More damage and more fun

I don't like the heavy attack process. Light attacks suit me better for my playstyle (and fit into satellite mega ping better).

LA is still faster. For PvP burst damage it is preferable, partly because empower doesn´t work on players.

Also, I´d like to point out that I did HA builds and rotations years ago when it was not popular. It was very good then too, since you can skip out on all sustain and go full damage; it just wasn´t meta (I sort of despise meta anyway).

Just to blow my own horn

Nyseto wrote: »

I play as a magblade and people say a HA build gimps it. However, I also hear that HA builds outgun most LA builds in pve due to being more consistent and requiring less skill. People are parsing 90k+ with HA builds which is still excellent damage. What is the point of LA anymore?

Here we go again. You "heard" wrong regarding ha outgunning la builds. I see your account is fairly "new" so I'll just say be wary of believing all that's said. Plenty of posts on here that disprove it, no matter how often a select group may say otherwise.

La builds can do significantly more dmg. Ha builds still require a rotation and some practice, but yes, it's a slower one. You do have to build for it, requiring (mostly) a mythic and select pieces for it(sergeants etc), but then again you have to build for a good la build too.

Even not being a mageblade, yes, you gimp yourself on a HA build. It's really simple. If you're looking to be the best of the best, highest scores, ignoring mechanics, and just muscle your way through anything, go la. If you're looking for "good enough" IF you follow mechanics, need a slower rotation that will still let you see most content, go HA.

HA builds have their place, with VMA being a good example. But if you are running group content like trials or dungeons, HA builds are not as strong as LA builds. A dummy parse does not translate to a trial run, primarily because the dummy doesn't fight back, force you to block, or inflict damage, all of which interrupt your heavy attack and take away damage.

As for sustain, while the dummy sends out some orbs, a good trials group will have far more synergies and orbs for sustain, so HA sustain is irrelevant. That is even without potions, which most trials DDs use for damage.

Now, if you are new or simply bad at a LA rotation, then maybe a HA build will be better for you. But generally speaking, a HA build does not beat out a LA build

A nightblade heavy attack build is mediocre in single target dps since the class would normally rely on lots of actions per minute, think of execute phase where you want to unload as many killers blade/impale as possible.

But depending on the situation nightblade has a lot of AOE damage with a heavy attack build that rivals or surpasses other classes. There’s a 10% buff from concealed weapon / twisting path, and 300 weapon damage stacking from grim focus, extra crit % and crit damage, pen buff if something is facing away, +20% damage taken from soul harvest, and it all carries through tri focus onto everything else taking damage within 5 meters. You could max aoe damage out with a weapon damage enchantment instead of flame glyph on the staff

Best parse on LA for me around 118k
Best HA parse for me with the latest builds around 98k

Full 20k gap

With people who are better at parsing than I am, expect 135k top end traditional LA builds vs max around 105k on HA builds


HA is less DPS in trials but much higher survivability with oakensoul.
It makes getting trifectas such as Dawnbringer, Godslayer, Immortal Redeemer quite a bit more manageable by allowing players to focus more on mechanics and less on having to weave and maintain high APM/tight rotations.

I prefer the heavy attack builds myself. It has opened up sone new opportunities in content for me. I'm an older player, 50+. My hands/fingers just don't move as fast as they used to. I've tried and am still trying 2 bar builds, but it just isn't the same. With the Oakensoul heavy attack, I have more opportunities to do vet DLCs and trials. I feel more confident in my ability to contribute to the group.

I’m in an endgame trial guild and a lot of us are happy that casual players have such good accessibility options with the heavy attack playstyle.

That being said we won’t use it because honestly it’s not good enough. No serious endgame player is going to nerf their damage by 20-30% because ‘it’s easier’. If we wanted easier we wouldn’t be going for the hardest content in the game. Heavy attack builds suffer from lower overall single-target damage, no burst damage, no lingering damage and also very few synergies. Yes it’s good for what it is, which is simple consistent damage but no serious endgame player is going to use it.

Nyseto wrote: »

I play as a magblade and people say a HA build gimps it. However, I also hear that HA builds outgun most LA builds in pve due to being more consistent and requiring less skill. People are parsing 90k+ with HA builds which is still excellent damage. What is the point of LA anymore?

