Sorry for having fun with Nightblade

Mucera78

I feel almost dirty about having fun with my NB after reading the class forums.
There are certainly issues with the class and at times skills bug, like assassins blade not doing anything but still costing mana.
Nothing was ever gamebreaking to me though.
Also i am not vet yet, which could possibly change my perspective but many complain about NB pre 50 already.
In short, the class certainly needs a rebalance but there are to many topics here blowing it all completely out of proportion.
It seems if something isnt said in a sensationalist manner then it isnt worth talking about.
I find that obnoxious and counter productive and to anyone reading this and wondering if they should roll a NB, i think you should.
Try it for yourself, level it to 50 and see how you like it.

Thevenin

Expect a lot of fun getting booted out of VR dungeon groups. And I suggest you get a really fast horse for Cyrodiil, because you'll do a lot of running.

Lynx7386

I rerolled from nightblade to sorceror yesterday (kept my nightblade just in case, but intend to make the sorc my new main). Nightblade was fun at first, but I got bored pretty quickly with the class in general, not even taking bugs into account (though the bugs definitely made things worse).

Almost every ability my nightblade uses looks the same. Red magic sword here, red magic sword there, a little spin with a red magic sword, maybe throw a red magic sword. None of the nightblade abilities really stood out or had a 'powerful' feel to them, except for invisibility, and even that wasnt flashy and grew old very quickly. There were only a couple of times where using invisibility to sneak past groups of mobs that were too powerful for me to fight left me feeling satisfied with the class.

In short, there's just nothing 'interesting' about the nightblade, nothing about the class says "oh, that was freakin cool". It's very low-key and bland IMO. All three of the other classes have something 'epic' about them that makes them exceptionally fun to play. Dragonknights get dragon leap, fire breath, cinder storm, and talons. Templars get some pretty cool effects with their sun spells (and arguably aedric spear skills, though those got kinda bland for me quickly as well). Sorcerors can toss around lightning, summon pets, and even teleport.

Fixing the bugs would make nightblades as capable as the other classes, but not as interesting or fun to play. That's something that will take some bigger design changes, and I dont see that happening in the near future.

Kypho

Lol. that you dont like the class and looks the same for you, doesnt meen its not a good class. for me sorc is so boring and easy, like DK. NB is the main for me, because it can be challenging in pvp, i sht on PvE or lulgeons. I like NB only in ESO.

Worstluck

NB was great 1-50. Try doing some of the vr7+ content. And I agree Lynx. After 300 hours put into that Nightblade, there is barely a single class skill where I am like "oh man this skill looks cool and works great, i love using it". Playing a dragonknight now and it's crazy how 'cool' and synergistic their skills are. It's great playing a class some thought was put into (ie dragonknight or socerer).

Mucera78

I certainly agree that Dragonknight has some cool looking abilities and synergies.

I still enjoy that Shadowknightish feeling on my NB though. Killing my enemies through attrition while laughing at them, slowly healing myself, knowing their end is unavoidable.

But then, i always played healers or tanks as main and am used to slow kill speeds.
I guess i could change to medium armor and daggers but i generally dislike squishy.

Guppet

Anyone struggling with any class pre VR in this game, really needs to learn to play. All are completely fine up to VR.

From VR 1 onwards it's like it's a completely different game. It's still possible to make any class work, but unless you use a cookie cutter build for your spec (which may very well not be a play style you enjoy), your going to have to really focus on every single mob you fight, or you will spend more on repairs than you earn.

I hated other forums which told posters "if you are not max level, your opinion does not matter". But, in this game if you are not in VR content, you have utterly no idea what you are talking about regarding balance. The VR content is that different. It's not intended to be offensive, it's the truth.

Mucera78

Guppet wrote: »

I hated other forums which told posters "if you are not max level, your opinion does not matter". But, in this game if you are not in VR content, you have utterly no idea what you are talking about regarding balance. The VR content is that different. It's not intended to be offensive, it's the truth.

I believe you and would love to check it out myself, unfortunately work gets in the way a lot
But hopefully wont take me long anymore. If it really turns into a kind of "Dark Souls newb 10 death in an hour" thing i will roll a DK and put the NB aside for now.

Thevenin wrote: »

Expect a lot of fun getting booted out of VR dungeon groups. And I suggest you get a really fast horse for Cyrodiil, because you'll do a lot of running.

