Replies: 14

MAGICKA NIGHTBLADE PVE DPS GUIDE FOR 2.2

Changelog

[spoiler]

20.11.2015: Some minor changes to appearence so some thing can be easier seen, also changed CP in Mage Constellation after input of @Asayre

[/spoiler]

This is my take on the Magicka Nightblade PVE DPS for the Orsinium Update (2.2).
Thanks for tuning in if you have any questions feel free to ask, also if you got a new idea present it I’m open to learn something new.

Magicka Nightblade definitely has its potential and can do really good DPS but you do have to work for it. Also it has awesome group utility as both your Single Target and AoE spammable heal your group.

As for Maelstrom Arena I haven´t finished that one yet so I don´t put that into my Guide. if you look for a good guide for Arena click here.

Also everything in quotation marks is taken out of @Asayre´s thread. CLICK ME!Thx to you for giving us that awesome maths to work with and achieve even higher numbers.

Just to mention before starting I´m not a pro player so you won´t see any insane DPS numbers from but still I´m not bad either just don´t
expect the most op numbers from me.

Overview

• Stats
• Race
• Mundus
• Gear
• Skills
• Champion Points
• Screen Shots

Stats:

These are my stats atm with bufffood and Inner Light toggled on the DW bar.

What you want to aim for is a minimum of ~17,5k Health if you feel too squishy either put some points into Health. Thats the cheapest way the better you get the less Health you need and also CP help out the more you have.

Race:

Dunmer:

I think this is the best choice for PvE purpose as Dunmer gives the best boost to your staff attacks, which is the only thing you can boost with racial boni.

Altmer/ Breton:

They are kind of similar. Both solid choices. Breton is more sustain oriented and Altmer is the best Magicka Race for PvP but as for damage its basically the same from the too.

Imperial:

This is also a solid choice especially if you want to switch between magicka and stamina.

 

The other races definitely can pull this build of too they just don´t have sepcial boni helping you DPSing.

Mundus:

Thief:

This is the best choice atm. it gives you 11% more crit without divines.

Shadow:

Another good choice. I´m testing this one atm but I think Thief is the better choice. Will update this one soon after testing a little bit more.

In the Orsinium PTS, the Shadow mundus increases Critical Modifier by 12% and the Thief increases Critical Chance by 11%. Putting this values in, we get the following inequality which means that Thief is better than Shadow if your Critical Modifier is at least ~10% greater than your Critical Chance. – @Asayre

Gear:

The perfect Gear:

For AoE use Nerien´eth Gear for moving Boss encounters.
For static Boss fights I´m still trying to find out if Nerien´eth is better.

As for traits Divines is the go to trait while using Thief or Shadow Mundus.

“On a personal note, in the majority of calculations that I have performed Divines with Thief or Shadow outperforms Infused. However, if the Apprentice or Mage is used then Infused on large pieces is preferred.” – @Asayre

Alternatives:

If you use the Kena setup there are 2 ways to go:

• Use the set like described above and switch Impale to the staff bar so you can still proc kena while executing this will grant that you still have your DW for AoE but you can´t proc Kena for AoE
• Switch from DW to another Maelstrom Fire Staff this way you can proc Kena while executing and AoE but you loos DW bonus.

In regards to the Spell damage enchants on the jewelery try to run with 3. If you can´t sustain it either kick your healer in his ass or if you are just low on CP change 1 or 2 for cost reduction.

I haven´t cleared VMSA yet so I don´t have the Maelstrom Staff yet. Instead I use the torugs Pact Staff with Poison Enchant I still have from last patch.
I also have one healthy ring because I´m cheap.

Gear choices:

 

[spoiler]

Nerien´eth:

The shoulder can be found in Daily pledge chests in Gold and Silver keys. The head dropps from the last boss in  Veteran Crypt of Hearts.
Is an awesome set for AoE and static boss fights. For moving target though its pretty crappy because it takes 3 seconds to explode.

Molag Kena:

The shoulder can be found in Daily pledges chest same as the Nerien´eth set. The head drops from the last boss in Veteran White Gold Tower.
Its and awesome set for burst damage at the cost of sustain. Its good for moving bosses. I just light attack weave if I wear this set as long as I want the proc if ressources go down or ultimate is soon to be ready switch to medium weaving to not proc the set anymore. Also it CAN be procced by light weaving with Funnel Health.

