How do you deal with Templars?

Augusten15

I've been trying to improve my PvP but there's one obstacle I can't overcome. If a templar targets me, it's time to respawn. It appears as though they don't even need all 5 abilities on 1 bar as every time I'm destroyed by one, it's the same 3 abilities.

So they charge, as I break CC before I can respond I'm dead. Every single time. If I open without using a cheese proc set they withstand, heal to full, and it's the same routine. This isn't just 1 or 2, it's every time. I've kept count through entire BGs and this is typically the only way I die outside of a necs BB or not paying attention and getting sniped. At least 90% of my death recaps are identical.

I run 2 NBs using 5 pieces of impen but it seems to make no difference and then my lack of damage output turn my in to a tickle monster.

Any pointers would be appreciated so I don't just see the god spear and run.

Fur_like_snow

Post your build. All I can say for now is it sounds like you need to block the opener if you know it’s coming.

Jimmy_The_Fixer

Are you playing squishy and using stealth as your primary defense? That would be a strong reason for both magplars and stamplars to be a problem for you.

Augusten15

I'm running 15k HP with the 5 impen pieces. I try to stealth as much as possible and when I see them head on I can roll dodge the charge but that doesn't stop a repeat. I just can't seem to withstand the DPS nor output enough to counter it. I was hoping maybe that templars are resource starved and if I just escape and heal/shield long enough they will drain out. So far that hasn't worked though.

Fur_like_snow

What sets are you running? What skills are on your bar? How much impen do you have? What food are you running? What do your other stats(magicka, stamina) look like fully buffed? How much recovery after drinking a pot? What platform do you play on?(example PC NA)

Sleep724

Augusten15 wrote: »

I'm running 15k HP with the 5 impen pieces. I try to stealth as much as possible and when I see them head on I can roll dodge the charge but that doesn't stop a repeat. I just can't seem to withstand the DPS nor output enough to counter it. I was hoping maybe that templars are resource starved and if I just escape and heal/shield long enough they will drain out. So far that hasn't worked though.

Get at least 20k HP. That’s one of your problems. 15k is way too low. Run shuffle if you’re stam and that will reduce the damage of jabs against you too.

technohic

Sleep724 wrote: »

Augusten15 wrote: »

I'm running 15k HP with the 5 impen pieces. I try to stealth as much as possible and when I see them head on I can roll dodge the charge but that doesn't stop a repeat. I just can't seem to withstand the DPS nor output enough to counter it. I was hoping maybe that templars are resource starved and if I just escape and heal/shield long enough they will drain out. So far that hasn't worked though.

Get at least 20k HP. That’s one of your problems. 15k is way too low. Run shuffle if you’re stam and that will reduce the damage of jabs against you too.

20k if you are in no CP. In CP, you want at least 25k. You also probably should have at least 3300 crit resist. In either, your 15 k hp and just 5 impen is not enough.

JayKwellen

technohic wrote: »

Sleep724 wrote: »

Augusten15 wrote: »

I'm running 15k HP with the 5 impen pieces. I try to stealth as much as possible and when I see them head on I can roll dodge the charge but that doesn't stop a repeat. I just can't seem to withstand the DPS nor output enough to counter it. I was hoping maybe that templars are resource starved and if I just escape and heal/shield long enough they will drain out. So far that hasn't worked though.

Get at least 20k HP. That’s one of your problems. 15k is way too low. Run shuffle if you’re stam and that will reduce the damage of jabs against you too.

20k if you are in no CP. In CP, you want at least 25k. You also probably should have at least 3300 crit resist. In either, your 15 k hp and just 5 impen is not enough.

Yeah, this right here is a big issue.

If I saw someone with 15k health I'd go straight for them, and 15k isn't gonna last longer than a second against a good burst combo. I'd single them out not even because I think they're a noob, but with this patch I've seen so many squishy glass cannons I'd be expecting to get blown up myself in short order if I left them unmolested to do as they like, thinking it's someone specc'd into 100% damage with 0 survivability, so I'd quickly move to take them out. I'd imagine most people would also be thinking similarly. <20k health is basically a giant "attack me!" sign.

fred4

I agree about the health. Should have around 20K in no CP. I play NB, so I know what it's like. Some suggestions. This is pick and choose.

