So with this Thread I want to summarize the issues and problems for Nightblades at that moment.
First of all it is important to seperate two different Gamemodes for this class... This is PVP and PVE.
I want to focus on the PVE Aspect here, because PvP is already discussed alot in other threads and the call for NB nerf is surely back again.
But in PVE Nightblade overall suffers alot compared to other classes (excluded are Necromancers which are on nearly a same "unbalanced level" as NBs).
So what is the issue on Nightblades in PvE at that moment?
If you play the meta right, Nightblade (especially Stamblade) has alot of problems to even manage a clean parse because of ressource sustain Problems. Mostly it is the Magicka which is running out because of the "Concealed Weapon" changes. That's why alot of Nightblades already switched to full Magicka Builds instead of Stamina (even if they loose a bit of damage and a very good execute there).
What happened to "Concealed Weapon"?
LOST DEPTHS & UPDATE 35:
Concealed Weapon (morph):
This morph now passively grants Minor Expedition while slotted, instead of increasing your movement speed by 25% while in sneak or invisible.
This morph now also increases your Damage Done by 7-10% for 5 seconds after leaving sneak or invisibility, or Major Expedition Ends while in combat.
First of all, this change was so immense, that it was unavoidable for most NBs to not play with "Concealed Weapon" on the bar EVEN if you are Stamblade. Which means, you already block to Barslots with "Concealed Weapon" + "Twisting Path" (Proc it with Major Expedition).
At this Point you could still sustain a good Stamblade Rotation even if you skillbar was already messy and blocked with a magicka spell you just have in for a very strong passive bonus.
ZOS saw this Problem and did not want to have the playstyle like that, so what happened:
UPDATE 38:
Veiled Strike
Concealed Weapon (morph): This morph now grants its damage done bonus for 10 seconds if Major Expedition was active while it was cast, rather than for 5 seconds when Major Expedition ends or was refreshed, to ensure the skill is used actively rather than passively. The damage bonus still operates the same for leaving sneak or invisibility.
Means, if you want to play "Concealed Weapon" then you also have to cast it for the passive bonus. I can understand this mindset by ZOS, but it was forcing alot of NBs to play fully Magicka then because this passive 10% Damage Done Bonus was just to strong compared to the "Surprise Attack" Stamina Morph.
Anyway you would loose damage then because you also miss a very strong execute which is only available on Stamina Morph and made Nightblade compete with other high damage Parses in Raid.
So Stamblades tried to find a way to hold there damage on Top Numbers with other classes by using Stamina (Stamblade execute which can start around 35% Health of the boss) and "Concealed Weapon" Morph which will cost alot of Magicka and a additional Spell in the rotation.
It results in the choice between going on a Stamblade with a good execute and "better" damage but running out of ressources in the rotation IF you not use Tri-Pots/Heroism Pots.
Or you go on Magickablade, get no ressource Problems with "Concealed Weapon" because it is your Magicka Spamable (like ZOS intended) BUT you miss the good execute which made Nightblade so strong in PvE to compete on the high parses.
That means in both decisions you LOSE DPS overall and still cannot stick up to other classes DPS atm.
Okay, that was a summary of the recent changes. But now coming to the actual changes /PTS.
PTS 9.1.0 Changes:
Grim Focus:
This ability and its morphs no longer need to be activated to generate stacks, as they will now generate stacks any time you meet their original requirements simply with the ability slotted on either bar.
Increased the cost of the special activate to 1890, up from 1350, to make up for the fact that you no longer need to activate the buff portion of these abilities.
Relentless Focus (morph):
This morph now increases the amount of Weapon and Spell Damage each stack grants to 80 at rank IV, rather than increasing the duration of the buff, since the buff no longer has a duration.
This morph now costs 1377, rather than 1148.
So I thought, great maybe the issue with the Rotation and Magicka Sustain is addressed by ZOS now.
Because you do not have to cast Grim Focus every 40seconds again and you can spend the Magicka for the "Concealed Weapon" uptime... yes, it was a right step in this direction, but the changes again miss the problem. The "Relentless Focus" morph which is Stamina based is again a worse morph compared to it's Magicka one "Merciless Resolve". You buffed up the passive Weapon/Spell Damage by 20 per stack but it will not result in a better Morph Damage wise.
Even if it was the right idea still most NBs even on Stamblade choose "Merciless Resolve" because of the higher damage. AGAIN we have the Problem to get forced into a Magicka Morph on Stamblade because the Stamina Morph version is by far worse than the Magicka one. (Same happened to "Concealed Weapon" vs "Surprise Attack").
But let's calculate the Parse with the higher Damage Morph "Merciless Resolve":
On a perfect parse (Light attack every Second) you could cast Merciless Resolve 8 Times now compared to the pre Patch changes with 40s Cooldown to recast.
40second /5 (stacks of Lightattack Parse for Merciless Resolve) = 8 Procs
Let's do the Maths.
Pre PTS:
Cast "Merciless Resolve" = 2.700 Magicka (every 40 seconds)
Proc "Merciless Resolve" = 1.390 Magicka (every 5 lightattacks / 5 Seconds)
In 40 Seconds = 2.700 + 8x1.390 =
13.820 MagickaPTS:
Cast "Merciless Resolve" = 0 Magicka
Proc "Merciless Resolve" = 1.850 Magicka (every 5 lightattacks / 5 seconds)
In 40 Seconds = 8x1.850 Magicka =
14.800 Magicka
That means, the new rotation gets even more Magicka intense than before for the Stamblades... which results in a even more messy rotation and playstyle for Stamblade PvE. Means the Nightblades get forced more and more into a Magicka Spec.
So all these ideas of changing "Morphs" making them more "used" than staying passive on bars are great. But they do not address the Problem on Point
@ZOS. The Nightblade has a big gap between the impact of "Stam Morphs" and "Magicka Morphs". That's what really need to get closed. Nightblades atm can either play on full Magicka but still suffer because the "Main Damage" of the good Stamina "Execute" is lost. Or you hold on to the Stamblade with it's "Execute" but get alot of sustain Problems because you have to use the damage multipliers from "Magicka Morphs".
If you lack one of each other you cannot compete with Highparses of other classes. So normally NB need to go on Stamina for the highest Damage and have to handle the sustain Problems somehow...
So, what we can do against that?
Solutions
Fix the Morphs and make them equal.
"Execute":
You can address the "Magicka Execute" and make it to an equal Damage Output as the Stamina one. Easy solution. Every Nightblade will switch completely to Magicka and Damage will be fine. No Sustain Problems but Stamblade will be dead.
"Surprise Attack" and "Concealed Weapon"
You can address "Suprise Attack" and make the Stamina Morph to an equal Damage Output like "Concealed Weapon" it will solve the sustain Problems for Stamblade and give it back a Stamina anytimer, the bar is not blocked with an forced "Magicka Morph".
"Grim Focus" changes:
To solve the sustain Problems you can make Grimfocus not that magicka intense in the rotation. The PTS Update addressed that and made hope, but increasing the magicka cost for proccing it, results in a more magicka intense rotation than before. Fix that. Make the costs lower again and Stamblades have less magicka issues. This will be the fastest switch to make the Stamblade rotation at least more sustainable. The Problem with the "Concealed Weapon" and "Execute" morphs will still exist.
I am sure, my solution could not be perfect and maybe there are also other ways or opinions on Nightblades current state. But I tried at least to figure out the real Problem on Nightblades atm.
If you made it until here, thank you very much for reading all this and I really appreciate your feedback or other solutions.
Also feel free to correct me if I am really wrong in this topic.
Greetings from a NB player since ESO Beta