Bloodmage build (the MAIN nightblade healer) Updated

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO

Introduction

Many people theorised that the only class fit for Healing spec is templar, while i do agree templar got interesting Healing mechanics i find it lacking in multiple way
mainly because there is no way that the templar can both Heal and deal damage with the same ability bar (or at least without sacrificing some of its spell slot for a full damage spell purpose). Templar healing spells also has one huge problem wich is called mana waste, due the nature of healing surges (aka full heal spells) any healing that is done post 100% is lost.

What im proposing here is a build that comes straith out of the most crazed individual imagination i present you an assasin that is not an assasin here is the Bloodmage build the one only healer in the game that ALSO deals damage in the process

http://esobuild.com/?MwbgbCCskgdMBGW8BGIAsAzAXGWBjJAQyJQAZhsAmM2ElIgU20jqP1gA4qcrYEwYFFWxJM+DOhQJO6DsEj4m0WOnQBOKmvmRG6zpCpAA

note: The skills presented on this page are in NO way restricting you from aquiring additionnal ability in other line such as assasination siphons and shadow. Likely 64 skill point is only the actual Minimum and you will have way more by the time you reach lvl 50

By default the principe of this night blade build is to mix out restoration magic with siphoning magic and vampirism to proc an endless flow of regeneration to yourself and the party.
Running a restoration staff along with siphons allows you to take the better of both world as siphon will still deal excellent damage while also Healing yourself and the team not to mention the endless flow of ultimate recovery granted by it wich allows for a spam of the vampiric bat cloud ultimate. This build will litteraly over regenerate any damage taken proc constant damage shielding and provide efficient team support all while offering a decent damaging source. The whole idea is to stack regenerative effect and prevent the wounds rather then mend them at the last moment.

How to use

Prior to fight Initiate by casting rapid regeneration-regeneration-mutagen twice then start using funnel health. Use healing ward to heal a heavily wounded target back up and Refreshing path/healing spring for heavy aoe healing duty keep in mind you will need to restore your mana at time so when team is well healed do a few strong attack with staff with siphoning strike active.


Race

While any race will do (curently playing a Khajiit with this build) Breton and High elf both got an increased magicka pool wich other race dont. You might however consider khajiit or wood elf as an alternate so to be able to feed as a vampire easily but again by using shadow cloak you can still get that free stealth you need to sneak down on them.


Armor type

By default just any healer if not all should be running light armor for a maximised magicka regeneration, you dont want yourself running out of magicka in the middle of a battle do you? Healing ward will be your armor against hits most of the time you should concentrate on your resource. Post vet 1 I recommend 5 light 2 heavy to allow for a higher armor. the build has now been proven to work post vet 3

Sets

Eye of mara 5 piece is recommended for its bonus to the restoration staff as well as its spell resistance (optainable after mage guild ending)

leave the 3 last piece as Seducer (reduced magicka cost of spells) or twilight embrace (increased self healing) whitestreak (shielded under 30% hp) also can be usefull.

Attribute

So far im just theorising it as ive not hit maximum level yet but i think a balance between health and magicka is recommandable and as such placing point and attempting to have as many health and magicka is always a charm. You do want to have a soft caped magicka bar however so build your enchant and stat accordingly


On Vampirism

Vampirism is a welcome addition to the build due to its powerfull health draining ability you should realy consider it for the magicka regeneration and damage mitigation however be aware that running vampirism while providing you the best source of damage this spec can get will expose you to fire attack and that you should enchant your trinkets accordingly so to resist it when faced with a highly pressuring fire encounter (a double set of rings and amulet is recommended)


Pro:

-Dealing damage as a healer... great! Extreme regeneration and siphon and Healing synergize togeter.

-Did i mention that in solo you are near unkillable, possess multiple crowd control if speced in siphon and that your damage shield allow for easy self recovery not to mention the damage increase as the number of availlable target increase? Yup thats life as a vampire baby

-Progressive healing has the advantage of not going to waste even on fully healed targets as it keep healing wounds as they are inflicted unlike the full healing spells of the Templar wich heals only once and lose all excessive healing post 100%. Truth is most healing over time Templar ability require them to stay stationary and channel wich is realy bad in an environment where you have to constantly be on the move.

