For people who played PTS: How does Arcanist FEEL to play?

LukosCreyden · May 2023

What I mean by this is, does it feel smooth to play? Or does it feel clunky and janky to play? Necromancer, for example, is very clunky and janky and often feels like it delays or stops other buttons and bar swaps.

BlueRaven · May 2023

LukosCreyden wrote: »

What I mean by this is, does it feel smooth to play? Or does it feel clunky and janky to play? Necromancer, for example, is very clunky and janky and often feels like it delays or stops other buttons and bar swaps.

I am not a meta theory player, so this is just a common “every day” player impression.

To me it’s very smooth to play,

It also does not feel very weapon dependent (dps wise). As in I am not sure what, if any, weapon skills I will use as the class feels better while I am gaining and spending crux.
The weapons themselves become basically “stat sticks” to me.

So to me there is little point in making a stam vs magika dps as they seem to play essentially the same in the end. I am sure there will be a meta preference based on some passives somewhere though.

That being said I may make arc tank eventually as they posses some interesting tools such as a ranged taunt. (The concept of using a frost staff as a ranged taunt for tanks is very off putting for me, so I have basically redone my former tanks as dps.)

RaddlemanNumber7 · May 2023

For me the essential thing is staying on your feet while you melt the world with the Fate Carver ray

Aelorin · May 2023

For Overland, you will have to animation cancel the beam cause your enemies are dead halfway through the beam. That's the only big negative that I found.

The sound and animations are a bit less elder scrolly and a bit more technic/futuristic but I m okay with that.

Also, I think that if many Arcanists are on your screen, it might get a bit too flashy greeny.

But still, looking forward to playing one. Love the tentacle skill, and the disc skill, and the crux mechanic.

colossalvoids · May 2023

Comparison wise I'd put it somewhere closer to warden, it's really smooth and nothing like a necromancer that I still can't stand playing cause of it.

ghastley · May 2023

In a word: dazzling.

Credible_Joe · May 2023

It makes you really f e e l like batman

Soarora · May 2023

Big laser go brrrr. The crux system isn’t that difficult to deal with after a little bit of practice. The way I describe the class is that the laser’s channel is so long that the rotation feels a lot slower than other classes, however this is balanced out by having to juggle crux. Excited to make a stam DPS and a tank.

EramTheLiar · May 2023

It feels really good. I mean, it probably feels better than it actually plays from a raw numbers perspective given some of the threads I've seen from testing but (to me) it feels genuinely fantastic to play. I'm really looking forward to the class going live.

Galeriano · May 2023

Extremly underwhelming for me.

WrathOfInnos · May 2023

The skills generally feel smooth to cast. Flail can be a little clunky with its brief cast time, much like some ultimates (Incap, Crescent Sweep, Dawnbreaker) but on your spammable. Fatecarver is a smooth cast, but it is far too long at 5.4s and pulls you too far out of the combat rhythm IMO. It should be closer to Templar's 2s beam, or at most 3s.

Necrotech_Master · May 2023

BlueRaven wrote: »

LukosCreyden wrote: »

What I mean by this is, does it feel smooth to play? Or does it feel clunky and janky to play? Necromancer, for example, is very clunky and janky and often feels like it delays or stops other buttons and bar swaps.

I am not a meta theory player, so this is just a common “every day” player impression.

To me it’s very smooth to play,

It also does not feel very weapon dependent (dps wise). As in I am not sure what, if any, weapon skills I will use as the class feels better while I am gaining and spending crux.
The weapons themselves become basically “stat sticks” to me.

So to me there is little point in making a stam vs magika dps as they seem to play essentially the same in the end. I am sure there will be a meta preference based on some passives somewhere though.

