Can you "fix" my Stamina NB?

Heindrich · May 2015

Ok he's not really "broken", but he's not quite where I'd want him to be, namely "good enough DD for DSA-vet".

I'll start by describing my current PvE setup...

Gear: (mostly legendary with the exception of Jewellery and 2H Sword)
Ravager (5) : Rings (Stamina Cost Reduction), Neck (default), Chest and Legs
Morag Tong (4): Daggers (default enchantment), Hand and Waist.
Ashen Grip (3 or 4): Nirnhorned Feet and Shoulders, Infused Head, Sharpened Great Sword.

Champion Points: (I have 125-130 currently)
Blue:
30 Points into Mighty, around 5-10 each into Piercing and Precise Strikes.
Green:
40 Points into Warlod, a handful into Mooncalf
Red:
25 Points into Elemental Defender, 5-10 each into Hardy and Thick Skinned.

Build:
Skillset 1: (DW)
1) Rending Slashes (for applying a DoT)
2) Razor Caltrops (for AoE dps and proc'ing Ravager 5-set)
3) Sap Essence (Self-buff and AoE dps when I am out of Stamina)
4) Steel Tornado (Primary AoE dps skill)
5) Mirage (Protection Buff)
U) Shooting Star/Veil of Blades/Devouring Swarm

Skillset 2: (2H)
1) Wrecking Blow (Single targets dps)
2) Executioner (Execute)
3) Evil Hunter (Self-Buff)
4) Momentum (Self-Buff)
5) Relentless Focus (Self-Buff)
U) Flawless Dawnbreaker

Current Performance:
If I am not forced to Kite or Block, I can achieve around 11-12k dps on Bloodspawn, which I use as a "benchmark boss" since he has no ads nearby. However, being a melee build, there are quite a few bosses where staying close is tricky or impossible, including the final bosses of CoA vet and Darkshade Vet.

AoE dps is difficult to benchmark, because it depends greatly on mob density and type, but my record is 48k dps over roughly 20s, and I regularly hit 30k+ against trash mobs. However, if a fight is prolonged, my AoE dps plummets, for example in a bad team at the Netch Boss in Darkshade Vet, my dps crashed to about 7k over the duration of the fight, because I was regularly out of stamina due to being forced to cc break and to deal with the sheer numbers of enemies.

And therein lies my problem, other than being restricted by having no ranged abilities, I cannot sustain my dps in a prolonged fight due to a lack of stamina. This is compounded if the team is bad (so I have to kite/block) and/or the Templar does not use shards to help me restore stamina.

Improvements?
I have tried to improve my sustain using CPs and Jewellery glyphs, but it's not enough. The one thing I cannot improve is the fact that my character is Breton, rather than a traditional Stamina race like Redguard or Imperial. Can you suggest gear or build tweaks that can help him hit around 15k dps vs Bloodspawn and sustain AoE at a reasonable level in a prolonged fight?

If I am being honestly, I am not executing my build anywhere near perfection... it's difficult to juggle 4 self-buffs (I normally forget to use Mirage, so that's a skill slot I can definitely drop) and I haven't figured out a correct rotation of weaving light/medium attacks to proc Relentless Focus on a regular basis. However, even if I practised executing my build more efficiently, I doubt my current setup can pull its weight as an effective DD in a DSA vet run, so your advice would be much appreciated.

Failing that, I might have to FINALLY switch to a Magicka build, which better suits being Breton...

Cody · May 2015

stop using twin slashes/rending slashes it is useless endgame

Heindrich · May 2015

Cody wrote: »

stop using twin slashes/rending slashes it is useless endgame

Yeah... tbh I forget to use it a lot of the time. Rending Slashes and Mirage are the two obvious skills I can replace, since I barely use them anyway. I was considering Shadow Image, both for the additional dps, and also a potential escape button from a tight spot. I currently use it when I pull out a bow.

