Can we also get some rework on all hard CCs?

Right now some CCs are so much stronger than others. Take rune cage with is now extreme bad telegraph, short duration, no utility and no damage(no one waits for the full duration to cc break and if he is out of stam it just saved him), expensive

Fossilize on the other hand is overloaded with effects: damage when it ends, root, ignores dodge and block and no telegraph

Same goes for draining shoot: knock back, quite high damage and an insane high heal (i get 10+k crit heals like WTF)

@ZOS_Gilliam, @ZOS_BrianWheeler

I think if Relentless Focus is being stripped of "bonuses" than the cost should be decreased. It should only cost a tad more than Leeching Strikes.

Class balance for Elsweyr PVP:
Stam necro > mag necro > stam warden > stam dk > mag dk > stam templar > mag sorc > stam nb > mag templar > stam sorc > mag warden > mag nb

I’m calling it now.

kaithuzar wrote: »

Class balance for Elsweyr PVP:
Stam necro > mag necro > stam warden > stam dk > mag dk > stam templar > mag sorc > stam nb > mag templar > stam sorc > mag warden > mag nb

I’m calling it now.

Explanation for Stam DK location on the list?

About stamina nightblades:

The removal of Minor Berserk and the compensation of it by adding 8% to Ambush is not a good idea for PvP: it will end up to be an incentive for the "spambush" Xv1 playstyle while freeing up a slot from the Relentless Focus (not that one-button gankers were pulling out spectral bow shots anyway). Thus I agree with a comment above, and perhaps suggest reverting the Minor Berserk change.

I would also hope that another balance pass is coming for the Warden.

Only consensus in the community is that stamsorc, magden and stamdk have been in the bottom of DPS for years and need some improvement. However, devs only care about changing more popular classes like nightblades and pet sorcerers. And they are bold enough to call it "class balance".

casparian wrote: »

Given that stam necromancer has enormous class identity with numerous stamina morphs, why do other classes (particularly stamplar and stamsorc) still have so few stamina morphs?

Because Magicka has one offensive weapon skill line and needs to actually have some occasional options here and there.

Please remove the cast time on dark exchange. Using this ability feels clunky in the rotation due to the cast time it has. with all the other changes to cast time ability's this one should be looked at as well. this ability functions similarly to other class ability's: warden Betty netch and morphs no cast time similar function, Night blade siphoning strikes and morphs no cast time similar function. with all the proposed changes to combat to make it feel smother the ability dark exchange should also not have a cast time as well to make it feel better to use in the rotation.

I predominantly play open-world pvp as a cloakless magblade. Most of my comments come from pts testing with the build I use on live: light armor destro/resto, 5x julianos, 5x alchemist, vBRP resto backbar with either pirate skele or bloodspawn helm.

• Are there any changes you feel are against the spirit of the class?

Many changes are consistent with NB's 'assassin' identity. In a pvp context, two big pluses include: changing fear to operate more as a root, which opens up new combos / synergies with teammates; buffs to shade's damage [although melee morph feels overtuned] offers more sustained single-target pressure.

That said, other proposed changes either pigeonhole or incentivize NBs into a gank-only playstyle and may lead to less build diversity within the class. This is covered in general feedback.

• Are you able to weave abilities better or worse in this Update?

Yes, definitely.

• Do you feel your class is stronger, weaker, or relatively the same with the standardization pass on class abilities?

Giving a gap-closer 8s of minor vulnerability is WILD. Such guaranteed, extended debuff uptime otherwise requires a magicka toon to sacrifice a valuable 5-piece slot or a stamina toon to slot an otherwise useless proc set. The notion that a player can run two damage sets and gain access to this debuff seems remarkably powerful; in my testing, an increase of 8% damage taken (minor vuln) results in more damage to the opponent than an increase of 8% damage done (minor beserk). This makes the class feel stronger with respect to damage dealt.

Second, the heal off of grim focus bow procs is really cool! A NB burst heal based off of damage done?! Totally fits into the class identity and feels like it's designed to quickly turn the tides of battle [instantly dropping someone's health pool and regaining yours accordingly]. That said, the heal isn't strong enough to achieve this effect.

Strife has this same problem -- both heals are dependent on whether an opponent dodged or blocked, runs a ton of mitigation or almost none. (Digression on strife: to elaborate on how silly the ramifications are, I consistently try *not* to use a class-defining spammable on other players when fighting near enemy npcs because I know critting a resource NPC will give a hot that is at least twice as strong [and often more bc npc's don't have crit resist].)

Still worse, the heal on grim focus is only applied if the bow proc does damage while you are within 7m of the target. Why would a skill with a 41m range include a 7m conditional functionality? This skill could make the class feel much stronger, and offer it a unique (!) combat mechanic, if revised.

