End Game Stamina Nightblade Build- PvE DPS (Updated for Clockwork City)

Gilliamtherogue

undefeatdgaul wrote: »

Gilliamtherogue wrote: »

KamakaziYardbird wrote: »

First of all, as always thank you for the guide! wouldnt be here without it!

as far as best gear/ good gear. I am running 5 VO (3 jewelry Head, shoulder) and NM for the rest currently building TBS as well. since i havnt completed Malestorm area for the daggers. would Lekis swords/daggers be the best for my weps for the bonus. Now i feel like i have a butt load of stamina doing this but feel like my wep damage is lacking. my gear is not legendary yet and i am dont have wep damage on my jewlery yet. my currect set up Molog shoulder/ 5 piece VO / 3 agility / 3 NM my wep damage is around 2800. without the wep proc. Anyway, guess my question is . is it really better in a 4 man group/ solo play using 5 VO / 5 NM and 2 Lekis?

2 Hundings would outperform 2 Leki's in a raid, but 2 Leki's would win in solo/smaller, less coordinated groups. 5 VO/5 NM/2 Hundings/Leki's is the strongest solo build there is out there at the moment. You're extremely squishy but as long as no one else in the group has NM, the damage gain is absurd.

Weapon damage is not really what makes builds strong in PvE; Crit, Crit Hit Damage, and Penetration are all much more efficient in terms of raw DPS.

Hey first off thank you for all the great info, Im a stamplar but this was VERY VERY educating for me. Also not to sound like a total idiot but im still learning all this build info. What is the VO set? I was planning on doing 5 NM or Hundings since im a stamplar but no im curious about that.

Thanks again.

Vicious Ophidian, drops in the 3 trials from Craglorn.

ookami007

Thank you for sharing this build.

I have recently returned to playing after a 6 month hiatus and I realize that I am way behind the eight ball. I am working to catch up and am up to 305 CPs and am using crafted gear. I have 3 nightblades, all 50/305, though only one has completed all the main quests.

Before I took the break, I had most just solo'ed or played with my girlfriend, so I really didn't do any group or PvP stuff, so I'm lacking in that department.

I have a few questions for you, if you have the time.

I mostly play one of the nightblades with my girlfriend, who is CP501 (or whatever the new cap is) and I have gone with 5 NM/5 flanking/2 hundings - I went with Stamina and Divines on all armor and weapon damage / precise on the weapons. Does that seem to be a good combination for duo'ing with her (she plays a templar). Or do you have any other suggestions?

On my other two toons, I'd like to start doing some Malestorm Arena, since it seems every build includes using Maelstorm daggers.

Are there any modifications you would make to your build to do Maelstorm? From what I've been reading, you need more of a sustain build, whereas this seems more like a burst damage build.

Any recommendations?

Thank you for sharing and thank you for any suggestions you can give me.

Gilliamtherogue

ookami007 wrote: »

Thank you for sharing this build.

I have recently returned to playing after a 6 month hiatus and I realize that I am way behind the eight ball. I am working to catch up and am up to 305 CPs and am using crafted gear. I have 3 nightblades, all 50/305, though only one has completed all the main quests.

Before I took the break, I had most just solo'ed or played with my girlfriend, so I really didn't do any group or PvP stuff, so I'm lacking in that department.

I have a few questions for you, if you have the time.

I mostly play one of the nightblades with my girlfriend, who is CP501 (or whatever the new cap is) and I have gone with 5 NM/5 flanking/2 hundings - I went with Stamina and Divines on all armor and weapon damage / precise on the weapons. Does that seem to be a good combination for duo'ing with her (she plays a templar). Or do you have any other suggestions?

On my other two toons, I'd like to start doing some Malestorm Arena, since it seems every build includes using Maelstorm daggers.

Are there any modifications you would make to your build to do Maelstorm? From what I've been reading, you need more of a sustain build, whereas this seems more like a burst damage build.

Any recommendations?

Thank you for sharing and thank you for any suggestions you can give me.

