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Can we revert oakensoul/buff it, now that subclass is a thing?
francesinhalover
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Old oakensoul was a bit powerfull and it got reworked... given subclass now exists and the dmg increased a lot for people that subclass. Would it be ok to revert or buff oakensoul to a more stronger state?
I am @fluffypallascat pc eu if someone wants to play together
Shadow strike is the best cp passive ever!
Shadow strike is the best cp passive ever!
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NoSoup✭✭✭✭✭Pretty sure subclassing in itself makes oakensoul stronger? Really not seeing the argument for buffing it more.Formally SirDopey, lost forum account during the great reset.....15 -
francesinhalover✭✭✭✭✭
✭Pretty sure subclassing in itself makes oakensoul stronger? Really not seeing the argument for buffing it more.
How so? you can only use 6 skills. How will it keep up with people using 12 skills from 3 diferent lines?Edited by francesinhalover on May 6, 2025 11:59PMI am @fluffypallascat pc eu if someone wants to play together
Shadow strike is the best cp passive ever!1 -
BretonMage✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭If they reverted the nerf to lightning staff HA AOE, wouldn't that make Oakensoul more competitive with the Arcanist beam?
Also others have mentioned (on this thread: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/677186/proposed-change-to-oakensoul) possibly allowing backbar passives to work on Oakensoul, or for minor versions of buffs to be reverted to their major versions.Pretty sure subclassing in itself makes oakensoul stronger? Really not seeing the argument for buffing it more.
Actually, it looks like subclassing will give other builds the means to achieve the passives that Oakensoul has, giving Oakensoul an even bigger relative nerf. I think it needs buffs to compete with subclassed builds.9 -
Orbital78✭✭✭✭✭
✭Reverting the destro passives would help, but I don't know that they actually fixed the pvp issues with it. It kind of seemed they just nerfed it to bandage the issue.7 -
Heronisan✭✭✭Release oakensoul was beyond broken. Pure classes are getting nerfed in the name of subclassing, buffing oakensoul to compete with subclassing is a very greedy take, so is reverting the destro staff nerf. Destro Staff was wildy OP compared to all other heavy attack builds, this one build/playstyle should not throne over everything else as hard as it does.
Oakensoul still deals more then enough damage to complete all content, this mythic should have some drawbacks not just slap it on and forget about everything else. Its not just the damage but the survivability too.11 -
Lalothen✭✭✭✭✭BretonMage wrote: »If they reverted the nerf to lightning staff HA AOE, wouldn't that make Oakensoul more competitive with the Arcanist beam?
Yes it would, but I don't expect ZOS to do that because Arcanist is a paid class and lightning staff passives are free. After all, they only nerfed lightning staff channeled AoE to push everyone into their paywalled accessibility class when it released.Destro Staff was wildy OP compared to all other heavy attack builds, this one build/playstyle should not throne over everything else as hard as it does.
The answer to this could have been to make heavy attacks for weapon skill lines channeled multi-hits via an optional passive, rather than shaving the majority of the lightning staff's AoE off.
Frankly, the way lightning staff's HA AoE works now - tied 100% to the fully charged hit - sucks. Heck, people would've accepted the tic AoE damage being nerfed by 50-75% rather than removed completely, because at least then it would still be useful in AoE scenarios.Edited by Lalothen on May 7, 2025 9:37AM2 -
SkaiFaith✭✭✭✭✭
✭BretonMage wrote: »If they reverted the nerf to lightning staff HA AOE, wouldn't that make Oakensoul more competitive with the Arcanist beam?
Also others have mentioned (on this thread: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/677186/proposed-change-to-oakensoul) possibly allowing backbar passives to work on Oakensoul, or for minor versions of buffs to be reverted to their major versions.Pretty sure subclassing in itself makes oakensoul stronger? Really not seeing the argument for buffing it more.
Actually, it looks like subclassing will give other builds the means to achieve the passives that Oakensoul has, giving Oakensoul an even bigger relative nerf. I think it needs buffs to compete with subclassed builds.
Yep, Major Berserk and Major Courage would be much appreciated indeed
A: "We, as humans, should respect and take care of each other like in a Co-op, not a PvP 🌸"
B: "Many words. Words bad. Won't read. ⚔️"0 -
Orbital78✭✭✭✭✭
✭Release oakensoul was beyond broken. Pure classes are getting nerfed in the name of subclassing, buffing oakensoul to compete with subclassing is a very greedy take, so is reverting the destro staff nerf. Destro Staff was wildy OP compared to all other heavy attack builds, this one build/playstyle should not throne over everything else as hard as it does.
Oakensoul still deals more then enough damage to complete all content, this mythic should have some drawbacks not just slap it on and forget about everything else. Its not just the damage but the survivability too.
Your idea of all content and mine differ. All solo content, yes.4 -
GloatingSwine✭✭✭✭Pretty sure subclassing in itself makes oakensoul stronger? Really not seeing the argument for buffing it more.
