Soooo... [Morrowind] Magblades... and how they work now in BG

Artis · June 2017

I 'm trying war maiden+transmutation. Idk, feels like too many oneshots despite the healing ward and transmutation buff. Overall, haven't PvPed since winter, and now after Morrowind started again... It just doesn't feel fun, and I feel like I'm weak and everyone oneshots me. And I mean - in seconds. Sometimes can't survive CC-breaking animation. No idea who complained about cp and said it will be more fun. Longer fights were way more fun that this. Not heavy attacking all the time in PvE was way more fun too.

I will keep trying a little longer - maybe it's just cause it's new - but so far I really feel that I can't do anything compared to some. They one shot in seconds, just using skills one at a time, while strife seems to be super slow and weak compared to them. Like you meet a templar or stam dk, put degeneration and attack-weave your first strife and die - and that won't even scratch them. They will just spam jabs or uppecut (and leap if it's up sometimes) - and that will tear through all my defenses. Hots won't help, ward won't help. If a CC lands on me - I won't finish cc breaking.

Can anyone share some info? What else should be done except for having heals/ward up, not to get oneshotted? I feel like after not playing so long , I don't understand something fundamentally.

kadar · June 2017

Artis wrote: »

I 'm trying war maiden+transmutation. Idk, feels like too many oneshots despite the healing ward and transmutation buff. Overall, haven't PvPed since winter, and now after Morrowind started again... It just doesn't feel fun, and I feel like I'm weak and everyone oneshots me. And I mean - in seconds. Sometimes can't survive CC-breaking animation. No idea who complained about cp and said it will be more fun. Longer fights were way more fun that this. Not heavy attacking all the time in PvE was way more fun too.

I will keep trying a little longer - maybe it's just cause it's new - but so far I really feel that I can't do anything compared to some. They one shot in seconds, just using skills one at a time, while strife seems to be super slow and weak compared to them. Like you meet a templar or stam dk, put degeneration and attack-weave your first strife and die - and that won't even scratch them. They will just spam jabs or uppecut (and leap if it's up sometimes) - and that will tear through all my defenses. Hots won't help, ward won't help. If a CC lands on me - I won't finish cc breaking.

Can anyone share some info? What else should be done except for having heals/ward up, not to get oneshotted? I feel like after not playing so long , I don't understand something fundamentally.

Sounds like you're suffering from light armor squish syndrome. That's the sacrifice you make for running light-- when people dent your health, it's going to hurt.

I'm running a similar setup but with Heavy Julianos instead of War Maiden and I'm tanky as hell while maintaining solid damage. Could I do more? Absolutely. But then I'd likely be dead and doing zero damage...

en3rgumen · June 2017

NightbladeMechanics wrote: »

Xsorus wrote: »

LegacyDM wrote: »

Xsorus wrote: »

Kena you try Rattlecage/Trolls/War Maiden yet?

I've Tried this on my duel wield build. 5 pieces rattlecage on Jewlry and swords. Your better off going spinners on body instead of war maiden. I've found spinners to noticeably hit harder in pvp. The extra damage from maidens doesn't qualitatively seem to make or break sorc shields or actual shields any more than without. You could go trolls but I prefer Grothdarr or skoria over trolls since I'm a vamp for mist form and like the extra damage punch.

Was trying out War Maidens today, seems to do ok, I'll slap on Spinners on body and try it.

Though was doing 2 willpower/war/rattle

Groth might be pretty decent for extra damage.

I definitely notice Maiden/Necro's extra damage versus shields compared to Spinner, but Spinner is a bit more than those sets when not attacking shields. I was switching between Maiden and Spinner yesterday trying to decide which I prefer on my front bar. Spinner is probably better.

Kena, With Spinner/Necro/Maiden front bar, do you have Riposte Back bar ?

NightbladeMechanics · June 2017

en3rgumen wrote: »

NightbladeMechanics wrote: »

Xsorus wrote: »

LegacyDM wrote: »

Xsorus wrote: »

Kena you try Rattlecage/Trolls/War Maiden yet?

I've Tried this on my duel wield build. 5 pieces rattlecage on Jewlry and swords. Your better off going spinners on body instead of war maiden. I've found spinners to noticeably hit harder in pvp. The extra damage from maidens doesn't qualitatively seem to make or break sorc shields or actual shields any more than without. You could go trolls but I prefer Grothdarr or skoria over trolls since I'm a vamp for mist form and like the extra damage punch.

Was trying out War Maidens today, seems to do ok, I'll slap on Spinners on body and try it.

Though was doing 2 willpower/war/rattle

Groth might be pretty decent for extra damage.

