AlcastHQ Nightblade Magicka Damage Dealer: Some Questions.

Vanchatron

https://alcasthq.com/eso-magicka-nightblade-build-pve/

I'm currently running this build, and had a couple of questions.

1) I see that Swallow Soul is recommended, which I'm using. I was just wondering if we're meant to be spamming this skill whilst the DoTs are up? I only ask this as I wondered if spamming it will cause the heal to not work. I've tried spamming it although I never seem to get the <<<< >>>> on my health bar, which I'm guessing means I've reapplied it too quickly before giving the health regen a chance to work?

2) Should I keep up the AoE DoTs (Twisting Path & Elemental Blockade) even on single targets?

3) Why does it suggest to do a light attack in between every skill? Is there a specific reason for this?

4) I see that 'Harness Magicka' is recommended, which is a defensive skill, although I've not seen a use for it thus far. Granted, I'm only running Veteran dungeons at the moment, but I've actually swapped it out for 'Destructive Clench' (Destruction Staff DoT) so that I can do more damage. Is this less than optimal?


Thank you guys.

kojou

1. Is your health full? It refreshes the hot every time you cast it no matter how fast.
2. Yes
3. So there isn't empty time between skill cool down.
4. Most vet dungeons don't require it. It is a great defense skill for harder content and will save your life. Clench doesn't add much damage and costs a lot of Magicka.

JinMori

Vanchatron wrote: »

https://alcasthq.com/eso-magicka-nightblade-build-pve/

I'm currently running this build, and had a couple of questions.

1) I see that Swallow Soul is recommended, which I'm using. I was just wondering if we're meant to be spamming this skill whilst the DoTs are up? I only ask this as I wondered if spamming it will cause the heal to not work. I've tried spamming it although I never seem to get the <<<< >>>> on my health bar, which I'm guessing means I've reapplied it too quickly before giving the health regen a chance to work?

2) Should I keep up the AoE DoTs (Twisting Path & Elemental Blockade) even on single targets?

3) Why does it suggest to do a light attack in between every skill? Is there a specific reason for this?

4) I see that 'Harness Magicka' is recommended, which is a defensive skill, although I've not seen a use for it thus far. Granted, I'm only running Veteran dungeons at the moment, but I've actually swapped it out for 'Destructive Clench' (Destruction Staff DoT) so that I can do more damage. Is this less than optimal?


Thank you guys.

swallow soul is indeed your spammable, you should use it after you applied all your dots.

Keep up aoe dots for st.

Light attack weaving, increases your damage by about 15 %, because if you weave a light attack between each skill you will get free damage with no cost.

Harness magicka is there mostly for trials where you need more defense, clench is definitely not a good dot, you should replace it with another ability a better dot, or maybe ele drain if your group doesn't have it

Ruusa

hello!

1) You are a damage dealer, reason for you to spam anything is that is does damage. The heal is a nice bonus only, at least when your group has a healer. So yes, spam it. Also, watching the <<< >>> in your health bar is not effective way to see if you are getting a heal, turn on combat numbers somewhere in settings (settings -> combat or settings -> ui or something like that, I dont have game running now).

2) YES, they deal good damage even single target.

3) This is called weaving, and it is super important. Someone else will hopefully come give you a long explanation why it works, but essentially light attack + swallow soul is just as fast to cast as only swallow soul, so you get a free light attack if you use it quickly between skills. This gives you the damage from light attack, more chances for your enchants to proc, and ultimate regen. And it counts towards merciless resolve procs, which is a skill that build also tells you to use as its good damage.

4) Dead DD's deal no damage, and harness magicka helps you stay alive in lots of situations. Its a must in veteran trials and some harder veteran dungeons. If you are absolutely 100% sure you dont need it in whatever dungeon you are doing, then fine replace it with something else like another DoT.

Yinmaigao

I am surprised no-one has brought up that one of the main reasons for light attacks on magblade is to proc your spectral bow. Coupled with extra dmg/weaving/ulti gen, and it is clear to see why they are so important to upping DPS.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Vanchatron wrote: »

https://alcasthq.com/eso-magicka-nightblade-build-pve/

I'm currently running this build, and had a couple of questions.

1) I see that Swallow Soul is recommended, which I'm using. I was just wondering if we're meant to be spamming this skill whilst the DoTs are up? I only ask this as I wondered if spamming it will cause the heal to not work. I've tried spamming it although I never seem to get the <<<< >>>> on my health bar, which I'm guessing means I've reapplied it too quickly before giving the health regen a chance to work?