Con:

- Lack a supportive ultimate ability as bat swarm, siphon elite and assasination elite dont heal allies but who cares when your regular ability are more then enought already.

- Deals less damage then a classic nightblade but can easily compete with any mage

crfurstenau

The biggest fault I see with this build (and I encounter it on my bow wielding Templar healer) is that when you deal damage as well as heal, you draw insane amounts of aggro from mobs/bosses. Which means you need a really good tank in your group. Even with all these heals and regens you will die if a boss decides to focus on you for too long.

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO

You would be surprised... i did heal 4 dungeon with this build (constantly spamming regeneration and life transfer didnt seem to bother mobs that much) and i didnt realy get focused on more then the others. Im not sure but likely that Healing over time dont draw as much agro as instantanous healings mainly because its actualy ''progressive''. As far as i know all templar Healing spell are instant heals that heals big chunks of HP. Hots and dots by tradition dont drive the agro as much because they act over time and not on the fly wich keeps the agro meter somewhat stable.

I guess its just normal that guy notice the BIG open wound in his chest or the huge fireball way before he become aware he is targeted by a damage over time curse or that the people hes fighting against are recovering from their wound faster then normal.

EriskRedLemur

There's a great ongoing build/discussion about Blood Mage healer...

http://tamrielfoundry.com/topic/blood-mage-a-nightblade-healer/

I'm no expert yet but your leech HoT/dmg does not draw aggro like you think, in fact, it's less than a pure big heal or other dmg attack because it's DoT and a HoT. Many bow attacks are huge aggro draws due to the high dmg and such. The primary NB attack/heals won't draw the same aggro. And if you're tank does their job and other DPS you should be fine and I don't see this being a big issue.

The great thing about ESO is ANY class can DPS, heal, or tank. Templar's obviously have a line dedicated to healing and protection. Ppl thinking outside the box will lead to builds like this, and time will show that healer's will not be all Templars... there's always plus/minuses for each type. And it's pretty clear the Siphon line lends itself to this different flavor to be a healer or there wouldn't be so many health leech DoTs that heal allies as well. Benefits also include you literally have all instant heals. Yeah, Templars have some really great resurrect ability and runes/protection to self and lots of utility to group. But I think NB Heals will be very viable!

And NB Siphon also has a key possibly overlooked bonus to potions (as well as magicka increase staff or Temp doesn't have). Also unless this has changed Siphon Ultimate has a morph that is another HoT that heals allies... tho requires them to activate.

I've always loved this style of healing since Vanguard, and look forward to trying it and seeing how it takes as the game grows and expands.

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO

siphon multi foe... increase weapon damage... love the heal
There is a similar specialisation in world of warcraft called ''DRUID'' and nightblade bloodmage is build around the same principe, doing insane heals over time

The guy on your forum didnt seem to consider vampirism... how strange

cliveklgb14_ESO

You have no big emergency healing. That is the pro of Templar heals. They have the largest healing amounts. Which in some boss fights if your group members don't get out of the area affect abilities fast enough, are going to need large heals.

Also, you for get mouse button attacks, which are effective damage.

Your build is going to struggle to keep up when the group is taking a lot of damage.

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO

I have 3 Healing over time effect one shield and a fortification effect wich i can place all across my 10 skill bar. Sure templar do have a few instant healing spells... so what?

I constantly have my whole team under dual regeneration i can put in a defence fortifying aoe and i can even shield them. I have no need for an actual instant heal and if i ever need one after testing the end game dungeoneering ill just switch rapid regeneration to mutagen but i doubt ill need that because when it comes to a player behing nuked i just activate the damage shield and heal it whole trought regeneration.

Group taking a lot of damage happens a lot when group like to stand in the fire or is outright bad either way if i see that in a dungeon ill have serious reason to LEAVE the party... They clearly stated the game could be done with ''4'' dps unit do you seriously even think theil put a undodgeable nuking phase to fights? Of course they wont and as such a powerfull hot along with shielding and at best a fortify is all the group need.

I healed teams trought dungeon wich didnt even had a tank in the first place (laugh) Thing is people also got their own healing abilities and if they are any good they can actualy outlive a boss by playing right regardless of having a healer or not. Healers and tanks are the cherry on the sundae but they are NOT indispensable. Heck i run a dungeon someone ask if we should take a healer or a tank i say ''Since when do we even need one lol lets go 4 dps that place!''

cliveklgb14_ESO

A templar with resto staff and templar heals have just as many HOTs but also have the big heals for real damage spikes.

