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Empower change to 100% is still a nerf for Rakkhat's Voidmantle heavy attack builds
Zeeejay
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Hello,
With Update 50's change to Empower Damage Done to Monsters being changed from multiplicative to additive, it was quickly discovered that this was a massive nerf for heavy attack builds, with the nerf being more impactful the more damage done bonuses were stacked.
After the summary last week indicating Empower would be buffed to 100%, it looks like the "break-even" point with damage done/damage done to monsters bonuses for a u49 heavy attack build to do the same damage as a u50 heavy attack build is ~43% (slightly less).
For reference, with the Oakensoul mythic and build-appropriate champion points, you hit 38%. Coupled with Energized from Storm Calling, which is frequently run by these setups, you hit 41%. So technically a 1-2% buff for those builds where no other damage done sources exist. If there is any other source, it is immediately a nerf.
The bigger issue here is for heavy attack builds that play in groups or using Rakkhat's Voidmantle. For reference, Rakkhat's Voidmantle currently buffs damage done to monsters by 50% with light and heavy attacks. In update 50, this setup will be pretty heavily nerfed, since it alone is over the ~43% threshold. When you account for a properly kitted out build, the damage done is actually about 93% in bonuses - Voidmantle (50) + Minor Berserk (5) + Minor Slayer (5) + Energized (5) + Weapons Expert (20) + Deadly Aim (8). When used in a trial group, there are a few other bonuses that come into play, that goes up another 20% from Major Slayer & Berserk.
With those numbers, Empower would need to be ~150% or higher for those builds just to break even with how they perform in Update 49. However, increasing Empower to 150% also disproportionately buffs builds that do not stack those buffs, so I do not think this is necessarily a suitable solution.
An idea I saw mentioned would be increasing the bonus from Rakkhat to double further against monsters, to 100%, up from 50%. This would help bridge the power gap from update 49 to update 50 after the math adjustment, and allow Oakensoul players to retain their relative power (with a slight buff for most non-trial situations).
I don't believe nerfing Rakkhat's Voidmantle builds was intentional, but if it was, it would be much appreciated to have some communication on the subject. Otherwise, please consider options to balance the power so that Voidmantle users are not left out in the cold with the Empower changes.
With Update 50's change to Empower Damage Done to Monsters being changed from multiplicative to additive, it was quickly discovered that this was a massive nerf for heavy attack builds, with the nerf being more impactful the more damage done bonuses were stacked.
After the summary last week indicating Empower would be buffed to 100%, it looks like the "break-even" point with damage done/damage done to monsters bonuses for a u49 heavy attack build to do the same damage as a u50 heavy attack build is ~43% (slightly less).
For reference, with the Oakensoul mythic and build-appropriate champion points, you hit 38%. Coupled with Energized from Storm Calling, which is frequently run by these setups, you hit 41%. So technically a 1-2% buff for those builds where no other damage done sources exist. If there is any other source, it is immediately a nerf.
The bigger issue here is for heavy attack builds that play in groups or using Rakkhat's Voidmantle. For reference, Rakkhat's Voidmantle currently buffs damage done to monsters by 50% with light and heavy attacks. In update 50, this setup will be pretty heavily nerfed, since it alone is over the ~43% threshold. When you account for a properly kitted out build, the damage done is actually about 93% in bonuses - Voidmantle (50) + Minor Berserk (5) + Minor Slayer (5) + Energized (5) + Weapons Expert (20) + Deadly Aim (8). When used in a trial group, there are a few other bonuses that come into play, that goes up another 20% from Major Slayer & Berserk.
With those numbers, Empower would need to be ~150% or higher for those builds just to break even with how they perform in Update 49. However, increasing Empower to 150% also disproportionately buffs builds that do not stack those buffs, so I do not think this is necessarily a suitable solution.
An idea I saw mentioned would be increasing the bonus from Rakkhat to double further against monsters, to 100%, up from 50%. This would help bridge the power gap from update 49 to update 50 after the math adjustment, and allow Oakensoul players to retain their relative power (with a slight buff for most non-trial situations).
I don't believe nerfing Rakkhat's Voidmantle builds was intentional, but if it was, it would be much appreciated to have some communication on the subject. Otherwise, please consider options to balance the power so that Voidmantle users are not left out in the cold with the Empower changes.
@Zeeejay PC/NA
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YandereGirlfriend✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Rakkhat definitely needs it buff.
While not directly touched by the changes it catches a MASSIVE stray with all of these new additions to its damage bucket.5 -
spartaxoxo✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭I really wish they wouldn't make these kinds of wide sweeping changes just to fix an issue with a spreadsheet without consideration for all the things it impacts. The relative power level of all these builds was actually pretty fine so I don't know why the urgency to fix it without extensive checks on the items that have that bonus.
Anyway, yes, I agree with this post.2 -
Zeeejay✭✭✭I hopped on PTS to do some testing today after the Empower buff.
I used the Daedric/Storm Calling/Assassination build Hyperioxes has on his site here: https://hyperioxes.com/eso/dps/heavy-attack-sorcerer-build
After some tries, highest I could get was ~108k. Wish I saved the parse, but even if you say there’s a 7k (5%) margin of error and DPS difference, that is a 20k (15%!) DPS drop from Update 49 to 50 using the exact same build.
That is absurdly out of band when pure class builds are skyrocketing beyond even subclass levels. It seems like heavy attack builds aren’t even left to their original power level, but are in fact going the opposite direction.
I used a pure class sorcerer build today with Font of Power and Static Reverberation (RIP) and this was the result with the same gear as the subclasses build above. Calculated Defense would be better here, especially with arcane (which was better than bloodthirsty), but I ran out of time to test further.
What I’m trying to communicate here, is that there needs to be some serious buffs for heavy attack builds utilizing Rakkhat’s Voidmantle and multiple % damage done modifiers.
Hopefully this helps communicate the urgency, and hopefully we see something, even if it’s a band-aid fix so that these builds aren’t left in the dust in update 50.@Zeeejay PC/NA3 -
YandereGirlfriend✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Rakkhat still requires some love and it seems to be getting lost in the shuffle with the Empower changes.
While with the PTS4 changes, it appears to span a range from basically treading water at nearly identical damage (in an optimized context) to very minor buff (in a less optimized context), it still has lost enormous relative power vs. Oakensoul and Anthelmir.
Rakkhat literally only does one thing, buff Heavy Attack damage. So if it is NOT the clear best option to achieve that one specific thing then we have reached a MAJOR failure of design for the Mythic.2 -
xStaticx✭✭✭Rakkhat on live roughly buffs Heavy Attacks by 85% with Empower being multiplicative adding to it.
50% buff multiplied by 70% = 85% buff given.
Now with the new calculations, it drops down to a 50% buff.
It is great that Empower was buffed again but Rakkhats doesn't provide enough power increase to be worth losing Magicka restore on heavies. Especially that I usually have to run Mag regen food to compensate so I lose out on full Mag food buffs.
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