A little help with a new character.

IdesofMarch2 · March 2016

My main character is a Vet 6 High Elf Sorc. But I wanted to create a Nightblade from a character on a TV show I like.
I picked a Nord Nightblade in the Daggerfall Cov. And I wanted to be a stam/tank. I want to try dual wield/bow combo but not sure if that would be a great choice for PVP/PVE or not. Mainly PvP when I get there. I see there are a lot of sword and board/2 h builds and I guess I could substitute the greatsword for the dual wield. But I don't want to get ahead of myself just to be setback. What would be a solid combination to use that would be beneficial in the later stages of the game.

Nestor · March 2016

DW/Bow is how I run my Stamina NB. I don't do PvP, so can't comment on that. But, I have fun with it doing PvE.

Your biggest issue is going to be keeping yourself alive. It can be done, just not as easily as you can with your Sorcerer and Surge.

IdesofMarch2 · March 2016

Thanks man. Yeah I know I'm spoiled with my wards lol. I don't really like 2h, I do like the idea of DW for close encounters and bow for range. So far I am only level 6, I just started yesterday for like a couple hours so I don't have the weapon swap yet. Is there any defense for Nightblades?

Nestor · March 2016

IdesofMarch2 wrote: »

Is there any defense for Nightblades?

Yes, but its different. For example, I approach multiple mobs, use Fear to make a couple of them run away, then I burn down the one that is left, then take on the others. Then you can use Cloak to disengage combat, or the Path skill to control movement, Shades to draw aggro etc. So, it's more crowd control than defense. Its more avoiding the mobs and controlling them until your ready to deal with them than defending against what they do. I am not the most skilled NB out there, but I do OK.

Night Blades are the trickiest class to play, but can be the most fun as there are so many ways to do things. But you can't just spam shields and an attack skill or two and prevail. Which is good or bad depending on how you look at things.

Also, NBs can have the best Burst damage of any class, attacking from stealth. So you can eliminate a mob sometimes before you even draw aggro on the others.

My NB is skilled on all weapon skills and I change those out as the mood strikes me. I was running 2H for a while, then went back to DW, I also use a Bow, but can sport 1H/S too. I think a NB can probably make use of more weapons than most other classes can. I bring that up as while you are leveling, you may want to level most weapon skills so that end game you can switch things out and not have to grind anything. But, you can't go wrong with DW and Bow as a main combo.

IdesofMarch2 · March 2016

Thanks man for the help. Yeah that's a good idea to level up the weapon lines. I def want to go DW and Bow and mix in the NB skill tree's with it. I'll research a bit more on the skills. I'm not that familiar with all of them yet since I have only started this character yesterday. But you gave me some good points to check on.

Sunburnt_Penguin · March 2016

Agree with all of what @Nestor said.

The only things to add is in regards to StamNB specific defence:
- Piercing Mark is good when there's a mob as it can be used two ways: 1) you can mark one from stealth and get him to low health before you're spotted and then take out the others. If your health runs low just kill that one to get 40% back and then repeat. Or 2) use it to weaken the strongest one and then take him out easier
- Using a shadow skill regularly is a good idea to increase your physical resistance.

Other than those:
- Rally is great if you're using 2H but if that's not for you: Vigor is an extremely good Stamina heal, healing me for ~10k over 5 seconds whilst also not making you become detected when in stealth
- Bone Shield and Immovable are also good for the added damage mitigation.

IdesofMarch2 · March 2016

Sunburnt_Penguin wrote: »

Agree with all of what @Nestor said.

The only things to add is in regards to StamNB specific defence:
- Piercing Mark is good when there's a mob as it can be used two ways: 1) you can mark one from stealth and get him to low health before you're spotted and then take out the others. If your health runs low just kill that one to get 40% back and then repeat. Or 2) use it to weaken the strongest one and then take him out easier
- Using a shadow skill regularly is a good idea to increase your physical resistance.

Other than those:
- Rally is great if you're using 2H but if that's not for you: Vigor is an extremely good Stamina heal, healing me for ~10k over 5 seconds whilst also not making you become detected when in stealth
- Bone Shield and Immovable are also good for the added damage mitigation.

Cool thanks man. I was just checking out the weapons of the DC Comic Character and she uses a bow and a sword so maybe I will stick with 2H. It just seems a bit slow to me is all, DW seems a bit quicker.

