Bows are easily the most OP weapon in the entire game.
The power of bows I found varied greatly depending on when you picked them up and how much you put into them. Early on, it felt like bows did very little and had far to little range and there was no point to leading (I was an avid archer in skyrim and oblivion often trying to pick off enemies from distances of like the height of a tower at the shortest distances)... but when you get higher up, a charged up power shot was a nice solid hit and there was a degree of freedom when trying to kite enemies (especially when comined with syphon skills like cripple or agony to help get distance).
I will point out that assassination has a few nifty tricks beyond melee range, like the mark (ignore a chunk of armor and spell resist and get a self heal when you kill the target and usable at even sniping range?) and the passives seem universally beneficial to a damage dealer.
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The sorceror is the only starting build I've seen that can really pull together anything like a minion build. I spotted like maybe 2 other abilities that did some sort of minion-like thing (summon shade from the shadow skill line in nightblade, and maybe some stuff from undaunted and vampire... but it's a stretch on those). As to 'endgame' viability? I'll say the same thing I say whenever the topic comes up in a new medium... It's viable until people prove it isn't.
Until there's an established performance expectation or whatever, viability is simply whether or not it's fun (I'm saying this since I haven't seen anything beyond other people saying "[x] works".... as in no reasoning behind the statement backed by numbers)
Last edited by mickybrighteyes; 2014-02-19 at 06:59 PM.
There are only 2 classes in the game that currently can summon a pet. There is the Sorcerer that can summon 2 Daedra: Unstable Familiar and Winged Twilight. And the Nightblade which can summon a Shade of itself.
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Bows just have ridiculous damage output. Sneak + Snipe = Two shotting anyone in the game.
Yes. A leader of the guild on PvP "Come, my minions, let us siege this castle" I had to.
But the only +2 pets class is Sorcerer.
Are you sure? Tanky DragonKnight disagrees. Also, all we saw was 15-20 levels dudes buffed to 50 lvl (buffed are still much weaker than real 50s) so we will see the real fights of 50lvl vs 50lvl after release and believe me, two shotting won't exist. Fights will be long, duels of tanks will take +1 minute.
anyway, I am experimenting with this http://esohead.com/calculator/skills...4h6zHQ316cHSCW it's gonna be my PvP build and I don't care how good/bad it is :P
Last edited by Slaughty8; 2014-02-19 at 07:05 PM.
don't forget the range... the range on snipe is like 45? So you're doing it from the ramparts at a fort instead of having to get up close and personal.
But yeah, before getting that skill... the bow didn't feel miles ahead of other weapon options (ranged was nice... just not most OP level nice)
Well... that dragon knight has to clear the almost 50 meter distance to start really responding to the sneakattack snipe... which if under the effects of say a 'piercing mark' (bypass 75% armor and spell resist on target)... the main thing they have is that ultimate that makes a hit only do 3% of their total hp as damage? I mean great way to weather a few hits for about.... 15 seconds (noticing the duration boost) but when it ends, that archer could have just stealthed away to another spot to unload on you =/
You may wish to look at vampirism too.
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TBH I'm looking at making a 2h heavy armor nightblade assassing for the overt zerging fights. momentum and ambush strike to really lay into some folks (if all the % boost stack).
Then a DW medium armor 'ambusher' for more covert tasks and coordinated target removal or general boss fights in a pve sense.
Then there's adding in vampirism... SOOOO going after that. (eventually)
Last edited by mickybrighteyes; 2014-02-19 at 07:14 PM.
Yes, even people who are VR 10 are just smacking others around who are in the VR also. I know what I'm talking about.
You people who only got to play in the level 15 betas don't fully understand certain builds yet. What might seem weak in the lower levels are not weak when you hit the VR. DW is strong in the earlier levels but is one of the weaker weapons in the higher end.
Bowplars are one of the strongest play styles in the game right now.
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Well they are a tad bit stronger, but that was not what I was talking about. Bows, at higher levels, are ridiculously strong no matter who you are fighting against.
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Oh, there are certain tank specs that are just ridiculously OP. I know of one with a Dragon Knight where you can basically just stand in 15 enemy players and never be killed because of it's ridiculous amount of self-healing. And the Ultimate recharges so damn quickly that he can almost spam Battle Standard every few seconds just putting out a ton of damage.
So there are still tank builds out there that are incredibly strong and hard to kill, but a really good Archer can kill someone like that fairly easily if they get some really nice crits.
I'm guessing this is due to gear scaling...? I googled VR and ESO and mostly just got that at lvl 50, Veteran Ranks are how you progress and equipment gets to a point where you need to have a certain VR rank to wear it?
I would not expect perfect balance in the beta.
For that too few people are actually allowed to play past lvl 15.
Things like that will probably be ironed out after the first 2-3 months.
I can't really go into it, but VR is just leveling post-50 and each rank unlocks newer gear that is a bit stonger. There isn't a huge difference between gear from VR1 to VR10, but a VR10 person is still "gear-wise" stronger. That doesn't mean that a low leveled person can't kill a VR person easily. I have killed my fair share of VR people but they were tougher to take down for sure.
Here's the most recent info we have on veteran points from the devs
"Veteran Points are similar to XP, and your Veteran Rank goes up as you gain them (like gaining a level). You’ll get Veteran Points for accomplishing certain tasks in the game. Imagine you were told you needed to kill a specific NPC or monster in a dungeon. If you’re level 50, you’ll get Veteran Points for accomplishing that goal. When you get enough Veteran Points, you go up in Veteran Rank. There will be lots of ways to gain VP. You could gain Veteran Points in PvP or in Adventure Zones.
VRs do improve your character’s power by granting stats and the ability to equip better gear, though the increases are smaller than the ones you’ll gain through normal leveling. This will make it easier for you to visit wherever you want in the next alliance you play, and will make it easier when you’re grouping with friends who may not be as advanced as you are.
You’ll continue to gain skill points while increasing your Veteran Ranks, so it’s really a time when you’ll be able to broaden your character’s skills. We’ll release a full write-up for VPs and VRs in the near future."
Regarding the technology progression:
In the end, it comes down to IPs having a certain theme. everytime you advance your setting significantly, you change the feel it gives, as well as the demographic it appeals to, as well as risk estranging your old fanbase. But at the same time, we as a people like changes to happen, things to change, but without the character of the setting changing. Thats why you see things like the forgotten realms or Elder Scrolls or even Science Fiction Settings not really progressing in technology, but in time.
Thats my take on it at least.