SydneyGrey wrote: »Ah yes ... the skill that you can use to keep your group members alive, while letting yourself die.
And then they kick you from the group while screaming "get gud, noob!" because you kept dying while they all lived.
Avran_Sylt wrote: »To be honest, I think that agony (Malefic Offering) should be left alone. It adds in a healing that is so different from the standard norm, I think its a good thing, for now, as it gives NB healing a uniqueness.
What I honestly think (and this is just quick speculation), is that the Master Assassin passive should be tweaked a bit. And at least a few skill should be shifted around.
To begin with:
Master Assassin now increases your Weapon Damage and Spell Damage by [x]% against targets facing away from you (+ the sneak stun bonus).
I would then take Veiled Attack, and swap it's position with Blur, then Swap Veiled Attack and Assassin's Blade in the skill unlock list.
Avran_Sylt wrote: »@Shadzilla
Of course.
My next suggestion would be to then do this:
Teleport Strike:
Part of the base skill and carrying over to the morphs:
Casting this from stealth or cloak teleports you behind your target, or the nearest valid terrain.
Now you have a way to re-position yourself behind an enemy, it comes with a little setup so that you aren't always behind your enemy (requiring you to at least spend magicka on cloak while in combat), as well as giving you a way to gap close into your passive ability. (Having the camera rotate for the player automatically might be a good thing here). (This is also kinda a nerf as a PvP guy could expect a newb using Teleport strike all the time with cloak to always show up behind them).
Mark Target, Implications for NB in PvP
Now that Surprise Attack is in the Assassination Tree, it might be beneficial to change the functionality of the stamina morph of Surprise Attack so this is the skill they need to apply an armor debuff rather than sNB spamming SA all the time.
At this point, SA (and veiled strike) has been gutted absolutely ruthlessly. It now no longer debuffs the enemy with Major Fracture for sNB, but for both mNB and sNB you no longer gain Major Resistance buffs from spamming this attack.
So, at this point, how can Veiled Strike be buffed (or other aspects of the NB skills) in order to compensate for this tremendous amount of nerf in regards to self-buffs and target debuffs?
Avran_Sylt wrote: »@Maryal
In essence would a more lore-friendly ability be one that applies Minor Lifesteal on an enemy? If we create an idea it'd make it go much faster down the pipeline, either by them copying it verbatim, or it being a catalyst for their design process.
Avran_Sylt wrote: »@Maryal
In essence would a more lore-friendly ability be one that applies Minor Lifesteal on an enemy? If we create an idea it'd make it go much faster down the pipeline, either by them copying it verbatim, or it being a catalyst for their design process.
Well, we already have 2 skills that drain the enemy's lifeforce ... Strife/morphs and Drain Power (not to mention the ultimate in that skill tree).
I'd have to think more about a possible alternative replacement ... but for now, I have to get ready for work.
Avran_Sylt wrote: »@Shadzilla
Of course.
My next suggestion would be to then do this:
Teleport Strike:
Part of the base skill and carrying over to the morphs:
Casting this from stealth or cloak teleports you behind your target, or the nearest valid terrain.
Now you have a way to re-position yourself behind an enemy, it comes with a little setup so that you aren't always behind your enemy (requiring you to at least spend magicka on cloak while in combat), as well as giving you a way to gap close into your passive ability. (Having the camera rotate for the player automatically might be a good thing here). (This is also kinda a nerf as a PvP guy could expect a newb using Teleport strike all the time with cloak to always show up behind them).
Mark Target, Implications for NB in PvP
Now that Surprise Attack is in the Assassination Tree, it might be beneficial to change the functionality of the stamina morph of Surprise Attack so this is the skill they need to apply an armor debuff rather than sNB spamming SA all the time.
At this point, SA (and veiled strike) has been gutted absolutely ruthlessly. It now no longer debuffs the enemy with Major Fracture for sNB, but for both mNB and sNB you no longer gain Major Resistance buffs from spamming this attack.
So, at this point, how can Veiled Strike be buffed (or other aspects of the NB skills) in order to compensate for this tremendous amount of nerf in regards to self-buffs and target debuffs?
All caps in the title, so it stands out .
Agony: This ability and its morphs is now an ally-targeted spell that heals them over time and damages you for 50% of the amount healed. We also renamed this ability to Malevolent Offering.
Malefic Wreath (Agony morph): This morph now grants Minor Mending when it deals damage to you, and has been renamed to Healthy Offering.
Prolonged Suffering (Agony morph): This morph now decreases the amount of self-inflicted damage dealt to you to 35% of the amount healed, and has been renamed to Shrewd Offering.
Healthy Offering (Malevolent Offering morph): This morph now grants Minor Mending for the duration of the healing over time.
Known issue: The new morph effect tooltip has not yet been updated to match this new functionality.
Malevolent Offering:
This ability and its morphs now have an upfront health cost instead of costing health over time.
