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Hi guys,
This is my take on Stamina Nightblades for the Imperial City and Orsinium.

In this guide, I will show you how to get competitive DPS in all situations. We will look in dept into every endgame PvE aspect of the game and I will also cover leveling and you how I PvP. So after this (do doubt long) read, you will know what a Stamina Nightblade is capable of. Note that this build is evolving with the game so every time the game changes, I find out new stuff or a better way to do things, I will update the guide and let you know.

I can’t cover every strategy for every encounter in the game so don’t be too fixed on the skills I use. If you feel like you require other skills for certain situations, just use them. This build is the heart of my playstyle and while it works perfectly for me, you might have to adapt certain aspects to fit it into your playstyle. I will go in detail about everything so if you are a veteran player, you can always skip those parts. Please feel free to ask questions, give suggestions and nail me down on why I use this and that. It’s a community effort to create the best Nightblade build possible.

ATTENTION: You have to click on the SPOILER buttons to get all the information. I had to put those in for reasons of clarity and comprehensibility.

 

Tables of Content:

1. Build Overview
2. Race
3. Stats
4. Mundus Stone
5. Potions
6. Champion Points
7. Gear
   The PvE Master
   The PvP Emperor
8. Skills PvE
   Rotation
9. Skills PvP
   Tricks and Combos
10. Leveling Champion
11. FAQ
12. Special Feature: Maelstrom Arena / WGT / ICP
13. DPS Screens
14. Theorycraft

 

I. BUILD OVERVIEW

For this build, we mainly use Dual Wield and Bow. For maximum flexibility, I suggest having a 2h as well as it has great utility especially for leveling, PvP and solo PvE content where you don’t want to use Potions all the time to keep your buffs up.

 

ADVANTAGES

• Amazing single target and the best AoE DPS
• Build in Spell Resistance/Armor Selfbuff as well as Armor Debuff
• Roguish playstyle
• Very flexible in terms of weapons and skills
• Easy access with crafted gear
• Very rewarding as your DPS gets better and better the more you train
• Works with all races

DISADVANTAGES

• Harder to master and not as forgiving as ranged builds
• Requires good movement and coordination
• Tricky sustain especially when you have to block/dodge a lot
• Lots of Champion Points really helps the build grow to it’s full potential

 

II. RACE

I think the strongest choice at the moment is Redguard for PvE. They are monsters when it comes to sustain the very Stamina expensive Rotation this build uses. They can easily put 3x Weapon Damage Enchants on their Jewelry and still be perfectly fine without to much reliance on Shards/Repentance while they still get the 10% extra maximum Stamina.

That being said, I’m Imperial, so I get the extra Stamina as well as some extra HP. So while I have to struggle a bit more in terms of sustain, I can put all my Enchants and Attribute Points into Stamina and still be fine, even without having to grind a trillion Champion Points. Talking about CP, when you reach around 300 CP, you’ll have lesser issues to sustain with any race. Also, if you run with a solid Templar Healer to support you with Spear Shards and Repentance, he will help to prevent running out of Stamina no matter what race you choose. Don’t worry, this build will work with any race and any amount of CP.

Good choices are also Orc, Khajiit and Bosmer.

 

III. STATS

I think you should not get lower than 18000 HP. If you have a low amount of Champion Points and not that much spend in those damage mitigation passives from the Lady, I’d suggest going a bit higher up to 19k. It’s always okay to get some extra defence IF REQUIRED because dead DPS is shitty DPS.

I use a blue VR15 food (Braised Rabbit With Spring Vegetables) that provides Stamina and HP. I put all Attribute Points in Stamina and every piece of Armor I wear is enchanted with +Stamina, but I’m Imperial and while I’m writing this, I’m at 501 Champion Points. The cheapest way to get extra HP is to allocate your Attribute Points in a way that gives you exactly the amount of HP you need.

Get at least 50% crit chance in combat. It’s a “magical tipping point” where several DPS improving mechanics start to make sense. It’s pretty easy with the gear I will show you. Just keep in mind that crit is extra important for Nightblades as we benefit more from it than other classes due to the “Hemorrhage” passive that gives us 10% extra critical damage.

The biggest factor for your DPS still is your amount of Weapon Damage, but in general, it is all about balancing Weapon Damage, Stamina and Weapon Crit Chance.

You dont need to be a Werewolf or a Vampire. Being a Vampire does more harm than good in PvE. Just being Human is great for this build.

In PvP, I use purple VR15 Tri Regeneration Drinks (Lusty Argonian Maid Mazte) to sustain long fights without having to rely on Heavy Attacks. I basically never run out of Stamina or Magicka. Try to get ~ 20k HP in Cyrodiil.

 

IV. MUNDUS STONE

With the Patch that fixed all Crit Damage Modifiers (Hemorrhage, Precise Strikes, Beast Trap), the Thief finally claims his throne for Top DPS. If you dont have a lot of points in Precise Stikes AND you dont use Beast Trap, you have to test if you get better results with the Shadow. According to @Asayre awesome Maths, Thief is better than Shadow if your Crit Damage Modifier is at least ~10% greater than your Critical Chance.

My Crit Chance without Thief: 62,4%
My Crit Damage Modifier without Shadow: 50% Base + 10% Hemorrhage + 12% Beast Trap + 18% Precise Strikes = 90%

In the Theorycraft Section, I also ran a test to confirm.

