High burst rotation for pre-vet magicka nightblade?

diabloz_123 · August 2015

Hey guys,

I was hoping someone could help me figure out the ideal high burst rotation for a magicka nightblade. Generally speaking, I probably won't be vet14 for a very long time because the most enjoyment I get out of this game is PvPing.

I want to play a bursty high damage nightblade that focuses on magicka.

Most of the build videos that I have found are designed for higher levels, can anyone help design a solid rotation for levels 10-49? Also, if you could include any equipment suggestions it would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

mcurley · August 2015

Hey! I've been pretty successful (IMO) in non-Vet pvp as a Magicka NB so I'll try to help.

At the beginning you're pretty limited by what you have not yet unlocked. Luckily some of the best skills unlock quite early. I suggest using an Altmer for extra magicka regen early. For gear choice I used Spectre's Eye for a while until I unlocked Blur and my second weapon bar. Seducer is a very solid set for this though and if you wear Seducer + Warlock you will never have magicka problems.

At level 10 my bar looked like this:

Restoration Staff:

1: Concealed Weapon
2. Impale
3. Dark Cloak
4. Teleport Strike
5. Entropy
U: Incapacitating Strike

You'll have to scout around for lore books to unlock the Mage's Guild skills but it's worth it.

I used Restoration Staff exclusively until I unlocked Healing Ward which is very important. After I got HW I switched my main bar to a Destruction Staff and changed out Concealed Weapon for Crushing Shock. I like the extra distance I get with Crushing Shock despite the loss of extra speed while invisible. Also, I can cloak and start charging up a heavy attack while remaining invisible. Cancel the heavy attack with a Crushing Shock and cloaking again leaves me visible for less than a second which can prove to be very annoying.

I'm now 23 (second time through BwB on magicka NB) and my bars look like this:

Destruction Staff:

1. Crushing Shock
2. Impale
3. Dark Cloak
4. Purge (Efficient soon hopefully)
5. Harness Magicka
U: Incapacitating Strike

Restoration Staff:

1. Structured Entropy
2. Swallow Soul
3. Rapid Maneuvers / Healing Springs / Siege Shield (whatever I need basically)
4. Healing Ward
5. Double Take
U. Soul Tether

The really fun spells like Mass Hysteria and Shadow image take a very long time to unlock.

Rotations aren't really a thing since we lack CDs but it's good to use Entropy first to get that Major Sorcery buff before you start laying down the damage. Make sure it stays up always when you are on the offensive.

Try this for damage:

Entropy ----> Teleport Strike ----> Cloak ----> Incapacitating Strike / Concealed Weapons (with canceled medium attacks) until close to dead ----> Impale when <25% life.

If they try to run away just Teleport Strike on them over and over.

Have fun!

diabloz_123 · August 2015

Thank you for the awesome advice! Im definitely going to start implementing this.

Xael · August 2015

diabloz_123 wrote: »

Hey guys,

I was hoping someone could help me figure out the ideal high burst rotation for a magicka nightblade. Generally speaking, I probably won't be vet14 for a very long time because the most enjoyment I get out of this game is PvPing.

I want to play a bursty high damage nightblade that focuses on magicka.

Most of the build videos that I have found are designed for higher levels, can anyone help design a solid rotation for levels 10-49? Also, if you could include any equipment suggestions it would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

If you are going to be in the lowbie Blackwater Blade campaign I recommend you build as a hybrid. Hybrids are the best rather than pure stam or magicka. Also I recommend Sap Tank build, it's pretty good and you will outlast people. Not sure how this will work after the upcoming patch, but currently you can 1vX with ease.

Bar 1 - 1hS - Fear, Swallow Soul, impale, sap essence (for buff), siphoning attacks, soul tether
Bar 2 - Resto - (buff bar) Rapid Regen/Mut, Double Take, Dark Cloak, Crippling Grasp, Siphoning Attacks, Death Stroke (whatever morph) You can swap out Regen for Healing Ward or use Radiant Magelight as well. Doesn't really matter if you have detect pots, but yeah. I used to swap those out all the time depending on if I was solo or running with a friend.

