Last updated: Update 48 - 22nd January 2026
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.
Base Setup
A base setup that will work for most situations and which should be your starting point when making situational setups
| Front Bar | Back Bar |
|---|---|
| Slot 1: Concealed Weapon | Slot 1: Shadowy Disguise |
| Slot 2: Impale | Slot 2: Siphoning Attacks |
| Slot 3: Relentless Focus | Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility |
| Slot 4: Traveling Knife | Slot 4: Elemental Blockade |
| Slot 5: Ulfsild's Contingency | Slot 5: Dark Shade |
| Ultimate: Soul Harvest | Ultimate: Shooting Star |
Impale and
Traveling Knife are the first skills that have to go if you need to slot situational, unless the situational skill specifically says it's replacing something else
Priority List
I don't use a static rotation so this is just a list of priorities. Simply recast abilities when they run out and follow this list of priorities when there are multiple things to refresh
Use
Traveling Knife more often than once every 20 seconds. It's the only way to sustain your Magicka unless you have some additional sustain, for example from a racial. If in a certain fight you're getting additional sustain (for example from using
Siphoning Spells in a fight with lots of adds or
Sustained by Suffering in a fight with constant debuffs) then you can go back to refreshing
Traveling Knife every 20 seconds.
Try to avoid refreshing DoTs while
Soul Harvest is active. If a DoT has expired at the beginning of
Soul Harvest it's usually worth it to recast it, but if it expired with 2 seconds left on
Soul Harvest it's usually better to continue using direct hits and refresh the DoT after
Soul Harvest has expired
Try to save up
Relentless Focus stacks for
Soul Harvest, but don't waste them by letting them go over 10
Pre-buff
These abilities can be pre-cast before entering combat
Final Setups
A few examples of final setups you could end up with after applying the situational skills to the base setup
A setup which trades damage for more survivability. Use it against harder boss fights or if you simply want a tankier build and don't mind fights taking longer
| Front Bar | Back Bar |
|---|---|
| Slot 1: Swallow Soul | Slot 1: Shadowy Disguise |
| Slot 2: Revealing Flare | Slot 2: Siphoning Attacks |
| Slot 3: Relentless Focus | Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility |
| Slot 4: Traveling Knife | Slot 4: Elemental Blockade |
| Slot 5: Ulfsild's Contingency | Slot 5: Dark Shade |
| Ultimate: Soul Harvest | Ultimate: Shooting Star |
The only passive you specifically have to skip is
Tri Focus, but it's only important when using an Ice Staff
Some trees are only needed when using situational skills, for example Fighters Guild provides nothing without
Barbed Trap or
Silver Leash and Psijic Order provides nothing without
Precognition
Class - Assassination
Master Assassin - High Priority
Executioner - High Priority
Pressure Points - High Priority
Hemorrhage - High Priority
Base Setup
A base setup that is meant for Overland content and will work for most situations. It should be your starting point when making situational setups
Switching gear for trash packs isn't worth it unless you're using gear-swap addons
| Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
Light | |||
![]() Shoulders |
Light | |||
![]() Chest |
Medium | |||
![]() Hands |
Light | |||
![]() Belt |
Light | |||
![]() Legs |
Medium | |||
![]() Boots |
Light | |||
![]() Necklace |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
Dagger | |||
![]() Frontbar Off Hand |
Dagger | |||
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
Inferno Staff |
Gear that can be stronger than the setup from the table in specific situations or when specific circumstances are present
Final Setups
A few examples of final setups you could end up with after applying situational rules to the base setup
This is the crafted gear setup you can start with
| Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
Light | |||
![]() Shoulders |
Light | |||
![]() Chest |
Heavy | |||
![]() Hands |
Light | |||
![]() Belt |
Light | |||
![]() Legs |
Medium | |||
![]() Boots |
Light | |||
![]() Necklace |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
Dagger | |||
![]() Frontbar Off Hand |
Dagger | |||
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
Inferno Staff |
Regular setup already uses 2 crafted sets, so the Crafted setup is barely any different in this guide
The weight distribution of the setup from the table is 1 Heavy 5 Medium 1 Light so that you can start leveling up all your armor skill lines. Once you transition to Regular setup you'll be using 2 Medium 5 Light most of the time, switching to 1 Heavy 5 Medium 1 Light only against more difficult fights
This is a setup you should in Instanced content (Arenas and Dungeons). Enemies in instanced content have 18,200 armor, while Overland enemies have only 9,100, so this setup will need much more penetration.
| Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
Light | |||
![]() Shoulders |
Light | |||
![]() Chest |
Medium | |||
![]() Hands |
Light | |||
![]() Belt |
Light | |||
![]() Legs |
Light | |||
![]() Boots |
Light | |||
![]() Necklace |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
Dagger | |||
![]() Frontbar Off Hand |
Dagger | |||
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
Ice Staff |
This is my suggested setup for soloing extremely difficult fights in dungeons. Unlike the "Tanky" skill setup which can be used for both difficult and easy stuff, this "Tanky" gear setup only makes sense in Instanced content because it focuses on utilizing Minor Aegis, Minor Slayer and on getting additional sustain from
Roksa the Warped which is mostly useful only in super difficult fights where you have to dodge roll a lot
| Gear Slot | Set | Weight/Type | Trait | Enchantment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Head |
Medium | |||
![]() Shoulders |
Light | |||
![]() Chest |
Heavy | |||
![]() Hands |
Light | |||
![]() Belt |
Light | |||
![]() Legs |
Light | |||
![]() Boots |
Light | |||
![]() Necklace |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Ring |
Jewelry | |||
![]() Frontbar Main Hand |
Mace | |||
![]() Frontbar Off Hand |
Mace | |||
![]() Backbar Main Hand |
Ice Staff |
Warfare
Fitness
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.
Most of the time 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.
HEALTH
0
STAMINA
0
MAGICKA
64
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.
Your sustain can vary greatly because it's impacted by your armor weight composition, your race and how much blocking/dodge rolling you're required to do in a certain fight. Choose the food with more recoveries if you can't sustain
Use the Spell Power potions (Increase Spell Power, Spell Critical, Restore Magicka). They'll provide Major Sorcery and Major Prophecy which are crucial buffs. You can craft them by combining
Lady's Smock,
Namira's Rot and
Corn Flower.
60.2k on the 6mil dummy using Regular setup
Recording of the 60.2k parse
Tanky Skill Setup - 53.1k DPS
Here you can see this build tackling Veteran dungeons and other content
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