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Ability Audit: Make Armor Buff Abilities More Consistent Across Classes
Vercingetorix
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The inconsistency of armor buff abilities in ESO in conjunction with their cost has been a long-standing issue in ESO. Some classes have strong, useful armor buff spells and others have a hard time justifying even slotting it. The wildly varying nature of these spells' durations are also an issue given the fact that the spells themselves are rather costly for being a simple utility spell.
The current live values for armor buffs in ESO:
Based on what we can see here, it is evident that cost does NOT correlate to more powerful effects or even a longer duration. The Templar's defense buff is only armor buff that is properly balanced with cost, duration, and potency. All other classes need adjustment (buff) to make their buffs cost less and/or do more:
Sorcerer:
- Adjust both durations up to 20 seconds, with their DoT damage adjusted to account for the duration changes.
- Halve the resource cost for both morphs.
Dragonknight:
- Increase Volatile Armor's damage reflection and the AoE DoT damage.
- Increase the damage shield on Hardened Armor and grant additional 12% healing received while active.
- Replace Burning Heart's healing received passive with an execute passive that scales DoT damage on enemies below 50% health.
- Halve the resource cost for both morphs.
Nightblade:
- Increase the base duration of the armor buff to 12 seconds. (A 1-H DPS setup gets 15 seconds and 7-H tanks (who do not spam shadow spells) can get 33 seconds.)
Warden:
- Adjust the duration to 20 seconds for both morphs.
- Decrease the resource cost significantly for both morphs, putting it in line with other classes.
Necromancer:
- Summoner's Armor will instead regenerate an additional 200 magicka and stamina each time you consume a corpse while the armor buff is active.
- You can now recast Beckoning Armor (while it's active) for half cost while targeting an enemy to pull it to you. (Subject to CC immunity ofc.)
- Halve the resource cost of both morphs.
Edited by Vercingetorix on August 8, 2019 8:24PM The current live values for armor buffs in ESO:
Sorcerer: 2700/2295 magicka/stamina
Boundless Storm: 23 seconds, area DoT centered on the caster
Hurricane: 15 seconds, growing area DoT centered on caster
Dragonknight: 2700 magicka
Volatile Armor: 20 seconds, negligible DoT in small area on cast around caster
Hardened Armor: 20 seconds, negligible damage shield on cast for 6 seconds
Nightblade: n/a
Gained through a passive that only lasts around 7 seconds for DPS and 16 seconds for tanks.
Templar: 1080/940 magicka/stamina
Channeled Focus: 20 seconds, regenerates 4800 magicka, grants additional defense if inside rune
Restoring Focus: 20 seconds, regenerates 4800 stamina, grants additional defense if inside rune
Warden: 4050 magicka
Expansive Frost Cloak: 24 seconds, grants defense in 28m radius around caster on cast
Ice Fortress: 24 seconds, also gives caster Minor Protection (8% dmg reduction) while active
Necromancer: 2700 magicka
Summoner's Armor: 20 seconds, 12% cost reduction on blastbones, pets
Beckoning Armor: 20 seconds, occasionally pulls a ranged attacker every 3 seconds
Boundless Storm: 23 seconds, area DoT centered on the caster
Hurricane: 15 seconds, growing area DoT centered on caster
Dragonknight: 2700 magicka
Volatile Armor: 20 seconds, negligible DoT in small area on cast around caster
Hardened Armor: 20 seconds, negligible damage shield on cast for 6 seconds
Nightblade: n/a
Gained through a passive that only lasts around 7 seconds for DPS and 16 seconds for tanks.
Templar: 1080/940 magicka/stamina
Channeled Focus: 20 seconds, regenerates 4800 magicka, grants additional defense if inside rune
Restoring Focus: 20 seconds, regenerates 4800 stamina, grants additional defense if inside rune
Warden: 4050 magicka
Expansive Frost Cloak: 24 seconds, grants defense in 28m radius around caster on cast
Ice Fortress: 24 seconds, also gives caster Minor Protection (8% dmg reduction) while active
Necromancer: 2700 magicka
Summoner's Armor: 20 seconds, 12% cost reduction on blastbones, pets
Beckoning Armor: 20 seconds, occasionally pulls a ranged attacker every 3 seconds
Based on what we can see here, it is evident that cost does NOT correlate to more powerful effects or even a longer duration. The Templar's defense buff is only armor buff that is properly balanced with cost, duration, and potency. All other classes need adjustment (buff) to make their buffs cost less and/or do more:
Sorcerer:
- Adjust both durations up to 20 seconds, with their DoT damage adjusted to account for the duration changes.
