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Night Blade tanking

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i.am.nein_ESO
i.am.nein_ESO
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I made a night blade, and I'm trying to decide on whether or not I want to tank in the end-game or not.
The first question I have is night blade viable at all? I've heard that any class can tank, but is it as good as let's say the most premier dragon knight build?
Second, I have looked over what night blades have access to, and I'm wondering if a build that focuses on self healing with invisibility/shadow barrier would be good or not. (Shadow barrier gives you heaps of armor once you come out stealth). Invisbility seems like a bubble, but what about the high magicka cost? Is there a way to supplement this?
Third, in veteran ranks, if I joined as a tank, would I only be tanking, or I would there be an occasion where I switch to being a DPS? Would I need to change in the middle of a fight? If I do, then should I try to be medium armor to be able to DPS better?
Fourth, is medium armor viable for tanking?

Thanks.
  • ArgonianAssassin
    ArgonianAssassin
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    i.am.nein_ESO wrote: »
    I made a night blade, and I'm trying to decide on whether or not I want to tank in the end-game or not.
    The first question I have is night blade viable at all? I've heard that any class can tank, but is it as good as let's say the most premier dragon knight build?
    Second, I have looked over what night blades have access to, and I'm wondering if a build that focuses on self healing with invisibility/shadow barrier would be good or not. (Shadow barrier gives you heaps of armor once you come out stealth). Invisbility seems like a bubble, but what about the high magicka cost? Is there a way to supplement this?
    Third, in veteran ranks, if I joined as a tank, would I only be tanking, or I would there be an occasion where I switch to being a DPS? Would I need to change in the middle of a fight? If I do, then should I try to be medium armor to be able to DPS better?
    Fourth, is medium armor viable for tanking?

    Thanks.
    I'd imagine it is viable considering ZOS showcased a player made nightblade tanking build on the front page, it's called the Shadow Knight, go check it out.

    "It is okay to fear the night, even the bravest warriors are filled with fright, at the sight of the might of Sithis' fang, let the blood be washed away by the rain, let the stains forever remain, another life taken in Sithis' name, another soul for the void. All hail our Dread Father and his consort, the Night Mother." -Stalks-His-Prey
  • croixs22b14_ESO
    croixs22b14_ESO
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    NB tanks take advantage of leeching strikes. This allows you to have respectable self healing, but more importantly, resource generation. NB tanks can manage resources better than any tank, and with abilities like Immovable, it allows you to push the damage mitigation hardcap pretty effortlessly, regardless of gear.

    As for AOE concerns? Any DK player can handle talons. Lotus fan's snare is excellent protection on trash, the massive slow will give DPS ample time to AOE it all down.

    With that being said, to address the idea of tanking in medium armor. I'd suggest against it. Medium armor doesn't offer much towards tanking. Medium armor doesn't offer any spell resist, which is it's biggest weakness. For me personally, in vet content. I'd sooner tank in light armor than I would in medium. Medium armor, unfortunately, does not offer anything for tanks. While hitting armor softcap is quite easy to reach with just Ransack, you want to push the hardcap with the ability I mentioned earlier, Immovable.

    Medium armor has the weakness of not offering reduced stamina cost. As a result, you'll simply be a tank that can crit at the cost of defense. The kit you need to run as a tank will not enable you to deal considerable enough damage to offset the fact you're undeniably weaker than a tank running heavy. Even running 5/2, I wouldn't do it with medium.
    Edited by croixs22b14_ESO on 6 May 2014 13:04
  • Andy22
    Andy22
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    Like noted, leeching strikes is what set's us apart from all other tanks/classes. I would not even trade it for talons right now, since its so much more fun to have access to this amount of resource regen. NB tanks don't need to "manage" resources, i even found it hard to spend all the magicka, until i unlocked boneshield.

    Like noted the biggest weakness is weak ae cc, so yes i also use Lotus fan, but i start with a Vulcanic rune and than fan into the pack.

    I also switched from heavy to light armor, since u actually only loose the 20% reduced sta cost for blocking, while having similar SR/armor.
    I find it strange that its rarely noted that u can use 510 SR/armor glyphs. So in Light armor u end up using 1x SR and 2xArmor glyphs, while in heavy u use 2x SR and 1x Armor. In the end both types end up nearly at the same values.

    NOTE: Its a bad design decision in my opinion that 2 "magic" rings equals a full set of heavy armor, but i use it so i should not complain.

    I did not test a dodge/miss build and i don't think u can dodge ae dmg/abilities rendering this play-style rather ineffective, but might be worth a test. U get like 15% from medium armor and 15% blur + 15% for 2.5 seconds and could add sparks for trash pulls.
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