 

V. Potions

The main DPS setup of this build uses Potions (Panacea of Weapon Power) to get the Major Brutality (20% Weapon Damage), Major Savagery (10% Weapon Crit) and 20% Stamina Regeneration all the time without having to use Evil Hunter, Drain Life, Flying Blade or Momentum. To get 100% Portion uptime, you have to skill the “Medicinal Use” passive in Alchemy. That way, a V10 Potion gives you 44,2s duration with a 45s cooldown (aka. almost 100% uptime) or you use a V15 Potion for the complete duration.

This is quite expensive for many players, so I will also show you ways to play without constant potion usage and save some money in situations where you don’t have to give 100%. Just be aware that if you want to squeeze out the last bit of DPS, you’ll have to have those Potions available.

In PvP, I use Panacea of Immovability which grants me HP, Stamina and CC Immunity for 15s.

In the Maelstrom Arena, you can run Tripots (HP, Stamina and Magicka) but Panacea of Weapon Damage is a better choice as soon as you learned the mechanics.

 

VI. CHAMPION POINTS

There is always some discussion about that topic but realistically, some can be calculate exactly, some are preference. I will give you some templates to can aim for which I think work best for me.

Template for 90 Champion Points:

• Green – The Tower: 30 Warlord
• Red – The Lady: 10 Hardy, 10 Elemental Defender, 10 Thick Skinned
• Blue – The Ritual: 27 Mighty, 1 Precise Strikes, 1 Thaumaturge, 1 Piercing

Template for 225 Champion Points:

• Green – The Tower: 45 Warlord // The Lover: 30 Mooncalf
• Red – The Lady: 31 Hardy, 31 Elemental Defender, 13 Thick Skinned
• Blue – The Ritual: 72 Mighty, 1 Precise Strikes, 1 Thaumaturge, 1 Piercing

Template for 315 Champion Points:

• Green – The Tower: 75 Warlord // The Lover: 30 Mooncalf
• Red – The Lady: 44 Hardy, 44 Elemental Defender, 14 Thick Skinned // The Steed: 1 Block Expertise, 1 Spell Shield, 1 Medium Armor Focus
• Blue – The Ritual: 100 Mighty, 3 Precise Strikes, 1 Thaumaturge, 1 Piercing
  

Template for 501 CP

• Green – The Tower: 100 Warlord // The Lover: 53 Mooncalf // The Shadow: 14 Tumbling
• Red – Lady: 53 Hardy, 53 Elemental Def, 20 Thick Skinned // Steed: 13 Block Expertise, 5 Spell Shield, 5 Medium Armor Focus // Lord: 18 Quick Recovery
• Blue – The Ritual: 100 Mighty, 61 Precise Strikes, 4 Thaumaturge, 1 Piercing // The Attronarch: 1 Heavy Weapon Expert

In general, Mighty, Warlord and the damage reduction stars from the Lady are the most “rewarding” things to put points in. But there are very good passive stars which require to put points into specific constellations like “Synergizer” in the Lover constellation.

 

VII. GEAR

There is still a few things to be tested but the gear I’m using works very well. I’m especially looking to get 5 pieces of Sheer Venom to try and replace Hunding’s Rage with it as it looks promising. Until then, you will do amazing with the following setups:

PvE Master

Replacements:
For Hunding’s Rage:
(1) Twice Born Star, 5/1/1 Armor, Divines Traits, Stamina Enchants.
If you struggle with HP, going TBS is really great. With the current max CP, Hunding’s is still slightly better but TBS is close. You have to use Thief and Shadow Mundus.

For Molag Kena:
(1) Night Mother’s Gaze, Medium Armor, Divines Trait, Stamina Enchant

For Maelstrom Bow:
(1) Night Mother’s Gaze, Bow, Sharpened Trait, Poison/Disease Enchant
(2) Master’s Bow, Infused Trait

Especially if you dont have a lot of CP and you’re not a Redguard, you might want to enchant more Stamina Cost Reduction on your Jewelry and less Weapon Damage. Juggle around to find your perfect sustain option here. I think Redguards can use 3x Weapon Damage Enchants.

PvP Emperor

Replacements:
For Bloodspawn, Molag Kena and Maelstrom Weapons:

(1) Morkuldin: Stamina and Stamina Recovery are great in PvP. You get an extra benefit: If you use crafted Weapons, you can use Disease/Crushing enchants which both are very good in PvP.
(2) Night’s Silence: Same 3pc bonuses as Morkuldin
(3) Night Mother’s Gaze: If you dont have the money to afford extra PvP Gear, running Night Mother is okay. It’s also okay for gank builds.

For Shield Breaker:

(1) Hunding’s Rage: While Shield Breaker is a nice gimmick, running 5x Hunding’s Rage is also more than viable for a overall solid stand in PvP.
(2) Twice Born Star: I dont like the option very much but you can run Serpent and Warrior and be kind of okay with it I think.

Axe, Greatsword or Maul? In general, a Sharpened Greatsword gives you a solid advantage vs the most players. Maul gives you the best damage vs Tanks and Axe is bugged atm, that’s why most people run it. Alcast did do a great video to explain.

Sets explained:

[spoiler]

Hunding’s Rage: A superior crafted set that is the core of most Stamina based builds. The awesome part about it is that the 5pc Weapon Damage bonus was not nerfed like all the 1-4 piece Weapon Damage bonuses, making it even better compared to Update 6. Also with more emphasis on +Weapon Crit due to the Shadow Mundus buff, this set has everything you need as a Stamina Player.

