Update 49 PTS – Week 1 Summary

BetweenMidgets · January 16

I'd be interested in Sleek Creek house in Reaper's March being assessed for increasing it's furnishing limit. There are some single rooms with more allowed furnishings than this house with a building and outside area.

Aliyavana · January 16

ZOS's communication has been amazing. Thank you all for keeping us up to date.

Arthtur · January 16

This looks good. Keep up with that level of communication.

Sad to see nothing about martial damage type for DK but i guess we rly are a minority.

Turtle_Bot · January 17

Just want to add my thanks and kudos for the communication recently.

I want to share @React and @CameraBeardThePirate s feedback regarding the class reworks and heal stacking adjustments:
Class Reworks
Doing each class 1 by 1 will be tough as the classes yet to be reworked will feel more and more behind as more classes are reworked and I hope the team will see the reworks through to the end even if some of the reworked abilities are too strong when compared to non-reworked classes.

Heal stacking adjustments
I also want to re-iterate that while the original proposed solution was far from ideal, there were at least some ideas worth testing for a single patch with some smaller adjustments (making it trigger off 5 or 6 sticky HoTs instead of 3 and ideally only trigger off actual sticky HoTs (regen, vigor, or similar), not just abilities that happen to have sticky HoT components as secondary/tertiary bonuses) to then iterate upon while a longer term solution is developed. Stacking mechanics in general have gotten too egregious to be left alone with nothing done while ZOS tries to find a "perfect" solution (healing is just the start of it but damage shields (scribing shields especially) and PvE group/raid sets are another very big detail that should not be ignored).

I'll also give a helpful tip here, there will never be a "perfect" solution for the loudest minority that have been against attempting these changes, because those people will always rally to an extreme degree to save their "free wins" in the game and as such their goal posts of the "perfect" solution will always just be constantly moved every single time a solution is put forward.

I really hope the team continues to test different options and iterate and adjust them based on the reasonable/constructive feedback.

I do agree with the point that the ideal solution to this issue would be to limit stacking of defensive mechanics to a single instance (heals, shields, buffs, etc.) per person (and if it's not too impacting on performance adding in a way to ensure the highest value remains and is refreshed for each new cast) as I have seen in other games what happens to servers when defensive options are allowed to stack infinitely (it's not pretty for servers as even some of the best servers will simply just crash and permanently end (delete) the entire instance containing whatever interaction caused the crash).

In saying this, I do wish to also re-iterate the concerns raised by @Decimus that ideally for further improvements to the reworked classes that it's the weaker abilities/passives that get looked into buffing/adjusting. Hopefully the team can provide some insight into what they'll be looking into for the week 4 adjustments so we can continue to provide useful feedback for you guys while we wait for those adjustments to come through.

I also wish to bring some additional attention to @Estin s feedback where the faster/higher APM playstyle of whip feels as though the reward doesn't match the effort compared to the slower/lower APM playstyle that the new channeled fiery breath has but also that this pain point is exclusive to PvE as such their solution of a unique bonus to damage done against monsters per stack is a nice targeted solution that with appropriate values should help close this gap slightly with no impact on PvP where DK is already looking to be on par with (or at least very close to) the current sub-classed meta builds.

Once again, keep up the good work, the communication of late has been exactly what we've been asking for and alongside these weekly recaps during the PTS cycle have been awesome and really got me excited to actually contribute again on the forums and PTS.

ZhuJiuyin · January 17

Thank you to the official team for their communication and transparency during this PTS.

Most of the changes to DK are great, but I want to talk about the new pure DK's strength in PvE.

The new DK currently lacks penetration and critical damage in all its abilities, so without dedicated support in the raid, it will be difficult for a pure DK to maximize penetration and critical damage. While, conversely, DK currently have the most unnamed global damage buffs of any class, including Take Flight, World in Ruin, Earthspike Mantle, and Avalanche,etc. To avoid the situation in the early days of U46 where Arc + Necromancer made Fatecarver overpowered, the DK's unnamed global damage buffs should be limited beforehand, especially since Draconic Power includes both World in Ruin (providing a 7% area damage increase) and Take Flight (a 20% damage buff against monsters).

