Okay, it's not that bad. The problem was a matter of wonky resolution. The issue with my monitor was that it didn't seem to be that compatible with my current PC unit. For the previous one, there's no problem when it came to visuals. But the current situation degenerated from the black aspect of the RGB/HDMI gone too dark to grainy and splotchy graphics. At the same time, the change was long overdue. Thankfully, there seemed to be an upside of ESO cursed with optimisation issues. If graphics engine played a major part, that'd explain why the grains and splotches weren't that bad. Loading screen graphics surprisingly retained the game's standard. But in-game character close-ups remained visibly sub-par Street Fighter 4. Or Okami if I want to sound a geek with the knowledge of a Greek intellectual.
Thankfully, a new monitor would have been up and running by the time this is up and it's a Samsung. Yes, I like the Japanese style of storytelling, but that's not a reason to reject anything Korean. With that being said, I'm reminded of a Sting-John Constantine stunt involving Park Shin-Hye and Irelia Eliaden.
In other news, living a deprived life means having the mental steel to forge contentment into a sword instead of a vital virtue. That plus I consider myself a utilitarian gamer whose brain functions more like Emiya Kiritsugu. This was the reason why I wasn't even tempted to flip the table before the Korean monitor arrived.
Oh my... Stendarr?
Before I progress, please note that this portion involves plenty of rambling. If you don't want to tolerate the words of an abnormal human being, please skip to the next part.
I'm going to quote my friend Ryan here: "Pastor asks you to go downstairs for a cup of tea later on". The reason why is that within 24 hours of upping the previous part of ESOtivity, all Oblivion from Coldharbour and Deadlands to the Coloured Rooms broke loose. While my manner of self-expressing is bombastic, I have to admit this moment of a funny aneurysm was anything but funny. With that being said, I wouldn't be surprised if the Alessian Order was actually a hypothetical case of Constantine I becoming Nero II. Trust me, I know the follies of politics hijacking religion.
Anyway, I stumbled upon two very good videos involving Nirn and a FudgeMuppet (clearly NOT a muppet) made a compelling argument on the workings of a dark fantasy world more deistic than you'd like to believe otherwise.
Video 1: YOU HAVE BEEN MISLED!!!
Video 2: DAEDRA!!!
Like how Isayama "Hametsu no Hajime" Hajime managed to troll an audience wearing a pair of Hollywood heroic shades when Eren out-infinitised Thanos, Lorkhan was an expert in antagonising the Aedra. It's a variation of the 404 God Not Found narrative found in works like Berserk, Hellsing, Attack on Titan, Vinland Saga, and Psycho-Pass. Objectively, the Japanese are clearly capable of offending both ends of the Western socio-political ideology (i.e. from oppai to destroying the romanticising of atheism and showing the West how to properly channel the mind of Friedrich Nietzsche).
Also, I accidentally stated Eren would die a messianic death two years ago. Of course, one could argue that ending the curse of Ymir Fritz (i.e. the protagonistic device of AoT in the sense Titans were the mirror reflecting humanity aka two sides of the same coin) was the by-product of some suicidal idiot's insanity. After all, how insanely suicidal can you get if you decided the only way to save your own people and breaking the vicious cycle of hatred was killing off 80% of the global population plus yourself?
On that, I've got nothing to argue against beyond the question of whether a better solution could be found instead of just waiting for an apple to drop. Seriously, the great Titan reversal should be seen as nothing less than Isayama's vision of a messianic death. Real but nonetheless warped beyond the boundaries of a normal human being. Equally seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if 死に急ぎ野郎 happened to be Isayama's idea of a joke.
Japan has never been short of mad geniuses. The day I watched Jin-Roh made sure of that. End of Evangelion through the hands of Anno "The Original Gainax" Hideaki only made things worse. During my father's funeral (he passed away on the third day of Chinese New Year 2020), I told Pastor T how I functioned like a hedgehog. The analogy was taken from what Katsuragi Misato famously said about Ikari Shinji and Asuka Langley Soryu.
Thankfully, Tokyo Ghoul got the humane ending it deserved. At the risk of sounding harsh, Kaneki Ken deserved someone like Kirishima Touka instead of Kamishiro Rize.