Law of Julianos:

This is a new crafted set with 6 traits needed to craft. Its the best DPS set for Magicka users. Another set that could be used in this slot is Twice-Born-Star. The difference is small but Julianos still comes out on top.

Torug´s Pact:

Another crafted set. The best 2-piece bonus to use ont your DW swords. With the Molag Kena Setup this could be changed to another Maelstrom Staff to also proc Kena while executing.

Willpower:

This set is dropped from reward chests in the Imperial City. Dark AEther and Bone Shards give Willpower loot. Can also be buyed at guild traders but the v16 Arcane versions are very costly. If you are cheap like me you can use 1 or 2 healthy rings. The Neck is the cheapest part of the 3.

This is the best set for Jewelery as it has superior boni to all other sets.

Maelstrom Staff:

Can be dropped in the chest after killing the last boss in Veteran Maelstrom Arena. Can´t be traded. Try to get a sharpened one. Infused or precise are also valid options though sharpend the best.

[/spoiler]

Skills:

Non Potion Setup:

I´m using this atm because I´m cheap and don´t have Proximity Detonation yet.

As for AoE use SA- swap-Merciless-Shooting Star (if up)-swap-Path-spam Sap Essence. Keep SA and Path up.

For Single Target use SA-swap-Merciless-Full Heavy Attack-Entropy-Shooting Star-Medium Attack (MA)-Cripple-MA-Funnel- keep up Cripple and Path if boss is not moving and use Merciless Proc when up.

[spoiler]

Mainbar Staff

• Funnel Health:
  

Cheap spammable ability. Does good damage and takes of much preasure of your Healer. Overall a good ability.

• Crippling Grasp:

Your main DOT. Keep it up all time. Does awesome damage and grants you Major Expedition which is also pretty awesome in PvE for getting out of AoE´s. Does as a whole more than double the tooltip damage of Funnel Health

• Structured Entropy:

Has no really awesome parts but all in all a decent ability. The 8% Health definitely helps also the empower for Ultimate is nice. The main reason its here is to give you Major Sorcery to not have to use pots. Keep it up and use it before you launch your ulti to give it a nice damage boost.

• Merciless Resolve:

8% more damage and a proc that hits nearly as hard is your execute. Use the proc on cooldown but always prefer buffs if both should be reapplied the same time. Also weave the proc and the recast with medium attacks to not loose DPS.

• Inner Light:

10% Spell Crit 5% more Magicka and 2% extra max Magicka and Magicka Reg. with passives. Its an awesome ability. Because its a toggle its on both bars.

• Shooting Star:

Your main damage Ultimate. Together with Soul Harvest it gives extremly fast Ultimate gain. Normally i have it nearly every mob group up if it consist of 5-10 mobs.

 

Offbar DW

• Impale:

Your execute ability. Use it together with Soul Harvest from 25% to deal extreme amount of damage.

• Twisting Path:

Good AoE DoT. Got a nerf in a recent update and only deals damage once every seconds. Keep this one together with Siphoning Attacks in AoE to keep ressources high. If you have a Maelstrom Staff you could change this one to Elemental Blockade to deals even more damage with yout light and heavy attacks. But thats just an idea have to test this one as soon as I get a staff.

• Sap Essence:

Nice AoE spammable. Grants Major Sorcery so you don´t need to use pots for AoE. Also heals your group which again helps your healer.

• Siphoning Attacks:

With the IC update this was changed from a toggle and now doesn´t reduce your damage. Keep it up in AoE situations. If you have no ressource problems even with 3 Spell Damage enchants you could use Dark Shades in this spot.

• Inner Light:

Same as above.

• Soul Harvest:

This one is mostly here for the passive Ultimate gain and together with Impale deals insane execute damage.

[/spoiler]

Potion setup (The one you should use to get max DPS):

Here you need to use Pots to keep your Major Spell Damage bonus.

I use Detection Potions instead of Spell Power Potions because I don´t need the extra crit and the detection part is also helpful in PvP.

It gives 20% Magicka Red., 20% Spell damage, restores Magicka and lets you detect enemy players that are sneaking.

You need Lady Smock, Corn Flower and Wormwood too craft this pot.

 

As for Rotation pretty much the same as above. Keep Proxy up all the time AoE and Single Target and use pots on cooldown.

Another usefull skill is Dark Shades if you don´t have Proxy yet you can put it there or if you have no sustain issues you could also switch it out for SA.

