It’s beginning to become more and more clear that every single class outside of Nightblades has lost a huge piece of what made them special. No, this time a nerf Nightblades thread. So the vast majority of you can calm down. This is a thread asking the devs if the rest of the classes can have their “something special” returned to them.
Now look. I understand the counter argument is, “Champ, what are you talking about? Sorcs still can shield stack, and Templars can still spam heals like no tomorrow.” Yes, but not really. To those making that claim, you are correct. But you are also incorrect. A lot of the things about what made Templars special, are gone; or given to another class. A lot of what made Sorcs special were removed. A lot of what made DKs special was removed. And it’s like... Only Nightblades appear to still have that unique “thing” about them, that the devs absolutely refused to touch. Why? Because the vast majority of the player base mains then, understandably enough. And to go on and remove something that the majority of your consumers likes is like shooting yourself in the foot. Yes. I get it. But, why can’t everyone else still be unique and not so watered down?
Like... I look back at when VR14 was cap, and before Imperial City went live. That to me was when I can say there was true balance and class identity. No 2 classes felt or even played remotely similar. People can call those days chaotic and a mess all they want, but each and every class felt special and had their own unique gimmicks that made them stand out from the each other. And it’s like patch after patch, a big chunk from every class bar Nightblades gets ripped away. And I don’t understand why.
DK’s back then were known for incredible sustain, and even known for being the true front-line brawlers. The folks who got up in the mix, be it magicka or stamina. And could truly hold their ground when going toe-to-toe with people. Magicka or stamina. And while generating stamina while blocking was indeed a bit much, it still gave the class the identity of “the tank”. The class that is hard and grounded like stone.
Sorcerers back then were high-speed mages, that cast wards and put out high damage. But if caught with their shields down, and or pressured enough crumbled. They were the “masters of the arcane”, and were capable of high-speed combat and incredibly high burst damage. Yes being able to Bolt Escape without penalty, and having long durations on their shields were annoying within PvP environments. But, they still swiftly dealt with if tackled by people with strategy.
Templars. The people who would literally spear you to death, and or beam you from a block away. They were not to be screwed with or F’d with without extremely caution. They were the clerics that could kill, and demanded respect wherever you encountered them. Yes, them being able to heal for days was a bit crazy. And being able to beam you from miles away was definitely frustrating. But still. It too could have been managed without too much hassle, if proper care was taken when engaging in combat with them.
And Nightblades. The stealthy assassins who’d insta-gib you from seemingly out of nowhere. The class that made you become paranoid about straying too far from your group, if in PvP. And made you become weary of being solo in Cyrodiil. No pun intended, but they truly put fear into players from their swift and sneaky tactics. Yes the old version of cloak was incredibly annoying, as well as the other tools at their disposal. But, Nightblades back then had the cost of being incredibly fragile. Making the class extremely difficult to master be it magicka or stamina, and ultimately have to pick very wisely about which skills they were going to use.
Do you understand what I’m trying to get at it? Only Nightblades for the most part truly retained their sense of self identity. Where as patch after patch, every single class is losing what it is that makes them special. Their losing their shine. And I’m not asking for nerfs to any class, nor buffs to anyone. But can you all at ZOS PLEASE return the unique characteristics that you took away from every class? Please? It’s not even a matter about adjusting at this point, as things are becoming to the point where every class plays exactly the same as 1 another. And that’s bad. I mean, even in PvE it got so bad that a few patches ago Burning Spellweave was best-in-slot for every magicka-based class across the board. What in the hell, ZOS? Come on now. That’s not right. And while diversity is slowly returning, it seems like the damage is already done. And things are beginning to fall apart and break.
People can say how unbalanced and screwed up ESO was prior to the Imperial City update, but at least every single class was truly different in every single way. And they all had something which made them extremely annoying and or borderline overpowered. And that was what made each 1 of them special, and made those times in the past so memorable. Because through the imbalance and diversity, there was identity. And from those extreme differences of identity came balance. And from balance came happiness.
