My lineup

Drakahr · June 2016

Trying to figure out which char's are salvageable without having to reroll. Also looking for advice on my current plans for each. These are my first characters so I know there are multiple mistakes. trying to seek outside counsel before I continue. Mainly looking for PvE, not a PvP player yet, never really have been.
Aldmeri chars:
1) lvl9 Sorc high elf(bow affinity)
weapon skills: Destruction-destructive reach
weapons: Destruction/open(thinking restoration)
Magicka/Health/Stamina 5-4-0
7 light armour

2) lvl 8 DK Dark-elf(dual wield affinity)
weapon skills: Pierce armour(thinking that locks me into sword and shield)
weapons: thinking dual wield due to the afninity and sword and shield due to already made weapon skill choice.
M/H/S 4-3-1
havent decided armour yet

Daggerfall chars:
3) Lvl 6 templar Breton (light armour affinity)
No weapons skills selected open/open thinking 2 handed and restoration staff
M/H/S 4-2-0
no armour skills, thinking a light armour templar is kinda weird, I may scrap this one he isnt too strong.

4) lvl 8 Templar Imperial (sword+shield affinity)
weapon skills: S+S pierce
weapons: S+S / Open thinking 2handed or restoration
M/H/S 5-3-0
no armour skills, thinking 7heavy to tank

5) lvl7 DK Nord (2handed affinity) (not too strong gets whooped a lot thinking about scrapping this guy)
weapon skills: cleave-2handed
weapons: 2 handed / Open
M/H/S 1-5-1
no armour skills was thinking heavy for tank, but like I said, I may just get rid of this guy as there is no real benefit for the nord as a DK, I never see nords on the list for best DK races anyway.

6) lvl 11 NB Khajit(medium armour affinity) looking for highest crit and ability to heal as I go from attacks
weapon skills:bloodthirst dual-wield
weapons: Dual-wield / Open
Medium armour skills Dexterity, looking for all medium for crits
M/H/S 4-5-4

7) lvl 7 NB Argonian (restoration staff affinity) (Shadowscale)
Weapon skills: flurry-dualwield
Weapons: Dual-wield / Open maybe restoration staff due to the affinity, not sure how well a NB with restoration staff works
armour skills: Dexterity-medium armour, looking for all medium armour for crits
M/H/S 7-0-0 was trying for magicka NB (not sure what one does other than being able to use class skills more)

I'd like one of my NB to be stealthy at least so I can do good assassinations and steal, but I know you have to be pretty dedicated to stealth to steal well, lol first 5 letters of stealth are steal...

Again thinking about scrapping the Breton templar and the DK nord unless someone can tell me how to build them viably, but again they are both pretty weak on the battle field, the DK can barely take on 2 scamps at once.

I know this is a lot, but I've come to a point where I've learned a lot but feel that I am very capable of making some big mistakes and I hate wasting time. I greatly appreciate any knowledge or opinions sent my way,

Drakahr

BlackSparrow · June 2016

The first thing I notice is that you have a lot of characters, but they're all really low level. My biggest advice is to pick one and just play the game. Don't worry about their endgame build, or crafting anything you don't want to craft. Just play the game and figure out the mechanics of the game for yourself. Then, once you hit 50 (or at least 30, since that's when you'll have most of your primary skills unlocked), you can worry about the endgame.

That said, let's go through these one at a time.

1) lvl9 Sorc high elf(bow affinity)
weapon skills: Destruction-destructive reach
weapons: Destruction/open(thinking restoration)
Magicka/Health/Stamina 5-4-0
7 light armour

Yep, looks fine. You'll probably want to lighten up on the Health and buckle down on Magicka down the road, but for now, that's fine. Health is important for early game survivability, which sorcerers can struggle with. Staff sorcerers need the biggest magicka pool they can get, so concentrate on maximizing your magicka pool and usage.

Not sure what you mean by "bow affinity"? That's not a high elf racial passive or anything... bows have always been a wood elf thing. High elves are all about magic.

