C270 Stam NB in need of advice for pvp

dbonifaci_ESO

So quick rundown of my character at the moment:
D270 Khajit NB DW/Bow. 64 points in Stamina. Champion points are currently 90 in crit defense resist, 65/35 in might/higher crit damage, 90 in reduce stamina cost for abilities.
Running all med armor: 4 piece purple hundings with impen enchants, Kra'gh helm, 5 pc viper and 2 agil rings. All all accessories have weapon damage enchants, neck is robust, rings are healthy. All armor with stam enchants. Weapons are all purple, with sword/mace viper set weapons and bow is Hundings. So while in melee, I get 5 pc viper proc, 4 piece hunding 2 pc agil bonuses, and in bow I get the 5 pc hundings bonus/2pc agil. Also running the Thief mundus for increased crit %.

Currently when I'm pvping, my damage seems absolutely terrible. My Ambushes are critting people for between 2-3.5k. Viper procs crit for maybe 4-5K. My poinson injection hits people from anywhere between 60-900, and crits between 1k and 2k. My weapon damage on my character sheet is around 2600 with bow/2900 with dual wield. My skills on my bar are as follows:

Surprise Attack/Ambush/Killer's Blade/Shadowy Disguise/Aspect Fear/Warhorn
Poison Injection/Endless Hail/Rearming Trap/Vigor/Siphoning Attacks/Meteor

Was doing some small scale fighting this morning and Was going against a DK/NB/Sorc and I wouldn't hit any of these guys for more than 2-3k with any ability.

So obviously a bit frustrating. I can run around with the zerg and throw out my little bit of damage to farm ap, but I'd like to be able to enjoy some small fights too, but I'm getting dropped in like 3-4 hits from everyone, while doing no damage myself. My physical resistance is like 13k, and my crit resistance is like 2200.

Basically I'm wondering where I go from here. Where am I going wrong? Do I need gold weapons before I can expect to start doing real damage? Need to be C561? Do I have to get the veli set in order to put up fast dps? Is a Stam NB simply a tough sub c561 character to play, and maybe I should look at playing a DK/Temp/Sorc?

I am open to playing a different class for now and putting my NB on the shelf until I can get gold weapons/c561 if it means I will have more survivability and be able to do small scale fighting more effectively for now.

Just getting a bit tired of getting dropped in 2 seconds while putting out maybe 6-8k total damage in that timeframe.

runningtings

Just some ideas:

Attack
Are you using Sharpened weapons?
Are you timing your Ambush rotation correctly?

Defence
What is your Stamina Regen, are you running out?
Are you able to successfully escape if health is low?
Are you keeping moving and roll-dodging all the time?

dbonifaci_ESO

One is Sharpened, other is defending. I have two NMG daggers both Sharpened, but I'd lose the Viper 5pc proc by switching to those.

I guess I'm not sure exactly what a proper Ambush rotation is.

Stam regen is about 1200, I do seem to run low on stam very quickly.

I never really get a chance to escape because I die so fast lol. I try to use Shadowy Disguise to hide but usually I have a dot on me and get revealed right away, and only have enough magicka for maybe 2-3 of those.
I do roll dodge and continuously move, but I run into the low stam problem if I survive long enough, and then I just get dropped.

Kutsuu

Firstly you should consider playing in Azura's Star until you are CP400 or so.

Second, the reason your damage is so low is because you have specifically chosen to build for low damage. This armor setup:

4 piece purple hundings with impen enchants (2x crit, 1x stam)
Kra'gh helm - 2000 penetration (very good, normally a 3.8-3.9% increase in damage)
5 pc viper (2x crit, 1x stam)
2 agil rings (1400 stam)

You have VERY LITTLE weapon damage and pretty low stam - even with a high crit chance your base damage is low so the crits won't hit very hard. 4-5k viper crits is pretty normal unless you have a lot of penetration or the opponent has no impen.

You could drop the 2 agility rings all together and make a 5piece Hunding + Kena or Velidreth shoulders (You'd need to change to Viper jewelry).

Personally I prefer Spriggan over Viper, but I accept it's much easier to farm Knife of Shadows than sharpened Spriggan weapons.

