Scalebreaker Patch Breakdown: What's changing and how!

Fexelea · August 2019

Cas put together a rather comprehensive take on the finalized changes to the game, that are really quite extensive.

There's a written version: ESO Scalebreaker Changes Explained

And there's a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65MrX6gVWhc

Here's the TL;DR

While there are a ton of Skill changes with the Scalebreaker Update, I think after you look through ALL of them (and there are a lot), you will realize that the general gameplay of ESO remains mostly the same. There were numerous cost and damage tweaks, but out of all the skill changes it was a small percentage that were drastically effected.

However, probably the most notable role affected here is the healer. Healing Springs has been changed, and healers will not be able to rely on it as their go to. Mutagen will need to be cast twice as often, which will further tax healer resources, making Magicka Recovery more important than ever. And, Necrotic Orb is now a one out at a time deal, meaning they won’t be able to spam them. This should translate to more meaningful and skilled gameplay for this role, which frankly I for one am happy about. Healing is easy, and has traditionally been more about the gear you are wearing, than mastering any sort of rotation. This should change significantly with this Update.

Lastly, I do think many meta Builds will shift after this Update, and probably more so than in recent Updates. Many morphs have more meaningful options, making it tough to decide just which you’ll want to use, particularly when it comes to Weapon Skills. I look forward to seeing what people come up with, and if anything it should at least create some change in a game that tends to hold the meta for a good amount of time.

Thoughts, everyone?

cheifsoap · August 2019

Their analysis is contrary to pretty much everything the healing community is talking about. Less regen, more spell crit; less skill, more idle time.

Edit: I meant spell crit > power.

Fexelea · August 2019

@cheifsoap We do these for all the patches, and generally the gut reaction is not what sticks around. Remember last year when they nerfed regen and everyone claimed DPS was done for? Or before that when people buried their templars? We went against the grain back then too and honestly I stand by the impressions I had then as well

ZOS_Ragnar · August 2019

We have removed multiple posts from this thread that were not constructive and only served to cause disruption.

RodneyRegis · August 2019

Yes, imagine my surprise that the game is still playable, again.

Odovacar · August 2019

@Fexelea thanks for the insight! I'm looking forward to the drop on consoles soon!

Shantu · August 2019

I got as far in the video as the Sorcerer before I decided I'd heard enough. Some people just like to make videos.

therift · August 2019

I'm responsible for at least 100,000 hits of the Fextra ESO wiki.

A thousand thanks!

Saril_Durzam · August 2019

Magblades are totally OPs in PvP after this patch, congrats to a class that deserved some care!

Ratzkifal · August 2019

"Mages guild only saw one significant change which was to Entropy" - meanwhile Scalding Rune is being used as a spammable on live...
Not even (verbally) mentioning the Power Surge morph which has huge implications either. It's now a useless morph for DDs as it only provides Major sorcery as the healing effect only procs on critical heals and can never proc on pet heals (because it couldn't heal on pet damage before either). Critical Surge maintains the old healing effect but still doesn't provide major sorcery. This change is huge, especially in PvP where Sorcs' survivability has been hit threefold (pet nerf, shield nerf, heal nerf) and you sometimes drink immovability or detection potions rather than Sorcery potions.

This video is a nice start but doesn't feel complete yet.

Fexelea · August 2019

I think the full impact of the changes will take some time to play out - like most things do as people find new ways to play around with things. I was quite surprised initially at the extent of the changes, but it seems in application it might not be the apocalypse that the initial panic suggested.

We'll probably keep updating the article as things progress - so any and all feedback appreciated

Also thank you @therift - I spend way too much time off-game trying to edit things in haha, glad to know it helps! And @Odovacar since I main PS4 as well I'm also looking forward to this hitting consoles particularly for the undaunted pledge changes as I have 85 keys spent trying to get light zaan shoulders and it just has not happened lol

anathemort · August 2019

Pulled up my healer, queued for a random vet as I do every day, and ended up in Fang Lair. I found it to be easier than ever, spending more time on my destro bar and less time on my healing bar. With 9+ second healing springs and regen morphed to radiating (it can hit 3 people at once), plus slightly stronger heals off cleansing ritual, I found the healing aspect of the dungeon to be fairly boring. I've got 4500 hps on 2-3 people at a time. Now I'm working on how to introduce moar buffs and deeps for all that time I spend waiting for HoTs to clear.

Thanks for the breakdown, but so far, I don't agree that healing is any better. Hopefully more varied experiences with the changes will prove me wrong.

FYI
Front bar: Ritual of Rebirth, Illustrious Healing, Extended Ritual, Combat Prayer, Radiating Regeneration
Back bar: Elemental Drain, Energy Orb, Jabby jabs, Luminous Shards, Elemental Blockade
Gear: SPC, Jorvuld's, Nightflame

Also swapped out purifying light in favor of degeneration on my magicka PvE Templar and have seen no change in dps, with an increase in already sufficient sustain. Works for me.

Fexelea · August 2019

To me, "better" healing means the healer has time to do other stuff like buff group or participate in DPS. I've been in groups that dropped the healer in the last boss to get HM (this was some patches ago, with all the nerfs to the dungeons recently I don't think it's an issue anymore), so I think having a bit more time to DPS as a healer is nice.

Of course this is a personal opinion. I liked Rift's healing system where you healed the group with your DPS, and some people hate that, so it's all relative.

Heyodude · August 2019

this patch is lazy garbage, as a mag dd it really wont matter what skills you put where as long as you can press them all within a 12 second time frame, its wholly uninspired, and creatively bankrupt.