Any tips on a Nightblade build?

ahspear37 · May 2014

Grim13 wrote: »

Honestly, don't be one. You're better off picking a different class... just pick a race with stealth passives, slot medium armour, etc.. NBs are too broken, atm, to be worth considering. Trust me, NB becomes painful as a Vet...

I appreciate your advice Grim!

The reason I like a NB though isn't for stealth/stamina or crit. I play them like a Healer/Bloodmage, which at least until now I've had almost no problems with. Plus, I only get to play 1-2 hours a night, so I'm hoping that by the time I get to Vet status (only lvl 22 right now) they will be fixed up the way they need. Currently though, I love the play style, I like using strategy, and at this point I don't die often as long as I can keep some distance between myself and the enemies. Thanks for your contribution though

ahspear37 · May 2014

Xnemesis wrote: »

The most effective combo I have found is an all magika based Nightblade so a Spell blade is more appropriate. I wear 5 light 2 med. I use pretty much all NB skills. I also use a Destruction staff. This is the build I use ATM

I really like your build Xnemesis! My only issue with it is that you seem to be specced to be up close to your enemies, and currently my build is not so good at that lol. I can take on pretty much any enemy from a distance, but if they are in my face too long I tend to get carved to pieces, maybe because of my old computer that causes lag, probably though because I just am not used to blocking with the delay I have. I'm hoping a new comp soon will help me solve that particular problem.

I enjoy keeping my enemies slow, snared or trapped in general. So far that's worked out for me really well. I also enjoy the healing skills of the resto staff.

You definitely have a cool-as-hell build though! I'm sure it'll be even more powerful once they fix some of the bugs that this class tends to run into.

Xnemesis · May 2014

ahspear37 wrote: »

Xnemesis wrote: »

The most effective combo I have found is an all magika based Nightblade so a Spell blade is more appropriate. I wear 5 light 2 med. I use pretty much all NB skills. I also use a Destruction staff. This is the build I use ATM

I really like your build Xnemesis! My only issue with it is that you seem to be specced to be up close to your enemies, and currently my build is not so good at that lol. I can take on pretty much any enemy from a distance, but if they are in my face too long I tend to get carved to pieces, maybe because of my old computer that causes lag, probably though because I just am not used to blocking with the delay I have. I'm hoping a new comp soon will help me solve that particular problem.

I enjoy keeping my enemies slow, snared or trapped in general. So far that's worked out for me really well. I also enjoy the healing skills of the resto staff.

You definitely have a cool-as-hell build though! I'm sure it'll be even more powerful once they fix some of the bugs that this class tends to run into.

Yes it is built for mayhem and whatnot lol. basically I charge in use my degeneration and soul swallow abilities while in the air. I then stealth and hit with a surprise attack. After that I switch to my other skills buff up my dodge and proceed to wreck face with a single drain and then the staff aoe. If things get too hairy I can always stealth pop a pot and get back to it. Melee isn't that bad you just cant panic or stand in aoes

Beldorr · May 2014

williams226 wrote: »

with regen & funnel you dont always need to kite but you do need to dodge/block a few hits especially the strong attacks. Once one is dead other two are easy though.

In VR content with light armor you want to always avoid being hit. 400-600 is an average hit. I've got about 2300 hp (2500 is overcharge) so you can't take too many in a row. I've had mobs hit for 1200 (trolls, giants, large ogres and mammoths are in this range).

pre-50 mob pack grinding I went immovable + pulsar. Start out tagging a mob with reapers mark and use an opener on the mob so it dies before the rest and returns +60%hp and more spell power. I've stacked 3 reapers mark (+33 spell power) to test the spell power bonus and it was rather lackluster between levels 30-40 so it’s mostly for survival. I used the shock staff at the time, but I can see pulsar working with any of the destrostaffs.

ahspear37 wrote: »

As for AoE, my best advice is to put a lot of time in the Mage's Guild so you can get Fire Rune (I haven't used it personally but I hear it's pretty good and worthy of a spot on your skill bar). At least where I'm at right now (level 22) I have no need of a true AoE attack because I've been able to out-maneuver enemies and tactically beat them.

Morph the mages rune to volcanic. The AOE CC is 4 seconds. At VR 6 I was able to clear some vr10 lions den packs (public dungeon, 5-6 mobs, 3-4.5k hp) with some luck and volcanic rune. You can perma stun any mob with resto + volcanic run since you can be doing heavy attacks to get mana back. This can get you through some really hard boss fights.

williams226 · May 2014

I was having a slight problem last night, couple of times some strong hitting mobs got to close and I lacked the ability to get back to ranged. Shadow Cloak is no good as Dots interrupt its ability.

