After a long hiatus, is it worth coming back to my Nightblade?

iso_1a_ESO · July 2014

I've been away from the game for about two months or so, maybe a bit longer. After growing frustrated leveling my Nightblade and not finding any alternatives to the "Bloodmage" healer every one was going on about back in those days, I left the game to allow the developers to iron out the issues and get the class up to par with others. That being said, in that time they've acknowledged that there are major issues with the class overall. That doesn't necessarily mean it's all sunshine and rainbows now.

To those of you with current experience with the game as it stands right now, how are we doing as far as Nightblade "Brokedness" levels? Is it playable now? Are we still considered sub-par except for a couple of cookie cutter builds? I'm really not too keen on coming back to the game and being considered a broken class, nor am I too fond of the idea of re-rolling to a Sorcerer or Dragonknight. From the small amount of perusing I did on the forums a couple of days ago, it doesn't seem like too much has been fixed for the class. What are your thoughts on this?

cameo · July 2014

Some of the really cool things that they claim to have fixed in this last patch actually aren't fixed...sooo. Haste still broken, shadow cloak still buggy, stam builds still out performed by magicka builds, medium armor still inferior to light (mostly because stam is weaker).

iso_1a_ESO · July 2014

cameo wrote: »

Some of the really cool things that they claim to have fixed in this last patch actually aren't fixed...sooo. Haste still broken, shadow cloak still buggy, stam builds still out performed by magicka builds, medium armor still inferior to light (mostly because stam is weaker).

Seriously? Ah man. That really sucks. I know a lot of folks out there are really bummed, myself included, that classic assassin / thief characters are just not viable at all because of Magicka's vastly superior abilities and staying power. You wouldn't think an imbalance this drastic would have made it past early alpha. That's a real bummer for us "sneaky stab stab" guys.

Brasseurfb16_ESO · July 2014

iso_1a_ESO wrote: »

cameo wrote: »

Some of the really cool things that they claim to have fixed in this last patch actually aren't fixed...sooo. Haste still broken, shadow cloak still buggy, stam builds still out performed by magicka builds, medium armor still inferior to light (mostly because stam is weaker).

Seriously? Ah man. That really sucks. I know a lot of folks out there are really bummed, myself included, that classic assassin / thief characters are just not viable at all because of Magicka's vastly superior abilities and staying power. You wouldn't think an imbalance this drastic would have made it past early alpha. That's a real bummer for us "sneaky stab stab" guys.

And what Cameo doesn't tell you, is the fact they are working around that issue and aknowledge it multiple times. They are boosting item sets and adjusting soft caps on update 1.3.0 to make stamina more on par with magicka builds. They are also going to make ultimate scale with both weapon power and spellpower and I just watched a twicht with Nick Konkel and they were speaking to upgrade Heavy Armour so that it would generate ressources when you get hit.

Is it going to make stamina on par with magicka? Probably not. But the team is going in the right direction and if they continue like this stamina builds might be on par in a couple of updates.

iso_1a_ESO · July 2014

Brasseurfb16_ESO wrote: »

iso_1a_ESO wrote: »

cameo wrote: »

Some of the really cool things that they claim to have fixed in this last patch actually aren't fixed...sooo. Haste still broken, shadow cloak still buggy, stam builds still out performed by magicka builds, medium armor still inferior to light (mostly because stam is weaker).

Seriously? Ah man. That really sucks. I know a lot of folks out there are really bummed, myself included, that classic assassin / thief characters are just not viable at all because of Magicka's vastly superior abilities and staying power. You wouldn't think an imbalance this drastic would have made it past early alpha. That's a real bummer for us "sneaky stab stab" guys.

And what Cameo doesn't tell you, is the fact they are working around that issue and aknowledge it multiple times. They are boosting item sets and adjusting soft caps on update 1.3.0 to make stamina more on par with magicka builds. They are also going to make ultimate scale with both weapon power and spellpower and I just watched a twicht with Nick Konkel and they were speaking to upgrade Heavy Armour so that it would generate ressources when you get hit.

