Dual Wield

thomasvaughn21_ESO

What are the best skills for dual wield in pvp?

Johngo0036

Bloodcraze,
Flying blade,
steel tornado,
blade cloak is not too bad either.

Angarato

twin slashes duh

Kyrolith

It greatly depends on what you need in your build.

If you need AoE, pick up Steel Tornado.
If you need some ranged DPS, pick up Flying Blade.
If you need a movement speed buff, pick up Quick Cloak.

Flurry and Twin Slashes are subpar in PvP imo.

DeanTheCat

Kyrolith wrote: »

It greatly depends on what you need in your build.

If you need AoE, pick up Steel Tornado.
If you need some ranged DPS, pick up Flying Blade.
If you need a movement speed buff, pick up Quick Cloak.

Flurry and Twin Slashes are subpar in PvP imo.

... You haven't seen what happens when Rending Slashes is used by a high (4.5k+) weapon damage build have you? It does massive damage, snares an enemy and is so cheap that it will cost the enemy far more to purge it then it takes to apply it. Also, Rending Slashes bleed still works on shielded targets, you just need to apply it when the shield falls, and even if the shield is reapplied, the bleed will still go to work.

Also, since Rending Slashes is a two-hit attack, you can effectively weave it with a light attack to output 3 hits in one GCD cycle, putting massive strain on your opponent's stamina. Flurry is even more effective in this regard, especially the Blinding Flurry morph. Maelstrom axes turn flurry into a deadly combo with the new and improved Axe bleeds.

Kyrolith

DeanTheCat wrote: »

... You haven't seen what happens when Rending Slashes is used by a high (4.5k+) weapon damage build have you? It does massive damage, snares an enemy and is so cheap that it will cost the enemy far more to purge it then it takes to apply it. Also, Rending Slashes bleed still works on shielded targets, you just need to apply it when the shield falls, and even if the shield is reapplied, the bleed will still go to work.

Just about every damaging skill will hit like a truck when you have 4.5k+ WD.
It is simply more difficult to do reliable damage to someone with a bleed when skills like Surprise Attack/Wrecking Blow/Jabs can do just as much, if not more damage directly and can't be entirely mitigated by Purge/Cloak/Shields. I can see how it could be beneficial to synergize DoTs with direct damage skills, but I find most of the time it is better to just spam your hardest hitting ability and an execute when you want something to die.

DeanTheCat

Kyrolith wrote: »

DeanTheCat wrote: »

... You haven't seen what happens when Rending Slashes is used by a high (4.5k+) weapon damage build have you? It does massive damage, snares an enemy and is so cheap that it will cost the enemy far more to purge it then it takes to apply it. Also, Rending Slashes bleed still works on shielded targets, you just need to apply it when the shield falls, and even if the shield is reapplied, the bleed will still go to work.

Just about every damaging skill will hit like a truck when you have 4.5k+ WD.
It is simply more difficult to do reliable damage to someone with a bleed when skills like Surprise Attack/Wrecking Blow/Jabs can do just as much, if not more damage directly and can't be entirely mitigated by Purge/Cloak/Shields. I can see how it could be beneficial to synergize DoTs with direct damage skills, but I find most of the time it is better to just spam your hardest hitting ability and an execute when you want something to die.

In an open world skirmish, I would agree with you, but the aspect of Rending Slashes that makes it really useful against heavy block users is that the bleed is blockable, applying even more pressure against a blocking target, especially with the new no stam regen when blocking. As the bleed hits for 15k damage tooltip + 3k x2 initial hit tooltip, a single application of Rending Slashes can kill most targets if left unpurged, forcing them into defensive purge tactics which would cost far more (2-3k) then what your Rending Slashes would cost (~700). This puts you ahead in the resource management mini-game, and will increase your odds of victory.

Spamming hard hitting damage abilities is well and good, but in a more close fight, things like Rending Slashes begin to matter. In that sort of situation, you need to win the resources mini-game as well as standard fight tactics if you want to win. Also, if you use Radiant Magelight, if the opponent tries to purge the bleed by cloaking, congratulations. You just made the target waste 2-3k magicka as well as securing a free hit for you, as the act of casting a Cloak takes up 1GCD cycle that your RML completely nullified. Thus you get a free move. A GCD cycle that your opponent is forced on the defensive is 1 GCD cycle closer to victory.