Also, I get the feeling you're not using a weapon damage buff. Are you chugging weapon power pots? Most of us go 2h/bow so that we have rally if we want to be a ganker, and DW/2h or 1hs/2h if we want to be a brawler.

dbonifaci_ESO

Kutsuu wrote: »

Firstly you should consider playing in Azura's Star until you are CP400 or so.

Second, the reason your damage is so low is because you have specifically chosen to build for low damage. This armor setup:

4 piece purple hundings with impen enchants (2x crit, 1x stam)
Kra'gh helm - 2000 penetration (very good, normally a 3.8-3.9% increase in damage)
5 pc viper (2x crit, 1x stam)
2 agil rings (1400 stam)

You have VERY LITTLE weapon damage and pretty low stam - even with a high crit chance your base damage is low so the crits won't hit very hard. 4-5k viper crits is pretty normal unless you have a lot of penetration or the opponent has no impen.

You could drop the 2 agility rings all together and make a 5piece Hunding + Kena or Velidreth shoulders (You'd need to change to Viper jewelry).

Personally I prefer Spriggan over Viper, but I accept it's much easier to farm Knife of Shadows than sharpened Spriggan weapons.

Also, I get the feeling you're not using a weapon damage buff. Are you chugging weapon power pots? Most of us go 2h/bow so that we have rally if we want to be a ganker, and DW/2h or 1hs/2h if we want to be a brawler.

Hey a former Postcount guy! Glad to see you are still around. Thanks for the reply.

I haven't really done much in Azura's star because it seems like the population is really low most of the time. I may have to start checking it out though.

I do have veli shoulders. I've never used weapon power pots, do they make a huge difference? Sounds like DW/Bow isn't an ideal pvp setup. I was running 2h for awhile but when I got two viper weapons I decided to go back to DW.

If I were to go 5 pc hundings, 3 piece agil accessories/Krag'h helm/veli shoulders, what would be the best weapon build to use? I would probably need a good bow, 2her and daggers so that I could switch between a group build and a solo/small scale build, no?

runningtings

I'd up the Stam Regen, CP into Mooncalf should do the trick.
In terms of rotation, I mean use Ambush which hits then stuns, then hit another ability, for me Concealed Weapon, Light Attack, Incap Strike or Killer's Blade and done.

The order you do things in can have a massive impact I find.
If you have your Ultimate up then get that in the rotation too. Incap only needs 50 Ultimate so by the time you rotate through your abilities it should be up, worth looking at.

Your weapon damage could be higher, mine is low too to be honest and I don't have much trouble unless its against a tank.

Leandor

Forget agility jewellery. Go for 5/5/1 (or 2 if dual wielding). Agility is only useful if you have maelstrom weapons to go 5/3/2/maelstrom.

Viper is proc and stamina. The complimentary set should have weapon damage and crit (like hunding) or weapon damage and sustain (like way of the air). Alternatively go full gank and use alchemist.

Use a full monster set. Kra'gh is top kek due to penetration 1piece. Velidreth shines on the proc.

Change your cp. Unless you have zero impenetrable pieces, lose the 90 points in crit resist and go 45/45 hardy/elemental defender.

Always use weapon damage pots if you don't have rally (2H). You need the 20% weapon power buff. Combine blessed thistle, dragonthorn and water hyacinth for cheap ingredient combo of stamina/crit/damage. Substitute namira's rot for water hyacint and you get stamina/damage/run speed, also good.

Make sure you have alchemy leveled to 50 and have three points in medicinal use. That way, you can have the buff up from potions permanently.

Get mages guild to 10, dump two points in might of the guild. Use mage light to toggle it before your hard hitters. That's another 20% on the tool tip damage.

Make sure your debuffs are up. Reducing enemy resists is most effective for damage increase.

Kutsuu

Ah yeah I still lurk around postcount but don't post much since I'm not playing DAOC anymore. Good to see other people from there around here!

If you aren't going to go with a 2piece monster set, then 5/5/1(Kra'gh) is better than going with Agility for sure.

As far as 2h/bow goes, this is what I run:
5x Clever Alchemist (4x body, 1x bow defending)
5x Spriggan, Viper, or even Draugr Hulk - basically any DPS set with jewelry (3x Jewelry, 1x body, 1x 2h sharpened)
2x Velidreth will give you the most burst performance, but 1x Kra'gh 1x Velidreth is a nice dmg increase if you don't want procs.

