ESO Update 51: Massive Mundus, Alchemy & Class Reworks

[00:00:00]ESO was about to shake up builds again, and this time it's not just a numbers thing.

[00:00:05]The devs put out a massive post showcasing some of the changes coming in update 51, and this is going to push hybridization further than ever.

[00:00:15]Tweaking Mundus Stones, class passives, buffs, debuffs, and even a full alchemy overhaul with a brand new ingredients.

[00:00:24]If you thought hybridization was done, this update proves we were only halfway there.

[00:00:30]Today, we're going to take a look at everything coming in update 51, which will be a mid-season patch scheduled for August the 31st.

[00:00:39]This is one of those updates that looks kind of small when you first read over it, but it is going to change how you build characters, how you craft potions, and even think and even make you think really about group composition.

[00:00:54]So, let's go ahead and hop right into it.

[00:00:57]ESO started hybridization years ago, letting ability scale off your highest offensive stat instead of really forcing you into just magic or stamina.

[00:01:06]But not everything could be converted at once.

[00:01:10]Some systems, as we all know, are still stuck in the old weapon versus spell era. And of course, that's how the game was when it was first released. It was magic or stam, weapon or spell damage, and then things started to kind of get combined over time.

[00:01:25]But, at the same time, that kind of got left behind as they started working on other projects.

[00:01:33]And a lot of players wanted to know when the hybridization was ever going to get finished.

[00:01:39]Update 51 is going to work on that.

[00:01:41]This is the patch where ZOS finally cleans up a lot of the leftovers.

[00:01:45]They're removing duplicate effects, merging redundant buffs, and streamlining systems that still have just magic and stamina separation kind of baked into them.

[00:01:57]They said the goal is simple.

[00:01:59]Make builds easier to understand, easier to create, and more flexible without punishing you for choosing the wrong stat.

[00:02:08]So, let's start with the Mundus Stones first, because this is a big one.

[00:02:12]The Warrior Mundus, this stone is used to give weapon damage only. Now, it will give both weapon and spell damage. This finally matches that hybrid model and removes the need to choose between two identical damage stats.

[00:02:27]The Apprentice Mundus, this one's kind of a surprise or a kind of interesting one to me, because I wasn't expecting this change when I read that they were going to change the Apprentice Mundus.

[00:02:37]Instead of spell damage now, the Apprentice gives bonus experience and inspiration gain.

[00:02:45]Or inspiration gain, excuse me.

[00:02:47]So, if you're leveling a brand new character, grinding Champion points, or training crafting skills, the Apprentice will be your go-to stone. It's basically the training Mundus, so it's going to be just like training gear. You're going to get even more experience and inspiration gain if you do have this, of course, equipped with other things that's going to improve your experience and inspiration.

[00:03:10]This one's a smart change. It gives the Warrior a clear combat identity.

[00:03:14]And like I said, I was kind of surprised by the Apprentice change, but I think it will give it a new purpose instead of it being just redundant now that those changes are coming in for the Warrior Mundus as well.

[00:03:27]ESO has always had some strange buff overlaps.

[00:03:32]Brutality increased weapon damage, uh sorcery increased spell damage, saver uh savagery increased weapon crit, and prophecy increased spell crit.

[00:03:43]But since hybridization, these did not exactly always stack as I think it was intended.

[00:03:51]You get one or the other and it would create confusion and some players did not understand how to get these to work correctly. And update 51 is going to fix this.

[00:04:01]For brutality, major and minor, now increases both weapon and spell damage.

[00:04:08]Sorcery is completely removed. For savagery, major and minor, this will now increase both weapon and spell crit chance. Prophecy is completely removed.

[00:04:20]This is a big clean up. No more worrying about whether you have to have weapon versions or the spell version of a buff.

[00:04:26]If you have brutality, you're covered.

[00:04:28]If you have savagery, you're covered.

[00:04:31]And they're going to bring in a brand new debuff.

[00:04:35]Vexation. This is a brand new effect that reduces healing done.

[00:04:40]It's pretty much the complete opposite of what the mending buff would do.

[00:04:46]And this will be introduced through alchemy first.

[00:04:50]This gives PvP players, to me, a new tool and adds more depth to potion crafting. And I really feel like that is kind of what this buff is tailored towards. Now, there may be some interesting uses for it in PvE that I'm not thinking of right now, but when I first saw this, I thought of PvP right off the bat.

[00:05:12]Alchemy, of course, is getting a big rework in update 51 and it's really the biggest rework out of everything.

[00:05:19]Because potions rely on matching traits across different ingredients and sometimes hybridization traits.

[00:05:29]This isn't as simple as just flipping a switch. It was kind of making some potions a bit off or or not working, I guess, as the devs wanted them to work.

[00:05:42]Since they're kind of talking about the changes they're making, that's kind of the idea that I got from how they're wanting to make potions work in the future.

[00:05:50]Trait consolidation will give you increased spell power plus increased weapon power in one trait. You will also get increased spell crit and increased weapon crit in one trait. This matches the new buff system and reduces the number of redundant traits.

