Sorc or Nightblade?

DigiAngel · February 25

Hey all!

Welllll...before I knew (or cared) about alliances and PvP, I made two characters in the same alliance (I don't remember which). Now...I have 7 characters total, one empty slot for Archanist (once ZOS finishes nerfing it and the price for Necrom goes back on sale), and no alliance change tokens. That said...I want to have a PvP character in each alliance...so now I'm down to these two for the last alliance to have one be also a PvP character. SO....recommendations for which and build would help. I have no idea what my playstyle would be...I have been enjoying Oaken one bar build for ease in PVE, but I'm open to just about anything at this point. Thank you much!

xDeusEJRx · February 25

Nightblade is easier to secure kills with and offers a variety of playstyles and build, whereas Sorc has a high skill gap to be decent.

If you play with oakensoul in PVE already you can make an Oakensoul nightblade with a damage set like Rallying cry and something like Flame blossom and then your choice on monster set

DigiAngel · February 25

Just what I needed...thank you!

moo_2021 · February 25

NB because sorc pets are very distracting and tend to be dead when you need them most.

ClowdyAllDay · February 25

Well not that my input is needed but def go NB

Turtle_Bot · February 25

NB, 100%. It is already the strongest class in PvP on live and is getting buffs next patch that make it even easier to play.

DigiAngel · February 26

Did indeed go with the nightblade...thanks all!

Major_Toughness · February 26

Sorc 100%, better than NB currently and will be the best class in the game next patch.

NB is getting nerfed next patch.

DigiAngel · February 26

I see two very conflicting responses here.....one, NB is getting buffed, the other nerfed. So..which is it?

xDeusEJRx · February 26

DigiAngel wrote: »

I see two very conflicting responses here.....one, NB is getting buffed, the other nerfed. So..which is it?

Nightblade is not getting nerfed, it's burst potential is getting buffed, Sorcerer is also getting buffed, but sorcerer still has the issue of being high skill floor. Sorcerer has a large skill curve, whereas Nightblade has a lower skill curve. So I would recommend going with what's easier to get into, though that's just a recommendation. Play whatever you think feels the best

Aces-High-82 · February 26

I hatte to say it but in case you want to stick to Oakensoul NB Sniper build is probably the most effective considering the 1bar restriction. There are plenty guides in YouTube.

Major_Toughness · February 26

DigiAngel wrote: »

I see two very conflicting responses here.....one, NB is getting buffed, the other nerfed. So..which is it?

NB is losing Major Berserk which is a 10% damage loss.
To counter that, Concealed Weapon and Incap are getting 10% damage boosts, but all other damage will have less damage

It is getting a very nice sustain buff, but barely changed anything as you don't build into sustain anyway.

Sorc is already the easiest class to survive on and it's getting even more defense with a burst heal on a shield. Meaning it will have more offensive opportunities.

xDeusEJRx · February 26

Major_Toughness wrote: »

DigiAngel wrote: »

I see two very conflicting responses here.....one, NB is getting buffed, the other nerfed. So..which is it?

NB is losing Major Berserk which is a 10% damage loss.
To counter that, Concealed Weapon and Incap are getting 10% damage boosts, but all other damage will have less damage

It is getting a very nice sustain buff, but barely changed anything as you don't build into sustain anyway.

Sorc is already the easiest class to survive on and it's getting even more defense with a burst heal on a shield. Meaning it will have more offensive opportunities.

I don't think losing major berserk is a loss to the class at all, that just re-enables Sea serpent Nightblade again as an option, which was a very popular brawler setup before, and even stronger next patch.

Also i HIGHLY disagree sorc is easiest to survive on, the survivability is either, kite, streak away, or shield stack (which is a hard playstyle for a lot of people)

Conversely, nightblades can cloak away, kite, shadow image away, roll dodge (with reduced roll cost because of Blur).

