Rotations That Require Less Frequent Bar Swaps?

Ebonslayer21 · May 27

After playing a bunch of other games over the past 7 years, I think I've figured out what my problem with ESO rotations was: constantly bar swapping to refresh abilities instantly. I'm much more comfortable rotating in a way that doesn't necessarily maximize buff uptime. I think my preferred rotations would include starting on the backbar, using the 5 abilities, swapping to the front bar, using 4 abilities, then continuing with the spammable for a bit; after that I reset the rotation. Some buffs or DoTs will stay out for a while, and I may even refresh longer ones before the duration is over, but I would certainly enjoy it more.

What classes would most enable this style of gameplay? As far as I can see Nightblade looks extremely capable of this type of play since they have a lot of low duration abilities that all line up nicely. Warden may also be a good option that allows me to more easily tell when I should reset, such as the netch disappearing or the shalks blowing up twice.

Thanks in advance!

Cooperharley · May 27

Are you interested in a one bar playstyle?

If you'd prefer 2 bars, with subclassing, there are a number of skill that serve as almost "passive" abilities that you can place on your back bar for buffing damage among other things. They're technically active skills, but you can pretend they're not there (like relentless focus for instance for NBs, which youll gain a bunch of weapon/spell damage from if you don't use the bow proc).

Ebonslayer21 · May 27

Cooperharley wrote: »

Are you interested in a one bar playstyle?

If you'd prefer 2 bars, with subclassing, there are a number of skill that serve as almost "passive" abilities that you can place on your back bar for buffing damage among other things. They're technically active skills, but you can pretend they're not there (like relentless focus for instance for NBs, which youll gain a bunch of weapon/spell damage from if you don't use the bow proc).

I am alright with one bar playstyles, but I would like to do a full two bar setup with my aforementioned style. Tbh, I'd probably do the same thing with one bar as well as I've never liked maintaining buff/DoT uptimes in general.

Cooperharley · May 27

Yea that's the thing with two bars:

You have higher skill expression and a higher skill ceiling in exchange for higher damage, more uptime on buffs as a support player, etc. If you don't want to do that stuff, you can utilize a really solid one bar setup utilizing oakensoul or even just doing like I said and using your front bar for active abilities and your rotation and slotting more "passive active" abilities on your backbar exemplified by many of Hyperoxies solo builds. You have to choose between super high performance and super chill rotation.

Stamina arcanist, even with two bars, is a stupidly easy rotation for two bars, but is kinda the exception.

Ebonslayer21 · May 27

Cooperharley wrote: »

Yea that's the thing with two bars:

You have higher skill expression and a higher skill ceiling in exchange for higher damage, more uptime on buffs as a support player, etc. If you don't want to do that stuff, you can utilize a really solid one bar setup utilizing oakensoul or even just doing like I said and using your front bar for active abilities and your rotation and slotting more "passive active" abilities on your backbar exemplified by many of Hyperoxies solo builds. You have to choose between super high performance and super chill rotation.

Stamina arcanist, even with two bars, is a stupidly easy rotation for two bars, but is kinda the exception.

I'm aiming for something in-between. A bit more intense than a one bar setup, but not as swappy as the average two bar. Very occasional swaps to apply stuff as a bulk.

Soarora · May 27

When was the last time you played? If it was before U35 (about 3 years ago), then you’re in luck— ZOS increased DoT timers so playing the game now feels like what you’re describing as opposed to the rapid rotations of days gone by.

If you’re still feeling it now, then I think Skinnycheeks has some 1.5 bar builds that may be something to check out. Or Arcanist. Or you can build your own setup based on long DoT backbar (like carve or blockade).

tsaescishoeshiner · May 27

I'd agree that Stamina Arcanist is an easy rotation that's in between a one-bar rotation and a more complex two-bar one.

Luckily, almost all DoTs have been standardized to last either 10 or 20 seconds. (There are exceptions, but you could probably only use them on frontbar.) There are some buffs that last 30 seconds or longer, which can be tricky to remember.

You typically want specific weapon DoTs that proc weapon enchantments on your backbar. The longest of the two-handed ones (which have a bigger enchant value for your Weapon/Spell Damage enchantment) is Elemental Blockade, which is a damage loss over Unstable Wall but lasts 15 seconds. Depending on how willing you are to sacrifice some efficiency or damage, you could reapply your whole backbar only every 15-20 seconds.

I find having fewer spells to click is easier. For a Sorcerer, builds that use Twilight Tormentor don't usually use the Tormentor's activated ability. So you could wind up with only 3-4 usable skills on each bar instead of 4-5.