There is a video of me using this build with the 1x Kra'gh 1x Velidreth option here - note that in the video I was using full impen and serpent mundus. I've since changed to divines and Shadow and the damage is considerably higher:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyyMGkC0pIY

I use stam+mag regen drinks now instead of the health/stam food you saw in the vid. You NEED the magicka regen for escaping and keeping fear pressure up - the health/stam food is a death sentence. Yes your health will be low and it is paramount that you be very slippery and DO NOT stand around and fight people who are fighting back. You CC and burst, or you cloak and wait for an opportunity to CC and burst. You're basically a god (in damage output) for the duration of Clever Alchemist, but don't let it cloud your judgement. Just one good ultimate combo is going to drop you so you need to be rolling and cloaking.

A very strong burst combo in or out of sneak (better in sneak of course) is fully charged bow heavy > swap to 2h and Ambush > Incap or Suprise attack. Use magelight on the bow heavy attack for max damage.

I run lots of potions depending on situation. Roguish stealth potions are a very cheap way to invis and I use these most often. I occasionally use lingering health or immovable potions. No matter what you need to be popping potions on your bow bar before you attack someone.

dbonifaci_ESO

Leandor wrote: »

Forget agility jewellery. Go for 5/5/1 (or 2 if dual wielding). Agility is only useful if you have maelstrom weapons to go 5/3/2/maelstrom.

Viper is proc and stamina. The complimentary set should have weapon damage and crit (like hunding) or weapon damage and sustain (like way of the air). Alternatively go full gank and use alchemist.

Use a full monster set. Kra'gh is top kek due to penetration 1piece. Velidreth shines on the proc.

Change your cp. Unless you have zero impenetrable pieces, lose the 90 points in crit resist and go 45/45 hardy/elemental defender.

Always use weapon damage pots if you don't have rally (2H). You need the 20% weapon power buff. Combine blessed thistle, dragonthorn and water hyacinth for cheap ingredient combo of stamina/crit/damage. Substitute namira's rot for water hyacint and you get stamina/damage/run speed, also good.

Make sure you have alchemy leveled to 50 and have three points in medicinal use. That way, you can have the buff up from potions permanently.

Get mages guild to 10, dump two points in might of the guild. Use mage light to toggle it before your hard hitters. That's another 20% on the tool tip damage.

Make sure your debuffs are up. Reducing enemy resists is most effective for damage increase.

Appreciate the reply, some helpful stuff in there. Thanks

dbonifaci_ESO

Kutsuu wrote: »

Ah yeah I still lurk around postcount but don't post much since I'm not playing DAOC anymore. Good to see other people from there around here!

If you aren't going to go with a 2piece monster set, then 5/5/1(Kra'gh) is better than going with Agility for sure.

As far as 2h/bow goes, this is what I run:
5x Clever Alchemist (4x body, 1x bow defending)
5x Spriggan, Viper, or even Draugr Hulk - basically any DPS set with jewelry (3x Jewelry, 1x body, 1x 2h sharpened)
2x Velidreth will give you the most burst performance, but 1x Kra'gh 1x Velidreth is a nice dmg increase if you don't want procs.

There is a video of me using this build with the 1x Kra'gh 1x Velidreth option here - note that in the video I was using full impen and serpent mundus. I've since changed to divines and Shadow and the damage is considerably higher:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyyMGkC0pIY

I use stam+mag regen drinks now instead of the health/stam food you saw in the vid. You NEED the magicka regen for escaping and keeping fear pressure up - the health/stam food is a death sentence. Yes your health will be low and it is paramount that you be very slippery and DO NOT stand around and fight people who are fighting back. You CC and burst, or you cloak and wait for an opportunity to CC and burst. You're basically a god (in damage output) for the duration of Clever Alchemist, but don't let it cloud your judgement. Just one good ultimate combo is going to drop you so you need to be rolling and cloaking.

A very strong burst combo in or out of sneak (better in sneak of course) is fully charged bow heavy > swap to 2h and Ambush > Incap or Suprise attack. Use magelight on the bow heavy attack for max damage.

