Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered: Best Nightblade Build

Discover everything you need to know about the best Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered, including some valuable tips and tricks to optimize the build.

Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered Best Nightblade Build

The Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is a high-damage-dealing build using magic and blade weapons. Embarking on a journey and exploring Cyrodiil, the Imperial Province, will let you meet numerous NPCs and engage in a fight with a wide variety of enemies. As the Nightblade class possesses attributes of Speed and Willpower, it allows you to move swiftly and stealthily and cast various types of spells to damage, repel, absorb, heal, and shield in the battleground. Using quick weapons like Daggers and the best spells from different magic schools can allow you to eliminate enemies easily. The Nightblade can utilize both weapons and spells to dominate the battlefield. Balance your Magicka and Health, use defensive skills, and heal to keep yourself alive in battle.

However, it all depends on how you choose to play the Nightblade class, as there are a lot of systems in the background that enhance the effectiveness of a Nightblade. From faction and specialization to weapons and armor, everything is crucial for a Nightblade build. Choosing the right race for your Nightblade build is important to maximizing your effectiveness. Choosing the best race, attribute, and skills are crucial for the Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion as your gameplay mostly depends on it. With the right combination of skills, race, and weapon choices, you can easily become a confident Nightblade with no fear. In this guide, we’ll discuss the best Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion, including the best skills, weapons, and armor to choose from.

This Oblivion build is getting a full update for the remastered version of the game! We’ll revamp everything you need to start – how to create your character, what gear and weapons to use, the best skills to focus on, and the most useful spells.

Everything About Nightblade Build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered

The Nightblade Build is all about spamming the right spells on the battlefield for crowd control and taking out enemies either using damaging spells or melee weapons. Due to Willpower being one of the prioritized attributes for the Nightblade, it is essential to use spells to outmaneuver the enemies. Leveling up the main skills will let you unlock the powerful spells that you can utilize accordingly to destroy the enemies. The Destruction spells will be your bread and butter to cast different elemental spells on enemies. Furthermore, Alteration spells can help you reduce the incoming damage with Shield or even make you lighter to carry more stuff or even wear Heavy Armor.

Now, playing a Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered highly depends on your initial decisions of choosing the effective Race and Birthsign. The Breton stands out as the best race for the Nightblade class due to the bonus of magic resistance and the Dragon Skin trait. Moreover, this race grants bonuses for all the major skills, making you more effective in the core play style. For the Birthsign, the Mage stands out the best as you will be able to cast more spells right from the beginning. The Mage Birthsign grants 50 Magicka points permanently.  

Last but not least, choosing the best Major Skills, Minor Skills, Specialization, and armor is crucial for this build, as picking the wrong one can negatively impact your build.

Nightblade Build ProsNightblade Build Cons
High Damage OutputSlight Resource Management
VersatileHeavy Armor Penalty on Magic
High SurvivabilityLow Crowd Control
Can be Played Stealthily 

Build Key Aspect

Below are all the essential aspects of the Nightblade Build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered.

  • Class: Nightblade
  • Race: Breton
  • Origin: High Rock
  • Birthsign: Mage
  • Specialization: Magic
  • Attributes: Speed, Willpower, Intelligence
  • Major Skills
    • Blade
    • Athletics
    • Light Armor
  • Minor Skills
    • Alchemy
    • Security
    • Mercantile
  • Weapons: Daedric Shortsword and Daedric Dagger
  • Armor: Glass Armor and Shrouded Armor
  • Faction: Mage Guild
  • Trainer: Falion

Class

Nightblade is the best class for a sneaky assassin-type build that specializes in magic, as well as daggers, in The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Remastered. Mix ability and stealth with spellcasting for a unique take on the standard mage class. Additionally, major skills also include the Restoration school of magic, which can help with survivability in combat.

Best Race

Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered Breton race

Breton is the best race for the best Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered. It is one of the best races under the Human race options in Elder Scrolls Oblivion, especially for spellcasters. Acquiring this race will provide you bonuses for all the major skills of the Nightblade. Furthermore, this race provides great stats for the Intelligence, Luck, and Willpower attributes. All of these are essential for a Nightblade build.