Night Mother’s Gaze: Update 7 changed the the set and gave it a 3pc Weapon Damage bonus. It fits perfectly into our build and especially for people with enough HP already, it’s better DPS wise than Ashen Grip. Make sure you craft your Weapons from this set as you dont have to recraft them for PvP or when you’re switching Hunding’s for Sheer Venom eventually.

Twice Born Star: A great set which is almost as good as Hunding’s Rage with the Thief and Shadow Mundus. You also get a bit extra HP.

Molag Kena: Even if we could activate the 2pc bonus with our rotation (there are a few skills where it works like WBlow), the extra Stamina cost kills our rota. 1 piece is a great addition to our DPS, though.

Agility: The Agility Set is the only VR16 Jewelry currently available and it gives 50% more stats than “normal” sets. It makes a huge difference as it’s basicly 3 Set bonuses (1.5 times 2) and the quality of enchantments is also superior. As replacement, you can use any set you have have like Shadow Walker, Twice Fanged Serpent or even some Ravager. Just make sure you get the Agility pieces as soon as possible.

Shield Breaker: I love this set in PvP as it counters our most annoying enemy, Sorcerers. Also most Magicka players use some sort of Shield, so it’s not useless against them. The other Stats on the set are quite nice as well. Make sure to buy a V15 version for 1k Telvar Stones each. It’s already awesome. If you like it, upgrade to V16. You can buy those pieces from guild traders.

Maelstrom Bow: It’s actually a increadibly strong Weapon, the highest DPS increase for Stamina Builds compared to the other Stamina Weapons. It’s so good it changes our basic rotation, making Arrow Barrage a constant DOT you have to reapply all the time. 

Master’s Bow: Why you still need a Infused Master’s Bow VR14? Because you still get ~350 Weapon Damage against targets affected my Poison Injection from it. The benefit is huge. If you have to go ranged for most of the duration of an encounter, you should also have a Night Mother’s Gaze bow with you. For normal melee encounters, use the Master’s Bow.

[/spoiler]

If you’re going to upgrade your gear to VR16, weapons are the most important thing you want to craft. Second most important thing is Jewelry. Don’t bother with V15 gear. Save the mats and upgrade directly from VR14 to VR16.

 

 

VIII. Skills PvE

When considering the content we got in Update 7, Whitegold Tower and the Imperial Prison, we cant just use a AoE bar and a Single Target bar like we used to have in Trials. This encounters often feature adds, so we have to come up with Bars that have AoE and Single Target skills available. Consider certain bosses need specific skills so the following bars are a general framework and I will give you some alternatives for certain bosses afterwards.

Skills explained and replacements:

[spoiler]

DUAL WIELD:

Killer’s Blade: [Assassination – Assassin’s Blade] The main Execute skill I use from 25% to 0%. Dont Light Attack weave that skill. Just spam it. It’s really cheap.

Surprise Attack: [Shadow – Veiled Strike] This build’s main spam ability is Surprise Attack. This ability might be the best Stamina based Skill in the game right now for the following reasons: It does great damage while procing Shadow Barrier (5120 Spell Resistance and Armor for 6s) and Major Fracture (5120 Armor Reduction for 17.3s). Yes that’s right, it grants the Armor debuff even out of stealth. For the whole group! Granted most of the time, the tank has  Puncture up which doesn’t stack but there are also times where the tank has to use Inner Beast or you’re fighting an add that is not debuffed by default. It helps a ton in WGT/IC to have Shadow Barrier up 24/7.

Rearming Trap: [Fighter’s Guild – Beast Trap] Rearming Trap is a great source of DPS against Deadra/Undead but there are 2 weak points: it’s stationary and it has to be triggered twice to be really worth it. So there are some encounters that you will not be able to use that skill efficiently. Also note that it’s REALLY expensive. So make sure you use it wisely. This skills real awesomeness shines when fighting multiple mobs. Then the added damage is noticeable.

Steel Tornado: [Dual Wield – Whirlwind] Not much needs to be said about that. It is THE STRONGEST AoE in the game for Stamina users. It has insane range, making it easy to dance around red circles and still hit every mob in a trash pack. When the enemies are below 25%, the damage really gets out of hands.

Camouflaged Hunter: [Fighter’s Guild – Expert Hunter] With all content against Deadra, having Camo Hunter on the main bar is really good. Keep Evil Hunter up 24/7 against those enemies. If you need extra Stamina to sustain, consider Evil Hunter instead. Be aware, since Update 7, Evil Hunter can only proc once every 2.5 seconds.

Flawless Dawnbreaker: [Fighters Guild –  Dawnbreaker] 8% more Weapon Damage passive, low cost, high damage vs Daedra. I use this on cooldown in the new dungeons.

 

Skill replacements:

For Rearming Trap:
(1) Sap Essence: [Siphoning – Drain Life] Too low on money to throw in 1 potion after another? No problem! Just use Sap Essence here as a source of Major Brutality. It’s also a nice Magicka dump.

For Steel Tornado:
(1) Rending Slashes: [Dual Wield – Twin Slashes] It is a great DOT and I keep it up all the time. It’s also a really cheap skill which is good for your Stamina Management. Like any DW Skill, it starts getting stronger against targets below 25%. Keep in mind not every mob can bleed. Its a nice DPS increase when you dont need AoE.