I run lots of potions depending on situation. Roguish stealth potions are a very cheap way to invis and I use these most often. I occasionally use lingering health or immovable potions. No matter what you need to be popping potions on your bow bar before you attack someone.

Appreciate the reply man. Really good stuff. I will definitely have to start using these potions, and try to farm viper rings and a sharpened 2h viper. Also will need to get a set of Clever Alchemist made. Full stam enchants and impen on the Alchemist set?

Kutsuu

dbonifaci_ESO wrote: »

Kutsuu wrote: »

Ah yeah I still lurk around postcount but don't post much since I'm not playing DAOC anymore. Good to see other people from there around here!

If you aren't going to go with a 2piece monster set, then 5/5/1(Kra'gh) is better than going with Agility for sure.

As far as 2h/bow goes, this is what I run:
5x Clever Alchemist (4x body, 1x bow defending)
5x Spriggan, Viper, or even Draugr Hulk - basically any DPS set with jewelry (3x Jewelry, 1x body, 1x 2h sharpened)
2x Velidreth will give you the most burst performance, but 1x Kra'gh 1x Velidreth is a nice dmg increase if you don't want procs.

There is a video of me using this build with the 1x Kra'gh 1x Velidreth option here - note that in the video I was using full impen and serpent mundus. I've since changed to divines and Shadow and the damage is considerably higher:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyyMGkC0pIY

I use stam+mag regen drinks now instead of the health/stam food you saw in the vid. You NEED the magicka regen for escaping and keeping fear pressure up - the health/stam food is a death sentence. Yes your health will be low and it is paramount that you be very slippery and DO NOT stand around and fight people who are fighting back. You CC and burst, or you cloak and wait for an opportunity to CC and burst. You're basically a god (in damage output) for the duration of Clever Alchemist, but don't let it cloud your judgement. Just one good ultimate combo is going to drop you so you need to be rolling and cloaking.

A very strong burst combo in or out of sneak (better in sneak of course) is fully charged bow heavy > swap to 2h and Ambush > Incap or Suprise attack. Use magelight on the bow heavy attack for max damage.

I run lots of potions depending on situation. Roguish stealth potions are a very cheap way to invis and I use these most often. I occasionally use lingering health or immovable potions. No matter what you need to be popping potions on your bow bar before you attack someone.

Appreciate the reply man. Really good stuff. I will definitely have to start using these potions, and try to farm viper rings and a sharpened 2h viper. Also will need to get a set of Clever Alchemist made. Full stam enchants and impen on the Alchemist set?

Yeah I still run Impen more often than not b/c I feel like i get more total benefit from it than divines, but divines will push your dmg higher. My potion suggestion was only if you start using clever alchemist - requires potion use to proc the weapon damage.

Darkhalf

@Kutsuu have you considered viper + spriggan?

outsideworld76

2H/bow is very powerful. Weapon power pots are very useful for ganking. Use poison injection after your target health has reduced under 50%. Stop complaining about Viper it's very OP in PvP and should be n....d just like Velidreth and Tremorscale. Don't spam suprise attack, it's not a suprise if you use it more than once.

Kutsuu

Darkhalf wrote: »

@Kutsuu have you considered viper + spriggan?

I'd rather run a monster set with my current setup - and Viper + Spriggan will do less damage than Alchemist + Spriggan more often than not.

Darkhalf

Ok

Kutsuu

outsideworld76 wrote: »

2H/bow is very powerful. Weapon power pots are very useful for ganking. Use poison injection after your target health has reduced under 50%. Stop complaining about Viper it's very OP in PvP and should be n....d just like Velidreth and Tremorscale. Don't spam suprise attack, it's not a suprise if you use it more than once.

Actually invis pots are much more useful than weapon power pots for ganking. Especially the nice ones that have invis + expedition on them. This allows you to get in close to players, even run through them, in order to line up your gank without getting spotted. Invis pots are better than cloak because cloak messes up stealth attacks and invis from pots doesn't. Weaving light attack + Surprise Attack is several times in a row is often the best way to apply pressure and put someone on the defensive when they are CC immune and you aren't ready for a heavy > incap burst combo. I'm guessing you've been ganked a lot and you're salty about it.

dbonifaci_ESO

Kutsuu wrote: »

Darkhalf wrote: »

@Kutsuu have you considered viper + spriggan?