2) lvl 8 DK Dark-elf(dual wield affinity)
weapon skills: Pierce armour(thinking that locks me into sword and shield)
weapons: thinking dual wield due to the afninity and sword and shield due to already made weapon skill choice.
M/H/S 4-3-1
havent decided armour yet

This one's a little ookier. Pierce armor is a sword-and-shield skill as well as one of the taunt skills, which makes me think you're aiming for a tank, then dual wield for DPS? Except you're putting your ability points into magicka, which means you're emphasizing class skills over weapon skills (because dual wield shines when you have lots of stamina to back it up).

With this one, I think you need to sit down and figure out what you want to do with this character, because this build is a little all over the place right now. You don't need to pick a role (tank vs DPS), but you'll want to pick a playstyle. "Magicka or stamina?" is a pretty common question around here, because it really does affect your play to choose one ability over the other, just because of how skills are balanced.

So what do I mean by "play style"? Basically, figure out how you want him to play down the road. Melee weapon or ranged? Does he charge into a group of enemies and lay down heavy AoE, or does he lay down heavy 1vs1 damage, or does he kite and snipe from a distance, or does he use skills like knock-downs and roots to control the battlefield? Or some combination of two of the above? That will inform what skills and weapons you should take, so figure that out first.

3) Lvl 6 templar Breton (light armour affinity)
No weapons skills selected open/open thinking 2 handed and restoration staff
M/H/S 4-2-0
no armour skills, thinking a light armour templar is kinda weird, I may scrap this one he isnt too strong.

Pick a play style and stick to it. Light armor templar is not weird... it's a pretty standard healer build. Then again, adding two-handed in there throws a wrench at things, because light armor is not good when your weapon gets up up in the enemy's face. So, as with #2, figure out how this guy is going to fight, then go from there.

4) lvl 8 Templar Imperial (sword+shield affinity)
weapon skills: S+S pierce
weapons: S+S / Open thinking 2handed or restoration
M/H/S 5-3-0
no armour skills, thinking 7heavy to tank

Why do you keep giving weapon fighters so much magicka? Yes, class skills are mostly magicka based, but not only are weapon skills based on stamina, but so is your damage, how many times you can use heavy attacks, and your ability to block or dodge. If you're aiming on making this guy a tank, I wouldn't give him any more magicka. Not until you get the health up a bit and the stamina up a LOT.

5) lvl7 DK Nord (2handed affinity) (not too strong gets whooped a lot thinking about scrapping this guy)
weapon skills: cleave-2handed
weapons: 2 handed / Open
M/H/S 1-5-1
no armour skills was thinking heavy for tank, but like I said, I may just get rid of this guy as there is no real benefit for the nord as a DK, I never see nords on the list for best DK races anyway.

2-hand excels when you have lots of stamina. Focus on raising your stamina. He probably gets whooped a lot because he's not doing enough damage. XD

That said, don't scrap a build just because they're difficult in the early game. Sometimes, the key skill that makes a build shine doesn't unlock until halfway down the skill line, or it's a morph of a skill. You cannot judge how viable a build is until you hit your 20s, at least.

6) lvl 11 NB Khajit(medium armour affinity) looking for highest crit and ability to heal as I go from attacks
weapon skills:bloodthirst dual-wield
weapons: Dual-wield / Open
Medium armour skills Dexterity, looking for all medium for crits
M/H/S 4-5-4

Like with #1, that high Health is fine right now for early game survivability, but you're going to want to start really jacking up the stamina to really get the most out of your crits. This one's fine. Just start focusing on stamina.

7) lvl 7 NB Argonian (restoration staff affinity) (Shadowscale)
Weapon skills: flurry-dualwield
Weapons: Dual-wield / Open maybe restoration staff due to the affinity, not sure how well a NB with restoration staff works
armour skills: Dexterity-medium armour, looking for all medium armour for crits
M/H/S 7-0-0 was trying for magicka NB (not sure what one does other than being able to use class skills more) I'd like one of my NB to be stealthy at least so I can do good assassinations and steal, but I know you have to be pretty dedicated to stealth to steal well, lol first 5 letters of stealth are steal...

Again, you specifically call out flurry, and then put all your points in magicka? Again, dual wielding really benefits from stamina, so get that stamina up!

For the record, NB works fine with a restoration staff... if the character is built for it. The problem with weapon/staff pairing is that you end up having to split your points between magicka and stamina, which means you excel at neither.

To sum up...