I think it's more likely it becomes irrelevant even for one-bar builds as it's competing with all the while slotted on either bar skills letting you build pretty much all of the effects you used to get from Oakensoul just as passively and a few more like bonus weapon damage above what you would get from its Minor Courage, freeing you up to take another mythic.2 -
Heronisan✭✭✭Your idea of all content and mine differ. All solo content, yes.
Dlc HM's is also incredibly easy on 1 bar heavy attack but very boring. Its argusbly easier even then 2 bars, since you dont have to worry about incomming damage at all.
All i do is 1t 3dd dlc Hardmodes on repeat. (stone garden, scriveners, earthen root, oathsworn pit, bedlam, coral aerie, etc) the ones that gives u motifs u can sell for good money
All vet trials should be an incredibly easy clap with 8 oakensorcs if you wanted to, some HM's on trials i wont go into since im not that big of a trial guy, but put 8 end game harmode players on an oakensorc build they will probably crush it.
Hyperioxes have soloed vCA hardmode on heavy attack build, although with pale order instead.
There rlly isnt much you cant do in this game on an oakenbuild.
We all get to eat dirt in the name of subclassing.1 -
Heronisan✭✭✭BretonMage wrote: »If they reverted the nerf to lightning staff HA AOE, wouldn't that make Oakensoul more competitive with the Arcanist beam?
Yes it would, but I don't expect ZOS to do that because Arcanist is a paid class and lightning staff passives are free. After all, they only nerfed lightning staff channeled AoE to push everyone into their paywalled accessibility class when it released.Destro Staff was wildy OP compared to all other heavy attack builds, this one build/playstyle should not throne over everything else as hard as it does.
The answer to this could have been to make heavy attacks for weapon skill lines channeled multi-hits via an optional passive, rather than shaving the majority of the lightning staff's AoE off.
Frankly, the way lightning staff's HA AoE works now - tied 100% to the fully charged hit - sucks. Heck, people would've accepted the tic AoE damage being nerfed by 50-75% rather than removed completely, because at least then it would still be useful in AoE scenarios.
There are probably many solutuions you could do, but with ZOS i can tell you it will never happen, they allways take the easiest way, but if you lack aoe, you could also play 2 bar for more dots, there has to be some drawbacks to only using 1 bar0 -
AmishDefector✭✭✭Id recommend buffing this ring in some way "when not in a group" and leaving it where it is when in a group. Make it more clear that this is more of a solo players mythic. They've added more and better mythics for 1 bar heavy attack builds as pointed out above and scribing makes acessing these buffs trivial. Maybe add a HoT component or a mini pale order effect since the main dps loss of running oaken instead of pale order is needing to play defensively.
Instead of buffing oakensoul they could buff the duration of empower from mages guild to make rotos more forgiving for non oaken heavy attack builds.
Between 4 players and scribing theres just no need to run this mythic in group play. Every buff is available. Heavy attack and one bar builds are very viable. But this ring isnt very good when compared to the new heavy attack mythic.
Additional suggestion: if empower is active at the start of the heavy attack, have it buff until the heavy attack completes.
Source: my first Unchained was with an oakensoul heavy attack sorc. I still use oaken in BGs because i dont trust the buffs to be there in pvp.1 -
Orbital78✭✭✭✭✭
✭Your idea of all content and mine differ. All solo content, yes.
Dlc HM's is also incredibly easy on 1 bar heavy attack but very boring. Its argusbly easier even then 2 bars, since you dont have to worry about incomming damage at all.
All i do is 1t 3dd dlc Hardmodes on repeat. (stone garden, scriveners, earthen root, oathsworn pit, bedlam, coral aerie, etc) the ones that gives u motifs u can sell for good money
All vet trials should be an incredibly easy clap with 8 oakensorcs if you wanted to, some HM's on trials i wont go into since im not that big of a trial guy, but put 8 end game harmode players on an oakensorc build they will probably crush it.
Hyperioxes have soloed vCA hardmode on heavy attack build, although with pale order instead.
There rlly isnt much you cant do in this game on an oakenbuild.
We all get to eat dirt in the name of subclassing.
That is just 4 man content, what about vDSR HM, vLC HM, vOC HM? Heck even old ones like vCR+3 you technically could do but you're putting the group at a disadvantage. Even in this vRG core I'm in, it feels barely adequate. I find the older the content the more viable oakensoul is.
I'm looking forward to more two bar heavy attack options though, the no resource regen will hurt my playstyle but I am okay with it if it increases my damage potential to be viable in harder content.Edited by Orbital78 on May 8, 2025 7:49PM0 -
tsaescishoeshiner✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭francesinhalover wrote: »
Only having 6 skill slots is what makes Oakensoul so strong with subclassing.
Previously, you might not be benefitting from the passives or skills from your other skill lines. But now, you can pick the 6 strongest skills and passives from 3 skill lines. An easy example being a DPS switching out Warden's Green Balance to pick up Grave Lord, Storm Calling, or Assassination, all of which just have passive damage buffs for a typical Oakensoul build, before even considering which extra skills you could use.
