Replies: 342

 

Welcome to Shadows of the Hist, fellow Nightblades.
Stamblades are still doing great in end game PvE. With the build I will guide you through, I completed every PvE challenge in the game including Veteran Maw of Lorkay, Veteran Sanctum Ophidia Hardmode and Veteran Maelstrom Arena. Ok – you got me – still missing vMoL Hardmode :D. Congratz to Beyond Infinity btw for beating it.

As the DLC is pretty new and ZOS added a ton of new sets and changes, there might be updates for this guides and the more we talk about the build, the better it will be refined. So keep observing, discussing and challenging this guide to stay up to date with your Stamblade.

I will go indept into every aspect but I try to give a TL;DR; whenever I can to make the read as comfortable as possible for those guys who just want a quick overview without the boring details. If you have questions or found errors, please write a comment. I try to answer and explain everything.

Thanks to everyone who is contributing, especially the guys from Hodor like @Yolo-Wizard and @Alcast and Beyond Infinity as their testings and insights are always challenging me to become better. Also thanks to @Asayre who’s providing valuable maths for this guide.

As I didnt do much PvP lately due to the bad performance in Cyrodiil and my reduced gaming time, I will focus mainly on group PvE. Other aspects of the game will be tackled briefly to give you some ideas but when you take PvP for example, there are better players out there who have more insight.

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
   Optimized Raids
   Raid Setup
   Replacements
   Solo Play
   Veteran Maelstrom Arena
8. Raid setup
   Rotation + Video
   No Potion Setup
   Veteran Maelstrom Arena
9. FAQ
10. Leveling Champion
11. DPS Screens + Video
12. Theorycraft

 

I. Build Overview

For this build, we will use Dual Wield and Bow as a tool to achieve a maximum DPS. In group content, your survivability relies on your ability to avoid damage and your healer. For solo content, we rely on Vigor and Killer’s Blade. 2h with Rally is usually not required.

 

ADVANTAGES

• Amazing single target and the best AoE DPS
• Roguish play style
• Very flexible in terms of skills
• Easy access with crafted gear which enables you to farm “Best in Slot” gear
• Very rewarding as your DPS gets better and better the more you train
• Scales amazingly well with optimized groups
• Works with all races

 

DISADVANTAGES

• Harder to master and not as forgiving as ranged builds
• Requires good movement and coordination
• Can be hard to sustain especially when you have to block/dodge/run a lot
• Works best for 300 Champion Points and more
• Requires Maelstrom Weapons for best performance

 

II. RACE

TL;DR: 1. Khajiit, 2. Redguard 3. Imperial

The best race for DPS is Khajiit atm. The extra 8% crit chance boosts their DPS, especially in optimized groups especially. (More about that when I talk about the Mundus choice). I switched to Khajiit in this update and I can already tell it’s a great choice especially with Warhorn and Maelstrom Weapons. Without those, you will probably not see any difference between Khajiit and Redguard. I added a calculation in the Theorycraft section.

The next best thing is Redguard, which helps a lot to sustain especially in longer fights. I personally do not run into sustain issues with this build and I will show you techniques to improve your Stamina Management but being a Redguard does help and allows you to go full DPS in most cases even without Templar support. For PvP and Maelstrom Arena, I think Redguard is better than Khajiit. If you are also tanking, you should consider Imperial.

Then you have Bosmer, Orc and Dunmer who all have some Stamina related passives, just not the best for PvE.

 

III. Stats

 

TL;DR: My stats with 5 TBS, 5 VO, 1 MSA Axe Sharpened + 1 MSA Dagger Sharpened. 7x Divines

To maximize your offence, you have to minimize your defence. That means we work with the lowest HP and Armor value possible. Just enough to make sure you do not get one shoted. If you have 531 CP, you can invest all attribute points into Stamina and enchant your whole gear with Stamina enchants as well if you wear Twice Born Star and/or a Monster Set with HP Bonus. If you dont have 531 CP yet, try to get around 17k-18k HP by putting some attribute points into HP or enchanting 1 Major Armor Piece with HP.

This build works with a balanced mix of Penetration, Weapon Damage, Crit Chance/Damage and Stamina. In the Gear Section, we will talk more about how to adapt your setup to the group you’re playing with.

