TLDR: Whatever the pts notes may be, it does not mean it's the final say that will go live. With that said, stop following other people's meta. It is the only true way to enjoy the game.

It should be first known that yes, these are PTS changes...This usually means that things can be changed.

If I was a dev and wanted to test what people would do when every other skill takes only 1 hit point, (see what builds they make when I remove a Common Meta out of the game)I could use the PTS to test that.

The removal of DoTs for my case made me even more dependent on single target Direct Damage. I usually had 3 DoT skills to use. However I then only dropped to 1 for its passive buff once activated. I removed the axes and went with Swords. I came up with a rotation that works for my build if I clean it up. (My rotations aren't to quickly put someone on the ground) Although it mostly did just end up in long dragged out duels. However at the same time it wasnt that bs where somebody challenges you to a duel with their ulti maxed and ready to hit the I win button(s). In fact some guy was using macros. I realized this when he came back to duel me and killed me like 5 times after I beat him before. Of course I started to read his moves...Then it hit me, he kept doing the same thing over and over again...(which is stupid that I died, but usually I panic when I take a lot of damage as I need to find a way to resist it) The same combo...even when I roll dodged away...he kept hitting the buttons...So I just cloaked away.. and he kept doing the same rotation to nothing...

You see these macro users will never get better...I overcame him because I could see what he was doing over time..He couldn't kill me after his 5th win...no matter what he did.. unfortunately he had that stupid netch keeping his resources up and cleansing off my single dot i had. So I just sat in cloak for like 5 mins and logged XD.

I PMed him but he didn't want to speak about it.

I might have the recording somewhere.. not sure if I had shadowplay running or not I'll have to check lol.

There is a chance he wasn't a macro user but a mindless zombie. Hit the same rotation over and over again. However, why do the rotation to air?

Most PVPers and etc use the same rotation (TBH I don't have rotations...why would I want to be predictable?) never really learning anything new. This is why they quicky want to drop you and run away... or continue to drop you not letting you learn how they are doing it.

So do what I do in pvp.

1. Who ever dropped you quick find them again...and again... and again...
2. keep dying to them over and over again but keep focusing on keeping yourself alive
3. ask for a 1 v 1 in whispers.. No bs with their buddies jumping you when their health goes down a certain point
4. Don't accept "it's cyrodil" for an answer when they have their buds jump you...
5. Attack them even if their buds are there...you have to learn how he dropped you
6. If you see a zerg kill them..Trash Bag em... They'll come after you...
7. This is a game die as many times as you like so long as you are slowly getting better.
8. You will find out there are some builds your build will never overcome...who frecking cares....
9. Once you learn their rotation they usually become useless against you... They will scream for their friends in discord or teamspeak
10. You will notice the difference between lag, macro using and true skills.

My ability to win comes from adaption not the go to slot of the next meta...I am not the best, but i am surely not the worst. 1 V X ing is a pipe dream. I don't fight weak players (unless they wanna fight) I was standing around and then 3 people came up to me and started to fight... I was able to kill one..but the other 2 got me...Obviously if they were better at pvp, they would have dropped me faster..I didn't go run off and splice the vid tossing off the wipes from better players and put the wins from weaker ones(They are not weaker players...just players that don't know any better....and are highly likely to jump the meta and follow somebodies rotation instead of developing their own) and call my build a 1 v X build. Most of these 1 v Xers you see have 85 ms of latency while the Xers have like 125 to 250 ms of ping.. They will always lose...

The only thing i disagree with was the DoT changes...They made it too op in the previous patch, then nerfed it to the ground in pts. The problem is that DKs are DoT dependent....
Stam DK can always run to 2 hander, but like my current build loses class identity. Magic and DK is like water and oil.

It is mostly true that whatever happened on the PTS is usually what is pushed on to live. That doesn't mean that it will hold true this time.

I remember when people thought that statement held true and they all started to buy a certain set. They invested thousands of gold crafting it up as it would be the new "Meta" . Then on the day of the new live patch (or maybe a week before I can't remember), people were furious that they changed the set last minute. Then the famous line (paraphrasing) was said by a staff on the forums.

Changes on the PTS does not mean that the changes will be placed on live.