We can debate which is "better or worse" but I think Nightblade has WAY more safety nets in place as opposed to Sorcerer to prevent failure. The skill floor for nightblade is a lot lower than Sorcerer is, not to mention there's more ways to play Nightblade, whereas sorc is VERY limited on decent playstyles.

katorga · February 26

Turtle_Bot wrote: »

NB, 100%. It is already the strongest class in PvP on live and is getting buffs next patch that make it even easier to play.

NB gets majorly buffed for pvp every patch.

Best bomber class.
Best ganking class.
Best burst damage class.
Top tier ball group class.
Top tier melee brawler class.

Losing Major Berserk is a non-issue. First, NB had TWO sources of Berserk. Most classes have NO source. NB still has it if they want to slot the skill to get it.

Compared to Sorc, NB is going to have higher movement speed, higher healing, higher damage mitigation, higher critical damage. Next patch it will have a much better, combined, version of Dark Deal and Critical Surge.

Heck, NB even has a pet, if you really want to use it.

Major_Toughness · February 27

xDeusEJRx wrote: »

Major_Toughness wrote: »

DigiAngel wrote: »

I see two very conflicting responses here.....one, NB is getting buffed, the other nerfed. So..which is it?

NB is losing Major Berserk which is a 10% damage loss.
To counter that, Concealed Weapon and Incap are getting 10% damage boosts, but all other damage will have less damage

It is getting a very nice sustain buff, but barely changed anything as you don't build into sustain anyway.

Sorc is already the easiest class to survive on and it's getting even more defense with a burst heal on a shield. Meaning it will have more offensive opportunities.

I don't think losing major berserk is a loss to the class at all, that just re-enables Sea serpent Nightblade again as an option, which was a very popular brawler setup before, and even stronger next patch.

Also i HIGHLY disagree sorc is easiest to survive on, the survivability is either, kite, streak away, or shield stack (which is a hard playstyle for a lot of people)

Conversely, nightblades can cloak away, kite, shadow image away, roll dodge (with reduced roll cost because of Blur).

We can debate which is "better or worse" but I think Nightblade has WAY more safety nets in place as opposed to Sorcerer to prevent failure. The skill floor for nightblade is a lot lower than Sorcerer is, not to mention there's more ways to play Nightblade, whereas sorc is VERY limited on decent playstyles.

Streak is better than Shade and Cloak. Sorcs can also dodge and kite. That's is their entire play style. All you need to do is Streak twice in a row and you have plenty of time to Dark Deal/Exchange, shield up, vigor up and go again for a burst window. Add in LoS and you are unkillable.

If you can't survive on a sorc then idk bro, not even a skill issue, maybe turn your controller on or something. It bewildered me how anyone says it is hard or the class is struggling.

Sea-Snail snare is a death sentence on NB unless you are going to hug LoS literally all the time.

SandandStars · February 28

huh

sorc is easier in pvp than nb

that’s so… interesting

xDeusEJRx · February 28

Major_Toughness wrote: »

xDeusEJRx wrote: »

Major_Toughness wrote: »

DigiAngel wrote: »

I see two very conflicting responses here.....one, NB is getting buffed, the other nerfed. So..which is it?

NB is losing Major Berserk which is a 10% damage loss.
To counter that, Concealed Weapon and Incap are getting 10% damage boosts, but all other damage will have less damage

It is getting a very nice sustain buff, but barely changed anything as you don't build into sustain anyway.

Sorc is already the easiest class to survive on and it's getting even more defense with a burst heal on a shield. Meaning it will have more offensive opportunities.

I don't think losing major berserk is a loss to the class at all, that just re-enables Sea serpent Nightblade again as an option, which was a very popular brawler setup before, and even stronger next patch.

Also i HIGHLY disagree sorc is easiest to survive on, the survivability is either, kite, streak away, or shield stack (which is a hard playstyle for a lot of people)

Conversely, nightblades can cloak away, kite, shadow image away, roll dodge (with reduced roll cost because of Blur).

We can debate which is "better or worse" but I think Nightblade has WAY more safety nets in place as opposed to Sorcerer to prevent failure. The skill floor for nightblade is a lot lower than Sorcerer is, not to mention there's more ways to play Nightblade, whereas sorc is VERY limited on decent playstyles.

