The Gold Road Chapter – which includes the Scribing system – and Update 42 is now available to test on the PTS! You can read the latest patch notes here: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/656454/
Orbs vs Shards
BigBragg
✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭
I have healed in ESO for years, and go through phases of DPS. Right now I am really enjoying a stam DPS phase, but I have noticed just how infrequently healers bring sustain support to the fight. I have switched off the Warrior to the Serpent Mundus, on top of chugging pots on cool down, and bringing in heavy attacks.
In the one out of six or seven dungeons that I actually get a healer pumping out support, life goes much smoother. Not just for myself, but the other dps and tank as well. So I just wanted to touch on the two main types, and how they play now from the consumer perspective.
Shards are good for having a stationary burst with a fast delivery. They are great for camping on the tank. Though I need to be mindful when playing stam DPS not to steal one that will keep the tank going, since a replacement may not be forthcoming. The visual effect of shards can also get lost in the sauce of visual clutter in dungeons. Frequently I only know one is there due to the synergy pop-up.
Orbs, man they are even slower now, but that isn't a terrible thing with how they are playing. Extra heals being rolled out for players. Easy to see. And the big one, everybody can get a piece! Ranged DPS, melee, and the tank can get in on that sweet round action. All in all, I find this to be the better option with the changes from Scalebreaker. Just keep one rolling out towards the tank, and recast when it expires or moves beyond the tank. Easy. The DPS will gladly move to touch them as needed, because that extra resource really helps out so much.
So in conclusion, please keep those orbs a rolling and those fights a going! We all appreciate the healers support when we get it.
p.s. Keep up Elemental Drain even if it is just for yourselves.
In the one out of six or seven dungeons that I actually get a healer pumping out support, life goes much smoother. Not just for myself, but the other dps and tank as well. So I just wanted to touch on the two main types, and how they play now from the consumer perspective.
Shards are good for having a stationary burst with a fast delivery. They are great for camping on the tank. Though I need to be mindful when playing stam DPS not to steal one that will keep the tank going, since a replacement may not be forthcoming. The visual effect of shards can also get lost in the sauce of visual clutter in dungeons. Frequently I only know one is there due to the synergy pop-up.
Orbs, man they are even slower now, but that isn't a terrible thing with how they are playing. Extra heals being rolled out for players. Easy to see. And the big one, everybody can get a piece! Ranged DPS, melee, and the tank can get in on that sweet round action. All in all, I find this to be the better option with the changes from Scalebreaker. Just keep one rolling out towards the tank, and recast when it expires or moves beyond the tank. Easy. The DPS will gladly move to touch them as needed, because that extra resource really helps out so much.
So in conclusion, please keep those orbs a rolling and those fights a going! We all appreciate the healers support when we get it.
p.s. Keep up Elemental Drain even if it is just for yourselves.
1
-
Chrlynsch✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Orbs can be activated by multiple users, so why can't shards?Caius
Pack Leader of Scourge Alliance- First Fang of Hircine, The Beast of Bruma
PC NA1 -
BigBragg✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭Orbs can be activated by multiple users, so why can't shards?
ZOS left them as a single use synergy this patch. Not sure why. If I had to speculate, it would be due to them performing differently. Shards have a faster, more precise delivery, does damage instead of healing, and is a static AoE.
This is some of the issues raised with the skill audit as a whole. Finding places to balance skills but still keep them unique. It also seems a lot of the move pushes skills accessible to all classes to be the meta (though with weapons, in some regards this has always been). Bit of balance through homaginization, classes just bring the seasoning. But that may be best delved into as another topic.0 -
de_la_Dude✭✭✭Orbs can be activated by multiple users, so why can't shards?
I don't think the original vision of skill synergies ever intended them to be used multiple times per cast. What happened to orbs was only done in reaction to the avalanche of complaints after the initial nerf to one active orb. Applying this more broadly would be a form of power creep and I think we're trying to go the other direction right now.0 -
p00tx✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Shards are a double edged sword. They replace both stam and mag, which is really only needed by the tank, so most healers use those specifically to feed tanks and orbs to feed everyone else (which replace only your highest pooled resource). Also, shards can draw aggro from a tank who may only have adds soft taunted just out of range of DPS (usually off-tanks, like in vSS), so shards would be a very bad option.