I definitely notice Maiden/Necro's extra damage versus shields compared to Spinner, but Spinner is a bit more than those sets when not attacking shields. I was switching between Maiden and Spinner yesterday trying to decide which I prefer on my front bar. Spinner is probably better.

Kena, With Spinner/Necro/Maiden front bar, do you have Riposte Back bar ?

Affirmative. It's a long debuff with no internal cooldown. Makes for a great back bar set.

DeHei · June 2017

CavalryPK wrote: »

Major streamers and other well known magbaldes in our community resonate the feeling that currently the Magblade is the worst pvp class in this update. As in they have been gutted to oblivion. Did any one of you managed to put something together that performs on par with other classes in battlegrounds/open workd?

And if you know of any videos . please let me know I would like to see.

Let us, Magblades, united and explorer all options possible to make this playable. I spent almost all my playtime theory crafting potential builds for my magblade. And end up torn between stamina management and damage ....

lastly, I tried light armor in BGs.... I cannot make it work with only 1 shield.

I run most time on my templar with light armor too. It works well for bgs! Same should work with nightblade well too

Notice: Full damage works better for survivalbility and burstdamage! For sustain are 1k reg and heavy attacks enough, if you know how to play that

Knootewoot · June 2017

Artis wrote: »

I 'm trying war maiden+transmutation. Idk, feels like too many oneshots despite the healing ward and transmutation buff. Overall, haven't PvPed since winter, and now after Morrowind started again... It just doesn't feel fun, and I feel like I'm weak and everyone oneshots me. And I mean - in seconds. Sometimes can't survive CC-breaking animation. No idea who complained about cp and said it will be more fun. Longer fights were way more fun that this. Not heavy attacking all the time in PvE was way more fun too.

I will keep trying a little longer - maybe it's just cause it's new - but so far I really feel that I can't do anything compared to some. They one shot in seconds, just using skills one at a time, while strife seems to be super slow and weak compared to them. Like you meet a templar or stam dk, put degeneration and attack-weave your first strife and die - and that won't even scratch them. They will just spam jabs or uppecut (and leap if it's up sometimes) - and that will tear through all my defenses. Hots won't help, ward won't help. If a CC lands on me - I won't finish cc breaking.

Can anyone share some info? What else should be done except for having heals/ward up, not to get oneshotted? I feel like after not playing so long , I don't understand something fundamentally.

I have EXACTLY the same problem as you. Even if i do full heavy armor all impenetrable. Some stamina guy comes along and just one- or two-shots me or i cannot break free.

I tried warmaiden and transmutation also to no avail. Even with my pathetic 6 seconds shields (harness magicka and ward) there is no way to survive. I once switched to stamblade and put on viper+velidreth stacked all damage to max and let the one shot arrows fly away yeah fun.
No, i switched back to magblade but really struggle in PvP. Guess it's siege duty for me and off-healing.

Tawrich · June 2017

Ok so yesterday I got lucky and got 2 riposte defending restoration staves from BG boxes.

I had some fears about riposte set back bar, about it needing too much micro management and being clunky, but after I played with it, I can confirm that:

If u go War maiden/Riposte + Monster:

1. Ur damage will be so insane you will end up being confused when ur enemies die, did I really do that damage?

2. U will survive ganks as long as the gank attempt was done when u were on back bar so u apply the debuff (and if they dont crit, u are not at risk anyway unless u got really low hp).

3. Its certainly worth golding out.

I see many talking about spinner, I have the fire destro since one tamriel, but Im not sure if its worth using instead of war maiden, cuz shield spamming sorcs surprisingly are still a problem and war maiden helps alot with that while spinner's wont, and Im sure many NBs use some form of penetration debuff anyway, be it piercing mark or ele drain, so that already gives a total of 15K pen, Im not really sure if going more than that is a waste of stat or not, cuz u will always get value out of added spell damage, but from lots of penetration? sometimes u do and sometimes u dont.

Moral of the story : Warmaiden + Riposte = tgm (thanks again Kena!)

Artis · June 2017

The_Outsider wrote: »

Artis wrote: »

I 'm trying war maiden+transmutation. Idk, feels like too many oneshots despite the healing ward and transmutation buff. Overall, haven't PvPed since winter, and now after Morrowind started again... It just doesn't feel fun, and I feel like I'm weak and everyone oneshots me. And I mean - in seconds. Sometimes can't survive CC-breaking animation. No idea who complained about cp and said it will be more fun. Longer fights were way more fun that this. Not heavy attacking all the time in PvE was way more fun too.

I will keep trying a little longer - maybe it's just cause it's new - but so far I really feel that I can't do anything compared to some. They one shot in seconds, just using skills one at a time, while strife seems to be super slow and weak compared to them. Like you meet a templar or stam dk, put degeneration and attack-weave your first strife and die - and that won't even scratch them. They will just spam jabs or uppecut (and leap if it's up sometimes) - and that will tear through all my defenses. Hots won't help, ward won't help. If a CC lands on me - I won't finish cc breaking.

