need wards in pve apart from certain boss mechanics.

All magica classes have ways of healing whilst doing damage, so you basically just need to use a ward before a big hit or when you're low on health and let those skills heal you back up. Nightblade has funnel health, DK has embers, whip, inhale, Sorc has power surge, Warden has lotus blossom plus using animal companions and Templar has sweeps. Wards aren't in a rotation in pve. They're to be used in the right scenario.

Honestly, what I love about this game is he combat. You just basically want to elimate the two things which are key. Actively thinking about what skills to use and when. Keeping buffs up, using wards at the right time, healing at the right time, knowing when someone's buffs or wards run out etc. It's high pace and requires thought for the most part (there are always exception in pvp in one broken build or another).

Also, competition for bar space. I'm glad that you have a limited amount. It means builds are often different (in PvP at least) and it requires though when putting together a build. Skills you might put on or leave off influence e the gear you use to compensate. The heat you want may lack something so you make room for a skill to compensate.

I would never call wards useless, but if you need it then go for it. Address a situation as you need it to be dealt with. Take the time and experiment. True not all builds can likely utilize a ward. Besides just wards, utilize resistances as need be for boosts. There can be times where a ward can allow you to better focus on attacking an enemy without fear of having to constantly run away. Seen too many times where glass cannons would run away from the silliest of things, I would just ward and stare at them.

Brrrofski · March 2018

Armatesz wrote: »

Brrrofski wrote: »

Tapio75 wrote: »

Brrrofski wrote: »

Wards used to last like 20 seconds at one point (sorc one and annulment anyway) but people said shileds were OP in pvp.

So ZOS, nerfed them in typical ZOS nerf fashion - completely wrong. If you're fighting anyone with the tinniest clue on how to play the game, your wards don't last 6 seconds anyway. You cast them more often that, even if it was still 20 secs.

Anyway, outside of PvP wards are extremely powerful. They are often used when you know a big hit it coming. If a boss is about to hit you, using a ward can effectively double your health, meaning you'll survive big hits.

In mages point of wiev, ward is not a situational but a precombat spell that is cast to prevent instant death from a single blade or someone throwing a big rock at ones head In this perspective resistance spells should be situational but ESO seems to be mssing them, plus the console 5 spell limitation makes it hard to have such stuff on actionbar.

What i am trying to advocate here, is that if people just think a bit, wards can really last longer for immersive purposes but at the same time, be balanced for PVP and still be situational in harder boss fights. The absorption amount is one factor for example and the prevention of stacking wards is another. When these things are implemented correctly to ward spells, they can last for hours when cast, but still be perfectly balanced.

For me, they are not used, they just feel as a waste in action bar since the boss fights i have been, the other healing stuff has always been enough to save anyone in time without hassle to have a spell like that in action bar. Then again i have not made the hardest trials at all, but the argument is still valid there for the duration factor. They can be situational and perfectly balanced with long durations if right mechanics are included.

I remember that Warcraft tried this too with priest shield for a short while, but the spell just became part of rotation and they changed it back. With ESO's limits, it cant really be part of rotation if one does want to cast more cool stuff or do some damage in battles where damage really matters.

Right now they work more like buffs and resistance spells rather than mage ward spells so if the duration is not changed and mechanics implemented to balance the duration, it might be good time to change the names from ward spells to something more suitable for situational spells.

But my point is you don't need wards in pve apart from certain boss mechanics.

All magica classes have ways of healing whilst doing damage, so you basically just need to use a ward before a big hit or when you're low on health and let those skills heal you back up. Nightblade has funnel health, DK has embers, whip, inhale, Sorc has power surge, Warden has lotus blossom plus using animal companions and Templar has sweeps. Wards aren't in a rotation in pve. They're to be used in the right scenario.

Honestly, what I love about this game is he combat. You just basically want to elimate the two things which are key. Actively thinking about what skills to use and when. Keeping buffs up, using wards at the right time, healing at the right time, knowing when someone's buffs or wards run out etc. It's high pace and requires thought for the most part (there are always exception in pvp in one broken build or another).

Also, competition for bar space. I'm glad that you have a limited amount. It means builds are often different (in PvP at least) and it requires though when putting together a build. Skills you might put on or leave off influence e the gear you use to compensate. The heat you want may lack something so you make room for a skill to compensate.

