ESO Stamina Nightblade PvP Build

Table of Contents

• Skills
• Rotation
• Gear
• Passives Skills
• Race
• Mundus Stone
• Champion Points
• Consumables
• Wrap Up

Last Updated: 2023-03-16

ESO Stamina Nightblade PvP Build

The ESO Stamina Nightblade PvP build remains one of the most dominant solo builds in The Elder Scrolls Online. 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 that can 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.

Last updated March 16th, for ESO Update 37, Scribes of Fate.  Added a 1vX gear setup, meant for solo players wanting current meta loadout.  I also updated the skills and kept bow on the back bar with Power Extraction for buff. This build should get massive damage and decent survivability.  The other loadouts also work well so pick your poison (no pun intended).  Also, keep in mind, Zenimax Online Studios continues to try and reduce or remove “ganking” from the game.  Stamblades can still do it, but it’s much harder than in previous patches in the game.

Pros	Cons
High Burst	High Skill Cap
Great Survivability	Magblade is MUCH Better
Unique Stealth Ability	Vampire Required

 

Skills

Front Bar: Two-Handed - Maul

Stamblade PvP Front Bar Weapon Options: They are all good choices depending on your playstyle and needs. Experiment with what works best.

• Two-handed has the best passives for sustain and burst.
• Dual Wield has the best passives for pure damage and big AoE damage.
• Bow has great burst damage with the Toxic Barrage ultimate at range but needs 2-3 abilities for damage to make it work.

 

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.

Refreshing Path (Morph of Path of Darkness | Skill line: Shadow) - Used as our mobility and healing tool.

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.

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Back Bar: Frost Staff

Stamblade PvP Back Bar Weapon Options: They are all good choices depending on your playstyle and needs. Experiment with what works best.

• Bow - play at range and stay at the back to avoid damage. Use Hasty Retreat passive that grants you Major Expedition (increases your Movement Speed by 30%) for 4 seconds after you use roll dodge to escape.
• Restoration staff - the best buffs and healing. The strength of Resto is fully charged heavy attacks for major mending and magicka sustain.
• Sword and Shield - great choice when blocking. The benefit of a sword and shield is using stamina for block mitigation when taking tons of pressure. Switch to sword and shield if you like a slower pace gameplay or if you struggle with survivability.
• Two-handed great - for buffs and healing. The Rally skill has the best passives for sustain and burst.
• Frost Staff - can either use magicka or stamina for blocking and gives as much damage reduction as Sword and Shield and you can use the spell damage enchant and have some range.

 

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.

Poison Injection (Morph of Poison Arrow | Skill line: Bow) - Single target high-pressure DoT to be used on the primary target.

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.

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Werewolf Bar (when transformed)

If you choose to play this as a Werewolf, here's what you need to know. In this build Werewolf pairs greatly with a new mythic, the Oakensoul Ring, because as the werewolf, you have only one bar regardless. If you are playing as Werewolf, use these skills and ultimate:

Feral Pounce (Morph of Pounce | Skill line: Werewolf) - Great for closing distance and double cast for execute.

Hircines Bounty (Skill line: Werewolf) - Incredible heal that gives us major brutality

Deafening Roar (Morph of Roar | Skill line: Werewolf) - AoE stuff that sets off balance and gives major breach and minor maim.

Howl Of Agony (Morph of Piercing Howl | Skill line: Werewolf) - Strong conal damage in front hits harder.

Claws Of Life (Morph of Infectious Claw | Skill line: Werewolf) - Incredible debuff and damage over time that heals very well.

Pack Leader (Morph of Werewolf Transformation | Skill line: Werewolf) - The ultimate gives you a boost to weapon damage/spell damage via minor courage and you take 10% less damage.

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Rotation

Your goal is to time as much damage in a short window as possible.  You can do this by working on timing heavy attack, incap, executioner and hopefully land a proc.