I'd rather run a monster set with my current setup - and Viper + Spriggan will do less damage than Alchemist + Spriggan more often than not.

Hey Kutsuu,

I've been trying to farm Spriggan's lately. Was wondering how a setup of either Kragh 2pc, 5 pc hundings/5 pc spriggans going dual wield sword/dagger and bow, or going with 2h/bow and doing 5/5/1 with Kragh helm, spriggan shoulders so that I keep the spriggan bonus with my bow as well.

What do you think?

Kutsuu

dbonifaci_ESO wrote: »

Kutsuu wrote: »

Darkhalf wrote: »

@Kutsuu have you considered viper + spriggan?

I'd rather run a monster set with my current setup - and Viper + Spriggan will do less damage than Alchemist + Spriggan more often than not.

Hey Kutsuu,

I've been trying to farm Spriggan's lately. Was wondering how a setup of either Kragh 2pc, 5 pc hundings/5 pc spriggans going dual wield sword/dagger and bow, or going with 2h/bow and doing 5/5/1 with Kragh helm, spriggan shoulders so that I keep the spriggan bonus with my bow as well.

What do you think?

If you're doing your opener the same way I do in my video, you don't need the Spriggan bonus on your bow. It will only benefit you when you've decided to do some "normal" combat where you do a light > poison injection then swap to your 2h. Velidreth > Selene > 1x Kra'gh 1x Kena/Veli IMO.

Personally I use 1x Kra'gh 1x Kena, mostly because I don't have 2x Velidreth or Selene.

dbonifaci_ESO

Kutsuu wrote: »

dbonifaci_ESO wrote: »

Kutsuu wrote: »

Darkhalf wrote: »

@Kutsuu have you considered viper + spriggan?

I'd rather run a monster set with my current setup - and Viper + Spriggan will do less damage than Alchemist + Spriggan more often than not.

Hey Kutsuu,

I've been trying to farm Spriggan's lately. Was wondering how a setup of either Kragh 2pc, 5 pc hundings/5 pc spriggans going dual wield sword/dagger and bow, or going with 2h/bow and doing 5/5/1 with Kragh helm, spriggan shoulders so that I keep the spriggan bonus with my bow as well.

What do you think?

If you're doing your opener the same way I do in my video, you don't need the Spriggan bonus on your bow. It will only benefit you when you've decided to do some "normal" combat where you do a light > poison injection then swap to your 2h. Velidreth > Selene > 1x Kra'gh 1x Kena/Veli IMO.

Personally I use 1x Kra'gh 1x Kena, mostly because I don't have 2x Velidreth or Selene.

I've noticed my health seems abysmally low. Even lower than your non-food health in your videos. Right now I sit at 15K in Cyrodiil with no max health/stam food. 20-21K with food. Outside of cyrodiil its 10k/15k. What pieces should I be using health enchants? Feel like I need to get another 3-4K unbuffed health. Even the Undaunted passive will only give me about 600-700 health. Right now my armor is all impen with stam enchants. Kragh/Veli for monster.

BuggeX

farm Vipern and velidreth. spam ambush. be god

Kutsuu

dbonifaci_ESO wrote: »

Kutsuu wrote: »

dbonifaci_ESO wrote: »

Kutsuu wrote: »

Darkhalf wrote: »

@Kutsuu have you considered viper + spriggan?

I'd rather run a monster set with my current setup - and Viper + Spriggan will do less damage than Alchemist + Spriggan more often than not.

Hey Kutsuu,

I've been trying to farm Spriggan's lately. Was wondering how a setup of either Kragh 2pc, 5 pc hundings/5 pc spriggans going dual wield sword/dagger and bow, or going with 2h/bow and doing 5/5/1 with Kragh helm, spriggan shoulders so that I keep the spriggan bonus with my bow as well.

What do you think?

If you're doing your opener the same way I do in my video, you don't need the Spriggan bonus on your bow. It will only benefit you when you've decided to do some "normal" combat where you do a light > poison injection then swap to your 2h. Velidreth > Selene > 1x Kra'gh 1x Kena/Veli IMO.

Personally I use 1x Kra'gh 1x Kena, mostly because I don't have 2x Velidreth or Selene.

