Magic vs stamina damage question

Chronicburn · February 2017

3 part question...

First, do the amount of points I invest in stamina vs magic affect the amount of damage my base weapons (bow staff sword etc) do?

Second, do points invested affect the amount of damage skills do (i.e. would a bow skill that costs magic do more damage if I have more points invested in magic and vice versa for stamina)? Or is the only affect that you can use these skills more often? Basically how does that work...

Third, where does investment in Heath affect damage?

Thanks ... I've only played a bit and just wondering how all this works

Asayre · February 2017

Your max stamina and magicka increase the damage of both abilities and base weapons. In general abilities damage of abilities that cost stamina will increase with max stamina and weapon damage. Bows, swords, axes and mauls are considered stamina weapons. Damage of abilities that cost magicka will increase with max magicka and spell damage.

Health does not affect the damage you do.

kadar · February 2017

Chronicburn wrote: »

So just a follow-up ... take a class like Templar for instance... I should choose to either use stamina skills and max my stamina, OR magic skills and max my magic?

I'm guessing that means say if I max stamina then the skills that use magic will become relatively weak and useless as I get higher in the game?

Also, I'm guessing staves would be the only weapon whose damage is base on my max magic?

@Chronicburn
Correct. The statement I highlighted is true only with damaging abilities. Stamina builds (that stack stamina and weapon damage) still use abilities that cost Magicka when the primary purpose of those abilities is not damage. For example Stamina DKs all cast Igneous Shield (a magicka skill) for various buffs that it grants.

Because of how damage is tied to your resource pool, it's almost always ineffective to have a well rounded (aka hybrid) build. You want to be well rounded in another sense, as in having damage, sustain, mitigation, ect. but it needs to be based on either Magicka OR Stamina for maximum effect.

Semi-related: an Ultimate's damage scales off whatever your highest resource pool is. BUT, you will not receive the beneficial effects of Champion points if you use a physical (stamina + wpn dmg) damage Ultimate on a Magicka character. This is why you'll occasionally see a Magicka build using a physical damage Ult like Dawnbreaker with a decent rate of success. And vice versa, Stamina builds can use Magick/Elemental damage Ults like Meteor to decent effect.

Typing this all out I realize how complex some of this stuff is.... Hope this was helpful!

Asayre · February 2017

If you have a stamina NB you shouldn't use Strife as that damage depends on your magicka and spell damage which should be low for a stamina NB. The heal is a percentage of the damage done so it won't be much.

Chronicburn · February 2017

So just a follow-up ... take a class like Templar for instance... I should choose to either use stamina skills and max my stamina, OR magic skills and max my magic?

I'm guessing that means say if I max stamina then the skills that use magic will become relatively weak and useless as I get higher in the game?

Also, I'm guessing staves would be the only weapon whose damage is base on my max magic?

Chronicburn · February 2017

Ok thanks that helps a lot!

BUT ... another follow up :0)

Since you said this rule mainly pertains to damage abilities, if I have a stamina Templar, does this mean it's magical heals would still be effective (although amount of use limited by small magic pool) or will thier effect be diminished?

Also for a nightblade going stamina, would a skill like strife (magic based health drain) became useless as well? Shame if it does because it seems like such a nice way to stay in combat longer ...

Thanks for all the input on this , this stuff is kinda complicated for a noob :0)

kadar · February 2017

Chronicburn wrote: »

Ok thanks that helps a lot!

BUT ... another follow up :0)

Since you said this rule mainly pertains to damage abilities, if I have a stamina Templar, does this mean it's magical heals would still be effective (although amount of use limited by small magic pool) or will thier effect be diminished?

Also for a nightblade going stamina, would a skill like strife (magic based health drain) became useless as well? Shame if it does because it seems like such a nice way to stay in combat longer ...

Thanks for all the input on this , this stuff is kinda complicated for a noob :0)

lol you ask good questions. I was wrong. If you have a Stamina Templar your Magicka based damage and healing skills effects will be diminished. Skills that provide utility or buffs will still be useful even if they cost Magicka.

Chronicburn · February 2017

So I assume that goes the same for a stamina nightblade (is there any other lol?) trying to use the magic based skill strife ? By the time I hit 50 and pvp it will just tickle the enemy and won't heal me for anything useful?

Also if I take a magic skill and morph it to stamina I'm guessing it the works great with a stamina build?

Thanks again

Ishammael · February 2017

With just a few exceptions, all skills scale in the following manner:

COEF * (STAT + 10.46*DMG)

Where COEF is the coefficient of the skill, STAT is your maximum mana or stamina depending on which resource the skill costs, and DMG is either spell or weapon damage if the skill costs mana or stamina, respectively.

The exception to this rule are mainly shields (which just scale off your maximum stat) or any skill that stats otherwise (e.g. igneous sheild).

Chronicburn · February 2017

Ok I passed college algebra with a c ... 20 years ago ...

What I gather is that (if I am going stamina) then any skill that requires magic is basically going to be trash as the game goes on ... with the exception of a few utility or buff spells and ultimates?

Also I was asking specifically about nightblade strife because it uses magic but it is a drain instead of a traditional damage or heal , but since it uses magic should I lump it in with all the other magic skills and not use it for a stamina NB?

Chronicburn · February 2017

Thanks Asayre, that helps.

Also do you know of any site that categories this stuff, so I can see he skills that are ok to take regardless of whether I'm stam or magic (like those ones that work with both)?

The game is fun so far but I'm always looking for resources to get better.

Thanks again all 3 of you who replied!

kadar · February 2017

Chronicburn wrote: »

Thanks Asayre, that helps.

Also do you know of any site that categories this stuff, so I can see he skills that are ok to take regardless of whether I'm stam or magic (like those ones that work with both)?

The game is fun so far but I'm always looking for resources to get better.

Thanks again all 3 of you who replied!

Chronicburn wrote: »

What I gather is that (if I am going stamina) then any skill that requires magic is basically going to be trash as the game goes on ... with the exception of a few utility or buff spells and ultimates?

For your Stam Templar/NB, yes. I don't know of anything that categorizes them in that way, but you can find all the skill trees with their morphs online. For Stam Templar/NB you want damage and healing abilities that cost stam, or have morphs that cost stam.

I don't know Stamplars very well, Repentance is all I think of off the top of my head, maybe Ritual? But for NB: Grim Focus, Double Take/Mirage, Mass Hysteria, Shades, Siphoning Attacks, are all non-damaging/healing abilities that work very well for a Stamina build.

Asayre · February 2017

There is the UESP: ESO Skill Browser. If you click the "Show Skill Coefficient" it will say something like

$1 = 0.01479 Magicka + 0.15568 SpellDamage + 6.51576
Magicka, R2 = 0.99999, Ratio = 10.53

which means that particular skill's (Puncturing Sweeps here) damage increases with magicka and spell damage.

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