Most of what has been said here is on the mark.
Heavy Attack is more consistent damage, if not lower end.
Light attack has more damage, more options, and more skill is needed.

I know many people in ESO that have benefitted by a heavy attack build. Most of these players could not clear content or be a beneficial member of a group without being carried. Now, not all of them have flourished... But for the most part, we are not afraid to take them into vet content without having to worry about carrying their 3k DPS.

Play the way you want. But remember; these people that cleared vSS HM and soloed vSCP Trifecta, know the game, have been playing the game for years, and could already clear this content without the aid of an Oakensoul.

I don't do "builds," I just play whichever way is easiest and fun for me, using whichever skills seem to give decent results for my tastes. I've been primarily using HA weaving since before I ever heard anyone else use that term, and the first time I used it I even thought I was coining it. But I've never worried unduly about coming up with a "build" per se, or a "rotation"-- although I do have a 2-bar rotation of sorts that I use at certain times.

Let me tell you a little story set in Cyrodiil. I seldom get involved in PvP while in Cyrodiil, but occasionally while I'm there for some PvE I'll join in on the PvP "fun," even though I'm mostly poop when it comes to PvP.

Red team had control of Bleaker's Outpost, but I think Blue team had controlled it earlier, and it looked like a few of us (Blues) were going to try to take it back, so I joined in.

There was one Red standing her(?) ground up on a rock in front of the outpost, nonverbally daring anyone to just try to take the outpost, so I-- being caught up in the "I'm going to have fun even though I'm going to get killed" heat of the moment-- ran up to her and (of course) got killed.

We had Bruma, so I rezzed there and raced back down to Bleaker's, approaching from above. I jumped down from the ledge and ran up to her from behind. I was sure she was going to turn around and fight me, since I wasn't trying to sneak so I figured she must surely see me, but she just kept facing forward doing her buffs or whatever.

So I whacked her from behind, expecting her to turn around and kill me. And she did turn around, but somehow I managed to kill her after a short fight. Oops, I'm in trouble now!

Naturally, she rezzed at Bleaker's and came racing out, made a beeline for me, and started beating the snot out of me. As I said, I'm mostly poop at PvP, and I assume I'm severely disadvantaged by the fact that I play with a mouse and mostly use HAs or MAs with my skills. I was fully expecting to die, since I hadn't taken her by surprise, so I went on the defensive.

That wasn't helping much, so I changed tactics and just started bashing away as furiously as I could, LA weaving with my quickest skill, even though it does less damage per hit than my primary skill which has a longer cooldown. That's the same tactic I fall back on in PvE if things go south and I'm on the verge of death. It's actually painful for me, so I don't like playing like that all the time, but it's saved my butt from death on more than one occasion, at the cost of having a sore arm and bad finger cramps afterward.

Anyway, I was furiously weaving away, trying to hold off my death for as long as possible, when she dies instead. Trust me, no one was more shocked by that outcome than me. And the only reason I was somehow able to pull it off was because I was using LA weaving; if I'd have stuck with HA weaving and blocking, the fight would have been over much sooner and I'd have lost for sure.

So even though I dislike using LA weaving because it's too hard on my arms and fingers, I'm well aware that it provides the highest DPS you can hope to get for any given class, weapon type, and slotted skills. For myself, I generally enjoy playing with less-than-optimal DPS in solo PvE, because it makes for longer fights, and the fighting is one of the things I actually enjoy in this game. To me, it's more fun when I don't just melt or one-shot everything, so LA weaving wouldn't be very appealing to me even if it didn't hurt do much. But I'll certainly use it if and when I must.

For those of us who have accessibility issues, whether that be physical reasons or poor internet with high, variable pings, then Heavy Attack builds are most welcome.

Oakensoul has opened up a lot of in-game content that would otherwise have been very difficult or impossible for many players who struggle with the basics of life that many people take for granted.

If Oakensoul gets nerfed because of comments such as those in this thread, then a lot of us with disabilities of one sort or another, will be very upset.

If you are fully-able bodied, highly skilled gamer or have the luxury of youth and great internet, then keep your Light Attack builds, but you do not have the right to criticise those of us not as fortunate as you.

This old, broken war veteran has had his say for now, so get off my lawn and leave my Oakensoul alone.

Different tools for different results. This is not WOW, there is no single best way.