I dont do PUGs, guild groups only. So that problem will not come up.
And i dont pvp so far in ESO, to be honest i found the implementation of pvp, coupled with how some skills work, to be the biggest disappointment in this game for me.
I loved, LOVED, DAoC but its not coming back. Its ok. I equally enjoy some good PVE and maybe that other rvr game coming out will give me my pvp fix.

Ilterendi

Lynx7386 wrote: »

I rerolled from nightblade to sorceror yesterday (kept my nightblade just in case, but intend to make the sorc my new main). Nightblade was fun at first, but I got bored pretty quickly with the class in general, not even taking bugs into account (though the bugs definitely made things worse).

Almost every ability my nightblade uses looks the same. Red magic sword here, red magic sword there, a little spin with a red magic sword, maybe throw a red magic sword. None of the nightblade abilities really stood out or had a 'powerful' feel to them, except for invisibility, and even that wasnt flashy and grew old very quickly. There were only a couple of times where using invisibility to sneak past groups of mobs that were too powerful for me to fight left me feeling satisfied with the class.

In short, there's just nothing 'interesting' about the nightblade, nothing about the class says "oh, that was freakin cool". It's very low-key and bland IMO. All three of the other classes have something 'epic' about them that makes them exceptionally fun to play. Dragonknights get dragon leap, fire breath, cinder storm, and talons. Templars get some pretty cool effects with their sun spells (and arguably aedric spear skills, though those got kinda bland for me quickly as well). Sorcerors can toss around lightning, summon pets, and even teleport.

Fixing the bugs would make nightblades as capable as the other classes, but not as interesting or fun to play. That's something that will take some bigger design changes, and I dont see that happening in the near future.

I have to agree. Nightblades aren't very flashy, but I don't think they were designed to be that way. I would like to see a bit more emphasis on some of the abilities, but I wouldn't want it to be overly done.

Nightblades are viable. There are a lot of chicken - littles claiming it's worse than it is. Nightblades need their abilities fixed and some fine tuning, not outlandish buffs others are claiming are needed. And to be quite honest, I would rather see nightblades fixed across a few patches/updates rather than to be overly buffed and later nerfed.

One thing I'd like to see is increasing the up time on the shadow buffs for coming out of stealth. Similar with the sorc uptime, for their thundering presence. Default 6 sec.

bg22

I would just like to see my skills work as described... And to not have to relog every time I die to get my passives to work again. Annnnd to not be able to be targeted in "Shadowy Disguise" half the time, especially now that everyone runs around w/ Mage light. Ya know, the toggle-able ability that pops ppl out of stealth and even out of invisibility and grants +spell crit. Lol Why didn't they just call Mage Light "F**k Nightblades"?

Aziz006

I think NB has no skill that is effective for every situation you will encounter. Instead you can make several builds for different situations

Mitrenga

As a V2 NB started on DC, I can say that you will start to feel pain in the second are of the other faction.

Now, I'm questing in Grahtwood and if I see 2 different 3-pack enemy groups close to each other; I just avoid the fight. I have reached 50 with both dual-wield and bow; and if you prefer bow, you will kite a lot and it will take longer to kill an enemy. You need to kill your foe very quickly so I prefer dual wield on Vet levels. Here's my build for dual wield: based on a quick kill and you need a magicka based build + gear.

Ulti: death stroke (Soul Harvest) - Consuming Darkness (Veiled Blades) in Cyrodiil
Assassin's Blade (Killer's Blade) great finishing move for NB.
Teleport Strike (Lotus Fan) great if you would like to lock a group of foes.
Veiled Strike (Concealed Weapon) stealth opener and finisher most of the times.
Shadow Cloak (Dark Cloak) a MUST.
5th slot changes: Silver bolts if I'm in Cyrodiil or a daedra based area... Hidden blade if I'm sneaking in Cyrodiil and Whirlwind in PvE.

I'm sure many other NBs have different builds to survive in Vet areas. The main problem of my build is that if the fight continues longer than it should, you will have to switch bow/stamina. Especially in Cyrodiil and esp. if you are sneaking, make sure you have a provisioner alt or a friend.

Sorry for the long post, I hope it helps to shape your build in the future areas.

Kind Regards,

Procx Sylvanius
Imperial NB of DC

ConciseRex

Mitrenga wrote: »

As a V2 NB started on DC, I can say that you will start to feel pain in the second are of the other faction.

Now, I'm questing in Grahtwood and if I see 2 different 3-pack enemy groups close to each other; I just avoid the fight. I have reached 50 with both dual-wield and bow; and if you prefer bow, you will kite a lot and it will take longer to kill an enemy. You need to kill your foe very quickly so I prefer dual wield on Vet levels. Here's my build for dual wield: based on a quick kill and you need a magicka based build + gear.

