ESO could use an Element Mechanic?

CaptainVenom · August 2022

I mean, it's so weird to be able to damage a Flame Atronach with an Inferno Staff LA. I think an Element System could be amazing for PvE environment... now we have:

Of course, we have Oblivion Damage, but let's put it aside for this, since it's fixed damage. So this is the idea:

Disclaimer: this is just an example, just to ilustrate the concept.

Apart from the element strenghts and weakenessess, element-based enchantments could also change the element of a physical damage weapon as well as keep the elemental damage they do already. This means a Glyph of Flame will continue to deal X Fire Damage they way they do now, but would also change the element of a bow to Flame Damage for LA, HA and Physical Damage Bow abilities (but not for Poison Damage abilities such as Acid Spray).

This way, elemental damage and glyphs can make more sense lore/game-wise, while magicka DPS being able to change their staves according to the boss they are going to face or stamina DPS being able to easily change their element on the go and even separate their gear between PvE (heavy elemental change) and PvP (Glyph of Weapon Damage maybe?) while increasing their damage during dungeons and trials further.

EDIT: not meant for a big amount of damage gain or loss, just about 20% max. We know ESO combat mechanics could not handle big changes above that.

What do you think?

edward_frigidhands · August 2022

CaptainVenom wrote: »

I mean, it's so weird to be able to damage a Flame Atronach with an Inferno Staff LA. I think an Element System could be amazing for PvE environment... now we have:

Of course, we have Oblivion Damage, but let's put it aside for this, since it's fixed damage. So this is the idea:

Disclaimer: this is just an example, just to ilustrate the concept.

Apart from the element strenghts and weakenessess, element-based enchantments could also change the element of a physical damage weapon as well as keep the elemental damage they do already. This means a Glyph of Flame will continue to deal X Fire Damage they way they do now, but would also change the element of a bow to Flame Damage for LA, HA and Physical Damage Bow abilities (but not for Poison Damage abilities such as Acid Spray).

This way, elemental damage and glyphs can make more sense lore/game-wise, while magicka DPS being able to change their staves according to the boss they are going to face or stamina DPS being able to easily change their element on the go and even separate their gear between PvE (heavy elemental change) and PvP (Glyph of Weapon Damage maybe?) while increasing their damage during dungeons and trials further.

EDIT: not meant for a big amount of damage gain or loss, just about 20% max. We know ESO combat mechanics could not handle big changes above that.

What do you think?

This sounds very cool.

I definitely don't think we should be able to harm a being made of flame adequately with a flame staff or flame abilities.

Artim_X · August 2022

Sometimes allowing for more player freedom trumps the need for a more logic based combat system.

For instance, a pyromancer build queues for a random dungeon and gets city of ash 2... are they to be penealized for not having another setup on hand? ZOS says that they want to raise the floor, but implementing your suggestion would cave it in, especially for those who only want to play a certain way (ice, fire, lightning, magic, etc.).

EldritchSun · August 2022

I can imagine magDks having fun in Rockgrove or the Cauldron.

HelixUnited · August 2022

I think this wouldn't balance very well, magic DK for instance would be doing less damage to say iron atro's than a sorc/warden or stam DKs
And then say magic sorcs doing less damage to storm atros so how many sorcs are gonna get kicked from score runs of VAA for instance?
i get what your saying and always had a laugh with my guild mates about how a flame ability kills a flame atro but it would cause a lot of balance issues and i think that might be the reason why ZOS stayed away from this kind of thing

Dagoth_Rac · August 2022

You used to get bonuses for certain element/damage types against certain mobs. Like spriggans would get burst damage if you set them on fire and stone atronachs were immune to bleed damage. But ZOS removed it because of balance issues. Certain classes and builds became de facto unwelcome in certain content. Which added some strategic depth in theory but in practice aggravated players who felt permanently left behind with favorite characters.

Amottica · September 2022

A simpler way to do this is the target not being susceptible to the debuff the "element" provides. A flame atro would not be susceptible to the burning debuff. Each of the magika-based elements provides a debuff, and I expect some of the stamina sources of damage do similar.

While it would have less of an effect, I suggest something like this as it would be easier to implement, and I understand some of it is already the case. As I have been told, the first boss in AA is not susceptible to concussion from lightning staves. At least I have been told that, but I could be wrong.

Dawnblade · September 2022

No thanks - had enough 'fun' trying to kill fire-resistant enemies on a fire mage back in WoW.

Paralyse · September 2022

First -- before anything else -- that is a very well done chart and I can tell you put quite a bit of thought and time into making it.

That being said.

I have 5-6 main sets each for my two DPS toons.

I have twice as many or more for my tank and healer.

The very, very last thing I want is to not only have to deal with the already-high workload of set management and set swapping, but to then have to add analysis of what an enemy's resistances/weaknesses are on top of that workload in order to achieve optimal performance. It would also complicate the already ridiculously complicated buffs/debuffs need to bring to each dungeon/trial/PvP encounter.

There's a reason other MMO's got rid of resistances. Old school WoW players, for instance, might remember being required to stack flame resistance or nature damage resistance gear just to beat some raid encounters, requiring entirely separate gear sets with entirely separate enchants on a per-encounter basis. Let's not go back to that sort of thing in ESO.

I don't mind if the game makes its own minor adjustments in the combat system to account for, say, a fire staff vs a frost atronach, but those adjustments should not make a meaningful difference in gameplay.

FluffyReachWitch · September 2022

There used to be a weakness and resistance system. I remember when the daedra around the Aldmeri sewer base had a weakness to shock magic, but not the spider daedra further on. I kind of miss that.

Vevvev · September 2022

It used to exist but was removed for the obvious reason of certain classes preferring a single, or small group, of elements. This meant that certain classes were inadequate for certain forms of content, and implementing such a system would require a rebalancing of just about every single class.