Is it going to make stamina on par with magicka? Probably not. But the team is going in the right direction and if they continue like this stamina builds might be on par in a couple of updates.

That's great news! I don't really mind that they're taking small steps in the right direction and making us wait a bit longer. That's better than a knee jerk reaction that ends up causing more problems than it fixes. Hopefully in a few weeks we'll have a more manageable system for stamina users. Does it suck that it's been this long coming? Yes, absolutely. If it's ultimately balanced, however, I don't really mind as long as, eventually, it's fixed.

IceDread · July 2014

Seeing how NB has class skills that uses magica and are based on stamina crit.. and some based on magica crit I'd say as the game design is NB is still behind.

Stx · July 2014

It sucks having so many abilities that cost magicka but go off of weapon crit... makes gearing a pain. But I still enjoy my Nightblade a lot. NB's are competitive with the other classes now I think... but light armor builds are still ahead of stamina builds for now... taking them a long long time to fix that.

Stannum · July 2014

Stx wrote: »

It sucks having so many abilities that cost magicka but go off of weapon crit... makes gearing a pain.

I think it's not a problem. All depend's on build. It simply should not be 40-9-0 or 0-49-0 build.
Look here's my NB DW build I use magika for getting buffs and position and my main spam attack is on stamina. And I have 20 in magika to have enought pool and only 9 in stamina as i have great regen (cap+skill). And I have almost cap in magika regen (74/s) with only one light armour belt.
So i use magika to have Focused Attacks buff then I stun target and debuff target's armour, then I use stamina spam to take it's HP down, then I finish it with impale to get magika via passive. And my high weapon crit works on me in every attacking skill in build.

cameo · July 2014

Brasseurfb16_ESO wrote: »

And what Cameo doesn't tell you, is the fact they are working around that issue and aknowledge it multiple times. They are boosting item sets and adjusting soft caps on update 1.3.0 to make stamina more on par with magicka builds. They are also going to make ultimate scale with both weapon power and spellpower and I just watched a twicht with Nick Konkel and they were speaking to upgrade Heavy Armour so that it would generate ressources when you get hit.

Is it going to make stamina on par with magicka? Probably not. But the team is going in the right direction and if they continue like this stamina builds might be on par in a couple of updates.

They also acknowledged the broken Shadow Cloak skill since beta multiple times, but it still isn't fixed. So sorry if I don't hinge my hopes on a future patch until it's live and working. I'm glad they are working on it, but until it's actually working I can't say it's getting better.

Troponin · July 2014

dancing.in.the.webeb17_ESO wrote: »

Stx wrote: »

It sucks having so many abilities that cost magicka but go off of weapon crit... makes gearing a pain.

I think it's not a problem. All depend's on build. It simply should not be 40-9-0 or 0-49-0 build.
Look here's my NB DW build I use magika for getting buffs and position and my main spam attack is on stamina. And I have 20 in magika to have enought pool and only 9 in stamina as i have great regen (cap+skill). And I have almost cap in magika regen (74/s) with only one light armour belt.
So i use magika to have Focused Attacks buff then I stun target and debuff target's armour, then I use stamina spam to take it's HP down, then I finish it with impale to get magika via passive. And my high weapon crit works on me in every attacking skill in build.

I think you're helping to prove the point. That's not a stamina build. 4/5 of your abilities are magicka with the exception of your stam based CC, which obviously doesn't get spammed.

elwhy · July 2014

I still play a sneaky bow (so I guess not as sneaky as dw) assassin and love it. On my bar I have 2 stamina (I vary between magnum shot, snipe, bombard, and the fighters guild crossbow) and 3 magic abilities (the first siphoning ability, reapers mark, and shadowy cloak). The passives for our class are awesome so I make sure I have one of each, but tbh I don't know if other classes have better passives or not.

