Stam NB switching to 2H

TitanJeff · March 2016

After talking to quite a few, many have suggested to me switching from Bow/DW to Bow/2H for my level 44 stam NB looking ahead to endgame PvE and moving onto PvP.

I have most everything available in the skill areas but only level 7 in 2H. I'd like recommendations for a bar setup for a greatsword. I use Ambush and Surprise Attack a lot on my D/W and wondered if it works well with 2/H.

And should I consider adding any heavy armor to the mix? I'm 100% medium right now.

Thanks.

Sunburnt_Penguin · March 2016

I use 2h & Bow on my 2H and it's great, here's my PvP (and PvE because I'm lazy) set-up:

Bow/utility bar:
- Mark
- Camo Hunter
- Cloak
- Mass Hysteria (switch in Poison Arrow if I'm defending a keep)
- Focused Aim
- Meteor as Ultimate

2H/main bar:
- Rally
- Camo Hunter (add in Wrecking Blow if I'm in PvE against humans or animals)
- Ambush
- Surprise Attack or Ultimate (if I have it)
- Reverse Slice
- Assassination Ultimate (I forget the name but it's the one that twirls)

Basically my rotation is:
1. Mark (spot and reduces armour)
2. Rally (30 seconds of 20% extra damage and X healing)
3. Camo Hunter (15% extra damage if they're vamp or ww, 10% increase in crit % and ~7k additional damage on any attack if used from stealth)
5. Ambush (from stealth also grants 20% extra damage)
6. Surprise Attack (reduces armour)
7. Repeat 4 & 5 until 50% health
8. Ambush
9. Spam Reverse Slice as execute

I'm yet to see a better execute in the game than Reverse Slice. It causes up to 300% more damage to enemies below 50% health and iirc I was getting ~3k base/tooltip damage which means it does up to 12k damage. Now, factor in the 20% & 15% damage buffs from Rally and Camo Hunter (I'm assuming the enemy is either a vamp or ww) and it can do 16k each hit (18.5k on the initia hit following the Ambush buff). It also causes nearby enemies to take 40% of the damage inflicted so it's an adequate PvE AoE.

If I get jumped I'll just do:
1. Mass Hysteria
2. Mark
3. Cloak
4. Switch to main bar and use that rotation if they're still around.

I'm currently using all medium 5x Hunding's and 3x Night Mother's but I think I'm gonna switch it to 5/2/1 on my next set (once I've experimented ofc) because I think the added armour and health will offset the loss of Stamina buffs I get. Then I'll go 5/1/1 once I've got the Undaunted Mettle passive.

TitanJeff · March 2016

Good stuff. Thanks for the reply.

Right now, I'm loving the bow:
Reaper's Mark, Camo Hunter, Lethal Arrow, Venom Arrow, Mass Hysteria, Soul Tether

When meteor opens up for me, I'll probably give that a shot.

Question: If you use Camo Hunter on your bow strike, is it needed again on your 2/H since it lasts 15 seconds?

Your 2/H really helps me out because I already have Ambush, Camo, Surprise Attack and Soul Harvest from my DW bar.

Just a general question to save me some skill points:

Stampede seems a lot like Ambush in that it's a range-closer. I like that Stampede has a snare but not played with it yet. Is it worth getting Critical Charge and morphing to Stampede or is Ambush going to be the better option on my bar?

Brawler seems to be a must for me. How well does it work as a shield?

Sunburnt_Penguin · March 2016

Yeah meteor is great for my bow bar as it can be used at range.

No, Camo isn't needed as the buff transfers bars but I have it on there for the ~10% increase in crit. That alone allows me to use sharpened on my 2H and weapon damage Mundus without losing too much crit % from when I changed from crit % Mundus. However, when I get to V16 (currently 11) and have more CPs and gold gear I'll most likely switch it out for mass hysteria.

Re. Stampede v Ambush: I too had the same dilemma. What I concluded though was whilst Stampede does offer a snare and a certain critical hit.. I was mostly using Ambush from Cloak which stuns anyway, it gives a 20% damage buff, adds to the assasination passives and I have a decent crit % as it is.

I don't even know what Brawler does so I'll check when ESO is back online as the Internet never gives correct figures on abilities.

TitanJeff · March 2016

Sunburnt_Penguin wrote: »

YI don't even know what Brawler does so I'll check when ESO is back online as the Internet never gives correct figures on abilities.

I'm learning this the hard way.

Someone recommended that I use Siphoning Strikes/Leeching Strikes and I kept finding reference to a 23% drop in damage. Last night, I find that is no longer the case so I'm now wondering if that's a option for my squishy self.

Forgot about the 10% crit boost with Camo so might do the same. Thanks.

Stannum · March 2016

1. Really for stamblade it's good idea to have all dw/2h/bow lines maxed.
2. As for me the best build for stamblade is 2H/DW (and use bow only for some specific situations like final spider in vet DC)
3. full med in endgame looks for me usefull only for crit focused build (smth like twice born star + khajit + crit dmg CP), in all other cases heavy chest+light belt + 5 med looks more usefull for me.

Acsvf · March 2016

Sunburnt_Penguin wrote: »

1. Mark (spot and reduces armour)
2. Rally (30 seconds of 20% extra damage and X healing)
3. Camo Hunter (15% extra damage if they're vamp or ww, 10% increase in crit % and ~7k additional damage on any attack if used from stealth)
5. Ambush (from stealth also grants 20% extra damage)
6. Surprise Attack (reduces armour)
7. Repeat 4 & 5 until 50% health
8. Ambush
9. Spam Reverse Slice as execute

???

vamp_emily · March 2016

I'm really liking my Sword and board on one bar and 2H on the other bar.

