Burst damage and knockdowns in PvP - changes cannot come soon enough

JediRift

With so many vet rank 14's now, being a vet rank 4 in Cyrodiil is really tough. I am rolling as a Nightblade PvP healer in mostly cloth, once I get knocked down I get completely destroyed in like 3 seconds or less. I am experimenting with many things to increase my survivability, but so far coming up short, nothing can prevent the huge burst. Even previously as a full heavy armor/ 2 hand build I was still getting bursted by some vet 14's faster than I could blink, primarily nigtblade dps and sorcs. The damage just destroys me before I can react. I don't mind being outleveled, and am slowly climbing the ranks, but as it stands now, this uphill battle is so one sided it isn't all that fun.

All day today I have been knocked down and killed in one/two hits before I can do anything. Trying to tweak things, but the damage is insane at the moment. I really do think it needs to be reduced by a large amount. As a magicka build, my stamina is very limited. Once I get knocked down, if I have no stamina, I can do nothing for a few seconds, and this burst damage is so insane from vet 14's that I get wrecked time and time again. Even if I have the stamina to cc break, oftentimes it isn't enough time anyway. Before I can break the cc I am already at 15% health, and inevitably dead.

What can I do for survivability? Am I the only lower vet having major problems with insane burst damage that kills you before you can even cast a defensive?

nikolaj.lemcheb16_ESO

You can't get knocked down if you block, you can block cast heals.

This game is different from most other mmos's in that you survive in pvp by actively defending yourself instead of relying game skills.

Sadly too many have never learned this, so now they nerf damage in pvp down to a crawl...

JediRift

nikolaj.lemcheb16_ESO wrote: »

You can't get knocked down if you block, you can block cast heals.

This game is different from most other mmos's in that you survive in pvp by actively defending yourself instead of relying game skills.

Sadly too many have never learned this, so now they nerf damage in pvp down to a crawl...

"Block cast heals"? Can you clarify this? Do you mean to perma block while casting heals so I don't get knocked down?

Another problem is the issue with stamina on a magicka build , I'd run out pretty quick constantly blocking or dodge rolling. Sadly that type of pvp is not condusive to a magicka healer in mostly cloth. Or if it is, please teach me what I can do to be more effective.

Appreciate any advice.

JediRift

Also, to add to this, sometimes you are travelling by horse, you cannot block while mounted. In other words, you get instantly knocked down from somebody casting from hide, and then you are dead instantly when they charge/ambush/snipe/mages guild ultimate, etc. etc.

So yes, the damage is too high when this can happen. You should have a small window to react before dying within 3 seconds when levels are supposed to scale. The gap between vet 14 and lower ranks is very large at the moment despite the scaling, and it results in dying instantly for the lower vets and under.

Sharee

JediRift wrote: »

What can I do for survivability? Am I the only lower vet having major problems with insane burst damage that kills you before you can even cast a defensive?

Primarily, do not become an obvious target. Stay stealthed whenever possible. If you are a healer, then you probably are with a group. Position yourself so that the enemy has to pass through your group to get to you. Be constantly aware of your surroundings, and cloak when you see someone heading for you, then reposition. That obviously wont work against enemies you cannot see approach(stealthed) but not every enemy is sneaking, esp. in group combat scenarios.

Use that cloak a lot, even preemptively. As a magicka NB, you (should) have the mana/regen to afford it. It breaks enemy targeting, makes projectiles heading for you to miss, and often makes the enemy switch to an easier target when one is available.

And finally, practice CC breaking fast (sometimes i am fighting a NB and i think to myself, 'now he's gonna to fear me' and i hit the CC break at exact same moment it happens). I also suggest getting into the habit of immediately following with a roll dodge after the break, followed by a cloak, followed by healing ward. The stamina cost is worth it, as most likely the enemy will try to hit you with his most damaging ability while you're stunned(and unable to block it).

iamnotweakrwb17_ESO

Block casting is holding down block and casting spells at the same time. Basically its a really cheesy way of mitigating ridiculous amounts of damage while still being able to dish out the pain.

It's why they are nerfing stamina regeneration while holding block.

Sharee

JediRift wrote: »

Also, to add to this, sometimes you are travelling by horse, you cannot block while mounted. In other words, you get instantly knocked down from somebody casting from hide, and then you are dead instantly when they charge/ambush/snipe/mages guild ultimate, etc. etc.