At the end of the day, if the healer is a Templar, they should have both. Healers should also wear at least one set each dedicated to sustain, whether it's Symphony of Blades or Sentinal monster sets, or it's a Worms/Hircines/Naviintaas on the body depending on group comp, but you're right, and I don't see a lot of healers actively trying to help with that, outside of end gamers who know how important the team's sustain is.
I watched my buddy's clip of him tanking a vMoL in some random pug, and neither healer threw even one, single orb, and I didn't see ANY debuffs go out. No Ele Drain, no PotL, no Infal...nothing. At the same time, I was in a vSS pug with a terrible healer who flat out refused to use Warhorn and claimed it was for "sweaty Alcast robots who don't understand healing". Like, bruh...this isn't whatever MMO you healed in back in 2002. Get with the program. Healers in 12 person who play like that are less than useless, and are part of the reason we're getting pushed out of end game, because dps can just heal themselves. They don't need to waste a slot for someone who doesn't do anything but stand there and overheal and really contributes nothing useful to the group. They become a really heavy carry.
Sorry for the rant, just another healer main annoyed at a lot of things healer related these days.Edited by p00tx on August 22, 2019 7:18PMPC/Xbox NA Mindmender|Swashbuckler Supreme|Planes Breaker|Dawnbringer|Godslayer|Immortal Redeemer|Gryphon Heart|Tick-tock Tormentor|Dro-m'Athra Destroyer|Stormproof|Grand Overlord|Grand Mastercrafter|Master Grappler|Tamriel Hero4 -
Iskiab✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭I don’t think you’ll see Orbs too much in dungeons even though they’re good. The ability’s at the end of the undaunted line, so people’s alts and new players won’t have the skill.Looking for any guildies I used to play with:
Havoc Warhammer - Alair
LoC EQ2 - Mayi and Iskiab
Condemned and Tabula Rasa - Rift - Iskiab
Or anyone else I used to play games with in guilds I’ve forgotten1 -
yodased✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭The one thing that I find healing is positioning matters way more now. Combat prayer/orb combo is great and if you hit everyone with cprayer than orbs will pass them too.
Too many times I see a healer standing off to one side while the dps have to run to catch an orb if they even use them, just stand with the dps between you and the tank and cast your buffs towards the tank ezpz.
I find that way you can keep shards every 7 seconds on the tank and your dps won't steal them cause they have orbs.
Also if you are not eledraining, lightning wall for off balance, power of the light for debuff and warhorn on rotation you suck.Tl;dr really weigh the fun you have in game vs the business practices you are supporting.1 -
BigBragg✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭I don’t think you’ll see Orbs too much in dungeons even though they’re good. The ability’s at the end of the undaunted line, so people’s alts and new players won’t have the skill.
It's the 6th level in, so sure sometimes that is a valid excuse. However, when I keep running into that in vet dungeons, it gets a bit old.0 -
sindalstar✭✭✭Orbs are nice to have when I'm on my dd but I won't expect everyone to have it. The whole grind for undaunted isnt immediate as your innate kit is.
Shards are probably the way they are because they have secondary parts (burning light procs on them etc.) Plus orbs seems to be some sort of unique interaction. They do give slightly more resources back too
My orbs are always out when I'm pugging. I like making my party members job easier. My hope is that if I do it well enough they'll forget about the need to heal themselves reflexively and just focus on killing the boss like they should be.
Even if you dont need healing, my job is making killing easier as an individual.0 -
SoLooney✭✭✭✭✭
Seriously surprised you haven't heard what happened to energy orbs. Only one orb can be cast per person, so no more spamming it, in return, multiple can activate the synergy to restore their max resourceEdited by SoLooney on August 23, 2019 8:15PM0 -
BigBragg✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭
Seriously surprised you haven't heard what happened to energy orbs. Only one orb can be cast per person, so no more spamming it, in return, multiple can activate the synergy to restore their max resource
Yeah I know about that change, was just saying they will still be alled orbs liked the one at a time shards.0 -
peacenote✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭I agree with all the points... for trials.
