The Craft Tree Realignment I Look Forward To

Fennwitty · February 2021

I'm excited by what CP 2.0 brings, but have concerns over the current state of the trees and active vs. passive abilities.

To illustrate, it seemed best to me to mockup a possible rearrangement of existing CP Stars, which move closer to the goal of a more entertaining Craft tree, a simpler Warfare tree, and a cleaner Fitness tree. The only changes are active vs. passive, and tree location. Nothing else is intentionally changed.

This is an ideal future state from my perspective. I'm not telling the devs what to do. They know the game and the code best of all.

Biggest problem is too many active stars in Craft that don’t meaningfully affect gameplay. Perhaps the active Craft stars alleviate server lag by minimizing calculations, but they're 'unfun’
Second biggest problem is Warfare is overly complex, with the most stars to choose from and two subtrees they’re buried in – no other branch has that

Only stars that are altered are listed. If not listed, no suggested change.

Current Star Breakdown 6.3.4:              Proposed Star Breakdown:
Craft                                      Craft        
19 slotted, 8 unslotted, 27 total ........ 17 slotted, 14 unslotted, 31 total
Warfare                                    Warfare
25 slotted, 10 unslotted, 35 total ....... 19 slotted, 12 unslotted, 31 total
Fitness                                    Fitness
19 slotted, 13 unslotted, 32 total ....... 19 slotted, 12 unslotted, 31 total

Background:

We need to spent 1/3 of our CP in each tree. Each constellation should offer meaningful gameplay choices.
Most active Craft stars are boring. They modify highly specialized activities which may not occur in a whole day of playing, and which require minimal attention by the player. Most of the time, they sit on the bar doing nothing.
Warfare has the most stars, and is complicated by 2 subtrees.
Fitness has the most fully passive stars, and isn’t consistent thematically (IMO).

As of PTS 6.3.4 there’s imbalance in the amount and variety of stars in each of the new trees. Exactly 1/3 of all our CP go into each tree, but Warfare (Blue) has the absolute most variety, requiring 2 sub-trees to fit them all. Fitness (Red) has the most completely passive abilities.

Craft (Green) has the fewest total stars, and most are underwhelming. The actively slotted skills appear forced to make up a closer number vs. the other lines, and there’s serious concern they encourage micromanaging based on situation.

A few stars feel disconnected from the rest of their tree, sharing more in common with a different line instead.
There’s also concern regarding having to micromanage the currently slotted active stars under Craft.

The subtrees in Warfare are unintuitive and add complexity. This revision attempts to balance the *existing* stars more equally among the CP trees and ensures a similar number of active and passive choices are available.

A number of active stars which offered no compelling game choice, or were passive but did impact gameplay have been swapped from Active to Passive and vice-versa.

The main goal was not to aim for exact parity. Forcing a set number is artificial, and more stars will be added over time. But getting the numbers closer was desirable, and also possible by shifting some existing stars (and dropping 1).

To match their new location some star names may need adjusting, but the mechanics of these stars shouldn’t conflict with the goal of each CP tree.

Active stars should impact gameplay triggered by the player, while passive stars respond to things the player has little control over or occur infrequently.

Whether Questing, Dungeon diving, or in PvP Active Stars should …

affect actions the player initiates
reasonably be used at least once per play-hour
be usable anywhere – selling, looting chests or crafting require specific NPCs or objects to interact with
not encourage frequent star swapping, ‘prebuffing’ or micromanagement

Disclaimer: There have been multiple revisions to the CP stars already, and I compiled this list from a variety of sources over time.
Slight variation in the descriptions or numbers is possible but unintentional vs. PTS 6.3.4.

Key:
+ = was passive, now slotted
- = was slotted, now passive
W = originally from Warfare
F = originally from Fitness
^ = was in a subtree, now promoted to main

The Constellations
Craft Slotted Stars (now 17):
For Craft stars, I focused on concepts of Exploration, Finesse, Luck, Spirit, Intuition

Breakfall (+)
Reduces your fall damage taken by 7% per stage.
Reason:

Fall damage has implications especially in PvP, but also PvE dungeons and overland exploration. It allows players to alter their behavior, by not being as concerned about cliffs, etc. Breakfall is also potentially stronger than the Bosmer racial Acrobat 10% fall damage reduction.

Expert Evasion (F)
Your next Roll Dodge is free of cost. After consuming this effect, you cannot gain it again for 30 seconds.
Reason:

Most abilities in Fitness directly increase stats or decrease costs for normal gameplay. This free dodge mechanic can be considered ‘luck’ or ‘fortunate’ because most players have reduced control over when it fires – they’ll dodge when they have to. It’s a slotted star because the player initiates the action, and will always get a benefit.
As a costless emergency response, this roll dodge is equally handy for stamina, magicka or health based characters of any role.

