Nightshade guide to level 50 templates

I play a casual nightshade called Deadcold on uthgard. On live I used to play a nightshade called Larkko on Lancelot (US) for a guild called Dark Side (small casual guild). I also played on MLF (mid) and Merlin (alb). I played on these servers from release until new frontiers was released which I did not enjoy as much as the old ones. I then started playing a shaman on Mordred for a while before quitting. I have played on uthgard for just over 12 months on hibernia on my nightshade almost exclusively. I typically play off-peak as I live in Australia.

This guide is written with the casual nightshade player in mind and is something I wish I had access to when I was doing my first template for my nightshade. I get asked about templates a lot when I am online from other leveling nightshades so I thought I would post my thoughts on the subject here so I have somewhere to direct them.

For those who play on uthgard a lot this guide is unlikely to be very helpful as you will most likely be in a position to purchase or farm the best items and will most likely have an "all cap" nightshade template. For those without the time to invest in the best templates this guide provides general advice as to what to compromise to end up with a decent template that lets you compete in rvr. Without a template you cannot compete on uthgard.

Nightshade templates are harder than most classes in daoc as you have 5 (or 6 if you are high realm rank and split weapon spec) skill lines, 4 stats, hp and 9 resists to attempt to cap which is why I have written this guide.

This is all my own advice based on my limited 12 months experience on uthgard. If you disagree feel free to respond to this with better advice/experience. I have also attempted to list spells under each type of resist to give some idea why they are important (or not). This is definitely not comprehensive (doesn't include RA's for example) and includes spell lines which aren't very popular. Feel free to correct or otherwise. I want this to be useful as possible.

Solo pvp classes by popularity

As a nightshade you have the benefit of being able to pick and choose your fights to a certain extent so a lot of the classes below can be avoided. However, there will be circumstances where they cannot be (hibernia horse route campers for example). The below is a guide to the popularity of solo albion and midgard classes in emain macha and elsewhere. Your experience may differ depending on your play times

1. shadowblade, infiltrator, minstrel, hunter, scout (often)
2. friar, reaver, shaman, skald, (regular)
3. warrior, berzerker, thane, mercenary, sorcerer, theurgist (less regaular)
4. paladin, spiritmaster, bonedancer, runemaster, cabalist (rare)
5. savage, necromancer, wizard, healer, cleric, armsman (almost never)

#1 to #3 covers the majority of all solo players on uthgard. There are a few exceptions to the above with characters played by long term high realm rank players who you will see more often. Who you end up typically fighting should determine the priority of your template, especially the resists that you include.

General Template Priority

Fundamentally a template for a nightshade should:

1. Maximise spec point distribution (+11 Stealth and Envenom)
2. Maximise damage potential (+75 STR, DEX, QUI, +11 Pierce/Blades, Celtic Dual, Critical Strike)
3. Maximise hit points (+75 CON, +200 hp)
4. Minimise the damage you take from others (+26 resists)

Since most templates will not cap everything you need to adopt a template priority. The below priority is the way I go about selecting my template and without achieving the advice below I would not bother investing in a template:

1. All main stats (STR, DEX, QUI and CON) need to be capped at 75
2. Hits need to be capped at 200
3. All Skills (Pierce/Blades, Celtic Dual, Critical Strike, Stealth) should be capped at +11 with the exception of envenom which should be a minimum of +4. Due to how hard it is to cap everything with a nightshade template, and seeing as you cannot apply poison in combat it is common to swap in an item to give you a total of +11 envenom to apply poisons then swap back. Typically players who do this craft an extra set of gloves or boots with +7 envenom on them. This means that your main template needs at least +4 envenom on it.
4. All melee resists need to be capped. Slash and thrust being the most important resists and crush being a close third. There are less classes who use crush but hibernian leather is vulnerable to crush so always cap it.
5. Body resist should always be capped.


Body
poisons - shadowblade, infiltrator
direct damage - skald, minstrel, sorcerer (disorientation)
lifedrain - bonedancer (bone guardians), cabalist (body destruction, essence manipulation) sorcerer (body destruction)
damage over time - shaman
mesmerise - healer, skald, minstrel
slow - healer, cabalist (essence manipulation)
snare - healer, bonedancer (bone guardians, suppression), runemaster (suppression), spiritmaster (suppression), sorcerer (body destruction, disorientation), cabalist (body destruction)
stun - healer, skald, minstrel

6. Cold, matter and spirit resists should be as close to cap as possible.


Cold
direct damage - bonedancer (darkness), runemaster (darkness, runes of darkness), spiritmaster (darkness), theurgist (path of ice), wizard (path of ice, liquifaction)
debuff DD - runemaster (runes of darkness)
lifedrain - spiritmaster (spirit dimming)
mesmerise - spiritmaster (spirit dimming)
snare - bonedancer (bone mystics), theurgist (path of ice, refrigeration), wizard (path of ice, liquifaction)


Matter
bolt - shaman, wizard (calefaction)
direct damage - shaman
damage over time - bonedancer (bone army, bone warriors), shaman, cabalist (matter, matter manipulation), sorcerer (matter, telekinesis), wizard (calefaction)
nearsight - cabalist
snare - shaman, sorcerer (telekinesis), wizard (calefaction)


