Help me understand the Nightblade

Benie · August 2015

So, my Brenton Nightblade. To me he feels like a mistake to make him. And he's only Level 5. I think my issue is there's just no clear path (like the other two classes I'm trying out(the Sorc and the DK)). Every ability tree looks really good. Yet with the severely limited size of the hotbar, I can't really experiment on a build I would like (and wouldn't be spamming my keys until the mob(s) die) without it costing me a ton of skill points (not to mention the armor passives).

My other issue with the Nightblade, it has stealth.. but it's rather pathetic. 2.5 seconds instead of infinite. That is not enough time to get behind an enemy. If it was 10 seconds.. I wouldn't be complaining so much. Even the morph options aren't useful.
But I feel my main problem is I have no one I can ask (not even my Guild) that can really guide me through being a Nightblade. All they tell me is to experiment until I find a build I like. That isn't helpful, and I'm not a patient person (plus I just said it would cost a lot of skill points).

If it means anything (and if this helps), I want to go with a Dual Weld primary. For secondary (if I decide to get him to Level 15)... I really don't know. I keep thinking this is a Rogue from WoW. I don't even know what armor to have for this build. Light, maybe?

Cinna · August 2015

You will need to level all nb skill trees and most passives are very good. So, I agree wiith the advice you were given. Really hunt them shards and experiment on the way or forget about it.

Ps. Stealth improves with passive like everything does.

Wolfy2512 · August 2015

On my first playthrough as a NB I gave him up because I was trying too hard to use the stealth skills, can't decide if they simply didn't work or more likely didn't suit my play style.

Deleted and started a new character, Bosmer because I wanted to be a NB Archer. Still only level 11 but after power attack start using Venom Arrow (morph from Poison Arrow) and Silver Bolts (Fighters Guild rank 2 needed to get) for ranged attack, if anything gets close switch to Impale (from Assassination Blade) and have got Deathstroke Ultimate.

I would consider myself very amateur when playing games like this, but with this build (solo play only) i think i've only died in battle once.

Also using all medium armour for the passives.

Ipsius · August 2015

With duration passives, invisible is 2.9 seconds. You can recast it as much as you want and it doesn't break stealth, so you can stay invisible as long as you have mp. Being a Breton, you have built in reduced mp cost, which will make staying invisible easier.

Nb are extremely versatile; you can do magicka or stamina builds however you want, augmented with NB skills!

helediron · August 2015

Breton suits well for magicka nb. But magicka nb really kicks in after level 50 when you get the last skills morphed and have all class passives. Nightblades are not really rogues. Nb mages can stay in cloak forever but are more dps/healer/mitigation hybrids. Stamina nbs are more assasin-like dps but can't use much cloak.

Some starting advise:
Start with fire staff and Strife. Stay at good distance from enemies. Magicka nb is ranged fighter. Start fights with full heavy attack (keep mouse pressed until staff launches fireballs) and use few Strifes to kill a mob. Throw in heavy attacks inbetween to keep magicka up. After some playing you'll learn to weave heavy or light attacks between abilities. This is all you need to start. In fact, it's not far from what magicka nb does at end game. You are probably at starter island. Run around and kill mobs until it starts to flow naturally.

Take also first destro staff skill and fill rest with first abilities from each nb skill branch. With the fire staff fireclench you can knock enemies if they come too close. Don't try to use too many skills, just spam Strife.

At low levels you can wear whatever armor you find. But slowly start wearing mostly light armor. Use always one heavy (chest because gives lots of armor) and one medium, e.g. helmet. At level 15 take resto staff as second weapon. The secret of magicka nbs is that we heal alot. Funnel Health and Sap Essence are strong HoT heals. With resto staff you can run as dps/healer.

Good class skills for magicka nb (the morph name):
- Impale when mob is below 25% health
- Funnel Health is the spammable damage and heal.
- Crippling Grasp, use as DoT with Funnel
- Sap Essence is AoE damage and heal, and use it with
- Siphoning Attacks, returns resources back to stay sustainable.
and there are more. As Sap Essence and Siphoning Attacks come late, you need to use destro staff Wall of Elements and Refreshing Path as AoE. Resto staff skills are important too.

