The Nightblade would be your best bet, as it has a class gap closer (that doesn't suck), decent healing and magicka DPS. Templars might also fit the bill except their class gap closer sucks and magicka DPS is questionable. DKs and Sorcs lack class gap closers (unless you count chains pulling you into instadeath AoEs as a gap closer).

Templar is best healing class and also has excellent stamina dps (2H and DW) should you go that route. You won't be able to spec into both at the same time for a long while though.

Thanks for the feedback, that is very interesting a Templar with a destro staff. That sounds like fun, I know I want to heal for sure, the DPS part I am not 100% set on if I wanna do melee dps or range. So I am glad this game up, I was consider a NB

Thanks for all the thoughts and advice!

I think your choice can be great with any class. But I think your decision will depend on how much respecing you want to do at end game.

Dual wield does best with a stamina-based build, which all classes are good at because only 2-3 of each classes' class abilities can be morphed to have be a stamina skill. Dual wield doesn't have a gap closer, so pairing it with a class or other weapon skill is important. Nightblades and Templars have the best gap closers (with NB having the very best). Two hand and 1 hand and shield have good gap closers as well. Considering that its best to have some form of distance dps rather than having all melee abilities, you will probably want to choose a class gap closer rather than a weapon one. With the stamina based build, you will have to change all your attribute points, gear and skills when you're ready to become a healer, which will be pricy.

As others have recommended, a magicka based build using Destro/Resto staves is going to be less costly to change at end game. All classes can heal well at end game, but some do it more easily than others. Templar will hands down be the easiest to play. Nightblade has the most dps/utility skills that work well for a healer and they have decent resource management. Sorcerers have great resource management, but little to really offer a healer in the way of class skills. I play a DK healer myself. It focuses more on damage bubbles to prevent damage rather than heal damage that has already been done like the other classes. It has good resource management as well.

IMO, a healer should be focused on racial passives as well. An Altmer Templar will have zero resource issues and can heal for days without issue. An Orc Sorcerer healer will probably struggle a lot to keep up. My DK healer is a Destro/Resto Dunmer for the fire dps and magicka benefits. I also have a templar healer that is a Khajiit. I wanted to role a Khajiit character and healing is my favorite role in a group. Because the Khajiit doesn't have any racial passives that really help out with healing, I chose the Templar because it will have the easiest time healing.

OP. You may want to check out http://tamrielfoundry.com/. A lot of people use builds from there.

Alternately, you can play around with builds at http://esohead.com/. I, at one time, heard that site was not up to date, but it appears to be now.

One point to add. Hopefully you are not a mini-maxer. The bulk of the dual wield skills come from a high stamina. Healing uses magic, with a bigger magic pool meaning bigger heals. You will have to choose focusing on Sta or Magic. Personally, I have both stats even, because I off-tank, dps and heal. But, hybrid builds rarely win you fans at end-game.

treehugginsantab14_ESO wrote: »

I really like the NB, I have been reading that dual wield is having issues as far as, it is more of an AoE dps rather than a single target dps. I see this as a problem come end game against bosses etc. However, I want to also heal with a NB too. Right now I am debating on templar and NB.

I am wanting to heal that is a given, most likely end game, but I also want a class that I can switch over (even if the cost is high) to a melee dps that does good damage.

I have never been a big fan of PvP in past MMO's but I feel this one would be a little different and I may enjoy it so PvP is also a consideration as well for me.

I also read that a NB can do good with magicka with Siphoning. How is the healing with a NB?

DW has one AOE ability that is a great finisher. All its other skills are single target. So its good for either situation.

I don't play NBs, so I can't give any info other than what I hear and I don't tend to seek out that info. I have seen a lot of titles in the forums complaining that NBs are feeling very squishy here lately.

I also haven't played much PVP. The times I am available to play seem to have low PVP populations, which gets boring fast. And of course with any MMO, there will always be a group of people who feel that PVP isn't balanced in some way, so take any PVP forum posts with a grain of salt.

Something I forgot to add in the last post, but Templar has the BEST stamina resource management, due mostly to Repentance. I loved my old Imperial Templar two hander for solo play.

But my opinion is slightly bias because I have always sucked with stealthy classes in MMOs. LOL

I havent tried it yet, but on paper it looks like a dual wield sorceror might work out well. Dual wield has whirlwind and cloak of blades for aoe (cloak of blades does passive aoe damage to everyone around you). You can also spec hidden blade to fan of knives.

Combine that with lightning form and surge from sorceror (lightning form does passive aoe damage to everyone around you and boosts your resistance, surge boosts your weapon damage and returns health on criticals), and you're looking at turning yourself into a walking maelstrom of area damage.

For single target, I tend to find two handed a better option, though.

Hybrid builds just dont perform as well as focused builds, in general. Because your spell damage scales off of magicka, and your weapon damage scales off of stamina, if you split your attributes between the two you'll be dealing less damage with both types of abilities than someone who focused on one or the other. Also, because of limited attribute points, you'll typically want to invest half into a resource (stamina or magicka) and half into health to boost your survivability.

In general, you want to pick one or the other to focus on for your raw damage output and main attacks. The other resource should be used for utility and support abilities that arent necessarily needed for damage (or healing). For example, my nightblade is focused on medium armor, stamina, and two handed weapons (bow as a secondary). I mostly use weapon abilities for my damage output. My magicka is used for various utility spells like dark cloak for invisibility or mark target to debuff the enemy. Because these abilities are just as effective regardless of how much magicka I have, it doesnt matter that my magicka pool is small.

Alternatively, a character focused on magicka using light armor and a staff will not want to invest heavily in stamina abilities. Some, however, like circle of protection or expert hunter, can boost your effectiveness even without having high stamina.



If you really want to change from DPS to healer at a whim, you're going to have to not only split your attributes but also carry two complete sets of gear. A healer, no matter how many points you put into magicka, is not going to do well in medium armor, and a damage dealer will not be efficient in light armor (assuming you use melee/bow weapons and not staves).

Initially, all class skills are magicka based. A few of them can be morphed into stamina abilities, but not all.

For the nightblade, you can change teleport strike, assassin's blade, veiled strike, and drain power into stamina abilities.

A spellcaster nightblade in light armor using a staff is just as effective as a melee nightblade in medium armor using daggers or a two handed weapon, they're just different playstyles with different strengths. If you're going to focus on a melee damage dealer, most of your ability bar is going to be filled with weapon abilities, not class abilities.