All this talk about stam builds killing it? Best in Slot for Stam DK?

WhoSlappedThePie

Hey, what would be the best in slot for a stam DK in battlegrounds?

Also, what skills would be best?

Asmael

Options options...

The usual stam DK build is SnB / 2h, in either heavy or medium, but you can definitely go DW / 2h for a DoT heavy build.

Alternative sets (especially since Bone Pirate's 5th piece is bugged):

• 5p - Impregnable, Hundings, Automaton (if not using Venomous claw) on the body, Eternal Hunt, Tava's favor
• Monster sets - Zaan (bonus points when combined with Corrosive armor for massive salt), Troll King, Selene (requires LA/HA > Ability > Bash weaving to be effective)

To cover as many points as possible:

• Major expedition is arguably one of the most important buff, along with snare removal with either Shuffle or Forward Momentum as to escape outnumbered situations in BGs. You can get it with your potions.
• Change your mundus between Serpent or Warrior, depending on if you prefer more sustain or more healing / damage.
• An infused berzerker enchant on the SnB bar means that you can weapon swap to your 2h bar and get a hefty amount of weapon damage, ideal for bursting down targets
• Dizzying swing is a good ability... against average or outnumbered players. Favor good ol' light attack > Pierce armor > bash since it deals similar amount of damage and is instant. As for picking Pierce Armor over Ransack - BGs are in team of 4, Major breach will help your magicka allies focus down a target. Ransack's armor buff is insignificant anyway.
• Every stam DK with SnB spammable asked this: "should I go with Heroic slash & Noxious breath (H&N) or Ransack & Venomous claw? (R&C)". While you have a few other options, I'll comment at least on these 2 usual combinations. H&N is much harder to sustain, but performs better against a single target due to Heroism & Minor maim, resulting in more survivability, while R&C provides slightly more single target pressure and easier sustain. I would recommend R&C
• Fossilize is usually better in BGs over Reverb, due to how heavily burst-oriented it is. Forcing an enemy to drop block to time a team burst will work against all except the tankiest targets. Fossilize also drastically helps your stamina sustain and is effective against dodge rollers (mostly stamblades).
• Medium armor on stam DK is very "hit & run", you're not going to facetank a full team just like this. Short but strong offense combined with high mobility (hence my preference for FMomentum over Shuffle even in medium) is your best bet to grab kills.
• For potions, as seen previously, you'll definitely want Major expedition, what other buffs to use will depend on your playstyle, but give a shot to Lingering HP / Major expedition and Stam / Health / Major expedition potions and make your own opinion after a few BGs.
• For ultimates, you have a lot of different options and you'll have to see what suits your playstyle, a few combos below:
  • Flawless Dawnbreaker (FDB) on SnB / Ferocious Leap (FLeap) on 2h - FDB is to get high weapon damage or put a DoT on permablocking vamp targets. While FLeap might be questionable on a stam DK due to its flame damage, we have Pierce armor for the Major breach, as well as non-CP environments (which BGs are) being beneficial to mixed damage setups. Flame damage also means higher damage against the very popular vamps, and finally, the shield is quite handy. FDB increasing you WD means both increased sustained damage as well as slightly more healing (since we have Vigor on this bar)
  • Spell Wall on SnB / Dragon Leap on 2h - for a tankier option while retaining a burst option on backbar, this is however a setup I run mostly on Heavy armor, due to medium armor still melting with block up while focused down.
  • FDB or Leap on SnB / Corrosive armor on 2h - Is usually meant for low health baiting or waiting for the full penetration from Corrosive armor to deal massive sustained damage to tanky targets, since it essentially strips them of all their defense. Beware the long cooldown.
• You can use Defensive Posture on your SnB bar for more blocking capability, however, do consider that Camo hunter means extra critical hits and weapon damage, resulting in less overall healing if you drop it.
• Replace Camo hunter by Flames of Oblivion to get an extra DoT effect if your magicka sustain can afford it. Beware of nearby wardens, as their Shimmering shield will absorb it, giving them both magicka and ultimate

There are a lot more things to cover but that should be enough to get you started.

Thogard

you guys already know what build vid i'm going to post!

WhoSlappedThePie

@Asmael why is bone pirate bugged? I've got the 5 piece somewhere.. should I not use it then? Thanks

Maulkin

WhoSlappedThePie wrote: »

@Asmael why is bone pirate bugged? I've got the 5 piece somewhere.. should I not use it then? Thanks

The max stam it gives does not affect damage. It's been fixed in the latest PTS iteration but still bugged on Live.

@Asmael that's a good write-up, thank you. I'm surprised you're not recommending Bloodspawn tbh, it's generally very strong on a medium stamDK as both the armour and the ult gen are very welcome.

Asmael

Maulkin wrote: »

WhoSlappedThePie wrote: »

@Asmael why is bone pirate bugged? I've got the 5 piece somewhere.. should I not use it then? Thanks

The max stam it gives does not affect damage. It's been fixed in the latest PTS iteration but still bugged on Live.

