Looking for Some Tips

Halke · July 2014

Ok guys, first off, lets try not to make this a flame war. Thanks!

I play a Vampire Nightblade and use both Dual Wield and Bow and wear Medium Armor. I would like to keep that basic build (that means if your only advice is to put on light armor and carry a stick you can just move on), but I also would like to survive the vet rank content. I can reliably take on groups of three now, but am finding that almost all the groups I am running into have a summoner (or three) and/or someone with fire or healing skills.

I have tried using my Shades to pull some aggro off me, and whenever it works I use my Shadow Cloak + Hidden Blade to get one of the people out of the battle for a little bit. While these two methods help, they are not dependable.

What I am finding is that these fights are dragging out for too long, using up all my magicka and stamina and leaving me with no one to use my Drain on. Of course I use pots, at this point I exclusively use ones that restore health, magicka, and stamina; both at once and over time (I love alchemists), but if they are on cooldown they are not much help.

I know that they are going to be addressing the content difficulty in vet zones on Monday, but any tips that could keep me playing through the weekend would be greatly appreciated!

Curragraigue · July 2014

Can you tell us whether your using provisioning and if so what, what armour sets and all of the skills you have on your bars?

First read through seems to suggest that you have a resource problem so initial reaction would be to find ways to optimise your recovery and max stats. If not then playstyle and the skills you are using would be the next port of call so having the above information might help to get you some advice.

Halke · July 2014

I run with a set of 5 Song of Lamae and 3 Whitestrake's (at my level and blue). I do not provision, I get food from guildies. Recoveries are m-69, h-49, s-81 (overcharged). Stats read at m-1674, h-1639, s-1300 (that is with my food out and I just lost all the PvP buffs which hurt me bad).

Curragraigue · July 2014

Doesn't sound like a pre-fight resource problem then. Pots and jewelry can, as I'm sure you know, help as well with recovery and lowering costs respectively during fights.

What is your opening combo? Are you stealth attacking and if so what is your crit chance/damage level (are you using the mundus stone to buff one of them)? Are you teleporting to the healer to take them out first after you have done your opening salvo so that they don't heal the others?

Are you range attacking for most of the fights or are you going in for melee with the dual wield? The trouble I find with having a range and in close weapon is that sometimes the skills on your bars are not complimentary for both.

I guess the other thing to remember is that currently due to the difference between stamina and magicka builds you shouldn't expect to be able to take mobs out as quickly as a magicka build. Not a problem but just a factor to consider so currently you should expect that your fights will take longer than a robe and staff sorcerer.

Halke · July 2014

I open with a stealth attack from behind, so I get my big 1700+ crit. Then I try to get one out of the fight for a second so that there is only one or two things on me when I go for the healer. I have noticed here recently that the mobs are all but piling up on top of each other though, making it hard to target the enemy I want. And target lock for me doesn't lock on, it just puts a giant square on my screen but doesn't actually make it the active target, so it doesn't help when that happens.

I have been using range a lot, but honestly I weapon swap like crazy since the battles take so long. My bow bar uses stamina a lot, so if I run out I will switch to DW for the fast DPS and to drain down magicka for a while.

My crit chance is 50% or more on both sets, and I use the stone that boosts crit damage. It looks like about 3/4 of my attacks end up being crits. I still have a hard time getting my DPS over about 300 though, and I think that is what is killing me. I also haven't found a good CC or AoE yet either, so I am having to focus on one enemy at a time.

Halke · July 2014

I also think I may switch to a 5 piece Song of Lamae and 3 piece Vampire's Kiss set. Not sure why the VK set has poison resist and not fire resist though

Curragraigue · July 2014

If you want more CC the Mage guild Volcanic Runes could be helpful.

Another way to go is to keep up AoE on groups with the Veil of Blades Ultimate. If you use the Sap Essence (with the passive transfer) while blocking attacks you can quickly build up ultimate. You can also use siphoning attacks with dual wield to build up magicka if you need that and with the sap essence going you get the bonus to attack.

If you want to do range attacks bombard with siphoning attacks can be good for rooting the mobs in place. Just take out the range and healers first.

I'm currently using 5 piece Lamae and 3 piece Vamp Kiss. They are a great combo for health recovery and if you are doing fighting up close and personal.