I would never call wards useless, but if you need it then go for it. Address a situation as you need it to be dealt with. Take the time and experiment. True not all builds can likely utilize a ward. Besides just wards, utilize resistances as need be for boosts. There can be times where a ward can allow you to better focus on attacking an enemy without fear of having to constantly run away. Seen too many times where glass cannons would run away from the silliest of things, I would just ward and stare at them.

I didn't call them useless. I said you mostly don't need them except the right scenario.

Armatesz · March 2018

Brrrofski wrote: »

Armatesz wrote: »

Brrrofski wrote: »

Tapio75 wrote: »

Brrrofski wrote: »

Wards used to last like 20 seconds at one point (sorc one and annulment anyway) but people said shileds were OP in pvp.

So ZOS, nerfed them in typical ZOS nerf fashion - completely wrong. If you're fighting anyone with the tinniest clue on how to play the game, your wards don't last 6 seconds anyway. You cast them more often that, even if it was still 20 secs.

Anyway, outside of PvP wards are extremely powerful. They are often used when you know a big hit it coming. If a boss is about to hit you, using a ward can effectively double your health, meaning you'll survive big hits.

In mages point of wiev, ward is not a situational but a precombat spell that is cast to prevent instant death from a single blade or someone throwing a big rock at ones head In this perspective resistance spells should be situational but ESO seems to be mssing them, plus the console 5 spell limitation makes it hard to have such stuff on actionbar.

What i am trying to advocate here, is that if people just think a bit, wards can really last longer for immersive purposes but at the same time, be balanced for PVP and still be situational in harder boss fights. The absorption amount is one factor for example and the prevention of stacking wards is another. When these things are implemented correctly to ward spells, they can last for hours when cast, but still be perfectly balanced.

For me, they are not used, they just feel as a waste in action bar since the boss fights i have been, the other healing stuff has always been enough to save anyone in time without hassle to have a spell like that in action bar. Then again i have not made the hardest trials at all, but the argument is still valid there for the duration factor. They can be situational and perfectly balanced with long durations if right mechanics are included.

I remember that Warcraft tried this too with priest shield for a short while, but the spell just became part of rotation and they changed it back. With ESO's limits, it cant really be part of rotation if one does want to cast more cool stuff or do some damage in battles where damage really matters.

Right now they work more like buffs and resistance spells rather than mage ward spells so if the duration is not changed and mechanics implemented to balance the duration, it might be good time to change the names from ward spells to something more suitable for situational spells.

But my point is you don't need wards in pve apart from certain boss mechanics.

All magica classes have ways of healing whilst doing damage, so you basically just need to use a ward before a big hit or when you're low on health and let those skills heal you back up. Nightblade has funnel health, DK has embers, whip, inhale, Sorc has power surge, Warden has lotus blossom plus using animal companions and Templar has sweeps. Wards aren't in a rotation in pve. They're to be used in the right scenario.

Honestly, what I love about this game is he combat. You just basically want to elimate the two things which are key. Actively thinking about what skills to use and when. Keeping buffs up, using wards at the right time, healing at the right time, knowing when someone's buffs or wards run out etc. It's high pace and requires thought for the most part (there are always exception in pvp in one broken build or another).

Also, competition for bar space. I'm glad that you have a limited amount. It means builds are often different (in PvP at least) and it requires though when putting together a build. Skills you might put on or leave off influence e the gear you use to compensate. The heat you want may lack something so you make room for a skill to compensate.

I would never call wards useless, but if you need it then go for it. Address a situation as you need it to be dealt with. Take the time and experiment. True not all builds can likely utilize a ward. Besides just wards, utilize resistances as need be for boosts. There can be times where a ward can allow you to better focus on attacking an enemy without fear of having to constantly run away. Seen too many times where glass cannons would run away from the silliest of things, I would just ward and stare at them.

I didn't call them useless. I said you mostly don't need them except the right scenario.

Times that I have seen it useful is for certain boss mechanics as well, and maybe some odd end enemy attacks, I've also seen it being extremely useful for dealing with high condensed amount of enemies(30+) that it can be useful.

