What classes are true 'bombers'?

blumac81 · December 2017

This question has come up in my guild as I informed my guildmaster of my role as mag sorc and mag warden bombers.... he claims that mag sorc is limited in effectiveness as bombers and mag wardens are support and not dps. I disagree since wardens have perma and can back bar destro along with some nice mag abilities to be a great destro. He says the mag nightblade is the only true bomber. Honestly I have not yet learned the mag blade so haven't seen what kinda dps they can do on my own. What do you guys think?

NightbladeMechanics · December 2017

Mag nb deals the most damage on its destro ults and has Sap Essence to spam inside of it.

But all magicka classes have their own advantages and can function as bombers. Mag sorc has Endless Fury to kill and proc VD. Mag warden has shalk for extra aoe burst. Find your tools and use them.

Your GM sounds bad and narrow minded, sorry.

fastolfv_ESO · December 2017

i would say nbs and sorcs mainly, sorcs with lightning for implosion procs/execute and nbs for the raw dps with fire damage. Dks could potentially get a good fire destro goin with dunmer etc but not sure, mag wardens dps output is just not good enough to compete with sorc and nb for now and temps dont really have the passives to get a destro as strong as the others

zyk · December 2017

I've seen effective group DPS builds theorycrafted for every class, but it is the prerogative of your guild/group leader. They should have a plan and may require specific classes and builds to execute it.

Master_Kas · December 2017

Let's be serious for a minute. Magblade is BIS bomber in raids. Enough with the play-the-way-you-want posts lol.

NirnStorm · December 2017

Magblade is considered the best group bomber for two reasons:
1) Sap Essence being their spammable is the BiS aoe spammable for it's low cost, largest range and the fact it saves the player a slot for major sorcery.
2) Their ability to generate ultimate is the best in game (assuming they really do massive damage) thanks to both their passives and Soul Harvest's passive effect. Warden can generate the most ult on lesser fights but if your group wants to be right in the middle of the battlefield, magblades do it best.

I personally think you should play whatever you enjoy, but if you or your guild aim for BiS bomber, it is the magblade.
Still, it depends on group playstyle and the situation. Sometimes magblade bombers would be less successful than others.
If you know how to play the class you play like a boss, you'll do amazing damage and prove effective no matter what you play.

Lucky28 · December 2017

MagDK's are also pretty good bombers as far as pure damage goes they can give NB's a run for their money. but, they don't have the mobility NB's do.

asneakybanana · December 2017

So while magblade may be the simplest, I have seen mag dk and Stam warden out DPS nbs over long periods in group fights. All about player skill and figuring out how to make it work.

Drummerx04 · December 2017

When you say "bomber," magnb destro/soul tether bomber is definitely the best. (crit, stealth positioning, strong class AoE, minor savagery, fear, etc)

Magsorc just doesn't have AoE as part of the class, but they handle the skirmishes between two raid groups pretty well at range imo. A guild raid with more than 1/4 magsorcs is probably gimping itself far more than necessary. Negates are strong, but they don't kill raids on their own.

Stam/mag wardens from what I've seen provide decent cone burst dps and permafrost acts as a very effective supplement to destro bombs from other players, but they lack that sustained lethal AoE damage that a magnb can get with destro.

I can't really comment too well about the bomb potential of the remaining classes, but they are surely limited by at least mobility issues. With lack of mobility you need to build tankier, and that leads to less damage.

GimpyPorcupine · December 2017

Lots of good information in this thread.

There are lots of things that go into making a good bomber, and have others have said, Magblades win out when you combine all of those.

MagDKs can be decent bombers, with more potential damage output from Eye of the Flame than Magblades. But Magblades still win out because of their unparalleled ultimate generation.

Sorc bombs aren't ineffective, but in group play, you more likely should be using your ultimate for Negate, and then using Mage's Wrath to execute from distance.

As for Wardens, why would you want to run a Destro ult when you have Permafrost? It's about as strong as Eye of Frost, but with that beautiful stun.

If you're running in a group that uses bombs for its kills, then it's tempting to want to bomb with whatever character you have. But the work that goes into supporting an effective bomb is just as important. You have to think of yourself as part of the offensive line that makes that touchdown possible.

Lexxypwns · December 2017

For large scale PVP there is 0 reason to run any non-NB damage from a math standpoint. Some groups allow other damage specs, but it’s inefficient by comparison. @asneakybanana notes that some specs can possibly put out more damage, but with soul harvest slotted the mageblade ulti gen is going to mean you’ve got your destro combo up more than the mDK, which is important in the burst meta we’re in for guild groups, and the Stam Warden can’t fit vicious death. If you’re trying to min/max group comp there’s just nothing a good as mageblade

asneakybanana · December 2017

Lexxypwns wrote: »

For large scale PVP there is 0 reason to run any non-NB damage from a math standpoint. Some groups allow other damage specs, but it’s inefficient by comparison. @asneakybanana notes that some specs can possibly put out more damage, but with soul harvest slotted the mageblade ulti gen is going to mean you’ve got your destro combo up more than the mDK, which is important in the burst meta we’re in for guild groups, and the Stam Warden can’t fit vicious death. If you’re trying to min/max group comp there’s just nothing a good as mageblade

Soul harvest, while strong, is not the end all. Would a full mag dk or Stam warden raid be as strong as a NBs? No, but I also don't think full NB is the strongest group comp for damage, can definitely find a stronger comp with a balance of classes in DPS roles.

