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ESO One Bar Nightblade Build

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Last Updated: 2023-03-21

The ESO One Bar Nightblade Build for PvE is a Heavy Attack build for Nighblade that relies on fully charged heavy attacks with some damage over time and healing mixed in. Even though we are using “magicka” skills, we still use medium armor and sustain via fully charged heavy attacks, and with the hybrid changes, there’s a blending of “stam/magicka” and that’s what you have with this optimal one bar build.

We also included flexible gear options for those with or without Oakensoul Ring mythic.

Related: How to Obtain Oakensoul Ring Guide

Last updated March 13th, 2023, update 37 and the Scribes of Fate DLC: The ESO One Bar Nightblade Build is now one of the most popular and most powerful builds in the game.  We changed relevant item sets, Sergeant’s and Storm Master, and the most effective parse bar. The champion points suggested also assume you want the most damage, not survivability. Adjust where you see fit or add a healing skill to your bar to help with more challenging content. Also, make sure to use a two-bar build for Veteran Cloudrest, where bar swapping is required.

The Best One Bar Nightblade – Heavy Attack build for Nighblade

ESO Nightblade One Bar Build

In ESO, the One Bar Nightblade Build is perfect for everyone, and literally. Great for beginners, veterans, players of any age and experience. It’s easy to understand and doesn’t require bar swapping – the game element that simplifies the gameplay without hurting the potential damage per second. So if a heavy attack builds playstyle and following “pros” is what you are looking for, this build is for you!

Pros

  • Great resource sustain
  • Good mobility
  • Good range

Cons

  • Too many skills to make one bar work
  • Too many cooldowns, not enough heavy attacking
  • Overall complex

Heavy Attack Build Playstyle

It requires you to do fully charge heavy attacks in between abilities. You need to cast the wall of elements at the beginning of the fight and then refresh it to apply the off-balance buff on cooldown for the best and highest DPS.  It’s critical for this build to work. However, you’ll get used to the playstyle quickly, and applying the wall of elements will become second nature. You can also use the addon “DebuffMe” on PC to track your off-balance buff status.

Skills

One Bar Lightning Staff - Solo | High Survivability Setup

Front Bar Weapon = We've tested them all and Lighting Staff does the most damage out of all the weapons REGARDLESS of class/passives.

  • Lightning Staff: provides easy fully charged heavy attacks for resource sustain and AoE damage when channeling.  Lighting staff has two important passives, Tri Focus which allows Heavy Attacks damage nearby enemies for 100% of the damage done and Ancient Knowledge increases your damage done with area of effect abilities by 10%
This build rewards you for fully charging heavy attacks and building up stacks of Sergeants Mail. At 4 stacks, you'll do HUGE heavy attack damage.  BUT you need to be constantly casting fully charged heavy attacks rather than many DoT.  Thus the best builds are ones with longer lasting DoTs and simplisit damage over time or pets.

Elemental Blockade (Morph of Wall of Elements | Skill line: Destruction Staff) - Blockade acts as a massive damage ground base AoE and the tool we used to proc off balance. Off balance is key to high DPS with the build due to Champion Point passive Exploiter along with huge area damage. You can “spam” or repeatedly cast the skill for an instant explosion doing area damage during “trash” or multiple mob non-boss fights. Consider this an important damage over time to maintain, and remember, an off-balance proc has a 7-second up time and 15-second downtime.

Refreshing Path (Morph of Path of Darkness | Skill line: Shadow) - Refreshing Path is a great morph choice for solo play due to the massive and constant healing and speed it provides. The other morph, Twisting Path, provides much more damage but doesn’t have the healing component. Typically in solo play, you need a strong heal over time and or a burst heal. If you need more damage, and your survivability is great, swap morphs to Twisting.

Healthy Offering (Morph of Malevolent Offering | Skill line: Siphoning) - When playing solo, having a burst self-heal or shield is a great idea. Since this build plays with medium armor, a strong shield isn’t possible. Healthy Offering remains the Nightblade’s best and most powerful heal. If you have reaction time, this should be your only healing. If it’s not doing enough or you can’t react quickly when taking pressure, make sure to maintain Refreshing Path healing over time to complement the burst healing of Healthy Offering.

Merciless Resolve (Morph of Grim Focus | Skill line: Assassination) - The Nightblade class damage kit centres on light/heavy attacks to generate stacks for Merciless Resolve. At five stacks, you can fire off a super hard-hitting Spectral Bow. This, when in melee range, can also heal you for an incredible amount. When using a one-bar heavy attack build, a fully charged heavy attack typically accounts for two stacks on Merciless Resolve. So expect a Spectral Bow proc, after roughly three cycles of fully chagrining heavy attacks. This skill also has some benefits for merely slotting due to the Nightblade’s passives.