It might not add anything to my Warden Oakensoul build for the Archive, but it will add some optimization for many classes. I can definitely see skill lines that my abandoned Nightblade Oakensoul build could benefit from.
At least, it will be stronger compared to damage numbers on live. It might not be stronger compared to how much stronger non-Oakensoul classes will get, which I think mostly matters for PvP where other players' performance directly impacts you. In PvE, there's no indication that enemies are getting harder, so more damage is still an overall buff.PC-NA
in-game: @tsaescishoeshiner3 -
Solariken✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭It does need a buff. I'd like it to be good for every weapon though, not just lightning staff.
Maybe remove the Empower and add Major Courage and Major Berserk.2 -
cuddles_with_wroble✭✭✭✭✭Any version of any mythic with either major force or berserk or both is inherently always going to be overturned since those are the 2 strongest damage buffs in the entire game, the new mythic is gonna be round 3 of learning the same lesson over again!1 -
NxJoeyD✭✭✭Pretty sure subclassing in itself makes oakensoul stronger? Really not seeing the argument for buffing it more.
So for PvE, you’re right, Oakensoul is still fine for all of that content … but … for PvP, Noooo, Oakensoul has quickly fallen behind.
The issue is that subclassing has raised the bar on PvP builds. Not globally but definitely across the metas. Subclassing as confined the metas and slightly elevated them by enabling builds to slot combinations of mechanics that previously were unavailable and, in the opinion of most, shouldn’t be accessible.
Subclassing has enabled players to avoid aspects of diminishing returns or the “play vs counterplay” aspect across the metas. This leaves Oakensoul even further behind because those builds have fewer slots and flexibility to elevate their build.
Oakensoul is still feasible in PvE because it offers some of the most beneficial PvE buffs in the game; freeing up slot space to get them. But in PvP, those PvE buffs are still in play but are not at all relevant.
Think about it, anyone running NB’s Shadow line and Sorcs Storm Calling line already get the biggest PvP buffs that Oakensoul offers and only have to use 2 bar slots! One of those abilities doesn’t even require a trigger, only to be slotted; but those abilities go a step farther than Oakensoul by providing either persistent healing or more flexibility by playing into the skill line passives.
Oakensoul either needs a perma change to its stats, OR, what I would recommend would be that when Battle Spirit isn’t active Oakensoul stays as it is now, but when Battle Spirit is active the PvE specific buffs are replaced with ones more relevant to PvP; I’d suggested named buffs relating to: Healing received, health pool, or additional damage reduction.
The reason I say that is because the mechanics that meta builds are pairing with subclassing are making high crit damage dealers even more durable than they were before and that’s a problem. Oakensouls major lack in PvP is durability.Edited by NxJoeyD on August 25, 2025 3:32PM1 -
YandereGirlfriend✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Pretty sure subclassing in itself makes oakensoul stronger? Really not seeing the argument for buffing it more.
So for PvE, you’re right, Oakensoul is still fine for all of that content … but … for PvP, Noooo, Oakensoul has quickly fallen behind.
The issue is that subclassing has raised the bar on PvP builds. Not globally but definitely across the metas. Subclassing as confined the metas and slightly elevated them by enabling builds to slot combinations of mechanics that previously were unavailable and, in the opinion of most, shouldn’t be accessible.
Subclassing has enabled players to avoid aspects of diminishing returns or the “play vs counterplay” aspect across the metas. This leaves Oakensoul even further behind because those builds have fewer slots and flexibility to elevate their build.
Oakensoul is still feasible in PvE because it offers some of the most beneficial PvE buffs in the game; freeing up slot space to get them. But in PvP, those PvE buffs are still in play but are not at all relevant.
Think about it, anyone running NB’s Shadow line and Sorcs Storm Calling line already get the biggest PvP buffs that Oakensoul offers and only have to use 2 bar slots! One of those abilities doesn’t even require a trigger, only to be slotted; but those abilities go a step farther than Oakensoul by providing either persistent healing or more flexibility by playing into the skill line passives.
Oakensoul either needs a perma change to its stats, OR, what I would recommend would be that when Battle Spirit isn’t active Oakensoul stays as it is now, but when Battle Spirit is active the PvE specific buffs are replaced with ones more relevant to PvP; I’d suggested named buffs relating to: Healing received, health pool, or additional damage reduction.
The reason I say that is because the mechanics that meta builds are pairing with subclassing are making high crit damage dealers even more durable than they were before and that’s a problem. Oakensouls major lack in PvP is durability.
Plenty of Mythics are better in PvE than PvP and vice versa. Plenty of Mythics are good for nothing at all.
It's fine as it is.2 -
NxJoeyD✭✭✭YandereGirlfriend wrote: »Pretty sure subclassing in itself makes oakensoul stronger? Really not seeing the argument for buffing it more.
So for PvE, you’re right, Oakensoul is still fine for all of that content … but … for PvP, Noooo, Oakensoul has quickly fallen behind.
The issue is that subclassing has raised the bar on PvP builds. Not globally but definitely across the metas. Subclassing as confined the metas and slightly elevated them by enabling builds to slot combinations of mechanics that previously were unavailable and, in the opinion of most, shouldn’t be accessible.