It's entirely predictable how much of a boost Fatecarver can gain through World in Ruin and Take Flight, especially when combined with NB's passive... Since everyone's testing is currently focused on pure DK, many have overlooked the potential power inflation of subclass DK. While I'd like to see pure DK improve, I still suggest nerfing World in Ruin, removing the 7% area damage bonus and replacing it with 7% critical damage (slightly lower than the Temple's Piercing Spear) or 2000 penetration (slightly lower than the Necromancer's Dismember), or limiting it to only increasing DK area damage.

Arunei · January 17

@ZOS_JessicaFolsom
In terms of the player cap on Notable still being 24, will there be a chance to see it increased further at some point? Or is the reason it didn't get an increase for U49 the same limitations that are keeping the number of furnishing slots from being increased for them?

Also in regards to making pure Class players on par with Subclassing players, would it be feasible to give every Class a fourth set of passive skills that you only get access to if your character is that Race? Make it have unique buffs or other boosts, it could also help Class identity as well. But I know there are people who Subclass just for a line's passives, so making a general Class passive line might help. I don't know how possible that would be though.

Contraptions · January 17

I would just like to say that the huge increase in communication compared to previous PTS cycles is very noticeable and is highly appreciated. Please keep this up.

On a side note, I actually have some potential thoughts and suggestions on the large scale world events coming in Season 2/3, is PTS forum the right place to post them? It's not technically available for testing yet.

ChaoticWings3 · January 17

I am a console player so unfortunately I can't participate in the PTS but I will say this is really good communication. Please keep this up because it made me come back to the game!

I haven't been this excited to get back to ESO in awhile.

The only thing I will say is maybe give a bit more detail when it comes to describing where you will be trying to improve power for DK. Even something as vague as looking at adjusting x passive or x active skill will be able to give you some more constructive feedback from the player base since we all have an idea as to how those skills should be performing and how they are currently performing in the PTS. Having a bit of information can lead to feedback such as "yeah, that skill feels weird and I don't see that performing in any role." or "No! Please don't touch that ability it was working perfectly. X skill probably could use some love though." The idea is not numbers in this instance, just overall feelings to skills that are being planned to be adjusted.

This allows a little more back and forth with the community rather than week 4 "SURPRISE! Here's the final changes! Hope everything looks good!" and more than half of us get left disappointed. I'm only saying this because I've been here for a couple years and PTS cycles kind of felt like that almost every time. Mostly just putting this out as a suggestion but I honestly think it would be great for everybody.

Wup_sa · January 17

One morph of incinerate should be turned back into flames of oblivion, the skill is a great spammable and the new skill works too similarly with inhale. Maybe give cautherize the new AoE damage since the heal was barely used in pvp and pve.

noneatza · January 17

We-, I-, huh?!
A summary where feedback was taken into account? Well done guys, good job, from the bottom of my heart.

(please please please do address the absolute kick in the teeth that the new "helping hands" is for dk tanks, you can't just wreck the dktank playstyle)

Actually looking forward to next pts cycle now.

MoonPile · January 17

Agree with everyone, thank you for this update!

BetweenMidgets wrote: »

I'd be interested in Sleek Creek house in Reaper's March being assessed for increasing it's furnishing limit. There are some single rooms with more allowed furnishings than this house with a building and outside area.

ME TOO!

I'm very happy it got an upgrade at all (been wanting that for years) and totally understand that house limit upgrades were done as a fair sweep. But spatially-larger houses like Sleek Creek, Bouldertree, Exorcised Coven Cottage, Mournoth, Ald Velothi – and especially Crown-Only 400's like Lucky Cat, Hiddenspring Cottage, Seambloom – would be great with 600, if possible.

Xedillian22 · January 17

The DK animations don't look good, the armor spikes look tiny compared to before, and the skill effects are too extreme. The uppercut and execute skills from the two-handed weapon line also look really cheap; it doesn't fit ESO. What I do really like is the two-handed charge and the DK whip.

I also don't understand why there aren't any poison abilities anymore. Is it for class identity? DKs used to have skills with poison damage, and we had wonderful gameplay and class identity...

(All just my opinion, no hate intended.)

Make ESO great again!

WolfStar07 · January 17

Oh, so the lack of weather support for Buccaneer Bay wasn't intentional? There was some speculation that it was because Hunding's also does not support (at least noticeably) weather changes.

