Replies: 237

Acknowledgement

A special thank you to all addon developers that have both significantly improved the quality of my gaming life as well as allowing me the opportunity to reverse engineer game mechanics. In particular, Combat Log Statistics by @zeakfury and Combat Metrics by @decay have been instrumental for the majority of my testing. I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude to the community for the kind words, encouragement and valuable discussions.

Contents

• Introduction
• Damage Equations
  • Resource Pool
  • Spell Damage
  • Recovery
  • Spell Cost
  • Spell Critical
  • Critical Modifier
  • Damage Calculation
    • Base Ability Tooltip
    • Base Damage
    • Average Damage
    • Ability Metric
• Analytical Results
  • Champion Point System
    • Thief
    • Mage
  • Mundus: Apprentice, Mage, Thief and Shadow
  • Armour Traits: Divines and Infused
  • Weapon Traits:Nirnhoned, Precise and Sharpened
• Numerical Results
  • Introduction
  • Details of Simulation Algorithm
  • Simulation Interface
  • Simulation Accuracy
  • Simulation Results for Magicka Sorcerer

Introduction

This post is divided into three main sections: Damage Equations, Analytical Results and Numerical Results.

Damage Equations covers the majority of equations needed to accurate calculate damage. It is my impression that the majority of these are readily recognisable by the community so my exposition of it will be brief. In addition, the Unofficial Elder Scroll pages boast a comprehensive build editor that not only calculates statistics for virtually all gear combinations it also clearly and tidily demonstrates the underlying equations used.

Optimisation decisions based of the Damage Equations are covered in Analytical Results. These include champion point optimisation, mundus optimisation, armour trait optimisation and weapon trait optimisation.

While the Analytical Results provide some insight into damage optimisation, some optimisation questions are rather arduous to answer, in particular the impact of proc sets on damage. One approach is with a geometric distribution but this only models the average behaviour and leaves much to be desired. Numerical Results summarises some of my combat simulation findings.

While I will rely on magicka sorcerers for the bulk of my examples, most of the concepts apply equally to other classes.

• This topic was modified 5 months ago by  Asayre.

Replies: 394

Invellous’s Mageblade Tank Guide

Update Pending!

[img]http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc37/Invellous/a217fc7a-fb9f-40ca-9707-754cf95eed69_zpsjbbzypzk.png[/img]

Changelog 

02/26/2017: Updated for Hamestead DLC. Made adjustments to sets, added Original Set. Deleted Sturdy Explain section and replaced it with Block Cost sub section. Adding Addon section soon.

A brief apology to everyone who has followed this guide for any length of time. Previously my Sturdy explained section was incorrect regarding how block cost reductions were calculated. I have moved to correct this thanks to a heads up from user nox-uk. Users who followed this guide previously were spending nearly twice what I claimed they would be on blocking. That should be resolved now. Thank you all for your support and my deepest apologies for not double checking my information!

10/23/2016: Updated for One Tamriel! Adjusted Champion Point section to reflect new cap. Edited Mundus Stone section. Edited Beginner’s Set, All-Purpose, and Ultimate Generator. All-Purpose now offers additional options. New Monster Sets section added. Skills have been adjusted slightly. New Videos section added.

9/18/2016: Big update finally finished! A near complete re-write of the original. Format changes. Additional information added! Multiple sets added including a potential Update 12 set.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Overview
3. Race
4. Attributes 
5. Champion Points
6. Mundus Stone
7. Gear(Enchantments, Block Cost, Sets)
   
8. Skills
9. Rotation
10. Video(s)
11. Shoutouts

Introduction

Warm sands, friends! Welcome to my magicka nightblade tanking guide! Through this guide I aim to you teach not only how to build an effective magicka nightblade tank but how to find great success in playing this unique and rewarding approach to tanking in the Elder Scrolls Online. Please, follow khajiit and take a look!

OVERVIEW

Like all classes in the Elder Scrolls Online the nightblade class possesses a number of distinct advantages and disadvantages when it comes to tanking as described below.

 Pros:

• Access to Major Evasion via the class skill Blur and it’s morphs.
• Both group and self healing.
• Easy if not tedious rotation.
• Superb resource sustainability.
• Superb Ultimate generation.

Cons:

• Lacks both accessible and reliable crowd-control skills.
• Lacks damage shield skills
• Lacks strong direct healing skills.
• Less viable before 300 Champion Points.

Bearing in mind both the advantages and disadvantages of the nightblade class as described above I have chosen to focus my attention on enhancing the defining elements that make a magicka nightblade not only an effective but competitive tanking class. To accomplish this I have chosen sets that offer bonuses to Maximum Magicka, Magicka Recovery, Spell Damage and utility that compliments both the skills used, proposed rotation and the overall ‘rhythm’ of the play-style without sacrificing essential tanking stats. Such stats are acquired through both the chosen sets and skills used in the rotation such as Mirage, a morph of the Assassination skill Blur that grants Major Evasion and when morphed to Mirage grants both Minor Resolve and Minor Ward. When used with the skill Refreshing Path, a morph of the skill Path of Darkness to activate the Shadow passive Shadow Barrier which grants both Major Resolve and Ward the two work together to increase both Physical and Spell Resistance by 6,270 at max level!

Race

There are several strong options for this build that compliments any number of the propose set combinations. Three of which are ideal for playing both a damage dealer and tank while the last is more ideal for a strict tank setup.

Argonian offers bonuses to Maximum Health(3/6/9%), Maximum Magicka(1/2/3%), and both healing done and received(1/3/5%) you will be hard pressed to find a better choice , especially when you take into consideration the bonus they receive when drinking resource restoring potions such as tri-stat potions, restoring upwards to 12% more resources! Altmer and Breton are tied for second.

Altmer offers greater resource management and total with a bonus to Maximum Magicka(4/7/10%) and Magicka Recovery(3/6/9%). The bonus damage to Flame, Frost, and Shock Damage(2/3/4%) is appreciated but underwhelming.

Breton stands side by side the ‘superior’ *cough* elf with a bonus to Maximum Magicka(4/7/10%), and Spell Resistance(1,320/2,640/3,960) which would bring your Spell Resistance closer to the cap(33,000) when you have the following buffs active; Minor Resolve, Minor Ward, Major Resolve, and Major Ward. They also offer a minor reduction to the Magicka cost of abilities, upwards to 3%.

Imperial is another strong choice with a massive bonus to Maximum Health(4/8/12%) and a strong bonus to Maximum Stamina(4/7/10%) giving them some of the biggest boosts to much needed resources. The Red Diamond passive also serves as another source of healing if not unreliable.

Currently I play a Khajiit, which is the absolute worst race for this build. I chose the race because I love the race and their lore, and I role-play one as well. Despite not having any bonuses to essential stats I have had great success in playing this build and have used it in all of the Trials on normal, the newest dungeons on both veteran and hard mode and even veteran Dragonstar Arena. So if you did not pick one of the above ‘superior’ races then do not fret, you will still be able to play as a magicka nightblade tank and be successful!

Attributes

Your attribute allocation may vary from my own depending on the race you chose for your nightblade and the number of Champion Points you have access to. Currently my magicka nightblade tank is a Khajiit and I possess roughly 592 Champion Points at the time of this writing. With the sets that I use and the number of Champion Points that I have invested I am able to reach the Health milestone of 28,000+ Maximum Health with food buffs without investing a single point into the Health attribute. I currently use epic 160cp tri-stat food.

Health: 17(+/-) - Invest here if your character’s Maximum Health is below 28,000+ with their Champion Points spent, food buff applied, and gear and skills equipped on their main bar.

Magicka: 47(+/-) - Once you can achieved a minimum of 30,000 Health with food buffs then you should invest any remaining attributes here.

Stamina: 0 - You will generate enough Stamina via Siphoning Attacks that you will not need to invest a single point into Stamina to maintain a healthy level throughout encounters.

CHAMPION POINTS

The below allocation has been adjusted to assume that readers possess the maximum number of Champion Points in each category, 200 points. Keep in mind this allocation can change based upon your character’s race, the gear you are wearing and the content you are facing. They are placed assuming you have four pieces of epic 160cp gear with the Sturdy trait.

The Warrior:

• 73* Elemental Defender(20.1%).
• 73* Hardy(20.1%).
• 46 Quick Recovery(10%).**
• 8 Bastion(4.3%)**

Elemental defender and Hardy are given a balance allocation that fits most content outside of Veteran Trials. An investment in Quick Recovery is made to compliment the healing nature of nightblade tanks’ skills. Bastion receives a minor investment to boost the shield on Harness Magicka.

* I would highly recommend when going into a Veteran Trial that you boost either Elemental Defender or Hardy to 100. Which one will be determined based upon the primary source of damage in the Trial. For the Craglorn Trials I would advise 100 into Hardy, especially in Hel Ra Citadel where you will be taking a LOT of physical damage. Once I have experienced other veteran Trials as a tank I will be able to recommend other allocation options.

** If you do not intend to use Bastion or Quick Recovery points can be moved from one to the other or invested elsewhere as you see fit. I find this to be an effective allocation but others may not.

The Thief:

• 90 Magician(15%).
• 73 Arcanist(20.1%).
• 37 Shadow Ward(12.5%).*

Due to the Champion Point increase we are able to achieve a good balance of resource sustainability while still having room to invest into Shadow Ward without sacrificing much. The investment there allows us to drop Defensive Posture without missing the additional cost to block thus offering skill flexibility.

The Mage

• 73 Elemental Expert(20.1%).
• 73 Blessed(20.1%).
• 48 Elfborn(15%)*
• 6 Spell Erosion(406)

Disclaimer: I readily admit this may not be the best or most effective allocation but seems to work.

This has always been the area in which I am uncertain that my choice is most optimal but it seems to work fine. A balance between damage and healing with some investment in critical to boost both damage and healing criticals with a very minor investment in Spell Erosion because… not much else you can do with 6 points. It may be better to drop points from Elfborn and Spell Erosion and max out out Blessed for the sake of maximizing your healing over time spells and Sap Essence.

*If you are using Bahraha’s Curse it may be worth while to investment at least 27 points into Thaumaturge as it will boost the damage of area of effect field thus increasing the healing received from it. Elfborn is the best place to draw points out of as item based skills can not longer result in critical hits.