The change to dark cloak makes the class feel weaker. The first round of pts patch notes indicated devs wanted players to 'engage with [the] minor protection' it offered. Dark cloak was slotted for its healing, not for the minor protection it granted. [Frankly, 90% of pvp nightblades choose the other morph for guaranteed 100% protection ]. I'd ask devs reconsider the purpose of this skill. Make it a hot that scales off of max stam/mag resources, rather than max health and drop the minor protection. Sitting at 25k health, dark cloak heals my toon for 1/6th the amount of rapid regeneration for twice the cost.

• Do you feel we addressed abilities that in the past year have been over or under performing?

Shadow image has not worked properly since the introduction of destructible bridges and milegates (Murkmire?). This has been noted and documented on the forums without response. Please fix this skill.

Soul tether is used by magicka bomblades and soul siphon is occasionally used by stamina gankblades while fleeing a failed attempt at a kill. Outside of these instances, I don't think the changes make this ultimate competitive relative to death stroke morphs.

I am unsure if malevolent offering and its morphed is used by pve nightblade healers. I don't know of anyone who slots it in pvp. I would really like it if I could target myself with this skill.

Similarly, I cannot see any pvp use of Consuming Darkness or its morphs without a major redesign. Snaring enemies and granting super-speed and invisibility to allies is rarely used in pvp. Maybe its use as a 'get-out-of-jail-free' synergy for allies comes at too high of an ultimate cost (200), maybe players would prefer an ult like the one in the resto skill line, allowing them to continue fighting through damage. I'd like this skill to be redesigned as an offensive area-of-effect ultimate. Negate and Nova are *very* scary to enemy groups. Standard is less so, but still offers aoe defile. Warden's aoe ultimate even moves with the player! Consuming darkness does not offer any scary consequences to the enemy player(s). It offers a snare, but the area of effective is 40% the size of these other ultimates.

• Do you have any other general feedback?

My concern is that the proposed changes give pvp NBs incentives to only engage in pvp fights that will last fewer than a few seconds before returning to stealth. Invisibility is too strong relative to the other options in its kit [mobility is limited so long as shadow image remains broken, no reliable class-based burst heals (no reliable magicka-based burst heals at all!), and heals-over-time that used to be the strongest in the game are now insufficient to fight through damage.] Rather than try to use sets, skills, and positioning to continue fighting, isn't it easier to disengage?

I am concerned because the nightblade class comprises more than its fair share of the cyrodiil population [i.e., there are 5 classes and more than 20% of cyrodiil is nightblades] and think it would be kinda lame if 1 in 5 people in a given campaign were always 'stealthing,' waiting to potion-chug another incap.

Corrosive Armor needs to be reworked for the sake of PVP and PVE.

Suggestion (only Corrosive Armor):
Reduce ultimate cost to 100.
Reduce duration to 6 seconds.

The skill is quite honestly the biggest cheese skill in dueling, sometimes accounting for a damage gain of over 30% for 11 seconds while crippling incoming damage. An increase to 12 seconds is absolutely ridiculous for a skill that already overperforms massively in PVP. The only answer to a corrosive'd DK is to simply run away for 12 seconds.

In PVE this skill is potent but too expensive. DK DPS is already hampered by the fact that it's source of Major Ward/Resolve is generally trash, and Stam DK is hit exceptionally hard by this. Much like Stamplar, Stam DK needs staying power, the ability to otherwise ignore mechanics and maintain damage on target through tough mechanics designed to force melee to disengage.

For Templar:
New Radiant Ward is super good. Perhaps increase the AOE check for targets to 8m for PVP's sake.

I posted this somewhere else, but this is a more suitable area for this:

Nightblade - Assassination passive (Hemorrhage)

Because of the recent nerfs, please remove the requirement of having an Assassination skill on your bar for this passive to be active. Assassination skills are really useless now (all of them), that's ok, that's why you nerf the game.

Just don't demand that players equip useless skills so they get a passive.

Not equipping Merciless resolve after the patch will result in:
- No Minor Berserk (8% Damage nerf)
- No 10% crit damage bonus (10% Damage nerf)

Total nerf: 18% less damage <-- That's way to high for a nerf

So again, please remove the assassination skill slot requirement for this passive!!

@ZOS_BrianWheeler @ZOS_GinaBruno

I think Grim focus is the wrong ability to give a heal. As things stand right now on PTS, the heal on Grim Focus is great (maybe even OP) in PvE. However, it's pretty useless in PvP where Magblade really needs heals. The problem is the delay on Grim Focus which makes the ability completely unreliable for a heal.

casparian wrote: »

usmcjdking wrote: »

For Templar:
New Radiant Ward is super good. Perhaps increase the AOE check for targets to 8m for PVP's sake.

@usmcjdking did Radiant Ward actually get buffed or is it just ignoring Battle Spirit now? I genuinely can't tell.

The % amp you get for hitting opponents is a flat value of your HP, not your shield. Hitting 3 players with Radiant Ward in PVP is providing you an additional 13.5% of your Max HP as shield value. So instead of increasing your miserably pathetic 3.5k shield to 3.9k, it's actually buffing it to like 6k.

This actually works tremendously well in favor of a Stamplar when used in conjunction with Emp Sweeps major protection. Oh wait...