Note from Nefas: Specific numbers particularly on tooltips will not be shared in this article as it would create false impressions of either the Arcanist or Update 38's upcoming patch note changes.
Background
Necrom will be the first Chapter to deviate away from the year-long story format that's been stagnating since Elsweyr in 2019. Learmil, an agent of Hermaeus Mora and also the one who sent out the letter to content creators recently, will be recruiting us into stopping a conspiracy against Hermaeus Mora. So instead of fighting against a Daedric Prince, we'll apparently be siding with one. And yes, Hermaeus Mora will be voiced by Wes Johnson who voiced Sheogorath and Hermaeus Mora in previous TES games. I did ask the developers if there were any other notable voice actors coming onto ESO with this Chapter as High Isle had quite a few of them including Laura Bailey but they were quite tightlipped.
Story
Our allies will include Meln the Mouthless, the spirit of a Telvanni Magister, Scruut, a Daedric watchling and devoted follower of Hermaeus Mora, Gadayn, a novice of Necrom's Mortuary. It's been hinted that Sotha Sil may make an appearance though we don't know why just yet. Previous ESO characters such as Naryu and Ashur will also be making a comeback.
The story will take us across the Telvanni Peninsula which we haven't seen since 1994's The Elder Scrolls: Arena game and through the realm of Apocrypha whereupon we will discover that other Daedric Princes may be involved too such as Vaermina and Peryite. A telvanni Mage called Shelreni Baro will be one of the antagonists alongside a Dremora called Torvesard who we don't know much about at all.
Content and Area
New enemy and critter models that Elder Scrolls fans may be familiar with are being added to the game including the Seekers, Mind Terrors, the Hushed, the Tomeshells and Lurkers. New music composed by Brad Derrick whose work had been recently nominated for the British Academy Film Awards will also be present within the game.
The Telvanni Peninsula makes up about 40% of the Necrom Chapter's area size while Hermaeus Mora's realm of Apocyrpha makes up about 60% of the Necrom Chapter's area size. The Telvanni Peninsula from what I explored have three distinct biomes that make it feel like 2017's Morrowind Chapter zone but also quite different as well such as Vvardenfell's Edge and the southern parts of the peninsula. The usual fundamentals of a zone are still present including POIs, Delves, World Bosses and so forth.
Necrom will be the main city of the Telvanni Peninsula and I think after touring through it, the architectural style and some of the environmental storytelling and NPCs within the city made me a bit more curious about exploring it further. Speaking of NPCs, ESO with Necrom tightened its hold on the world record of having the most NPCs in a video game which definitely made me wonder just how much more they can add to the game in the future though it seems after our Q&A session there was a lot of backend work with the game's data and engineering since 2021 to make Necrom and the Arcanist class more possible
Since some of you asked, from what I can tell I don't think Necrom will be as good of a daily crafting writs city like Leyawiin or Vivec City due to the layout of the crafting area and the potential locations for the turn-in-boxes although the wayshrine is close to the Guild Traders.
Cipher's Middend will be a player-friendly village you can find in the middle of Apocrypha which was quite a psychedelic experience visually for me when I playtested it. Words to describe Apocrypha would definitely include alien, otherworldly and somewhat Lovecraftian. There are also distinct biomes or areas in Apocyrpha we'll be able to explore through questing which will contribute to about over 30 hours of gameplay.
Companions
As usual, two Companions will be added with Necrom.
An eccentric Redguard wizard called Azandar al-Cybiades whose skill lines will be modeled after the Arcanist class and Sharp-As-Night, an Argonian mercenary with no connection to the Hist who has no memory of his pre-adult life whose skill lines will be modeled after the Warden class. You can find more about their stories through their Companion questlines in ESO. In addition to Companions, we will also be getting a lot of new furnishings, costumes and also a new house.
Trial and Trifecta Mount
Lastly, a 12-man raid or Trial will be introduced with Necrom, the location of which is in the Telvanni Peninsula. Unfortunately I couldn't explore too much of this new Trial as there were unforseen complications with the playtest build for Necrom but at the very least I think it's a pretty cool setting and I suspect one of the bosses or elites will be a Chimaera.
