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Conservation of Energy / Inhale are breaking PvP sustain balance - here's a targeted fix
KingLogix
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First, I am a dk main. -KingLogix
The core issue:
Conservation of Energy (Sorcerer, also feeding Werewolf via cross-cut) and Inhale (Dk ability) give effectively infinite sustain with no investment cost. In a game built around resource management as a core skill-expression mechanic, especially with no ability cooldowns, this breaks the fundamental tradeoff every other class has to make.
Why this matters more than it looks:
Every other class has to choose between:
Running sustain sets/mundus/glyphs or running pure damage setups and managing resources actively
Sorcs and DKs with these tools don't have to make that choice. They get to run full damage mundus, full damage glyphs, and full damage sets while having sustain that classes who spec into sustain don't even match. That's not a minor edge. Their damage ceiling is higher because the opportunity cost other classes pay just doesn't apply to them.
The result in Cyrodiil:
skewed class composition toward DK/WW/Sorc in high-end premades and solo bombers, and a sustain/damage gap that no amount of "just play around it" advice fixes, because it's not a skill gap, it's a tools gap.
Why "give everyone the same tools" is the wrong fix:
If every class gets a no-cost infinite sustain button, sustain stops being a mechanic at all. That guts an entire axis of build diversity and skill expression (sustain vs. damage tradeoffs, rotation efficiency, resource-starved skirmishes). The fix isn't parity through addition, it's correcting the two outliers.
Suggested direction:
Revisit how Conservation of Energy and Inhale work.
Alternatively, tie their sustain return to a tradeoff already present elsewhere in the game (reduced healing received, a damage taken window, etc.) so the "infinite sustain" isn't also free.
The core issue:
Conservation of Energy (Sorcerer, also feeding Werewolf via cross-cut) and Inhale (Dk ability) give effectively infinite sustain with no investment cost. In a game built around resource management as a core skill-expression mechanic, especially with no ability cooldowns, this breaks the fundamental tradeoff every other class has to make.
Why this matters more than it looks:
Every other class has to choose between:
Running sustain sets/mundus/glyphs or running pure damage setups and managing resources actively
Sorcs and DKs with these tools don't have to make that choice. They get to run full damage mundus, full damage glyphs, and full damage sets while having sustain that classes who spec into sustain don't even match. That's not a minor edge. Their damage ceiling is higher because the opportunity cost other classes pay just doesn't apply to them.
The result in Cyrodiil:
skewed class composition toward DK/WW/Sorc in high-end premades and solo bombers, and a sustain/damage gap that no amount of "just play around it" advice fixes, because it's not a skill gap, it's a tools gap.
Why "give everyone the same tools" is the wrong fix:
If every class gets a no-cost infinite sustain button, sustain stops being a mechanic at all. That guts an entire axis of build diversity and skill expression (sustain vs. damage tradeoffs, rotation efficiency, resource-starved skirmishes). The fix isn't parity through addition, it's correcting the two outliers.
Suggested direction:
Revisit how Conservation of Energy and Inhale work.
Alternatively, tie their sustain return to a tradeoff already present elsewhere in the game (reduced healing received, a damage taken window, etc.) so the "infinite sustain" isn't also free.
1
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KingLogix✭✭✭Update (post-PTS notes this morning):
The healing reduction on Flame Lash doesn't address the core problem, that's tuning a symptom, not the cause. Inhale itself remains the issue. healing numbers on a different skill don't touch the sustain-without-cost mechanic that's driving DK's ceiling.
Similarly, the incremental resource cost increase to Werewolf doesn't come close to offsetting what Conservation of Energy provides. The sustain surplus is large enough that a minor cost bump is a rounding error against it , WW still inherits the same "no real tradeoff" problem via cross-cuts from sorc class mastery.
! The meta hierarchy is unchanged - DK > WW > Dot Sorc. because neither change touched the actual mechanism (Inhale's sustain scalinf, Conservation of Energy's return rate). These need direct adjustment, not compensatory nerfs elsewhere.0 -
KingLogix✭✭✭Update (post-PTS notes this morning):
The healing reduction on Flame Lash doesn't address the core problem, that's tuning a symptom, not the cause. Inhale itself remains the issue. healing numbers on a different skill don't touch the sustain-without-cost mechanic that's driving DK's ceiling.
