Ok, so I know there is the patch note thread, but that is a huge thread simply because the patch notes were MASSIVE! I wanted to create a single thread to go over the changes 1.6 is bringing us. Feel free to pop in here and discuss changes you have seen or ask questions. If you are talking about changes or answering someones question, I ask that you please verify how these changes are working on PTS and not base your answer just off the patch notes and no PTS experience.
Provisioning:
I think the new system is great. Takes a bit getting used to, but inventory space will be much better off. The transfer of current food and recipes is a bit strange, but it will likely work in your benefit. One notable ingredient that is going away is pepper. It will sell for a decent amount now, but I have another suggestion. Pepper is used to make the purple VR5 food, Consummate Honey Brittle. This food, as best I could tell from PTS, was converted to VR10 purple food. My provisioner has the recipe and the food in my inventory is now the new VR10 food. I would suggest that you make as much Consummate Honey Brittle as you can prior to 1.6 going live. This will use up your pepper, a better option then selling it I believe, and give you a nice stock of VR10 food.
Food vs. Drink: Since they changed all the values of numbers, it is hard to say how much they changed the drink regen values. Food and drinks still cannot be used at the same time, and food still only buffs maximum available resources while drink only buffs resource regeneration. What does help drinks, in addition to the supposed increase in regen, is the removal of the softcaps. Previous to 1.6, with good gear sets and itemization it was relatively easy to reach softcap on your most important resource regen and maybe even others (my tank could get overcharged on all three). With the removals, I think regen could become pretty important for DPS and healers in terms of sustainability. I think there is a real possibility for healers and DPS to start using drink instead of food for PvE. I also think drinks will be much more helpful in PvP for the regens as well. Only time will tell if the changes are in fact worth it.
Argonians:
What?! Argonians! Yeah, Argonians got a sweet unwritten buff I am super happy about. The Amphibious trait has changed. It now grants 50% swim speed (same as before) and whenever you drink ANY potion you restore 2/4/6% of your maximum magicka, stamina, AND health! Such a sweet change I think. Argonians are now potion chugging machines. This will be a very nice and welcome change for both my tanking and heal setup as well as a huge bonus in Cyrodiil.
Templars:
I only got a little bit of play time last night, and pretty much all of that was trying to absorb all the changes. A few notes and I will add more later.
Blinding Flashes: This skill is gone, but fear not as the DK skill Ash Cloud and Dual Wield skill sparks are also gone. It was replaced with a channeled execute skill. I am not thrilled at all about the channeling aspect of it as it will be pretty easy to interrupt in Cyrodiil. It will be a nice welcome addition for PvE though. The two morphs are intersting choices as well. One heals you for 20% of the damage done (good for Cyrodiil), the other does increased damage based on how much magicka you have remaining. DelaDude brought up a nice point with this for PvE. For boss fights this will be pretty nice as you can pop a spell power/crit and magicka pot then execute for some serious damage. While I will miss blinding flashes, I think the new skill is a nice help to Templar DPS
Sun Shield (and morphs): 10% increased cost. Kinda bummed about this, but really this skill is insanely strong. Not to mention there is a Champion Passive that increases the magnitude of shields. Sad about the increase, but it is manageable I think.
Puncturing Strikes: Nice DPS boost for single target and a cost reduction. Also added a stamina morph for this skill. Overall a really nice change for Templars of all types.
Backlash: Probably one of the biggest changes out there for Templars. This skill is now, in my opinion, an absolute must have. I am going to see if I can fit it in on my tanking set up, and it certainly will have a spot on my healing and PvP set up. The skill is now INSTA CAST!! That alone is a huge change. In addition, multiple Templars can use this skill and they will not cancel each other out, another nice change for group set ups. The skill also has a magicka and stamina based morph. Overall, this skill is a monster now.
Eclipse: Some changes to this skill as well, but honestly I haven't used it in quite awhile so I will leave it for someone else to speak about.
Sun Fire: The DoT does more damage and it debuffs the target, nice little bonuses for an already staple skill
Dark Flare: Reduced the cast time. Another nice change to help DPS
Blazing Spear: DoT aspect of this skill will persist even if someone uses the synergy.
Passives: So I am going off the top of my head here, but the one notable change I remember is that one of the Dawns Wrath passives now gives all group members the Minor Sorcery buff (8% spell damage) whenever you use a Dawns Wrath skill. Nice little group utility passive.
Champion Points: Huge system that will add some variety to builds. Lots there and I didn't get to dig into it too much. Expect lots and lots of discussions about this in the future. Screenies of ALL stars and passives Another note, there are 4 "stars" per constelation, 9 Constellations total, and a max off 100 points allowed in each star. That means a max of 3600 Champ points. At 400,000 XP per champ point (current rate on PTS) this is 1,440,000,000 xp total. At the old rate of 1,000,000 xp per vet rank this is the equivalent of achieving VR 1440. Yeah, its that big of a system.
Buffs: Another huge change to the game. Group dynamics are really key now it seems. These changes will require quite a bit of coordination from the group. One quick observation and generalization. Major Buffs seem to be mostly applied either by yourself, or single target (for debuffs especially). Minor buffs can be either applied by yourself or from the group. Maximizing group minor buffs is going to be an interesting challenge.
Ok, so that's about all I have for right now. I plan on spending a great deal of time on the PTS and I suggest you all do the same. These changes are drastically changing the game and it would be best to adapt to them sooner rather than later.
I am looking forward to some really good discussions on here, in game, and on the voice chat for PTS that DelaDude has arranged for us.