Ebonslayer21 · May 28

Soarora wrote: »

When was the last time you played? If it was before U35 (about 3 years ago), then you’re in luck— ZOS increased DoT timers so playing the game now feels like what you’re describing as opposed to the rapid rotations of days gone by.

If you’re still feeling it now, then I think Skinnycheeks has some 1.5 bar builds that may be something to check out. Or Arcanist. Or you can build your own setup based on long DoT backbar (like carve or blockade).

I haven't played seriously since the release of Summerset. Good to know things have changed in that regard. No more having to swap to the backbar constantly for 8s or 12s durations and such.

Soarora · May 28

Ebonslayer21 wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

When was the last time you played? If it was before U35 (about 3 years ago), then you’re in luck— ZOS increased DoT timers so playing the game now feels like what you’re describing as opposed to the rapid rotations of days gone by.

If you’re still feeling it now, then I think Skinnycheeks has some 1.5 bar builds that may be something to check out. Or Arcanist. Or you can build your own setup based on long DoT backbar (like carve or blockade).

I haven't played seriously since the release of Summerset. Good to know things have changed in that regard. No more having to swap to the backbar constantly for 8s or 12s durations and such.

Well there ya go! Here's the link to the U35 patch notes if you want to see them. A whole lot of skills were changed to mostly be either 10 or 20 seconds.

Ebonslayer21 · May 28

Soarora wrote: »

Ebonslayer21 wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

When was the last time you played? If it was before U35 (about 3 years ago), then you’re in luck— ZOS increased DoT timers so playing the game now feels like what you’re describing as opposed to the rapid rotations of days gone by.

If you’re still feeling it now, then I think Skinnycheeks has some 1.5 bar builds that may be something to check out. Or Arcanist. Or you can build your own setup based on long DoT backbar (like carve or blockade).

I haven't played seriously since the release of Summerset. Good to know things have changed in that regard. No more having to swap to the backbar constantly for 8s or 12s durations and such.

Well there ya go! Here's the link to the U35 patch notes if you want to see them. A whole lot of skills were changed to mostly be either 10 or 20 seconds.

Neat changes there. I also noticed some things like Grim Resolve and Bound Armaments no longer requiring a buff to be cast, what patch was that from?

El_Borracho · May 28

@tsaescishoeshiner beat me to it. Arcanist is minimal bar swapping and minimal LA weaving. Basically drop DOTs/buffs on the back bar, LA enough to build ultimate and flail away until you use the beam, rinse, repeat

QB1 · May 30

Constant bar swapping and buff/dot management. Welcome to ESO combat

Soarora · May 30

Ebonslayer21 wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

Ebonslayer21 wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

When was the last time you played? If it was before U35 (about 3 years ago), then you’re in luck— ZOS increased DoT timers so playing the game now feels like what you’re describing as opposed to the rapid rotations of days gone by.

If you’re still feeling it now, then I think Skinnycheeks has some 1.5 bar builds that may be something to check out. Or Arcanist. Or you can build your own setup based on long DoT backbar (like carve or blockade).

I haven't played seriously since the release of Summerset. Good to know things have changed in that regard. No more having to swap to the backbar constantly for 8s or 12s durations and such.

Well there ya go! Here's the link to the U35 patch notes if you want to see them. A whole lot of skills were changed to mostly be either 10 or 20 seconds.

Neat changes there. I also noticed some things like Grim Resolve and Bound Armaments no longer requiring a buff to be cast, what patch was that from?

I don't exactly recall but it was one of the more recent ones, maybe last year?

Ebonslayer21 · May 30

El_Borracho wrote: »

@tsaescishoeshiner beat me to it. Arcanist is minimal bar swapping and minimal LA weaving. Basically drop DOTs/buffs on the back bar, LA enough to build ultimate and flail away until you use the beam, rinse, repeat

Any good options besides Arcanist? I don't have the class available, or even Necromancer for that matter. I still have 7 years of DLC to catch up on.

BasP · May 30

Ebonslayer21 wrote: »

El_Borracho wrote: »

@tsaescishoeshiner beat me to it. Arcanist is minimal bar swapping and minimal LA weaving. Basically drop DOTs/buffs on the back bar, LA enough to build ultimate and flail away until you use the beam, rinse, repeat

Any good options besides Arcanist? I don't have the class available, or even Necromancer for that matter. I still have 7 years of DLC to catch up on.

