Sap Essence, that skill all Bombblades spam, has a Stamina Morph people always seem to forget about. Even without it, All Stam Classes have access to Spin2Win through the DW tree.Stamblade doesn't have any inherent AoE pressure, so you have to build it all in.
There are two ways I can think to play it:
I think the best way to do this is Dawnbreaker Spam. Build around getting the highest amount of heavy hitting dawnbreakers.
Duel Wield for steel tornado, blood spawn and werewolf hide for ult gen. Throw the Psijic ulti backbar for minor protection or soul siphon as a "poor-man" resto ult. Then Truth, 7th Legion, or Fury for the damage.
The second way is to go hybrid, building health to at least 30-35k while using dark cloak as your heal.
Run all tri glyphs so you can have decent stam and mag pools, pelenials so you can use both forms of damage, then combine skills like sap essence, Carve (with a master 2h), soul tether, and steel tornado into a tanky, well rounded damage combo. Even running Alkosh might be helpful in organized groups.
Stamblade doesn't have any inherent AoE pressure, so you have to build it all in.
There are two ways I can think to play it:
I think the best way to do this is Dawnbreaker Spam. Build around getting the highest amount of heavy hitting dawnbreakers.
Duel Wield for steel tornado, blood spawn and werewolf hide for ult gen. Throw the Psijic ulti backbar for minor protection or soul siphon as a "poor-man" resto ult. Then Truth, 7th Legion, or Fury for the damage.
The second way is to go hybrid, building health to at least 30-35k while using dark cloak as your heal.
Run all tri glyphs so you can have decent stam and mag pools, pelenials so you can use both forms of damage, then combine skills like sap essence, Carve (with a master 2h), soul tether, and steel tornado into a tanky, well rounded damage combo. Even running Alkosh might be helpful in organized groups.
Thanks for the suggestions, guys. It's interesting that no one has actually tried this, which shows how un-meta it is.
@Grimick, I did have an ultigen build a couple years ago using Bloodspawn, Werewolf Hide, and Witchman's (I wish that set would get a buff, by the way). That's certainly one good way to go. The idea was to use Thrive in Chaos more often, which would would help me survive in medium armor and buff Steel Tornado. (I know that Lacerate and its morphs can be purged, but it did work fairly well when it didn't get purged. Unfortunately, the area of effect is so small. Players usually aren't packed tight enough to maximize the damage boost. This skill and Power Extraction could really use some changes to make stamblades more viable in groups.)
For now, I think I'll probably farm Heem-Jas and see how that works out.
Okay, after playing solo and smalescale stamblade for the last few months, I'm thinking about getting back into larger organized group play. However, I'd rather not switch over to magblade and change my race In order to fill a dps role. Has anyone theorycrafted a build that really makes Steel Tornado shine, for example? Or another way to make stamblades more useful in large groups?
In terms of setups, I could easily go with 5H/2M, DW/2H, Bloodspawn, Clever Alchemist, Bone Pirate. Good burst damage, good sustain, good survivability. Throw on Steel Tornado and Blade Cloak, hit opposing groups with Reaper's Mark, and spin to win. Decent. But has anyone taken it to another level?
I'm thinking about maybe 5/5/2, 5M/2H or 7M, DW/2H, Heem Jas, Clever Alchemist or Spriggans, and Asylum Duel Wield weapons. With Steel Tornado and Thrive in Chaos, amped by Major Berserk and the Asylum weapons, I'd have big time AoE damage, but lower sustain and lower resistances. I'd have to farm a few more pieces of Heem Jas, but otherwise I have everything.
Thoughts?
@dmar613 Interesting. Though clearly a Magblade benefits more from wearing VD.
@Lieblingsjunge Yes, I'm definitely going to try that.
@Swimguy Funny guy. I've played a magblade and know how to do it. I just want to keep my ability to be a strong solo and small-scale stamblade, while also---with changes to gear and skills--being able to be a strong contributor to groups. As others have noted, this is a weakness for most stamina classes. I don't want to spec into Magicka or change race (which I've done before and immediately regretted). I'm a khajiit. Khajiit for life.