That being said I may make arc tank eventually as they posses some interesting tools such as a ranged taunt. (The concept of using a frost staff as a ranged taunt for tanks is very off putting for me, so I have basically redone my former tanks as dps.)

most of my tanks use the undaunted taunt as a ranged taunt, you dont need ice staff for a ranged taunt as is

i could see arcanist though fitting a theme better using a built in class taunt than the generic undaunted ranged taunt

BlueRaven · May 2023

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

BlueRaven wrote: »

LukosCreyden wrote: »

What I mean by this is, does it feel smooth to play? Or does it feel clunky and janky to play? Necromancer, for example, is very clunky and janky and often feels like it delays or stops other buttons and bar swaps.

I am not a meta theory player, so this is just a common “every day” player impression.

To me it’s very smooth to play,

It also does not feel very weapon dependent (dps wise). As in I am not sure what, if any, weapon skills I will use as the class feels better while I am gaining and spending crux.
The weapons themselves become basically “stat sticks” to me.

So to me there is little point in making a stam vs magika dps as they seem to play essentially the same in the end. I am sure there will be a meta preference based on some passives somewhere though.

That being said I may make arc tank eventually as they posses some interesting tools such as a ranged taunt. (The concept of using a frost staff as a ranged taunt for tanks is very off putting for me, so I have basically redone my former tanks as dps.)

most of my tanks use the undaunted taunt as a ranged taunt, you dont need ice staff for a ranged taunt as is

i could see arcanist though fitting a theme better using a built in class taunt than the generic undaunted ranged taunt

But you know what I mean, frost staffs on the back bar seems so jarring from a lore perspective. Did orc and nord warriors secretly carry frost staffs in Skyrim, along with their swords and shields? I wish they added that taunt to a bow ability, to me that fits thematically a lot better.

Arcanist has a nice range taunt that does more than just taunt. It’s a nice (potentially front bar) skill.

Necrotech_Master · May 2023

BlueRaven wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

BlueRaven wrote: »

LukosCreyden wrote: »

What I mean by this is, does it feel smooth to play? Or does it feel clunky and janky to play? Necromancer, for example, is very clunky and janky and often feels like it delays or stops other buttons and bar swaps.

I am not a meta theory player, so this is just a common “every day” player impression.

To me it’s very smooth to play,

It also does not feel very weapon dependent (dps wise). As in I am not sure what, if any, weapon skills I will use as the class feels better while I am gaining and spending crux.
The weapons themselves become basically “stat sticks” to me.

So to me there is little point in making a stam vs magika dps as they seem to play essentially the same in the end. I am sure there will be a meta preference based on some passives somewhere though.

That being said I may make arc tank eventually as they posses some interesting tools such as a ranged taunt. (The concept of using a frost staff as a ranged taunt for tanks is very off putting for me, so I have basically redone my former tanks as dps.)

most of my tanks use the undaunted taunt as a ranged taunt, you dont need ice staff for a ranged taunt as is

i could see arcanist though fitting a theme better using a built in class taunt than the generic undaunted ranged taunt

But you know what I mean, frost staffs on the back bar seems so jarring from a lore perspective. Did orc and nord warriors secretly carry frost staffs in Skyrim, along with their swords and shields? I wish they added that taunt to a bow ability, to me that fits thematically a lot better.

Arcanist has a nice range taunt that does more than just taunt. It’s a nice (potentially front bar) skill.

i dont use frost staves on my tanks, but thats the nice thing about the undaunted taunt is you can use it regardless of your skill line

i dont necessarily think the skills themselves for a primarily DPS skill line (like bow or 2h for example) should have a skill that does taunt

the problem with taunts that have too many extra effects is they can sometimes also be improperly used (seen a few dps try to use inner beast for the +dmg bonus and wondering why they were dying, had to tell them that skill is a taunt that aggros the enemy to them)

nwilliams2107b16_ESO · May 2023

You literally feel like Doctor Strange, it’s very cool and very smooth to play! Can’t wait to play mine on live

FantasticFreddie · May 2023

Healing beam is clunky and unrewarding.

Other than that I find it lots of fun

Tannus15 · May 2023

it's very very 1 dimensional.

you *need* to build crux so there is only 1 spammable option.
you *need* to beam, so you're spending 5+ seconds doing at a time doing the beam.