Ulti: death stroke (Soul Harvest) - Consuming Darkness (Veiled Blades) in Cyrodiil
Assassin's Blade (Killer's Blade) great finishing move for NB.
Teleport Strike (Lotus Fan) great if you would like to lock a group of foes.
Veiled Strike (Concealed Weapon) stealth opener and finisher most of the times.
Shadow Cloak (Dark Cloak) a MUST.
5th slot changes: Silver bolts if I'm in Cyrodiil or a daedra based area... Hidden blade if I'm sneaking in Cyrodiil and Whirlwind in PvE.

I'm sure many other NBs have different builds to survive in Vet areas. The main problem of my build is that if the fight continues longer than it should, you will have to switch bow/stamina. Especially in Cyrodiil and esp. if you are sneaking, make sure you have a provisioner alt or a friend.

Sorry for the long post, I hope it helps to shape your build in the future areas.

Kind Regards,

Procx Sylvanius
Imperial NB of DC

Have you ever tried including siphoning strikes? I never thought anything of it when I started but I can not imagine a NB build without it now. Have it on and you will never run out of magika and can keep using Cloak > Veiled Strike and keep your enemy stun locked

Mitrenga

ConciseRex wrote: »

Mitrenga wrote: »

As a V2 NB started on DC, I can say that you will start to feel pain in the second are of the other faction.

Now, I'm questing in Grahtwood and if I see 2 different 3-pack enemy groups close to each other; I just avoid the fight. I have reached 50 with both dual-wield and bow; and if you prefer bow, you will kite a lot and it will take longer to kill an enemy. You need to kill your foe very quickly so I prefer dual wield on Vet levels. Here's my build for dual wield: based on a quick kill and you need a magicka based build + gear.

Ulti: death stroke (Soul Harvest) - Consuming Darkness (Veiled Blades) in Cyrodiil
Assassin's Blade (Killer's Blade) great finishing move for NB.
Teleport Strike (Lotus Fan) great if you would like to lock a group of foes.
Veiled Strike (Concealed Weapon) stealth opener and finisher most of the times.
Shadow Cloak (Dark Cloak) a MUST.
5th slot changes: Silver bolts if I'm in Cyrodiil or a daedra based area... Hidden blade if I'm sneaking in Cyrodiil and Whirlwind in PvE.

I'm sure many other NBs have different builds to survive in Vet areas. The main problem of my build is that if the fight continues longer than it should, you will have to switch bow/stamina. Especially in Cyrodiil and esp. if you are sneaking, make sure you have a provisioner alt or a friend.

Sorry for the long post, I hope it helps to shape your build in the future areas.

Kind Regards,

Procx Sylvanius
Imperial NB of DC

Have you ever tried including siphoning strikes? I never thought anything of it when I started but I can not imagine a NB build without it now. Have it on and you will never run out of magika and can keep using Cloak > Veiled Strike and keep your enemy stun locked

I thought about it but I'm not sure if I will be able to level it properly... Well, never hurts to try ) Thanks for the tip.

ArgonianAssassin

ConciseRex wrote: »

Mitrenga wrote: »

As a V2 NB started on DC, I can say that you will start to feel pain in the second are of the other faction.

Now, I'm questing in Grahtwood and if I see 2 different 3-pack enemy groups close to each other; I just avoid the fight. I have reached 50 with both dual-wield and bow; and if you prefer bow, you will kite a lot and it will take longer to kill an enemy. You need to kill your foe very quickly so I prefer dual wield on Vet levels. Here's my build for dual wield: based on a quick kill and you need a magicka based build + gear.

Ulti: death stroke (Soul Harvest) - Consuming Darkness (Veiled Blades) in Cyrodiil
Assassin's Blade (Killer's Blade) great finishing move for NB.
Teleport Strike (Lotus Fan) great if you would like to lock a group of foes.
Veiled Strike (Concealed Weapon) stealth opener and finisher most of the times.
Shadow Cloak (Dark Cloak) a MUST.
5th slot changes: Silver bolts if I'm in Cyrodiil or a daedra based area... Hidden blade if I'm sneaking in Cyrodiil and Whirlwind in PvE.

I'm sure many other NBs have different builds to survive in Vet areas. The main problem of my build is that if the fight continues longer than it should, you will have to switch bow/stamina. Especially in Cyrodiil and esp. if you are sneaking, make sure you have a provisioner alt or a friend.