The Breton comes with four special bonuses. The first one is Fortify Magicka, which lets you gain +50 points to Magicka. It also provides 50 points for Magic Resistance and a bonus to Disposition while with other Bretons. Lastly, it gives a Dragon Skin trait, which is a greater power and increases the armor rating by 50 for 60 seconds once a day. This trait specifically works as a shield, and while we will be using Light Armor with Robes, it will increase our survivability in tougher fights.

Best Origin

Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered Breton - High Rock origin (lower strength but increased speed of 40)

For an agile Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Remastered, High Rock stands out as the best Origin selection. When compared to Systres, the main difference is a -10 reduction to either Strength or Speed. High Rock is the better option because it applies the debuff to Strength. While this will make you a bit less powerful in melee, as a Nightblade you want to maintain top speed and mobility.

Crucially, in ESOR, your character’s background isn’t just cosmetic, it plays a direct role in determining your starting stats. In the original Oblivion, gender affected your attributes based on race. In the Remaster, that system has been replaced. You now choose between “Body Type 1” (female) or “Body Type 2” (male), while stat adjustments are entirely handled through your Origin.

Best Birthsign

Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered birthsign The Mage

The Mage Birthsign is the best choice for a Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered because

The final major choice for effective optimization of the Nightblade Build is choosing a potential Birthsign. You will get to make this choice earlier in the game and before leaving the sewer to explore the world. The best Birthsign that is effective for the Nightblade build is the Mage. It provides a +50 points bonus to Magicka, which is crucial for spellcasting, without any significant drawbacks. However, this Birthsign doesn’t offer any other significant bonuses or drawbacks, making it a safe, general-purpose choice. This Brithsign focuses more on Agility that benefits skills like Sneak, Block, and Security.

Alternatively, you can choose the Shadow Birthsign for the Nightblade build. As the Nightblade class moves swiftly and in shadow, the Shadow Birthsign will enhance the overall stealth for your character. It provides the Moonshadow that grants a single daily use of Invisibility for 60 seconds. This allows you to make stealth attacks or reposition yourself in tougher combat. The invisibility for a duration is extremely useful for sneaking past enemies, ambushing them, or escaping difficult situations.

Best Attributes

Speed, Willpower, and Intelligence, are the best attributes for the Nightblade build because they increase your movement and improve your magicka.

  • Speed: You can move faster and are more mobile.
  • Willpower: determines the rengeration rate of your magicka.
  • Intelligence: determines your maximum magicka and helps you cast high-level spells.

Major Skills

Athletics, Light Armor, and Blade are the best major skills for the Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered because they boost your mobility, defense and damage. If you’re preferred playstyle leans more into magic, then Destruction will be more of a priority than Blade.

  • Athletics Increase your speed in exploration and combat.
  • Light Armor- grants protection without hindering your agility, making it easy to move freely while casting spells.
  • Blade– Increases damage with daggers, swords, claymores, katanas, and cutlasses.

Minor Skills

Alchemy, Security, and Mercantile are the best minor skills to include in your Nightblade build in ESOR because they increase melee damage, offer utility and exploration spells, and allow you to create soul gems.

  • Alchemy- Create potions and elixirs to heal and remove conditions.
  • Security- Improve your skills and break open higher-level lockpicks.
  • Mercantile- Get better prices by selling all of the stuff you steal.

Equipment

Equipment in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered consists of weapons, armor, clothing, and various other items. Players can equip them to increase their character’s abilities and stats. Weapons are crafted from different items, and each has different stats and appearances. You can even enchant the weapons with magical effects like damage, debuff, or health regen. Use the soul gems to recharge the enchanted weapons. Armor is another equipment that protects you from incoming attacks from enemies. Each piece of armor has an armor rating, which determines how much damage it can absorb. You can equip up to 9 pieces at one time. Light Armor or Robe is the best option available for the Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion.

Best Spells

Here are the best spells to use as a Nightblade in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered.

