U50 Vengeance Class Tierlist

ceruulean
ceruulean
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Hi everyone, after playing Vengeance for nearly a month, this is my ranking of each class in U50. The ranks go from S to B, since there aren't any C or D tier classes imo.

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Nightblade is S tier. They have a powerful and cheap ultimate in Soul Tether that stuns people in an AoE, and an instant cast Merciless Resolve that deals 18k damage. Hence, they have an A rating for AoE and S rating for CC because of AoE fear (an unblockable, undodgeable hard CC), and snare. They can also sustain with Siphoning Strikes. They make excellent brawlers and scouts. Their biggest weakness is that Grim Focus is predictable and dodgeable, and their ranged builds are not as effective as other classes.
  • Access to (4) unique buffs: Major Expedition, Minor Evasion, Minor Force, Major Protection (ultimate).
  • Access to (3) debuffs: Major Breach, Major Maim, Snare 30%.

Sorcerer is A tier. They are a step below nightblades because their AoE is not as good nor do they provide debuffs, but they have an AoE DoT in Scamp which is powerful, and melee chip damage with Lightning Form. Streak provides mobility and stun when used skillfully. They can immobilize and snare with Dark Magic skills if they choose to build a brawler. Sorcerer sustain is not the greatest, and Dark Exchange is not a great skill due to cast time and stamina cost (stam is the more valuable resource). Being able to kite, reset fights, and deal burst damage helps with their sustain more than a particular skill. They also make excellent small group healers with Twilight.
  • Access to (2) unique buffs: Major Protection, Minor Berserk.
  • Access to (2) debuffs: Snare 30%, Silence (ultimate).

Dragonknight is S tier. They have unique utility attached to their skills that make them defensive and difficult to kill. Their self heal has the highest tooltip of any heal and scales off missing health. Magma Shell is a unique defensive ultimate, and Core of Flame provides the most resources of any sustain skill in the game. Core of Flame is better than Siphoning Strike because it can be casted proactively while Siphoning is reactive. They also have the trifecta of CC skills: unblockable stun, immobilize, pull. Their only downside is lack of mobility and range, but they have supreme tankiness, an easy playstyle, and vanguards are nearly unkillable in 1v1 but can kill scouts, unless severely outplayed.
  • Access to (2) buffs: Major Berserk, Minor Prophecy/Savagery
  • Access to (1) debuff: Major Defile (ult)

Arcanist is A tier. They have access to the most buffs and debuffs of any class, and the most coveted damage buffs and debuffs: crit, crit dmg, vuln, breach. They have a teleport for mobility, decent defense, and potential sustain, but these all come with barspace tradeoffs and there's no 1 way to build an arcanist. Imperfect Ring is a decent AoE DoT. In the current DoT meta, arcanists have excellent pressure damage when using weapon skills. It is noteworthy that their class offense skills are slow, with cast times, that make them harder to pilot. Runeblades is slow and easily dodged. Fatecarver deals decent damage but is a liability in most cases. The stun is blockable. Arcanist has excellent ultimates and would be tied with warden for support/healing.
  • Access to (7) unique buffs: Minor Force, Major Prophecy/Savagery, Minor Berserk, Minor Fortitude/Intellect/Endurance, Minor Resolve, Minor Protection, Major Force (ultimate)
  • Access to (3) debuffs: Minor Vulnerability, Minor Maim, Minor Breach


Templar is B tier. They do not fulfill a single category with S tier utility. Templar has long cast times, dodgeable ST DoTs, and mostly channel/cast time skills with Puncturing Strikes, Solar Flare, and Radiant Destruction. Lack of a defensive kit, mobility, and long cast times leave them vulnerable. They have excellent ST unblockable CCs with Eclipse and Javelin. Templar has decent sustain with their aura buff, but it feels worse playing a vanguard templar compared to dk or nb. Less offense, less defense, less healing, high skill costs. Real question: what can the class do better than other classes?
  • Access to (1) unique buff set: Minor Fortitude/Intellect/Endurance