MUNDUS STONE

The Atronach, is by far the best choice in my opinion. Offering 210 Magicka Recovery, which boosts sustain.

The Ritual is another valid option as it boosts healing by 10%, though I would only use it if you are comfortable with your Magicka Recovery and or using buff food / drink that boosts Magicka Recovery such as Witch Mother’s Potent Brew; increases Maximum Health and Magicka and Magicka Recovery or Orzorga’s Red Frothgar; increases Magicka Health and Magicka Recovery. I have also used The Thief and often do outside of Trials and veteran Dragonstar Arena as it makes it easier to swap from tank to damage dealer.

Gear

In this section of the guide readers will find several sub-sections that include a brief list of universal traits used across all proposed sets, a Beginner’s Sets section listing gear combinations that do not include a Monster Set or dropped set from overland zones and or dungeons. A Veteran Sets section that lists ‘advanced’ sets intended for players more familiar with the game with 300 or more Champion Points. Sets include both Monster Set options and may contain a overland and or dungeon dropped set. The Monster Sets sections lists the various Monster Sets deemed worthy of use and explains in which circumstance a Mageblade Tank should use them.

Enchantments

‘Big Pieces’ (Helmet, Chest, Legs) - Maximum Health / Prismatic

‘Small Pieces’ (Belt, Boots, Gloves, Shoulders) - Maximum Health / Prismatic 

Jewelry - 3 Legendary(Gold) Shield-Play Enchantments (Reduce Block Cost)

One-Hand Weapon(s) - Crusher

Shield(s) – Maximum Health / Prismatic 

Traits

‘Big Pieces’  (Helmet, Chest, Legs) - Infused 

‘Small Pieces’ (Belt, Boots, Gloves, Shoulders) - Strudy

Jewelry – Healthy*

One-Hand Weapon(s) – Defending

Shield(s) - Reinforced

* Some overland and dungeon drop sets listed in the Veteran Sets may only drop in jewelry with the Arcane or Robust trait. In such cases and or in the case of the Healthy trait being abnormally rare then using jewelry with Arcane is acceptable. Attributes and or enchantments may need to be altered in such circumstances to insure Maximum Health stays above 28,000.

Block Cost

In previous versions of the guide I had a break down of what I had thought to be a correct means of calculating block reduction. Thanks to nox-uk I learned that I was incorrect. I have gone to the Youtuber Woeler’s website (https://woeler.eu/index.php) and used his Block Cost Calculator (https://woeler.eu/blockcost.php) to determine where our cost of block should be with the combined enchantments, gear traits, champion point investments and passives. I have tested the results using AUI’s Combat Message text options and the results seem to be fairly close.

• Base cost per block = 2,160
• 37 Shadow Ward (-12.5%)
• 4x purple(epic) Sturdy traits (-14%)
• 3x gold (legendary) Shield-Play Enchantments -603 Stamina per block. 
• Fortress passive (-36%)
• Final cost per block = 437

Those familiar with his video might be asking, why are you using both Sturdy and Shadow Ward? They suffer from diminishing returns. This is true, however, with the increase to the Champion Point cap and the nightblade’s natural resource sustainability I find that the investment is far from a waste. It allows us to invest in the Infused trait on our chest, helmet, and legs slot and to drop Defensive Posture and it’s morphs at a minimal cost to sustainability. This ‘loss’ is made less apparent with the use of Seducer or a Ice Staff, if you so choose to use one alongside controlled use of Swallow Soul rather than spamming it to conserve magicka.

Previously I was blocking at twice the amount I thought I was and still was capable of tackling Veteran DSA and Hel Ra Citadel with no magicka sustain issues, going into this patch with minor adjustments I can not see this allocation into Shadow Ward possibly harming the build in anyway, in fact, I see it being much more effective than before.

Beginners’ Sets

For aspiring Mageblade Tanks

[spoiler title="Beginners' Sets"]

5 Seducer – 4 Magnus’ Gift – 3 Willpower

Tested – Normal Dungeons – Veteran Dungeons – Normal Trials

Tri-Stat Food

This combination takes advantage of Seducer’s five-piece bonus to make up for a lower Champion Point total and or allow greater flexibility. While not the most interesting of combinations players will enjoy superior resource sustainability thanks the Seducer’s five-piece, Block Cost reduction and Tri-State food.

5 Kagrenac’s Hope – 4 Magnus’ Gift – 3 Willpower

Tested – Normal Dungeons – Veteran Dungeons – Veteran DSA

Tri-Stat Food

This combination offers a balance of bonuses that bolsters Maximum Magicka, Magicka Recovery and Spell Damage. The 25% reduction in resurrection speed helps players in clutch situations that can save a group from a total wipe!

5 Tava’s Favor – 4 Seducer – 3 Trinimac’s Valor / 3 Willpower

Tested – Normal Dungeons – Veteran Dungeons

Tri-Stat Food

This set takes advantage of the increase to Ultimate generation from Tava’s Favor while insuring the player has plenty of Magicka with four bonuses to Magicka Recovery to keep it up! A perfect combination for starting players looking to take off the Seducer training wheels while becoming familiar with a set that serves as a staple for main tanks in harder content!

[/spoiler]

Veteran Sets

For experienced Mageblade Tanks.

[spoiler title="Veteran Sets"]

Relentless Knight – Maximum Resource Sustain(Updated)

• Tested – Normal Dungeons – Veteran Dungeons – Normal Trials – Veteran Trials – Veteran DSA.
• Tri-Stat Food
• 5 Seducer – 5 Bloodthorn’s Touch – 2 Monster Set

The Relentless Knight set is designed with maximum resource sustainability in mind. This is achieved by using the Seducer set to further reduce the cost of spells and allow a greater flexibility in Champion Point allocation. Bloodthorn’s Touch further bolsters the rate of recovery with a bonus to Maximum Magicka and Magicka Recovery. The five-piece bonus nets an additional 636 Magicka and Stamina per Light Attack once per 5 seconds thus increasing the value of each Light Attack while Siphoning Attacks is active and softening the blow taken when forgetting to reapply Siphoning Attacks. Tri-Stat food offers a much needed bonus to Maximum Health and Maximum Stamina. Blue Bi-Stat food can be used in place of Tri-Stat for a slightly higher bonus to Maximum Health and Maximum Stamina.

Night Cleric – Group Support(Updated)

• Tested – Normal Dungeons – Veteran Dungeons
• Tri-Stat Food
• 5 Bahraha’s Curse – 5 Spell Power Cure – 2 Sentinel of Rkugamz 

The Night Cleric set focuses on group support and healing by taking advantage of a popular set among healers; Spell Power Cure, boosting both the Night-Cleric’s and the groups Weapon and Spell Damage by using several skills and sets to trigger it as often as possible.

Bahraha’s Curse while difficult to obtain in ideal traits will increase self-healing substantially while increasing Spell Power Cure’s up-time, insuring it stays on the Night Cleric more often increasing damage and healing output.

Sentinel of Rkugamz is ideal for this set and will not only increase your stamina sustainability but that of your party as well, manly melee damage dealer The lock-out period is short enough to not outright break the set. Swarm Mother can be used in place of this set to make trash pulls more manageable. For boss fights Chokethorn is a viable option as is Engine Guardian to a far lesser extent.

Swallow Soul can be changed over to Funnel Health to increase the up-time of Spell Power Cure on group members but will reduce personal healing in take and thus up-time on Spell Power Cure.

Credit is owed to the renown player and build creator, Deltia for the inspiration to use Spell Power Cure as a part of a group support focused build. His build ‘The Catalyst’ is a fun alternative to the Night Cleric set and is worth looking into!

http://deltiasgaming.com/eso-nightblade-tank-build-2/

Ultimate Generator – Maximum Ultimate Generation

Tested – Normal Dungeons – Veteran Dungeons

Tri-Stat Food

5 Tava’s Favor – 5 Akaviri Dragonguard – 2 Bloodspawn / 2 Monster Set

The Ultimate Generator aims to increase a Mageblade tank’s ability to generate Ultimate as quickly as possible to push out more Aggresive Warhorns and or Veil of Blades. The base set, Tava’s Favor is a well known set used by a lot of tanks. It offers a bonus to Maximum Health, Magicka Recovery and Stamina Recovery. Decent bonuses but the five-piece is what makes it, when you dodge an attack you generate 9 Ultimate over 3 seconds. This when combined with proper Mirage upkeep will keep the Ultimate coming in steadily!
Akaviri Dragonguard is now much easier to acquire and much cheaper to buy! This set has some great bonuses; 4% Healing Taken, Maximum Health, and Magicka Recovery AND reduces Ultimate cost by 15%! There is a lot of value there and now with it being so easy to pickup it makes Blessing of Potentates a thing of the past.

Also, if you wish to use Decisive on your one-hand weapons over Defending that is perfectly acceptable, however, for harder content such as Trials I would stick with Defending for the bonus to your Resistances.

For single target Blood Spawn is perfectly acceptable to use, however, for trash packs put on Swarm Mother as you will be on your back bar and generating more than enough Ultimate with Soul Harvest. Engine Guardian is another option for single target as it will help bolster sustainability in place of Seducer.

TrialBlade – Trial Set

• Tested – Normal Dungeons – Veteran Dungeons – Normal Trials – Veteran DSA
• Witchmother’s Potent Brew - Orzorga’s Red Frothgar - Tri-Stat Food
• 5 Tava’s Favor – 5 Vampire Cloak – 2 Monster Set
• 5 Tava’s Favor – 5 Bahraha’s Curse – 2 Monster Set

The TrialBlade set has two available combinations.

The first aims to make up for the lack of a damage shield by opting for Vampire Cloak, a set that offers a bonus to Spell Damage, two bonuses to Maximum Health and Minor Protection at all times, reducing damage by 8%. This set is ideal for fights where the boss deals a LOT of damage in one blow or in several rapid blows such as the Warrior rather than aiming to heal through it with Bahraha’s Curse. Witchmother’s Potent Brew can be used to make up for magicka sustain if it becomes a problem, or Tri-Stat food if it is not.

The second is to opt for Bahraha’s Curse over Vampire Cloak. Rather than aim to reduce damage in take this combination uses Barhaha’s Curse to deal additional damage and healing, an ideal set to use when using Sentinel of Rkugamz on boss fights to increase the up-time, giving both the tank and damage dealers in melee range an additional source of healing and stamina sustain.

