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Need a good Nightblade Bow build

sevXone
sevXone
Soul Shriven
Hi there!

I'm a Wood Elf Nightblade and am using medium armor and bow. Currently lvl 19 but i don't like the build that I'm using atm.
None of the Nightblade skills seem to be good as a bow user as they all seem melee focused so I'm not really sure what to pick.

So i need help with a good build, thanks!
  • Resipsa131
    Resipsa131
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    Cloak, Mark, and cripple are all pretty good mana based abilities that pair with NB bow stamina skills
  • psufan5
    psufan5
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    sevXone wrote: »
    Hi there!

    I'm a Wood Elf Nightblade and am using medium armor and bow. Currently lvl 19 but i don't like the build that I'm using atm.
    None of the Nightblade skills seem to be good as a bow user as they all seem melee focused so I'm not really sure what to pick.

    So i need help with a good build, thanks!

    My nightblade bow build at VR14 does 17-20k single target. Trust me, it gets a lot better at higher levels :) On my bar I mostly went with assassination abilities to boost my crit (im at 80% now). Focused Aim is going to be your bread and butter, but there is a new ability in the assassin tree that gives you 10% stamina regen, and 8% passive damage.

    My bar looks like this:

    Focused aim, relentless focus, piercing mark, evil hunter, mirage (or whatever you want here) - Supercharge - Flawless dawnbreaker

    On the second bar use the 2hand, and have rally up at all times. That will increase your damage by a huge margin.

    Surgical Incision
    Former Emperor
    USPS4
  • Deviante
    Deviante
    ✭✭
    psufan5 wrote: »
    My nightblade bow build at VR14 does 17-20k single target. Trust me, it gets a lot better at higher levels :) On my bar I mostly went with assassination abilities to boost my crit (im at 80% now). Focused Aim is going to be your bread and butter, but there is a new ability in the assassin tree that gives you 10% stamina regen, and 8% passive damage.

    My bar looks like this:

    Focused aim, relentless focus, piercing mark, evil hunter, mirage (or whatever you want here) - Supercharge - Flawless dawnbreaker

    On the second bar use the 2hand, and have rally up at all times. That will increase your damage by a huge margin.

    I would love to see some screenshots of you hitting over 17k dps with a bow, and if genuine then a couple screenshots of gear/stats, seriously i have not seen a bow get over 12k so far :(

    This isnt meant to be a negative remark against you more just a request because I want to know how you pull it off.



    In response to the OP, at level 19 you are really lacking the tools to make the bow work well most of the skills that people use are further down the skill trees which you wont have unlocked yet, and even then at end game most people wont use a bow solo in pve content because the nightblade has no way to maintain the distance between yourself and your target/s without a large space to kite.
    If you are desperate to use the bow as a primary weapon then consider
    Venom Arrow/Draining Shot/Shadowy Disguise/Killers Blade/Prolonged Agony & Incapacitating Strike for your ultimate

    This build is very effective and fun to play as it requires you to prioritise and plan your fights.
    It may seem a bit slow for a start but once you get used to it then you will have very little downtime and burn through groups of enemies quickly.

    Assuming a group of 3 enemies
    Step 1 From stealth fire a fully charged heavy attack followed by a venom arrow at target 1 (this should be a light armor target (duel wield/staff)
    Step 2 Cast prolonged Suffering on target 2 (this should be the tank shield/2h)
    Step 3 Finish off the first target with Killers Blade this will get your health to full.
    Step 4 Cast Shadow Cloak and fire heavy attacks & Venom arrow at target 3 (light armor/healer)
    Step 5 As you are finishing target 3, target 2 should be ready to break out of prolonged suffering, hit him with venom arrow and light attacks with killers blade to finish them off.

    If any of your targets get to close then use draining shot to keep them at distance.
    Use Venom arrow to interrupt anyone that is casting, with a priority on healers.
    If you get in trouble with a melee character on you then you can use incapacitating strike to stun them and get some distance provided they have more % health than you do.
    At lower levels as a nightblade it is all about taking down targets quickly 1 by 1 and knowing which targets to kill first.
    IMO I always go for Healer > Duel Wield > 2h > Archer > Fire Mage > Summoner > Tank > Frost Mage.
    Remember that killing a banner when a caster drops it will stun all the enemies in the area which helps alot when you are trying to kill single targets.

    Edited by Deviante on March 26, 2015 3:03AM
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