Can anyone share some info? What else should be done except for having heals/ward up, not to get oneshotted? I feel like after not playing so long , I don't understand something fundamentally.

Sounds like you're suffering from light armor squish syndrome. That's the sacrifice you make for running light-- when people dent your health, it's going to hurt.

I'm running a similar setup but with Heavy Julianos instead of War Maiden and I'm tanky as hell while maintaining solid damage. Could I do more? Absolutely. But then I'd likely be dead and doing zero damage...

Very likely. Never played in it + never played no CP before. I tried heavy alchemist and spinner and would just run out of resources too fast, so then I saw this thread and started trying war maiden+transmutation. I was thinking, transmutation will make me tanky and feels almost like heavy armor? It doesn't feel like that at all for me

So I came here for help.

Anyone got tips on what to do? Sounds like this setup works well for a lot of you.

bubbygink · June 2017

Tawrich wrote: »

I see many talking about spinner, I have the fire destro since one tamriel, but Im not sure if its worth using instead of war maiden, cuz shield spamming sorcs surprisingly are still a problem and war maiden helps alot with that while spinner's wont, and Im sure many NBs use some form of penetration debuff anyway, be it piercing mark or ele drain, so that already gives a total of 15K pen, Im not really sure if going more than that is a waste of stat or not, cuz u will always get value out of added spell damage, but from lots of penetration? sometimes u do and sometimes u dont.

I was thinking the same thing with regard to penetration. In BGs I'll be running with a Stamplar who is very good at keeping PoL on targets which applies minor breach and I get major breach from Ele Drain. I run sharpened and light armor too so this gives a total penetration of 5160 + 5280 + 4884 + 1320 = 16644. I feel like the extra 4000 pen from Spinners would only be useful against heavy armor targets who do not use shield. I'm thinking these will be pretty rare in BGs (though this assumption may ultimately prove to be wrong).

Necro requires shade which I prefer not to run unless I'm dueling. So IMO War Maiden is the best offensive set for Magblade in Morrowind. But Necro and Spinners are both still very competitive. But I think 2 Skoria + 5 War Maiden + a 5 piece sustain/utility set that you can backbar is the way to go for BGs.

Artis · June 2017

Seriously though, can anyone say how WM+transmutation is supposed to work? Trying more tonight - one-shots during the knockback animation and such. Oneshots with all defensive buffs up. It might be one of the best combos, but then how bad are the ones that are worse? Or is there a way to make it work that I don't know? Didn't have any complaints before morrowind when no one played NBs and they were considered the weakest. People say they are buffed now, but what's going? How to play it now? Seriously don't get it. Really need help.

NightbladeMechanics · June 2017

Artis wrote: »

Seriously though, can anyone say how WM+transmutation is supposed to work? Trying more tonight - one-shots during the knockback animation and such. Oneshots with all defensive buffs up. It might be one of the best combos, but then how bad are the ones that are worse? Or is there a way to make it work that I don't know? Didn't have any complaints before morrowind when no one played NBs and they were considered the weakest. People say they are buffed now, but what's going? How to play it now? Seriously don't get it. Really need help.

I run around in light armor with all sorts of people beating on my in my last vid. Check that out.

First thing that comes to mind is you still need to be blocking high damage attacks. Are you blocking properly?

Artis · June 2017

NightbladeMechanics wrote: »

Artis wrote: »

Seriously though, can anyone say how WM+transmutation is supposed to work? Trying more tonight - one-shots during the knockback animation and such. Oneshots with all defensive buffs up. It might be one of the best combos, but then how bad are the ones that are worse? Or is there a way to make it work that I don't know? Didn't have any complaints before morrowind when no one played NBs and they were considered the weakest. People say they are buffed now, but what's going? How to play it now? Seriously don't get it. Really need help.

I run around in light armor with all sorts of people beating on my in my last vid. Check that out.

First thing that comes to mind is you still need to be blocking high damage attacks. Are you blocking properly?

I'm not sure, maybe I'm not. Could you please give some tips about that?

I saw your video, nice fights

But I just have no idea why you are taking no damage. I'll rewatch it again when I have time and come back.

I'm assuming it's a CP campaign? You have a lot of stats. What enchants, food etc do you run (should I run?) in no cp and what are you stats roughly?

Thanks in advance!