The Original – All Purpose

• Test – Normal Dungeons – Veteran Dungeons – Normal Trials – Veteran Trials – Veteran DSA
• Tri-Stat Food
• 5 Seducer – 5 Bahraha’s Curse – 2 Monster Set

No other name really suits The Original as it is just that, my original gear set. Most guides focus on one set in particular and while I offer several alternatives this one is my favorite and has served me the most loyally.

This makes use of Bahraha’s Curse to add another source of damage and healing while enjoying a bonus to Maximum Health, Magicka, and Stamina. Due to the recent Homestead patch Bahraha’s Curse now can trigger more reliably as it is trigger by not only damaging abilities but Light and Heavy Attacks as well.

Seducer now becomes more valuable as we have removed our Reduce Spell Cost Enchantments to block more efficiently. Double Magicka Recovery offers enough passive regeneration to allow the use of Tri-Stat food for a larger stat pool. The 8% reduction in spell cost makes using spells less costly as well.

This build can and has done it all and while hard to put together due to the nature of Baraha’s Curse, specifically jewelry, it is my personal favorite. Blue(uncommon) jewelry from before the Dark Brotherhood patch can still before found that possess the Healthy trait otherwise purple(epic) Arcane jewlery will be needed thus increasing the chance of you needing to move attribute points from Magicka into Health or swapping Prismatic enchants to Maximum Health.

[/spoiler]

MONSTER SETS

[spoiler title="Monster Sets"]

One of the boons of playing a MageBlade Tank is that you can swap Monster Sets freely without suffering for it as others might. Each listed set serves a specific purpose and can and should be used as the situation demands.

Engine Guardian – General Use

Good ol’ reliable Engine Guardian. For many tanks this is the ‘go to’ set. This one is great for sustainability and useful in all situations whether it be a boss fight, trash pull, or simply questing. An all around great choice.

Blood Spawn – Ultimate Generation

Another familiar set best used during trash pulls where you will see a major increase in ultimate generation. I find this to be marginally useful in single target fights. Compliments the Ultimate Generator’s Theme.

Swarm Mother – Area-of-Effect Crowd-Control

Let me start by saying I LOVE this set, truly. This is Zenimax Online Studio’s greatest gift to the MageBlade Tank in a long time. When you block an attack from an enemy that is further than 5 meters from you, you spin strands of spider silk to pull the enemy to you. This effect can occur once every 2 seconds. With this set you basically have chains! The only enemy type I have noticed that it will not pull are bosses. This is my go to between boss fights. Get it, use it, love it!

Grothdarr – Damage / Solo content

Finally a use for all of those Grothdarr pieces you got that were not Divines! This set is amazing in area-of-effect pulls for damage. I have hit over 30,000 DPS with this set on my tank. By and large less useful than Swarm Mother for trash pulls. It is a decent set to use during a boss fight in a dungeon that is a cake walk for you and your group.

Pirate Skeleton + Mighty Chudan – Resistance Boost

By far the least interesting of the sets but if you want to increase your resistances so that they are closer to the cap then this is the combination for you. If you do not need the damage from Grothdarr, the sustain from Engine Guardian or Ultimate from Blood Spawn than using one piece from each of these sets is perfectly acceptable. If you do use this do yourself a favor and use the Pirate Skeleton helmet for some extra style points, like me!

[img]http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc37/Invellous/Pirate-jhiit_zpszgkhqlhb.png[/img]

[/spoiler]

SKILLS

Bar One: Main Bar

Puncture – Our main taunt, applies Major Breach and Fracture.
Siphoning Attacks – Our lord and savior, and the reason that nightblades possess superb resource sustainability.
Refreshing Path - Damages enemies and heals the player. The skilled use to proc Shadow Barrier. Keep it up at all times.
Swallow Soul / Funnel Health – Spammable skill. Applies a heal over time buff. Use with Light Attack weaving.
Harness Magicka / Flex – Thanks to a change in how we reduce the cost of block we can now opt out of Defensive Posture to slot Harness Magicka instead, a more effective means of reducing damage. This is particularly useful in Trials. Outside of Trials Inner Light can be placed on both bars instead or Stalwart Guard instead to increase the damage of a damage dealer or boost a healers critical heals while redirecting damage to you instead. Credit to LoterkESO for inspiration to use this skill in place of Defensive Posture and it’s morphs
Ultimate: Veil of Blades / Aggressive Horn or Shield Discipline* – Both are perfectly acceptable options. In Trials always differ to Aggressive Warhorn unless mitigation is demanded.

Bar Two: Buff / Area-of-Effect Bar

Mirage – Source of Major Evasion, Minor Resolve and Ward.
Heroic Slash – Source of Minor Heroism and Minor Maim. I no longer recommend Dark Shadows as they can still steal Spell Power Cure procs.
Inner Rage - Ranged taunt. Compliments the Swarm Mother set.
Sap Essence – The skill by which a Sap Tank took it’s name. Main source of damage and healing during trash pulls, and source of Major Brutality and Sorcery. Can be used repeatedly to heal.
Harness Magicka / Flex - This is to be considered a Flex Slot if you chose Harness Magicka on the front bar. Naturally, if you chose Inner Light or Stalwart Guard you should slot it here as well. You could alternatively keep Harness Magicka on the bar back as well if only for the Mages Guild passives. Volcanic Rune and Necrotic Orb and it’s morphs are ideal alternatives as well.
Ultimate: Soul Harvest – The only Ultimate that should be on your back bar. The Ultimate generation from this skill is insane, 10 per kill!

* In boss fights your main Ultimate; Aggressive Horn or Veil of Blades, can be moved to the back bar and Shield Discipline put on the front bar. The reason for this change it allow you to have a way to recover safety if and when your find your magicka and or stamina at critical levels. Use Shield Disciple to Light Attack during times where you usually could not, specifically in Veteran Trials to trigger Siphoning Attacks without losing block. During the duration you can weave Light Attacks and reapply Pierce Armor for free and or use Absorb Magic for to heal during the duration.

Some might argue that the Ultimate is better spent on Aggressive Horn or Veil of Blades, but remember a tank that dies can easily have the rest of the group follow him / her to the grave. Better to use it before you take a killing blow from a boss and recover than to die hoping to live through it.

ROTATION

A tank’s first and foremost responsibility is to establish ‘aggro’ also known as ‘threat’ in other games on enemies, especially bosses(duh!) and keep it. That is the purpose of the role and the only reason you are there. Dealing damage and healing is secondary. With that in mind it is important to keep all buffs and debuffs refreshed at all times while avoiding hazardous mechanics. This is not always easy to manage. There will be times when a buff or debuff must be forgotten if only momentarily to taunt an enemy to make sure it does not run off after the healer. That said, a solid rotation can make the difference and minimize that down time.

Single Target 

Pre-cast Siphoning Attacks and Mirage > Aggressive Horn > Pierce Armor > Refreshing Path > Swallow Soul / Funnel Health > Swap Bar > Heroic Slash > Sap Essence > Swap > Swallow Soul / Funnel Health > Harness Magicka as needed > Siphoning Attacks > Pierce Armor > Refreshing Path > Swap > Reapply Mirage and Sap Essence if needed > Heroich Slash > Swap > Repeat.

Pre-cast Siphoning Attacks and Mirage before moving in to engage then hit Aggressive Horn if available. Once in range use Pierce Armor and begin the rotation as shown above while Light Attack weaving each skill. Use Aggressive Horn as it recharges, ideally when the group will have the greatest window of opportunity to deal as much damage as possible without interruption by mechanics. If you chose Veil of Blades save it for situations that require mitigation such as when a party member has gone down. Drop it then with a Refreshing Path on top of whomever is attempting the resurrection.

Area-of-Effect

Pre-cast Mirage and Siphoning Attacks > Refreshing Path > Pierce Armor / Inner Rage > Sap Essence.*

Unfortunately Zenimax Online Studios has decided not to introduce a taunt skill that targets more than one enemy. What this means is that target prioritization is key, specifically in harder content. Melee target are the most apparent threat and should be taunted as quickly as possible. Archers and casters can be taunted with Inner Rage if equipped. Inner Rage becomes especially valuable in content such as veteran Imperial City where there are multiple dangerous enemies that are easier to control if taunted with Inner Rage before engaging them at melee range. If you have Swarm Mother equipped you can block ranged targets’ attacks to pull them to you

Prioritize Siphoning Attacks, Refreshing Path, Mirage, and Sap Essence in that order. Failure to keep Siphoning Attacks up while spamming Sap Essence will drain Magicka rapidly regardless of Magicka Recovery if not restored via a potion or other means. Refreshing Path is essential in keeping Shadow Barrier activated and offers healing. Mirage is perhaps the least important of the set but should not be neglected if possible.

*Harness Magicka should be used as needed if you slot it on the back bar or when you bar swap to help mitigate unblocked damage during the swap. If you slot Volcanic Rune try and drop it as often as possible to disrupt trash packs.

Videos

Below are various videos I have upload to Youtube displaying various feats. This section will gradually see updates by way of additional videos.

Addons

Below is a list of addons that I find to be very useful for not just tanking but playing in general in a PvE setting.

Shoutout(s)

@mrowmrif2, for all of your advise thorough out all these long months. Without your help this could never have been accomplished.

Zatani, Jade Drakkan, and K’tea of Ebonheart Pact, for you three letting me tank our khajiit all star team runs which has helped me further test my build to improve it!

Quiz of Aldermi Dominion and all of the members of Kings and Thieves, you guys have helped me stress test it in veteran Imperial City Prison and White-Gold Tower and I have had a blast doing so! Looking forward to tanking in trials ones day with you and new content.

Critiques and feedback are both appreciated and welcomed!

Thank you for dropping by and happy tanking!

• This topic was modified 6 hours, 53 minutes ago by  Invellous.

Replies: 0

Morrowind Update

Race:

Redguard

Attributes:

All in Stamina

Food:

Health and Stamina

Mundus:

Thief

Champion Point Distribution:

Blue tree:

Mighty – 57, Thaum – 56, Precise Strikes – 57, Master at Arms – 23, Physical Weapon Expert – 3, Piercing – 14.