That's a tough situation, since most of the gear needed for both VMA and trial/group based PvE calls for Vicious Ophidian (you don't NEED it to complete stuff, but it solves the major weaknesses of Stamina builds atm) which comes from Sanctum Ophidia, Atherian Archive, and Hel Ra Citadel. Try and get some runs in (I suggest doing normal) and trying to get a set together. If not, running 5 NMG, a monster set (Valkyn or Nerieneth are both decent), 3 Endurance, and 2 Leki's or Hundings will have decent results for vMA. When you're duoing or doing less rigorous content I'd drop 5 flanking for 3 agility and a 2 pc monster set if possible, but Flanking should be okay until then. Just keep in mind you need to be behind every enemy for Flanking to proc on multiple targets.

kylewwefan

Thanks for making this thread, I've been following for some time! I have a question about using valkyn skoria. It doesn't hit very hard for my guy maybe like 7k usually. So I've been using kena/blood spawn. And I don't have valkyn in medium divines My magic user friends tell how hard it hits (18k)and I'm not even close to that. I think because I'm stamina. I had similar feelings about using meteor.

I read about switching jewelry enchants to recovery.....I just can't see giving up that much damage.

Gilliamtherogue

kylewwefan wrote: »

Thanks for making this thread, I've been following for some time! I have a question about using valkyn skoria. It doesn't hit very hard for my guy maybe like 7k usually. So I've been using kena/blood spawn. And I don't have valkyn in medium divines My magic user friends tell how hard it hits (18k)and I'm not even close to that. I think because I'm stamina. I had similar feelings about using meteor.

I read about switching jewelry enchants to recovery.....I just can't see giving up that much damage.

Valkyn Skoria should be hitting non crit for about 7-9k depending on debuffs/buffs, and critting for ~14-17k depending for stamina users. While it's not a tremendous amount of damage, the 2 piece is roughly worth 1500 single target DPS, which is more than a 1 Kena bonus, and the health is better than the stamina recovery from bloodspawn, since this build runs absolutely 0 health amps (unless you're running TBS, but then you aren't running a monster set to begin with). CP and group debuffs play an extremely large role in determining effectiveness of stuff, which this build is centered around. Same with Meteor, all stamina ulties hit much weaker compared to their Magicka counter parts due to how they scale.

I only suggest using recovery enchants on jewelry for beginners in Maelstrom Arena (assuming you don't have Vicious Ophidian). The weapon damage enchants are by far stronger, even if you're running out of stamina.

RosaTheWitch

Hi Gilliam, I hope you don't mind a rookie asking you a question! My khajiit stamina nightblade (DW daggers & bow) is currently at level cp120, and I'm thinking about what gear I should get when I hit cp160. This is my first main character, so I'll be the first to admit that I don't know what I'm doing half the time! I'm using your endgame build, with a few exceptions, as I don't have all of the skills you use, and since I haven't got any looted gear, I'm wondering what would work best at cp160. I mainly play PvE & solo, but I've just started to PvP a bit, and since I can only afford one set of gear, it would have to be suitable for both. I currently use all medium, 5 x Hunding's Rage and the rest Nightmother's, all divines and precise. I use the Thief mundus stone. I'm not a great player, so things like Maelstrom Arena and pretty much anything else with good loot is unattainable for now. What gear do you recommend for this newbie player, when she hits cp160? Once again, sorry for bothering you with such a rookie question, but I know I can totally trust advice from you!

~Rosa~

(RosaTheWitch on PS4 NA Aldmeri Dominion)

Gilliamtherogue

RosaTheWitch wrote: »

Hi Gilliam, I hope you don't mind a rookie asking you a question! My khajiit stamina nightblade (DW daggers & bow) is currently at level cp120, and I'm thinking about what gear I should get when I hit cp160. This is my first main character, so I'll be the first to admit that I don't know what I'm doing half the time! I'm using your endgame build, with a few exceptions, as I don't have all of the skills you use, and since I haven't got any looted gear, I'm wondering what would work best at cp160. I mainly play PvE & solo, but I've just started to PvP a bit, and since I can only afford one set of gear, it would have to be suitable for both. I currently use all medium, 5 x Hunding's Rage and the rest Nightmother's, all divines and precise. I use the Thief mundus stone. I'm not a great player, so things like Maelstrom Arena and pretty much anything else with good loot is unattainable for now. What gear do you recommend for this newbie player, when she hits cp160? Once again, sorry for bothering you with such a rookie question, but I know I can totally trust advice from you!