Fleet Phantom (+)
Reduces Movement Speed penalty of sneak by 5% per stage
Reason:

There are other ways to get stealth movement speed reduction, which may stack with Fleet Phantom.
There are also ways to ignore the penalty entirely based on player choice (vampire, Night’s Silence). If a player wants to go ‘all in’ on stealth, they can slot this ability for an edge. If they temporarily don’t need it, they can unslot for something else.

Hasty (F, +) (Suggest Rename)
Increases your movement speed while sprinting by 2% per stage.
Reason:

This doesn’t let you run for a longer or shorter period of time – just better. Other movement altering abilities live in Craft like Steed’s Blessing and Fleet Phantom. Sprinting is frequently used in normal movement and exploration, not only combat.

Last Stand (W)
When you take damage below 20% Health you gain Major Heroism, granting 3 Ultimate every 1.5 seconds for 9 seconds. This effect can occur once every 9 seconds.
Reason:

This is the only star which grants Heroism, and can also be considered luck or spirit based. Falling to 20% health and surviving is hard to predict in normal gameplay, and extremely risky to trigger intentionally. What the player does with the extra Ultimate can be either defensive or offensive.

Out of Sight (+)
Reduces the radius you can be detected while sneaking by 1 meter per stage.
Reason:

There are ongoing concerns with how stealth radius and stealth detection interact. By letting the bulk of previously ‘required’ or hypersituational Craft stars to now be passive (see below), Out of Sight as a slotted star represents a character customization that replaces or complements existing options in the game. It’s also more consistent to keep stealth bonuses active, instead of some being active and some passive. Stealth is an activity the player chooses to initiate.

Piercing Gaze (F, +)
Increases your Stealth Detection by 1 meter per stage.
Reason:

Piercing Gaze was all alone on Fitness, the concept being naturally good eyesight. But the different locations highlighted how Piercing Gaze directly cancels Out of Sight when both are trained, pitting Fitness directly against Craft.
With the other stealth and ‘improved ability to find things’ already in Craft, this seemed the appropriate location. If I know how to hide myself, and I know how to find hidden things; it stands to reason I know how to find hiding people.

Spirit Mastery (F)
Decreases the time it takes to resurrect an ally by 33%
Reason:

Spirit Mastery felt out of place in the Fitness tree, as it really impacts others and not the player themselves.
Reduced resurrection time is useful for any character role in a group. Craft already contained the Soul Reservoir ability, and soul magic feels thematically separate from the physicality of the body (Fitness) and the discipline of the mind (Warfare).

Steadfast Enchantment (+)
Your Weapon Enchants decay 20% slower per stage.
Reason:

This ability allows weapons to retain their charge longer, potentially assisting in combat situations (especially Console, which requires manual weapon recharge).
It didn’t make sense for this single ability to remain passive while very similar ones such as Rationer and Liquid Efficiency require slotting.

Craft Passive Stars (now 14):

Where a Craft star was converted from slotting to passive, the reasons are the same: There are too many quality-of-life options in PTS 6.3.4 which are extremely situational. To use these abilities at all requires the player to stop doing everything else in the game simply to engage in that activity (selling things, fishing, harvesting a node).
The number of active QoL stars also encouraged micromanagement of the abilities slotted based on what the player was doing minute by minute creating unnecessary busywork and the potential for frustration.
Even if the current passive/active setup is based on optimal server performance, it’s not based on optimal player experience. The server gains won’t outweigh the new frustration.

Angler's Instincts (-)
Increases your chance of catching higher quality fish by 10%.

Cutpurse's Art (-)
Increases the chance to get higher-quality loot when pickpocketing.

Homemaker (-)
You have a 10% chance to find a second furnishing plan whenever you find a furnishing plan in the world.

Infamous (-)
Increases the value of fenced items by 25%.

Master Gatherer (-)
Reduces the time it takes to harvest by 10% per stage.

Meticulous Disassembly (-)
Improves the chances of extracting Woodworking ingredients and allows the refining of more powerful resins from raw materials.

Plentiful Harvest (-)
You have a 10% chance to gain double the yield from normal resource nodes per stage.

Professional Upkeep (-)
Reduces the cost of repairing your armor by 1% per stage.

Reel Technique (-)
Decreases the time it takes for fish to bite by 25%.

Treasure Hunter (-)
Increase the quality of items you find treasure chests.

