Official Discussion Thread for "Battlemaster's Corner - The Shadowscale"

ZOS_JasonLeavey

This is the official discussion thread for the web article, "Battlemaster's Corner - The Shadowscale."

Learn about this hard-hitting Argonian Nightblade player build in our latest issue!

AGM212

Sithis is not a Daedric Prince. He is neither an Aedra nor a Daedra. Sithis is the birthed soul incarnate of Padomay. He exist in the Aurbis and is not actually part of the Oblivion realm either. Just saying.

Halke

Uh, guys, your 'build' doesn't even suggest to people what armor sets they are supposed to use. Shouldn't that sort of be required to be considered a 'build'?

Junkload

They do mention to take every perc in the medium armor tree. On top of the fact that this is a stamina build, its pretty much common sense what you use. 7/7 Medium armor.

nikolaj.lemcheb16_ESO

*giggle* I do hope a lot of EP and AD begin to use that build....

Halke

Junkload wrote: »

They do mention to take every perc in the medium armor tree. On top of the fact that this is a stamina build, its pretty much common sense what you use. 7/7 Medium armor.

Yes, but what -sets- are they suggesting you run. Every crafted set can be made in medium armor and there are quite a few dropped sets to consider as well.

nikolaj.lemcheb16_ESO wrote: »

*giggle* I do hope a lot of EP and AD begin to use that build....

Not nice....

Kerioko

Recommend dropping funnel health...as a stam build, this skill us sub par and the heal is not enough to mitigate much damage. Caltrops is a much better use of this skill slot for an AOE snare that can proc bonuses for different armor sets like valkyn and ravager's.

On the melee bar, I would recommend surprise attack over flurry as this will grant the shadow barrier passive giving you a lot more mitigation while in melee range.

Also swap mark target and power extraction. this will make it so you get full use of all your passives on both bars and your power extraction will hit harder being on your melee bar.

Also, I would recommend going werewolf over vampire. The extra 15% stamina regen stacks well with the NB stam regen and the argonian's poison resistance helps mitigate poison damage should you decide to transform.

As far as you CP, you want to focus towards stamina regen, stam cost reduction, and increased physical damage and weapon crit. Decreased stealth, block, and dodge passives are also to to put points into.

Junkload

Halke wrote: »

Junkload wrote: »

They do mention to take every perc in the medium armor tree. On top of the fact that this is a stamina build, its pretty much common sense what you use. 7/7 Medium armor.

Yes, but what -sets- are they suggesting you run. Every crafted set can be made in medium armor and there are quite a few dropped sets to consider as well.

nikolaj.lemcheb16_ESO wrote: »

*giggle* I do hope a lot of EP and AD begin to use that build....

Not nice....

Ahh yes I see what you mean.

Ferretstalker

This seems like a fun theme build, but I'm also curious what sets would be worn. Going with the general theme, I'd say probably something that increases crit chance and stam regen, but since there's nothing specific listed, I can't say for sure.

nikolaj.lemcheb16_ESO

Seriously the only people you will be able to kill with this build are other persons with a similar build or people who don't know how to defend themselves.

You cannot win over other people in pvp by just bursting damage and this build doesn't even have good burst. You HAVE to have a way to get around defense and drain resources or you stand no change against a person with a good build.

To give an example if I run up against someone with a build like this I will kill him in 1 to 10 seconds. But against a person who know how to play fights can take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes.

Xvorg

A shadowscale without shadow abilities...

Why do people think that being a NB is like being a tank with 2 knives?

You are naturally squishy (medium armor?), so if you stand more than 1 second in front of an enemy, with a skill that CHANNELS, your are going to be dead most of the time.

The NB sequence is (ranged) -> in -> out -> (ranged) -> run away, even if the enemy's dead. It's like boxing (Mayweather is a perfect example). If you don't have a good ranged skill to beging the combo (which is the stealthed first attack), then you are missing a lot of DMG, but you can manage to enter in the enemy's zone, damage him and go out ASAP. To do that you need fast skills, such as surprise attack (which is better than the 2 from the dw line used in the build) and which gives you armor and SR when used (through the shadow barrier passive). Consider now using Flying blade too as a ranged initiator and finisher. In the coming version it will give you major brutality, which is pretty useful for your dmg.

