Seeking advice...which class to stick with?

KestrelFive

I recently came to the realization that my “altaholism” has prevented me from fully experiencing the game. There’s still entire quest lines I haven’t completed like Morrowind, Summerset, Clockwork City, and Elsweyr because I’m too worried about having/gearing all the different combos of mag and stam classes. Every time I get happy with one class, get it to 50, and get a solid starter set of CP 160 gear, I immediate feel compelled to level the next class I don’t have at level cap yet. As a result, I have played thru the AD/EP quest lines over and over, but have seen little else of the game, or truly progressed one class/character through meaningful content or obtained good gear.

So I’m really looking to settle one two classes - one magicka, one stamina - and shelf the others so that I can focus on progressing through and enjoying the content I have yet to experience. From the magicka side, I am contemplating using my magplar, since I can do dps, heal, and even PvP healtank with it. I like the versatility of the class, however, I realize that other mag classes like magdk, mag sorc, and magblade specifically bring their own really unique gameplay styles to the table. Which one would you recommend?

Similarly, the only 2 stamina classes I have fully leveled are stamDK and stamblade. My stamDK was my first character and I loved playing him, but eventually I realized they weren’t that good for Cyrodiil and most people recommended only using them geared as a tank, rather than a dps. I made a stamblade to get a good Stam dps toon. I understand stamDK has undergone changes recently....how does it hold up now as a Stam dps, and does it bring decent group utility? I find each stam class interesting and have a low level version of each but never settled on one.

I understand this is subjective and there is no “best class”, as I narrow down what 2 classes I will exclusively play for a while, I would welcome any thoughts or suggestions you have! Thank you in advance.

Heimpai

Magblade/Magplar...If you really want a stam toon idk I haven’t touched stamblade in probably a year and DoT nerf will hit dk‘s a bit (I use stamden)

StrandedMonkey

Go Dark Elf templar, from the likes this patch and the next one its barely getting any nerf. Both magicka and stamina builds provide enough damage for you to have decent DPS for both pve and pvp. The class is fairly straight forward with tons of healing as well as damage. You also get your own damage kit so you don't have to worry about using picking any weapon you want

fred4

KestrelFive wrote: »

There’s still entire quest lines I haven’t completed like Morrowind, Summerset, Clockwork City, and Elsweyr...

As far as quest lines, any character will do. It might even be more enjoyable with an undergeared and underdeveloped one, since it is so faceroll easy.

From the magicka side, I am contemplating using my magplar, since I can do dps, heal, and even PvP healtank with it. I like the versatility of the class, however, I realize that other mag classes like magdk, mag sorc, and magblade specifically bring their own really unique gameplay styles to the table. Which one would you recommend?

Magplar. It's currently OP. It's my own go to character for PvE. It's very versatile for soloing content in PvE or carrying a group, due to the self-healing from Sweeps and it's got shards / Honor the Dead to support others. It is (currently) strong in PvP, but fundamentally a group-play character there.

The two best classes for solo play are nightblade and sorc. The latter has recently been nerfed to where the average player is just not that powerful anymore, but remains viable to solo with, due to Streak.

I play magblade in PvP. It's not easy, because of the schizophenic nature of Cloak. You are invincible when it works, but that's because you're basically not engaged in combat at all. As soon as you engage, you tend to be very vulnerable. Your attack window is very short, before you have to disentangle yourself and get back into cloak. At the same time you are not very powerful and your most powerful skill (Merciless Resolve) has a windup time. Until you become proficient with the class, you are likely to be a one-trick pony, ganking weak players easily, but being killed by everyone else.

Similarly, the only 2 stamina classes I have fully leveled are stamDK and stamblade. My stamDK was my first character and I loved playing him, but eventually I realized they weren’t that good for Cyrodiil and most people recommended only using them geared as a tank, rather than a dps.

