Returning Magicka Nightblade after 500 days. Need advice to get back onto the field.

Whyn Aurum

Hello ESO memebers,

I once used to be an avid PvPer like You, but then Imperial City came and my hopes of better small-scale PvP died with it. So I took *cough*... a sizable break from the game which helped me cleanse my salt and cringe and eventually find new hope for ESO.

With time, as I couldn't satisfy my inner PvPer with any other MMO out there, I grew anxious month by month, knowing the day of my return would be inevitable.

The day has come:

I need Your help to get a few things straightened out:

1. I'd like to know if any of my gear from back is still viable for Magicka Nightblades today.

What I am currently wearing is:
- Torugs pact helm(heavy),
- torugs pact 2x one handed,
- torugs pact resto,
- molag kena shoulders (medium),
- chest+waist+feet+hand+legs are Willows Path (Light)
- Willpower neck+rings

In my inventory I have also:
-Destro of torugs pact
-2x one handed swords of Willpower
-2x one handed Magnus swords
-2x cyrodils light rings
-Legs+shoulders+hat+gloves+belt+shoes of Martial Knowledge
-magnus chest(heavy), magnus head(medium)
-engine guardian shoulders (medium)

2. I'd like to know the build of choice for PvP Magicka Nightblade nowadays, together with item sets.

My probably outdated Magicka NB build is:

Dual Wield: 1. Lotus Fan, 2. Merciless Resolve, 3. Concealed Weapon, 4. Cloak, 5. Crippling Grasp, ULT: Incapacitating Strike
Resto: 1. Structured Entropy, 2. Mass Hysteria, 3. Double Take, 4. Healing Ward, 5. Piercing Mark, ULT: Soul Tether

3. I'd like to know if Magicka NB is still inferior to Stam NB as it used to be back in the day.
4. Having only Imperial City as my only additional DLC, which DLCs should I buy in order to prevent crippling myself with unavaliable PvP gear?
5. Arena used to be the major PvP guild in EU, which one is it now?
6. Are there any new Addons that have come in the past 1.5 year that might come exceptionally handy in PvP?

Takes-No-Prisoner

One thing you probably don't know about is the change to Death Stroke. In the housing update it'll be 75 ult to use it. Further more;

Whyn Aurum wrote: »

ULT: Incapacitating Strike

This was changed to scale off of Weapon Damage/Stamina, you'll have to reset your skill points so you can grab Soul Harvest instead.


Incap Strike tool tip reads as:

1. Ravage an enemy with a spinning attack to deal [x] Disease Damage, stunning them for 3 seconds, and increase your damage against them by 20%.
2. Also causes Major Defile, reducing the effectiveness of healing on the enemy by 30% for 6 seconds.
3. Deals Disease Damage and stuns the enemy.

Soul Harvest

1. Ravage an enemy with a spinning attack to deal [x] Magic Damage and increase your damage against them by 20%.
2. Also causes Major Defile, reducing the effectiveness of healing on the enemy by 30% for 6 seconds.
3. While slotted, any time you kill an enemy you gain 7 Ultimate.
4. While slotted, any time you kill an enemy you gain Ultimate.

---

While I can't really answer your gear questions, I can attempt to answer a few of the ones you listed under your second bolded statement

3. I'd like to know if Magicka NB is still inferior to Stam NB as it used to be back in the day.

This depends on play style. StamNB has mostly been shoehorned into a gank only playstyle since their toolset doesn't really allow them to play around with different armor types. A lot of StamNB you see are all in Weapon Damage / insta burst / proc set gankers.

Magicka is still fairly weak, but they have good tools for attacking at range and keeping enemies off of them, plus engaging whenever they feel like since they have more mana to cloak with. When I look at your bar, I see a lot of melee abilities. It saddens me to say most of these melee abilities do not get the job done in terms of killing the target. MagNB gets out classed in close range combat by stamina over all. However, with the buffs coming to Destro staff, I think MagNB are going to see some nice new damage come to them when Housing drops. Their abilities would benefit nicely with Flame Staffs 8% single target damage increase and lightning staffs 8% aoe damage increase for Sap Essence and Soul Shred.


4. Having only Imperial City as my only additional DLC, which DLCs should I buy in order to prevent crippling myself with unavaliable PvP gear?

Shadow of the Hist does provide equipment, but I do not believe any of it is considered BiS for MagNB. So the best BiS for MagNB, or a lot of Magicka classes now is;

1. Burning Spell Weave - drops from Normal/Vet City of Ash dungeon in Greenshade
2. Spinners - drops from bosses/dolemns/public dungeon in Malabal Tor
3. Trail gear from Maw of Lorkhaj can be good too, like Moondancer. But I think you need the Thieve's Guild DLC to get into it.

There is also a lot of monster 2 set pieces that came out with One Tamriel. Those you should definitely check out.

1. Illambris is great for PVE not really PVP
2. So is Grothdarr for PVE/PVP
3. Once the Housing update comes, we might see more people using Slimecraw, which would be good for PVE/PVP and is not effected by the crit nerf to proc sets.

Waffennacht

The gear could use some work, though all the sets I can think of that would be used to replace them come from non-dlc content, so need to buy more...yet...