Warden is B+ tier. They have excellent self buffs. The increased critical chance and healing makes damage and magicka sustain easier, because they get more crit heals and thus recast HoTs less often. However, they lack instant hard CC. Their AoE Shalks skill is direct damage, which is more costly and inferior to AoE DoTs in current Vengeance, but it can work well with a high critical damage build, which again synergizes with their Lotus self buffs. The bear ultimate is impractical, delayed, and deals a tiny amount of damage, with the only saving grace being its cheapness. Wardens output better healing than other classes thanks to the Trees ultimate, and they can pull enemies during siege fights with Frozen Gate.
  • Access to (4) unique buffs: Major Savagery/Prophecy, Major Mending, Major Expedition, Major Protection (ult)

Necromancer is A tier. They mainly have unblockable AoE DoT damage which can be very oppressive. Their main offense skills all have 28m range and they can do serious damage before you reach them. They have good sustain because of cheap/free skills and Expunge provides passive recovery while slotted, while also purging DoTs with a cheap 2k health cost. Their totem CC stun has a delay which makes it less effective than Nightblade fear, but necro immobilize is free to cast, and necromancers do well in close-quarter defense. Resurrect ultimate is a unique skill. The main downside to the class is the need to recast Sacrificial Bones every 10 seconds, which makes their rotation busy and hard to maintain.
  • Access to (2) unique buffs: Major Berserk, Major Protection
  • Access to (3) debuffs: Major Maim, Minor Maim, Minor Vulnerability

  • ceruulean
    ceruulean
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    Well apparently i can't edit the first post, I need to make a correction in the description. I downgraded NB to B rank for AoE since they only have Soul Tether. It's the combined CC that makes NB strong.

    Even though sorc has more S tier categories, i think it's harder to play and has a high skill cap, similar to necro, so they both end up as A overall. At least, compared to the likes of NB and DK.

    I guess templar techincally should get S tier for range since they have one of the best toolkits for range, but their disadvantages are so stark that even as a ranged class they feel A tier.
    1. Radiant Destruction matches melee spammable damage at 16.5% HP, which means their iconic execute is an unused and dead cast for 80% of the fight, and only breaks even when the opponent reaches 20% HP (a LA weave into the execute should bring them to 16%). It is essentially the same as sorc's Mage's Wrath but without the extra tick of damage to keep an opponent in execute threshold. Also, to make the most of the damage, Radiant Destruction must be bash canceled after the 1st tick and recasted within the next GCD, because letting it run the full 4.8 seconds is less damage than LA weaving a spammable. So basically, Radiant Destruction is a more expensive, dodgeable non-AoE, inferior version of Mage's Wrath. Necro has an undodgeable free execute with Deto Siphon, and deals normal ranged spammable damage while not in execute range. Meanwhile templar's execute is dodgeable, expensive, ST, harder to use correctly since you're sacrificing a skill slot that could be a dot, and ends up dealing the same or less damage than other class executes or 2h execute.
    2. Backlash is an excellent delayed burst skill, but cast off every 6 seconds duration, it's still less DPS than NB's Grim Focus cast off cooldown. Although Backlash is undodgeable, it's still blockable, more expensive than Grim Focus, highly telegraphed, and less DPS to boot.
    3. Nova is a more expensive, ground-based, higher delayed version of Nightblade Soul Tether that can be cast from range, and only does 1k extra damage. The cost and tradeoff is imbalanced.
    4. Puncturing Strikes and Shield Charge pair well together, but in general, for all classes, spammables are unsustainable and DoTs are much better for their efficiency. And of course, being stuck in a channel unable to blockcast is a big disadvantage compared to just blockcasting Frost Reach from ice staff skill line which does 8.5k upfront and 8.5k dot dmg and costs 400 less mag, outclassing the 12k tooltip on Puncturing.
    5. Do I even need to comment on Solar Flare? A 1.5 cast time and it deals less damage than Grim Focus. The risk is not worth the reward. And before someone argues about it being an easy skill to use while hiding in a zerg.... you don't think nightblades in cloak using snipe and Grim Focus within the same 1.5 sec timeframe is the same thing but easier and more damage?

