Flashy green lights, slimy tentacles, and a grimoire with countless pages are just a few of the things the Arcanist class will bring to The Elder Scrolls Online. However, the class is bringing one more thing that has the potential to redefine how players think about damage-dealing: the Arcanist's Fatecarver skill.
The Arcanist's Fatecarver skill provides a different take on damage-dealing in The Elder Scrolls Online. And while it is certainly a move away from more traditional means, it is in no way lesser. On the contrary, it brings a whole new way to approach DPS roles that could one day be lent to other classes and skills.
The Fate of Fatecarver in The Elder Scrolls Online
The Fatecarver skill is one of the flashiest skills in the Arcanist's arsenal, boasting a powerful green beam of energy "scars the world" in front of the player. However, one of the most remarkable aspects of this skill is that, unlike others, it can be aimed. Typically, players cannot cast a damage skill unless it is a ground area-of-effect skill or if they have a target highlighted. The Fatecarver skill is free of these restrictions, though, being able to be cast and aimed to the left, right, up, and down. This singular mechanic is revolutionary for the game, especially considering the fact no other skill has this functionality.
This mechanic for The Elder Scrolls' Arcanist, although incredibly simple, provides a lot of opportunities for more dynamic gameplay than ever before. Not only do players with better aim get rewarded for their efforts, but it also allows players to switch targets mid-cast depending on which enemy they are going for.
Potentially one of its biggest implications is how this skill could be extended to other beam skills in The Elder Scrolls Online. For example, the Soul Strike skill shares a similar aesthetic in that it is a flashy, big beam of energy, but it is limited to one player. Perhaps in the future, it could receive a rework to function more similarly to Fatecarver.
The way that Fatecarver changes the idea of damage-dealing the most is by redefining the idea of what it means to be a burst skill. Burst skills are abilities that typically deal quite a lot of damage at once, but have a bit of delay. Two examples of this are the Deep Fissure and Daedric Curse skills, which can be cast in advance to be timed with other skills to deal massive damage. In that regard, Fatecarver is also the Arcanist's burst skill, as the player must first build up the Arcanist's crux combos in order to deal the skill's full damage. However, it operates in a way that few other burst skills do.
Rather than dealing all the burst skill's damage at once, it deals smaller increments of damage in quick succession. This is similar to the Bound Armaments skill, as it essentially does the same thing but with four summon knives. With the nature of Fatecarver being an area-of-effect skill that can be aimed, this opens up the skill to opportunities of shredding the health bars of more targets from multiple angles. As the player is casting Fatecarver, they can turn their camera to hit more enemies than any other burst skill could. For that reason, the Necrom expansion's Arcanist may help redefine the DPS role.
With The Elder Scrolls Online's Necrom expansion quickly approaching, players will soon have access to this unique class. And while it may not provide a similar experience to others found in the game, it will grant one that could influence the trajectory of the game's future skills.
The Elder Scrolls Online is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
