Nightblade Solo Guide & Build | ESO

Table of contents

Skill Setups
Passives
Gear
Champion Points
Race
Mundus
Attributes
Food
Potions
Gameplay
Changelog

Last updated: Update 44 - 18th January 2025

This build is capable of soloing every Veteran dungeon that doesn’t have a specific mechanic that requires multiple people. It’s also capable of soloing most Hard Mode dungeons, and with some adjustments even the more difficult ones.

In this guide I’ll be regularly using the terms Regular and Difficult. Regular refers to content that is intended to be solo-ed (such as Maelstrom Arena or Vateshran Arena) and to any overland content such as World Bosses, Dolmens, Dragons, Volcanic Vents, Harrowstorms, Mirrormoor Incursions, etc. Majority of dungeon fights will also fall under that category. Difficult refers to extremely difficult dungeon fights.

SKILL SETUPS

Front Bar	Back Bar
Slot 1: Concealed Weapon	Slot 1: Siphoning Attacks
Slot 2: Impale	Slot 2: Shadowy Disguise
Slot 3: Relentless Focus	Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility
Slot 4: Barbed Trap	Slot 4: Elemental Blockade
Slot 5: Debiliate	Slot 5: Dark Shade
Ultimate: Soul Harvest	Ultimate: Shooting Star

INFO:

Concealed Weapon - a strong spammable that will deal 10% increased damage thanks to Shadowy Disguise
Impale - an execute you should switch to when your enemy is below 25% Max Health
Relentless Focus - an ability that will cause your Light Attacks to generate stacks which increase your Weapon and Spell Damage. At 5 stacks you can use this ability to spend the stacks to fire a powerful arrow that also heals you if you're in Melee range. Stop using the active ability once your enemy is below 25% Max Health
Barbed Trap - a DoT that will also apply Hemorrhage status effect at the start and grant you Minor Force buff, increasing your Critical Damage by 10%. It will also trigger the Slayer passive
Debilitate - a DoT that has an increased change to proc the Overcharged status effect. Overcharged deals a tiny bit of damage and applies Minor Magickasteal for 4 seconds, so it'll help you sustain. It will also trigger the Magicka Flood passive
Soul Harvest - a cheap ultimate that increases target's damage taken from you by 20%. Having it slotted will also cause you to regain 10 Ultimate whenever you deal a final blow against an enemy
Siphoning Attacks - this ability will passively heal you improve your sustain, and when things go wrong you can use it to regain resources
Shadowy Disguise - an ability that will increase your damage by 10% for 10 seconds after being cast. On top of that It will also increase the damage of your Concealed Weapon by another 10%. If you're a Vampire it will also trigger the Strike from the Shadows passive. It will also passively grant you Major Savagery which increases your critical chance by 12%. You are already getting Major Prophecy from your potions, but this one won't stack with the unique Minor Savagery you're getting from being a Nightblade. When timed correctly, you can use this ability to dodge heavy attacks
Elemental Susceptibility - an extremely loaded ability that does a multitude of things. It’s completely free to cast so it'll helps you sustain. It applies Major Breach, which reduces enemies’ armor by 5948 which is a massive damage increase. It also applies Burning, Chilled and Concussed status effects at the beginning and then every 7.5 seconds. All of these Status Effects deal decent damage, but Concussed will also apply Minor Vulnerability for 4 seconds, increasing enemies’ damage taken by 5%. Chilled will also apply Minor Maim for 4 seconds, reducing enemies’ damage done by 5% and it will also apply Minor Brittle for 4 seconds if you were on your Ice Staff bar while the Chilled effect procced, which is always going to happen at the beginning when you cast Elemental Susceptibility. Minor Brittle increase Critical Damage taken by 10%. The Chilled proc will also synergise with our Elemental Blockade
Elemental Blockade - this ability will constantly apply your Weapon Damage enchantment. It will also constantly apply Minor Breach to enemies who are Chilled, and they’ll be Chilled thanks to Elemental Susceptibility
Dark Shade - an ability that deals constant AoE damage and applies Minor Maim, reducing enemies' damage done by 5%
Shooting Star - an expensive ultimate you should use instead of Soul Harvest when you start a fight with high amount of ultimate or when facing multiple enemies