Red tree:

Trial Dependent

Green tree:

100 into Regen 100 into Tenacity, 10 in Tumbling

Gear choice:

7/7 Medium Divines

5 Twice Fanged Serpent

2 Kragh

3 Vicious Ophidian Jewelry

1 Sharpened Leki’s Dagger (Weapon damage enchant)

1 Sharpened/Infused Leki’s Dagger (Poison enchant)

1 Sharpened vMA Bow

All Armor with Stamina Enchants. All Jewelry Robust with Weapon damage enchants.

Bar Setup:

Main Bar (Dual Wield): Cutting Dive, Subterranean Assault, Rendering Slashes, Resolving Vigor/Deadly Cloak, Bull Netch. Ultimate – Wild Guardian

Offbar (Bow): Poison Injection, Endless Hail, Green Lotus/Razor Caltorps, Bird of Prey, Rearming Trap. Ultimate – Wild Guardian

Rotation:

Step 1: Rearming Trap>LA>Endless Hail>LA>Poison Injection>LA>Bird of Prey>Bar Swap

Step 1: Rearming Trap>LA>Endless Hail>LA>Poison Injection>LA>Bird of Prey>LA>Caltrops>Bar Swap

Step 2: LA>Subterranean Assault>HA>Deadly Cloak>LA>Rendering Slashes>LA>Subterranean Assault>HA/LA>Cutting Dive>LA>Cutting Dive>LA>Bull Netch>Bar Swap

Restart from Step 1

1.Why Kragh?

Kragh offers the highest damage gain in groups where full target penetration is not achieved. The 1 piece on it is the strongest 1 piece for a stam user to have and offers a whopping 3.8% DPS increase on a non fully penetrated target. In addition its damage is quiet good as well.

2.Why reapply trap before it runs out?

Because the minor force plus the increased damage from its buffed DoT is a huge DPS loss if we lose seconds on them both.

• This topic was modified 3 hours, 17 minutes ago by  recxr.

Replies: 5

Welcome!

This is my Magicka Sorcerer Heavy Attack+Pet build for players who cannot achive
sharpened or even precise weapons from veteran Malestorm Arena and Trials (like me).

This builds works fine in Trials and Dungeons and also provide decent dps.
Remember, its “no vMA weapons build” so numbers should be around 40k but im sure of that a lot of better players can get 40k+ dps on 3M target dummy skeleton with similar gear and rotations.

Race:

Dunmer or Atmer

Mundus Stone:

Thief

Attribute Distribution:

All in Magicka

Passives:

Dark Magic, Mages Guild, Daedric Summoning, Undaunted, Storm Calling, Heavy Armor (Juggernaunt), Destruction Staff, Light Armor, Racial, Vampire, Alchemy (Medicinal Use)

Food:

Melon-Baked Parmesan Pork (lvl 50, 150cp)

Potions:

Essence of Spell Power (lvl 50, cp150)

Gear:

Head – Ilambris (Heavy, Trait Divines, Enchant Magicka, Quality Gold)
Shoulders – Ilambris (Medium, Trait Divines, Enchant Magicka, Quality Gold)
Chest – Necropotence (Light, Trait Divines, Enchant Magicka, Quality Gold)
Belt – Necropotence (Light, Trait Divines, Enchant Magicka, Quality Gold)
Pants – Necropotence (Light, Trait Divines, Enchant Magicka, Quality Gold)
Shoes – Necropotence (Light, Trait Divines, Enchant Magicka, Quality Gold)
Hands – Moondancer (Light, Trait Divines, Enchant Magicka, Quality Gold)
Ring – Moondancer (Trait Arcane, Enchant Spell Dmg, Quality Gold)
Ring – Moondancer (Trait Arcane, Enchant Spell Dmg, Quality Gold)
Necklace – Moondancer (Trait Arcane, Enchant Spell Dmg, Quality Gold)
Weapon 1 – Necropotence Inferno Staff (Trait Sharpened, Enchant Spell Dmg, Quality Gold)
Weapon 2 – Necropotence Lightning Staff (Trait Sharpened, Enchant Shock Dmg, Quality Gold)

Skills:

Inferno Staff bar:

Destructive Reach
Daedric Prey
Bound Aegis
Mages Wrath
Volatile Familiar
Ultimate Shooting Star

Lightning Staff bar:

Hardened Ward
Liquid Lightning
Blockade of Storms
Bound Aegis
Volatile Familiar
Ultimate Thunderous Rage

Stats:

 http://imgur.com/a/VC0f5

Rotation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8b6XrwyBrE

We are testing our dps on 3M target dummy so for the tests im useing elemental drain skill.
When You are in Trial or Dung You can use Hardened Ward instead of Elemental Drain.

/ Elemental Drain / Thunderous Rage / Liquid Lighting / LA / Blockade of Storms / SWAP

/ LA / Volatile Familiar / LA / Daedric Prey / LA / Flame Reach / SWAP

/ HA / Liquid Lighting / LA / Blockade of Storms / SWAP

/ LA / Volatile Familiar / LA / Daedric Prey / LA / Flame Reach / SWAP

/ HA / Liquid Lighting / LA / Blockade of Storms / LA/ Elemental Drain / SWAP

/ Volatile Familiar / LA / Daedric Prey / LA / Flame Reach / SWAP

/ HA / and keep that rotation till You get to 20% HP. When You get 20% use last rotation with all dots and use:
/ LA / Mages Wrath / LA / Mages Wrath / LA / to finish.

- Use Shooting Star when ult ready.
- LA – Light Attack
- HA – Heavy Attack

Championpoints (630cp):

The Ritual – 75 Thaumaturge

The Atronach – 20 Master-at-Arms

The Apprentice – 56 Elemental Expert, Elfborn 28, Spell Erosion 31
(You can put about 9 points less in Spell Erosion if You want, its up to You)

The Tower – 10 Warlord

The Lover – 100 Arcanist, 100 Tenacity

The Lady – 49 Hardy, 49 Thick Skinned, 49 Elemental Defender

The Steed – 31 Spell Shield

Here some video shows how this build works at boss fights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dz1iT9EBTU

Feel free to comment, any advices will be precious for me because its my first build and i hope not last

Cheers!

• This topic was modified 5 days, 9 hours ago by  Allternator.

Replies: 967

Six (estimated) months until release and already threads are popping up of people asking others to make descisions for them. To avoid filling the forums with countless threads, let’s collect them all in here.

Keep in mind that this thread isn’t intended to help you write a background story or similar for your roleplay character. It’s sole purpose is to help people unsure which race or class they should play or still looking for a suitable name.

As for those who are considering to ask for help in here: Don’t just post a cpouple of words. Tell us what you like to play in other MMORPGs or single-player RPGs. Tell us whether you prefer to play tank or heal, melee or ranged, axe-wielding barbarians or royal mages. The more we know, the better we can help.

Class

Most skill lines in the game will be available to every class. In fact, the classes differ only by three individual skill lines. You can play every class the way you want, be it spellcaster, tank or sneaky backstabber. Be assured that every race will be compatible with every class.

Dragonknight: The warrior archetype. If you prefer melee combat mixed with fire and earth magic, this might be your class.

Templar: The cleric archetype. Attacks enemies with holy magic in melee as well as from afar and has access to a wide array of healing skills.

Sorcerer: The mage archetype. Summons Daedric creatures to fight for him and calls down lightning.

Nightblade: The rogue archetype. Details on this class have yet to be released.

Race

There are nine playable races, three for each of the alliances. If you’ve got friends who are going to play ESO, you might want to talk to them and agree on an alliance first before you decide on a race. Be assured that every race will be compatible with every class.

There will be racial boni and abilities, but we don’t know any details just yet.

Daggerfall Covenant

The Breton High King Emeric of Cumberland has won the allegiance of the Redguards by marriage, as well as the orcs by promising them Orsinium as an independatn province. He plans to restore mankind as the rulers of Tamriel.

Bretons: The Bretons are the well-known medieval European people the likes of which you see in many other fantasy worlds (huge stone castles, noble lords, knightly orders etc.). Their ancestors were slaves to the elves, and their ancestry provides them with a natural affinity to magic.

Redguards: The Redguards are a warrior people originally hailing from the continent of Yokuda, which they accidentally sunk with atom-splitting sword techniques. Their society is caught in constant conflict between the Crowns, descendants of the old Yokudan rulers, and the more Tamrielic influenced Forebears.

Orcs: Once elves and followers of the elven warrior god Trinimac, they changed when Trinimac was transformed into the Daedric Prince Malacath. They value personal strength and honor above all else. The Bretons and Redguards have always violently made sure they never develop past a primitive tribal society. Orcs make for ferocious but disciplined warriors and the best smiths in Tamriel.

Ebonheart Pact

An uneasy alliance. The Nord and Dunmer have always been fighting each other and the Argonians are valued slaves to the Dunmeri people. Neccessity has made allies of them, for they recognise the threat posed by Molag Bal.

Dunmer: Governed by three living gods, the Tribunal, the Dunmer have grown from religious fugitives into a thriving society of mages, merchants and warriors. While they practice slavery and dislike other races, the Dunmer are not inherently evil like many other Dark Elves from other fantasy worlds.

Argonians: A tribal people, naturally immune to many poisons and deseases due to their dangerous homeland. They worship sentient trees called Hist, who bio-engineer the Argonians to suit there every need. Argonians excel at guerillia warfare and no one ever managed to conquer their homelands. Not even a Daedric army.

Nord: A hardy people from the icy lands of Skyrim. When not hitting someone over the head with a big axe, they can be found in mead halls, drunkenly singing of legends long past and mighty deeds yet to come. Glory-seeking and boisterous, they make for excellent warriors.

Aldermi Dominion

Not trusting mankind to rule Tamriel well, the Altmer have rallied their Bosmeri cousins and won the allegiance of the Khajiit by coming to their aid when the Knahaten flu ravaged their lands.

Khajiit: Khajiit can be anything from cats over Bosmer with tails to tall cat-men, depending on what moon they were born under. They are lying and deceptive by nature, as well as hedonistic and wayward. While not the official ruler, their spiritual leader – the Mane – is deeply respected by all Khajiit. While they can make for strong warriors, don’t trust them to stand their ground when the danger is great.

Bosmer: Bound by the Green Pact to protect the plants of their homeland Valenwood, the Bosmer are staunch carnivores and almost cruel warriors. They do not use Valenwood’s wood to build houses, nor do they consume it’s fruits. Cannibalism is an important and ever-present part of their culture. Thanks to the labyrinthine forests they live in, Bosmer are nimble climbers and excellent archers.

