Hyperioxes
Home Solo Stamina Nightblade

Stamina Nightblade Solo Build - ESO Guide

Solo Nightblade Necromancer Subclass Pure Class Stamina Two Bar
Up to date for: Update 49 - 9th April 2026
Last changed: Update 47 - 21st August 2025

Stamina Nightblade (StamBlade) Solo Build for ESO. The build subclasses Siphoning for Necromancer's Grave Lord - slotting just Skeletal Archer skill icon - ESOSkeletal Archer activates all of Grave Lord's passives for a big damage boost with almost no impact on gameplay. Pure class setups are also included if you don't want to subclass.

One of the stronger solo builds in ESO Update 49. If you want to play Nightblade solo, this is the best way to do it.

Soloed Veteran Hard Mode The Cauldron and Veteran Frostvault. Parses 64.2k in the Regular setup, 66.6k Ranged, 58.9k Difficult and 57.9k Pure Class.

Advertisement

Subclassing

Subclassing is optional

Subclassing is optional

Subclassing isn't mandatory and the build includes pure class skill setups

Assassination skill line - ESO
Assassination
Nightblade
Shadow skill line - ESO
Shadow
Nightblade
Grave Lord skill line - ESO
Grave Lord
Necromancer

In this build, I'm trying to stick with the Nightblade theme, which is why we subclass the Siphoning skill line into Necromancer's Grave Lord. By slotting just Skeletal Archer skill icon - ESOSkeletal Archer, we activate Grave Lord's passives and gain a ton of power with absolutely minimal impact on gameplay.

If you're looking for the most powerful Subclass combination that doesn't care about keeping the Nightblade theme, you should look at the Strongest Subclass Solo Build instead

Skill Setups

Base Setup

A base setup that will work for most situations and which should be your starting point when making situational setups

Surprise Attack skill icon - ESO Killers Blade skill icon - ESO Merciless Resolve skill icon - ESO Skeletal Archer skill icon - ESO Shadowy Disguise skill icon - ESO Soul Harvest skill icon - ESO
Soul Burst skill icon - ESO Dark Shade skill icon - ESO Elemental Susceptibility skill icon - ESO Elemental Blockade skill icon - ESO Barbed Trap skill icon - ESO Shooting Star skill icon - ESO
Front Bar Back Bar
Slot 1: Surprise Attack Slot 1: Soul Burst
Slot 2: Killer's Blade Slot 2: Dark Shade
Slot 3: Merciless Resolve Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility
Slot 4: Skeletal Archer Slot 4: Elemental Blockade
Slot 5: Shadowy Disguise Slot 5: Barbed Trap
Ultimate: Soul Harvest Ultimate: Shooting Star
SCRIBING

Soul BurstSoul Burst - BleedBleed, Lingering TormentLingering Torment, CourageCourage. Use Twisting PathTwisting Path instead if you don't have access to Scribing

  • FlameFlame - use it instead of BleedBleed when you need more Stamina sustain, at the cost of Magicka sustain. It can be especially useful when using the Regular or Ranged setups, but when using the Difficult setup you should keep using BleedBleed, as that setup trades Barbed TrapBarbed Trap for Ulfsild's ContingencyUlfsild's Contingency, so you wouldn't sustain it with a Magicka-costing Soul BurstSoul Burst

Ulfsild's ContingencyUlfsild's Contingency - BleedBleed, Gladiator's TenacityGladiator's Tenacity, ForceForce

INFO
  • Surprise AttackSurprise Attack - a very strong spammable which applies the Sundered status effect and is guaranteed to be a Critical Strike, up to once every 3 seconds
  • Killer's BladeKiller's Blade - an execute you should switch to when your enemy is below 30% Max Health
  • Merciless ResolveMerciless Resolve - an ability that will cause your Light Attacks to generate stacks which increase your Weapon and Spell Damage. You can spend 5 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
  • Skeletal ArcherSkeletal Archer - an ability that summons a Skeletal Archer which attacks your enemies for 20 seconds. It also grants you Major Brutality and Major Sorcery for the duration, increasing your Weapon and Spell Damage by 20%. Getting Major Brutality from an ability allows you to use different potions. We need this ability on frontbar to trigger passives of the Grave Lord skill line, which will grant us a lot of penetration thanks to DismemberDismember passive and increase our Critical Chance in execute thanks to Death KnellDeath Knell
  • Shadowy DisguiseShadowy Disguise - an ability that will increase your damage by 10% for 10 seconds after being cast. It will also passively grant you Major Savagery which increases your critical chance by 12%. It will also grant you Major Resolve thanks to the Shadow BarrierShadow Barrier passive. When timed correctly, you can use this ability to dodge heavy attacks
  • Soul HarvestSoul Harvest - a cheap ultimate that increases target's damage taken from you by 20%. This is the ultimate you should use in Single Target fights. Having it slotted will also cause you to regain 10 Ultimate whenever you deal a final blow against an enemy
  • Soul BurstSoul Burst - an AoE DoT which grants you Minor Courage, increasing your Weapon and Spell Damage by 215
  • Dark ShadeDark Shade - an ability that deals constant AoE damage and applies Minor Maim, reducing enemies' damage done by 5%
  • Elemental SusceptibilityElemental Susceptibility - an extremely strong ability that does a multitude of things. It's completely free to cast so it'll help 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 SusceptibilityElemental Susceptibility. Minor Brittle increase Critical Damage taken by 10%. The Chilled proc will also synergise with our Elemental BlockadeElemental Blockade
  • Elemental BlockadeElemental Blockade - this ability will constantly apply your Weapon DamageWeapon Damage enchantment. It will also constantly apply Minor Breach to enemies who are Chilled, and they'll be Chilled thanks to Elemental SusceptibilityElemental Susceptibility
  • Barbed TrapBarbed 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%
  • Shooting StarShooting Star - an ultimate that deals damage in an AoE, leaves a ground DoT and grants you Ultimate for each enemy hit with the initial blast. Use it in AoE fights or when you start fights with high amount of Ultimate stored up
SITUATIONAL

