Nightblade dps basic guide

jebuspowers

I decided to post this not as a reply to another discussion, but as a new discussion to be more visible to people who may be curious.

I have been a Nightblade since launch and it is my only character. I am v14 and I recently started doing pvp quite a bit. Whatever I write will mainly be pve oriented since pvp is a completely different beast. I mainly tank, but now I dual role as tank and mag dps (with separate builds and gear, no hybrid builds). I have done pvp and pve as a tank and as both kinds of dps.

As any dps your priority is damage. This means a crit chance of at least 50%, extra crit damage if possible, and a large resource pool with a viable means to regenerate that resource.

Stamina vs. Magicka Nightblade builds:

A stamina Nightblade is your typical rogue archetype. You should utilize extra damage from stealth and each bar should have at least one skill from the assassin tree to increase crit chance. Stamina nightblades are easy when it comes to dishing out damage, but do not have high survivability. The best way to overcome a stamina nightblades low survivability is by chain killing. To do this you will need to morph Assassin's Blade into Killer's Blade and use either Mark morph from the assassin tree. Whether fighting one enemy or several you must mark an enemy, then spam your main damage skill (aoe or single target) until your marked target dies. If fighting a group be sure to mark another enemy before finishing it off to heal yourself again. This simple process works well with reapers mark..

Stamina Nightblade pros:
Easy to level, much higher dps in the beginning with a diminishing gap vs magicka in the endgame.Common in pvp because of high burst damage.
Cons:
Very low survivability. Some world bosses, public dungeons, and pretty much everything in Craglorn will require you to group.

Magicka Nightblade is a different breed. A magicka Nightblade is difficult to level and will be much weaker than its stamina counterpart early on. However, the siphon skill tree provides a much higher survivability chance than stamina. Mag nightblades do not have to chain kill to survive, but still can especially to burn down groups of trash fast. The high magicka pool and spell damage turns your siphon abilities into high powered self/group heals.

Magicka Nightblade pros:
High survivability, strong dots, able to cloak a lot because of high magicka which will allow you to maneuver past dangerous enemies (helpful in delves and pvp).
Cons:
Harder to level, dps is much lower than stamina until late game, slightly lower burst damage (again, endgame), also typically much higher cc use (vs. Stamina)

Other than that what's the main difference? Snipe. The final ability in the bow skill tree is a stamina dps (especially nightblades) best friend. Excellent range and incredible burst damage. As a magicka dps using it is not pointless, but you will be burning through stamina which leaves no resource left to dodge or break free. Plus it won't hit as hard as a stamina build.


You can search the forums or other sites for builds and gear to use, but ultimately it will be player preference. This mini guide is just for helping people understand what they are getting into.

Here's a couple tips. Do not try to be balanced when doing dps. You want to lean heavily in one direction or the other so choose either magicka or stamina. Figure out how to get the highest possible crit chance and spell/weapon damage, then figure out resource regeneration, then which skills will give you the most dps (not necessarily which ones just hit harder) vs. resource cost. For example, as a mag dps my concealed weapon ability his about 10% harder than my swallow soul. But the cost of swallow soul is considerably less and [seems to] have a faster cast time.

I hope this helps.

Edit: cc use is not a con. Also either dps will want enough health to not get instantly killed by every piece of trash they fight.

hardcore_gmr

This is a great write up and very beneficial to new nightblades and players fighting nightblades. The only thing I would add is that this seems to assume that the nightblade will be running dual wield and bow. While this is an amazing combo and provides tons of utility and damage, the dual wield/2h combo is great as well, especially if you want to solo as a stamina nightblade. Rally is the reason here because of the healing it provides. It makes solo content so much easier due to the fact that you get a damage increase and a constant heal with a big health bonus at the end. Pair this with the quick recovery CP in endgame and craglorn and group dungeons become much more doable solo. Sure you lose range but with cloak as your kiting skill you should be able to burst large groups extremely fast. As for magic nightblade, you are spot on though I prefer resto staff to bow simply because the magic return is so good that I've found that you can forgo some regen for added spell damage and be ok. Other than that...this post deserves a sticky. Good job

jebuspowers

Thanks, appreciate it. Rally does give a good way to help sustain yourself. As a stamina Nightblade you would be crazy and/or stupid to not use bow, but then you have to choose between dual wield and 2 handed. Not an easy choice.