Note 1: I need to apologise to my friend Claudia for mentioning her dad. While Ryan was indeed the source of the quote, I remained nevertheless the one who exploited his words. With that being said, I still don't know what I said concerning playing the harp that angered her. Anyway, that's in the past. Like seven years ago or so?
Note 2: I believe good music helps a lot in soothing my nerves. Either that or I'm someone of mental steel who happened to have the stereotypical November person's good taste in music. The keyword being stereotypical.
The Big 3 Logic
DISCLAIMER: No one paid me for this part of the post. Unlike Xiaxue, I got nothing to profit from my words. Like the ones spending their time doing the addons, my blog is non-profit. Therefore, my words should NOT be seen as an endorsement. As an ESO gamer, I consider myself way beneath Alcast and the dude actually uses LUI Extended.
Addon 1-Azurah
Okay, this add-on is very simplistic. If you're one to enjoy the original UI while given the freedom to drag and align, then this addon may be the one for you. I know that chances are that fewer players use Azurah. It really depends on how comfortable you are with other UI add-on options. I wouldn't be surprised if Azurah is the most lightweight of the three. I know it sounds bad, but ESO is a game known for optimisation issues. Even Alcast acknowledged this much and this actually got a major hand in the CP system revamp for Update 29. Seriously, my present UI addon actually died on me in a normal Cloudrest raid during Z'Maja's dying moments. Thankfully, the addon managed to self-resuscitate, but only after Z'Maja went beyond resuscitation. A pity considering every raid member was having a great game. Best Cloudrest run so far.
Addon 2-LUI Extended
This is clearly Alcast's choice. And I can see why. By itself, LUI Extended is the kind of addon you'd expect from Kondo "she's making Marikons out of the world" Marie if she's a programmer instead. The look was truly minimalistic and thus comfortable to the eye. However, LUI Extended requires other addons to maximise its efficiency. Stuff like S'rendarr and Raid Notifier would be a must especially if you're more into raiding especially trials. Mr Chin once said no one does math, but what is the answer to 4+4? () I'm referring to whether the number of addons would impact the performance. My PC is a gaming one, but it's not exactly the expensive type. In fact, I opted for the cheapest one possible from Aftershock.
If there's a major drawback, I'd say it's the addon's inability to customise the UI placement, unlike Azurah. You can do that for the raid members window, but you definitely can't drag and place your bars or the target's health bar. This can be a major issue depending on how your focus work.
Addon 3-Bandits UI
Now this one is my choice and the reason is very simple: I have tunnel focus. If you think it sounds abnormal, chances are that I've been abnormal since the day certain people in the classroom declared war on me. That actually explained my conversation with Pastor T and I don't mind identifying myself with Shinji. Seriously, I don't.
My issue with LUI Extended was the bar placement (i.e. Health, Stamina, and Magicka) situated in two places instead of one. Being someone used to the bars bunched in the middle caused a massive displacement inside my head. I was struggling to get used to the radical changes and there's a reason why I get motion sickness easily at times regardless of how pro the driver is with his/her driving license. It's never a good thing when nausea is telling you a major adjustment is currently in progress. Granted I didn't reach the point of throwing up like a Merlion drunk on vodka, but the giddiness was bad enough. Focus wise, I function better if I can process the entire screen. With two sets of bars placed at two sides, I was left wondering what I was doing. To make things worse, I enabled the damage count and I ended up bombarded by numbers. It's like dealing with Count von Count while he's on LSD. It's really that bad.
The same went for Azurah. The fact that I switched to the most simplistic addon only readjusted my focus. But nausea albeit significantly weakened remained and this was when I realised my problem: Multiple distractions amounting to accumulated disruption instead of just the placement.
I found that out when my brain couldn't clear the final hurdle. Namely, the presence of text within each bar.
Again, let me point out that my experiences should NOT be seen as a deterrent statement intended to cancel LUI Extended and Azurah. The problem lies with me and not those spending time on things of lower monetary value but higher worth in passion.
Note 1: I actually suspected Mr Chin was joking since he's an educator and it didn't help that I thought he joked no one does meth.
Note 2: There were definitely moments where I asked whether my life would change for the better if the likes of Mr Chin, Mr Kok, and Mr Soh were to be my teachers. And it has got nothing to do with them supporting Liverpool, Everton, and Tottenham Hotspurs respectively. It's understandable for people to conform, but it takes courage for some to fight against the standard. This is why I enjoy playing ESO so much. It allows me to make choices rebelling against the Daedric darkness of Nirn.