Use blue CP 150 food (Braised Rabbit With Spring Vegetables) which provides Stamina and HP.

You dont have to be Werewolf or Vampire for this build. There are some burst DPS possibilities when being a Werewolf which you can abuse to get easy kills on a few bosses in vMSA for example. But as they are pretty situational, I will not go into detail in this guide. Just know that it’s possible and if you’d like to be a puppy, there is no reason not to be.

Penetration is now a big factor when it comes to Stamina DPS. While it’s not displayed in the Stats Window, it’s a huge deal and can buff your DPS greatly. Optimized groups can stack Penetration to a point where bosses actually reach 0 armor. A huge benefit over Magicka builds. We have to be very flexible with Penetration as we need a lot when playing solo or in 4 player groups but far less in optimized groups where certain armor debuffs do count for the whole raid.

Other big factors that do not show up on the Stats Window are Crit Damage Modifier (especially for Khajiit) and “Special Buffs” like Monster Sets and MSA Weapon Procs.

Otherwise, we still want to get Weapon Damage, Weapon Crit and Stamina. Weapon Crit is a factor that scales especially well in optimized groups and in general for people who are using the Shadow Mundus.

 

IV. Mundus Stone

TL;DR: If your Crit Damage Modifier is at least ~10% greater than your Critical Chance without any Mundus Stone, use the Thief.

This usually means that all races should run Thief. With Twice Born Star, run Thief anf Shadow.
You can calculate your Crit Damage Modifier pretty easily:

First option: Base 50% + 10% Hemorrhage + 12% Beast Trap + 10,5% Precise Strikes= 82,5%
Second option: Hit a mob. Critical Damage / Normal Damage -1 (e.g. Light Attack does 2799 normal, 5066 crit. 5066/2799-1 = 0,81)

 

V. Potions

The main DPS setup of this build uses Potions (Essence of Weapon Damage) 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 Power, Flying Blade or Momentum. To get 100% Portion uptime, you have to skill the “Medicinal Use” passive in Alchemy. I use this potions for all Trials including Maelstrom Arena.

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.

 

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. I work with this Website of @Asayre to calculate and adept to our current raid setup. It highly depends on your group setup how many points in Penetration is required for example. Also note that vs Single Target only or raw AoE encounters, there are better options. This setup works very good for both scenarios. In general, I do 100% Physical with 73% Dot Damage, 7% Weapon (Light Attacks) and 20% Non-Dot.

Template for 90 Champion Points:

• Green – The Tower: 30 Warlord
• Red – The Lady: 14 Hardy, 14 Elemental Defender, 2 Thick Skinned
• Blue – The Ritual: 21 Mighty, 2 Precise Strikes, 7 Thaumaturge, 0 Piercing

Template for 225 Champion Points:

• Green – The Tower: 45 Warlord // The Lover: 30 Mooncalf
• Red – The Lady: 35 Hardy, 35 Elemental Defender, 5 Thick Skinned
• Blue – The Ritual: 50 Mighty, 7 Precise Strikes, 17 Thaumaturge, 1 Piercing

Template for 315 Champion Points:

• Green – The Tower: 75 Warlord // The Lover: 30 Mooncalf
• Red – The Lady: 50 Hardy, 50 Elemental Defender, 5 Thick Skinned
• Blue – The Ritual: 69 Mighty, 9 Precise Strikes, 24 Thaumaturge, 3 Piercing
  

Template for 531 CP

• Green – The Tower: 93 Warlord // The Lover: 75 Mooncalf // The Shadow: 9 Tumbling
• Red – Lady: 78 Hardy, 78 Elemental Def, 21 Thick Skinned
• Blue – The Ritual: 100 Mighty, 29 Precise Strikes, 40 Thaumaturge, 8 Piercing

In general, 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.

In case you wonder why I didnt split the blue CP 50:50 between Mighty and Thaumaturge. There is a tipping point where you basicly get 0.2% increase per point on both. So when that happens, it’s better to keep stacking into Mighty as this buffs Light/Heavy Attacks, Killer’s Blade and Steel Tornado. Also IF you spam Surprise Attack, you benefit only from Mighty (vMSA for example).