Mark Target is OK, if you use it PVE, but leeching strikes is the skill that keeps you alive, and with a decent pool of magicka and stamina. If you don't have health problems, then you can go for siphoning attacks. Stamina is always useful to run away, so you need a way to regain it, specially if you are a lizard.

The bow bar has some options which IMHO are not good. Scorching earth is a good skill in PVE, only if you can root a group of enemies. The only skill in the NB pool that does that is Soul Tether, but to get it you need a lot of ulti regen. Leave it for DKs that just wanna have fun with their talons. Poison arrow and snipe, in my experience, do not sinezgize well because both do basically the same. A heavy attack can replace one of them and for no stamina cost (on the contray, it gives you stamina). Consider to include Arrow spray or scatter shot for CQC. In the siphoning line, again, siphoning strikes. Cripple or agony will be good additions too, same as expert hunter from the fighters guild line. Flawless dawnbreaker btw is a more than good ultimate, and is a way to recover some wpn dmg lost through siph strikes.

Finally, shadow cloak can make the difference between a good lizard and a dead one.



SHY

ThornJagger

Really would like to know more about the gear builds as well as a break down of the pieces. A little more detail in the PVP area would be nice also.

cromdubh68

An awful lot of criticism about the effectiveness of this build, especially in pvp it seems. The author makes it quite clear that this is a concept build for those wishing to "roleplay" a shadowscale. He made no claims as to its uberness. It is the authors personal take on a class. All suggestions here would just have it become yet another generic nightblade assassin build like all the others. If we all just used builds that work the best then we'd pretty much all be using the same few builds.
Another thing, if you haven't actually tried the build then don't comment. I am aware that many of you have nothing better to do than spend your time criticising the builds of others as they appear "on paper" without having any actual practical experience of playing them. This build actually works, certainly as a levelling build. It's not the best certainly, but it isnt meant to be is it?

Tommy_The_Gun

I have an argonian NB (first main character). I have tried to do a bow & dual wiled assassin / shadowscale type, but this was long time ago (when the game launched). I remember that although dmg was good in PvE I was squishy and I was not able to heal enough.

Then I changed build to magicka based (restoration staff / 1 hand & shield (no skills from 1h&shield - all class or magicka based). The character became tanky but with less dmg. However I was able to solo almost everything in game (only solo'ing group dungeons ware out of my reach).

Now I am trying full magicka based NB assassin. Dual wield (no dual wield skills, all class assassination that use magicka) / restoration staff (for longer sustain in difficult situations).


After all skill changes from the launch of the game till now I am still thinking to switch to stamina based skills (redistribute all attributes to stamina). But I have my doubts. Argonians right now are considered to have worst racial bonuses in game. Is stamina based argonian assasin / hunter with bow really good in PvE ? ? ?

Night_Child

There is one comment on here that I am going to dismiss, because all that nonsense this person was talking isn't even a Shadowscale. It's probably not even an Argonian...


2018 Shadowscale - [Summerset Updated]

We are going to take everything the original author said and build on that. I got you bud...

Race: Argonian
Class: Nightblade - Stamina ("Magicka Shadowscale" is really more like a Reaper build)
Armor: Medium - 7/7
Sets: Hundings Rage (5), Night Mother's Gaze (5), Gryphon's Ferocity (5), Toothrow (5), Briarheart (5), Dreugh King Slayer - ONLY WEAPONS AND JEWELRY (5), Caustic Arrow (1), Stinging Slashes (2), Any armor sets that up critical damage (5), [Velidreth (2), Molag Kena(2)]
Mundus Stone: Shadow Stone
Weapon 1: DW - 2 Swords (Damage), 2 Daggers (Critical Chance), 2 Axes (Bleed), or Mix and match
Weapon 2: Bow
[Maelstrom/Dragonstar weapons preferred to max out character, but definitely not mandatory to have fun.]