Similarly, the incremental resource cost increase to Werewolf doesn't come close to offsetting what Conservation of Energy provides. The sustain surplus is large enough that a minor cost bump is a rounding error against it , WW still inherits the same "no real tradeoff" problem via cross-cuts from sorc class mastery.
! The meta hierarchy is unchanged - DK > WW > Dot Sorc. because neither change touched the actual mechanism (Inhale's sustain scalinf, Conservation of Energy's return rate). These need direct adjustment, not compensatory nerfs elsewhere.
My thoughts stands for DK/Sorc, we will have to monitor WW closely..0 -
aLi3nZ✭✭✭✭Please don’t be calling to nerf conservation of energy.
I think ww should get seperate class masteries though. Not related to base class. Related to ww specifically.
As for dk, remove the heal from heart of flame, remove the damage mitigation from corrosive armour, remove ranged damage mitigation from wings, remove the heal entirely from all forms of flame lash.
Problem should be solved for dk being op.
As for sorc - can we just leave it? Going two damage sets still requires strong investment into defence. Many are putting all attributes into health then sheild stacking with calculated defence. Personally I am using 2 damage sets but using esoteric greeves. But I can’t win against a good ww due to esoteric greeves not mitigating dots and the dogs stacking multiple attacks per second. Also struggle vs dk due to dots and aoe damage not mitigated by greeves. That and the fact wings mitigate 50% of ranged damage so good luck.Edited by aLi3nZ on August 9, 2026 2:37PM0 -
Firstmep✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭Please don’t be calling to nerf conservation of energy.
I think ww should get seperate class masteries though. Not related to base class. Related to ww specifically.
As for dk, remove the heal from heart of flame, remove the damage mitigation from corrosive armour, remove ranged damage mitigation from wings, remove the heal entirely from all forms of flame lash.
Problem should be solved for dk being op.
As for sorc - can we just leave it? Going two damage sets still requires strong investment into defence. Many are putting all attributes into health then sheild stacking with calculated defence. Personally I am using 2 damage sets but using esoteric greeves. But I can’t win against a good ww due to esoteric greeves not mitigating dots and the dogs stacking multiple attacks per second. Also struggle vs dk due to dots and aoe damage not mitigated by greeves. That and the fact wings mitigate 50% of ranged damage so good luck.
My stamsorc is running armor pots with 600 recovery on my stat sheet, no sustain set of any kind and I have try to run out of resources. Also conservation is by far my highest total healing.
It is too strong. I've seen people complain that sorcs offensive kit is not that amazing, I would love those people to play Templar for a day and claim that again, or even arca or warden.0 -
Firstmep✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭I also want to add that I aggree with the OP that sustain is supposed to be a core pillar of ESO's gameplay, im not saying we should have to heavy attack weave between every skill or suffer like we did during Morrowind, but Heart of Flame and Conservation of energy are too much. We already had easy infinite sustain metas before, and it was absolutely terrible and was eventually nerfed, for a good reason.1 -
Zallion✭✭✭✭Please don’t be calling to nerf conservation of energy.
I think ww should get seperate class masteries though. Not related to base class. Related to ww specifically.
As for dk, remove the heal from heart of flame, remove the damage mitigation from corrosive armour, remove ranged damage mitigation from wings, remove the heal entirely from all forms of flame lash.
Problem should be solved for dk being op.
As for sorc - can we just leave it? Going two damage sets still requires strong investment into defence. Many are putting all attributes into health then sheild stacking with calculated defence. Personally I am using 2 damage sets but using esoteric greeves. But I can’t win against a good ww due to esoteric greeves not mitigating dots and the dogs stacking multiple attacks per second. Also struggle vs dk due to dots and aoe damage not mitigated by greeves. That and the fact wings mitigate 50% of ranged damage so good luck.
My stamsorc is running armor pots with 600 recovery on my stat sheet, no sustain set of any kind and I have try to run out of resources. Also conservation is by far my highest total healing.
It is too strong. I've seen people complain that sorcs offensive kit is not that amazing, I would love those people to play Templar for a day and claim that again, or even arca or warden.
Playing anything but dk and sorc is just painful. Just to see exactly how it worked with CoE on sorc I dusted mine off and.. yeah. Zero investment into sustain necessary, and that’s not including having dark deal in the kit too. I consider myself pretty mid on the sorc, and rusty at that, and I was consistently removing hairlines and had zero sustain issues. Other classes really have to put in a lot to get even remotely similar sustain, and then there’s the healing.
Honestly, halve it.0