"Assassin" Stamina Nightblade PvP Build (DW/2H) [Ascending Tide]

Decimus · March 2022

Hey everyone!

Thought I'd share this here as well... this is the DW/2H stamblade build I've been playing this patch:

High Burst Damage
Good Survivability
Good Mobility
Decent Group Support

Intro: 0:00
Gear: 0:25
Which Race: 02:00
Skills (Front Bar): 02:19
Skills (Back Bar): 04:04
Champion Points: 05:17
Stats: 07:05

Build Editor Link: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Special:EsoBuildData?id=214669

Happy to answer any questions/feedback here

gariondavey · March 2022

This is almost exactly the same build I've been running for the last 6 months looool.
Good stuff.

DrSlaughtr · March 2022

I see Markyn. Why not run wild hunt with 1 swift and infused or bloody on the other two pieces? More damage + high out of combat speed.

Decimus · March 2022

TheEndBringer wrote: »

I see Markyn. Why not run wild hunt with 1 swift and infused or bloody on the other two pieces? More damage + high out of combat speed.

Markyn is 200 weapon dmg, 2314 armor

2x infused & Wild Hunt is 208 weapon dmg & 1% more speed in combat/31% out of combat...

So it's 2314 armor vs 8 weapon dmg, 1% speed (31% out of combat, which can sometimes be useful).

Markyn generally brings more value with that added tankiness.

DrSlaughtr · March 2022

Decimus wrote: »

TheEndBringer wrote: »

I see Markyn. Why not run wild hunt with 1 swift and infused or bloody on the other two pieces? More damage + high out of combat speed.

Markyn is 200 weapon dmg, 2314 armor

2x infused & Wild Hunt is 208 weapon dmg & 1% more speed in combat/31% out of combat...

So it's 2314 armor vs 8 weapon dmg, 1% speed (31% out of combat, which can sometimes be useful).

Markyn generally brings more value with that added tankiness.

Oh I know about the armor.

Personally prefer being able to chase down easier. It's not really enough armor to make a difference for pure ganks but I can see it if someone is wanting to be a more stand up style or if a player is still working on their maneuverability and escape. Though remember you really aren't getting that much out of 2k armor. I'm sure someone can do the math but translates into very little damage reduction.

Decimus · March 2022

TheEndBringer wrote: »

Decimus wrote: »

TheEndBringer wrote: »

I see Markyn. Why not run wild hunt with 1 swift and infused or bloody on the other two pieces? More damage + high out of combat speed.

Markyn is 200 weapon dmg, 2314 armor

2x infused & Wild Hunt is 208 weapon dmg & 1% more speed in combat/31% out of combat...

So it's 2314 armor vs 8 weapon dmg, 1% speed (31% out of combat, which can sometimes be useful).

Markyn generally brings more value with that added tankiness.

Oh I know about the armor.

Personally prefer being able to chase down easier. It's not really enough armor to make a difference for pure ganks but I can see it if someone is wanting to be a more stand up style or if a player is still working on their maneuverability and escape. Though remember you really aren't getting that much out of 2k armor. I'm sure someone can do the math but translates into very little damage reduction.

It doesn't really make a huge difference in terms of chasing, and if we use the Swift-Infused as a baseline for stats then the 1% speed you gain from Wild Hunt Ring is worth 14 weapon damage (104/7).

In total that's 22 weapon damage worth of value vs 2314 armor (3,5% mitigation, additive with the rest of your armor)

The baseline for weapon damage would be 129 per set bonus and for Armor 1487, or 1:11,5.

In other words the 22 weapon damage translates to 253 Armor.

Value wise you just gain a lot more from Markyn Ring & 3x Swift compared to 2x Swift & Wild Hunt, and every little bit of tankiness counts if you can obtain it without giving away too much.

DrSlaughtr · March 2022

You missed the point.

1. You don't need to run swift with wild hunt. The in combat speed is plenty. They out of combat speed is invaluable for setting up your attacks and chasing down targets.

2. With not having to run swift, a player can run 3 bloodthirsty. A NB initial attack, if done correctly, will put the target < 50%, and often closer to 25%. You're immediately getting drastically more damage on the target. Even 3 infused will perform better than Markyn.

3. Your armor calculations are not correct. You cannot simply say x armor = y damage. It doesn't work that way. But let's say your 3% damage reduction assumption is correct. If I hit you with a 15k attack, 3% = 450 damage reduction. Again, it doesn't work that way though.

Just to be clear, run what works for you. I was just offering alternatives. ☺️

PvP_Exploiter · March 2022

TheEndBringer wrote: »

You missed the point.

1. You don't need to run swift with wild hunt. The in combat speed is plenty. They out of combat speed is invaluable for setting up your attacks and chasing down targets.