Dropped for now:
Wanderer
Reduces the cost of Wayshrine usage by 10% per stage.
Reason:

Recommend dropping. If a player is using wayshrines, they’re going somewhere they’ve already been before and know exactly where they’re going now. Wayshrine costs are trivial outside of the immediate cooldown period, and costs are completely avoidable if you access a wayshrine directly – which you can easily do for free by porting to a guild member or friend.

Warfare Slotted Stars (Now 19):
For Warfare, themes of Discipline, Concentration, Training, Daring, Technique

Resilience(^)
Grants 132 Critical Resistance per stage, reducing your damage taken from Critical Strikes by 2%.
Reason:

Bringing this out of the subtree makes the overall CP system easier to use and more accessible for PvP players. It seems a great candidate for a completely passive skill, but that amount involved is small enough to give an edge, while not being a requirement. This skill is only useful in PvP for now, as NPCs can’t do critical damage.

Battle Mastery(^)
Increases your chance to apply a Martial status effect by 30% per stage.
Reason:

Pulling out of the subtree makes the CP system easier to understand, and allows players to plan out builds utilizing status effects right from the beginning.
Status effects can complement direct damage, or be used in place of it. This move brings the option up to be more accessible as a potential alternative to direct damage stars.

Duelist's Rebuff (-)
Reduces your damage taken by single target attacks by 2% per stage.
Reason:

Some other defensive stars were already passive. Additionally the method an opponent attacks with is largely out of the player’s control, so it’s purely reactive.
Single target attacks are the most common form though, so a cost increase or reduction in effectiveness may be warranted vs. the other defensive passives.

Elemental Aegis(^)
Reduces the damage you take from Magical attacks by 1% per stage. Affects Magic, Flame, Frost and Shock Damage.

Enduring Resolve (-)
Reduces your damage taken by damage over time attacks by 2% per stage.
Reason:

Enduring Resolve was inconsistent with some other stars that were mainly passive. The method an opponent attacks with is largely out of the player’s control, so it’s purely reactive, and may not be a factor based on the content engaged in – which encourages continual swapping if this remained an active ability.

Flawless Ritual(^)
Increases your chance to apply a Magical status effect by 30% per stage.
Reason:

Pulling out of the subtree makes the CP system easier to understand, and allows players to plan out builds utilizing status effects right from the beginning.
Status effects can complement direct damage, or be used in place of it. This move brings the option up to be more accessible as a potential alternative to direct damage stars.

Hardy(^)
Reduces the damage you take from Martial attacks by 1% per stage. Affects Physical, Poison, Disease, and Bleed Damage.
Reason:

Simplify the system by removing the subtrees from Warfare.

Mighty(^)
Grants 100 Weapon and Spell Damage to martial attacks. Affects Physical, Poison, Disease, and Bleed Damage.
Reason:

Simplify the system by removing the subtrees from Warfare.

Piercing(^)
Grants 350 offensive Penetration per stage.
Reason:

Simplify the system by removing the subtrees from Warfare. Puts on the same level as Precision, being easier to access.

Preparation(^)
Reduces your damage taken from non-player attacks by 3% per stage.
Reason:

Simplify the system by removing the subtrees from Warfare.

Quick Recovery(^)
Increases your healing taken by 1% per stage.
Reason:

Simplify the system by removing the subtrees from Warfare.

Unassailable (-)
Reduces your damage taken by area of effect attacks by 2% per stage.
Reason:

Some other defensive stars were already passive. Additionally the method an opponent attacks with is largely out of the player’s control, so it’s purely reactive.

Fitness Slotted Stars (now 19):
Themes of Toughness, Grit, Survivor, Physicality, Strength

Bulwark (W)
While you have a Shield or Frost Staff equipped, your Spell and Physical Resistance is increased by 1900
Reason:

Thematically, this fits better with Fitness which has the majority of stars relating to resistance and shield use. It also brings down the total number of active stars in Warfare to more comparable levels.

Endless Endurance (W)
Increases your Max Stamina by 26 per point.
Reason:

Thematically, this fits better with Fitness which has the majority of stars relating to stamina use. It also brings down the total number of active stars in Warfare to more comparable levels.

Fitness Unslotted Stars (now 12):

Tireless Discipline (W) (Suggest Rename)
Grants 260 Max Stamina per stage.
Reason:

The star felt out of place in Warfare when the majority of stamina-related abilities are in Fitness.

ExistingRug61 · February 2021

In general, I really like the suggestions regarding the craft tree.

However I take a different viewpoint on some of the other suggestions you have made for warfare and fitness.

