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[2.2.8] The Thunderbolt- Stamina DPS PvP Build

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Introduction

A while back, I made the switch over from Magicka to Stamina. My only issue was that I’m not a big fan of melee, especially not wrecking blow. What I’ve created is a surprisingly effective double-bow build. Yes, I am fully aware of how impractical and underpowered this may seem. I recognize that stats and raw DPS won’t even near 2H and DW levels, but it’s a fun build that has rarely let me down.

 

Race

I’m a high elf, since I switched from Magicka Sorc midgame. From what research I’ve done, it seems like Wood Elf or Khajiit would be the best choices- most of the other stamina races have passives geared towards melee weapons. In the end, everything will work out find- race isn’t too large of a problem.

 

Mundus Stone

I run the Shadow, since I’m around 50% crit. I haven’t spent as much time researching this as I probably should have, but crit buffs are especially effective for stamsorcs.

 

Character Sheet/ Stat Overview

Unbuffed:

Back Bar:

http://i.imgur.com/MT3Jc4z.png

Front Bar:

http://i.imgur.com/wYl4uYB.jpg

 

Buffed: 

Back Bar:

http://i.imgur.com/XEtq9VL.png

Front Bar:

http://i.imgur.com/bnCwnwv.png

Even with all of my attribute points into stamina, I still manage to maintain a solid 18k health in Cyrodil. More on that in the gear section.

 

Gear

Sets:

Currently, I’m running 5 piece Hunding’s Rage and 3 piece Night Mother’s Gaze. If you happen to have Molag Kena and 2 Maelstrom bows, that would be the optimal replacement for Night Mother’s Gaze. I’ve considered switching out Hunding’s Rage for Briarheart, but I prefer tried and true effective sets as opposed to more gimmicky, random bonuses. You always want 3 piece Agility jewelry, of course.

Armor:

All of my armor is purple quality, and medium. I do this because I’m poor and can’t afford the Dreugh Wax, but I find that I have enough survivability as is and 7 piece medium helps my mobility and damage a lot. Optimally, you want divines on all pieces- I’m using infused on the chest, however. More on that in the Enchantments section.

Weapons:

As I mentioned before, I’m running 2 bows- both Night Mother’s Gaze to complete the 3 piece bonus. Make sure that they’re gold quality, too- it makes a hefty weapon damage difference. My front bow, intended mainly for single-target damage, is sharpened. My back bow, meant for AoE, CC, and utility, is precise.

Jewelry:

All of my 3 agility pieces are healthy. It helps you get to that 18k mark without spending attribute points.

Enchantments:

All of my armor is enchanted with Stamina, with the exception of the chest- I happened to find a Hakeijo rune, so I popped that on there and made the chest infused instead of divines. All of my jewelry is weapon damage. My primary bow has a lightning damage enchantment, to make some use of the Storm Calling passives. My back bar has a Glyph of Weapon Damage on the bow, which gives you a small 5 second weapon damage bonus upon light attacking. When weaving properly, it can get you pretty close to 4k weapon damage on the front bar.

Consumables:

I use a tri-stat V15 drink/regen buff. It’s less flashy in terms of visual effects than food, but it makes an easily noticeable difference in sustainability. Without this, your regen is abysmal.

For potions, I use Essence of Weapon Crit- Health, Stamina, and Weapon Critical. You already have Major Brutaility from Critical Surge, and this does well as a panic pop.

 

Skills

http://eso-skills.com/skill/?z=WBMMe4@DTaI118%DSe58or@2oquve&c=RobertOfPotatoland&b=The_Thunderbolt&j=t

Alright, let’s go down the list.

Bar 1:

Poison Injection- One of the primary DPS skills in this build, especially potent when finishing your target. Venom arrow sounds promising, but the interruption in PvP is more often than not useless. The only time I can see this being good is if you’re fighting a magicka sorcerer who keeps hardcasting frags.

Bound Armaments- This build has few actual attacks, and a buff you don’t have to repeatedly cast is pretty nice. Even the heavy attack bonus helps sometimes.

Boundless Storm- The first of the Holy Duality of buffs. Always keep this up- strength comes from mobility, as well as the little extra tankiness added.

Streak- Useful for interrupting enemies and creating distance. BoL, especially with the short duration, just doesn’t hold up to the ability to streak through your opponents. It’s disorienting and helps you get off a snipe.