Tapio75 · March 2018

@Armatesz
I often feel silly when i run away from some enemy that really poses no threat to me, none whatsoever just because the ward is not useful in immersive manner. It jus feels real stupid to be pounded by a big axe when wearing a light armor but not being harmed when not having that ward up:D Instead i just use stuff like mutagen to appear as a ward, also doing a better job in that situation than 6 sec ward would do.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO · March 2018

. @Armatesz From personal experiences and actually testing it... ward ally does scale to spell damage. Bastion can also improve it as well. Reviving barrier does get boosted by spell damage. If you have a restoration staff that is nirnhoned you notice that it also gets improved to boot.

I said the same, steadfast ward is the base skill of ward ally, you are aware of this? You said powered doesn't work for wards, I clarified that you were right, on the whole, but steadfast ward and its morphs do, in fact, get boosted by powered. Not sure what you think I said. I also further clarified what wards scaled with what, I said steadfast ward and it's morphs do scale with spell damage, which ward ally is a morph and nirn is a spell damage booster.

Wards are not burst heals btw. That is a poor way to compare it to. Some wards you can use for preemptive against certain situations.

I am aware that wards are not directly heals but they can be used as such, as oh crap all my health is down and I need to not die button. Just like a burst heal. Especially healing ward, which is the other morph of ward ally, which actually does 2 heals, a small one when you hit them and a heal based of the size of the ward when it expires, I personally have used both morphs of steadfast ward, one on a sorc healer, healing ward and the other on a warden healer, ward ally.

So your big long paragraph on wards not stacking and only being refreshed by casting the same skill or one of it's morphs, this is because at one time they didn't, way back like 2014 and this was changed because Dragonknights have a ward called "fragmented shield". This skill give the caster and five other people a ward, which when it expires or is removed, does an amount of damage. This was a problem in PvP, you would get groups of Dragonknights that would stack by each other and simply be unkillable because you could not get close to them and they had layers of warding from each other. You see how this is a problem right? So they changed how all wards work in the game and now only the main ward from fragmented shield gives damage.

Seraphayel · March 2018

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

All ward in the game, with the exception of sorcs empowered ward, are only 6 seconds long. Wards are supposed to be reactivate and Mutegen is a preemptive heal. They are for different things. Wards not supposed to be part of a "rotation".

Also sun sheild is a bad ward, unless you have 50k+ health. Try annulment and it morphs from the light armor skill line. if you want a good ward.

Isn't it the other way round? Shields are proactive healing abilities - you don't have to heal when you didn't get the damage.

6 seconds is quite short. It should be increased to 10 seconds imho for usual shields, shields with special effects (Templar's Blazing Shield) should stay as they are.

Tapio75 · March 2018

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

All ward in the game, with the exception of sorcs empowered ward, are only 6 seconds long. Wards are supposed to be reactivate and Mutegen is a preemptive heal. They are for different things. Wards not supposed to be part of a "rotation".

Also sun sheild is a bad ward, unless you have 50k+ health. Try annulment and it morphs from the light armor skill line. if you want a good ward.

Isn't it the other way round? Shields are proactive healing abilities - you don't have to heal when you didn't get the damage.

6 seconds is quite short. It should be increased to 10 seconds imho for usual shields, shields with special effects (Templar's Blazing Shield) should stay as they are.

Shields are supposed to be pre-emptive, but people use them as buffs as seen here. The duration for basic damage shield can be even that 20 seconds it once was, but it would pose no troubles in PVP at all if the absorption amounts are in check and stacking prevention mechanisms are in place.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

. @Armatesz From personal experiences and actually testing it... ward ally does scale to spell damage. Bastion can also improve it as well. Reviving barrier does get boosted by spell damage. If you have a restoration staff that is nirnhoned you notice that it also gets improved to boot.

I said the same, steadfast ward is the base skill of ward ally, you are aware of this? You said powered doesn't work for wards, I clarified that you were right, on the whole, but steadfast ward and its morphs do, in fact, get boosted by powered. Not sure what you think I said. I also further clarified what wards scaled with what, I said steadfast ward and it's morphs do scale with spell damage, which ward ally is a morph and nirn is a spell damage booster.

Wards are not burst heals btw. That is a poor way to compare it to. Some wards you can use for preemptive against certain situations.