But besides inexperienced healers and bad healers, you are also going to find good healers experimenting with hybrid builds as a result of these changes. Having a whole slot dedicated to the slowest moving ability in Tamriel is BORING. And frequently not needed in dungeons. If I heal a group that is struggling I will switch to full support but for most dungeons you're going to see me providing only shards because they also add damage.
I also frequently don't bother with ele drain or warhorn in dungeons because things die too fast for it to make a difference. But lightning wall of elements stays because it adds support AND damage.
Anyway, I guess my point is that there is a large range out there when it comes to the experience of players, so as a healer I don't always use the same setup each time. If the group is steamrolling through content don't assume I'm a bad healer because you don't see an orb.
1 -
Grianasteri✭✭✭✭✭
✭I have healed in ESO for years, and go through phases of DPS. Right now I am really enjoying a stam DPS phase, but I have noticed just how infrequently healers bring sustain support to the fight. I have switched off the Warrior to the Serpent Mundus, on top of chugging pots on cool down, and bringing in heavy attacks.
In the one out of six or seven dungeons that I actually get a healer pumping out support, life goes much smoother. Not just for myself, but the other dps and tank as well. So I just wanted to touch on the two main types, and how they play now from the consumer perspective.
Shards are good for having a stationary burst with a fast delivery. They are great for camping on the tank. Though I need to be mindful when playing stam DPS not to steal one that will keep the tank going, since a replacement may not be forthcoming. The visual effect of shards can also get lost in the sauce of visual clutter in dungeons. Frequently I only know one is there due to the synergy pop-up.
Orbs, man they are even slower now, but that isn't a terrible thing with how they are playing. Extra heals being rolled out for players. Easy to see. And the big one, everybody can get a piece! Ranged DPS, melee, and the tank can get in on that sweet round action. All in all, I find this to be the better option with the changes from Scalebreaker. Just keep one rolling out towards the tank, and recast when it expires or moves beyond the tank. Easy. The DPS will gladly move to touch them as needed, because that extra resource really helps out so much.
So in conclusion, please keep those orbs a rolling and those fights a going! We all appreciate the healers support when we get it.
p.s. Keep up Elemental Drain even if it is just for yourselves.
Really interesting topic. I would estimate I have spent most of my time in ESO healing, but like the OP I regularly go through phases where I play DPS or Tank, often for long spells. Right now I am tanking and have been for months. But I have run a bunch of content with my healer to check out the Scalebreaker changes.
My main healer fires off an orb and a shard in every rotation, I drop the shard on the tank and fire the orb where I feel it can affect the most of my group. Although I tend to drop the orbs from the rotation if it feels like the group does not need them, similarly I drop most of my heals and concentrate on dps, if the group is steam rolling the dungeon. I also often ask the group... are shards and orbs coming often enough, do you need more or less? It can be really helpful if players engage and let me know, or if your healer does not ask, then consider asking politely if they could provide a few more shards/orbs.
As a side, when I ran some dlc vet dungeons with my healer recently, I did notice it was more difficult to keep folk alive through the more difficult content and mechanics. I had to work harder and concentrate more, which I guess is no bad thing.
I also felt like missed more heals, what I mean is, group members went down when from memory, it just feels like they would not have done before with the same healing being applied. It could just be because I am rusty and have not healed for a while, or maybe they were super squishy!
Edited by Grianasteri on September 6, 2019 8:56AM0 -
Kuratius✭✭✭
If you've been around since the beginning, you'd know that it was originally possible for multiple people to activate the same synergy, but they removed it later. People were able to do stuff like activate the synergy on a damage orb multiple times. For a brief time it was even possible to get exponentially increasing damage on it, though that got patched rather fast.de_la_Dude wrote: »Orbs can be activated by multiple users, so why can't shards?
I don't think the original vision of skill synergies ever intended them to be used multiple times per cast. What happened to orbs was only done in reaction to the avalanche of complaints after the initial nerf to one active orb. Applying this more broadly would be a form of power creep and I think we're trying to go the other direction right now.
0