I hope that you guys are at least looking for ways to increase the caps for notables, even if you couldn't implement them now. Otherwise, it would be ideal if you stopped creating essentially towns in this category. It's very disappointing to not really be able to adequately furnish homes of this size.

Ryder45790 · January 17

Not sure if anyone has noticed or if there has been another thread made but I want to bring to the attention of the new limit in update 49 where you cannot port out of imperial city carrying more than 100 tel var. I like the idea of the change but its concerning for the fact that large groups can now trap you from leaving by sitting in front of the sewer exit. There's basically no counter play other than keeping a recall stone on you at all times. Has anyone else noticed this new mech? Maybe off reduced cost recall stones and/or cause the recall stones to reduce your tel var by 20% for balancing? Just a thought..

Ryder45790 · January 17

@ZOS_JessicaFolsom please read my comment above

Radiate77 · January 17

Ryder45790 wrote: »

Not sure if anyone has noticed or if there has been another thread made but I want to bring to the attention of the new limit in update 49 where you cannot port out of imperial city carrying more than 100 tel var. I like the idea of the change but its concerning for the fact that large groups can now trap you from leaving by sitting in front of the sewer exit. There's basically no counter play other than keeping a recall stone on you at all times. Has anyone else noticed this new mech? Maybe off reduced cost recall stones and/or cause the recall stones to reduce your tel var by 20% for balancing? Just a thought..

Before porting out ever became a thing, there would always be battles outside of each faction’s sewer gate. It’s part of the risk.

The counterplay is using Vampire invisibility, using the Shadow subclass, running with a group, or being good at PvP.

MoonPile · January 18

Ryder45790 wrote: »

Not sure if anyone has noticed or if there has been another thread made but I want to bring to the attention of the new limit in update 49 where you cannot port out of imperial city carrying more than 100 tel var. I like the idea of the change but its concerning for the fact that large groups can now trap you from leaving by sitting in front of the sewer exit. There's basically no counter play other than keeping a recall stone on you at all times. Has anyone else noticed this new mech? Maybe off reduced cost recall stones and/or cause the recall stones to reduce your tel var by 20% for balancing? Just a thought..

Oh... I hadn't even noticed that.
For those of us who only go there to complete Fishing or Antiquities, that's awful.

Radiate77 · January 18

MoonPile wrote: »

Ryder45790 wrote: »

Not sure if anyone has noticed or if there has been another thread made but I want to bring to the attention of the new limit in update 49 where you cannot port out of imperial city carrying more than 100 tel var. I like the idea of the change but its concerning for the fact that large groups can now trap you from leaving by sitting in front of the sewer exit. There's basically no counter play other than keeping a recall stone on you at all times. Has anyone else noticed this new mech? Maybe off reduced cost recall stones and/or cause the recall stones to reduce your tel var by 20% for balancing? Just a thought..

Oh... I hadn't even noticed that.
For those of us who only go there to complete Fishing or Antiquities, that's awful.

Just go get killed by a Daedroth, use an escape stone which are quite common if you farm at all down in the Sewers, or use the ladders up high.

Believe it or not, getting out of IC is incredibly easy when you know what district ladders lead where, and conveniently enough for fishing, the doorways to each district all line up with the fishing spots.

Djiku · January 18

I appreciate these summaries. It is good to know what feedback you gathered and what you may have overlooked. Keep them coming with every PTS cycle going forward.

MXVIIDREAM · January 19

This is the start of a full class overhaul, Dragonknight should feel at least somewhat overpowered at this stage. It’s the first class being refreshed. If it launches feeling only “okay” or weak now, it’s going to feel very underpowered long-term once other classes receive their buffs and refreshes

Changing Avalanche to a 3-second gain and decay on stacks would go a long way. The current 50 seconds to fully build stacks just doesn’t work in most PvE scenarios. Any boss immunity phase wipes progress, so you’re often losing stacks right as you build them, only to barely recover them before the next immunity phase. In practice, it feels bad and unrewarding.

I think the biggest issue with Dragonknight right now is the huge cost of its skills, especially when comparable abilities on other classes cost almost half as much and are often more effective. That cost disparity alone makes DK feel inefficient before you even look at numbers.