Sunburnt_Penguin · March 2016

As Nestor said, levelling up multiple trees as you are is a good idea as it gives you more options down the line to use something which you get more enjoyment from and then switch to a "better" damage dealing line if needed.

I basically used Bow and DW throughout most of the story because I like the look DW and it served me well but I switched DW to 2H when I started to PvP properly at ~L40. Now I still use Bow and 2H in Vet content and Cyrodil but 2H and DW in Imperial City.

This is how I'd rank them

• Bow
Range: focused aim = great
CQ: n/a
AoE: scorched earth = okay
Execute = poison injection = poor

• 2h
Range: stampede = poor (ambush is better)
CQ: wrecking blow = great
AoE: reverse slice = okay (good when execute procs)
Execute: reverse slice = great

• DW
Range: hidden blade = good
CQ: most = good
AoE: tornado = great
Execute: tornado = good (great if multiple injured enemies)

IdesofMarch2 · March 2016

Hmmmm. My previous character before my sorc was a Vet 1 DK and I used DW so I am familiar. I think leveling up DW, 2H and Bow would be a good idea. I have a while before getting involved with PVP, not attempting it until about level 40 and up. So I guess I should just concentrate on leveling up the skills.

Sunburnt_Penguin · March 2016

Ah okay, I just assumed you were fully Magicka from your Sorc. Tbh, PvP at a lower level isn't so bad and especially if you already have CPs. If you have IC then you can easily complete the 4x daily quests in Arena which give decent XP. Also, if you can piggyback on the Sewers with higher level friends to farm for Tel Var then the XP from that is the best (and also least monotonous) I've found.

IdesofMarch2 · March 2016

Sunburnt_Penguin wrote: »

Ah okay, I just assumed you were fully Magicka from your Sorc. Tbh, PvP at a lower level isn't so bad and especially if you already have CPs. If you have IC then you can easily complete the 4x daily quests in Arena which give decent XP. Also, if you can piggyback on the Sewers with higher level friends to farm for Tel Var then the XP from that is the best (and also least monotonous) I've found.

Yeah, the Vet 6 sorc is the furthest I have been, I got bored of the DK. And yes I have all my Champion points that I accrued from my Sorc but I don't know where to place them yet so I just left them there. I do have the IC, I actually like it more than Cyr lol. So I guess at level 6 adding all my Champ points now would be very beneficial? Would I lose them all from my sorc?

I have 58 points on each of the CP lines.

Sunburnt_Penguin · March 2016

No you don't lose them, any you earn on your Sorc and DK will be available to all of your characters as and when they're earnt. Adding them as you go along will be very beneficial so I recommend that. I found unlocking the 12% weapon crit passive to be the most valuable but there are a lot of others which can be as well.

If I remember correctly.. The majority of my points are in: reduce cost of Stam abilities, increase Stam recovery, increase weapon damage, increase damage to crits, increase resistance to the elements (magic, fire, frost etc) - but do these equally or more in elemental as magic is moving there from hardy.

If this character is going to be any sort of crafter then the increased inspiration passive is useful.

Just have a look and apply them where you think is the best. If you want to respec them then it's only 3k gold.

Yeah I prefer IC to Cyrodil. Arena and Sewers are by far my favourites.

IdesofMarch2 · March 2016

Sunburnt_Penguin wrote: »

No you don't lose them, any you earn on your Sorc and DK will be available to all of your characters as and when they're earnt. Adding them as you go along will be very beneficial so I recommend that. I found unlocking the 12% weapon crit passive to be the most valuable but there are a lot of others which can be as well.

If I remember correctly.. The majority of my points are in: reduce cost of Stam abilities, increase Stam recovery, increase weapon damage, increase damage to crits, increase resistance to the elements (magic, fire, frost etc) - but do these equally or more in elemental as magic is moving there from hardy.

If this character is going to be any sort of crafter then the increased inspiration passive is useful.

Just have a look and apply them where you think is the best. If you want to respec them then it's only 3k gold.

Yeah I prefer IC to Cyrodil. Arena and Sewers are by far my favourites.

I appreciate your help. Thank you. I like IC better cause I last longer lol. I die pretty quickly in Cyr.
I will def look and apply my next time on.