Elemental Susceptibility (Morph of Weakness to Elements | Skill line: Destruction Staff) - In solo PvE content at the Veteran difficulty, enemies have 18,200 resistances. The closer you can get to this total without “spilling” or going over, the best your overall damage will be. Not only does Elemental Susceptibility reduce armor, but it applies three important status effects. An additional reason it remains powerful, it costs zero resources and can be used at very long ranges. Normally this skill isn’t needed in group play because either your tank, healer or another damage dealer will reduce armor. In solo play, it’s all up to you. A flex skill in this location is Concealed Weapon, which by slotting and activating Refreshing or Twisting Path, gives you a unique 10% damage increase. This is better when playing with a group.

Shooting Star (Morph of Meteor | Skill line: Mages Guild) - The strongest damage ultimate remains Shooting Star from the Mage’s Guide. The downside is, if the fight requires high mobility, or massive AoE, the ability doesn’t shine. Moreover, it’s very annoying to get Mage’s Guild skill line fully unlocked. But if you want the best range damage, this is your skill. An alternative and something I use in solo arena’s is Elemental Rage Destruction Staff skill line ultimate. The advantage here is it provides massive AoE, quick channel time and doesn’t require a target. Thus in solo arenas you can pre-cast the ability right as enemies spawn giving you a damage advantage.

One Bar Lightning Staff - Group | High Damage Setup

Front Bar Weapon = We've tested them all and Lighting Staff does the most damage out of all the weapons REGARDLESS of class/passives.

  • Lightning Staff: provides easy fully charged heavy attacks for resource sustain and AoE damage when channeling.  Lighting staff has two important passives, Tri Focus which allows Heavy Attacks damage nearby enemies for 100% of the damage done and Ancient Knowledge increases your damage done with area of effect abilities by 10%
This build rewards you for fully charging heavy attacks and building up stacks of Sergeants Mail. At 4 stacks, you'll do HUGE heavy attack damage.  BUT you need to be constantly casting fully charged heavy attacks rather than many DoT.  Thus the best builds are ones with longer lasting DoTs and simplisit damage over time or pets.

Elemental Blockade (Morph of Wall of Elements | Skill line: Destruction Staff) - Used to proc our off-balance consistently and AoE damage while active.

Concealed Weapon (Morph of Veiled Strike | Skill line: Shadow) - By slotting this skill and activating Twisting Path, you will receive a unique 10% damage increase.

Twisting Path (Morph of Path of Darkness | Skill line: Shadow) - The best damage over time skill Nightblade has combined with Concealed Weapon, boosting overall damage by 10%.

Merciless Resolve (Morph of Grim Focus | Skill line: Assassination) - This skill gives a burst damage ability with five stack proc Spectral Bow via heavy-attacking.

Healthy Offering (Morph of Malevolent Offering | Skill line: Siphoning) - This skill gives a burst damage ability with five stack proc Spectral Bow via heavy-attacking.

Shooting Star (Morph of Meteor | Skill line: Mages Guild) - Highest burst damage on boss fights.

One Bar Lightning Staff - Parse | Optimal Damage Setup

Front Bar Weapon = We've tested them all and Lighting Staff does the most damage out of all the weapons REGARDLESS of class/passives.

  • Lightning Staff: provides easy fully charged heavy attacks for resource sustain and AoE damage when channeling.  Lighting staff has two important passives, Tri Focus which allows Heavy Attacks damage nearby enemies for 100% of the damage done and Ancient Knowledge increases your damage done with area of effect abilities by 10%
This build rewards you for fully charging heavy attacks and building up stacks of Sergeants Mail. At 4 stacks, you'll do HUGE heavy attack damage.  BUT you need to be constantly casting fully charged heavy attacks rather than many DoT.  Thus the best builds are ones with longer lasting DoTs and simplisit damage over time or pets.

Elemental Blockade (Morph of Wall of Elements | Skill line: Destruction Staff) - Used to proc our off-balance consistently and AoE damage while active.

Twisting Path (Morph of Path of Darkness | Skill line: Shadow) - The best damage over time skill Nightblade has combined with Concealed Weapon, boosting overall damage by 10%.

Merciless Resolve (Morph of Grim Focus | Skill line: Assassination) - This skill gives a burst damage ability with five stack proc Spectral Bow via heavy-attacking.