While the changes sound great on paper, the actual power level of Dragonknight still feels weak. The new heal feels underpowered — even as an AoE, it lacks the raw healing output that other classes can achieve with their primary heals, making it hard to justify given its cost and intended role in the kit. Superheated Ward also feels very weak, which is disappointing. The Power Lash morph of Whip feels bad due to the cooldown, and the healing attached to it feels too low to justify the restriction.

On a positive note, I’m really glad the heart visual is being addressed — that’s genuinely great to see. Improving the spikes also went a long way with the community. If the plate/backpack element could be removed, I think many of us would strongly prefer a return closer to the original spike visuals.

MincMincMinc · January 19

Just saying, this type of thread is CRAZY good for us to see. Before PTS has always felt like screaming into the void with no zos response.

RARELY did we get to see changes within the same pts cycle, usually it takes until week 3 or 4.......where lets be honest, whatever it landed on week 3 or 4 was going to be the live version for the next 1/4 year.

Shadesofkin · January 19

I’m encouraged by the existence of this thread, I appreciate the response to our feedback.

Whizzinglane · January 19

Thank you for both week one succinct summary on the PTS, and the accompanied new mode of communication. This transparency and quick response to our feedback is so encouraging and refreshing!

Please do not forget to forward Spiked Armor and its glowy arrows that are pointed outwardly to the Dev team; as is, Spiked Armor breaks immersion. I provided feedback on another thread on how to improve it.

For Petrify, can the old look remain but improve/refresh instead? Encase in molten rock is vastly superior than just the stun without the encasing part.

I am looking forward to week two on the PTS. Hopefully, the alluded enticement to play and "main" a Pure Class (Dragonknight and others) remains/continues on.

Edit: Capitalized "Pure Class"

Ryder45790 · January 19

Radiate77 wrote: »

Ryder45790 wrote: »

Not sure if anyone has noticed or if there has been another thread made but I want to bring to the attention of the new limit in update 49 where you cannot port out of imperial city carrying more than 100 tel var. I like the idea of the change but its concerning for the fact that large groups can now trap you from leaving by sitting in front of the sewer exit. There's basically no counter play other than keeping a recall stone on you at all times. Has anyone else noticed this new mech? Maybe off reduced cost recall stones and/or cause the recall stones to reduce your tel var by 20% for balancing? Just a thought..

Before porting out ever became a thing, there would always be battles outside of each faction’s sewer gate. It’s part of the risk.

The counterplay is using Vampire invisibility, using the Shadow subclass, running with a group, or being good at PvP.

Not for nothing pal but you’re missing the point, groups aren’t going to do this and I was talking about faction entrances not up top. Most groups like to fight here in the meantime and que for grayhost since que can take a while.The limit will just have people sitting around town making IC even more of ghost town. But maybe that’s what you like since you mention using stealth or “being good”

Tonturri · January 19

Good lord, I have a lot of beef with ZOS but seeing a weekly update going over feedback? I hope a sweetroll magically manifests for the dev and community teams whenever they need it most. This is great to see.

DaisyRay · 3:32PM

I am still hoping you will increase the furnishing storage limit for the housing community. That would be a huge quality of life change for us. That and class change tokens are my biggest wishes for this game in 2026.

tye77732145 · 5:34PM

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Hi everyone! Welcome to our first PTS weekly summary. In this post, you will find a high-level summary of the Update 49 PTS – Week 1 top feedback points and issues. The purpose of these weekly PTS summaries is to give you visibility into the main pieces of feedback and most prominent bugs we are tracking. As mentioned in this post, this summary is not intended to be as comprehensive as our PTS incremental patch notes and as such just a gentle reminder that it will not include everything.

As this is a new initiative, we’ll be looking to evolve and optimize it over time. We’ll consider team bandwidth and look at contents and level of detail on our side. We would love to hear your thoughts, too.

Dragonknight Class Refresh
Dragon Blood [Feedback]: We have seen community feedback about the visual change to this ability, and questions about if the new look is a bug. While it is not a bug, based on community feedback we are assessing possible updates to the visuals to update this ability and its morphs so the heart visual no longer appears above the character’s head. This change will go into effect in a later PTS incremental. (Related post.)