Total Recall: From Breton to Dunmer
I have to admit it: The establishment is right. Not in a partisan sense but a factual way. Bretons are better off being healers. Does this mean you shouldn't be using Bretons for DPS? It really depends. Breton racial passives are heavy on Magicka management but obviously low on raw power. While this most likely means your Breton healer can afford to burn more spell abilities, the same logic should also apply to DPS. Of course, everyone should know it by then instead of now.
If there's a lesson I should have noticed a long time ago had I not been in a trial-and-error mode until Update 29, it'd be I can't do Breton DPS Sorcerers with a full Molag Kena. While a combination of damage increase of 500+ and Magicka Mastery does read like a good DPS deal, Molag Kena is actually meant for builds relying on prolonged light attacks instead of a high ability cast frequency. In short, what's the point of having Molag Kena if you can't maintain the Overkill proc? Conversely, however, this means Molag Kena can go well with High Elves and Dark Elves when it comes to Sorcerers. The reason being Sorcerers don't have good options in spammable class abilities. So what caused me to realise what needed to be realised a long time ago? A combination of messing around like a nihilist and a fellow Asian. Coincidentally, said fellow Asian happened to be a fellow Dunmer user. Equally coincidentally, I find the Tribunal to be quite similar to the Shinto trio of Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo. While Douglas MacArthur was as white as a Nord, please don't confuse the Koreans for Argonians.
Back to the topic of light attack spamming, I wouldn't be surprised if Zaan happened to be a better choice for Magicka DPS Nightblades running on Merciless Resolve. Dreugh King Slayer and Noble Duelist's Silks with a full medium/heavy Zaan setup is quite possibly proof that you don't necessarily need trial gear to excel in group PVE. Below is my idea of a front bar:
DISCLAIMER: There's a possibility of what I wrote down already done by someone else on the internet. If so, it means two things:
1. It actually works.
2. Credit must go to the person.
Otherwise, feel free to decide whether to be my guinea pig.
Abilities: Degenerate (remember to max rank your Might of the Guild passive), Dark Cloak (unless you can afford to risk it with Shadowy Disguise instead), Merciless Resolve, Inner Light, Camouflage Hunter
Ultimate: Veil of Blades
Mundus stone effect: Thief (or Shadow if you opt for Shadowy Disguise instead of Dark Cloak)
Ideal race: Khajiit. You can call him Baanzai-dar or name her Baanzai-daro if you want to. I blame Baan Dar for this lame pun of a joke.
Right now, I'm in a position to decide between Molag Kena and Domihaus (I may talk about it more than a wee bit in a future post). While my gear sticker album only has heavy Molag Kena pauldrons and a light Molag Kena hat, Domihaus is officially filled up 100%. This means I only need 50 Transmute Crystals if I want to experiment with an optimised Dom-nom-nom.
The good thing about Domihaus is the difficult thing about Molag Kena. Namely, it's definitely easier for me to fully utilise the effect. Domihaus is very straightforward: Either you proc the weapon damage buff by being a Stamina DPS dealing physical damage or you proc the spell damage version via being a Magicka DPS dealing magic damage. At the same time, the circle is big enough for you to move about without losing the bonus. The downside would be what Molag Kena can do. Namely, the possibility of maintaining the effect for as long as possible without cooldown.
At this point, I won't be surprised if plenty of Magicka DPS Sorcerers still prefer either Ilambris or a clearly nerfed Maw of the Infernal with Zaan possibly favoured by those adopting a mid to close range firing build. Initially, I opted for a combination of Degenerate and Flame Reach with Crystal Fragment for a high damage rotation ender. Turned out I had mixed results.
I tried messing around with Mage's Fury. It's a terribly touch-and-go since I have difficulty reading how fast the damage is going. Quite likely I'll test it for PVP though once I decide I'm emotionally stable enough to go full Imperial since there's a reason why I quitted Gwent despite it being the perfect PVP game for me.
