Grim focus on pts is broken, it should not come out like this in the main server

GrimStyx · July 2023

Grim focus on pts now gives very fat bonuses, in the form of major crit chance, additional damage stacks and its most important feature, it can now be stacked, AND THE STACK WILL NOT BE RESET. This means that by making a build focused exclusively on Grim Focus, coming out of invisibility you can permanently destroy targets with high health and good resistances, if the zos release such an ability on the main server and do not rework it, then stock up on fire extinguishers under the chair, you will have a hard time

Foxtrot39 · July 2023

What exatcly do you mean with "can now be stacked", it always had 5 stack

PrinceShroob · July 2023

Here's how the skill works on live: after activating Grim Focus, light attacks on either bar grants a stacking buff that increases the user's Weapon and Spell Damage by 60 per stack, maxing out at 5 stacks. By activating the ability with five stacks, the user fires Assassin's Will.

The stacks behave slightly differently in PvE vs. PvP zones. In PvE zones, these stacks are functionally infinite in duration, so you retain the 300 Weapon and Spell Damage forever until you use Assassin's Will. You can only use Assassin's Will while Grim Focus is active, though based on a friend's testing a while back I think the Weapon and Spell Damage might persist even if Grim Focus is not currently active. In PvP zones, the stacks seem to fall off either when a targeted enemy dies or when changing targets--I'm not sure precisely when they fall off, but the stacks are nowhere near as persistent as in PvE zones.

I'm afraid I don't quite understand the issue without further clarification. Do you mean that the stacks aren't consumed after firing Assassin's Will, meaning that once you have five stacks, you can fire infinite Assassin's Wills? Or do you mean that the stacks are no longer capped at 5?

Also, it's Shadow Cloak and Shadowy Disguise that grant Major Prophecy and Major Savagery. Grim Focus' stacks only grant Weapon and Spell Damage.

GrimStyx · July 2023

PrinceShroob wrote: »

Here's how the skill works on live: after activating Grim Focus, light attacks on either bar grants a stacking buff that increases the user's Weapon and Spell Damage by 60 per stack, maxing out at 5 stacks. By activating the ability with five stacks, the user fires Assassin's Will.

The stacks behave slightly differently in PvE vs. PvP zones. In PvE zones, these stacks are functionally infinite in duration, so you retain the 300 Weapon and Spell Damage forever until you use Assassin's Will. You can only use Assassin's Will while Grim Focus is active, though based on a friend's testing a while back I think the Weapon and Spell Damage might persist even if Grim Focus is not currently active. In PvP zones, the stacks seem to fall off either when a targeted enemy dies or when changing targets--I'm not sure precisely when they fall off, but the stacks are nowhere near as persistent as in PvE zones.

I'm afraid I don't quite understand the issue without further clarification. Do you mean that the stacks aren't consumed after firing Assassin's Will, meaning that once you have five stacks, you can fire infinite Assassin's Wills? Or do you mean that the stacks are no longer capped at 5?

Also, it's Shadow Cloak and Shadowy Disguise that grant Major Prophecy and Major Savagery. Grim Focus' stacks only grant Weapon and Spell Damage.

this means you can stack skill on mobs and then run with full charged Grim focus, forever, before you use it, I'm not saying the stacks are infinite, but you can have 5 stacks until you activate the ability, and they don't reset, which means you can deal massive burst damage from invisibility,
before this, nb didn't have that option and they still had decent burst damage, imagine what you can do with being able to instantly use a bow from invisibility in combination with another strong burst, if you think that I'm exaggerating, try to collect a damage set and try it out on pts

GrimStyx · July 2023

from my point of view, this ability should in this case be reset after the end of the battle, and not save a full stack of bonuses

jaws343 · July 2023

PrinceShroob wrote: »

Here's how the skill works on live: after activating Grim Focus, light attacks on either bar grants a stacking buff that increases the user's Weapon and Spell Damage by 60 per stack, maxing out at 5 stacks. By activating the ability with five stacks, the user fires Assassin's Will.

The stacks behave slightly differently in PvE vs. PvP zones. In PvE zones, these stacks are functionally infinite in duration, so you retain the 300 Weapon and Spell Damage forever until you use Assassin's Will. You can only use Assassin's Will while Grim Focus is active, though based on a friend's testing a while back I think the Weapon and Spell Damage might persist even if Grim Focus is not currently active. In PvP zones, the stacks seem to fall off either when a targeted enemy dies or when changing targets--I'm not sure precisely when they fall off, but the stacks are nowhere near as persistent as in PvE zones.

I'm afraid I don't quite understand the issue without further clarification. Do you mean that the stacks aren't consumed after firing Assassin's Will, meaning that once you have five stacks, you can fire infinite Assassin's Wills? Or do you mean that the stacks are no longer capped at 5?

Also, it's Shadow Cloak and Shadowy Disguise that grant Major Prophecy and Major Savagery. Grim Focus' stacks only grant Weapon and Spell Damage.

From my understanding of the skill on live, the stacks fall off after X amount of time out of combat. So, you could get 5 stacks, leave combat, and eventually those stacks fall off.

With the way the skill has been reworked, it sounds like you can get and hold 5 stacks forever.

Which means, you can either hold the buff that those stacks provide. Or, you can store them and open up a gank from stealth with a guaranteed bow proc crit hit. Which is pretty strong, and on live is only possible if you are already in combat and built those stacks during that combat or a very recent fight.

TechMaybeHic · July 2023

Stacks disappear on live when the buff falls off. You cannot refresh the stack timer unless it falls off while you are still in combat.

I'm guessing now; with the buff being a passive and no timer; the full stack lasts until you use it.

Oblivion_Protocol · July 2023

...So the ability is going back to the way it was before in terms of stacks? Because the stacks falling off out of combat was a recent change, from maybe two months ago. NB has been able to stock up Assassin’s Will for years before the change.

GrimStyx · July 2023

TechMaybeHic wrote: »

Stacks disappear on live when the buff falls off. You cannot refresh the stack timer unless it falls off while you are still in combat.

I'm guessing now; with the buff being a passive and no timer; the full stack lasts until you use it.

that's right, for now nb can only get nuke with grim focus while in combat and attacking the enemy, if he will be able to keep these stacks constantly, this will mean that gang nb will have another very powerful nuke, which, coupled with surprise attack and ult, will be practically impossible to survive, don't forget that crit change now works passively, along with a damage buff, it's enough to give a combination of surprise attack, two-handed weapon ult and instantly shoot a bow, and to guarantee you use Power Extraction, surviving this is almost impossible, unless you are a tank with huge armor and health, especially when you consider that gang nb take advantage of surprise and the lack of any buffs to protection and healing you have

SandandStars · July 2023

another big improvement for NB.

Shocking.

haelgaan · July 2023

wow, the new crux? the buff will always be there, until they nerf it next patch to disappear after 30 seconds?

tsaescishoeshiner · July 2023

Has anyone tested on PTS whether it drops off in PvP the same way it does on Live?

Snamyap · July 2023

In PvE the stack always stays until you either use the proc or change zone. You can even take the skill off your bar and the stack stays. Whatever they're doing on PTS I do hope we don't get another PvE nerf because of PvP issues.

DrNukenstein · July 2023

Since atleast 2020 stacks reset outside of combat in pvp areas

Go to IC, and fight a mob on the pts with grim focus on either bar.

-if the stacks reset to 0 after the fight and you are out of combat, then it still works the same

-if you keep your stacks, then it changed.

I don't have enough space for PTS and there are a lot of good games doing stuff right now, so let me know if it works like the latter.