Prince_of_all_Pugs · December 2017

Thats not true at all , a mag sorc can bomb almost as good as a mag nightblade, all you need is to time your Proxy with your destro and you need to drink and immovable pot(you can streak at people who run away from your destro). make sure to keep your mage wrath on low targets. One Gear set that will make or break a sorc bomb is VD (vicious death). VD helps the most because if you kill one person in a stack with mag wrath with VD, it can cause catastrophic dmg and can cause a chain reaction wipe if your destro is still active. If you dont believe me watch any Old Haxus video, when i was in that team most of their bombers were sorcs with VD and we used to bomb the HELL outta people. all you really need is to kill one person in a stack with VD, and it can change the tide of battle. I cant believe so many people think sorcs cant be bombers, have you forgotten HAXUS?

Master_Kas · December 2017

Nvm xD

Koensol · December 2017

Just want to drop this in here: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/381351/bombplar-build-gameplay/p1

Saint_Bud · December 2017

Only magenlade, nothing else. With a sorc you cant run 5+5+2 set because of no aoe skill, on a mageblade this is possible (dualwield swords vd) and spam sap essence. Also the passives are ansolut on mageblade side.

Izanagi.Xiiib16_ESO · December 2017

Prince_of_all_Pugs wrote: »

Thats not true at all , a mag sorc can bomb almost as good as a mag nightblade, all you need is to time your Proxy with your destro and you need to drink and immovable pot(you can streak at people who run away from your destro). make sure to keep your mage wrath on low targets. One Gear set that will make or break a sorc bomb is VD (vicious death). VD helps the most because if you kill one person in a stack with mag wrath with VD, it can cause catastrophic dmg and can cause a chain reaction wipe if your destro is still active. If you dont believe me watch any Old Haxus video, when i was in that team most of their bombers were sorcs with VD and we used to bomb the HELL outta people. all you really need is to kill one person in a stack with VD, and it can change the tide of battle. I cant believe so many people think sorcs cant be bombers, have you forgotten HAXUS?

Yeh the old days were cool before destro was nerfed heavily any class could use it with good effect.
Since they nerfed the dmg it now favours NB and DK for destro specifically.
If i had to rank them i would go:
NB > DK > Warden/Sorc/Templar

NB passives are extremely strong when it comes to bombing, combine this with their mobility and ulti regen its why they are considered the best. All classes can do comparable damage if you have a good player playing them but NB is the easiest and most reliable for back to back ultis.

For most groups this makes no difference (if your engagement lasts for just 1 ulti).
For groups fighting heavily outnumbered in long drawn out fights the reliability of NB to cycle ultis is difficult to pass up.

Basically depends on how survivable your group is when considering which class is the best for you.

Lexxypwns · December 2017

@asneakybanana I’m assuming that you’re saying adding a stamden or 2 is superior to all mageblade because of the debuff? I’m looking at class passives and from a pure numbers standpoint there’s nothing close to mageblade.

asneakybanana · December 2017

Lexxypwns wrote: »

@asneakybanana I’m assuming that you’re saying adding a stamden or 2 is superior to all mageblade because of the debuff? I’m looking at class passives and from a pure numbers standpoint there’s nothing close to mageblade.

I'm saying that having 5 or 6 nb and the a couple dks or wardens will be better than having 8 nbs.

Lexxypwns · December 2017

asneakybanana wrote: »

Lexxypwns wrote: »

@asneakybanana I’m assuming that you’re saying adding a stamden or 2 is superior to all mageblade because of the debuff? I’m looking at class passives and from a pure numbers standpoint there’s nothing close to mageblade.

I'm saying that having 5 or 6 nb and the a couple dks or wardens will be better than having 8 nbs.

Interesting, I’m certain you’re right and there’s something I’m not seeing. However, would you be willing to elaborate? I can see the stam warden appeal and I’m guessing mDK is for leaps?

asneakybanana · December 2017

Lexxypwns wrote: »

asneakybanana wrote: »

Lexxypwns wrote: »

@asneakybanana I’m assuming that you’re saying adding a stamden or 2 is superior to all mageblade because of the debuff? I’m looking at class passives and from a pure numbers standpoint there’s nothing close to mageblade.

I'm saying that having 5 or 6 nb and the a couple dks or wardens will be better than having 8 nbs.

Interesting, I’m certain you’re right and there’s something I’m not seeing. However, would you be willing to elaborate? I can see the stam warden appeal and I’m guessing mDK is for leaps?

Mdk runs destro. And it's mainly just because those classes can pick up where nightblade lacks for group.

Mazbt · December 2017

for min/max purposes I think magblades are probably the best but since you just need proxy, destro ult and VD any magicka class can pull this off.

Ixtyr · December 2017

Mag NB is by far the strongest. MagSorc is the next best in terms of actual effectiveness, IMO, because of their heavy CC, Fury and Curse KB-snatching, and escape/engage capabilities with Streak.

I really wouldn't want to take a bomber on a class other than those two in group if I was leading, but if I had to rank the last three classes, I might give a slight edge to Warden, since they're the best of the three remaining classes in terms of movement (being able to get your bomb where it needs to be when it needs to be there), even if DK is technically more damage output. TBH none of them are ideal though, the gap between NB/Sorc and the rest is pretty significant.