I love my Mag warden for it's theme, unique skills, and overall most fun class to play imo. I really love that I have the ability to tank, heal and dps in PvE and PvP making alts unnecessary. I realize that with all Hybrid classes we inevitably pay the hybrid tax. I wanted to know what your take is on how best to run a PVP damage Magden this patch as I don't understand how to get the best bang for my buck on skills.
Magden gets bonus damage on Screaming Cliff Racer based on range (I think up to +15%) which is all well and good.....
But then my only class stun option is Arctic Wind which takes 3 seconds to stun and is melee range
For the sake of argument lets say I decide to play the melee range with Arctic Wind. If I'm putting myself in melee range as a caster there's no way I'm able to run majority light armor. So I run something like 4H 2L 1M, but now I've lost pen, sustain, and have to be in melee range.
I guess I don't understand how Wardens are expected to DPS PvP AT ALL when there are such conflicting skill designs between range/melee, a [snip] stun, and our execute being on the bear which has to be double barred smh.
Is Magden just pigeonholed into being a heal/tank in PvP just like in PvE, or have you found ways to make these garbage skills useful in PvP through different sets/weapon/skill combos?
Ironically it felt really bulky when it was introduced, due to it's healing. On the one hand I agree, on the other hand I think this could be the result of everyone trying to make playable builds that avoid the delayed Cliff Racer as the spammable and that, perhaps, don't shield. Magden actually has heals oozing out of every pore. Trellis, Cliff Racer, Deep Fissure, Arctic Blast in my build. Enough that I'm happy to run 1H+S and no defensive ult. In general I find 1H+S feels tankier than resto, despite having been told that blocking has no effect while you have the shield up. Nonetheless I instinctively block-cast my heal and shield while under pressure and find that makes a difference. This is, incidentally, one of the reasons I like Bull Netch for stamina sustain over alternatives you might use. It keeps giving you stamina while blocking or sprinting.ESO_Nightingale wrote: »magicka warden has the worst self healing of any magicka class in the game...
Ironically it felt really bulky when it was introduced, due to it's healing. On the one hand I agree, on the other hand I think this could be the result of everyone trying to make playable builds that avoid the delayed Cliff Racer as the spammable and that, perhaps, don't shield. Magden actually has heals oozing out of every pore. Trellis, Cliff Racer, Deep Fissure, Arctic Blast in my build. Enough that I'm happy to run 1H+S and no defensive ult. In general I find 1H+S feels tankier than resto, despite having been told that blocking has no effect while you have the shield up. Nonetheless I instinctively block-cast my heal and shield while under pressure and find that makes a difference. This is, incidentally, one of the reasons I like Bull Netch for stamina sustain over alternatives you might use. It keeps giving you stamina while blocking or sprinting.ESO_Nightingale wrote: »magicka warden has the worst self healing of any magicka class in the game...
I think magden has suffered from adjustments and meta shifts. Building for magicka is no longer "in". If you want to use any proc, aside from the nerfed Hrothgar, it's all about spell damage. Flame Clench and Shock Clench have both been nerfed. The Master Destro isn't really the thing to use anymore. In previous patches a Master Shock Staff would turn a magden into a pure AOE monster. The Arctic Blast heal was nerfed, I believe. Maybe using the vamp stun is still viable, I don't know.
Most people who play the class should be more expert at it than me and, thus, I assume you are. I play it very little and I've only ever played one build. I will say that, if you go the shielding route, you will want 50K+ magicka. Not 45K. 50K+. Also not Harness Magicka, but Dampen Magic. This probably rules out no CP and shoehorns you into some very specific sets, such as the ones I have listed. At least that gives you damage as well, unlike building for 50K health. I must admit that this build seemed better in the past when Northern Storm gave a permanent +10% magicka, when CP gave +20% and when shields could not be crit. That's despite the fact we now have Death Dealer's Fete and flat magicka buffs from CP.ESO_Nightingale wrote: »Ironically it felt really bulky when it was introduced, due to it's healing. On the one hand I agree, on the other hand I think this could be the result of everyone trying to make playable builds that avoid the delayed Cliff Racer as the spammable and that, perhaps, don't shield. Magden actually has heals oozing out of every pore. Trellis, Cliff Racer, Deep Fissure, Arctic Blast in my build. Enough that I'm happy to run 1H+S and no defensive ult. In general I find 1H+S feels tankier than resto, despite having been told that blocking has no effect while you have the shield up. Nonetheless I instinctively block-cast my heal and shield while under pressure and find that makes a difference. This is, incidentally, one of the reasons I like Bull Netch for stamina sustain over alternatives you might use. It keeps giving you stamina while blocking or sprinting.ESO_Nightingale wrote: »magicka warden has the worst self healing of any magicka class in the game...