Barbed Trap (Morph of Trap Beast | Skill line: Fighters Guild) - A super hard-hitting damage ability that procs the hemorrhage status effect. Even though the buff is reduction (minor force), you are using this primarily for hemorrhage status effect which equals insane damage.

Concealed Weapon (Morph of Veiled Strike | Skill line: Shadow) - By slotting this skill and activating Twisting Path, you will receive a unique 10% damage increase.

Shooting Star (Morph of Meteor | Skill line: Mages Guild) - The highest burst damage on boss fights.

Rotation

Rotation

Start with pre-buffing your character. Then drop all damage dots, in order from longest duration to shortest. Then end with the wall of elements to proc the off balance. Do 4 Heavy attacks, and repeat. Use healing skills if needed.

Gear

Heavy Attack build, Optimal with Mythics

This is for the highest damage loadout possible, flex options below if you don't have this gear

Slot Type Set Trait Glyph
Head light Slimecraw Divines Magicka
Shoulders medium Storm Master Divines Magicka
Chest heavy Sergeant's Mail Divines Magicka
Legs medium Storm Master Divines Magicka
Gloves medium Storm Master Divines Magicka
Boots medium Storm Master Divines Magicka
Belt medium Storm Master Divines Magicka
Weapon One Lightning Staff Sergeant's Mail Precise Flame
Weapon Two
Necklace Sergeant's Mail Bloodthirsty Spell Damage
Ring 1 Oakensoul Ring Bloodthirsty Spell Damage
Ring 2 Sergeant's Mail Bloodthirsty Spell Damage

Desktop hover over gear for set bonuses, mobile click once for set bonuses

Slimecraw: obtained from Wayrest Sewers 1, a base game dungeon

  • Why? the best 1pc critical damage bonus piece in the game.  Pen is also a good option, but this is consider best in slot for a one piece.

FLEX OPTIONS

Storm Master: obtained in the Tempest Island dungeon, Malabar Tor zone (base game dungeon).

  • Why? overall the best DPS option for heavy attack builds, increases our damage for something we are already doing, heavy attacks.

FLEX OPTIONS

Sergeant’s Mail: obtained in Wayrest Sewers I & II, dungeon, Stormhaven zone (base game).

  • Why? this builds stacks buy heavy attacking, at 5x stacks you’ll due huge damage in combination with off balance and exploiter CP.  The downside is, it comes in heavy thus putting on jewelry, weapons and 1x body.

FLEX OPTIONS

Oakensoul: obtained through ESO Mythics/antiquities system.  You need 5 items to be able to create the Mythic item. 5 Leads are here:

  • Igneous Inlays Volcanic Vents in the High Isle and Amenos zone (High Isle)
  • Larimar Gems Titanclaw boss at Mudcrab Beach (south-west) (Stormhaven)
  • Petrified Oak Loop Murkmire Strongboxes (Murkmire zone)
  • Sacred Resin Any Mob (Malabal Tor)
  • Stone Shank Frame Blacksmithing nodes in Glenumbra (High Isle) Click for Map

Why? the best one-bar build for DPS because it gives an insane amount of buffs, freeing up bar spots and making us tankier with zero effort.

FLEX OPTIONS

Without Mythics

This is meant for the average player without top end gear or mythics

Slot Type Set Trait Glyph
Head heavy Iceheart Divines Magicka
Shoulders medium Iceheart Divines Magicka
Chest light Shacklebreaker Divines Magicka
Legs light Shacklebreaker Divines Magicka
Gloves light Shacklebreaker Divines Magicka
Boots light Shacklebreaker Divines Magicka
Belt light Shacklebreaker Divines Magicka
Weapon One Inferno Staff/Lightning Staff Hexos' Ward Precise Flame/Shock
Weapon Two
Necklace Hexos' Ward Arcane Spell Damage
Ring 1 Hexos' Ward Arcane Magicka Recovery
Ring 2 Hexos' Ward Arcane Spell Damage

Desktop hover over gear for set bonuses, mobile click once for set bonuses

Iceheart: obtained Veteran Direfrost Keep; base game dungeon

  • Why? Great survivability

FLEX OPTIONS

Shacklebreaker: craftable set obtained in Vvardenfell; requires Morrowind DLC

  • Why? gives big max stat pool and resource sustain

FLEX OPTIONS

Hexos’ Ward: overland set obtained in the Deadlands; requires Deadlands DLC

  • Why? easy to obtain and huge increase in survivability for the average player but will require transmuting to Arcane for optimal setup.