None of these are unsalvageable... and honestly, this is the sort of game where just about anything can work if you just find the right angle. I bet every piece of advice I gave here can be countered by someone who made a viable build doing the opposite. It's all about finding the skills that synergize best with your build and play style.

My general advice is to stop underestimating stamina, especially if the character's primary weapon is not a staff. Which is another thing: you do not need to pick a second weapon skill if one doesn't fit (my dual-wielding NB swaps between two sets of double daggers, for example). In fact, picking multiple weapon skill can split your attention negatively, so focus on getting one weapon skill in fighting shape before you worry about a second. You can experiment with second weapon skills later.

And like I said, my biggest tip is to play the game. You've played a lot between all these characters, but none of them are high enough to have really settled into their skill lines yet. So pick a character and just go. You'll understand a lot better how the game works by figuring it out yourself through trial and error. And yes, you will mess up on your first build... but that's okay, because restatting is a fairly affordable option, especially once you hit level 50.

In any case, good luck!

Drakahr · June 2016

Exactly the type of response I was looking for. Thank you for taking the time. now with 7 I thought magica because I wanted to focus on class skills, like siphon, and such, I want to use skills that heal me and I thought those were all magicka. from what you said on #3 I'm thinking about ranged so bow and restoration, in that case wouldn't I want to continue on the magicka kick for a healer? My dark-elf#2 I did want to be able to switch from tank to DPS but I guess all stamina wont take too much away from the tank side? I understand to amp up the stamina for all dual wield. looking like I'm going 100% stamina on all of them except the sorcerer. It seems everything you've said revolves around weapon-skills being the go to, requiring stamina, are there no potentials for needing a high amount of magicka to focus on using class skills in combat? please advise on the khajit nightblade and the argonian nightblade, how to effectively use restoration staff with the argonian, and or stealth for either of them, I know you have to dedicate a lot of points to be consistently effective with stealth.

phaneub17_ESO · June 2016

Wow... Just enjoy the game, play 3 to 50 then figure out what you like, you got 8 more zones to play through to streamline your characters. After all that is done if you still need to level up stuff, farming dolmens is a good way to do it, swap to the bar with skills you want to level before closing the final pinion.

I've had characters change roles all the time, my main character used to be a caster/healer imperial templar, with destro staff, resto staff, and light armor all maxed out. He's now a magicka tank with 5 heavy / 1 medium /1 light, S&B, and DW all maxed out... AFTER he reached V16 by doing random normal dungeons every day.

BlackSparrow · June 2016

Drakahr wrote: »

It seems everything you've said revolves around weapon-skills being the go to, requiring stamina, are there no potentials for needing a high amount of magicka to focus on using class skills in combat? please advise on the khajit nightblade and the argonian nightblade, how to effectively use restoration staff with the argonian, and or stealth for either of them, I know you have to dedicate a lot of points to be consistently effective with stealth.

I'm not necessarily saying that weapon skills are the go-to... just don't completely discount them. When you're not spamming skills, you have to rely on your weapons to deal your damage, and your ability to use those weapons effectively is based on stamina, not magic (the exception being staves). You seem to be way underestimating how important stamina is. I'm not saying it's the end-all-and-be-all of building your character... just that you are going to be hurting later if you don't give the ability at least a little TLC (or a lot, if you're using builds that use weapon skills over class skills).

It is viable to lean heavily on class skills, but be aware that you're going to be doing a lot of spike damage that way... which is to say, hitting heavy with a skill, then waiting for your magicka bar to refill. Because even pumping up your magicka, you're still going to run out, which is usually the time to pull out the stamina skills. (It also stands to note that there are a few class skills that morph into stamina skills, so...) Again, not saying you need to go full stamina if you're not comfortable with it... just don't leave it at 0 on a dual-wielder build where you specifically call out Flurry, a stamina skill.

If you really want to use a staff with that argonian (which you shouldn't feel compelled to do just because they have a single passive that synergizes with it), then a balanced approach may work, with, sure, a little leaning on the magicka side. But that will gimp your ability to use stamina skills, which are many of the hardest hitting skills on that build, so be aware that your DPS will take a hit. Then again, NB synergizes well with healing via the syphoning school, which is magicka, so a magicka focus would work there if you just don't bother with the duel wielding weapon skill line.

