The Elder Scrolls Online Q&A

ZeniMax Online’s Matt Firor took some time away from his position as game director in order to address a bevy of questions about The Elder Scrolls Online in a new two-page interview over at ZAM. A sampling, as you might have expected:

Staying on the topic of gear, from what we’ve seen so far, ESO has five primary stats (Health/Magicka/Stamina/Armor/Power) and some number of secondary stats. How much variety do you plan to have in the gear as players reach endgame? Will we see much variation in primary statistics for pieces of the same tier or are you looking at a more WoW-style model of “same base stats with different secondary stats”?

Gear will affect a lot more than just those stats: including regeneration rates of Health, Magicka and Stamina as well as critical strikes from weapons or magic. We also have damage types familiar to many Elder Scrolls players: Cold, Fire, Shock, etc. that help you capitalize on weaknesses of opponents or defend against their strengths. There will be lots of gear sets which will augment additional stats or add effects to the player once complete. Secondary stats / attributes will rely more on enchanting whereas primary stats will depend on how the item was found or crafted.

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Since ESO will have a deck style skill system with active and passive abilities, plus the ability to switch weapons in combat, do you plan to include a build/loadout manager for players looking to fulfill multiple roles?

Because ESO’s character development system is so open ended, we aren’t currently planning on a (deck) manager there are so many combinations that it just isn’t feasible. You start out with about 17 abilities to choose from with a new character, and you can find many more as you level.