Dragon Wings Visual Effects Misaligned on Multiple Skills [Bug]: The Dragonknight wings visual effect are misaligned on the player character with the Dragon Leap ability and its morphs, and the Wing Buffet ability and its morphs. Dragon Leap and its morphs will be fixed in PTS Week 2 (Related post.) Wing Buffet and its morphs will be fixed in a later PTS incremental.

Earthspike Mantle [Feedback]: Based on community feedback, we have made some visual changes to the originally updated design. These changes are what we were able to do in the short-term, and will be viewable on the PTS in Week 2 (related post). We will continue to monitor feedback – it is possible we could make further adjustments to the Dragonknight’s visuals in the future as needed.

Engulfing Dragonfire [Bug]: Fixing several issues with the Dragonknight Engulfing Dragonfire ability, including (but not limited to) players being able to recast the ability before the prior cast finishes, stacking damage. This will be fixed in PTS Week 2.

General Dragonknight Class Power [Feedback]: Based on player feedback that the Dragonknight class's overall ability strength still feels lower than ideal even after the recent class refresh changes, we are investigating a number of additional improvements. Watch for a full article around PTS Week 4 that details these additional improvements.

Various Dragonknight Visual Effects & Animations Issues [Bug]: We are tracking some additional visual effects and/or animations issues for Dragonknight class abilities including Corrosive Armor, Obsidian Shield, Fragmented Shield, and and Fire Keeper. These will be fixed in PTS Week 2 and a later PTS incremental.

Cyrodiil
Heal-over-Time Changes [Feedback]: After feedback about the originally proposed changes to how Battlespirit modifies Heals-over-Time in Cyrodiil, we are reverting the change in PTS Week 2 (related post.) We are investigating alternate short-term and long-term solutions (related post.) One of the short-term solutions we defined in that second related post link would be possible for us to get in for an upcoming PTS incremental and Update 49. Longer-term solutions are still under discussion.

Player Experience Improvements
Increasing Housing Population Caps [Feedback]: We’ve seen some questions and suggestions about whether housing population caps are also increasing alongside the furnishing cap increase. Based on this suggestion and piece of feedback, we are increasing the housing population caps with Update 49. Now Staple homes will have a population cap of 6 players, Classic homes will have a population cap of 12 players, and all notable homes will remain at a cap of 24 players. (Note: This will effectively increase the population cap to homes that were previously Classic but have since moved into the Notable category.) (Related post.)

Respec Skills & Attributes in the UI for Free [Feedback]: Based on player feedback, we will be restricting the use of the new UI Respec feature in PVE Leaderboard content. Infinite Archive will continue to allow use of the UI Respec feature. This change will go in a later PTS incremental. (Related post.)

Miscellaneous
Buccaneer’s Bay House [Bug]: We are tracking several bugs with the Buccaneer’s Bay house, including (but not limited to) the door being misaligned and prompt text inconsistent with other homes, the house not correctly supporting weather states, the door locks lacking audio cues, and it being difficult to find your way back on land if you fall into the water. Some of these fixes will be in PTS Week 2 and the rest in one of the later PTS incremental patches. (Related thread.)

New Vampire NPC – Shrine Reference in Dialogue [Bug]: Azisa refers to the shrine at her location as a shrine of Molag Bal. This is inconsistent with her other dialogue. We are changing this line of dialogue and shifting the name of the POI and some related quest text. As this requires a new voice-over recording, the change will go in with Update 50. (Related post.)

Transmutation Cap Increase [Bug]: There is an issue where players cannot earn more Transmute Crystals beyond the old cap. This issue will be fixed in the PTS Week 2 incremental. (Related post.)

Vampire & Werewolf Reinfection [Bug]: There is an issue where players who have maxed both Vampire and Werewolf skill lines and cured themselves can become locked out of reinfection. This will be fixed in a later PTS incremental. (Related post.)

Hello Jessica,

This is my first post on this forum, and I rarely take time to write feedback—but after extensive testing on the PTS, I felt it was necessary. I may be new to posting here, but I’m not new to Elder Scrolls Online or specifically the Dragonknight class. My playstyle is aggressive and optimized: I duel frequently, PvP in Cyrodiil, and run solo PvE content, including dungeon speed clears with highly effective builds.

