New at Nightblade - Best attribute point allocation?

tinythinker

I'm not new to ESO but I am new to playing a Nightblade. I know that how you allocate attribute points depends on your play style, but I am new to the class and trying to experiment.

What I know from playing other classes: stamina increases damage from weapons like bow and dual wielded melee pieces, is essential for dodging and blocking, and lets you use attacks from those skill lines longer; magicka is used for most class abilities.

So, if you are mostly going to use your weapon with class abilities for support, go heavy stamina. If you are going to mostly use class abilities with weapons for support, go heavy magicka.

That's what I already know, but, based on your experiences as a Nightblade, is there any other insight you can add (like, "I was playing a stam build but I really wish I had put a few more points into magicka", "Don't waste points on health", etc)?

reften

Respec'ing later in the game is pretty cheap, so don't be overly concerned. I would go 1/3 1/3 1/3. You're going to find the game suddenly changes when a new skill is unlocked, and all of a sudden your reliance on a weapon ability drops because of a new spell ability you unlocked.

What weapon are you using>

tinythinker

Yeah, I can always respec, I am just playing around to see what combinations are fun/useful. I keep running out of magicka, so I guess that's a hint. I was playing with a bow and trying to use stealth/siphoning with it, and just equipped dual wield and added Teleport Strike after hitting level to see how that goes. I am also interested in off-brand builds like using a resto staff, but I haven't found one yet to try it.

Nestor

tinythinker wrote: »

but, based on your experiences as a Nightblade, is there any other insight you can add (like, "I was playing a stam build but I really wish I had put a few more points into magicka", "Don't waste points on health", etc)?

I split the bars on my NB, and he is an Imperial with MA, so Stamina Regen is pretty good as a base. I had put all my points into Mana (because at the time Stamina was not useful) and Glyphed Health. Then I respecced into all health and now Glyph Mana.

Notice that I don't show any love to Stamina in attribute points. Until the upcoming talked about changes are implemented, Stamina is still not something I see putting points into. Even then, I may still just use Glyphs. Health keeps you alive, Mana and Stamina are for dealing damage and or healing.

Right now, it seems that the bow gets some love from Stamina, but the bow does not serve me well in the upper levels. Even with Sneak Critcals and Snipe, it still feel that a Veiled Strike from Stealth is the best initial attack (way more burst damage). You can get off a good initial hit with a Bow, but it's very hard to get back into Sneak once aggro'd, so that advantage goes away. I find a Destro Staff to be a better ranged weapon at the upper levels than the Bow is.

Back to the bar split. I put Stamina based skills on one side and Magic Based skills on the other. I use one side of the bar until that attribute is depleted, then use the other side until the first side gets replenished. Then I go back and forth as needed. Since NB's are deficient in healing, I make sure a knock back skill is on the bar at all times (whether it is the bow or staff one)

If you think you need a boost to Stamina, then Food Items can help out there. Since most people avoid stamina, those recipes and crafted foods are reasonable.

tinythinker

Thanks for the insights from your own experiences, @Nestor‌. Actually, it was magicka I was running low on, so I am going to spend some points there.

And, generally speaking, I am really curious about using a resto staff/sword board with a heavy dose of Siphoning and touches of Assassination and Shadow. But I guess that would be better pursued on the Skill Lines forum.

reften

tinythinker wrote: »

Yeah, I can always respec, I am just playing around to see what combinations are fun/useful. I keep running out of magicka, so I guess that's a hint. I was playing with a bow and trying to use stealth/siphoning with it, and just equipped dual wield and added Teleport Strike after hitting level to see how that goes. I am also interested in off-brand builds like using a resto staff, but I haven't found one yet to try it.

For bow...it used it from level 1 to level VR8ish, till I finally gave up.

My game changed when I max'd out my spell damage, and focused on the combo of ambush, veiled strike, and impale. PvP it rocks.

PvE, groups of 3 are the toughest. Max spell damage with a hidden veiled strike will kill any mob in 1 hit. Weave dark cloak and veiled strike/impale to finish off the other two.

Siphon strike on the bar just to have a boost to health, and as a regen.

Get Vamp, the sneak speed boost is awesome.

Weapon wise, I'm going with sword and shield...just because I get the bonus of enchanting the shield with +Health or +Magicka and armor bonus.

Dual wield is best for DPS, but not much better.

I don't use ANY weapon skills anymore, just not worth it...and I focus on max +magicka. Still go medium armor as blocking and rolling in PvP is critical, so boost to stamina regen is nice.and I rarely run out of magicka...if I do, then I just use light attacks with weapons, and maybe flip to bar #2 for a shield charge.

Good luck, if need help in-game /whisper Reften

tinythinker

Thanks for the reply @oren74‌.

oren74 wrote: »

My game changed when I max'd out my spell damage, and focused on the combo of ambush, veiled strike, and impale. PvP it rocks.

PvE, groups of 3 are the toughest. Max spell damage with a hidden veiled strike will kill any mob in 1 hit. Weave dark cloak and veiled strike/impale to finish off the other two.

Siphon strike on the bar just to have a boost to health, and as a regen.

Hmm, maybe I can respec when I get this character to Mournhould, as I took Killer's Blade over Impale looking for any kind of self-healing other than potions. But I can still unlock Veiled Strike when I get another skill point.

oren74 wrote: »

Weapon wise, I'm going with sword and shield...just because I get the bonus of enchanting the shield with +Health or +Magicka and armor bonus.

Dual wield is best for DPS, but not much better.

I don't use ANY weapon skills anymore, just not worth it...and I focus on max +magicka. Still go medium armor as blocking and rolling in PvP is critical, so boost to stamina regen is nice.and I rarely run out of magicka...if I do, then I just use light attacks with weapons, and maybe flip to bar #2 for a shield charge.

Good luck, if need help in-game /whisper Reften

No weapon skills at all? Interesting.

DenverRalphy

My current NB (my 2nd) is currently surviving very well with splitting Health/Stamina. I put first 10 points into stamina, then started alternating between the two until I hit 20 stamina, then pump the rest in to health. I'm currently at 21 health, 20 stamina, and going strong. All of my armor enchantments are stamina, and my jewelry enchantments are magicka (though I'll probably switch those to stamina soon).

Though I will point out that I focused a lot on the Bow skills, with a smattering of class skills. I have enough magicka to support siphons/cloaks when needed. Now that I have bow maxed out, I've been working on dual wield. Most of my 2 skill bars are weapon/stamina skills, and I'm doing much better than my other NB that focused on magicka. The only class skills I regularly use now are siphons and cloaks, or occasionally slotting an assassin skill just for the passives bonus. Most of the points spent in class skills have been primarily on passives.

This will be my first toon that doesn't have any crafting skills at all (other than keen eye for alchemy, and increased chance for extracting tempers/resins), and will be completely combat based, so eventually I'll have all class skills maxed out and probably a couple other weapon skill lines as well. So perhaps that gives me a luxury many toons don't normally get.