jircris11 wrote: »

Honestly I'll get flak for this but meh. I only pve, and have no issues on my nb. It took a ton if tweaking and rotation changes (stamina build) but I managed to make something that can do real well. I don't pvp much but I can hold my own in bg when I do. I'm not even in trial gear just overland and crafted.

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

In other very similar thread I made a post what I think could be done:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/519828/buff-to-nightblades-please

I post it here too:

NB class imho needs some serious buffs or even a rework. Its core identity skills have been basically given access to all classes in form of weapon / world / guild skills / other class (also most of them are better than NB skills). Incoming Vampire overhaul will make it even worse, as all classes will have access to on-demand cheap invisibility & spell dmg buff when out of stealth / invisibility. In other words: All other classes will be equally good / better at what NB Class specialize in, while still having their own class unique toolkit.

I think that part of the problem with NB is that during the infamous "redundancy removal" (aka heavy handed NB nerfs to make Necro class look less P2W), they claimed that NB has many skills that offer same / very similar buffs etc. But the problem is that they just straight up removed many of them, without adding anything in return. To this date, many NB skills feel simply put: Bare. Incap is one of the few that they added something else - Stun was replaced with Silence. But recently in min-patch they removed Silence and added Stun back. Very weird inconsistency (almost as if the devs had no game vision at all).

Anyway things that imho could be changed / improved:
Assassination:

Assassin's Blade - this skill is a NB execute skill. Nb is an "assassin" class, so an execute should be above average. However most Nightblades use Reverse Slash & its morphs (Executioner in particular) - Two Handed skill. The reason for that is Reverse Slash works when the target has less than 50% Health vs Assassin's Blade that works when the target has less than 25% Health. Also Executioner morph deals 400% more dmg vs Assassin's Blade that deals 300% more dmg.

So overall, NB Execute is inferior vs a commonly available weapon skill.
Imho Assassin's Blade should deal increased dmg at 50% health threshold too.

Mark Target - this skill is (from the lack of better words) - a joke. ZOS tried to balance it out by removing the cost but... It did not worked, no one uses that.

Imho. This skill should not be a de-buff for the enemy that basically screams "I am nearby, you are about to get ganked, hold block". It should not be a de-buff for the enemy. It should be a buff for you vs that enemy. There, I fixed it. It would require some coding, true, but It would work way better if you could use it to chose a target and simply have some dmg buff ONLY vs that target.

Grim Focus - NB "kinda" core identity skill. "Kinda" because it was copy-pasted into sorc toolkit (Bound Armaments). Anyway, imho the change ZOS did to it (increasing its timer to 1 minute) does not make much sense. I get it, they wanted to improve rotation, but there are better ways to do it. Also... why is this skill giving a defensive stacks ? It is an assassination skill...

Here is what I would change:
- Remove the initial cost. The skill would start counting stacks while it is slotted. Every 5 LA, you pay recurses to fire the bow.
- Remove the defensive stacks entirely from this ability.

Assassination Passives:
Executioner - When an enemy dies within 2 seconds of being damaged by one of your Assassination abilities, you restore 1876 Magicka or Stamina, whichever maximum is higher.
I would add 1/3 of resources restore if the enemy died, but you did not used Assassination ability.

Shadow

Consuming Darkness - This is probably one of the most useless ultimate in the game. It grants a synergy, that allows your allies to become invisible for 4 seconds. This is pretty much wasted synergy, because in 99% of cases you will get removed from invisibility (you will roll dodge, cast something, take dmg etc.) Also in PvE mobs have true vision so it kinda does not work in dungeons....

Shadow Cloak - I don't understand why they changed one of the morphs so much. Dark Cloak imho should also grant invisibility, but different type of buff. While Shadowy Disguise grants guaranteed crit dmg on next attack, Shadowy Disguise should be a defensive morph.

Path of Darkness - another "joke" skill. It was ripped apparat so many times that now all it does is... a short speed buff and dmg or heal in a very tiny "corridor" area... Idk how to improve this skill. At this point it should be re-worked into something totally different. Not worth to slot & use it at all.

Aspect of Terror - a "iconic" NB fear skill... not so much. Just to show how weak this skill is (not saying fear CC is weak, just a skill for what it costs and what it does) I should compare it with Turn Evil (fighters guild skill).
Turn Evil (cost 3.8K stamina):
-Fear all enemies in the area for 5 seconds (no target cap).
-Lasts for 20 seconds and provide 2 minor buffs (Minor Protection & Minor Endurance) for you and your group.
Mass Hysteria (3.7K magicka):
-Fear 6 enemies in the area for 3 seconds (has target cap).

1st thing that comes to mind is that ZOS did not standardized this skill. It is probably the only AOE in the game that still has a target cap. Also, this skill is missing auxiliary effect, but idk what that could be.

Shadow Passives:

Refreshing Shadows - Increases your Health, Stamina, and Magicka Recovery by 15%.
If I were to to nitpick... this skill should grant some small base recovery (100 ?) and then additional 15% or maybe convert % recovery to flat value. But... idk.

Dark Vigor - Increases your Maximum Health by 3% for each Shadow ability slotted.
This passive imho should also grant small base health buff and then 3% for each Shadow ability slotted.