I really don't like it.

ESO_Nightingale · May 2023

BlueRaven wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

BlueRaven wrote: »

LukosCreyden wrote: »

What I mean by this is, does it feel smooth to play? Or does it feel clunky and janky to play? Necromancer, for example, is very clunky and janky and often feels like it delays or stops other buttons and bar swaps.

I am not a meta theory player, so this is just a common “every day” player impression.

To me it’s very smooth to play,

It also does not feel very weapon dependent (dps wise). As in I am not sure what, if any, weapon skills I will use as the class feels better while I am gaining and spending crux.
The weapons themselves become basically “stat sticks” to me.

So to me there is little point in making a stam vs magika dps as they seem to play essentially the same in the end. I am sure there will be a meta preference based on some passives somewhere though.

That being said I may make arc tank eventually as they posses some interesting tools such as a ranged taunt. (The concept of using a frost staff as a ranged taunt for tanks is very off putting for me, so I have basically redone my former tanks as dps.)

most of my tanks use the undaunted taunt as a ranged taunt, you dont need ice staff for a ranged taunt as is

i could see arcanist though fitting a theme better using a built in class taunt than the generic undaunted ranged taunt

But you know what I mean, frost staffs on the back bar seems so jarring from a lore perspective. Did orc and nord warriors secretly carry frost staffs in Skyrim, along with their swords and shields? I wish they added that taunt to a bow ability, to me that fits thematically a lot better.

Arcanist has a nice range taunt that does more than just taunt. It’s a nice (potentially front bar) skill.

no, because frost was never a tanking element or weapon until the morrowind patch for eso where now suddenly a clearly dps thing is now for tanking for no reason other than convenience for the developers. which has created a frustrating balancing act between frost dps and tanking. it's kind of in an okay state right now, but it would have been a lot cleaner in the long run if they made a new weapon for it. that being said, creating a new weapon is a full chapter feature that requires a lot of scripting, time, animation work, effects, sound design and testing among other things, so i kind of get it, but it's frustrating that it was at the expense of magicka dps who still only have a destruction staff as the only magic weapon type. we need 1h and rune next year imo for more weapon choices and the frost version of that should have absolutely nothing to do with tanking. We don't need a spear line before a new magic dps weapon.

BlueRaven · May 2023

ESO_Nightingale wrote: »

BlueRaven wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

BlueRaven wrote: »

LukosCreyden wrote: »

What I mean by this is, does it feel smooth to play? Or does it feel clunky and janky to play? Necromancer, for example, is very clunky and janky and often feels like it delays or stops other buttons and bar swaps.

I am not a meta theory player, so this is just a common “every day” player impression.

To me it’s very smooth to play,

It also does not feel very weapon dependent (dps wise). As in I am not sure what, if any, weapon skills I will use as the class feels better while I am gaining and spending crux.
The weapons themselves become basically “stat sticks” to me.

So to me there is little point in making a stam vs magika dps as they seem to play essentially the same in the end. I am sure there will be a meta preference based on some passives somewhere though.

That being said I may make arc tank eventually as they posses some interesting tools such as a ranged taunt. (The concept of using a frost staff as a ranged taunt for tanks is very off putting for me, so I have basically redone my former tanks as dps.)

most of my tanks use the undaunted taunt as a ranged taunt, you dont need ice staff for a ranged taunt as is

i could see arcanist though fitting a theme better using a built in class taunt than the generic undaunted ranged taunt

But you know what I mean, frost staffs on the back bar seems so jarring from a lore perspective. Did orc and nord warriors secretly carry frost staffs in Skyrim, along with their swords and shields? I wish they added that taunt to a bow ability, to me that fits thematically a lot better.

