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Mag/NB for Not Very Good Players PvP/PvE (Cloak not needed!)
MuddledMuppet
✭✭✭✭
Hi all, I'm working on a build that makes up for my personal shortcomings as a PvP'er, thought I'd throw it out there for any in a similar boat 
There's a bit of a wall of text here, no TL:DR section, a video at the end, I'll be adding more videos if there seems a positive responce
About me
I'm 54, and always been an 'average' kinda player in any game. I can have some moments of blinding brilliance, but see more moments of sheer 'wtf did I do that for' stupidity. At my age, it's a fact that neurological responces slow down, that's just pure biology, so my reactions will never be as good as in my younger days. Like a lot of players, I can be stunned not just with in-game mechanics, but by my own brain that seems to go into turtle mode and react badly or in a mild panic.
I played ESO on PC release, but stopped playing for a looong time, never really got the hang of PvP on the PC, I was just easy AP whenever I tried. Masses of information on screen from most combat add-ons would just baffle & confuse me, (I also did find them immersion breaking but that's a whole 'nother story) In short, they were more of a hinderence than a help.
I am as likely to choose abilities/race etc by what I think looks 'cool' as I am by stats, ultimately I'm here to have fun, so some of the choices may seem a bit odd, but that just leaves room for further improvement on the build should anyone wish to min/max it.
So, no expert, but let's not have false modesty either, I have a lot of gaming experience which can and does help out some times, and no matter the game, have had my fair share of MvP games/matches etc. I currently have approx 300 CP's.
Aims of the build
Some reasonable sustain and 'thinking time' is more important to me personally than pure stacking for damage. It's not designed to one-shot willy anyone, but allows me to keep on fighting, with the enemy thinking 'damn I just can't damage this guy!'. This is not a finished build by any means, and I look forward to any knowledgeable players giving some critique. I am still experimenting with a few skills which I'll mention below, and some skills may need swapping depending on the situation, ie for getting around I use Rapid Manouvers, but swap this with mutagen if on a keep defence, at which point I'll also swap a skill for caltrops, but that skill is too costly in stamina for me to use all the time.
Race
Argonian. Ok ok get your chuckles out, this build started life as a sap tank, and the 9% increased efectiveness of healing stacks very nicely with spamming Funnel Health as the main attack. This can be improved further by using Swallow Soul instead of Funnel health and altering CP's etc, but the 9% gives a nice foundation. Also I chose this race 'cos my char looks epic with horns
Obvious other choices could be Breton, or Dummer for vampires, but even stamina races like Redguard or Imperial would work well, as this build does a LOT of blocking.
Gear
Phoenix set. Not a massively popular choice, but it has saved me too many times to count in 1vX and even the occasional 1v1. (It's [pretty rare for me now to lose a 1v1 or for it to get to the stage where I need the Poenix to proc) In a 1vX I'll try and save my ultimate for when Phoenix procs, then blast out Soul Tether, spam Sap Essence and bingo I'm at full health. Get a Fear when stun has ended, maybe pop a tri-stat potion if needed for mag/stam and it's a whole new ball game for the enemies who thought I was a gonner.
Engine Guardian helm/shoulders. Ok, for the 'not very good' this can be a hard set to get, but with a little patience and resolve you'll get it, and when you get it, you'll never look back. Due to spamming Funnel Health, you'll proc this a lot, if it's feeding stam, hold that block up all day, if feeding health, no need to worry about blocking for a while, if feeding mag, spam spam spam spam spam away all your magica.
Willpower set. Three pieces jewellery. Not too hard to get, getting the 'right' traits may take some time, (what doesn't in this game!) I have spell damage enchants on all three pieces.
Sword and shield: Torugs Pact for increased spell damage. I have Infused and Sharpened, for some weird reason I have a dagger, a sword would be better, no idea why I went that way lol, am currently researchig nirnhoned so will use that when it's ready for the weapon.
My secondary weapon is resto staff, a bit of an odd one out, a msters staff would be an excellent choice but I don't have it.