I am aware that wards are not directly heals but they can be used as such, as oh crap all my health is down and I need to not die button. Just like a burst heal. Especially healing ward, which is the other morph of ward ally, which actually does 2 heals, a small one when you hit them and a heal based of the size of the ward when it expires, I personally have used both morphs of steadfast ward, one on a sorc healer, healing ward and the other on a warden healer, ward ally.

So your big long paragraph on wards not stacking and only being refreshed by casting the same skill or one of it's morphs, this is because at one time they didn't, way back like 2014 and this was changed because Dragonknights have a ward called "fragmented shield". This skill give the caster and five other people a ward, which when it expires or is removed, does an amount of damage. This was a problem in PvP, you would get groups of Dragonknights that would stack by each other and simply be unkillable because you could not get close to them and they had layers of warding from each other. You see how this is a problem right? So they changed how all wards work in the game and now only the main ward from fragmented shield gives damage.

The DK issue is one example of problem. There was an balance issue on one skill that was abused with stacking, but instead of making an correction, that at least adept game designer would do, they just lessened the time and changed all other stuff which did not have issues as well. In my case, leading to useless wards that are useless that in mid combat, they rarely fire since lag and also since healing on off bar on hard situations cancels the need of ward with a litle more magicka use.

Stacking prevention mechanisms and damage absorption rates are the only things that really balance the spell here, the duration is not a balancing factor but simply a way to make something which should be pre-emptive spell, cast before combat to something like resistance buff in other games which really is situational where as ward should not be.

The big reason why wards in general, are not a situational spell is, that they are the protective spells for someone wearing clothing when in combat, preventing blades and axes from hacking and slashing them in first hit.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO · March 2018

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

All ward in the game, with the exception of sorcs empowered ward, are only 6 seconds long. Wards are supposed to be reactivate and Mutegen is a preemptive heal. They are for different things. Wards not supposed to be part of a "rotation".

Also sun sheild is a bad ward, unless you have 50k+ health. Try annulment and it morphs from the light armor skill line. if you want a good ward.

Isn't it the other way round? Shields are proactive healing abilities - you don't have to heal when you didn't get the damage.

6 seconds is quite short. It should be increased to 10 seconds imho for usual shields, shields with special effects (Templar's Blazing Shield) should stay as they are.

Not in this game. This is not like other D&D type fantasy. Zos wants wards to be reactivate. Hence why they are really expensive, resource wise and why they are on the whole only 6 seconds. The only ward that makes sense as a proactive defense is Dragonknights obsidian shield and it morphs. Gives 5 other player and yourself a ward. All other wards are personal or for a single target.

Seraphayel · March 2018

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

All ward in the game, with the exception of sorcs empowered ward, are only 6 seconds long. Wards are supposed to be reactivate and Mutegen is a preemptive heal. They are for different things. Wards not supposed to be part of a "rotation".

Also sun sheild is a bad ward, unless you have 50k+ health. Try annulment and it morphs from the light armor skill line. if you want a good ward.

Isn't it the other way round? Shields are proactive healing abilities - you don't have to heal when you didn't get the damage.

6 seconds is quite short. It should be increased to 10 seconds imho for usual shields, shields with special effects (Templar's Blazing Shield) should stay as they are.

Not in this game. This is not like other D&D type fantasy. Zos wants wards to be reactivate. Hence why they are really expensive, resource wise and why they are on the whole only 6 seconds. The only ward that makes sense as a proactive defense is Dragonknights obsidian shield and it morphs. Gives 5 other player and yourself a ward. All other wards are personal or for a single target.

Then ZOS changed their mind some time ago because - as you said - shields once lasted longer. After shield stacking became so famous they reduced the duration but didn't really fix the problem.

Sure Healing Ward is no pro active skill because it scales of missing health. But several other shields are (Sorc, DK, Templar) and should be treated as such imho.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO · March 2018

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

All ward in the game, with the exception of sorcs empowered ward, are only 6 seconds long. Wards are supposed to be reactivate and Mutegen is a preemptive heal. They are for different things. Wards not supposed to be part of a "rotation".

Also sun sheild is a bad ward, unless you have 50k+ health. Try annulment and it morphs from the light armor skill line. if you want a good ward.

Isn't it the other way round? Shields are proactive healing abilities - you don't have to heal when you didn't get the damage.

