2h vs dual wield for nightblades?

Lynx7386 · July 2014

Going to be respeccing from my caster nightblade to a melee build after the patch, and I'm having a tough time deciding on whether to go with 2handed + dual wield, 2handed x 2, or dual wield x2 for my weapon bar setups.

Ultimately my action bars are primarily going to be filled with class abilities (going with the melee crit + heavy magicka setup for ambush/veiled strike/etc.), so it will come down to 1 or 2 weapon abilities and the passives each weapon tree provides.

Dual wield obviously offers more in the way of utility with sparks/heated blades, flying blade, and whirlwind, but I've always preferred the style of the 2hander and the splash damage aoe attacks.

Any opinions?

Honfold · July 2014

The two-handed AOE attacks are just about useless. I would say go with Dual Wield. It is the skill line I use for my melee Nightblade and I enjoy it.

Thejollygreenone · July 2014

Honfold wrote: »

The two-handed AOE attacks are just about useless. I would say go with Dual Wield. It is the skill line I use for my melee Nightblade and I enjoy it.

There's only one two handed AoE attack (at least primarily) and it's far from useless, I'd say. The morph I use of it is carve which paired with sap essence/power extraction generates godly amounts of ultimate.

Unfortunately, I haven't put all too much thought into which is better. As far as I can tell, it seems dual wield has higher synergy with nightblade skills. For example, NB has a gap closer and doesn't need one in it's weapon tree, DW reflects this well. Another example would be ember explosion+mirage (sparks+blur morphs) has some real cool synergy.

Don't get me wrong, I use 2h, but it's mostly for aesthetic purposes. The instacast gap closer is nice I must say, and Momentum counteracts siphoning attacks quite well, at least for weapon power, but that doesn't seem to be the direction you look to be heading in, which is why I said originally that I wouldn't be able to offer all too much help.

But there's my two cents, DW seems better suited to NB, but I'm sure you could use either and be similarly effective.

Stannum · July 2014

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/118270/2h-vs-dual-wield-in-pvp-state-of-play

Stx · July 2014

Two-Handed has some benefits, but overall I think that Dual-Wield is better suited for a Nightblade. The splash damage from 2hand becomes almost non-existent in veteran levels and pvp, and the stamina recovery from kills is wasted on NBs due to shadow passives. The gap closer stampede is really good though, and for solo AE I prefer Brawler over whirlwind.

CapuchinSeven · July 2014

I run DW but only because I'll drop on Siphoning Strikes in a longer fight. All my killing is done with class skills, Ambush in, Soul Harvest, Impale most of the time.

I keep thinking about putting on a weapon skill but.. meh..

LariahHunding · July 2014

I use 2-handed with no weapon skills. Crouch attack opener (+1800 dmg), siphon, impale --> dead. The crouch attack also stuns the group for a few seconds. First target dead before the rest responds.

I just like beatin' on 'em with a 2-handed sword.

Lynx7386 · July 2014

Does the splash damage from the 2h passive stun an entire group with a sneak attack?

LariahHunding · July 2014

Lynx7386 wrote: »

Does the splash damage from the 2h passive stun an entire group with a sneak attack?

Yep, for a couple of seconds. As with everything in this game, when it is working properly. You can have one mob down, before the others respond.

Takes some practice, but you can execute this from just any angle, except from directly in front.

And it works for any class, not just NB.

p_tsakirisb16_ESO · July 2014

2H for my nightblade.
For just a single reason. Executioner. By far the best finish ability, after the Ambush, when you want to save Magicka to carry on chain killing.

Qbar 2 which has more stealth abilities, I have Wrecking Blow. Just for laughing when kill someone by one shooting them with it

Dekkameron · July 2014

2handed abilities are pretty lackluster on the whole.

As a NB critical rush/stampede is ok for the automatic crit but i dont think it's as good as the teleport strike or shield charge similar moves.

Reverse slash/executioner with siphoning attacks can be fairly spammable with good "dice rolls" to recharge stam but still fairly meh considering you already have killers blade/implale which essentially does the same thing.

Cleave/brawler is another skill that i see spammed far too frequently by some that does hardly any real damage and is often used as a more defensive move.

On the whole it is surprising that the 2handed skill tree isnt more offensive with a real spammable damage dealing move. Hell the shield line with low slash and morphs pumps out far higher dps with siphoning attacks just spamming that.

Brasseurfb16_ESO · July 2014

Lynx7386 wrote: »

Going to be respeccing from my caster nightblade to a melee build after the patch, and I'm having a tough time deciding on whether to go with 2handed + dual wield, 2handed x 2, or dual wield x2 for my weapon bar setups.

Ultimately my action bars are primarily going to be filled with class abilities (going with the melee crit + heavy magicka setup for ambush/veiled strike/etc.), so it will come down to 1 or 2 weapon abilities and the passives each weapon tree provides.

Dual wield obviously offers more in the way of utility with sparks/heated blades, flying blade, and whirlwind, but I've always preferred the style of the 2hander and the splash damage aoe attacks.

Any opinions?

I think both are good options for a Nightblade, while yes some of the 2-handed passives are getting reduced effectiveness because of your already high stamina regen, two-handed compensate with very high damage sneak attacks. Incapacitate can further increase your dmg potential with 2-handed by increasing the damage caused by your heavy attack by 12% (not to mention you get an extra 3% critical chance and 10% critical damage with your passives if you equip that skill). And Shadowy Disguise is a killer when used in conjucture with Wrecking Blow. So lot of potential and synergies between 2-handed and the Nighblade but not the best option if you are looking for sustained dps.

Dualwield is also a good choice, it may suffers from a bug wich causes heavy strikes to cause very low sneak attack damage but wich can easely be compensated by using skills like Ambush or Veiled Strike. Overall, it is the best choice for sustained melee dps and stamina manadgement sinds all the skills used by this line are rather cheap. Also steel tornado is a very good AoE skill when you want to support Impulse spamers in your team.

Lynx7386 wrote: »

Does the splash damage from the 2h passive stun an entire group with a sneak attack?

The spash damage only works on a single target very close to your first one, but it is possible to make a double sneak attack, but I wouldn't rely on this trait, if I where you, sinds you wont be often in situations where you can pull off that trick.

Stannum · July 2014

and after 1.3 patch DW will have one more bonus versus 2H. - 4 pieces sets.

Lynx7386 · July 2014

Yea, dual wield will allow for a 5 piece set + 4 piece set, two handed can only go for 5 +3 or 4 + 4 =/