A good resource is alcasthq.com. He does PvE and PvP builds for all classes, and his notes about how they play are very accurate. He also offers easy to get gear and BiS, as well as CP allocations for lower CP players.

Both magblades and stam sorcs are super fun right now, IMO. Two of my top characters. Notes on what to expect from end game characters:


Stam Sorc

In PvE, stam sorcs just shred everything. They can take on most normal 4 player dungeons and world bosses solo, so needless to say they’re going to do fine in almost every PvE circumstance. They have a really good balance of direct damage and aoe potential, nice heal options, and some of the best class buffs. Power surge means they get major brutality from a class skill, so they have weapon versatility (no need for 2h and Rally). And right now, resource management is key...their dark exchange means they can easily get stam back from their magic, which is a HUGE help.

In PvP, stam sorcs are good. They can really put the DoT pressure on enemies. They can hunt Nightblades. I’m not sure they’re great solo, but I’d run my stam sorc in a 2-4 person small group for sure. Playing wing man to a nightblade, they’d be vicious.



Magblade

Magblades got some buffs a few months ago (but there are some stupid nerfs on the pts right now). In PvE, they are pretty dang good. Using a combo of harness magic and siphoning (leeching?) strikes, they can sustain resources pretty well. Because they can bring in heals from class abilities, I like to double destro them. This allows soul harvest as the front ultimate (+6 ultimate PER KILL) and the destro ultimate on the back. The destro ultimate is an OP “the dev team is cray cray” skill, and a magblade can be firing it all the dang time with their soul harvest / light attack ultimate generation. Merciless resolve is a core skill, and it’s one of the trickiest abilities to master, so there’s a learning curve.

In PvP, needless to say magblads are perma-cloak speedy little @&###ers. Lol. My friend and I run our stamblade and magblade together, and they pair up amazingly well...both put out a ton of damage, and then they have debuffs that pair up well. I’m not a master at solo on my magblade, but there are players who are, and when they come formyou they are deadly.

(Tip: if you level a magblade, take the time to steal and launder each day. The ships in daggerfall are a good source. You want the 40% sneak cost reduction from legerdemain. You need to get to level 16).


Summary

If you have time to play this weekend, why not roll one of each and use the cake to get them up to level 30ish? They both benefit from class/weapon abilities down the tree, so they need to be higher level to see their full potential, but by level 30 you’ll get an idea how they play. Cake + dailies, especially Cyrodiil dailies, and they’ll level super fast.