New. Confused. Nightblade.

xDrac

I never got into ESO all that much but I love myself some proper PvP. I picked a Stamina Nightblade, watched a bunch of guides and all and am now sitting on Level 50 and 130 CP.
And I read through abilities and all, and have a Hunding Set and whatnot but... and this applies for BOTH PvE and PvP (but more so for PvP!!!!) and it's just all so confusing...

Was this MMO even made for melee or am I really just this bad at it? No matter what skills I use it always feels like I do absolutely laughable damage, if I do any at all.. it doesn't even feel like I am hitting anything or GET to hit anything before I am dead on the ground already by god knows what, someone sneezed at me from afar and I'm sprawled in the dirt.

Like did I just choose a difficult class? What do I do wrong? Is there like very specific skills to use in a combo or succession that I just don't do?
What am I missing here? Is it my gear? Since I have no idea what to do with mine and it's all a mumbo-jumo of random thrown together pieces...

Please ESO community, I'm really trying to give this game a fair chance, but the combat has always irked me a bit.. I really want to like it but in PvP especially (battlegrounds) I REALLY just am absolutely lost and I'm not sure what to do.

KageNin

Stamblades are most difficult class to play PvP in melee, currently they struggle in face - to face combat as they have small burst window and very low survivability, unless you manage to gank someone from Cloak. Learning curve is quite high therefore I wouldn't advise it as beginner , also current META allows people to be very tanky and one shot you with ultimate in next few seconss. PvP behaves differently in CP and no-CP environments, with you being 130 CP I don't recommend CP campaigns as higher CP players won't be affected by anything you'll do.
One advice I can give you for BGs is stick with your team or you'll be picked out and destroyed either by opposite team going after you or combination of players from 2 teams going for opportunity.

UntilValhalla13

Having a hodge podge set of gear does affect things. You ideally want 2 full 5-piece sets. Traits also matter. For pvp, you would want Impenetrable.

xDrac

Is there any other class you'd recommend more in meele pvp?

LadySinflower

I started this game as a stamina nightblade and could not get my character to feel powerful, ever. I wasn't trying to PvP. At CP160 I was afraid to engage mobs of more than 3 NPCs and most delve bosses could kill me. I respecced the character to a magicka nightblade and that solved my problems. Now she feels powerful and I'm at CP775 with her.

KageNin

Templar, Warden, Sorcerer, Dragon Knight even Necromancer next patch.
If you're PC get PTS take some time to check each class as it gives you access to everything and go watch some PvP videos on YouTube, to get better idea how those classes operate.

xDrac

So is Stam Nightblade just flat out bad right now in PvE and PvP? What skills should I be using for either or just I just bite the bullet and reroll? I'm so confused.

Thoragaal

xDrac wrote: »

So is Stam Nightblade just flat out bad right now in PvE and PvP? What skills should I be using for either or just I just bite the bullet and reroll? I'm so confused.

Make sure you're playing in a no cp campaign or in BGs.
At the moment, from what I've understood, the meta in pvp is tanky-tank-tank.. which obviously makes your damage feel less impactful.
But NBs can do some Great burst damage. Make sure you have enough magicka sustain/pool to effeciently get away by using Cloak.

Rahar

Before doing PvP, you should wait until you have 160 CP so gear stops scaling and are sitting on some good sets. In the meantime, you can clear some dungeon content and get your Undaunted passives. Otherwise, yeah you're going to eat the dirt a lot. Even IF you go into battlegrounds or no-CP campaigns, you're still going to really feel it because of the way stat scaling works with the level of your gear, putting you at a colossal disadvantage.

The primary reason behind this is gear and the stats it provides. Sets provide massive amounts of sustain, weapon power and mitigation (depending on the set) and can make your break a build for PvP. Additionally, you will want to upgrade those sets to at least purple quality, and upgrade your weapons to gold quality. You're missing out on ~25% of your damage (citation needed) and a huge chunk of resists and stats if you don't do this.

I would suggest looking up a few up to date guides for stamina NB once you're at CP 160 so you can get a feel for what sets work, how they go together, and which you want to run. Good luck out there.

xDrac wrote: »

So is Stam Nightblade just flat out bad right now in PvE and PvP? What skills should I be using for either or just I just bite the bullet and reroll? I'm so confused.

Stamina NB has been hit with a lot of nerfs recently and are currently in a bit of a rough spot. So are magicka NBs.

That won't really effect you until you start fighting good players, though. Stamina NB still shreds in lower BG matchmaking ratings.

El_Borracho

Stamblades don't hit very hard when they are brand new. CP and sets give the stamblade their base power, but the majority of the DPS is from the rotation. The best skills are the ones that take some time to top out. Plus, the rotation is a dynamic rotation, meaning you are forced to keep multiple buffs and skills active while hitting a target with other skills. As there are different timers on these skills, it is much harder to keep track of the rotation versus something like a stam DK or petsorc. Its probably the hardest rotation in the game for DPS.

Once you get the rotation down, stamblades are very effective DPS in PVE. As others have said, they have been nerfed over the last year, so they are no longer the top of the food chain. But they are still in the top 3 for stamina characters and in the top 5 of all DPS overall.

EDIT: Forgot PVP. Its a whole different ball game in PVP. Unless you are highly proficient in PVP to begin with, I would not attempt a stamblade in PVP. Go with a sorc or stamplar first.