Melee Rotation: [From the hidden position] Ambush - 2 Light Attacks - Shadowy Disguise - Surprise Attack - Blood Craze - Bloodthirst
Ultimate: Soul Tether or Rend

As the author basically stated and reiterated, Shadowscales should stick to the shadows. This is primarily a single target burst DPS build. This doesn't mean that you cannot invest in AoE abilities to help with groups in 4 mans/Trials or those pesky adds. With that said, for the melee rotation, the first attack (Ambush) should be from the hidden position. Follow that with 2 Light Attacks. Now, Surprise Attack needs to also come from the stealth or hidden position to be effective, which is why the next move is Shadowy Disguise, followed by Surprise Attack. Surprise Attack does critical damage when used after Shadowy Disguise and since it is utilized from stealth, it would stun for longer (thanks to passives in Assassination skill line) and knock the enemy off balance. In addition, it also inflicts the enemy with Major Breach reducing its armor by X amount. That removes Reaper's Mark and replaces it with a damage move that also inflicts Major Breach. Your welcome. Moving on, Blood Craze would be the next move, which inflicts bleed damage and heals you. The move after Blood Craze should be Bloodthirst (as opposed to Rapid Strikes) which also heals you. Both Blood Craze and Bloodthirst capitalize off of the Argonian racial passives which allows Argonians to heal and receive healing by 5% more. Ultimates should include - but are never limited to just one or two options - Soul Tether, Rend, Incapacitating Strike, Veil of Blades, or Soul Assault. My Ultimate of choice is either...Rend or Soul Tether...again...taking full advantage of the improved racial passives.

Ranged Rotation: Reaper's Mark - Focused Aim - Venom Arrow - Relentless Focus (Assassin's Scourge) - Endless Hail
Ranged Ultimate - Toxic Barrage

Start by marking the target utilizing Reaper's Mark. Next, you want to buff up using Relentless Focus. Now, use Endless Hail (over yourself if they are melee OR over the enemy if they are ranged), followed by 5 light attack shots to activate (NOT USE) Assassin's Scourge. - NOTE: The first 2 light attacks will activate the Molag Kena monster set, giving you increased weapon damage. - Now, re-apply Endless Hail, then Focused Aim - Venom Arrow - Assassin's Scourge - Begin your 5 light attack shots again to recieve another Assassin's Scourge [Due to the update, you no longer need to keep hitting Relentless Focus for the buff. It remains active for the full duration]. Focused Aim - Venom Arrow - Assassin's Scourge. Including the 5 light attack shots, do it again for a third time. Now, at this point, all you did was utilize the same 3 moves 3 consecutive times for max optimal burst DPS. If the fight should continue, re-apply Mark Target - Relentless Focus - Endless Hail - 5 light attack shots - then repeat rotation starting with Endless Hail.

Attribute Points: 0 Magicka, 0 Health, 64 Stamina

Vampire: NO - NEVER...HELL NO (biased opinion as I just hate everything about those Twilight maggot like Dracula wannabe's)

Werewolf: As much as I want to say yes, the truth is I would never turn a animal or beast into another animal or beast and therefore, I will say no to werewolf as well. If it was any other stamina race, such as Bosmer or even Redguard, I would say yes.


Contact Night7Child [Night Child] in game [PS4/NA Server] if you are interested in rolling the Shadowscale with either the 2015 or the 2017 build and I'll help you with Champion Points.

This build is a FUN PvE (mostly) build, but can definitely fend for himself in PvP environments. There are other options as far as skills go as well, so there are at least a couple of ways to play the Shadowscale without going too far off from what the original author wrote. Any questions or concerns, feel free to send me a message in game or reply to this post.

P.S. Do make sure to IGNORE any NONSENSE about Scatter Shot, Arrow Spray, Cripple, or Agony or anything that says Focused Aim and Venom Arrow are the same thing. Trust me. I have been rolling a Shadowscale since day one when my Argonian first hatched and will answer any questions about a Shadowscale. It is a very particular build and like most things...requires practice to perfect it.

liimose

This is sounding like a demand but please keep in mind that I don't mean to be harsh, i just simply cannot accept it proper.

Change the Battlemasters corner's description of the Shadowscales. Sithis is NOT a daedric prince of death. it is stated in Oblivion and possibly skyrim. not in Morrowind, Oblivion nor skyrim is he stated as a daedric prince of death or ANY kind of daedre.

Change it. it is Incorrect. why? because it is stated nowhere and therefore is misleading info. it is Improper. why? because giving misleading info is like lying+ it is deluding unaware players' understanding of the lore.

