The Elder Scrolls Online » Discussions


Help With New Build

  • Member
    February 11, 2018

    I'm trying out a new build for Stamina Nightblade Assassin and I'd like feedback on what I have set up so far.

    Here's the link to the build: https://www.eso-skillfactory.com/en/build/nightblade/my-assassin-nightblade/33182/

    Please offer feedback on abilities I can change or switch out to be more effective. Keep in mind this is an assassin first and foremost so Shadow Cloak and Night's Silence are going to stay.

  • Member
    February 11, 2018

    OK, first off. What are trying to do with this char? PvE, PvP, solo?

     

    UPDATE: Derp, just read it's not for PvP. Still, solo or group?

  • Member
    February 11, 2018

    Tenebrous said:

    OK, first off. What are trying to do with this char? PvE, PvP, solo?

     

    UPDATE: Derp, just read it's not for PvP. Still, solo or group?

    There's a limited number of solo content so eventually I will do group but it's mainly designed with solo in mind.

    Also, I edited the build to make the bow bar more CC based, take another look.

  • Member
    February 11, 2018

    Seems pretty good, in that case. The only thing I'd really replace is Shadowy Disguise on the back bar. A few options here are Acid Spray (Arrow Spray morph, Bow) or Twisting Path (Path of Darkness morph, Shadow) for another DoT, or perhaps Power Extraction (Drain Power morph, Siphoning) if you want to go a bit more unorthodox. In addition, if you're going to do group content, I'd re-morph Poison Arrow and Snipe. Poison Injection is a good ranged execute, and Focused Aim reduces enemy defenses, which means more damage for you!

     

    Of course, I'm not that much of an expert, so you may wish to wait for Patriarch's input. Still, that's what I would go with as a Nightblade Stamina DPS.

     

    Update: Also, unless you're running very specific sets, daggers and swords are identical in functionality. Seeing as how all your stuff is crafted, I say roll with the sword/dagger combo if that's what you want. I'll come back and recommend some sets soon.

  • Member
    February 11, 2018

    Tenebrous said:

    Seems pretty good, in that case. The only thing I'd really replace is Shadowy Disguise on the back bar. A few options here are Acid Spray (Arrow Spray morph, Bow) or Twisting Path (Path of Darkness morph, Shadow) for another DoT, or perhaps Power Extraction (Drain Power morph, Siphoning) if you want to go a bit more unorthodox. In addition, if you're going to do group content, I'd re-morph Poison Arrow and Snipe. Poison Injection is a good ranged execute, and Focused Aim reduces enemy defenses, which means more damage for you!

     

    Of course, I'm not that much of an expert, so you may wish to wait for Patriarch's input. Still, that's what I would go with as a Nightblade Stamina DPS.

     

    Update: Also, unless you're running very specific sets, daggers and swords are identical in functionality. Seeing as how all your stuff is crafted, I say roll with the sword/dagger combo if that's what you want. I'll come back and recommend some sets soon.

    I'm definitely not getting rid of Shadowy Disguise. As I said being an assassin it's non-negotiable, and even if Patriarch comes along and pulls out every card he has it'll stay that way.

    Also, I chose Venom Arrow over Poison Injection purely because my character is a Shadowscale and the morph specifically references "Shadowscale Poison", besides it's better for CCing on pesky mages.

     

  • Member
    February 11, 2018

    Ebonslayer said:

    I'm definitely not getting rid of Shadowy Disguise. As I said being an assassin it's non-negotiable, and even if Patriarch comes along and pulls out every card he has it'll stay that way.

    Also, I chose Venom Arrow over Poison Injection purely because my character is a Shadowscale and the morph specifically references "Shadowscale Poison", besides it's better for CCing on pesky mages.

     

     

    The thing is, you already have Shadowy Disguise on the front bar. It's really a waste of slot space to have it on both bars; you can always apply it and then switch bars, unlike some other skills (such as Bound Armor in the Sorceror skills, which is a toggle and needs to be on both bars). As for Venom Arrow over Poison Injection, while it's stupid useful in solo PvE (damn you, mages!), it's really more a PvP skill; most dungeon bosses will be interrupted, but the stun won't work, and the extra damage from Poison Injection is good in case you can't get close to use the Killer's Blade. But really, that's not as important as the Disguise redundancy; there's no easy way around the fact that you're wasting a skill slot.

  • Member
    February 11, 2018

    Tenebrous said:

    The thing is, you already have Shadowy Disguise on the front bar. It's really a waste of slot space to have it on both bars; you can always apply it and then switch bars, unlike some other skills (such as Bound Armor in the Sorceror skills, which is a toggle and needs to be on both bars). As for Venom Arrow over Poison Injection, while it's stupid useful in solo PvE (damn you, mages!), it's really more a PvP skill; most dungeon bosses will be interrupted, but the stun won't work, and the extra damage from Poison Injection is good in case you can't get close to use the Killer's Blade. But really, that's not as important as the Disguise redundancy; there's no easy way around the fact that you're wasting a skill slot.

    I mainly use Shadow Cloak for sneaking around in solo content and stabbing people with the Blade of Woe and sometimes I do switch to the bow, I don't want to be caught without Cloak when I need it the most. Also, it's not as simple as "apply it and switch out", it lasts for 3 seconds, the developers designed it so that you can keep invisibility for as long as you want so long as you have magicka (in short, it's meant to be spammed). In group PVE I typically use it to drop aggro when a boss or multiple mobs are attacking me, I'm not meant to survive any level of beating. The Crit is only used for my Ambush > Shadowy Disguise > Surprise Attack combo, it's not the main focus but more of a good side effect.