I've noticed my health seems abysmally low. Even lower than your non-food health in your videos. Right now I sit at 15K in Cyrodiil with no max health/stam food. 20-21K with food. Outside of cyrodiil its 10k/15k. What pieces should I be using health enchants? Feel like I need to get another 3-4K unbuffed health. Even the Undaunted passive will only give me about 600-700 health. Right now my armor is all impen with stam enchants. Kragh/Veli for monster.

Hmm... the 2x health on the Alchemist set should bring you up to the 18k range while using drinks. I highly recommend drinks b/c they increase your survivability - get into a situation where you can't fear, dodge roll, or cloak when you need to and you're toast even with 23k health.

Are you playing on the no CP campaign? That would probably explain the lower health.

dbonifaci_ESO

Kutsuu wrote: »

dbonifaci_ESO wrote: »

Kutsuu wrote: »

dbonifaci_ESO wrote: »

Kutsuu wrote: »

Darkhalf wrote: »

@Kutsuu have you considered viper + spriggan?

I'd rather run a monster set with my current setup - and Viper + Spriggan will do less damage than Alchemist + Spriggan more often than not.

Hey Kutsuu,

I've been trying to farm Spriggan's lately. Was wondering how a setup of either Kragh 2pc, 5 pc hundings/5 pc spriggans going dual wield sword/dagger and bow, or going with 2h/bow and doing 5/5/1 with Kragh helm, spriggan shoulders so that I keep the spriggan bonus with my bow as well.

What do you think?

If you're doing your opener the same way I do in my video, you don't need the Spriggan bonus on your bow. It will only benefit you when you've decided to do some "normal" combat where you do a light > poison injection then swap to your 2h. Velidreth > Selene > 1x Kra'gh 1x Kena/Veli IMO.

Personally I use 1x Kra'gh 1x Kena, mostly because I don't have 2x Velidreth or Selene.

I've noticed my health seems abysmally low. Even lower than your non-food health in your videos. Right now I sit at 15K in Cyrodiil with no max health/stam food. 20-21K with food. Outside of cyrodiil its 10k/15k. What pieces should I be using health enchants? Feel like I need to get another 3-4K unbuffed health. Even the Undaunted passive will only give me about 600-700 health. Right now my armor is all impen with stam enchants. Kragh/Veli for monster.

Hmm... the 2x health on the Alchemist set should bring you up to the 18k range while using drinks. I highly recommend drinks b/c they increase your survivability - get into a situation where you can't fear, dodge roll, or cloak when you need to and you're toast even with 23k health.

Are you playing on the no CP campaign? That would probably explain the lower health.

Hey. No I'm playing Trueflame, but actually I'm I the process of trying to find someone to craft some Clever Alchemist pieces for me, so I'm not using that set at the moment. So currently running Spriggans/Hundings/Monster Helm. Once I get the clever alchemist armor/bow crafted I guess I'll see a spike in health. Then I can start running stam/mag regen potions.

Realizing as I've started to try and gank, how much easier people like yourself make it look in those videos haha. Positioning, knowing the areas where people are going to run through, and timing your attacks to stack as much damage into the smallest window possible take time.

Kutsuu

dbonifaci_ESO wrote: »

Kutsuu wrote: »

dbonifaci_ESO wrote: »

Kutsuu wrote: »

dbonifaci_ESO wrote: »

Kutsuu wrote: »

Darkhalf wrote: »

@Kutsuu have you considered viper + spriggan?

I'd rather run a monster set with my current setup - and Viper + Spriggan will do less damage than Alchemist + Spriggan more often than not.

Hey Kutsuu,

I've been trying to farm Spriggan's lately. Was wondering how a setup of either Kragh 2pc, 5 pc hundings/5 pc spriggans going dual wield sword/dagger and bow, or going with 2h/bow and doing 5/5/1 with Kragh helm, spriggan shoulders so that I keep the spriggan bonus with my bow as well.

What do you think?

If you're doing your opener the same way I do in my video, you don't need the Spriggan bonus on your bow. It will only benefit you when you've decided to do some "normal" combat where you do a light > poison injection then swap to your 2h. Velidreth > Selene > 1x Kra'gh 1x Kena/Veli IMO.