• Cast Cloak for guaranteed crit strike
• Start your fully charge Heavy Attack (HA)
• Close distance, and as your sword starts going down, hit incap right as it lands a heavy
• Now start hitting executioner to finish off target
• If that does work, hit until at 35% HP then back to executioner

Burst Combo - start with fully charged heavy.

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Gear

Ganker Build

This is used if you want to gank one-shot kills.

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	Two Handed Maul	Shadow of the Red Mountain	Sharpened	Disease
Weapon Two	Bow	Perfected Caustic Arrow	Infused	Weapon Damage
Necklace		Shadow of the Red Mountain	Infused	Magicka Recovery
Ring 1		Shadow of the Red Mountain	Swift	Weapon Damage
Ring 2		Shadow of the Red Mountain	Swift	Weapon Damage

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

Stamblade PvP Build Ganker Gear Setup

NOTE on armor weight, run 2x light if your stage 3 vampire to support resource sustain issue with heavy magicka skills.

Balorgh: obtained in March of Sacrifice Veteran dungeon.

• Why? gives most burst potential centered around our incap burst combo.

FLEX OPTION

1. Gaze of Sithis = mythic option that makes you much tankier though lacks the “ultimate” burst setup
2. Magma Incarnate = good all-around damage, sustain and resistances
3. Zoal the Ever-Wakeful = counter gank

Stygian: obtained in overland Coldharbour or from guild trader.

• WHY? Great surge of weapon damage constantly while using stealth.

FLEX OPTIONS

1. Order’s Wrath = good craftable option
2. Stuhn’s Favor = great penetration 5pc if not using AoE proc set
3. Essence thief = great sustain and healing potential
4. Clever Alchemist = insane burst potential but I’d run mythic on jewelry and back bar this with a slightly different setup

Shadow of the Red Mountain: overland set obtained in Stonefalls zone or from guild traders.

• WHY? great proc set with high damage

FLEX OPTIONS

1. Back-Alley Gourmand: While it comes in light armor, it provides the most burst possible and stacked with Khajiit passive, Shadow Mundus stone you will see massive one-shot Spectral Bows.
2. Order’s Wrath = craftable set with huge burst potential.
3. Stuhn’s Favor = great penetration 5pc if not using AoE proc set.

1. Ashen Grip = Decent proc set and craftable
2. Spriggans = great pen for no proc/no cp

Perfected Caustic Arrow: obtained from Veteran Dragon Star Arena. Used to put a lot of pressure on a single target.

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1vX Build

This is best for solo play high survivability and burst.

Slot	Type	Set	Trait	Glyph
Head	heavy	Balorgh	Divines	Prismatic
Shoulders	light	Balorgh	Divines	Stamina
Chest	heavy	Trainee	Reinforced	Prismatic
Legs	medium	Night Mother's Gaze	Divines	Prismatic
Gloves	medium	Night Mother's Gaze	Divines	Stamina
Boots	medium	Night Mother's Gaze	Divines	Stamina
Belt	light	Rallying Cry	Divines	Stamina
Weapon One	Maul	Night Mother's Gaze	Sharpened	Disease
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

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Stamblade PvP 1vX Build Gear Setup

Balorgh: obtained in March of Sacrifice Veteran dungeon.

• Why? gives most burst potential centered around our incap burst combo.

Markyn Ring of Majesty: Obtained through Mythic System click here for lead locations.

• WHY? great damage and armor without being slowed.

Night Mother’s Gaze: obtained by crafting, 6 traits.

• WHY? 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.

• WHY? it provides the best damage reduction with massive weapon and spell damage.