Nothing you put with NB in that link adds all that much to group healing.

Can you heal? Sure. Are you going to heal as well as a templar, no absolutely not.

You assume the perfect group with your dungeon runs. I assume average groups and PUGs, not guild groups and prepare for that.

{quote]I have no need for an actual instant heal [/quote]

It isn't the instant heal that is the difference. It is the bigger heals for large damage spikes.

Some boss attacks if your group doesn't move take them down 90% of their health, They get hit again they are dead, and the hots aren't going to get them up to max in time.

Its not like Templar/restoration staff users aren't using hots and don't know how they work. Most of your hots come from the staff also, the same restoration staff a Templar healer will be likely using.

You stated it was to heal and damage, but you ignored mouse light and heavy attacks. All healer builds bring damage and healing. So again what exactly is huge that the build brings to the table?

It is different and creative, and yes I think you can get by healing with it in most situations, but the more challenging fights, I don't think it will keep up when group make mistakes.

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO

Bad group makes mistakes indeed and if they die it wont be because of me it will be because of themselves. If a group dies while under so many healing buff its because they ran after it and played poorly.

Power drain heals the team/life transfer heals the team/rapid regeneration heals the team/Staff light and heavy attack also heals people but should i care about what a passive does?/i can shield the lowest hp player in my team temporarily to allow him to catch up. i dont see anything lacking in this specialisation.

This is without mentionning you are not considering other player self healing ability or potions to begin with. This isnt world of failcraft where imbecile constantly blame the healer or the tank for their own failures here you got to also take care of your own life a little.

Koensol

This is the NB healer build I have constructed: http://esohead.com/calculator/skills#cccz9MhesI8IPq48IPSd8A4fp8IPUI8IPww8heaf8heam8y1RB8LxkS8y1sj8Ir4d8v7HranS6LanU6ranW6Mhy3D6Mhx0n6Mhx0y6Mhx0l6Mhx0B8C7J68D7brzdR8F7JrzrJ6rzrO6Lbux6rbut8O7srdeC6zAZqS6MA3FN6MA3FA6MA3FL6MA4Cb8P7mLdYf8Z7zznrJs837mLw3Y6Lw318za7o6

A focus on heals over time and damage mitigation abilities. To make up for having no "oh crap" burst heal I have taken Bone Surge to give me some time to recover. The Bolstering Darkness ultimate and the Ring of Preservation will also severely help with this. Good thing about the Ring is that it costs stamina so I can keep it up alot and that I can place it inside the Altar AoE.

Spell Symmetry and Leeching Strikes to give me the necessarry magicka regen.

I think it's a really varied build that will be able to do well in different situations, although I haven't tested it yet.

Brasseurfb16_ESO

I was with a Nightblade healer last day when we did Elden Hollow and it worked perfectly fine. The fast constant health regen was very usefull and she was using Soul Siphon for a quick stun and Life Leech synergy wich heals for a ton mind you.

PS : After watching your build you definitly need Grand Healing. Mutagen + Funnel Health work very well but they are definitly not enough to keep your team alive.

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO

worked quite fine in the 3 dungeon ive done so far but yea im still studying the question between mutagen and rapid regeneration... as for grand healing i might take it on my off bar (i have a bar for fighting and a bar for dungeon the build that is shown here is mainly the pve roaming bar)

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO

worked quite fine in the 3 dungeon ive done so far but yea im still studying the question between mutagen and rapid regeneration... as for grand healing i might take it on my off bar (i have a bar for fighting and a bar for dungeon the build that is shown here is mainly the pve roaming bar)

Fexelea

Thanks for submitting this build to wiki too
I added it here:
http://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Nightblade+Blood+Mage+Healer

The descriptions need some fleshing out for gear, attributes, etc, could you help me out with those?

And if anyone else would like to add their build to the compilation we are building: http://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Builds

cliveklgb14_ESO

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO wrote: »

Bad group makes mistakes indeed and if they die it wont be because of me it will be because of themselves. If a group dies while under so many healing buff its because they ran after it and played poorly.

