i have 1 mag & 1 stam from each class, 1 healer & 1 tank. i have no difficulty completing quests on any of my characters, and neither will you

when people refer to stam not being optimised they are refering to end game trial situations only, and stam have always been able to complete the content, just not necicerrily as quickly and of course using different techniques

in summary, you dont need to worry about builds & your DPS when questing, use the time to get to know your character & their skills.

I main a stamblade. I love my stamblade. I pvp and pve with my stamblade. I actually have a second stamblade just to wear the old stamblade gear I like but don't use. I find playing a stam DK not unlike being constipated, lol. So I am biased.

A stamblade is an UTTERLY different playstyle than your sorc. It will take a long time to learn and adapt, fair warning. Mitigating damage with a sorc means shields. With a NB it's about dodging, cloaking, sneaking and kiting. When players accustomed to other classes start a stamblade, they often approach fights the same way and get slaughtered.

But when played well, they have off the charts dps, excellent sustain (which takes planning and strategy) and good resource management. And I find them really fun. I also feel that I have more play style variety than with my magsorc. Like I can gear my stamblade to be a bow master, a sneak thief, a melee assassin, etc. they play quite different.

They can solo most everything meant to be solo. I run mine alone through normal undaunted dungeons for fun. I love him in pvp. I don't enjoy vmsa with him...a little too hard to be fun. Stam has suffered in trials all year, but I think this update starts to address that. The raw power of caltrops and some other changes are going to boost all stam builds...then resource scarcity is going to bring Sorcs and magplars down a step. (And resource management is where NBs shine, so this will be a big boost to their performance).

But before endgame, they're great at all the quest pve content. A challenge at first, there's a learning curve. But when you get the hang of them, they're fast, lethal and fun. Also...while you need xp to level...it's not like you need to kill every trash mob in the game. My NBs move through quests about 3x faster than other classes because of cloak and sneak. I can go into a delve and grab a shard without aggro-ing anything...if there was a shard left in the game for my nightblades, lol.

Be aware, a young stamblade has more "life cycles" than magsorcs. At first you're squishy, and your best abilities start out as magic (doh). These 5-6 skills have to be morphed before they begin truly performing. Example...my c600 surprise attack hits for 14k and costs nothing. (From sneak from behind it can hit for 45k). But it starts as a puny magic ability...veiled strike, I think. Stamblades also...for a variety of reasons...get really, really squishy between levels 42-49. It's the One Tam mechanics. If you had a stamblade he'd be literally three times as powerful when he went from level 49 to vet and c160'gear.

In pvp there's a learning curve too...big pros and cons. When I suit up to bow gank, I'm pulling 12k hits on unprepared victims. But in open terrain, I'm squishy. If caught off guard there, I've got to cloak and sneak away, or face a quick death. Fortunately, I'm a nightblade. I was knock backed off the Nickel balcony this weekend, fell onto the patio with 20 reds, and took 15k fall damage. Vigor...dodge roll...cloak...cloak...dodge roll...cloak...around the side and back in the door. I survived. There was some luck involved, but try that move with a DK, lol.

Thus ends this special message from The Nightblade Advertising Consortium.

Yep...long responses...it's server maintenance daynduring video game time, doh.

How do you handle packs of 2-3 mobs at low levels?

Run like hell!! Ha.

If you have the character slots, roll both and play them a little. Do a couple quests, run a delve. Most people who ask about which class decide firmly on one when they do this. Stam DKs are pack horses, stamblades are racing horses. I had horses when I was a kid...maybe that analogy makes more sense to me that it would others, lol. But anyway, for some people there are classes they just love or hate...try them both.

Because your main has CPs of some amount, that's going to strengthen any alt you create. They get to spend all of those points even as a level one. A high CP alt is 10x more powerful than a no CP alt. If you make a stamblade, you'll invest CPs in defense and that'll overcome his main weakness. A DK gets damage boosts, overcoming their drawbacks. Either one, check out alcasthq.com's builds. He knows his stuff, and always shows an alternate 300 cp version...this can help guide you in allocating CPs on a class you've never played. He's all updated for Morrowind, so youre good there.

In terms of mobs and surviving, NBs are very different than Sorcs when it comes to AOE. In the original release, I think the intent was for Sorcs to rule multi-target dps, then NBs rule single target. They still have these characteristics, but a little less so 14 updates later.

On my stamblade, in a trash mob I try to lay down DoTs...like get poison inject ticking on multiple targets. Then there's a lot of focusing on one monster, killing it, then moving on. NBs have two abilities that return huge health upon a kill, mark target and assassins blade. So at lower levels, you go into a mob and you get dots rolling, mark one, hit him down, execute and you get a massive heal. Then move on to the next.

As you level, you'll unlock multi target dps abilities that make this a little more efficient. Early on, acid spray/whatever the morph is on bow...you can knock out half the health for ten monsters before they reach you with that. The 2h execute is massively powerful...it does splash damage and 300% to low health targets. If I get one member of a mob to 25% and pound him with that, it can do 10k damage to him and 8k to everything around him. And unlike many, in pve I am utterly addicted to shrouded daggers (hidden blade morph). It bounces to three enemies AND gives a really long major brutality buff. I get 11k, 12.5k, the. 14k from it...37.5 per proc, not bad. I have zero problem slaughtering large mobs with my Stamblade.

Another tip...with the caveat that I'm not a huge fan of mega grinding. If you went and leveled a stamblade to vet in a few hours, you'd likely stink, lol. But at the same time, I'm not a huge fan of starting entirely from scratch, either. You did your time in the trenches with your sorc...no gold, no skill points, no gear, lol. Whatever class you choose, look at some builds and jot down their core abilities. Build a basic bar, grab a psijic and go dolmen Zerg for a round or two. Get the toon to level 15-20. THEN gear them up (recommended, willows path or Hundings rage if you can make it, build two bars and start your questing. Because you don't outlevel things in One Tamriel, you don't miss out and you can bypass the annoying one bar with three skills phase.