This guide explains how to use the best Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) Stamina Nightblade PvP Build, skills, gear, champion points, and more!
This build has been updated for the Update 41 patch, Scions of Ithelia for the Elder Scrolls Online.
Why Should You Play ESO Stamina Nightblade PvP Build?
The ESO Stamina Nightblade PvP build remains one of The Elder Scrolls Online’s most dominant solo builds. With the Stamblade, you’ll have insanely high burst damage, survivability, and stealth. This build is very hard to pull off due to the skill required, buffs, light attack weaving, etc. You’ll want to play this build if you want a stealthy rogue to take a hit up close and get away like a thief in the night. For this build, I do play as a Vampire in Stage 3 to take advantage of two passives. Strike from the Shadow gives you a boost in Weapon damage when leaving stealth. Along with Undeath making you very tanky the lower your health. Vampire makes you much “tankier” at the expense of having terrible resource sustain. However, the pros outweigh the cons and I enjoy the vampire Stamblade PvP playstyle.
Below is a general PvP Guide that can help anyone understand and develop their PvP knowledge and skill. This video is applicable for every build and should be viewed if you want general ESO PvP knowledge that applies to all aspects, Battlegrounds, Cyrodiil, and Imperial City.
ESO Stamina Nightblade PvP Build Features and Mechanics
Below are some of the features found using the ESO Stamina Nightblade PvP Build in the Elder Scrolls Online:
- Class – Nightblade
- Weapon One -Two-Handed
- Weapon Two – Bow
- Armor Types: 2 Light, 3 Medium, 2 Heavy
- Race: Khajit
- Infection: Vampire (stage 3)
- Attributes: 32 Health, 32 Stamina
- Mundus Stone: Shadow
Skills
Skill Set 1 Front Bar
Merciless Resolve (Morph of Grim Focus | Skill Line : Assassination) – Maintain this buff at all costs as it increases your weapon damage for each stack. You can also proc the 5-stack shot and fully-charge heavy attack from stealth to proc a “follow-up” 10% extra damage from the two-handed and fire it off. This will essentially nuke a player not even using an ultimate. Moreover, you want to be in range for the extra healing benefit.
Power Extraction (Morph of Drain Power | Skill Line : Siphoning) – Gives major buff and minor buff so it’s actually better than rally. Only downside is you will have to heal yourself purely from the back bar.
Camouflaged Hunter (Morph of Expert Hunter | Skill Line : Fighters Guild) – Slotting this skill gives us increase critical chance, weapon damage and ultimate on kills via Fighters Guild passives. Moreover, it’s a great counter gank if you activate it going against another nightblade. Consider this your flex spot if you want a gap closer or something else.
Surprise Attack (Morph of Veiled Strike | Skill Line : Shadow) – Stamina main spammable that can be replaced with Concealed Weapon if you can sustain magicka.
Whirling Blades (Morph of Whirlwind | Skill Line : Dual Wield) – Flex skill but big AoE kills. Killer Blades better for single target kill.
Incapacitating Strike (Morph of Death Stroke | Skill Line : Assassination) – Single target nuke combined with fully charge from heavy attack still works well. Switch to Dawnbreaker if you want more AoE.
Back Bar
Leeching Strikes (Morph of Siphoning Strikes | Skill Line : Siphoning) – Sustain tool keep up at all times. When active each light and heavy attack gives back stamina. Consider this your flex for bow ability or stun.
Magnum Shot (Morph of Scatter Shot | Skill Line : Bow) – Used as our stunning tool that can be followed up with hard-hitting Incap ult.
Shadowy Disguise (Morph of Shadow Cloak | Skill Line : Shadow) – Land a crit at will and stealth away. Take the other morph if you want no cloak but better healing.
Healthy Offering (Morph of Malevolent Offering | Skill Line : Siphoning) – amazing burst heal combined with resolving vigor for great survivability.
Resolving Vigor (Morph of Vigor | Skill Line : Assault) – burst heal over time
Swarming Scion (Morph of Blood Scion | Skill Line : Vampire) – Defensive ultimate that instantly heals you to full Health, provides AoE damage and you additionally heal for 15% of all damage you deal.