Subclassing has enabled players to avoid aspects of diminishing returns or the “play vs counterplay” aspect across the metas. This leaves Oakensoul even further behind because those builds have fewer slots and flexibility to elevate their build.
Oakensoul is still feasible in PvE because it offers some of the most beneficial PvE buffs in the game; freeing up slot space to get them. But in PvP, those PvE buffs are still in play but are not at all relevant.
Think about it, anyone running NB’s Shadow line and Sorcs Storm Calling line already get the biggest PvP buffs that Oakensoul offers and only have to use 2 bar slots! One of those abilities doesn’t even require a trigger, only to be slotted; but those abilities go a step farther than Oakensoul by providing either persistent healing or more flexibility by playing into the skill line passives.
Oakensoul either needs a perma change to its stats, OR, what I would recommend would be that when Battle Spirit isn’t active Oakensoul stays as it is now, but when Battle Spirit is active the PvE specific buffs are replaced with ones more relevant to PvP; I’d suggested named buffs relating to: Healing received, health pool, or additional damage reduction.
The reason I say that is because the mechanics that meta builds are pairing with subclassing are making high crit damage dealers even more durable than they were before and that’s a problem. Oakensouls major lack in PvP is durability.
Plenty of Mythics are better in PvE than PvP and vice versa. Plenty of Mythics are good for nothing at all.
It's fine as it is.
No. Because unlike other Mythics, Oakensoul was intended to be broad-build oriented.
Other mythics are niche, and that’s the point. They’re made to complement specific roles or builds. Oakensoul is different, it’s not particular to any one role or class or guild. It carries a massive cost, the loss of an entire bar.
Before subclassing I wound agree but now, not with subclassing.
Oakensoul was added to the game to encourage and support one bar builds but it’s falling short.
Factually, I needs a buff of some sort.
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YandereGirlfriend✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭YandereGirlfriend wrote: »Pretty sure subclassing in itself makes oakensoul stronger? Really not seeing the argument for buffing it more.
So for PvE, you’re right, Oakensoul is still fine for all of that content … but … for PvP, Noooo, Oakensoul has quickly fallen behind.
The issue is that subclassing has raised the bar on PvP builds. Not globally but definitely across the metas. Subclassing as confined the metas and slightly elevated them by enabling builds to slot combinations of mechanics that previously were unavailable and, in the opinion of most, shouldn’t be accessible.
Subclassing has enabled players to avoid aspects of diminishing returns or the “play vs counterplay” aspect across the metas. This leaves Oakensoul even further behind because those builds have fewer slots and flexibility to elevate their build.
Oakensoul is still feasible in PvE because it offers some of the most beneficial PvE buffs in the game; freeing up slot space to get them. But in PvP, those PvE buffs are still in play but are not at all relevant.
Think about it, anyone running NB’s Shadow line and Sorcs Storm Calling line already get the biggest PvP buffs that Oakensoul offers and only have to use 2 bar slots! One of those abilities doesn’t even require a trigger, only to be slotted; but those abilities go a step farther than Oakensoul by providing either persistent healing or more flexibility by playing into the skill line passives.
Oakensoul either needs a perma change to its stats, OR, what I would recommend would be that when Battle Spirit isn’t active Oakensoul stays as it is now, but when Battle Spirit is active the PvE specific buffs are replaced with ones more relevant to PvP; I’d suggested named buffs relating to: Healing received, health pool, or additional damage reduction.
The reason I say that is because the mechanics that meta builds are pairing with subclassing are making high crit damage dealers even more durable than they were before and that’s a problem. Oakensouls major lack in PvP is durability.
Plenty of Mythics are better in PvE than PvP and vice versa. Plenty of Mythics are good for nothing at all.
It's fine as it is.
No. Because unlike other Mythics, Oakensoul was intended to be broad-build oriented.
Other mythics are niche, and that’s the point. They’re made to complement specific roles or builds. Oakensoul is different, it’s not particular to any one role or class or guild. It carries a massive cost, the loss of an entire bar.
Before subclassing I wound agree but now, not with subclassing.
Oakensoul was added to the game to encourage and support one bar builds but it’s falling short.
Factually, I needs a buff of some sort.
I think that you are reading more into a piece of in-game gear than is actually intended by the devs.2 -
Solariken✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭I love Oakensoul for the roleplay... Because going into battle with 1 weapon is much more realistic than spazz-swapping 2 weapons every few seconds.
The enormous combat disadvantage of using Oakensoul is backwards. It needs to grant a significant power opportunity to make it competitive and offset the losses.
There are lots of ways to go about it. One idea:
Nerf Empower from 70% to 20%, then add Major Berserk, Major Courage, and Minor Resolve.
Edited by Solariken on August 26, 2025 10:48PM0 -
YandereGirlfriend✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭I love Oakensoul for the roleplay... Because going into battle with 1 weapon is much more realistic than spazz-swapping 2 weapons every few seconds.
