ESO is turning the combat system upside down with the new patch – but that worries me

The MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online gets Update 35 in August, which is supposed to bring changes to the combat system. MeinMMO author MiezeMelli is critical of the changes. Because that changes the gaming experience enormously.

Effort should be worth it. In any context, even in a game. This gives ambitious players like me the incentive to play in the first place. I quickly lose interest in simple tasks and get bored. I also started very small in ESO and had no idea about MMOs, DPS and Weaven.

But at some point I wanted to get better, beat the bosses down before they could even lift a finger. And then I sat at the manikin for hours every day to get the numbers up.

It was a lot of fun to see small improvements every day. Competing against stronger players totally spurred me on to keep practicing. I was really challenged and I think it’s absolutely justified that players who are good at weaving are significantly stronger. The high numbers represent a direct reward for me.

What does weave mean? This means “weaving in” or alternating skills and light or heavy attacks. Each ability is followed by a light or heavy hit. This requires precise timing in the rotation in combat and increases the damage dealt significantly.

For me, that’s what makes ESO’s fast combat system stand out, and it’s what sets the MMORPG apart from other representatives of the genre. It doesn’t appeal to me to simply cast a bunch of skills on cooldown one after the other.

I’ve been playing ESO for almost 8 years now, have been on the official stream team since 2020, and one of the biggest incentives to keep playing has always been the prospect of personal improvement. If I can handle the combat system better, then my performance will also increase. But that’s exactly what the new update wants to change.

The latest major update from ESO is High Isle. You can find all information about High Isle in our article and the trailer for the update in the video:

ESO no longer rewards me as I get better

The damage of light and heavy attacks should no longer scale with attributes in the future. Thus the damage is reduced. Combat effects that increase damage should last longer.

The developers’ argument is an alleged discrepancy between players who are able to weave and are therefore significantly stronger and those who are not able to do so – i.e. are weaker.

It’s a quirk of the game that we’ve come to accept as such, as it makes our combat feel different and exciting/challenging once you get the basics down. However, weaving has a significant impact on performance, which can quickly leave players miles behind those who can if they don’t fully master it.

PREVIEW OF COMBAT SYSTEM WITH UPDATE 35 – 06.07.2022

Unfortunately, I don’t see anything positive here, because the slow but steady development towards an undemanding combat system seems to be continuing here for me.

The changes are endgame dumping

I already criticized this point in my article on the combat changes of Update 33. This is an absolute downgrade, especially for long-time players. Because this part of the community is geared towards new challenges. With the prolongation of combat effects, I imagine fighting a bit like driving hours on the freeway: boring and monotonous.

The Nightblade is my favorite class for a reason – with frequent weapon changes and the high value of light attacks. This way of playing feels dynamic and exciting.

I absolutely cannot share the argument of the developers that the change mentioned above means that you have to look less at your skill bar. Of course you have to, no matter which number comes down.

This may not affect the general public, but the trend has been going on for what feels like an eternity. ESO has been geared almost exclusively to new players for some time, forgetting about the veterans.

Constant attempts are made to reduce the high damage numbers of the strong players. It would be refreshing if there was something different again. Because the coming damage losses primarily affect the players in the endgame again. It’s really getting on my nerves.

In the endgame, players want to stand out from the crowd. I find it frustrating when a bar is constantly being put forward there, along the lines of: “No. You’re too good, it can’t be done that way.”

Where’s the fun competition?

It’s like playing football without counting the goals and in the end everyone wins. That’s no fun! There will still be a difference, but it will probably become smaller and smaller. At some point, the question arises for me: What’s the point of making an effort? I think that’s a real shame and definitely takes some of the fun out of playing.

I know that the changes will certainly cause controversy in the community. The view of the coming changes depends heavily on what type of player you are. We have a little quiz on this at MeinMMO: What type of player are you in The Elder Scrolls Online?

How do you see the changes? Are you frustrated or are you looking forward to it? Do you share my opinion or do you see it completely differently? Please let us know!