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Magicka nightblade and the problem with Strife change.
Tawrich
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So, I understand why the cost to strife was increased. The logic was: You should be able to have a choice between force pulse and strife as a magicka nightblade, one gives you more survival and the other gives you more damage, so making them have equal cost was supposed to open up build diversity, BUT...
Lets put that into the context of the game in its current situation.
Lets start with PVE: As a DPS magicka nightblade now your only go-to choice will be force pulse, previously strife was a valid choice since sustaining it was easier but soon it won't be viable at all, it deals less damage and most teams prefer to have their DPS doing as much damage as they can and have healers take care of healing, also the healing from strife won't help you survive most mechanics. HEALER nightblades can still pick funnel health but then again we can all agree there are better stuff for them to fill up their bars with. I can't imagine TANKs using strife as spammable either.
Now to PVP: Magicka nightblade can be played either with light armor or heavy. Light armor is more bursty and quick while heavy is a brawler. Comparing strife with force pulse for a light armor magicka nightblade, I think force pulse will again be the go-to choice, it can apply status effects and does more damage whereas strife will make you end up feeling like you lack damage but gain nothing in return as the healing bit of strife in light armor is not enough.
In heavy strife used to shine because its healing part was significant but sustaining in heavy is not easy, the cost increase goes directly against this type of build as well making it even harder to sustain.
These are all my opinions and can be wrong, but I think with the way things are, this change does not open build diversity as I can't see a single situation where we can say strife is the go-to choice. If it is already decided that strife should have its cost increased no matter what, then what I propose is:
*cost increased but still being less than alternative spammables
*cost increased but healing also increased to make it a more favorable choice for light armor setups
*give something to strife to make it shine in a way that will make it useful, I can't think of any buff but I'm sure devs are more creative than me in this regard.
Lets put that into the context of the game in its current situation.
Lets start with PVE: As a DPS magicka nightblade now your only go-to choice will be force pulse, previously strife was a valid choice since sustaining it was easier but soon it won't be viable at all, it deals less damage and most teams prefer to have their DPS doing as much damage as they can and have healers take care of healing, also the healing from strife won't help you survive most mechanics. HEALER nightblades can still pick funnel health but then again we can all agree there are better stuff for them to fill up their bars with. I can't imagine TANKs using strife as spammable either.
Now to PVP: Magicka nightblade can be played either with light armor or heavy. Light armor is more bursty and quick while heavy is a brawler. Comparing strife with force pulse for a light armor magicka nightblade, I think force pulse will again be the go-to choice, it can apply status effects and does more damage whereas strife will make you end up feeling like you lack damage but gain nothing in return as the healing bit of strife in light armor is not enough.
In heavy strife used to shine because its healing part was significant but sustaining in heavy is not easy, the cost increase goes directly against this type of build as well making it even harder to sustain.
These are all my opinions and can be wrong, but I think with the way things are, this change does not open build diversity as I can't see a single situation where we can say strife is the go-to choice. If it is already decided that strife should have its cost increased no matter what, then what I propose is:
*cost increased but still being less than alternative spammables
*cost increased but healing also increased to make it a more favorable choice for light armor setups
*give something to strife to make it shine in a way that will make it useful, I can't think of any buff but I'm sure devs are more creative than me in this regard.
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jcm2606✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭In my honest opinion, Strife should cost the same as it currently does on Live, if not just a little bit higher. You just have to look at what they offer.
Strife:
- Has a single Magic damage component.
- Has a heal over time component that heals for 25% of the damage dealt every 2 seconds for 10 seconds.
- Grants Minor Vitality, increasing healing received by 8%, while slotted.
- Increases your maximum Magicka by 8% while slotted, with the Magicka Flood passive.
- Adds 3% to the Soul Siphoner passive while slotted.
- Generates 2 ultimate whenever cast, with a 4 second ICD.
Force Pulse:
- Has 3 individual damage components, that deal Flame, Frost and Shock damage respectively.
- Will deal extra Magic damage to up to 2 nearby enemies if they're afflicted with Burning, Chilled or Concussed.
- Each damage component can be buffed by passives increasing Flame, Frost and Shock damage, ie Elemental Talent & Destructive Ancestry.
- Each damage component can crit independently, driving the total damage dealt by Force Pulse up considerably.
- Each damage component can potentially afflict the target with Burning, Chilled or Concussed.
- All damage components can ignore 5% of the target's spell resistance.
- Activates the Ancient Knowledge passive for being slotted, allowing you to run other ultimates on your front bar.
- Can potentially return 3600 Magicka, if the enemy dies to this ability.
