Tips for Leveling Nightblade Veteran Ranks

Brizz

I posted this as a comment in another Nightblade post and thought I should repost it as it's own topic so more nightblade might use it if they are having trouble. Hope it helps

I am currently VR7 NB and have slowed down considerably leveling because I wanted to focus on pvp... and.... it's disheartening.

Leveling through the VR content is very possible for a NB however, and I'll share with you how I've been doing it.

It's very efficient to create or join "sweep" groups once you enter a new VR zone to clear all of the world bosses/anchors/dungeons in that zone(group content), and then solo quest after that. (I've had the most fun in the game thus far doing these).

It is important to note that not all quests give good experience, only the ones that complete a point of interest (changing something on the map from black to filled in white). These quests are almost always found on the main path and end with "Objective". There is a great youtube video explaining this, you can check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzFC4RYM518

Here is my general build for VR leveling:
http://esohead.com/calculator/skills#mcMzxy9k8wAvO8IrtX8IPUP8Iryv8GFtc8GHRb8fXGP8IPbc8IPUv8rrXS8GFtz8Ir3j8T7XbRMA6MrqAi6MrqAI6MrqAD6MrqAZ6crqLw8y7GNR3f8x7mbsfr8C7brzqa6Nzqu8D7bbzdM6bzdm6NzdR8F7xNzrJ6Abut8zV7zzeCp48zf7zzNbo8zu7zzHfYE6zHfZd8zG7zzHQ3F8zI7zzJIoX6zJIkL8zN7zzJZcY8zA7zzKpUN8zL7zzK4EX

Weapon Swap 1: Two - Handed
This is for 1-2 mobs. With both of my weapon swaps, Siphoning attacks is always toggled on for the heal on hit, very important. I have found that you can kill a single mob extremely fast using:

Stampede > Surpise attack(for armor reduce) > light attack > stampede > light attack > stampede > Killers Blade.

This will keep the mob rooted in place allowing you to back up and repeatedly get the free crit from stampede while the mobs has reduced armor from surprise attack. The light attacks are important because they will give you a ton of health, magicka and stamina back via siphoning attacks, and health from killers blade keeps the leveling flow going. You can also open with Surprise attack using stealth or shadowy disguise if you want(I do this vs 2 mobs to lock down the 1st), but I found that the first method is still faster vs a single mob. I use Soul Harvest here to build ultimate from single mobs for when I run into multi-mob packs and I need my 2nd ultimate.

Weapon Swap 2: One Hand and Shield
This is for 3-4 mobs and Bosses.

Vs 3-4 mobs:
Siphoning attacks toggled on always. Find the mob you want to kill first (highest threat, usually the caster/healer) and be sure to kill it first. The main goal is to buff up, charge in and get Veil of Blades down, then Shield charge stun the mobs inside it. Here's my rotation.

Immovable Brute > Swallow Soul (on first target) > Invasion > Veil of blades > Invasion(2nd target) > light attack > Invasion(3rd target) > light attack > Invasion(1st target, repeat cycle until) > Killer's blade on targets dropping below 25%

This takes a bit of practice but it ends up being very fun once you get used to it. Remember that the further you are from the target when you use invasion, the longer the stun. If it takes longer then 10 seconds to kill the pack, be sure to refresh Immovable Brute and Swallow Soul.

Vs Bosses:
Siphoning attacks toggled on always. Put up immovable brute and swallow soul and shield charge in to see if the boss is stunnable. If it is just keep it stun locked with invasion while spamming light attacks and swallow soul in between, replace swallow soul with killers blade once it drops below 25%.

If the boss isn't stunnable then do your best to keep immovable brute/swallow soul up at all times, block the bosses attacks if he his super hard and light attack a couple times when you have the small windows. Vs those pain in the ass snake lookin chicks that have the 4 orbs, do this while circling around her to avoid her frontal cone aoe, then invasion charge each orb when she summons them.

Hope this helps
-BRIZZ

ps: If you can craft your own armor and have 3 traits unlocked, be sure to get the 5 piece set of Torug's Pact. It reduces the global cooldown of your light and heavy attacks.