Were You Unhappy With Damage And Healing In ESO's PTS Testing? They'll Be Changes In The Next Test Because Many Were

Bethesda’s been giving The Elder Scrolls Online’s Update 35 a test run on the game’s PTS testing out recent changes to some of the game’s combat mechanics. During this test period, players have provided quite a bit of feedback, resulting in some additional changes – or even rollbacks. The good news is that it’s not everything that’s being adjusted, but rather three very specific areas that prompted the most commentary from players. These are primarily related to Damage and Healing over Time effects.

The first item being addressed is how delayed tick rates in ticking Area of Effect-based abilities affect reactive gameplay. The delay causes the abilities to feel less reactive and put a bit of a drag on mobility as well. The second item to receive attention will be the extended duration of AoE-based abilities. According to players, this is hurting their effectiveness due to the power having to be stretched out over a longer period and risking targets getting away before dying. Finally, they’ll be working to maintain the game’s focus on choice.

In the upcoming patch, the devs are adjusting the ticking AoE abilities so that only abilities that stick to a target will continue to stay up longer while those that are not will have shorter durations. The sticky abilities will take longer to deal damage at an increased rate per cast, but less per second than what’s currently on the servers. The abilities bound to specific areas will have shorter durations that more closely match what’s on the live servers.

Once the changes are live on the servers, the developers will continue to monitor things and see how everything goes. Some additional changes are already planned for the Sorcerer and Warden based on player feedback.