~Rosa~

(RosaTheWitch on PS4 NA Aldmeri Dominion)

Until you're able to get your CP higher (~400+ mark) and get some Maelstrom experience, I'd suggest sticking with 5 Hundings, 3 Agility, and 4 Marksman. With lower CP levels you're probably finding yourself in situations where your resources are totally stripped, and your raw damage is a little lower to allow % gains from 5pc NM and really high crit values to really gain effectiveness. Marksman has a lot of stamina recovery on it and a weapon damage bonus to help alleviate that, which is why I'd suggest it over 4 NM.

When you're around the 300 CP mark (you can do it whenever you want, but this is usually the spot where raw stats start enabling better play) you'll want to step into Maelstrom arena and start getting experience, where I'd suggest picking up 3 Endurance instead of Agility to help out health levels and more resource management.

RosaTheWitch

Wow, that was a fast response - thank you very much, Gilliam!

I shall definitely take your advice - I'd be mad not to, really. I must admit, I'm such a rookie, I hadn't even heard of the Marksman set, but the stamina recovery would most certainly be welcome, so I look forward to trying it out.

Once again, thank you for helping me find my feet (paws?) in ESO!

~Rosa~

(RosaTheWitch on PS4 NA Aldmeri Dominion)

Wrecking_Blow_Spam

Hey do you mind helping me out?

So I'm new to Vma. I've recently beat it 3 times on stamina blade, these are only 3 I ever beat it and I've done it once on a sorc before so 4 in total. It's worth noting I didn't use any sigils, and my pots where just trash pots. My best score was 420000 ish. But I died a lot, I felt as though I had to dodge, heal 24/7. Especially on that ice round.
My build is: 2h/bow
Sharpened maul/ sharpened bow
5 hundings
3 agility
1 kena
1 blood spawn

I'm a redguard. I don't have any good MSA weapons as I've only just started doing it. Do you recommend I switch to dual wield?
I like the heal from rally plus I like the major brutality since I'm still learning, I don't want to be chugging expensive potions 24/7.

Also I tried running thief and shadow but I didn't like my sustain, I had to go serpent. All my jewellery is WD. I run max health and max stamina food. Should I go max health and stam recovery? Then I could change serpent mundus. I know more max stamina= more damage. Siphoning doesn't seem to proc very often for me.

I also run evil hunter on front bar so my crit is 52%. Is that good enough? At what point should you switch to the shadow eg 55% or 60%?

One last thing is I can't get vicious serpent set as my play times are limited and I'm usually afk often.

I know it's a long msg, I appreciate any help as you clearly know your stuff.

gard

I wonder if at lower crit chance, sunderflame is better since it procs on heavy attack?
Maybe not, since it won't proc from aoe crits. Gilliam have you run any numbers on it?

a_hero

Hey again, Gilliam.

How much DPS, roughly, would 1 piece kena be for someone with say 3000~ weapon damage?
Would this value effectively double for someone running 1 pc kena, 1 pc velidreth?

I know you've stated that the Mephala set is the BiS at the moment if running NMG 5pc, but what advantage would this have over running 1 pc kena, 1 pc velidreth; would it still be greater DPS?

Lastly, would Maelstrom weapons (dagger + axe) with bad traits be worth running over NMG (4pc)/Leki daggers with sharpened?

Cheers for all of your help so far, it is much appreciated.

a_salty_pirate

@Gilliamtherogue, 2 piece Velidreth, what are your thoughts/experience with it?

While being disease damage is pretty nice, the 10 second cooldown seems to dramatically reduce the total single target DPS potential, and the max of 3 targets and problematic aiming seems to limit its AOE DPS contribution too

Have you had a chance to test the DPS? Do you happen to know if its better/comparable to Skoria or Mephala?