Passives Skills
Consider taking all of the passives in the below skill trees to increase your ESO Stamina Nightblade PvP performance without slotting any skills:
- Assassination (Class Skill Line)
- Shadow (Class Skill Line)
- Siphoning (Class Skill Line)
- Dual Wield (Weapon Skill Line)
- Bow (Weapon Skill Line)
- Armor
- Fighter’s Guild
- Mage’s Guild
- Undaunted
- Psijic Guild
- Alchemy Medicinal
- Race
- Assault Alliance
- Alliance Support
- Vampire
Gear – Best in Slot
This is best for solo play with high survivability and burst using the ESO Stamina Nightblade PvP Build:
Slot | Type | Set | Trait | Glyph |
Head | heavy | Balorgh | Well-Fitted | Prismatic |
Shoulders | light | Balorgh | Well-Fitted | Stamina |
Chest | heavy | Trainee | Reinforced | Prismatic |
Legs | medium | Night Mother’s Gaze | Well-Fitted | Prismatic |
Gloves | medium | Night Mother’s Gaze | Well-Fitted | Stamina |
Boots | medium | Night Mother’s Gaze | Well-Fitted | Stamina |
Belt | light | Rallying Cry | Well-Fitted | Stamina |
Weapon One | Mace | Night Mother’s Gaze | Nirnhoned | Disease |
Off-Hand | Mace | Night Mother’s Gaze | Charged | Damage Health |
Weapon Two | Bow | Rallying Cry | Powered | Weapon Damage |
Necklace | Rallying Cry | Swift | Weapon Damage | |
Ring 1 | Markyn Ring of Majesty | Infused | Magicka Recovery | |
Ring 2 | Rallying Cry | Swift | Weapon Damage |
Gear Sets
- Balorgh – obtained in March of Sacrifice Veteran dungeon. Gives the most burst potential centered around our incap burst combo.
- Markyn Ring of Majesty – Obtained through Mythic System click here for lead locations. Great damage and armor without being slowed.
- Night Mother’s Gaze – obtained by crafting, 6 traits. Playing 1vX you get way more damage with major breach when you can’t fit it on your bar.
- Rallying Cry: obtained via rewards of the worthy from PvPing in mail. Provides the best damage reduction with massive weapon and spell damage.
Alternatives
- Gaze of Sithis – mythic option that makes you much tankier though lacks the “ultimate” burst setup.
- Roksa the Warped – amazing resource sustain monster helm.
- Essence thief – great sustain and healing potential.
- Order’s Wrath – good craftable option.
- Clever Alchemist – insane burst potential but I’d run mythic on jewelry and back bar this with a slightly different setup.
- Stygian – good overland set if using cloak frequently.
- Shadow of the Red Mountain – good burst ganking set.
- Stuhn’s Favor – great penetration 5pc if not using AoE proc set.
- Back-Alley Gourmand– light armor set that can be front bar for max burst.
- Ashen Grip – good craftable proc set.
Gear – Ganker
This is used if you want to gank one-shot kills with the Stamblade Build Gear Setup:
Slot | Type | Set | Trait | Glyph |
Head | light | Balorgh | Divines | Prismatic |
Shoulders | light | Balorgh | Divines | Stamina |
Chest | medium | Stygian | Divines | Prismatic |
Legs | medium | Stygian | Divines | Prismatic |
Gloves | medium | Stygian | Divines | Stamina |
Boots | medium | Stygian | Divines | Stamina |
Belt | medium | Stygian | Divines | Stamina |
Weapon One | Dagger | Shadow of the Red Mountain | Sharpened | Damage Health |
Secondary | Dagger | Shadow of the Red Mountain | Precise | Damage Health |
Weapon Two | Bow | Perfected Caustic Arrow | Infused | Weapon Damage |
Necklace | Shadow of the Red Mountain | Infused | Prismatic Recovery | |
Ring 1 | Shadow of the Red Mountain | Swift | Weapon Damage | |
Ring 2 | Shadow of the Red Mountain | Swift | Weapon Damage |
NOTE on armor weight, run 2x light if your stage 3 vampire to support resource sustain issue with heavy magicka skills.
Monster Helm
- Balorgh: obtained in March of Sacrifice Veteran dungeon. Gives the most burst potential centered around our incap burst combo.
- Stygian: obtained in overland Coldharbour or from guild trader.
- Shadow of the Red Mountain: overland set obtained in Stonefalls zone or from guild traders.
- Perfected Caustic Arrow: obtained from Veteran Dragon Star Arena. Used to put a lot of pressure on a single target.
FLEX OPTION
- Gaze of Sithis = mythic option that makes you much tankier though lacks the “ultimate” burst setup
- Magma Incarnate = good all-around damage, sustain and resistances
- Zoal the Ever-Wakeful = counter gank
Skill – Bomber
Front Bar: Bomber
- Ambush (Morph of Teleport Strike | Skill line: Assassination) – Pull with Rush of Agony.
- Mass Hysteria (Morph of Aspect of Terror | Skill line: Shadow) – AoE stuff
- Camouflaged Hunter (Morph of Expert Hunter | Skill line: Fighters Guild) – Crit Buff
- Concealed Weapon (Morph of Veiled Strike | Skill line: Shadow) – Buff our bars damage and spammable
- Power Extraction (Morph of Drain Power | Skill line: Siphoning) – AoE damage spammable
- Soul Tether (Morph of Soul Shred | Skill line: Siphoning) – AOE nuke ultimate.
