PvE Stamblade Help

hyuntaenoh1

Hi guys I am currently running a lvl 20 Khajiit Stamblade(DW/Bow). I am not really sure how to build for general PvE since I am relatively new and there are only PvP builds.
Can u all help me out? I also want to use Vigor as one of the abilties.
Thank you in advance!

Vapirko

Don’t worry about it right now too much. You’re still a low level. When you hit CP 160 which should be pretty easy during the new life festival you can start out using spriggans me hundings rage gear which is pretty much BiS. Then you can work your way on to acquiring vicious ophidian gear and a vMA bow. For skills most stamina classes keep the same back or bow bar: endless hail, rearming trap, caltrops, poison injection and a flex spot depending on class. Front bar is unique for stamblades because you can use class skills, I forget exactly which ones for PvE. Ambush, surprise attack, probably blade cloak, maybe hidden blade? Use dawnbreaker of smiting as your ultimate. On bow bar you can slot whatever ulti you like, maybe an aoe ultimate for trash clears.

hyuntaenoh1

Would I need Caltrops ans Rearming Trap for PvE content? Also is blade cloak good? I had heard it was good for vma, which Im not even close to so I wasnt considering it an option, rather I was considering Rending Slashes.also wouldnt flawless dawnbrealer be better for passive weapon damage?

hyuntaenoh1

Because Im not really looking for cp160 build, just for normal PvE. Thanks for replying anyway!

Bladerunner1

Relentless Focus, Soul Harvest, Killers Blade and Surprise Attack are very nice Stamblade skills that lift single target dps. Relentless becomes a free damage proc after 5 light attacks are used between skills, and it can be used twice before expiring, and it's part of the reason Stamblades have an engaging faster pace in battle. Leeching Strikes is good for stamina regen and self healing.

For weapon skill levelling you'll want endless hail or arrow barrage, Steel tornado, then shrouded daggers in place of steel tornado when you can get it. Shrouded Daggers adds Major Brutality and hits a small gathering of mobs very hard on the surface world or inside easy dungeons.

Other mentionable skills:

- Rearming trap is a very strong DOT and gives minor force, along with passive weapon damage.

- Acid Spray is nice until you get caltrops.

- Expert Hunter gives a free major savagery and weapon damage. You don't need to use it, just slot it.

For levelling inside group dungeons you'd want steel tornado and eventually power extraction to get the Major Brutality buff. End game guides leave off self buffing skills like this one because they suggest using potions for major savagery and major brutality.

Another thing worth mentioning about selecting sets while levelling, Hundings Rage works well on surface and Mechanical Acuity works well inside public or instanced group dungeons.

Surface and solo dungeon enemies spawn in groups of 1-3 and die quickly in just a few hits, which benefits from Hunding's always-on buff. Group dungeons typically have 4-7 enemies, which is more than enough to proc Mechanical Acuity through ground based AOEs, and the groups of mobs tend to come in waves that fit the MA cooldown, just make sure to have a front bar MA melee weapon as part of the set.

Lastly, try to get physical penetration at lower levels. You can use around 9000 on the surface and 18000 inside instanced group dungeons. It comes from major fracture from surprise attack or Pierce armor, piercing from champion points, sets like Spriggan's and Kragh's and the sharpened weapon trait. When dual wield hits level 41 a mace will ignore resistance and add a lot to single and AOE DPS inside instanced group dungeons while levelling. An axe adds a lot to single target damage. As you start to add together 15000 or so penetration, a dagger might beat a mace. Daggers are best on surface since those mobs have low resistance.

*Edit* As you get hundreds of CPs and spend points in precise strikes, daggers become more valuable in PVE dungeons.

A mace becomes worthless when enough people in a group use sets like Nightmother's gaze, Alkosh and Sunderflame because the target's resistance drops off, but isn't a typical scenario for levelling.

RavenSworn

Bladerunner1 wrote: »

Relentless Focus, Soul Harvest, Killers Blade and Surprise Attack are very nice Stamblade skills that lift single target dps. Relentless becomes a free damage proc after 5 light attacks are used between skills, and it can be used twice before expiring, and it's part of the reason Stamblades have an engaging faster pace in battle. Leeching Strikes is good for stamina regen and self healing.