In basically all ESO Trials, your group usually stacks on the door that leads into the instance which starts the encounter but you will all be stacking on a bed then shrink down to microscopic size and enter the mind of a powerful Mages Guild member to fight Vaermina's control over the Mage.
The environment of the Trial is definitely dreamlike and I did get to see the new, assumingly, No Death/Hard Mode/Speed Run mount called the Ram of Dark Dreams which looks to be one of the best mounts I've seen in a while from ESO which I think a lot of raiders will desire more than they did the Planesbreaker or Swashbuckler mounts.
After looking at achievements for the Trial and the attainable cosmetics for said achievements, it seems that Face Markings and Body Markings will be included and not a skin.
At this point I'd like to apologize for not knowing what the Trial titles are as I was much more preoccupied by playtesting the Arcanist on a limited amount of time but PTS should be coming out on the 17th of April, 2023 so we'll all know by then.
Trial Sets
Perfected Light Trial Set (Support)
| (2 Items) | Adds X% Healing Done |
| (3 items) | Gain Minor Aegis at all times, reducing your damage taken from Dungeon, Trial, and Arena Monsters by X%. |
| (4 items) | Adds X Magicka Recovery |
| (5 items) | Adds X% Healing Done |
| (5 items) | When you heal yourself or an ally that is below X% Health, you ignite a spark of hope within them for X seconds. If they are above X% Health when the effect ends, you and the ally gain Major Heroism for X seconds. This effect can occur once every X seconds per target. |
Perfected Light Trial Set (Damage)
| (2 items) | Adds X Critical Chance |
| (3 items) | Gain Minor Slayer at all times, increasing your damage done to Dungeon, Trial, and Arena Monsters by X%. |
| (4 items) | Adds X Weapon and Spell Damage |
| (5 items) | Adds X Weapon and Spell Damage |
| (5 items) | While you are standing still, you gain X Weapon and Spell Damage. While you are moving, you gain X Health, Magicka and Stamina Recovery. |
Perfected Medium Trial Set (Damage)
| (2 items) | Adds X Critical Chance |
| (3 items) | Gain Minor Slayer at all times, increasing your damage done to Dungeon, Trial, and Arena Monsters by X%. |
| (4 items) | Adds X Offensive Penetration |
| (5 items) | Adds X Critical Chance |
| (5 items) | Increases your damage done against monsters by X%. This effect doubles for X seconds when you interrupt an enemy. |
Perfected Heavy Trial Set
| (2 items) | Adds X Armor |
| (3 items) | Gain Minor Aegis at all times, reducing your damage taken from Dungeon, Trial, and Arena Monsters by X%. |
| (4 items) | Adds X Maximum Health |
| (5 items) | Adds X Armor |
| (5 items) | When you take damage while under X% Health, your resolve is tested. If you are also below X% Stamina, you restore full Health, Magicka and Stamina while also gaining Major Protection and Major Aegis for X seconds. If you are above X% Stamina you become a bastion of hope for X seconds, causing your Major and Minor Buffs to also grant Major Aegis for X seconds. This effect can occur once every X minute(s). |
Base Game Updates
Random Mount
With Update 38 it seems that we'll be able to randomize mounts from the Collections menu. So if you have multiple mounts and you want to show them off, every time you mount it's a random one you have collected. And this new feature comes with a Favorite Mount option as well and you can randomize amongst your Favorite Mounts.
Champion Points
There doesn't seem to be any new Champion Point slottables being added with Necrom from what I saw however I did see that there were new Mythics and new Item sets being added with the Chapter.