I guess "most people" refers to your PvE friends. Let me tell you: They haven't got a clue. Stam DK is extremely strong in PvP with the right (meta) setup. The gear goes something like this:

Blood Spawn
Fury
Seventh Legion or Cyrodiil's Crest back bar, 1-hand and shield
Front bar weapon of choice: Agility, Asylum 2H or Blackrose dual-wield

Combine Seventh with Artaeum Takeaway Broth, Steed Mundus and a potion, and you have 2K health regen right off the bat (without Troll King), which is not affected by Battle Spirit. Add Cauterize, Resolving Vigor and Health + Stamina + Lingering Health potions. You are a tanky monster with a ton of healing and a ton of weapon damage. Basically unkillable by any single player and a strong counter-puncher as Fury winds up and your ultimate (Take Flight, Dawnbreaker, Onslaught) restores your health and resources.

I made a stamblade to get a good Stam dps toon.

Stamblades are a shadow of their former selves, in PvP, since spring. A lot of less experienced players relied on their outright damage to overpower players during a gank. That type of playstyle doesn't work so well anymore. My comments regarding magblade apply to stamblade as well, although the latter still tend to have the better up-front burst. Nightblades ARE fun to play, if you like mobility builds, but they are not easy to play when you run into experienced or even just slightly above-average opponents.

I understand stamDK has undergone changes recently....how does it hold up now as a Stam dps, and does it bring decent group utility?

I can only really talk from a PvP perspective. Stam DK has always been good, although I think you have to build towards their strength, which involves heavy armor and 1-hand and shield on one bar. Build tanky, but do not be an outright tank. In that regard I think your friends / acquaintances have advised you wrongly, since DKs ARE really dangerous in PvP, even though they tend to be so tanky. A tanky character is more forgiving for new PvPers and holds up better in lag. That said, they are still group players. You want to be really experienced to solo with anything other than a nightblade or a sorc.

In terms of group utility, the one thing that comes to mind is Minor Brutality for the group, when you activate an Earthen Heart skill. This is a unique buff I'm not sure you can get any other way.

Incidentally you can build a tanky stamblade, especially in recent patches. How effective these are, I'm not sure. Historically nightblades tend to be glass cannons, because that fits in well with Cloak.

Delparis

If you want magicka go sorc
If you want stamina go nightblade
Just stay away from templar as they are trash only good as heal bots

fred4

Delparis wrote: »

If you want magicka go sorc
If you want stamina go nightblade
Just stay away from templar as they are trash only good as heal bots

What year are you stuck in?

Vlad9425

Delparis wrote: »

If you want magicka go sorc
If you want stamina go nightblade
Just stay away from templar as they are trash only good as heal bots

Imagine being this delusional...

RebornV3x

Magicka go Templar probably the best overall mag class currently you can't go wrong with Templar decent dps, best heals, great tanks probably the most thought out of the base game classes lots of variety.

I would stay far far away from mag sorc the nerf sorc thing has become a bad meme and the class will probably continue to get nerfed for the foreseeable future with a possible buff to one skill just for ZOS to have a good laugh and then destroy that skill in the next patch.

as for stamina I think Stam necro is best( atleast from what my guild tells me and they seem to always want a few in the trial group.) Stam Warden is very fun and strong in Battlegrounds and small scale PVP.
Stam DK is a good choice too since you already have one leveled up.

Essavias

Stam - Warden is a solid choice.

Mag - Templar is completely nuts, and looks to be even more nuts next patch.

fred4

Essavias wrote: »

Mag - Templar is completely nuts, and looks to be even more nuts next patch.

Yep, that passive stun (Living Dark) when you try to play against them is broken a f and I don't think the coming nerf to a 60% snare is going to change the dynamic all that much. I think Pirate and Protective being nerfed has only encouraged the better templars to go full damage spec, if they hadn't already. Put on Overwhelming Surge, run Solar Barrage, wear Grothdarr or Skoria. Who needs burst? The sheer pressure from that and the cheap ult just melts people and is mostly AOE pressure. Crazy.

OK, I'm whining a little bit, cause as a squishy melee magblade I am comprehensively countered by this. Dusting off my own magplar, I was relying on Pirate and Protective last patch. I'd have some work adapting my build and playstyle, but the people who have done it are insanely strong. Furthermore, I'm not talking about the people who run a proper rotation on you. I'm talking about those that wear Surge and spam Toppling Charge and Sweeps, cause that's far more effective, at least against a nightblade.