Focused Aim- Your main damage skill. If you time your casts right, you’ll do really nice amounts of damage. It’s bursty, but effective. I’ll go into detail on my rotation centering around this in the playstyle section.

Ultimate: Flawless Dawnbreaker- Need I say more than free weapon damage? It also serves as a good execute when combo’d with streak or sprinting under major expedition.

Bar 2: 

Critical Surge- The second of the Holy Duality of buffs. Once again, this always has to be up- it is everything stamsorc is. I can’t stress how important the heal on crit and 20% damage are. If your hands aren’t sparky, there’s a problem.

Bound Armaments- See above.

Resolving Vigor- For when potions and crit surge aren’t enough, there’s this. Always good to have when soloing, although you can switch skills around and put the Holy Duality on your back bar and Evil/Camo Hunter on your front bar if you have a healer.

Bombard- Great CC. This messes with cloaking nightblades and is useful to combo after streak or magnum shot to keep enemies off of you.

Magnum Shot- Even when the enemy has CC immunity, this will create a nice amount of distance. Just be careful when you’re on bridges.

Ultimate: Greater Storm Atronach- If you prefer Meteor, use that. Even then, I’d still take this- it creates a nice shield between you and enemies, gives heavy area denial, and yields excellent DPS. Also, it’s just a pretty badass-looking monster.

Although I don’t use this exact build in PvE often, I switch out Arrow Barrage for Magnum Shot when I do- more AoE damage.

Some people have asked me why I don’t use Expert Hunter- really, it’s just preference. 50% crit seems to be enough, and I always feel a lot more powerful with bound armaments on.

 

Champion Point Distribution

For reference, my champion rank as of making this post is 204. Adjust distribution as fits total number.

The Thief:

Tower- Warlord 18

Lover- Mooncalf 50

I just like having regen, although I’d be interested to hear the actual number crunching between these two. At higher champion ranks, putting some points into Tumbling could be useful.

The Mage:

Ritual- Mighty 60

Everything into the ritual. As soon as Mighty is maxed out, I’ll split the rest between Piercing and Precise Strikes. The Perfect Strike passive, which grants you a static 12% crit, is invaluable.

The Warrior:

Steed- Spell Shield 1

I’ll probably put more into this, later. I prioritize the other passives.

Lady- 16 Hardy, 16 Elemental Defender

Lord- 35 Quick Recovery

Quick Recovery helps with your crit surge and resolving vigor heals. Anything that helps you be less squishy is good, and there’s not much else of use under the Warrior.

 

Playstyle/ Rotation

Always keep up Boundless storm and Critical surge. Without those, you’re nothing. For damage, I like to repeat a combo of snipe animation cancelled with a light attack and that into poison injection. It hits pretty hard and keeps the poison DoT up. When an enemy starts chaining and CC’ing you, just stay calm, break/dodge roll if you have to, and streak through them. For gap closers, I like to magnum shot in the middle of those to interrupt and create distance. Keeping distance is key- which is why the stamsorc’s mobility is perfect for this build. You should always have major expedition, through the Hasty Retreat perk and boundless storm. The farther away you are, the safer you are and the more damage you deal. Whenever you create distance, it’s usually a good idea to follow up with a bombard. Be stealthy, but don’t be afraid to be aggressive. Never stop moving.

To clarify, your back bar (with magnum shot and bombard) is used for everything except DPS. You’ll probably be on that most of the time, as you self-heal, create distance, and mess with your opponent’s movement. Only at the perfect time when you control the battle should you switch to your front bar and unload snipe and poison arrow. The bow has a slow windup, but hits very hard. It’s a fun rotation to pull off, especially against DK’s flapping their wings.

Against defensive players, like the aforementioned reflective scale users and nightblades with ambush, it’s often helpful to let them hit you and snipe them mid-attack, and create distance to heal afterwards. If you keep trying to hit them while they’re on the defensive, they can just cloak/reflect away.

 

Recap

Yes, this isn’t gonna be the most powerful build on the planet. It’s a lot of fun, and honestly more powerful than I thought it ever could be, looking at it on paper. What you lack in raw stats will be made up for with mobility and actual combat usefulness. Thank you for reading through this build, it’s been a lot of time in the making and I’m pretty proud of it. Please feel free to criticize or ask questions all you like.


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