6 seconds is quite short. It should be increased to 10 seconds imho for usual shields, shields with special effects (Templar's Blazing Shield) should stay as they are.

Not in this game. This is not like other D&D type fantasy. Zos wants wards to be reactivate. Hence why they are really expensive, resource wise and why they are on the whole only 6 seconds. The only ward that makes sense as a proactive defense is Dragonknights obsidian shield and it morphs. Gives 5 other player and yourself a ward. All other wards are personal or for a single target.

Then ZOS changed their mind some time ago because - as you said - shields once lasted longer. After shield stacking became so famous they reduced the duration but didn't really fix the problem.

Sure Healing Ward is no pro active skill because it scales of missing health. But several other shields are (Sorc, DK, Templar) and should be treated as such imho.

Healing ward scaled with max magic and Spell damage first, then it quadruples the size based on missing health, just like the base morph, steadfast ward and ward ally do.

The game evolves, things get nerfed and buff based on the vision of the people at zos. Sorcs hardened ward is the biggest reason why zos changed their minds on ward length, when you can have a 30k ward up for 20 seconds, there is a problem.

Just to be clear, igneous shields is used by tanks for the Stam return first and foremost, then for the 2.5 seconds of major mending, then for group utility, Ie warning the team THEN it is use for proactive damage mitigation, as the ward size is based on health, it is worthless to anyone less then 30k health.

Seraphayel · March 2018

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

All ward in the game, with the exception of sorcs empowered ward, are only 6 seconds long. Wards are supposed to be reactivate and Mutegen is a preemptive heal. They are for different things. Wards not supposed to be part of a "rotation".

Also sun sheild is a bad ward, unless you have 50k+ health. Try annulment and it morphs from the light armor skill line. if you want a good ward.

Isn't it the other way round? Shields are proactive healing abilities - you don't have to heal when you didn't get the damage.

6 seconds is quite short. It should be increased to 10 seconds imho for usual shields, shields with special effects (Templar's Blazing Shield) should stay as they are.

Not in this game. This is not like other D&D type fantasy. Zos wants wards to be reactivate. Hence why they are really expensive, resource wise and why they are on the whole only 6 seconds. The only ward that makes sense as a proactive defense is Dragonknights obsidian shield and it morphs. Gives 5 other player and yourself a ward. All other wards are personal or for a single target.

Then ZOS changed their mind some time ago because - as you said - shields once lasted longer. After shield stacking became so famous they reduced the duration but didn't really fix the problem.

Sure Healing Ward is no pro active skill because it scales of missing health. But several other shields are (Sorc, DK, Templar) and should be treated as such imho.

Healing ward scaled with max magic and Spell damage first, then it quadruples the size based on missing health, just like the base morph, steadfast ward and ward ally do.

The game evolves, things get nerfed and buff based on the vision of the people at zos. Sorcs hardened ward is the biggest reason why zos changed their minds on ward length, when you can have a 30k ward up for 20 seconds, there is a problem.

I really don't think that the people at ZOS have a vision. They react to the things (= problems and opportunities ) the community develops or creates (OP build? We will nerf it next time. Endless sustain? We will nerf that! Shield stacking? We reduce duration!). They don't have a vision for classes and skill design. If they had we wouldn't be in this situation regarding build diversity.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO · March 2018

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

All ward in the game, with the exception of sorcs empowered ward, are only 6 seconds long. Wards are supposed to be reactivate and Mutegen is a preemptive heal. They are for different things. Wards not supposed to be part of a "rotation".

Also sun sheild is a bad ward, unless you have 50k+ health. Try annulment and it morphs from the light armor skill line. if you want a good ward.

Isn't it the other way round? Shields are proactive healing abilities - you don't have to heal when you didn't get the damage.

6 seconds is quite short. It should be increased to 10 seconds imho for usual shields, shields with special effects (Templar's Blazing Shield) should stay as they are.

Not in this game. This is not like other D&D type fantasy. Zos wants wards to be reactivate. Hence why they are really expensive, resource wise and why they are on the whole only 6 seconds. The only ward that makes sense as a proactive defense is Dragonknights obsidian shield and it morphs. Gives 5 other player and yourself a ward. All other wards are personal or for a single target.