Sweeps always did an inordinate amount of damage. Don't forget it's more than the tooltip, which is high. There's a Burning Light proc thrown in as well. Now look at the patch notes as ZOS nonchalantly point out that Sweeps was classified as both direct damage and damage over time. Oops. If I read this correctly, it currently scales with both Master-at-Arms and Thaumaturge. They're about to nerf that. I don't know whether to congratulate ZOS for having located the correct thing to nerf or whether I am giving them too much credit as they may only be nerfing this due to their newly found, but frequently misguided principles.

ExistingRug61

The replies above give some good advice on which classes/builds are currently performing well.

However as well as just thinking about what class will be strong, I would also suggest thinking about which class provides the playstyle or theme you enjoy the most and will allow you to play in a way you enjoy and/or be successful at the types of gameplay you do most often (ie: PvE questing, PvE group content, Cyrodiil solo, Cyrodiil small group, Cyrodiil Large group, ICP, battlegrounds). If you simply want to play the best class you will always be meta chasing and have to swap as each update is released.

For example:
I mainly play solo Cyrodiil PvP and have always been melee magblade main, like @fred4 (funny how there is a comparative over-representation of us here in comparison to the game...). Unlike him though I don't even use the best weapon option and use dual wield instead of destro. Even though it isn't a comparatively strong choice for PvP, I play like this because I am always drawn to stealth/magic hybrids in games, and I dislike staves on a melee character.

And I love it.
I play how I like and achieve the things I want and - generally staying solo but still trying to contribute to the campaign objectives by doing things like scouting, following/harrying enemy groups so our faction knows where they are, burning siege and camps, picking off people on the edge of big fights/sieges, be able to disengage if I am outmatched. But if I make a mistake or over commit I'll almost instantly be dead. I don't mind that, but you might and if so then this class/style might not be for you. And I would be almost useless in Battlegrounds with this build, but I don't really play them, so that doesn't matter to me.

This then carries over to PvE although I'll be the first to admit I am not great at PvE DPS. I will still play magblade and basically use a similar build for general questing, but *grudgingly* use a destro staff if doing group content. But I don't really enjoy it, and now really only PvE to get things I need to PvP (have done most of the main quests on my PvE main now).

psycoprophet

Stick with whatever class archetype and playstyle that appeals to u most, put little into how strong it fits into meta or else as metal's shift so will ur choice of class resulting in more altitis lol. Being more viable definitely has its plus sides but ultimately ull enjoy ur game time far more on a class who's theme and playstyle u enjoy most even if due to shifts in balance ur at a disadvantage for a time frame until the next positive shift comes to ur class

Xedwyn

If you are planning on getting into PvE endgame (vet trials) as a DD then your best bet is having a Magicka Templar and a Stamina Necromancer geared up and ready.
Should you want to heal, Templar, Warden and Sorcerer are all useful in that order of popularity.
If you are going to try tanking, play a DK.

Hope this helps

Gundug

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a stamina dragonknight. I have one that can solo a majority of the content that is possible to solo, and does more than enough damage to be fun to play. It’s the only character I have gotten vMA Flawless Conqueror on, and pretty easily, even though I do have other strong characters that hit harder.

Iskiab

StamDK will be a solid choice for pvp this coming patch. Stamdks seem to be focusing on their dot attacks, but they also have very low dot defense. I think they’ll be a lot stronger in the new patch than live.

FrancisCrawford

Have you tried thieving? Do you like it? Nightblade is BiS for that.

I generally think of nightblade thieving as something to do on stamblades, because you'll want to wear medium armor while doing it. However, you'll take the Concealed Weapon morph rather than Surprise Attack, which does interfere with some stamblade builds.

deepseamk20b14_ESO

I use my DK for tanking and it feels damn near indestructible. But that’s PvE, haven’t tried it for PvP but I do know from fighting people playing DK and playing along side DK’s they are pretty strong in PvP when built right and played right. Not sure how this next patch will treat them.

About to take a mag sorc into PvP and see how that goes.