For gear either 5pc Seducers or Whitestrakes and Warlock if you can get it. Maybe 2pc Torugs for the spell damage. This build is for sustain and 1vX. There really isn't a high damage build for BwB as it has damage reduction built into the campaign. YOu are better off with a hybrid high sustain. Any pure build will go out of resources while you spank them.

diabloz_123 · August 2015

Thank you for the reply. When you say hybrid, Do you mean to allocate stats evenly with health, magicka, and stamina? or just magicka and stamina?

mcurley · August 2015

diabloz_123 wrote: »

Thank you for the reply. When you say hybrid, Do you mean to allocate stats evenly with health, magicka, and stamina? or just magicka and stamina?

While battled leveled in a campaign your stat allocation will not matter at all because you have a base pool for each resource and for health. You can literally leave them unassigned and it wont matter . These pools can be increased slightly by passives that provide percentage based increases but even armor enchantments do not matter. Also, 2-4 piece set bonuses do not work unless they provide crit chance.

@Xael had some good points. Since everyone has the same health, magicka, stamina, spell damage, and weapon damage hybrid builds actually work decently well in BwB. It is good to be able to pull from 2 resource pools but keep in mind that you already use stamina to dodge roll and break free during combat so relying on it for damage as well could hurt. Also getting both regen rates up high enough to sustain either resource pool will prove challenging in BwB. If you do want to try out the hybrid Sap Tank then look into the Willow's Path set for a nice 15% bonus regen to everything in combat.

You'll also notice that the key spell to a Sap Tank requires Siphoning to be level 42 which takes a bit of time to get.

Anyway, hope you enjoy your NB!

GL out there.

Xael · August 2015

diabloz_123 wrote: »

Thank you for the reply. When you say hybrid, Do you mean to allocate stats evenly with health, magicka, and stamina? or just magicka and stamina?

Sorry. I responded last night when I was exhausted and on my way to sleep. I should have been more thorough in my explanation. By Hybrid I don't mean pumping stat points into all 3. I mean playstyle. Usually when you say someone is a "Stam NB" it carries with it a general implication; they will be using certain Weapon Skills and class Stam morphs and gear based around this. By hybrid I meant you will be using 1h and shield on main bar like a tank, taking advantage of the awesome passives while still playing like a mage, though one that is built defensively for sustain. You still pump your stat points into Magicka.

Yes Sap Essence is level 42 in Siphoning however your main source of damage will come from Swallow Soul. Since you will not have Sap until you are late 20s early 30s (depending on how you unlock it) you can use something else in it's place. The main reason Sap is so good is the buff. If you feel you need the buff sooner than later use Entropy from the Mages Guild. Or you can put Crippling Grasp on your main bar to unlock your Siphoning skills quicker. Remember, the more stuff on your bar from a particular skill line means more xp to that skill line. There are 5 things you will want from Siphon line, 4 of which will be on your main bar by the time you have everything. So loading up your main bar in the meantime won't hurt. However if you find yourself struggling, switch some stuff up. For example Radiant Magelight is awesome against Nightblades who rely on sneak and Ambush/Surprise Attack combos. You will stop the stun from the ambush and just block the surprise attack, provided you don't seem first and engage them first stopping them from doing their thing. You have options, thats for sure.

Regarding gear willows is decent, however I found Warlock and Seducer combo to be the best, or Warlock and Whitestrake. Considering 3/5 Warlock is jewelry, you have good options for the other slots.

I never cared for the changes to BwB and this style of fighting. PvP in BwB with the damage toned down feels sluggish. Everytime I fight someone or see people fighting each other I think of chicks wrestling in a kiddie pool filled with jello or baby oil. It's just silly.

diabloz_123 · August 2015

That's good information to know as well.

I had a chance to test out the Sap Tank Build (currently level 32 on my NB) last night and it's very effective for this campaign. I didn't realize how important it is to sustain your resources. I was able to 1v2 in one instance just by utilizing siphoning attacks and healing ward to keep my health up and then soul tether/swallow soul/impale to finish them off.

Thank you so much!

SturgeHammer · August 2015

mcurley wrote: »

Hey! I've been pretty successful (IMO) in non-Vet pvp as a Magicka NB so I'll try to help.

At the beginning you're pretty limited by what you have not yet unlocked. Luckily some of the best skills unlock quite early. I suggest using an Altmer for extra magicka regen early. For gear choice I used Spectre's Eye for a while until I unlocked Blur and my second weapon bar. Seducer is a very solid set for this though and if you wear Seducer + Warlock you will never have magicka problems.