 

VII. GEAR

Now we dig in deep. First we discuss the optimal raid setup and then we find out what’s the best gear setup for you.

OPTIMIZED RAIDS
In a raid environment, you want to support your team rather than to go for your personal best performance. The following sets are awesome for your group and if your raid does not have one of them, you should consider being the one to use it:

1. Roar of Alkosh: Penetration Value: 3010 Armor and Spell Resistance => 6,02% Damage Increase for the whole raid. Drops in Maw of Lorkay.
2. Sunderflame: Penetration Value: 3360 Armor => 6,72% Damage Increase for all Stamina users. Drops in City of Ash, CP140.
3. Night Mother’s Gaze: Penetration Value: 2580 Armor => 5,16% Damage Increase for all Stamina users. Craftable.

Those sets combined with Major Fracture (5280 Armor), Minor Fracture (1320 Armor) and Crushing Enchant (1622 Armor) do give a raid a total of 17172 Armor Penetration = 34,34% Damage Increase.

Most bosses do have 18000 Armor, which means with this setup, your enemies are basically naked. That means you dont need to put a lot of points into the Penetration CP or use Sharpened Weapons in this kind of raid.

A very strong “Supporter Setup” that fits into this guide perfectly is “5x Roar of Alkosh, 5x Night Mother’s Gaze, Maelstrom Weapons“. Sunderflame is usually best used as a DK, combined with Mephala. If a StamDK uses the Morag Tong Set, you also benefit from 10% additional poison damage.

Due to Aggressive Warhorn, Weapon Crit is highly effective in optimized raids so you want to run 7 Medium. If your raid doesnt feature all those nice sets, use Sharpened over Precise on Weapons as the new Sharpened trait is insanely strong.

 

 RAID SETUP

TL;DR:

• Use Night Mother’s Gaze if you have multiple Stamina DPS players in your group. Especially of you are Imperial as you dont need the extra HP from Twice Born Star.
• Usually the Tank/Offtank can use Roar of Alkosh. If he cant, you should consider wearing it if you have the complete Jewelry.
• Sunderflame and Morag Tong usually work better with Dragonknight Stamina DPS Players.
• If you dont have any sustain issues, use 3x Vicious Ophidian and 2x Velidreth.
• Only use Precise Weapons if your group is able to penetrate 15k armor or more.
• If all support sets are assigned, use this:

 

 

As Khajiit, having 1 HP Bonus in your Setup is really helpful as without, your HP is around 16k which is really low especially in vMOL. So Twice Born Star gives you that benefit AND with 8% additional crit chance, Khajiit benefits the most from having the Shadow as additional Mundus Stone.

Minor Slayer, the buff that you get from Vicious Ophidian and Roar of Alkosh got buffed in Shadows of the Hist and now works on ALL dungeon bosses including MSA and DSA. Doesnt work on World bosses, Delves and Public Dungeons, though. Because of this, VO and Alkosh Jewelry are now BEST IN SLOT over Agility in Raids. The difference is rather small (1-1,5%) but we take what we can get. Also VO/Alkosh can be obtained in legendary quality which gives us some extra Stamina.

5x Vicious Ophidian solves pretty much all sustain issues you might have had with all classes other than Redguard. The raw amount of benefical stats is crazy. But Nightblades sustain is already pretty good so for raw dps, I only use the Jewelry of Vicious Ophidian/Alkosh and combine it with the new Velidreth Set. Only 1 bubble can hit a mob but I saw 20k crits in my testing without any buffs. So on single targets, I get around 2k DPS which its better than Mephala. Compared to 5x VO, you basically trade 1 crit bonus vs 2k DPS.

 

Replacements:

[spoiler]

If you only have access to crafted gear, use 5 TBS and 4 Night Mother’s Gaze (Head, Shoulder, Weapons).

For Twice Born Star:
(1) Night Mother’s Gaze (or another supporter set that is not yet included in your raid setup): 7 Medium, Divines Traits, Stamina Enchants
In every testing I did, NMG did better than TBS (see theorycraft) when it comes to raw damage. But only 1 player can use it and the one using it will have serious HP issues (if you dont have a HP racial passive). So as soon as someone uses NMG, Twice Born Star becomes Best in Slot. Craftable.