Stamblade is my bread and butter though. Decent enough in PvE as a DPS and I find it fits my play style perfect in PvP. Not a fan of ganking but having a highly mobile damage dealer is what’s fun about NB. I like to play solo and it’s very strong as a solo class. Duo is great too when with a tankier player who can take the heat and I can target people and burn them down one at a time as my buddy locks people down and distracts them. Stamblade doesn’t offer a lot for larger group though. Not saying it can’t fit into a group, I’m just saying their are classes that seem to contribute more in larger groups.

Really comes down to how you like to play. Brawler build, ganker, mobile damage dealer, heal bot, troll tank. Which ever is up to you.

Mariusghost84

ExistingRug61 wrote: »

The replies above give some good advice on which classes/builds are currently performing well.

However as well as just thinking about what class will be strong, I would also suggest thinking about which class provides the playstyle or theme you enjoy the most and will allow you to play in a way you enjoy and/or be successful at the types of gameplay you do most often (ie: PvE questing, PvE group content, Cyrodiil solo, Cyrodiil small group, Cyrodiil Large group, ICP, battlegrounds). If you simply want to play the best class you will always be meta chasing and have to swap as each update is released.

For example:
I mainly play solo Cyrodiil PvP and have always been melee magblade main, like @fred4 (funny how there is a comparative over-representation of us here in comparison to the game...). Unlike him though I don't even use the best weapon option and use dual wield instead of destro. Even though it isn't a comparatively strong choice for PvP, I play like this because I am always drawn to stealth/magic hybrids in games, and I dislike staves on a melee character.

And I love it.
I play how I like and achieve the things I want and - generally staying solo but still trying to contribute to the campaign objectives by doing things like scouting, following/harrying enemy groups so our faction knows where they are, burning siege and camps, picking off people on the edge of big fights/sieges, be able to disengage if I am outmatched. But if I make a mistake or over commit I'll almost instantly be dead. I don't mind that, but you might and if so then this class/style might not be for you. And I would be almost useless in Battlegrounds with this build, but I don't really play them, so that doesn't matter to me.

This then carries over to PvE although I'll be the first to admit I am not great at PvE DPS. I will still play magblade and basically use a similar build for general questing, but *grudgingly* use a destro staff if doing group content. But I don't really enjoy it, and now really only PvE to get things I need to PvP (have done most of the main quests on my PvE main now).

Could you please share the details of your build? Its sounds very interesting!

Mariusghost84

fred4 wrote: »

KestrelFive wrote: »

There’s still entire quest lines I haven’t completed like Morrowind, Summerset, Clockwork City, and Elsweyr...

As far as quest lines, any character will do. It might even be more enjoyable with an undergeared and underdeveloped one, since it is so faceroll easy.

From the magicka side, I am contemplating using my magplar, since I can do dps, heal, and even PvP healtank with it. I like the versatility of the class, however, I realize that other mag classes like magdk, mag sorc, and magblade specifically bring their own really unique gameplay styles to the table. Which one would you recommend?

Magplar. It's currently OP. It's my own go to character for PvE. It's very versatile for soloing content in PvE or carrying a group, due to the self-healing from Sweeps and it's got shards / Honor the Dead to support others. It is (currently) strong in PvP, but fundamentally a group-play character there.

The two best classes for solo play are nightblade and sorc. The latter has recently been nerfed to where the average player is just not that powerful anymore, but remains viable to solo with, due to Streak.

I play magblade in PvP. It's not easy, because of the schizophenic nature of Cloak. You are invincible when it works, but that's because you're basically not engaged in combat at all. As soon as you engage, you tend to be very vulnerable. Your attack window is very short, before you have to disentangle yourself and get back into cloak. At the same time you are not very powerful and your most powerful skill (Merciless Resolve) has a windup time. Until you become proficient with the class, you are likely to be a one-trick pony, ganking weak players easily, but being killed by everyone else.

Similarly, the only 2 stamina classes I have fully leveled are stamDK and stamblade. My stamDK was my first character and I loved playing him, but eventually I realized they weren’t that good for Cyrodiil and most people recommended only using them geared as a tank, rather than a dps.