I will reiterate: just pick one of the characters that sounds the most fun and go. Play with them. Experiment. Every single thing I'm saying can and has been refuted by someone who was successful doing the exact opposite, so this is really about you picking whatever style suits you the best and figuring out how to make it work your way.

So stop posting on the forum and go have fun, okay?

Drakahr · June 2016

Ok, there are a few developments. I discovered that not only does #2 have pierce from sword and shield, he also has destructive clench for destruction staff.... I really wanted him to be a tank since I picked pierce for sword+board, but can I do that effectively having my other weapon focus being destruction?? Or do I just cut my losses and ignore the 1 skillpoint I lost? I really wanted him to be sword+board and dual wield due to the dark-elf affinity for dps. also if I stay with destruction staff, will I need a set of light armour to go with that to be effective? again I was going for 7/7 heavy for tank... he's at 4-3-1 now m-h-s.

next issue I discovered is with my light armour breton templar #3, after your advice I want him to mainly be ranged, but originally I was thinking healer with restoration staff and two-handed, and I apparently picked forceful under 2-handed, so again to I cut my losses of 1 skillpoint and go with bow to go with the restoration staff (think its kind of odd r-p to be a templar with a bow) or do I stay with that I have and will I need to have a whole different set of armour with the two-hander? or will I be able to survive up-close with a greatsword and light armour? he is now at 4-2-3 m-h-s

#7 I chose dual-wield for dps, all medioum armour for crits he's at 7-0-1 now. now I planned to pick restoration staff and go with the racial, then will I need a set of light armour, and should I split magicka and stamina making him nun to effective at either, or just go back to all magicka? I want him to be a heavy drainer and you said and I've heard that restoration staff compliments NB quite nicely, I see a few shadowscale magicka only builds around that look pretty good.

I did take your advice I'm mainly only playing with 2 characters for my mains I just wanted to get my little guys off their islands. I just want to get my guys solid with a plan where they're at and then do the mains fulltime. Thanks again, I know I ask a lot of questions but I'm learning a lot. part of me is always going to be a perfectionist lol but I'm not going to let that hinder my enjoyment of the game.

Acsvf · June 2016

"Affinity" is nearly useless. I would suggest against factoring that passive into any decision you make, less it be for roleplaying purposes.

Drakahr wrote: »

#7 I chose dual-wield for dps, all medioum armour for crits he's at 7-0-1 now. now I planned to pick restoration staff and go with the racial, then will I need a set of light armour, and should I split magicka and stamina making him nun to effective at either, or just go back to all magicka? I want him to be a heavy drainer and you said and I've heard that restoration staff compliments NB quite nicely, I see a few shadowscale magicka only builds around that look pretty good.

Since you are still leveling, it's not much of an issue, but know that hybrids(using both stamina and magicka) are very weak in this state of the game.

Drakahr wrote: »

It seems everything you've said revolves around weapon-skills being the go to, requiring stamina, are there no potentials for needing a high amount of magicka to focus on using class skills in combat? please advise on the khajit nightblade and the argonian nightblade, how to effectively use restoration staff with the argonian, and or stealth for either of them, I know you have to dedicate a lot of points to be consistently effective with stealth.

Restoration Staff skills are based on Magicka. If your damage is going to be depending on the stamina weapons(2h, DW, Bow), then go with a stamina build. Otherwise, Magicka.
This is a standard stamina build for nightblade.
This is a standard magicka build for nightblade.
Stealth isn't really useful in PVE. You can skip a couple of fights or so, or start a fight with trash mobs with it but other than that there's little use.

Drakahr · June 2016

I decided to skip over the restoration staff for the argonian NB just going to run with the dual wield I already have, same as my other khajit nightblade.

My real dilemmas are with my dark-elf DK and my Breton Templar. The dark-elf has a dual wield affinity I have to ignore or the 1 point destructive clench, I've got him for sword+board for sure at least he is at 431 MHS how can I make him a non-hybrid and use sword and board with stamina and something else(eat the destruction point) or do I somehow make a magicka build that can utilize sword and board along with the staff, and in that case would someone normally carry an extra set of armour, light for the staff and heavy for the sword+board.
Now the way I see it with my Breton Templar he has a light affinity but I am told that shouldn't have much bearing on what I do with my char. I was going for magicka templar with restoration staff and somehow working in my 2 hander once and a while. I dont know if I can just ride with the light armour to use the staff, but going all magicka from now on will have weak ass stamina when I wield a Battleaxe.