The enormous combat disadvantage of using Oakensoul is backwards. It needs to grant a significant power opportunity to make it competitive and offset the losses.
There are lots of ways to go about it. One idea:
Nerf Empower from 70% to 20%, then add Major Berserk, Major Courage, and Minor Resolve.
Huh?! At that point you have basically every named buff in the entire game. That is worth way more than a back-bar slot.
What even is the "problem" that is being solved here? Oakensoul players can already do basically anything.1 -
NxJoeyD✭✭✭YandereGirlfriend wrote: »I love Oakensoul for the roleplay... Because going into battle with 1 weapon is much more realistic than spazz-swapping 2 weapons every few seconds.
The enormous combat disadvantage of using Oakensoul is backwards. It needs to grant a significant power opportunity to make it competitive and offset the losses.
There are lots of ways to go about it. One idea:
Nerf Empower from 70% to 20%, then add Major Berserk, Major Courage, and Minor Resolve.
Huh?! At that point you have basically every named buff in the entire game. That is worth way more than a back-bar slot.
What even is the "problem" that is being solved here? Oakensoul players can already do basically anything.
I don’t know where you’re getting that from.
Not only is Oakensoul intended to be broad use (non class specific), we can tell it was intended for PvP with the onset of the Oakenfathers set. It was put into the game as a direct counter to Oakensoul. So no, I’m not reading more into it.
As for what’s wrong with Oakensoul now; it’s not PvE, Oakensoul is fine in PvE, the problem is PvP.
Currently PvP is crit meta and Oakensoul users don’t have the build flexibility to compete with that; especially with subclassing. Yes Oakensoul gives buffs but it ONLY gives you buffs. Slotting abilities or skill line passives provide these buffs PLUS other benefits.
This wasn’t a big deal before subclassing because classes were limited to what they could slot based on their class. But now, with subclassing; classes have overlaps in PvP that Oakensoul users can’t match due to the lack of a back bar.
So the only way to fix that would be to adjust the benefits Oakensoul gives while in PvP. Hence, adjustments to the buffs only when Battle Spirit is active.1 -
YandereGirlfriend✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭YandereGirlfriend wrote: »I love Oakensoul for the roleplay... Because going into battle with 1 weapon is much more realistic than spazz-swapping 2 weapons every few seconds.
The enormous combat disadvantage of using Oakensoul is backwards. It needs to grant a significant power opportunity to make it competitive and offset the losses.
There are lots of ways to go about it. One idea:
Nerf Empower from 70% to 20%, then add Major Berserk, Major Courage, and Minor Resolve.
Huh?! At that point you have basically every named buff in the entire game. That is worth way more than a back-bar slot.
What even is the "problem" that is being solved here? Oakensoul players can already do basically anything.
I don’t know where you’re getting that from.
Not only is Oakensoul intended to be broad use (non class specific), we can tell it was intended for PvP with the onset of the Oakenfathers set. It was put into the game as a direct counter to Oakensoul. So no, I’m not reading more into it.
As for what’s wrong with Oakensoul now; it’s not PvE, Oakensoul is fine in PvE, the problem is PvP.
Currently PvP is crit meta and Oakensoul users don’t have the build flexibility to compete with that; especially with subclassing. Yes Oakensoul gives buffs but it ONLY gives you buffs. Slotting abilities or skill line passives provide these buffs PLUS other benefits.
This wasn’t a big deal before subclassing because classes were limited to what they could slot based on their class. But now, with subclassing; classes have overlaps in PvP that Oakensoul users can’t match due to the lack of a back bar.
So the only way to fix that would be to adjust the benefits Oakensoul gives while in PvP. Hence, adjustments to the buffs only when Battle Spirit is active.
Still not seeing the issue.
I also think it's quite a stretch to equate Oakensoul to Oakfather. Just because they both have Oak in the name doesn't really mean anything.
The other issue is just handing out random buffs to people in a competitive environment. Monsters don't object when it happens in PvE but other human players do - and for good enough reason.
Whatever someone's reason for using Oakensoul, it should not enable basically developer mode where you just console command yourself every buff in the game. We sort of had that already when Oakensoul launched and it was completely bonkers how broken it was. I remember getting zerged-down by like 60 AD in Ravenwatch spamming multiple Meteors per second on me because everyone had 100% Major Heroism uptime. We also had DKs out there with 100% Corrosive uptime immortality (which, in turn, got that skill nerfed into Oblivion for everyone else).4 -
NxJoeyD✭✭✭YandereGirlfriend wrote: »YandereGirlfriend wrote: »I love Oakensoul for the roleplay... Because going into battle with 1 weapon is much more realistic than spazz-swapping 2 weapons every few seconds.
The enormous combat disadvantage of using Oakensoul is backwards. It needs to grant a significant power opportunity to make it competitive and offset the losses.
There are lots of ways to go about it. One idea:
Nerf Empower from 70% to 20%, then add Major Berserk, Major Courage, and Minor Resolve.
Huh?! At that point you have basically every named buff in the entire game. That is worth way more than a back-bar slot.