(2) Resolving Vigor:  If there is no AoE involved in a boss fight and survival is key (Planar Inhibitor, Lord Warden) I like to use Vigor to make sure I survive.

For Camouflaged Hunter:
(1) Evil Hunter: When you have Stamina issues, better use this morph.

For Flawless Dawnbreaker:
(1) Soul Harvest: If you don’t have Dawnbreaker yet, Soul Harvest gives you a great damage boost and fills your Ultimate really fast when fighting trash packs.

 

BOW:

Siphoning Attacks: It’s mainly to sustain long AoE fights but it’s in general nice as some sort of recovery mechanic to get you back into the game after you died or you had to roll dodge/block a lot. Basically it’s to fix mistakes that may happen to all of us and it really helps. Once used before a trash pack, it usually runs until the pack is dead and you don’t have to rely too much on Repentance.

Poison Injection: This gem not only does great DPS from 50-0%. When using a Master’s Bow, you’ll get ~350 Weapon Damage extra on the target. This still applies when you swap back to the Dual Wield bar. It’s also a great skill to use when you have to move away from the target for a short amount of time. If you have a ton of CP and you can put points into Thaumaturge, it will become even stronger.

Scorched Earth: This skill is super good in combination with the Maelstrom Bow. If you dont have that Weapon, use Arrow Barrage instead. Arrow Barrage deals physical damage which is better in general. The Maelstrom Bow makes Scorched Earth just too good to pass even if it deals fire damage.

Razor Caltrops: So much awesomeness in a single skill. Strong Stamina based Dot, huge Area of Effect. super long duration. It procs Evil Hunter as well as Siphoning Attacks. Keep this buddy up 24/7. Anti-Cavalry Caltrops is actually better vs bosses and in longer fights but since all trash packs in the new dungeons are dead in less than 30s, I think it’s overall the better morph atm. Only one person can use Caltrops in a specific area. So if you run with 2 Stamina DPS players, you have to decide who’s allowed to use it.

Relentless Focus: 8% more damage plus additional Stamina Regeneration. This skill is really valuable. I can sometimes skip to reapply it in a fight if my healer keeps combat prayer on me. But usually, I always reapply it if possible. I also like to use the Spectral Bow 1s before the buff runs out. It’s basicly damage without having to spend resources and it hits slightly harder than Surprise Attack for me.

Ice Comet: The hardest hitting ultimate at our disposal especially when fighting non deadra/undead mobs. Also has a small AoE effect which makes it ok vs trash mobs as well.

 

Skill replacements:

For Siphoning Attacks:
(1) Reaper’s Mark: Marking a weak target in a trash pack before you run in usually means you’ll get a 25% damage buff around the execute phase of the stronger mobs in the trash pack. That results in INSANE Steel Tornado numbers. So if you can sustain without Siphoning Attacks, this is a nice DPS boost for trash mobs.

For Scorched Earth:
(1) Arrow Barrage: Use this Morph if you dont have a Maelstrom Bow.

For Razor Caltrops:
Only replace that skill if you don’t have it, yet or multiple persons in your group want to use it.
(1) Reaper’s Mark: Marking a weak target in a trash pack before you run in usually means you’ll get a 25% damage buff around the execute phase of the stronger mobs in the trash pack. That results in INSANE Steel Tornado numbers. So if you can sustain without Siphoning Attacks, this is a nice DPS boost for trash mobs.

(2) Bombard: Especially with a second Stamina DPS who is using Steel Tornado, using Bombard to root a group of mobs really helps the team. It’s also nice to keep the casters of a trash pack in the AoE zone because they tend to run away.

For Ice Comet:
(1) Shooting Star: When fighting a lot of Trash, the other morph of meteor might be nice,  too. Also consider if if you run a Dunmer. Vs many targets, the extra Ultimate is noticeable.

2) Veil of Blades: Classic! Our class specific damage mitigation ultimate still helps a ton if your group needs some extra defences against harder trash mobs or bosses. Not the best DPS but very nice group support option.

[/spoiler]

 

ROTATION

In every rotation, I use Light Attack Weaving for every skill I use, even buffs. Only exception: Killer’s Blade. I also block cancel or swap cancel the animation of most of my skills. So when I write: Relentless Focus, Caltrops, Scorched Earth, I actually mean Light Attack – Relentless Focus – Block, Light Attack – Caltrops – Block, Light Attack – Arrow Barrage – Block. Skills I dont block cancel: Surprise Attack, Rending Slashes, Poison Injection, Killer’s Blade.

Single Target:
1) Buff up with Siphoning Attack, Relentless Focus, Evil Hunter
2) Cast Caltrops, Scorged Earth, Poison Injection
3) Rearming Trap, Surprise Attack

When your Relentless Focus/Rearming Trap/Catrops runs out, reapply it.  If you have to run away from the boss at any point in time, also swap to bow, reapply buffs, Scorched Earth/Arrow Barrage and Poison Injection. If you have the Maelstrom Bow, keeping Scorched Earthup increases your DPS very much if you are good at Swap Canceling Animations.

At 50%-0%, I keep Poison Injection up all the time. Being able to block and swap cancel your skills perfectly is especially important.

At 25%-0%, I spam Killer’s Blade while I keep Poison Injection up. Shortly before 25%, I rebuff everything so I can focus on Killer’s Blade spam

Side note: Keeping Relentless Focus up is only important if you’re healer isn’t giving you constant Combat Prayers anyways. When I see my healer using Combat Prayer, I usually skip Relentless Focus for the time being as both give the same 8% damage increase.

