My melee stamblade - bars and rotation help please

Bam_Bam

Hi. I really like my stamblade, probably more than my magDK. He is purely melee - he dies a lot a lot (LOL) but it has helped make me a better player. He uses DW for his attack bar and 2H for his back bar. I have them set up as follows but I'm wondering what YOU (a super-experienced melee stamblade) would change? Gear-wise, Hundings Rage and Clever Alchemist and Agility 3 piece

Main Bar (DW - DPS)
1 - Surprise Attack
2 - Mass Hysteria
3 - Ambush
4 - Dark Cloak
5- Camoflaged Hunter
Ulti - Dawnbreaker of Smiting

Back Bar (2H Heal/Buff)
1 - Rally
2 - Double Take
3 - Resolving Vigor
4 - Efficient Purge
5 - Trap Beast/Elusive Mist/Caltrops/Shadow Image/ Mark Target
Ulti - Ice Comet

Usual Rotation (from stealth)
Heavy attack/Surprise Attack > Mass Hysteria > Light Attack > Surprise Attach

Regarding the bars
I currently use Double Take rather than Shuffle as I very rarely use magika skills so it lets me get a little stam back. Is that a good philosophy or should I switch to Shuffle?
I like Efficient Purge but I feel like a I rarely use it (I use immovable pots and usually have one up) - when I do it's to cleanse poisons. But thats about it - could I put a better DPS skill there instead?
Slot 5 in Back Bar is completely random and the skills mentioned above are what I'm aiming for - atm though, they are unmorphed.

I carry thousands of pots too mostly essence of power and essence of immovability.

Fun facts. My damage record (one hit) is 56k and regularly hitting 55.2k. - but when I hit the stuoid dummy skeleton i Get an average of about 14k for 1 minute - that has surelyt got to be a rotation problem?)

All CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM greatfully accepted and appreciated!

KingJ

Wrong section for this pretty sure your talking about pve correct?

Bam_Bam

KingJ wrote: »

Wrong section for this pretty sure your talking about pve correct?

Nope PvP.

Bam_Bam

Anyone? Anyone? Frye? Frye? Frye?

runningtings

Rally and Vigor are both heals, why do you need both?
You probably die a lot because you have no range at all because you are DW/2H, I play DW/Bow so I can keep at range when my stats are low but still keep fighting.

I use Shuffle, the dodge chance is very helpful and tri-stat potions are a necessity for when you get into trouble and just need to survive.

Good luck.

Bam_Bam

runningtings wrote: »

Rally and Vigor are both heals, why do you need both?
You probably die a lot because you have no range at all because you are DW/2H, I play DW/Bow so I can keep at range when my stats are low but still keep fighting.

I use Shuffle, the dodge chance is very helpful and tri-stat potions are a necessity for when you get into trouble and just need to survive.

Good luck.

Wah gwaan man, Runnin' Tings Ace name mate! Thanks for replying. Yeah its a pure melee build. I saw (see) soooooo many Bow/2h builds - I justwanted to be a little different. I knew that giving up range would = a LOT more risk (and a shyteload of dying), but I'm still determined to try and perfect it.
As for rally and vigour - they are indeed both heals. Plus one gives major brutality and both are HoT which is nice when I know I'll be taking at least some damage.
I'm going to give Shuffle a try. Even with all medium armour, it dooesn't last as long as Double Take (i THINK its about .5 or 1 sec shorter). And because Double Take taps into my magicka pool rather than stamina, it helps a lil bit with my resource management. I forgot to mention that I'm Vamp so I also get decent recovery when in stealth.
I'm still wondering if I REALLY need Purge. Its a really really nice skill to have and it's saved my life a bunch of times, especially when using it in conjunction with Immovability pots.

runningtings

Haha thanks, people don't usually get the name

Yeh I am Vamp too, my Health and Magicka recovery can be a problem when under attack which is where the tri-stat pots come in handy.

I don't die very much, usually a couple of hours PVP for me would be something like 30 kills (10 KBs) and 2 deaths, so my whole way of playing is different to you.

That said, I like the idea of trying something different, good luck with it.
I might mix it up too after today's patch.

KingJ

OK change you setup to this plus don't listen to the other guy DW bow doesn't work. Rally the best heal you got and our only burst heal.

DW bar:Ambush ,killer blade,fear or blood craze (nice dot HOT)Vigor,Surprise attack ultimate incap

2h bar:Shuffle better than double take cost Stan and removes snares and root.If you can't move your dead.Relentless or siphoning attacks until the patch.Rally, cloak and Fear back bar Dawn breaker of smiting

Make sure all points are into stam. Purge is way to expensive to use on a stambuild.If cloak work it suppress DOTS which is nice when it wants to work.

Buff up before a fight with shuffle relentless vigor rally .Ambush blood craze surprise attack surprise attack fear into a incap. Should kill most people.

Bam_Bam

KingJ wrote: »

OK change you setup to this plus don't listen to the other guy DW bow doesn't work. Rally the best heal you got and our only burst heal.