  1. Detect Life: Reveals all visible and invisible creatures with a soft purple glow.
  2. Soul Trap: Trap the soul of a creature in an empty soul gem.
  3. Summon Skeleton: Summon a Skeleton for 40 seconds to fight beside you.
  4. Guard: Shield 30% for 30 seconds on self, reducing the incoming damage.
  5. Flash Bolt: Deals 20 Fire Damage to a target on impact.
  6. Lightning Bolt: Deals 35 Shock Damage to a target on impact.
  7. Weakness to Fire: Makes a target weaker to Fire by 25% for 30 seconds.
  8. Weakness to Shock: Makes a target weaker to Shock by 25% for 30 seconds.
  9. Fortify Magicka: Fortify Magicka 30 points for 60 seconds.
  10. Night Mother’s Caress: Restore health for 10 points for 2 seconds.

Feel free to change the spells according to your playstyle. Moreover, enhancing the major skills will let you unlock the better version of these spells. If you have enough Magicka at your disposal, acquire the latest spells for more effectiveness.

Best Weapons

daedric shortsword oblivion

For the weapons of a Nightblade character, we recommend using lightweight sharp weapons. Daggers and Shortswrds are the best weapons that you can use in close-range combat, as well as while sneaking.

1 Daedric Dagger

  • Damage: 19
  • Health: 532
  • Base Value: 2700
  • Weight: 10

The Daedric Dagger is a one-handed weapon that has the highest base damage among any other dagger in the game. Daggers are the fastest melee weapons, allowing you to deliver their enchantments faster. Use this dagger to take down enemies in melee range or for stealth take down. You can enchant the Daedric Dagger with effects like Poison, damage, or fatigue. Daggers are lightweight but deal less damage than swords or maces. Pair it with skills like Blades to enhance the effectiveness of this weapon.

2 Daedric Shortsword

  • Damage: 21
  • Health: 508
  • Base Value: 1500
  • Weight: 22

Daedric Shortsword is the best one-handed melee weapon after the dagger to use for the Nightblade build due to its massive damage capability. We recommend you pair it with the Daedric Dagger to deal high damage in tough encounters. This unique setup provides you with more versatility in fights. Daedric shortswords are often carried by Zealots in the Shivering Isles. This weapon has high base damage and a relatively fast swing speed, allowing you to use stealth approaches and quick attacks. Enchanting a Daedric shortsword can significantly enhance its effectiveness. Shortswords are faster and lighter than longswords, making it a good option for the Nightblade build.

Best Armor

glass armor oblivion

Here are a couple of best Light Armor to use for the Nightblade Build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered.

1 Glass Armor

  • Armor Health: 5275
  • Base Armor: 50
  • Base Value: 5300
  • Class: Light Armor

Glass Armor is the best armor to choose for the Nightblade build. It offers excellent protection while remaining light, allowing for agility and stealth. You want to prioritize light armor as an Nightblade to benefit stealth and movement speed. Glass armor provides a high armor rating, which is crucial for surviving encounters with enemies. You will be fighting the enemies in close range, and having this armor equipped increases your survivability. It reduces the effectiveness of the incoming attacks from the enemies. This amor also helps you level up your light armor skill, which is important for increasing your armor rating. Enchant your Glass Armor with powerful spells, allowing you to reduce the penalties of wearing armor.

2 Shrouded Armor

  • Armor Health: 520
  • Base Armor: 17.5
  • Base Value: 0
  • Class: Light Armor

Shrouded Armor is another good option to use while running a Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion. This armor set consists of two parts, the Shrouded Armor and the Shrouded Hood. It offers several enhancements that favor stealth-oriented characters. The Ancient Shrouded Armor is relatively easy to acquire. Shrouded armor is a single piece of equipment that covers the whole body except the head. It also has unleveled stats and enchantments, meaning the effectiveness increases as you level up in the game. This armor includes the enchantment that boosts backstab damage and poison resistance.

