Chrono

True, and I do plan to use Magicka, but not for 'attack' powers. Blur's going to see a lot of use for my character, that's for sure. The Sorcerer class seems like one that lends itself heavily towards a Magicka-oriented build. Their crowd control and mass damage class skiils are quite powerful, and their passives tend to lend themselves well to using the Destruction Staff. I don't really see what sort of an advantage you'd get with a Stamina-oriented Sorcerer that you couldn't replicate with a Dragonknight instead. Part of why I'm choosing the Nightblade for this build is because of its passives that make stealth and evasion more feasible. If I wanted to make a Stmaina-based Tank, I'd go Dragonknight for their enhanced durability and awesome chain-grab power.

Some of the better abilities ARE magicka-based, but remember that Stamina determines weapon damage, the effectiveness of stamina-based abilities like weapon abilities (other than Restoration and Destruction Staff, of course). In addition, the Fighter's Guild skill like has four Skills that use Stamina, and an Ultimate ability that's pretty damn awesome. I think they designed this specifically so that Stamina-specced builds could still fill out their skill bars without having to rely on Class trees. I never said my build would be top-tier - indeed, I expect Stamina/Health builds to be only moderately effective - but I'd rather play a fun build that fits my RP than a powerful build that I'm not into.

Thanks Tidezen, I hope your build works out for you too. I feel like Magicka builds will probably be stronger than Stamina builds, but honestly I couldn't care less if my build isn't 'optimal'. Currently the Skills I think would be nice to have are: Blur, Haste, Shadow Cloak, Veiled Strike (for morph passive mostly), Siphoning Strikes, and perhaps Drain Power. I feel like the Siphoning Skills are a bit too flashy for my tastes, and are more suited for Magicka builds, but faster Stamina recovery is very useful and if I'm specced for weapon damage the debuff from Siphoning Strikes won't be that much of a deal-breaker. Obviously Evasion will be in my Skill bar 24/7, and I might put some Fighter's Guild Skills in there as well - I love the fact that they're based on Stamina. Does anyone know if their damage / effectiveness is based on Magicka or Stamina? That would be nice to know.

My goal with this build is not to completely ignore Magicka, but to see it is a tertiary quality compared to Health and Stamina. Powers like Blur, Shadow Cloak, and Cripple would be evasion and damage enablers, rather that sources of DPS. Given the soft-cap of points invested in Health/Magicka/Stamina, I would probably place 30 in Stamina and the other 19 in Health, with none in Magicka. For one, disregarding Magicka makes Shadow Cloak much stronger in my opinion. It's a risky power for most Nightblade builds because it stops their Magicka recovery while active, but if your build is not dependent of magicka for damage and combat viability, it suddently becomes a LOT more useful. Specifically, it becomes a 'breather' for your Health and Stamina regeneration to kick in, and for your weapon cooldowns to go down. That's how I see it, anyway. I feel like putting points in Health with this build would be more useful than putting them in Magicka, since durability will be necessary in Medium Armor, and because I don't need Magicka-based damage for any of my abilities. Moreover, with the Fighter's Guild class powers, I can fill up part of my power bar with Stamina-based powers, some of which do Magic-type damage, giving me some useful flexibility despite my focused build.

So, let's cut to the chase. Magicka, like all attributes, rises with each level, as do magicka costs for certain abilities. The power of these spells is also based on your maximum Magicka, as we've learned. The ratio is such that, with no investments in Magicka, you're getting slightly more efficient and stronger from level 1 to 50. So, what happens if you make a character that focuses their level-up attribute bonuses entirely on Stamina (with a dash of Health)? How viable would such a build be? Would maximum weapon damage be a useful, or even desirable method of play? I don't think just any build would be able to work this concept, but I do have one in mind - a Redguard Nightblade, focusing on Medium Armor, Dual Wielding, Archery, and the Shadow Tree. With this build, most if not all of the damage comes from the boosted DPS of your at-will attacks and the higher regeneration / pool of Stamina provided by the Redguard race. Higher Stamina pools and recovery from Medium Armor results in a highly mobile character that's much better at blocking and dodging than magicka-focused builds. In addition, the small magicka pool the character has access to can be used almost exclusively for evasion and stunning powers, i.e. getting a breather while Stamina recovers and setting up powerful attacks. In addition to all the above reasons, higher Stamina results in longer Stealth duration, which coupled with Medium Armor means you'll be able to stealth easily and quickly in PvE, especially with a few nice passive Morph choices. Plus, you'll be able to run for longer periods of time, which from my experience with Skyrim is a great help. I don't fast travel, so being able to get from point A to point B in a reasonable amount of time is key. Naturally you don't need to be a Redguard for the build to work, but it's the best race for it in my opinion. If you're in the Dominion, Khajiit is a solid choice, and for the Ebonheart Pact the best you'll get is maybe the Dunmer, or perhaps Argonians. So, thoughts? Would this be a viable approach to the game? Would it work in PvP as well as PvE?