Introduction to Hybrid Build Changes in ESO Waking Flames DLC
Elder Scrolls Online has made some massive changes to armor, in the new Waking Flames DLC. The guild and class specific passives are rewarding both offensive stats such as spell/weapon damage in the Medium Armor passive Agility. Essentially, this essentially allows for more hybrid build viability in ESO, especially in PvP.
These changes and more will have an impact on your characters when the Waking Flame DLC is released on PC August 23rd. In this post, I will share these changes along with my thoughts after testing them
Table of Contents
Video Guide for Hybrid Build Changes in ESO Waking Flames DLC
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Patch Notes Waking Flames DLC
- The following passives and player abilities now grant hybrid stats to help improve their viability and accessibility to off-meta builds, because we love them too:
- Agility: Now grants equal Weapon and Spell Damage.
- Balanced Warrior:
- Now grants 660/1320 Armor, rather than 1320/2640 Spell Resistance.
- Now grants equal Weapon and Spell Damage values.
- Brutal Carange’s bonus: Now grants equal Weapon and Spell Damage values.
- Concentration: Now grants equal Offensive Penetration.
- Dexterity: Now increases Critical Damage and Healing Done per piece worn, up to 2% at the final rank, rather than Weapon Critical (as Prodigy now grants Weapon Critical as well)
- Flawless Dawnbreaker’s bonus: Now grants equal Weapon and Spell Damage values.
- Prodigy: Now grants equal Critical Chance.
- Savage Strength: Now grants equal Weapon and Spell Damage values.
- Scaled Armor: Now grants 825/1650 Armor rather than 1320/3300 Spell Resistance.
- Slayer: Now grants equal Weapon and Spell Damage values.
This is just a summary covering the passive armor changes. However, if you want all of the latest information for the Waking Flames DLC patch update click here. Or for a high level summary of the changes affecting combat, please visit this forum post.
Deltia’s Thoughts
Hybrid Build Changes Coming to ESO Waking Flames DLC
Light Armor Changes
- Concentration: now grants spell and weapon penetration’s (no change to light armor users, and not that noteworthy)
- Prodigy: now grants equal spell and weapon critical, so stamina users will have dexterity reworked. (Good crit rating for mag, though it is missing from stam. However, you can make up for this with gear)
Medium Armor Changes
- Agility (huge change making for massive magicka based PvP build to be relevant, if not meta)
- Dexterity now grants increased crit damage and crit healing RATHER than weapon critical, (another massive pve/pvp shift giving stamina based builds great damage)
Heavy Armor Changes
- Largely remains unchanged
Fighters’ Guild Changes
- Flawless Dawnbreaker’s Bonus now grants equal weapon/spell damage values of 300 for 20 seconds (could be a good change for lost cost ultimate on front base with passive boost to spell damage)
- Slayer: now grants equal weapon and spell damage (great incentive for magicka and stamina users to slot a fighter’s guild ability like Camo Hunter for extra 3% spell damage)
Templar Changes
- Balanced Warrior Templar: now grants armor and weapon spell damage. This is an absolutely insane passive boost to magplar making them one of the strongest in PvP going forward
Other Considerations
- Champion Point resource Sustain Issues to Consider. A nerf to rejuvenation passive makes running 7 light or 7 medium necassary depending on the group composition
- Weapon Scaling DW/Two handed
PvP Impacts
Lots of PvP users going to medium armor and two handed weapons
- Mechanical Acuity allows you to have high burst window and amplifying your spell damage and critical damage done. This is perfect for medium armor magicka players using a hybrid setup
- Medium armor users largely remains the same with some slight changes to sets
- Light armor users have drastic changes. Particularly Magplar being one of the strongest classes this coming patch due to their inherit scaling of class specific abilities like Living Dark and now reworked Purifying Light
PvE Impacts
Lots of the same setups work well, and medium armor can get very high crit damage using all 7 medium. While high spell critical from light armor can be obtained when using all 7 light
- Light armor users can use harpooners kilt in more coordinated groups to make up for critical damage that medium armor gets
- Medium armor can do very well in 7 medium and a set I’ve been using a lot is Tzogvin’s, which performed very well with the new armor changes
Wearing 6/1 or all 7 seems to be the sweet spot as with 5 1/1 resource sustain becomes an issue, and sustain will be a bit rougher in the Waking Flames DLC.
Thank you for checking out this ESO guide on the new armor passives with the Waking Flames DLC! If you want to check out other ESO guides click here