At level 10 my bar looked like this:

Restoration Staff:

1: Concealed Weapon
2. Impale
3. Dark Cloak
4. Teleport Strike
5. Entropy
U: Incapacitating Strike

You'll have to scout around for lore books to unlock the Mage's Guild skills but it's worth it.

I used Restoration Staff exclusively until I unlocked Healing Ward which is very important. After I got HW I switched my main bar to a Destruction Staff and changed out Concealed Weapon for Crushing Shock. I like the extra distance I get with Crushing Shock despite the loss of extra speed while invisible. Also, I can cloak and start charging up a heavy attack while remaining invisible. Cancel the heavy attack with a Crushing Shock and cloaking again leaves me visible for less than a second which can prove to be very annoying.

I'm now 23 (second time through BwB on magicka NB) and my bars look like this:

Destruction Staff:

1. Crushing Shock
2. Impale
3. Dark Cloak
4. Purge (Efficient soon hopefully)
5. Harness Magicka
U: Incapacitating Strike

Restoration Staff:

1. Structured Entropy
2. Swallow Soul
3. Rapid Maneuvers / Healing Springs / Siege Shield (whatever I need basically)
4. Healing Ward
5. Double Take
U. Soul Tether

The really fun spells like Mass Hysteria and Shadow image take a very long time to unlock.

Rotations aren't really a thing since we lack CDs but it's good to use Entropy first to get that Major Sorcery buff before you start laying down the damage. Make sure it stays up always when you are on the offensive.

Try this for damage:

Entropy ----> Teleport Strike ----> Cloak ----> Incapacitating Strike / Concealed Weapons (with canceled medium attacks) until close to dead ----> Impale when <25% life.

If they try to run away just Teleport Strike on them over and over.

Have fun!

Also, when @mcurley says "teleport strike" they most likely are referring explicitly to Teleport Strike, not Ambush or Lotus Fan. Currently Teleport strike has a higher base damage than Lotus Fan, and scales off of magicka/spell power. This is changing with the IC update, but until then leave Teleport Strike unmorphed.

Xael · August 2015

diabloz_123 wrote: »

That's good information to know as well.

I had a chance to test out the Sap Tank Build (currently level 32 on my NB) last night and it's very effective for this campaign. I didn't realize how important it is to sustain your resources. I was able to 1v2 in one instance just by utilizing siphoning attacks and healing ward to keep my health up and then soul tether/swallow soul/impale to finish them off.

Thank you so much!

Glad I could help.

leem1988 · August 2015

Xael wrote: »

diabloz_123 wrote: »

Hey guys,

I was hoping someone could help me figure out the ideal high burst rotation for a magicka nightblade. Generally speaking, I probably won't be vet14 for a very long time because the most enjoyment I get out of this game is PvPing.

I want to play a bursty high damage nightblade that focuses on magicka.

Most of the build videos that I have found are designed for higher levels, can anyone help design a solid rotation for levels 10-49? Also, if you could include any equipment suggestions it would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

If you are going to be in the lowbie Blackwater Blade campaign I recommend you build as a hybrid. Hybrids are the best rather than pure stam or magicka. Also I recommend Sap Tank build, it's pretty good and you will outlast people. Not sure how this will work after the upcoming patch, but currently you can 1vX with ease.

Bar 1 - 1hS - Fear, Swallow Soul, impale, sap essence (for buff), siphoning attacks, soul tether
Bar 2 - Resto - (buff bar) Rapid Regen/Mut, Double Take, Dark Cloak, Crippling Grasp, Siphoning Attacks, Death Stroke (whatever morph) You can swap out Regen for Healing Ward or use Radiant Magelight as well. Doesn't really matter if you have detect pots, but yeah. I used to swap those out all the time depending on if I was solo or running with a friend.

For gear either 5pc Seducers or Whitestrakes and Warlock if you can get it. Maybe 2pc Torugs for the spell damage. This build is for sustain and 1vX. There really isn't a high damage build for BwB as it has damage reduction built into the campaign. YOu are better off with a hybrid high sustain. Any pure build will go out of resources while you spank them.

This is a great build. I tried using this last night, but I ran into a few problems. How do I deal with DK's who spam reflective scales if the main source of damage is coming from Swallow Soul? I also noticed once someone hits me with a healing debuff that I was pretty much done for.

I loved this build, wish I had found it earlier because I wont be able to do this on Monday with the block nerf incoming.