Leveling Strategy for the Nightblade Build

Focus on using magic skills to level a Nightblade effectively in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered. Use skills like Alteration, Destruction, and Restoration to gain +5 bonuses at each level. Use Alteration spells to buff yourself and explore the environment. You need to heal yourself and others with Restoration spells to keep your skills active. Moreover, utilize melee weapons to enhance the Blade skill. Explore on foot and jump around to enhance the Athletics and Acrobatics skills. Invest in attributes that will enhance your major skills.

Leveling up is based on Skill Increases and the Attributes you assign. Every time you level up, you will get to increase three attributes. Focus on attributes that align with your playstyle. Your Birthsign gives a significant bonus to your stats. You must sleep in a bed to level up. Leveling in Oblivion can take time, so try to balance your activities between exploring, combat, and practicing skills.

Factions

factions oblivion
factions oblivion

Mage Guild is the best choice for the Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered because it focuses on magic and skills that complement a Nightblade’s abilities. Nightblade excels with skills like Destruction for potential damage, Alteration for buffs, and Restoration for healing. This makes the Mages Guild a good fit for their playstyle, allowing you to dominate enemies.

Trainers

Falion is the best trainer for the Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion. He is a redguard mage in Morthal who studies vampires and can cure vampirism. Falion is available in Morthal, a town near the north end of the map, southwest of Ustengrav. He can perform a ritual to cure vampirism, but it requires a filled black soul gem. Trainers allow you to spend gold to increase your skill levels, which can help you level up skills.  Different types of trainers allow you to reach different skill level caps. These trainers can train a specific skill for a set number of times per character level.

How to Play the Nightblade Build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered

Level up skills like Alteration, Destruction, and Restoration while also investing in skills like Blade and Athletics. The best combat strategy for running this Nightblade build is using the magic for exploration and applying weaknesses to enemies during combat. Moreover, you can make use of quick movement and eliminate enemies stealthily with your melee weapons. It will allow you to level up in your major skills quite easily. If you run out of Magicka, you can switch to melee in close-range combat and use defensive buffs. Magicka is crucial for casting spells, so use your magic wisely. Cast any buffs that might be helpful before engaging any enemy.

Since you’ll be on the frontlines, wear a decent Light Armor and enhance it with spells to protect your character. Focus on attributes like Willpower, Speed, and Intelligence to enhance your combat effectiveness while running this build. Use the high ground to use spells for maximum damage output. It’s best to craft the potions that buff your character and debuff the enemies.  Equip Daedric Dagger to deal massive damage in close-range combat. Use a dagger to deal melee damage or stealth take down in combat. Keep your distance and use spells to eliminate enemies if you’re fighting them in ranged combat.

Best Gameplay Tips and Tricks for Nightblade Build

Here are the best gameplay tips and tricks for Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered.

  • Use magic to weaken the enemies from a distance, then switch to melee when required.
  • You need to use stamina wisely, or else you can become vulnerable in most combat situations.
  • Use your weapons wisely, as equipping a lower damage-dealing weapon gives room for the enemies to attack you.
  • Use Speechcraft and your charisma to avoid unnecessary conflict.
  • Use Alteration spells to increase the armor rating for enhanced defense.
  • Choose the faction, race, and specialization that complements your playstyle and synergizes with the build.
  • Use potions to heal your character from time to time in combat, so carry them in your inventory.
  • Joining the Mages Guild is a great choice as a Nightblade in ESO, as it provides access to magical resources, training, and spells.
  • Focus on leveling your Destruction, Alteration, Restoration, Conjuration, and Mysticism for casting higher level magic spells.

FAQs about Nightblade build in The Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered

What is a Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered?

The Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion is a high-damage-dealing build using both magic and combat maneuvers. This build can allow you to apply weaknesses on enemies or hit them with spells from a distance. Moreover, you can move swiftly with this build due to high speed and take out enemies stealthily using melee weapons.

Which is the best weapon for a Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered?

The best weapons for a Nightblade build are lightweight sharp weapons. It include weapons like daggers and shortswords. Use the Daedric Dagger to tackle physical combat along with magic spells.

Which is the best race for a Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered?

Breton is the best race for Nightblade build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion due to its 50% magic resistance and the Dragon Skin trait.

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