     

  • Member
    February 11, 2018

    Ebonslayer said:

    I mainly use Shadow Cloak for sneaking around in solo content and stabbing people with the Blade of Woe. Also, it's not as simple as "apply it and switch out", it lasts for 3 seconds, the developers designed it so that you can keep invisibility for as long as you want so long as you have magicka (in short, it's meant to be spammed). In group PVE I typically use it to drop aggro when a boss or multiple mobs are attacking me, I'm not meant to survive any level of beating. The Crit is only used for my Ambush > Shadowy Disguise > Surprise Attack combo, it's not the main focus but more of a good side effect.

     

     

    Seems your character is leaning more towards the roleplay side of the game? Really, if we're being frank, you can pretty much run anything in general questing and non-Veteran stuff and be OK. But if you want to get into Veteran Group Dungeons, especially the harder ones, you really need to "play to win" so to speak. Not saying you can't do something unique (I, for instance, ran a Nightblade tank when everyone said it wouldn't work, and it worked nonetheless), but generally, you need to make sure no skill slot is doing nothing in Group Dungeons. Worthy of note that this doesn't mean you're actively using all the skills (some skills grant passive bonuses if they're on the bar, and some skills need to be on both bars or they'll unapply themselves). But Shadowy Disguise only is really necessary on the front bar because you've got that combo going on. As a final note, remember that a) it's totally possible to have seperate setups for solo questing and Group content, and b) Group content necessarily involves more people, including a tank to keep the heat off of you.

  • Member
    February 11, 2018

    Tenebrous said:

    Seems your character is leaning more towards the roleplay side of the game? Really, if we're being frank, you can pretty much run anything in general questing and non-Veteran stuff and be OK. But if you want to get into Veteran Group Dungeons, especially the harder ones, you really need to "play to win" so to speak. Not saying you can't do something unique (I, for instance, ran a Nightblade tank when everyone said it wouldn't work, and it worked nonetheless), but generally, you need to make sure no skill slot is doing nothing in Group Dungeons. Worthy of note that this doesn't mean you're actively using all the skills (some skills grant passive bonuses if they're on the bar, and some skills need to be on both bars or they'll unapply themselves). But Shadowy Disguise only is really necessary on the front bar because you've got that combo going on. As a final note, remember that a) it's totally possible to have seperate setups for solo questing and Group content, and b) Group content necessarily involves more people, including a tank to keep the heat off of you.

    Still, the fact remains I will need it to drop aggro. Switching between weapons has a slight delay and that delay could be the difference between me losing half my health or all of it. I'd need that escape and I'd need it in an instant, I prefer reliability over viability.

     

  • Member
    February 11, 2018

    Ebonslayer said:

    Still, the fact remains I will need it to drop aggro. Switching between weapons has a slight delay and that delay could be the difference between me losing half my health or all of it. I'd need that escape and I'd need it in an instant, I prefer reliability over viability.

     

    Eh, alright-o. I guess we can agree to disagree there? :P

     

    Moving on though: equipment. IMO, crafted stuff works. It may not be the optimal thing to run, but anything short of Trials, you'll be fine. I should really mention, though, that's there a lot of really great effects you can only get from non-craftable sets. Particularly noteworthy are the Monster Sets. Royal pain in the ass to get, but they do have amazing effects. Here's some recommended non-crafting sets, should you wish to explore them:

     

    Easy to get (Overland):

    Night Mother's Embrace: found in chests and delves throughout Deshaan. 5 pieces reduces enemy detection radius when Sneaking, and reduces Sneak cost

    Wilderqueen's Arch: found in chests and delves throughout Greenshade. 5 pieces add a snare to all Bow abilities.

    Shadow of the Red Mountain: found in chests and delves throughout Stonefalls. 5 pieces add a chance to proc a Flame attack with Weapon abilities.

    Night Terror: found in chests and delves throughout Stormhaven. 5 pieces add the effectmof doing Poison Damage to melee attackers.

     

    Somewhat hard to get (Dungeon):

    Sword Dancer: found in Blessed Crucible. 5 pieces add damage to Dual Wield abilities.

    Sunderflame: found in City of Ash. 5 pieces adds Flame Damage and a Resistance debuff to Heavy Attacks.

    Viper's Sting: found in Fungal Grotto. 5 pieces adds Poison Damage to melee attacks.

    Oblivion's Edge: found in Vaults of Madness. 5 pieces adds a Heal buff for every killed enemy.

     

    Hard to get (Monster):

    Kra'gh: Fungal Grotto 1 Monster set. 2 pieces adds a chance to create damaging shockwaves on dealing damage.

    Maw of the Infernal: Banished Cells 2 Monster set. 2 pieces adds a chance for damage to spawn a friendly Daedroth that attacks stuff.

    Selene: Selene's Web Monster set. 2 pieces adds a chance to summon a spirit for massive damage on melee hits.

    Slimecraw: Wayrest Sewers 1 Monster set. 2 pieces adds a constant damage buff.

    Valkyn Skoria: City of Ash 2 Monster set. 2 pieces adds a chance to summon a meteor AoE attack on using DoT abilities.