Altmer: The most pure, closest to their Aldmeri ancestors, elven race of Tamriel and never tired of letting you know. Their minds are very structured and they are almost obsessed with numbers. No other race wields magic as well as they do.

Names

Names in ESO can only contain letters, spaces, hyphens and apostrophes. Currently, last names are optional.

If you want your name to fit into the Elder Scrolls world, check out the names used in past Elder Scrolls games here: http://uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Names

Keep in mind that by the time of Daggerfall and Arena, lore wasn’t really fleshed out and the names in those games aren#t the best to base yours on.

Bretons: French or old British names.

Redguard: Arabian or African names.

Orcs: The surname usually consists of gro-<father’s name> for men and gra-<mother’s name> for women.

Dunmer: Mind the difference between common Dunmeri names and Ashlander names. Ashlanders are the nomadic tribes who reject the Tribunal.

Argonians: A describing name, either in thier native tongue Jel or hyphenated English (or whatever your language is)

Nord: Usually a nordic first name, followed by a clan name or title. The Scandinavian -son and -dottir endings are very rare.

Khajiit: A name preceded by a title. See the UESP article for more information.

Bosmer: The usual gaelic-oriented elven names. Bosmer usually don’t have surnames.

Altmer: The usual elven names. Experts claim that Altmeri names are in fact complex serial numbers. Altmer usually don’t have surnames.

• This topic was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by  Rial.

Replies: 964

 Introduction

Hello, and welcome to my nightblade guide! First and foremost, I’d like to say a little bit of who I am, to give you a little bit of insight into my knowledge about this game. I’ve been raiding with Hodor for around two years now, and I’ve been playing nightblade for the most part, but also quite a fair bit of dragonknight, and sorcerer. I’ve gotten some parses on certain bosses that I’ve felt very good about, and feel the builds that I produce have alot of potential in them, which I again think reflects on the leaderboards. For the past six months or so, I’ve completely left nightblade, but I’ve picked it up as of this patch with the recent changes I’ll be talking about later in the build. Keep in what is written in this build is still subject to change, and my tests are not finalized. Without further adue, lets just jump into the build!

Core

So, this is our bread and butter! Lets start from the top, which alot of people will ask, why not use Llambris combined with lightning clench? Simply put, it’s not more DPS. Valkyn Skoria and Grothdarr will provide much better results in terms of damage. The choise between Skoria and Grothdarr is something I need to test further, but as of now I’d highly suggest to have them both and switching dependant if the boss fight allows you to stay in melee range, or if you need to stay ranged. If you’re lazy, just stick with Skoria.

Onto our mainset, scathing mage! Alot of nightblades love this set, simply because it procs of Twisting Path’s DoT effect, allowing you to get an extremely high uptime thus giving you a high ammount of spell damage, and spell crit. Optional sets here could be Twice Born Star and using the thief and the shadow, which will give you a little bit less DPS, but still something that you can compete with. Julianos is also an alternative.

For the jewelry and our mainhand, we want to use the same set so we can benefit of four set bonuses, minmaxing our stats as best as we can. In my case, im running Infallible Aether, but Moondancer will provide the same results if not better. Sharpened is a MUST. On our offhand, we will be using a maelstrom staff, im still testing abit with lightning or inferno, but as of right now I prefer lightning. Both works, but having a lightning staff on trashpacks is essential.

These are the stats you can expect with using the sets that I am using, completely unbuffed. Nothing too fancy, just the usual.

Mundus Stone

The Thief
We will be using the thief for extra spellcrit in this build, having more crit with a high aggressive warhorn uptime, and crit modifiers such as trap beast, is gonna help us out alot.

Skills

Lets talk about the skills abit, there’s alot of potential changes come here, so stay updated. Our mainbar is what we can call our buffbar, we’ll be having merciless resolve alongside with siphoning attacks, and our shield which can be swapped out with the likes of trap beast or destructive clench if you’d like that. The spammable is something im still testing, but as of now I’ll be using swallow soul as it’s way cheaper. We will NOT be using soul assault as our ultimate, but we will be using elemental rage instead to benefit from ancient knowledge.

On our second bar, it’s gonna be our AoE, execute and DoT bar. I really like having these skills on the same bar, as it gives us alot of advantages such as a clean rotation (Path 11s, Blockade 8s, Cripple 8s) it allows us to not swap bars whatsoever when we’re executing and AoE’ing, making this build very clean and simple to play.

Champion Points

Thanks to @Magna-G and @xBlackroxe for the help here, this spread was mainly put together by @xBlackroxe.

Use this spread if your group has more than two blockade of storms

The Apprentice

– 40 Elfborn

– 43 Elemental Expert

– 8 Spell Erosion

The Atronach

– 44 Master-at-Arms

The Ritual

– 75 Thaumaturge

I’ll only be covering the blue champion points here, as I change my red and green ones up all the time dependant on the trial I go to. Nothing too spectacular here, I’ll be updating the explanation abit further in the future though.

Use this spread if your group has less than two blockade of storms, or alot of heavy attack builds

The Apprentice

– 56 Elemental Expert

– 51 Elfborn

– 12 Spell Erosion

The Atronach

– 62 Master-at-Arms

– 13 Staff Expert

The Ritual

– 16 Thaumaturge

Races

– Dunmer and Highelf are both viable options, and honestly I don’t see alot of difference between them. Play whatever you want :P.

Parses

More to be added.

Final Words

I’d like to give a big thank you to the entire Hodor, especially the members of the hodor core group. I’d like to give my love, @Hjelmi a big kiss too for keeping me alive during all of this, I don’t know how you manage it. Also, big thanks to @Selawa for helping me brainstorm, @Magna-Ge for helping me out with champion points and @Blackroxee for betraying nightblades and going to the sorcerer side. For those of you that don’t see your names here, you know who you are, and I highly appreciate it. Now, go out there and make Nightblades considered a strong DPS class, and remember as always, FULLFIST!

– @IWM

• This topic was modified 4 weeks ago by  Mashinate.

Replies: 3

DeathBlade is a Destro/DW MagBlade build for PVE. It is designed for solo play/world bosses as well as normal/vet dungeons. I’ve run normal trials with this setup, but I would not suggest veteran trials. This build is especially nice for those learning new content. I’ve tested this build extensively to get skills on the correct bars for passives and weapon combos that maximize damage. Set it up as specified or you may not get my results.

The great thing about this build is versatility. You can go Lit Destro for trash mob AOE, then immediately go into single target, high damage DW for bosses. All the while, high health (>20K) and shields keep you alive through challenging content. This is a difficult build to master; but once you’ve got it, it’s deadly.

DeathBlade

Gear

Best in Slot

2x Valkyn Skoria (Light) – Best DPS.

5x Rattlecage (3x Jewelry, Chest, Lightening Staff and 1x Sword): I know; this set is a can o’ wormies. The fact is it has the most unconditional spell damage of any set (+358); Major Sorcery is a bonus. In addition, I like the extra health for survivability when soloing world bosses.

5x War Maiden (4x body and 1x Sword): This set provides a ton of spell power for magic damage abilities. Since all of the magic damage abilities are on the DW bar, this is where it will be active. War Maiden does nothing for shock damage (or any elemental for that matter) which is why we drop the 5th piece from the Lit Staff bar.

Divines on all gear is best for maximizing spell critical.

Weapon traits depend on your critical percentage. If you have >50%, use sharp weapons; if you have <50%, use precise weapons.

Easier to Obtain Gear

1x Molag Kena (Light)

1x Infernal Guardian (Light)

5x Rattlecage (3x Jewelry, 2x body): Iskra the Omen’s unique drop is a sharp sword. Grothdarr has a unique lightening staff drop.

5x Julianos (3x body, Lightening Staff and 2x Sword): Your Lightening Staff bar will drop Julianos. Rattlecage has more weapon damage so we drop Julianos here.

Divines on all gear is best for maximizing spell critical.

Weapon traits depend on your critical percentage. If you have >50%, use sharp weapons; if you have <50%, use precise weapons.

Race: High Elf

Enchants: Max Magicka on body, Weapon Damage on Jewelry. You can run Magicka Recovery on the necklace if you need it.

Attributes: 64 into Magicka

Mundus: Thief for Crit. You could go Atronach if you have sustain issues, but I would suggest Drain Magicka Poison or a Magicka Recovery glyph instead.

Champion Points: Values are adjusted according to Morrowind CP jump points.

Mage
The Ritual: 75 Thaumaturge – For Exploiter passive
The Atronach: 23 Master at Arms
The Apprentice: 56 Elemental Expert, 31 Elfborn, 25 Spell Erosion

Thief
The Shadow: 2 Tumbling
The Lover: 100 Arcanist, 49 Tenacity
The Tower: 11 Siphoner, 48 Warlord

Warrior
The Lord: 11 Bastion
The Lady: 49 Hardy, 49 Elemental Defender, 3 Light Armor, 37 Thick Skinned
The Steed: 61 Ironclad

Potions/Poisons: I prefer Immovable potions that restore Magicka and Health (Bugloss + Columbine + Namira’s Rot/Wormwood). If you are struggling with magicka sustain, you can also run Drain Magicka poisons (Bugloss + Corn Flower; Corn Flower/Lady’s Smock + Columbine) on your staff.

Skills

Bar 1: Lightening Staff Sharp/Precise with Crushing Enchant (drops 5th War Maiden/Julianos)

Inner Light

Elemental Blockade

Twisted Path (Buffed in Morrowind)

Destructive Clench (Interrupt when needed); use Malefic Wreath if you slot Shooting Star ultimate so you get the Siphoning passives.

Harness Magicka

Ult: Soul Tether/Shooting Star

Bar 2: DW Sharp/Precise Swords with Spell Damage and Crushing Enchant

Inner Light

Debilitate

Concealed Weapon

Impale

Sap Essence

Ult: Shooting Star

Rotation

-Assumes Light Attacks between each skill.

Single Target/Bosses: Blockade, Twisted Path, Bar Swap, Debilitate, (Concealed Weapon 2-3x); Switch parenthesis to Impale during execute phase (<25% health)

Mobs: Blockade, Twisted Path, Bar Swap, Debilitate (if melee add is present), Sap Essence 2-3x

Alt. Mobs/Heavy Attack Magicka Recovery: Blockade, Twisted Path, Heavy Attack

-Keep DoTs (Blockade and Twisted Path) up at all times; Pop Harness Magicka shield when shit gets real.