You could go with a Sorcerer. It has two permanent pets that have to be slotted on both bars, which would reduce the number of abilities you'd have to activate on your back bar.

In order to further reduce bar swapping, you could consider using a Dual Wield back bar and use the Deadly Cloak ability, which lasts 20 seconds. You could fill the remaining spots on the back bar with two other 20 second DoTs (such as Hurricane and Barbed Trap) so that you can reapply all three skills at the same time.

Zodiarkslayer · June 1

BasP wrote: »

...
In order to further reduce bar swapping, you could consider using a Dual Wield back bar and use the Deadly Cloak ability, which lasts 20 seconds. You could fill the remaining spots on the back bar with two other 20 second DoTs (such as Hurricane and Barbed Trap) so that you can reapply all three skills at the same time.

Then why not have Quick Cloak, Crit Surge and Boundless Storm? All have 30s+ duration. You'd cut your backbar time in half and have three of the most useful buffs at the same time. 🤷‍♂️

katorga · June 2

Arcanist: Herald of the Tome, subclass Nightblade: assassination and one other class with lots of passive, while slotted skills, or very long duration buff skills like Sorcerer. That should net you minimal bar swaps, massive stats, and close to the highest damage in the game.

El_Borracho · June 2

Ebonslayer21 wrote: »

El_Borracho wrote: »

@tsaescishoeshiner beat me to it. Arcanist is minimal bar swapping and minimal LA weaving. Basically drop DOTs/buffs on the back bar, LA enough to build ultimate and flail away until you use the beam, rinse, repeat

Any good options besides Arcanist? I don't have the class available, or even Necromancer for that matter. I still have 7 years of DLC to catch up on.

I would say Magplar is very similar in that you can stack your back bar the same way.

Cheveyo · June 4

I don't raid, pvp, or do any of the "hardmode" group stuff, so I don't bother thinking about it at all. As a result I don't bother trying to play as optimally as possible, myself. I just go with what's fun. If you want to do that hard content, just ignore this post. If not, then:

I've usually got Damage on my front bar and heals on my backbar on my Warden.

Maybe try something like that?

Although, I'm going to try and switch things up with subclassing. Getting rid of Winter's Embrace and switching it out for Earthen Heart(from DK). Current planned set up:

Front bar:
Bird of Prey, Fetcher Infection, Obsidian Shard, Eruption, Unstable Wall of Elements, Eternal Guardian(for solo)

Back Bar:
Enchanted Growth, Budding Seeds, Lotus Blossom, Igneous Weapons, Blessing of Restoration, Eternal Guardian

I use something similar to that normally, just replacing a few Winter Embrace abilities. For soloing most content, I rarely switch to the second bar. Normally only if I pull too much or if Isobel needs healing. I use second bar more often when I'm soloing world bosses. Depending on the boss, I may stay on the back bar the whole fight.

If I group, it's usually to do a basic dungeon and in that case, I just replace Eternal Guardian with the Destro staff ult and very rarely switch off front bar the whole dungeon. For overworld grouping, I just stick to my normal set up.

Ebonslayer21 · June 6

Cheveyo wrote: »

I don't raid, pvp, or do any of the "hardmode" group stuff, so I don't bother thinking about it at all. As a result I don't bother trying to play as optimally as possible, myself. I just go with what's fun. If you want to do that hard content, just ignore this post. If not, then:

I've usually got Damage on my front bar and heals on my backbar on my Warden.

Maybe try something like that?

Although, I'm going to try and switch things up with subclassing. Getting rid of Winter's Embrace and switching it out for Earthen Heart(from DK). Current planned set up:

Front bar:
Bird of Prey, Fetcher Infection, Obsidian Shard, Eruption, Unstable Wall of Elements, Eternal Guardian(for solo)

Back Bar:
Enchanted Growth, Budding Seeds, Lotus Blossom, Igneous Weapons, Blessing of Restoration, Eternal Guardian

I use something similar to that normally, just replacing a few Winter Embrace abilities. For soloing most content, I rarely switch to the second bar. Normally only if I pull too much or if Isobel needs healing. I use second bar more often when I'm soloing world bosses. Depending on the boss, I may stay on the back bar the whole fight.

If I group, it's usually to do a basic dungeon and in that case, I just replace Eternal Guardian with the Destro staff ult and very rarely switch off front bar the whole dungeon. For overworld grouping, I just stick to my normal set up.

I'm not against doing a rotation with both bars, I just want it to be more straightforward. I don't like maintaining uptimes for each individual buff, I prefer managing them as a group.