New Mythics
| Mythic A | While you have more than one living group member, excluding Companions, you can no longer cast Ultimate abilities. Instead, casting an Ultimate ability transfers your Ultimate resource to your living group members, divided equally among t hem. You also gain Minor Heroism while you are in combat. |
| Mythic B | While you are above X% Stamina, you gain a buff, reducing your damage taken by X% but causing you to lose X Stamina whenever you take damage, up to once every X seconds. |
| Mythic C | If you do not have any set bonuses active that require X or more items, you increase your damage done by X%, reduce your damage taken by X%, and increase your healing done by X%. |
| Mythic D | Adds X Penetration and increases your damage done by X%, Critical Damage by X% and reduce your Light and Heavy Attack damage by X% |
Crafted Sets
Crafted Set A
| (5 items) | Adds X Offensive Penetration |
| (10 items) | Adds X Weapon and Spell Damage |
| (12 items) | Adds X Critical Chance |
Crafted Set B
| (2 items) | Adds X Maximum Stamina |
| (3 items) | Adds X Maximum Health |
| (4 items) | Adds X Maximum Magicka |
| (5 items) | While you have a living Companion, reduce the cooldown of their abilities by X%. While you do not have a living Companion, reduce the cost of your Magicka, Stamina, Health, and Ultimate abilities by X%. |
Crafted Set C
| (2 items) | Adds X Maximum Health |
| (3 items) | Adds X Maximum Magicka |
| (4 items) | Adds X Maximum Stamina |
| (5 items) | When you cast an ability that costs resources while in combat, you reduce your potion cooldown by X seconds. This effect can occur once every X seconds. |
Overland Sets
Overland Set A (Light)
| (2 items) | Adds X Maximum Magicka |
| (3 items) | Adds X Maximum Stamina |
| (4 items) | Adds X Maximum Magicka |
| (5 items) | After staying on one bar for X seconds, gain X Magicka and Stamina when barswapping. |
Overland Set B (Medium)
| (2 items) | Adds X Weapon and Spell Damage |
| (3 items) | Adds X Weapon and Spell Damage |
| (4 items) | Adds X Weapon and Spell Damage |
| (5 items) | On gaining kill XP, gain X Weapon and Spell Damage for every X Experience gained for X seconds. This bonus can stack up to a maximum of X Weapon and Spell Damage. |
Overland Set C (Heavy)
| (2 items) | Adds X Health Recovery |
| (3 items) | Adds X Maximum Health |
| (4 items) | Adds X Health Recovery |
| (5 items) | Unknown (?) |
Class Changes (Templar, Nightblade, Sorcerer)
For Templar, I noticed that the Puncturing Sweeps or Biting Jabs skill seems to now have its 4th audio tick from the previous iteration of the skill finally gone and the skill no longer seems to awkwardly shift your character pointing away to the right after it's done casting.
Furthermore, Solar Barrage now offers X% increased damage to your Class Abilities while active.
For Sorcerer, Dark Deal seems to have gotten Major Berserk while the Major Berserk given from the Storm Atronach ultimate seems to have been extended in duration.
For the Nightblade, there seems to have been an extension of duration on the debuff from Incapacitating Strike and Soul Harvest.
Future of PTS Cycle
Lastly, I did ask a question some of you were curious about to the developers and it seems like the 6 week Public Test Server cycle is here to stay instead of reverting back to the original 5 week PTS cycle.
The Arcanist
Herald of the Tome Skills
The Unblinking Eye (Ultimate) - Tear open the fabric of the Aurbis to summon a scion of Hermaeus Mora. This being casts forth a beam that rends asunder reality for X seconds and deals X Magic Damage to enemies within X meters for every X seconds. The scion's beam can be repositioned by recasting The Unblinking Eye.
- Morph (The Tide King's Gaze) - Beam automatically follows the initial target.
- Morph (The Languid Eye) - Also snares enemies by X% for X seconds.
Runeblades - (Cost Determined by Max Resource) Craft a series of Apocryphal runes before launching them at a foe, dealing X Magic Damage X times and generating Crux. This ability deals X% increased damage for each active Crux when cast.
- Morph (Writing Runeblades) - Ability gains between X and Y Weapon and Spell Critical rating and deals X% increased damage for each active Crux when cast.