But as I said I can heal through mistakes, your build can't. It is reliant on a group that knows what they are doing. Most people are going to have to settle for average groups and PUGs that might make a lot of mistakes.

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO

Due to the number of availlable skill point in the game it is easy to accomodate a bigger restoration spell bar you know... all i need is remove x to add y... if thats whats needed to help a very bad group then fine i can still manage as a night blade but if a player is outright stupid (elden hollow last night i had a very good specimen of idiot who just constantly jumped into the last boss aoe, cant heal him back when he instantly take 90% of his health in a single hit while hes already at 80%) I shouldnt have to cope with him drowning the team and the moment the game starts becoming less casual those people who constantly put the party at risk gunna eat the kick bat.

Bad player disapear with experiance and i can tell you that within about 2 month of this game release about no one will still get nuked like some of these guys (in Elden hollow again yesterday the tank was so bad at pulling he litteraly grabbed about 2 or 3 group everytime... i overhealed it all but i had to spend several mana pot and those pulls left me dry. Worse yet, the guy didnt had any heal of his own... what kind of bad tank has no self healing ability? Left to say i had to carry him trought even if he was as paper made as a clothy and at the end boss we won even if the tank died stupidly again because i took the time to waste a soul gem on a guy that didnt deserve it between two healing and even then i think we couldve done it without him as close to everyone was tankyer then he was).

Started to use Healing shield morph yesterday as by my planning and kind of rocked down the house. Ill likely do a few modification to the dungeon offset spell bar its still a work in progress after all but i dont expect the spell learned and used to change much from the curent build... likely whats writen up here will be what ill be using at 50 +10

Just aquired my vampirism yesterday as well

Did a small update to the build page

Changed the skill calculator so that the build is more obvious and less confusing... eso head realy fail you know?

Solomon_Cato

Thanks for the post Kyubi, I rolled a Breton Nightblade last night. Only got to level 7 or so, but I have liked the feel of it so far. Definitely something that can be soloable for leveling and completely viable in a dungeon.

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO

i like how the restoration staff shield is blood red you will likely deal most of your damage from life siphon at first.. when you will get vampirism you will officialy have your biggest nuking tool. Starting lvl 20 this build is able to take on the lvl 42 cultist from the vampire quest.

Solomon_Cato

Are you talking about Draining Essence?

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO

Well somewhat yes... it still deal like 3 time what funnel health do in damage but the vampire elite also is a +

drahcirsama

@Kyubi_3002b16_ESO‌
You may remember me from launch day. I got vampirism with you and we are also friends on ESO. I would like to point out also how effective a bloodmage can be because I actually got my vampirism at level 15, the lowest possible level to do the quest, with a bloodmage build similar to yours. I think i was the first level 15 in NA to get vampirism, but i'm not entirely sure. thank you for posting this build, i have been using it as a guideline for some of my skills.

Also to people that doubt it,
The regeneration is strong. It is perfectly viable to have this build as a healer for a team too. While i do agree, templar with staff will be a better healer, the blood mage will be able to do significant damage to the enemy whilst still very efficiently healing, something a pure templar healer cannot do.

Anoteros

wish you'd post how and where you managed to get vampirism at level 15 -_-

Phenomen

[PvE only, tested in every dungeon up to 50] I have a little different build.
Funnel Health is no-brainer. One of the most cost effective healing skills in the game.
Ring of Preservation is awesome because it use stamina instead of magicka and gives really huge armor / spellres / health regen boost with long duration and double effect against undead / daedra (very common in dungeons).
Blessing of Restoration is best burst heal NB have access to. It's also AoE and give armor / resists.
Soul Siphon is panic button - it can heal allies from 0 to 100 instantly if they use synergy.
Sap Essence - our main weapon buff to increase healing output. Instant burst heal as bonus.

Second bar is damage / cc. When party don't need healing, you may help dps with assassin's skills.

I don't like Grand Healing and its morphs because its cast animation too clunky and you can't use it on movement. Also effective healing is not that good unless you stack AoE few times.

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO

Ring of preservation: Gives base regen percentage not health per second technicaly this spell doesnt heal at all
Blessing of restoration: Cost a lot of mana and heals little, its only realy good when it comes to a need for armor and spell resist but watch out because raising those value to high cause diminishing returns. The main thing i got against that spell is the fact your target must be in FRONT of you wich since most player like to circle around me instead of in front of me can be a serious problem. I cant just stay idle either.

