New player, help me decide between dragon knight and nightblade?

theimmortalone2552_ESO

Current pros and cons of each in pve and pvp?

One thing I noticed is that nightblade has a skill they can spam to move 40% faster, while I can't find any such thing for the DK. Does this make a big difference in regards to convenience?

What about how good/fast they are at leveling?

Thanks

Lynx7386

In very general terms:

Nightblades:
-Have better burst damage/stealth ability
-Have more passive boosts to damage output and weapon usage
-Are more mobile with a reliable stamina gap closer and major expedition

Dragonknights:
-Will have higher sustained (but lower burst) damage
-Will have better defenses/survivability/utility
-Have better resource management

I play both, and stamina builds for both, and they're definitely both fun classes; very different playstyles though. The nightblade focuses mostly on trying to kill the target as quickly as possible: you want to maximize burst damage and use stealth to your advantage. You play more like an assassin (though, oddly, 2h works better for nightblades here than dual wield does).
The dragonknight uses stealth far less often, and is more of a front line fighter with some extra defensive perks to survive incoming damage while fighting. The DK also is a little slower paced, relying on stacking damage over time effects on enemies and then letting them burn to death while you tank any incoming damage.

Jazbay_Grape

There are pros and cons to both. All I can say is that I started out playing this game as a DK and then I switched to a nightblade. Nightblade has been more fun for me. If you end up sucking in PVP like I do, then you can at least resort to a life of ganking. I also think that being a nightblade helped with the TG DLC and will prob help with the next DLC. I don't think the class you choose has anything to do with how quickly you level.

Van_0S

Lynx7386 wrote: »

In very general terms:

Nightblades:
-Have better burst damage/stealth ability
-Have more passive boosts to damage output and weapon usage
-Are more mobile with a reliable stamina gap closer and major expedition

Dragonknights:
-Will have higher sustained (but lower burst) damage
-Will have better defenses/survivability/utility
-Have better resource management

I play both, and stamina builds for both, and they're definitely both fun classes; very different playstyles though. The nightblade focuses mostly on trying to kill the target as quickly as possible: you want to maximize burst damage and use stealth to your advantage. You play more like an assassin (though, oddly, 2h works better for nightblades here than dual wield does).
The dragonknight uses stealth far less often, and is more of a front line fighter with some extra defensive perks to survive incoming damage while fighting. The DK also is a little slower paced, relying on stacking damage over time effects on enemies and then letting them burn to death while you tank any incoming damage.

^^All this!

Short version,
StamDK- heavy armor and tanky class.( Never die)
Stamblade- medium armor and burst class.( 1 hit KO)

Lynx7386

Van_0S wrote: »

Lynx7386 wrote: »

In very general terms:

Nightblades:
-Have better burst damage/stealth ability
-Have more passive boosts to damage output and weapon usage
-Are more mobile with a reliable stamina gap closer and major expedition

Dragonknights:
-Will have higher sustained (but lower burst) damage
-Will have better defenses/survivability/utility
-Have better resource management

I play both, and stamina builds for both, and they're definitely both fun classes; very different playstyles though. The nightblade focuses mostly on trying to kill the target as quickly as possible: you want to maximize burst damage and use stealth to your advantage. You play more like an assassin (though, oddly, 2h works better for nightblades here than dual wield does).
The dragonknight uses stealth far less often, and is more of a front line fighter with some extra defensive perks to survive incoming damage while fighting. The DK also is a little slower paced, relying on stacking damage over time effects on enemies and then letting them burn to death while you tank any incoming damage.

^^All this!

Short version,
StamDK- heavy armor and tanky class.( Never die)
Stamblade- medium armor and burst class.( 1 hit KO)

More or less, though my DK doesnt use heavy armor, she's in medium just like my nightblade.

Savos_Saren

I'm not going to lie... they're both awesome. Do both!!!

Auricle

I have both a v16 magicka nb and mag dk. They're both incredibly fun, but with different playstyles. Like other have said, dks are more in-your-face, burn-you-down and wait-you-out. Mag dks kind of remind me of a tankier affliction warlock from WoW. You have excellent CC, DoTs that heal you, and decent solo ability. I've played in light and heavy and they're both totally viable. You do have to be more aware of your environment as a dk, though, as you don't have much mobility or escape mechanisms. It's a really fun, rewarding class, though.

Mag NBs are kind of like easy-mode, imo. You can cloak away, you have a decent spammable that also heals you, and you can take on multiple mobs with very little effort. You have DoTs that slow your enemy and speed you up, and very nice damage. It's the easiest/fastest class to level, at least from what I can tell, mostly because you can cloak by anything you want to avoid.

That said, I find the dk playstyle more interesting, if a touch more difficult to master. It's really up to your own preferences, though. Someone else will have to speak for stamina builds, as I never play them.

I hope this was helpful. Good luck!

Stannum

really it's very common question. Cause builds even for one class can be very different so you cannot tell that NB has better burst and DK better survival (Magika NB saptank has low burst, exellent sustain and high survival). So at first you should decide what role are you going to play and what you prefere to use might or magic ).

RedFireDisco

Having both classes, the ONLY difference in "tankiness" is the 2500 extra spell resistance and 10 more blocked damage.

Honestly, DK's don't mitigate nearly any extra physical damage at all without blocking and even then it's minimal.

Battle roar & helping hands are awesome if used properly. It's a skill in of itself watching for the ult light and spamming obshield for stam.

NB's have 15% more regen and a ton of abilities that do more than one thing, plus extra health and extra magicka.