Then ZOS changed their mind some time ago because - as you said - shields once lasted longer. After shield stacking became so famous they reduced the duration but didn't really fix the problem.

Sure Healing Ward is no pro active skill because it scales of missing health. But several other shields are (Sorc, DK, Templar) and should be treated as such imho.

Healing ward scaled with max magic and Spell damage first, then it quadruples the size based on missing health, just like the base morph, steadfast ward and ward ally do.

The game evolves, things get nerfed and buff based on the vision of the people at zos. Sorcs hardened ward is the biggest reason why zos changed their minds on ward length, when you can have a 30k ward up for 20 seconds, there is a problem.

I really don't think that the people at ZOS have a vision. They react to the things (= problems and opportunities ) the community develops or creates (OP build? We will nerf it next time. Endless sustain? We will nerf that! Shield stacking? We reduce duration!). They don't have a vision for classes and skill design. If they had we wouldn't be in this situation regarding build diversity.

I think you are wrong. They have a vision, it is just that this game is so huge and 50-100 people can only test so much, of course things are going to slip though. When you have a million people banging away, looking for anything that will give them the highest advantage for the lowest effort.

Seraphayel · March 2018

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

All ward in the game, with the exception of sorcs empowered ward, are only 6 seconds long. Wards are supposed to be reactivate and Mutegen is a preemptive heal. They are for different things. Wards not supposed to be part of a "rotation".

Also sun sheild is a bad ward, unless you have 50k+ health. Try annulment and it morphs from the light armor skill line. if you want a good ward.

Isn't it the other way round? Shields are proactive healing abilities - you don't have to heal when you didn't get the damage.

6 seconds is quite short. It should be increased to 10 seconds imho for usual shields, shields with special effects (Templar's Blazing Shield) should stay as they are.

Not in this game. This is not like other D&D type fantasy. Zos wants wards to be reactivate. Hence why they are really expensive, resource wise and why they are on the whole only 6 seconds. The only ward that makes sense as a proactive defense is Dragonknights obsidian shield and it morphs. Gives 5 other player and yourself a ward. All other wards are personal or for a single target.

Then ZOS changed their mind some time ago because - as you said - shields once lasted longer. After shield stacking became so famous they reduced the duration but didn't really fix the problem.

Sure Healing Ward is no pro active skill because it scales of missing health. But several other shields are (Sorc, DK, Templar) and should be treated as such imho.

Healing ward scaled with max magic and Spell damage first, then it quadruples the size based on missing health, just like the base morph, steadfast ward and ward ally do.

The game evolves, things get nerfed and buff based on the vision of the people at zos. Sorcs hardened ward is the biggest reason why zos changed their minds on ward length, when you can have a 30k ward up for 20 seconds, there is a problem.

I really don't think that the people at ZOS have a vision. They react to the things (= problems and opportunities ) the community develops or creates (OP build? We will nerf it next time. Endless sustain? We will nerf that! Shield stacking? We reduce duration!). They don't have a vision for classes and skill design. If they had we wouldn't be in this situation regarding build diversity.

I think you are wrong. They have a vision, it is just that this game is so huge and 50-100 people can only test so much, of course things are going to slip though. When you have a million people banging away, looking for anything that will give them the highest advantage for the lowest effort.

I'm curious, what kind of vision do they have? What did they add to the ESO combat or class design that was not based on nerfs etc. What did they do not as a reaction to a problem/situation but as some kind of incentive by themselves?

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO · March 2018

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

All ward in the game, with the exception of sorcs empowered ward, are only 6 seconds long. Wards are supposed to be reactivate and Mutegen is a preemptive heal. They are for different things. Wards not supposed to be part of a "rotation".

Also sun sheild is a bad ward, unless you have 50k+ health. Try annulment and it morphs from the light armor skill line. if you want a good ward.

Isn't it the other way round? Shields are proactive healing abilities - you don't have to heal when you didn't get the damage.

6 seconds is quite short. It should be increased to 10 seconds imho for usual shields, shields with special effects (Templar's Blazing Shield) should stay as they are.

