ZOS, will you ever attempt to make the Arcanist portal function as it was originally advertised?

Apollosipod · July 26

The skill is useless and even after all this time feels like false advertising. The ads for it before release showed the player putting portals up on top of rocks, traversing overland with it, etc. in reality, this never works. I only ever even wanted it to make my player homes have large spaces you had to cover with magic, but that doesn't even work.

Will this ever been fixed?

spartaxoxo · July 26

Desiato wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

If it's not going to be able to do that, it should at least do something that justifies its existence.

Things like this justify its existence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVjO7EPobCs

It is first cast at around the 20s mark. The tank uses it to position a ground AE cast by the boss away from the group.

I think they didn't want it to be bolt escape 2.0.

I believe it is also useful in PVP.

If there was more challenging overland combat, it could be useful, but because overland is so trivial there is no need at all for tactics.

Something that niche is not enough to justify its existence. It's a pretty useless skill that obviously needs buffs

spartaxoxo · July 26

If it's not going to be able to do that, it should at least do something that justifies its existence.

Desiato · July 26

spartaxoxo wrote: »

If it's not going to be able to do that, it should at least do something that justifies its existence.

Things like this justify its existence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVjO7EPobCs

It is first cast at around the 20s mark. The tank uses it to position a ground AE cast by the boss away from the group.

I think they didn't want it to be bolt escape 2.0.

I believe it is also useful in PVP.

If there was more challenging overland combat, it could be useful, but because overland is so trivial there is no need at all for tactics.

Desiato · July 26

That is only one example.

spartaxoxo · July 27

Desiato wrote: »

That is only one example.

You don't need to provide video examples of generally useful skills because their use is self-evident. Nobody needs an illustration of the niche uses of invisibility, despite also being a utility skill, because it has many different uses.

Desiato · July 27

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Desiato wrote: »

That is only one example.

You don't need to provide video examples of generally useful skills because their use is self-evident. Nobody needs an illustration of the niche uses of invisibility, despite also being a utility skill, because it has many different uses.

I think the arcanist promo trailer isn't really what the ability was intended for because there's no content really designed for that. I would say the vast majority of ZOS promo videos do not show practical demonstrations of gameplay.

If they did make it to work like that, it would result in players being able to access areas they weren't intended to which could have a range of unintended consequences.

To me, it was pretty clearly designed to be a tactical ability used in combat. Of course, if one doesn't engage in tactical combat, then they couldn't possibly appreciate it which is why I linked the video.

I've seen it used in PVP to good effect as well.

Not every ability has mainstream applications and I think that's a good thing, especially in the era of subclassing. Even if one would call it niche, I think that subclassing makes niche skill lines like Shadow okay. If it doesn't work for you, that should be fine. How is it hurting your ESO experience?

Arcanist is already undeniably strong and doesn't at all need to be buffed. There are way more important things for the devs to do than focus on modifying a cool ability that has legitimate use cases to give it more mainstream appeal for no good reason.

spartaxoxo · July 27

I don't think any skill should be extremely niche. A few uses does not a good skill make. Arcanist other issues doesn't negate how bad this skill is

Desiato · July 27

Bad to you, maybe. but that's a theme in the forums. "This has no value to me pls change it." IMO, it's why gameplay outside of vet trials and dungeon HMs is SO watered down. I think it's a pretty cool tool to have available.

Like back in 2014 before vet combat was nerfed and stamina builds were under-powered, I used to use abilities with a stun to CC enemies while fighting groups of them in cadwell's gold quest content. It was so cool having to come up with novel solutions from my skill toolbox.

But now ALL overland is watered down and completely boring. Even most world bosses are a pure snoozefest to solo. Except for players who want "power fantasies", I guess.

I think this ability could have more apparent value when they eventually introduce more difficult overland content like they say they intend to. ESO has a lot of wasted potential for solo and small scale tactical combat.

spartaxoxo · July 27

No. It's niche because of it's short range and underwhelming morphs. I don't know why you think that I only do overland or something but that is not the case. In most fights it is a waste of a skill slot. There's a couple of fights where it adds some small dimension but mostly not enough to justify it over most other skills.

A useful skill isn't "it's good for this specific trial or dungeon," a good skill has a wide variety of uses and the depth to them comes from utilizing them well. And this skill just doesn't have that.

It's obvious the power budget of this skill was made under the assumption you could use it the way it was advertised. Then people got into places they weren't supposed to so they gutted that but did not replace the power.

Desiato · July 27

spartaxoxo wrote: »

It's obvious the power budget of this skill was made under the assumption you could use it the way it was advertised. Then people got into places they weren't supposed to so they gutted that but did not replace the power.

No, that isn't obvious at all. It is obvious that is not the case because there is no content that would support the gameplay and lots of things that it would break!

It's a typical ZOS trailer made by a marketing team who have no concept of actual gameplay.

It's obviously intended for similar use cases as bolt escape. A tactical combat ability.

spartaxoxo · July 27

Afaik, it got nerfed on PTS when Arcanist launched because of people getting into places they were not supposed to go.

Desiato · July 27

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Afaik, it got nerfed on PTS when Arcanist launched because of people getting into places they were not supposed to go.

You don't say! I've been kinda making that point.

It's not practical for them to go through the entire game to identify all the places that it would cause problems with, nor is there a need because there's no actual content designed for what the promo video shows, nor can there be if only Arcs could access it.

spartaxoxo · July 27

Desiato wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Afaik, it got nerfed on PTS when Arcanist launched because of people getting into places they were not supposed to go.

You don't say! I've been kinda making that point.

It's not practical for them to go through the entire game to identify all the places that it would cause problems with, nor is there a need because there's no actual content designed for what the promo video shows, nor can there be if only Arcs could access it.

I mean. I have agreed with that point the whole time. My point has been they designed the skill with that in mind, realized it wasn't going to work, and then did nothing to replace the lost power that came with "fixing" it. I use fix it in air quoted because it is also a skill that gets caught up on even the tiniest bit of uneven terrain.

Deimus · July 27

Arc's portal and Vamp's mist form should both work like Streak. Not affected by elevation, remove the ground circle, let us teleport ourselves off a cliff or gap, and make it a smooth press and you teleport skill.

The version of Arcanist's portal in the Vengeance test works much better than the current one. It's smooth and feels as good to use as Streak does, just leave the portal effect for the group synergy. No need to worry about leaving skills as clunky to avoid trampling on identity subclassing removed that concern. Let me have a smooth teleporting mobility skill in Vampire and Arcanist flavor.

Tyrobag · July 27

It would help if they at least made it stay active until toggled off (single bar toggle) or until used a certain number of times, then it could at least be used as a sort of fallback point to avoid AoEs and stuff. The mobility focus is good, but its way too clunky to use. I think removing the short duration cap would fix that without needing any other huge functionality changes (though it would be nice if they allowed it at least the same verticality as charge skills).

spartaxoxo · July 27

Tyrobag wrote: »

It would help if they at least made it stay active until toggled off (single bar toggle) or until used a certain number of times, then it could at least be used as a sort of fallback point to avoid AoEs and stuff. The mobility focus is good, but its way too clunky to use. I think removing the short duration cap would fix that without needing any other huge functionality changes (though it would be nice if they allowed it at least the same verticality as charge skills).

I think this would be a great change that allowed it remain distinctive.

The Elder Scrolls Online

ZOS, will you ever attempt to make the Arcanist portal function as it was originally advertised?

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