- Morph (Escalating Runeblades) - The last rune explodes, dealing damage to all enemies within X meters of the target. This ability deals X% increased damage for each active Crux when cast.
Fatecarver - (Cost Determined by Max Resource) Harness pure knowledge into a beam of energy that scars the world in front of you. Channel the beam for up to X seconds, dealing X Magic Damage every X seconds. Casting Fatecarver consumes all Crux and increases damage done by X% per Crux spent.
- Morph (Exhausting Fatecarver) - (Cost Determined by Max Resource) Casting Exhausting Fatecarver consumes all Crux and increases damage done by X%, duration by X seconds, and snare by X% per Crux spent.
- Morph (Pragamtic Fatecarver) - (Cost Determined by Max Resource) Casting Pragmatic Fatecarver consumes all Crux and increases damage done by X% and decreases cost by X% per Crux spent.
Abyssal Impact - Infuse your arm with abyssal magic to form tentacles that lash out at your foes, dealing X Physical Damage. Enemies are immobilized for X seconds and marked with Abyssal Ink for X seconds. You deal X% increased damage to enemies drenched in Abyssal Ink.
- Morph (Cephaliarch's Flail) - Creates a Crux and deals up to X% more damage to enemies with less than X% Health.
- Morph (Tentacular Dread) - Converts into a Magicka ability and deals Frost Damage. Damage to foes drenched in Abyssal Ink is increased by X% and immobilization duration is increased by X second per Crux spent.
Tome-Bearer's Inspiration - Etch a series of runes onto your weapon that pulse with power once every X seconds. Each pulse enhances your class abilities, and striking an enemy with one deals an additional X Magic Damage and generates Crux if you have none. While slotted on either ability bar, gain Major Brutality and Major Sorcery, increasing your Weapon and Spell Damage by X%.
- Morph (Inspired Scholarship) - Increases the frequency of damage.
- Morph (Recuperative Treatise) - When dealing damage, restore X Magicka and Stamina.
The Imperfect Ring - Summon a flawed rune under an enemy that etches foes nearby with scrawled glyphs, dealing X Magic Damage over X seconds. An ally near The Imperfect Ring's original target can activate the Runebreak synergy, dealing X Frost Damage to enemies within X meters.
- Morph (Rune of Displacement) - Summon a discharging rune under an enemy. After X seconds the rune pulses, pulling in foes within X meters and etching them with scrawled glyphs that deal X Magic Damage over X seconds.
- Morph (Fulminating Rune) - The rune lingers on the initial target for X seconds before detonating, dealing X Frost Damage to enemies within X meters. Rune detonation cannot be primed with Fulminating Rune again for X seconds. Up to X allies near you can activate the Intensify synergy, increasing the detonation damage by X%.
Herald of the Tome Passives
Fated Fortune - Warp fate when you gain or spend Crux, increasing your Critical Damage and Critical Healing by X% for X seconds.
Harnessed Quintessence - You master the warp and weft of your very soul. When you are restored Magicka or Stamina, increase your Weapon and Spell Damage by X% for X seconds.
Psychic Lesion - (With a Herald of the Tomb ability slotted) Your attacks wound the mind with heretical knowledge, increasing damage dealt by Status Effects by X%
Splintered Secrets - What you don't know can kill you. Increase your Physical and Spell Penetration by X per Herald of the Tome ability slotted.
Soldier of Apocrypha Skills
Gibbering Shield (Ultimate) - Gather the true strength of Apocrypha around you, forming protective tentacles and a damage shield that absorbs X% of all damage for X seconds, up to a max of X damage. When the shield collapses you lash out, dealing all of the damage absorbed as Magic Damage to enemies within X meters over X seconds.
- Morph (Sanctum of the Abyssal Sea) - Damage shield gains an increase in strength.
- Morph (Gibbering Shelter) - When the shield absorbs damage, pseudopods lash out to surround up to X allies within X meters, granting them a damage shield for X seconds that absorbs up to X damage. These shields can be applied once every X second.
