Non-Vet Magicka Nightblade PvP Build!

Rikumaru · October 2015

I recently made a Magicka NB and developed what I find to be an amazing build. I hope it can provide you ideas for a build or even use it yourself!

Gear Sets:

5 pc Seducers - Divines -- I find this necessary for sustain.
5 pc Warlock - Any Trait -- Not necessary but great for when your running low on magicka.

Champion Points:

None.

If you have some to spend I would spend them on:
+Magic Dmg
+Magicka Regen
+Stam Regen
-Roll dodge cost

Weapon Slots

Destruction Staff

I use this for heavy attack weaving with swallow soul. Also it procs degeneration for a greater heal. Not required but highly recommended.

Restoration Staff

I use this for rapid regen and healing ward. Also heavy attacks are nice to have incase you need magicka (almost never). Its 100% required.

Skillbar:

Destruction Staff (Bar 1)

Crippling Grasp: Amazing Ability, roots enemies, gives good snare and a high damage DOT. You could replace this with Lotus Fan to better deal with magicka DKs and better mobility but I prefer using this.

Degeneration: I used to have this on my back bar but since using Piercing mark I had to switch this to front bar. It gives 20% spell dmg increase so very much worth it. A better alternative however would be the morph of Drain Power which gives spell and weapon dmg increase of 20%. But if you dont have access to it run degeneration. I use degeneration over structured entropy due to it having a 10% proc rate of healing the full amount of a heavy attack. While 5% max hp increase is nice in extended fights degeneration is better due to having burst heal from swallow soul, degeneration and rapid regen.

Impale: Impale is our execute, a very much needed ability with the low dmg of non-vet cyrodill. Replace it with Drain Power in huge sieges due to 5 fps and a good AOE.

Swallow Soul: Our main source of DPS alongside heavy attacks. For this build this ability is core and should never be replaced.

Mass Hysteria: Our form of CC for this build. Debuffs enemy with snare, damage debuff, AOE and is a fear. Not much to say on this one.

Soul Harvest: Soul harvest over Incapacitating strikes cause we already have a stun (fear) and it provides 10 ultimate per kill, effective for an outnumbered situation. Also its a cheap ultimate which is great for burst and deals a healing debuff, perfect for finshing off your enemy with Soul Harvest and Impale. Also 20% dmg buff, more burst for you. You could replace this with dawnbreaker if you have it.

Restoration Staff (Bar 2)

Double Take: Our form of mobility when you cant cast crippling grasp. Also provides a 20% dodge chance which is nice. However I would prefer to slot Shuffle if you have it in non-vet. This would require you to slot 1 medium armor piece and thus your 5 pc seducers would also need to be on your staves. The reason I would slot shuffle instead is because snares and roots are gonna be a slight problem with this build due to mobility playing a role in your surviveability. Its not much of a setback but if your outnumbered, it could just kill you.

Dark Cloak: I dont really use this ability much unless I need to waste time (potion, buffing up while outnumbered or distracting). This is because this build has so much survivability if you can sustain your buffs. Still good to slot it for escapes from hopeless situations. Oh yeah and siege.

Piercing Mark: For debuffing the enemy and stopping them from running away. Can replace if you want with something like Grim Focus, slot it on Degeneration and move Degeneration to backbar.

Rapid Regeneration: Your heal over-time ability, very powerful in non-vet. I wouldnt replace this ability.

Healing Ward: For when you get about 50% hp and you need a breather. Very useful in out numbered situations. I wouldnt replace this ability.

Soul Tether: AOE stun, good heal vs outnumbered and nice damage, perfect for a 1vX. Could replace with Bat Swarm, WW, Dawnbreaker or Barrier.

This is the usual setup for open world PvP. This build has high DPS and insane sustain and the best thing is that you can run it with 0 CP( I have 4

). However for duelling a couple of adjustments needs to be made.

Dueling (1v1) adjustments:

Dark Cloak: Replace this for Shade if you have it. If not you should keep it there or slot Siphoning Strikes against a Nightblade. If your against a DK with reflect scales put degeneration here instead.

Piercing Mark: Replace this with Siphoning Strikes if your not against a Nightblade. Piercing Mark is just a counter measure to them.

Weaknesses:

I have found a few problems with this build while running it. Magicka DKs who use reflective scales kinda negates all your damage. Thats fine cause you can restro heavy attack while buffing up and if they dont keep reflect up you hit them like a truck. But nonetheless annoying when you get them to execute range.

Second Weakness is Stamina NBs. I am talking about the full burst ones. The can out damage your sustain so when you encounter this, you need to keep up heals while pressuring them till they drop dead. Extended fights with these guys will spell certain death.

This build isnt suited as well as others when it comes to large scale PvP, its more for solo play / groups of 2-4.

Strengths:

Using crippling grasp, in a 1v1 if you encounter a WB spammer you will murder him >:D >:D >:D
Also this build is great for 1vXing due to high dmg and high sustain.
Very powerful for ganking.
Other stuff which I forgot.

I dont recommend using vamp for this build due to DKs already a strong class against you (not that bad tbh) and that you dont need the ultimate. I run WW with it so I can pop a speed potion and sprint away... they say I am still runnin...