- Halve the resource cost for both morphs.
Dragonknight:
- Increase Volatile Armor's damage reflection and the AoE DoT damage.
- Increase the damage shield on Hardened Armor and grant additional 12% healing received while active.
- Replace Burning Heart's healing received passive with an execute passive that scales DoT damage on enemies below 50% health.
- Halve the resource cost for both morphs.
Nightblade:
- Increase the base duration of the armor buff to 12 seconds. (A 1-H DPS setup gets 15 seconds and 7-H tanks (who do not spam shadow spells) can get 33 seconds.)
Warden:
- Adjust the duration to 20 seconds for both morphs.
- Decrease the resource cost significantly for both morphs, putting it in line with other classes.
Necromancer:
- Summoner's Armor will instead regenerate an additional 200 magicka and stamina each time you consume a corpse while the armor buff is active.
- You can now recast Beckoning Armor (while it's active) for half cost while targeting an enemy to pull it to you. (Subject to CC immunity ofc.)
- Halve the resource cost of both morphs.
“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”
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MashmalloMan✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Pretty good idea's and I appreciate 20s on hurricane, but it already has a base cost of 2700, recently lowered and I'm happy with it. Sounds like this will just get hurricane nerfed and it's the only unique damage skill Stam Sorc's use.1 -
Vercingetorix✭✭✭✭✭
✭Marshall1289 wrote: »Pretty good idea's and I appreciate 20s on hurricane, but it already has a base cost of 2700, recently lowered and I'm happy with it. Sounds like this will just get hurricane nerfed and it's the only unique damage skill Stam Sorc's use.
The main goal behind these changes was to lessen the impact of managing these buffs. A scaling 20s hurricane with a lower cost isn't a bad thing. Other armor buffs, especially from DK, need to be improved somehow. Most armor abilities cost quite a bit of resources to cast but they are technically utility spells - there are spells that cost less than these armor skills (spammables) and they actually do damage. Frankly, ZoS seems to have skipped over the armor skills when they did their audit because there's a large amount of disparity among these skills.“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”0 -
Il3rotherhood✭✭✭Generally a very good idea, but I do not agree about Warden's armor buff needing adjustement. The high cost is because you are basically casting the spell for all your group around you. Plus with the fortress morph, you get minor protection 24/7, which is very powerful.0
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Taleof2Cities✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Though I agree with you to a certain degree, @Vercingetorix, you can pretty much guarantee there will be posts in this thread protesting homogenization of the classes.
Just giving you a heads-up ahead of time.0 -
Vermethys✭✭✭✭Pretty good suggestions, in my opinion. I agree with most of your suggestions, particularly on the Warden change -- one of the reasons I disliked playing Warden tank (PvE) and Stamden (PvP) is because of how expensive their armor buff ability is (4k magicka is just too much).PC EU CP1400+
In-game Username: Vermilion98
Characters & BuildsEdith Geonette [DC Imperial Sorcerer] (AR28)
Gorgo Aendovius [AD Imperial Dragonknight] (AR28)
My Builds:0 -
Vercingetorix✭✭✭✭✭
✭Il3rotherhood wrote: »Generally a very good idea, but I do not agree about Warden's armor buff needing adjustement. The high cost is because you are basically casting the spell for all your group around you. Plus with the fortress morph, you get minor protection 24/7, which is very powerful.
Nearly every Warden uses the Ice Fortress morph and you should never rely on a Warden to give you the armor buff anyway. No strictly defensive utility spell should cost 4k magicka - that's just insane. Minor Protection is great but does not warrant a 4k casting cost since that particular buff is easy enough to obtain through other means.Taleof2Cities wrote: »Though I agree with you to a certain degree, @Vercingetorix, you can pretty much guarantee there will be posts in this thread protesting homogenization of the classes.
Just giving you a heads-up ahead of time.
I know people like to use that as a weak excuse, but what I'm suggesting isn't homogenization. Each class has varying effects in conjunction with their armor buff - yes, they all last the same duration roughly, but their effects are quite unique and are tailored to synergize with their specific class toolkit. There's nothing wrong with standardizing costs and durations so that classes are not defined by inequalities but rather what different utilities they offer. As I said before, Templar's rune is an amazing example of a properly designed defense buff and other classes' armor buffs should match that level of quality.Edited by Vercingetorix on August 9, 2019 12:21PM“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”0 -
LeHarrt91✭✭✭✭✭
✭Vercingetorix wrote: »Il3rotherhood wrote: »Generally a very good idea, but I do not agree about Warden's armor buff needing adjustement. The high cost is because you are basically casting the spell for all your group around you. Plus with the fortress morph, you get minor protection 24/7, which is very powerful.