[spoiler]

Mainbar Staff

• Funnel Health:
  

Cheap spammable ability. Does good damage and takes of much preasure of your Healer. Overall a good ability.

• Crippling Grasp:

Your main DOT. Keep it up all time. Does awesome damage and grants you Major Expedition which is also pretty awesome in PvE for getting out of AoE´s. Does as a whole more than double the tooltip damage of Funnel Health

• Twisting Paths:
  

Good AoE DoT. Got a nerf in a recent update and only deals damage once every seconds. Keep this one together with Siphoning Attacks in AoE to keep ressources high. If you have a Maelstrom Staff you could change this one to Elemental Blockade to deals even more damage with yout light and heavy attacks. But thats just an idea have to test this one as soon as I get a staff.

• Merciless Resolve:

8% more damage and a proc that hits nearly as hard is your execute. Use the proc on cooldown but always prefer buffs if both should be reapplied the same time. Also weave the proc and the recast with medium attacks to not loose DPS.

• Inner Light:

10% Spell Crit 5% more Magicka and 2% extra max Magicka and Magicka Reg. with passives. Its an awesome ability. Because its a toggle its on both bars.

• Shooting Star:

Your main damage Ultimate. Together with Soul Harvest it gives extremly fast Ultimate gain. Normally i have it nearly every mob group up if it consist of 5-10 mobs.

 

Offbar DW

• Impale:

Your execute ability. Use it together with Soul Harvest from 25% to deal extreme amount of damage.

• Proximity Detonation:
  

This one is an awesome ability for AoE and single target damage but its hard to get as its deep in the Assault Skill rank. But the time you spend in Cyrodiil is definitely worth it.

• Sap Essence:

Nice AoE spammable. Grants Major Sorcery so you don´t need to use pots for AoE. Also heals your group which again helps your healer.

• Siphoning Attacks:

With the IC update this was changed from a toggle and now doesn´t reduce your damage. Keep it up in AoE situations. If you have no ressource problems even with 3 Spell Damage enchants you could use Dark Shades in this spot.

• Inner Light:

Same as above.

• Soul Harvest:

This one is mostly here for the passive Ultimate gain and together with Impale deals insane execute damage.

[/spoiler]

Champion Points:

Atm I have only 317 CP (:( need to farm more) so I will show you what I use now and also what I will use at the cap of 501 CP.

Mage Constellation:

[spoiler]There is one thing to note for putting points into Elfborn. ZOS made it so that Crit damage is cut at 2 digits after the comma. So only a sertain amout of points put into Elfborn will actually increase your Crit damage. After the update 2.2.4 where crit damage was changed the so called “Jump Points” shifted and I don´t know where they are atm. If I find it out I will put that here.

Now:

Apprentice:

29 points Elfborn
1 point Blessed

this is for the 12% crit passive. This is where you should put your points first.

Ritual:

75 points Thaumaturge

This is your main damage buff after you put 30 points into Apprentice put all your other points here.

At Cap:

Apprentice:

66 points Elfborn
1 Spell Erosion

Ritual:

100 points Thaumaturge

[/spoiler]

Thief Constellation:

[spoiler]Now:

Tower:

63 points Magician

Reduces costs of all spells best part to put points in here.

Lover:

30 points Arcanist

30 points because of the Synergizer passive and also because of diminishing returns in the Magician.

Shadow:

13 points Tumbling

this is mainly for PvP. If you don´t PvP put those points into Magician.

At Cap:

Tower:

100 points Magician

Lover:

54 points Arcanist

Shadow:

13 points Tumbling

[/spoiler]

Warrior Constellation:

[spoiler]Here I´m not sure how to exactly put the points at cap but generally put most points into Hardy, Elemental Defender, Thick Skinned as those give actual damage mitigation and also stack on each other. Else put some points here and there to get some other boni. Quick Recovery, Block Expertise are good options for that.

Steed:

10 points block expertise

1 point spell shield

Lady:

30 points Hardy

40 points Elemental Defender

15 Thick Skinned

Lord:

10 points quick recovery

[/spoiler]

Screenshots:

[spoiler]Will soon come here. Don´t have good parses yet but I´m raiding again on monday so after that you will get some Screenshots.[/spoiler]

 

 

• This topic was modified 1 day, 23 hours ago by  xBlackroxe.