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Brawlerblade

Optimal setup with good survivability and damage potential

Slot	Type	Set	Trait	Glyph
Head	heavy	Gaze of Sithis	Well-fitted	Prismatic
Shoulders	medium	Essence Thief	Well-fitted	Stamina
Chest	heavy	Armor of the Trainee	Reinforced	Prismatic
Legs	heavy	Druid’s Braid	Well-fitted	Prismatic
Gloves	medium	Essence Thief	Well-fitted	Stamina
Boots	medium	Essence Thief	Well-fitted	Stamina
Belt	light	Wretched Vitality	Well-fitted	Stamina
Weapon One	Two-Handed - Maul	Essence Thief	Sharpened	Weapon Damage
Weapon Two	Bow	Wretched Vitality	Powered	Escapist’s Poison IX
Necklace		Wretched Vitality	Swift	Weapon Damage
Ring 1		Wretched Vitality	Infused	Weapon Damage
Ring 2		Wretched Vitality	Swift	Weapon Damage

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Brawlerblade PvP Gear Setup

Gaze of Sithis: obtained through ESO Mythics/antiquities system. You need 5 items to be able to create the Mythic item.

• WHY? Great survivability mythic that adds resistance and extra health, but you can’t block with it

Essence thief = sustain and healing potential with an extra damage.

FLEX OPTIONS

• Rallying Cry = great group utility setup
• Powerful Assault = group utility and damage
• Daedric Trickery = Provides great survivability

Armor of the Trainee: obtained in overland starter areas or trader.

• WHY? 2pc is only used for a little more stats.

FLEX OPTION

• Druid’s Braid = craftable high isle gives 2pc bonus just smaller.

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Werewolf Specific Gear Sets

Use this if you wish to run Werewolf in PvP

Slot	Type	Set	Trait	Glyph
Head	medium	Magma Incarnate	Well-fitted	Prismatic
Shoulders	light	Dragon's Appetite	Well-fitted	Prismatic
Chest	heavy	Dragon's Appetite	Reinforced	Prismatic
Legs	medium	Dragon's Appetite	Well-fitted	Prismatic
Gloves	medium	Unleashed Terror	Well-fitted	Prismatic
Boots	medium	Unleashed Terror	Well-fitted	Prismatic
Belt	medium	Unleashed Terror	Well-fitted	Prismatic
Weapon One	Two Handed Maul	Dragon's Appetite	Sharpened	Flame
Weapon Two
Necklace		Unleashed Terror	Swift	Triune Recovery
Ring 1		Unleashed Terror	Swift	Triune Recovery
Ring 2		Oakensoul Ring	Swift	Triune Recovery

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Magma Incarnate: obtained from Veteran Dread Cellar dungeon (Blackwood zone), Waking Flame DLC.

• WHY? great sustain for a one-piece item set.

Dragon’s Appetite: obtained by crafting, 7 traits in Western Skyrim.

• WHY? The heals stack with bleeding damage our second 5pc set.

FLEX OPTIONS

• Plaguebreak = great burst group option

Unleashed Terror = obtained in Castle Thorn.

• WHY? nerf to savage werewolf this is your gap closer heavy hitter.

FLEX OPTIONS

• Rush of Agony = pull and big proc damage on gap closer.

Oakensoul: obtained through ESO Mythics/antiquities system.  You need 5 items to be able to create the Mythic item. CLICK HERE FOR LEADS:

• Why? the best one bar build for DPS

FLEX OPTIONS

• Pale Order = best heals per second, solo in the game
• Death Dealer’s Fete = high max stats and requires no effect but in combat
• Markyn Ring of Majesty = set and forget boost to spell damage and armor

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No Proc PvP Cyrodiil and Imperial City

Meant for specific rule sets

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	Two Handed Maul	New Moon Acolyte	Sharpened	Disease
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

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Stamblade No Proc PvP Gear

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 )

• WHY? great sustain for a one-piece item set.

Order’s Wrath: craftable set in High Isle Zone, High Isle DLC or bought from traders.

• WHY? strong damage set that gives extra Critical chance, greatly beneficial on Nightblade PvP

New Moon Acolyte: craftable set in Southern Elsweyr zone, Dragonhold DLC

• WHY? Huge damage increase for no proc PvP.

Torc or Tonal Constancy: obtained from Mythics system

• WHY? the best value for resource sustain and works in no proc.