What even is the "problem" that is being solved here? Oakensoul players can already do basically anything.
I don’t know where you’re getting that from.
Not only is Oakensoul intended to be broad use (non class specific), we can tell it was intended for PvP with the onset of the Oakenfathers set. It was put into the game as a direct counter to Oakensoul. So no, I’m not reading more into it.
As for what’s wrong with Oakensoul now; it’s not PvE, Oakensoul is fine in PvE, the problem is PvP.
Currently PvP is crit meta and Oakensoul users don’t have the build flexibility to compete with that; especially with subclassing. Yes Oakensoul gives buffs but it ONLY gives you buffs. Slotting abilities or skill line passives provide these buffs PLUS other benefits.
This wasn’t a big deal before subclassing because classes were limited to what they could slot based on their class. But now, with subclassing; classes have overlaps in PvP that Oakensoul users can’t match due to the lack of a back bar.
So the only way to fix that would be to adjust the benefits Oakensoul gives while in PvP. Hence, adjustments to the buffs only when Battle Spirit is active.
Still not seeing the issue.
I also think it's quite a stretch to equate Oakensoul to Oakfather. Just because they both have Oak in the name doesn't really mean anything.
The other issue is just handing out random buffs to people in a competitive environment. Monsters don't object when it happens in PvE but other human players do - and for good enough reason.
Whatever someone's reason for using Oakensoul, it should not enable basically developer mode where you just console command yourself every buff in the game. We sort of had that already when Oakensoul launched and it was completely bonkers how broken it was. I remember getting zerged-down by like 60 AD in Ravenwatch spamming multiple Meteors per second on me because everyone had 100% Major Heroism uptime. We also had DKs out there with 100% Corrosive uptime immortality (which, in turn, got that skill nerfed into Oblivion for everyone else).
It’s not a stretch at all, it’s literally in the 5 piece description! The more buffs a player has the harder the set hits! It’s not just the name it’s the legit set mechanics. If you read it’s pretty clear.
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/667833/oakfathers-retribution-amazing-crap-ok#:~:text=they have active.-,Gain 20 Weapon and Spell Damage against enemies for each,some opinions on Oakfather's Retribution.
Your experiences aren’t reflective of Oakensoul as a whole, in fact, Oakensoul doesn’t even provide Major Heroism.
Nobody said anything about giving players developer mode or every buff in the game; we’re talking about fact based balancing. Now players have the access to slot the most relevant buffs through passives or abilities with multiple benefits. Oakensoul doesn’t do that. Because of that Oakensoul users have to sacrifice either damage output or durability.
Prior to subclassing Oakensoul was fine but it isn’t anymore. Subclassing changed a lot.5 -
YandereGirlfriend✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭YandereGirlfriend wrote: »YandereGirlfriend wrote: »I love Oakensoul for the roleplay... Because going into battle with 1 weapon is much more realistic than spazz-swapping 2 weapons every few seconds.
The enormous combat disadvantage of using Oakensoul is backwards. It needs to grant a significant power opportunity to make it competitive and offset the losses.
There are lots of ways to go about it. One idea:
Nerf Empower from 70% to 20%, then add Major Berserk, Major Courage, and Minor Resolve.
Huh?! At that point you have basically every named buff in the entire game. That is worth way more than a back-bar slot.
What even is the "problem" that is being solved here? Oakensoul players can already do basically anything.
I don’t know where you’re getting that from.
Not only is Oakensoul intended to be broad use (non class specific), we can tell it was intended for PvP with the onset of the Oakenfathers set. It was put into the game as a direct counter to Oakensoul. So no, I’m not reading more into it.
As for what’s wrong with Oakensoul now; it’s not PvE, Oakensoul is fine in PvE, the problem is PvP.
Currently PvP is crit meta and Oakensoul users don’t have the build flexibility to compete with that; especially with subclassing. Yes Oakensoul gives buffs but it ONLY gives you buffs. Slotting abilities or skill line passives provide these buffs PLUS other benefits.
This wasn’t a big deal before subclassing because classes were limited to what they could slot based on their class. But now, with subclassing; classes have overlaps in PvP that Oakensoul users can’t match due to the lack of a back bar.
So the only way to fix that would be to adjust the benefits Oakensoul gives while in PvP. Hence, adjustments to the buffs only when Battle Spirit is active.
Still not seeing the issue.
I also think it's quite a stretch to equate Oakensoul to Oakfather. Just because they both have Oak in the name doesn't really mean anything.
The other issue is just handing out random buffs to people in a competitive environment. Monsters don't object when it happens in PvE but other human players do - and for good enough reason.
Whatever someone's reason for using Oakensoul, it should not enable basically developer mode where you just console command yourself every buff in the game. We sort of had that already when Oakensoul launched and it was completely bonkers how broken it was. I remember getting zerged-down by like 60 AD in Ravenwatch spamming multiple Meteors per second on me because everyone had 100% Major Heroism uptime. We also had DKs out there with 100% Corrosive uptime immortality (which, in turn, got that skill nerfed into Oblivion for everyone else).