2) Should I keep up the AoE DoTs (Twisting Path & Elemental Blockade) even on single targets?

3) Why does it suggest to do a light attack in between every skill? Is there a specific reason for this?

4) I see that 'Harness Magicka' is recommended, which is a defensive skill, although I've not seen a use for it thus far. Granted, I'm only running Veteran dungeons at the moment, but I've actually swapped it out for 'Destructive Clench' (Destruction Staff DoT) so that I can do more damage. Is this less than optimal?


Thank you guys.

1. Swallow soul is by definition a spam skill. The heal works when you spam it. If you arent noticing anything, its probably because you are already full. Swallow Soul should be cast when the following criteria are met: all your DOTs are ticking (Blockade, Path, Cripple), both buffs are ticking (Relentless and Siphoning Strikes), The enemy is above 25% health (if below, Impale becomes your spammable), and you dont have a proc ready for merciless resolve.

That sounds complicated, but basically, as long as buffs and DOTs are going, you should cast one of three things. Spectral Bow Proc from Merciless is first priority, then after that, the enemy's health bar determines which spammable to use.

2. Absolutely. Even on single target, they do good damage. You keep these two up even during execute (most dont keep up crippling during execute).

3. There are three reasons for this. First (applies to any class) it adds an extra layer of damage that doesnt conflict with the global cooldowns of skills. Second (on NB) these attacks proc your spectral bow, which is a very powerful ability. Third (on NB), they proc you siphoning attacks to help with resource return. A good light weave is more important to nightblade than any other class.

Edit: Fourth, light attacks proc weapon enchants, forgot that one.

5. Clench really isnt needed on a nightblade. If you really feel like you can go without harness, you should slot Rearming Trap. It does require you to go melee range every 15 seconds to place it, but the minor force you get is pretty darn strong. Running any vet trials without Harness is definitely not advisable, unless you really know the fights and trust your healers. Honestly, the last thing you need when learning nightblade is an extra DOT to juggle. Unless you are pulling high 30s on a dummy, I probably would just run a shield.

NBs have the most difficult rotations in the game, because it really doesn't lend itself to a circular rotation. It also demands a very good lightweave if you want to perform at a high level. Not saying you shouldnt play one (they are the most powerful damage class at the moment on paper), but expect the learning curve to be steep if trying to push DPS to the extreme.

Vanchatron

Thank you very much for all your help, that's great. People are mentioning global cooldowns though, although to be honest I haven't even noticed it. It seems like I'm able to spam Swallow Soul non stop without any kind of cooldown.

Also, why is Harness Magicka suggested instead of Dampen Magic, which increases the strength of the damage shield? I usually don't have an issue maintaining my magicka as I've got Siphoning Attacks.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Vanchatron wrote: »

Thank you very much for all your help, that's great. People are mentioning global cooldowns though, although to be honest I haven't even noticed it. It seems like I'm able to spam Swallow Soul non stop without any kind of cooldown.

Also, why is Harness Magicka suggested instead of Dampen Magic, which increases the strength of the damage shield? I usually don't have an issue maintaining my magicka as I've got Siphoning Attacks.

So skills have a global cooldown in this game of approximately 1 sec. Meaning that even if you press your skill button 3 times a second, it wont fire more than once. Its a very fast global when compared to a lot of other MMOs, so a lot of people dont even realize its a thing.

This is where weaving comes into play. Light attacks arent on the same global cooldown as skills. So in a 10 second window, you can only cast Funnel health 10 times (even if you pressed the button 40 times in that window). Nothing in this game will allow you to cast more than 10 skills in that window. But again, light attacks arent skills and dont have the same restrictions. So if your weave is on point, you could cast 10 light attacks AND 10 funnel healths in that same 10 second window. This has obvious benefits as outlined above.

Just as an example, when i do a damage parse on a 3 million health dummy, I will typically have between 68-70 light attacks, and they are almost always the number one thing on my damage recap.

The Harness Magic vs Dampen Magic is a judgement call. I often forget which is which. Haha. On my NB in PVE, i slot the green one that gives a bigger shield (dampen I think). Only time I really slot the other one (harness) is on my sorc in PVP, but it is part of a shield stack so the magic return is nice.