Sorry for the long post, I hope it helps to shape your build in the future areas.

Kind Regards,

Procx Sylvanius
Imperial NB of DC

Have you ever tried including siphoning strikes? I never thought anything of it when I started but I can not imagine a NB build without it now. Have it on and you will never run out of magika and can keep using Cloak > Veiled Strike and keep your enemy stun locked

I don't know how you do it but I can't survive anything and I'm vet 5, totally lost the will to complete Bangkorai. I'm using Swallow Soul, Ambush, Dark Shades, Invig Drain and Heated Blades, sometimes switch out heated blades for flying blades and ambush for double take but nothing seems to work, and I'm getting tired of dying every 5 seconds whenever an enemy just looks at me the wrong way. And that's no exaggeration, I get to my quest area, objective blocked by an elite or a group of mobs I go in, kill 1, die, respawn, go kill the second enemy in the group, die, come back kill the last enemy collect objective move on, rinse and repeat. It just seems like every attack from an enemy is dealing 25% of my health. Running 5/2 medium/light dual wield axe/dagger

Lynnessa

Mine is a blast so far. Of course, I'm only level 18, and using destruction staves. It already seems like I have so many options... I can set up my quickbars for AoE dps, single target dps, damage mitigation, interrupts...

Therium104

Good original post.

ConciseRex

ArgonianAssassin wrote: »

I don't know how you do it but I can't survive anything and I'm vet 5, totally lost the will to complete Bangkorai. I'm using Swallow Soul, Ambush, Dark Shades, Invig Drain and Heated Blades, sometimes switch out heated blades for flying blades and ambush for double take but nothing seems to work, and I'm getting tired of dying every 5 seconds whenever an enemy just looks at me the wrong way. And that's no exaggeration, I get to my quest area, objective blocked by an elite or a group of mobs I go in, kill 1, die, respawn, go kill the second enemy in the group, die, come back kill the last enemy collect objective move on, rinse and repeat. It just seems like every attack from an enemy is dealing 25% of my health. Running 5/2 medium/light dual wield axe/dagger

My entire build and strategy is in this video have a look man

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/95814/nightblade-solo-vr-content#latest

It is not the most fun build granted but it works a charm!

Zxaxz

V6 NB - Duel Daggers/Bow - I have solo'd every dungeon and Almost every boss in the game (a V5 - 25K hp Mage Boss gave me issues, I waited 5 minutes for help). I solo Singles, Groups and Bosses. There are a few bugs in the class; But it is by no means broken. And if you can't solo every bit of content as a NB, there is something YOU are doing wrong,,.,,

Dekkameron

I am having great fun with my heavy armoured, siphon tank, sword and shield (optional destro staff for when max AOE is needed).
I just wade into groups of however many i can find and just go at it.
Leeching strikes, refreshing path, etc.

It almost feels like cheating.

TheBull

NB is tons of fun OP. That's why we play it. It surely isn't to win..

I love the siphon tree, to bad passive health regen will heal threw the dots, seriously...

I use it to gain ultimate when leveling WW. I find a healer mob, load my bar up with the first 3 siphon skills and restro staff heal. This allows me to all out (90%) dps v1 healer mobs w/o the threat of killing them.

I can dps on of these mobs form 0-1000 ultimate of the course of 3 mins. Awesome huh? no it's not. It's pathetic..

ArgonianAssassin

Dekkameron wrote: »

I am having great fun with my heavy armoured, siphon tank, sword and shield (optional destro staff for when max AOE is needed).
I just wade into groups of however many i can find and just go at it.
Leeching strikes, refreshing path, etc.

It almost feels like cheating.

Yeah Shadow Knights are really effective that's why they got show cased, swap your S&B for dual daggers and your heavy armor for some leathers then swap your AOE's for some single target skills then get back to us, please.

ArgonianAssassin

Zxaxz wrote: »

V6 NB - Duel Daggers/Bow - I have solo'd every dungeon and Almost every boss in the game (a V5 - 25K hp Mage Boss gave me issues, I waited 5 minutes for help). I solo Singles, Groups and Bosses. There are a few bugs in the class; But it is by no means broken. And if you can't solo every bit of content as a NB, there is something YOU are doing wrong,,.,,

Mind telling us the skills you've got slotted on your DW bar? If it's AOE's I don't wanna hear any of it cuz that's not my complaint here.

Yankee

Mucera78 wrote: »

I feel almost dirty about having fun with my NB after reading the class forums.

"SORRY FOR HAVING FUN WITH NIGHTBLADE"

That is okay Mucera, just don't let it happen again.