Spirit
direct damage - spiritmaster (spirit suppression), cleric, necromancer (death servant), reaver, theurgist (vapormancy)
damage over time - necromancer (painworking), reaver
lifedrain - necromancer (deathsight), reaver
mesmerise - spiritmaster (spirit suppression), cleric , theurgist (vapormancy)
slow - spiritmaster (spirit suppression), theurgist (abrasion)
snare - skald, cabalist (vivification), necromancer (painworking)

7. Energy and heat resists should be close to cap as possible but are less important than those in #6.


Energy
bolt - runemaster (runecarving , runes of darkness)
direct damage - runemaster (runecarving , runes of darkness), thane
nearsight - runemaster (runes of suppression)
mesmerise - sorcerer (mind twisting, domination)
snare - runemaster (runes of suppression)


Heat
bolt - wizard (path of fire, pyromancy)
direct damage - wizard (path of fire, pyromancy)

Choosing Jewelry

Ideally you want the highest utility jewelry without exceeding your template cap at a price you can afford. This ensures that you are getting the most utility possible. A lot of high utility items have the same stats on them so the items become increasingly less useful and difficult to fit into your template.

The difference between a low end jewelry template and a high end template may only be the difference of a few resistance points but the price to buy (or time to farm) them may differ by as much as 100 platinum.

Generally the most expensive jewelry templates are needed only if you are including special charge items which either have low utility (scratch's ring), they make you go over your stat cap (necklace of the body) or you need to allow for a split weapon specialisation (blades and pierce at realm rank 10 or 11)

Recommended low end jewelry set

Utility listed is useable rather than total and costs are what I think the item is worth:

Cloak - Pooka Lord's Mantle, utility 52.7, cost n/a, (one time drop from shadowgnash in cursed forest - soloable at 50, drops before 50 - i soloed him at 49 and it dropped)
Necklace - Exquisite Infernal Black Diamond Necklace, utility 54.0, cost 200g (bought from df merchants for 17 diamond seals)
Jewel - Book of Arcane Dealings, utility 48.0, cost 500g (rare drop from black wraiths and siabra waterwalkers in bog of cullen, can be soloed )
Belt - Skeagshee Fighting Belt, utility 54.0, cost 1p (one of five possible drops from Epic mob skeaghshee in cursed forest, can be farmed in a small group)
Left Ring - Orey Eyed Stealthy Ring, utility 59.0, cost 1p (one of six possible drops from epic mob orey-eyed oghamist in cursed forest, can be farmed in a small group)
Right Ring - Orey Eyed Stealthy Ring, utility 59.0, cost 1p (one of six possible drops from epic mob orey-eyed oghamist in cursed forest, can be farmed in a small group)
Left Bracer - Midars Bracer of Strength, utility 51.0, cost 1p (one of three drops from midar in Valley of brei leith, can be solo farmed)
Right Bracer - Warshadow Bracer, utility 52.0, cost 500g (random drop from named mobs in sheeroe hills, can be duo farmed)

Total cost: 6 to 7 platinum

99% or 100% quality armor and weapons?

99% quality leather armor is extremely cheap. For less than 2 platinum you can get all of your armor set. Likewise with 99% quality blades or piercers which are between 200 gold to 500 gold depending on what type of weapon you want.

Each item will cost 350 gold (100 gold plus 50g each point of overcharge) to spellcraft. Then add on reactive effects for another 300 gold each item and then 50(?) gold to enchant each item at an npc enchanter.

For a whole 99% armour plus two weapons template you are looking at under 7 platinum.
I would recommend a minimum of 4 spare mainhand weapons for another 5 platinum but you can always use cheap ghetto weapon drops if you cannot afford all of these straight away.

It is impossible to get a capped template as a nightshade with 99% quality armor and weapons.

100% quality leather armor is not that much more expensive. Instead of less than 2 platinum you are looking at less than 5 platinum for a whole 6 piece armor set. It's the weapons that can become the expensive component varying from 1 platinum to 3 platinum each depending on the type. Depending on how many spare weapons you want to carry you can start to spend an awful lot which will be cutting into money needed for nice jewelry.

I would recommend if you are going for a 100% quality template that you keep your mainhand weapon at 99% as well as any spare weapons you carry. There is always lots of them for sale (unlike 100% quality weapons) and the difference in templates is negligible.

General template advice

1. use your racial resists to help plug gaps in your template. Elves have +5 spirit and lurikeens have +5 energy giving you a little more room to maneuver in your template.
2. never put hits or CON on your mainhand weapon. Every time you swap your mainhand weapon you will lose all the hit points associated with the bonuses on your weapon.
3. if you intend to use different types of mainhand weapon (because you can't afford to get a bag full of templated weapons to swap poisons...) make sure you do not put any stats, stealth or important (melee and body) resists on it.
4. If you intend to swap items for increasing you envenom skill do not put on envenom skill on that item! Also do not put hits, CON, stealth skill or important (melee and body) resists on it either as inevitably you will occasionally forget to swap the item back.
5. If you intend to swap in other items to use charge buffs try to make sure that those items do not have hits or CON on them so your hit points do not suffer every time you need to use a charge

Interesting topic, even if my NS is already templated ^^
Thx