I havnt got Volcanic rune yet , that does look good though is there any other abilities anyone can think off that would enable a NB with Resto staff to get back to ranged.... This is where I do miss magnum shot

ahspear37 · May 2014

williams226 wrote: »

I was having a slight problem last night, couple of times some strong hitting mobs got to close and I lacked the ability to get back to ranged. Shadow Cloak is no good as Dots interrupt its ability.

I havnt got Volcanic rune yet , that does look good though is there any other abilities anyone can think off that would enable a NB with Resto staff to get back to ranged.... This is where I do miss magnum shot

For something in your class skills, have you tried twisting path (path of darkness morph) ? I haven't personally, so I can't exactly tell you that it's amazing or not (or if it's a bugged skill), but the description says it does AoE DoT in a cone and it increases your movement speed by 50%. That seems like a good one to invest in. And if it does happened to be bugged, it'll get fixed eventually.

Honestly, lately I just haven't run into a problem yet where I wasn't able to increase the gap between me and a mob. I snare and slow a lot though so that may be why. I also run 5/2 Light Heavy for the health regeneration. When I DID have trouble getting distance though, I used this:

Have you thought about switching to Resto/Destruction? I was doing it for a while and it was pretty good at taking out multiple mobs. I ran Frost staff with Elemental Blockade (Wall of Elements morph) for the increased duration and AoE of snare and Destructive Clench (Destructive touch morph) for when they tried to close the gap, with Tri-focus and penetrating magic passives. That was really good at keeping me far away from them. If you're having problem distancing yourself from enemies, I recommend trying a Frost Destruction staff as your backup. Just a suggestion though

Ozna · May 2014

So I made v1 on my nightblade. After dying a ton i redistributed my attributes into all health and guess what. I pretty much remained at the softcap for max magicka and mag recovery and added a ton of hps. So people stating to do that are correct. I do have boon of the mage on currently.

But the problem i have is that the NB aoes in skill lines the cost is too high for the amount of dmg they produce.

Main dmg spell i use - Funnel health - 300 dmg - 238 magicka

Max Magicka Currently - 1860
Average mob health in first dungeon v1 - 2008 hps

Siphoning - 50
Sap Essence III - 165 aoe dmg - 310 magicka (12 casts, 3720mag)

Shadow - 38
Refreshing Path III (Path of darkness morph) - 360 dmg dot - 357 magicka (6 casts -2142 mag., 1 minute long )

Non - NB AOE's
Destro Staff - 43
Unstable Wall of Elements IV - 250 dmg - 310 magicka - (6 casts, 1860 doable but wait for 20s to complete)
Impulse I - 161 dmg - 238 magika - need to look at this one closer

Mages Guild
Fire Rune - do not have this skill

Ultimate:
I can easily kill any group with Veil of blades IV when at 150% or higher

So if you look at any of these 2 NB aoe's if i had a mob and wanted to AOE them down at v1 i couldn't because the dmg/magicka ratio to the amount of mob hps would never get me there within one bar and being in light armor they would then be on me killing me. I am then required to put on a resto staff for healing skills to save myself.

I have seen a templar take down packs of 6 mobs in a dungeon with their spear, and everyone knows about sorcerers and dragonknights.

this analysis might change when the class skills are at 50 and morphed IV. NB seem to haven not been designed to have an AoE option but we should have some way to be viable on the AOE side like all the other classes.

Kyubi_3002b16_ESO · May 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJVgYs3MFA4

Vet content 4 man dungeon solo by a nb

Ozna · May 2014

thanks kyubi but I watched it and yes i can do that to with my resto skills maxed but that video didn't address the issue of 3 or more mobs together and trying to kill them unless his ultimate was up and it still doesn't address that issue as he just snuck by all the pack mobs.

i would however like to now how he was able to keep the bosses and adds from attacking during those fights his health never dropped and all i see on the bar is funnel health, shadow cloak, mutagen, path of darkness and siphoing attacks - none of those stun a mob or keep them from attacking so im assuming it is a combination of staying hidden between attacks as i see him mashing shadow cloak.

ahspear37 · May 2014

it appears as though his shadow cloak makes enemies lose target of him briefly and it "stuns" them while they look for him. That makes it either an extremely viable option for Veteran level content, or a game breaking bug that will get nerfed soon. I am hoping it's the former, as I don't see how nerfing it would help the Nightblades or create any balance.