I guess "most people" refers to your PvE friends. Let me tell you: They haven't got a clue. Stam DK is extremely strong in PvP with the right (meta) setup. The gear goes something like this:

Blood Spawn
Fury
Seventh Legion or Cyrodiil's Crest back bar, 1-hand and shield
Front bar weapon of choice: Agility, Asylum 2H or Blackrose dual-wield

Combine Seventh with Artaeum Takeaway Broth, Steed Mundus and a potion, and you have 2K health regen right off the bat (without Troll King), which is not affected by Battle Spirit. Add Cauterize, Resolving Vigor and Health + Stamina + Lingering Health potions. You are a tanky monster with a ton of healing and a ton of weapon damage. Basically unkillable by any single player and a strong counter-puncher as Fury winds up and your ultimate (Take Flight, Dawnbreaker, Onslaught) restores your health and resources.

I made a stamblade to get a good Stam dps toon.

Stamblades are a shadow of their former selves, in PvP, since spring. A lot of less experienced players relied on their outright damage to overpower players during a gank. That type of playstyle doesn't work so well anymore. My comments regarding magblade apply to stamblade as well, although the latter still tend to have the better up-front burst. Nightblades ARE fun to play, if you like mobility builds, but they are not easy to play when you run into experienced or even just slightly above-average opponents.

I understand stamDK has undergone changes recently....how does it hold up now as a Stam dps, and does it bring decent group utility?

I can only really talk from a PvP perspective. Stam DK has always been good, although I think you have to build towards their strength, which involves heavy armor and 1-hand and shield on one bar. Build tanky, but do not be an outright tank. In that regard I think your friends / acquaintances have advised you wrongly, since DKs ARE really dangerous in PvP, even though they tend to be so tanky. A tanky character is more forgiving for new PvPers and holds up better in lag. That said, they are still group players. You want to be really experienced to solo with anything other than a nightblade or a sorc.

In terms of group utility, the one thing that comes to mind is Minor Brutality for the group, when you activate an Earthen Heart skill. This is a unique buff I'm not sure you can get any other way.

Incidentally you can build a tanky stamblade, especially in recent patches. How effective these are, I'm not sure. Historically nightblades tend to be glass cannons, because that fits in well with Cloak.

Would you be so kind to elaborate more about the bloodspawn/fury and 7th legion build? Is there a written guide for the build you described somewhere? We are talking all heavy armor with points into stamina? What skills would you use on a build like this? I am preparing my stam dk for pvp and i want a build like the one you described

Iskiab

Mariusghost84 wrote: »

fred4 wrote: »

KestrelFive wrote: »

There’s still entire quest lines I haven’t completed like Morrowind, Summerset, Clockwork City, and Elsweyr...

As far as quest lines, any character will do. It might even be more enjoyable with an undergeared and underdeveloped one, since it is so faceroll easy.

From the magicka side, I am contemplating using my magplar, since I can do dps, heal, and even PvP healtank with it. I like the versatility of the class, however, I realize that other mag classes like magdk, mag sorc, and magblade specifically bring their own really unique gameplay styles to the table. Which one would you recommend?

Magplar. It's currently OP. It's my own go to character for PvE. It's very versatile for soloing content in PvE or carrying a group, due to the self-healing from Sweeps and it's got shards / Honor the Dead to support others. It is (currently) strong in PvP, but fundamentally a group-play character there.

The two best classes for solo play are nightblade and sorc. The latter has recently been nerfed to where the average player is just not that powerful anymore, but remains viable to solo with, due to Streak.

I play magblade in PvP. It's not easy, because of the schizophenic nature of Cloak. You are invincible when it works, but that's because you're basically not engaged in combat at all. As soon as you engage, you tend to be very vulnerable. Your attack window is very short, before you have to disentangle yourself and get back into cloak. At the same time you are not very powerful and your most powerful skill (Merciless Resolve) has a windup time. Until you become proficient with the class, you are likely to be a one-trick pony, ganking weak players easily, but being killed by everyone else.

Similarly, the only 2 stamina classes I have fully leveled are stamDK and stamblade. My stamDK was my first character and I loved playing him, but eventually I realized they weren’t that good for Cyrodiil and most people recommended only using them geared as a tank, rather than a dps.