Right now, there seem to be many more fake tanks and equally fake healers queuing for random normal dungeons. However, I actually have positive experiences with them so far unlike a 50-50 scenario pre-Update 29. My auto-matchmake group would often involve a tank running on a 900+ to a 1000+ CP only to realise I was being out-DPS'ed for a reason since I clearly don't have an IQ of a goldfish. Then there were moments where the healer was a DPS running on the same CP range. The current CP system is now more role-restrictive due to the slotted passives, so certain things are clearly more evident than ever. And before you believe fake tanks can't aggro-pull, let me point out they can and the best ones I've run a random dungeon raid with happened to be the ones who can either consistently do pull-free nuking or those able to pull two to three mobs with a shield strapped on an arm. I consider a particular fake tank Nightblade a pro in the latter case (I forgot the name because it's a random normal queue). I got nothing but respect for that person especially considering the fact the Nightblade was a CP 700+. You can counter-argue it's an offensive tank, but I truly doubt that's how ESO function in Update 29, that this type of character build should be called heavy armoured DPS instead. On the flip side, though, this also means no one is in the condition to attempt this kind of thing in random veteran dungeon queues. At least that's how I see it.
This means only one option left for me to take: Either Force Pulse or Crushing Shock. Because I decide to use Boundless Storm as the DPS conduit for my Molag Kena (i.e. Cast+light attack spam), Force Pulse is clearly the better choice. That plus what someone said about the stage 7 boss in veteran Maelstrom Arena being as angry as an angry American if you decide to use Crushing Shock (or possibly any other means of cast interruption) to push its buttons. I'll pass the one-shot cancel option, thank you very much.
I did a trial-and-error run last night with Boundless Storm, Degenerate, and Force Pulse via a random normal dungeon raid. I was a bit apprehensive at the loading screen because I was allocated to Depths of Malatar. I don't have enough experience running any specific dungeon or trial, so a lot of raiding hinges heavily on how I read the fight. There were times when I could do something decent and other moments where my focus just switched off. If anything, it's always good to run any group instance after either eating or drinking. Especially if you happened to be a provisioner since you'd never be short on the supply chain. The Nord version of the Ainu salmon soup is a must-have for my Dunmer Sorcerer especially since that son of a Telvanni is running a no-pet build without Ilambris. Really, I find Sorcerers to function insanely well with food buffs instead of drink buffs.
So I was doing Depths of Malatar after a hearty meal of Nord cuisine. Words like crazy, insane, and abnormal would be how I'd describe the run. This was a group of four DPS amigos and I happened to be the kohai to the three other hyungs. The DPS hyung was at 917 CP. The other two hyungs were at 1000+. One of them was a necromancer (unless I happened to be wrong, I'm convinced necros are certified DPS barking mad). The other was a Sorcerer with the Eye of the Storm ultimate. Yet, the DPS race was fluctuating between 20+% to 50+% with 30-40+% being the median value by my guess. It's insane because I knew I was doing this with 3 other players clearly better. Clearing a normal Depths of Malatar with a pure DPS group is no laughing matter. The Dark Orb boss can be particularly unnatural if no one is the tank. I had to shuttle between firing at the main orb, going after the spawned orbs, and using Time Freeze on the adds so that things wouldn't come unstuck (at least from my perspective). It's not surprising my DPS for that fight was a lowly 27% and definitely not a surprise to see the entire group able to get past what I'd call one of the trickier bosses in the game. In case you think I'm bragging, please understand that without three other players clearly better than me, there's no way I'd do this part since blind DPS isn't everything.
At the end of the day, one thing which got me doubting my previous approach was whether spamming light attacks for half of any group boss fight should be seen as a good idea unless you're a Werewolf or a Grim Focus-centric Nightblade. A combination of Degenerate, Flame Reach, and Crystal Fragments made a Marikon out of me since the intuitive approach happened to be maximum light spamming and minimum light-weaving. Once I ditched the intuitive and attempted the counter-intuitive, interesting results followed. While it's still too early to make assumptions and conjectures, I'll be currently using my pseudo-melee Dunmer as offensively aggro as the classic jerk from Owari.
Needless to say, my counter-intuitive strategy would result in the risk of Magicka burn in any group boss fight. Thankfully, I got a full Infallible Mage, a Flame Staff on my front bar, and the relevant passives.
Possibly up next: How my High Elf does her Dom-nom-nom like a Bosmer and counting the beans.