    Edited by ceruulean on July 2, 2026 6:48PM
  • Necrotech_Master
    Necrotech_Master
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    from my experience in vengeance (as a NB), ill say that NB healing still sucks something awful while like wardens, sorcs, and templars have better healing toolkits for 1v1 fights

    that also being said, since everything is so balanced, it also comes down to both player skill/selection of skills and also which vengeance loadout your using (since running say the vengeance tank loadout you gain armor but lose dmg compared to the soldier or scout)

    even with what i feel is poor NB healing, ive still managed to beat a dk in a 1v1 fight, which would be virtually impossible outside of vengeance lol
    plays PC/NA
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  • IZZEFlameLash
    IZZEFlameLash
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    from my experience in vengeance (as a NB), ill say that NB healing still sucks something awful while like wardens, sorcs, and templars have better healing toolkits for 1v1 fights

    that also being said, since everything is so balanced, it also comes down to both player skill/selection of skills and also which vengeance loadout your using (since running say the vengeance tank loadout you gain armor but lose dmg compared to the soldier or scout)

    even with what i feel is poor NB healing, ive still managed to beat a dk in a 1v1 fight, which would be virtually impossible outside of vengeance lol

    Nightblade should never really have a good self healing like other classes tbh. Class identity is an amazing burst class while likes of DK and Warden to a degree are meant to be more of a brawling types if damage. Sorc doesn't have that amazing of a heal too because it is also a burst class and has mobility advantage. Well, by the time rework rolls around for NB, it may change I suppose.
    Imperials, the one and true masters of all mortal races of Tamriel
  • ceruulean
    ceruulean
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    from my experience in vengeance (as a NB), ill say that NB healing still sucks something awful while like wardens, sorcs, and templars have better healing toolkits for 1v1 fights

    that also being said, since everything is so balanced, it also comes down to both player skill/selection of skills and also which vengeance loadout your using (since running say the vengeance tank loadout you gain armor but lose dmg compared to the soldier or scout)

    even with what i feel is poor NB healing, ive still managed to beat a dk in a 1v1 fight, which would be virtually impossible outside of vengeance lol

    I've beaten multiple scout dks on scout templar also, since you can outrange dk. Usually that shouldn't happen, but the range disadvantage is severe enough to give DK a serious weakness if they don't slot wings. But it also feels like I have to play 15-20% better to defeat a DK as a plar by continually outranging and keeping up dmg and cc like clockwork, if I miss a skill I'm dead and losing a fight of attrition. I cannot stand my ground and fight dks in melee because plar healing and sustain is not great. Arcanist has better healing, sustain, and pressure damage purely due to the Major Crit buff. More crit healing, more damage forces the opponent to back off which saves you resources, etc.

    Anyway, NB has a much easier time doing burst damage and they have good utility. They survive in the open field very well.

    On a personal note, I am slightly sad that plar is a bad class in both live and venegeance, but I still play it anyway lmao.
    Edited by ceruulean on July 4, 2026 7:14PM
  • IZZEFlameLash
    IZZEFlameLash
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    ceruulean wrote: »
    from my experience in vengeance (as a NB), ill say that NB healing still sucks something awful while like wardens, sorcs, and templars have better healing toolkits for 1v1 fights

    that also being said, since everything is so balanced, it also comes down to both player skill/selection of skills and also which vengeance loadout your using (since running say the vengeance tank loadout you gain armor but lose dmg compared to the soldier or scout)

    even with what i feel is poor NB healing, ive still managed to beat a dk in a 1v1 fight, which would be virtually impossible outside of vengeance lol

    I've beaten multiple scout dks on scout templar also, since you can outrange dk. Usually that shouldn't happen, but the range disadvantage is severe enough to give DK a serious weakness if they don't slot wings. But it also feels like I have to play 15-20% better to defeat a DK as a plar by continually outranging and keeping up dmg and cc like clockwork, if I miss a skill I'm dead and losing a fight of attrition. I cannot stand my ground and fight dks in melee because plar healing and sustain is not great. Arcanist has better healing, sustain, and pressure damage purely due to the Major Crit buff. More crit healing, more damage forces the opponent to back off which saves you resources, etc.

    Anyway, NB has a much easier time doing burst damage and they have good utility. They survive in the open field very well.

    On a personal note, I am slightly sad that plar is a bad class in both live and venegeance, but I still play it anyway lmao.

    Range was always something that DK lacked counterplay against, even with reflect back then tbh. There was never a way to catch up to a streaking Sorc, for example. Ranged Templar builds had come and gone, Templar can be solid with ranged builds but the sad state the class had been in for a while... yeah.
    Imperials, the one and true masters of all mortal races of Tamriel
  • Savagejack
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    This is a very concise and cogent assessment of the classes in Vengeance. Thank you for making it, brother!
  • ceruulean
    ceruulean
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    Revision to Tierlist:

    nZtI2mN.png

    Tierlist is mostly the same. Had to fix some colors and reevaluate a few things.

