It sounds like you've done your research already. Yes, weapons are well worth golding out, other gear not really. Prices for gold tempers are fairly static. Expect to pay at least as much as 8 of those for a gold weapon. 200K should be enough to get you started, if spent carefully.

https://tamrieltradecentre.com/

CP are turned off in no CP Cyro / IC and BGs. They don't matter. They're not the only thing to level, though. To become a fully fledged character you need Undaunted Mettle (Level 9 Undaunted) and you probably want Fighter's Guild passives as a stamplar. Magplar may want Mage's Guild skill line, but can live without it.

Next is Alchemy. You want the Medicinal Use passive. Also, if you're using expensive gold foods, the Provisioning passives prolong the duration. This is useful to get better value out of Mythic Aetherial Ambrosia in particular, should you use that for levelling.

If you are a magplar, you'll either want to be a vamp, for Mist Form, or you will want the Psijic skill line, at least levelled as far as Race Against Time. Indispensable.

Stamplar and magplar are both good. I would probably choose the variation that best suits your race, though you should probably experiment with both. Sweeps / Jabs does a ton of damage. One issue you may have is that this class is IMO best played very aggressively (unless you go for a healer) and that only comes with experience.

This class sustains well. I find you can easily go for New Moon Acolyte on the main bar, so I'd probably recommend that. While I prefer a lightning staff on magplar, a 2H sword should also be viable. I'd make / get a gold Nirnhoned 2H New Moon Acolyte greatsword. This particular weapon is optimal for a stamplar Onslaught build, but will also work well on a magplar. This should be your main investment at this time.

geonsocal wrote: »

I'd suggest first building for defense (damage mitigation, healing), then work on sustain, then damage output...

To elaborate with my take on this. When I first ventured into Cyrodiil on my DK a long time ago, I discovered Reactive Armor, which made me hard to kill. That can be a nice confidence boost, but I find going with outright tanky sets is ultimately a dead end. You will only be able to kill the weakest players. Better to learn on a balanced setup.

Should you go with Rattlecage + a magicka set (Bright Throat's, Alfiq), I'd still suggest light armor. Templar has a crit damage passive. Using heavy armor nerfs your damage substantially on magicka classes, but especially on templar and nightblade. I find it best to get some tankiness from the monster set, for example by wearing 1x Chudan + 1x Pirate Skeleton.

There are many takes on what you should do. Rattlecage gives you Major Sorcery, so you don't have to slot Degeneration or get that from a potion.

An open question is how you will cover your stamina requirements for break free, sprint and occasional roll dodge. Being a vampire (Mist Form) can help work around that as can running the Psijic Meditate skill (Deep Thoughts). This is something you can turn into a whole build philosophy. Google the Phalanx build on YouTube.

I personally cover my stamina requirements either by running Restoring Focus on magplar or by wearing Amber Plasm. The former has the advantage that you still regenerate stamina while blocking or sprinting. It's a technique I'm quite fond of on magicka characters, but you need to find mag regen elsewhere.

Magplars benefit from a little tankiness (via monster set), because you let your health run down, then you heal. If that happens too quickly, it's dangerous. Building for defense in PvP has a lot to do with healing. You want to have more than Honor the Dead. In fact, Honor the Dead should only be your emergency heal. If you get backed into spamming that, you're basically already dead. You want more healing, stacked from various sources, such as Extended Ritual, Living Dark, a Restore Health enchant on your weapon, Radiating Regeneration and possibly the resto ult on your back bar. An alternative approach is to go either 1H + Shield or ice staff on the back bar, for the blocking passive.

If you are a stamplar, you'll probably want Rally AND Vigor and you may choose to run Troll King as a monster set. A balanced build pattern that will work on any stamina class and combines good damage with defense is the following:

New Moon Acolyte front bar
Seventh Legion back bar
2x Blessing of Potentates jewelry
Bloodspawn monster set
Steed mundus
Gold food

This build pattern will net you 2K+ permanent health regen, when you include a standard potion, as well as 5% damage reduction from players and can be crafted in medium or heavy. My DK has up to 5800 weapon damage with this setup in CP.

learn to block, roll dodge, time your ultimate and potion use

Yeah, can't stress enough how much experience counts and how important movement and use of the environment is. Ultimately this is the main thing that distinguishes good players from beginners and why they will trounce you every time. Gear only counts for maybe 30%.

I find the best way to train is by duelling.