2h/DW nightblade?

Lynx7386 · April 2016

So quick background: I came back after not playing since july about 2-3 weeks ago. Got into pvp to raise my assault rank. been playing a stamina nightblade pretty much since ESO launched on PC, and took the ps4 transfer when the game launched for consoles. I went magicka at one point in my 40-50 level range to try it out, and in that time got light armor and staffs leveled up. I went magicka a few days ago to help grind out pvp skill lines (it helped a ton being a healbot, and I kinda liked the support playstyle, but I wanted to go back to stamina asap).

After hitting assault 5 last night to pick up vigor, I respecced back to stamina and went back to my old gear, which was a 2h + bow setup. However, after a good bit of contemplation today, I realized that I dont actually use the bow for all that much. 2h is my go to for most combat, especially single target. I've been running with a well organized pvp group lately, and a common strategy they use requires mass amounts of AoE when attacking enemy keeps. AoE was something I was lacking, and the bow just doesnt seem ideal for it - I've only got arrow barrage and bombardment for that.
In fact, it seems like the only time I really use the bow is to plink at long range enemies on the keep walls, which is entirely ineffective because they move out of line of sight before i can do any real damage.

So I got to thinking about what other weapon could support my 2h playstyle better. I always went bow for range, but when it comes to pvp single target I almost never need the range, I use the 2h for everything.
At first I thought maybe I should use a shield; I'm a stamina character so I have a lot of resource to block with, and it could improve my survivability some, plus I always liked tanking in other MMO's (though I honestly hate tanking in ESO, it's too unrefined). That said, the shield really doesnt give me anything useful other than some slight boosts to defense, and still gives me no range or AoE benefits.

So I went to looking at the dual wield line. I havent used dual wield since PC launch, I never really liked it much, but I have been using it some on my magicka DK lately while leveling for the spell power boost and the style is growing on me. Looking through the dual wield line, I'm noticing things: it has 20% aoe damage reduction via blade shield, which would be awesome for those times my group is taking heavy aoe from the enemy, and that blade shield also gives me a free ranged burst damage attack and deals damage to nearby enemies constantly. It has whirlwind/steel tornado for a decent stamina based aoe. it has flying blade for a potential ranged attack should I ever need one. The higher weapon damage DW offers also seems like it would be great in combination with power extraction and razor caltrops for even more AoE damage.

I'm starting to think I'd be benefited far more by dual wield than I am currently by the bow. Am I correct in that assumption?

Thinking something like this:

2h front bar:
Surprise attack
Ambush
Executioner/Reverse slice (waiting to see what they do with this supposed 'zerg buster' change to reverse slice)
Vigor
Rally
Soul harvest

DW back bar:
Steel tornado
Razor caltrops
Deadly cloak
Mirage (20% dodge and minor resolve/ward to stack with the major resolve/ward from surprise attack, maybe?)
Power Extraction (to keep major brutality going and get some more ultimate)
Bolstering Shadows (aoe damage reduction for group and more reduction for myself to keep alive during those aoe bomb sieges).

Is this looking like a viable setup for pvp group play, or should I reconsider?

GeorgeBlack · April 2016

You just pointed out how useless DW is for PvP.
You are using your class skills for DPS which is right.

Templars have bitting jabs for dps and...
DKs have DOT. Dot requires that are able to sustain while your enemy perishes. So a DK needs s/b for block and gapcloser or 2handed for heal and gapcloser (and maj brut and CC+DMG and execution.....)

So why are you using DW? you use them only as a passive skill line +1 Gear Set piece and nothing more. That is how lame DW is in PvP.

Now to answer your question if you want a fun only settup you can use whatever you want. If you want results use s/b or bow for one of your skillbars. 2H is better than DW by faaaaaaaaaar for active skills, but! Since you are a STAM NB you can use your Class skills and KEEP DW for passive stats (that is what eso is all about after all... passive numbers 0 fighting). Keep either 2h or DW and use either bow or s/b

ostrapz · April 2016

Ive run stam nb with every stam combination except snb with bow, the only thing for sure is you will need 2h for rally heal in pvp, vigor is not enuff alone..

Bow and 2h means your bow is dps and you benefit from some range dps, snipe lethal injection and then rush in with 2h and repeat. You also get 4 seconds of increased speed from roll dodge with bow.

2h and dw is all melee so you will die alot until you learn how to escape, which means you will need double take for speed( better than other morph).. 2h main dps with dw for your aoe

What i personally run now is 2h and snb with power extraction and heroic slash for some good ultimate gain and an aoe, heroic slash is good for snare. Its kinda tanky but its an in your face combo, you will have to be aggresive with the all melee builds.