Duiwel

I'd suggest starting out with the DK to learn how the game works as they are much harder to play effectively then make a NB later because NB is EZ mode OP

Hibbou

I don t know for PVE, but for PVP, it depends, do you like challenge, or do you want to play god?

Samphaa

Magblades are insane fun in pve, still not bored of it after months of playing, I got bored or Magicka sorc pretty fast. Haven't long been playing a dk but my friend has a magicka dk at end game and he really enjoys it.

I would say magicka nightblade is easy mode tbh, you get awesome self healing, insane resource management with siphoning attacks, a stick on dot that gives you movement speed, an invisibility cloak, a decent execute and some of the coolest abilities in the game like shadow image and merciless resolve.

SolarCat02

My main is a vampire light armor magicka Dragonknight healer. Dragonknights require patience when leveling, and take some time to learn, but once you understand them they are ridiculous in awesome ways (in my opinion). She was a werewolf (to share bites in the guild, I never slotted the skill) until several weeks after hitting VR16, when I decided the vampire passives would be helpful for Veteran dungeons.

She is highly survivable as a healer (so makes the tank's life easier), has brought groups back from the verge of party wipes, can off tank mobs and non-melee bosses when needed (and even melee if given a chance to swap skills on my bar first), and I am working on boosting her spell power so I can switch to Thief Mundus to add more bite to her AoE DPS (which is already pretty decent for a dedicated healer, I am told). This is with limited CP in elemental defender and none in health regen (and no enchants in that regard, still haven't worn my fire resist necklace once).

I absolutely love her.



I have a level 12 magicka Nightblade, also a vampire. She was bitten at level 8, finished the quest at level 10, and can take out a level 40 senche tiger in the amount of time it used to take my Dragonknight to take down an appropriately leveled PvE boss when she was that low a level. I have only spent 30 Champion Points in her tree, and only because I wanted those three ten-point bonuses.



It depends on your playstyle, really.
Dragonknight is really built for damage over time melee style fighting. They're slow, but steady and with great sustain once you learn the class. They have good self-healing, too, as well as party buffs and shields.
Nightblade is more burst damage, stealthy, and has quite a few good class options for self- and party-heals through DPS. They are squishy, but do very well with range attacks, and even melee if you are good at dodge rolling.

Both classes can do very well in all three roles (healer/tank/DPS), although Dragonknight may have a disadvantage in the healer role.
The playstyles will be very different, though, so pick your class based on that!

abreen28

@Lynx7386 so for a new player no champ points or anything, for NB what skills should you take first, or what are the most important skills?

WhoThenNow7

I have a vet 16 stamina dragonknight and a vet 1 magicka dragonknight, and even I will admit that the gank power of nightblade are very real.. I just started a new character, stamina nightblade and I really like it. You can't go wrong with either of them. Just depends what you want, stealth and surprise? Or control, power, and good defense?

Oreyn_Bearclaw

I will stick mostly to PVE in my analysis. I have played NB as both stam and magic, and DK primarily as magic. I did just level a stam DK for the next patch. I also just leveled a NB on a pure magic race.

For a long time, Magic DK was top of the charts for DPS. This is really no longer the case. From a DPS perspective, their rotation involves keeping up a lot of damage over time abilities. The rotation is on the more complicated end of the spectrum. They lack range and burst. They do however still pull amazing numbers on stationary targets. This is typical of most bosses save the two IC dungeons and the new trial. DKs got a few buffs recently. Their self healing is pretty spectacular despite popular belief. They have perhaps the best resource management through their battle roar passive. They are the clear choice for end game tanking, but that's not to say you cant tank on other classes and do just fine. They also have great utility in the new trial because their chains and AoE interrupt are virtually required in certain spots. I play my Magic DK more than any other toon as PVE DPS.

Stamina DK will almost certainly be top of the charts next patch for DPS. They got a huge buff with their stam abilities and maelstrom daggers seemed to be designed with stam DK in mind. They are going to be absolute beasts for DPS, but they will be squishy, highly gear dependent, and difficult to play I think.

Magic NB is arguably the best DPS for the new trial. And they are definitely one of the easier builds to approach end game with. They have range, mobility, burst, and probably the best magic AOE there is. I think their rotation is also a little more straight forward. On moving targets and/or short fights, they will beat a DK on average. They are also great if you want to run in the arena or solo PVP. They passively heal themselves while doing damage, which is always a plus. Magic NB is probably the class you most commonly hear called over powered. Not sure that is the case, but they are very well rounded and can do most things pretty well. Magic NB is probably my recommendation for any new player wanting to get their feet wet. They are very easy to play, right out of the gate.

Stam NBs, arent in a great spot for PVE currently. They are getting buffed next patch, but I dont think they will be anywhere near stam DK in terms of raw DPS. They can certainly pull good numbers with the right player, but I just dont think they are as good as other melee options. Trying to play range on stamina build is not optimal because the bow just doesnt hit hard enough. They do have good resource management which is a plus, especially if you want to tank. If you are just looking for a PVE DPS, this would not be my first choice (although ironically it was the first toon I made).

From a PVP perspective, Both stam NB and stam DK are actually going to play pretty similarly to one another. Both will likely go 2H/bow and use a lot of the same weapon abilities. Magic DK and Magic NB are really opposite ends of the spectrum. A DK is going to be a better in your face, tanky, fighter that tries to wear down opponents, where a Magic NB is going to be a little more elusive and relay on timing to burst down an opponent. Of all the magic classes in PVP, NB is probably my favorite and DK is probably my least favorite to play.

Toast_STS

I have deleted all my nightblades. Maybe I'll roll a new one when we can get extra character slots. I got 3 dks though they are really fun.