Everything is improved to legendary, including the glyphs, although obviously I can't improve jewellery. Magica enchants on all clothing,
Mundus: Currently using the Apprentice, Mage would also be a good choice, even the stamina based stones may be worth considering due to the amount o block casting done with this build, but I haven't tried them.
Bar 1 My main combat bar.
Defensive Stance: an absolute must-have for this build. Take this skill out and you're playing a different build pure and simple. the morph that gives health isn't really worth it due us using Funnel Health so much, the stun from DS has proven it's worth time after time for me, I also use this skill prior to casting my other bar ultimate (Meteor) and then try and target a DK showing flappy flaps. He'll bounce it back at me, hopefully he'll have the morph that increases dmg and he'll get it right back at him, exc ept now it's non-returnable. Have a nice day
The reduced block cost given as a passive is also a must-have.
Sap Essence: A brilliant skill, heals allies, increases spell dmg, does dmg, it only does everything.
Shadow Skill: Some flexibility here, I have used Refreshing Path a lot, sometimes put fear on here, what IS essential, is you have one Shadow Skill for the passives as much as the actual skill itself.As I' still trying to oncrease my Assault Skill lvl for detonation, I find Refreshing path helps, as it counts as a heal for allies that cross it, ditto that reasoning for Funnel Health rather than Swallow Soul. Try and remember to use this skill every 5 seconds if you can for the passives.
Inigorating Drain: a nice channel skill/stun for DK's who will flappy flap your funnel health right back at ya, and having a vampire skill on the bar increases mag/stam regeneration, it also helps with gaining ultimate. It also makes a nice stam drain for sorcs (who will usually break free from it) and getting stamina from sorcs is the only way to effectively get them down.
Funnel Health. Again, an absolute must. Decent dmg, returns health to you and allies (generating AP) is cheap, can be easily cast while blocking, and remember you're getting an extra 9% benefit.
Ultimate: Soul Tether or Healing Swarm. I used to use the Swarm a lot, then one day while resetting morphs I had a brain fart and chose clouding swarm by mistake ( It's the kinda thing I do!) so went with Soul tether, and after a bit of use decided I like ST waaay more. The stun is incredibly useful. Either vamp offers a good choice tho imo, as does Consuming Darkness and its morphs.
Bar 2
Rapid Manouvers when traveling, Mutagen when in seiges. RM is pretty much essential imo for getting around, my mount (A guar looks pure epic when mounted ny an Argonian btw) is fully trained in speed, not far off in stam, this is great for chasing down enemy players seen in the distance, either morph is worth taking imo. Mutagen is a pretty effective heal when seiging/defending, is great for generating ultimate, and as I said, is good for AP gain.
Double Take: 20% dodge chance means 20% less dmg taken, when looked at as an average. And looks cool as anything
The extra speed is nice, but when in the sweres this has helped me speed up farming no end, (I had lvl 15 Phoenix, was able to get lvl 16 rapidly due to the speed of farming stones. If farming stones replace first skill with concealed weapon for some insane movement speed whilst hidden in the sewers/city.
A Shadow Skill: I've been putting Fear here usually (obviously not duplicating if on the other bar) currently trying out Shadow Image, if farming in IC I'd recommend cloak.
Crippling Grasp: Again a good stamina drain, if enemy has no stamina to break free/purge does some decent damage too, whilst increasing your movement speed. Nice.
Piercing Mark: An essential skill imo, whether in IC or Cyrodiil. Also good against bosses/elites in PvE. Most people will know, but generally speaking don't use this as an opener, as it immediately prepares an enemy for an attack. The exception to this rule may be for NB's who you reckon are gonna cloak as soon as you open on them.
Ultimate: Meteor. I don't have this morphed yet, have only recently made the effort to get all the lore books on this char
So, if you made it this far, thanks for reading, I hope it proves helpful to some people, and as said earlier I welcome critique.
Lastly, I hope I've at least shown NB doesn't need to spam cloak!