Knootewoot · June 2017

bubbygink wrote: »

Tawrich wrote: »

I see many talking about spinner, I have the fire destro since one tamriel, but Im not sure if its worth using instead of war maiden, cuz shield spamming sorcs surprisingly are still a problem and war maiden helps alot with that while spinner's wont, and Im sure many NBs use some form of penetration debuff anyway, be it piercing mark or ele drain, so that already gives a total of 15K pen, Im not really sure if going more than that is a waste of stat or not, cuz u will always get value out of added spell damage, but from lots of penetration? sometimes u do and sometimes u dont.

I was thinking the same thing with regard to penetration. In BGs I'll be running with a Stamplar who is very good at keeping PoL on targets which applies minor breach and I get major breach from Ele Drain. I run sharpened and light armor too so this gives a total penetration of 5160 + 5280 + 4884 + 1320 = 16644. I feel like the extra 4000 pen from Spinners would only be useful against heavy armor targets who do not use shield. I'm thinking these will be pretty rare in BGs (though this assumption may ultimately prove to be wrong).

Necro requires shade which I prefer not to run unless I'm dueling. So IMO War Maiden is the best offensive set for Magblade in Morrowind. But Necro and Spinners are both still very competitive. But I think 2 Skoria + 5 War Maiden + a 5 piece sustain/utility set that you can backbar is the way to go for BGs.

What about 5* warmaiden and 5* spinner all front bar and a random staff or dual wield.

I haven't got the change to do any BG so I doubt I ever get riposte so I might go WM + transmutation backbar when I go back to PVP.

NightbladeMechanics · June 2017

Artis wrote: »

NightbladeMechanics wrote: »

Artis wrote: »

Seriously though, can anyone say how WM+transmutation is supposed to work? Trying more tonight - one-shots during the knockback animation and such. Oneshots with all defensive buffs up. It might be one of the best combos, but then how bad are the ones that are worse? Or is there a way to make it work that I don't know? Didn't have any complaints before morrowind when no one played NBs and they were considered the weakest. People say they are buffed now, but what's going? How to play it now? Seriously don't get it. Really need help.

I run around in light armor with all sorts of people beating on my in my last vid. Check that out.

First thing that comes to mind is you still need to be blocking high damage attacks. Are you blocking properly?

I'm not sure, maybe I'm not. Could you please give some tips about that?

I saw your video, nice fights But I just have no idea why you are taking no damage. I'll rewatch it again when I have time and come back.

I'm assuming it's a CP campaign? You have a lot of stats. What enchants, food etc do you run (should I run?) in no cp and what are you stats roughly?

Thanks in advance!

I am taking tons of damage, actually. My health jumps up and down all the time. Watch as people gap close to me, or big attacks like frag or dizzying swing come in. I block a LOT, but only for an instant each time.

Basically, reserve enough stam to break free at all times, but make a point to never be at full stam. Block high damage attacks, or any blockable cc that you see coming as long as doing so won't put you under what you need to break free.

Those clips were from CP, but I play the same in no CP, just with a little more sustain. I run a lot of prismatics, mostly Witchmother's (although I hate losing all those stats), and all damage glyphs at all times. My health is high and magicka is low because I'm Argonian, and I use the Ritual when I'm looking to heal-tank like that. Otherwise I use the Shadow in CP and Thief in no CP.

Edit: Oh, also look for fears timed as people jump on me, breaking their aggression, and weaving in healing wards even when not particularly low on health.

en3rgumen · June 2017

Practice makes perfect.

Even with the same build, you can't be as good as Kena because he's an exprienced PVPer.

Builds don't alleviate the lack of skill/experience.

I use his most tanky build Riposte / Trans / Skoria and can't recover from time to time.

It's a build, you have to adjust to your playstyle.

By the way, the more i watch Kena vidz, the more i learn !

bubbygink · June 2017

Knootewoot wrote: »

What about 5* warmaiden and 5* spinner all front bar and a random staff or dual wield.

I haven't got the change to do any BG so I doubt I ever get riposte so I might go WM + transmutation backbar when I go back to PVP.

5 war maiden + 5 spinner would give great stats, and your spectral bows would hit like a truck. But in no-CP, I think Skoria is just way too good to give up if you are focusing on doing damage. Also, if you do 2 offensive sets you will have to change some jewelry glyphs around most likely, which is ok to do if you want. But I much prefer the 2 skoria + 5 offensive set front bar + 5 sustain/utility set back bar. Skoria + WM + trans is an excellent setup IMO. If you use prismatic glyphs (very good in no CP) you could probably get away with using withmothers and would be able to sustain very well.

I already have players running riposte and trans in my BGs group so think I will go with 2 skoria + 5 war maiden + 5 lich using all prismatic glyphs and withmothers potent brew (would love to do trifood but gotta see how my sustain is - lich may allow for it). Then probably thief mundus but may play around a bit with shadow - my crit will probably be too low but shadowy disguise (which I am finally putting back on my bar) guaranteeing a crit may still make shadow interesting for me.