For weapon skill levelling you'll want endless hail or arrow barrage, Steel tornado, then shrouded daggers in place of steel tornado when you can get it. Shrouded Daggers adds Major Brutality and hits a small gathering of mobs very hard on the surface world or inside easy dungeons.

Other mentionable skills:

- Rearming trap is a very strong DOT and gives minor force, along with passive weapon damage.

- Acid Spray is nice until you get caltrops.

- Expert Hunter gives a free major savagery and weapon damage. You don't need to use it, just slot it.

For levelling inside group dungeons you'd want steel tornado and eventually power extraction to get the Major Brutality buff. End game guides leave off self buffing skills like this one because they suggest using potions for major savagery and major brutality.

Another thing worth mentioning about selecting sets while levelling, Hundings Rage works well on surface and Mechanical Acuity works well inside public or instanced group dungeons.

Surface and solo dungeon enemies spawn in groups of 1-3 and die quickly in just a few hits, which benefits from Hunding's always-on buff. Group dungeons typically have 4-7 enemies, which is more than enough to proc Mechanical Acuity through ground based AOEs, and the groups of mobs tend to come in waves that fit the MA cooldown, just make sure to have a front bar MA melee weapon as part of the set.

Lastly, try to get physical penetration at lower levels. You can use around 9000 on the surface and 18000 inside instanced group dungeons. It comes from major fracture from surprise attack or Pierce armor, piercing from champion points, sets like Spriggan's and Kragh's and the sharpened weapon trait. When dual wield hits level 41 a mace will ignore resistance and add a lot to single and AOE DPS inside instanced group dungeons while levelling. An axe adds a lot to single target damage. As you start to add together 15000 or so penetration, a dagger might beat a mace. Daggers are best on surface since those mobs have low resistance.

*Edit* As you get hundreds of CPs and spend points in precise strikes, daggers become more valuable in PVE dungeons.

A mace becomes worthless when enough people in a group use sets like Nightmother's gaze, Alkosh and Sunderflame because the target's resistance drops off, but isn't a typical scenario for levelling.

Awesome advice there fellow nb. I'd add a few things as well as a general direction for the op.

1) don't worry about gear for now, a full set of blue gear can carry you for at least 5-6 levels before needing to change it to the appropriate level. Having set bonuses helps, but not that important since you will be changing your gear every now and then.

2) craft your own gear and supplement the current set that you are wearing so you will 'optimally' have the right level gear. It helps with your crafting levels too since some crafting gear sets such as Hundings rage, torugs pact are still used at high levels.

3) fracture also comes from reaper's mark / Piercing mark. Reaper especially is useful as it can save your skin with the 60% of your health heals.

4) get a style of game play going for yourself (melee focused, range oriented) so that you can build around that. Both dw and bow can be complementary to each other but it really depends on your style of play. For eg I've had success with a reaper's mark - lethal arrow - crippling grasp and using dagger throw as a finisher. Or a hail of arrows into a group and rushing in with ambush - steel tornado - killer's blade.

5) take your time and perfect out your rotation, your positioning as well as dodging / blocking the bigger hits. Learn the class as nightblades are different enough than the other classes in terms of effective levelling.

All in all, most importantly have fun! Don't be discourage if things go south on you, keep at it and you'll get it

hyuntaenoh1

Thanks so much for replying guys.
So I should have:

Killer's Blade, Ambush, Surprise Attack, Rearming Trap, Shrouded Daggers, Soul Harvest, Endless Hail, Caltrops, Camouflaged Hunter, Relentless Focus, Poison Injection, Flawless Dawnbreaker?

How would I heal up? Should I replace Cam.Hunter to Vigor or Leeching Strikes?

Also, could you guys help me one more time? Plz help me organize this into my DW/Bow bar, I'm not sure which abilities to use in each bar!

Thanks for helping me out!

davey1107

The other posters offered advice I agree with, so I’ll add in areas I think that might be addl help.

A good buildmaster is alcasthq.com. He always does pvp and pve builds separate, and has good notes. His pve builds will be for trials and end game content, but they’ll point you in the right direction.

Here are some things to be learning at the level you’re at:

- What sort of buffs are your abilities offering? I suggest turning on your buff bar and learning the symbols, then learn how your skills keep,them up. One of the most important buffs for you down the road will be major brutality, which increases weapons damage 20%. It can be more challenging to get this on a dw/bow bar...learn the buffs and which skills apply,them so your bars offer you the most power.