I guess "most people" refers to your PvE friends. Let me tell you: They haven't got a clue. Stam DK is extremely strong in PvP with the right (meta) setup. The gear goes something like this:

Blood Spawn
Fury
Seventh Legion or Cyrodiil's Crest back bar, 1-hand and shield
Front bar weapon of choice: Agility, Asylum 2H or Blackrose dual-wield

Combine Seventh with Artaeum Takeaway Broth, Steed Mundus and a potion, and you have 2K health regen right off the bat (without Troll King), which is not affected by Battle Spirit. Add Cauterize, Resolving Vigor and Health + Stamina + Lingering Health potions. You are a tanky monster with a ton of healing and a ton of weapon damage. Basically unkillable by any single player and a strong counter-puncher as Fury winds up and your ultimate (Take Flight, Dawnbreaker, Onslaught) restores your health and resources.

I made a stamblade to get a good Stam dps toon.

Stamblades are a shadow of their former selves, in PvP, since spring. A lot of less experienced players relied on their outright damage to overpower players during a gank. That type of playstyle doesn't work so well anymore. My comments regarding magblade apply to stamblade as well, although the latter still tend to have the better up-front burst. Nightblades ARE fun to play, if you like mobility builds, but they are not easy to play when you run into experienced or even just slightly above-average opponents.

I understand stamDK has undergone changes recently....how does it hold up now as a Stam dps, and does it bring decent group utility?

I can only really talk from a PvP perspective. Stam DK has always been good, although I think you have to build towards their strength, which involves heavy armor and 1-hand and shield on one bar. Build tanky, but do not be an outright tank. In that regard I think your friends / acquaintances have advised you wrongly, since DKs ARE really dangerous in PvP, even though they tend to be so tanky. A tanky character is more forgiving for new PvPers and holds up better in lag. That said, they are still group players. You want to be really experienced to solo with anything other than a nightblade or a sorc.

In terms of group utility, the one thing that comes to mind is Minor Brutality for the group, when you activate an Earthen Heart skill. This is a unique buff I'm not sure you can get any other way.

Incidentally you can build a tanky stamblade, especially in recent patches. How effective these are, I'm not sure. Historically nightblades tend to be glass cannons, because that fits in well with Cloak.

Would you be so kind to elaborate more about the bloodspawn/fury and 7th legion build? Is there a written guide for the build you described somewhere? We are talking all heavy armor with points into stamina? What skills would you use on a build like this? I am preparing my stam dk for pvp and i want a build like the one you described

Use the dottz gaming site. It has all the info.

ExistingRug61

Mariusghost84 wrote: »

ExistingRug61 wrote: »

The replies above give some good advice on which classes/builds are currently performing well.

However as well as just thinking about what class will be strong, I would also suggest thinking about which class provides the playstyle or theme you enjoy the most and will allow you to play in a way you enjoy and/or be successful at the types of gameplay you do most often (ie: PvE questing, PvE group content, Cyrodiil solo, Cyrodiil small group, Cyrodiil Large group, ICP, battlegrounds). If you simply want to play the best class you will always be meta chasing and have to swap as each update is released.

For example:
I mainly play solo Cyrodiil PvP and have always been melee magblade main, like @fred4 (funny how there is a comparative over-representation of us here in comparison to the game...). Unlike him though I don't even use the best weapon option and use dual wield instead of destro. Even though it isn't a comparatively strong choice for PvP, I play like this because I am always drawn to stealth/magic hybrids in games, and I dislike staves on a melee character.

And I love it.
I play how I like and achieve the things I want and - generally staying solo but still trying to contribute to the campaign objectives by doing things like scouting, following/harrying enemy groups so our faction knows where they are, burning siege and camps, picking off people on the edge of big fights/sieges, be able to disengage if I am outmatched. But if I make a mistake or over commit I'll almost instantly be dead. I don't mind that, but you might and if so then this class/style might not be for you. And I would be almost useless in Battlegrounds with this build, but I don't really play them, so that doesn't matter to me.

This then carries over to PvE although I'll be the first to admit I am not great at PvE DPS. I will still play magblade and basically use a similar build for general questing, but *grudgingly* use a destro staff if doing group content. But I don't really enjoy it, and now really only PvE to get things I need to PvP (have done most of the main quests on my PvE main now).