SITUATIONAL:

Swallow Soul - you can use it instead of Concealed Weapon for fights that hit harder than usual, but not hard enough to justify switching entirely to the Difficult setup. When you do that, you can also swap Debilitate and Shadowy Disguise around, because it's always better to have shorter duration skills on frontbar, and Debilitate is no longer needed on frontbar for the sake of triggering Magicka Flood because Swallow Soul will also trigger it.
Resolving Vigor - you can use it instead of Dark Shade (in Single Target fights) or Debilitate (in AoE fights, if you do replace Debilitate you have to also replace Concealed Weapon with Swallow Soul to trigger Magicka Flood again) for more difficult fights where you need the additional mitigation from Minor Resolve and the heal over time

This setup assumes you're getting Minor Force from the Tzogvin's Warband set. If you don't use Tzogvin, replace Poison Injection with Barbed Trap and try to find some openings to hit your enemy with the Barbed Trap even in ranged fights

Front Bar	Back Bar
Slot 1: Swallow Soul	Slot 1: Siphoning Attacks
Slot 2: Impale	Slot 2: Debilitate
Slot 3: Relentless Focus	Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility
Slot 4: Poison Injection	Slot 4: Elemental Blockade
Slot 5: Shadowy Disguise	Slot 5: Dark Shade
Ultimate: Soul Harvest	Ultimate: Shooting Star

INFO:

Swallow Soul - a spammable that will apply a 10 second Heal over Time effect which also ticks at the very start, so it will heal you for a lot when you spam it. Keep recasting it every 10 seconds just for the HoT even after you switch to using Impale as your spammable. It will also trigger the Magicka Flood passive
Impale - an execute you should switch to when your enemy is below 25% Max Health
Relentless Focus - an ability that will cause your Light Attacks to generate stacks which increase your Weapon and Spell Damage. At 5 stacks you can use this ability to spend the stacks to fire a powerful arrow that also heals you if you're in Melee range. Stop using the active ability once your enemy is below 25% Max Health
Poison Injection - a decent DoT that will also help you sustain your Magicka, because it costs Stamina instead
Shadowy Disguise - an ability that will increase your damage by 10% for 10 seconds after being cast. On top of that It will also increase the damage of your Concealed Weapon by 15%. If you're a Vampire it will also trigger the Strike from the Shadows passive. It will also passively grant you Major Savagery which increases your critical chance by 12%. You are already getting Major Prophecy from your potions, but this one won't stack with the unique Minor Savagery you're getting from being a Nightblade. When timed correctly, you can use this ability to dodge heavy attacks
Soul Harvest - a cheap ultimate that increases target's damage taken from you by 20%. Having it slotted will also cause you to regain 10 Ultimate whenever you deal a final blow against an enemy
Siphoning Attacks - this ability will passively heal you improve your sustain, and when things go wrong you can use it to regain resources
Debilitate - a DoT that has an increased change to proc the Overcharged status effect. Overcharged deals a tiny bit of damage and applies Minor Magickasteal for 4 seconds, so it'll help you sustain
Elemental Susceptibility - an extremely loaded ability that does a multitude of things. It’s completely free to cast so it'll helps you sustain. It applies Major Breach, which reduces enemies’ armor by 5948 which is a massive damage increase. It also applies Burning, Chilled and Concussed status effects at the beginning and then every 7.5 seconds. All of these Status Effects deal decent damage, but Concussed will also apply Minor Vulnerability for 4 seconds, increasing enemies’ damage taken by 5%. Chilled will also apply Minor Maim for 4 seconds, reducing enemies’ damage done by 5% and it will also apply Minor Brittle for 4 seconds if you were on your Ice Staff bar while the Chilled effect procced, which is always going to happen at the beginning when you cast Elemental Susceptibility. Minor Brittle increase Critical Damage taken by 10%. The Chilled proc will also synergise with our Elemental Blockade
Elemental Blockade - this ability will constantly apply your Weapon Damage enchantment. It will also constantly apply Minor Breach to enemies who are Chilled, and they’ll be Chilled thanks to Elemental Susceptibility
Dark Shade - an ability that deals constant AoE damage and applies Minor Maim, reducing enemies' damage done by 5%
Shooting Star - an expensive ultimate you should use instead of Soul Harvest when you start a fight with high amount of ultimate or when facing multiple enemies

