jerj6925 wrote: »

Also I have radiant mage light on both bars.

Unless you really value the crit on both bars, that is a huge sacrifice. My philosophy is to run Inner Light on the offensive bar, if I can find room for it, and stack magicka on that bar. For example on warden, I also have Northern Storm and Necropotence. I then put Harness or Dampen on the offensive, rather than the buff bar. Stacking magicka improves both your damage and shields, so I never found Radiant an attractive skill. Too specialised on being just anti-stealth / anti-NB.

I know it is particularly easy to make a magicka-stacking build on warden, so let me give some pointers on how to do it for any class. It's just one build philosophy, but since you want the holy grail of damage and tankiness in PvP, this is one way of going about it.

* Use the Mage mundus. On a +10% magicka race (Breton, High Elf, Dunmer = +9%), there really isn't much between it and the Apprentice in terms of damage. Compensate with jewelry enchants, if you were planning on using the Atro. Prioritise magic over spell damage.

* Use all prismatic enchants. No excuse for not doing this, other than being cash-strapped or not wanting to play in IC.

* All prismatics means you can move away from Witchmother's Potent Brew, and use Ghastly Eye Bowl instead. This means you end up with more magicka and more regen. The latter means you will be able to use a Spell Damage jewelry enachnt, where you might otherwise have used a mag regen enchant. It's a double whammy for doing increased damage.

* If you find your health too low with this setup, use your attributes to add some health back in. You'll end up with just enough health, but more magicka, better shields, better regen, and better damage than on Witchmother's. This is contingent on you being happy with higher mag and a bit lower health, otherwise Witchmother's is fine. Let me put it to you, however, that if you have not used all prismatics, then ditching Witchmother's and switching to Ghastly is the way to go. You get free stats from the prismatics - extra stamina to break free. Take full advantage!

* As a rule of thumb, don't use Spinner's, don't use War Maiden, don't use Innate Axiom or - worse - sets like Netch's Touch. Spinner's does not help against shields, and with all those other sets you have to be careful that they buff all or at least most of your skills. Furthermore none of them buff your heals nor your shields with their all important 5-piece. That's why sets that give you magicka, Shacklebreaker, Trainee, and especially Necropotence, are the best compromises, in my opinion.

* Any class can use Necropotence. Shadowrend has a high uptime and counts as a pet.

* Always incorporate Domihaus, if you are going for 1-piece monster set(s). If 2x single monster pieces, don't use Kena. Use a magicka piece, such as Grothdarr, instead.

I am not saying this is the only way to go. It is not the best for tankiness. For that, sets like Riposte and Pirate Skeleton are stronger, and you can still do decent damage. It is not the best for ultimate damage. It is not the best for a heavy attack build. It is not the best against non-shielding, tanky targets. However, if you shield yourself, you should always bear in mind that magicka gives you both damage and tankiness, and that stacking it is a very good compromise for an all-round open-world build.

2x Incap is not legit, unless there were 2 NBs.

On the other hand ZOS' death recap omits timing of events and can be very misleading. Better to get a combat log addon. I use FTC, but not sure to recommend it, because it is no longer maintained and can have a bad performance impact.

Not being able to break free, or being double CCd, is a general problem in the game, although it should be quite rare. If all 3 people experienced this, I would not blame you for suspecting an exploit, but such things are hard to prove.

A detailed combat log, with timing of the 2 Incaps would be something that might point to a bug or expoit.

TarrNokk wrote: »

Lord-Otto wrote: »

Waffennacht wrote: »

And OP was never heard from again

Probably cloaked away from the forum zerg.

The most core of answers in this thread is: Not experienced, git gud, I tell you how to be not ganked.
People don't read or don't understand. Again: player 1 was dead while he was stunned, unable to interact. Recap shows surprise attack, 2 x incap, executioner. Only I wondered how this can be possible because it doesn't feel legit. Thanks for your answers.

Yeah, two Incaps from the same person?
Besides that, a proper combo from a high-damage stamblade can indeed hurt. SA for off-balance and Fracture, Incap for the damage buff, and Executioner crit can be absolutely devastating.

If you're looking for advice, the best would be to be super cautious in battle areas. Takes a bit experience, but I can mostly predict if NBs are nearby. Especially since I know most dangerous enemy players by now.
Watch for hints. And listen for them. You can hear Cloak. You can often see the red poof when someone casts Cloak the first time. You can hear jumping groans.

And then there's also your build. If you don't constantly shield, you should have a lot of crit resist, 2k being a bare minimum. Major resists buff can also help. 75 points in Ironclad for 24% direct damage mitigation. Maxed Undaunted for at the very least 20k health, preferrably more.
And another important aspect is to emit a presence of strength. Low CP players with liw PvP rank wandering about aimlessly are just free candy for NBs. Max your CP. Earn your spoons and increase your rank. Find friends and travel in groups. Don't have to be zergs, but a handful of peeps riding together scares most gankers away.

Minalan wrote: »

I’m glad shielding works for you, I personally like the longer buffs a little better. Maybe I’m just lazy, but just remember this setup when they finally nerf shield stacking. You’ll need it.

I don't play sorcs, and I don't stack shields. Yeah, I guess if you were aiming to stack shields all the time, I can see how you might run out of mag, but that's not what I do. In terms of shields running out, if the shield mitigated the initial attack, it's done it's job. I don't feel this is an issue at all.