Zsymon · May 2015

Do you use food or drinks? I can't live without drinks anymore, with Refreshing Shadows, medium armor, werewolf and stamina potion buff, it adds a crapload of stamina regeneration. Back when I was lvl35 I already had 1800 stam recovery, granted though I am also a Bosmer.

Azuriel02 · May 2015

Surprise Attack is an awesome skill to DPS with, and the Vicious Ophidian set (3p) will most likely help get rid of this stamina issue, and even more if you mainly do V-DSA, you can go with the five pieces bonus.

Celas_Dranacea · May 2015

Do you use siphoning attacks? Helps a lot with resource management / sustain. Sometimes I even have it on both bars.

mrowmrif2 · May 2015

ok so i feel compelled to toss in some suggestions here...

DW:
rending slashes replace with Rapid Strikes (cheap single target DPS that can spike really high, especially with good buffs)

mirage replace with surprise attack... powerful single target plus adds the fracture/breach debuff AND ACTIVATES SHADOW BARRIER every time you use it... keeps you alive and deals damage. plus your tank cant spam pierce armor all the time, so this helps keep the debuff up.

sap essence... this is a wasted slot - if you are using rally, you are getting the brutality buff already without having to hit anyone with a poopy magicka aoe; just swap bars and keep rally up all the time and you get your HOT going as well. replace sap with siphoning attacks for sustain so you can keep spamming tornado all day.

2H:
get rid of evil hunter... use potions to replace the savagery so you can slot something more useful. using Dark Shades morph gives you two potential procs of siphoning attacks in addition to the maim being applied on target for the duration... pretty nice debuff that will help the group and only costs you some magicka every like 15-20 sec to keep it up. plus it activates shadow barrier when you use it.

cure vampirism and go werewolf. your gains with vampire as a melee DPS don't help if you are super squishy vs fire. plus the passive stamina regeneration and conservation of skill points you get with the ww line makes it much more worth it (in my opinion). plus you don't look as pale.

Elijah_Crow · May 2015

Whichever weapon bar you are on, you should be using surprise attack as your main spamable single target attack. You should also be using rally instead of sap essence for brutality. Werewolf for in combat stam regen.

Zsymon · May 2015

Has anyone tested which does more DPS, Rapid Strikes or Surprise Attack?

Elijah_Crow · May 2015

I have read in several threads that surprise attacks with light attacks weaves is producing about 2k higher DPS. The fact that it also provides an armor buff as it is a shadow skill and debuts the target when used from stealth makes it superior in my book.

Zsymon · May 2015

Thanks.

kendellking_chaosb14_ESO · May 2015

mrowmrif2 wrote: »

ok so i feel compelled to toss in some suggestions here...

DW:
rending slashes replace with Rapid Strikes (cheap single target DPS that can spike really high, especially with good buffs)

mirage replace with surprise attack... powerful single target plus adds the fracture/breach debuff AND ACTIVATES SHADOW BARRIER every time you use it... keeps you alive and deals damage. plus your tank cant spam pierce armor all the time, so this helps keep the debuff up.

sap essence... this is a wasted slot - if you are using rally, you are getting the brutality buff already without having to hit anyone with a poopy magicka aoe; just swap bars and keep rally up all the time and you get your HOT going as well. replace sap with siphoning attacks for sustain so you can keep spamming tornado all day.

2H:
get rid of evil hunter... use potions to replace the savagery so you can slot something more useful. using Dark Shades morph gives you two potential procs of siphoning attacks in addition to the maim being applied on target for the duration... pretty nice debuff that will help the group and only costs you some magicka every like 15-20 sec to keep it up. plus it activates shadow barrier when you use it.

cure vampirism and go werewolf. your gains with vampire as a melee DPS don't help if you are super squishy vs fire. plus the passive stamina regeneration and conservation of skill points you get with the ww line makes it much more worth it (in my opinion). plus you don't look as pale.

the Shades only debuff for 4 seconds after they just do weak attacks