(2) Hunding’s Rage: 7 Medium, Divines Traits, Stamina Enchants
The classic set, worse than NMG or TBS, but overall solid. Craftable.

(3) Coat of the Red Mountain: 7 Medium, Divines Traits, Stamina Enchants
The updated Version of an old Set performs better than I thought. There is an ongoing thread about comparing it to TBS but without the pieces, I cant test myself. What I saw from the information shared, is that it does good damage and seems to be a unique way to individualize your character. But it’s way harder to get than TBS, so it might take a while until I can give my own testings on this. Imho, TBS synergizes better in a raiding environment but for solo and small group stuff, it seems to be pretty good. Drops in AA and HR.

 

For Vicious Ophidian:
While Vicious Ophidian is easy to obtain in random raids in normal Sanctum Ophidian, you might need something to start:

Jewelry:

(1) Roar of Alkosh, Robust, Weapon Damage Enchants
The Jewelry is as good as Vicious Ophidian. If you dont have 2pc Velidreth yet, you can also go 4 Alkosh, 1 Velidreth or Kena.  Drops in Maw of Lorkhaj.

(2) Agility, Robust, Weapon Damage Enchants
The Agility Set is a great VR16 Jewelry that gives 50% more stats than “normal” sets. It makes a huge difference as it’s basicly 3 Set bonuses (1.5 times 2). It’s the best outside of dungeons and only about 1%-1,3% worse than 3x VO/Alkosh in Dungeons. Drops in Imperial City Treasure Vaults.

(3) Endurance, Robust, Weapon Damage Enchant
Especially when you have sustain/survivability issues or you dont have the money to buy agility, you should check out this Set. It’s especially interesting when learing vMSA. Drops in Imperial City Treasure Vaults.

 

For Velidreth:
(1) Vicious Ophidian, Medium, Divines, Stamina Enchants
Only if you also use the jewelry to get the 5pc bonus. This setup is the best overall choice if you have sustain issues. Drops in Sanctum Ophidia.

(2) Mephala, Medium, Divines, Stamina Enchants
Mephala is a great Stamina Set as well, just not as strong as Velidreth. The net is pretty small and you cant cast a new net while the old one is still in place which makes this set only really great in fights with no movement. Drops in Fungal Grotto.

(3) 1 Molag Kena, 1 Blood Spawn, Medium, Divines, Stamina Enchants
A nice combo to gain some extra Weapon Damage and Regen. Kena drops in White Gold Tower, Blood Spawn drops in Spindleclutch.

 

For Maelstrom Bow:
(1) Master’s Bow, Infused/Sharpened Trait
It’s still a decent choice considering with my setup, there is no way to incorporate this Weapon Slot in a set bonus. The new DSA offers a CP160 version of this bow. Drops in Veteran Dragonstar Arena.

 

For Maelstrom Dual Wield:
(1) Leki Daggers, Sharpened or Precise, Weapon Damage Enchant Mainhand, Poison Offhand
Not gonna lie, this is a pretty noticeable DPS decrease. But you are in a decent spot to farm Maelstrom Weapons with these daggers. Also if you run Surprise Attacks instead of Rapd Strikes, always use those daggers. Rewards of the Worthy in Cyrodiil. 

If you dont have Leki, it’s okay to use a crafted Weapon Set with Crit Chance like NMG or Hunding’s.

[/spoiler]

 

SOLO PLAY

For solo play, small group content or non perfect raid setups, you always want Sharpened Weapons. I also swap to 5/1/1 Medium, Heavy Chest, Light Belt Armor instead of 7 Medium sometimes for some extra HP.

I still do solo content with Surprise Attack instead of Rapid Strikes. Whenever you swap to Surprise Attack, dont use MSA Daggers/Axes but “normal” ones like Leki. The new Enchants like +Weapon Damage, Crushing and Poison are insanely strong and way better than the raw Weapon Damage Set bonus you get from MSA Dual Wield. They are also better than Poisons.

If you are still leveling, I suggest using the Training trait on all of your gear.