1) The specific defensive passives of Duelist's Rebuff, Enduring Resolve, and Unassailable should remain slottable, as in doing so they mirror both the damage and healing equivalents.
Additionally, if not slottable, the combination of Duelist's Rebuff and Unassailable is basically just general mitigation under another name (as together they cover all damage).
Additionally there are other sources in the game where you can obtain a similar specific type of mitigation, such as evasion, or Necro's dot damage reduction. Given they exist as options like this, by the same logic you have applied to support making certain craft stars slottable, these should remain slottable.
While I get you can't choose the damage type you are going to take, gameplay style has a big impact on what type of damage you take more of and hence makes this choice a relevant one (at least in a PvP context). For instance, a build that uses roll dodge or block a lot may be more concerned about dots. A class with a purge or cloak can minimise there dot damage through play, so may not care about reducing dot damage.
Finally, making them passive would increase the vertical progression limit of the warfare tree, which I would be against.

2) The max stamina stars need to stay in warfare, or at the very least the max magicka stars need to move with them, so that the max stamina and max magicka stars are always in the same tree. Otherwise you end up with the result that a stamina dps role can max out its damage stars at a lower cp than a magicka build could.

Ratzkifal · February 2021

As ExistingRug61 already pointed out, the max stamina stars shouldn't be moved to Fitness, but the issue goes a bit deeper than that.

Craft, Fitness and Warfare have a clear distinction in purpose that your suggestion does not adhere to.

Craft is all noncombat or tangentially combat related stuff.
Warfare includes offensive stats, damage and healing modifiers as well as mitigation.
Fitness is all nonoffensive combat stats, sustain and action related stuff - actions such as blocking, bashing, shielding, dodging, breaking-free and sprinting

The reason being that Craft should be free and not burdened by combat relevant passives so everyone can take the things they enjoy without feeling the pressure of needing to stay effective, that Fitness should allow you to specialize your playstyle and Warfare should force you to decide between offense or defense or a balance between them at a lower maximum for each.

Although Sprinting speed is a speed stat and seems to fit in with sneak movement speed penalty reduction, out of combat movement speed and riding speed, Sprint is the only form of movement that is actually effective in combat. It makes sense that you would find it in Fitness and not Craft because it is a nonoffensive combat related stat. If additional sprintspeed can be found in Craft, then everyone in PvP will be forced to slot it, thus defeating the purpose of keeping Craft free from the burden of the pressure of staying effective.
Similarly max stamina is responsible for increasing the damage of stamina abilities and as such it should stay in Warfare. Otherwise a stamina dps could slot 4 offensive Warfare slots while having two max stamina boni in Fitness, thus gaining far more bonus damage than a magicka build. This is what ExistingRug61 hinted at in 2).
Even though the type of incoming damage is out of a players control, the reason these effects are slottable is to make them mututually exclusive with the damage increasing effects. A tank has no need to have any of the damage boni, but a PvP build needs to have a weakness and if they have no weakness they can't be allowed to also hit hard.

Your suggestion of simplification by the removal of subtrees is also against ZOS' intended goals with the system. They want to be adding more stars and subtrees in the future to expand the system and offer more options. For example Out of Sight and Piercing Gaze are not slottable right now, but they could add slottable versions in addition to them in the future.

That being said, I still think it is better to keep Out of Sight and Piercing Gaze nonslottable, because Out of Sight is a general bonus to stealth all stealth characters (assassins, thieves, dungeon skippers, gankers) will want to pick up while Cutpurse's Art and Infamous are specializations that only assassins and thieves are going to pick up and dungeoneers and gankers will unslot since they have no use for them. The same goes for Fleet Phantom, but to address the point you've made, it is already positioned in such a way that vampires, people wearing Night Silence or Nightblades don't need to invest in it at all as it leads to no other star beyond it. Piercing Gaze, even when moved into Craft, should be the same type of star as Out of Sight due to being its counter, especially since it is difficult justifying to slot Piercing Gaze over anything else, even in the Craft tree. I don't mind it being moved into the Craft as long as it isn't a requirement for any stars beyond it, unless they too are exclusively detection related I suppose.

Lastly as an interesting thought for future expansions of the system, they could introduce the Serpent, which isn't a constellation itself but rather a mechanic that makes slottable, but also nonslottable stars and potentially even clusters mutually exclusive to others by devouring/locking them. Right now something like this happens once you have reached the limit of your CP budget, but the Serpent can introduce that at earlier CP stages or force people to make choices at the base of the tree already. Of course the current system doesn't need a Serpent yet but the future might make it necessary to prevent powercreep while still allowing for interesting and useful effects to be added even outside the 4 slottables. They could also experiment with kiss-curse effects such as a sustain lowering damage increase to help Redguards be more relevant in PvE for example.
But all that is way later down the line when the CP2.0 system had some time to settle and more players have reached 3600CP.