I've tweaked but have played more or less the same from the beginning and still love it. In pvp (and pve) I get a huge first hit (usually above 1k in hiding with reaper and snipe), and then if I can't finish them off real quick I can usually outlast them with potions and shadowy cloak. I almost got a sorc just below my level yesterday but a dk jumped in and killed me...the sorc had 63 hp when I died! So it might be easier for others to solo multiple people at once in pvp, but we're definitely a viable group and I'd never reroll as another class.

Stannum · July 2014

Troponin wrote: »

I think you're helping to prove the point. That's not a stamina build. 4/5 of your abilities are magicka with the exception of your stam based CC, which obviously doesn't get spammed.

Basic spam attack is flying blade. I use 5 medium armor. So in avarage I use more stamina points then magika, allthought I use magika too.
And the point was not in stamina/magika build, but in

It sucks having so many abilities that cost magicka but go off of weapon crit... makes gearing a pain.

iso_1a_ESO · July 2014

eliasadriancombsub17_ESO wrote: »

I still play a sneaky bow (so I guess not as sneaky as dw) assassin and love it. On my bar I have 2 stamina (I vary between magnum shot, snipe, bombard, and the fighters guild crossbow) and 3 magic abilities (the first siphoning ability, reapers mark, and shadowy cloak). The passives for our class are awesome so I make sure I have one of each, but tbh I don't know if other classes have better passives or not.

I've tweaked but have played more or less the same from the beginning and still love it. In pvp (and pve) I get a huge first hit (usually above 1k in hiding with reaper and snipe), and then if I can't finish them off real quick I can usually outlast them with potions and shadowy cloak. I almost got a sorc just below my level yesterday but a dk jumped in and killed me...the sorc had 63 hp when I died! So it might be easier for others to solo multiple people at once in pvp, but we're definitely a viable group and I'd never reroll as another class.

I definitely hear what you're saying. It's just frustrating to watch other classes wade through content while you struggle with exactly the same challenges they breeze through. Maybe I've yet to unlock the secret of the nightblade, but I've played all the classes and tbh found them a bit frustrating because they're weaker overall.

I am determined to play my Nightblade, as I just can't be happy playing another class. They just aren't me. It's quite annoying to have been playing a broken class all this time, however. For those of us who really want to play the Nightblade but find the mismatched balancing issues and broken abilities too much to handle, it's infuriating.

As one person said a few posts back, there is hope the devs are going in a somewhat better direction and looking to address the issues at hand. Hopefully it won't take another three months.

elwhy · July 2014

iso_1a_ESO wrote: »

eliasadriancombsub17_ESO wrote: »

I still play a sneaky bow (so I guess not as sneaky as dw) assassin and love it. On my bar I have 2 stamina (I vary between magnum shot, snipe, bombard, and the fighters guild crossbow) and 3 magic abilities (the first siphoning ability, reapers mark, and shadowy cloak). The passives for our class are awesome so I make sure I have one of each, but tbh I don't know if other classes have better passives or not.

I've tweaked but have played more or less the same from the beginning and still love it. In pvp (and pve) I get a huge first hit (usually above 1k in hiding with reaper and snipe), and then if I can't finish them off real quick I can usually outlast them with potions and shadowy cloak. I almost got a sorc just below my level yesterday but a dk jumped in and killed me...the sorc had 63 hp when I died! So it might be easier for others to solo multiple people at once in pvp, but we're definitely a viable group and I'd never reroll as another class.

I definitely hear what you're saying. It's just frustrating to watch other classes wade through content while you struggle with exactly the same challenges they breeze through. Maybe I've yet to unlock the secret of the nightblade, but I've played all the classes and tbh found them a bit frustrating because they're weaker overall.

I am determined to play my Nightblade, as I just can't be happy playing another class. They just aren't me. It's quite annoying to have been playing a broken class all this time, however. For those of us who really want to play the Nightblade but find the mismatched balancing issues and broken abilities too much to handle, it's infuriating.

As one person said a few posts back, there is hope the devs are going in a somewhat better direction and looking to address the issues at hand. Hopefully it won't take another three months.