(1) Even though a theoretical benefit, I find the damage reduction from Shuffle / Mirage / Phantasmal Escape surprisingly ineffective on squishy builds. Not worth running those skills for that. Your priority should be damage avoidance, not eating damage, not even reduced damage. However do run one of those skills, if you're not running any other means of obtaining root / snare removal and immunity.

(2) Use Shadow Image. Even if you don't have it up in the first place, you can pretty much snooker a single templar indefinitely by plonking it down, running a few meters while shielding or healing and dodge rolling, then porting back.

(3) In the same vein, use Temporal Guard as your backbar ult for emergencies.

(4) Wear Eternal Hunt. Templar will find it hard to follow after you dodge roll.

(5) Without Eternal Hunt, try and dodge roll forwards, through your opponent. If you try to flee, you're much more likely still in the templar's hitbox. Not when you manage to move through them.

(6) Wear Snow Treaders. I feel this is a magblade thing, not so much stamblade or any other class. You get the speed from Concealed Weapon in cloak, thus you don't care about the inability to sprint. Part of the problem is that Jabs / Sweeps puts a strong snare on you. Snow Treaders mitigates that.

(7) In the absense of Snow Treaders, an anti-root / snare skill is mandatory. Race Against Time, Shuffle or Phantasmal Escape.

(8) Wear the Wild Hunt ring. Speed works wonders for both types of nightblades, so much so that a well-known YouTuber commented the Wild Hunt ring was better for his sustain than the Torc of Tonal Constancy, due to less dodge rolling. Speed is life for nightblades. I personally use all Swift jewelry too (must be at least purple).

(9) When you're rolling and using a bow, be sure to have Vigor on your bow bar and cast Vigor, followed by a dodge roll on that bar. You will heal, start your escape and gain Major Expedition in a single global cooldown. In general Vigor into dodge roll should be like a reflex you train and use all the time. If you're a woodelf, so much the better. You get another 10% of speed. If a magblade, then it's Healing Ward or Rapid Regen instead of Vigor.

(10) On magblade, use dodge rolls sparingly, but do use them. In the absence of Shadow Image (if you don't want to use that skill) I recommend investing into speed, having a little bit of extra stam regen - from 1x stam recovery jewelry enchant, if no other source can be found - and Dampen Magic. If you're under any kind of melee pressure, you'll have to juggle and decide which skill is most important on a second by second basis. It could be the shield, your heal or Race Against Time, possibly into a dodge roll and eventually into Cloak. Choosing the right counter comes with experience. You may also Fear or use that destro knockback CC, but in the heat of the moment that's questionable, if you didn't keep track of your opponent's CC immunity status.

(11) Above all, having a good attack saves you a lot of trouble. As a ganker, people have to recover from your initial onslaught, before they can turn the tables. You kind of learn to judge when that happens and you may choose to break off the attack just before. Of course, if they use a detection potion at that point, you may have to go into defensive mode with heavy use of line-of-sight, e.g. obstacles. At any rate, you need to work out what your opening burst combo is. The harder you can strike your enemy, the more time you have before they recover ... if they recover.

(12) Finally, my advice is probably colored by my playstyle, which includes going into melee range and being scrappy. All nightblades who use Incap / Soul Harvest have to do so for their burst, but magblades can otherwise be played more ranged than I do and stamblades can be snipers. In that case magblades also have Crippling Grasp, which they historically used to control enemies from getting close, but it's a nerfed skill.

P.S. If you are a magblade, you can also simply build for max magicka. I don't build magblade that way, but from my experience with warden, even a single shield (Dampen) works rather well when combined with decent healing and very high magicka. This is more of CP thing. We're talking about 50K+ max magicka and probably Healing Ward and Rapid Regen to boot. The sets to use include some combination of Necropotence (with Shadow Image), Bright-Throat's and Crafty Alfiq. Slot the obligatory Siphoning skill for +8% max magicka and Inner Light for another 7%. What I don't like about this kind of build is that it tends to make you slow and you will not likely have perma-cloak sustain. You'll want Arcane jewelry, not Swift, and a high-magicka food. It's also a type of build that arguably magden and magsorc do better.