What many people do not know is that your horse actually makes you immune to stuns, knockdowns etc. - as long as it's stamina bar lasts. So take some stamina riding lessons, and do not ride your horse to exhaustion. When someone attacks you on horse, do not manually dismount, instead hit an instant defensive ability, this will both dismount you and protect you. I suggest cloak for this purpose, except if you got hit by a piercing mark first.

Corpsage

Take this at face value. Re-spec your NB to be DPS or a Tank. NB do considerably well in PvP/PvE, just not so much as healers IMHO. IMHO, If you want to heal and survive more, re-roll Sorc or Templar. They have damage shields as well as other evasive skills that can get you out of harms way and back to the healing where you need to be.

AlaskeyLandshark

Good advice in here. And yes, nikolaj means to hold block before, after and during a cast. You can use abilities and block at the same time (though be warned, new ic patch will prevent you from regening stamina while blocking, and each hit you block eats your stamina. No stamina=no breaks, rolls or blocks).

To avoid ganking when on a horse, keep your horse stamina at a decent level, run radiant magelight + retreating maneuvers whenever you mount up and you'll be fine. (I put them on my bar when I mount, remove them when I get to a battle)

TheBull

1st problem. You're staying out of cloak too long. As a nb healer if you are out of cloak more the 3 secs, you're dead. 3 secs is even pushing it. Light armor is fine, but you should never be out of cloak long enough to be knocked down or burst.

Healing ward > mist form is you're find too if you do get caught. Also try consuming shadows for those jam situations. Lots of times it will buy you enough time to cloak out.

Mashille

Just shield stack like the best Magical builds...

Oh wait...

dodgehopper_ESO

iamnotweakrwb17_ESO wrote: »

Block casting is holding down block and casting spells at the same time. Basically its a really cheesy way of mitigating ridiculous amounts of damage while still being able to dish out the pain.

It's why they are nerfing stamina regeneration while holding block.

What part of blocking and healing involves 'dishing out the pain'. I think it has more to do with 'soaking the pain' as you watch your magicka and stamina get depleted.

eliisra

Can be frustrating for NB's in 1.6 that prefers upfront fighting. No class shield that protects against both spell- and weapon dmg attacks. Sorcs will always have their big shield up, when knocked down, for example.

Ways to survive on live.

Shields. As a NB grab either Annulment morph, Healing Ward and use 5+ Whitestrake. That set gives you a 10k shield when you're about to die.

Blocking pro-actively. Requires specc'ing into block cost reduction hard, use Siphoning Attacks combined with Caltrops and you can block for days. Would not advice tho, considering changes to block in 2.1. Holding down block will be like a really bad habit you need to get rid of.

Stay hidden. Cloak as soon as you're expecting to be focused. Cast skill, cloak, skill, cloak, pretty much. Combined with the high mobility NB's naturally have, you avoid a lot of dmg.

Enough stamina + recovery to break cc every 6 sec. This goes for all builds.

As a heal/support oriented player you also want to make sure there's a another person in the group with some kind of cross healing and not asleep.You're saving your allies when they get knocked and nuked, so someone needs to save you back.

DragonxTortoise

Level up to VR14 by questing then come back to pvp? There are too many players complaining they are getting smashed in pvp and they are not even max level. What do you expect?

Sithisvoid

As a VR 2 I tried stealthing and irritating a VR14. Kept sniping him and watching him panic. Eventually he used bolt escape to find and kill me but i was surprised at how much damage i could do to him. Once i hit VR14 on that toon it's going to be terrorize mode 24/7

leepalmer95

Sithisvoid wrote: »

As a VR 2 I tried stealthing and irritating a VR14. Kept sniping him and watching him panic. Eventually he used bolt escape to find and kill me but i was surprised at how much damage i could do to him. Once i hit VR14 on that toon it's going to be terrorize mode 24/7

Caltraps.

Sithisvoid

leepalmer95 wrote: »

Sithisvoid wrote: »

As a VR 2 I tried stealthing and irritating a VR14. Kept sniping him and watching him panic. Eventually he used bolt escape to find and kill me but i was surprised at how much damage i could do to him. Once i hit VR14 on that toon it's going to be terrorize mode 24/7

Caltraps.

I love watching ppl spend big stamina. Then i hit them with Malefic Wrath let them spend some more while i cloak away