Personally I use 1x Kra'gh 1x Kena, mostly because I don't have 2x Velidreth or Selene.

I've noticed my health seems abysmally low. Even lower than your non-food health in your videos. Right now I sit at 15K in Cyrodiil with no max health/stam food. 20-21K with food. Outside of cyrodiil its 10k/15k. What pieces should I be using health enchants? Feel like I need to get another 3-4K unbuffed health. Even the Undaunted passive will only give me about 600-700 health. Right now my armor is all impen with stam enchants. Kragh/Veli for monster.

Hmm... the 2x health on the Alchemist set should bring you up to the 18k range while using drinks. I highly recommend drinks b/c they increase your survivability - get into a situation where you can't fear, dodge roll, or cloak when you need to and you're toast even with 23k health.

Are you playing on the no CP campaign? That would probably explain the lower health.

Hey. No I'm playing Trueflame, but actually I'm I the process of trying to find someone to craft some Clever Alchemist pieces for me, so I'm not using that set at the moment. So currently running Spriggans/Hundings/Monster Helm. Once I get the clever alchemist armor/bow crafted I guess I'll see a spike in health. Then I can start running stam/mag regen potions.

Realizing as I've started to try and gank, how much easier people like yourself make it look in those videos haha. Positioning, knowing the areas where people are going to run through, and timing your attacks to stack as much damage into the smallest window possible take time.

Yeah you should gain a little over 2k HP from the 2 and 3 piece bonuses of Alchemist. In the meantime you could run max health + stam regen food if you wanted.

Yeah I do encourage people to try it before knocking it. There's more to it than meets the eye when you watch a video. Another thing to keep in mind is your exit strategy - I like to make sure I'm posted up very near things I can use to LOS kite with and I always have my direction of escape in mind as soon as the gank begins.

One trick to mastering your opener is to put on a low damage weapon (craft a level 1 weapon) and practice on regular overland mobs. Don't take advantage of their immobility by sitting stationary behind them to setup - be moving while you do it so it feels like it will in Cyrodiil.

Getting a feeling for timing with horse speed is something you can only get when ganking real players, though. That one just comes with time.

Something I've been playing with lately is using the teleport shade. Timing gets really close when you're trying to cast your shade in a good spot then still move into position to gank, so the invis + expedition potions are super nice for this.

SneaK

You don't need Viper.

You also shouldn't be running a 4PC Hundlings. Make sure you're 5PC on the Hundlings is active at all times. Drop Warhorn and use Incap or DBoS, and you need to run a heal. I'd drop the DW/Bow idea too. Better off running 2H/Bow or DW/2H.

dbonifaci_ESO

SneaK wrote: »

You don't need Viper.

You also shouldn't be running a 4PC Hundlings. Make sure you're 5PC on the Hundlings is active at all times. Drop Warhorn and use Incap or DBoS, and you need to run a heal. I'd drop the DW/Bow idea too. Better off running 2H/Bow or DW/2H.

Yeah, currently running 5pc hundings, kragh helm, veli shoulders, spriggans jewelry, spriggans sharpened 2h axe, bow of hundings rage. Basically I need to find someone to craft my 4pc alchemist and an alchemist bow, then switch out one pice of armor for a spriggans piece and i'll be looking at 5 pc alch/5 pc spriggans/then either kragh helm/veli shoulders or 2 pc kragh. This is until I can get a veli helm, which right now seems impossible, as every vCoS group I've been in is disaster, I'm sure partly due to my so far lackluster dps. Working on in though!

Kutsuu

This guy can teach you to PVE DPS, but just FYI vCOS is more about mechanics than DPS.

http://tamrielfoundry.com/topic/stamina-nightblade-pve-dps-guide-for-dark-brotherhood/

I do around 25-35k DPS in PVE (depending on how stationary I can be) on my stamblade with Hundings+Viper, and 1x Kra'gh 1x Kena (simply because I still haven't gotten a 2piece velidreth or kra'gh). I have gotten at least a dozen Lord Warden shoulders though. lol

dbonifaci_ESO

Kutsuu wrote: »

This guy can teach you to PVE DPS, but just FYI vCOS is more about mechanics than DPS.

http://tamrielfoundry.com/topic/stamina-nightblade-pve-dps-guide-for-dark-brotherhood/

I do around 25-35k DPS in PVE (depending on how stationary I can be) on my stamblade with Hundings+Viper, and 1x Kra'gh 1x Kena (simply because I still haven't gotten a 2piece velidreth or kra'gh). I have gotten at least a dozen Lord Warden shoulders though. lol

Cool I'll take a look at this. The one thing after glancing at it briefly though is the main thing I notice with all these guides that is problematic for a player just trying to tackle something like vMaelestrom Arena for the first time: The build uses maelstrom weapons. Doesn't really work for someone who is trying to actually complete vMA to get those weapons!