AoE:
1) Buff up with Siphoning Attacks, Relentless Focus, Evil Hunter
2) Cast Caltrops, Scorched Earth/Arrow Barrage
3) Rearming Trap, Steel Tornado

Steel Tornado and Scorched Earth/Arrow Barrage all the way If you’re targets are at 25% or lower, I usually keep spamming Steel Tornado. A “normal” trash pack doesn’t take longer than 20-25s, so I don’t need to reapply stuff like Relentless Focus usually. If your trash takes longer, combine buffing Relentless Focus with another Scorched Earth/Arrow Barrage. Make use of the huge range of Steel Tornado and don’t stand in the middle in all red circles. You can also hit everything when standing slightly at the side to avoid unnecessary damage.

 

IX. SKILLS PVP

Since we have to PvP in Update 7 at some point, I give you some hints on how i do it. Note that this guide is mainly focused on end game PvE so I will not go into too much detail here:

Skills explained and replacements:

[spoiler]

TWO HANDED:

Executioner: [Two Handed – Reverse Slash] The main Execute skill I use from 19% to 0%. It scales with Mighty and Precise Strikes, which makes it the superior choice over Killer’s Blade.

Surprise Attack: [Shadow – Veiled Strike] This build’s main spam ability is Surprise Attack. This ability might be the best Stamina based Skill in the game right now for the following reasons: It does great damage while procing Shadow Barrier (5120 Spell Resistance and Armor for 6s) and Major Fracture (5120 Armor Reduction for 17.3s). Yes that’s right, it grants the Armor debuff even out of stealth.

Ambush: [Assassination – Teleport Strike] Super strong Gap Closer and combo enabler for burst damage thanks to Empower. You can also free yourself from roots which makes it better in terms of mobility compared to Critical Rush.

Mass Hysteria: [Shadow – Aspect of Terror] One of the best CC abilities in the game plus it reduces your opponents movement speed and damage output. I use that every 6s.

Rally: [Two Handed – Momentum] Grants Major Brutality and a nice HOT, castable in stealth. When you use it again before the HOT runs out, you’ll get an instant heal. I think it’s way more flexible than Vigor and basically the only reason I still use 2h over DW.

Soul Harvest: [Assassination –  Death Stroke] Super cheap, heal debuff and awesome damage plus damage buff. I love that one. I prefer this morph because I already have a ton of CC available. The extra Ultimate gain is cool in fights vs multiple opponents.

 

BOW:

Double Take: Helps you evade a ton of damage and I use it frequently in stealth just to run around quickly. 

Poison Injection: This gem not only does great DPS from 50-0%. I helps you to burst down targets in a CC phase. If you have a ton of CP and you can put points into Thaumaturge, it will become even stronger.

Piercing Mark: Mainly to counter those pesty Magicka Nightblades who perma cloak. But also nice to make your opponent insecure. Dont apply it before you engage as you’ll lose the element of surprise.

Dark Cloak: Very strong survival and escape tool but also nice to enable some strong combos. You can remove Dots and while in stealth, rebuff and heal yourself.

Relentless Focus: 8% more damage plus additional Stamina Regeneration. This skill is really valuable. I really rarely use the Spectral Bow.

 

Skill replacements:

For Piercing Mark:
(1) Razor Caltrops: Expecially in the Sewers to tap a lot of people but also to combat Nightblades in general, this one is strong. But be prepared: It costs a lot of Stamina.

(2) Camouflaged Hunter: Can be helpful against Vampires or when fighting the deadric mobs. Its still buggy so I dont use it too often.

(3) Bombard: Also a nice way to combat Nightblades AND have some AoE capability. Constantly using this skill also drains a lot of Stamina.

For Poison Injection:
(1) Silver Shards: With the absurd amount of Vampires around, this is really a nice meta choice. Heavy Attack canceled Silvershards, maybe even with Camo Hunter, is a way to 1shot Vampires with a bit of crit luck.

(2) Focused Aim: Mainly used for keep sieges or when playing with other archers to focus fire people, it has some limited uses. I personally prefer using a Heavy Attack instead of Focused Aim which most of the time does the same thing.

[/spoiler]

 

TRICKS AND COMBOS:

[spoiler]

Cloak+Ambush+Surprise Attack: Ambush doesnt break stealth in that situation so the Surprise Attack will stun your opponent in that case.

Ambush+Mass Hysteria+Soul Harvest+Surprise Attack: The “block breaker” move. Mass Hysteria will fear the target even through blocking so you will have a guaranteed Soul Harvest hit.

Surprise Attack + Dodge Roll: When under fire, using a skill and cancel the animation with a Dodge Roll mitigates a lot of incoming damage.

Shield Breaker + Camo Hunter: The damage proc of Shield Breaker can proc Camo Hunter, which is a nightmare for Vampire Sorcs.

Vs Nightblades: Use Piercing Mark to stop perma cloak. Bombard is also really effective to pull them out of stealth and root them at the same time. Caltrops are is also a great tool to counter perma cloak. If you’re up against Wrecking Blow spammer, /lol them and block their swings or train to roll dodge correctly to completely avoid their damage. Mass Hysteria is also good when they start casting their “skill”.