FLEX OPTIONS

Passives

Class Passives

Assassination
  • Master Assassin
  • Executioner
  • Pressure Points
  • Hemorrhage
Shadow
  • Refreshing Shadow
  • Shadow Barrier
  • Dark Vigor
  • Dark Veil
Siphoning
  • Catalyst
  • Magicka Flood
  • Soul Siphoner
  • Transfer

Weapon Passives

Destruction Staff
  • Tri Focus
  • Penetrating Magic
  • Elemental Force
  • Ancient Knowledge
  • Destruction Expert

Armor Passives

Light
  • Light Armor Bounuses
  • Light Armor Penalties
  • Grace
  • Evocation
  • Spell Warding
  • Prodigy
  • Concentration

Guild Passives

Undaunted
  • Undaunted Command
  • Undaunted Mettle

Alliance Passives

N/A

    World Passives

    Soul Magic
    • Soul Shatter
    • Soul Summons
    • Soul Lock
    • Class Passives
    • Weapon Passives
    • Armor Passives
    • Undaunted
    • Undaunted (must have)
    • Crafting Alchemy (Medicinal Use for potion duration)
    • Race

    Races

    Dark Elf

    Best option when running serious content because Khajiit will be at critical damage cap, and dunmer gives BOTH stat pools and good weapon/spell damage.

    • Ashlander
    • Dynamic
    • Resist Flame
    • Ruination

    Attributes

    Health

    0

    Stamina

    0

    Magicka

    64

    Mundus Stone

    Thief - Increases the Critical Strike rating by 1333. With 7 Divines armor pieces: Increases the Critical Strike rating by 2167

    Champion Points

    Warfare

    Weapons Expert (Slottable) - 50
    Increases your damage done with Light and Heavy Attacks by 3% per stage.

    Wrathful Strikes (Slottable) - 50
    Grants 41 Weapon and Spell Damage to your damaging abilities per stage.

    Exploiter (Passive) - 50
    Increases your damage done against Off Balance enemies by 2% per stage.

    Master-at-Arms (Slottable) - 50
    Increases your damage done with direct damage attacks by 3% per stage.

    Flex Spot(s): If you can afford, take these passives as they add power without a slottable:

    Fitness

    Boundless Vitality (Slottable) - 50
    Grants 28 Max Health per stage.

    Siphoning Spells (Slottable) - 50
    Restore 300 Magicka per stage, whenever you kill an enemy.

    Fortified (Slottable) - 50
    Grants 34.6 Armor per stage.

    Rejuvenation (Slottable) - 50
    Grants 1.8 Health, Magicka, and Stamina Recovery per stage.

    Flex Spot(s): If you can afford, take these passives as they add power without a slottable:

    Crafting

    War Mount (Slottable) - 120
    Improves your mastery with mounts, removing all mount Stamina costs outside of combat.

    Gifted Rider (Passives) - 100
    Increases your Mount Speed by 2% per stage.

    Treasure Hunter (Slottable) - 50
    Increase the quality of items you find in treasure chests.

    Steed's Blessing (Slottable) - 50
    Increases your out of combat Movement Speed by .4% per stage.

    Flex Spot(s): If you can afford, take these passives as they add power without a slottable:

    Consumables

    Tomato Garlic Chutney

    Type: Foods

    BEST DAMAGE: This comes with zero health, ideally used on a parse dummy only where HP and resources are not needed. Increase Max Magicka by 6048 for 35 minutes. Ingredients: Garlic (1), Tomato (1)

    Bewitched Sugar Skulls

    Type: Foods

    MAX STATS: use this if you don't struggle with sustain and you want good damage and survivability. Increase Max Health by 4620, Max Stamina and Magicka by 4250, and Health Recovery by 462 for 2 hours. Ingredients: Bervez Juice (2), Flour (5), Honey (5), Scrib Jelly (2), Columbine (2)

    Jewels of Misrule

    Type: Foods

    RECOVERY: Cheap recovery food used at any level. Increase Stamina and Magicka Recovery by 357 and Max Health by 3927 for 2 hours. Ingredients: Bervez Juice (1), Lotus (1), Mint (1), Rose (1), Columbine (1)

    Tri-Restoration Potion or Essence of Health (tri-stat)

    Type: Potions

    SURVIAL: Remember oakensoul gives all your major buffs so you're left with resto potion for survivability and resource sustain. Restore 7329 Health, 6618 Magicka, and 6618 Stamina immediately. Grants Major Fortitude, Major Intellect, and Major Endurance which increase your Health Recovery, Magicka Recovery, and Stamina Recovery by 20% for 31.7 seconds.

    Wrap Up

    Additional Guides

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