 

VETERAN MAELSTROM ARENA

For Veteran Maelstrom Arena, I use 5x Twice Born Star, 5x Vicious Ophidian (5/1/1, Heavy Chest, Light Belt, all Divines, all Stamina enchanted, Ring/Neck with Weapon Damage) and 2 Leki Daggers (Sharpened, + Weapon Damage and Crushing Glyphs).

Instead of Vicious Ophidian, 3x Agilily Juwelry and a Monster Set Combo (2x Mephala, 2x Velidreth or 1x Molag Kena/1x Blood Spawn/Velidreth) does work as well.

3x Endurance Juwelry with all Weapon Damage Enchants is also quite good especially if you dont run TBS because of the exta HP.

Hunding’s Rage would be a good replacement for TBS. NMG not so much because penetration only buffs our offence while Stamina, Weapon Damage, Crit and Crit Damage also buffs our heals.

 

VIII. Skills

Certain bosses require certain skills, but in general, this works :). I will also list alternatives.

This is the skill set I mostly use when playing end game raid content and anything that requires maximum DPS. You need to use Essence of Weapon Damage Potions all the time with this setup.

[spoiler]

DUAL WIELD

Killer’s Blade: [Assassination – Assassin’s Blade] Our main execute skill I use from 25% to 0%. We use it when we dont have to reapply our “execute Dots”.

Rapid Strikes: [Dual Wield – Flurry] This build’s main spam ability is Rapid Strikes in raids. It proccs the Cruel Flurry Enchant from our Maelstrom Weapons which buffs the next Single Target Dot we apply. We always use it in between dots. It got buffed greatly in this DLC so DPS wise, it’s better than Surprise Attack…which is ok as Rapid Stikes is only damage while Surprise Attack does have way more utility.
REPLACEMENT: Surprise Attack: [Shadow – Veiled Strike] Without MSA Weapons, I still like Surprise Attack as you get great defence with Shadow Barrier (5280 Armor/Spell Resistance), Major Fracture and 3% more HP. It has a ton of benefits…just not THE highest DPS anymore.

Rending Slashes: [Dual Wield – Twin Slashes] It is also a great DOT which you have to keep 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%.
REPLACEMENT: Deadly Cloak: [Dual Wield – Blade Cloak] For more defensive encounters and in AoE situations, you gain a lot from Deadly Cloak. Damage is okay but the real gem is 20% reduced AoE Damage.

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.
REPLACEMENT: Any Fighter’s Guild or Assassination Skill for the passive 3% Weapon Damage or 2% Crit Chance.

Relentless Focus: [Assassination – Grim Focus]  8% more damage plus additional Stamina Regeneration. This skill is really valuable. I also love to use the Spectral Bow. It’s basicly damage without having to spend resources and it hits pretty hard now that it deals Disease Damage and scales with Weapon Damage and Stamina.

Flawless Dawnbreaker: [Fighters Guild –  Dawnbreaker] 5% more Weapon Damage (+3 from the passive), low cost, high physical damage. The DOT of this ultimate can be buffed by Maelstrom Dual Wield Weapons.
REPLACEMENT: Soul Harvest: [Assassination – Death Stroke] Vs Trash and bosses with many adds, I use Soul Harvest to gather Ulti really fast and spam Shooting Stars.

BOW:

Rearming Trap: [Fighter’s Guild – Beast Trap] Rearming Trap is the best single target Dot atm. The only weakness is that its stationary so for the full effect, the boss has to stand still. But it’s a must have in every rotation now. It also doesnt consume the cruel flurry buff from Maelstrom Daggers which means you get a free buff then you play the correct rotation.

Poison Injection: [Bow – Poison Arrow] Another Single Target Dot for our MSA Weapon Rotation. Great DPS especially from 50-0%.

Endless Hail: [Bow – Volley] Insane AoE Dot that you should also keep up vs Single Target mobs. Especially with a Maelstrom Bow, this becomes super strong. In some situations, you might want the Arrow Barrage because of the higher range but vs Single Target, Endless Hail is superior. Also it’s great that Poison Injection and Endless Hail both have the same duration for optimal weapon swaps.