Vs Sorcerers: With Shield Breaker, you have really good chances. Light Attack cancel all the time and put pressure on them. Use ranged attacks or Dark Cloak when they stand in their mines until you see an opening. If you have a Panacea that gives you stun immunity, you can be even more offensive. Ambush whenever they blink away.

[/spoiler]

 

X. LEVELING CHAMPION

Since many players want tips to level up their Nightblades, I give you some general hints for that. Note that this guide is mainly focused on end game PvE so I will not go into too much detail here:

[spoiler]

Gear
Always use 5 Medium, 1 Light and 1 Heavy to level up all Armor classes. If you craft the gear, use training on the heavy chest and light belt. You can use the same gear setup as I suggested for PvE in the upper section, just use a crafted shoulder and a bow from the Night Mother’s Gaze Set. At lower levels, 2x precise daggers should give you better results as your crit chance in general will be quite low compared to “end game”.

Skills
I highly recommend leveling all weapon lines and all skills at least to be able to morph them. You might need them in the future. It’s a pain sometimes when leveling but it pays off in the end.

I suggest a skill setup like this:
DW: Killer’s Blade, Surprise Attack, Sap Essence, Steel Tornado, Evil Hunter, Soul Harvest
Bow: Siphoning Attacks/Reaper’s Mark, Double Take, Venom Arrow, Bombard, Relentless Focus, Soul Tether

Tricks
Healing via Killing: while we have limited options to heal directly in combat, we have strong “heal on kill” mechanics we can use to effectively kill groups of mobs. Mark the weakest mob in a group with Reaper’s Mark and start fighting. When you feel like you need healing, focus this mob down with Surprise Attack + Killer’s Blade. As soon as he dies, your HP will be full again. Then you can mark another target that is about to die.

Avoid damage: Stamina Nightblades are not heavy armored and we often cant just run into a group of mobs and brute force them down. We have a ton of tactical advantages. With Blur and it’s morphs, we can avoid 20% of incoming damage completely. Also we have Dark Shades or Mass Hysteria to reduce the damage of a mob by 15%. That’s cool already. 

But how about avoiding 100%? Welcome to kiting! With a Bow, you can kite single mobs with Mangum Shot and groups of mobs with Bombard as long as you have Stamina. Nice combo: Bombard and Steel Tornado. Steel Tornado does additional damage to rooted targets and it has a huge range. So you can run away from slowed mobs and still hit them with Steel Tornado. If they are about to catch you, Bombard again and run while spamming Steel Tornado. Also works nicely with Siphoning Attacks. As soon as you have Caltrops. you can use that instead of Bombard. You can also increase your Movement Speed with Double Take or the Hasty Retreat passive from the bow line.

Block and Dodge: Besides kiting, blocking and dodging heavy hitting attacks is really the key to survive. Whenever you block a heavy attack, make sure to to a heavy attack yourself to knock the opponent down. It doesnt have to be fully charged. Just keep the button pressed for a second and use a skill (Medium Attack Weaving).

Open with a sneak attack on single targets: A fully charged heavy attack from sneak and while you are behind a target does insane damage (2.5x normal damage) and stuns the mob. Most of the time, that gives you a substantial advantage. Also works with a bow heavy attack btw. 

Adapt to your situation: If a mob or group is difficult, swap skills to counter them specifically.

[/spoiler]

 

XI. FAQ

There i want to tackle frequently asked questions I have to answer a lot on a daily base

(1) Can I run X skill instead of Y?
Sure! My guide is a general framework that works in most cases, but if you feel you need another skill in a certain situation, you can surely swap around stuff and look if it works better for you.

(2) Why do you have more/better stats than me?
First off, I’m Imperial, which means I get 12% extra HP and 10% extra Stamina. Also, I have ~480 Champion Points. Every Champion Point you spend gives you extra stats (Red= HP, Green = Stamina, Blue = Magicka).

(3) How do I get 18k HP? Should I use Prismatic Enchants?
My prefered way to get to 18k HP is via attribute points. That way, you can get exactly to the value you want and you don’t have to juggle around with Enchants or use Healthy Traits on Jewelry. Dont use Prismatic Enchants in PvE. They are expensive and only benefical if you have a good use from Magicka, which we dont have in PvE.

(4) Why is my damage so low compared to yours? I have the same gear and the same skills!
First off, DPS is a group effort. If you dont have a good Templar that supplies you with spears and Repentance or a Tank with Warhorn, your DPS will be lower by default. Also, this is my build I practised A TON to play it the way I do. Dont get discouraged if you cant compete with my DPS on the first try…or the first week. Practise your rotation, your light attack weaving and your block canceling. Also learn the encounters you are facing. The better you know the boss you’re fighting, the more you can concentrate on your DPS and less on the environment

(5) Why do you still use a Sharpened Mace and a Precise Dagger?
Yes, the Sharpened Mace bug is fixed. But note that VR16 mobs do have a ton of Armor compared to the old VR14 mobs in Update 6. In Update 7, we face a lot of different mobs. Like vs Casters, 2x Precise Daggers would be best, vs tanky Mobs, 2x Sharpened Mace would be best. But in trash packs, you usually have both…plus some in between armor types. So the best you can do is have a solid mix of Penetration and Weapon Crit. Going 2x Sharpened Dagger or 2x Precise Mace would probably also work. It really depends on the mobs you are fighting against. Check this thread for optional Weapon Combinations.