If you compare Strife and Force Pulse in a perfect vacuum, where you're comparing just the abilities alone, then Strife on first glance does deal slightly more damage than Force Pulse. But when you look at the 3 individual damage components, and how they can crit independently, Force Pulse has the potential to deal considerably more damage on a given cast than Strife, if any and/or all components end up critting.
When you start to look at them in a full build, Force Pulse is obviously going to perform better, as it synergises well with elemental damage bonuses, and grants more potential for damage through the Destruction Staff passives. Personally I think Strife's low cost on Live is fine, but if Zenimax really wants to bring Strife's cost up, it should not cost the same as Force Pulse. Not even close. Strife is clearly the runner up in damage potential, and that should be reflected in its cost.3 -
Feanor✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Strife is clearly the runner up in damage potential, and that should be reflected in its cost.
If you only look at a damage/magicka cost ratio, sure. But you neglected all the utility you even listed above.Main characters: Feanor the Believer - AD Altmer mSorc - AR 46 - Flawless Conqueror (PC EU)Idril Arnanor - AD Altmer mSorc - CP 217 - Stormproof (PC NA)Other characters:Necrophilius Killgood - DC Imperial NecromancerFearscales - AD Argonian Templar - Stormproof (healer)Draco Imperialis - AD Imperial DK (tank)Cabed Naearamarth - AD Dunmer mDKValirion Willowthorne - AD Bosmer stamBladeTuruna - AD Altmer magBladeKheled Zaram - AD Redguard stamDKKibil Nala - AD Redguard stamSorc - StormproofYavanna Kémentárí - AD Breton magWardenAzog gro-Ghâsh - EP Orc stamWardenVidar Drakenblød - DC Nord mDKMarquis de Peyrac - DC Breton mSorc - StormproofRawlith Khaj'ra - AD Khajiit stamWardenTu'waccah - AD Redguard StamplarAll chars 50 @ CP 1700+. Playing and enjoying PvP with RdK mostly on PC EU.0 -
mb10✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭lol strife is also reflectable whereas force pulse isn't so it's almkstna no brainer for PVP to pick force pulse if the price is the same.
Bad move lol the price should just remain the same as it is now2 -
Tawrich✭✭✭In my honest opinion, Strife should cost the same as it currently does on Live, if not just a little bit higher. You just have to look at what they offer.
Strife:
- Has a single Magic damage component.
- Has a heal over time component that heals for 25% of the damage dealt every 2 seconds for 10 seconds.
- Grants Minor Vitality, increasing healing received by 8%, while slotted.
- Increases your maximum Magicka by 8% while slotted, with the Magicka Flood passive.
- Adds 3% to the Soul Siphoner passive while slotted.
- Generates 2 ultimate whenever cast, with a 4 second ICD.
Force Pulse:
- Has 3 individual damage components, that deal Flame, Frost and Shock damage respectively.
- Will deal extra Magic damage to up to 2 nearby enemies if they're afflicted with Burning, Chilled or Concussed.
- Each damage component can be buffed by passives increasing Flame, Frost and Shock damage, ie Elemental Talent & Destructive Ancestry.
- Each damage component can crit independently, driving the total damage dealt by Force Pulse up considerably.
- Each damage component can potentially afflict the target with Burning, Chilled or Concussed.
- All damage components can ignore 5% of the target's spell resistance.
- Activates the Ancient Knowledge passive for being slotted, allowing you to run other ultimates on your front bar.
- Can potentially return 3600 Magicka, if the enemy dies to this ability.
If you compare Strife and Force Pulse in a perfect vacuum, where you're comparing just the abilities alone, then Strife on first glance does deal slightly more damage than Force Pulse. But when you look at the 3 individual damage components, and how they can crit independently, Force Pulse has the potential to deal considerably more damage on a given cast than Strife, if any and/or all components end up critting.
When you start to look at them in a full build, Force Pulse is obviously going to perform better, as it synergises well with elemental damage bonuses, and grants more potential for damage through the Destruction Staff passives. Personally I think Strife's low cost on Live is fine, but if Zenimax really wants to bring Strife's cost up, it should not cost the same as Force Pulse. Not even close. Strife is clearly the runner up in damage potential, and that should be reflected in its cost.
I agree, its cost in my opinion shouldn't get increased, which is why I wrote: " If it is already decided that strife should have its cost increased no matter what, then what I propose is:"1 -
Tawrich✭✭✭Strife is clearly the runner up in damage potential, and that should be reflected in its cost.
If you only look at a damage/magicka cost ratio, sure. But you neglected all the utility you even listed above.
The utility hardly finds a place in PVE as most of what was stated is granted by any siphoning ability slotted, the only unique utilities are the healing and vitality, and in PVP if the cost goes up, the utility is hardly enough to bring it on par with force pulse (shock).Edited by Tawrich on April 24, 2018 11:45AM1