Hello all,

I think it's indisputable that nightblades are currently rather lacklustre. Why were they nerfed? Because many other players, primarily sorcerers, complained they were too strong.

Why were they too strong? Because sorc shields got nerfed in a previous update.

Why did sorc shields need to be nerfed? Because in an even earlier update, penetration was nerfed, thereby making sorcs stand out as especially tough because penetration does nothing to shields.

Why did penetration need nerfing? Because spriggans and spinners got introduced to the game and became the new meta for all classes, particularly where these sets were coupled with sharpened. I would agree that this was a necessary nerf, but led to all these extra consequences.

ESO updates are characterised by nerfs which often focus upon one gameplay issue commonly complained about by the most vocal segment of the community at the time. These nerfs are often in response to another nerf. Rather than fixing the original problem, the problem is shifted elsewhere.

So what is the solution to the scenario I've listed above? The devs bump up penetration, spinners and spriggans, although not as high as it originally was, they give sorcs back their powerful shields and they give nightblades back their sting.



I've been playing since mid 2015 and in that time I've seen many features changed. I remember when wrecking blow was overpowered, I remember the steel tornado spammers as you captured a flag in pvp and I remember when the viper's sting set meant that there was always a stamblade lurking nearby when you thought you were alone. I remember that every magicka user wanted to get their hands on vicious death when it first came out. I understand why people didn't like any of these things. I for one never played any of these styles, but often fell victim to them, but in truth, I miss them. Yes these things in some ways were overpowered, but they were situation specific. A viper's user was no good in a 1vx, a steel tornado spammer couldn't 1v1 and a wrecking blow spammer could be dodge rolled (but some people didn't figure that out). These things added variety and excitement to the game, yet every now and then, someone with a fragile ego would get killed and cry "broken", rather than learning how to counter each of these things.

The nerfs over the past few years have dulled the game's variety. What each class could offer became more and more limited and forced people into these metas. 90% of battles against a magicka sorc, magicka dk or stamden feels the same. The playing field has been leveled, but it's taken away the game's soul: its openendedness, its variety and its ability to surprise you. People will always flock to an (at the time) overpowered set like spriggans or spinners if you make it clear that this is the strongest approach and nothing else can compete, rather than giving people choices. Adding something powerful to the game isn't the problem, but having an environment where only one thing is powerful will cause issues.

I realise the chances of this post gaining traction is slim. I'm putting it up here all the same because I used to love this game, yet it's become stale, boring and repetitive. We used to have 7 pvp servers, and it wasn't uncommon for three of them to be full. PS4 NA, there will be people here who remember Azura's Star was the go to, Scourge was often full, Skull of Corruption and Haderus were emptier but had life in them, and then Blackwater Blade always had new players coming through. Now we have 4. One is full, the other three are empty. It would appear that the community appears to agree with me on the stale front, otherwise there would be more players, more talent rising through the ranks and ultimately more variety. The space between keeps saw just as many battles as the keeps themselves because there would always be a nightblade lurking. Now we ride, set up siege, capture, ride back, defend, ride, siege, ride, defend and repeat.

I came back to this game in the past week after around 7 months of not playing. I'm pleased to see the lag has improved and the game is now playable from Australia again, but I'm probably going to stop playing because it's disheartening to see more than half of my 11 characters now need some work because so much has been changed. Let's push for a game that people want to play, and not just those who are now unemployed from the 'rona, but even those with only a couple of hours to spare in the week. Not just a game that the current diehards keep playing, but something that will be fun and attractive to newcomers. If a brand new player with no experience can grab a set like viper's and get a few cheap kills, it's fine by me if it means they have fun and choose to keep playing. More variety will lower the barriers to entry. We will all be better off overall.

My vote? Re-introduce everything that has ever been criticised as overpowered. "Overpowered" is a relative term. If you bring back everything that seems too strong all at once, then nothing will be overpowered. Then, pull things back with minor adjustments. "Wrecking blow is too powerful" does not mean "ruin it", it means "fix its damage" not "change the ability". "Sorc shields are too strong" doesn't mean "ruin them", it means "balance it".

Thank you all for your time. We're all here because we love this game, and I hope you want to see it be the best it can be.

ZOS, your move.