ESO's August update is making a controversial change to combat, updating the weaving mechanic to make the game easier for new players. If you don't know, weaving is the mix of light and heavy attacks between abilities to increase damage output, which isn't immediately obvious or taught in tutorials.
"It helps our combat feel different and exciting to participate in," the blog post stated. "However, the impact of weaving leads to a massive gap in performance where players who cannot interact with it as effectively are left miles behind those who can... We want to do what we can to shorten that delta."
Weaving will still be in the game to reward those who master ESO's combat system, but Update 35 will reduce light and heavy attacks' impact on damage production. The damage will instead deal a flat amount no matter your stats. "We hope to reduce the difference of damage potential in a way that retains the satisfaction of learning to weave, where the impact is still felt, but to a much less degree than before," the blog continued.
Another change coming in Update 35 is to buffs, debuffs, and over-time effects—most of these abilities last ten seconds meaning that you have to activate them again in rapid succession, with many players filling their hotbars with these abilities to maximise damage and healing. The fast-paced juggling that comes from such a short window can be overwhelming as the blog puts it, so Update 35 is "increasing the duration of many of these effects in-game."
The blog post explained, "A damage over time effect would deal 1.5 times the damage of a 'spammable' attack (such as Surprise Attack) over its duration of ten seconds, or 0.15 relative damage per second. Now, damage over time effects will deal two times the damage of a spammable attack over its duration of 20 seconds."
These changes have proven controversial as, while they make the game easier and more accessible to new players, they also make combat simpler. But it won't be until August when we can all see the update in action for ourselves.