It’s not a stretch at all, it’s literally in the 5 piece description! The more buffs a player has the harder the set hits! It’s not just the name it’s the legit set mechanics. If you read it’s pretty clear.
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/667833/oakfathers-retribution-amazing-crap-ok#:~:text=they have active.-,Gain 20 Weapon and Spell Damage against enemies for each,some opinions on Oakfather's Retribution.
Your experiences aren’t reflective of Oakensoul as a whole, in fact, Oakensoul doesn’t even provide Major Heroism.
Nobody said anything about giving players developer mode or every buff in the game; we’re talking about fact based balancing. Now players have the access to slot the most relevant buffs through passives or abilities with multiple benefits. Oakensoul doesn’t do that. Because of that Oakensoul users have to sacrifice either damage output or durability.
Prior to subclassing Oakensoul was fine but it isn’t anymore. Subclassing changed a lot.
The reason that Oakensoul does not have Major Heroism anymore is because it was wildly overpowered and was nerfed down to Minor Heroism. Precisely BECAUSE handing out these ultra-rare Major buffs for basically free was overpowered. It did not matter that you lost access to a back-bar because having permanent uptime on something as powerful as Major Heroism was way more than worth it. The exact same thing would be true for Major Berserk and Major Courage, etc. Those buffs are rare for a reason.4 -
Solariken✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭YandereGirlfriend wrote: »I love Oakensoul for the roleplay... Because going into battle with 1 weapon is much more realistic than spazz-swapping 2 weapons every few seconds.
The enormous combat disadvantage of using Oakensoul is backwards. It needs to grant a significant power opportunity to make it competitive and offset the losses.
There are lots of ways to go about it. One idea:
Nerf Empower from 70% to 20%, then add Major Berserk, Major Courage, and Minor Resolve.
Huh?! At that point you have basically every named buff in the entire game. That is worth way more than a back-bar slot.
What even is the "problem" that is being solved here? Oakensoul players can already do basically anything.
It doesn't sound like you've actually used Oakensoul.
Yes you lose back bar slots, but you also lose a ton of raw power. If you go Bow or Lightning Staff for example, you completely lose the ability to turtle on an Ice or SnB back bar, meaning you take a lot more damage overall. And vice versa, if you go Ice or SnB, you lose a lot of damage.
As it currently exists, Oak just gives you a handful of buffs that most 2-bar builds already have. Meaning you are making a big sacrifice without much reward at all.Edited by Solariken on August 27, 2025 11:16PM6 -
NxJoeyD✭✭✭YandereGirlfriend wrote: »YandereGirlfriend wrote: »YandereGirlfriend wrote: »I love Oakensoul for the roleplay... Because going into battle with 1 weapon is much more realistic than spazz-swapping 2 weapons every few seconds.
The enormous combat disadvantage of using Oakensoul is backwards. It needs to grant a significant power opportunity to make it competitive and offset the losses.
There are lots of ways to go about it. One idea:
Nerf Empower from 70% to 20%, then add Major Berserk, Major Courage, and Minor Resolve.
Huh?! At that point you have basically every named buff in the entire game. That is worth way more than a back-bar slot.
What even is the "problem" that is being solved here? Oakensoul players can already do basically anything.
I don’t know where you’re getting that from.
Not only is Oakensoul intended to be broad use (non class specific), we can tell it was intended for PvP with the onset of the Oakenfathers set. It was put into the game as a direct counter to Oakensoul. So no, I’m not reading more into it.
As for what’s wrong with Oakensoul now; it’s not PvE, Oakensoul is fine in PvE, the problem is PvP.
Currently PvP is crit meta and Oakensoul users don’t have the build flexibility to compete with that; especially with subclassing. Yes Oakensoul gives buffs but it ONLY gives you buffs. Slotting abilities or skill line passives provide these buffs PLUS other benefits.
This wasn’t a big deal before subclassing because classes were limited to what they could slot based on their class. But now, with subclassing; classes have overlaps in PvP that Oakensoul users can’t match due to the lack of a back bar.
So the only way to fix that would be to adjust the benefits Oakensoul gives while in PvP. Hence, adjustments to the buffs only when Battle Spirit is active.
Still not seeing the issue.
I also think it's quite a stretch to equate Oakensoul to Oakfather. Just because they both have Oak in the name doesn't really mean anything.
The other issue is just handing out random buffs to people in a competitive environment. Monsters don't object when it happens in PvE but other human players do - and for good enough reason.
Whatever someone's reason for using Oakensoul, it should not enable basically developer mode where you just console command yourself every buff in the game. We sort of had that already when Oakensoul launched and it was completely bonkers how broken it was. I remember getting zerged-down by like 60 AD in Ravenwatch spamming multiple Meteors per second on me because everyone had 100% Major Heroism uptime. We also had DKs out there with 100% Corrosive uptime immortality (which, in turn, got that skill nerfed into Oblivion for everyone else).
It’s not a stretch at all, it’s literally in the 5 piece description! The more buffs a player has the harder the set hits! It’s not just the name it’s the legit set mechanics. If you read it’s pretty clear.