The abilities look really solid too (maybe one or two changes at most for personal taste)

In PvP, imo, a magicka NB can be VERY solid.

Even with the up comming cost increase to strife and morphs, I love swallow soul as a spammable dps move.
I combine Healing Ward, Annulment and transmutation on my alt NB (in heavy armor too omg!)
I then also pair up with Valkyn Skoria using agonize and cripple (entropy also)
I use the maim shade

Resto back staff with rapid regen to proc transmutation

Anyway, outside of a few armor choices I think you're in a good starting spot.

Tryxus

1. The Willpower jewels and Kena Shoulders are worth keeping, but as for gear there are several better sets such as:

- Necropotence, which enables you to stack Magicka with the Shade (which counts as a pet btw), allowing you to hit harder against all enemies and buffing the strength of the Light Armor shield (which is an actual damage shield now, not just magical attacks anymore).
- Spinner, for a hefty amount of Spell Penetration. Ideal vs Heavy Armor users (which has gotten buffed, meaning there's plenty of them in Cyro
- Clever Alchemist. Drink a pot, gain a hefty Spell Damage buff. Great for ganking with the Elegant Set
- Seducer (crafted) or Lich (dropped set) for Magicka Sustain

Some good monster sets are Skoria (for keeping pressure with DoTs), Grothdarr (melee range), Infernal Guardian (great for getting ppl to back off while shielding), Troll King or Bone Pirate (both defensive sets)

2. Not bad, but MagBlades are better off at range nowadays. Drop both Lotus Fan and Concealed and use Swallow Soul as your main spammable.

Also, since the Light Armor shield is now a proper damage shield, put that on your bar along with Healing Ward. And go for the Dampen Magic morph, not Harness since with Siphoning Atacks you alrdy got plenty of sustain

If you're a vampire, use Mist Form instead of Double Take. It helps with the snares and damage ticks from powerful DoTs

3. Matter of opinion. When properly played both are good, although StamBlades do have a bit more "oomph"

4. Thieves Guild: you can make the Clever Alchemist set there

Takes-No-Prisoner

Lich is also dropped in normal/vet Crypt of Hearts, so you can get it in jewelry and different weapon types now.

arkansas_ESO

Honestly, I'd suggest you level another class. You can try and do well with magic nb but ultimately you're just a weaker sorc.

Whyn Aurum

arkansas_ESO wrote: »

Honestly, I'd suggest you level another class. You can try and do well with magic nb but ultimately you're just a weaker sorc.

That is rather depressing. I do not want to change my class just because the other one seems to have a better kit. Even though magical NB seems weaker, I do prefer the stealth element and play style of it over sorcerer.

ManDraKE

Whyn Aurum wrote: »

arkansas_ESO wrote: »

Honestly, I'd suggest you level another class. You can try and do well with magic nb but ultimately you're just a weaker sorc.

That is rather depressing. I do not want to change my class just because the other one seems to have a better kit. Even though magical NB seems weaker, I do prefer the stealth element and play style of it over sorcerer.

is weaker but not useless. You can make a magblade work, plenty of examples of good players that rekt people really hard with a magblade.

You should check this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRWX9iG-_Ms is long but worth.

Takes-No-Prisoner

You CAN make MagNB work for PvP. But, it's not going to be as easy as is it is on a MagSorc. MagNB at the moment is definitely a thinking mans type of class right now. But with re-learning your classes abilities and it's changes with the new gear available, you can make your MagNB formidable.

A lot of that boils down to PvP experience, if you're that committed to your MagNB guy, then I say go for it. Once you get the new gear, figure our your new bar/ rotation, and start learning I believe you'll still be in a good spot.

Waffennacht

Whyn Aurum wrote: »

arkansas_ESO wrote: »

Honestly, I'd suggest you level another class. You can try and do well with magic nb but ultimately you're just a weaker sorc.

That is rather depressing. I do not want to change my class just because the other one seems to have a better kit. Even though magical NB seems weaker, I do prefer the stealth element and play style of it over sorcerer.

It's not better, it's different.

A correct (or typical) mSorc can and will burst an opponent from full to dead. Typically something along the lines of: Curse, Pulse, Wrath, Frag, meteor GG

My experience of NB is: Cripple, Agonize, Spam Swallow, Trigger Skoria, Impale. That is not a full to dead but more like a DoT build.

The spammable ability does make a huge difference- infact my swallow soul spam returns me 2k health per spam. Combine with rapid regen 1k tick you're gettin a minimum of 3k hps (in PvP) with wards. A sorc can't perform this style as well (unless you're using a build like my Shepherd King build)

Maim shades also flows well with the HPS and armor (plus 1k dps in PvP - don't underestimate this dps)

You'll be more tanky with better heals than a similar sorc.

I haven't posted much about the NB, just don't get stuck in the LA glass cannon mentality- they can be so much more.

arkansas_ESO

Whyn Aurum wrote: »

arkansas_ESO wrote: »

Honestly, I'd suggest you level another class. You can try and do well with magic nb but ultimately you're just a weaker sorc.