2. With not having to run swift, a player can run 3 bloodthirsty. A NB initial attack, if done correctly, will put the target < 50%, and often closer to 25%. You're immediately getting drastically more damage on the target. Even 3 infused will perform better than Markyn.

3. Your armor calculations are not correct. You cannot simply say x armor = y damage. It doesn't work that way. But let's say your 3% damage reduction assumption is correct. If I hit you with a 15k attack, 3% = 450 damage reduction. Again, it doesn't work that way though.

Just to be clear, run what works for you. I was just offering alternatives. ☺️

You said you would still run 1 swift with Wild Hunt, which is 1% more speed than 3 swift and no Wild Hunt.
Which is what Decimus was using for comparisons.

If you run no swift you're slower so your point of chasing people down better is completely false.

Decimus · March 2022

TheEndBringer wrote: »

You missed the point.

1. You don't need to run swift with wild hunt. The in combat speed is plenty. They out of combat speed is invaluable for setting up your attacks and chasing down targets.

2. With not having to run swift, a player can run 3 bloodthirsty. A NB initial attack, if done correctly, will put the target < 50%, and often closer to 25%. You're immediately getting drastically more damage on the target. Even 3 infused will perform better than Markyn.

3. Your armor calculations are not correct. You cannot simply say x armor = y damage. It doesn't work that way. But let's say your 3% damage reduction assumption is correct. If I hit you with a 15k attack, 3% = 450 damage reduction. Again, it doesn't work that way though.

Just to be clear, run what works for you. I was just offering alternatives. ☺️

Those are some interesting concepts - I think mDKs & Templars would deter me from running any less speed on my setup though, you need the ability to dip out of melee range quickly.

Wild Hunt & 3 Infused/BT does get you to speed cap (or well, to 199% speed) while sprinting with Major Expedition, but Markyn Ring & 2 Swift and one Infused does the same with better value as explained above.

I run 3 swift though because I think 21% speed is more beneficial for a stamblade (can't sprint while cloaked after all) than 312 weapon damage, even if you go slightly above the speed cap while sprinting.

And yes, damage mitigation in this game is a bit more complicated... Armor is additive with itself though, so let's say you take 10 000 damage and reduce it by 25% -> 7500

If you have 28,5% modifier instead (the armor value from Markyn Ring) the damage taken would drop to 7150 instead, which is a 4,666% decrease in damage taken from 7500.

That said, Armor is more vulnerable to things like Corrosive & 2H Ulti so it isn't as simple as to say stacking Armor is best value when looking at defense.

Meanwhile if you decided to add Battle Spirit for example, that'd only reduce the already reduced damage (so 7150-50%, not original 10 000-50% and so on). A good rule is to just look at the damage you take and then reduce it by the % amount provided by Major Protection, Minor Protection, Class Passive... whatever it happens to be.

Either way, you'll want to build tanky enough (high health & armor) on a stamblade to survive all the damage out there - or play a very different type of a NB build (nothing wrong with that).

DrSlaughtr · March 2022

PvP_Exploiter wrote: »

TheEndBringer wrote: »

You missed the point.

1. You don't need to run swift with wild hunt. The in combat speed is plenty. They out of combat speed is invaluable for setting up your attacks and chasing down targets.

2. With not having to run swift, a player can run 3 bloodthirsty. A NB initial attack, if done correctly, will put the target < 50%, and often closer to 25%. You're immediately getting drastically more damage on the target. Even 3 infused will perform better than Markyn.

3. Your armor calculations are not correct. You cannot simply say x armor = y damage. It doesn't work that way. But let's say your 3% damage reduction assumption is correct. If I hit you with a 15k attack, 3% = 450 damage reduction. Again, it doesn't work that way though.

Just to be clear, run what works for you. I was just offering alternatives. ☺️

You said you would still run 1 swift with Wild Hunt, which is 1% more speed than 3 swift and no Wild Hunt.
Which is what Decimus was using for comparisons.

If you run no swift you're slower so your point of chasing people down better is completely false.

I only said 1 swift to match the in combat speed of the build.

The out of combat speed is what helps you chase down unsuspecting targets, as stated. ☺️

Nothing wrong with having more armor. Just offering a suggestion for more damage if someone doesn't need that armor. I run no armor except what I get passively.

Aznox · March 2022

Is there something with NB cloak that makes them spend more time out of combat ? Unless you die you'll never be out of combat in a BG.

DrSlaughtr · March 2022

Aznox wrote: »

Is there something with NB cloak that makes them spend more time out of combat ? Unless you die you'll never be out of combat in a BG.

Yes. I often am removed from combat, even when in group, even in the middle of chaos, by hitting shadowy.