Since the PTS launched, I logged in immediately and have spent days exclusively testing in duels and PvP scenarios. I’ve dueled a wide range of players (including friends and strong opponents) extensively, often for hours at a time. Some of you may have seen me in community videos or clips. Below is my detailed feedback, organized for clarity and from the perspective of an experienced DK player. I understand others may disagree, but the points below reflect real mechanical and functional observations.

Dragon Blood — Feedback:
Dragon Blood is generally well-designed and feels impactful. I appreciate that the healing effect is no longer invisible when triggered, which improves clarity in combat. Initially I expected it to function like the old Heart effect, potentially tied to the burst heal concept, but I understand the intention behind the current design. That said, as fights extend, Dragon Blood can feel expensive to maintain, especially in long PvP engagements. The cost vs. benefit curve could use slight tuning, but overall the ability feels satisfying and aligned with Dragonknight identity.

Dragon Wings — Visual Effects:
The misalignment of the Dragon Wings visual is noticeable and currently distracting. I’m glad this issue is acknowledged and slated for a fix.

Earthspike Mantle — Feedback:
I personally like the more restrained design, but the current visual feedback is too subtle. In the heat of PvP, I often enable Earthspike Mantle and only realize it has dropped after the effect has expired. The current cue, a small spike near the lower back isn’t prominent enough. A stronger visual indicator (larger spikes or an expanded aura) would drastically improve usability. For reference, visual effects similar to Skyrim’s Dragon Aspect (e.g., Miraak’s ethereal dragon energy) provide clear combat feedback and feel thematic. Renaming it Earthspike Aspect with a more noticeable effect could greatly strengthen clarity without sacrificing style. Mechanically the ability works well and I’m pleased with its function.

Engulfing Dragonfire — Feedback
This change has been the most disappointing for me personally. The original, instant burst effect of Engulfing Flames was my most used and favorite PvP ability due to its high impact and satisfying feel. Switching it to a channeled format significantly alters its utility and pacing. I believe a compromise could be effective: maintain the classic, instant burst version with PvP-balanced stats (e.g., analogous to current live Engulfing Flames) and associate Major Breach with that version. Meanwhile, keep the new channeled effect as a PvE-oriented “dragon beam,” which does feel visually powerful and appropriate for PvE scenarios. It also means i wouldnt have to subclass to the typical arcanist beam. Despite this change, I do want to commend the visual design of both Noxious Breath and the new Engulfing Flames they look excellent.

Dragonknight Class Power — General Thoughts:
Overall, the class feels serviceable so far in PvP. Some adjustments clearly aim to accommodate a broader range of players, including more casual ones. While I understand that balance must support a wide skill spectrum, the current feel raises questions about high-level competitiveness. I’m curious to see how balance evolves with further testing and tuning.

Corrosive Armor — Critical Feedback:
This is arguably the most imbalanced aspect I’ve encountered. In my experience, PvP duels have devolved into “who pops Corrosive Armor first wins.” After several days of testing, this ability alone often determines the outcome of engagements regardless of mechanical skill. Once Corrosive Armor is active, its damage-over-time ticks are overwhelming I’ve seen ticks around 19- 24k within 4 seconds, especially on crit-oriented builds. It feels less like a skill comparison and more like an ultimate win condition. Players use Heart and Home for major heroism, Nord race for the ULT. Regen and the bloodspawn monster set to constantly have a huge uptime of corrosive.

Additionally, the visual presentation is problematic. Corrosive Armor currently hides beneath other effects (e.g., Flames of Oblivion, Breath, Igneous Weapons), making it very hard to tell when it’s active. Prior versions of Corrosive had a clear green visual cue that could be recognized and reacted to; the removal of that feedback has reduced counterplay and awareness.
The old version was balanced, Noticeable, survivable, and signaled clearly to opponents. The current implementation, in contrast, feels oppressive and reduces dueling skill expression. Many players lean into it due to its strength, which I understand, but it ultimately reduces engagement depth.

Closing Thoughts
Thank you for your work on the PTS and for listening to community feedback. The Dragonknight class has a unique identity, and many of the changes show promise. I hope this more detailed feedback helps inform tuning decisions moving forward.