-Lit Staff does AOE damage for trash mobs.

Logic (aka Where is the damage coming from?)

-Spell damage: Stacks the highest spell damage sets available; Permanent Major Sorcery. Gold spell damage enchants on jewelry.

-Penetration: Gold Crushing enchants, 4884 from Light Armors Passive, and ~3000 from CP in Morrowind. As long as your critical rating is above 50% Sharpened weapons will further increase your penetration.

-Magicka Pool: Gold Magicka Enchants on all armor. Magicka Flood Siphoning Passive(+8%), Inner Light + Shooting Star+ Magicka Controller (+9%).

-Spell Critical: Thief + Precise weapons

Pros:

-Most players can get the gear for this build (no trials needed).

-Versatile and high damage with minimal effort.

-Shield and extra health give great survivability.

-Non-Meta.

Cons:

-Difficult to master.

-Not min/maxed for vet trials.

-You have to farm gear, but this is most every build.

Updates: I am constantly improving this build and will continue to do so. I thank all of you for your constructive criticisms.

• This topic was modified 1 week, 6 days ago by  shredguitargod.

Replies: 112

There’s been a lot of posts from people asking for builds lately so in order to avoid further posts on the subject I decided to make a post answering most common questions about people who want to roll DK or are thinking about rolling DK (plus some starter tips).

Should I pick Dragon Knight or an other class? What’s the Dragon Knight’s gameplay like?

Since game start, the DK class has undergone many nerfs and changes. Up until 1.6, it was the best class for DD (Damage Dealer) and one of the best classes for tanking in the game (even though they are all pretty strong). At the moment, DKs are still pretty strong, they still have the best DPS for long fights hence they are a very good pick for people who want to do end game PVE (trials/arena). They are also still very strong as tanks since they are the only class with the ability to pull enemies towards them and they can output a very nice amount of Damage as well as CC (crowd Control).

In PVE:
Dragonknight abilities evolve around fire damage, most of their skills do fire damage and they synergise very well with each other (they also require a great deal of practice to master them and an understanding of how the skills interact with each other).
Magicka DragonKnights are the strongest DDs at the moment for long fights, Stamina DragonKnights are also quite strong (probably less than Nightblades and maybe less than templars) but there aren’t many players playing them mainly because most old DragonKngiht players don’t have the correct race to play them as stamina effectively and because magicka DK > Stamina DK (at the moment). You’ll be mostly wearing Medium armor as a stamina player and Light armor as a Magicka player.

In PVP:
There are two viable styles of PVP gameplay with DKs, you can play them with 2H/Bow (stamina setup) or with a shield & sword(1H/S) + either staff or an other 1H/S. Both setups are pretty good but are heavily dependent on gear (it’s also the case for other classes though). As a stamina player, you’ll either snipe your enemies from afar with your bow or engage them on hand to hand combat by dealing huge blows to your enemy and executing them when they are low health. You won’t be very tanky but you’ll be able to roll dodge a lot while fleeing multiple enemies and you’ll be wearing mostly medium armor. As a Magicka player, you’ll wear Heavy Armor, have a lot of tankyness/survivability and at the same time you’ll be able to deal a lot of damage with Dragonknight class skills (whereas with a stamina build you’ll be using weapon skills which are available to every class). In both instances, you’ll have very good skills to survive such as volatile armor, scaled wings (reflects enemies projectiles back to them with increased damage), Green Dragon Blood (one of the best self heals in the game), Igneous Shield (Self/group shield that increases the heals you do, including Green Dragon Blood).

To Conclude: In PVE, DKs are still one of the best classes available for end game, they lack burst damage for short fights but deal a very nice amount of damage on longer fights. In PVP (I’ll speak of Magicka here since I play that), they lack the One Shot power that some classes have such as NightBlades or the escape/burst capabilities that Sorcerers have, but they can become tank machines capable of holding their ground versus multiple enemies (and killing a couple before eventually dying) and are capable of beating any 1V1 matchup provided you’re skillful enough.

What Race should I choose?

For Stamina users:
Either Redguard or Imperial. Redguards are very good to begin with and will give you much needed stamina sustain which is the weak point of DragonKnights. After you progress into the Champion System and increase your stamina sustain, Imperial will be a better choice. If you’re starting now, you should pick Redguard since chances are by the time you have enough CP (Champion Points) to sustain your stamina, you’ll be able to buy a race change from the crown store.

For Magicka users:
Either Dunmer or Altmer. Dunmers used to be the best since they have increased fire damage, moreover they also have fire resistance which is VERY helpful if you’re planning to PVP (since you’ll want to be a Vampire). Altmer has increased Magicka Regen, Increased Magicka Pool and increased elemental damage which is also very very good for any magicka class.

To Conclude: Redguard for Stamina and Dunmer for DKs. Note that Dunmer’s passive tool-tip regarding fire damage was changed after 1.6 but it is still working as 1.5. If the passive worked as stated in the tool-tip, the choice between Altmer and Dunmer might not be as obvious.

What do I do when I start playing?

First of all, starter tips:

– Open your map, locate the Mage’s and Fighter’s guild in your town and go join the guilds, this will open the skill lines for you and allow you to start leveling them. Fighter’s guild is leveled by killing undead and you don’t need to worry about it very much, the Mage’s guild is very powerful for magicka Players and will require you to read every single book you find in the world (not the books in bookshelves, the lonely books you’ll find in some locations (I can’t recall if Mage’s Guild quests actually increase your skill line level as well). Mage’s guild is not a priority for stamina users but the meteor ultimate is quite nice when killing trash. In any case it’s never a bad idea to have it leveled up so go read them books! :).

– Bookshelves, when you open them, you have a chance to increase some skills while doing so (I.E.: You read a book about sword fighting will give you +1 in 2H skill line). Some players prefer not opening any book until they have played a lot and leveled theirs skills allready, this could be a good idea since it takes more experience to level up skill lines at higher levels and the books basically give you a free level. Personally, I never remember to open the bookshelves so I prefer to do it all the time, when I think about it ;).

– Get into provisioning and alchemy as soon as you begin, there are some provisioning/alchemy passives that are very useful since they increase the duration of food/drinks & potions (plus it’s nice to be able to craft them), you must have them in your main character. Best way to level them up is to pickup all materials & recipes you find, open every container. If your inventory is full, send the materials by mail to a trusted friend/guildie and ask them to return them. That way you don’t have to make trips back to the bank and you don’t fill your bank with materials. You need to do this since the beginning for the provisioning else you will have to either create a new character or buy the materials (the materials you loot are linked to your level. If you get to a high level, you won’t be able to loot low level provisioning materials anymore and thus you won’t be able to craft low level recipes/drinks unless you buy the materials).

– How to level up skills effectively: When you gain experience, your equipped skills (in the active bar) level up. When your skills earn level, the corresponding skill lines also earn level (except for Mage/Undaunted/Fighters/WereWolf/Soul Magic/Armor). If you want to level up destruction staff quickly, a good idea is to fill your bar with destruction staff skills just before you return a quest. This will level up the equipped skill lines as well as the equipped skills. Once the quest is returned and you get the XP, you can set up your bars as they used to be. For the Armor you can equip crafter gear with training, it’s a good idea to have at least 1 piece of each armor and 5 of your “main” armor so everything is leveled up. Regarding Werewolf, you need to kill mobs (ANY mobs and they don’t have to give you exp, just the act of killing works ).

What skills do I level up first then?

For Magicka players:

Survivability: Dark Talons / Dragon Blood / Reflective scale (Draconic Power skill line)
Damage: Lava whip, Fiery Breath, Fiery Grip, Dragon Knight Standard (Ardent Flame skills) and Wall of Elements / Impulse / Force shock (from Destruction staff).

Note that, if you’re a power leveler(AKA grinder), you’ll want to level up destruction staff as soon as possible since Impulse is the best skill to grind (AOE AOE AOE). Dark Talons morphed into Burning Talons is also VERY good if you’re leveling with a friend (provided he activates the synergy).

What needs to be understood and this is true since the beginning, is that DKs are not burst DPSers. You can deal with a myriad of enemies at once in PVE with your high sustain and Damage over Time abilities (example at early levels: you’re fighting 5 mobs, you use Burning Talons to root them all, then you apply Fiery Breath on them. You now have 5 immobilized enemies taking slowly damage over time. All you have to do is use defensive skills if needed and single target them one by one with Force Shock. Once you have impulse unlocked, all you need to do is Block and Spam Impulse or Talons + Impulse and they’ll be dead in no time.

To conclude: You should level the first two skill lines from Dragon Knight class in priority (and slow level the third one), and you should prioritize Destruction staff skill line leveling (Pro-tip: You can use a crafted staff with training trait to speed this up). While leveling up, you need Light Armor. It’s always nice to have at least 1 piece of medium and 1 of Heavy armor equipped (if they are crafted with training even better ) so that those skill lines also level up slowly.

For Stamina Players:
This is more tricky ^^. You can forget about destruction staff class and you still need to level up the first two skill lines from DK, but you also need to level up two hander and bow. (or 2h and Dual Wield).

For 2H: Cleave Uppercut Reverse slash & momentum are all very useful. Cleave will do AOE (but it sucks IMO), Uppercut will be your source of damage later on when morphed into Wrecking blow, Reverse slash will be your execute  (Executioner morph) and Momentum you will morph into Rally.

For Bow: You can also go Bow instead of DW, you’ll be using Poison Arrow and Snipe for single target and Arrow Spray & Volley for AOE;

For Dual Wield: I mention Dual Wield because Dual Wield has the BEST AOE skill in the game: Whirlwind (that you morph into Steel Tornado). Make sure you also invest in passives that increase the steel tornado class and you’ll be ravaging groups of mobs in no time (and suffering because you’re out of stamina ;)). If you hate bows, go for this. Else, level this last.

To conclude: You’ll want to level up all 2H, all Bow skills/passives, you’ll also eventually want to level up all the DK skill lines since you can morph some skills so they cost stamina instead of Magicka. You’ll want to wear Medium Armor and get all the passives from MA skill line as well.