Runic Jolt - Craft a defensive Apocryphal rune that deals X Magic Damage and applies Minor Maim for X seconds, reducing their damage done by X%. The rune taunts the enemy to attack you for X seconds and generates Crux. Taunt does not apply if it would cause taunt immunity.
- Morph (Runic Sunder) - Converts into a Stamina ability and deals Physical Damage. The rune reduces your target's Armor by X and lets you gain said Armor by X.
- Morph (Runic Embrace) - This eldritch scrawl applies Minor Lifesteal in addition to Minor Maim, healing you and your allies for X health every X second when damaging affected targets.
Runespite Ward - Like the rune knights of old, summon forth a damage shield that absorbs X damage for X seconds. The first time you take direct damage after casting, the shield retaliates and deals X Magic Damage to the attacker. This damage scales off of your Armor. Consume Crux to increase the damage shield strength by X% per Crux spent.
- Morph (Spiteward of the Lucid Mind) - Consume Crux to increase the damage shield strength by X% and refund X% of Spiteward of the Lucid Mind cost per Crux spent.
- Morph (Impervious Runeward) - Drastically increases the size of the damage shield for the first second.
Fatewoven Armor - Forge defiant runic armor around you, granting Major Resolve for X seconds and increasing your Armor by X. While the armor persists, taking damage applies Minor Breach and reduces the Armor of your attacker by X for X seconds.
- Morph (Cruxweaver Armor) - Increases buff duration and when damaged, create a Crux up to once every X seconds.
- Morph (Unbreakable Fate) - Grants X% Block Mitigation and Major Resolve for X seconds. Consume Crux to gain X% additional Block Mitigation per Crux spent.
Runic Defense - Cast forth a complex runic aura, granting yourself Minor Protection and your group members Minor Resolve for X seconds. This protective lattice reduces your damage taken by X% and increases group Armor by X. The first time you are damaged while below X% Health, the Minor Protection is consumed to heal you for X Health.
- Morph (Runic Stunward) - Cast forth a complex runic aura that stun enemies within X meters for X seconds.
- Morph (Runeguard of Freedom) - The first time you are damaged while below X% Health, Minor Protection is consumed to heal you for X Health, to give you X Armor and apply Crowd Control Immunity for X seconds. This immunity can only occur once every X seconds.
Rune of Eldritch Horror - Etch an incomprehensible rune on your enemy's mind, paralyzing them in fear after X seconds, stunning them for X seconds. This terror applies Minor Vulnerability for X seconds, increasing their damage taken by X%. If used against a monster, the paralyze lasts for X seconds. This ability cannot be dodged.
- Morph (Rune of Uncanny Adoration) - Etch a blasphemous rune on your enemy's mind, charming them after X seconds for X seconds. This eldritch attraction causes them to move towards the player while snared by X% and applies Minor Vulnerability for X seconds increasing their damage taken by X%. If used against a monster, the charm lasts for X seconds. This ability cannot be dodged.
- Morph (Rune of the Colorless Pool) - Etch an amorphous rune on your enemy's mind, paralyzing them in fear after X seconds, stunning them for X seconds. This undimensional phenomenon applies Minor Vulnerability and Minor Brittle to your foe for X seconds, increasing their damage taken by X% and their Critical Damage taken by X%. If used against a monster, the paralyze lasts for X seconds. This ability cannot be dodged.
Soldier of Apocrypha Passives
Aegis of the Unseen - Form a secret soldier within your mind, a defense against arcane forces without. While a Soldier of Apocrypha ability is active on you, increase your Armor by X.
Wellspring of the Abyss - Apocryphal knowledge bubbles up from the depths of your psyche, increasing your Health, Magicka and Stamina Recovery by X for each Soldier of Apocrypha ability slotted.
Circumvented Fate - Casting an Arcanist ability warps the weave of fate around you, granting you and your group members Minor Evasion for X seconds and reducing damage from area attacks by X%. This effect can occur once every X seconds.
Implacable Outcome - The will of an Arcanist is absolute. When you consume Crux, gain X Ultimate. This effect can occur once every X seconds.