And Finally, it is insulting. to me. i have been huge fan of the Shadowscales and the Dark Brotherhood.writing misleading info in a build-post on a so evident part of TES lore, that i have used hours of real time on, is insulting.

i am not trying to be threatening or flaming. but i still felt like speaking my mind witout any filters.

Night_Child

"After all skill changes from the launch of the game till now I am still thinking to switch to stamina based skills (redistribute all attributes to stamina). But I have my doubts. Argonians right now are considered to have worst racial bonuses in game. Is stamina based argonian assasin / hunter with bow really good in PvE ? ? ?"


Yes, Tommy...a Stamina based assassin with bow is really good in PvE. Take a look at my post. Also, the Argonian race now does NOT have the worst racial bonuses in game. They are actually really competitive.

Highlor3

Night_Child wrote: »

There is one comment on here that I am going to dismiss, because all that nonsense this person was talking isn't even a Shadowscale. It's probably not even an Argonian...


2017 Shadowscale -

We are going to take everything the original author said and build on that. I got you bud...

Race: Argonian
Class: Nightblade - Stamina ("Magicka Shadowscale" is really more like a Reaper build)
Armor: Medium - 7/7
Sets: Hundings Rage, Night Mother, Automaton, Toothrow, Viper, [Velidreth, Molag Kena]
Mundus Stone: Shadow Stone
Weapon 1: DW - 2 Swords (Weapon Damage), 2 Daggers (Critical Damage), 2 Axes (Bleed), Mix and match
Weapon 2: Bow

Melee Rotation: Ambush - Shadowy Disguise - Surprise Attack - Blood Craze - Bloodthirst
Ultimate: Soul Tether or Thrive in Chaos

As the author basically stated and reiterated, Shadowscales should stick to the shadows. This is a single target burst DPS build. This doesn't mean that you cannot invest in AoE abilities to help with groups in 4 mans or those pesky adds. With that said, for the melee rotation, the first attack (Ambush) should be from the hidden position. Now, Surprise Attack needs to also come from the stealth or hidden position to be effective, which is why the next move is Shadowy Disguise, followed by Surprise Attack. Surprise Attack does critical damage when used after Shadowy Disguise and since it is utilized from stealth, it would stun and knock the enemy off balance. In addition, it also inflicts the enemy with Major Breach reducing its armor by X amount. That removes Reaper's Mark and replaces it with a damage move that also inflicts Major Breach. Your welcome. Moving on, Blood Craze would be the next move, which inflicts bleed damage and heals you. The move after Blood Craze should be Bloodthirst (as opposed to Rapid Strikes) which also heals you. Both Blood Craze and Bloodthirst capitalize off of the Argonian racial passives which allows Argonians to heal and receive healing by 5% more. Ultimates should include - but are never limited to just one or two options - Soul Tether, Thrive in Chaos, Veil of Blades, or Soul Assault. My Ultimate of choice is either...Thrive in Chaos or Soul Tether...again...taking full advantage of the new and improved racial passives.

Ranged Rotation: Reaper's Mark - Focused Aim - Venom Arrow - Relentless Focus/Assassin's Scourge - Endless Hail
Ranged Ultimate - Toxic Barrage

Start by marking the target utilizing Reaper's Mark. Next, you want to buff up using Relentless Focus. For ranged NPC's, use Endless Hail over them, followed by Focused Aim, then Venom Arrow. You can begin your 3 charged shots to recieve Assassin's Scourge. Now, at this point, all you want to do is utilize the following rotation for max optimal DPS; which in fact, happens to be the same rotation you would use for a melee NPC character, except...you would cast Endless Hail over yourself. Here it is as follows: Reaper's Mark - Endless Hail (over yourself if they are melee OR over the enemy if otherwise) - Focused Aim - Venom Arrow - Assassin's Scourge. NOTE: Every time you use Assassin's Scourge, hit it again to rebuff the character with Relentless Focus.

Attribute Points: 4 Magicka, 5 Health, 55 Stamina
OR
Attribute Points: 9 Magicka, 5 Health, 50 Stamina

Vampire: NO - NEVER...HELL NO (biased opinion as I just hate everything about those Twilight maggot like Dracula wannabe's)

Werewolf: As much as I want to say yes, the truth is I would never turn a animal or beast into another animal or beast and therefore, I will say no to werewolf as well. If it was any other stamina race, such as Bosmer or even Redguard, I would say yes.


