I am a little disturbed by the things I have been reading and watching in videos... both PvE and PvP.

One of my favorite types of characters to make in any game is an attrition type who doesn't have a lot of burst but gets stronger the longer the fight goes on and the enemy runs out of gas.

I really wanted to make a "dark caster" type of character using siphoning abilities from Nightblade, with a few other dots and health leeching abilities from the Mages Guild, Destruction staves, and Vampire spells. I thought this would be viable in pvp as a DoT build with lots of kiting and health leeching to keep me alive while my DoTs and steady damage killed my enemy. In PvE, I thought a DoT caster would work just like a normal mage but instead of spamming high damage spells, I would keep my DoTs up on all targets and use whatever filler did the most damage.

However, after receiving input from multiple PvPers who are higher level in the Beta, it seems that you cannot survive in PvP using these methods... that burst and CC are what is most important.

In PvE, it looks like each class has certain spells which are just calculated as the highest dps and you use those and thats it. I am not sure if all of the DoTs have been tested well or not, but anyway... it is concerning me because i was really looking forward to making a DoT/leeching style caster.

PvP seems too fast for DoTs to be effective. PvE you can use what you like. In longer dungeon fights DoTs might stack up nicely. Might want to apply some debuffs and CC too.

I hope after the first 6 months or so we get a real Necromancer class tree.

DK has lots of DoT and some of them have life leech or heal you for a bit, im even planning on using some of them.

That style of play usually lends itself to long, drawn out fights. That is viable in pvp- you can dot a bunch of enemies which will help your group's overall performance. In small group/solo situations it's not as useful because everyone is going to die before your dots do anything. So your playstyle will work better in full sieges than, say, a small group overrunning a lumber mill or mine.

As far as PVE goes, beta videos aren't the best litmus because everyone's just playing with the shiny buttons. No one is really settling into a style yet because they want to test out all the different mechanics, which means they're trying out ALL the skills, not just ones that fit a particular build. Some people are also using burst damage to get through the levels as fast as possible to jump into PVP or into higher zones just so they can get a look at the content.

Your playstyle is a marathon, not a race, but right now everyone is racing to see what's new. Be patient

With the information we have, it might be a little premature to worry about my build not being viable.

But I just want whichever character I choose to be viable because I don't want to restart later. Making a Templar my main would be a safe way to go... high dps and solid healer. But man I want to play a siphoning caster Nightblade =(

Most of my pvp fights were over within 30 seconds. The longest fight I had was the first ever 1v1 when I was doing a scouting mission and was on my way back to the keep. I stopped to pick some alchemy plants and a player jumped me. The fight lasted for about 1 minute.

Lightning Shock spell and Daedric Curse hit hard when their effects end

This is a beta, and the balance and gameplay is ever changing. I wouldn't get down on something like this until the game comes out, and even then, the game will continue to change with patches.

Burst has always dominated PvP. Always. In an encounter that lasts for several seconds and has frequent disconnects, its never realistic to think DoTs will be good in this circumstance.

DK is the best type for DoT's (from what ive heard) if thats your thing.

Templar high dps? really..... didnt see that in beta but anyway. you want high dps go nightblade and they have plenty of heals they get later on even an AE heal. Played templar to 26 and i didnt see any high dps to it at all..... Was good at healing in a fight on the field, was good at casting that O sheat heal, and was good at lasting while i was getting beat on by a nightblade lol.