Arcanist has a nice range taunt that does more than just taunt. It’s a nice (potentially front bar) skill.

no, because frost was never a tanking element or weapon until the morrowind patch for eso where now suddenly a clearly dps thing is now for tanking for no reason other than convenience for the developers. which has created a frustrating balancing act between frost dps and tanking. it's kind of in an okay state right now, but it would have been a lot cleaner in the long run if they made a new weapon for it. that being said, creating a new weapon is a full chapter feature that requires a lot of scripting, time, animation work, effects, sound design and testing among other things, so i kind of get it, but it's frustrating that it was at the expense of magicka dps who still only have a destruction staff as the only magic weapon type. we need 1h and rune next year imo for more weapon choices and the frost version of that should have absolutely nothing to do with tanking. We don't need a spear line before a new magic dps weapon.

Basically I agree with you. We are coming at it from two different perspectives, but the conclusion was the same. Frost staves for tanks feels weird.

SimonThesis · May 2023

I would say don't listen to everything you hear about Arcanist, try it out for yourself.
Arcanist in my case is actually outdpsing the meta dps classes. It gets a ton of passive pen and 12% crit damage and crit healing. It feels pretty smooth and the beams and visual effects are cool. I think the crux system is another thing to keep an eye on but It shouldn't be too bad.

ESO_Nightingale · May 2023

BlueRaven wrote: »

ESO_Nightingale wrote: »

BlueRaven wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

BlueRaven wrote: »

LukosCreyden wrote: »

What I mean by this is, does it feel smooth to play? Or does it feel clunky and janky to play? Necromancer, for example, is very clunky and janky and often feels like it delays or stops other buttons and bar swaps.

I am not a meta theory player, so this is just a common “every day” player impression.

To me it’s very smooth to play,

It also does not feel very weapon dependent (dps wise). As in I am not sure what, if any, weapon skills I will use as the class feels better while I am gaining and spending crux.
The weapons themselves become basically “stat sticks” to me.

So to me there is little point in making a stam vs magika dps as they seem to play essentially the same in the end. I am sure there will be a meta preference based on some passives somewhere though.

That being said I may make arc tank eventually as they posses some interesting tools such as a ranged taunt. (The concept of using a frost staff as a ranged taunt for tanks is very off putting for me, so I have basically redone my former tanks as dps.)

most of my tanks use the undaunted taunt as a ranged taunt, you dont need ice staff for a ranged taunt as is

i could see arcanist though fitting a theme better using a built in class taunt than the generic undaunted ranged taunt

But you know what I mean, frost staffs on the back bar seems so jarring from a lore perspective. Did orc and nord warriors secretly carry frost staffs in Skyrim, along with their swords and shields? I wish they added that taunt to a bow ability, to me that fits thematically a lot better.

Arcanist has a nice range taunt that does more than just taunt. It’s a nice (potentially front bar) skill.

no, because frost was never a tanking element or weapon until the morrowind patch for eso where now suddenly a clearly dps thing is now for tanking for no reason other than convenience for the developers. which has created a frustrating balancing act between frost dps and tanking. it's kind of in an okay state right now, but it would have been a lot cleaner in the long run if they made a new weapon for it. that being said, creating a new weapon is a full chapter feature that requires a lot of scripting, time, animation work, effects, sound design and testing among other things, so i kind of get it, but it's frustrating that it was at the expense of magicka dps who still only have a destruction staff as the only magic weapon type. we need 1h and rune next year imo for more weapon choices and the frost version of that should have absolutely nothing to do with tanking. We don't need a spear line before a new magic dps weapon.

Basically I agree with you. We are coming at it from two different perspectives, but the conclusion was the same. Frost staves for tanks feels weird.

Definitely. It was a hasty idea that wasn't particularly well thought out.

FrancisCrawford · May 2023

Nauseating, literally, from the orbiting crux.

Fortunately, while not alone in getting motion sickness from the class, I seem to be in a small minority.

Other small minorities get headaches or seizures from the class, perhaps from the general flashing.

merpins · May 2023

Flail is clunky, otherwise the class is pretty smooth from a pve DPS perspective. Now, is it GOOD at dps? No, not really. I'm sure you can do good DPS with it, but it's definitely more tailored for support roles. I'm definitely gonna make a DPS with it, since I like the kit a lot (it's a bit too bright but I'll get used to it), but it could use a good buff from where it currently is in the PTS. DPS is low for PVE, and even lower for PVP since the main spammable is so easy to counter.