Back Bar: Bomber
- Twisting Path (Morph of Path of Darkness | Skill line: Shadow) – Buffs Concealed on the front and speed.
- Leeching Strikes (Morph of Siphoning Strikes | Skill line: Siphoning) – resource sustain, flex skill
- Phantasmal Escape (Morph of Blur | Skill line: Assassination) – Aoe damage reduction
- Resolving Vigor (Morph of Vigor | Skill line: Assault) – healing over time
- Healthy Offering (Morph of Malevolent Offering | Skill line: Siphoning) – burst heal
- Temporal Guard (Morph of Undo | Skill line: Psijic Order) – slotted for damage reduction
Gear – Bomber
Use it if you want big massive AoE Group kills.
Slot | Type | Set | Trait | Glyph |
Head | light | Balorgh | Divines | Prismatic |
Shoulders | light | Balorgh | Divines | Stamina |
Chest | light | Plaguebreak | Divines | Prismatic |
Legs | light | Plaguebreak | Divines | Prismatic |
Gloves | light | Plaguebreak | Divines | Stamina |
Boots | light | Plaguebreak | Divines | Stamina |
Belt | light | Plaguebreak | Divines | Stamina |
Weapon One | Dagger | Rush of Agony | Precise | Damage Health |
Secondary | Dagger | Rush of Agony | Precise | Damage Health |
Weapon Two | Frost Staff | Blessing of the Potentates | Powered | Weapon Damage |
Necklace | Rush of Agony | Infused | Weapon Damage | |
Ring 1 | Rush of Agony | Infused | Weapon Damage | |
Ring 2 | Rush of Agony | Infused | Weapon Damage |
- Balorgh: gives us the most bang for the buck and you can save up 500 ultimate for a total nuclear bomb.
- Rush of Agony: gives a pull instantly on gap closer, fear, soul tether and power extraction is combo.
- Plaguebreak: great medium armor set for bombing.
- Blessing of the Potentates: good damage reduction on back bar.
Gear – No Proc PvP
Meant for specific rule sets using the Stamblade PvP 1vX Build Gear Setup inside Cyrodiil and Imperial City:
Slot | Type | Set | Trait | Glyph |
Head | heavy | Magma Incarnate | Divines | Prismatic |
Shoulders | light | New Moon Acolyte | Divines | Stamina |
Chest | medium | Order’s Wrath | Divines | Prismatic |
Legs | medium | Order’s Wrath | Well-fitted | Prismatic |
Gloves | medium | Order’s Wrath | Well-fitted | Stamina |
Boots | medium | Order’s Wrath | Well-fitted | Stamina |
Belt | medium | Order’s Wrath | Divines | Stamina |
Weapon One | Mace | New Moon Acolyte | Sharpened | Disease |
Off-Hand | Axe | New Moon Acolyte | Nirn | Damage Health |
Weapon Two | Bow | New Moon Acolyte | Powered | Weapon Damage |
Necklace | Torc of Tonal Constancy | Swift | Weapon Damage | |
Ring 1 | New Moon Acolyte | Swift | Weapon Damage | |
Ring 2 | New Moon Acolyte | Swift | Weapon Damage |
- Magma Incarnate: Monster Set – helmet obtained from Veteran Dread Cellar dungeon (Blackwood zone), Waking Flame DLC. Shoulders obtained from Vendor: Urgarlag Chief-bane (Undaunted Pledge Master). Great sustain for a one-piece item set.
- Order’s Wrath: craftable set in High Isle Zone, High Isle DLC or bought from traders. Strong damage set that gives extra Critical chance, greatly beneficial on Nightblade PvP.
- New Moon Acolyte: craftable set in Southern Elsweyr zone, Dragonhold DLC. Huge damage increase for no proc PvP.
- Torc or Tonal Constancy: obtained from Mythics system. The best value for resource sustain and works in no proc.
Race
The best race choices for PvP Stamblade:
- Khajiit: best overall due to burst critical damage bonus.
- Orc: Gain weapon damage and max stamina and increase movement speed.
- Dark Elf: good max stats and weapon and spell damage.
Attributes
You should aim to reach 32,000 health, and therefore we recommend 32 health and 32 stamina attribute split.
Mundus Stone
Shadow is the best mundus stone because it provides critical damage, which adds to burst damage.
Champion Points
Warfare Constellation Champion Points
Below is a step-by-step method for slotting your champion points in the Warfare tree (blue). We have used the minimum possible to reach 4 slottable selections all maxed out. If you have more CP, consider taking more in the passives for optimal performance.