The following video may have some slight differences as this is still in experimental stages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poZz_wZfnQ4
Edited by MuddledMuppet on November 12, 2015 4:51PM There's a bit of a wall of text here, no TL:DR section, a video at the end, I'll be adding more videos if there seems a positive responce
About me
I'm 54, and always been an 'average' kinda player in any game. I can have some moments of blinding brilliance, but see more moments of sheer 'wtf did I do that for' stupidity. At my age, it's a fact that neurological responces slow down, that's just pure biology, so my reactions will never be as good as in my younger days. Like a lot of players, I can be stunned not just with in-game mechanics, but by my own brain that seems to go into turtle mode and react badly or in a mild panic.
I played ESO on PC release, but stopped playing for a looong time, never really got the hang of PvP on the PC, I was just easy AP whenever I tried. Masses of information on screen from most combat add-ons would just baffle & confuse me, (I also did find them immersion breaking but that's a whole 'nother story) In short, they were more of a hinderence than a help.
I am as likely to choose abilities/race etc by what I think looks 'cool' as I am by stats, ultimately I'm here to have fun, so some of the choices may seem a bit odd, but that just leaves room for further improvement on the build should anyone wish to min/max it.
So, no expert, but let's not have false modesty either, I have a lot of gaming experience which can and does help out some times, and no matter the game, have had my fair share of MvP games/matches etc. I currently have approx 300 CP's.
Aims of the build
Some reasonable sustain and 'thinking time' is more important to me personally than pure stacking for damage. It's not designed to one-shot willy anyone, but allows me to keep on fighting, with the enemy thinking 'damn I just can't damage this guy!'. This is not a finished build by any means, and I look forward to any knowledgeable players giving some critique. I am still experimenting with a few skills which I'll mention below, and some skills may need swapping depending on the situation, ie for getting around I use Rapid Manouvers, but swap this with mutagen if on a keep defence, at which point I'll also swap a skill for caltrops, but that skill is too costly in stamina for me to use all the time.
Race
Argonian. Ok ok get your chuckles out, this build started life as a sap tank, and the 9% increased efectiveness of healing stacks very nicely with spamming Funnel Health as the main attack. This can be improved further by using Swallow Soul instead of Funnel health and altering CP's etc, but the 9% gives a nice foundation. Also I chose this race 'cos my char looks epic with horns
Obvious other choices could be Breton, or Dummer for vampires, but even stamina races like Redguard or Imperial would work well, as this build does a LOT of blocking.
Gear
Phoenix set. Not a massively popular choice, but it has saved me too many times to count in 1vX and even the occasional 1v1. (It's [pretty rare for me now to lose a 1v1 or for it to get to the stage where I need the Poenix to proc) In a 1vX I'll try and save my ultimate for when Phoenix procs, then blast out Soul Tether, spam Sap Essence and bingo I'm at full health. Get a Fear when stun has ended, maybe pop a tri-stat potion if needed for mag/stam and it's a whole new ball game for the enemies who thought I was a gonner.
Engine Guardian helm/shoulders. Ok, for the 'not very good' this can be a hard set to get, but with a little patience and resolve you'll get it, and when you get it, you'll never look back. Due to spamming Funnel Health, you'll proc this a lot, if it's feeding stam, hold that block up all day, if feeding health, no need to worry about blocking for a while, if feeding mag, spam spam spam spam spam away all your magica.
Willpower set. Three pieces jewellery. Not too hard to get, getting the 'right' traits may take some time, (what doesn't in this game!) I have spell damage enchants on all three pieces.
Sword and shield: Torugs Pact for increased spell damage. I have Infused and Sharpened, for some weird reason I have a dagger, a sword would be better, no idea why I went that way lol, am currently researchig nirnhoned so will use that when it's ready for the weapon.
My secondary weapon is resto staff, a bit of an odd one out, a msters staff would be an excellent choice but I don't have it.
Everything is improved to legendary, including the glyphs, although obviously I can't improve jewellery. Magica enchants on all clothing,
Mundus: Currently using the Apprentice, Mage would also be a good choice, even the stamina based stones may be worth considering due to the amount o block casting done with this build, but I haven't tried them.
Bar 1 My main combat bar.
