switch NB DPS to Healer for current update. Is it a good idea or should I just go to a new class?

WoWpackform · June 2024

I’ve seen the updates for Nightblade and believe I would be better off becoming a NB healer for this current update. Is it a good idea or should I just start over using a different class? Any Nightblade players have any advice? Should I become a healer or delete the character?

MidniteOwl1913 · June 2024

I really like NBs as healers. I have 2. They are very versatile. When running group content I use my NB as healers.

Araneae6537 · June 2024

NB healers are good, and one of the meta healers for trials, I believe for ultimate generation. I switched my former magblade dps to healer because I cannot stand the horrid grim focus permaglow, and I find NB has good utility for healing, resources, and the fun speed boost from twisting path as well.

fred4 · June 2024

I think you should switch to PvP

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Can only concur with what's been said about healing, since I don't know anything about nightblade healing

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I'd point out that nightblades also make decent tanks. The combination of Dark Cloak and Siphoning Attacks makes for excellent, easy-to-use self-healing and blocking resource management. Very beginner friendly. I don't believe group utility is high, but I've seen a nightblade tank solo vSS, sitting underneath Yolnakhriin and pulling the fire atros in like it was nothing. If you can cancel the second tank, due to the self-healing being so strong, that counts as good utility in my book

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fred4 · June 2024

Would also add that nightblades have excellent utility for menial tasks, due to cloak. In no particular order:

For doing daily quests in PvP areas without being seen, e.g. these days to collect scripts.
For anything related to the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood DLCs.
For harvesting / surveys without aggroing mobs.
For daily delve quests, cloaking past mobs.

If this is your only nightblade, I wouldn't throw it away. Yes you can get close to nightblade cloak functionality in PvE on any class, e.g. by making a stealth build with certain armor sets. In PvP, though, forget it. Nightblade stealth rules, there.

birdik · June 2024

Just make an arcanist
ZOS dont care about class diversity

Vaqual · June 2024

I would recommend you to just play what you like, not whatever is strongest at the moment. The meta is constantly shifting, it is giga boring whenever everyone runs the same and, if you are performing well on what you are playing, you will likely not be holding back anyone significantly.

fred4 · June 2024

Vaqual wrote: »

I would recommend you to just play what you like, not whatever is strongest at the moment. The meta is constantly shifting, it is giga boring whenever everyone runs the same and, if you are performing well on what you are playing, you will likely not be holding back anyone significantly.

"If [the OP was] performing well", I don't think we'd be having this conversation. For context, from my experience, I parse ~90K on my stamina arcanist and ~80K on my magplar. With a similar rotation complexity, I parse < 60K on my magblade. That's how bad it is in the hands of an average player. Thus I agree with the premise of the OP.

@WoWpackform The only thing is, what content do you play? Nightblade, even a "weak" ranged magblade, is perfectly fine for the vet solo arenas. It's even a comfortable option when you build it right for healing, for example by wearing Soulcleaver. You must only start worrying about the class at the highest level, e.g. in vet DLC trials. Then, however, the difference is real. I previously made a post, ranking the trials in terms of "pugability" with random strangers, e.g. for farming perfected sets:

S-Tier (only try with a guild, if you want to stay sane): vAS+2, vCR+2
A-Tier (unforgiving mechanics, less than 50% success rate in a PUG): vCR+1, vDSR
B-Tier (spend 1/2 hour finding portal DDs): vCR+0, vSS
C-Tier (decent success rate): vKA, vRG, vSE
D-Tier (no perfected sets, just farm them on normal): MoL, HoF, Craglorn trials

I would say 60K DPS is fine up to B-Tier and so long as you are not a portal DD. For what I've labelled S-Tier, forget it. They say vAS+2 is all about mechanics, for example. I think that is not true, or at least not for PUGs. With PUGs struggling to survive, the DDs tend to get so little uptime on Felms, you need all the damage you can get in order to compensate, otherwise he enrages and the group wipes. These days, Arcanists rule in vAS+2.

fred4 · June 2024

@WoWpackform Just to clarify: If you put the work in, if you know your class well, and you enjoy it, every class performs about the same on a trial dummy. There are differences, but most players don't come near the damage, the 120K+ parses, where those differences show in absolute terms. Also, as far as I know, Arcanist is not actually at the top in terms of single-target (boss) parsing. It merely tops the charts for ease of use as a DD in the hands of the average player in actual content. As Nefas, a well-known ESO YouTuber, pointed out: The world solo record for Infinite Archive was recently set by a nightblade.

fred4 · June 2024

@WoWpackform I'm really unsure who you are and how to pitch my replies. Does the WoW in your name refer to World of Warcraft? Does that mean you are aiming straight for endgame? Because if you're not aiming to be on Discord with 11 other players in a veteran trial, then this whole discussion is basically moot. You should stick with your nightblade, if you enjoy how it plays. Class performance differences only really crystallize in vet trials and arguably only in their hard modes, which is what vAS+2 is an example of. Well that and, of course, in PvP. And for PvP nightblade is excellent.