Soul BurstSoul Burst and Dark ShadeDark Shade are the first skills that have to go when you need to slot something situational, unless the situational skill specifically says that it's replacing something else. If it has to be a frontbarred skill then the first skill that has to go is Killer's BladeKiller's Blade

  • BloodthirstBloodthirst - a spammable which heals you for 33% of the damage it does. Use it instead of Surprise AttackSurprise Attack in more difficult fights
  • Lethal ArrowLethal Arrow - ranged spammable that can be used instead of Surprise AttackSurprise Attack in fights where you need to stay at range
  • Whirling BladesWhirling Blades - AoE spammable than can be used instead of Surprise AttackSurprise Attack if you want to get through trash packs faster, or if you need lots of AoE damage for some boss fight
  • Resolving VigorResolving Vigor - use it for more difficult fights where the pressure is constant and thus you need the Minor Resolve. It can also be used as your main source of healing before you obtain the Ring of the Pale OrderRing of the Pale Order Mythic or in fights with invulnerability phases where you can't heal with Ring of the Pale OrderRing of the Pale Order
  • Silver LeashSilver Leash - a chain ability that you can slot in trash packs to stack enemies and get through them faster
  • Unnerving BoneyardUnnerving Boneyard - a source of AoE Major Breach which can replace Elemental SusceptibilityElemental Susceptibility in AoE fights
  • Ulfsild's ContingencyUlfsild's Contingency (BleedBleed, Gladiator's TenacityGladiator's Tenacity, ForceForce) - a replacement for Barbed TrapBarbed Trap in fights where you need more damage mitigation. It's 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 FlareRevealing Flare - slot it for more difficult fights where you need more damage mitigation. It's a skill that passively grants Major Protection, reducing your damage taken by 10%. It will also trigger the Magicka AidMagicka Aid passive, which increases Magicka Recovery by 10%
  • Acid SprayAcid Spray - a decent AoE DoT for when you need more AoE damage in the Ranged setup
  • PrecognitionPrecognition - an ultimate that breaks you out of some otherwise unavoidable stuns, you'll need it to get around some mechanics which are otherwise impossible or very difficult to solo, like for example Inferno's Hold in Zaan the Scalecaller fight
ROTATION

Priority List

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

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 with lots of damage mitigation for bosses that hit very hard

Bloodthirst skill icon - ESO Revealing Flare skill icon - ESO Merciless Resolve skill icon - ESO Skeletal Archer skill icon - ESO Shadowy Disguise skill icon - ESO Soul Harvest skill icon - ESO
Soul Burst skill icon - ESO Dark Shade skill icon - ESO Elemental Susceptibility skill icon - ESO Elemental Blockade skill icon - ESO Ulfsild's Contingency skill icon - ESO Shooting Star skill icon - ESO
Front Bar Back Bar
Slot 1: Bloodthirst Slot 1: Soul Burst
Slot 2: Revealing Flare Slot 2: Dark Shade
Slot 3: Merciless Resolve Slot 3: Elemental Susceptibility
Slot 4: Skeletal Archer Slot 4: Elemental Blockade
Slot 5: Shadowy Disguise Slot 5: Ulfsild's Contingency
Ultimate: Soul Harvest Ultimate: Shooting Star

What Changes

Passives

The only passive you specifically have to skip is Tri Focus passive - ESOTri Focus

Class

Weapon

Armor

Guild

Alliance War

Racial

Craft

Class - Assassination

Master AssassinMaster Assassin - High Priority

ExecutionerExecutioner - High Priority

Pressure PointsPressure Points - High Priority

HemorrhageHemorrhage - High Priority

Gear

There is no "Full-Damage" gear setup, because giving up Pale Order was providing very minimal DPS increase (either by switching it to Velothi or a Monster Set like Selene), which was then being immediately lost by having to switch Wrathful Strikes to Reaving Blows, resulting in a setup with similar DPS but way worse survivability

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.