SITUATIONAL:

Resolving Vigor - you can use it instead of Dark Shade (in Single Target fights) or Debilitate (in AoE fights) for more difficult fights where you need the additional mitigation from Minor Resolve and the heal over time

Front Bar	Back Bar
Slot 1: Swallow Soul	Slot 1: Siphoning Attacks
Slot 2: Impale	Slot 2: Shadowy Disguise
Slot 3: Relentless Focus	Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility
Slot 4: Ulfsild's Contingency	Slot 4: Elemental Blockade
Slot 5: Revealing Flare	Slot 5: Resolving Vigor
Ultimate: Soul Harvest	Ultimate: Shooting Star

SCRIBING:

Ulfsild's Contingency - Bleed, Gladiator's Tenacity, Force. Use Barbed Trap instead if you don't have access to Scribing

INFO:

Swallow Soul - a spammable that will apply a 10 second Heal over Time effect which also ticks at the very start, so it will heal you for a lot when you spam it. Keep recasting it every 10 seconds just for the HoT even after you switch to using Impale as your spammable. It will also trigger the Magicka Flood passive
Impale - an execute you should switch to when your enemy is below 25% Max Health
Relentless Focus - an ability that will cause your Light Attacks to generate stacks which increase your Weapon and Spell Damage. At 5 stacks you can use this ability to spend the stacks to fire a powerful arrow that also heals you if you're in Melee range. Stop using the active ability once your enemy is below 25% Max Health
Ulfsild's Contingency - a delayed AoE damage that also grants you 8% damage reduction for 8 seconds and Minor Force for 22 seconds, which increases your Critical Damage by 10%. You should recast it every 8 seconds when under pressure and every 22 seconds otherwise
Revealing Flare - this skill will passively grant you Major Protection, reducing your damage taken by 10%. It will also trigger the Magicka Aid passive, which increases Magicka Recovery by 10%
Soul Harvest - a cheap ultimate that increases target's damage taken from you by 20%. Having it slotted will also cause you to regain 10 Ultimate whenever you deal a final blow against an enemy
Siphoning Attacks - this ability will passively heal you improve your sustain, and when things go wrong you can use it to regain resources
Shadowy Disguise - an ability that will increase your damage by 10% for 10 seconds after being cast. If you're a Vampire it will also trigger the Strike from the Shadows passive. It will also passively grant you Major Savagery which increases your critical chance by 12%. You are already getting Major Prophecy from your potions, but this one won't stack with the unique Minor Savagery you're getting from being a Nightblade. When timed correctly, you can use this ability to dodge heavy attacks
Elemental Susceptibility - an extremely loaded ability that does a multitude of things. It’s completely free to cast so it'll helps you sustain. It applies Major Breach, which reduces enemies’ armor by 5948 which is a massive damage increase. It also applies Burning, Chilled and Concussed status effects at the beginning and then every 7.5 seconds. All of these Status Effects deal decent damage, but Concussed will also apply Minor Vulnerability for 4 seconds, increasing enemies’ damage taken by 5%. Chilled will also apply Minor Maim for 4 seconds, reducing enemies’ damage done by 5% and it will also apply Minor Brittle for 4 seconds if you were on your Ice Staff bar while the Chilled effect procced, which is always going to happen at the beginning when you cast Elemental Susceptibility. Minor Brittle increase Critical Damage taken by 10%. The Chilled proc will also synergise with our Elemental Blockade
Elemental Blockade - this ability will constantly apply your Weapon Damage enchantment. It will also constantly apply Minor Breach to enemies who are Chilled, and they’ll be Chilled thanks to Elemental Susceptibility
Resolving Vigor - an extremely strong Heal over time that also grants Minor Resolve, which increases armor by 2974
Shooting Star - an expensive ultimate you should use instead of Soul Harvest when you start a fight with high amount of ultimate or when facing multiple enemies

PASSIVES

You should get all passives except for Tri Focus.