Razor Caltrops: Strong Stamina based Dot, huge Area of Effect, super long duration. Keep this buddy up 24/7. Anti-Cavalry Caltrops is actually better vs bosses and in longer fights but since most mobs 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 multiple Stamina DPS players, you have to decide who’s allowed to use it.
REPLACEMENT: Bombard [Bow – Arrow Spray] if you need to CC Trash/Adds in vMoL for example or Shadow Silk [Undaunted – Trapping Webs] to give the Alkosh User another Synergy and because it’s actually pretty strong Focused Aim [Bow – Snipe] might also be an option sometimes.

Siphoning Attacks: [Siphoning – Siphoning Strikes] With Rapid Strikes as main spam skill, you will not get a lot of resources back from this in Single Target fights but it is definitely noticeable. In AoE fights, you still gain a good amount of Stamina back thanks to Steel Tornado. It just doesnt procc from DOTs anymore. Still too good to skip most of the times.
REPLACEMENT: Reaper’s Mark [Assassination – Mark Target] As Rapid Strikes doesnt provide Major Fracture anymore, this can be a source for that debuff. But usually the Tank applies it as well. It also grants a great Heal on kill plus 25% damage boost for 5s.

Soul Harvest: [Assassination – Death Stroke] While executing, you can use Soul Harvest to boost your final Damage especially if the boss will die before you can get 100 Ultimate for Dawnbreaker. Also you need an Assassination Skill on both bars because of the Hemorrhage passive.
REPLACEMENT: Shooting Star: [Mage’s Guild – Meteor] Hits very hard and regenerates some Ultimate which is great vs multiple mobs. It’s also fire damage which means in raids, it’s buffed by Engulfing Flames.

[/spoiler]

 

ROTATION:

 

I made a short video to showcase my rotation.

 

In every rotation, I use Light Attack Weaving for every skill I use, even buffs. I also block cancel or swap cancel the animation of most of my skills.

1) Buff Relentless Focus, Siphoning Attacks
2) Razor Caltrops, Essence of Weapon Damage, Endless Hail, Poison Injection, Beast Trap, SWAP
3) (If Mephala: Heavy Attack), Rapid Strikes, Rending Slashes, Rapid Strikes, Flawless Dawnbreaker, Assassin’s Scourge, Relentless Focus, Rapid Strikes until Poison Injection is about to run out (3-2s), SWAP
4) Beast Trap, Endless Hail, Poison Injection, SWAP
5) GoTo 3.

Keep Relentless Focus and Caltrops up. Always use Rapid Strikes before you reapply your DOTs (Beast Trap doesnt consume the Buff you get from Rapid Strikes (“Cruel Flurry”) but it does benefit from it. That’s why we use Endless Hail between Beast Trap and Poison Injection). Also use Rapid Strikes before you use Flawless Dawnbreaker. If every Dot is running, you have a little window where you spam 2-3x Rapid Strikes. When your target is below 25%, you use Killer’s Blade in this time window only and dont reapply Rending Slashes. KEEP THE FOLLOWING DOTS UP even when executing: Beast Trap, Endless Hail, Poison Injection.

 

This is the skill set that works for people that are not interested in squeezing out the last bit of DPS in 4 player content like undaunted pledges.

[spoiler]

DUAL WIELD

Killer’s Blade: [Assassination – Assassin’s Blade] Our main execute skill I use from 25% to 0%.

Surprise Attack: [Shadow – Veiled Strike] If you run this setup, you most likely dont have MSA Weapons. Surprise Attack is a superb skill that has great damage, provides Major Fracture and gives you Shadow Barrier (Major Ward and Major Resolve). A perfect allround skill.

Rearming Trap: [Fighter’s Guild – Beast Trap] Rearming Trap is the best single target Dot atm. The only weakness is that its stationary so for the full effect, the boss has to stand still. But it’s a must have in every rotation now.
REPLACEMENT: Resolving Vigor: [Assault – Vigor] If you use this setup to roam around, like killing Wrotgar Bosses, having a heal is nice.

Evil Hunter: [Fighter’s Guild – Expert Hunter] Grants 10% crit and 3% extra Weapon Damage. Never activate it.

Power Extraction: [Siphoning – Drain Power] It now deals Disease Damage, grats Major Brutality and as a Siphoning Ability, you gain Ulti pretty fast. No need for Steel Tornado really if you dont need the last bit of execute DPS.