DW bar:Ambush ,killer blade,fear or blood craze (nice dot HOT)Vigor,Surprise attack ultimate incap

2h bar:Shuffle better than double take cost Stan and removes snares and root.If you can't move your dead.Relentless or siphoning attacks until the patch.Rally, cloak and Fear back bar Dawn breaker of smiting

Make sure all points are into stam. Purge is way to expensive to use on a stambuild.If cloak work it suppress DOTS which is nice when it wants to work.

Buff up before a fight with shuffle relentless vigor rally .Ambush blood craze surprise attack surprise attack fear into a incap. Should kill most people.

Thanks for the input King. Really appreciate it mate

Bam_Bam

runningtings wrote: »

Haha thanks, people don't usually get the name

Yeh I am Vamp too, my Health and Magicka recovery can be a problem when under attack which is where the tri-stat pots come in handy.

I don't die very much, usually a couple of hours PVP for me would be something like 30 kills (10 KBs) and 2 deaths, so my whole way of playing is different to you.

That said, I like the idea of trying something different, good luck with it.
I might mix it up too after today's patch.

When it works it freaks people out lol. At the moment I'm trying to stay calm with my 'camera control' so i stay a bit more focused. (i used to make myself dizzy , the camera spinning all over the place to see where everyone was. LOL. BAD TINGS!)

runningtings

KingJ wrote: »

OK change you setup to this plus don't listen to the other guy DW bow doesn't work. Rally the best heal you got and our only burst heal.

That's not very nice is it?
Works fine for me.

Bam_Bam

runningtings wrote: »

KingJ wrote: »

OK change you setup to this plus don't listen to the other guy DW bow doesn't work. Rally the best heal you got and our only burst heal.

That's not very nice is it?
Works fine for me.

That's the main thing1

Omnipresent

i personaly would replace vigor with boneshield or shuffle since you already have rally

Edweardo

Since when Dark clock removes Dots ? that time is over since ages (and thanks Zos)

Berenhir

Edweardo wrote: »

Since when Dark clock removes Dots ? that time is over since ages (and thanks Zos)

It does not remove them but supresses the damage while invisibility is up.

Omnipresent

lets hope im wrong but gankblades are going to have a fun time on battlegrounds. they are really fast paced and theres not alot of time to be sneaking around.. going to have to lean more to defence. or you can just start a sorc lol

kylewwefan

I read somewhere recently about Stam toons using purge is quite good actually. Healers don't like using it because high cost and it doesn't really hurt Stam toons to use it. Could easily swap out siege shield or anything else when you need it.

I would keep using double take instead of shuffle for same reason. Shuffle is costly to use.

The target dummy has 18k resistance. The 50k hits you got on a player was likely in 7k resistance light armor and you had some buffs going on.


I just started getting into PvP a bit more recently. Couldn't live without rapids on my bar.

Try using S/B on your main attack bar. You won't hit quite as hard but adds a good bit of resistance. Something I've been messing with for a little while.

Bam_Bam

kylewwefan wrote: »

I read somewhere recently about Stam toons using purge is quite good actually. Healers don't like using it because high cost and it doesn't really hurt Stam toons to use it. Could easily swap out siege shield or anything else when you need it.

I would keep using double take instead of shuffle for same reason. Shuffle is costly to use.

The target dummy has 18k resistance. The 50k hits you got on a player was likely in 7k resistance light armor and you had some buffs going on.


I just started getting into PvP a bit more recently. Couldn't live without rapids on my bar.

Try using S/B on your main attack bar. You won't hit quite as hard but adds a good bit of resistance. Something I've been messing with for a little while.

Thanks!

I should mentionm the 50k crit is NOT on players but on random mobs (giants, mammoths - that kinda thing) 50k crit on players in Azura - I think everyone would quit if that kinda player was around lol

geonsocal

pure melee screams heavy armor to me...

I use mirage on my stamblade just to conserve stamina, it lasts forever and allows me to focus my stamina on attacks...

what are you using to debuff your enemies?

it seems like it would be a lot of fun to be up close to the front lines all the time - but, for the most part - that's a crazy dangerous thing to do - particularly without a "tanky" build...

bows seem to be made just for stamblades...

Bam_Bam

geonsocal wrote: »

pure melee screams heavy armor to me...

I use mirage on my stamblade just to conserve stamina, it lasts forever and allows me to focus my stamina on attacks...

what are you using to debuff your enemies?

it seems like it would be a lot of fun to be up close to the front lines all the time - but, for the most part - that's a crazy dangerous thing to do - particularly without a "tanky" build...

bows seem to be made just for stamblades...

I currently use 2heavy/5med. But once I feel completely comfortable with the build I'll probably switch to 7med as the medium armour passives are really very nice.

With regards to playing on the frontline, that is a no-no - my magicka templar was awesome at surving and keeping others alive under enormous pressure. With my stamblade I like staying invis and watching enemies use up their resources. I also like to jump in and out of fights - to help take pressure off tanks or to REALLY hassle healers . lol. If need a backup plan then mass hysteria tends to make most people stop what they're doing. If I time it right I can kill one, sometimes two and injure another and be invis and gone. If i'm spotted and can't purge then I'm usually focused and that 's ok - I've got my kills (and usually they are useful ones, especially healers).