Gilliamtherogue

a_salty_pirate wrote: »

@Gilliamtherogue, 2 piece Velidreth, what are your thoughts/experience with it?

While being disease damage is pretty nice, the 10 second cooldown seems to dramatically reduce the total single target DPS potential, and the max of 3 targets and problematic aiming seems to limit its AOE DPS contribution too

Have you had a chance to test the DPS? Do you happen to know if its better/comparable to Skoria or Mephala?

It's main purpose is burst damage, making it quite powerful for vMA and PvP but anything else it falls off short. Mephala's pulls more single target and AoE dps, while Skoria is slightly weaker in single target but stronger in AoE. You also can't run it with 5 TBS/5VO/2 Maelstrom so it's extremely lack luster for end game PvE DPS. Overall pretty disappointed in the set, burst damage is absurd already in PvP and this set just makes it worse.

Gilliamtherogue

a_hero wrote: »

Hey again, Gilliam.

How much DPS, roughly, would 1 piece kena be for someone with say 3000~ weapon damage?
Would this value effectively double for someone running 1 pc kena, 1 pc velidreth?

I know you've stated that the Mephala set is the BiS at the moment if running NMG 5pc, but what advantage would this have over running 1 pc kena, 1 pc velidreth; would it still be greater DPS?

Lastly, would Maelstrom weapons (dagger + axe) with bad traits be worth running over NMG (4pc)/Leki daggers with sharpened?

Cheers for all of your help so far, it is much appreciated.

2 Weapon damage set bonuses (Kena + Vile) would still under perform compared to 2pc Mephala in most situations unless there is an encounter with spread out enemies. Even then you'd be sacrificing a health bonus, putting you under the 17k mark which is highly ill advised in PvE. For PvP you'd be better off going with 2 Vile for more burst damage than the 1 kena 1 vile, and Battle Spirit would help give more health.

Depends on the traits and weapon quality. I'd stick with Leki's until you can get any combination of Precise/Sharpened vMA weapons.

gard

My nb is an orc, so his crit is not as high as say, a khajiit.

Question for the smart guys:
At what point (crit chance) is it better to take thief as opposed to shadow?
Or is it just always better to choose shadow?

gangrel206

Has anyone tested Brianheart set?

Thinking of using it with VO, but i still need all VO and Brianheart parts


EDIT: For PVE

phreatophile

Briarheart isn't that great and it's more work than its worth to get in 160 with non-decon trash traits.

If you look back a few pages, Gilliam goes into detail about it.

Comes up every 2 - 3 pages in this thread.

gangrel206

phreatophile wrote: »

Briarheart isn't that great and it's more work than its worth to get in 160 with non-decon trash traits.

If you look back a few pages, Gilliam goes into detail about it.

Comes up every 2 - 3 pages in this thread.

Found it, thank's!

It would be nice to mention it on the first post, there is already 13 pages... i had read over 5 pages and not found it, that's why i asked...


I've just got all 5 pieces, the briarthorns looks nice, but that's it... a real disappointment =[


Other question... what makes your hit 20k, 30k or even 40k dps? (4 man dungeon)

Does CP makes all that difference? Or something else, like potions or poison?

Gilliamtherogue

gangrel206 wrote: »

phreatophile wrote: »

Briarheart isn't that great and it's more work than its worth to get in 160 with non-decon trash traits.

If you look back a few pages, Gilliam goes into detail about it.

Comes up every 2 - 3 pages in this thread.

Found it, thank's!

It would be nice to mention it on the first post, there is already 13 pages... i had read over 5 pages and not found it, that's why i asked...


I've just got all 5 pieces, the briarthorns looks nice, but that's it... a real disappointment =[


Other question... what makes your hit 20k, 30k or even 40k dps? (4 man dungeon)

Does CP makes all that difference? Or something else, like potions or poison?