At last:

http://tamrielfoundry.com/topic/1-6-in-progress-dragonknight-build-compilation-updated-weekly/

Here is a build compilation. Go through it, read the builds, make sure they are still working (there where many changes after update 6) and work towards the one you want to aim for. There’s also builds that are no listed there but you can find them in the first two pages of this sub-forum. Also remember that people usually give you the skills but they suppose you can figure out the passives to go along with them. If you’re unsure, ask and you shall get an answer ;).

Final Words

Here’s what I got at the moment. I’ll edit this along the way with the questions people ask or with some advices other DK players might have (since I don’t have the monopole on the truth ).

Be sure to ask questions here instead of polluting the forum with new threads :).

• This topic was modified 2 years ago by  TehMagnus.

Replies: 0

Hi just wanna ask is lightning/inferno still viable for sorc? I am running a non-pet setup
Almost everyone I know or I saw are running double lightning staffs with netch set, as I know this allow
them to have a good uptime of off-balance in small groups or solo mode, and this setup is very good for DPS
dummy test as well, also pure lightning dmg means higher implosion proc in execute phase i think?

But myself haven’t got a master’s or vma lightning staff and I still havent finish farming netch set yet, however
I do have a vma sharpen inferno so I really hope it’s still viable?

My 5/1/1 setup is as follow : 5 x julianos body + 2x ilambris + 3x willpower + front bar julianos lightning staff with berserker enchant
and back bar vma inferno staff, all traits divines and sharpened only weapons are gold rest purple.

I did some dps tests on a 3mil dummy and I am constantly getting 25k dps, is this considered low dps? since I heard ppl pulling much better numbers

test conditions: champion points=545 /solo with no one aside / no major breach / no spell power pots, only self applied power surge

My skill setup is as follow : front bar lightning -> mages wrath /hardened ward /haunting curse /inner light /bound aegis /thunderous rage
: back bar inferno -> liquid lightning /fire blockade /flame clench /power surge /bound aegis/ energy overload

my roatation is a heavy attack rota as I got higher dps with it compared to a force pulse setup, not sure is it becoz of CP allocation can someone tell me?

MY rotation is like : LL > blockade > clench > barswap > curse > HA x 2 > curse > repeat , barswap cancel second curse, apply surge every 3 rotations with swap cancel and drop ulti at start and once later,
in execute phase swap 2 x HA with 4 x wrath, and light weave between everything

I currently stuck at 25k with this build and rotation, if anything I can change to push it higher please feel free to point out.
If not should I change to netch build with dual lightning? Or should I swap out ward for other skills but it feels like cheesing dps to me

• This topic was modified 7 hours, 46 minutes ago by  lauykanson. Reason: typo

Replies: 238

Acknowledgement

A special thank you to all addon developers that have both significantly improved the quality of my gaming life as well as allowing me the opportunity to reverse engineer game mechanics. In particular, Combat Log Statistics by @zeakfury and Combat Metrics by @decay have been instrumental for the majority of my testing. I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude to the community for the kind words, encouragement and valuable discussions.

Contents

• Introduction
• Damage Equations
  • Resource Pool
  • Spell Damage
  • Recovery
  • Spell Cost
  • Spell Critical
  • Critical Modifier
  • Damage Calculation
    • Base Ability Tooltip
    • Base Damage
    • Average Damage
    • Ability Metric
• Analytical Results
  • Champion Point System
    • Thief
    • Mage
  • Mundus: Apprentice, Mage, Thief and Shadow
  • Armour Traits: Divines and Infused
  • Weapon Traits:Nirnhoned, Precise and Sharpened
• Numerical Results
  • Introduction
  • Details of Simulation Algorithm
  • Simulation Interface
  • Simulation Accuracy
  • Simulation Results for Magicka Sorcerer

Introduction

This post is divided into three main sections: Damage Equations, Analytical Results and Numerical Results.

Damage Equations covers the majority of equations needed to accurate calculate damage. It is my impression that the majority of these are readily recognisable by the community so my exposition of it will be brief. In addition, the Unofficial Elder Scroll pages boast a comprehensive build editor that not only calculates statistics for virtually all gear combinations it also clearly and tidily demonstrates the underlying equations used.

Optimisation decisions based of the Damage Equations are covered in Analytical Results. These include champion point optimisation, mundus optimisation, armour trait optimisation and weapon trait optimisation.

While the Analytical Results provide some insight into damage optimisation, some optimisation questions are rather arduous to answer, in particular the impact of proc sets on damage. One approach is with a geometric distribution but this only models the average behaviour and leaves much to be desired. Numerical Results summarises some of my combat simulation findings.

While I will rely on magicka sorcerers for the bulk of my examples, most of the concepts apply equally to other classes.

• This topic was modified 5 months ago by  Asayre.

Replies: 25

Welcome to Tales of Tamriel! An Elder Scrolls Online podcast brought to you by The Dungeon Crawler Network that focuses on storytelling and the game play experiences of the hosts. Our goal is to entertain the community with our experiences in the game and hopefully get people interested in forming their adventures in the Elder Scrolls universe!

Tales of Tamriel, an action-packed show full of game news, tales, opinions, and listener emails! And remember, if you’d like to send in your own letter to the show, head on over to our website, DungeonCrawlerNetwork.com and click the Contact Us on the top menu or email us directly at contact@dungeoncrawlernetwork.com!

• This topic was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  Aggelos. Reason: Formatting

Replies: 924

Replies: 0

sub-zero

[img]http://i.imgur.com/ckC9MVD.png[/img]

Background: This build is something that I have been working on since Orsinium was launched with a Mag Sorc. With the recent addition of the Warden class I decided to resurrect the build with some tweaks and I’ve been getting great results considering how lackluster Mag Warden dps is currently. This build is an Ice damage focused build and utilizes the Winterborn set. The Warden’s passives and class abilities allow this build to shine more than it ever has. This build has both flawlessed Vet Maelstrom and completed all non-hardmode vet trials short of vHoF and vMoL. It has adequate single target (dummy/boss) dps but has some of the highest AoE dps you will see, perhaps competitive with Mag Sorc.

Race: High Elf – far and away best choice because: 4% increase Ice/Lightning (our main) damage, best max Mag boost and Mag recovery boost

Argonian or Breton would work as well but when the dps margin is so thin for a Mag Warden already, race is VERY important for raid qualifying

Attributes: All Magicka

Food: Solitude Salmon-Millet Soup or equivalent CP150 max Mag and Health blue food

Mundus: Thief

Champion Points (630 point spread):

Blue CP: 37 Elfborn, 8 Spell Erosion, 56 Elemental Expert, 34 Master at Arms, 75 Thaumaturge

This distribution is the best that I’ve been able to use so far, it’s based off a trial group focused build by a guildmate of mine who does great theorycrafting on PC. I reduced Elfborn and pumped up Ele Expert and Master at Arms because the Winterborn procs are a good chunk of our dps and cannot crit so I tried to boost the proc damage as much as possible. If doing VMA exclusively, take 2-3% out of Thaumaturge and pump up Spell Erosion.

Red Cp: 48 Ironclad, 49 Hardy, 49 Elememental Defender, 40 Thick Skinned, 13 Bastion, 11 Quick Recovery

Green CP: 15 Warlord, 56 Arcanist, 64 Tenacity, 40 Shadow Ward, 35 Tumbling

Red and Green CP distribution is much more flexible, again this is based of my guildmate’s recommendation with some personal tweaks so feel free to tweak to your liking.

Gear: 

5 pieces Winterborn (body all divines w/ Magicka glyphs)

3 pieces Infallible Aether (Jewelry all Spell Damage glyphs) *Moondancer/Master Architect would be slightly better but I do not have a set

2 pieces Valkyn Skoria (1 heavy, 1 medium, divines w/ Magicka glyphs)

1 VMA Lightning Staff sharpened with poison *if you don’t have this then a non-set sharpened Lightning Staff with Spell Damage glyph

1 VMA Ice Staff sharpened *if you don’t have this then a non-set sharpened Ice Staff with Frost Damage Glyph or precise VMA Ice Staff

Valkyn provides the second highest range dps for a monster set behind double Ilambris procs but since we are not using any flame damage we do not use Ilambris.  

Winterborn is a set that I’ve been trying to get to work consistently since it came out with Orsinium DLC. This build really maxes out its effectiveness because it uses 3 ice DoTs (4 when using Destro Ult) that reliably proc Winterborn within 1-2 seconds after its 2 second cooldown. Wardens also have a passive that increases all Ice damage by 4%, which stack with the High Elf passive to further bring this set closer in line with the meta (Julianos and Necro). Although it is still about 2k less single target dps than Necro from my comparisons.

NOTE: The 60% snare from the Winterborn proc snares bosses and otherwise unslowable enemies, so that’s kinda neat.

Stats (self buffed no major intellect): 

[img]http://i.imgur.com/EKM4ct4.png[/img]

Skill Bar:

(Lightning Staff) Deep Fissure – Inner Light – Harness Magicka – Fetcher Infection – Force Pulse — Northern Storm

(Ice Staff) Blue Betty – Inner Light – Destructive Reach – Elemental Blockade – Winter’s Revenge — Elemental Rage

The only thing I change for VMA is I switch out Living Trellis (Green Balance) for Destructive Reach. This provides the self healing I need with a nice HoT as well as a burst heal at the end (or if recasted early).

Rotation: LA>Winter’s Revenge>LA>Destructive Reach>LA>Elemental Blockade>(If Betty is down)LA>Blue Betty>Bar Swap>LA>Deep Fissure>LA>Fetcher Infection>LA>Force Pulse>LA>Deep Fissure>Full Lightning Heavy>LA>Deep Fissure and REPEAT

The reason for a Light Attack between the Full Lightning Heavy and the last Deep Fissure is explained here. Instead of waiting an extra half second, I was suggested to use a LA in between and that is what I have found to be best. Any questions on rotation leave below.

NOTE: This build does not require spell power pots OR MAX MAGES GUILD. We get Major Sorcery from Blue Betty, and Major Prophecy from Inner Light (which only requires Mages Guild Level 2). So for anyone like me who is either low on cash for pots, or really hates lorebook hunting for the 5th time, no worries, this build has you covered.

Dummy Parse Video: coming soon!

My rotation and CP for this build were built off of that of my guildmate Dark_Shadow459. He spent a lot of his own time doing hardcore mathematical theorycrafting for his Warden DPS which I then used to create the best version of this build I could. Credit to him for his work.