Just kidding, glad you are having fun.

bg22

It's really not that bad... It just needs fixed, like I said earlier. When everything is working correctly, I really enjoy it. Although, our siphon is weak as a newborn wielding a plastic bag full of baby poo.

I made a video to show ppl how I play my NB. Basically "hit and run" style. Added some music for enjoyment.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JSdiAMFWu50&client=mv-google

ArgonianAssassin

bg22 wrote: »

It's really not that bad... It just needs fixed, like I said earlier. When everything is working correctly, I really enjoy it. Although, our siphon is weak as a newborn wielding a plastic bag full of baby poo.

I made a video to show ppl how I play my NB. Basically "hit and run" style. Added some music for enjoyment.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JSdiAMFWu50&client=mv-google

Nice, you're much tankier than I, that second person would've killed me at the start. But I also don't run S&B or dark cloak, but otherwise very enjoyable video glad to see this video, thanks.

bg22

@ArgonianAssassin‌ Thanks. Yea, I run full medium and Axe/Shield mainly bc I prefer rolling solo in Cyrodiil, so the survivability is key. Glad you enjoyed it tho. (It's my first video, so it coulda been better lol)

Ilterendi

ArgonianAssassin wrote: »

Zxaxz wrote: »

V6 NB - Duel Daggers/Bow - I have solo'd every dungeon and Almost every boss in the game (a V5 - 25K hp Mage Boss gave me issues, I waited 5 minutes for help). I solo Singles, Groups and Bosses. There are a few bugs in the class; But it is by no means broken. And if you can't solo every bit of content as a NB, there is something YOU are doing wrong,,.,,

Mind telling us the skills you've got slotted on your DW bar? If it's AOE's I don't wanna hear any of it cuz that's not my complaint here.

I'm using: 1. Ambush (switch to Steel Tornado for aoe) 2. Shrouded Daggers 3. Leeching Strikes 4. Veiled Strike 5. Cloak (critical morph). I use a bow for secondary and use it for aoe or kiting. I particularly adore this build and it'll be even better come 1.1's fixes.

SluggoV2

I too was having some issues with playing as NB. Seems that anytime there is a mob of 3 or more at or slightly above level, I was likely going to die. I have tried a few different things and have found that sometimes it feels as though I have it figured out, then moments later it seems that I taken two steps back.

I keep seeing it posted that if I'm having a hard time at less than VR content then I'm doing it wrong, well that's why I'm here perusing the forums, so that I can better educate myself. And what I have found is that apparently, I was doing it wrong. This is my first MMO (but far from my first gaming experience), so I expected there to be some learning involved. So I keep thinking positive and trying to find help where I can. It seems that more times than not, I find a lot of non-constructive posts which makes it difficult to learn anything from which is why I decided to post this.

So the point to which I'm try to get at is that if you have found yourself in the same situation as me, try checking out Griffin's 1-50 NB leveling build guide. He goes through in pretty good detail on how to set up your character then how to engage mobs using the proper techniques for this class. He has few very good videos posted on his channel. I strongly suggest giving this a try.

Option two is to create an Alt and try out another class as it may be better suited for your play style. I just started a DK build and I have found that I have very little problems running up against mobs that are 4-5 levels higher than me while AOE grinding this build up to level 15.

mstout7419b14_ESO

Dekkameron wrote: »

I am having great fun with my heavy armoured, siphon tank, sword and shield (optional destro staff for when max AOE is needed).
I just wade into groups of however many i can find and just go at it.
Leeching strikes, refreshing path, etc.

It almost feels like cheating.

agreed... siphon tank is a blast.... im a v5 running 5hvy/2light, s&b, invasion-ransack-refreshing path-sap essence-leaching strikes-devouring swarm... and I run in dungeons and round up as many as possible and drain them to death...

I wasnt sure if it would work in pvp, but its a beast in pvp

Mucera78

mstout7419b14_ESO wrote: »

I wasnt sure if it would work in pvp, but its a beast in pve (?)

After reading through the last posts i am glad i went for heavy armor / siphon.
I got my 2h at 50 now and will bring 1h/sh to 38 next, after that its time to lvl my destro staff.

What surprises me is that ingame, when talking to people, i hear the same complaints about any class.
DK beeing weak so they reroll sorc, sorc is weak so they reroll dk, bow templar is weak, bow templar is op.

Every game has that to a degree, it just seems ESO has more of it. I wonder if that is possibly due to the more free form style of char development and people not beeing used to it.