@Asmael that's a good write-up, thank you. I'm surprised you're not recommending Bloodspawn tbh, it's generally very strong on a medium stamDK as both the armour and the ult gen are very welcome.

Actually, I didn't mention it in the "alternative sets" since this is what is used in the screenshot. It's what I currently use even, since I'm not a big fan of the aggressive monster set options, and BS means I can run the Warrior instead of the Serpent.

With 7th and Infused Berzerker enchant procced + Warrior mundus, packing 5k+ weapon damage in non CP means you can put down most squishies in a matter of a few seconds.

WhoSlappedThePie

So do you use bone pirate or no?

Asmael

WhoSlappedThePie wrote: »

So do you use bone pirate or no?

If the 5p was working properly, I'd be using it. Since it doesn't, you can simply use Hundings with the Serpent mundus to achieve similar stats.

Next patch is a big question mark for now, since there might be yet more changes around the corner.

WhoSlappedThePie

Ah right ok thanks a lot.

Thogard

Asmael that is an odd Xv1 build. I’m not sure how you expect to kill opponents when you only have claw and puncture as spammable but with no defile... and no igneous weps for a heavy attack spammable. The DW dot/defile builds are stronger Xv1 builds that are also good at dueling, just not so great in organized group play due to the fact that if your opponents’ team had a magplar, there goes all your dmg.

Absolutely replace Camo with FoO -
Drop pierce armor, move venomous claw onto 1h bar, add dizzy swing on 2h bar. That’ll give you some big boi burst.

Asmael

Thogard wrote: »

Asmael that is an odd Xv1 build. I’m not sure how you expect to kill opponents when you only have claw and puncture as spammable but with no defile... and no igneous weps for a heavy attack spammable. The DW dot/defile builds are stronger Xv1 builds that are also good at dueling, just not so great in organized group play due to the fact that if your opponents’ team had a magplar, there goes all your dmg.

Absolutely replace Camo with FoO -
Drop pierce armor, move venomous claw onto 1h bar, add dizzy swing on 2h bar. That’ll give you some big boi burst.

If you think that's an odd build, I have much tastier things in reserve

That said: about defile, I definitely do run it in CP campaigns. In BGs, a LA > Pierce > Bash (swap) Leap > Exec will kill just about anything will less than 25k HP that doesn't shield up or block in time. Long drawn out fights are not the win condition for this specific setup, and forcing the opponent to drop block is thus more important than reducing his healing.

Also, since this is mostly focusing on BGs, the premades I run with are usually extremely high-burst oriented but with low tankiness, the second we focus a target, a Fossilize means the enemy healer will go down and take the full team burst unblocked.

For FoO vs Camo, I also use FoO in CP campaigns or any heavy armor variation of this particular build.

As for Dizzy, I would run it if not for the absolutely stupid amount of NBs around inducing near unlimited frustration with any channeled abilities, hence my preference for an instant cast spammable. I will give it another go next patch however with the 2p set on 2h.

I can try to record a few matches if you can wait a week or two.

Thogard

Asmael wrote: »

Thogard wrote: »

Asmael that is an odd Xv1 build. I’m not sure how you expect to kill opponents when you only have claw and puncture as spammable but with no defile... and no igneous weps for a heavy attack spammable. The DW dot/defile builds are stronger Xv1 builds that are also good at dueling, just not so great in organized group play due to the fact that if your opponents’ team had a magplar, there goes all your dmg.

Absolutely replace Camo with FoO -
Drop pierce armor, move venomous claw onto 1h bar, add dizzy swing on 2h bar. That’ll give you some big boi burst.

If you think that's an odd build, I have much tastier things in reserve

That said: about defile, I definitely do run it in CP campaigns. In BGs, a LA > Pierce > Bash (swap) Leap > Exec will kill just about anything will less than 25k HP that doesn't shield up or block in time. Long drawn out fights are not the win condition for this specific setup, and forcing the opponent to drop block is thus more important than reducing his healing.

Also, since this is mostly focusing on BGs, the premades I run with are usually extremely high-burst oriented but with low tankiness, the second we focus a target, a Fossilize means the enemy healer will go down and take the full team burst unblocked.

For FoO vs Camo, I also use FoO in CP campaigns or any heavy armor variation of this particular build.

As for Dizzy, I would run it if not for the absolutely stupid amount of NBs around inducing near unlimited frustration with any channeled abilities, hence my preference for an instant cast spammable. I will give it another go next patch however with the 2p set on 2h.

I can try to record a few matches if you can wait a week or two.

From the streams i've seen of EU players in BGs, it seems like players tend to be tankier than on the US, where we value mobility more (at least primetime).

I'm having a hard time imagining you doing 15k leaps against heavy armor targets with that build. But I've been wrong before and I'll be wrong again! Looking forward to that vid.

Horker

@Asmael
big black orc says hi