Flawless Dawnbreaker: [Fighters Guild –  Dawnbreaker] 5% more Weapon Damage (+3 from the passive), low cost, high physical damage. Take it.
REPLACEMENT: Soul Harvest: [Assassination – Death Stroke] Vs Trash and bosses with many adds, I use Soul Harvest to gather Ulti really fast and spam Shooting Stars.

BOW:

Siphoning Attacks: [Siphoning – Siphoning Strikes] With Surprise Attack as main spam skill, you will a decent amount of resources back from this in Single Target fights. In AoE fights, you basically have infinite Stamina back thanks to Power Extraction. It just doesnt procc from DOTs anymore.
REPLACEMENT: Reaper’s Mark [Assassination – Mark Target] As You can mark the weakest part of a trash pack to make use of Major Berserk, or use the healing part which is especially helpful when you do solo stuff.

Poison Injection: [Bow – Poison Arrow] Great DPS especially from 50-0%. I keep it up all the time.

Endless Hail: [Bow – Volley] Insane AoE Dot that you should also keep up vs Single Target mobs. Especially with a Maelstrom Bow, this becomes super strong. In some situations, you might want the Arrow Barrage because of the higher range but vs Single Target, Endless Hail is superior. Also it’s great that Poison Injection and Endless Hail both have the same duration for optimal weapon swaps.

Razor Caltrops: Strong Stamina based Dot, huge Area of Effect, super long duration. Keep this buddy up 24/7. Anti-Cavalry Caltrops is actually better vs bosses and in longer fights but since most mobs 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 multiple Stamina DPS players, you have to decide who’s allowed to use it.
REPLACEMENT: Acid Spray [Bow – Arrow Spray] if you need to CC Trash/Adds or just want a good Range AoE, use Acid Spray.
Shadow Silk [Undaunted – Trapping Webs] to give the Alkosh User another Synergy.
Focused Aim [Bow – Snipe] might also be an option sometimes if you cant melee for some reasons.

Relentless Focus: [Assassination – Grim Focus] 8% more damage plus additional Stamina Regeneration. This skill is really valuable. I also like to use the Spectral Bow whenever I swap to my bow bar and see that it’s ready. It’s basicly damage without having to spend resources and it hits pretty hard now that it deals Disease Damage and scales with Weapon Damage and Stamina.

Shooting Star: [Mage’s Guild – Meteor] Hits very hard and regenerates some Ultimate which is great vs multiple mobs. It’s also fire damage which means in raids, it’s buffed by Engulfing Flames. I usually use it in the beginning of the fight and in sitations where burst is required. Otherwise, I tend to use Flawless mid fight vs single targets or mobile targets.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler]

DUAL WIELD

Killer’s Blade: [Assassination – Assassin’s Blade] Our main execute skill I use from 25% to 0%. Also a great heal you need.

Surprise Attack: [Shadow – Veiled Strike] In MSA, you need DPS AND survival. The raw utility of Surprise Attack hugely outweights the superior DPS of Rapid Strikes. You want to use Surprise Attack for Major Fracture, Shadow Barrier and additional HP. Also Surprise Attack proccs Siphoning Attacks which is a big help for your Stamina Management.

Rending Slashes: [Dual Wield – Twin Slashes] Especially vs bosses, Rending Slashes helps a lot to kill them faster. But many normal mobs can bleed to death while you already taking on other mobs.
REPLACEMANCE: Ambush: [Assassination – Teleport Strike] Mobility is key in MSA. If you dont have 5x Vicious Ophidian, use this!

Steel Tornado: [Dual Wield – Whirlwind] I dont use AoE a lot but sometimes, you need it. Dont forget to use Siphoning Attacks before using it.

Resolving Vigor: [Assault – Vigor] Our main heal.

Soul Harvest: [Assassination – Death Stroke] MSA has a ton of trash and we want to use Soul Tether pretty frequently. Also a burst option vs many bosses to finish them off quickly.

BOW:

Siphoning Attacks: [Siphoning – Siphoning Strikes] You gain a good amount of Stamina back thanks to Steel Tornado and Surprise Attack. Keep it up all the time.