Please feel free to poke holes in my logic. these are the only 2 chars that I don't really have a set plan for yet. wondering if I just resort to hybrids with one or both or something I'm not seeing in my newbieness. I'm really just focusing on leveling my high-elf sorcerer and my khajit NB

Wrecking_Blow_Spam · June 2016

The one guy has given a lot of effort so listen to what he said.

Also you can get skill points back by resetting your skill points or morphs of moves.
You can also get your attribute points back by resetting.

Note: it costs gold to reset - not a lot at low level. Also the shrine to reset is in the 2nd area main city of your faction.

kojou · June 2016

Drakahr wrote: »

I decided to skip over the restoration staff for the argonian NB just going to run with the dual wield I already have, same as my other khajit nightblade.

My real dilemmas are with my dark-elf DK and my Breton Templar. The dark-elf has a dual wield affinity I have to ignore or the 1 point destructive clench, I've got him for sword+board for sure at least he is at 431 MHS how can I make him a non-hybrid and use sword and board with stamina and something else(eat the destruction point) or do I somehow make a magicka build that can utilize sword and board along with the staff, and in that case would someone normally carry an extra set of armour, light for the staff and heavy for the sword+board.
Now the way I see it with my Breton Templar he has a light affinity but I am told that shouldn't have much bearing on what I do with my char. I was going for magicka templar with restoration staff and somehow working in my 2 hander once and a while. I dont know if I can just ride with the light armour to use the staff, but going all magicka from now on will have weak ass stamina when I wield a Battleaxe.

Please feel free to poke holes in my logic. these are the only 2 chars that I don't really have a set plan for yet. wondering if I just resort to hybrids with one or both or something I'm not seeing in my newbieness. I'm really just focusing on leveling my high-elf sorcerer and my khajit NB

Ignore the affinity passives. XP is easy to come by and I haven't found it makes that much difference anyway.

The typical Dunmer DK is a fire based Destro-Staff build, although I know a player that is running a very effective build with a DK and a lightening Staff. Either way if you run a Dual Wield stamina DK there are probably better races then Dunmer for it given that the 2 important Stamina damage over time skills are now poison based, but that only makes a difference for end game Min/Max builds, so if you want to run a stamina dunmer DK there is nothing wrong with it.

Breton racial passives usually benefit a magicka build, so light armor is typical although a heavy chest and medium legs are fine for leveling the other armor types passively in case you want them later. I started leveling my Templar with light armor, dual wield, and Puncturing Sweeps + <skills that I am leveling>. Magicka Templars are one of the easiest classes to level because Puncturing Sweeps has such a powerful heal and does area damage. The only dual wield skill points I spent with it were on the Twin Blade and Blunt passives that increase damage when 2 swords are equipped (but that was much later).

Most end game stamina builds are using Bosmer, Imperial, Khajiit, or Red Guard. They each have their benefits. If you really want to run a stamina based build then I would recommend looking at one of those 4. Any race can work effectively, but those have passives that will synergize the best with stamina builds.

Feel free to make a bunch of different armors and weapons (as much as you can afford to make) and carry them and try them. Until you get champion points you don't really have to worry about specializing your build anyway. Once you do get to level 50 and start earning champion points then you will have to think about going all in with Magicka or Stamina and what weapon to use. When starting a new character it is more important for me to maximize weapon or spell damage than anything else since you won't have a lot of the armor passives that matter anyway.

Robbmrp · June 2016

Are you using crafted gear for any of these characters? If your not, your really missing out on things. A Breton Templar for example in all light armor with 4 Julianos and 4 Magnus(D/W + Resto) would be very strong and do a lot of damage.

My main is an Orc Templar and I run 5 light, 1 med and 1 heavy(Undaunted Passives) and have a blast on them. They can solo pretty much anything in the game for PVE and do really well in PVP.

Green armor would be the best for these characters until you get them to level 30, then switch to blue gear.