GEAR

This is the crafted gear setup you can start with.

Gear Slot	Set	Weight/Type	Trait	Enchantment
Head	Claw of the Forest Wraith	Light	Training /Divines	Magicka
Shoulders	Claw of the Forest Wraith	Light	Training /Divines	Magicka
Chest	Order's Wrath	Heavy	Training /Reinforced	Magicka
Hands	Order's Wrath	Light	Training /Divines	Magicka
Belt	Order's Wrath	Light	Training /Divines	Magicka
Legs	Order's Wrath	Medium	Training /Divines	Magicka
Boots	Order's Wrath	Light	Training /Divines	Magicka
Necklace	Claw of the Forest Wraith	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Magical Harm
Ring	Claw of the Forest Wraith	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Magical Harm
Ring	Claw of the Forest Wraith	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Magical Harm
Frontbar Main Hand	Assasin's Guile	Mace	Nirnhoned	Absorb Stamina
Frontbar Off Hand	Assasin's Guile	Mace	Charged	Poison
Backbar Main Hand	Assasin's Guile	Ice Staff	Infused	Weapon Damage

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Use Daggers instead of Maces if you don't plan on using this gear setup for any instanced content (Dungeons, Arenas)
For Ranged build, replace Maces/Daggers with a Bow of the same set with Sharpened (for instanced content) or Precise (for overland content) trait and Absorb Stamina enchant
Use Training traits if you're still leveling. If you're already max level and have enough Champion Points you can instead use Divines and Reinforced on the chest piece

This is my suggested setup for regular content, such as Solo Arenas, World Bosses, Dolmens, Dragons, Volcanic Vents, Harrowstorms, Mirrormoor Incursions and majority of the dungeons.

Gear Slot	Set	Weight/Type	Trait	Enchantment
Head	Slimecraw	Light	Divines	Magicka
Shoulders	Whorl of the Depths	Light	Divines	Magicka
Chest	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines	Magicka
Hands	Whorl of the Depths	Light	Divines	Magicka
Belt	Whorl of the Depths	Light	Divines	Magicka
Legs	Whorl of the Depths	Light	Divines	Magicka
Boots	Whorl of the Depths	Light	Divines	Magicka
Necklace	Ansuul's Torment	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Magical Harm
Ring	Ansuul's Torment	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Magical Harm
Ring	Ring of the Pale Order	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Magical Harm
Frontbar Main Hand	Ansuul's Torment	Dagger	Nirnhoned	Absorb Stamina
Frontbar Off Hand	Ansuul's Torment	Mace	Charged	Poison
Backbar Main Hand	Crushing Wall	Ice Staff	Infused	Weapon Damage

ADDITIONAL INFO:

For Ranged build, replace Daggers with a Bow of the same set with Precise trait and Absorb Stamina enchant
Order’s Wrath is an extremely powerful set despite being crafted so it's a good replacement for Whorl of the Depths if you don't have access to it
Swap Ansuul’s Torment for Tzogvin’s Warband when using the Ranged setup. It's also a good replacement in general if you don't have access to Ansuul’s Torment

This is my suggested setup for soloing extremely difficult fights in dungeons.