Artis · June 2017

NightbladeMechanics wrote: »

Artis wrote: »

NightbladeMechanics wrote: »

Artis wrote: »

Seriously though, can anyone say how WM+transmutation is supposed to work? Trying more tonight - one-shots during the knockback animation and such. Oneshots with all defensive buffs up. It might be one of the best combos, but then how bad are the ones that are worse? Or is there a way to make it work that I don't know? Didn't have any complaints before morrowind when no one played NBs and they were considered the weakest. People say they are buffed now, but what's going? How to play it now? Seriously don't get it. Really need help.

I run around in light armor with all sorts of people beating on my in my last vid. Check that out.

First thing that comes to mind is you still need to be blocking high damage attacks. Are you blocking properly?

I'm not sure, maybe I'm not. Could you please give some tips about that?

I saw your video, nice fights But I just have no idea why you are taking no damage. I'll rewatch it again when I have time and come back.

I'm assuming it's a CP campaign? You have a lot of stats. What enchants, food etc do you run (should I run?) in no cp and what are you stats roughly?

Thanks in advance!

I am taking tons of damage, actually. My health jumps up and down all the time. Watch as people gap close to me, or big attacks like frag or dizzying swing come in. I block a LOT, but only for an instant each time.

Basically, reserve enough stam to break free at all times, but make a point to never be at full stam. Block high damage attacks, or any blockable cc that you see coming as long as doing so won't put you under what you need to break free.

Those clips were from CP, but I play the same in no CP, just with a little more sustain. I run a lot of prismatics, mostly Witchmother's (although I hate losing all those stats), and all damage glyphs at all times. My health is high and magicka is low because I'm Argonian, and I use the Ritual when I'm looking to heal-tank like that. Otherwise I use the Shadow in CP and Thief in no CP.

Edit: Oh, also look for fears timed as people jump on me, breaking their aggression, and weaving in healing wards even when not particularly low on health.

Thanks. Yeah I see that the health jumps. But it actually does that so rarely. And things like around 5th min or so? That's a guaranteed oneshot. One dragon leap or microstun from charge - and it's over. I play a breton and 3 of my stats are lower. Including magicka with all magicka glyphs. With potent brew+transmutation+wm+skoria my hp is under 20k maybe. And the magicka is around 30k. I could be wrong and I'll check when I'm in game but I believe it's somewhere around that.

The problem with blocking is I try to block only certain skills too. But it takes just a couple of them in a row and I can't block anymore. Not to mention the unblockable CC. I don't hold block if that's what you meant. I press to block something and then release.

Metemsycosis · June 2017

Has fun in bg today. Tried 5 trans/ 5 amberplasm /2 skoria, five impen pieces plus proc.
Dw/ resto
Sustained damage is better on cp but ok without cp, some of the burst there is more like pressure. Merciless plus soul assault worked well except against devoted tankers. The sustain though is excellent and I rarely found myself out of resources. Gotta watch out for Selene and viper from stealth however since my set up is 5 light.

HEBREWHAMMERRR · June 2017

Still quietly running my ice staff tremorscale magblade build and thriving. Haven't seen anyone else try this but it is absolutely slaying BGs. Averaging around 4-500k damage consistently around 30-40k healing in BGs. I was worried sustain would hurt me but I switched from shadow to atro mundus and haven't had to change anything else. May add recov on jewelry but for the time being I haven't seen any reason to. The reduced time for heavy attacks means I can kick out more tremorscale procs and the light attack buffs makes it feel almost more bursty now than ever before. Clunkiness of spectral bow procs hurts but still able to throw out 9-12k bow crits which is awesome for target switches.

Waffennacht · June 2017

HEBREWHAMMERRR wrote: »

Still quietly running my ice staff tremorscale magblade build and thriving. Haven't seen anyone else try this but it is absolutely slaying BGs. Averaging around 4-500k damage consistently around 30-40k healing in BGs. I was worried sustain would hurt me but I switched from shadow to atro mundus and haven't had to change anything else. May add recov on jewelry but for the time being I haven't seen any reason to. The reduced time for heavy attacks means I can kick out more tremorscale procs and the light attack buffs makes it feel almost more bursty now than ever before. Clunkiness of spectral bow procs hurts but still able to throw out 9-12k bow crits which is awesome for target switches.