Streak is better than Shade and Cloak. Sorcs can also dodge and kite. That's is their entire play style. All you need to do is Streak twice in a row and you have plenty of time to Dark Deal/Exchange, shield up, vigor up and go again for a burst window. Add in LoS and you are unkillable.

If you can't survive on a sorc then idk bro, not even a skill issue, maybe turn your controller on or something. It bewildered me how anyone says it is hard or the class is struggling.

Sea-Snail snare is a death sentence on NB unless you are going to hug LoS literally all the time.

Double streak into a dark deal and exchange is never reliable, especially for a newbie. Dark deal has a cast time and can be interrupted, there is many times where you can be crushing shock interrupted and stuck in a stun animation because of it. Not to mention it requires you to give up your off resource pool to get your main resources.
Nightblade doesn't have to trade one resource pool for another at all, their sustaining is a lot easier.

For a new player, it's easy to tell which is the easier class to play on.

baselesschart · February 28

While I do not deny the sheer strength of NB, I think the idea that its easy to play is nonsense

SandandStars · February 28

*easier

as in easier to do high dmg, burst heal, at higher speed than any other class

Aznox · February 29

If you want to be able to pick your fights, kill anyone you can and escape the others (except sorc), pick NB.
If you want to be able to pick your fights, kill anyone you can and escape the others (including NB), pick Sorc.

Joke aside, cloak has a higher floor, streak has a higher ceiling/potential (harder to counter).

At "lower difficulty PvP", NB can be easier to make use of, thanks to higher damage and enemies being too bad to counter cloak.

At "higher difficulty PvP", NB must master its offensive toolkit to remain relevant while an experienced Sorc keeps getting more value out of streak.

NB has higher base damage than Sorc, but Sorc can sometimes get away with a squishier build, it is an eternal - and surprisingly balanced - fight to see who will find the best equilibrium and get away with the most damage.

Specific on Sorc vs NB: most Sorc builds contain no less than 3 abilities that soft-counter cloak (BA, Curse, Streak).

(disclaimer: PoV from a BG Sorc that never played NB)

Major_Toughness · February 29

I only mained bowsorc since Greymoor, what do I know.

Play NB, no argument it's a good class, and according the all the non-NB players it's the best in the game.

xDeusEJRx · February 29

Major_Toughness wrote: »

I only mained bowsorc since Greymoor, what do I know.

Play NB, no argument it's a good class, and according the all the non-NB players it's the best in the game.

We're talking about sorc and nightblade from the perspective of a noob who's never done any PVP ever, not someone who's played since Greymoor patch.

Your average pvp zerg players more likely to be a heavy attack build in a zerg, and as a sorc there's not much efficiency at all in that type of playstyle. At least as a nightblade they'd have a better burst potential with grim focus. Grim focus is super strong to where it hits hard at a base level, so even entry-level Nightblades can perform well.

Conversely your entry level sorc player is more likely to spam mages wrath in between heavy attack channels on a HA build.

Like let's be real for a second.

moo_2021 · February 29

SandandStars wrote: »

*easier

as in easier to do high dmg, burst heal, at higher speed than any other class

Pets are extremely annoying, even worse than the bear because healing depends on them. Also pet spawning animation can't be cancelled

Often I kill people without knowing because of the curse. How do I even know whom I cursed? It makes me feel like I'm losing even when I'm winning.

Streak doesn't work after taking the ball or relic.

Crystal frag delays, Mage's wrath delays, ... The class animations just don't feel right.

DigiAngel · February 29

Pets are extremely annoying, even worse than the bear because healing depends on them. Also pet spawning animation can't be cancelled

Haha...I can't count the times I've done a heavy attack into a mob only to be focused on the flappy bird

DrNukenstein · February 29

Major_Toughness wrote: »

Sea-Snail snare is a death sentence on NB unless you are going to hug LoS literally all the time.

SSC is pretty powerful, even and especially on a ganker setup

DigiAngel · February 29

I'm still trying for the leads...what a hassle for the Sea Snail item