- what sets are you wearing? Your character has 12 slots, and eso is largely about making the most of them. As you get toward your 40’s, it will be more important to plan your gear configurations and wear multiple sets that offer as many buffs as possible.

- healing is a core skill for a stamblade...you are deadly but squishy, lol. If you’ve earned vigor, awesome. If not, pvp and get ~100k AP to unlock it. But a NB can use even more heals, so look for abilities to stack multiple HOTs. I’ll discuss some below.


Sample beginner bars

You have lots of options, but let’s get you started with some basics. I’ve pulled up my skills list...I’m trying to only use skills that unlock ~25 and below on their lines.

Attack dual wield bar

Killers blade - execute with this, and learn to strategize the kills to provide health when needed

Surprise attack - this will forever be your friend and go-to dps skill

Flurry (bloodthirst) or twin slashes (bloodmcraze): these do decent dps, but also bring vital heals.

Ambush or mirage: gap closing is good, but the defense skill is vital too.

5th: dealer’s choice. Try to have one skill from each class skill line on the bar...that’s how the class lines level. My favorite skill is mark target, but just play with a skill from the class line you need to be working up most, probably siphoning.

Ultimate: play with your various ultimates, skill points are cheap. Here’s where you can slot the one from the class line thst needs the most work. Incapacitating strikes is the most powerful, but when I level a stamblade I use the siphoning ultimate a lot just for leveling.

Down the road: this bar is pretty solid for even a vet stamblade. My vets bring in relentless focus, and I trade up the dual ability for shrouded daggers, which gives me major brutal and a TON of dps. It’s underrated, imo.


Back bar - bow or 2h

A blade should level 2h too. Honestly, 2h is a bit easier to play and helps a bit, so I usually start people on that the. Upgrade them to bow, but you can use either and experiment however you like.

Vigor: yes, you need this, lol.

Shadow disguise: cloak is an essential core skill.

Cripple, then siphoning strikes, then drain power: this is just working your way through the siphoning skills that you’ll eventuslly need, and to keep one siphoning on the bar to keep it leveling.

Bow skill of your choice: snipe is good to level up. Arrow spray is decent when your a low level. Poison inject is the ultimate goal. And don’t overlook draining shot. As a NB it can be helpful to have this as a stun plus heal.

5th: I usually slot a second bow skill to level it faster. Where your toon is at, I advise staying away from skills that don’t help level major lines...like fighters guild,skills. Play with them if you want, but it’s a little more helpful,to get class and weapon skills up because there's so much good stuff at the end.

2h variant - your bar would be close to the bow bar. I usually pushnthe 2h level up to get reverse slice, which I find way powerful,and helpful while questing and leveling. Then slot that until you unlock rally. Rally offers a really long major brutality buff plus a HOT. It’s very helpful for stamblades in some situations, and is what makes a 2h slightly easier than a bow (but I love the bow).

Ultimate: same deal, use the slot to help level your lines.

Good luck!

hyuntaenoh1

K So this is my final build:
DW Bar: Rending Slashes, Surprise Attack, Rearming Trap, Steel Tornado, Deadly Cloak, Soul Harvest
Bow Bar: Relentless Focus, Endless Hail, Poison Injection, Razor Caltrops, Leeching Strikes, Dawnbreaker of Smiting.

People say wear Spriggans/Hundings Rage, but I personally wish to wear the Night's Silence set for the fast sneak speed. Is that viable?

RavenSworn

hyuntaenoh1 wrote: »

K So this is my final build:
DW Bar: Rending Slashes, Surprise Attack, Rearming Trap, Steel Tornado, Deadly Cloak, Soul Harvest
Bow Bar: Relentless Focus, Endless Hail, Poison Injection, Razor Caltrops, Leeching Strikes, Dawnbreaker of Smiting.

People say wear Spriggans/Hundings Rage, but I personally wish to wear the Night's Silence set for the fast sneak speed. Is that viable?

Go ahead! Maybe wear something that complements the gear set like Hundings or add a bit more survivability with dreugh King Slayer weapons / jewelry / a few pieces of shoulders or belt.

hyuntaenoh1

Ok guys. Thanks so much for helping, I can see this community is very newbie friendly.