I had tried and failed with this idea, mind posting your build? I'd love to see how you got it done

HEBREWHAMMERRR · June 2017

Waffennacht wrote: »

HEBREWHAMMERRR wrote: »

Still quietly running my ice staff tremorscale magblade build and thriving. Haven't seen anyone else try this but it is absolutely slaying BGs. Averaging around 4-500k damage consistently around 30-40k healing in BGs. I was worried sustain would hurt me but I switched from shadow to atro mundus and haven't had to change anything else. May add recov on jewelry but for the time being I haven't seen any reason to. The reduced time for heavy attacks means I can kick out more tremorscale procs and the light attack buffs makes it feel almost more bursty now than ever before. Clunkiness of spectral bow procs hurts but still able to throw out 9-12k bow crits which is awesome for target switches.

I had tried and failed with this idea, mind posting your build? I'd love to see how you got it done

Pretty standard, really..clever alchemist resto, spinners with ice staff + tremorscale. I run full impen for surviability. Bars are all really customizable with how you want them.

Front bar I've been running swallow soul for bgs but full on damage I prefer crushing shock. Merciless obviously, crippling, cloak, inner light. W/ soul assault

Back bar, healing ward, harness magicka, double take (may try other morph since I use crippling?), mass hysteria, and siphoning strikes. W/ soul harvest

I haven't had a chance to really play around with new changes, specifically curious on stam siphoning ability and adding ele drain..I just literally went, changed my mundus to atro and stepped in with same exact built and it's been impressing myself. I'm still collecting riposte because I think I will really like that set with trans, especially for group buffs but this is over performing my expectations and I'm really having a blast with it. Here's a small clip pre Morrowind.

http://xboxdvr.com/gamer/HEBREW HAMMERRR/video/31591855

Benn G x · June 2017

Has anyone tried a DW Melee Magblade this patch yet?
I had some success in BGs with mine but gonna change the gear a bit, War Maiden will probably be best choice. I can't find a monster set I like though so I'm running 1 Kena 1 Chokethorn, and can sustain fine with that witchmothers and atro.

I did try selenes for BGs as there's no CP, but it doesn't seem to proc from the Magic Counterparts to ambush/surprise attack which is a shame.

NightbladeMechanics · June 2017

Benn G x wrote: »

Has anyone tried a DW Melee Magblade this patch yet?
I had some success in BGs with mine but gonna change the gear a bit, War Maiden will probably be best choice. I can't find a monster set I like though so I'm running 1 Kena 1 Chokethorn, and can sustain fine with that witchmothers and atro.

I did try selenes for BGs as there's no CP, but it doesn't seem to proc from the Magic Counterparts to ambush/surprise attack which is a shame.

Try using fire and shock glyphs on your swords. Direct damage enchants proc Selene's independently too. I love Selene's on dw mageblade this patch.

Dottzgaming · June 2017

NightbladeMechanics wrote: »

Dottzgaming wrote: »

NightbladeMechanics wrote: »

en3rgumen wrote: »

Best 2h builds:
Necro + Pelinal's + 1 Kena with weapon damage glyphs, using Forward Momentum as your buff

Hi Kena, thank you for your post ; by the way i'm intrigued by the 2H build.

Is this the gank build using Onslaugth ultimate ?

if no, can you explain to me how it works ?

No it isn't, and sure I'll be happy to. First, the bars are very specific for two different kill combos:

2h bar:
Forward Momentum
Concealed Weapon
Shadowy Disguise
Fear
Merciless/Lotus Fan
Soul Harvest/Incap

Resto:
Cripple
Shadow Image
Healing Ward
Merciless/Flex
Swallow Soul/Funnel Health/Flex
Resto ult/Soul Tether

My 2h/Resto bars look really similar to this so im glad to know i was on the right track lol. Main noticeable difference is im using Soul Tether over Soul Harvest on the front bar because without it you have no front bar siphoning ability.

Curious as to why you arent running one on your front bar. Granted, Running incap/Soul harvest makes your burst windows quicker because you dont need to generate nearly as much ultimate to fire those off as you do with Tether, but is that worth losing 8% max magicka?

No it isn't. I meant to type Soul Tether, not Harvest, and missed it. Full 2h heavy with Follow Up > Soul Tether > Assassin's Will is a great kill combo. That's what I tend to prefer on the 2h build because I have to fit in Momentum. Thank you for the observation.

The other bar variation sticks Merciless back bar and Cripple front bar, allowing the use of Incap. Fitting that Siphoning ability on your front bar is not always easy, but you should always do it. Don't worry, you were thinking along the right track.

So i have been trying something similar to this 2h build in BGs and i really find myself struggling. 1v1 is perfectly fine; but when im 1vX'ing i just cant live. Also i have ALOT of trouble with stamblades, i get on the back foot and i cant recover. The viper + selenes procs just feel like too much to handle.

While im playing i feel like i NEED to be running mirage or double take, because just using ward as a defensive i feel like ive been struggling with, but i know its just me needing to improve. If you have any tips it would really help!