Could you please share the details of your build? Its sounds very interesting!

I posted it just a little while ago over in the magblade pvp thread here
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/488250/magblade-theorycrafting-changes-thread/p17
(on a side note, can anyone tell me how to link to a specific post in a thread instead of just to the page?)

Basically its a melee DW/resto magblade using shacklebreaker + another damage set (a bit flexible on this) but with good regen by being Breton vampire and using regen jewellery glyphs and atro mundus, and swift jewellery for speed. This is in NoCP.
Bars are
DW: concealed weapon/lotus fan/crippling grasp/shadowy disguise/inner light (flex)/ult:soul harvest
Resto: swallow soul/structured entropy/refreshing path/shadowy disguise/radiating regen/ult: soul tether

I don't have the burst to straight up gank/burst people from cloak, and normally need to soften players up with DoTs etc first. It has low defense and no real burst heal so staying alive is all about evading damage through speed, dodge and cloak and hoping the HoTs will keep up.

Now, I'll be the first to admit there a definitely better magblade builds and mine isn't that strong in a stand up fight or big group battle, but like I said in my previous post that's not really how I play anyway.

If you are interested in magblade options I would recommend checking out the thread I linked though - there's a lot of good info there about different magblade builds from other players who have much more experience than I do.

fred4

Mariusghost84 wrote: »

fred4 wrote: »

KestrelFive wrote: »

There’s still entire quest lines I haven’t completed like Morrowind, Summerset, Clockwork City, and Elsweyr...

As far as quest lines, any character will do. It might even be more enjoyable with an undergeared and underdeveloped one, since it is so faceroll easy.

From the magicka side, I am contemplating using my magplar, since I can do dps, heal, and even PvP healtank with it. I like the versatility of the class, however, I realize that other mag classes like magdk, mag sorc, and magblade specifically bring their own really unique gameplay styles to the table. Which one would you recommend?

Magplar. It's currently OP. It's my own go to character for PvE. It's very versatile for soloing content in PvE or carrying a group, due to the self-healing from Sweeps and it's got shards / Honor the Dead to support others. It is (currently) strong in PvP, but fundamentally a group-play character there.

The two best classes for solo play are nightblade and sorc. The latter has recently been nerfed to where the average player is just not that powerful anymore, but remains viable to solo with, due to Streak.

I play magblade in PvP. It's not easy, because of the schizophenic nature of Cloak. You are invincible when it works, but that's because you're basically not engaged in combat at all. As soon as you engage, you tend to be very vulnerable. Your attack window is very short, before you have to disentangle yourself and get back into cloak. At the same time you are not very powerful and your most powerful skill (Merciless Resolve) has a windup time. Until you become proficient with the class, you are likely to be a one-trick pony, ganking weak players easily, but being killed by everyone else.

Similarly, the only 2 stamina classes I have fully leveled are stamDK and stamblade. My stamDK was my first character and I loved playing him, but eventually I realized they weren’t that good for Cyrodiil and most people recommended only using them geared as a tank, rather than a dps.

I guess "most people" refers to your PvE friends. Let me tell you: They haven't got a clue. Stam DK is extremely strong in PvP with the right (meta) setup. The gear goes something like this:

Blood Spawn
Fury
Seventh Legion or Cyrodiil's Crest back bar, 1-hand and shield
Front bar weapon of choice: Agility, Asylum 2H or Blackrose dual-wield

Combine Seventh with Artaeum Takeaway Broth, Steed Mundus and a potion, and you have 2K health regen right off the bat (without Troll King), which is not affected by Battle Spirit. Add Cauterize, Resolving Vigor and Health + Stamina + Lingering Health potions. You are a tanky monster with a ton of healing and a ton of weapon damage. Basically unkillable by any single player and a strong counter-puncher as Fury winds up and your ultimate (Take Flight, Dawnbreaker, Onslaught) restores your health and resources.

I made a stamblade to get a good Stam dps toon.