They are all viable and i enjoyed all of them, it really depeneds on your prefrence and what kind of gear and stats you have.

Brutusmax1mus · April 2016

You need to get up with me lynx, i sent you a message.

Lettigall · April 2016

Using DW as main and 2h as buff you get extra dmg, 1 more set bonus and DW have nice passives. But it lacks strong single target finisher. DW/2H is in your face build but I wouldn't say that you die a lot playing it, it depends of your skill and setup.

DW
Ambush
Suprise attack
Fear(best CC in game)
Camo hunter(for extra crit and to destroy vamps)
Steel tornado/Flying blade
Ulti: Flawless dawnbreaker

2H(just for buffs, use what you need)
Percing mark(slot this if you want hunt down other NBs)
Shadowy Disguise
Shuffle
Vigor
Rally
Ulti: Meteor

It's single target build and with right gear and CPs you'll hit like sledgehammer.

Sunburnt_Penguin · April 2016

Lynx7386 wrote: »

Thinking something like this:

2h front bar:
Surprise attack
Ambush
Executioner/Reverse slice (waiting to see what they do with this supposed 'zerg buster' change to reverse slice)
Vigor
Rally
Soul harvest

DW back bar:
Steel tornado
Razor caltrops
Deadly cloak
Mirage (20% dodge and minor resolve/ward to stack with the major resolve/ward from surprise attack, maybe?)
Power Extraction (to keep major brutality going and get some more ultimate)
Bolstering Shadows (aoe damage reduction for group and more reduction for myself to keep alive during those aoe bomb sieges).

Is this looking like a viable setup for pvp group play, or should I reconsider?

By not having DW as your main DPS bar you really are missing a lot of potential damage (assuming the main-hand weapon quality is the the same as your 2H):

I'd advise running something like this:
DW:
1. Ambush
2. Surprise Attack
3. Tornado
4. Vigor (I find it's useful to have a heal on each bar)
5. Cloak
6. Flawless DB

2H:
1. Rally
2. Relentless Focus (I always run this for extra stam regen and damage)
3. Mass Hysteria (best CC in the game, can be swapped with Cloak on the other bar)
4. Caltrops (although it really annoys me that I can't stealth when it's down)
5. Whatever of your choosing: Siphoning Attacks, Mirage, Exec/RS (if you feel you need an execute), Magelight (for Empower pre-Ambush)
6. Whatever of your choosing

Power Essence seems like a wasted skill to me: whilst the AOE is okay it does however deal Magic damage (so not affected by Mighty) and you get Brutality from Rally which should always be kept up anyway. There's not really any need for two AOEs and Tornado is superior.

If you didn't want DW as your main DPS then a few tweaks following the above suggestions and it's solid IMO.

ku5h · April 2016

I also ran dw/2h for some time. 5x hunding, 3x night mother, 3x agility and 1 kena.
DW bar:
-steel tornado
-surprise attack
-ambush
-mass histeria
-camo hunter (or if you want some ranged options fiying blade)
ulti- soul harvest
2H bar
-cloak
-relentless focus
-shuffle
-vigor
-rally
ulti-bats for vamp (for non vamp soul tether, meteor...)

Since i had over 50% crit on my main bar i ran Shadow mundus stone. 3 stat food and trough play you regulate how much stam regen you need trough jewelry glyphs. With this setup i could kill almost anyone in under 5 sec, only good sorc or tanky dks could survive me, most couldn survive my initial combo... ambush-surprise attack-mass histeria-soul harvest-surprise attack-dead. Or if you have stationary target fully chargeh HA-surprise attack-soul harvest-surprise attack-dead.

Mauz · April 2016

Your build is like a duck. Can fly, can swim, can run...but nothing really well. The secret of designing a working build is to decide your play style before, than build skills and weapons around it and choose the fitting gear to stack with your buffs and play style. It has a reason that most stam nbs run 2h/bow. I wouldnt say its the only way but all other options have its limitations.

daykiin posted a video with a 2h/dw nb couple of weaks ago:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=4px-QZS-4I0

He's one of the best nbs I met in combat by now. You have to be able to survive 1vX in a melee situation to be successful with this build. Dont know whether this works at all with no cp. I think you would have to sacrify a lot of dmg and one mistake and ur dead.

The weak spot of this build is you neither have a ranged nor an aoe option. So for zerging this might not work so well. If you play in larger groups I would stack buffs on 2h + use immovable pots + shuffle, then go dw and jump in with ambush + soul tether and spam steel tornado to go for quick kills -> teleport back to shade. But then you dont have a ranged option to build up ultimate.

In general I would use 2h as pure buff bar, and switch to dw to attack with stacked buffs. You have 2h for single target and dw for aoe. Dont think that works.