Curative Runeforms Skills
Vitalizing Glyphic (Ultimate) - Summon an Apocryphal glyphic saturated with vitalizing energy, which you and your allies can heal. The glyphic spawns at X% Health and grows stronger the more you heal it. The antediluvian power within the glyphic pulses every X seconds, granting up to X Weapon and Spell Damage and healing you and your allies around it for up to X Health in proportion to its Health.
- Morph (Glyphic of the Tides) - The Glyphic spawns at a higher Health percentage.
- Morph (Resonating Glyphic) - Summon a mysterious apocryphal glyphic, which you and your allies can damage. The glyphic spawns at X% Health and grows stronger the more your damage it. The glyphic grants up to X Weapon and Spell Damage and heals you and your allies around it for up X Health every X seconds in proportion to its Health.
Runemend - Craft a series of precise Apocryphal runes, then propel them at yourself or an ally in front of you. The runes heal for X Health X times and generate Crux. Each active Crux reduces the cost of this ability by X%.
- Morph (Evolving Runemend) - Heals for an additional amount over time.
- Morph (Audacious Runemend) - Healing a target under X% Health grants them Minor Heroism for X seconds, generating X Ultimate every X seconds.
Remedy Cascade - Channel the abyssal sea to coalesce a beam of restorative energy. The beam heals you and your allies in its path for X Health over X seconds. Consume Crux to also restore X Magicka and Stamina per Crux spent to your allies over X seconds.
- Morph (Cascading Fortune) - The beam heals for up to X% more in proportion to the severity of the target's wounds as you reweave fate itself.
- Morph (Curative Surge) - The beam gradually grows stronger the longer you channel it, healing for up to X% more at the end of its duration.
Chakram Shields - Carve the runes of the Blind Man to call forth spinning mystical discs. Discs surround you or up to X allies in front of you, granting a shield that absorbs X damage for X seconds. Discs prefer your reticle target, or low-Health targets without shields.
- Morph (Chakram of Destiny) - Creates a Crux. Recasting on a target already shielded grants a new shield that is X% stronger.
- Morph (Tidal Chakram) - Consume Crux to reduce the cost by X% per Crux spent.
Arcanist's Domain - Draw forth your tome and invoke the vigoratum of Hermaeus Mora to conjure a vortex of eldritch power. Standing in this vortex grants you and your allies Minor Courage, Minor Fortitude, Minor Intellect, and Minor Endurance, increasing your Weapon and Spell Damage by X and your Health, Magicka, and Stamina Recovery by X%.
- Morph (Zenas' Empowering Disc) - The effects of Minor Courage, Minor Fortitude, Minor Intellect and Minor Endurance cling to you and your allies for up to X seconds after leaving the vortex.
- Morph (Reconstructive Domain) - The vortex also heals you and your allies for X Health over X seconds.
Apocryphal Gate - Breach the world walls to create a portal at a target location. Its twin appears directly before you. Crossing the threshold allows you to teleport from one to the other for as long as the portals remain open. Apocryphal Gate generates Crux each time you teleport.
- Morph (Fleet-Footed Gate) - After teleporting, you gain Major Expedition for X seconds, increasing your Movement Speed by X%.
- Morph (Passage Between Worlds) - Allies standing within either portal can activate the Passage synergy, allowing them to teleport to the opposite portal.
Curative Passives
Healing Tides - Your mastery of weaving fate and abyssal water increases your healing done by X% for each active Crux.
Hideous Clarity - You've stared too long into the abyss. When you generate Crux, you restore X Magicka or Stamina, whichever maximum is higher.
Erudition - Knowledge is power. Your excessive scholarship increases your Magicka and Stamina Recovery by X%.
Intricate Runeforms - (With a Curative Runeforms Ability Slotted) Your status as illuminatus reduces the cost and increases the strength of your damage shields by X%.
