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Struggles PVE Nightblades currently experiencing
Lykeion
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NB is in a very fractured position right now. It's very strong in PVP, but also almost at the bottom of all roles in PVE, and the changes to U39 may have exacerbated this trend just like U38 did. I'll give analysis and suggestions in this thread, and the main focus is on PVE
For a long time, monitoring buffs has been the main point of NB's damage-dealing technique. How to properly sequence the release of skills to maximize the damage of Grim Focus and Death Stroke has always been one of the most important aspects of NB's DPS technique. With the changes to U38, Concealed Weapon has become a buff need to be actively triggered in PVE, which has had a significant impact on NB. CW went from a passive buff that didn't require much attention to a short-lived buff that only lasts 10 seconds that you need to keep a close eye on. It also need you to have Major Expedition, which comes from Twisting Path. This made the already complex NB dynamic skill loop even more uncontrollable and caused serious magicka issues for NB (especially Stamblade).
Grim Focus every 5 seconds, CW every 10 seconds, Twisting Path every 12 seconds, and Death Stroke about every 15 seconds. One step wrong, many steps wrong. To make matters worse, actively triggering CW requires you to be at melee range, and many dungeons and trials, including the latest Sanity's Edge, have little room for consistent melee combat.
These factors have led to NB's current awkward situation: you need to work much harder than other clases to reach the average level of other classes. The combat environment is far more hostile than Parsing Dummy, and it's difficult to monitor so many buffs.
If you check esolog, you'll hardly see NB on the leaderboards. Take for example the typical Parsing Boss, Yolnahkriin HM, the first NB on the charts appears at #71, which is the only NB in the top 100. Above it, DK and Arcanist take most of the spots, with a few Sorc and Templar. Some might argue that Warden and Necro are even further down the list, but both Warden and Necro offer unique team buffs: Warden has Minor Toughness, and is a natural healer; while Necro has Colo, which grants Major Vuln, and is a natural user of the Element Catalyst set. These make them very popular as Tank/Healer/Supporting DPS in raid teams. While NB provides almost no unique team buffs. NB is not a good choice for either Tank/Healer/DPS.
In short, PVE NB's current predicament can be summarized as two factors: 1. Too many buffs to monitor, which need to be simplified. 2. Lack of unique team buffs.
Next, I'd like to make a comment about the U39 changes, so the following part will be more subjective.
The QoL adjustments to Grim Focus in U39 are good, slightly reducing the difficulty of monitoring, but it's just a drop in the bucket. Cloak's changes are more intriguing.
According to the note, dev seems to expect PVE NB DPS to slot this skill, and might even expect DPS to use Shadowy Disguise to trigger CW. I must point out that maintaining CW already puts a huge magicka burden on NB (especially on Stamblade), and expecting players to trigger CW with Shadowy Disguise is just not realistic. Its new Major Savagery and Prophecy isn't much of a draw compared to Camouflaged Hunters, which can provide additional Minor Berserker on top of that.
Based on the two issues summarized above, I have two suggestions: 1. Reduce the number of buffs NB needs to monitor. Rolling back the CW trigger to U37 might not be a bad idea. 2. Give NB some unique team buffs, granting it the potential to be more effective when working with the team. Personally I suggest Comsuming Darkness to provide Major Brittle. The long-forgotten 'most useless ult skill' needs a little love.
Edited by Lykeion on July 13, 2023 7:07PM For a long time, monitoring buffs has been the main point of NB's damage-dealing technique. How to properly sequence the release of skills to maximize the damage of Grim Focus and Death Stroke has always been one of the most important aspects of NB's DPS technique. With the changes to U38, Concealed Weapon has become a buff need to be actively triggered in PVE, which has had a significant impact on NB. CW went from a passive buff that didn't require much attention to a short-lived buff that only lasts 10 seconds that you need to keep a close eye on. It also need you to have Major Expedition, which comes from Twisting Path. This made the already complex NB dynamic skill loop even more uncontrollable and caused serious magicka issues for NB (especially Stamblade).
Grim Focus every 5 seconds, CW every 10 seconds, Twisting Path every 12 seconds, and Death Stroke about every 15 seconds. One step wrong, many steps wrong. To make matters worse, actively triggering CW requires you to be at melee range, and many dungeons and trials, including the latest Sanity's Edge, have little room for consistent melee combat.
These factors have led to NB's current awkward situation: you need to work much harder than other clases to reach the average level of other classes. The combat environment is far more hostile than Parsing Dummy, and it's difficult to monitor so many buffs.
If you check esolog, you'll hardly see NB on the leaderboards. Take for example the typical Parsing Boss, Yolnahkriin HM, the first NB on the charts appears at #71, which is the only NB in the top 100. Above it, DK and Arcanist take most of the spots, with a few Sorc and Templar. Some might argue that Warden and Necro are even further down the list, but both Warden and Necro offer unique team buffs: Warden has Minor Toughness, and is a natural healer; while Necro has Colo, which grants Major Vuln, and is a natural user of the Element Catalyst set. These make them very popular as Tank/Healer/Supporting DPS in raid teams. While NB provides almost no unique team buffs. NB is not a good choice for either Tank/Healer/DPS.
In short, PVE NB's current predicament can be summarized as two factors: 1. Too many buffs to monitor, which need to be simplified. 2. Lack of unique team buffs.
Next, I'd like to make a comment about the U39 changes, so the following part will be more subjective.
The QoL adjustments to Grim Focus in U39 are good, slightly reducing the difficulty of monitoring, but it's just a drop in the bucket. Cloak's changes are more intriguing.
According to the note, dev seems to expect PVE NB DPS to slot this skill, and might even expect DPS to use Shadowy Disguise to trigger CW. I must point out that maintaining CW already puts a huge magicka burden on NB (especially on Stamblade), and expecting players to trigger CW with Shadowy Disguise is just not realistic. Its new Major Savagery and Prophecy isn't much of a draw compared to Camouflaged Hunters, which can provide additional Minor Berserker on top of that.
Based on the two issues summarized above, I have two suggestions: 1. Reduce the number of buffs NB needs to monitor. Rolling back the CW trigger to U37 might not be a bad idea. 2. Give NB some unique team buffs, granting it the potential to be more effective when working with the team. Personally I suggest Comsuming Darkness to provide Major Brittle. The long-forgotten 'most useless ult skill' needs a little love.
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