hundergrn wrote: »

Both play fairly similar to the other. The main difference between Stamblade and Magblade is range. As a stamblade (dw/bow) you are pushed up close to the fight while as a magblade you have the entire field to work around.

DPS differences between the two are rather minimal, they both heavily rely on weaving for maximum damage and while there are differences in the weaving technic... it is minimal due to it coming down to learning the timing.

Survivability tends to go to Magblades imo. Swallow soul tends to be the main spamable in PvE. Good damage and self heal plus relentless focus makes 1v1 trivial and your plethora of aoe/dot keeps you mobile so not to be overwhelmed. Even with crit builds, you can easily become the off tank during vet content to buy time for someone to rez tank or healer. That said... your resource pool is your lifeline... run dry and you can die fast.

For PvE, Mageblade tends to be solo king. Able to take on most world bosses and arena content with ease as most builds stay very flexible for all PvE content.

For PvP... both tend to have different playstyles and niches. Both rely on burst to make the kill generally but imo I feel Stamblade remains more flexible as they can be both the sneaky sneaky burster or the team harrasser.

Weapons for Magblade
- PvE is usually dual Inferno for the dmg boost they provide. They have enough AoE in their arsenal that Lightning Staffs generally fall below par.
- PvP tends to be Inferno Front, Resto Rear mostly due to survivability needs. PvP debuffs play hell for the self healing nature of Magblades as Swallow Soul is no longer a viable spamable and its self heal is gutted.

Monster set wise... Valkyr Soria and Zaan use to be the go to but with recent changes, I think most push away from monster sets or do split 1p bonuses. I still run VS on my mageblade for the fun of it as your aoe/dots still proc it frequently while zipping around in vet content.

Race has minor bonus in choice... Dark Elf/Khajiit are the trending meta due to dmg buffs they provide but it really comes down to your choice and how you want to play them.

hundergrn wrote: »

HedgehogFeet wrote: »

Really appreciate the time people took to respond. I'm reading it all & digesting

I'm a bit confused about AoE abilities. One of the things I loved about stamblade is I could take out a mob with my bow without them getting near me. How do I do that as a magblade? Everything seems so close up ability wise

Unstable Wall of Elements, Path of Shadows, and Necrotic Orb are your AoE/DoT for a Magblade Backbar. They are more cone/line skills that extend from you as the point and have decent distance to them. While they do require directional aiming instead of dropping a circle they work similar to a backbar bow.

Unstable wall has elemental status effects depending on staff type, Inferno = Burning + Extra damage to burning, Lightning = Concussed + Off balanced to Concussed, Ice = Free shield + chilled + Immobilize to chilled.

Twisting Path deals magic damage with a range of 17m and gives a speed buff to any ally (and yourself) that passes through for 4 seconds. Great for kiting if needed.

Necrotic orb has a radius of 8 meters but travels forward during its duration (15-20m i think) will absolutely melt non vet mobs that get stuck in its full range, plus its a great sustain for group content.

They may have a little less range than bow but have less windup animation wise and are easily stackable with a little weaving in-between. Mageblades feel like they function best at mid range, only coming close to mobs for a quick relentless proc heal before speedily gaining the distance with

Drop them in succession and all in front of you will melt before your eyes. Feeling pressed for time, run through the mob pack and drop as you move forward and you'll see the xp pop while gaining a speedy boost.

TLDR Magblade AoEs are cones with a little less range but will still melt mobs while giving mobility boost. Similar to bow but with more stacking and speed.