Any advice for magblade pvp sets?

Syy101

I am a pvp noob and need some ideas on my magblade pvp build. Right now I use Shackle + war maiden set. Shackle gives me some nice stamina boost and war maiden gives 400 more spell dmg to my magic dmg abilities (All but one of my damage skills deal magic damage). For monster sets I just use Skoria from my pve sets.

I see many ppl recommend Caluurion and Zaan but I really don’t have a nice group to farm those two dungeons. I also see some recommend Lich sets. It gives nice sustain but isn’t it a waste because NB already have good sustain?

Edit: I don’t need very hardcore pvp god sets. I mostly join zerg in Cyrodiil cp campaign. I just don’t want be completely useless when following small groups or encountering single enmey when traveling alone.

red_emu

I use shackle and Spinners (I find that spell pen works better than extra mag damage, since everyone in PvP wears heavy armour). And I totally get you when it comes to farming dungeons. I usually don't have time for that and only wear what I can buy (except for monster sets but I have lots of those in the bank from my PvE healing days).

As for monster set, that depends. If I follow the crowd for some siege, I like my Troll King (I use refreshing path and symbiosis to heal the oil drenched people on ram) but many monster sets work nicely with a MagBlade.

Valkyn Skoria - since most of MagBlade damage is damage over time.
Domihaus - extra 200 spell damage + proc looks really cool.
Blood Spawn - for a crazy amount of Ultimate regeneration.
Balrogh - this one I haven't tested as I find the new DLC dungeon too hard for the moment, but on paper it looks good (could work really nicely with Soul Tether).

resdayn00

Shackle+war maiden is good. Zaan is indeed better as a monster set than Skoria, if you use Skoria then make sure to slot dots as well. Sustain is never waste, the common saying that NB has good sustain is somewhat overexaggerated - it has good sustain if you know how to play a NB, but don’t think it’s hard to run out of resources with one. Heavy attacks are needed for sustain now. Lich is a great option if you happen to have problems with your sustain. Caluurion can be very powerful, but not a must. I personally use Shackle+War Maiden+Zaan, and my only issue is fighting against DKs, even that wouldn’t be a problem if I was melee.

shezof

armor master and spell strategist with skoria or zaan depending on you are ranged or not

themaddaedra

War Maiden + Vicious Death + Balorg

fred4

I don't like Lich on magblade. Lich will only proc once you've run down your magicka, so you'll enter the fight with magicka already missing, if you approached it in cloak. I prefer Atro mundus, drinks (Witchmother, Ghastly Eye Bowl, Citrus Fillet), and some cost reduction (Breton, 1x cost reduction jewelry glyph or Seducer). This improves your cloak sustain.

Nothing wrong with your setup. I prefer to balance survivability with damage, so I run Troll King, Caluurion and Shacklebreaker. Defensive sets that work include Riposte, Transmutation, Impreg, even Fortified Brass, all in light, but realistically you need the damage from the 2 offensive or semi-offensive (Shackle) sets. I prefer the stamina sustain from Shackle over Riposte, after long term testing. Even though the latter is a powerful defense, Shackle allows you an extra dodge roll here and there, and it yields more damage.

The damage from melee magblade sucks. A stamblade's Incap hits harder, as do light attacks from melee weapons, and they get Major Fracture from their spammable. You want to be a melee magblade, a Caluurion 2H allows Forward Momentum and makes up for the damage shortfall. It allows you to gank like a stamblade. I play resto / 2H, or sometimes destro / 2H, because I find it the most versatile playstyle. For example it allows you to fight flappy DKs. Although Caluurion is reflectable, they don't tend do flap wings when you attack them purely with melee. I also would not live without Forward Momentum. This combination, along with some, now not so great, Swift traits enables you to cloak from under peoples noses, making you less dependent on the shade, although I currently run that too (bugged though some say it is).

I have much less experience with destro / resto. I believe you will typically need Assassin's Will against decent players, which is less of a requirement when you have the Caluu proc.

Heimpai

Would the stamblade equivalent work with magblade umm spinners/bright throat?

I just recently got into magblade (currently using spinners/mothers) and enjoy it but I’m definitely not any good

red_emu

MagBalde in general is a very versatile class, so you have a lot of options when building one.

You need to focus on damage if you want to play it well. It's hard to set up for defence or survivability if you want to kill anything.

Cloak is your bread and butter to engage and disengage (not necessarily for ganking - I don't gank at all for example). A lot of people will cry how cloak is OP and unfair but what most people fail to notice is that if a MagBlade enters a fight and it turns out the opponent is too strong, this is our only way out, because once that opponent retaliates, you're toast

Sparr0w

Monster:
Zaan / Valkyn / Grothdaar / Bloodspawn / Balorg / Scourge / Engine

Body:
Shackle / Lich / War Maiden / BSW / Sorrow / Julianos / Spinners / Bright-Throat / Spell Strat / SPC / Calurion / VD

There's many more that could work, pvp there's no meta sets, it all depends on your build and playstyle.

Gatviper

Personally I think the good old Kagrenac beats Wizards Riposte as it gives the same max health, recovery, but also max magicka which Riposte doesn't have, and more spell damage too boot. Including the somewhat faster revival of your alliance's fallen players, reducing the chance to be interrupted or attacked while doing so. Although I'm wondering if Julianos would provide bit better damage (recovery I got is more than fine, 2300 can take a hit down to 2120 or so)
War Maiden is quite good if all your abilities do magic damage. Scoria doesn't btw., it's elemental damage.