ADarklore · May 2023

merpins wrote: »

Flail is clunky, otherwise the class is pretty smooth from a pve DPS perspective. Now, is it GOOD at dps? No, not really. I'm sure you can do good DPS with it, but it's definitely more tailored for support roles. I'm definitely gonna make a DPS with it, since I like the kit a lot (it's a bit too bright but I'll get used to it), but it could use a good buff from where it currently is in the PTS. DPS is low for PVE, and even lower for PVP since the main spammable is so easy to counter.

It's funny because every time I read someone say, "Arcanist is OP at launch but will get nerfed later" and I'm thinking, "WHERE did you hear that???" Apparently they've been reading too many Youtube click-bait titles and just believing it, instead of realizing that it's actually below existing classes in both PVE and PVP. To make Arcanist even on-par with existing classes, you have to wear specific gear sets. You also have to focus on your crux building to make certain skills 'on par' with other class skills that don't have to complete a specific "pre-buff" routine just to make their skills more powerful.

With that being said, I'm still enjoying the class and can't wait to make an Arcanist character at launch. Even with the lower performance, it's still a FUN class to play and I enjoy playing as Green Lantern in ESO!

tsaescishoeshiner · May 2023

It felt smooth to me for the most part. However, aiming Fatecarver felt hectic and finicky because I normally play over-the-shoulder and it aims into the ground in front of you unless you move your camera right behind your character, parallel to the ground. But when it works in PvP, it's SO satisfying lol! They also wisely gave us an alternative crux spender if people don't like Fatecarver.

I expected the cruxes to be complex, but they're more of a passive resource like necro corpses (ie generally they're when you need them). It would be nice to have a sound/visual indicator the moment you reach 3 crux, like with Crystal Fragments/Grim Focus. If I were to min-max DPS, it might take more focus/training to optimize. Using crux perfectly would give you better sustain and damage.

It felt like there were a lot of buffs to keep up, but that the buffs were too good to overlook.

I did a bunch of duels and some Bastion Nymics.

merpins · May 2023

ADarklore wrote: »

merpins wrote: »

Flail is clunky, otherwise the class is pretty smooth from a pve DPS perspective. Now, is it GOOD at dps? No, not really. I'm sure you can do good DPS with it, but it's definitely more tailored for support roles. I'm definitely gonna make a DPS with it, since I like the kit a lot (it's a bit too bright but I'll get used to it), but it could use a good buff from where it currently is in the PTS. DPS is low for PVE, and even lower for PVP since the main spammable is so easy to counter.

It's funny because every time I read someone say, "Arcanist is OP at launch but will get nerfed later" and I'm thinking, "WHERE did you hear that???" Apparently they've been reading too many Youtube click-bait titles and just believing it, instead of realizing that it's actually below existing classes in both PVE and PVP. To make Arcanist even on-par with existing classes, you have to wear specific gear sets. You also have to focus on your crux building to make certain skills 'on par' with other class skills that don't have to complete a specific "pre-buff" routine just to make their skills more powerful.

With that being said, I'm still enjoying the class and can't wait to make an Arcanist character at launch. Even with the lower performance, it's still a FUN class to play and I enjoy playing as Green Lantern in ESO!

Exactly. It's fun, but the Crux mechanic only serves to make the class skills weaker to facilitate the mechanic. The skills that require crux to function aren't stronger than existing skills on other classes, but are weaker, and the crux mechanic makes the skills on par with other class' skills. I like the mechanic, but it's like a retail store raising the price on something and then slapping a discount on it to make it the same price it was before, but make it seem more appealing to shoppers. That's what crux feels like to me.

Mansk90 · May 2023

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

It would be nice to have a sound/visual indicator the moment you reach 3 crux, like with Crystal Fragments/Grim Focus.

Crux Counter has an option for that.