You can switch to dual wield after destro staff is leveled and you can control your resources. It gives extra spell power and many nb mages wear them on their AoE bar. But if you want to use dual wield skills like Steel Tornado, you should switch to stamina, and start with bow, 2h and dual wield. If you are unsure whether to run stamina or magicka and you have imperial edition, then imperial race is good for both.

Violynne · August 2015

Benie wrote: »

My other issue with the Nightblade, it has stealth.. but it's rather pathetic. 2.5 seconds instead of infinite. That is not enough time to get behind an enemy. If it was 10 seconds.. I wouldn't be complaining so much. Even the morph options aren't useful.

As a NB player, I can only offer some advice, but you'll still have to make the decision for yourself.

Of all the NB skills in my arsenal, I only use two:
Shadowy Disguise (morphed from Shadow Cloak) - I use this to avoid detection but I do not use it for my sneak. I'll explain in a bit.
Surprise Attack (morphed from Veiled Strike) - I use this to stun my enemies for 4 seconds, which is without doubt the best skill when playing solo.

As a dual-wield player, I'm using Rapid Strikes (morphed from Flurry) and my attributes are 5 stamina for every health. I didn't spend any on magicka. I can use Shadowy Disguise 3x before I run out of Magicka, if you need an idea of cost.

Where the difference comes in are the passives. I put skill points in anything which reduced my stamina cost, increased my durations, and anything else I could muster for power.

I also learned you do not have to be behind an enemy to get your stealth bonus. You can hit them from the side as well, and that's much easier to do than trying to get behind them. You just can't be directly in front of them.

With this, I do this attack pattern every single time:
Shadowy Disguise - even if I'm not close, I throw it on, just to avoid detection.
I get beside the most powerful enemy in the group, usually heavy armored/dual-wield. Once I'm beside them, I throw down Surprise Attack, which stuns them. I pummel their life away finishing up with Rapid Strikes. Once the first enemy is done, I immediately go into Shadowy Disguise again, and hit the second enemy, which again goes down for 4 seconds.

That's it. I've been playing this way since level 10 and while it does get boring, this method has yet to let me down. I can easily clear torch-icon dungeons myself.

Some may say this way is tedious and takes too long to clear enemies, but that 4 second stun has saved many a gamer, especially at dolems.

Now, I will say this: NB at early levels are tough. Won't lie to you here. It's going to take about level 10-15 before they start showing off their true skills because getting the passives takes time. You can use this time to practice on your stealth/detection radius so when you get the passives you need, you'll be set to go.

I'm sure there are other ways to play this class, but this is how I play. Aside from a few bosses who can slap me with AoE (being close and all that), not too many bosses can escape this combo of stealth, stuns, and rapid attacks, especially as a solo player.

This is about all I can offer, but the others are right: you're going to need to find out what skills work for you, and while it does take skill points to open and use them, it's the only way you're going to know what's best for you. You can always respec if you need skill points, so save your gold if you intend to do this (3k will cover the cost easily).

Oh, and one more thing as I find this extremely important: whatever you choose as your primary weapon, when you hit level 15, be sure to use the same weapon for both slots as this will level up your Assassination/Shawdow skills! Worry about your secondary weapon later. You'll have plenty of time to upgrade other weapons and their skills. Promise.

Well, I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, let me know.

Resipsa131 · August 2015

Why do you use Shadowy Disguise over Dark Cloak? I've always thought if you build for crit it would be redundant.

To OPs question I run a Dunmer Vampire Magicka NB. I DW on one bar and Resto on the other. Every Dungeon is different and you 'll need to switch abilities on your bar based on differences and even roles on whether I'm the main healer or just an off healer. For Example if you are running a dungeon and the Tank doesn't have an ability that Maims you will want to put Shades on your bar to help the tank mitigate some of the damage. If the tank or healer does have maim you might not need it on your bar. You need to get comfortable with different rotations of abilities and the animations relating to them.