Not in this game. This is not like other D&D type fantasy. Zos wants wards to be reactivate. Hence why they are really expensive, resource wise and why they are on the whole only 6 seconds. The only ward that makes sense as a proactive defense is Dragonknights obsidian shield and it morphs. Gives 5 other player and yourself a ward. All other wards are personal or for a single target.

Then ZOS changed their mind some time ago because - as you said - shields once lasted longer. After shield stacking became so famous they reduced the duration but didn't really fix the problem.

Sure Healing Ward is no pro active skill because it scales of missing health. But several other shields are (Sorc, DK, Templar) and should be treated as such imho.

Healing ward scaled with max magic and Spell damage first, then it quadruples the size based on missing health, just like the base morph, steadfast ward and ward ally do.

The game evolves, things get nerfed and buff based on the vision of the people at zos. Sorcs hardened ward is the biggest reason why zos changed their minds on ward length, when you can have a 30k ward up for 20 seconds, there is a problem.

I really don't think that the people at ZOS have a vision. They react to the things (= problems and opportunities ) the community develops or creates (OP build? We will nerf it next time. Endless sustain? We will nerf that! Shield stacking? We reduce duration!). They don't have a vision for classes and skill design. If they had we wouldn't be in this situation regarding build diversity.

I think you are wrong. They have a vision, it is just that this game is so huge and 50-100 people can only test so much, of course things are going to slip though. When you have a million people banging away, looking for anything that will give them the highest advantage for the lowest effort.

I'm curious, what kind of vision do they have? What did they add to the ESO combat or class design that was not based on nerfs etc. What did they do not as a reaction to a problem/situation but as some kind of incentive by themselves?

I am not them. I can't tell you what they are thinking, exactly. Thing is, neither can you. And to have such a ego to think you can and to think they are clueless, instead of giving the benefit of the doubt, is like the height of arrogance. You know better then them. Ergo, you are better them zos. Do you see how you look?

Tapio75 · March 2018

@Lightspeedflashb14_ESO

ZOS is wrong and i highly doubt, that vision of class or reactivee gameplay is behind the duration nerf.

If they want reactive stuff, they would be making skills for offhealers/buffers to give resistance buffs and health buffs in situations where they are needed. In situations that mostly happen in PVE raid environment. Is it just a coincidence, that the whole shield system was nerfed after the DK issue and people stacking multiple ward spells on offbar? I highly doubt that too. They nerfed the duration because it was easy and cheap fix compared to some bigger rewriting and thinking of stack prevention mechanisms and shield absorption rates balancing/capping so that they would not be OP in certan situation.

Shield can last even for 60 seconds and be perfectly balanced when the stack prevention and absorption rates are in check and absorption rate in pother hand is part of how the absorption rate scales with magicka/spell power/whatever other stats/factors. You can see here how the duration nerf is cheaper and easier than rethinking the systems many parameters?

Though you are indeed right, this is no D&D game which also makes my point even stronger. Traditional D&D balance is partialland lore heavily and partially relies on groups of adventurers, rarely lone individuals. Therefore a traditional D&D mage can have a round based shield as his or her main shield is group. The mage is the weak one behind the lones, who has the great power of magick but in turn studying magick has left the caster wreak in physical parameters. Also being a mage like that prevents use of armor as they need freedom of movement for somatic gestures and voice for verbal components, theres also reagents involved here so the herb piuches and so forth and so on. The main shield is the group, each one with their strethts and weaknesses unlike most MMO's where due players inability to work together, each build needs to be able to do everything in normal situations.

This being a TES game which has always involved around a lone individual, its mch different, as there are no shields for mages in most situations like the warrior or the group. Shield cant really be reactive turn based, as every enemy gets to mage without roots fast and roots not gonna stop archers and mages from slaying the player caster. Theres no long stuns or silences either for that, so the mage needs something else than the basic cloth. Looking at animations, the mages do have the somatic components hence the need for freedom of movement and requirement for light armor (Which really is just clothing, robes). Mage like this needs a basic precasted protective magicka shell, that will prevent the mage from dying from the first arrow or even be disturbed the gesturing. Also they are physically weakere than the armor wearing warrior types or stealthy rogues types who in other hand can swoop through shadows to stay unhit and be agile enough to be not hit. Mage has no privilige to move like a rogue or wear an armor like a mage. This part of D&D stuff comes from armor passives but is not reflected in skills since there is no precast combat shield for mages with clothes.