#1 is rotation and skill. Knowing what abilities to run, and how to apply them to combat. A good rotation and player skill will trump stats most times.
#2 is gear setup. Being properly setup for an encounter is key, and some fights favor different things. I carry many gear pieces on me to always be flexible.
#3 is CP and consumables. Contrary to popular belief, CP only plays a big role in your DPS if you're already doing a good job at it. For example, without CP I can still parse ~30k single target, so when I do place my CP in I see a drastic increase, since they are a multiplicative gain to what you're already doing. Green and Red CP is what matters most in terms of surviving and rotation, but Blue CP is only good if you're doing well enough. Consumables help a lot too, make sure to always eat Bi Health+Max resource (Stam if you're a stam build, Magicka if you're a caster) in a DPS or healer role. Drinking potions such as Major Brutality/Savagery off cool down helps a lot too, but they aren't mandatory in pulling *decent* DPS. I often clear vMA or do the "harder" pledges such as Ruins or Cradle without ever drinking a weapon power potion.

KamakaziYardbird

Good morning yet again, thanks for everything thus far.

I am sure it's posted somewhere here but what is your rotation with skills? With all my buffs on and skill rotation my surprise attack does about 16k if everything procs. But everything is purpused. With only a few yellow glyps

gangrel206

Gilliamtherogue wrote: »

#1 is rotation and skill. Knowing what abilities to run, and how to apply them to combat. A good rotation and player skill will trump stats most times.
#2 is gear setup. Being properly setup for an encounter is key, and some fights favor different things. I carry many gear pieces on me to always be flexible.
#3 is CP and consumables. Contrary to popular belief, CP only plays a big role in your DPS if you're already doing a good job at it. For example, without CP I can still parse ~30k single target, so when I do place my CP in I see a drastic increase, since they are a multiplicative gain to what you're already doing. Green and Red CP is what matters most in terms of surviving and rotation, but Blue CP is only good if you're doing well enough. Consumables help a lot too, make sure to always eat Bi Health+Max resource (Stam if you're a stam build, Magicka if you're a caster) in a DPS or healer role. Drinking potions such as Major Brutality/Savagery off cool down helps a lot too, but they aren't mandatory in pulling *decent* DPS. I often clear vMA or do the "harder" pledges such as Ruins or Cradle without ever drinking a weapon power potion.

Thanks for the info!
Especially on the CP part... i often see people saying that DPS will increase a lot after 300cp... but i really don't see that happening. I've already seen 400+ CP player pulling 15k dmg and other one (also around 400cp) pulling 38k


With my full stam NB, i usually pull around 18k single target (vet 4 man dungeon boss).
18k sustained dps with ~295 CP, no potions, only my buffs and no MA weapons (5pc VO, 5pc NMG and 2 weapon dmg rings, all purple).
My skill bar is very close to the one in this guide, except for razor caltrops that i still need 1 more assaut lvl to unlock and fighter guild ultimate to increase weapon dmg (need 1 more fighters guild lvl)


I get the felling that i should be pulling at least 25k... can i hit that number, in this scenario, improving rotation and player skills?

I feel that i should be doing more damage with the gear and amount of CP that i have...

Gilliamtherogue

KamakaziYardbird wrote: »

Good morning yet again, thanks for everything thus far.

I am sure it's posted somewhere here but what is your rotation with skills? With all my buffs on and skill rotation my surprise attack does about 16k if everything procs. But everything is purpused. With only a few yellow glyps

@KamakaziYardbird

Rotation without maelstrom daggers is ;

1. Buffs are rolling; this means Weapon power potions off cooldown and Relentless Focus is up BEFORE you engage. Also have Siphoning Attacks up if you don't have Vicious Ophidian 5pc.

2. Apply your longest lasting DoTs first, going down in priority while keeping in mind how long it will take to barswap/etc. You can charge a fully heavy attack before a pull begins as well to ensure maximum damage. Longest DoTs are as follows; Caltrops, Injection, Arrow Barrage, barswap, Rearming Trap, Rending Slashes, SA until your Arrow Barrage is about to fade, and rinse repeat.

3. Cast your ultimate at the start of your fight in tandem with a LA, if you don't have one ready then do it when you are swapping to your bow bar when you're reapplying DoTs. AoE or Target above 25% health = Shooting Star, Target below 25% = Soul Harvest.