Bash/WB/Conceiled weapon. Either they die or take off running for their life.

TitanJeff · March 2016

dancing.in.the.webeb17_ESO wrote: »

1. Really for stamblade it's good idea to have all dw/2h/bow lines maxed.
2. As for me the best build for stamblade is 2H/DW (and use bow only for some specific situations like final spider in vet DC)
3. full med in endgame looks for me usefull only for crit focused build (smth like twice born star + khajit + crit dmg CP), in all other cases heavy chest+light belt + 5 med looks more usefull for me.

I am Wood Elf. I wondered if I needed to add a heavy piece or two just to help survive.

Stannum · March 2016

TitanJeff wrote: »

dancing.in.the.webeb17_ESO wrote: »

1. Really for stamblade it's good idea to have all dw/2h/bow lines maxed.
2. As for me the best build for stamblade is 2H/DW (and use bow only for some specific situations like final spider in vet DC)
3. full med in endgame looks for me usefull only for crit focused build (smth like twice born star + khajit + crit dmg CP), in all other cases heavy chest+light belt + 5 med looks more usefull for me.

I am Wood Elf. I wondered if I needed to add a heavy piece or two just to help survive.

Look, you get main armor bonus for 5 parts and it's fixed weapon dmg. If you use 7 med you have somewhat more crit and more stam regen for 2 parts (as you're bosmer stam regen is not a problem for you anyway). If you use 5 med + 1heavy +1 light you will have more armor and more spel res + bonus for magika regen (and i's useful for various NB buff skills) and you'll also get stam/hp/mana pool bonus when open undawnted guild passive. As your dmg scales also on stamina pool % thay you'll lose on crit chance you'll partly compensate on basic dmg increase.

Love_Chunks · March 2016

@TitanJeff The cool thing about the two hand skill line is that it covers all of your bases. You have aoe, damage shield, single target, gap closer, weapon damage buff, execute, and heals. The main thing youre going to want as a stam blade is the heal from momentum morphed to rally. So get a hold of a training traited 2 handed weapon, add skills to your bar as you unlock them and make sure you have all five 2 hand skills on your bar until you max the skill. After you max it out you can mingle your class skills back on to your main bar or use 2 hand on your back bar for rally heals&damage buff while using other skills on your main bar.

Id honestly opt for 2hand/dual wield with 2hand as my buff bar and dual wield as my main dps bar. If all youre doing is questing, youll only need dual wield passives and steel tornado while the rest of your needed abilities can be covered by your class skills. Gap closer: ambush single target: suprize attack execute: killers blade. Thats 4 slots on your front bar. The fifth slot and all of the other slots on your back bar can be utilized for more of your class buffs like relentless focus or siphoning attacks. I like to keep rapid maneuvers on my back bar just so i can move faster while questing.

TitanJeff · March 2016

Love_Chunks wrote: »

@TitanJeff The cool thing about the two hand skill line is that it covers all of your bases. You have aoe, damage shield, single target, gap closer, weapon damage buff, execute, and heals. The main thing youre going to want as a stam blade is the heal from momentum morphed to rally. So get a hold of a training traited 2 handed weapon, add skills to your bar as you unlock them and make sure you have all five 2 hand skills on your bar until you max the skill. After you max it out you can mingle your class skills back on to your main bar or use 2 hand on your back bar for rally heals&damage buff while using other skills on your main bar.

Went with this tonight and now up to level 14. I now have morphed Cleave to Brawler and can morph Critical Charge to Critical Rush or Stampede. I'm researching now which way to go. I think Uppercut is available as well.

It may take a while but I'll keep pressing on until Rally is mine!

Love_Chunks · March 2016

@TitanJeff If you're just doing pve stuff you want crit rush. Stampede is better suited for pvp.

Sunburnt_Penguin · March 2016

Acsvf wrote: »

Sunburnt_Penguin wrote: »

1. Mark (spot and reduces armour)
2. Rally (30 seconds of 20% extra damage and X healing)
3. Camo Hunter (15% extra damage if they're vamp or ww, 10% increase in crit % and ~7k additional damage on any attack if used from stealth)
5. Ambush (from stealth also grants 20% extra damage)
6. Surprise Attack (reduces armour)
7. Repeat 4 & 5 until 50% health
8. Ambush
9. Spam Reverse Slice as execute

???

5 & 6

TitanJeff · March 2016

Love_Chunks wrote: »

@TitanJeff If you're just doing pve stuff you want crit rush. Stampede is better suited for pvp.

I'm probably going to jump into PvP once I get my 2H leveled up. Do most in PvP use Stampede? Thanks.

Jhunn · March 2016

Love_Chunks wrote: »

@TitanJeff If you're just doing pve stuff you want crit rush. Stampede is better suited for pvp.

Nah. Fear gives the snare anyway.

mr_wazzabi · March 2016

TitanJeff wrote: »

Love_Chunks wrote: »

@TitanJeff If you're just doing pve stuff you want crit rush. Stampede is better suited for pvp.

I'm probably going to jump into PvP once I get my 2H leveled up. Do most in PvP use Stampede? Thanks.

Most stam nb use ambush.

It's a more reliable gap closer as it can jump floors and doesn't need a clear path to the target. If there's a rock between you and your target, stampede will fail to cast. Ambush will hit no matter what.

Many stam nb use wrecking blow and others use surprise attack. Wrecking blow is hard to land on skilled players, so if you find you keep missing, use surprise attack instead.