Defensive Stance: an absolute must-have for this build. Take this skill out and you're playing a different build pure and simple. the morph that gives health isn't really worth it due us using Funnel Health so much, the stun from DS has proven it's worth time after time for me, I also use this skill prior to casting my other bar ultimate (Meteor) and then try and target a DK showing flappy flaps. He'll bounce it back at me, hopefully he'll have the morph that increases dmg and he'll get it right back at him, exc ept now it's non-returnable. Have a nice day
The reduced block cost given as a passive is also a must-have.
Sap Essence: A brilliant skill, heals allies, increases spell dmg, does dmg, it only does everything.
Shadow Skill: Some flexibility here, I have used Refreshing Path a lot, sometimes put fear on here, what IS essential, is you have one Shadow Skill for the passives as much as the actual skill itself.As I' still trying to oncrease my Assault Skill lvl for detonation, I find Refreshing path helps, as it counts as a heal for allies that cross it, ditto that reasoning for Funnel Health rather than Swallow Soul. Try and remember to use this skill every 5 seconds if you can for the passives.
Inigorating Drain: a nice channel skill/stun for DK's who will flappy flap your funnel health right back at ya, and having a vampire skill on the bar increases mag/stam regeneration, it also helps with gaining ultimate. It also makes a nice stam drain for sorcs (who will usually break free from it) and getting stamina from sorcs is the only way to effectively get them down.
Funnel Health. Again, an absolute must. Decent dmg, returns health to you and allies (generating AP) is cheap, can be easily cast while blocking, and remember you're getting an extra 9% benefit.
Ultimate: Soul Tether or Healing Swarm. I used to use the Swarm a lot, then one day while resetting morphs I had a brain fart and chose clouding swarm by mistake ( It's the kinda thing I do!) so went with Soul tether, and after a bit of use decided I like ST waaay more. The stun is incredibly useful. Either vamp offers a good choice tho imo, as does Consuming Darkness and its morphs.
Bar 2
Rapid Manouvers when traveling, Mutagen when in seiges. RM is pretty much essential imo for getting around, my mount (A guar looks pure epic when mounted ny an Argonian btw) is fully trained in speed, not far off in stam, this is great for chasing down enemy players seen in the distance, either morph is worth taking imo. Mutagen is a pretty effective heal when seiging/defending, is great for generating ultimate, and as I said, is good for AP gain.
Double Take: 20% dodge chance means 20% less dmg taken, when looked at as an average. And looks cool as anything
The extra speed is nice, but when in the sweres this has helped me speed up farming no end, (I had lvl 15 Phoenix, was able to get lvl 16 rapidly due to the speed of farming stones. If farming stones replace first skill with concealed weapon for some insane movement speed whilst hidden in the sewers/city.
A Shadow Skill: I've been putting Fear here usually (obviously not duplicating if on the other bar) currently trying out Shadow Image, if farming in IC I'd recommend cloak.
Crippling Grasp: Again a good stamina drain, if enemy has no stamina to break free/purge does some decent damage too, whilst increasing your movement speed. Nice.
Piercing Mark: An essential skill imo, whether in IC or Cyrodiil. Also good against bosses/elites in PvE. Most people will know, but generally speaking don't use this as an opener, as it immediately prepares an enemy for an attack. The exception to this rule may be for NB's who you reckon are gonna cloak as soon as you open on them.
Ultimate: Meteor. I don't have this morphed yet, have only recently made the effort to get all the lore books on this char
So, if you made it this far, thanks for reading, I hope it proves helpful to some people, and as said earlier I welcome critique.
Lastly, I hope I've at least shown NB doesn't need to spam cloak!
The following video may have some slight differences as this is still in experimental stages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poZz_wZfnQ4 0
-
MuddledMuppet✭✭✭✭usmcjdking wrote: »Ditch Phoenix for Spectre's Eye.
That's definitely a call worth looking at, but... as I said, I lost count of the amount of times Phoenix has comepletely turned the fight around for me.
When I unlock magica detonation I'll be re-lookig at stuff, might be worth considering this as I can lose dodge.
Just a shame experimentation is so hard due to cost of lvl 16 mats0