Reduced the healing over time duration to 8 seconds from 10 seconds.
This new skill has received a massive amount of hate and criticism on the PTS. In prior threads I have made suggestions looking for a "backstab" skill somewhere in the nightblade arsenal. Do you think it would perhaps be a better option over the new suicide skill malevolent offering? Nothing fancy with backstab, just a cheap single target spammable that does increased direct damage if you are directly behind the target. Maybe throw in some other effects. Either way, make sure it doesn't do much damage in front of the target, like killers blade on above 25% health targets. Yet when behind the target, it performs better than suprise attack. I have seen this type of playstyle in other mmos, where rogues were much more effective behind the target. I personally think if done right, it would be a much better option than the current suicide skill... It could re define the way nightblades play the game . Adding something like this would improve the nightblade experience by differentiating it's playstyle in both pve and pvp. Perhaps using directional damage as a bigger part of it's core basis! Any comments, questions, suggestions, or constructive criticism is welcomed.
All caps in the title, so it stands out .
Agony: This ability and its morphs is now an ally-targeted spell that heals them over time and damages you for 50% of the amount healed. We also renamed this ability to Malevolent Offering.
Malefic Wreath (Agony morph): This morph now grants Minor Mending when it deals damage to you, and has been renamed to Healthy Offering.
Prolonged Suffering (Agony morph): This morph now decreases the amount of self-inflicted damage dealt to you to 35% of the amount healed, and has been renamed to Shrewd Offering.
Healthy Offering (Malevolent Offering morph): This morph now grants Minor Mending for the duration of the healing over time.
Known issue: The new morph effect tooltip has not yet been updated to match this new functionality.
Malevolent Offering:
This ability and its morphs now have an upfront health cost instead of costing health over time.
Reduced the healing over time duration to 8 seconds from 10 seconds.
This new skill has received a massive amount of hate and criticism on the PTS. In prior threads I have made suggestions looking for a "backstab" skill somewhere in the nightblade arsenal. Do you think it would perhaps be a better option over the new suicide skill malevolent offering? Nothing fancy with backstab, just a cheap single target spammable that does increased direct damage if you are directly behind the target. Maybe throw in some other effects. Either way, make sure it doesn't do much damage in front of the target, like killers blade on above 25% health targets. Yet when behind the target, it performs better than suprise attack. I have seen this type of playstyle in other mmos, where rogues were much more effective behind the target. I personally think if done right, it would be a much better option than the current suicide skill... It could re define the way nightblades play the game . Adding something like this would improve the nightblade experience by differentiating it's playstyle in both pve and pvp. Perhaps using directional damage as a bigger part of it's core basis! Any comments, questions, suggestions, or constructive criticism is welcomed.
Nightblades have a reputation for being assassins and rogues, and, according to ESO lore, their power is derived from something called "shadow magic."
Operating 'in the shadows' is not limited to the absence of light, but also includes the shadows of conflict or war. Through 'shadow magic' we get our ability to teleport, to move in stealth, lay down paths of darkness, cast the illusion of fear in our enemy, create shadows images of ourselves, mark our targets, and siphon our enemy's lifeforce ...
en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Shadow_Draining:_A_Hypothesis (See spoiler below)Anyone who studies the so-called "shadow magic" of the underworld's nightblades is familiar with the siphoning spells, which drain life force and health from the injured to the injurer. The question before the scholar-arcanist is to explain how and why this works. After prolonged study, primarily through low-grade siphoning of my menials and their families while they slept, I have arrived at a hypothesis.
It appears to me that the magical siphoning of health is related to the instant translocation spells insofar as it creates a transliminal flow of essence from the target to the caster. Through the hyperagonal magicka sense, the nightblade perceives the target's transpontine deformation and "pierces" it, and in the resulting disruption absorbs the essence that is lost by the target. Thus, instead of "stepping through shadows" as in translocation, the mage is "shadow draining" from one location to another.
The way Agony was changed actually conflicts with ESO lore. You see, through 'shadow magic' nightblades drain the lifeforce from the injured in order to give it to themselves (the caster) ... NOT the other way around.
Nightblades do NOT have a reputation for being benevolent. They are NOT the type to sacrifice themselves by draining their own lifeforce to benefit another. And, it is illogical to think that a NB would drain their own lifeforce just to turn around and give it back themselves ... all the while putting themselves in harms way during the process.
Suggestion: Illusion is part of 'shadow magic' (lore history) and currently the only illusory spell (skill) NB's have is "fear." Perhaps ZOS could 'conjure up' some sort of illusory type skill to replace Agony that fits within this tree that is more in-line with NB lore.
If someone wants to heal as a NB, they can build for it in the restroom staff tree.
NB is a class that should have emphasis on Single Target burst. If we can't have that, then convert agony to something that increases our sustain so at least we all don`t have to be vampires.