Each class has its own measure of survivability. It mainly boils down to how you want to play them. I can't say for certain how survivable the other classes are, but my caster nb does pretty well with siphoning and restoration skills at his disposal. The stamina nb is rather lacking in survivability due to not having any burst heals/damage shields native to its class skill lines.

Sorcerers rely mainly upon their numerous damage shields they can stack, while Templars have some of the best self heals bar-none. DKs have both good damage shields as well as a pretty good self heal with dragon blood.

Going back to my previous sentiment; find a playstyle that works for you. I started as a stamina nb and since solo most things, I found the survivability pretty lackluster unless I decided to use 2h weapons (to me doesn't fit the shadowy rogue archetype). I liked the idea of most of the siphoning skills and since I was planning to roll a mage anyway, I decided to respec my nb to magicka and am loving the class much better now. My burst potential isn't what it was with stamina, but my dps is decent as a caster and I get to live through most encounters very easily. Plus the idea of a warlock--sapping the energy from my enemies is pretty awesome.

eliisra wrote: »

PvP it's magicka sorcerer without any competition. Impossible to die if you play full defence and like a complete chicken.

Templar, followed by DK, has the lowest survivability, even when built as tanks. Lack of movement and escapes, means you always die in the end, when the enemy is successful or if you're brave enough to roam solo. This is why templar + DK's are common in organised groups, but a rare sight among those that solo roam for skirmish or ganking, they exclusively play sorc or NB.

PvE is pretty balanced. As long as you have a good build with some self-healing, doesn't really matter what class or if you're stamina or magicka focused. Can solo most things, including landscape and delves that's supposed to be "group content".

I would pretty much agree with this.

If you are talking surviving by ALL means, then the successful run-away technique is something DK's and Templar simply do not have but Sorcerers and NB's do.

If you are talking about standing and fighting then DK's and Templars will last longer but will still die in the end, while the NB and (especially) Sorcerer will be long gone.