Hope this build has provided insights into magicka NB non-vet or even Vet pvp! If you decide to use this build, hope to face you in Cyrodill with it!

mcurley · October 2015

Seducer + Warlock is pretty much the way to go in non-Vet for magicka users... until the update anyway.

I've had great success with pretty much the same skills but switched around a bit for my liking.

Destro Bar: Swallow Soul, Impale, Dark Cloak, Mass Hysteria, Concealed Weapon .... Incapacitating Strike

Resto Bar: Degeneration, Crippling Grasp, Piercing Mark, Efficient Purge/Resolving Vigor/Shadow Image, Mirage... Soul Tether

I find it strange that you suggest replacing Dark Cloak and (to a lesser extent) Piercing Mark in a 1v1 situation. Using Dark Cloak offensively gives a nice damage bonus, a great mitigation bonus, and unmatched re-positioning capabilities that pretty much make any 1v1 situation a gimme.

The Restoration Staff heals become less useful as well when you use Dark Cloak to it's full potential.

Knootewoot · October 2015

I had about the same build, except I used dual swords nirnhorned and wore Archemage and magnus and willpower. Was a fun build and the swallow soul gave me unlimited attack power since my magicka would not run out.

Nice one (and a fun one to play too)

Rikumaru · October 2015

Almost forgot, as for your Mundus stone use The Apprentice. You will rarely need magicka so the added spell damage is nice.

Asmael · October 2015

I'll go ahead and give my thoughts, since I'm currently leveling a magicka NB and tearing groups apart with it. Note that it's very low level, since it's non-vet, it makes sense to have a few builds available.

I'm running 5 piece Willow's path, and a whole gear with Divines trait - Atronach mundus, I haz about 135 CPs right now, with about 1900 magicka regen with Mag/stam drinks (get those from AP vendors). When it comes to damage with CPs, put 30 points in the Apprentice, rest in the Ritual -> Thaumaturge. Inferno staff with Sharpened (Nirnhoned if you have it), Resto staff with Precise (Defending doesn't work in BwB).

I'm not running WW nor Vampire. You get very little benefit from vampire (only Batswarm and the extra recovery, that becomes pointless when you hit vet anyway due to Support abilities giving you +10% mag recovery with the passives. Dark Stalker is completely useless, since you're basically using Dark Cloak 24/7 outside combat).

I don't have a few skills unlocked, namely Piercing Mark, Healing Ward, Shadow Image and Mass Hysteria (will come in time). My NB is level ~25 at the time of the writing.

Inferno staff bar:
1 - Concealed weapon
2 - Cripple (unmorphed)
3 - Swallow Soul
4 - Lotus fan
5 - Dark Cloak
R - Incapaciting strike

Restoration staff bar:
1 - Rapid maneuvers (unmorphed)
2 - Blur (unmorphed)
3 - Mark target (unmorphed)
4 - Rapid regeneration
5 - Purge (unmorphed)
R - Soul Shred (unmorphed)

Few notes:
- I am NOT running Impale, I find it extremely slow, and can also be reflected. You could probably use it by replacing Rapid regeneration or Blur if you need it.
- Lotus Fan for gap closers, since we don't have Double take yet, and Rapids are too costly for this. Cripple can also be blocked / dodged / purged and isn't near reliable enough
- Mark is there as a damage boost and for the obvious Piercing Mark morph later on
- Purge as mostly anti-piercing mark measure, both for you and group mates when going with duo-NBs

Now for Concealed weapon... It has slightly more damage than Swallow soul, is melee (can't be reflected) and is the stun component of this build, combined with Incapaciting Strike when things are rough. It costs a LOT of magicka and should be used when running high on magicka, or when you're guaranteed to finish your opponent. If you have trouble managing your magicka, Flame Clench is a good option, but makes DKs using wings absolutely unkillable.

I tried both Entropy and Inner Light, the damage boost is rather meh (Entropy isn't effectively increasing damage by 20%, actually less than that), but you could, of course, replace a skill for it (Rapid Regeneration or Blur are the best candidates). Inner light takes 2 slots, which is way too much for a class that already has to make some tough decisions in its build.

It's extremely good at escaping, do NOT underestimate Rapid maneuvers. Combined with Immovable pots, you can escape 15+ guys, that's just how good this skill is. It's also a very good way of helping other people escape, especially since it can be cast form Cloak.

End build would probably look like something like this:

Inferno staff bar:
1 - Concealed weapon (subject to change)
2 - Crippling Grasp
3 - Swallow Soul
4 - Merciless Resolve
5 - Dark Cloak
R - Soul Harvest

Restoration staff bar:
1 - Double Take
2 - Shuffle
3 - Piercing Mark
4 - Shadow Image
5 - Mass Hysteria
R - Soul Tether

Testing has to be done so it's of course subject to change.

mcurley · October 2015

Asmael wrote: »

Restoration staff bar:
1 - Double Take
2 - Shuffle
3 - Piercing Mark
4 - Shadow Image
5 - Mass Hysteria
R - Soul Tether

Testing has to be done so it's of course subject to change.

Major Evasion will not stack so lose Shuffle imo.

Keep in mind that Battle Leveling will be completely different next week (on PC anyway) so make sure you adjust your gear accordingly.