If you want to switch to a situational set it's best to replace Ansuul's TormentAnsuul's Torment if the situational set you're getting has a Minor Slayer line, and replace Tide-Born WildstalkerTide-Born Wildstalker otherwise. When replacing Tide-Born WildstalkerTide-Born Wildstalker with a Medium armor set, change your SlimecrawSlimecraw head-piece to Light armor type.

For example, a default setup for trash packs would replace Ansuul's TormentAnsuul's Torment with Sul-Xan's TormentSul-Xan's Torment

The strongest gear combination without any trial gear is Order's WrathOrder's Wrath combined with Tide-Born WildstalkerTide-Born Wildstalker

Situational

Gear that can be stronger than the setup from the table in specific situations or when specific circumstances are present

  • Sul-Xan's TormentSul-Xan's Torment - the best set for trash packs and for bosses that regularly spawn smaller adds
  • Order's WrathOrder's Wrath - better than Ansuul's TormentAnsuul's Torment in Overland content where you don't benefit from the Minor Slayer and penetration bonus lines
Additional Info
  • For Ranged build, replace One Handed Weapons with a Bow of the same set with PrecisePrecise trait and Absorb StaminaAbsorb Stamina enchant
  • For overland content, you don't need as much penetration so you can replace Ice Staff with Inferno Staff

Use the Penetration Calculator to fine-tune your penetration for different content. Overland enemies have 9,100 armor while Instanced enemies (Arenas and Dungeons) have 18,200.

Advertisement

Champion Points

WarfareWarfare
Master-at-Arms
6% Direct Damage
Because more than 60% of your damage is Direct
Deadly Aim
6% Single Target Damage
Because more than 60% of your damage is Single Target
Fighting Finesse
8% Critical Damage and Healing
Damage
Wrathful Strikes
205 Weapon and Spell Damage
Damage
More Mitigation
When soloing extremely difficult dungeons, replace Wrathful StrikesWrathful Strikes and Fighting FinesseFighting Finesse with 2 of the 4 mitigation CPs (IroncladIronclad, Duelist's RebuffDuelist's Rebuff, Enduring ResolveEnduring Resolve, UnassailableUnassailable)
More Healing
Reaving BlowsReaving Blows is another decent Blue CP for when you need more HPS
FitnessFitness
Boundless Vitality
1400 Max Health
Survivability
Bloody Renewal
1500 Stamina on kills
Sustain
Rejuvenation
90 Health, Stamina and Magicka Recovery
Sustain
Fortified
1731 Armor
Survivability
Block Mitigation
Use Bracing AnchorBracing Anchor in fights where you have to block a lot attacks and where you don't have to move that much
Movement Speed
Use CelerityCelerity in fights where you have to move a lot
CraftCraft

No Craft CPs are mandatory for this build

Race

For solo PvE you need both damage and survivability, so every race brings something to the table, but these two stand out as the best options for damage and survivability respectively

Khajiit
Best for Damage
Khajiit
Why pick this
The strongest race for solo damage. Critical Damage is one of the most valuable stats in Solo play and Khajiits get 12% of it from Feline AmbushFeline Ambush passive.
Feline Ambush Feline Ambush 12% Critical Damage
Nimble Nimble 915 Max Health, Stamina and Magicka
Robustness Robustness 90 Health, Stamina, Magicka Recovery
Nord
Best for Survivability
Nord
Why pick this
The tankiest race. Nord is also what I use for soloing Veteran Hard Mode DLC Dungeons. RuggedRugged provides around 5-7% damage mitigation (depending on your current armor), making difficult content significantly more forgiving without sacrificing much damage.
Rugged Rugged 2600 armor
Stalwart Stalwart 1500 Max Stamina, 0.5 Ultimate per second
Reveler Reveler 1000 Max Health, 4620 Frost Resistance

Mundus

The Shadow Mundus Stone - ESO
Default
The Shadow
11% Critical Damage (17% with 7 Divines)
When to use
Use when Subclassing into Grave Lord. It increases your Critical Damage
The Lover Mundus Stone - ESO
Instanced
The Lover
2752 Penetration (4503 with 7 Divines)
When to use
Use for instanced content when not Subclassing. It increases your Penetration
The Lady Mundus Stone - ESO
Difficult Content
The Lady
2744 Armor (4489 with 7 Divines)
When to use
Consider switching for extremely difficult dungeons. It increases your Armor

Attributes

For most content you should put all 64 points into Stamina. 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 Stamina, for the extremely difficult stuff you'll need 64 Health.