Im running the Kena + Necro + Pelenials. My bars are:
Cripple
Concealed
Forward Momentum
Shadowy Disguise
Fear
Soul Harvest (might switch to incap. thoughts?)

Swallow Soul
Siphoning Strikes (tried playing without this and i cant sustain my magicka, i have no idea how you play without it lol thats impressive. Should i leave this? replace it? how do you sustain without it?)
Merciless Resolve
Healing Ward
Shade
Light's Champion

The build is fun and i really really want to learn and improve at it, so any tips (about abilities and general playstyle) would be greatly appreciated!

On a side note, could a Proxy Det bomber build work in bgs or is that really just cyro only?

Benn G x · June 2017

NightbladeMechanics wrote: »

Benn G x wrote: »

Has anyone tried a DW Melee Magblade this patch yet?
I had some success in BGs with mine but gonna change the gear a bit, War Maiden will probably be best choice. I can't find a monster set I like though so I'm running 1 Kena 1 Chokethorn, and can sustain fine with that witchmothers and atro.

I did try selenes for BGs as there's no CP, but it doesn't seem to proc from the Magic Counterparts to ambush/surprise attack which is a shame.

Selene's definitely does proc a ton on those abilities. Also try using fire and shock glyphs on your swords. Direct damage enchants proc Selene's independently too. I love Selene's on dw mageblade this patch.

Really? I tried myself went and stood attacking mammoths for 20 mins spamming each ability to see if they would proc selene, nothing did only the light attacks from swords.

I just tried again, it definitely does not proc from concealed/lotus fan and only the light attacks you weave inbetwen.

Omnipresent · June 2017

If your going to bring any sort of NB to BG you will have to lean towards more defense then in cyro because your on the clock and theres not alot of time to be sneaking around. Hey unless you plan to 1-shot everyone including the guy behind you with a knife out lol. you would have to work on a build for it and you would get pummeled in the process in almost certain

Benn G x · June 2017

Omnipresent wrote: »

If your going to bring any sort of NB to BG you will have to lean towards more defense then in cyro because your on the clock and theres not alot of time to be sneaking around. Hey unless you plan to 1-shot everyone including the guy behind you with a knife out lol. you would have to work on a build for it and you would get pummeled in the process in almost certain

NBs are the strongest imo, both magblade and stamblade alike do very well in BGs

bubbygink · June 2017

Omnipresent wrote: »

If your going to bring any sort of NB to BG you will have to lean towards more defense then in cyro because your on the clock and theres not alot of time to be sneaking around. Hey unless you plan to 1-shot everyone including the guy behind you with a knife out lol. you would have to work on a build for it and you would get pummeled in the process in almost certain

I feel very solid about magblade in BGs right now - they feel so versatile. Need some damage? Spectral bow, skoria, and our DoTs put out plenty - on par with any class in my experience. Need healing? From path, funnel, and the occasional healing ward my healing is on par or better than most magplars I see (that aren't full healing specced). Need somebody to run around and search for the power sigil or sneak by the enemy to capture the flag (and run it back with speed/immov pots)? There is no better tool for that than cloak. Need some help with control? Fear is the best CC in the game and cripple is an excellent ranged snare to help with flag runners or a pesky opponent. We can really excel in any area.

Other observations:

Cloak is back! Absolutely loving this skill again, it is amazing for BGs. Love nothing more than to stay in the shadows as the two opposing teams fight it out and the throw in an impale here and there when one of the opponents get low. I know people rage about mag sorcs on other teams stealing kills but a magblade with impale and cloak can be just as good at this. Also, as mentioned above it is great for capture the flag and domination games where you may just need to sneak by a whole team to get to the objective. Also the guaranteed crit seems more valuable to me with the lowered native crit chance in BGs.
On that note, impale is amazing in BGs, in particular in team death match with all the endless furry kill-stealing mag sorcs. Watch for a target nearing execute range and nail them with an impale when they are at, say, 23% health and sorry enemy sorc, thats my kill now.
Leeching strikes is the way to go IMO. With this morph and with prismatic glyphs to give me respectable max stam, I rarely have an issue with stam in BGs. It isn't as easy to top of stam as it was previously but it still allows me to play pretty similar to how I used to and not have to worry about running out of stam. Admittedly, I am still getting used to the mechanics here but it feels great CC breaking, realizing I only have 1k stam and then recasting my leeching strikes to see my stam jump back to 4-4.5k.
I feel pretty survivable in light with all my HoTs to keep me up, the stam sustain from leeching strikes, and the ability to cloak out of sticky situations. This is helpful in all game modes of course but particularly in closely contested team death matches - I can usually keep my deaths down pretty low even when I find myself stuck with a bad team in solo queue.