I think magden has suffered from adjustments and meta shifts. Building for magicka is no longer "in". If you want to use any proc, aside from the nerfed Hrothgar, it's all about spell damage. Flame Clench and Shock Clench have both been nerfed. The Master Destro isn't really the thing to use anymore. In previous patches a Master Shock Staff would turn a magden into a pure AOE monster. The Arctic Blast heal was nerfed, I believe. Maybe using the vamp stun is still viable, I don't know.
bond with nature is a heal, sure, but it's not exactly noticible during actual combat unless you sit in a corner for 10 seconds spamming betty. a lot of people like to point out that magicka warden has so many healing skills which is true, but the important thing is that none of them are actually enough to keep magden alive most of the time because every burst option availiable to it is worse than blessing of restoration. shields also aren't worth anything with a cost that high and a value that low. shrooms heals less than it, and costs as much as breath of life, you need to build 50k health in order to get a solid heal out of blast now, budding requires 2 gcds to heal as much as what breath of life heals in 1, and same with living trellis execpt that it heals half the amount per gcd. bursting vines doesn't even heal the caster and forces a reposition after a projectile cast.
Most people who play the class should be more expert at it than me and, thus, I assume you are. I play it very little and I've only ever played one build. I will say that, if you go the shielding route, you will want 50K+ magicka. Not 45K. 50K+. Also not Harness Magicka, but Dampen Magic. This probably rules out no CP and shoehorns you into some very specific sets, such as the ones I have listed. At least that gives you damage as well, unlike building for 50K health. I must admit that this build seemed better in the past when Northern Storm gave a permanent +10% magicka, when CP gave +20% and when shields could not be crit. That's despite the fact we now have Death Dealer's Fete and flat magicka buffs from CP.ESO_Nightingale wrote: »Ironically it felt really bulky when it was introduced, due to it's healing. On the one hand I agree, on the other hand I think this could be the result of everyone trying to make playable builds that avoid the delayed Cliff Racer as the spammable and that, perhaps, don't shield. Magden actually has heals oozing out of every pore. Trellis, Cliff Racer, Deep Fissure, Arctic Blast in my build. Enough that I'm happy to run 1H+S and no defensive ult. In general I find 1H+S feels tankier than resto, despite having been told that blocking has no effect while you have the shield up. Nonetheless I instinctively block-cast my heal and shield while under pressure and find that makes a difference. This is, incidentally, one of the reasons I like Bull Netch for stamina sustain over alternatives you might use. It keeps giving you stamina while blocking or sprinting.ESO_Nightingale wrote: »magicka warden has the worst self healing of any magicka class in the game...
I think magden has suffered from adjustments and meta shifts. Building for magicka is no longer "in". If you want to use any proc, aside from the nerfed Hrothgar, it's all about spell damage. Flame Clench and Shock Clench have both been nerfed. The Master Destro isn't really the thing to use anymore. In previous patches a Master Shock Staff would turn a magden into a pure AOE monster. The Arctic Blast heal was nerfed, I believe. Maybe using the vamp stun is still viable, I don't know.
bond with nature is a heal, sure, but it's not exactly noticible during actual combat unless you sit in a corner for 10 seconds spamming betty. a lot of people like to point out that magicka warden has so many healing skills which is true, but the important thing is that none of them are actually enough to keep magden alive most of the time because every burst option availiable to it is worse than blessing of restoration. shields also aren't worth anything with a cost that high and a value that low. shrooms heals less than it, and costs as much as breath of life, you need to build 50k health in order to get a solid heal out of blast now, budding requires 2 gcds to heal as much as what breath of life heals in 1, and same with living trellis execpt that it heals half the amount per gcd. bursting vines doesn't even heal the caster and forces a reposition after a projectile cast.
Trellis works in this build, because alternating it with the shield gives you time to recover your health. That's in a worst case scenario, e.g. when you got ganked with your pants down, you messed up your rotation or you are getting zerged. You should always keep up Trellis, which at only 10 seconds is kind of painful, but does mean you should never have to cast it twice for the small burst heal. Of course you're not going to go into a corner and spam your netch to heal, but both Bond with Nature and Trellis offset the damage you take on an ongoing basis. The last scenario, getting zerged, is where a shielding build without sorc-like mobility fails, to be honest, but you can't really argue with being beaten by multiple players, even though we know that 1vXing is a thing.
All of this is not to say that I disbelieve you, but it reinforces my perception that there are only a few builds that work and that a mag-stacking build is one of them. What about s build, though? I don't play vampire, but his choices, Mist Form, Blood for Blood, and so on, seem logical to offset magden's weaknesses.