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Passives

Class Passives

Weapon Passives

Armor Passives

Guild Passives

Alliance Passives

World Passives

Make sure to focus on maxing out the following passives skills as they add performance to your character

• Class passives
• Weapon passives
• Armor passives
• Fighter’s Guild (optional)
• Mage’s Guild (optional)
• Undaunted (must have)
• Psijic Guild (optional)
• Crafting Alchemy (Medicinal Use for potion duration)
• Race
• Assault Alliance passives
• Alliance Support passives
• Vampire (if using)
• Werewolf (if using)

Races

Khajiit

All stamina based races work in this build. Khajiit is best ganker and the best for NB because of estra Critical Damage, good max stats and recovery, but mostly because of the unique passive Feline Ambush, that decreases your detection radius in Stealth.

• Cutpurse
• Robustness
• Lunar Blessings
• Feline Ambush

Imperial

Imperial is a sold PvP choice because it gives a bonus to stamina and health pools, and the skills cost reduction.

• Diplomat
• Tough
• Imperial Mettle
• Red Diamond

Attributes

Mundus Stone

Shadow - Bonus: Increases Critical Damage and Healing by 11%

Champion Points

Warfare

Fighting Finesse (Slottable) - 50
Increases your Critical Damage and Critical Healing done by 4% per stage.

Ironclad (Slottable) - 50
Reduces your damage taken by direct damage attacks by 3% per stage.

Deadly Aim (Slottable) - 50
Increase your damage done with single target attacks by 3% 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: Precision (20), Piercing (20), Eldritch Insight (20), Flawless Ritual (40), War Mage (30), Quick Recovery (20), Preparation (20), Elemental Aegis (20), Hardy (20), Blessed (20), Tireless Discipline (20), Battle Mastery (40), & Mighty (30)

Fitness

Celerity (Slottable) - 50
Increases your Movement Speed by 2% per stage.

Refreshing Stride (Slottable) - 50
While Sprinting you gain 100 Health and Magicka Recovery per stage.

Pain's Refuge (Slottable) - 50
Reduces your damage taken by 1% per negative effect active on you, up to a maximum of 20%.

Survival Instincts (Slottable) - 50
While afflicted with a Status Effect, your core combat skills cost 5% less per stage.

Flex Spot(s): If you can afford, take these passives as they add power without a slottable: Tumbling (30), Mystic Tenacity (10), Hero’s Vigor (20), Shield Master (10), Defiance (20), Hasty (16), Tireless Guardian (20), Fortification (30), Sprinter (20), Nimble Protector (6), Savage Defense (30), Bashing Brutality (20), & Piercing Gaze (30)

Crafting

War Mount (Slottable) - 50
Improves your mastery with mounts, removing all mount Stamina costs outside of combat.

Gifted Rider (Passives) - 30
Increases your Mount Speed by 2% per stage.

Liquid Efficiency (Slottable) - 75
Whenever you use a potion or poison you have a 10% chance to not consume it.

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: Breakfall (50), Wanderer (75), Steadfast Enchantment (50), Fortune’s Favor (40), Gilded Fingers (50), & Inspiration Boost (45)

Consumables

Orzorga's Smoked Bear Haunch

Type: Foods

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)

Jewels of Misrule

Type: Foods

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)

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

Type: Potions

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

Escapist’s Poison IX

Type: Poisons

Immobilizes your target and grants you unstoppable, rendering you immune to control effects for 1.6 seconds. This poison will also break you free of ongoing control effects. Inflects hindrance to your target and grants you major expedition, reducing their movement speed by 40% and increasing your movement speed by 30% for 2.3 seconds. Drains stamina from your target, increasing the cost of their stamina abilities by 10% and restores 238 stamina per second to you for 2.3 seconds. (10s cooldown). Ingredients: Columbine, Namira’s Rot, Wormwood

Wrap Up

LIGHT ATTACK WEAVING GUIDE

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