In short, you won't find many other classes that will consistently put up numbers like 750k damage and 250k healing while also being able to get a lot of killing blows with few deaths, all while also being very capable of pushing objectives. Obvsiouly, any class can do well in the hands of a good player but I can guarentee you, you're not going to see a mag sorc put up 300k healing in a match. Was pretty concerned initially with how magblades would play out in BGs but feeling very positive after having done about 40 or so matches.

Dottzgaming · June 2017

bubbygink wrote: »

Omnipresent wrote: »

If your going to bring any sort of NB to BG you will have to lean towards more defense then in cyro because your on the clock and theres not alot of time to be sneaking around. Hey unless you plan to 1-shot everyone including the guy behind you with a knife out lol. you would have to work on a build for it and you would get pummeled in the process in almost certain

I feel very solid about magblade in BGs right now - they feel so versatile. Need some damage? Spectral bow, skoria, and our DoTs put out plenty - on par with any class in my experience. Need healing? From path, funnel, and the occasional healing ward my healing is on par or better than most magplars I see (that aren't full healing specced). Need somebody to run around and search for the power sigil or sneak by the enemy to capture the flag (and run it back with speed/immov pots)? There is no better tool for that than cloak. Need some help with control? Fear is the best CC in the game and cripple is an excellent ranged snare to help with flag runners or a pesky opponent. We can really excel in any area.

Other observations:
Cloak is back! Absolutely loving this skill again, it is amazing for BGs. Love nothing more than to stay in the shadows as the two opposing teams fight it out and the throw in an impale here and there when one of the opponents get low. I know people rage about mag sorcs on other teams stealing kills but a magblade with impale and cloak can be just as good at this. Also, as mentioned above it is great for capture the flag and domination games where you may just need to sneak by a whole team to get to the objective. Also the guaranteed crit seems more valuable to me with the lowered native crit chance in BGs.

On that note, impale is amazing in BGs, in particular in team death match with all the endless furry kill-stealing mag sorcs. Watch for a target nearing execute range and nail them with an impale when they are at, say, 23% health and sorry enemy sorc, thats my kill now.

Leeching strikes is the way to go IMO. With this morph and with prismatic glyphs to give me respectable max stam, I rarely have an issue with stam in BGs. It isn't as easy to top of stam as it was previously but it still allows me to play pretty similar to how I used to and not have to worry about running out of stam. Admittedly, I am still getting used to the mechanics here but it feels great CC breaking, realizing I only have 1k stam and then recasting my leeching strikes to see my stam jump back to 4-4.5k.

I feel pretty survivable in light with all my HoTs to keep me up, the stam sustain from leeching strikes, and the ability to cloak out of sticky situations. This is helpful in all game modes of course but particularly in closely contested team death matches - I can usually keep my deaths down pretty low even when I find myself stuck with a bad team in solo queue.

In short, you won't find many other classes that will consistently put up numbers like 750k damage and 250k healing while also being able to get a lot of killing blows with few deaths, all while also being very capable of pushing objectives. Obvsiouly, any class can do well in the hands of a good player but I can guarentee you, you're not going to see a mag sorc put up 300k healing in a match. Was pretty concerned initially with out magblades would play out in BGs but feeling very positive after having done about 40 or so matches.

yeah thats from a destro perspective though, which im not the biggest fan of tbh. even though it's the best, i prefer a melee magblade playstyle

NightbladeMechanics · June 2017

Benn G x wrote: »

NightbladeMechanics wrote: »

Benn G x wrote: »

Has anyone tried a DW Melee Magblade this patch yet?
I had some success in BGs with mine but gonna change the gear a bit, War Maiden will probably be best choice. I can't find a monster set I like though so I'm running 1 Kena 1 Chokethorn, and can sustain fine with that witchmothers and atro.

I did try selenes for BGs as there's no CP, but it doesn't seem to proc from the Magic Counterparts to ambush/surprise attack which is a shame.

Selene's definitely does proc a ton on those abilities. Also try using fire and shock glyphs on your swords. Direct damage enchants proc Selene's independently too. I love Selene's on dw mageblade this patch.

Really? I tried myself went and stood attacking mammoths for 20 mins spamming each ability to see if they would proc selene, nothing did only the light attacks from swords.

I just tried again, it definitely does not proc from concealed/lotus fan and only the light attacks you weave inbetwen.

Nuuuuuuu I'll go test it. It does proc like crazy on dw mageblade with those enchants though. I suppose light attacks + enchants + Incap is what's doing it, but if Selene's isn't proccing on concealed and lotus, that's a bug that should be reported.

Edit: tested. Concealed and lotus don't proc Selene's at all. That SUCKS. Oh well, bug reported and chalked up to ZOS coding...

"Direct melee damage" apparently doesn't include magicka.