New to ESO, looking for class advice

soulf666

Hello!

I've played ESO briefly on the launch, but it never stuck and I don't really remember much either, so I would consider myself new.

I've been wanting to play it for some time - you can only replay morrowind/oblivion/skyrim so many times. Do some questing, dungeons and whatnot, but having trouble picking a class.

In singleplayer TES games, I usually play a sneaky character with daggers and a bow, some Illusion, Destruction, Alteration, and Mysticism spells blend (typically I start with spells that help me do better at sneaking around, like chameleon, invis, night-eye, detect life, dispel (for pesky magic users), some Restoration stuff to remove otherwise permanent "reduce... " effects. I think in Skyrim I didn't use any Restoration though as "reduce..." effects got removed. At late levels when my sneak build gets powerful enough I pick up destruction and do mages guild. I've also been a fan of picking up vampirism almost every time for all the nice perks it gives and fun.

So I suppose best way to describe what I am looking for would be spellblade? Ideally with an option to swap some talents or w/e around and change between destruction mage build and sneaky alteration/illusion/vampiric drain build to keep things fresh. I'm not speaking in actual game terms since I've little idea so far how things in ESO work.

Any suggestions?

Taemiru

Sounds like you should try playing magica nightblade

Freakin_Hytte

magblade sounds like the class for you, being a stealthy blood mage using shadows to your advantage and its the class that fits vampire identity the best I think.
It's also a fun class in both PvE and PvP, might not be the strongest right now. But it can perform very well in the right hands

mague

Nightblade has Shadow Cloak. This isnt sneaking, it makes you invisible and the Nightblade can go everywehre very fast.

BUT, the NB is not the easiest class and a weirdo. Daggers require stamina but some other skills magicka. It requires some knowledge of the game to get what you want. And the class skills suggest a fast paced combat. You can try, but with daggers it needs a well balanced mix of stamina and magicka. I have a Khajiit that is build for high regeneration. With a set like Vesture of Darloc Brae it can be a lot of fun questing all zones.

A Khajiit or Nord stamina Warden is easier to play, minus Shadow Cloak as sneaky as a Nightblade. Warden has a straight forward gameplay and is rather open. You can use daggers or axes or animals.

Vampirism is not needed for a sneaking dagger. If you dont want it for role reasons, then dont do it. It makes you ugly For a stamina class the Werewolf is better. But neither werewolf nor vampire is required.

MusCanus

mague wrote: »

the NB is not the easiest class and a weirdo.

Freakin_Hytte wrote: »

It's also a fun class in both PvE and PvP, might not be the strongest right now.

By not the easiest and not the strongest they meant the worst atm lol. But it's fun until the end game pve or pvp. Also no other class can do questing faster than a nightblade.

soulf666

mague wrote: »

Vampirism is not needed for a sneaking dagger. If you dont want it for role reasons, then dont do it. It makes you ugly For a stamina class the Werewolf is better. But neither werewolf nor vampire is required.

Oh, I got over ugly aspect in Morrowind Also I do like vampire fantasy in TES lore.

soulf666

Also to clarify: I don't think I have "high end" in my plans - I just want to play something new in the TES universe to bridge the gap between TESV and TESVI. On top of that, I'm already somewhat committed to high-end in other MMO.

I would probably describe my plans as "casual".

Freakin_Hytte

MusCanus wrote: »

mague wrote: »

the NB is not the easiest class and a weirdo.

Freakin_Hytte wrote: »

It's also a fun class in both PvE and PvP, might not be the strongest right now.

By not the easiest and not the strongest they meant the worst atm lol. But it's fun until the end game pve or pvp. Also no other class can do questing faster than a nightblade.

True, it is the worst class right now. But it will take OP a couple of months at least to reach end game with vet trials and you can easily run vet craglorn trials and vmol as dps with every class, reaching 40k dps isn't hard now a days and a lot can happen in the next couple of months or year. It wasn't that long ago when magblade were bis in endgame PvE and speed runs consisted of only magblades as dps.

fiender66

I have 5 50lvl toons, and 3 below 50. Among these is a bosmer hybrid stamblade. She completed the assassin and thief DLCs, and also explored Murkmire (with quest and delves). It's a very fun to play build, but, since the start, one ought to be aware of some facts:

1) It's maybe the most difficult build to manage, especially for the rotation of skills
2) Especially if one follows the assassin/thief road (which I strongly advise) there is the necessity to invest skill points in many lines, like legerdemain, etc
3) While in capable hands a NB is definitely lethal in group PVP (like in BG), in single PVP one has to be REALLY clever to win against a templar or a DK. It can be done and is done actually, but not by everyone
4) Levelling is a bit slower, compared to other classes, but the gratification you get in delves by using invisibility and blur is invaluable, IMO
5) Hybrid is rewarding below 40-50 (better sustain for several skills, especially cloack), but is not so good a choice at higher levels

As I said, I started as a bosmer, but maybe a dark elf or a cat would be a better choice

SmukkeHeks

Then you should pick the one that makes your belly tickle.

I have my kitty nightblade, a class that has gone from fun and powerful to a single skill class. It’s a crutch. She’s parked until they figure out where I get my progress from (she’s a level 810, with all maps cleared)
My warden bosmer is right now my favorite. Even after they butchered the race. She’s fast, sneaky, very capable with a bow.
My altmer sorc are what I’m leveling now. Sorcerers have always been at the top of the food chain. She’s as snooty as a high elf is expected to be, one can see it at first glimpse, but the sheer power they possess are very fun and makes the gameplay more intense, than say my bosmer who is more of a “I’m looking at you from the bushes and BAM - you’re toast”

If you are playing for fun, it should be the feeling you’d pick your race with - welcome back 😃

Aelorin

I am confident that a Nightblade would suit you well.