Gear Slot	Set	Weight/Type	Trait	Enchantment
Head	Roksa the Warped	Light	Divines /Well-Fitted	Magicka
Shoulders	Roksa the Warped	Light	Divines /Well-Fitted	Magicka
Chest	Armor of the Trainee	Heavy	Reinforced	Magicka
Hands	Vestment of Olorime	Light	Divines /Well-Fitted	Magicka
Belt	Vestment of Olorime	Light	Divines /Well-Fitted	Magicka
Legs	Ansuul's Torment	Medium	Divines /Well-Fitted	Magicka
Boots	Vestment of Olorime	Light	Divines /Well-Fitted	Magicka
Necklace	Ansuul's Torment	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Magical Harm
Ring	Ansuul's Torment	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Magical Harm
Ring	Ring of the Pale Order	Jewelry	Bloodthirsty	Increase Magical Harm
Frontbar Main Hand	Ansuul's Torment	Dagger	Nirnhoned	Absorb Stamina
Frontbar Off Hand	Ansuul's Torment	Mace	Charged	Poison
Backbar Main Hand	Vestment of Olorime	Ice Staff	Infused	Weapon Damage

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Order’s Wrath is an extremely powerful set despite being crafted so it's a good replacement for Ansuul’s Torment if you don't have access to it
You can change some (or all) of the Magicka enchants to Health ones for extremely hard hitting bosses

CHAMPION POINTS

Warfare

Master-at-Arms (6% Direct Damage)
Deadly Aim (6% Single Target Damage)
Fighting Finesse (8% Critical Damage and Healing)
Wrathful Strikes (205 Weapon and Spell Damage added to damaging skills)

Fitness

Boundless Vitality (1400 Max Health)
Sustained by Suffering (150 Health, Stamina and Magicka Recovery when debuffed)
Rejuvenation (90 Health, Stamina and Magicka Recovery)
Fortified (1731 armor)

ADDITIONAL INFO:

When soloing extremely difficult dungeons you should replace Wrathful Strikes and Fighting Finesse with 2 of the 4 mitigation CPs (Ironclad, Duelist’s Rebuff, Enduring Resolve, Unassailable)
In fights with lots of adds Siphoning Spells and Bloody Renewal can be stronger than Rejuvenation and Sustained by Suffering

RACE

When it comes to solo PvE, you need both damage and survivability so pretty much all races have useful racials.

The best race for dealing damage is Khajiit. While the Critical Damage from Feline Ambush can sometimes be wasted due to Critical Damage being capped at 125%, it will never happen in solo content, because there will be no tanks or healers providing you with the Major Force buff.

The best race for survivability is Nord. The Rugged racial will provide around 6% damage mitigation.

MUNDUS

You should use The Shadow Mundus, which increases your Critical Damage.

For extremely difficult dungeons you should consider switching to The Lady Mundus, which increases your Armor.

ATTRIBUTES

HEALTH

STAMINA

MAGICKA

For most content you should put all 64 points into Magicka. For difficult content you should devote as many attribute points as necessary to Health - for some content you’ll be able to get away with 32 Health 32 Magicka, for the extremely difficult stuff you’ll need 64 Health.

FOOD

You'll have to use the Orzorga's Red Frothgar in order to sustain.

Other decent foods:

Clockwork Citrus Filet - if your sustain is good enough you can use this food instead, which compared to Orzorga's Red Frothgar will lower your Magicka Recovery and Max Health but it will grant you additional Max Magicka which will increase your damage
Orzorga's Smoked Bear Haunch - if a certain fight requires much more blocking and/or dodge rolling you can use this food instead, which compared to Orzorga's Red Frothgar will lower your Magicka Recovery and Max Health but it will grant you additional Stamina Recovery

POTIONS

Use the Spell Power potions (Increase Spell Power, Spell Critical, Restore Magicka). They'll greatly improve your and provide Major Sorcery and Major Prophecy which are crucial. You can craft them by combining Lady's Smock, Namira's Rot and Corn Flower.

In situations where you need more damage mitigation and you can spare some sustain, you can instead use the Armor potions, which will increase your armor by 5280, however you'll need to fit a source of Major Brutality (such as Power Extraction or some scribed skill) into your setup. You can craft them by combining Bugloss, Mountain's Flower and Mudcrab Chitin.