Poison Injection: [Bow – Poison Arrow] A sick skill to combo with a heavy attack vs a spawning mob and to execute bosses really fast. Can also be a semi good ranged anytimer.

Endless Hail: [Bow – Volley] Insane AoE Dot that you should also keep up vs Single Target mobs. Especially with a Maelstrom Bow, this becomes super strong. Arrow Barrage has a slightly bigger range so if you dont have a Maelstrom bow, you might be better off using the other morph. Endless Hail has a longer duration which synergizes very well with the Maelstrom Enchant. Also it’s great that Poison Injection and Endless Hail both have the same duration for optimal weapon swaps.

Rearming Trap: [Fighter’s Guild – Beast Trap] is great to place down on portals and helps a lot to burst dowm bosses. I also nails mobs down so they stay in your Endless Hail for a bit longer.
REPLACEMENT: Double Take: [Assassination – Blur] I love it, some hate it. I like the evasion part as well as the speed. Some people prefer using a bow dodge roll for speed, I just like to spend Magicka for that. You never need it with 5x Vicious Ophidian.

Relentless Focus: [Assassination – Grim Focus] 8% more damage plus additional Stamina Regeneration. This skill is really valuable. I also like to use the Spectral Bow whenever I swap to my bow bar and see that it’S ready. It’s basicly damage without having to spend resources and it hits pretty hard now that it deals Disease Damage and scales with Weapon Damage and Stamina.

Soul Tether: [Siphoning – Soul Shred] AoE stun and heals. Pretty good. Stunned targets receive extra damage
REPLACEMENT: Shooting Star: [Mage’s Guild – Meteor] Hits very hard and regenerates some Ultimate which is great vs multiple mobs and deal a lot of damage to bosses.

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IX. FAQ

Here, 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 maxed Champion Points. Every Champion Point you spend gives you extra stats (Red= HP, Green = Stamina, Blue = Magicka).

(3) How do I get 17k HP? Should I use Prismatic Enchants?
My prefered way to get to 17k 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. Check the “optimized group” part of my guide for more details. If you dont have a good team, 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 have you thrown away your maces?
Sharpened got buffed quite a bit in  this DLC so there is no need to run a mace anymore in PvE. Also with a good group, you can stack a ton of Armor Penetration. Third reason is that most mobs do have 18k Armor now which is pretty low.

(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.

(7) All Divines? Why not Infused on the big pieces?
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 in solo play. Especially as Imperial, extra Stats are usually pretty good beneficial. Also I really like the additional Armor and Spell Resistance I get from the heavy chest piece. In raids, the extra crit from 7 Medium is usually better.

(9) Can I play bow as main weapon with this build?
There are actually quite a few options to run a bow build now. While bow works with the gear I use, It’s not nessessarly the best. This build is designed for melee combat mainly.

(10) What about the Viper Set?
The proc doesnt scale with Weapon Damage or Stamina, only Penetration, CP and Crit Damage Modifier. It also only works on Single Targets. Its a great set if you have low DPS as you have a quaranteed dps increase of a fixed value. Lets say you only fight a single target in a mediocre group, then the set is good. But Coat of the Red Mountain outperfoms it greatly.

(11) What Addons do you use?
Here is a Screenshot of my UI with the most important Addons displayed.

 

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:

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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 crafted weapons as well.

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, Power Extraction, Reaper’s Mark, Evil Hunter, Soul Harvest
Bow: Siphoning Attacks, 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.

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XI. DPS Screens

Maw of Lorkhaj – Zhaj’hassa the Forgotten: 43,8k in 4:36min

 

Maw of Lorkhay – S’kinrai & Vashai: 41,2k in 6:26 min

 

XII. Theorycraft

 

Twice Born Star vs Night Mother’s Gaze (NMG wins)

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Khajiit vs Redguard (Khajiit wins)

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While the difference seems rather small, it increases with higher Crit Damage Modifier (Warhorn) and when using Maelstrom Weapons. The more Weapon Damage you already have, the less beneficial is the Redguard / Imperial Bonus.

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STACKABLE PENETRATION EFFECTS

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• This topic was modified 1 week, 4 days ago by  Jeckll.