Grand Healing main purpose is an actual aoe Healing hot but i agree that for a Healing zone its duration is quite short, as a result i do most of my Healing from Healing shield siphons and fast regeneration,

The Healing shield is a must have to any decent party healer because it technicaly heals by close to 100% of the target health (shielded amount that is not spent is recovered as Heath at the end of the duration) and allows for a intensive Healing when a player is bursted

Shaun98ca2

Wow this is the 1st I've heard anybody say ANYTHING good about Healing Ward. I planned on Basing my healer around healing ward and was VER scared to do so as Healing Ward takes care of 1 person at time and as I cant aim it, I feel as the tank is going to end up dead a lot......will just take practice is all.

Phenomen

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO wrote: »

Blessing of restoration: Cost a lot of mana and heals little

Healing Ward cost more than Blessing of Restoration, heal less (in most situations) and it's single target. The only use I see for HW is to help noob tanks who can't roll \ block oneshot hits. BoR range and frontal AoE is huge, it easy to hit 2 or even 3 group members (and don't forget self heal).

Shaun98ca2

Phenomen wrote: »

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO wrote: »

Blessing of restoration: Cost a lot of mana and heals little

Healing Ward cost more than Blessing of Restoration, heal less (in most situations) and it's single target. The only use I see for HW is to help noob tanks who can't roll \ block oneshot hits. BoR range and frontal AoE is huge, it easy to hit 2 or even 3 group members (and don't forget self heal).

I still believe with the proper set up Healing Ward can be a very useful ability its shows it wards for the same damage as most instant abilities + a heal and the ward and be increased up to 300% based health. Now if the Ward % is applied BEFORE the ability's heal is applied then the heal and when the ability wears off another heal for whats left that can be very strong if used properly.

Your main goal would be to slow down the damage everybody take + a slow steady increase in health. Then Healing Ward comes into play when all that ISNT enough and Shields them from damage so they can gain back the HP.

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO

I generaly use healing ward at the last second on very low party members to help them recover via regeneration. As Shaun stated regen slow the damage the party takes and prevent it over time, healing ward is actualy my emergency heal. as for noobs that cant roll... well friend the game is full of them so deal with it apropriately.

Id rather run my vampirism ability or healing spring then blessing of protection especialy if im stage 4 and my ultimate cost me 80 at wich point i will be nuking the hell out of mobs party before they deal serious damage to my team. In boss fight healing ward will save your sorry ass when YOU are about to get nuked as well as your teamate in needs, It is both the ultimate defence and the ultimate single target heal of the game. No worry about healing ward targeting the wrong player as it target the lowest hp target at all time (aka the one player you want to heal)

Blessing of protection slight healing (barely noticable on the hp bar) is nothing when healing ward can heal a target that is at 10% hp back to full health on its own. every point shielded is also point that is healed at the end meaning that regardless of the amount left on the shield its as if you healed the target back to full health or nearby (the lower its health the stronguer the shield but generaly its the full healthbar). The only use of that spell is to give armor buffs wich is not mendatory

Im not gunna waste mana to cast healing ward on a full health target ill use it on low hp units and buy myself some time to breath

Pappadees

i really would love to see a video of this build in PVP or pve or anything really. just want to see it in action please

aklairenb14_ESO

I have died so much with this toon more so than my mage or templar. The siphon skill hardly does any damage. I can almost 1 shot you with my mage but siphon you can use a whole bar of energy and not kill a boss. Im level 17 and could not kill the level 12 Sargent not even the boss in the rift dungeon. This is horrible and disheartening to level.

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO

if i only knew how to make a video... regardless im lvl 46 now and im STILL using this build wich so far has proven to work quite fine

This isnt about burning down your siphon bar on the boss this is about outliving it trought sheer self resiliance, siphon damage is the cherry.

note: this build was designed as a hybrid damage healer so off course it doesnt deal as much damage as a dedicated dps you cant seriously expect to outdamage a nightblade whos spamming heavy dps move. Damage is the plague of most Healing spec and in this regard bloodmage is just an average dps in comparison to high damage builds (more damage then a tank, less then a dedicated dps)