Below are recommended Warfare Champion Point selections for the ESO Stamina Nightblade PvP:
- Precision 10
- Fighting finesse (slottable) 50
- Extended might – sub constellation – piercing 10
- Deadly aim (slottable) 50
- Master’s – at–arms (slottable) 50
- Tireless discpline 10
- Staving death – sub constellation – quick recovery 10
- Staving death – sub constellation – Ironclad (slottable) 50
This would be the bare minimum setup, spending 240 CP (720 total required). The next step is to max out passives, that do not require a slottable but increase performance.
- Precision 10
- Piercing 10
- Tireless discipline 10
- Eldritch insight 20
- Blessed 20
- Quick recovery 10
- Battle mastery 40
- Mighty 30
- Flawless ritual 40
- War mage 30
- Elemental aegis 20
- Hardy 20
- Preparation 20
This would max out the Warfare tree with all active and passive champion points at 520 spent 1,560 total spent.
Fitness Constellation Champion Points
Below are recommended Fitness Champion Point selections for the ESO Stamina Nightblade PvP:
- Sprinter 10
- Wind chaser – sub constellation – hasty 8
- Wind chaser – sub constellation – refreshing stride (slottable) 50
- Wind chaser – sub constellation – celerity (slottable) 50
- Hero’s vigar 10
- Survivor’s spite – sub constellation – mystic tenacity 10
- Survivor’s spite – sub constellation – pain’s refuge (slottable) 50
- Survival instincts 50 (slottable)
This would be the bare minimum setup, spending 238 CP (714 total required). The next step is to max out passives, that do not require a slottable but increase performance.
- Hero’s vigar 10
- Tumbling 30
- Sprinter 10
- Defiance 10
- Hasty 8
- Tireless guardian 20
- Fortification 30
- Nimble 6
- Mystic tenacity 40
- Tempered soul 50
- Piercing gaze 30
- Savage defense 30
- Bashing brutality 20
This would max out the fitness tree with all active passive champion points at 532 cp spent 1,596 total spent
Craft Constellation Champion Points
Below are recommended Craft Champion Point selections for the ESO Stamina Nightblade PvP:
- Steed’s blessing – (slottable) 50
- Breakfall 10
- Wanderer 15
- Steadfast 10
- Rationer 10
- Liquid efficiency (slottable) 75
- Treasure hunter 50
- Master gatherer 15
- Gifted rider (slottable) 100
- War mount (slottable) 120
This would be the bare minimum setup, spending 455CP (1365 total required). The next step is to max out passives, that do not require a slottable but increase performance.
- Steadfast enchantment 40cp
- Breakfall 40 cp
- Wanderer 60
- Fortunes favor 10
- Friends in low places 25
- Out of sight 30
- Fllet of phantom 40
- Soul’s reservoir 33
- Gilded fingers 50
- Fortunes favor 40
- Inspiration boost 45
- Infamous 30
This would max out the crafting tree with all active passive champion points at 898 cp spent 2,694 total spent
Consumables
Food: Bewitched Sugar Skulls GOOD MAX STATS:
Increase Max Health by 4620, Max Stamina and Max Magicka by 4250, and Health Recovery by 462 for 2 hours. (effects are scaled based on your level) Ingredients: Scrib Jelly (2), Flour (5), Columbine (2), Bervez Juice (2), Honey (5)
Food: Orzorga’s Smoked Bear Haunch GREAT RECOVERY
Increase Max Health by 4312, Health Recovery by 406 and Stamina and Magicka Recovery by 369 (effects are scaled based on your level) Ingredients: Red Meat (1), Tomato (1), White Cap (1), Frost Mirriam (1), Perfect Roe (1)
Food: Jewels of Misrule
CHEAP: Increase Stamina and Magicka Recovery by 357 and Max Health by 3927 for 2 hours. (effects are scaled based on your level) Ingredients: Rose (1), Mint (1), Lotus(1), Columbine (1), Bervez Juice (1)
Potion: Tri-Restoration Potion or Essence of Health (tri-stat)
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. (effects are scaled based on your level) Ingredients: Bugloss, Columbine, Mountain Flower
Build Summary – ESO Stamina Nightblade PvP
Class: Nightblade
Infection: Vampire (stage 3)
Race: Khajiit
Attributes: 32 Health, 32 Stamina
Mundus Stone: Shadow
Weapon One: Dual Wield
Weapon Two: Bow
Armor Set 1: Night Mother’s Gaze
Armor Set 2: Rallying Cry
Monster Helm: Balorgh
Mythic: Markyn Ring of Majesty
Armor Weight: 2 Heavy, 3 Medium, 2 Light
Skill Bar 1
- Merciless Resolve
- Power Extraction
- Camouflaged Hunter
- Surprise Attack
- Whirling Blades
- Incapacitating Strike (Ultimate)
Skill Bar 2
- Leeching Strikes
- Magnum Shot
- Shadowy Disguise
- Healthy Offering
- Resolving Vigar
- Swarming Scion (Ultimate)
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