Nearly every Warden uses the Ice Fortress morph and you should never rely on a Warden to give you the armor buff anyway. No strictly defensive utility spell should cost 4k magicka - that's just insane. Minor Protection is great but does not warrant a 4k casting cost since that particular buff is easy enough to obtain through other means.Taleof2Cities wrote: »Though I agree with you to a certain degree, @Vercingetorix, you can pretty much guarantee there will be posts in this thread protesting homogenization of the classes.
Just giving you a heads-up ahead of time.
I know people like to use that as a weak excuse, but what I'm suggesting isn't homogenization. Each class has varying effects in conjunction with thir armor buff - yes, they all last the same duration roughly, but their effects are quite unique and are tailored to synergize with their specific class toolkit. There's nothing wrong with standardizing costs and durations so that classes are not defined by inequalities but rather what different utilities they offer. As I said before, Templar's rune is an amazing example of a properly designed defense buff and other classes' armor buffs should match that level of quality.
Nearly every Warden uses Ice Fortress because minor Protection is better than cost reduction and larger range. I feel that due to duration, buff granted and group utility the cost of relatively ok, i wouldnt say it needs significant cost reduction.
What needs to happen is Expansive Frost Cloak needs to be improved so that non tanks choose that morph.
PS NA
Have played all classes.
Warden Main1 -
mairwen85✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭What are you doing? You should know by now that when you make a perfectly reasonable and feasible suggestion, ZoS take it to the max 20-fold and use it to nerf everything by some twisted bastardisation a million miles from what you suggested. The more reasonable the input, the more drastic the result. I'm going to go cry in a corner know....0 -
SenpaiNFT✭✭✭✭Lol this is good. Most people don’t realize that this is a Buff DK thread in disguise. I’m actually clapping for you because this is a good one.1
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idk✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭OP calls for consistency yet their suggestions are anything but. They want a 20 second duration for sorcs but up to a 33 second duration for NBs which is odd since one of their complaints if they find it challenging having different durations..
It also appears OP is wanting to buff their favorite classes in manners far outside of their stated purpose of this thread.Edited by idk on August 9, 2019 6:13AM2 -
Luckylancer✭✭✭✭✭I dont know why people that have no idea make these posts. Let me explain why templar's OP skill makes sense. I play wardenand templar, I ll compare them.
Templar's armor skill give regen + armor. And it is too cheap for what it does. But is there another regen skill in templar line? Repentence, other morp, a weakish passive for reduce cost.
Warden's armor skill costs a lot, give a buff and share armor buff. AND they have free cost squid for regen. AND they have class HoT+passive to regen more resources. What does templar have? Rune + bit more weak stuff.
Conclusions:
1. compare classes, not skills. Full picture matters.
2. Dont make posts about balance.1 -
Kadoin✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭OP calls for consistency yet their suggestions are anything but. They want a 20 second duration for sorcs but up to a 33 second duration for NBs which is odd since one of their complaints if they find it challenging having different durations..
It also appears OP is wanting to buff their favorite classes in manners far outside of their stated purpose of this thread.
That's what most suggestions aim to do on the forums...I usually read them with popcorn nearby.0 -
Lightspeedflashb14_ESO✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭Balance and immovable last for 30+ seconds now. Can't forget about them.0 -
Vercingetorix✭✭✭✭✭
✭Lol this is good. Most people don’t realize that this is a Buff DK thread in disguise. I’m actually clapping for you because this is a good one.
No, it isn't. Dragonknights and Necromancers have the weakest armor skills in the game - they do hardly anything worthwhile yet cost more than double the resources to cast than the Templar's Rune which gives many buffs. I want to bring all classes up to that level. Dragonknights' Hardened Armor skill is garbage right now - ask any serious DK and they'll confirm it. Putting the heal buff on that morph and freeing up a passive slot on their toolkit for something useful is a good thing.
Necromancer's armor skills are also garbage. They have no impact on the toolkit and one morph even interferes with the tank role. A redesign of Bone Armor is warranted.
Lastly, NIghtblades get their buff from a passive which means that they have to cast some other expensive Shadow skill to access their defense buff. NB Tanks cannot spam Shadow skills to keep their armor buff up - it's not feasible and a NB DPS or Healer needn't spend most of their rotation spamming a single Shadow skill every 6 seconds to keep an essential buff active. My changes alleviate that burden.
My post addresses issues from multiple classes - not just the DK.“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”0