Not so sure if you would go the stamina route (with bow and daggers), or the magicka route (with destruction and restoration staves). I would advice to try both out.

soulf666

Ended up picking nightblade

Would you suggest leveling Stamina, Magica or Health for leveling?

Freakin_Hytte

soulf666 wrote: »

Ended up picking nightblade

Would you suggest leveling Stamina, Magica or Health for leveling?

If you want to go for the more assassin route pick stamina and if you want to be a blood mage pick magicka. If you feel that you need more health you can put some in health, but the general recommendation is to put most in either Stam or magicka depending on what you want to be. It does not only increase the pool you're using most, it also increases damage.

100 mag= 10 spell damage
100 stam= 10 weapon damage

Aelorin

If you go with daggers and bow, you need to increase stamina for maximum dps.

If you go for staves, you need to level magicka for max dps.

Health is more for tanks, they often use one hand and shield and ice staves. You can't kill them, but they hit like a wet noodle, so they are for group, dungeon play, not so for levelling.

But above all: This is a great game, enjoy the ride while levelling and questing

Septimus_Magna

For a new player I would recommend going with a ranged magicka build. In your case this could be a Nightblade with a fire staff for example. The reason is that you can easily get good heals with Swallow Soul (single target dmg+heal) and later on Drain Essence (aoe dmg+heal). Once you reach level 15 you can equip a restoration staff as secondary weapon to get more heals. In the start of the game you mostly run solo so you have to rely on your own dmg and heals to survive.

For stamina builds is harder to get good heals, you have to PVP for Vigor or level 2-Handed to the final skill to get Rally.

Vyvrhel

You describe a nightblade, however the class was recently heavily nerfed and I doubt it gets any love anytime soon. Burst damage sneakers are hated in PvP with passion.
So I would say try other classes. Anything can sneak about the same in this game, and sneak bonuses are in class passives (khajiit) or armor sets. Nightblade has a "cloak" which is the good old invisibility spell you know from other games and that is the only difference.

Any character can use any weapon in this game, but the game is sadly not very friendly to mixed approach (kiss spellswords and battlemages good bye) so either you go full stamina or full magicka, where stamina toons use bows, dual wield and two handed, magicka destruction and restoration staves. All classes can be stamina or magicka. So you can be a stamina sorcerer if you like. However the classes, races and namely combat system in this game can be pretty counterintuitive, but the content, quests and zones are superb, so you can live with it.
I would recommend Alcast's site called Alcast HQ where you can find few beginner guides.

Vyvrhel

Septimus_Magna wrote: »

For stamina builds is harder to get good heals, you have to PVP for Vigor or level 2-Handed to the final skill to get Rally.

Well dual wield has enough health leeching skills, too. Works well enough for overland roaming and questing.

Iskiab

I agree with people who recommend magblade. It’s not the strongest class but it’s fun, and that’s what’s most important. There have been a ton of balancing recently so any attempt to roll the fotm class will likely backfire and things will change by the time you’re 50.

People like the magblade playstyle and fun factor so most want them buffed even though they’re underpowered. Maybe it’ll get fixed, who knows. For now just play what’s fun and you’ll be fine.

soulf666

So a question: if I want to go dual-wield + bow and use a mix of assassination and shadow ability branch, what do I invest into?

Aelorin

Do you mean stats or skills?

For stats for pve around 18k health, and +30k stamina. Magicka will be your smallest pool. You will mostly use it for cloak then. There are other important stats like stamina regen, weapon power and weapon crit. Numbers differ since builds are different. For a good idea look on Alcast or Dottz gaming for different builds.

If you are on PC EU i do not mind crafting you 2 sets of armor when you are + lvl 10.

soulf666

I am PC NA :P
I meant attributes - which one do I invest in (or a mix) if I wanna use daggers, bow, stuff like teleportation strike (or smth named like that) and cloak.

MashmalloMan

soulf666 wrote: »

I am PC NA :P
I meant attributes - which one do I invest in (or a mix) if I wanna use daggers, bow, stuff like teleportation strike (or smth named like that) and cloak.

Abilities that use stamina as their resource, scale their damage based on max stamina and weapon damage. This is useful for weapons like DW, Bow and 2H.

Abilities that use magicka as their resource, scale their damage based on max magicka and spell damage. This is useful for weapons like Staff and Restoration staff.

You have 1 dynamic scaling ability called Shade. Although it costs Magicka, it will scale damage based off highest resources meaning stamina NB can use it too.

Some skills start out as magicka but morph into stamina, so don't be afraid to try out abilities that don't match your type, especially as you're leveling.

Most endgame builds at level 50 will have 64/64 points into their respective resource. If your making a magicka nb, all points into magicka will be the best for you. However, if you are new, it doesn't hurt to put in like 10-20 points into hp while your leveling.

You can reset them later on when you become more comfortable for a fairly cheap price. I think it's 3200 gld. When you get to 300 cp with undaunted passives, you will get even more max hp, stam and magicka.. At 300cp, you get +20% to all max resources. Undaunted passive gives +2% to hp/magicka/stamina for every unique armor type you wear. So 99% of magicka users will go 5 light, 1 medium and 1 heavy. This gives +6% to all your resources. Finally, Heavy armor gives another 2% hp.

NBrookus

You can respec skills and attributes. Don't be afraid to experiment.

A hybrid build is not optimal but for overland questing it's doable. For a hybrid, I suggest putting attributes in stam and using stam weapons (daggers.). Use glyphs and food to supplement with extra magicka for those skills you want to use, and then use Pelinal's.