My Early Playtest Review of the Arcanist
I had a lot of fun playing with the Arcanist as a damage dealer and in San Francisco, much to Lead Combat Developer Brian Wheeler's dismay, I figured out a workable two-bar rotation by the second parse and got a 100k parse on the raid dummy. It should be able to get similar numbers as seen from other popular damage classes such as Necromancer or Dragonknight once people familiarize with it - we're talking about the realm of 120k DPS and such.
And before you ask, yes it can do a heavy attack build as so many of you wanted me to find out.
The main features of this class are strongly built into two things: first, the passives' interactions with the active abilities and of course the frequently talked about Crux system.
To simplify the Crux system, it's basically like building up a stack of Bound Armaments on Sorcerer or Merciless Resolve on Nightblade. However you can only build up to 3 Crux stacks and you do NOT send these Crux runic symbols revolving around your character out as projectiles.
Instead they simply act as buffs for the Arcanist abilities.
Some Arcanist abilities generate these Crux and some spend these while others don't even spend or generate crux. Morphs of abilities can also determine the generator or spender attribute in addition to other effects.
Some abilities don't statically cost either Magicka or Stamina but instead the cost of some abilities depend on whichever of your Stamina or Magicka resource is higher.
While the class sounds complicated or recycled at first, I can tell the developers from the combat, audio, video effects and the other dev teams put a lot of thought and heart into the class gameplay and tactile feel; I could definitely feel some tension with the class between the concept of high end gameplay and more casual play so I actually understood some of the design choices I felt were somewhat anti-climactically simple compared to my biased preconception of what the class would be like before I actually played it. Unlike the Necromancer class from 2019, it felt really good to play and that's something a lot of you guys have been asking me.
So yes, it feels good, a lot better than Necromancer, it feels smooth except for the tentacle skill that can feel a little clunky as of when I playtested it but apart from that one skill it was a really nice and engaging gameplay experience with some hybridization and targeting twists. And unlike the Warden class from Morrowind, the Arcanist feels a lot more integrated into the Chapter or story itself from tooltip descriptions to visual themes.
The beam skill - Fatecarver - is something you have to get used to, on my first parse I felt that it was clunky or awkward but by the second parse it felt a lot better.
I would say while the channel nature of the ability may look like a turnoff to some people who do enjoy the more active elements of ESO's combat system, it's not a disengagement from the fast-paced combat system but more so an opportunity to get you thinking about what's happening around you and what you need to cast next if that makes sense.
For healing with the Arcanist, I definitely felt like the class support and healing skills were more suited to 4 man content or small group stuff rather than a raid team of twelve in a Trial. I think overall the passives however are quite forgiving for beginner support players who want to try out either healing or tanking at least sustain and healing wise.
For tanking with the Arcanist, I definitely appreciated a class-unique taunt though I had my doubts about the efficacy of it compared to the other taunts. From the early playtest, it didn't seem like the one solid Pull ability the Arcanist had was working properly but that was being worked and improved on apparently, I feel like there's definitely a lack of crowd control compared to Dragonknights with the Arcanist in wrangling adds and perhaps in stark contrast to either the healing or damage aspects of the Arcanist class, I felt that the Crux generation of a tank was a lot more slower and that there wasn't too much to play with in terms of spending Crux for my tanking abilities.
However, I did like that the Arcanist tank felt more reactive to play with in terms of the skills and again some skills and passives really were nice for tanking or support in general so it will be interesting to see how well it the Arcanist class as a whole will perform in both PvP and PvE.
Some of you will notice that a few skills have Frost damage and this isn't to upend Warden as a class in any way, as I asked about this to the developers.
The reason why some skills have Frost damage is because thematically without breaking the gameplay balance like introducing Oblivion damage to the class, the abyss or the darkness can be cold.
Surprisingly all of the ability effects and audio are completely new, you will see and hear a bunch of animations and sounds you've never experienced in ESO and I genuinely think a lot of people will enjoy the aesthetics and combat-play of the Arcanist class to the point no doubt people will initially call me a corporate shill for saying so but the same people will probably also complain about how there's no point to playing their main classes once the class comes out.