The SA build caps out by the low 30k's in gold bis gear (aside from Maelstrom Daggers), and rotation is the biggest role in DPS output. If you aren't keeping up buffs and DoTs at least 90% per skill then you're missing out on massive output.

Bisenberger96

Just got my vma daggers a couple weeks ago (precise and nirnhoned), and strangely have noticed quite a dps loss since. On a self-buffed bloodspawn test, I'm able to pull 37k with SA (2 precise leki's daggers). However, with my vma daggers and rapid strikes, I'm only hitting 33-35k. I'm certain this is a rotation issue, so I was wondering what the best sequence is for placing dots down with vma daggers.

Gilliamtherogue

Bisenberger96 wrote: »

Just got my vma daggers a couple weeks ago (precise and nirnhoned), and strangely have noticed quite a dps loss since. On a self-buffed bloodspawn test, I'm able to pull 37k with SA (2 precise leki's daggers). However, with my vma daggers and rapid strikes, I'm only hitting 33-35k. I'm certain this is a rotation issue, so I was wondering what the best sequence is for placing dots down with vma daggers.

@Bisenberger96 Refer to the post directly above yours.

Bisenberger96

Gilliamtherogue wrote: »

Bisenberger96 wrote: »

Just got my vma daggers a couple weeks ago (precise and nirnhoned), and strangely have noticed quite a dps loss since. On a self-buffed bloodspawn test, I'm able to pull 37k with SA (2 precise leki's daggers). However, with my vma daggers and rapid strikes, I'm only hitting 33-35k. I'm certain this is a rotation issue, so I was wondering what the best sequence is for placing dots down with vma daggers.

@Bisenberger96 Refer to the post directly above yours.

Ya I read that, but that's the setup with no vma daggers. I was just wondering if there was something different that needed to happen with maelstrom daggers (besides obviously empowering dots). If it's the same I guess I just need to work on managing buffs/dots better.

gard

You aren't cancelling the rapid strikes are you?

Gilliamtherogue

Bisenberger96 wrote: »

Gilliamtherogue wrote: »

Bisenberger96 wrote: »

Just got my vma daggers a couple weeks ago (precise and nirnhoned), and strangely have noticed quite a dps loss since. On a self-buffed bloodspawn test, I'm able to pull 37k with SA (2 precise leki's daggers). However, with my vma daggers and rapid strikes, I'm only hitting 33-35k. I'm certain this is a rotation issue, so I was wondering what the best sequence is for placing dots down with vma daggers.

@Bisenberger96 Refer to the post directly above yours.

Ya I read that, but that's the setup with no vma daggers. I was just wondering if there was something different that needed to happen with maelstrom daggers (besides obviously empowering dots). If it's the same I guess I just need to work on managing buffs/dots better.

You just do a Rapid Strikes in between each of them.

Gilliamtherogue

gard wrote: »

You aren't cancelling the rapid strikes are you?

It's a channel, so you can't animation cancel it. You can however, weave it.

gard

It can be block canceled right? That would prevent full rs, which would mean lower dps.

Unless I'm mistaken, which is entirely possible.

Gilliamtherogue

gard wrote: »

It can be block canceled right? That would prevent full rs, which would mean lower dps.

Unless I'm mistaken, which is entirely possible.

Anything can be block cancelled, yes, and would completely negate damage. Meaning you cannot animation cancel it. Animation Canceling refers to the act of blocking/bar swapping to end an animation swifter or cutting through "fluff" animation without any loss incurred on the damage dealing capability of the skill. Canceling an ability and preventing the damage is simply just Canceling.

Meaning, you cannot animation cancel Rapid Strikes, but you can cancel it. The reason I correct it is because a lot of misinformation is spread when people misuse correct terminology. Like when people say to animation cancel your light attacks, that is incorrect. You simply weave them with abilities. Animation canceling them would refer to the act of blocking after each and every queue which would look like; Light Attack > Ability > Block, when in reality it should only be Light Attack > Ability > Light Attack > ... Blocking now incurs heavy operational losses after the Stamina Recovery disabling during blocking, as well as the janky new animation system.