How about a new feature that lets players change the weight of their armour?

Alharion · June 27

I don't know about you, but I'm thinking more and more about this possible new feature for the game, the possibility of changing, for example, light trousers to heavy or medium head to light etc etc etc depending on the "target" armour.

What do you think of such a new feature?

LunaFlora · June 27

if it were possible for zos to do that then i would love it.

Araneae6537 · June 27

There are sooo many sets in the game and crafted sets can be made in any weight. If there is a set you want to use not in the preferred weight, you can usually use mostly weapons and jewelry and pair it with a set in the preferred weight. I would have nothing against having such an option, I simply don’t see any need for it.

notyuu · June 27

Awesome idea but if it was executed what little illusion of balance we have between the sets would go out the window entirely

Major_Toughness · June 27

Terrible idea.

Sets are purposefully designed so that they are somewhat balanced.

Light = Magicka DD, Healer
Medium = Stamina DD
Heavy = Tank

Obviously not all sets follow this, and mag dd's wear medium in organised groups but this is how it's always been and always should be.

ShadowPaladin · June 27

Sorry to disappoint you, but this idea is nothing more than a wish/fancy dream and will with 1000% certainty never happen.

The reason for it being, that there are so many armor sets already ingame and they all have been programmed/made in a certain way. Implementing a weight change function now would mean to overhaul the whole system, as well as changing the whole system to one where there will be only a "base" armor version, which could be changed to L, M or H weight.

In addition to that there would have to be made a lot of changes to other things as well. For exampe the collection system, the loottables, the rewards given by certain things and so on and so on. The possible benefits would never ever make up for the amount and cost of the work involved.

Erickson9610 · June 27

I find the armor weight system to be interesting to build around — for both the Player and the Companion systems.

For player builds, some sets naturally come in a specific weight. So, I prioritize putting those sets on Weapons/Jewelry, so that I can put other armor in the preferred weight on the body pieces. Also, it's fun trying to come up with a build that plays into the Armor and Undaunted passives — sometimes it's worth going 5-1-1 with any particular predominant weight for the Undaunted passives, where the weight of the armor is chosen for their Armor passives. Certain armor pieces (like the chest and legs) have more armor value than other pieces (like the waist and hands), so those higher value pieces should always be in Heavy to maximize the armor value they grant.

For Companion builds, the system is far more simplified, but it's still engaging. All armor pieces have a base armor value, adding 100 armor value for each ascending rarity, and each tier of weight (going up from Light -> Medium -> Heavy) adds another 1000 armor value to the piece. For instance, a single piece of blue light armor gives 800 armor value, whereas a single piece of purple medium armor gives 1900 armor value. Then the other important aspect is picking the correct weights for their Armor passives, and picking at least 5 pieces of the correct weight if one of the Armor skills are to be used in their build. I find that Light Armor ironically works best for Companion Tanks, if their goal is to hold taunt and spam damage shields rather than block — so I might go with 5-2 Light-Heavy to give the Companion access to Haste while otherwise maximizing their resistances.

All of this is to say that the armor weight systems in ESO are intricate, and are partially what makes theorycrafting in ESO fun. There'd be no more challenge in trying to fit sets into our builds if we're allowed to just change the armor weights. If we were also allowed to change Companion armor weights, then we'd never need more than one set of gear that we could transmute to fit any Companion build.

EF321 · June 27

Weight is the main drawback of some sets.

StihlReign · June 27

Alharion wrote: »

I don't know about you, but I'm thinking more and more about this possible new feature for the game, the possibility of changing, for example, light trousers to heavy or medium head to light etc etc etc depending on the "target" armour.

What do you think of such a new feature?

Awesome idea and easy to implement via the transmute station. 10 transmutes per item would be a great. Add making transmutes tradable (which would add a huge boost to a floundering economy) and this would make an excellent QoL update.

Ph1p · June 27

I can see a use case if you limit it to crafted and monster sets, which already come in all armor classes. For example, it would be more forgiving if you accidentally craft an item in the wrong weight or if you drop a monster set item in the right trait but wrong armor type. All depending on the transmute cost, of course. It would also need to follow the stickerbook logic, i.e., you can't make a medium monster shoulder if you haven't collected it already.

However, I think the added benefit of such a QOL feature is marginal and therefore not really worth spending development resources on.

Doing this for all sets makes no sense to me. It adds pointless complexity, needlessly removes interesting trade-offs, and essentially amounts to demanding a buff to power and damage for no reason.

StihlReign · June 27

I see no need to limit the use case. The game is loaded with armors that most consider useless. The ability to change the weight would allow for much needed build freedom across all armors in the game.

If you collected the armor, you should be able to change the weight at a minimal cost to whatever works best for your build. The Devs suggested (released) weight should not be the final consideration for what players deem best for their playstyle or build needs.

10 transmutes. No cost variance. No armor type limit. Keep it simple. And make transmutes tradable.

Alharion · June 27

ShadowPaladin wrote: »

Sorry to disappoint you, but this idea is nothing more than a wish/fancy dream and will with 1000% certainty never happen.

The reason for it being, that there are so many armor sets already ingame and they all have been programmed/made in a certain way. Implementing a weight change function now would mean to overhaul the whole system, as well as changing the whole system to one where there will be only a "base" armor version, which could be changed to L, M or H weight.

In addition to that there would have to be made a lot of changes to other things as well. For exampe the collection system, the loottables, the rewards given by certain things and so on and so on. The possible benefits would never ever make up for the amount and cost of the work involved.

Isn't that what exposing a forum is all about - sharing ideas and fantasies with other players at the same time?

What's more, an MMORPG is always evolving, at least for those who still have this desire to evolve of course, Zenimax not included

Necrotech_Master · June 27

if they do this, they would have to add in collection items for every armor weight (see mixed armor sets such as trainee, archive class sets, hews bane sets)

craftable sets already can be crafted in any weight

StihlReign · June 27

Great...They can add in the weights and remove armor from inventory altogether. I'd rather select armor from the sticker book via some form of active sets mechanism. Say 20 active sets, 10 monster pcs, 40 active plus 20 monster pcs with ESO+.

GooGa592 · June 27

I don't think this is a good idea at all. Players should be forced to wear certain sets, heavy, medium or light that have traits associated with that weight of armor. It will screw up balance even more than it already is if players could change the weight of their armor.

spartaxoxo · June 27

No. They have the weights the way they are for balance. For example, a person in heavy armor shouldn't have access to as many damage bonuses as someone in less defensive armor.

TaSheen · June 27

I think the armor setup is fine the way it is. The balances seem to be about right....

StihlReign · June 27

This game isn't balanced, it's not even close to balanced. ESO balance is a myth and a dream. If the devs cared about balance we'd have tens of thousands more active players. Instead we have entire guilds who've quit in droves and hundreds of posts pointing out imbalance with no acknowledgment or input.

We may as well continue trying new features and forget balance.

We have the sticker-book, I'd love to stop toting around armor in inventory and use it.

Rkindaleft · June 28

This would be a change that I would dislike.

With hybridisation as much as it was not ZOS's goal to do so they ended up killing any remaining diversity between what is used in PvE at any level above the casual experience.

At least before it was Magicka DD using light armour and Stamina DD using medium armour. Now both just use medium armour and the same couple of sets regardless of spec because medium just has better damage bonuses.

StihlReign · June 28

Most of the top DD setups in the game use 3-3-1. 3 heavy, 3 light, 1 medium.

bmnoble · June 28

Crafted sets can be any weight and you can farm the weapons and jewellery for other sets to use instead if you don't like the weight of the armour it drops in.