(6) Why not a sword?
Swords do not compare to daggers anymore. With all the Crit Damage Modifiers we have now, 5% extra crit increases our damage more than the 2.5% extra damage you get from swords. In PvP, I could see a sword being better than a dagger because you cant crit on Damage Shields. But then again, I’d prefer Maces anyways in PvP.

(7) All Divines? Why not Infused on the big pieces like in Update 6?
While it depends on the Mundus Stone you use, I calculated that for the Shadow, Thief and the Warrior Mundus, Divines gives me more DPS than Infused, even on big parts. Not much else to say

(8) 5/1/1 or 7 Medium?
I prefer 5/1/1 atm because I still need some extra HP and “Undaunted Mettle” is just nice to have. Especially as Imperial, extra Stats are usually extra beneficial. Also I really like the additional Armor and Spell Resistance I get from the heavy chest piece. I think the differences are quite slim, 6/1 with 1 Heavy Armor is also good.

(9) Can I play bow as main weapon with this build?
It’s a melee based build with focus on physical damage. While you can run it as a bow build, I personally would develop a build based on bow way differently. So yes, it works but it will not be the best bow build around.

(10) What should I do in the Imperial City where I have to PvE and PvP at the same time?
Best bet is to play with my PvE Gear suggestion and use a Blood Spawn Shoulder for some additional sustain as well as Regeneration Drinks instead of buff food. I love DW/2h for this situation and my skill setup looks like this:

DW: Flying Blade, Steel Tornado, Relentless Focus, Double Take, Evil Hunter, Flawless Dawnbreaker
2H: Ambush, Surprise Attack, Dark Cloak, Rally, Mass Hysteria, Soul Tether

(11) What do you think about Briarheart?
When you look at it more closely, 5pc Briarheart is not that strong. If you think about it, 10s duration and 15s cooldown means at best, you get 66% uptime, so instead of 434 Weapon Damage, you get 286. When I tested the set on PTS, it always took a few extra seconds to activate the proc as after the 15s, you have a 10% chance to procc on crit so you need a few hits/ticks to procc it again. Realisicly, it was up around 50-55% (217-233) of the time, so when you use Agility and Nightmother instead of Briarheart, you get more Weapon Damage (186+129=315) without having to rely on a proc.

BUT when you throw a Maelstrom Dagger into the mix, you can get a Setup that is probably superior to mine: 5 Hunding’s, 5 Briarheart, 1 Molag Kena and the Maelstrom Dagger. Im currently working on getting 5 pieces of Briarhart V16 with Robust/Divines Traits to test this setup.

 

XII. Special Feature: Maelstrom Arean / WGT / IP

Many people are interested in WGT/IP because it’s harder than the usual stuff we do in ESO. I already have all achievements and have done speed and no death runs multiple times now. So here are some tips to help you complete it.

I use the skills I presented in the Skills – PvE section most of the time and my normal PvE Gear. If you can afford it, the new Weapon Enchants that do damage vs Deadra are really strong in those dungeons. But you dont need them to complete the dungeons. I will go through every boss briefly:

Veteran Maelstrom Arena:

First things first – playing the Arena with Stamina builds is way harder than with Magicka. It can be done, but you have to be aware that you’re going the hard route.

[spoiler]

(1) Stats
You can run with a 19k-20k, usually you get 1shot if you dont play a mechanic correctly. ~1200 Stamina Recovery is what you can aim for. It can be done with lesser the more experienced you’ll get.

My Stats comletely unbuffed: 14,1k HP, 32,7k Stam, 1252 Stam Recovery, 63,8% Crit, 2431 Weapon Damage

 

(2) Gear

Replacements:
You can run Hunding’s Rage and Night Mother’s Gaze just as usual here. With Twice Born Star, you have some extra HP and the Crit + Critdamage also helps with your healing. But I have done it with Hunding’s successfully as well. If you dont have a Blood Spawn Shoulder, you can get extra Stam Recovery by using 3x Mokuldin or 3x Night’s Silence. In general, using Mokuldin or Night’s Silence DW Weapons would be a bit better – I just dont want to waste mats crafting them. If you dont have a Maelstrom Bow, just use the bow you usually use in PvE.

Running a full Briarheart Set is also quite good. 5x TBS, 5x Briarheart, 2x Night’s Silence Weapons and a Maelstrom Bow would be a excellent setup imho.

 

(3) Skills

Replacements:
You can juggle around skills from time to time. Analyse the challenge and adept. Sometimes you dont need AoE, sometimes you dont need that much mobility. In Stage 1, 8 and 9, Evil Hunter can be really good. Never replace Siphoning Attacks and Caltrops.

 

(4) Tips and basic mechanics

Sustain: the one thing that makes Stamina Nightblade superior to other Stamina builds. Siphoning Attacks plus Caltrops is the miracle combo to keep your Stamina up. Even vs Single Target. Also learn what things you should block. A lot of things can be dodged which is mostly superior. You rarely have to run. Use Double Take to increase your speed if required or Dodge with the bow.

Burst: Also a strong tool is bursting down individual mobs that pose a thread. With our Nightblade, we can use Ambush->Surprise Attack->Killer’s Blade to quickly burst down adds. Some bigger threads can be eliminated by Ice Comet or even with Soul Harvest burst.