    I did not mention healing since I found most of the classes have similar healing values. The strength of a class as a healer is pretty much the same as any dps or tank: sustain and mobility. Warden is better for raw healing because of the Major Mending buff and the Trees ultimate. Arc, sorc, and nb would make the most survivable healers because they can escape being focused. Without the ability to build tanky, a Battle Medic in Vengeance needs mobility and evasion. Warden trades off sustain for raw healing, and is alright in terms of mobility, because wings with the anti-snare perk works well, but then you lose the cost reduction perk. Even DK with magma shell to clutch is good for a tank healer, but not ideal because of the way their sustain skill works. Cro is tanky enough and has free corpse healing, but without mobility is more likely to get focused and die. Templar is definitely the worst healer of the bunch because it lacks mobility and defense, and they don't have the raw healing to make up for any of that. A Soldier templar might work so you can access the Minor Expedition skill, but then you're better off switching to necro/dk or Battle Medic sorcerer/arc/warden/nb.

    I've downgraded DK sustain to S-. Core of Flame is still good, but it helps more with stam sustain because the skill itself costs quite a bit of mag. This makes it harder for DK to run staff or healer because you will mag out when pressured, whereas stam weapons are fine. NB, cro, warden, and templar can sustain mag weapons better, ironically.

    Templar is S for range just because of javelin. Javelin is gimmicky but it causes a lot of rage and synergizes well with single target burst. Even though other classes can access ranged knockback with bow, the stam cost and being blockable is a huge disadvantage. Sustain is ok on templar if you slot the aura, but lack of dmg and mobility doesn't feel as comfortable as arc/warden's crit buff, which are classes with better mobility and healing. Eclipse is also very expensive for a CC. Templar is in a weird state where solo, the class is barely lethal, but with 1 or 2 group members to cover for their lack of defense, they seem extremely oppressive and guarantee kills. Although, then again, every class is OP in a group, lol.

    There's a couple options I can think of to make templar less fodder. Boosting templar defense in solo, like letting them have access to some combination of Major/Minor Protection or Mending, so that the support roles are buffed, is one way to go. Or make Purify cheaper/offer a buff when slotted, to be worth slotting over scout cloak. Or make Sunfire double cost, duration, and damage so that DPS templars can save a GCD and have time to use channeled skills.
    Edited by ceruulean on July 8, 2026 7:39PM
  • IZZEFlameLash
    IZZEFlameLash
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    ceruulean wrote: »
    Revision to Tierlist:

    nZtI2mN.png

    Tierlist is mostly the same. Had to fix some colors and reevaluate a few things.

    I did not mention healing since I found most of the classes have similar healing values. The strength of a class as a healer is pretty much the same as any dps or tank: sustain and mobility. Warden is better for raw healing because of the Major Mending buff and the Trees ultimate. Arc, sorc, and nb would make the most survivable healers because they can escape being focused. Without the ability to build tanky, a Battle Medic in Vengeance needs mobility and evasion. Warden trades off sustain for raw healing, and is alright in terms of mobility, because wings with the anti-snare perk works well, but then you lose the cost reduction perk. Even DK with magma shell to clutch is good for a tank healer, but not ideal because of the way their sustain skill works. Cro is tanky enough and has free corpse healing, but without mobility is more likely to get focused and die. Templar is definitely the worst healer of the bunch because it lacks mobility and defense, and they don't have the raw healing to make up for any of that. A Soldier templar might work so you can access the Minor Expedition skill, but then you're better off switching to necro/dk or Battle Medic sorcerer/arc/warden/nb.

    I've downgraded DK sustain to S-. Core of Flame is still good, but it helps more with stam sustain because the skill itself costs quite a bit of mag. This makes it harder for DK to run staff or healer because you will mag out when pressured, whereas stam weapons are fine. NB, cro, warden, and templar can sustain mag weapons better, ironically.

