Magblade PVP

WreckfulAbandon · July 2018

@kaithuzar

The mNB can control the fight more than the mDK. You need shade, forward momentum, and a good offensive build. Soul Tether + Resto ult. Mark really helps against DKs. You have concealed stuns, fear, and soul tether. Concealed is your spammable. They can't stay offensive all the time, can't reflect resto attacks, concealed, or soul tether. They can't have reflect up 100% of the time. You have to "help them" with that. Learn what you can about their build and combo, depending on how bursty they are you'll need to do this quickly

. If you're dead in a short time span, you messed up. Be patient. Identify your burst window, hit their threshold and execute the combo. I mean, do I have to say "don't get your will reflected" or "spikes brings you out of stealth?" I see what you tried to do there, but no. It's not a wash even against those odds. mNB has better than 50% odds in that matchup of the 1v1 gods. And the DK would be better off using a staff on one of those bars

Edit: Forgot to mention, go for raw stats as mageblade or you will be disappointed when your calurions is constantly reflected at you or absorbed by shimmering. mNB is all about out maneuvering them and then executing a devastating combo. Make this combo hit as hard as possible. Zaan is uber on mDK and even better on mNB.

kaithuzar · July 2018

@WreckfulAbandon
I’ve found that typically against a good dk, concealed doesn’t normally provide the pressure needed. Destro staff, even with light/heavy attacks being reflected, provides more overall pressure with crushing shock, cripple, & skoria.
Destro ult can be really nice as well, although you should be cautious of getting within melee distance of whips without holding block or spamming shields.

The only way I’ve been somewhat successful with a 2 hander using concealed, is by using grothdar & lots of points into befoul for my incap.

Of course fear on cool down but if you are running Destro they should never be close enough due to kiting so it’s better to use meteor + flame reach with a skoria proc; unless you just want destro ult in case you mess up kiting.

The biggest problem is that if you are within melee distance of a dk, they are typically block casting whips & blocking reduces more damage than anything else in game. Most nightblades are vampires which makes the fire damage from whip just brutal.

WreckfulAbandon · July 2018

kaithuzar wrote: »

@WreckfulAbandon
I’ve found that typically against a good dk, concealed doesn’t normally provide the pressure needed. Destro staff, even with light/heavy attacks being reflected, provides more overall pressure with crushing shock, cripple, & skoria.
Destro ult can be really nice as well, although you should be cautious of getting within melee distance of whips without holding block or spamming shields.

The only way I’ve been somewhat successful with a 2 hander using concealed, is by using grothdar & lots of points into befoul for my incap.

Of course fear on cool down but if you are running Destro they should never be close enough due to kiting so it’s better to use meteor + flame reach with a skoria proc; unless you just want destro ult in case you mess up kiting.

The biggest problem is that if you are within melee distance of a dk, they are typically block casting whips & blocking reduces more damage than anything else in game. Most nightblades are vampires which makes the fire damage from whip just brutal.

It's not an easy fight for sure. And maybe destro does provide more pressure but I only use 2h+resto so thats my experience. Concealed + melee light attacks are not gonna pressure them much but they are less likely to have reflect up constantly when they see them. Which is your chance to get a cripple and funnel in. Cripple changes the game if you can land it on them enough times. And if they turtle up with reflect go right back to non-reflectables. You counter whatever they're doing. No reflect? Cripple them. Reflect up? Resto light attacks and concealed. Hard to pressure them like that but then again they can't afford to flap their wings constantly while you hit them with non reflectables. When they go offensive if it gets too hot then kite. I spend a lot of the fight right in their face, ready to pop to shade of course if I need to. So they cant reflect cripple unless constantly flapping wings. Not being vamp helps here. I don't imagine it being a very fun matchup for them either.

The last time I was on my mNB I had a fight like this against a good (but not top 1%) mDK that lasted around 5-6 min before we both stopped attacking and went our seperate ways. If I was better (newish build and don't play mNB often) I would have been able to kill him at several points. Couldn't put it together even though I knew what I needed to do. I was only worried about dying once in the fight, when I got fossilized inside a grothdaar proc with no shade up. I don't seek out mNB vs mDK 1v1's, theyre a headache. It was mutual when we parted ways, I think he also realized that I stood a better chance of killing him than vice versa. If only I didn't suck

I just enjoy templar and sorc too much to play my NB's often. And now got a baby stamden I have to try out of course..

Metemsycosis · August 2018

Lexxypwns wrote: »

Jeezye wrote: »

Datthaw wrote: »

Lexxypwns wrote: »

There’s virtually no argument against running Zaan+Caluu on melee mageblade except some perceived moral high ground.

Lol this. People like to shame and then probably turn around and use it themselves. You keep doing you.

There IS an argument IMO which is the high CD you get on these burst proc sets, especially zaan and caluurion. This encourages a gank playstyle with only limited time of combat, cloaking until CDs are up again, and reengaging - which I find increadibly boring.

Qbiken wrote: »

mursie wrote: »

zaan-sload-surge with vma backbar resto. absolute domination!

you'll know it by the tears in tells you get. embrace it. what they lack in actual pvp ability, your vanquished foes will try to make up for in whisper pvp. Unfortunately for them, there is no scoreboard for that. Sitting perched on their high horse - they will alas continue to finish 2nd.

and as we all know - 2nd place is code for first LOSER!

Overwhelming Surge > Sload

Overwhelming Surge:
* Has no cooldown
* Reveals enemies in stealth (assuming they´re the ones closest to you)
* Does similar (and sometimes more) damage than Sload
* Can proc the concussion status effect (8% more damage against that target)
* If you run Skoria, Overwhelming Surge can proc Skoria since it´s considered a DoT

This. I have played melee magblade for years now, and overwhelming always seems to sneak into my builds again. Its such an amazing set for the aforementioned reasons and doesn't have to be doublebared. Plus it has no CD like zaan and caluurion, and more consistent pressure.

Melee mageblade is best suited to a kite then burst playstyle. So building to make that more effective is vastly superior to trying to supplement some pressure that won’t be meaningful while you’re kiting waiting for ult/will proc is not efficient.

It’s far, far, more efficient and effective to build your burst to a wtf level since melee mageblade is already all about landing fat burst combos on opponents you’ve strung out. At best a traditional damage set is going to add some mostly useless damage during your kite/defensive windows and then give you far less burst. Sload/Surge aren’t really any better because they increase your TTK significantly and you don’t have enough DoTs to proc Skoria, plus it’s harder to time with your burst combo.

Again, there 0 argument against these sets on a MELEE mageblade, even your attempt at argument is just filled with bias and no consideration for the kit that this spec has or how it already plays.

Edit: Surge is absolutely not stronger than sload.

Mostly i agree but sloads is powerful, softens targets in outnumbered situations.like you can tag someone while you set down nasty burst on someone else. Is it better than caluurion for "wtf" burst levels? Nah.