Crowd Control: Use Caltrops to slow melee adds and use Arrow Barrage. As they are slow, they will take the full duration. I can be useful to slot Prolonged Suffering to CC dangerous single targets like an Archer in Stage 7. Mass Hysteria can also be incredible useful. Whenever Soul Tether is ready, you basicly have a “free wave” as you can easily stun a group of mobs and AoE them down with Steel Tornado.

Mobility: Double Take and Ambush are supreme ways to move around quickly. You can kite melee mobs (snared by Caltrops) forever while dealing with the more dangerous ranged mobs. Let the melee mobs come close and ambush to a caster for example.

Healing: Vigor is a great heal. That with Killer’s Blade is everything you usually need in terms of healing. In AoE situations, Soul Tether is awesome.

Werewolf: Some mechanics and bosses can be done really efficiently as a Werewolf. I tried it, it works – i just dont use it very often. It’s nice to have the extra Stamina Regen but I prefer the extra Ultimate from Soul Harvest and I dont have Stamina issues. Just wanted to make sure you know about the possibilty.

Stage Mechanics: There are already a ton of Videos in Youtube from @Alcast. So if you struggle with certain mechanics, check those videos. I prefer the learning by doing so I wont spoiler you the fun.

[/spoiler]

White Gold Tower:
I always have Flawless Dawnbreaker on both bars here.

[spoiler]

(1) The Adjudicator: I stand at the side of the boss most of the time and when adds are spawning, I swap to bow, buff Siphoning Attacks and cast Scorched Earth. Then I use Steel Tornado until they are dead. The most important thing is to avoid the Frontal Energy Attack he casts. They are returning also, so you have to be double careful.

(2) Three Dudes boss: Focus them down one by one while the tank taunts the others and runs away with them. We usually kill the healer first but thats up to you guys. If your healer is not so experienced, you might want to consider Focused Aim to kill the Healer as his fire attack is pretty strong. It can be interrupted via stun/knockback, though if you didnt CC him earlier to make him immune.

(3) Planar Inhibitor: Tank and Healer usually take turns in activating the orb in the middle. But be ready to jump in if things get messy. In PUGs, I suggest running Vigor as you dont need AoE here. If you have Portals, kill them with Light Attack + Poison Injection.

(4) Molag Kena: Vigor instead of Steel Tornado can help here. Pretty easy compared to boss 3. You can deactivate the rotating “Lightning Lane” if a Templar throws a spear on the lane and someone uses the synergy. Since that’s the only challenging part, the rest is easy. Otherwise, just move along the line…always be in the back of the boss. Use ranged attacks in case you cant get close and roll dodge through the Lightning Lane if required.
[/spoiler]

Imperial City Prison:

A bit harder than the Tower in my opinion. Use Veil of Blades here in your group struggles at dangerous parts.

[spoiler]
(1) Overfiend: I use Siphoning Attacks all the time here and mainly work with Steel Tornado / Arrow Barrage. When the Harvester spawns, focus him down instantly and interrupt him asap. There are casters that are shielding the boss. Interrupt then and kill them.

(2) Flesh Sculptor: Our healer does kill the adds that are running to the lake mainly. We burst the boss until the starts casting at the lake (your damage on him will be really low while he casts). So we kill the Attronarch while he’s casting and when he’s finished, we finish the boss while ignoring the adds.

(3) Gravelight Sentry: I use Ambush here instead of Steel Tornado and Focused Aim for Arrow Barrage. I start on the right side killing the first add and I have a look at the second add on that side. When the 2nd one casts, I ambush at him to interrupt and then, I ambush back to my main target. Could be done with Venom Arrow as well – but I love my Poison Injection. When the first one is down, I kill the second one while interrupting the third if required. After the adds are dead, you can play it save with ranged dps or just melee and whenever he kicks you, ambush back at him.

(4) Flesh Abomination: Very easy. Kill the normal adds with AoE all the time and when the other bugs are spawning, we spread out. If you struggle while spreading out, assign a location for every group member where he has to run when bugs spawn.

(5) Wardens Guardians: Either focus down the adds one by one (Order: Warrior, Necromancer, Priest, Nightblade) or AoE them in the middle. When the Necro spawns a Totem, you have to kill it. Interrupt the healer, beware of the Warrior Charge and Nightblaed Steel Tornado.

(6) Lord Warden: I slot Focused Aim for Arrow Barrage, Ambush for Rearming Trap and Vigor for Steel Tornado. A high mobility encounter and melee sucks here .) So I equip my Night Mother’s Gaze bow instead of Master’s Bow as I regularly have to use Focused Aim. Vigor helps a lot especially if you are cut off from your healer shortly. Try to melee as best as you can and use Ambush if possible instead of ranged Attacks.

[/spoiler]

 

XII. DPS Screens

Vorenor Winterbourne: 29,7k in 0:53m
Blood Spawn: 28,6k in 0:27m
Bogdan the Nightflame: 34,9k in 0:29m
Crematorial Guard: 30,8k in 0:19m
The Adjudicator: 23,7k in 1:36m
Overfiend: 55,9k in 1:02m
Ibomez the Flesh Sculptor: 47,0k 1:12m
Lord Warden’s Guardians:  32,6k in 1:32m
Flesh Atronach: 39,6k in 1:47m

AoE Example: 70,8k in 0:40m

 

XIII. Theorycraft

Thief vs Shadow:
[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Hunding’s vs. Twice Born Star
[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Mace/Dagger vs Dagger/Dagger
[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

• This topic was modified 2 days, 5 hours ago by  Jeckll.