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/667833/oakfathers-retribution-amazing-crap-ok#:~:text=they have active.-,Gain 20 Weapon and Spell Damage against enemies for each,some opinions on Oakfather's Retribution.
Your experiences aren’t reflective of Oakensoul as a whole, in fact, Oakensoul doesn’t even provide Major Heroism.
Nobody said anything about giving players developer mode or every buff in the game; we’re talking about fact based balancing. Now players have the access to slot the most relevant buffs through passives or abilities with multiple benefits. Oakensoul doesn’t do that. Because of that Oakensoul users have to sacrifice either damage output or durability.
Prior to subclassing Oakensoul was fine but it isn’t anymore. Subclassing changed a lot.
The reason that Oakensoul does not have Major Heroism anymore is because it was wildly overpowered and was nerfed down to Minor Heroism. Precisely BECAUSE handing out these ultra-rare Major buffs for basically free was overpowered. It did not matter that you lost access to a back-bar because having permanent uptime on something as powerful as Major Heroism was way more than worth it. The exact same thing would be true for Major Berserk and Major Courage, etc. Those buffs are rare for a reason.
Nobody said that Oak needs to get Major Heroism back or that it should provide every buff in the game.
Go back and re read. What I said was that when Battle Spirit is active the PvE oriented buffs should be replaced with ones that are more PvP relevant; I specifically mentioned buffs that would focus on health or durability; I said NOTHING about increasing damage output; I don’t believe that’s the issue.
The current metas are crit based and where Oak falls flat is in the durability department.
If a two bar build and an Oak build are relatively equal in the buff department, which I would “generally” agree with, then Oak is still at a disadvantage because they don’t have the utility resource the 2 bar user has.
Yes Oak will give you the buff passively but it won’t provide a heal or a damage reduction or damage like a slottable source of the buff will.
This only became a problem after subclassing where builds now had access to mechanics they didn’t have access to before OR had to run a full 5 piece gear set to get.
The opportunity cost access to buffs and attributes was lowered by subclassing which benefits two bars significantly.2 -
NxJoeyD✭✭✭YandereGirlfriend wrote: »I love Oakensoul for the roleplay... Because going into battle with 1 weapon is much more realistic than spazz-swapping 2 weapons every few seconds.
The enormous combat disadvantage of using Oakensoul is backwards. It needs to grant a significant power opportunity to make it competitive and offset the losses.
There are lots of ways to go about it. One idea:
Nerf Empower from 70% to 20%, then add Major Berserk, Major Courage, and Minor Resolve.
Huh?! At that point you have basically every named buff in the entire game. That is worth way more than a back-bar slot.
What even is the "problem" that is being solved here? Oakensoul players can already do basically anything.
It doesn't sound like you've actually used Oakensoul.
Yes you lose back bar slots, but you also lose a ton of raw power. If you go Bow or Lightning Staff for example, you completely lose the ability to turtle on an Ice or SnB back bar, meaning you take a lot more damage overall. And vice versa, if you go Ice or SnB, you lose a lot of damage.
As it currently exists, Oak just gives you a handful of buffs that most 2-bar builds already have. Meaning you are making a big sacrifice without much reward at all.
I’ve used Oakensoul quite a lot actually and I would disagree that you lose a lot of power. Power is the one thing Oak actually brings to the table. Major Sav, Major Proph, Major Sorc, & Major Brut are 4 of the top buffs in PvP for power. Oak also gives Minor Courage further increasing power which isn’t readily available unless you’re an Arc or are going to slot a full 5 piece just for that buff which nobody really does so that’s generally an extra damage outlier that Oak users have.
When it comes to power it’s relatively easy to build into damage with Oak, the problem is durability.
Subclassing raised the power creep bar in PvP so the amount of utility needed is higher now. An Oak user now needs more persistent self healing and mitigation with all the extra crit which eats more into the one bar they have.
Oak offers nothing for Crit resistance so swapping Slayer, Aegis, or Empower for some element of C. resist would balance out.0 -
SkaiFaith✭✭✭✭✭
✭I could be wrong but Oakensoul builds now see pure Sorcerer or Sorc + Assassination being way ahead of others, right?
I've seen parses of around 110K on those builds but I don't think that's realistically what the average Oakensoul player achieves, and that's where people's opinion differ.
Giving Major Berserk and Major Courage to an already 110K parse would take it really high. However, my build reaches 55-60K on Trial dummy, which I think is more like the average Oakensoul player, not the min/maxer.
On builds such as mine, adding Major Berserk and Major Courage would make a lovely difference without making us OP, really.
The ideal solution I guess would be "balancing" - how? It's beyond my knowledge.
Edit: at Oakensoul's launch my build used to hit 70-75K so over time it definitely took a hit.Edited by SkaiFaith on August 31, 2025 9:02AMA: "We, as humans, should respect and take care of each other like in a Co-op, not a PvP 🌸"
B: "Many words. Words bad. Won't read. ⚔️"2