Are Stamblades still viable in 2021?

[Hollow]

I don't mean 'viable' as in, you can use them. I mean are they preferred as much as whatever is the best? Be it PvP or PvE content.

I'm a Wood Elf stamblade who runs dual wield + archer setup. So if that's viable, uh, hit me up?
General stamblade thread also, I guess

[>//The_FALCON]

yes

[sergykid]

anything is viable for almost anything. If you aim for endgame content like dlc veteran hardmode trials, or leadeboard score runs, stamblade is in a bad spot.
for pvp it's one of the best specs but it's not easy to make it work.

[Hollow]

Originally posted by sergykid:

anything is viable for almost anything. If you aim for endgame content like dlc veteran hardmode trials, or leadeboard score runs, stamblade is in a bad spot.
for pvp it's one of the best specs but it's not easy to make it work.

how so? do they need a lot of support because of their high-stam low HP or does it rely on mindgames and trickery?

[Space is the Place]

I find so sad to see constantly this meta questions on a game that is constantly making changes to allow more fexiblity than other MMOs. Every single class can work as healer, dps or tank, older classes that were only focused on one resource are being changed to allow them to be stam or mag, thousands of sets.... And people still dance around a meta that is only partially truth.

Look, does the game favors magicians? yes. Does this mean Stam is a non-playable style that will lock you out of end-game content? no.

[Winters]

man ima be honest. i have 2 characters i main: one a stamina NB i had for 7 years and one is a recent magdk.
No matter how hard i try i canot squeeze any dmg out of the NB at all, that goes for pve and pvp
meanwhile magdk all i need to do is spam wall of elements and get similar dmg

[Foley]

Stamblade is more than viable. Of Stam DPS it might be the best. I main a StamSorc so that hurts a bit. NBs rotation is just hard to master. Wood Elf is fine for nightblade. Orc and Khajiit are better because of racial passives (Orc - weapon damage/Kahjiit - crit). Wood Elves get more max stam and recovery which is always nice but lose out on damage.

[sergykid]

Originally posted by Hollow:

Originally posted by sergykid:

anything is viable for almost anything. If you aim for endgame content like dlc veteran hardmode trials, or leadeboard score runs, stamblade is in a bad spot.
for pvp it's one of the best specs but it's not easy to make it work.

how so? do they need a lot of support because of their high-stam low HP or does it rely on mindgames and trickery?

i suppose your question is for pvp? you need a lot of experience with positioning. If you use cloak in front of the enemy he will just take you out of it. And you need to deal good damage because you need to kill fast and then run away. Nightblade can be played brawler types like stamdens or stamcros, but will not be as efficient as those.

[Null]

viable for end game trial content?

current meta for regular veteran pve end game trials like vSS or vCR is magica based builds, pref sorc ofc.
stamplars, stamblades, stam anything is never going to be added for trial if magica dps will be available instead.

BUT

there is an exception to this dumb meta for noobs. There is a way to do absolute elite end game 10 dps vampire for vet trial buiilds. As vampire you can go as stamblade or anything since even stamina vampires does godzilla amount of damage, however in order to play vampire without killing yourself you need 1600 at the very least with preference of 2000cp , so its not for the faint of heart. also there is very few people who are doing this, so you need to find your secret vampire society to enjoy this feast of power.

[Hylie Pistof]

Originally posted by Lovely...:

man ima be honest. i have 2 characters i main: one a stamina NB i had for 7 years and one is a recent magdk.
No matter how hard i try i canot squeeze any dmg out of the NB at all, that goes for pve and pvp
meanwhile magdk all i need to do is spam wall of elements and get similar dmg

i am not realy a cqc type. i have a Kajit NB that i never realy played untill now.

just played that up to lvl 50 so i can wear the briarheart set i farmed for him, and was suprised how good that was even befor reaching 50 and wearing that set ^^

ok, i have 1350+ cp in the back, that may help too. but i do understand now why some play NB.
still, close combat and mainly single target skills, not sure it will become my main XD

try yours again and look at some builds.

[Veg]

Ignore the bads who tell you anything and everything is viable. They never step out of soloing and normal dungeons. Yes stamblades are fine.

[sergykid]

Originally posted by Veg:

Ignore the bads who tell you anything and everything is viable. They never step out of soloing and normal dungeons. Yes stamblades are fine.

and who is the ignorant here? i actually think that those people that can do anything with a stamblade are the pro guys not the bads. If you can't solo veteran dungeons or veteran arenas or hardmode trials with your stamblade, doesn't mean it's not viable

[Space is the Place]

Originally posted by Veg:

Ignore the bads who tell you anything and everything is viable. They never step out of soloing and normal dungeons. Yes stamblades are fine.

Trials HM, vet dungeon, vet DLC, arenas... I´ve done about everything and anything with my stamblade. I also play with no addons. Mike Finnigan, lead dungeon and trial designer, has stated several times that a 20k dps team can do every single piece of content in the game if everyone knows mechanics and excecute them correctly. I think I´m gonna trust the guy that creates that content rather than a random comment online.

Anything and everything is not viable, but every class in every role is if you know what you´re doing. And regardless, a steady 20-40k dps on the entire team that knows the mechanics is, to me, better than a rush team with some guys that do 80k dps and they melt everything but have no idea about mechanics since they hardly ever see them, they are the ones that rage quit when playing with around 95% of the people playing the game that doesn´t achive those numbers.

[josseriot]

Stamblades are in a fairly good place with regular PVE. The class itself isn't going to be hit with any big changes that we knowoif yet with the upcoming Blackwood chapter, but here's three things stamblades are up against:

1. Newer trials have not been particularly melee-friendly. This is ZOS' fault, but what it comes down to is groups running trials will often prefer mag ranged dps. Dungeons are another story--stamblades tend to perform very well in all dungrons, provided the player playing them knows how the play the content. This is just an issue with trials and the way ZOS keeps doing mechanics that make it harder for stam melee to perform as well as mag builds in them.

2. There are some possible upcoming changes to Dual Wielding skills that aren't going to make DW stam builds' lives easier. There will be improvements to bleeding status effect and axes, but some changes to other things that are going to send DW meta into another whirlwind like the new CP system just a couple months ago. 2H builds will be largely OK, as far as people can tell at this point on the test server but ZOS may and can change things at the last minute.

3. The proposed changes to the new CP passives that are live on the test server right are not going to do any stam build any favors. We will likely have to shift a lot of stats around to perform well if ZOS keeps these change.

Things may get tough for some stam players after Blackwood comes out, and ZOS has a long history of making life hard for stamblades, but it will take a lot to bring stamblades down from their status as one of the better builders for dungeon DPS and all-around PVE.

As for PVP, there are so much uncertainty right now it's hard to say. But seeing bow skills are going to largely untouched as far as we know, stamblades will likely remain the best option for bow PVP builds.

Originally posted by Space is the Place:

Mike Finnigan, lead dungeon and trial designer, has stated several times that a 20k dps team can do every single piece of content in the game if everyone knows mechanics and excecute them correctly. I think I´m gonna trust the guy that creates that content rather than a random comment online.

Yes you can trust that. The problem isn't with people not being able to do 60k and over dps. The problem is so many players want to burn through the content rather than play the mechanics.

[Null]

ok, scratch whatever i said, zenimax decided to delete vampires group play by nurfing pale order ring in blackwood expansion XD.

barely strong enough magica meta will stay with us forever. i dont like the direction of end game content. i guess this gonna be playthrough and go play something else expansion.