Health
0
Stamina
64
Magicka
0
All points into Stamina. Use it for most content
Health
32
Stamina
32
Magicka
0
Split evenly between Health and Stamina. Use this whenever you start to struggle
Health
64
Stamina
0
Magicka
0
All points into Health. Use this for very difficult fights

Food

Max Health Stamina Recovery Magicka Recovery
The default option. Jewels of Misrule - ESOJewels of Misrule is a cheaper alternative.

Potions

Tri-Stat Potion
Default Tri-Stat Potion
Restore Health Restore Stamina Restore Magicka

Most of the time you should use Tri-Stat potions. They'll greatly improve your sustain.

Heroism Potion
Situational Heroism Potion
Minor Heroism Restore Stamina Restore Magicka

Can provide 100% uptime on Minor Heroism which generates ultimate, but they're extremely expensive.

Weapon Power Potion
Situational Weapon Power Potion
Increase Weapon Power Weapon Critical Restore Stamina

If you're not using Subclassing, you should use these instead. They'll provide you with Major Brutality.

Parses

All parses are recorded on the 6 million Target Dummy

Regular Setup
64,272 DPS
Ranged Setup
66,611 DPS
Difficult Setup
58,957 DPS
Pure Class
57,946 DPS
Regular Setup
64,272DPS
6mil Skeleton Dummy
Patch
Update 47
Armor
Medium
Gear Setup
Regular
Skill Setup
Regular
Potion
Tri-Stat
Mundus
The Shadow
Race
Nord
The default setup that works for most situations.
CMX Parse
CMX Parse - Regular Setup
CMX Setup
CMX Setup - Regular Setup
Recording
Parse recording
Ranged Setup
66,611DPS
6mil Skeleton Dummy
Patch
Update 46
Armor
Medium
Gear Setup
Regular
Skill Setup
Ranged
Potion
Tri-Stat
Mundus
The Shadow
Race
Nord
For fights where you can't stay in melee range.
CMX Parse
CMX Parse - Ranged Setup
CMX Setup
CMX Setup - Ranged Setup
Difficult Setup
58,957DPS
6mil Skeleton Dummy
Patch
Update 46
Armor
Medium
Gear Setup
Regular
Skill Setup
Difficult
Potion
Tri-Stat
Mundus
The Shadow
Race
Nord
Trades damage for survivability.
CMX Parse
CMX Parse - Difficult Setup
CMX Setup
CMX Setup - Difficult Setup
Pure Class
57,946DPS
6mil Skeleton Dummy
Patch
Update 46
Armor
Medium
Gear Setup
Regular
Skill Setup
Pure Class
Potion
Weapon Power
Mundus
The Lover
Race
Nord
No subclassing. Requires Weapon Power potions for Major Brutality.
CMX Parse
CMX Parse - Pure Class
CMX Setup
CMX Setup - Pure Class

Gameplay

Here you can see this build tackling Veteran dungeons

The Cauldron
Dungeon
Frostvault
Dungeon
The Cauldron
Dungeon Veteran Hard Mode
Frostvault
Dungeon Veteran

FAQ

Is Nightblade good for solo in ESO?

Yes, Nightblade is a solid solo class. It has good survival tools and this build can solo Veteran Hard Mode dungeons.

What is the best race for Nightblade in ESO?

Khajiit is the best race for damage thanks to 12% bonus Critical Damage from Feline AmbushFeline Ambush, which won't be wasted in solo content. Nord is the best race for survivability, providing around 5-7% damage mitigation through RuggedRugged.

What is the best subclass for Nightblade in ESO?

This build subclasses Siphoning for Necromancer's Grave Lord, which gives a big damage boost from just slotting Skeletal Archer skill icon - ESOSkeletal Archer. If you want the strongest possible subclass combination regardless of theme, check out the Strongest Subclass Solo Build.

Can I use a different weapon?

Yes, you can replace the Dual Wield Daggers with other weapons. Inferno Staff, Lightning Staff, Greatsword and Bow will cause the smallest DPS loss (≈2%), and then support-oriented weapons (Ice Staff, One Handed and Shield) will cause a bigger DPS loss (≈7%). This build doesn't use any Dual Wield skills on the frontbar, so you won't need to change any skills when switching. Replacing the backbar weapon is a lot more troublesome, because Elemental SusceptibilityElemental Susceptibility is an extremely powerful skill for solo.

Do I need a different setup for Maelstrom Arena and Vateshran Hollows?

No, you don't need a different setup. Use the base skills and the Instanced gear setup from this guide for both Maelstrom Arena and Vateshran Hollows.

Advertisement


THANKS FOR READING

Patreon

If you've enjoyed this guide and want to support me, you can do so through Patreon. Your support will help me produce more guides.