• This topic was modified 52 minutes ago by  timjaxn.

Replies: 0

Morrowind Update

Race:

Khajiit

Attributes:

All in Stamina

Food:

Health and Stamina

Mundus:

Thief

Champion Point Distribution:

Red tree:

Trial Dependent

Blue tree:

Mighty – 56, Thaum – 56, Precise Strikes – 56, Master at Arms – 23, Physical Weapon Expert – 5, Piercing – 14.

Green tree:

Tenacity – 100, Mooncalf – 69, Warlord – 38, Tumbling – 3.

Gear choice:

7/7 Medium Divines

5 Twice Fanged Serpent

2 Kragh

3 Vicious Ophidian Jewelry

1 Sharpened Leki’s Dagger (Weapon damage enchant)

1 Sharpened/Infused Leki’s Dagger (Poison enchant)

1 Sharpened vMA Bow

All Armor with Stamina Enchants. All Jewelry Robust with Weapon damage enchants.

Bar Setup:

Main Bar (Dual Wield): Rending Slashes, Venomous Claw, Rearming Trap, Deadly Cloak, Flames of Oblivion. Flawless Dawnbreaker.

Offbar (Bow): Poison Injection, Endless Hail, Razor Caltorps, Molten Armaments, Noxious Breath. Ultimate – Standard of Might.

Rotation:

Step 1: (Before Fight>Deadly Cloak>Flames of Oblivion>Molten Armanments) Rearming Trap>Bar Swap>Endless Hail>LA>Razor Caltrops>LA>Poison Injection>LA>Noxious Breath>Bar Swap

Step 2 HA>Venomous Claw>HA>Rearming Trap>LA>Rending Slashes>LA>Deadly Cloak>LA>Flames of Oblivion>Bar Swap

Restart From Step (Only Put Up Molten Armanments When It Has Under 10 Seconds Remaining)

Rotation Video:

https://youtu.be/ZYBrOrtltkk

1.Why Kragh?

Kragh offers the highest damage gain in groups where full target penetration is not achieved. The 1 piece on it is the strongest 1 piece for a stam user to have and offers a whopping 3.8% DPS increase on a non fully penetrated target. In addition its damage is quiet good as well.

2.Why reapply trap before it runs out?

Because the minor force plus the increased damage from its buffed DoT is a huge DPS loss if we lose seconds on them both.

Stam Warden PvE Build

• This topic was modified 1 hour, 14 minutes ago by  recxr.

Replies: 0

Replies: 832

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

If you are an un-guilded player who is looking for an active guild to join in anticipation of TESO, please use this thread to post a little bit about yourself, so interested guilds may contact you. There are no specific rules about what you should include, however, the more accurately you describe yourself as a gamer, the better chance a guild with similar interests has of finding you.

→ Guild Leaders: Do not advertise your guild in this thread. If you see individuals who are LFG that you are interested in recruiting, please contact them through private message. This thread is for un-guilded players. If you advertise here, not only will I delete the post from this thread, but I’ll find your main guild recruitment thread and delete that too.

→ Players: if you successfully find a guild, please edit your original post to indicate that you are no longer LFG. Otherwise you will likely continue receiving PMs.

Replies: 31

[spoiler title = "Change Log"]

2/10/17 – Minor updates

12/17/16 – Sets added

9/29/16 – Reformatted and updated for One Tamriel

[/spoiler]

Ladies and Gents,

We are gathered here today to pay our respects to the trait known as Precise.  Precise was good to us in our times of need, helping us deal with long, mindless trash encounters through AoE spamming.  He was an adequate fellow for solo content, and some of the foolhardy among us even questioned his merit during solo boss fights.  With One Tamriel nearly upon us, however, we can now fully lay our comrade to rest.  Let us not lament his passing, but instead be thankful for the good times that we shared with him, particularly during his embodiment in our Lightning Staves.

*Ahem* Seriously, I’m hoping that this will the be the /thread to end all discussion of Precise v. Sharpened.  PRECISE IS DEAD, LONG LIVE SHARPENED.  With One Tamriel, all mobs will have the same resistance as that previously reserved for bosses (18.2k).  Quite simply, what this means is that penetration on your weapons will be BiS in over 99.9% of all combat encounters.  No matter how you calculate it, the damage gained from the extra crit granted from Precise will not equal the damage gained from Sharpened’s penetration.

The only very very rare occasion that people will ever use Precise is when a boss has had their resistance negated by raid debuffs.  The list of raid debuffs and the amount of resistance they negate are as follows:

Physical & Spell Penetration

Base Penetration: 100

Major Fracture/Breach: 5280

Minor Fracture/Breach: 1320

Sharpened Trait: 5160

Infused Crusher Enchant: 1946

Alkosh x5: 3010

Physical Penetration Only

Night Mother’s Gaze x5: 2580

Sunderflame x5: 3440

Kra’gh x1: 1935

Spriggan x5: 4000

Twice-Fanged x5: 5000 (when 5 stacks applied)

Spell Penetration Only

Concentration Passive: 4884

Spinner’s x5: 4000

What this means is that if you can find a combination of the above numbers that will get you to 18.2k WITHOUT Sharpened, then it is permissible to use Precise.  As can be seen, this will be very difficult to achieve for all but the most coordinated of raid groups.  Even then, Precise will only be worthwhile on single target boss fights; Sharpened will be needed for all other encounters as even the most coordinated of raids will not be able to pull off fully debuffing all the mobs in other encounters.

TL:DR Just use Sharpened and only Sharpened ever. 

• This topic was modified 5 months ago by  Duckbutta.

Replies: 1

Copying and pasting a post from ESO below before the thread gets deleted!
Hello, my friends – players of ESO.
I’m here for one reason – economics of this game close to the end. And i offer all of you start our anti-cheaters crusade.

What the reason of this, you ask? Of Course i will answer to you – it’s bcs some players outplaying the game systems.

How it possible, you ask? It became possible by 1 main reason – ZoS team ignoring most part of reports on cheaters.

What currently going on, you ask? All this is simple – group of players ***k the system, botting and duplicate the items (resources, tempers and rare items like “Aetherial Dust”).

View post on imgur.com

Who is our “heroes” and how they do it? Our brave “heroes” is the man 25 year old and the woman 20 years old. Both are russian. From Rzhev city. They lead 2 guilds: “RU Trade” and “Shadow Rain Trade”. 1st one looks like normal guild but a slightly lower i will post some proofs about it. 2nd one used most partly for gold selling to other players. Maybe they have a helpers (smn like popular russian streamer @irbis216 – he on high position inside guild). Also they have a account on gold selling site – MichaelMyers ( https://funpay.ru/chips/14/ ).

View post on imgur.com

How they make gold? They cheap selling all resources stuff in many guilds by many accounts. They enlarge their guild bank from 35m+ to 100m+ for 5 days.

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

How they got this items? Botting and items duplicating (dup cheat). At the end of the topic you can find proofs (no one can got so many just with farming, only 2 ways – bots or cheats). They doing this on both servers – EU and NA.

View post on imgur.com

What i wanna ask from players? Players (who wanna playing to normal game where all this trash banned) need to report them, kick them and their twinks from guilds and no give them any chances.

What i wanna ask from ZoS team? If you are not fix this problem all in-game economics ***ked up soon. You should ban this guilds officers and all their twinks by IP or sng like this. You should disband this guilds with withdraw and destroying all amount of gold. You already lose many good players due your inactivity. And number of players who will leave game will only increase. i just remind you what bots not buying crowns and all this stuff for crowns. They no need houses, personalities, masks etc. They need only transfer gold into real money.

Screenshots time!

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

Dropbox link (more info here) – https://www.dropbox.com/sh/p94zo29eysnke1m/AAA5QfZiPulvpY82DXUEy6F4a?dl=0

Replies: 3

Hi just wanna ask is lightning/inferno still viable for sorc? I am running a non-pet setup
Almost everyone I know or I saw are running double lightning staffs with netch set, as I know this allow
them to have a good uptime of off-balance in small groups or solo mode, and this setup is very good for DPS
dummy test as well, also pure lightning dmg means higher implosion proc in execute phase i think?

But myself haven’t got a master’s or vma lightning staff and I still havent finish farming netch set yet, however
I do have a vma sharpen inferno so I really hope it’s still viable?

My 5/1/1 setup is as follow : 5 x julianos body + 2x ilambris + 3x willpower + front bar julianos lightning staff with berserker enchant
and back bar vma inferno staff, all traits divines and sharpened only weapons are gold rest purple.

I did some dps tests on a 3mil dummy and I am constantly getting 25k dps, is this considered low dps? since I heard ppl pulling much better numbers

test conditions: champion points=545 /solo with no one aside / no major breach / no spell power pots, only self applied power surge

My skill setup is as follow : front bar lightning -> mages wrath /hardened ward /haunting curse /inner light /bound aegis /thunderous rage
: back bar inferno -> liquid lightning /fire blockade /flame clench /power surge /bound aegis/ energy overload

my roatation is a heavy attack rota as I got higher dps with it compared to a force pulse setup, not sure is it becoz of CP allocation can someone tell me?

MY rotation is like : LL > blockade > clench > barswap > curse > HA x 2 > curse > repeat , barswap cancel second curse, apply surge every 3 rotations with swap cancel and drop ulti at start and once later,
in execute phase swap 2 x HA with 4 x wrath, and light weave between everything

I currently stuck at 25k with this build and rotation, if anything I can change to push it higher please feel free to point out.
If not should I change to netch build with dual lightning? Or should I swap out ward for other skills but it feels like cheesing dps to me

• This topic was modified 20 hours, 34 minutes ago by  lauykanson. Reason: typo

Replies: 11

Just Tacos is currently recruiting female players! Space is limited, check out our presentation & application below!
Who we are looking for:
* Active and willing to become invested in the guild.
* Female or female-identifying only.
* 18+ years old.
* Must have a working microphone.
* Must be willing to use Band, our free social app.
* Minimum character level 25, and at least 1 character in the Daggerfall Covenant level 10 or over for Cyrodiil content (if over level 25 in DC, that counts!)

http://imgur.com/a/NLW4J

Application can be found below the last slide.
Thank you for reading!

• This topic was modified 3 weeks ago by  leighdelo.