That is rather depressing. I do not want to change my class just because the other one seems to have a better kit. Even though magical NB seems weaker, I do prefer the stealth element and play style of it over sorcerer.

The play style you remember (melee range, Lotus Fan, Cloak, etc.) no longer really works for magic NB. It's too squishy and doesn't have enough damage. Also, Cloak is no longer viable as an escape/repositioning tool (you'll see in the video @ManDraKE linked that they're running Mist Form in it's place) so the stealth element of magic NB is no longer really there.

Magic NBs these days play ranged casters, running destro/resto with several DOTs. As somebody who played both the DW/resto build that was popular when you last played and the destro/resto build that's popular now, they're nowhere near similar. It's also worth mentioning that the ranged caster's build's main spammable, Strife, is set to receive a 38% cost increase on the new patch coming Monday, and their ultimate Soul Harvest is set to receive a cost increase as well.

If you want to stick with magic NB, go for it, but know you're going to have to outplay others to get the same results as them. I'd suggest running 5 Transmutation (drops from PVP rewards for the worthy mails, can be bought from other players) jewlery+one body piece+restoration staff, 5 Clever Alchemist (craftable, you'll need the Thieves Guild DLC to craft it but you can get somebody that already has the DLC to craft it for you) 4 body pieces+destro staff, with any monster set 2pc that you've got (Kena, Grothdarr, Engine Guardian, Pirate Skeleton, Valkyn, etc.) Run five heavy pieces with two pieces of light armor. This isn't necessarily the best possible gear setup for magic NB, but it's cheap and easy to obtain.

Waffennacht

arkansas_ESO wrote: »

Whyn Aurum wrote: »

arkansas_ESO wrote: »

Honestly, I'd suggest you level another class. You can try and do well with magic nb but ultimately you're just a weaker sorc.

That is rather depressing. I do not want to change my class just because the other one seems to have a better kit. Even though magical NB seems weaker, I do prefer the stealth element and play style of it over sorcerer.

The play style you remember (melee range, Lotus Fan, Cloak, etc.) no longer really works for magic NB. It's too squishy and doesn't have enough damage. Also, Cloak is no longer viable as an escape/repositioning tool (you'll see in the video @ManDraKE linked that they're running Mist Form in it's place) so the stealth element of magic NB is no longer really there.

Magic NBs these days play ranged casters, running destro/resto with several DOTs. As somebody who played both the DW/resto build that was popular when you last played and the destro/resto build that's popular now, they're nowhere near similar. It's also worth mentioning that the ranged caster's build's main spammable, Strife, is set to receive a 38% cost increase on the new patch coming Monday, and their ultimate Soul Harvest is set to receive a cost increase as well.

If you want to stick with magic NB, go for it, but know you're going to have to outplay others to get the same results as them. I'd suggest running 5 Transmutation (drops from PVP rewards for the worthy mails, can be bought from other players) jewlery+one body piece+restoration staff, 5 Clever Alchemist (craftable, you'll need the Thieves Guild DLC to craft it but you can get somebody that already has the DLC to craft it for you) 4 body pieces+destro staff, with any monster set 2pc that you've got (Kena, Grothdarr, Engine Guardian, Pirate Skeleton, Valkyn, etc.) Run five heavy pieces with two pieces of light armor. This isn't necessarily the best possible gear setup for magic NB, but it's cheap and easy to obtain.

He listed my build lol, so I had to agree. Alchemist + Transmutation + skoria, skoria for burst, transmutation for survivability and Alchemist cause it's a hauss

Lexxypwns

@nightblademechanics has some great meta mageblade builds.

I personally still like to run light armor so I'm in 2 pirate(light head/shoulders) 5 spinners(jewels, sharpened inferno, any small armor piece) 5 alchemist(heavy chest, medium legs, 2 light + resto)

Healing based heavy armor builds are stronger, but shield stacking light armor builds can work as long as you accept you're gonna get 1 shot sometimes.

SneaK

Don't let people dissuade you from running your MagNB. They are strong despite what people say. The biggest change for you though is melee magblades are pretty much gone. The most successful setups would kind of fall into the following -

Destro/Resto (Gank'ish/Well-Rounded)
Destro/DW (Bomber)
SwB/Resto (Tank)

There's obviously niche builds run by outstanding players that wouldn't fall into the above, but I'd say trying to reintroduce yourself to ESO you'd be best gearing around the above types of builds/playstyles.

I think you'd be fine just replacing your 5PC Willow's Path with Clever Alchemist, assuming all the gear you listed is max level.

thankyourat

You can actually run dual wield and resto. I've had 2 builds I've had success with. One was 5 necro, 5 alchemist, 2 engine guardian, and the other was 5 julianos, 5 lich, 2 skoria. Both these builds had great damage and great sustain. The only downside is that they are both squishy light armor builds, but if getting randomly one shotted from time to time doesn't bother you, both these builds are great. I actually prefer destro resto heavy armor, but magblade is so flexible you can basically build it anyway you want and be successful. I would say aim for certain stats. Like 35k to 45k max magicka, 2200 to 3800 spell damage. And in heavy 900-1200 regen and if in light 1200-1800 and you should be fine