This is not a spell that should be reactive, it should be upkeep spell and balanced in other ways than the cheap and easy duration nerf.

If they really had a vision of that reactive gameplay, we would have resistance spells and health buffs and health transfer/damage transfer spells that would act as situational reactive spells.

If a mage without any shield being pounded with large weapons, spells and pointy daggers and arrows and not looking silly staying alive from that is ZOS vision, that vision is highly flawed. Would not be thought as "plausible" in any good story either.

Seraphayel · March 2018

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO wrote: »

All ward in the game, with the exception of sorcs empowered ward, are only 6 seconds long. Wards are supposed to be reactivate and Mutegen is a preemptive heal. They are for different things. Wards not supposed to be part of a "rotation".

Also sun sheild is a bad ward, unless you have 50k+ health. Try annulment and it morphs from the light armor skill line. if you want a good ward.

Isn't it the other way round? Shields are proactive healing abilities - you don't have to heal when you didn't get the damage.

6 seconds is quite short. It should be increased to 10 seconds imho for usual shields, shields with special effects (Templar's Blazing Shield) should stay as they are.

Not in this game. This is not like other D&D type fantasy. Zos wants wards to be reactivate. Hence why they are really expensive, resource wise and why they are on the whole only 6 seconds. The only ward that makes sense as a proactive defense is Dragonknights obsidian shield and it morphs. Gives 5 other player and yourself a ward. All other wards are personal or for a single target.

Then ZOS changed their mind some time ago because - as you said - shields once lasted longer. After shield stacking became so famous they reduced the duration but didn't really fix the problem.

Sure Healing Ward is no pro active skill because it scales of missing health. But several other shields are (Sorc, DK, Templar) and should be treated as such imho.

Healing ward scaled with max magic and Spell damage first, then it quadruples the size based on missing health, just like the base morph, steadfast ward and ward ally do.

The game evolves, things get nerfed and buff based on the vision of the people at zos. Sorcs hardened ward is the biggest reason why zos changed their minds on ward length, when you can have a 30k ward up for 20 seconds, there is a problem.

I really don't think that the people at ZOS have a vision. They react to the things (= problems and opportunities ) the community develops or creates (OP build? We will nerf it next time. Endless sustain? We will nerf that! Shield stacking? We reduce duration!). They don't have a vision for classes and skill design. If they had we wouldn't be in this situation regarding build diversity.

I think you are wrong. They have a vision, it is just that this game is so huge and 50-100 people can only test so much, of course things are going to slip though. When you have a million people banging away, looking for anything that will give them the highest advantage for the lowest effort.

I'm curious, what kind of vision do they have? What did they add to the ESO combat or class design that was not based on nerfs etc. What did they do not as a reaction to a problem/situation but as some kind of incentive by themselves?

I am not them. I can't tell you what they are thinking, exactly. Thing is, neither can you. And to have such a ego to think you can and to think they are clueless, instead of giving the benefit of the doubt, is like the height of arrogance. You know better then them. Ergo, you are better them zos. Do you see how you look?

I never said I can. I just said what they did in the last years (based on my experience in game and in the forums). I did not say they are clueless. I just said they have no vision or original ideas and keep on choosing the "easy way" (nerfs) when it comes to problem solution.

Nowhere did I say or mean that I know better. I think my critique has nothing to do with arrogance but with own experience.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO · March 2018

@Tapio75 could I get a td:dr at the end of that essay?

But really though, you need to wrap your head around the fact this a video game. Not real life. Not a simulation of reality. In this game fun>real. It was not fun to fight against a sorc that had a 20 seconds of a ward that was 30k large. It is not fun to have to worry about different sheilds not stacking. Just think, if wards didn't stack, like I think you are trying to get to happen, you would have situations were a sliver(read 10 or 20 hp out of 20k) out of one shield that makes your next cast of that ward not work and you die. This would be terrible.

This game is balanced around all the ways you can play it. Be it alone, in a group, or any combination of that. There are skills and sets that shine when you are alone and there are sets and skills that support the team more then you. So I have no idea what you are on about when you say "they would be making skills for offhealers/buffers to give resistance buffs and health buffs in situations where they are needed". There are a tons of skills and sets that only used with a group.