[00:06:08]New alchemy traits. To fill the gaps left behind, ZOS has decided to add several new effects.

[00:06:15]Increase or reduce healing done, so mending or the new effect, vexation.

[00:06:22]Damage shields, heal absorption, critical damage increase, which is a force buff. This opens up new potion combinations we've never had before.

[00:06:33]For removed traits, they're going to lower weapon power and it's going to be removed from those ingredients. And the trait applied maim, but since maim is available everywhere else, barely anyone has used it in a potion. Or they're saying in general most players do not use maim for a potion. So, that's why they're trying to remove and rework how those work in game.

[00:06:59]For some new things we're going to get, and this one's pretty big. Four brand new ingredients are being added across Tamriel to support the new trait ecosystem.

[00:07:07]This means new farming routes, new potion recipes, and a new market opportunity for crafters or for people that of course are in guild traders and you want to sell some of these new ingredients.

[00:07:19]ZOS made sure your existing potion recipes are still going to work.

[00:07:24]Daily writs, they said will go unchanged.

[00:07:27]Master writs are updated automatically and achievements stay unlocked, but you'll need to rediscover the new traits if you haven't completed them yet.

[00:07:37]They said they are also are going to improve potion naming and visuals, so you can more easily identify what a potion actually does. So, if a potion grants heroism, it will now be labeled as a essence of heroism instead of an essence of magic. I do think that's a good one, especially for new players, because there's so much stuff you can craft inside of ESO.

[00:08:00]People get confused when trying to figure out exactly what they need to craft, or if a friend tells them they need to craft this to use, or if they read it on a, you know, a website, or they watch Skinny Cheeks or something like that, and he says use this potion.

[00:08:12]I think a lot of players get a little bit lost if they are brand new.

[00:08:16]Um for, you know, being able to make some of these potions. And and like Hyper and Skinny and some of those guys make some incredible build videos, but I know it's a bit much to kind of take in for new players. So, I think by labeling these to what they really are, and being able to see what it is, is going to be a big thing for newer players, and for players maybe that have not got into crafting until recently.

[00:08:42]They're also going to have some class passive reworks for the original four classes. So, this is going to be another big part of the update. The devs said they want every class to bring a unique group buff, something that makes them valuable in organized content. The newer classes already do this, but the original four were kind of stuck with outdated buffs tied to the old system.

[00:09:05]So, update 50 is going to work on that.

[00:09:08]For Dragonknight and Nightblade, they keep access to minor brutality and minor savagery, but now those buffs give the combined hybrid effect.

[00:09:18]For a sorcerer, instead of minor prophecy, sorcs now provide a unique offensive penetration buff to their group. This gives source uh sorcs a real identity in group play just besides having damage.

[00:09:34]So, you're going to get a bit more from a sorc than just being able to go out and maybe, you know, put out some massive damage. You're also going to be able to give your group a offensive penetration buff.

[00:09:45]And Templars will lose minor sorcery, but gain a unique armor buff for their group. This makes Templars to me more valuable for tanking and support roles.

[00:09:55]So, there's always been a lot of tanks that are Templars and healers uh that are Templars over the years, but at times both of those have kind of fallen off to other classes. Hopefully, if this is a good enough unique buff, this will allow tanking and and of course those healing roles with a Templar to be a bit better or maybe even on top again.

[00:10:18]These changes help solve the problem where bringing a DK and a Templar together didn't give you anything extra.

[00:10:25]Now each class brings something unique, and this is kind of where that group compensation will come in now because you'll have different ways to look at it compared to what we have in game right now.

[00:10:35]Once update 51 drops on the 31st of August, you can expect things like builds to become easier to make, buff tracking become simpler, alchemy becomes more powerful and a good bit more interesting in my opinion.

[00:10:49]Class identity should improve, Mundus Stones become more meaningful, and group compensation or or composition, excuse me, gets more variety.

[00:11:00]It doesn't look like ZOS is just wanting to have hybridization be a be a thing about combat scaling.

[00:11:08]It's going to be more of a full game-wide philosophy.

[00:11:13]And I think that is what the community has been wanting for years. Now that everyone has been talking about how they just kind of left hybridization alone and didn't really touch it for the last several years. So, now we're finally getting back to them implementing the changes that it seems like a lot of people want.

[00:11:34]Update 51 is shaping up to be a very important one for system cleanups.

[00:11:40]Patches that ESO has had in the past has not really touched on a lot of this stuff.

[00:11:47]It doesn't add a brand new zone or a new class, but it's going to change the foundation of how we build characters, craft potions, and support our groups.

[00:11:56]If you're someone like myself that likes theory crafting, build crafting, or just squeezing every bit of performance you can out of a a test build or out of your meta build, this update is going to give you a lot to kind of mess around with.

[00:12:08]If you like the video, hit the like. If you have not subscribed yet, please do so, and I'll catch you next time.

[00:12:13]Peace.