I agree, it is frustrating to sneak around and slowly go through a dungeon and then a dk or sorc just go flying through it. But I like games that are designed to go more at our tempo, maybe even slower, which means we are playing at a good level but Zeni over powered other classes. So I agree we're weaker, but maybe we're normal and they're just too strong? Haha.

As far as waiting and hoping that Zeni will fix stuff, I would suggest learning to deal with it as it is, like with broken stuff, cuz even if they do finally fix stuff they'll most likely break other stuff at the same time

iso_1a_ESO · July 2014

eliasadriancombsub17_ESO wrote: »

iso_1a_ESO wrote: »

eliasadriancombsub17_ESO wrote: »

I still play a sneaky bow (so I guess not as sneaky as dw) assassin and love it. On my bar I have 2 stamina (I vary between magnum shot, snipe, bombard, and the fighters guild crossbow) and 3 magic abilities (the first siphoning ability, reapers mark, and shadowy cloak). The passives for our class are awesome so I make sure I have one of each, but tbh I don't know if other classes have better passives or not.

I've tweaked but have played more or less the same from the beginning and still love it. In pvp (and pve) I get a huge first hit (usually above 1k in hiding with reaper and snipe), and then if I can't finish them off real quick I can usually outlast them with potions and shadowy cloak. I almost got a sorc just below my level yesterday but a dk jumped in and killed me...the sorc had 63 hp when I died! So it might be easier for others to solo multiple people at once in pvp, but we're definitely a viable group and I'd never reroll as another class.

I definitely hear what you're saying. It's just frustrating to watch other classes wade through content while you struggle with exactly the same challenges they breeze through. Maybe I've yet to unlock the secret of the nightblade, but I've played all the classes and tbh found them a bit frustrating because they're weaker overall.

I am determined to play my Nightblade, as I just can't be happy playing another class. They just aren't me. It's quite annoying to have been playing a broken class all this time, however. For those of us who really want to play the Nightblade but find the mismatched balancing issues and broken abilities too much to handle, it's infuriating.

As one person said a few posts back, there is hope the devs are going in a somewhat better direction and looking to address the issues at hand. Hopefully it won't take another three months.

I agree, it is frustrating to sneak around and slowly go through a dungeon and then a dk or sorc just go flying through it. But I like games that are designed to go more at our tempo, maybe even slower, which means we are playing at a good level but Zeni over powered other classes. So I agree we're weaker, but maybe we're normal and they're just too strong? Haha.

As far as waiting and hoping that Zeni will fix stuff, I would suggest learning to deal with it as it is, like with broken stuff, cuz even if they do finally fix stuff they'll most likely break other stuff at the same time

Such are the ways of MMO's haha. I feel like Zeni tried to be different from the normal structured systems, and I love that. However, it also means they need to be that much more careful of balancing and being smart about how abilities work. In this regard, they didn't really make a very smart system. One would assume abilities geared towards a stealthy rogue archetype would consume stamina. They do not. In fact, it does quite the opposite and pigeonholes us into using class abilities if we want to hang with the big boys. If you ask me, weapon abilities and class abilities should not have been separated by resource alone. They should have been assigned a resource that makes sense for what it does. Furthermore, weapon abilities should be on par with class abilities in that they are equally as desirable for major builds. That's not really the case in my experience.

audabon2013 · July 2014

The few nb class issues affect nb stam builds. Nb mag builds are fine, like all other mag-resto-LA builds.

Therefore please dont say content is hard on nb as you watch class X fly by you through content. Thats a gross misrepresentation of the real issue at work here.

I have v12 temp and nb and v8 sorc. ALL of them faceroll content in LA. Thats the problem ZOS is trying to address.

glak · July 2014

Brasseurfb16_ESO wrote: »

They are boosting item sets and adjusting soft caps on update 1.3.0 to make stamina more on par with magicka builds.

What I'm getting from this is first wait a couple days after 1.3 to see how Nightblades react to the stamina changes. There is at least one more update between now and 1.3, so that means wait a few weeks yet.