    Templar is S for range just because of javelin. Javelin is gimmicky but it causes a lot of rage and synergizes well with single target burst. Even though other classes can access ranged knockback with bow, the stam cost and being blockable is a huge disadvantage. Sustain is ok on templar if you slot the aura, but lack of dmg and mobility doesn't feel as comfortable as arc/warden's crit buff, which are classes with better mobility and healing. Eclipse is also very expensive for a CC. Templar is in a weird state where solo, the class is barely lethal, but with 1 or 2 group members to cover for their lack of defense, they seem extremely oppressive and guarantee kills. Although, then again, every class is OP in a group, lol.

    There's a couple options I can think of to make templar less fodder. Boosting templar defense in solo, like letting them have access to some combination of Major/Minor Protection or Mending, so that the support roles are buffed, is one way to go. Or make Purify cheaper/offer a buff when slotted, to be worth slotting over scout cloak. Or make Sunfire double cost, duration, and damage so that DPS templars can save a GCD and have time to use channeled skills.

    Templar being beneath Arcanist that has some major sustain issue (really feeling that whenever I play PvE and trying to figure out what would work for PvP) is sad. They really did Templar dirty didn't they
    Imperials, the one and true masters of all mortal races of Tamriel
  • ceruulean
    ceruulean
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    Templar being beneath Arcanist that has some major sustain issue (really feeling that whenever I play PvE and trying to figure out what would work for PvP) is sad. They really did Templar dirty didn't they

    Yeah they did do templars dirty. Templar's Restoring Aura skill is still pretty good sustain, so I bumped templar to B+ because it's good, but it sacrifices barspace, and templar has to make significant sacrifices already (meanwhile sorcs get a burst heal and minor berserk for having the same skill slotted, lol). Also, there's a quirk where it does not state a target cap. I have not had a chance to test, but if it hits an entire group, it's the only ballgroup skill in Vengeance. Then that would contribute to my point that templar is weak solo, OP in group.

    But like I said, arcanist having 12% crit buff and 10% crit dmg helps them heal better and secure kills, so ultimately its more rewarding to play aggressive on arcanist and even warden compared to plar. Warden also has the crit buff, but without access to magicka stun, warden risks running out of stam when attempting to stam check others, since they have to use weapon stuns (1h+shield and bow). For wardens, it might be better to run another dot and forgo a stun altogether.

    I'm also thinking that another way to address templar mobility issue is to adjust Focused Charge. Make it the counter to Streak. Make it 1k magicka cheaper because requiring a target, or gap closing into a group, on a class with no AOE stuns and native defensive buffs, is riskier than porting away wherever you choose. Remove the damage component because 6300 damage is useless in Vengeance, and replace it with a 3 or 4 second 30% snare. The strength/duration of the snare can be adjusted, but Wall of Elements and NB Cripple have 30% snares for 4 seconds, so that seems to be the standard. If it needs a CD then add a CD. This would help plars land Puncturing Strikes without relying on Frost Wall or teammates.

    There are some ways to remedy the class imbalances, like making the loadout skills actually provide the skills needed to function in that role. Soldier loadout has the Regroup skill that gives Major Endurance/Fortitude/Intellect. It's basically an alternative to DK's Core of Flame. What makes DK the best vanguard, with NB in 2nd place, are those sustain skills. If Regroup was shuffled to Vanguard, then necro/plar/warden/arcanist would have a fighting chance as Vanguards, because Vanguards need sustain to survive outnumbered without mobility (although, giving vanguard necro access to major recoveries might tip necro vanguards into op territory). It's similar to how NB cloak and speed was given to Scouts, so every class has a fighting chance to compete with sorc/nb in open world.

    Battle Medic has a CC in Splinters of Chaos, which is excellent, so that healers have a way to peel and defend themselves, but I think they also need minor expedition or dodge roll cost reduction so that non-teleport classes can survive. They are tanky as long as they have mag, until they are mag or stam checked.

    Honestly, Soldier is a meh loadout. It is jack-of-all-trades, master of none. It's a support spec since it has buffs and debuffs, but it's definitely... a newbie trap. A Vanguard that stacks armor has better pressure and burst potential with the Unleashed Fury skill, and Vanguard is supposed to be the highest defense spec...

    Even though Scout has a healing done reduction, the extra crit boosts Heals-per-second (HPS) so the penalty is canceled out in the long run. I dunno if ZOS understands this or if this is intentional, but that's why scout is good. If they really want scouts to be squishy and high damage, they'd have to give scouts more penetration and less crit chance.
    Edited by ceruulean on July 9, 2026 12:30PM
  • gammelscroll
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