Stamblades are a shadow of their former selves, in PvP, since spring. A lot of less experienced players relied on their outright damage to overpower players during a gank. That type of playstyle doesn't work so well anymore. My comments regarding magblade apply to stamblade as well, although the latter still tend to have the better up-front burst. Nightblades ARE fun to play, if you like mobility builds, but they are not easy to play when you run into experienced or even just slightly above-average opponents.

I understand stamDK has undergone changes recently....how does it hold up now as a Stam dps, and does it bring decent group utility?

I can only really talk from a PvP perspective. Stam DK has always been good, although I think you have to build towards their strength, which involves heavy armor and 1-hand and shield on one bar. Build tanky, but do not be an outright tank. In that regard I think your friends / acquaintances have advised you wrongly, since DKs ARE really dangerous in PvP, even though they tend to be so tanky. A tanky character is more forgiving for new PvPers and holds up better in lag. That said, they are still group players. You want to be really experienced to solo with anything other than a nightblade or a sorc.

In terms of group utility, the one thing that comes to mind is Minor Brutality for the group, when you activate an Earthen Heart skill. This is a unique buff I'm not sure you can get any other way.

Incidentally you can build a tanky stamblade, especially in recent patches. How effective these are, I'm not sure. Historically nightblades tend to be glass cannons, because that fits in well with Cloak.

Would you be so kind to elaborate more about the bloodspawn/fury and 7th legion build? Is there a written guide for the build you described somewhere? We are talking all heavy armor with points into stamina? What skills would you use on a build like this? I am preparing my stam dk for pvp and i want a build like the one you described

For what it's worth, my build is here:

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Special:EsoBuildData?id=180147

I basically threw this together. Note the following:

I built for healing over time to counter the DOT meta. The potions to use are Lingering Health + Health + Stamina. The choice of mundus, Seventh and gold food pushed Health Regen to 2K+ without much compromise. Vigor is, IMO, obligatory and Cauterize is hard to pass up. This will also activate Troll King, should you prefer that over Blood Spawn.

With all that healing over time, I use Forward Momentum over Rally, but this is something worth experimenting with. Switching away from Forward Momentum, however, makes Race Against Time mandatory in my book. Furthermore, most people would use Fragmented Shield instead of Defensive Stance. I just wanted to retain some of that old DK flavor and have the reflect. Fragmented Shield makes A LOT of sense, since we are stacking Weapon Damage and it would give you the Minor Brutality we currently lack. However, it's an expensive skill. Using Fragmented Shield and, possibly, Race Against Time would substantially up our magicka requirements, which are otherwise minimal.

I threw the build together from gear I had. This is why the gear is all Prismatic. I like showing the exact build I currently run, however If you stick with only Volatile Armor and Cauterize as the two magicka skills, you could very well use all stamina enchants. The build neither has quite enogh damage nor quite enough sustain, so that would help. Note the UESP build editor shows an ideal scenario with all buffs and Fury fully procd.

Having the gap closer on the back bar is an idiosyncrasy I am simply used to. If it suits you better on the front bar, use Stampede / Crit Rush and move Noxious Breath to the back bar.

Never mind the wepon enchants. I haven't really thought about them. Experiment with those. I mainly play NB. If I played my DK more, I would also experiment with ultis, specifically Onslaught. Furthermore, that Agility Maul was simply something I had in the bank. I like that it balances stamina with the stamina enchant of the shield on the back bar, but an Asylum 2H would be the obvious alternative, if you have one.

The jewelry traits are also due to what I had "in stock". Protective isn't BIS anymore and this build feels very tanky anyway, perhaps due to being a Nord. Other traits will be fine, although I do like the Swift, especially in heavy armor.

KingExecration

I’ve hopped classes a lot and just stick with what’s cool to you. Stam sorc caught my eye after I was bored on dk and I’m having fun with it. It all depends what class you look at and think, “that’s freaking cool.”

buttaface

Would have at least one NB, either stam or mag, for running overland stuff/questing while avoiding excessive combat. Going back and doing some of the overland content this week on a NB that can stealth through lots of filler combat has kept the various quest chains from bogging down for me. Did Clockwork City yesterday, and was an excellent main story, would have been far less fun if I had to do all the too-easy filler combat along the way.