Kutsuu

dbonifaci_ESO wrote: »

Kutsuu wrote: »

This guy can teach you to PVE DPS, but just FYI vCOS is more about mechanics than DPS.

http://tamrielfoundry.com/topic/stamina-nightblade-pve-dps-guide-for-dark-brotherhood/

I do around 25-35k DPS in PVE (depending on how stationary I can be) on my stamblade with Hundings+Viper, and 1x Kra'gh 1x Kena (simply because I still haven't gotten a 2piece velidreth or kra'gh). I have gotten at least a dozen Lord Warden shoulders though. lol

Cool I'll take a look at this. The one thing after glancing at it briefly though is the main thing I notice with all these guides that is problematic for a player just trying to tackle something like vMaelestrom Arena for the first time: The build uses maelstrom weapons. Doesn't really work for someone who is trying to actually complete vMA to get those weapons!

It's possible that you stopped early when reading the guide. It starts with the 100% optimal min/maxed build, then goes on to suggest lots of alternate gear sets and the VMA section of the guide doesn't even suggest you use VMA 1hers.

Kutsuu

He also suggests that you don't even try VMA on a stamblade without VO.... it's probably good advice. I did it with the hunding+viper setup and died at least 400 times. Went again on my magplar and still had vitality left.

dbonifaci_ESO

Kutsuu wrote: »

He also suggests that you don't even try VMA on a stamblade without VO.... it's probably good advice. I did it with the hunding+viper setup and died at least 400 times. Went again on my magplar and still had vitality left.

Yeah finished reading it and sounds like unless I want to torture myself, I need to get VO. Not sure how difficult that is to get.

Almost wondering if for vMA, I should gear out my sorc or dk to try and complete it in order to get myself some vMA weapons.

Zouni

Kutsuu wrote: »

Ah yeah I still lurk around postcount but don't post much since I'm not playing DAOC anymore. Good to see other people from there around here!

If you aren't going to go with a 2piece monster set, then 5/5/1(Kra'gh) is better than going with Agility for sure.

As far as 2h/bow goes, this is what I run:
5x Clever Alchemist (4x body, 1x bow defending)
5x Spriggan, Viper, or even Draugr Hulk - basically any DPS set with jewelry (3x Jewelry, 1x body, 1x 2h sharpened)
2x Velidreth will give you the most burst performance, but 1x Kra'gh 1x Velidreth is a nice dmg increase if you don't want procs.

There is a video of me using this build with the 1x Kra'gh 1x Velidreth option here - note that in the video I was using full impen and serpent mundus. I've since changed to divines and Shadow and the damage is considerably higher:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyyMGkC0pIY

I use stam+mag regen drinks now instead of the health/stam food you saw in the vid. You NEED the magicka regen for escaping and keeping fear pressure up - the health/stam food is a death sentence. Yes your health will be low and it is paramount that you be very slippery and DO NOT stand around and fight people who are fighting back. You CC and burst, or you cloak and wait for an opportunity to CC and burst. You're basically a god (in damage output) for the duration of Clever Alchemist, but don't let it cloud your judgement. Just one good ultimate combo is going to drop you so you need to be rolling and cloaking.

A very strong burst combo in or out of sneak (better in sneak of course) is fully charged bow heavy > swap to 2h and Ambush > Incap or Suprise attack. Use magelight on the bow heavy attack for max damage.

I run lots of potions depending on situation. Roguish stealth potions are a very cheap way to invis and I use these most often. I occasionally use lingering health or immovable potions. No matter what you need to be popping potions on your bow bar before you attack someone.

How does magelight make your bow attack stronger? You seem to be stamina based in your videos.