Contact Night7Child [Night Child] in game [PS4/NA Server] if you are interested in rolling the Shadowscale with either the 2015 or the 2017 build and I'll help you with Champion Points.

This build is a FUN PvE (mostly) build, but can definitely fend for himself in PvP environments. There are other options as far as skills go as well, so there are at least a couple of ways to play the Shadowscale without going too far off from what the original author wrote. Any questions or concerns, feel free to send me a message in game or reply to this post.

P.S. Do make sure to IGNORE any NONSENSE about Scatter Shot, Arrow Spray, Cripple, or Agony or anything that says Focused Aim and Venom Arrow are the same thing. Trust me. I have been rolling a Shadowscale since day one when my Argonian first hatched and will answer any questions about a Shadowscale. It is a very particular build and like most things...requires practice to perfect it.

Thanks for the updated (Morrowind) build!

Night_Child

"Thanks for the updated (Morrowind) build!" - Highlor3

No problem, Highlor3. I haven't been on in a year, but I am back. If you still play this role, another option for attribute points is to place all 64 points into Stamina; and for the Ultimates, Rend is another good option. I figured I mention that. I updated my post for 2018 after I field tested it. It works.

Highlor3

Night_Child wrote: »

"Thanks for the updated (Morrowind) build!" - Highlor3

No problem, Highlor3. I haven't been on in a year, but I am back. If you still play this role, another option for attribute points is to place all 64 points into Stamina; and for the Ultimates, Rend is another good option. I figured I mention that. I updated my post for 2018 after I field tested it. It works.

It will better to wait Update 18 this June (or PTS on the end of this month) to update the build. There are some big changes coming (jewelry crafting, Bow and other weapons that take 2 slots will count as 2 pieces of a set, NB abilities change, etc).

Night_Child

Highlor3 wrote: »

Night_Child wrote: »

"Thanks for the updated (Morrowind) build!" - Highlor3

No problem, Highlor3. I haven't been on in a year, but I am back. If you still play this role, another option for attribute points is to place all 64 points into Stamina; and for the Ultimates, Rend is another good option. I figured I mention that. I updated my post for 2018 after I field tested it. It works.

It will better to wait Update 18 this June (or PTS on the end of this month) to update the build. There are some big changes coming (jewelry crafting, Bow and other weapons that take 2 slots will count as 2 pieces of a set, NB abilities change, etc).

I will update it again when the time comes. Honestly, I was so thorough that it won't take long at all for me to update it. Maybe switch a sentence here and there and update the year and done. Glad to see you are still on.

Ankael07

The combination of skills and obvious passive suggestions makes me think this is more of a Roleplayer's corner than Battlemaster's... especially the lack of armor sets suggests this is an erotic roleplaying master's corner.

Highlor3

Ankael07 wrote: »

The combination of skills and obvious passive suggestions makes me think this is more of a Roleplayer's corner than Battlemaster's... especially the lack of armor sets suggests this is an erotic roleplaying master's corner.

As far as I saw, none of the old Battlemaster's Corner have gear suggestion, but they have forum topics, meant to people discuss about the build. Night_Child, for example, posted an updated version he uses and gear suggestion. This non-META build may not be good for you, but is to others.

Night_Child

Ankael07 wrote: »

The combination of skills and obvious passive suggestions makes me think this is more of a Roleplayer's corner than Battlemaster's... especially the lack of armor sets suggests this is an erotic roleplaying master's corner.

Sets: Hundings Rage (5), Gryphon's Ferocity (5), Toothrow (5), Briarheart (5), Dreugh King Slayer - ONLY WEAPONS AND JEWELRY (5), Any armor sets that up critical damage (5), [Velidreth (2), Molag Kena(2)], & more.

These were some of the sets I listed at the time listed above, but there are more out that you can choose from. Going off of their set stats, you can see what direction I am pointing in, so you can even throw in some newly released sets such as Gryphon's Ferocity so along as they are on par with the ones mentioned above. My assassin currently wears Hundings Rage, Briarheart, and Molag Kena. You may choose and like something else. It's all relative. If you read my updated post, then I hope I was able to help you.