Siphoning:
Tbh. this is the most solid NB skill line. Idk how it could be improved.

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

In other very similar thread I made a post what I think could be done:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/519828/buff-to-nightblades-please

I post it here too:

NB class imho needs some serious buffs or even a rework. Its core identity skills have been basically given access to all classes in form of weapon / world / guild skills / other class (also most of them are better than NB skills). Incoming Vampire overhaul will make it even worse, as all classes will have access to on-demand cheap invisibility & spell dmg buff when out of stealth / invisibility. In other words: All other classes will be equally good / better at what NB Class specialize in, while still having their own class unique toolkit.

I think that part of the problem with NB is that during the infamous "redundancy removal" (aka heavy handed NB nerfs to make Necro class look less P2W), they claimed that NB has many skills that offer same / very similar buffs etc. But the problem is that they just straight up removed many of them, without adding anything in return. To this date, many NB skills feel simply put: Bare. Incap is one of the few that they added something else - Stun was replaced with Silence. But recently in min-patch they removed Silence and added Stun back. Very weird inconsistency (almost as if the devs had no game vision at all).

Anyway things that imho could be changed / improved:
Assassination:

Assassin's Blade - this skill is a NB execute skill. Nb is an "assassin" class, so an execute should be above average. However most Nightblades use Reverse Slash & its morphs (Executioner in particular) - Two Handed skill. The reason for that is Reverse Slash works when the target has less than 50% Health vs Assassin's Blade that works when the target has less than 25% Health. Also Executioner morph deals 400% more dmg vs Assassin's Blade that deals 300% more dmg.

So overall, NB Execute is inferior vs a commonly available weapon skill.
Imho Assassin's Blade should deal increased dmg at 50% health threshold too.

Mark Target - this skill is (from the lack of better words) - a joke. ZOS tried to balance it out by removing the cost but... It did not worked, no one uses that.

Imho. This skill should not be a de-buff for the enemy that basically screams "I am nearby, you are about to get ganked, hold block". It should not be a de-buff for the enemy. It should be a buff for you vs that enemy. There, I fixed it. It would require some coding, true, but It would work way better if you could use it to chose a target and simply have some dmg buff ONLY vs that target.

Grim Focus - NB "kinda" core identity skill. "Kinda" because it was copy-pasted into sorc toolkit (Bound Armaments). Anyway, imho the change ZOS did to it (increasing its timer to 1 minute) does not make much sense. I get it, they wanted to improve rotation, but there are better ways to do it. Also... why is this skill giving a defensive stacks ? It is an assassination skill...

Here is what I would change:
- Remove the initial cost. The skill would start counting stacks while it is slotted. Every 5 LA, you pay recurses to fire the bow.
- Remove the defensive stacks entirely from this ability.

Assassination Passives:
Executioner - When an enemy dies within 2 seconds of being damaged by one of your Assassination abilities, you restore 1876 Magicka or Stamina, whichever maximum is higher.
I would add 1/3 of resources restore if the enemy died, but you did not used Assassination ability.

Shadow

Consuming Darkness - This is probably one of the most useless ultimate in the game. It grants a synergy, that allows your allies to become invisible for 4 seconds. This is pretty much wasted synergy, because in 99% of cases you will get removed from invisibility (you will roll dodge, cast something, take dmg etc.) Also in PvE mobs have true vision so it kinda does not work in dungeons....

Shadow Cloak - I don't understand why they changed one of the morphs so much. Dark Cloak imho should also grant invisibility, but different type of buff. While Shadowy Disguise grants guaranteed crit dmg on next attack, Shadowy Disguise should be a defensive morph.

Path of Darkness - another "joke" skill. It was ripped apparat so many times that now all it does is... a short speed buff and dmg or heal in a very tiny "corridor" area... Idk how to improve this skill. At this point it should be re-worked into something totally different. Not worth to slot & use it at all.

Aspect of Terror - a "iconic" NB fear skill... not so much. Just to show how weak this skill is (not saying fear CC is weak, just a skill for what it costs and what it does) I should compare it with Turn Evil (fighters guild skill).
Turn Evil (cost 3.8K stamina):
-Fear all enemies in the area for 5 seconds (no target cap).
-Lasts for 20 seconds and provide 2 minor buffs (Minor Protection & Minor Endurance) for you and your group.
Mass Hysteria (3.7K magicka):
-Fear 6 enemies in the area for 3 seconds (has target cap).

1st thing that comes to mind is that ZOS did not standardized this skill. It is probably the only AOE in the game that still has a target cap. Also, this skill is missing auxiliary effect, but idk what that could be.

Shadow Passives:

Refreshing Shadows - Increases your Health, Stamina, and Magicka Recovery by 15%.
If I were to to nitpick... this skill should grant some small base recovery (100 ?) and then additional 15% or maybe convert % recovery to flat value. But... idk.

Dark Vigor - Increases your Maximum Health by 3% for each Shadow ability slotted.
This passive imho should also grant small base health buff and then 3% for each Shadow ability slotted.

Siphoning:
Tbh. this is the most solid NB skill line. Idk how it could be improved.