Well, I just finished the round of those first three dungeons. That dungeon in Auridon is really tough, but I quite like tanking. I can´t go melee dps, I´m either healer, tank or ranged dps 

But after those three dungeons, it became somewhat better. I´m timing my blocks much better now, but I was still trying to aggro everything. I just reached level 13, so I guess I´ll have to get the better abilities yet, but I have to say I like it. It´s somewhat different and more fun from what I´m used to. 

So having ventured into the 3rd alliance zone I thought I'd go out of my way to gather leather scraps in anticipation of crafting my next set of armour for level 26. However all the mobs seem to be dropping hide scraps. Surely 26+ mobs should be dropping mats for 26+ armour? Is this a problem other people have encountered?

Hmm, not that I recall. I usually got most of my materials from deconstruction though.

Since back before ESO came out I'd planned on playing an Archer when I finally got it and even though I've had the game for almost a year now I haven't done so, well no longer.

I plan on doing two of the things I've yet to do in this game, play and archer and create a nightblade does anyone have any tips that would come in handy for someone who is new to this class?

When I'm not playing my Templar or my Sorcerer, I have been leveling a Nightblade who uses archery. It's still fairly low leveled at 39.

Bear in mind that at a low level, you are lacking the tools to make the bow work well since most of the more useful skills are further down the skill line. Level the bow skills as quickly as you can.

Consider using these skills:

Venom Arrow (bow: morph of Poison Arrow). Deals poison damage and interrupts casters.

Draining Shot (bow: morph of Scatter Shot. Some like the alternate morph, Magnum Shot, which does more damage and knocks you away from the opponent. I prefer Draining Shot because it snares, reducing enemy movement speed to 40%. This gave me the opportunity to kite away).

Shadowy Disguise (NB Shadow line: morph of Shadow Cloak). Makes you invisible and ensures that your next shot is a critical hit.

Killers Blade (NB Assassin line: morph of Assassin's Blade). Your execute. Use it when the enemies' health is less than 40%.

Prolonged Agony (NB Siphoning line: morph of Agony). Your CC ability.

Ultimate: Incapacitating Strike (NB Assassination line: morph of Death Stroke)

Some of these require magicka, but not so much that you need to put points into the magicka attribute. However, you may want to put a few points if you plan on spamming these abilities. Remember, total weapon damage scales off your passive skills AND your total stamina pool. If you want your bow to do tons of damage, you need lots of stamina.

At lower levels, nightblade gameplay is all about taking down targets quickly. Speed is your friend. You must remember that a low level NB archer can only kill one at a time so you need to know which targets to kill first. Always kill the healer first (that goes for any class you play). Melee guys rushing you are next (use Prolonged Suffering on these guys until you kill the healer). After that, pick off the archers and mages. Whenever possible, your opening shot should be Venom Arrow from stealth. 

I highly suggest that your secondary bar should be 2H. That skill line contains, Rally, which heals you and boosts weapon damage.

Thanks for the info Patriarch, I created an Altmer Nightblade earlier today and have already started following this 

I'm thinking of running a Stamina-based Sorcerer and I was looking for some pro tips from some experienced Sorcerers!

I've done a bit of research and it seems there's some great abilities like Thundering Presence and Bound Aegis that would really complement a weapon damage build. More importantly though, Critical Surge seems like an amazing ability to boost damage output and survivability, and I can exploit my high Stamina to get the most out of Dark Exchange.

Obviously I'll go full Medium Armour to max out all those stamina/weapon related bonuses, but I'm not sure if I should roll Two-Handed or Dual Wielding for my weapon skill. Dual Wield would give me access to a passive that increases my crit chance by 10% with Daggers as well as give me 1 more item to contribute to set bonuses, but I've heard that lots of people run Impenetrable gear in PvP, which kinda ruins crit builds. Two-Handed would give me more base weapon damage, and the automatic crit from Critical Charge could synergise well with the heal from Critical Surge and the armour reduction from the Night Mother's Gaze set. I'll probably run bow on my second slot.

Anyone got any input/ideas?

I love stam sorcerers so much I've actually rolled two. I mostly stick to pve and tend to pick weapons and skills based on my character concept more than anything else so take my advice with a grain of salt.

My first sorc runs with a bow on both bars, the bow aoe skills and encase chews through groups ridiculously quickly, its my favourite skill combinations in the entire game.

My second is only level 20, and originally I going to just run 2h since I was envisioning a traditional nordic warrior, but I really liked the aesthetic of dual axes so I've got 2h on the front bar and dual on the back. I make up for the lack of range by using overload. Setting up Surge and Critical charge can be a bit of a pain, often when you need healing you're too close to the enemy to charge and dodge rolling away to crit charge is an expensive heal. It is effective against runaway mages and archers though.

Also, not something I've tested personally, but using Streak (Bolt Escape morph) as a gap closer would synergise well with the dual wield perk Ruffian. The fighters guild skill Expert Hunter is also good to have on your bar for the extra crit if you're relying on Surge for heals.

You've already identified the three core sorc class abilities for weapon builds so I don't have anything else to add to that :)

Thanks Ash. Definitely sounds like it will work out but I'm still tossing up between Two-Handed and Dual Wield. With the Critical Charge thing at higher levels I could use Bolt Escape to create some distance for a charge but that might get a bit Magicka intensive. Your idea of running both two-handed and dual wield is very interesting - could easily throw a bunch of ranged abilities on the Overload bar (if that's still a thing) but it seems kinda unnecessary. Decisions decisions!

Stamina Sorcs seem like a lot of fun to play; however, it is widely considered the most difficult stamina class to pull off, requiring a lot of skill by the player. So, if you're looking for a challenge, this is the class for you! 

The main complaints of the class are that there is no spammable, direct, class-based damage ability and the class passives do little to support the stamina attribute.

1. Direct Damage Class Based Stamina Skill: NOTHING except Hurricane, which is a huge Utility Loss (see below)

2. Stam Support Utility: Nothing that returns stamina. Bound Armaments (takes two slots for 8% max stamina and paltry armor), Dark Deal (hard to use in combat), Boundless Storm (mobility utility), Critical Surge

3. Passives that support stamina: unholy knowledge (5% stam cost reduction), Expert Mage - Increase spell/weapon damage 2% per sorc ability (Now outshadowed by 3% fighters guild passive) Daedric Protection (20% health and stam recovery but ONLY when Daedric summoning ability is slotted)

4. Armor Debuff: NOTHING

That said, a Stam sorc is viable if set-up and played correctly. The following is a recent build video by Fengrush, one of the biggest advocates of the stamina sorc: