ESO Update 35

 A miracle happened on August 22nd: ESO got a major patch, which didn't mess with the Vampire skill line or abilities. As I spend 90% of my playtime in the skin of a Stage 4 Vampire, I was shook. Perplexed, even. 

Everything else did change, though, but for once, Vampires were left alone. I made a little video about how Update 35 made me feel, but I thought I might share a few thoughts here as well. Ramble on for a bit, if you please. 

The biggest thing this patch did was readjust damage from Light and Heavy Attacks while altering the duration of many over time Abilities. In other words, Light Attack Weaving was made obsolete, while Heavy Attack Weaving became popular. This means that most players, especially those who like to do Trials and Veteran Dungeons and PvP, need to learn a new combat style ASAP. Quite a few players are upset about this, which is totally understandable, but if you look at this from a casual gamers point of view, things aren't so different. 

The so-called casual ESO player often concentrates on easier content. They do Quests to enjoy the lore, immerse in Vampirism and Lycanthropy, take in the sceneries in their favoured continents. Encounters with Monsters can be rare, and the dangers met in overland environments easy to defeat. When enjoying the game solo, combat style doesn't really play that big a role; we have time to adjust, time to take it easy. For us, ESO is an escape from reality. As we can easily choose the content we wish to submerge in, the game, despite significant changes, remains largely the same. 

From what I've gathered from Patch Notes, we have been given a way to compensate for the Damage loss from Light Attacks, a way to make Heavy Attacks even more powerful. In the past, Empower caused Light and Heavy Attacks to deal 40% more Damage. After UP35, it allows Fully Charged Heavy Attacks to deal 80% more Damage on Monsters. This, I feel, is very good news to Sorcs: all we need to do is push Mages Guild to max level, get all the Passives, and cast any Mages Guild Ability before entering Combat. This will grant Empower for 10 seconds, which is plenty of time to get rid of an overland mob. Dragonknights should take advantage of Molten Armaments, which grants Major Brutality and Sorcery and Empowerment for 30 seconds. Fully Charged Heavy Attacks can be a bit slower, but Buffs make them worth using. 

Wardens are predicted to become the new Meta Class, and its easy to see why. Though Healing Abilities were made less effective, Screaming Cliffracer and Fetcher Infection from Animal Companions gained a big boost with UP 35. I thought I might explore Animal Sorcs a bit further, but we'll see when that happens. 

All in all, I don't see this patch as an entirely bad thing. I'm actually happy to see Elder Scrolls Online going through constant improvement, even though it sometimes brings the need to faff about with builds and gear. It keeps things interesting, pulls us out from the constant. 

After all, gaming does lose its purpose a bit if it doesn't force you to learn new things. 

Love, 

Heather