Stamina based class abilities is what´s missing imo.
The decision to make all class abilities magicka based was a mistake imo. If you go for a mage like char with staff you can basically put all your attribute points into magicka, gear towards full magicka + regen and not look back.
All your abilities work towards maximum efficiency.
Pure stamina has not enough options and with stamina/magicka mix, you gotta balance your attributes and won´t have everything optimally scaled.
If pure stamina builds had the versatility of pure magic builds, why would you ever go magic if stamina is versatile, damaging, and improves your defense?
If pure stamina builds had the versatility of pure magic builds, why would you ever go magic if stamina is versatile, damaging, and improves your defense?
Pure magic builds can use their stamina bar purely for defense without having to cut back on their offense. There´s plenty of stamina available to block, dodge, interrupt, etc if you don´t have to use it to fuel your active abilities.
There is a reason why a light armoured full magicka DK is good tank if he specs into 1h+shield.
I think conceptionally we might be disagreeing on what a stamina vs magical build is; when I think "build" I think of the way a character builds their stats. I will almost always have both stamina and magicka abilities on my bar, for example I may often have both bolt escape and invasion on my bar - because I can use one when the other resource is down.
When I think "building" for a stamina build, I think of trying to maximize my usage of stamina abilities for debuffing and damaging, and I use utility spells like surge and bolt escape to augment; the opposite is true of building for magicka. Heavy investment into magic bases abilities, but I'd probably still carry a bow so that I have snipe as a damage ability and the capability to perform sneak attacks.
If what you think of as a "hybrid" build is simply mixing skills on your bar, then I would argue that magicka builds can absolutely be made stronger by carrying a bow w/ snipe slotted. Having the ability to cause stamina damage when you are OOM, or getting a snipe stealtg crit opener are huge advantages. Arguably, this is well represented in the veteran ranks as well, because many vets run magicka builds with stamina weapons.